Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Firefly in Pink ❯ Chapter Two: In Foresight ( Chapter 2 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Happy Valentine's Day, everyone! Here's my gift to you - a new chapter!

Oh, and, umm, about the lemon I promised last time for this chapter…well, it's actually more of a lime. Sorry, but I swear it really will be in the next chapter. But the writing just kept going on and on until the chapter was just too long so I had to break it off again. So much for getting the fic finished by my deadline, which I'd set for V-day. I hope you don't mind too much!

Credit for this fic, as always, goes to Asako for beta-reading and prodding me to keep writing this until I finish. And many thanks to those who have read and reviewed so far - you have no idea how much they help keep my motivation going, even if my updates do churn out to be slow sometimes. So - thanks a lot! =D

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Chapter Two: In Foresight

What kind of torture were the gods trying to put him through?!

He'd sought solitude and quiet. Instead, what he got was the very source of all his current inner turmoil ruining even that paltry unsuccessful attempt at isolation. Not that the attempt had been going well even before she showed up. In fact, the more time he'd had to think to himself, the more sure he was that he was going crazy with the thoughts that had been running through his head and stirring volatile and highly unpleasant emotions within him that he didn't want to examine too closely or put a name to.

Surely whatever evil he'd done in the past, before he'd begun reluctantly walking on the path of redemption, wasn't bad enough to warrant this kind of bad karma.

Was it?

There were, perhaps, some things that were better not to know.

“Well?” he snapped harshly when she continued to stare back mutely. “Were you struck deaf as well as dumb?”

Oh, she didn't like that. The way she bristled with outrage as her stare turned into glare proved that his barb had struck home. It pleased that dark part of him that reveled in causing chaos, a part that no amount of good deeds would ever be able to completely reform. And he inwardly rejoiced for he was getting part of what he wanted, those eyes spitting brown fire at him instead of ice.

It might have been perverse of him, but the heat of her temper had him feeling more relaxed than he had been for quite some time. Though that wasn't saying much as the unpleasant emotions and thoughts that had been teeming within him before her arrival on the scene were still seething inside and felt as if they'd spill out sooner than he'd like and in a fashion he wouldn't care for. However, for a moment, the brief distraction put him in such a good mood, for him anyway, that he allowed himself a tiny smirk, which only grew wider when her expression turned to wary confusion at what she could only see as a sudden inexplicable change of attitude.

It was good to know that he wasn't the only one confused in this.

Unfortunately, that situation didn't seem to last very long. Even as he observed her, her confusion melted away to be replaced by that ever-present calm that never ceased to irritate him lately, especially when he was feeling anything but. His earlier good mood dissipated as if it had never been as he glared at her, tension and other more chaotic emotions swirling within him as she spoke, though he couldn't help the hidden surprise and renewed confusion that welled within him once the content of her words sank in.

“The answer to your first question,” she stated blandly, “is that I came to find you.”

“Why?” His gaze turned suspicious. “If that kitsune wanted to gloat, he should have come himself instead of sending you to fetch me.”

“Huh? What are you talking about?”

“It's obvious. I'm sure you can figure it out.”

“I'm sure I could too…if I actually had any clue as to what this `it' you're talking about was.”

“Do not play dense, woman. I afford you a little respect from our past verbal spars for you remained honest even in your insults. Sinking to this new level doesn't suit you - or has the kitsune swayed you to his taste in the game?”

“What does he have to do with any of this?”

His expression turned cold. “No? Then maybe you've found his tastes in other things more enjoyable instead. Or does the detective still hold more appeal for you?”

“Who? Yusuke?”

“Of course.” He smiled and it wasn't pleasant. “Don't tell me your kitsune has already made you forget the man you are to wed?”

“WHAAAAT?!” She was gaping at him now. “Where the heck are you getting this stuff? Is this some kind of new game?”

“I am not the one playing the games anymore.”

She shook her head, completely baffled. “I don't get any of this! Hiei-san, wha-?”

“Don't call me that!”

Her eyes widened at his tone. “What? Hiei-san?”

“Yes,” he practically hissed.

“But…it's your name, isn't it?”

“No. It's not.”

“Eh?”

Keiko cast an uneasy look at the seething youkai who wasn't acting like his usual controlled self what with his odd outbursts and words that were making absolutely no sense to her. She toyed with a fleeting thought, wondering if she'd broken him somehow and made him forget his own name…or go insane. She shuddered - an insane Hiei really didn't bear thinking of. She tried to reassure herself that he couldn't be because, if he really had gone insane, then she'd probably already be dead.

Somehow, that wasn't much comfort.

“Fine,” she said cautiously. “But if it's not your name…then why have we all been calling you that?”

“They haven't. You have.”

Her head was starting to hurt and she wondered for a moment if this was a new elaborate way to torture her with words. Resisting the urge to rub the ache beginning to throb in her temple, she could only stare back in confusion at his angry features which were glaring at her with an expression that, to her, stated she had to be the stupidest person on earth for not being able to figure out what he was talking about from his weird diatribe that was making absolutely no sense.

Suddenly, it was all just too much.

She was a relatively passive person, unless provoked. And there was no denying that he had to be deliberately provoking her. What else could his crazy words be?

Her own frustrated feelings and mixed emotions towards some inward realizations she'd recently made caused her temper to be more volatile than usual, and having his suddenly directed at her for no reason just added fuel to the fire. She could practically see his unreasonable anger building towards her in a way that, instead of intimidating her, merely seemed to spark off hers instead.

Forget the apology she had been going to make - he didn't deserve it!

“You're not making any sense,” she said tersely, trying to restrain herself from at least sounding like a screaming shrew. “I repeat - what are you talking about?!”

“STOP PLAYING GAMES WITH ME, WOMAN! I'VE HAD ENOUGH!!!”

She gasped, stumbling back with eyes gone wide with more than a little fear at the unexpectedness of the seething roared words as his small body practically shook with the force of his rage. Whatever response she might have expected, that certainly hadn't been it. Her ears felt like they were still ringing with the force of that verbal explosion - there was no other way to describe it - and she wondered distantly if the guests in the hall had heard it too with their supernatural hearing. She could only hope that they hadn't and all come streaming outside to find out what the ruckus was because-

- Because, suddenly and inexplicably, she wanted to be left alone with Hiei.

She wondered if she might be a little bit crazy herself.

Maybe she was. How else could she explain the way confusion seemed to clear away in her head and everything he'd said - about Kurama, Yusuke, even his own name - was starting to make sense to her, including his odd behavior.

He might not know it yet, but she had the upper hand.

It probably wasn't a very wise idea to approach a visibly angry youkai that seemed to be lacking his usual self-control. Especially when the approacher was the clear target and focus of said youkai's anger.

No, it wasn't wise at all.

But there was something she had to confirm…

He was still standing in the exact same spot, body visibly quaking with the emotions behind his outburst. Actually, he'd never moved from his position by the tree several yards away from her though, for a moment when he'd roared at her, the almost palpable force of his rage had made him appear to be so much larger, so much closer that it had nearly felt as if he were looming over her. Nervous butterflies still fluttered in her belly in reaction to what had just happened and what she might stir to life with what she was going to do, but there was something she wanted to know and so she persistently pressed on.

The first step she took towards him, he tensed. The small but telling motion from the normally impossible-to-read youkai made her want to smile. However, she ruthlessly choked back the urge; it wasn't the time and would probably set him off and she didn't want that.

Not yet, anyway.

“What are you doing, woman?” he snarled when she took another step closer.

His fists clenched and his body quivered with the effort to hold still instead of move, though whether he would have moved away or towards her was hard to say. Either one was equally dangerous, giving too much away even if he wasn't quite sure what that would be. Still, his control was badly shaken and he couldn't completely keep himself from showing the wariness in his gaze. It was suspicious; her expression was as calm as it ever was and she was approaching as if his shameful outburst was nothing out of the ordinary. And with every step she came closer, that odd tension within him only seemed to wind tighter and tighter until he felt, with a touch of desperation, that it was only a matter of time before it snapped.

“I think it's pretty obvious,” she was saying serenely as she continued her approach. Not much further now. “Can't you tell with that keen eyesight of yours?”

She stopped just before him as he glared. “Woman-”

“I do have a name, you know,” she cut in abruptly. “And it has nothing to do with my gender.”

His dark expression told her he could care less.

“And speaking of names,” her eyes narrowed at him, “I believe you were saying something about yours, weren't you?”

His lips sneered, but he said nothing.

“So what should I call you?” A tiny smirk curled her lips. “Hiei-san.”

No sooner had she said that last word than he snapped. With a startled gasp, she suddenly found herself whirled around until her back hit the tree and he was looming in front of her, hands holding her upper arms in a tight grip as he glared down at her and snarled in her face so close that she could feel each heated puff of words.

“Don't. Call. Me. That.”

Well, on the bright side, she now knew. On the other…

She was kind of afraid.

But that was a natural reaction to having a youkai a hundred times more powerful than her ordinary human self positioned so close and so obviously not happy with her. It was her other reaction that gave her some pause. She wasn't sure she liked it because she was also…

Aroused?

Oh, yeah. Definitely had to be some kind of crazy.

Hiei froze, his anger pausing and something else inside him shifting the instant his senses recognized an unmistakable scent in the air that could be coming from no one other than her. He stared back at her, much too tense and afraid to move, afraid to think, afraid to do anything…until a tiny curl lifted her lips that matched an odd sparkle in her eyes as her words breathed between them, trembled and broke.

“So, what to call you then, hmm? Not Hiei-san but maybe…Hiei…?”

That was it.

Heat flashed through him as all reason fled. He didn't think; he just acted. Later he could look back on it as a temporary aberration and regret the impulse but for now…as if that one word had been a key, the door holding back all his pent up emotions, frustrations, was suddenly unlocked and all of them came flooding through, washing aside any lingering hesitation and consuming him totally until he was only drowning in feeling and instinct and nothing else as he struck.

He didn't kiss her so much as he tried to inhale her. She had just enough time to think `oh, wow' before her brain fizzled and all she could do was feel.

And try to inhale him back.

Oh, she definitely liked this.

He was still pinning her arms so she couldn't reach up and wrap them around him and pull him tighter the way she wanted to. Still, that didn't mean she couldn't touch, not with the way he was pressed against her as he devoured her, and her hands slid up his sides until she was fisting them in the cloth at his waist, trying to drag him even closer as they ate at each other, uncaring of anything else but the sensations that filled them.

Mouths twisted, tongues tangled and a breathy moan filled the air. Was it her, him…maybe both? She didn't care as long as he didn't stop and put a halt to those wonderful feelings that were zinging through her and making her blood run hot and singing in a way it never had with anyone other than him.

She whimpered against his mouth, only to have that whimper turn into a mewl when he shifted even closer and drove her harder against the tree, pressing his lower half hard against her until she could feel that bulge of need rubbing against the source of her own. She arched her hips, wanting more, then gasped when she felt strong hands lifting her, shifting her into place until her legs were around his waist and his erection was pushing forcefully against her crotch.

“Hiei!”

She wanted to shriek it, scream it, but his mouth was still hard on hers and it sounded as a muffled moan instead. She wrapped her legs around his hips and threw her now free arms around his neck, using both to draw him even tighter against her, as close as they could possibly get while still separated by the confining layers of their clothes.

Then he started rocking his hips and that was it.

She saw stars.

Lights exploded in eyes shut tight against the force of the climax she screamed into his mouth still feeding on hers. He swallowed it all as she quaked and trembled in his arms, against his body, even as he ruthlessly restrained himself from following her down the same path.

The first time, he wanted to be inside her when he came.

“Wow,” she breathed when she could speak again. Her vision still seemed out of focus as she blinked at him dazedly. “That was some kiss.”

It certainly was.

She was twenty-one. She had kissed other guys before, guys that weren't Yusuke, and liked to think that she'd gotten pretty good at it. She could only be grateful for those experiences that had taught her how to breathe during long drawn-out French kissing. Otherwise, she didn't think she would have survived and died due to suffocation because that…that was nothing compared to this!

She could hardly believe it - their mouths had been fused the entire time!

It was kind of embarrassing, actually. Still…

Could they do it again?

Her vision seemed to be back to normal when she focused on him with a speculative look, though her body was still quivering with aftershocks and her face more flushed than normal. Her blush deepened, eyes going wide, when she realized that her legs were still hugging his hips and he was pressed against her, his erection as hard as ever.

“Are you- I mean, you haven't…uh…why…?”

Her face was red as she stuttered, unable to get the words out. But she gradually faded away into silence as the odd aura he seemed to be exuding settled over her, into her. She blinked uncertainly, searching his features that were looking back at her with a scrutinizing expression filled with some kind of intense dark…satisfaction?

No, that wasn't quite right. Maybe more like…

Possession.

It clicked. That word fit in her head just as the other hadn't. Whatever it was he was exuding was primitive and male and she found she didn't mind a bit. Instead she felt a thrill of her own almost feline satisfaction and a jolt of a new awakened need.

She barely, just barely, resisted the urge to purr.

She was quite the sight to behold. He'd given her time to come back to herself, for reason and coherent consciousness to return, and she was still there in his arms, pressed against him and legs holding him close. She was hot in his arms, her arousal still lingering in the air and in the flush on her cheeks and look in her eyes, her mouth wet and swollen from their kissing. She was ripe, obviously willing, and everything about her at that moment proclaimed that she was his for the taking.

He wanted her.

And he would take her.

Desire had never abated within him as he reaffirmed his control over his need and he was very, very tempted to take her then and there and to hell with everything else. However, no matter what evils he'd committed…

He'd never been partial to having an audience on this kind of performance.

His well-honed self-preservation instincts told him that they were not alone. A glance back in the direction from where she'd appeared before him showed him nothing unusual but…it was too quiet and he had a strong suspicion that they were all there, pressed up inside against the outermost walls, just out-of-sight, as they tried to hear what was going on outside.

He had a brief fantasy of killing them all.

But then she shifted, rubbed that part of her that was the hottest against his crotch, and he was reminded that he had a better fantasy he wanted to fulfill.

He could always kill them later.

“Hmm…my place?”

At the musing tone, his glance slid back to her, only to find her gazing back in the same direction that he had with enough suspicion written across her features to match his own. A hidden satisfaction of another kind flowed through him even as she turned her attention back to him with a little smile.

“I don't think we need to tell anyone we're leaving,” equal parts of embarrassment and annoyance were plainly visible, “seeing as they probably already know.”

Saying not another word, he picked her up, her weight no more than a feather to his strength, and sped away. He didn't need to look back to know that their unwelcome voyeurs had taken their departure as a cue to come out and express their opinion about this newest development.

He could hear their loud catcalls and cheering just fine.

The idiots.

“You know…my purse is still back there.”

“Get it later,” was all he said.

She smiled up at him. “Okay.”

Then they were speeding through the falling night, sun setting on the horizon, and all thoughts of the crowd left behind were forgotten in the secretive silent enjoyment they each held for the other in their arms. It wasn't long, as his speed was fast, before they reached her small apartment with him landing safely on her tiny balcony with her cradled in his arms.

She gave a small laughed and looked around. “I hope no one saw that.”

“I don't care.”

She rolled her eyes at the typical response even as he released her and her body slid down until she was standing against him, arms still around his neck. Even that, too, was released as she reluctantly drew a little back, sliding open the balcony door. She backed through it while she smiled at him in unmistakable invitation.

“Coming in?” she asked.

He stared back in silence.

Her smile faded. “What?”

“Do you still intend to be with the detective?”

“WHAAAT?!”

“You heard me.”

“I know I heard you.” She shook her head. “I just don't know why I heard you.”

His eyes flashed red fire. “I thought we were done with these games?”

“What games?” Annoyance sparked through her but she tamped it down. She had to; they'd never get anywhere at this rate. “Wait a second, okay?” She held out a placating hand. “I'm not playing games. And I think I have an inkling of what you've been spouting off today but, to be sure, I need to ask you some questions. And I need you to try and stay calm enough to answer them so we can get this whole mess straightened out. Agreed?”

He regarded her with a hard stare for a moment before giving a terse nod. “Agreed.”

“Good. Then,” she took a deep breath, “why do you think I'm with Yusuke?”

“I thought you said no games?” he flared.

“Calm…remember the be calm and answer my questions part? Not ask me more questions.” She gazed back at him steadily, and breathed a small sigh of relief when he seemed to relax a bit with another nod in her direction. “Now, can you please just answer the question? This will go much faster if you do.”

His lips tightened, and he wanted to refuse. He didn't like being led around, that a human woman seemed to be the one doing it was knowledge that still chafed, and he was also starting to have a bad feeling that he would end up looking in the wrong. Then again…

When was that anything new?

He shrugged. Might as well get it over with, he thought before saying, “Isn't it normal for a woman to be with her fiancée?”

“Fiancée?” She blinked. “You really think Yusuke is my fiancée?”

A basilisk-like stare was answer enough.

“Where did you get an idea like that? It's not like that between us - at all!”

“That is not what the detective said.” He plainly didn't believe her. “Are you saying you were never engaged to him?”

“Well…no.”

A small smirk curled his lips, triumphant if not happy.

“Don't give me that look. It's not a lie. At one point, yes, we were engaged. But we were kids - I wasn't even in high school yet! We broke it off shortly after he came back from his three-year training in Makai.” She eyed him with disapproval. “Just when was it that Yusuke told you about our engagement anyway? Before he came back, or after?”

He wasn't just starting to have a bad feeling anymore - he had one. His response - “After.” - was short and terse as he contemplated dismemberment of one of his comrades.

“Figures.” Keiko rolled her eyes. “Typical Yusuke, actually. He tells people about the engagement but not about the ending of it because he took it off that things-to-do list in what passes for his brain. Honestly, he's not a bad person but he's so irresponsible.” She crossed her arms. “Now, what was the other problem? Kurama-san, wasn't it?”

Suddenly, he really didn't want to do this anymore. Though he still had his doubts, strong ones too, he already had a fair idea of how this particular thread in conversation was going to go. But, no matter what he wanted, Keiko was already fitting the pieces together in her head as she spoke aloud.

“Hmm, let's see. Considering how you lumped Yusuke and Kurama-san the way you did earlier, might I assume that you thought there was something going on between me and Kurama-san?”

He was very, very still.

“I'm flattered, really, that you think someone like that would be interested but…where on earth did you get such a ridiculous idea?”

He twitched, displeased. “He told me.”

“He did?” Doubt was rife in her tone. “Are you sure?”

No, he wasn't. Not anymore. Because, looking back and replaying the conversation he'd had with the kitsune in his mind, Hiei realized one very important fact.

He'd been tricked!

That damn kitsune had never actually said outright that he was going to chase after Keiko, merely hinted that others would be interested in the pursuit. He'd merely phrased it through delivery of tone and action to make it look like he was going to pursue her. Thinking of the deceit and the painful reactions they'd stirred within him, if the kitsune wasn't careful, Hiei would soon find himself working on a one-man team.

Hiei's anger was only fueled when the thought struck him that the inquisitive kitsune probably knew that the engagement with the detective had been broken off long ago. But he had never bothered to inform Hiei even when it was quite obvious that his unsettling feelings towards a certain human woman were known. No, his manipulative comrade had been playing him all along!

Bodies could be hidden; no one would have to know.

Keiko sighed. “I thought so. There seems to be a lot of misrepresentations going on.” She laughed. “Though I think that last one tops it all! Kurama-san and me? What a crazy idea!”

Hiei did not like being laughed at. “Are you so sure yourself?”

“What do you mean?”

“Perhaps you do not have feelings for the kitsune. But you do not control his and he may care for you in a way that you do not for him.”

“What?!” She gaped.

Enjoying having the upper hand on her for once, he smirked. “Regardless of your feelings, if the kitsune has you set in his sights, then consider yourself stalked. Perhaps there is even proof already of his interests.”

It was only when he gave a brief tilt of his head gesturing to the `proof' that it suddenly registered that perhaps there was truth to his words, after all. Though he had begun to believe the kitsune truly had no desire for her other than to use her as a pawn to make him miserable, doubt snuck upon him once again. Maybe the kitsune was playing some sort of double-edged game to keep him guessing, weaving an intricate plot that only made the redhead appear to be pretending he was pretending his interest in the woman when he really did want her all along!

Gah! His head was starting to hurt. Damn kitsune mind games.

Perhaps the kitsune was interested in the woman. Perhaps he wasn't. But, if he wasn't, then -

Where the hell did all the roses come from?!

He'd noted the scent earlier in a vague part of his mind, but he'd had bigger things concerning him then than thinking about what kind of floral arrangement she preferred to decorate her home with. However, now that he'd pointed them out, he couldn't help but notice them. At least a dozen different bouquets of roses were scattered about the room in varying shades of red, white, pink, and yellow and contained in vases or baskets decorated with ribbons and hearts. And, somehow, he had the feeling that she had not purchased them for herself.

“Those have nothing to do with Kurama-san,” she stated plainly. “Well, except for one of those buttery yellow ones.”

Hiei's gaze immediately zeroed in on the color of butter.

“But,” she paused, “there's absolutely nothing romantic about it. It's Valentine's Day - flowers are the thing to give though his were more like a friendly `thank you' gift.”

“For what?” he asked suspiciously.

“Well, I've been going out with him lately-”

“You said there was nothing between you!”

“If you would let me finish,” she stressed, “I was going to say that I've been going out with him to help him figure out what kind of gift to give to the girl he likes.”

He wasn't willing to back down quite yet. “What girl?”

“Oh, brother,” she sighed in exasperation. “It was for Botan, you dummy! It's been going on for a while now. Didn't you notice?”

He hadn't. But that didn't mean he was going to admit it. “Kitsune are tricky. Perhaps it was just a ruse to spend more time with you. He's been in existence for centuries - why would he need a human to help him pick a gift?”

She stared at him as if he were crazy. “Listen up. I don't care how old he is; a male youkai has just as much of a clue as a human one does of what kind of present to give a girl he likes - and that's virtually nil. With Yukina-chan spending all her free time with Kuwabara-kun before the wedding, and Shizuru-san busy with her job and helping out with the wedding preparations, the only female left around with free time that could help and who knew the entire circumstances surrounding their relationship was me.”

He said nothing more.

He couldn't. Anything else he had to add would, no doubt, cause him to feel even stupider than he already did. There was no need to cause his reputation to sink even further, even if it was only before a human woman. And if he still had questions about the origins of the other roses, he contented himself with a glare at the offensive things while he restrained himself from asking. It would only make him sound like a jealous fool, which he wasn't.

He wasn't.

“So, now that that's out of the way, is there anything else you want to discuss - or should we just skip straight to the sex?”

Startled by the unexpected words, his gaze flew back to her as he wondered if he'd heard her wrong. Maybe he had for, if her expression was anything to go by, sex was the last thing on her mind. With arms crossed and narrowed eyes, she was more the picture of irritated opponent than lustful lover.

Though he would find no objection to a combination of the two.

The desire that hummed within him had never gone away, was merely waiting and had been distracted by other things for a while. It had not been forgotten, though it had gone hidden for a time until, as if her words were a trigger, it all came rushing back. Want and need flared bright, crackling between them, and the leash he'd placed upon his control since Genkai's and here began to strain.

Then she moved, arms uncrossing and unfurling until they were being held out towards him, a beckoning gesture of invitation to come in. Aside from that motion, she never moved, never took a step towards him, merely waited with calm eyes lit with sparks of her own desires. She stood there patiently as if to say It's your choice now.

What would he choose?

She stood there in the shadows of her apartment while, across the threshold, he remained outside on the balcony, standing in frozen stillness. Only the open sliding glass door was between them and, as they continued to regard each other steadily, she was sure the symbolism of it was not lost on him either.

Would he come to her? Would he leave, try to ignore what was brewing between them? She feared the latter was more likely to happen than the former, knew that his insecurities regarding emotions were still strong. When a person was so used to pushing away, to pretending emotions didn't exist, to thinking that control was all that there could be, it was a very difficult thing to change from that path and let it all go. She wouldn't blame him if he was to turn away, she couldn't, but she would regret his loss.

Please, she whispered in her mind. Please…

She wanted this, wanted him. She wanted to give him everything she could to fill that emptiness inside him that she was sure he denied even existed. She wanted to care for him because he needed it, even if he refused to admit that he did. She wanted to be with him…simply because she wanted to.

Whether he was making her mad or driving her crazy, she could honestly say that he never made her bored. He made her feel things so intensely that no one else ever had. He made her mind fizzle and her body heat until she was no longer acting like herself and she didn't even care.

For him, she could let go of her rules.

She just wished that he'd let go of his too.

Then he moved, and the stillness that lay between them was broken. He shifted, breaking the eye contact that had been connecting them, and turned away.

Despairing, accepting, she dropped her arms and sighed -

“Eek!”

-and squeaked when she suddenly found herself whisked up in a blur of motion that stopped only when she felt the soft firmness of her bed at her back.

Owlishly, she blinked at him while he smirked above her.

“Don't think this will all on your terms, woman.”

“Okay.” She smiled as she wrapped her arms around him and drew him down. “But please just call me Keiko.”

~ end chapter two ~