A/n: I felt like whipping up something with the good satisfaction of sugar still lurking in my blood. Hell yeah, I'm high and crazy at the moment. Probably even bubbly, if you must say. But then again, that's what six cans of soda and three packs of peppermint gum with nonstop DDR for eight hours can do to a person, right?
Frostbite
One-shot Kouji+Izumi
She wiggled her toes.
Nope, they were gone too, as where her fingers and her ears.
Her teeth chattered, both in anger and cold.
She really needed to kill Takuya after she got out.
If she ever made it out, that is.
They had been hiking that weekend because Takuya had so desperately wanted to. Everyone grudgingly agreed (Junpei especially reluctant; he hated walking around for long periods of time).
And it started off as a pretty good trip too. Until misfortune decided to shine its ominous rays upon her.
Takuya, by some stroke of dumb luck, misplaced their map. So when they stopped at a fork in the road, he chose the left (despite Izumi's suggestion of taking the right). And, persistent with the belief that his choice had been the right course of action, he ignored the massive build up of ominous clouds in the sky (who the hell made him leader, anyway?). Before long, the group was assaulted with a heavy pour of rain, ferocious breezes and merciless terrains.
That was when she magically found herself separated from the rest of the group and crawling towards the mouth of a cave for salvation from Mother Nature. Her hat was missing; there was a nasty scratch on her elbow, and she had, sometime in her adventure, received a thoroughly bruised ankle.
The wind laughed deeply at her and her story from outside of the cave, slapping the walls and wrapping its freezing fingers around her figure. She shivered, drawing her knees closer to her chest.
Izumi made a mental note to change into better suited traveling attire after murdering Takuya.
She huffed in annoyance, pushing all and any thoughts of Takuya into the back of her brain. He didn't deserve an ounce of space in her mind. There were plenty of better things she could be rather thinking about.
Like chocolate (her stomach growled), or her missing hat (she patted herhead sadly), or even . . . Kouji.
Kouji.
The name rolled off her tongue, fluttered in her chest, and flew out of her mouth with wings, turning into a petite cloud of mist before dissolving with the rest of the cold air. She was suddenly blanketed by a surge of warmth, the sounds of the storm howling temporarily tuned out.
Kouji.
What made him make her feel so . . . lost so many times? Maybe it was his slender figure that always leaned crookedly against a tree. Maybe it was his flowing silky night locks that ran down his back in the wind. Maybe it was those eyes of his that she found so alluring even if most of the time he kept them hidden. Maybe it was his finely curved cheekbones and model nose that made him look . . .
Beautiful. Because he was.
She blushed deeply, shaking her head. When did she ever become a poet?
As she tried dismissing her thoughts away, she caught herself thinking about what he might have been doing during the present hour. Standing there probably, she mused, glaring, growling, and ignoring everyone as if he did care about his friends (when she knew that secretly he did). She managed a short laughed. Maybe arguing with Takuya, as they often did when circumstances went wry. Maybe even going his separate way (as he always did when things did not go his way), perhaps ironically falling upon the mouth of a cave like she did.
She choked suddenly.
Because he had stumbled upon a cave, this one out of all the million others, and was staring at her as if she suddenly grew a second head.
Light licked the dangerous edges of the cave, dancing with the shados, and almost giggling at Izumi for her ignorance and naiveté. She glared at them, before sipping her instant made hot chocolate.
She hated the dark and therefore had refused, when she first fell into the cave, upon going any deeper then necessary. So when he grumpily strolled in, nearly as disheveled as her, he went (after a few seconds of awkward greetings) to explore the cavern further. He then fell promptly on some small pieces of wood of which he had managed to make a well sized fire. If it wasn't for fact that she remembered she had a box of instant hot chocolate mix and several cups in her small backpack (what they were doing there in the first place, escaped her), she would have directly felt useless.
So that's where she sat, silently sipping her warm beverage, and quietly stealing glances at her companion through the flickers of the flame. When she strained too long, his eyes locked with hers and she averted them to the ground, ruminating about the moist cold ground they made refuge on, mentally slapping herself for acting like a possessed fan girl.
"We should really keep you warm," his sullen voice spoke calmly, echoing against the rocks.
Her brows furrowed, shifting her gaze back at where he sat himself, only to find him not there but instead advancing towards her around the fire. Her heartbeat must have raised a million beats, because she felt it drum against her ribcage. Her mouth fell agape, trying to process a word or two perhaps, but everything close to nothing came out.
"You're cheeks are beginning to turn red, and you're lips are a hint of blue. You're shivering quite a bit as well." Something warm dropped over her shoulder.
Kouji's jacket. His lilac-mint scented, navy colored, yellow striped, jacket. The soft material caressed her numb skin.
"The first signs of frostbite," he muttered before turning around and seating himself down again in front of the flame.
"B-but . . . what about you?" Oh God, she sounded like a love sick puppy.
He folded his feet under himself, watching off at nothing in particular, specially avoiding her. "I'll be fine."
If silence could kill, she would have died a long time ago. It must have been only five minutes, but time stretched every second as far possible. The storm was destroying any means of peace, whistling along the cackle of their warmth, followed by the annoying drops of water hitting the cave's barely habitable floor.
And everything was drawing her mad. The constant butterflies in her stomach. The cold that just seemed to taunt her. The wet moist ground that did no help. The deep empty silence that hung in the air.
Hell, even Kouji was making her go insane and he was just sitting there against the barrier of the cavern, eyes closed, arms folded, deep in thought.
Times like these made her say things that she would probably regret saying afterwards. Stupid things or idiotic things. Or even down right crazy and . . .
"Do you think I'm pretty?"
Oh yeah. That was real nice.
She groaned quietly to herself, pulling her knees closer so her blush was unseen. She gulped an unknown lump down her throat, opened her mouth to form words of apology, when he cut her off instead.
"I think," he began, looking at her intently for a short period, "you are very pretty."
And that was it. Six solitary words that sang in her ears. Her muscles went weak against her, and all she could do was muster a smile. He thought she was pretty.
That was all she needed to stand up and walk (despite her throbbing ankle) over to him. He instantly stood up, his expression wavering between anger and concern.
"What the hell are you—"
But his mouth instantly closed shut when she collapsed into his arms, a pair of small hands circling around his waist. A hug. Kouji instinctively stiffened, obviously not used to such ways of showing friendliness.
"I just thought you could use some warmth," she whispered.
Fingers caressed his left arm before pulling out, revealing a trail of faint red bruise like marks that descended from his elbow. Izumi arched a spectacle gaze at him. It looked like he had ungracefully fallen.
"You really should take care better of yourself."
He glared, though her bright smile seemed to melt. Instead, Kouji snorted, breaking his gaze so his blush wasn't visible. Unconsciously, he let his arms drop around her, pulling her closer into an embrace he never knew he wanted so much.
Someone was mumbling her name. Someone, whose voice brushed against the barrier of her memory and whose tone sounded vaguely familiar. Groggily, Izumi cuddled closer to the warmth in front of her, the sound of drums racing faster. What it was, escaped her momentarily. It was too comforting for her to care.
She clutched it harder when it began to slowly pry her off. Her hand began to pull on the nearest thing her fingers got held of. And that was a lock of soft hair.
Someone yelped, and she stirred slightly. Her hand continued to journey, running along something nicely curved and touching a smooth surface that cause the nerves in her spine to jump. She froze when a hand gently clasped over hers. That touch was so recognizable, that her breath caught in her throat when she realized why it was.
Her eyes snapped open, pulling back sharply. She felt the heat rise in her cheeks and she knew her blush was capable of putting a tomato to shame.
He stared at her, equally blushing. Suddenly remembering that her hand was still intertwined with his, he let it go, dropping it off onto her lap, his occupied by her. They were, to say at the least, in a very cozy position. Awkward, maybe. Pleasant—by the way they both didn't move—yes.
He spoke first, evading looking at her directly in the eyes, "You, um, kinda fell asleep . . . in my arms . . ."
If possible, she felt even more embarrassed.
"Well now, I didn't know you guys got comfy like this often." A new voice. Both Kouji and Izumi cringed. Takuya . . .
Which meant . . .
"Ne, Izumi-chaan! What are you doing in his arms like that!"
Everyone else too.
The End?
A/n: It wasn't TOO bad now, I hope. I put a question mark at the end of "the end" because I might continue this. Might. It wasn't TOO bad now, I hope. I put a question mark at the end of "the end" because I might continue this. .
X3. Fluff is good for the soul. And unless you're going to flame me, please review?