Prettyinpinkgal: Now, I had promised myself. I had sworn I wouldn't write any more stories. So what am I doing? Writing another story. Go figure. I think this will just be a series of short oneshots or drabbles, though, and I'm just dying to write something right now, so here I go!

Disclaimer: I do not own Dengeki Daisy. The title comes from the song.

TIME AFTER TIME

Gaze

Teru looked up at the janitor, who was preoccupied with gambling on his laptop.

Oftentimes, he was looking at her, she now realized; he looked at her with a soft, longing gaze when he thought she wasn't looking.

Other times, his eyes were filled with a protectiveness which rivaled a brother's.

She wondered how well Daisy had known her brother--how long Kurosaki had known her brother, she amended. It was confusing; she loved Kurosaki in a romantic sense, but for so long she had loved Daisy like she loved her older brother. It was strange, getting used to it.

But she felt she could guess what his feelings were, or at least eliminate the wrong answers.

He didn't hate her, or even dislike her. After all, he must have known Kurebayashi Teru was the same Kurebayashi Teru whom he had been emailing. He forced her to be his slave, knowing what her name was. Yet he did not hesitate to drag her out of class that first day they met. Perhaps he had wanted to meet her too?

He didn't think of her as a brother. Teru knew her late brother would have asked someone to be a comfort to his heartbroken sister, and if Riko-sensei meant what she said, that Teru was like a little sister to her because of her relationship with Teru's brother, then she would have been the perfect candidate to be with Teru during that difficult time. But no--Kurosaki was chosen instead. What was the reason? Teru wasn't sure. But he must have had some other feeling for her than being a sibling.

He didn't think of her as someone to be pitied. To be sure, he felt bad for her. Anyone would. On the rainy days, Teru felt bad for herself. But if he thought of her as a charity case, he didn't act like it at all. He was much too violent, too crude, to fit that role.

He didn't think of her as a friend. If he did, Kurosaki should have told her from the start that he was Daisy so that she could be his friend instead of him just being hers....This deduction, however, made Teru snicker a bit, earning a curious glance from Kurosaki. After all, Kurosaki hardly seemed the type to be so sweet.

He didn't think of her as a guy thinks of a girl. She was painfully aware that this was most likely true. There was a chance, but it seemed so small. It was as she had said on countless occasions: He was a man, an adult. She was some shrimpy high school girl. It was stupid. It was borderline creepy, in fact, if she thought about the possibility of him loving her.

But she wanted him to.

Every time he rescued her, every time he laughed at her, every time he held her, every time he emailed her, every time he so much as looked her way, she felt that hope bubble up in her chest.

But then she would quell it, stifle it, smash it to bits. After all, with a life like hers, she was sensible. She knew the chances were slim, despite her friends' protests.

But for this brief meeting of their eyes, she could convey all that she wished, all that she felt, and hoped he'd send her the same message.

However, he instead asked, "What's with you? Get back to work. You had a five-minute break just a little while ago."

To which she replied, with a longsuffering sigh and an amused, warm smile, "Go bald, Kurosaki."