Destined for Greatness - A Togiri Fanfiction

Chapter Seven - The Sound of Flipping Pages

The first thing Kyoko realized when she awoke was the warmth she felt around her shoulder. This was strange to her, especially remembering the last place she would have fallen asleep would have been the cold library. There was a sort of pleasant smell as well, warm and reminiscent of cologne. Then she noticed the slight rise and fall of breathing. This is what alarmed her, and she opened her eyes in an instant and jolted from her position. She felt something underneath her move as well. It was Byakuya, mirroring, she was sure, the same face of surprise as she? Or maybe she read it wrong? And they stayed like that for a bit, she just taking in the situation they found themselves in.

In a loss for words, Kyoko only managed to say, "I... need some coffee." and started her pace to the door, but Byakuya held her by the wrist (which has become a habit of his) looking as he were at the brink of words.

He must have instantly regretted it because his eyes widened in the realization of his action. He let go quickly. Her eyes stayed on his, and she narrowed her's, in a very distinct shade of puzzlement. 

Then she left through the door, concerned that she practically stumbled her way out, with the amount of disorientation she felt. Throughout all this, she almost didn't detect the rate of her heart beating so violently, it could've almost escaped from her chest. She instead just leaned herself against the closed door, making sure to slowly press against it, so that it would make no creaking. She looked up over to the iron-boarded windows, welded so tightly, Makoto had said there's no chance of prying them off. The hall was dark, and she realized how long it had been since she'd seen sunlight. What did it even look like? She felt that she knew but just as she would get close to remembrance, there would be this block. It was infuriating. 

She turned her head to press her ear up against the thick, chilled wood. She wasn't quite sure what exactly she wanted to hear- maybe a slight sigh from Byakuya, or the tap of steps coming to chase her. Instead, she could just make out the slight flip of pages. She wondered what he was reading. Was it the same Huckleberry Finn novel from yesterday? Or maybe he found another book to indulge in. She had gotten through about two-hundred pages of her eight-hundred-page copy of 'Les Miserables', he surely must have finished his book yesterday, being that his' was around two-hundred and a half. 

There she was, she realized, overthinking minor details.

Kyoko shouldn't have run away like that, she knew that much, and she considered going back inside. There was no reason to be fretting over such nonsense. She felt embarrassed for showing such immaturity. Yes, she would go back inside and collectively ask what happened. There is no time for this, for these nerves. But then it occurred to her- why exactly had she been so nervous in the first place? Had 'nervous' even been the correct word for it? 

No matter. She steadily opened the door and was met with Byakuya's face right in front of her's, his hand on the handle of the inside, pulling the door as she was pushing it. His face was once again that shocked expression from when she'd first awoken. Then his eyes softened. It was like she could see the cogs turning in his head going back and forth between thoughts, juggling different factors. She guessed he was trying to express something to her. Maybe one of his offhand explanations. But after a while, they suddenly turned to ambition, his eyebrows furrowed in some sort of decision he had made. He huffed for a moment, looked downcast to the side, and returned to her gaze.

He pressed his lips to her's. He was suddenly bent down slightly to her, with his hand still awkwardly placed on the door handle, so he moved it to her cheek, letting the door swing closed. The kiss felt gentle, simple, like the flip of a thin-paged book, or the small tapping of a pen to a desk. Kyoko, after registering the surprise of the moment, lifted her hand to touch the hand holding her face. That signaled him to let the kiss grow deeper, and he wrapped another arm around her waist, pressing them closer together. Then they let go and separated from each other. Kyoko could feel a sort of flush of warmth pool at her cheeks, and she resisted the urge to turn away but felt her eyes shift to the side. When she returned to his face, he was still looking at her, but instead of the usual questioning, or judging tone to his stare, it was replaced with something she couldn't identify. It scared her. Then he spoke: