The thornless rose ((Kiki*Tsukiakara)) **mature**

She sighed. "You're uncomfortable." Inori thought that she didnt stand a chance with him. "I'm sorry."

‘Uncomfortable’ he thought to himself (not out loud of course) ‘what was that supposed to mean’ He was puzzled but was one thing was for certain he had offended her in some way. He didn’t have any clue what to do now. He just stood there standing as the water dripped off him.

She pulled her clothes on and said "Id better be getting home. Its getting awfully late."

Tsukiakara wanted to escort her home like a gentlemen but something inside of him was telling him not to. He watched as she left. When she was gone he sat down near the river throwing stones into it and collecting his thoughts. If only his mother was still alive, she could have given him tips. He sighed and put another pebble in the water. He then suddenly had an idea. He wasn’t sure if this would get her to like him again but it was better then doing nothing and feeling sorry for him self. It had been a half an hour since she left and he finally stood up and put his shirt on again. He had to go to the store first.

Inori got home and was greeted by Kikisu. "So how was it?" she asked.

"Awful! We went swimming and he thinks I'm ugly!" she cried and ran to her room. Kikisu came in and rubbed her back.

"There there."

Tsukiakara got home and made the preparations. He was going to make a letter. Well technically it wasn’t a letter but a gift that fit in an envelope but that was beside the point. He put a picture of a beautiful lake in first. That was the easy part. Next he took some red colored beads head bought at the store. There was a letter on each of the beads. He arranged the beads and began make a bracelet out of it. The words it made were “I Promise” The rest of the bead wear blanks so that it would fit a person’s arm. He then sealed the envelope and wrote his return address on it. He left his apartment and was heading to the post office. But then he got another idea to just leave it at there door since it may of taken days for the mailmen to deliver it. It was well into the night by the time he started walking to the house.

((im skipping a little)) Inori opened the door and saw the envelope as well as tsukiakara walking away. She dumped the contents into her hand and began crying softly. She slipped the bracelet on and ran after him. Wrapping her arms around him she whispered "Thank you." and huddled against his back.

He stopped when he felt the embrace. “I’m so sorry Inori. I never want to hurt you like that again. I promise, that lake in the picture, I promise to take you there.” He then turned around and wrapped his arms around her too.

"You didn't hurt me. I thought you didn't like me." she laughed and held him tight. "So do you have a place to stay at?" she wanted to feel him laying next to her. Inori had never felt this strongly this soon about any man. None had held this much power over her. And it felt good.

“Yes I live in this village.” He told her still hugging her.

Would you mind if i came over for the night?" she asked looking into his eyes with a sad look on her face. "Please?"

There was those eyes again that he could not deny. “No, it’s perfectly alright” Tsukiakara said. He wondered why she didn’t want to sleep at her own home. Maybe it was family trouble or something but he wasn’t going to discuss that right now.

She smiled and took his hand. "Lead the way. Do you mind if I call you Tsu-Tsu?" she asked. Tsukiakara was a hard name to say over and over again. She felt that if she had a nick name for him it'd endear her tgo him.

“Sure” He smiled back. It wasn’t the first time someone wanted to give him a nickname because of his long name and it certainly wasn’t going to be the last time. At least she was nice enough to ask and Tsukiakara liked that about her. She was nice. “Here it’s this way” He said holding her hand leading her through the dark.

She followed him to his house. It was late and she was tired. "Can we get to bed soon?" she asked yawning.

“I know how you feel just a little bit farther.” They passed a few more apartments and they finally got to Tsukiakara’s number. “Here we are” He said opening the door for her. It was a medium sized apartment with only 4 rooms. There was a main room with a couch and table, a small kitchen with an oven, fridge, and microwave, and lastly the other two rooms were bedrooms.

"So which one's yours, Tsu-Tsu?" she asked hugging him. Inori snuggled against him and looked up into his eyes.

“It’s that one” He said pointing to the one at the left. “My roommate sleeps in the other one but he’s not here at the moment.” Tsukiakara finished then he gave her a hug back.

Inori walked into his bed room and climbed into the bed. It was nice and warm under the covers as she waited for Tsukiakara.

Tsukiakara walked into his room as well to see that she was in his bed. “The toilet is over there if you need to use it.” He said pointing to what at first looked like a closet. “I see you’ve made yourself comfortable. If you need me I’ll be on the couch.” He then turned around to leave the room.

"No don't leave." she said putting her hands out to him. "I... I want you to stay. Please." Inori didn't know why she felt so invulnerable now that he was here. But it was so overwhelming that she didn't know any better.

Tsukiakara turned around again and but his hand behind his head. “Well… I guess I could sleep on the ground if that’s what you want. But I got to warn you, I’m a loud snorer.” He said honestly.

He didn't seem to get it. "But..." Oh well she thought thats the best she would get. She yawned and murmured "I sleep soundly. Snoring doesn't bother me. Goodnight."

Soon Tsukiakara made a comfortable place on the floor to sleep on. “Good night.” He said in return. It didn’t take long for Tsukiakara to go to sleep and start snoring (as he said he would). The training he did wore him out even after all this time. The night continued and it was quite in the village.

In the middle of the night Inori climbed onto the floor and cuddled with Tsukiakara under blankets. It was nice to be near him.