"Kakyou-kun, I'm here!" a cheery female voice called out. A small female, not quite a girl, but not quite a woman was hopping around excitedly on the sandy beach. As she bounced, her cropped, dark hair fluffed gently, and the little tufts in front of her ears moved nearly as much as she was.

"Hokuto-chan? Is that you?" a calm male voice called from across the beach.

"Of -course- it's me, silly. Who else comes to visit you in here?" she hollered back, standing on tiptoe to give her shout maximum distance.

The young man she was shouting at sighed, but was smiling gently none the less. He meandered over to Hokuto, and told her softly, "You don't have to yell. I'm right here."

She 'humphed' loudly, and pouted slightly. "Well, you weren't here when I was shouting.You were alllllll the way over there." She pointed, as if he didn't know where he'd come from.

Kakyou chukled slightly, and looked his friend over. She always wore crazy things, but today, her outfit was downright..... odd. She had on a very short pleated skirt of a brilliant chartruese, and leggings underneath. The leggings had a pattern on them of what appeared to be small birds. Her shirt was a violet blouse tied in a knot above her naval. She had an enormous chartruese rose hanging from the choker she was wearing, and a violet rose on a headband in her hair. She was also, he noticed, barefoot.

"Hokuto, where are your shoes?"

"Didn't wear 'em." she said, as if this explained it fully.

"Well, yes, but why?"

"I didn't have any that matched." she gestrered to her outfit. "Anyway, I always get them wet, so what's the point bringing them?"

"Hokuto..." Kakyou sighed exasperatedly.

"What?" She pouted again, and reached up to Kakyou's long, blonde hair. She fingered a piece, drawing closer to him. She looked up, and smiled. "Let's do something with your hair today!" Hokuto winked at him.

Kakyou paled. Hokuto was very dear to him, and he was proud of her for her unique sense of style, but....... he shuddered to think of what she could do to his soft, creamy locks. However, he did trust her not to do any permanent damage, and how could he say no to that face?

Hokuto whipped out a bag of hair styling stuff. She sat down, speard out a blanket, and began pulling her 'tools' out of the bag. First was a number of hairbrushes; wire bristles, plastic with rounded tip, soft bristles, horsehair bristles, and a round curling brush. Then combs of varying sizes. Next were roughly 20 diffent creams and styling gels. Hokuto grinned even wider as she pulled out ponytail holders, barrettes, clips, and ribbons. Then she pulled out some shampoo, conditioner, a blow-dryer, a straightener, and a curling iron. As she removed these final items from the bag, she frowned slightly, and glanced around.

"Hmmmmm."

"Nani?"

"Do you think you could dream me up a shampooing sink, a towel, and a power strip?"

Kakyou blinked.

"Please?" Hokuto flashed him her puppy-dog eyes.

Being male, he was unable to resist the puppy-dog eyes, and obliged. A delicate french shampooing sink appeared, with a cushy chair, as well as three fluffy white towels, and a power strip. He also considerately added a large table for all of Hokuto's supplies.

"Hokuto-chan..."

"Mm-hmm?" she was busily preparing herself for the task at hand.

"You won't..... cut it..... will you?" Kakyou asked, a tad concerned. He tried to sound offhanded, but being Kakyou, he sounded rather depressed.

Hokuto turned quickly. "Of course not! I know how much you like it long. Heck, I know -I- like it long." she smiled at him. "I promise I won't do anything that a good washing won't undo. 'Kay?"

"Arigato."

Satisfied with this answer, he let her steer him over to the chair by the sink. Once he was comfortable, Hokuto slowly leaned the chair back, and rested his head on the edge of the sink. Grabbing her shampoos, she turned on the water, and made sure it was the perfect tempurature. Hot, but still cool enough to be relaxing. Then she gently rinsed his hair, taking care not to splash him. Hokuto put a squirt of shampoo in her hands, and then began massaging it into Kakyou's scalp.

At first, Kakyou was nervous. Who knew what she was going to do? But after she began putting in the shampoo, he relaxed. She was rythmycly, almost sensually rubbing his scalp, creating a warm tingling sensation on his head. It was quite unlike anything he'd ever felt before, and it was extremely comforting. In fact, he was so relaxed, he dozed off in his chair before she rinsed.

Hokuto was reveling in the silky smoothness of his hair, running her fingers through every part of it. Finally done shampooing, she grapped the spraying hose attachment to rinse. As she turned back, she noticed he was asleep, snoring softly. She giggled. Kakyou snored! She hadn't even realized you could sleep in a dreamscape. She continued with the washing procedure; rinsing, conditioning, and rinsing a final time. Then she called softly to him, to wake up.

"...kyou-kun.."

'What?' he thought groggily.

"Kakyou-kun. I'm finished washing your hair." she repeated.

He sat up, and she wrapped a fluffy towel around his head. Then she pushed the chair over to her 'Styling Table'. She looked at his head carefully, trying to picture it with different 'do's'. Then, seeming to have decided, she grabbed one of the many brushes, and set about taming the tangled mass of knots.

Kakyou had thought this would be painful, but Hokuto did the beauty schools proud. She brushed, combed, and brushed some more, until he wondered if she was brushing hair by hair. Then, she preceded to braid. She did one long, think braid, and tied it with a plain, black elastic. Then she handed Kakyou a mirror, and told him she was done.

He looked.

He looked...... good. Groomed. Clean. Simple. And, most importantly, he still looked like himself.

"Hokuto. You did.... a really good job." He smiled at her, and held one of her hands with both of his.

Hokuto was touched by this quiet gesture of affection from the normally shy and reserved Kakyou. She blushed, and stammered out a "You're welcome." Kakyou, seeming to realize what he was doing, dropped her hand like a hot coal, and then blushed profusely himself. Hokuto, hiding her dissapointment at his reaction to holding hands, plopped down next to him on the chair, which had suddenly grown to become a small loveseat.

"So, you like it?"

"....yes."

"Do you really, or are you just saying that so you won't hurt my feelings?"

"No! I... I like it. I really do."

She smiled. Taking a deep breath, she reached out and grasped his hand gently. "I'm glad. Thanks for letting me do it." Kakyou jumped when he felt her small hand slide into his, but, surprising himself, he felt no desire to pull away. He looked up at her, and noticed how very close she was. And how small the loveseat was. And how easy it would be to..... kiss her.

The last thought startled him. Kiss her? Since when had he wanted to kiss anyone, much less Hokuto-chan? But then, she was his only friend, his dear friend. She came into his dreamscape to visit him on a regular basis, and she brought color and joy into his dull, monotous life. She made him sincerely consider leaving the dreamscape, just so he could spend more time with her, meet her brother and their vet friend. See where they lived, and worked. See them in person, for real. Quite suddenly, he realized that with no stretch of his imagination, he could see himself spending the rest of his life with her.

All of this information presented itself to him in a manner of seconds. And, having reached this conclusion, he decided that for once in his life, he was going to take a chance.

Kakyou leaned into Hokuto, and kissed her softly on her lips.

And she kissed him right back.

At first, she had been startled. Kakyou, KISSING her? But it was so quiet, so soft and gentle. Almost hesitant. She could sense the underlying message of trust, and offer of love. And the blatant fear of rejection. She felt, in one single kiss, everything he had to give her, wanted to give her. It was hers for the taking, should she want it. And she did. She had loved him for so long now. His serene composure such a vast contrast to her hyper joy de vive. His soft voice, gentle hands, caring face. Everytime he was sad, her heart hurt, and all she wanted to do was make him smile again. Make him laugh, mabye even for the first time in his life. Had he ever laughed? Hokuto doubted he had. In fact, she believed that she was the only one he had ever smiled for. And Hokuto wanted nothing more than to always make him smile. So she summoned all her love for him to the surface, and kissed him back. Not hard, not passionately (she didn't want to spook him), but with such intensity, that it left Kakyou momentarily dizzy. Could anyone love this much? Yes. Hokuto could, and did.

He looked into her brillient green eyes, brimming with such a deep love, it couldn't be measured. And he smiled the biggest, truest, happiest smile ever seen on the face of the earth. All for her. Just for her. Always for her.

And she looked into his piercing, tranquil gold eyes, finally showing all the emotion she had known was there all along. When she saw him smile at her, she knew that no matter what happened, this would be the happiest moment of her life. And always would be.

They kissed again, this time with all the passion and love two people could possibly have, and held each other for what seemed like forever, as if time itself had stopped.

After all, time is nothing to the heart. 3

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A/N: Didja' like it? My first ever TB/X fic! I love Hokuto-chan, and I was starting to get annoyed with all the Hokuto/Seishirou fics. Hokuto and Kakyou forever! Support canon couples! Anyway, hope you liked it. I sure had fun writing it. ^_^-v