Disclaimer: I don't own Esca, blah blah blah... characters not mine... story idea is... and "Naked" belongs to Avril Lavigne.

Naked

Oneshot

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Hitomi sighed as the hot water hit her skin. The only good thing about being in Zaibach captivity, she surmised, was the fact that she could use up as much hot water in the showers as she pleased. Officially, to Dornkirk, she was a "guest", and that meant a little below military treatment... but the soldiers took cooler showers anyway. Who would care if the steam was so thick she could barely see the soap on the floor?

Dilandau stood watch outside the shower area of the training facilities. Chronic insomnia dictated that he would usually be the only Dragonslayer awake when Hitomi felt the need to perform daily duties at odd hours. Then again, Dornkirk himself had specifically addressed Dilandau, saying that Hitomi was to be put under the care of the dragonslayers' unit, and Dilandau would never go against the emperor's creed. He mumbled something on the topic of "women" and "hot showers" before grunting and slumping lazily against the cool wall just on the other side of the shower room's wall.

Reaching down for the damn elusive bar of slippery soap, Hitomi paused to think as she lathered up her lightly tanned skin. Her stay on the Vione as half guest, half prisoner; the clashes she'd had with Dilandau; the courteous acceptance of all of the Dragonslayers saver for their arrogant commander- she'd barely had any time to think about her old friends... After the third month on-ship, they'd just seemed like a memory. She hummed a tune she'd heard on the foreign exchange student's webpage back before she had been sucked up to Gaea, which she fell in love with and downloaded for herself. Regardless of the albino standing sentinel outside not two yards away, she started to sing the words to the song.

I wake up in the morning,

Put on my face-

The one that's gonna get me

Through another day

Doesn't really matter

How I feel inside...

This life is like a game sometimes

Dilandau rolled his head along the cool metallic wall in boredom. He vaguely registered the lyrics, half paying attention, half counting the steel plates in the ceiling. The first stanza had piqued his interest just a little bit; he started to listen to Hitomi's musical musings, half expecting it to be some stupid, happy-go-lucky song, or better yet, a slave chant...

Then you came around me,

The walls just disappeared

Nothing to surround me,

Keep me from my fears-

I'm unprotected,

See how I've opened up,

You made me trust

Hitomi didn't know what had suddenly made the song pop into her mind- was she subconsciously thinking of Van?- but nonetheless made a suitable crescendo as she reached the chorus. She spun herself around under the showerhead, her hair flinging water droplets everywhere around her, without a care in the world.

I've never felt like this before

I'm naked around you-

Does it show?

You see right through me

And I can't hide-

I'm naked around you,

And it feels so right

The albino smirked from his station. So that was exactly what Van meant to her... but as a friend of a lover, he couldn't tell which.

Tryin' to remember

Why I was afraid

To be myself

And let the covers fall away

Guess I've never had someone like you

To help me fit

In my skin

Now, she noticed, the girl felt differently. No matter how hard she tried to convince herself, she just couldn't keep thinking that she was singing the song about Van anymore... it was like she'd had a bit of a moment of truth and was singing about someone completely different.

I've never felt like this before

I'm naked around you-

Does it show?

You see right though me

And I can't hide-

I'm naked around you,

And it feels so right

The commander had noticed the faltering in her tone. 'Thinking about something interesting, Hitomi?'

Does it show?

I'm so naked around you,

And I can't hide

You're gonna see right through, baby

The blonde switched off the showerhead, grabbing a nearby towel for herself. She tousled her hair with it, thanking the gods she kept it short for track, then wrapped it around herself until she got to where she kept her clothes. She dressed herself quickly, not for the sake of speed but to keep Dilandau from storing in on her while she was naked, shouting something random about her taking too long. With her tanktop and track shorts finally ensconcing her, she grabbed her bathrobe and slid her feet into comfortable furry slippers.

Without a word, she opened the door to the shower hall to find Dilandau leaning tiredly on the wall just opposite her. In complete silence the silver-haired young captain led the honey-haired girl back to her room, opening the door for her in mock gentlemanship, then shooting her a glance she couldn't identify as the girl quickly rushed up to him on impulse and planting a soft, quick kiss on the cheek, just over the scar.

"Goodnight, Dilandau," she muttered softly, half fighting with herself, half proud she could do what she'd just did without being pushed away. She closed the door behind herself with a soft click.

The boy raised a black leather-gloved hand to his cheek, touching where she'd basically scarred him, and where she'd just kissed. Without a sound, he blinked twice, smirked, and started to walk back to his own room.

'Looks like I've finally won, Van.'