The rain had been coming down for well over an hour. It had started as a light drizzle that pattered on the window panes of the summer house but now it was a torrent of wind and heavy rain drops and of course lightning. Kinji was surprised that he hadn't heard any commotion from Aria across the hall. It was almost shocking, especially considering how terrified of thunder and lightning she was. The thought to get up and check on her nagged at him, but exhaustion overtook him and he fell under a wave of fatigue.

He closed his eyes and drowned the raging storm out. He was utterly sound asleep. That was until he heard the subtle creak of the door to his room being opened. He opened his deep brown eyes and saw a figure looming in the doorway. A sudden flash of lightning lit up the room long enough for him to see that it was Aria. Her small figure was trembling.

"Kinji," her lips quivered as she spoke. Kinji didn't even need her to continue, he flipped over his comforter and patted the spot in the bed next to him. Her gentle feet padded across the room and she carefully got into the bed. Her lithe body was so light that he barely noticed any movement at all on the mattress.

To Aria's surprise, Kinji removed the remainder of the blanket that was on him and covered her up. He said nothing as he turned over and appeared to doze off again. The warmth of the blanket was inviting and it smelled faintly of gun powder and laundry soap.

Kinji closed his eyes again, hoping to get some rest. He had no clue what the time was but he craving for a bit more shut-eye before the sun rose. Although with the storm raging outside, who knew if the sun was even going to break through the clouds. Another bolt of light struck the sky followed by the angry drumming of thunder. At that point he knew sleep was not going to happen. He could feel Aria shaking beside him, and even though he had covered her up and even though she was in the same bed as him, she was still terrified. He longed to comfort her, but going into hysteria mode in his situation was not the greatest idea.

Her shuddering was insistent and Kinji had had enough. In one quiet motion, Kinji flipped over to his other side and wrapped his arms around Aria's tiny figure. He waited for his blood to begin boiling and for him to begin making smart remarks, but he was calm. No boiling blood. No smart remarks. It was just the two of them surrounded by the clatter of rain on the manor windows. Perhaps she was the secret to keeping his hysteria under control.

He expected her to protest, to start squirming in his arms or to start shrieking at the top of her lungs. But she remained quiet and still. Her ruby eyes were opened wide and staring at the ceiling. Through the blanket, Kinji could tell that her shaking had subsided and that her breathing was steady. He let his eyes droop, hoping that amidst her fading panic, he would be able to relax for just a second.

"Thank you," her voice was like a knife that cut through the silence in the room.

Kinji felt himself shrug, he figured that Aria must have seen him do it because she retorted. "No, seriously, thank you. I've never met anyone else in my life that would've done that for me." This time she made eye contact, her red eyes staring at him in the darkness.

"You're welcome," he replied, smiled then shut his eyes. Everything seemed to be calming down.

Several minutes had gone by when Aria suddenly draped the blanket over the both of them. Kinji suddenly felt so much warmer than he did before. Aria was under the blanket with him. Him. And Aria. Same bed. Same blanket. It was beyond miraculous that he hadn't gone into hysteria yet. A sly smirk from the short girl was enough to set him off, but how was being under the same blanket not causing his blood to boil? Just as the question began to bother him, he felt Aria squirming to get closer to him.

"Kinji?" she squeaked.

"Yeah," he spoke, not opening his eyes for fear that she might 'pump him full of holes.'

She was scooting dangerously close, he could sense that his fingertips were only millimeters away from her midsection. Her slender arms reached out and wrapped around his waist. He gulped. This girl is going to be the death of me. He didn't make any move other than open his eyes. Her crimson orbs were staring back at him and she was smiling such a genuine smile. A smile that he had never seen from her before. He couldn't help but smile back.

"I love you," If that wasn't enough to send him overboard, she immediately kissed him. Her soft lips embracing his own. It was tender and gentle and meaningful. Not a means to get someone to calm down.

The very shock of kissing should've brought Kinji's psyche into its enhanced mode, but he was still himself. He didn't feel any smug comments lingering in the back of his throat. It was enlightening, the fact that he could finally control it and all it took was a pint-size girl to say she loved him.

He wrapped his arms around her waist, taking in every small curve his hands found and holding her as close as he possibly could. He broke away from the kiss long enough to speak.

"I love you too, Aria."

I started (and finished) this anime yesterday. As you can see I have a lot of time on my hands. But I was really upset that there was no blatant fluffiness happening between Kinji and Aria. So I wrote my own.

Reviews are nice.