-Imitation Black-

"What are you doing?"

Reiichi jumped involuntarily as she had not been expecting his deep familiar voice so close to her ear. She whipped around, arms hugging her chest on reflex. She was very aware of how she could feel his breathing tickling against her skin, and even the heat of his body. The person in question gave an amused snort and smirked upon seeing how her face flushed upon seeing him—and he also noticed her eyes trailing down his bare torso.

Kanda couldn't really blame her, for his toned body was quite blatantly the hottest in their industry, and that was saying something. Actually he never really thought of how he even got this kind of bod—just that it came with the continuous years of Kendo, swimming, and exercising. Of course he knew how much people liked his body, because the constant molestation he received on a guaranteed basis when he was out in public told him a lot, but he never really wanted that kind of attention—until now.

He merely arched an eyebrow at Reiichi when her gaze came back up to meet his, and he saw her eyes widen in mortification at what she had been doing—checking him out—and then came the very familiar look of denial that she had been doing something his fangirls did all the time, and she stubbornly scowled to herself, keeping silent.

Kanda snorted, rolling his eyes as he kept his smirk on that he knew annoyed her more, sauntering past her to sit at the edge of the pool.

"Quit standing there and get in," he tapped the floor impatiently, dipping his feet in the pool to test the temperature of the water. It was warm.

"I was waiting for you," Reiichi huffed in return, and reluctantly walked over to sit next to him. "Can we not do this?" she asked, eyeing the water below them uneasily.

"And I told you my answer—no."

"But why?" she groaned, hugging her legs to her chest. "I don't want to learn and I don't need to learn!"

It was a few days after their little holiday at the hotel when Lavi proposed they go swimming again, since the other time he caused a little rift that ended their swimming fun earlier than they had planned to be in the water. And then he insisted that his dear cousin had to learn how to swim because it's not fun to just watch Kanda and her flirt in the water—a comment that she shoved him for.

She had no idea that Kanda even agreed to it—wasn't this kind of troublesome?—until just half an hour ago when he told her to go change into the appropriate attire for her first ever lesson. That led to a rather long drawn out argument until he threatened to drag her into the pool himself, and she knew there was no escaping it.

"You do," he deadpanned at how she was practically whining. "I am not your personal damn hero who is going to save you every single time you get thrown into the sea or pool—so start to learn how to save yourself," he scoffed, but inwardly he knew he would dive in anyway.

"It's not like I ask for people to throw me into the water," she muttered.

"Are you bitching?"

"I am not!"

"Huh," Kanda eyed her like he didn't believe her.

With a swift motion, he let himself down into his heated indoor pool, water sloshing up to his chest. The temperature was warm and comfortable, and it felt great against his skin. He dunked his head under the water to make himself completely wet, finally standing straight up to tie his hair at the base of his neck.

Reiichi merely watched him—or rather how the water droplets slid down his bare perfect back—then she realised Kanda was taking great delight in watching her expressions.

"Are you getting in?" he demanded, crossing his arms impatiently. "We don't have all night."

"But I don't want to," she admitted honestly, not moving.

"We've been over this," he sighed irritably. "Get in before I throw you in."

Honestly, Kanda couldn't comprehend why she didn't want to enter—it was just a pool, and they are at the shallowest end of the pool too. It wasn't like her head wouldn't be above the water, and obviously she wasn't going to drown when he was around.

"I really don't want to!" she insisted, now grimacing.

After all the bad experiences she had of large volumes of water—that time Kanda personally threw her in and she nearly drowned, or what about that time when Daisya pushed her in the sea and she nearly drowned again, or maybe that time when Kanda jumped into the pool carrying her that erased at least ten years of her life. Come to think of it, her phobia of water now was mostly because of him!

Kanda growled at how stubborn she could be, pushing himself out onto the edge again. "Rei…" he threatened, eyes narrowing. "One," he started counting. "Two."

She scrambled up when she realised he had every intention of following through his threat, backing away as fast as she could once she noted the predatory glint in his eyes. "Kan—" but considering she had tried many times to evade him and failed, she should have known he was going to catch her anyway.

Kanda pulled her by the arm back to the edge again, forcing her to stand facing the water whilst he stood behind her in case she tried to back away again. "Get in," he prodded, then he noticed she was still wearing her shorts. "Wait. Take that off first."

Reiichi followed his line of sight to the article of clothing that she wore over the bottoms of her swimsuit. "No!" she refused immediately, and then as if suddenly conscious that she was merely wearing her bikini top on, she hugged her chest protectively again.

"It will restrict your movements when you swim," he explained, frowning at her reaction. "What are you being all embarrassed for?" he demanded. "It's not like I haven't seen you in this before."

True, but it was only the second time she was wearing this and she still felt awkward in it. It just felt too bare—too exposed, and she didn't even know if she looked okay wearing it. Lenalee had insisted it looked great—but during their last swimming session; she was sorely reminded that Lenalee was a model and she wasn't.

She didn't have as a great figure as Lenalee did. She didn't have perfectly proportioned assets nor did she have a well toned body either. She was just…skinny—from her genes—and Kanda had commented rather frequently on how she was going to disappear if she didn't eat more. It wasn't like she chose not to have a curvier, sexier body.

Perhaps her silence showed her lack of confidence, or maybe she was just getting too easy to read, because Kanda sighed, a slight tone of aggravation apparent. "You look fine, so just hurry up about it."

His words were nearly a compliment—but he never gave compliments—so she couldn't deny that it made her feel slightly less hesitant. Still reluctantly, she slid her shorts off, folding them and putting them at the side. She sat down, rubbing her now extremely bare legs self-consciously.

"Are you still trying to bide your time?" Kanda demanded, hand impatiently pushing her from behind.

"Yes," she admitted, dipping a foot in the water experimentally.

She wasn't prepared for the shove that Kanda mercilessly pushed from behind her, and she yelped in shock before she hit the water, splashing ungracefully. In panic, she thrashed around for a bit before hands hauled her up, pulling her to stand up—and she found with much relief that she was standing on solid ground with her head still above the water.

"Why did you do that?" she cried indignantly, shoving Kanda in retaliation. "You know I don't even want to do this!"

"Precisely," he responded coolly. "Face your fears and all that shit."

She huffed, standing in the water awkwardly. "Okay, now that I'm in…what am I supposed to do?"

Kanda leaned against the side of the pool as he explained. "We'll start with the easiest style of swimming , that is the breaststroke," he began, trying to make sure he was making eye contact with her but his gaze kept slipping downwards every so often, "Place your hands together close to you, and then push it out, turn your hands so that they face outwards and push back your arms," he demonstrated easily. "And in tandem with that, you kick out with your legs."

"Easier said than done," she immediately commented.

"Just try it against the edge first," he instructed. "Hands," he tapped the edge, and she placed her hands there after setting her goggles on, gripping it. "Now, try to float."

Float. If she could float, she probably wouldn't have thought she was going to drown all the times she was in a large volume of water. She kicked up, but her legs still sunk to the bottom after a few seconds. She heard Kanda let out a snort—a similar one to the time when he tried to teach her to make soba—and she scowled at him.

"I told you I can't—"

"You're too tense," he said, pushing her head down into the water again.

But what he did after that sent tingles down her spine, because he placed an arm beneath her legs and raised them up, forcing her to stretch out straight at the surface of the water. She could feel him correcting her posture as he ran his other hand below her stomach, occasionally brushing his thumb across her belly button. She choked when she accidentally hitched her breath unconsciously, coughing out water after she came up for desperate air.

"Kanda!" she splashed water in his direction, face slightly red. "If you are not going to be serious then I'm not continuing this lesson!"

"Che, fine," he wiped the water out of his eyes. "Again," he snapped his fingers. "Float."

She tried again, and this time she made sure her head was above the water so that she wouldn't involuntarily drink in water if he tried something again. She managed to float for a while until he deemed it was okay to move to the next step.

"Now, you bend your legs slightly, open them out, and bring them back together quickly," at her blank look, he demonstrated. "There should be a push of water after your kick."

"Okay."

Kanda sat back and watched while she attempted the leg stroke. It was better than seeing her fail at floating, he mused, but the kick looked slightly off. "Your angle here," he caught one of her feet and held it at the correct position just below the water's surface. "Now, kick out."

He wasn't prepared for the kick to his jaw that sent him back into the water reeling.

Reiichi was chuckling amused when he surfaced spluttering, but she did look slightly worried. "Sorry, I really didn't mean to do that," she smiled, coming towards him to touch his face. "Does it hurt?"

He gave her a pointed look. He didn't even know people could kick that hard—and it was to his jaw even. He flexed his jaw experimentally and was relieved to know it wasn't broken. But for sure, there was a slight bit of soreness.

"Sorry," Reiichi grinned again, because the situation was actually pretty funny. "Consider it payback?"

"Hn, not accepted," he scowled. "And quit trying to procrastinate. Get back and practice."

Sighing, she did as she was told. Truthfully, the position felt awkward and weird in the beginning, but after doing them again and again, she was starting to see how the leg movements would propel her forward in the water.

"I'm going for one lap—and don't you dare step out any deeper from here," Kanda announced suddenly when he got bored of watching. "You keep to the edge and practice."

She would have said that she wouldn't have willingly gone any deeper anyway, but he pushed off after snapping his goggles on, sending a surge of water back towards her direction. From her position she couldn't really see very clearly but she knew he was swimming extremely fast from the disturbance of water when he came up from the air. Within less than a minute, he was already coming back, and this time she could see him thrust his body up with each breath he took in the butterfly stroke.

"I said practice," was the first thing Kanda said to her after he stopped beside her, pulling down his goggles.

"I think I'm okay," she replied.

He scrutinized her for a few moments and she sincerely hoped it wasn't too obvious that she had been watching him swim all along.

"Give me your hands."

"Huh?"

He held out both his hands palm up in the water. "Give me your hands," he repeated.

Gingerly she placed hers in his, wondering what he was trying to do. His hands held hers firmly, and she tried not to blush at how random the hand holding was. "Could you…explain at least?"

"You do the leg stroke, I'll lead you across the pool," he stated. "Come up for air in between your kicks—make it in rhythm."

Oh.

She nodded, lowering her head down beneath the water as she kicked off. She was facing directly down at the floor as she floated for a bit first before kicking out, looking at his feet that were steadily walking backwards across the breath of the pool. Coming up for air sounded so simple, but she realised it actually required effort to push her upper body out of the water to breathe.

Once she accidentally breathed in earlier than she should have, causing her to panic—because all she tasted was sickly water that clogged her throat, and she felt herself being pulled up quickly and a hand was slapping her back, trying to make her cough.

She didn't know she had closed her eyes throughout it all until she opened them unsteadily when she calmed down.

"…You alright?"

She gripped Kanda's arms tightly, head lowered. It wasn't a very pleasant feeling to recall the number of times she thrashed valiantly in the water with the feel of liquid entering her mouth passages unwanted.

"Again."

She shook her head.

"I won't let you drown," he was speaking at a softer tone than she usually heard. "Trust me."

Slowly, she did. When she started again—she felt him help her along parts when she screwed up the timings, and eventually it got easier. She didn't know how many times Kanda had led her up and down, but finally he stopped and she head crashed into him accidentally.

She surfaced breathing heavily, half panting. Who knew it was so tiring to swim? And she wasn't even swimming yet. She pulled her goggles off to let it hang around her neck as she sighed in obvious relief that they were taking a break.

"Was it okay?" she asked.

He shrugged. "You were getting tired."

True, she wasn't exactly very fit from the start, but that sounded kind of insulting. "I know," she grumbled.

"You sit out for a while and let me swim."

It sounded more like a command than a request, but she was glad to take it anyway. Heaving herself out of the pool, she breathed and let the cool air of the room touch her wet skin as she sat at the edge, watching Kanda take off again like a pure professional.

From where she was she could see clearer—his body form moving swiftly beneath the surface water—it was like there wasn't any water resistance at all. He was swimming freestyle, and a cloud of white water trailed after his path. It was pretty mesmerizing to watch how he glided in the water like it was so natural.

She know how many laps he had swum, because after a while, she was lying back down staring at his ceiling. She really did feel tired, but somehow she felt more relaxed as well, and certainly that warranted a sleepy sensation when she lay down at the edge with her legs still dangling in the water.

Kanda came back after he felt he had sufficiently done enough laps for the day, and blinked when he saw Reiichi lying down with her eyes closed looking content. He pushed himself out beside her, causing water from his body to cascade to the floor, but she didn't seem to react to it either.

He shook her lightly by the shoulder. No response. She couldn't have….slept, could she? But her hands were resting on her stomach that rose and fell in a peaceful rhythm with her chest. At least, now he could look at her as much as he wanted to without her covering herself up in reflex. His eyes trailed from the delicate collarbone to the curve of her cleavage, and then finally eyeing the front assets in general.

She wasn't as big as all the other girls he had slept with, but her size suited her body frame anyway. He was reaching out to touch—and then he stopped himself when he realised what he was doing. No, she wouldn't appreciate it if he randomly molested her, especially since the big reaction he got from just unclasping her bra the other time; he wasn't quite sure how she'd react.

Actually, why was he even hesitating? He couldn't even remember wondering about any girl's reaction to his touch—except pleasure—but somehow, he always kept stopping himself from going too far with Reiichi. It wasn't like she was one to speed things up either, and so their physical relationship didn't evolve very far.

Was it because she was too shy with his touch? Or was it because he was scared to take the next step?

And it wasn't fair, because he really wanted her.

He leaned closer to her face, noting that she was letting out breaths through her lips. Her lips parted when she breathed, and he was so close that he could practically feel her breath. Maybe he could kiss her before she woke up—and then he remembered he had the exact same thoughts once before.

Suddenly, Reiichi's eyes snapped open and her breathing stopped—he actually felt it stop—and she just stared in shock for a good minute. Then slowly, her face started to colour, and she looked like she wanted to say something, but was too tongue tied to say anything.

Charming.

It was nearly a year, yet she still looked so flustered when he came close to her, and he knew her heartbeat was racing at a million kilometers per hour in her veins. Her hands were also trembling when she reached up to touch his shoulder. She stiffened slightly, her breath hitched, pupils dilated—all signs he knew was caused by him and only him—and he smirked at that.

But what changed was that she let out a shy smile before pulling him down to meet his lips.

He welcomed it, nipping her lips gently at first and staring straight into her eyes that started to cloud with want. Smirking slightly, he slipped his tongue in her mouth to lead a deep kiss, curving his hand just at the base of her jaw to angle them better. Despite the cool air of the room, he felt the temperature of his skin getting hotter with the seconds. Everywhere was the smell of water and chlorine and wet skin—especially her scent that infiltrated his senses.

Since they were barely wearing any clothes to begin with, which Kanda was extremely thankful for, the touching between them felt more personal and intimate than ever. He ran his other free up her body, feeling the delicate bumps of her ribs until he brushed the curve of her breasts, teasing the part of the flesh he never touched before, eliciting some gasps and jerky scratches on his back.

He should have known that once he started, it was getting very hard to stop, especially when she started to touch that sensitive part of his back which prompted him to turn on the aggressive that he knew she couldn't keep up with. Before he knew it he was already straddling her, hot tongue running down her neck and towards the collarbone, sucking at the spots he knew she blanked her mind over, not caring if he was making a trail of red splotches that marked her sensitive areas.

All she knew was that it was getting hotter and it felt good. She tried so hard to keep the sounds that kept threatening to slip out down, biting her lip like her life depended on it because she couldn't believe that she was the one moaning so suggestively when he purposely brushed his thumb with feather touches across her neck.

Kanda growled in his deep baritone in her ear when he started to pay attention to the edge of her jaw. "Don't keep it in," he muttered darkly, sending a jolt of electricity right down to the base of her abdomen.

She couldn't even answer, because she was just that lost in the sensations threatening to overwhelm her. She never done anything like this before, and it felt like their physical relationship had been mere childplay prior to this. She never dwelt upon what Lavi meant by how good in bed Kanda was until now, and it seemed like he was merely teasing her even now.

She heard him groan against her lips when he started on a second round with his mouth, this time with more fervor. He was satisfied when she responded immediately, even hooking her arms around his neck to pull him closer, and she even arched into his touch when he boldly cupped her right breast. He didn't know how long they had been making out on his floor, but it was too good to stop anyway, so he grinded his hips against hers to create more delicious friction in his lust induced haze—

That was when Reiichi broke the kiss by pushing him away slightly, eyes wide and unsure. She was panting heavier than ever, hair mussed and lips red and swollen from his attack. She opened her mouth as if to say something, then it closed, and more blood rushed to her face.

It was as if she just realised what they had been doing—especially their state of lack of clothes.

Kanda started to feel a sense of dread when she looked away uncertainly, an awkward expression on her features. Maybe he had been too impatient.

"….I," he said eventually when it seemed like Reiichi couldn't meet his eyes. "…shouldn't have done that,"

Reluctantly he leaned back and allowed her some breathing space, and she sat up slowly, still casting her eyes to the floor. He honestly hoped he didn't screw up anything—like god forbid, she avoiding him again.

"No…y-you…" she blurted out suddenly, then slapped a hand over her mouth.

"I what?"

Reiichi was blushing so hard, he was sure she couldn't turn any redder. "Nothing," she said quickly.

"Spit it out," he growled impatiently.

She kept her eyes firmly trained on the floor, but for one second, her gaze darted towards his lower torso. She covered her face with one hand, trying to hide her embarrassment, but obviously it wasn't helping much.

"I won't do it again, okay?" he sighed, slightly put off at how she stopped him when they only nearly went to second base—that meant he had to try harder to control himself.

"No, I…" Reiichi squeezed her eyes exasperatedly shut. "I felt….it. I was just…shocked and…"

"Felt what?" Kanda asked, now getting confused.

"Your…e—"

It was when she looked at the direction of his swimming pants again that he got the message. With the lycra material, it was rather obvious that she could see—and feel—his desire.

"Just because I'm hard doesn't mean I'm going to rape you, if that's what you're worried about," he stated bluntly, not caring at how she buried her face in between her legs.

She just couldn't comprehend how he could say that like he was talking about the weather.

"I-I know!" she groaned, shaking her head furiously. "I just…" She never felt one, much less seen one, and to do both of that today was like shattering whatever she had left of her innocence. She coughed awkwardly when another question breached her mind. If he was okay with not having sex with her, then how was that going to go away?

What else was the sharp retort in her conscience, and she cursed herself for even thinking.

Kanda watched the embarrassed tinge of pink colour her cheeks adorably as she stared at the floor, fidgeting with her hands. Once or twice she seemed like she was trying to make an effort to say something, but it failed and it then occurred to him that they had long way to go—and he also had a lot of things to teach her if she couldn't even look at him now.

"Come on," He commanded, standing up and stretching for a bit. "Go and bathe. It's getting late,"

"The lesson—"

"We will continue another time," he responded.

Reiichi nodded, carefully keeping her eyes on the upper portion of his body as she stood up, trailing after him after taking her shorts that she folded along with her. He threw a towel at her, and she wrapped it around her body huddling in the warmth that it gave out.

"Kanda…" she started out softly when he made to exit first and he paused in his step.

He only sent her a questioning glance and she came closer to him.

"Thank you," was all she said before tiptoeing and kissing him on the cheek.

He stared stunned for a few seconds. "…For?"

"For waiting," a bashful pink tint painted her cheeks as she smiled at him shyly again before walking out first to go to her room.

Kanda let a half smile rise to his lips a minute after she left, trying to make his heart stop fluttering with that small action of affection. It always felt good when she thanked him—and she always thanked him for the smallest things that made him feel appreciated.

He didn't expect her to understand how hard it was for him to abstain from sex–especially when she just slept next door to him, and before he met her, he just satisfied the urges whenever he felt like it. But now he had an obligation to one person. This person fulfilled more than just his physical desires, because she also kept him emotionally stable. She didn't grate on his nerves, and he never felt more peaceful when she just sat and leaned on him.

He found it so odd that he never thought much of her in the beginning—she was just a designer whose portfolio looked the most interesting out of her entire school, and it seemed like Lavi would've agreed to his choice, so he picked her.

Perhaps it was fate that she just had to be Lavi's cousin.

He didn't expect to suffer matchmaking plans with her.

He didn't expect to feel so horrendously guilty when Matsumoto's daughter kidnapped her.

He didn't expect to get more irritated with the Noah who stole her first kiss more than he'd liked to admit.

He didn't expect to secretly enjoy the outfit fitting sessions with her.

He didn't expect to actually come to care for her more deeply than a friend.

He didn't expect to go crazy when she ignored him.

He didn't expect to ever want someone to like him back.

He didn't expect to fall so hard for her.

For this one person…

For her…

He could wait.

Owari.

I don't know why you guys want to see Kanda give Reiichi swimming lessons, but here you go XD Personally I was at a lost as to how to write it (therefore procrastinated until I realised it was quite a popular request), since Kanda would just sit by and watch idly as she swims her laps… I am sorry that my imagination sort of…flew by itself. I swear I censored Kanda's thoughts as much as possible :D :D

But since Kanda didn't get much action with Reiichi last chapter so….happy birthday to the birthday boy? :D

(I admit I totally wanted to end the fic on Kanda's birthday, just because it's a special day.)

OKAY PLEASE READ THE BELOW EVEN IF YOU'RE THE TYPE TO SKIP AUTHOR'S RAMBLINGS, BECAUSE IT IS IMPORTANT.

Perhaps you've already read it, but I've decided to write the Allena fic which is named Supernova that will chart Allen's past to his failed confession to Lenalee.

And then although I planned to write another KandaOC fic since months ago, you guys didn't want me to end this and I had such a sad feeling when I thought of how I'd never be writing Reiichi anymore –she is practically my love child, I love her so much—so I decided to write a sequel.

You read it right.

A sequel.

I am actually quite hesitant to write a sequel because I may potentially ruin the story forever, but I think I'm going to try and see the response. The only thing I can say for sure is that Reiichi will design for Kanda again (after all, that's been the skeleton of this plot anyway—and yay to more weird outfits for Kanda to bitch about) and it will be mature, especially since Kanchi's physical relationship will need to grow. There will be Lulubell and Kanda history, and also Allena progression. And Lavi, well, he'll be, um, there. So. :D

Thus, THIS FIC IS OFFICIALLY COMPLETED.

I truly thank all of you who have read, reviewed, supported, rambled and fangirled with me throughout this incredibly LONG fic with increasingly LONG chapters (25 THOUSAND WORDS RECORD WTF?).

WE WILL MEET AGAIN. I PROMISE.

Love,

The author who brought you Imitation Black.

P.S. I did Kanchi fanart on DeviArt (DA link on my profile).

28th July 2011 EDIT

Imitation Black is now available in PDF for those who would like to read this story when there is no internet connection :D Credits go to AcPa xox for compiling all 842 pages. Download link is on my profile.

Cantarella the sequel is already published and in progress, so please continue the Kanchi journey with me!

To Anemos who asked about Reiichi's parents:

Her past is explained in chapter three, and there are vague hints in other chapters as well—her parents died in a car crash when it stormed, she's half-Japanese and so on. But I guess in the sequel she will talk to Kanda about her parents too yay.

To exorcist who requested a conflict with Lulubell:

I thought of that too, but a chapter to write that would be more than 25, 000 words. X| Better for it to be explained properly in the sequel, no?

To everyone else who is wondering about Lavi:

I don't have any special person planned for him yet D: (you must understand that his girl needs to be epic enough to withstand his awesomeness :D)

Q: Why 'Imitation Black'?

A: Imitation is usually used for fake branded goods. Black was supposed to represent the things unseen. In this case, Rei's designs were always never the best, or "branded", but her talent was only discovered after people has seen what it can do.

Or at least, that's how I reasoned it. :D