DISCLAIMER: I do not own Kaze no Stigma.

If there were ever a contest for being the absolute laziest person on Earth, Ayano had a feeling that the contest would be promptly disbanded when people got a chance to see what an incredibly unfair advantage Yagami Kazuma had over his competitors. Her scowl had been practically etched onto her face since the moment she had been assigned this mission by her father. It wasn't that she minded; even though it seemed like an easy one, it was a good way to sharpen her edge and keep her in tiptop condition. What she did mind, however, was that, not only was Kazuma once again assigned to be her bodyguard for the mission, the lazy jackass wasn't even there! She had called his cell phone to absolutely no avail, and finally began storming over to his absurdly luxurious suite herself. The staff hadn't even batted an eye at her entrance. After all, when the same girl with fiery red hair kept coming in for the same guy who continued to stay in the same said absurdly luxurious suite on a regular basis, people at least got to know others by sight.

Ayano tapped her foot impatiently as the elevator continued to rise. It was her damn summer vacation, what the hell was she doing spending it riding in this absurdly nice elevator in this equally absurdly nice hotel, waiting for the floor of the absurdly luxurious suite so that she could kick down the door and rouse the absurdly lazy person inside who absolutely reeked of money? Ren had gone with his friends to the beach (she'd worried briefly that it would bring back painful memories of Ayumi, but Kazuma had seemed reassured that Ren was a stronger kid than that... strangely, Kazuma's vote of confidence in his younger brother had helped Ayano breathe easier), and she would much rather have gone there than be coming up into this asshole's suite, which he lived in like he owned the damn place.

What infuriated Ayano more was knowing that, with his immense wealth, he probably could afford to buy out the whole damn place and turn the entire hotel into his goddamn palace. Which he probably would, arrogant asshole that he was.

The elevator was approaching Kazuma's floor at a decent pace, but it felt more like it was going slowly, further irritating her. What in the hell was that moron doing anyway? Probably just lounging in his bed, arrogant, lazy asshole that he was. Probably wasn't even conscious either, even though it was nearly noon. Just what did that idiot do to make himself so tired anyway?

Her scowl suddenly vanished as this thought hit her. Just... what did he do to make himself so tired...? Her face slowly reddened as she considered that, for him to sleep in so much... he'd have... had to do something... late at night... right...? Something... or... someone?

Ayano's fists clenched with white-knuckled intensity, her blood boiling with rage. "God dammit, can this thing go any slower?" she shouted up at the ceiling angrily. As if frightened by the sudden interruption of the usual boring elevator music, the elevator jerked to a stop on the correct floor. Ayano stomped off onto her floor, her scowl having returned with a vengeance. As she approached the all-too-familiar door of Kazuma's absurdly, ridiculously luxurious suite (no one, she huffed mentally, should be allowed to live in such splendor, especially not an arrogant, lazy, lecherous asshole like Kazuma), she briefly thought of kicking the door down unceremoniously, but decided against it in favor of being civil and using the key he'd lent her. She came by so often, Kazuma had reasoned, that she might as well have a key to the place, because answering the banging and angry shouting at his door every morning was no way to wake up. The slight to her notwithstanding, Ayano decided it was a good idea, and besides, her hands often hurt following her bouts of practically boxing the door down.

She also decided against unceremoniously flinging the door open, in favor of opening it slowly. Ayano closed the door gently behind her before storming in the direction of his bedroom, mentally snarling to herself that he had better not have some hussy in that stupidly comfortable bed of his with him. She remembered finding out how stupidly comfortable it was because he had taken her to lie in his bed when she had gotten a stomachache after a post-mission dinner where she tried to, unsuccessfully, eat him out of house and home. Of course, it had been initially hard to appreciate it, but after she'd gotten better, she had come to like lying in there. Plus the bed smelled very much like-

Flushing a light pink, she decided she would stop that thought right there. After all, it hadn't smelled that nice... It was just a scent, that was all. A... rather... pleasant one...

Her train of thought ended as she peered into the bedroom, seeing Kazuma snoozing in his bed (alone, a part of her mind noticed with a sigh of relief), irritating and lazy as ever. He was sleeping without a shirt on, she noticed. Her blush heated up a bit more. Well, what of it! She had seen plenty of guys half-naked before! She'd caught occasional glimpses of the guys at school topless, and occasionally Ren if she opened the door while he was changing or getting ready for a bath! It was no big deal whatsoever!

Except... well... none of them really looked like... like that...

She swallowed hard and forced herself to scowl again. Honestly, being a teenager was such a bother, what with all these hormones and all! She stomped toward Kazuma as he lay on his back, breathing evenly with his eyes closed in an expression of peace. Not that she was fooled, he was probably dreaming about swimming in his money, or bothering her, or being an arrogant ass as always, or taking home some skank into his bed (the cracking of her knuckles briefly filled the air at this thought).

Glaring down at him, she said in a most unpleasant tone, "Kazuma. Kazuma! Wake up, you lazy ass! Kazuma!"

Nothing. He continued to breathe evenly, still peacefully slumbering. Jerk.

Ayano put her hands on her hips, growling under her breath in frustration. "Kazuma, you had better not be pretending to sleep! Kazuma, are you listening to me?"

No reaction.

She was about to speak louder, seeing how he could sleep like the dead when he wanted to, but then she somehow caught notice of his lips. At the sight of them, she began to blush again, remembering that there had been times when she wondered what it'd be like to kiss hi- er, to kiss a boy. According to Yukari, she had admirers, but Ayano had never been interested in anyone. So why was she suddenly wondering about kissing...? Again, she blamed it on hormones, damned annoying little buggers that they were, but... Well, she didn't want to really just kiss someone just for the sake of kissing. The boys at her school would probably think she was into them, and the last thing she needed complicating her life was some hormonal teenaged boy drooling all over her and thinking she was into them. She could kiss a girl, but then Yukari would have turned it into national news within nineteen seconds. And... well...

Ayano found herself thinking about going for it. After all, no one else was here... it wasn't like Yukari would be able to bug this place (Kazuma would never have allowed such a thing, and he could notice even the slightest thing off about his surroundings), so no one would ever find out about it... She stared at his lips again and swallowed hard.

In a soft, nervous voice, she called out to him again. "K-Kazuma...? Are... Are you awake...?"

No response again. Tremblingly, she placed her hands on either side of him, gingerly setting them down so as not to rouse him out of his slumber. He slept like the dead, yes, but sometimes, people would wake up at the most random things. She swallowed hard as she leaned in closer to his face.

"Just... s-stay sleeping for a bit longer... okay?" she whispered timidly. "If… If you wake up now, I'll k-k-kill you..."

The last words were barely above a breath, her lips shyly meeting his. She tried to remember all the things she'd picked up from those shoujo manga and anime that Yukari liked watching every so often (they weren't all bad, she reasoned to herself) about kissing, but found she could barely think about anything but what was going on right now. It was... a bit unrewarding, she supposed. He wasn't doing anything back, which was to be expected, considering he was sleeping like the dead, the lazy bastard... but... it... it was still pretty nice... She meshed their lips a bit more, her face feeling hot enough to fry an egg, but unwilling to stop. It was possible she'd never get a chance like this again... so, she reasoned to herself, it was best to make it as enjoyable as she could.

Ayano closed her eyes, finding his lips to be surprisingly soft. For someone with such a foul mouth, he had a nice pair of lips... but then... he was a rather attractive guy... Kind of... Not really her type, of course, but...

If it's with him, I... I could... come to enjoy this...

As she realized what had just popped through her head, she flinched backwards, falling onto her rump in shock. Wh-What was I thinking?

Looking around wildly as if to make sure that no secret observers had seen her, she leapt to her feet and began to hurriedly walk-run out of the suite, her face hotter than before. Forget him, she would just do the damn mission herself!

Besides... she honestly didn't think that she could bring herself to face him at this point... or for the next few days... weeks...

As the door clicked shut, Kazuma's eyes cracked open, a smirk tugging at his lips. He raised two of his fingers to brush over his lips, right where Ayano had clumsily kissed him while thinking he was asleep. He'd been wondering what she would do to wake him this time, but this definitely took the prize. Besides, as clumsy as she'd been, what man was going to complain about an admittedly attractive young woman kissing them while they slept? Kazuma decided not to think too much about that, though his heart was racing a bit from all of the effort he'd put into not kissing her back and taking her completely off-guard. It would have been fun, but... potentially destructive. And he happened to like this place.

Rolling over to get in a few more minutes of genuine shuteye, Kazuma wondered if he dared tease Ayano in a few different ways... Ah well, he had some time to kill before he came to a decision on that. With that, he grinned one last time before taking a nap, his mind already conjuring up a very pleasant dream with a lovely redheaded girl as its star.

End

Piece I wrote for fun, and because I'd been meaning to write something with this pairing for some time but could never think up any ideas. Besides this one, I mean. Definitely had fun writing it! I feel like some parts were a little awkward, but I'm pretty happy with the finished product. If you've made it this far, please leave me a review and tell me what you think. Constructive criticism is always appreciated, flames will be used to keep me warm since the days have been getting kinda cold lately. XD 'Til next time!