Heat

Yay ^_^ Thanks to the wonderful review from Moon-Daisuke, I\'ve decided to
put up the second installment in my \"Heat\" series. If you\'re a Seiya fan, be
forewarned, you see a slightly different side of him during this chapter.

As always, please, read and review. I love to hear your comments, as long as
you\'re not too Simonesque about them ^_^.

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~*Heat*~

~Chapter Two: The Morning After~

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Taiki woke, yawning, stretching his stiff muscles. Feeling something curled
around his neck, he blinked, then looked down. He saw the sleeping Yaten
with her arms around his neck, blinked, then the memories of the night before
came back to him, and he sighed contentedly.

He gently slipped his arms around her again, stroking her cheek. She moaned
softly, muttered something in her sleep, then woke. Nuzzling his cheek, she
giggled softly. \"Hey.\"

\"Hi.\" He murmured. They kissed breifly. \"Mmm....what time is it?\" Yaten
groaned softly, stretching.

\"You look like a cat when you do that, you know?\" Taiki grinned at her,
reaching over and picking his glasses up off his bedside table. Slipping them
on, he blinked, then looked over at the clock. \"9:30...I\'d better get in the
shower...I was going to take one last night, but, see, something came up.\" He
gently touched her nose.

She grinned back. \"Okay...but you don\'t have to spend the day buzzing
around, you know. It\'s Saturday.\"

\"I know. I won\'t. I\'ll come back in here if you want me to.\" He kissed her,
then stood up and slipped a robe on. She sniffled slightly. \"Please do. I\'ll
miss you if you don\'t.\"

\"Alright then.\" He gave her a thumbs-up, then walked out into the bathroom.
From her spot on the bed, Yaten could hear the water running as he started
his shower. Suddenly, an idea struck. Quite an evil idea, too.

She dashed into her room and picked up her own robe, slipped it on, then
snuck into the bathroom as quietly as she could. She shed her robe then, and
peeked round the curtain. \"Hi again.\"

He jumped. \"Kami-sama, Yaten! Don\'t DO that!\"

She laughed. \"Can I come in?\"

He gave her a very suspiscious look. \"Were you reading my mind?\"

\"Actually, no. I think we were thinking the same thing.\" She stepped into the
shower, pulling the curtain closed behind her. Sucking in a breath as the hot
water hit her already sizzling skin, she slipped her arms around him.

\"Didn\'t we get enough of this last night?\" He asked, arching one eyebrow.
She giggled. \"That was last night, though.\"

He considered that, then ran his hands over her. \"Good point.\"

She giggled again, feeling him explore her. Grabbing one of the shower puffs
off the tap, she lathered it up and ran it over his chest. Standing on her
tiptoes, she kissed him, dropping the puff and running her soapy hands
through his hair.

He backed her up against the wall, where the cold tile made her flinch.
Slipping one hand between her and the chilly ceramic, he pressed her up
against him as he kissed her back. Even in the heat of the shower, he
shivered when he heard and felt her moan into his mouth.

As arousal and desire welled up in him, he suddenly jumped as he heard the
bathroom door open. *Oh CRAP! It\'s Seiya! Yaten, please, be quiet or he\'ll
know you\'re in here!*

Either hearing him or the door, Yaten froze, covering her mouth with one
hand. Her green eyes danced with apprehension. What if their black-haired
leader found them?

\"Taiki?\" He called. \"I\'m just putting some towels in here...I used them all up
last night...\"

\"Okay. Thanks.\" Taiki responded, still nervous.

A sudden silence descended on the trio. \"Taiki?\" Seiya asked, now
confused. \"Why is Yaten\'s robe in here?\"

\"I-I don\'t know, Seiya. Maybe she left it in here last night for some reason.\"
Even to his own ears, his voice sounded false. Yaten rolled her eyes, tempted
to tell him just how unbelieveable he was.

\"Taiki, she wasn\'t in here at all last night. Now, let me ask this again: What is
her robe doing in here?\" Seiya\'s voice suddenly went very stern. It was so
different from his normal, casual tone that Yaten couldn\'t help but snicker,
her hand still over her mouth.

The auburn-haired teen shot his snickering lover a glare. He cleared his
throat. \"Uhh...I\'m really not quite sure, Seiya. Maybe you should go ask her.\"

\"That would be hard, considering she\'s not anywhere in the house.\" the
black-haired teen suddenly went silent again, then called out in a unreadable
voice. \"Is she...in there?\"

Yaten was now silently laughing, trying to keep herself from bursting out by
smothering her hands over her mouth. Taiki laughed nervously. He didn\'t
want to see Seiya\'s reaction if he knew exactly where Yaten was and what
she was doing. \"W-what gives you that idea, S-seiya?\"

\"You\'re stuttering.\"

*Crap.* Taiki muttered mentally. \"M-maybe she went for a walk...\"

\"Yeah, right. I\'ll be waiting to see you in the living room...\" He paused, then
added, \"...BOTH of you.\"

The auburn-haired teen closed his eyes in mortification as he heard Seiya
throw down the towels he had been holding with a \'thump\', then stalk out,
obviously quite upset.

Yaten choked down her laughter, then finally gasped out, \"I\'m sorry. That
was too funny. I can\'t imagine Seiya ever being that stern.\"

\"Glad you found it funny.\" Taiki muttered. \"I felt like I was being scolded.
He\'s younger than us both and he made me feel like a child!\"

\"Awww...poor Taiki...\" Yaten giggled softly, quickly pecking him on the lips.
\"Come on. We might as well get our lecture over with.\"

\"Yeah...come on.\" He slid open the curtain and they wrapped themselves up
in towels. At the bathroom door, they parted ways, Yaten heading into her
room and Taiki heading into his.

~*~*~

A few minutes later, they came down the stairs together, now dressed and
ready to take the heat from their leader, who seemed to be quite pissed at
them at the moment.

\"Hi, Seiya.\" Yaten grinned. She seemed to be having quite a bit of fun with
this. Taiki, however, still felt like a child being scolded.

Seiya took a sip from his mug, then put it down, gesturing to the couch in
front of him. \"Sit. Make yourselves comfortable.\"

Great. They were in for a looooong discussion. Taiki sat down meekly,
folding his hands on his lap. Yaten, however, flopped down, slipping her
arms around her auburn-haired lover. He blinked, surprised, then looked over
and smiled at her. She grinned back. They were ready.

\"First of all...\" Seiya gave them both a hard glare. \"What were you two doing
in there?\"

\"I, for one, don\'t think that\'s any of your business, Seiya.\"

\"Oh really? I, for one, think that it\'s very much my business, Taiki. I may not
be the Princess, and I can\'t control who you care about, but that doesn\'t
mean that it isn\'t my business to make sure you two don\'t get too far into
something. Unfortunately, you two seem to already be in over your heads.
Am I right?\"

\"Stop acting like you\'re older and wiser than we are, Seiya. We know what
we\'re doing.\" Yaten responded, letting some of her attitude slip into her
voice. \"And I, at least, would appreciate it if you butted out of our business.\"

\"What if you ended up pregnant, Yaten? Huh? Did either of you think about
that at all?!\"

The silver-haired teen\'s responding words died in her throat, leaving a very
awful taste. He was right about that. They hadn\'t really given it much thought.

\"We...we used protection...\" Taiki kept his eyes averted as he spoke. He
didn\'t like seeing anger in Seiya\'s eyes. He never did. He was too used to
Seiya being cheerful.

\"Wow. I found a lesson Taiki didn\'t pay attention to. Reality check for both
of you. Condoms don\'t always work.\" The black-haired teen\'s voice was a
mix of sarcasm, disappointment and anger. \"What if it had torn, hmm? What
if you really had gotten her pregnant, Taiki? What then?!\" As he scolded
them both, his voice raised until he was nearly shouting.

\"I..I didn\'t think...\" The auburn-haired teen muttered, shamefaced, his pale
face lit up like a stoplight with a bright red blush. He hated arguments, and
this one was turning out to be a doozy.

\"That\'s right! You DIDN\'T think! You, of all people, doing something
without any thought as to the consequences!\" Seiya cried, standing, then
managed to lower his voice after several deep breaths. \"I\'m really
disappointed in you both. I thought you were smarter than this. I never
thought I would see the day when either of you would rush into something
as complicated as a romantic relationship.\"

Taiki shook, his eyes downcast. He had never heard Seiya this angry, or
disappointed before. Yaten merely buried her face into her lover\'s shoulder,
closing her eyes, not wanting to hear any more.

Their black-haired leader sat down again, managing to control his temper.
\"I\'m sorry.\" He muttered, clenching his fists. \"I just...I\'ve always looked up
to you guys, you know? I always thought that if I ever made a stupid
decision, both of you would be there to knock my head on straight again. I
guess...I never really realized that you two were still human...well,
Kinmokuseijin...\" He smiled wryly. \"...and could still make stupid decisions.\"
His shoulders relaxed, and he unclenched his fists, all the anger draining out of him.

\"Well, Seiya. I guess there have been two reality checks today.\" Yaten
murmured. He laughed softly. \"Yeah,\"

\"I\'m glad that\'s over.\" Taiki sounded extremely relieved. The silver-haired
young woman beside him giggled, snuggling against him. \"Yeah, you and me
both.\"

\"So...how was it?\"

The couple on the couch blinked at their black-haired friend, confused.
\"What do you mean?\"

\"You\'re not going to tell me what it was like? Boy, do I feel left out!\" He
pouted, leaning against the back of the armchair. Yaten laughed. \"You\'re not
getting the skinny on us! No way!\" She then stuck out her tongue at him.

\"So, I guess that means you\'ve gotten all the way to home base?\" Seiya
asked, looking slightly wistful, snapping his fingers in dismay. \"Damn...I
always thought I\'d be the one to score first...oh well...\"

\"Seiya-baka!\" Taiki cried, picking up a pillow and whapping him with it. The
black-haired teen laughed, falling off his chair and rolling on the ground. Both
his friends exchanged glances, then pounced on him.

\"Aiya! Oww! Hey! Two against one, SO not fair!\" He cried in between peals
of laughter. He covered his head with his arms, then realized his mistake and
tried to put them back down again. Unfortunately, Yaten really enjoyed using
her nails. Seiya\'s laughter took on a hystarical edge as she mercilessly tickled
him.

\"Mercy! Mercy! Kaiji! Kaiji! KAIIIIIJI!\" The black-haired teen cried,
unknowingly having switched back to Kinmoku Standard. He kicked and
flailed, laughing so hard he was crying, and managed to catch Yaten in the
stomach with a closed fist. She gasped, now laughing herself, and nearly
suffocated herself trying to breathe in.

Coughing, she fell back from the play-fight for a few minutes, trying to take
in enough air to keep herself awake. Taiki stopped trying to pin his friend
down just long enough to ask if she was okay. She nodded, waving for him
to continue without her.

Unfortunately, Seiya had used the moment to overpower his taller friend.
\"There! Hah!\" He flopped down, sighing, wiping tears of mirth from his
eyes.

Taiki rolled over, beaten, his head coming to rest on Yaten\'s lap. He stared
up at her, then grinned. \"Hi.\"

\"Hey.\" She giggled, then leaned down and kissed him. Seiya sighed wistfully.
\"You two are really cute, you know that? Like, sickeningly sweet too-much-
candy-too-early-in-the-morning cute.\" He waited for the response, grinning,
but he never got one. Yaten had moved around until she could lay down
beside Taiki, then fell asleep, her head on his chest. He had followed suit.

\"Wow...I guess they were really tired...\" Seiya smiled softly. He then picked
up a pillow and a blanket from the couch and tucked the pillow behind
Taiki\'s head, covering them both with the blanket. \"Sweet dreams, you
two...\"

After closing the blinds on the living room window, Seiya turned and left the
room. They deserved a little privacy, and they weren\'t going to get that with
him in the room. Just before leaving, however, he turned to look back at them
one last time. No matter how much he teased them, they were still sweet
together. As in, a-single-rose-on-your-birthday sweet, not sugary-sweet.

He was glad for them, but deep inside he was a little jealous. He wanted
someone to love, damn it. Oh well. He\'d just have to keep hinting the
Princess and hoping she could somehow return his feelings...and if not...well,
there\'s never anyone who doesn\'t have a match somewhere.

Pulling out a piece of paper, he began to scribble lyrics. Hmm...maybe he
could put it to guitar music and play it at the Princess\'s birthday celebration
next month. Maybe that would get her attention...