No, it wasn't. Here she was, stuck in some huge cabin, which was quite delightful really except for one teensy weensy problem that was-Tokiya.

Fuuko sniffled and wrinkled her nose pertly at the hunched over form across from her. His long silvery hair caught the light cast by the fires crackling flames, and once in awhile the bright blaze of silver nearly blinded her. She glowered at him.

As if sensing her gaze on him, he looked up from his book and gazed back at her with cool, expressionless icy blue eyes. He would've blended in perfectly with the way the snow was falling so damn hard outside.

They continued their staring contest until Fuuko finally dropped her gaze, but not before shooting him one last nasty look and directed her gaze instead out the window.

The snow all but covered the clear glass pane entirely, and Fuuko could feel the tiniest of worries worming their way into her mind and planting it right where her paranoia was.

Something was wrong. Wasn't there? The snow was falling too hard, too fast; it just didn't seem natural. Not that she knew much about snow in the first place except it ruined a perfectly good vacation for you and made you sick.

And it also got you stuck with the only one who didn't want to go out, in this case, Mr. Ice Man himself, Tokiya.

Fuuko wrinkled her nose in distaste and dragged her eyes from the window, she couldn't see out much anyway so why bother?

Sighing for what may have been the umpteenth time that day-day? One quick glance at the Grandfather clock that stood to the side of the fireplace told her it was a quarter 'till 9 at night.

She just shrugged nonchalantly and turned away when it suddenly sank in. A QUARTER UNTIL 9?! She did a double take. Eyes wide with surprise and concern, she wondered what was taking the rest of the Hokage Ninja Team so long. They had left the cabin in the morning 6 o'clock sharp hadn't they? Shouldn't' they have been back by 7 or 8?

Clearing her throat uneasily she waited for Tokiya to look up. He didn't. She began to feel irritation again but pushed it down and tried again, this time louder. "Ahem."

He still remained enraptured in his book, and Fuuko had had enough. Clearing her throat one last time, "AHEM!" Tokiya jerked as if he'd been slapped and looked at her, a flicker of annoyance flitting across his eyes.

"What do you want Fuuko?" he asked in an equally annoyed voice. Fuuko gave him a 'look' but decided to let him get away this time. "Have you noticed what time it is? You don't suppose anything has happened to the rest of the guys do you?" she asked, a bit of the concern inside of her sneaking into her voice.

Tokiya glanced at the clock and when he looked back at her his eyes held a mild surprise. For Mikagami Tokiya never became emotionally distraught. "Strange…they should've arrived at least an hour or so ago." He shrugged. "Maybe they just caught up and decided to stay a little longer, or maybe they're taking their time driving-the roads are slippery."

Fuuko chided herself mentally. She should've thought of that, now Tokiya probably thought she was a worrywart or some absent-minded baka.

She just nodded and slumped back onto the couch, and her cold added with the warmth of coming from the fire lulled her gently to sleep…

~
RIIIIIIIIIING!!!

Fuuko jerked wide awake from her lumbering sleep and instantly regretted it since she suddenly felt woozy. Tokiya took one glance at her, a smirk gracing his usually stone-chiseled features and he reached over to grab the blaring phone off its hook.

"Moshi moshi?" he asked into the phone. Immediately his ear was assaulted by the overly loud voice of Domon who practically screamed into his ear, leaving it ringing two-ways 'till Monday.

"Quiet down Domon. I can't make out what you're saying with all the noise you're making." Tokiya said calmly into the receiver. After a few seconds of silence, all Fuuko could make out now was what Tokiya was saying, and even that wasn't much.

A harsh draft suddenly blew against the entire cabin. The wind shook the wooden frame slightly, the sounds of something hard and fast raining down beat against the cabin and the windows.

And precisely at that moment, everything went black.

The only thing that was left was the light from the fire, but even it couldn't pierce the total darkness that surrounded everything else beyond its reach.

Fukko jumped when a hand suddenly closed around her shoulder and she scolded herself. It was only Tokiya! Who else was here that could've touched her shoulder?

Calmed down and thoroughly irritated at the sudden blackout, she turned to Tokiya, giving him the evil eye even though it really wasn't his fault.

He merely raised a brow. "Domon called to tell us that they hadn't arrived earlier because when they got ready to leave the slopes, they were stopped because all roads are currently shutdown due to a blizzard warning. He said they don't know when they'll be back and that's all he was able to tell me because the powers cut off."

Fuuko stared at him. Face as hard as stone. She. Was going to be. Stuck with. Tokiya…For KAMI only knew HOW LONG!!!

Any other girl would've been thrilled to be stuck with the bishounen. Fuuko wasn't just any other girl. And so what was her reaction?

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"

Somewhere far away, a fellow howler answered in kind to what seemed to be a distressed and pained howl from another of its kind. The wolf stood briefly for one moment to see if it could track down its kin before trotting off when all it got back was silence.

~
"Fuuko. Stop being stubborn. It isn't THAT bad." Tokiya sighed in exasperation. A frown marred his beautiful features, hands on his waist as he tapped his foot impatiently. In the lighting of the dozens of candles they had found, and the light from the fireplace, Fuuko could clearly tell his patience was wearing thin.

She smirked. Fine then, let him lose his patience. See if she cared!

For the umpteenth time, she shook her head vehemently and crossed her arms, turning away from the offensive dark purplish liquid, glass of water and spoon.

He HAD to be out of his mind if he actually thought she'd be willing to drink THAT! She eyed the bottle of whatever from the corner of her eye and shuddered. Whatever THAT actually was.

~
Tokiya fumed. Patience was a virtue…No, patience IS a virtue…

SCREW VIRTUE!

She was going to take the medicine even if he had to pin her down, pry her mouth open with his Ensui and shove the damn thing down her throat!

Almost as if reading his mind, Fuuko suddenly scrambled to grab the bottle, and without even measuring it out onto the spoon, she chugged it down and slammed it back on the table before gulping the water like one dying of thirst.

Tokiya blinked in surprise before smoothing out invisible wrinkles in his clothes. A face of utter calm appeared once more and he patted Fuuko's head like an indulging mother. "There now, that wasn't so hard, ne?"

Fuuko gave him a look that promised a slow, painful, and merciless death. He just patted her head again.

Removing the now empty glass of water and the nearly empty bottle of medicine, he went to check on the fire, stirring it so that the flames jumped, he added another log after coming to the conclusion that they had enough to last for…a few days if it came to that.

He could feel her heated gaze burning holes in the back of his head and wisely chose to remain facing the fireplace, tending it with the iron poker.

He watched as the small brightly burning flakes of ash stir gently in the air before fading away into black. He watched silently, mesmerized by the simple beauty of the flickering flames and enjoyed the warmth and heat radiating from the fireplace. Behind him, he could hear Fuuko shift restlessly for a few moments before settling back and eventually falling as silent and still as he.

The next time Tokiya finally drew himself out of his warm and comfortable state of drowsiness, it was nearing eleven o'clock. He glanced at Fuuko, and found to his mild amusement that she had fallen asleep, one hand curled under her cheek and the other clutching the blanket around her. He looked from her peaceful face to upstairs and came to the decision that he wouldn't wake her up. Upstairs was probably freezing cold and besides, he didn't want to wake her up when she looked so content.

He sighed and prepared to go upstairs when a whimper made his feet still. The whimpering faded away and he felt himself breathe again and worry etched itself in his features but he really didn't know what he could do. He started to take a few steps when he suddenly saw her jerk and cry out, her hand reaching out from something, or someone in her dreams. Or nightmares.

He crossed over to her with long, quiet strides and stood there, feeling helpless and hopeless he watch her face, eyelids clenched tightly shut and body tense as if any second she'd snap apart. And then she went limp, her hand falling back to her side and her mouth closing. He stood there, watching silently and unable to do anything. Hell, he didn't know WHAT to do.

Sighing, he smoothed back a strand of hair from her face, noticing the heavy sweat that made her face glisten in the soft glow of the light. Before he had even pulled his hand fully away from her face, her hand shot out and slender fingers wrapped around his wrist like tempered steel.

He could only stand there, gaping and mind as blank as a clean sheet of paper, not fully comprehending until he felt himself being pulled down. Tokiya's eyes immediately went as wide as saucers and he tried with little success to pry her fingers off his wrist without waking her up.

1 hour later, Tokiya's head was nodding as he tried to stay awake and not fall asleep. Fuuko's unbelievably strong grip around his wrist hadn't loosened up, and for the past hour he had been forced to kneel by her side, his free hand braced against the edge of the couch and tiny spider-like pricks and tingles that running up and down along his numb limbs.

Exhaustion eventually won out though and he fully slumped next to her, head resting slightly on the couch and body bent in a...interesting position that promised great aches and pains when he would wake up the next time.

~
Fuuko felt oddly...peaceful. Which was a nice surprise considering she usually awoke by screaming her head off from nightmares that plagued her sometimes when she had fallen asleep, the content of which she instantly forgot no matter how hard she tried to remember what had happened.

Her had loosened their death grip on her blanket and--waitaminute. This didn't feel like her blanket she was holding, in fact, it felt a lot like...

"TOKIYA!!!"

Tokiya jerked his head up from his restless sleep and somewhere in his body bones popped painfully and he felt his eye twitch momentarily before his eyes focused on the wide-eyed Fuuko. He blinked blearily and realized that, as numb as his hand was from her death grip, she had loosened her hold upon him.

"Ano..." was all he mumbled out before a stinging slap to his cheek REALLY woke him up. "What. The HELL. Did you do THAT FOR?!" he yelled at her, eyes glittering hard and cold as his temper dropped dangerously.

Fuuko matched his glare with one of her own and her face flushed angrily as her hands balled up into fists and her ki flashed at a terrifying level. "What do YOU think you were doing huh? I'M the one who should be ANGRY here!!!" she shot back at him.

Tokiya could feel his eyes twitch, this time in anger as he snarled at her. "Ungrateful idiot--you're the one who was crying out in the middle of the night! You're the one who had a death grip around my wrist, stopping me from going anywhere, and if I hadn't seen how peaceful you went after getting a hold of my wrist, I would have GLADLY woken you up so you could FREEZE to death upstairs! If I had known THIS was how you'd repay me for showing, God forbid me to ever do so again, an OUNCE of concern for you, I wouldn't have bothered in the first place!!!"

And with a final yank of his hand, he gave her one last growl and stomped upstairs to brood darkly. Fuuko sat on the couch, mouth agape and eyes wide. Tokiya...Tokiya...he...he had...and groaned at how much she had messed up this time.

~
Tokiya's eyes were narrowed and his heavy breathing caused puffs of white to roll from from his mouth as he tried to regain control of his now out of control temper.

He was still trying ton control his emotions when a timid knock at his door roused him. For a second he was tempted to not answer it or allow her entrance, but scoffed at the idea. Only a childish and immature person would do such a thing, and he'd be damned to let this girl reduce him to such petty sulking.

"Come in."

Fuuko walked in, a sheepish look on her face and sniffled a few times in the lengthening silence between them before she finally mumbled incoherently. Tokiya gave her a baffled look before sighing in exasperation. "Look, I won't yell at you if you won't yell at me, so just spit it out before I decide to go back on my word."

Fuuko gave him a scathing look before looking sheepish again. "Um...uh...er...I just wanted to...to apologize for uh...slapping you like that downstairs. I'm really sorry...I didn't mean to. That is, not after you um...told me what you were doing there." A very large sweatdrop formed on the side of her head as she laughed nervously, scratching the back of her head in embarrassment.

Tokiya sighed heavily and only a glimmer of annoyance touched his voice. "I suppose I can forgive you for your uncalled for action. It is...understandable that you slapped me. I'm sure I would've done the same if I was in your place," he concluded drily.

Fuuko blushed again and gave him a sheepish grin before looking at him with surprise. "Oh. Geeze...I really gave ya a good one didn't I? Your cheek is all red now," she said, her embarrassment rising. She hadn't meant to slap him that hard...

Tokiya's hand rose to touch his cheek gently and he winced slightly. The sting was still there, but it had turned into a dull, painful throb which is could handle. Provided that he took care not to sleep on that side of his face for tonight.

A lightbulb suddenly snapped on above Fuuko's head and she grinned. "I know just what will help ya! Back in a jiffy!" and bounded downstairs, leaving a bewildered and wary Tokiya looking after her retreating back.

Minutes later, after a few loud yelps and the sound of something...breaking, Fuuko reappeared, something wrapped in a thin towel in her hand. She walked towards him and sat down with a thud on his bed, making the springs creak slightly and he continued to eye her, and her bundle, warily.

"Che. Don't look so nervous Toki-chan," she said, using that awful nickname. "I made ya an ice pack, it'll help uh...lessen the pain."

Tokiya reached out to take it from her but she swatted his hand away and said she had to do this herself, as "payment" for her earlier slap. He sighed and settled back, wincing as her not so gentle administrations on his cheek. After a few moment's, Fuuko's hand stilled and the slight cold that seeped through the thin towel eventually soothed away the throb in his cheek. He relaxed slightly, silently appreciating her efforts to make up for what happened earlier.

Much to his surprise, he found himself reflecting on Fuuko's personality and actions. She was a tomboy, no doubt about that, and had a mouth that rivaled any street gangster. He had never really looked at her like she was a female, not like gentle, completely feminine Yanagi. She was a lot more like "one of the guys" if anything else. But the gentle and caring way she was acting now was making him second-think on his past opinion on her.

He studied her features through half-closed eyelids, the candle she had brought up cast shadows on them both, and it made her usually hard contours seem soft and...well, feminine. She couldn't de described as a "girlish prettiness", but she did have a wild and carefree beauty about her that made her a perfect contrast to Yanagi. He frowned slightly at the direction his thoughts were taking, confused at his sudden turn of feelings.

He had never bothered to think about Fuuko in terms besides being a fellow Hokage Ninja member, but now that he thought about it...she was...okay. Okay? He snorted mentally at the word and sighed inwardly. He was tired. That had to be why he was thinking such...bizarre things.

Finally, he carefully pushed Fuuko's hand away from him, cutting off her protests with an uncharacteristically gentle smile. "I'm feeling better now Fuuko. Arigatou. But I think it's about time for you to go to bed now, it is, after all, 3 in the morning. And from the way things have seemed to settle outside, my guess is that the rest of the gang shall be arriving by tomorrow, so you should try and get your rest in this short period of peace."

Fuuko blinked and gave him a smile of her own and backed off slowly. Standing up, she stretched and yawned, and if it hadn't been for the shadows that covered her face, he could've sworn she was blushing.

"Oyasumi Toki-chan. And again, I'm really sorry. Hope ya sleep well," she said, closing the door to his room softly behind her.

Tokiya watched the door, listening to her fading footsteps, and another smile touched his lips before he settled back in his bed, eyes closing and with that odd smile on his face even as he slept deeply.
~

Fuuko tossed and turned in her bed. She had long since felt warm after the first few minutes of freezing and teeth chattering. She groaned and buried her face into her pillow. She couldn't stop thinking about...him.

'Argh! If he doesn't get out of my head soon, I'll scream!' she thought woefully inside her mind. Tokiya. Tokiya with his cool, distant expression. Tokiya with his frown. Tokiya with his long, silvery hair. Tokiya with that weird, abnormal, soft smile on his face before she left his room. Tokiya...

'Okay. Enough is enough Kirisawa. You have GOT to get that guy outta your head and get some freaking sleep!!!' she yelled at herself mentally. She wrinkled her nose and sighed, flinging an arm across her eyes and chest rising and falling slowly. 'I can't. It's like his face is haunting me or something...Kami-sama...when have I suddenly been plagued by HIS face?!'

That was easy enough to answer. Ever since tonight. Ever since he had given her a gentle and soft smile, telling her to go to sleep, making her heart pound even faster and hoping fiercely that he wouldn't be able to make out the blush on her cheeks. And it all started with her slapping him.

She really did feel guilty about that, and it had taken every ounce of honor and self-control for her to finally get the nerve to go to his room and apologize. And she had been beyond relieved that he didn't shun her or glower. He had been...kind to her even.

Sighing again, she forced herself to calm down and get some rest. A certain long-haired bishounen following her even deep within her dreams...

~

Author's Notes: I know...what a cruddy way to end it but...my creative juices stopped flowing and I figured that's a good enough place to stop anyway. ^^; I hope it was enjoyable and feedback is BEYOND appreciated. ^_^ Ja!