The early morning breeze opens the window, causing the frame to bang loudly against the wall and abruptly wakes us up. Tokusa groans and gently nudges me. "Go close that." His palm caresses my head weaving his fingers along my hair line causing my hair to fall into my face. His body is oddly close to mine, he softly sighs in my ear as he falls in and out of sleep. Pulling my leg out from under his thigh, carefully slipping out from his grasp brings the hair on my arm to stand on end.

"You know, you could just bring your own bed over here from your old place." I sigh heavily, rubbing my temples as I sit on the edge of the frame. The thin sheet covered Tokusa's arm and he rolls over onto the farther side of the bed, wrapping himself back up. "People will eventually notice you sneaking into my home."

"Awe! you worry to much Nayuki." Tokusa sits up, yawning and stretching. He smiles the same way he usually does whenever I bring this up. He crawls to the end of the bed close to me and the window clangs loudly. "It's not like there's anything to notice. You've always taken me in since my parents died."

His words sting and ache in my chest. Grasping the window frame and sliding the hook back into place, I sigh. He still views this arrangement to be the same as when we were kids and for some reason that bothers me. "How late were you up?" I stretched and began walking towards the door.

"Bout as late as usual. I took a little longer because I knew you'd be asleep." He slipped his shirt on and poked his head out. Things crashing around loudly as he grabbed his stuff. "I didn't want to wake you up."

The cold floor makes the palms of my feet sore. As I place the kettle on the stove Tokusa peaked in and began waving his good bye, holding his shoe in one hand as he slips on the other. "I'll be back after rounds! You making breakfast?" He never lets me answer his repetitive question. The door slams shut and an overwhelming silence fills the room.

Roaming around the room, knocking simple things over reaching for the pot to mix the fruit I had from last night. How late did he wait before coming in and why doesn't he want his own bed? I can see why he wouldn't want to come in earlier, he's never been good at remaining quiet.

The door swings open and Suou comes in, causing me to drop the pot. I scowl as he walks into the kitchen area. "Oh? Did Tokusa leave already?" He peaks into the bed room and looks around. You'd think they'd run into each other down the hall but nonetheless they always manage to miss each other.

"He left a few minutes ago. I'm just making tea for now, are you staying?" I grabbed his usual cup and placed it where he usually sits. "Or is there something going on?"

"Yea, there's an island floating close by and they've asked me to assemble a team to go scouting." He stared at me intensely, glancing up and down at me. Standing at the door he crosses his arms giving me a strange look.

"I'm unmarked, you know that." The kettle screams loudly as I lift it off the heat. His hair is unkept today, not tied up or brushed it must have been an early morning for him too. "Is this why you came early for Tokusa?"

"No, I've chosen the team already and was late coming here to notify him that Rounds will be held later." Pulling his hair back, he motions to my clothes and tilts his head slightly. "Did you forget to put on your regular clothes and why do you think it's early?"

"I'm not entirely awake and I believe I woke up later than I think I did." Looking down at my old top and loose pants, I can see why he stared so intensely. The sun glimmered brightly on the stove top, which doesn't usually happen until close to noon. "I'll go change."

"You and I are 2 of 51 people aboard the mud whale that are unmarked." Suou spoke softly. I know that within our age group there are only a few of us but why is he bringing that up now. Probably just to talk about how we could increase the marked lifespans. "I know you and Tokusa are close..." he pauses and shakes his head.

"I need to get him a bed or something, that old thing we had when we were kids is getting worn out." I slipped my shirt off, tossing it onto the bed and sighed. Grabbing my newer tunic and waist band, I turn towards the door speaking a little louder. "I've been trying to get Tokusa to agree to the idea for a while now."

"Oh, I didn't mean that. I just thought you'd have ideas for helping the marked live longer." He walks towards the doorway with his cup, heading to the living room. "You two still share a bed?"

Tying the waist band around the base of my tunic, I turn to him and slip on my sandals. "He's been sneaking in, usually while I'm asleep so he doesn't have to pull out the guest bed. Even though he's not very quiet at sneaking in he still tries his best not to wake me each night."

Suou laughs gently, turning back into the living room and sits in his spot. "I don't think he's ever had to sleep alone." He blows gently on the tea, sipping slowly. "Before he came to you, he was always with his parents and when they began... deteriorating. You brought him over here."

Leaning against the wall with my arms folded I sigh. "He's not exactly a child anymore though, I enjoy company and I don't like being alone but.."

"You just want to sleep in your own bed?" Suou looks up at me, smiling gently. "Think about it this way, you have needs and so does he. Just talk to him and you'll eventually get through to him. You two are always together so, I don't see why he wouldn't agree."

"Sometimes he doesn't listen to suggestion. I think he's been avoiding this conversation for a while." I shifted my weight onto my left and rubbed the side of my head while adjusting my glasses.

The door opens and Tokusa walks in, slipping off his shoes and stares at Suou. "I went down for rounds and no one was there, so I came back." He scratches his head and looks towards me with a concerned look on his face. "Who doesn't listen to suggestion?" He must've been waiting outside the door for a while now.

Suou stood up quickly and walked into the kitchen area, placing his cup into the basin. "There's a floating island and the rounds will be held before this evening. I've already gathered a team to go scout out the island."

Suou turned to us both and bowed his head, he quickly left the room. He stood by the door slipping his shoes on quickly. "I'll see you guys before the flight phenomenon." The door closed behind him as he left.

"We should talk about this more, I know you've got a bed over at your old place and I'm sure you'd rather be staying here than there." I rub the side of my head, messing up my hair further. "I'm not saying that you have to move in but it'll be easier for you not to wake me up."

Tokusa stood silently moving his shoe over with his foot. "Do we have to talk about this now?" His facial expression changed and went into the kitchen, sitting down at the table staring out the window. "I know you've been wanting to talk about this for a while.."

"I'm not saying that you gotta move in but if you had your own bed you wouldn't need to sneak in." I repeated and stood by the door, holding my arms behind my back.

He looks up at me with a furrowed brow and sighs. "Or is there something you'd like to bring up?" He shakes his head and sighs looking disappointed. "It just takes the fun out of it, the excitement of sneaking in at night and rushing out the next morning." He stands up and grabs a cup and begins pouring the tea into the cup. "I enjoy those moments."

"You enjoy sneaking into a home that you've practically lived in since you were a child?" I raise my eyebrow at his innocence, I went down to sit at the table across from him and sighed. "You can still sneak in with a second bed made up."

"Takes the fun out of sneaking into bed." He stares at the ceiling and looks back down at me. His expression changed and seemed more at ease than before. "The not waking you up part is where it's exciting, the times where I do wake you up? Well, that's when the game is over."

Leaning into my hand, I sigh again. "You make this to be a game. Well, I can't say that I haven't talked to you about this but eventually a second bed would be great."

His smile fades, the corner of his lips turn into a frown and he speaks a little louder than usual. "You'd prefer not to sleep with me?" He holds his arm, blocking his torso from me and stares at the ground.

"You don't need to say it like that.." My face grows hot and my hands become clammy. "No, that's not what I'm saying it's just we are older now and I just don't want people thinking the wrong thing."

He winked and chuckles. "In this community we have, people don't often think badly of anything except the moles, they always have reasons to hate the mudwhale and the rules we have." Tokusa reaches over the table and messes my hair up. "Besides, there's nothing to gossip about between us and everyone knows you take me in."

"I guess that's true." I lean into my other hand, staring out the window. "Since your rounds didn't happen, should we get ready?"

He nods quickly standing up and went into the bedroom. "There's lots of things you gotta do before tonight, should you go catch up with Suou and begin helping out?" He peaks back into the kitchen with the same curious look he has.

"Yea, probably. You should also go see what you missed for this morning. We woke up way later than usual." I stood up and walked towards the stove putting out the small flame. "I'll see you before the phenomenon?"

"I'll meet you down by the gates, where we first watched them and I'll bring the blanket to sit on." He races off into the living room, accidentally tossing a shoe across the room and knocking over old items left from my parents.

I walked into the living room picking up his shoe. "You should really try being a little careful." I smiled and handed him his rouge shoe.

"Maybe some day soon I'll be good at being quiet." He places his hands on my head, rubbing softly in circular motions. "I'll see you tonight."

Moments like these make me hope that this'll never end, even if this is all that will happen from our friendship. Adjusting my glasses from the tip of my nose, I push it closer to the bridge of my nose. The door closes softly as Tokusa leaves for his Vigilante duties, his top has a slight rip in it from when he fell out of bed the other day.

The breeze from outside blows through the hallway leading outside strongly, bringing in the fresh air from above. Each door to the general residential area has the same looks but with different numbers placed above. We currently have 513 residents living on the mudwhale and only 10% of the community is an unmarked. My job is to coordinate with Suou and prepare for the things he chooses to delegate to me.

The surface of the mudwhale is sectioned off for crops, water retention from the rain and open areas for the children to play. The sun was close to setting and Suou waved from the window above. Guess it's time to prepare for the flight phenomenon and bring up extra sand cloaks.

Suou bursts in from the door, tripping on the ledge by the door and lands face first into the dirt. "You're uncoordinated as usual, what's the rush?"

I grab his arm, pulling forward and dust his chest off. "There's been a girl found, on the floating island." He gasped, clearly out of breath and grabbed onto my shoulders. "We've never found anyone on those floating islands before!"

"You're kidding right?" His grip tightens on my shoulder and shakes his head quickly. "What are they doing about it? Where is the girl?"

"She's in a room talking with the elders. I don't know what's going on for that, they asked me to continue with preparations" his grip lightens and he pats down his tunic. "They're not telling the public about the discovery but I am going to let the moles know."

"They're being released?" He began walking towards the internal nodding as he walked. "When was this decided?"

"There was a rainbow, a good omen and you would have seen it if you weren't inside for so long." He laughs softly as he pushes me to the side. "Did you two talk about that? He seemed a little off."

"Yea we talked about it but he thought I meant something else about it, instead of taking it as adding another bed to the home." I turned and headed towards the hall. "I'll see you after you've released the moles!"

"You know..." he stopped walking and faced me. "He's marked but..." I stopped walking and turned back to him but he just waves. "It's nothing. I'll see you later."

I shrugged and kept walking towards the main door. I wonder what he meant by 'he's marked but.' I don't think there's anything that can be done for the marked except hope that Suou comes through with his research. He must be close to a break through.

Shuan stood by the main door, arms folded and stared in my direction. His forced smile and closed eyes, seem more daunting than usual. "You're going to have to come back at a later time, Nayuki"

"Okay captain, I'll be around hopefully before nightfall." I waved and turned around walking back out the way I came.

"If it comes down to it, I'll bring up the extra stuff for the phenomenon." His voice carried from up top of the stairs, I called back and I could feel his silent judgement. "find me if you need help."

At the front door the moles came rushing out, laughing and being extra loud. Suou slowly followed and was soon far behind them. He waved in my direction and began walking towards me. The sun sits lower and the field glows orange, the breeze is light and perfect for the flight phenomenon.

"Let's go get a spot!" Suou called out and jogged towards me. "I gotta go see if my sister is ready to go."

"Sami? Is she going with Chakuro?" I cover my eyes from the sun sets rays, squinting to see Suou's face. "I have to go find Tokusa."

Suou points over to the side by the agriculture area and Tokusa stands there waving wildly. "Don't have to look far, he's right there waiting."

The vivid colours in the sky change slowly from orange to pink, blue and purple. Rapidly changing and showing it's beautiful display. The flight is coming shortly and the night sky will be open, not a cloud in sight.

Tokusa comes running, with a blanket waving behind him and his shirt has gotten a bigger tear. I sigh and stare at the tear. "Before you ask." He huffs. "It was an accident.."

Suou laughs and pats my back. "I'll see you guys up there, I'm going to see if the children need help." He walks off in the other direction.

"What was an accident? I thought you'd wear the other top, the one I had sewed earlier." I turn him around to take a closer look. "You have a cut too."

"I slipped off that rock again, it caught my shirt and the cut is from the rock." He laughs nervously, trying to hide the tear he pushes me aside. "It'll heal and could you fix it again?"

"I'll see what I can do but it looks a little more torn than the last time. See, it ripped in the same spot" I spin him back around and tug at the seam. "It'll just fall apart if I keep this up."

He grabs my hand and holds it staring at me intensely. "Then don't pull it anymore." His ears start turning red. "Just leave it be."

Still holding his hand. "Tokusa, you're an interesting person." He pulls his hand away and jogs ahead, sticking his tongue out and making silly faces.

"Let's go get a spot!" He yells out and the long walk begins. The best spot is always above, where the buildings won't get in the way of the view. The blanket waving about as he wears it like a cape, he jogs ahead some more and spins about.

The place we always end up is right above the 4th building. Along the side of the building close to the edge, we sat staring out to the sea of sand. "I wonder when the hooshibooshi crickets will begin?"

Tokusa laid the blanket out, partially folded over and sat down. I began to stare at his face, his hair blowing softly and his smile grew as the flight began. "It's starting!"

The blue glimmering crickets swarmed in the air slowly flying towards the unknown, I sat down and rested my hand on the blanket. Tokusa slid his hand over on top of mine, smiling with amazement. The crickets clicking in the distance and people's smiles grew.

In the distance they lingered until finally disappearing along the sea line, Tokusa's grip tightens on my hand as I try to slip my hand free. "Can we just stay like this for a while?" His gaze fixed upon mine.

I laugh nervously. "Yea we can." My ears grow hot and I quickly dart my gaze towards the distance. Even though he's marked I find myself thinking of his life more and more. The blue glow dims from the crickets disappearing, and his hand lets go of mine. "Do you have anything for tonight or are we going home together?"

"Of course we can go home together." His hand rubs my head softly, moving my hair behind my ear. "You always have your face hidden." His stare fixated on my eyes, smiling big he messed up my hair once more. "Let's go home." He pulls my hand and pops up quickly.

Tokusa quickly folds the blanket and tosses it in my direction. "Guess I'm bringing this back." I say as he laughs and runs ahead leaving me behind in the dark. Slowly following behind a few late stragglers going home, Tokusa weaves through and grabs my hand pulling me into a doorway allowing others to pass ahead.

"We should probably wait while the rush goes first." His hand rests on my chest, leaning softly on me while looking out to the passing by crowd. My pulse rapidly increases, trying to calm myself I drop the blanket on his head.

"You planned this?" I sigh, leaning against the door and he lifted the blanket off staring at me. His smile grew, nudging my side and he leaned forward resting his head on my shoulder. I wrapped my arms around him, hugging softly while my face grew hot. "I figured."

Suou walked past and stopped in place staring at us, I push Tokusa back a little bit and stare off to the side. I shouldn't be doing this, not now and I shouldn't allow this stuff to happen. "Let's go." I walk ahead, walking past Suou and fixing my gaze on the ground in front of me.

I hear his footsteps quickly following me, he remains silent just walking slightly behind myself. The blanket waving and flapping in the wind, not a sound to be heard except the distant chatter dispersed by distance. The door came up quickly and Tokusa ran ahead quickly, tossing the blanket into my face.

"Why'd you do that?" His voice wavered, with tears welling up in his eyes and his hands firmly to his side. "You -"

"I'm sorry but I just want to go to bed." I opened the door grabbing his hand and dragged him inside. The door slammed and Tokusa's expression changed. His brows furrowed and his arms crossed he stood in front of me with a hurt expression. He turned and I grabbed his hand impulsively.

"Why'd you run off?" He faces away from me gripping onto my hand. Walking forward I hug him from behind, burying my face into his shoulder sighing softly. I wish I could just tell him but I'm not brave enough to say what I need to say.

"I wasn't comfortable with the people passing by." I feel his shoulders relax and he turns to me, his face inches away from mine. "I'm used to you being close, being there always but I'm not sure if it's something that others need to see." His breath softens and he rests his head onto my chest.

"Let's just go to bed." He turns away, grabbing my hand and drags me behind him. "I don't care anymore, I shouldn't have made you uncomfortable." He tosses his shoes back into the living room, lighting up a candle and comes back the the bedroom. The dim flicker shows his saddened expression as he places the candle on the shelf.

Laying down on my side of the bed, staring at the ceiling my heart beats quickly and my thoughts race. Is he waiting for me to make a move or are we just this close and I've made him upset somehow? He sits down on the edge of his side, sighing softly as he lays down having his back face away from me.

"You forgot to blow out the candle.. we go through so many." I sit up quickly and walk towards the candle. The sweet smell of the wick and candle wax drifts within the room, the moonlight shines through the old window leaving a little light source for me to go back to bed. Walking up to his side of the bed I climb in, sliding over his body and I wrap my arms around him. He nudges me, his feeble attempts at pushing away make me pull him in closer.

"I'm sorry..." I whisper into his ear. "I really am." His hair tickles my nose as I move my head closer to him, rolling him slightly onto my chest and his face once again inches from mine. "Tokusa.." he buries his face into me and sighs softly, resting his leg on my inner thigh. His body relaxes and his breathing slows. He sighs softly in his sleep and I wrap my arm around his side, holding him close. I kiss his forehead softly after he's sound asleep, He always falls asleep this quickly and always like this, even if he thinks he doesn't wake me up this is what ends up happening.

The clouds pass by the moon and I tap his cheek, his eyes open groggy but open. I rest my hand on his cheek, gently rubbing my thumb on his face and he closes his eyes leaning forward. My heart races and my breathing becomes shaky. He opens his eyes once again, staring at me intensely and he pulls my shirt. Instinctively leaning in closer, I kiss his top lip softly with my heart pounding loudly I wait for a response and I open my eyes staring at a red faced Tokusa. His hand moves from my shirt, smiling he pulls me in close and he sighs. "I need a minute." He whispers quietly into my ear and pushes his face into my neck.

"Yea.. me too." My heart pounds and I stare at the ceiling. He nuzzles into my neck and holds my hand. "I didn't think I could do that.."

He rolls back and pulls me on top of him, he moves his legs to the side and wraps his arms around my neck. Pulling me in closer with his lips slightly parted he whispers. "Kiss me."

I lean in, kissing his lips softly and continuously. One hand on the back of my head and the other on my shoulder he shifts his hips pressing against me. Turning to his neck I kiss a trail down to his collar bone, and his breathing intensifies.

"Nayuki.." his grip tightens on my back, and I lean back pulling off my shirt tossing it to the floor. Staring down at him he leans forward pulling me closer to him, his hands grip onto my bare back and he kisses me passionately.

A quiet knock on the front door makes tokusa push me off of him. I stand up adjusting myself and I slide my shirt back on. "Might want to cover up..." I look over and his face is planted into the pillow, ears bright red and he flips the blanket over him.

The door opens before I get to it and Suou stands there, staring down towards my lower body. "I wasn't sure if you were awake or not." He closed the door and stares off to the bedroom. "You should always make sure your door is locked."

"Ah, Yea I'm not used to locking it up because Tokusa usually comes home late." I rub the back of my head, nervously I look back at the bed room. Suou pats my back and shrugs.

"I'm guessing I came at the wrong time. Don't forget to lock the door." He opens the door and winks before he leaves. The door shut behind him and I went up to the lock staring at it momentarily before sliding the latch in place.

"He left?" Tokusa peaks from the bedroom, partially hidden and looks around the living room. "You coming back...?"

I walk towards him, lifting my shirt off again and tossing it in the corner of the room. Pinning him against the wall, I lift his shirt up and softly trace my finger up his side. He turns his head away. "You've done that before..."

"I have but you were supposed to be asleep..." I kiss his neck softly. "That day you went to bed without a top on." I woke up to him knocking stuff over and saw him undress, he kept glancing over that night making sure I wasn't awake. At that time I kept my eyes shut but waited until he was asleep before rolling over to him.

"I wanted to see if my theory was right..." he breaths in sharply as I bite his neck. He grabs the base of my pants and unties the knot. "I wanted to know if my feelings were one sided."

I lifted his shirt up, slid it off, messing up his hair and revealing his upper body. "You nervous?" I place my thumb on his chin, pulling his face towards me and he nods slowly.

"If you're not ready, I can wait for you." I kiss his forehead and he shakes his head. Turning to the bed I sit down and lay back, covering both sides of the lower bed. "Come here." I pat the open area and he crawls on, sliding his leg over my thigh and rests his head on my shoulder. His hand slides over my bare chest reaching lower to my hip.

He breaths in shakily and sits up untying his waist band. His pants fall to the floor and he slides his leg over my hip, sitting on top of me. I adjust slightly, moving him forward and he leans forward pressing against me. "I don't know..." he pushes his face into my neck. "What to do..."

I wrap my arms around him, rolling him into his back and I begin kissing his chest making a trail down to his stomach. He turns his face away covering his face as I stare at his body. "Just relax.." He moves his leg to the side and his muscles tense up in his core.

Leaning up he grabs my face. "What are you doing?" Pulling away from his grip, I grab him gently and he moves his leg up trying to cover himself. "I've never done anything like this." His face is partially covered by his hand and I touch the tip softly making him twitch more.

"I've never done anything like this either." I kiss the base, licking the shaft softly. He turns away placing his hand on my head, moving his leg back down. He trembles and breathes intensely as I move my hand up and down his shaft.

"Nayuki..." he covers his mouth with his other hand and thrusts forward. My lips wrap around the top, sliding him down my tongue and into my throat. Lifting off just to lick my fingers and slip one in, causing him to pull my hair. "That's.." he gasps and tightens up.

Sliding my finger in and out, slowly he loosens up and moans softly. He gasps as I slide another finger in and moans loudly. He thrusts forward again, this time his shaft throbs in my mouth as I push him into the back of my throat.

"Please.." he moans and breathes heavily. "You're teasing me..." slipping my fingers out, I crawl on top of him lifting him up while resting my pulsing phallus by his balls.

"You ready?" I stroke myself while staring at his trembling body. He nods and I press the tip in, he moans and pulls me forward, scratching my shoulder as I enter him. He tightens on me and wraps his legs around my hips pushing me in further.

Slow at first I thrust and I let out a soft moan. "Tokusa..." his body flushed and he tensed up, gripping onto me tightly. "Does it hurt?"

He shakes his head and kisses me passionately, moaning as I thrust harder. I bite into his shoulder close to his neck, sucking onto the skin leaving a mark. "I can't..." he moans loudly into my ear and I thrust harder.

Slowing down I feel him tighten again causing me to pulse. "Ah... relax..." my face flushed and hot. "You're gonna make me..." I began tingling inside him it was to late, thrusting slow as I came inside him. A sudden spurt splashed onto his chest and he moans loudly as he came.

Still inside him, he loosens his grip on my back and breathes heavily. Leaning forward I kiss him and pull myself out slowly. Leaving a trail on the bed as it drips out of him, he looks down and sees our newly made mess. Laying down beside him I sigh happily, he rolls towards me and rests on me the way he usually does. My eyes become heavy and I hold him close as my breathing slows. He grabs the sheet and wipes his chest off before kissing my cheek and the world begins fading away.