Blank Draws: Chapter 1

Sakurazaki Setsuna had continuously maintained the habit of waking and rising early since the youngest years of her childhood. She always thought 4 up to maybe 5 hours of sleep a day were completely sufficient; anything else a pure waste of time and a simple convenience, encouraging lethargy and laziness – both attributes she could under no circumstances afford as the sworn protector of Konoe Konoka, heiress to the prestigious Konoe family.

So now, after over 9 hours of sleep, and 2 hours just rolling around under the sheets, she couldn´t help but feel an inbred amount of disdain and loathing at her actions. Admittedly, it was Sunday, and a bit of slack on her side may be cut, but the subject weighting heavily on her mind and consuming her every train of thought lead her successfully away from the idea of ever getting out of bed. And that was simply not acceptable in Setsuna´s eyes.

Yet, she wasn´t capable of either snapping out of her stupor, or tearing said eyes away from the olive-painted walls of her dorm room, thoughts a thousand miles away, far woven into the realms of pubertal issues. Yes, Sakurazaki Setsuna was fighting a running battle with what almost every healthy seventeen-year old, male as female, had to suffer from at one point or another.

Relentless, overpowering, raging hormones.

And the protagonist of her every hormone-induced little fantasy and daydream was currently having lunch with a man twice to thrice her age, looking to enhance his political power as well as social standing, probably with a little flavor of sexual excitement at the barely legal temptation.

Setsuna shuddered at the thought, and could only guess that the combination of want, lust, anger, disappointment and jealousy provoked her body to temporarily shut down and simply refuse any extensive movement that required her mind to actually focus on her actions, not fantasize about a certain chestnut-haired girl, panting and begging beneath her naked body.

A sigh escaped the young girl as she felt a familiar rush of warmth fill the area of her lower abdomen, not lacking the accompanied rush of wetness between her tightly crossed legs at the thought and mental image of the aforementioned.

A humorless chuckle escaped her throat, as she could only guess her sleepwear, blankets, and covers were now spoiled beyond recognition and in dire need of a washing machine. A task she could not neglect for that much longer, in case any of her friends suddenly decided to come by on a whim and drag her out of bed. That would, without a doubt in Setsuna´s mind, cause a scene that she was better off without witnessing.

With a groan, Setsuna tossed around in bed for the umpteenth time, frustrated that her thoughts so quickly and easily turned back to one very attractive mage-in-practice.

She didn´t even know when it started, the lusting and wanting. As far as she was able to evaluate in her current state, it was a quiet, gradual increase of general awareness. Certain things she before had never paid much attention to, now led her heart, breath, and lubrication of certain private areas of her body to accelerate to frightening heights.

Now, when a soft (she could only imagine), pink tongue raked out to wet dry lips, time seemed to slow down as her eyes almost pathetically clung to the sight presented before her. Words seemed to be drowned out by the blood rushing in her ears, and her peripherals misted over, the display in focus demanding her entire attention.

As an ordinary, regular high school girl those feelings may have been acceptable eventually, albeit possibly quite confusing, seeing how it was the same sex she was lusting after, but as a trained swordsman, the traits of alertness, efficiency, concentration, and mental attendance at any time were irrevocably drilled into her mind ever since she could remember, and yet…

And yet, Konoe Konoka apparently possessed the ability to evaporate her yearlong training with a single touch, look, or movement of her body. If the foundation of her skills as a swordsman, protector, and half-blooded demon could be destroyed as easily as that, Setsuna seriously began to consider her competence as a securer of Konoka´s safety and well-being.

One dazed moment in a wrong one, and… Setsuna didn´t even want to think about it. The mere thought of the endless possibilities of what could happen if she, in lack for a better term, screwed up, made her literally sick to the stomach.

In hope of shutting out the images of all the what-ifs that invaded her mind, she lazily draped one arm over her eyes, and tried to focus on Konoka, safe, alive, happy, and – she couldn´t help it – somewhat naked.

After a few moments, her mind was actually back on its usual track. Setsuna couldn´t complain though, since gorgeous, naked Konoka was undoubtedly a far better choice to think about than tortured, dead Konoka. That much was clear.

"Utterly ridiculous," Setsuna mumbled into the quiet room, strangely finding amusement in this twisted situation.

Before she could continue the train of thought however, a loud knock on the door startled her out of it.

"Secchan?" An all too familiar voice called through the door, and Setsuna´s eyes widened proportionately to the amount of wetness and sweat she spotted with a single look under her blankets. "Are you in there?"

"Just stay calm and she goes away… probably… hopefully…" Setsuna whispered to herself, hoping for her self-assurance to calm her erratically beating heart – to no avail, as she noticed a few seconds later.

She knew her door was not locked, and if even if it was, she had given Konoka a key years ago, and the brunette surely didn´t fail to make use of it sometimes. Setsuna only pleaded to whatever entity was watching her right now, that the girl in front of her door was convinced that she wasn´t inside, and didn´t bother to come in and check.

Luck, unfortunately, wasn´t on her side. The door slowly opened with a slight creak, and chocolate-brown orbs carefully peaked inside.

For a short moment, Setsuna thought about lying flat down and just pulling the blankets over her head, hoping Konoka wouldn´t notice. That idea however, was quickly dismissed when she thought about what would happen if the brunette saw through her little act. The embarrassment couldn´t be properly described with words.

So instead, Setsuna just pulled the blankets up to her chin, and sat up. A quick look at Konoka´s slightly perplexed and surprised expression, and she knew she had to explain her lack of response from before, additionally to the fact of why she was still lying in bed at this time of the day.

"H-Hey," Setsuna stuttered out nervously, her voice tense. "Aren´t you supposed to be eating lunch with your future husband?"

The words came out harsher than intended and Setsuna felt her face turn red with shame at the look of hurt flashing on Konoka´s face. She mentally cursed herself for her damn feelings going haywire and severing the connection between her brain and mouth.

"I apologize, that was uncalled for," Setsuna quickly muttered, avoiding eye contact with the young mage.

After a moment, Konoka spoke up for the first time, her voice not as light as usually. Setsuna had a suspicion it had something to do with her brash rudeness just then.

"We ended our… meeting prematurely," she shrugged, an uneasy smile on her face. "I thought we could instead do something today, you know? Just like old times…"

Setsuna glanced up at that, a pensive look adorning her features. It was true. They barely had any one-on-one time anymore, with both their training and Setsuna´s increasing amount of missions outside of Mahora taking up the majority of their time. The only time they really saw each other was in class and every now and then for the occasional breakfast and dinner at Konoka´s and Asuna´s dorm room.

"Ah," Setsuna nodded slowly, her eyes gazing right back into hopeful hazel ones. She didn´t have the heart to decline, despite common-sense´s objections to the idea. "Of course, Kono-chan. If you desire to, we can spend the day together. Any suggestions as to what we should do?"

Setsuna couldn´t help but smile at Konoka´s expression, looking genuinely happy and relieved.

`Everything´s going to be fine, Setsuna. Just keep your cool and remember that this is Ojou-sama. No dry-humping, no matter how much you want to.´

"Well," the mage started after a thoughtful moment, blissfully oblivious to her bodyguard´s mental prep talk. "You know how we always crawled together in bed when we were kids, just talking about anything and everything?" Konoka´s eyes softened at the remembrance of their younger years together, but when she saw Setsuna´s extremely nervous expression, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

Ever since she entered the room, something about her oldest friend seemed… off. She couldn´t really put a finger on it, but she had noticed it a few times before over the course of the past weeks. The avoidance of eye-contact, shunning her touch, ignoring her calls from across the hallway, the nervous and evasive demeanor Setsuna sometimes adopted…

It all puzzled Konoka, but she hoped today was the day she could get some answers to her questions.

"So," the healer continued when it seemed that Setsuna wasn´t going to say anything. "What do you think about repeating that? Just for old time´s sake. Plus, I really want you to clue me in on some things that are going on in your life recently. We haven´t had a real chance to talk these past months, so this may be the best chance we get, right?"

Setsuna blinked a few times, her mind going into overdrive as Konoka´s suggestion sank in.

`Crawling together in bed,´ she repeated the words in her mind, already having improper images in her mind to accompany them, and loudly swallowed.

It certainly wasn´t that she didn´t want to, the exact opposite was in fact the case. It was more that she couldn´t. There was simply no way – Setsuna stole a quick glance down at the blankets of her bed and squirmed uncomfortably in her wet clothes – that she could let Konoka come anywhere near the bed, much less inside.

Only as she noticed Konoka slowly walking towards her, probably taking her silence as an affirmation, did the panic set in.

"N-No!" Setsuna hurriedly blurted out. "You- You can´t come here!" At Konoka´s confused and hurt look, she quickly elaborated, the adrenalin rushing through her body making her voice tremble as she spoke. "I´m… I´m sick, contagious, and I wouldn´t want you to catch anything. That´s actually why I´m still in bed, trying to rest…"

Setsuna didn´t really have any confidence in her rather rushed and lame excuse, so when Konoka´s eyes did indeed widen in worry and guilt, and she took a step back, Setsuna was in a very morbid way pleased. She would rather have her friend flee the room, worried and guilty, than have her in her drenched bed right then, right next to her very own drenched persona.

Konoka however was thinking in different terms, reckoning that she had made sense of the weird manners her best friend behaved in. `So that´s why she was so weird the past weeks… She was getting down with something.´

She winced at the implications that brought along and remorsefully shook her head. Was she really that self-absorbed? Not even noticing her best friend was getting sick? With a vow not to let her friend suffer through her problems alone again, she swiftly made her way towards Setsuna´s bed, completely ignoring the look of horror on her friend´s face.

"W-Wait!" Setsuna rushed out, though it only stopped Konoka for a short moment in her tracks. "I´m naked!" She grasped the blankets tighter to her chin, hoping the brunette hadn´t already seen the white shirt beneath, and that the false admission would actually stop Konoka from progressing any further. Heck, even she could smell the arousal in the air, so it already was a wonder Konoka hadn´t noticed or said anything.

"Oh," the young girl stopped mid-step, an unreadable expression on her face, eyes transfixed on something behind Setsuna. "Well," she cleared her throat after a few seconds. "I´ll bring you something to wear then."

Already moving towards the closet at the other end of the room, she was oblivious to the panic attack that took place on the other side of the room.

Eyes wide, mouth agape, hands shaking, breath near the level of hyperventilation, Setsuna sat glued in place. No matter how hard she tried to find some kind of solution to get her out of this mess, there was nothing coming to mind. Nothing.

"Kono-chan," Setsuna started unsure, not even sure herself what next words were coming out of her mouth. She simply kept staring at the light pattern of her blanket. "Would you mind if we postpone your plan? I… I just need to be alone right now. Please."

Konoka had stopped rummaging through the drawers and closet by then, surprised by the distance she felt Setsuna trying to put up between them. Her words, the way she said it, her posture, the look. Konoka didn´t know what to make of it, but she sure didn´t like it.

Her thoughts suddenly turned a darker route, memories of the latest years swamping her mind, and painfully reminding her of things she desperately wished to forget. Her disgraceful feelings, the shame she felt at her actions, the conflicted, tortured look in her best friend´s eyes as the cursed words left her lips, the instant moment of regret washing over her.

It still shamed her in great respects. In a night of drunken stupor, she took claim of her best friend and protector. She still remembered the words clearly with which she doomed everything they had. She could hear it resonating sometimes through her mind in dark, sleepless nights, when she´s losing herself in thoughts of the past.

"You´re mine! No one is allowed to take you away from me, Secchan, no one!"

`Pathetic,´ Konoka thought as the events of the night replayed in her mind, reminding her of what a selfish creature she really was. It had, after all, been purely her privilege to witness the true beauty of Setsuna, inside out. No one else was allowed or even supposed to bask in the dark-haired girl´s glory, it was hers, hers alone, a dark voice in the back of her mind had whispered in weak moments.

Oh, how she cursed and damned it to the deepest pits of all hells.

After all of Setsuna´s efforts to come to terms with the possibility that maybe, yes, she was worth more than she had thought; that, yes, she was allowed to smile once in a while, indulge in a bit of fun from time to time, have friends, dare enjoy her newly found life, she had to go and ruin it with falsely placed entitlement to something that never even belonged to her to begin with.

Konoka knew that she had destroyed far more than she thought possible with her words, and ways to repent she had not found yet.

But how could she have known…

`She was sworn to you, of course she would obey,´ a voice in her mind mocked, interjecting before the train of thought even ended.

A scowl settled on her usually soft features, and she glanced up to see if Setsuna had noticed any of her internal battle. She sighed, relieved, when she saw Setsuna still blankly staring at the blanket. Her beautiful Secchan.

Ever since that fateful night, Setsuna had slowly begun to distance herself, burying herself in mission after mission, training session after training session, yet never neglecting her obligations as her safe keeper. She wasn´t ever in speaking proximity, but Konoka could always feel her presence, looming not far from her, ready to strike as danger neared.

As time had passed, their everyday life slowly, very slowly, seemed to gain back some of their previous normalcy. They talked for a few minutes, exchanged pleasantries, they met, ate together, sometimes worked on homework together – up to maybe a month ago. Konoka genuinely had no idea what was invoking such sudden reaction, and feared that Setsuna was going to distance herself again.

Images of her days alone flashed before her mind´s eye, lonely and miserable without her… her… Secchan. That´s what she was; Secchan, summed up, the epitome of everything of worth that she was living for. And if she lost that again…

She often wondered what would have happened if she had never grudged Setsuna her small piece of happiness that excluded her. Would they have stayed such close friends, or maybe… maybe…

Konoka quickly blinked her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to regain enough of her composure to not break down right in front of Setsuna, but rather in her room, preferably alone. Even though Asuna is one of her best friends, she certainly didn´t need to be bombarded with questions as soon as she was through the door.

Swiftly plastering a smile on her face, Konoka nodded to herself. "Sure, just tell me when you´re ready. This won´t run away."

Setsuna winced at the forced tone, knowing her selfish actions once more proved to effectively hurt the one person she had sworn to shield from any harm, physically as emotionally.

`Great job, Setsuna,´ she mentally congratulated herself, punching blindly into the blankets as the door clicked shut behind a quickly fleeing Konoka.

With a deep groan rumbling through her chest, she let her body fall back into the cushions, finally letting the covers slide back down to her shirt-clad midsection. She knew she couldn´t keep indulging in her pity fest forever and needed to get out of bed. Her soiled clothes and linens screamed for a run in the washing machine, and most importantly, she needed to talk to Konoka as soon as possible. How and exactly about what, she didn´t know yet, but an apology was probably the best way to start.

Taking a deep breath, she slowly got up, stretching and raking as she tried to get all the knots out of her muscles. She certainly wasn´t used to almost… neglecting her body like that, and instantly noticed the little difference in her movements.

Swearing never to let her body wither away like that again, to rise in the future even one hour earlier than regular for her morning training, she grabbed every article of fabric on her bed and walked into the small adjacent bathroom and put everything in the washer. Quickly shedding her clothes, doing alike, she jumped into the shower and hoped the cold water would somehow manage to calm her body down.

After ten minutes, she stood toweled, dressed, and less horny than in a long time in her small kitchenette. Just as she was about to open the fridge and rummage through the cupboards in dire need for some nutrition, loud banging at her door interrupted her.

"Setsuna! Setsuna, open the fuck up!" Asuna´s voice loudly penetrated the wood and cement of both the door and the walls.

The person in question sighed tiredly. She could already guess what this was going to be about, with Asuna being one of Konoka´s best friends and roommate. Of course she knew what had happened and was ready to give her a piece of mind.

"…not like I don´t deserve it," Setsuna whispered to herself, walking towards the slowly budging door with each of Asuna´s hits.

Opening it, she was greeted with a coldly glaring redhead. Even though Setsuna expected a greeting more of a fuming, hot-blazing anger kind of way, she was not surprised that Asuna seemed genuinely upset with her, judging by her expression.

"You know," Asuna crossed her arms above her chest, taking a step closer to Setsuna, not even giving her a chance to explain. "You´ve been behaving like the lowest bitch these past days. I´ve no idea what´s crawled up your ass, but you sure as hell don´t need to be taking it out on Konoka, alright?"

Asuna paused for a moment, seeing the anger and frustration rise in the other girl´s eyes. Shrugging it off, she continued in an equally angry tone, the memory of Konoka´s distraught state as she came home still fresh on her mind.

"She´s crying right now, wondering what she has done to upset you. Blaming herself for whatever made you reject her like that." Asuna chuckled, void of any humor. "But we both know what´s really going on, don´t we?"

Setsuna´s anger was momentarily forgotten at the redhead´s words, and her eyes widened at the implication they held.

Asuna smirked at the reaction she elicited in the other girl. Before she could say another word though, a loud melody rang through the vicinity of Setsuna´s room. The redhead could clearly identify it as the headmaster´s personally assigned ringtone of the dark-haired girl´s cell, and knew that the conversation was probably over for now.

She sighed. Setsuna could be so stubborn in all her insecurities sometimes, words failed to express the sheer frustration Asuna sometimes felt when she saw the swordsman so decidedly robbing not only herself, but also one of her best friends, of easily obtainable happiness. This time however, the redhead wouldn´t just stand by, shaking her head in incomprehension every once in a while on a particularly bad day. If she had to give a few forceful pushes in the right direction, she would. For both Konoka´s and Setsuna´s sakes.

The latter was already across the room and picked up the call, the urgent voice that greeted her keeping her from paying much attention to Asuna. She faintly registered Asuna say something to her, but as she turned to respond, the redhead had already disappeared back into the hallways of their dorm.

"Don´t be a coward, Setsuna. Doesn´t really suit you," the words repeated in her ear, leaving a bitter feeling in their wake, and she felt her hand tightly clench around the small piece of technology in her hand.

The swordsman controlledly exhaled, her grip not slackening however, and focused back on the conversation at hand.

`As if it was that easy…´

--

A/N: Well, nothing really impressing yet, plot-wise. There will be some twists introduced next chapter and the setting for the story (or rather a major part of it) will change to a whole different scene. This is obviously my take on the characters, so not necessarily IC. Next chapter will probably be out sometime during the next two or three days, since they aren´t really that long. No guarantees on that though, you never know if I feel like being lazy the next few days. Length may vary throughout the chapters, though nothing shorter than this.

Oh, and as you see, even though this is written in third person, the focus does shift from character to character every once in a while, exploring a bit of their inner workings. Just thought I should clear that up before questions arise. Seems like our two heroines aren´t quite on the same page, though. :)

Anyway. Thanks for reading, and feedback is welcome.