Title: Bikkuri Ramen
Author: Bunniko
Series: Sailor Moon - First Season Alternate Discovery of Identity (Pre- Venus)
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Usagi and Mamoru discover each other's identities in a ramen shop.
AN: Bikkuri means surprise. I got the name from a ramen shop in Kyoto. Taking a break from two darker toned fics in the Labyrinth region. Wanted to see if I could still write something WAFFy. (By the way, what is TAFF?) Again, reviews more than welcome, perfectly spelled flames may be sent to fieryfaerie@yahoo.com. Nope, don't own Sailor Moon.
It was that time of day again. Usagi had just escaped from the worst invention of all time, even worse than school: Detention. Oh, how she hated that word. It didn't help that, sometimes, she got detention solely because Haruna-sensei was in a bad mood. It was hardly fair, she whined mentally. Not for the first time the sunny blonde resolved never to be late again. She even went so far as to resolve to do her homework, study hard and never fail a test again. Or eat or fall asleep in class again. After all, she told herself as she headed towards Crown Arcade, she was a super-hero. Surely that meant she had super willpower. She would start on Monday. Haruna-sensei would never know what hit her, she smirked.
"Good morning, class." A dazed and distracted Haruna-sensei greeted her students, eyes on one brightly smiling, unrumpled-looking Tsukino Usagi. "Usagi-san, this makes the fifth day in a row you've been on time to class!" Usagi's classmates, especially Ami and Makoto, were expressing their shock as well. Usagi merely smiled demurely, a soft blush on her cheeks.
Haruna-sensei began to pass out their tests from the previous day. Usagi barely contained a squeal of joy at the sight of 90% in big red marker at the top of her page. Usagi looked up eagerly to see looks of stunned surprise on her friends' faces.
But instead, she found herself reacting to a sharp tap on the top of her head and a mocking "Earth to Odango."
"Huh?" she articulated intelligently, rapidly blinking her blue eyes. A male face filled her vision, handsome except for the mockery that ruined his features, especially those perfect blue eyes. To distract herself, she quickly looked around, noting that she was sitting on the pavement, with several people watching them. Her bag was lying between her and Mamoru, his bag over hers. "Lucky bag." she thought jealously, just before another thought rattled her. "Oh no," she moaned, "it was just a daydream!" Disappointment brought tears to her eyes.
Mamoru knew to stay well clear of Usagi's tears. He jerked back from her space, which he had invaded when she'd not registered either the impact of their collision or her fall. Instead, she'd sat there on the ground, grinning at him. Which was definitely not normal for Odango Atama. As afraid for his hearing as he was, he still knew he had to get her up off the sidewalk. It was hardly safe; the way motorcycles could sometimes drive directly up onto the sidewalk.
All of this ran through his mind at a fairly sluggish pace due to the fact that he was still staring into her tear-filled eyes. As a lone tear dripped down her cheek, he found himself envying it. The only way to chase those disturbing feelings away was to stop those dangerous tears.
He lazily climbed to his feet, keeping his attitude firmly about him, much like armor. Usagi was beginning to calm down on her own, her disappointment fading as her stomach suddenly rumbled loudly. Really loudly, she realized with embarrassment. Mamoru stared down at her in disbelief. That huge noise had come from such a small girl? Before he could even think of a mocking response to her stomach's growl, Usagi had hopped up, grabbed her bag and made her way over to a busy ramen shop on the corner.
Mamoru scooped up his own bag, but when his own stomach grumbled a bit, he decided ramen was a great idea. For reasons he really didn't care to analyze too deeply, he'd rather eat with the ditz of Tokyo than eat alone in his apartment yet again.
He made his way through the close-placed tables to the counter where Usagi was perched. Clearing his throat to avoid startling her, he joined her. Ordering a shrimp tempura ramen, he cast a curious glance at Usagi, who was frozen mid-slurp.
"Hungry?" he queried gently, a teasing note in his voice.
Usagi flushed, which was one of Mamoru's favorite reasons to tease her. "Starved." she admitted, the number of adults in restaurant seeming to have a dampening effect on her attitude and voice volume.
"Starved?" Mamoru thought worriedly. Motoki had told him about the time Usagi had decided to stop eating as a diet. "Have you been eating properly, Odango?" He hoped the question came out nonchalantly.
Usagi shrugged, slurping up her noodles in a less than lady-like manner. "Haven't eaten all day." she confessed.
Mamoru cringed. She ate ramen like an old man. He toyed with telling her that, but thought he'd rather not wear her ramen. He snapped his wooden chopsticks apart as his own ramen was placed before him. He dug in quickly. Ramen is best eaten hot. "You're not on some crazy diet, are you?"
She shook her head. "Nope. I overslept again and missed breakfast. When I got to school I was really hungry, so I tried to sneak some of my lunch, but Haruna-sensei caught me and made me throw it away. I didn't have money for lunch, so I couldn't buy a cafeteria meal and then I got detention."
"Umm, Usagi-san," he questioned carefully, "if you didn't have lunch money, how are you going to pay for your ramen?"
Usagi's head flew up, eyes huge, a look of panic in those expressive baby blues. "I . . ." her voice failed her. She'd been so hungry, she'd forgotten all about her lack of cash.
Mamoru took pity on her, for some reason feeling the need to rescue her. "Don't freak out. I'll take care of it." he murmured, like it was the most normal thing in the world.
Usagi blinked in utter shock. Mamoru was never nice to her. "Why?" she managed to choke out.
"The proper response would be," he smiled devilishly, "'Thank you, Mamoru- san, you're my hero!'" Usagi's eyes widened as Mamoru attempted to imitate her voice.
But then, she felt grateful to him for helping her, and his attempt to lighten the mood was amusing. So, deciding to play along, she smiled sweetly, fluttered her lashes and said, "Thank you, Mamoru-baka. You're my hero."
Mamoru wanted to laugh, until she completed her thanks with a hug to his left arm. He tensed at the thrill from her touch.
Usagi looked up at him, eyes filled with confusion. Was he upset she'd hugged him? She began to draw back, upset at herself and disappointed.
Mamoru stopped her by laying his hand over hers, surprising them both. Somehow, despite his fogged brain, he managed to growl out, "You were supposed to say, 'Mamoru-san'."
Usagi swallowed hard, his touch sending her senses reeling. "Something is really wrong with me today." she murmured. She frowned in confusion, wondering why touching Mamoru was making her excited . . . and sleepy.
That wasn't exactly the response Mamoru had been expecting. "What do you mean?"
"I mean," Mamoru noticed her words were getting a little slurry, "I . . ." she frowned, trying to think about what she wanted to say, but her eyes just felt so heavy. She looked everywhere but Mamoru, and what she was seeing slowly began to register. All about them, waitresses, customers, everyone was asleep. Everyone except Mamoru, herself, and the cook.
Mamoru, amused at her attempts to avoid looking at him, had followed her gaze. He was a little quicker on the uptake, though he, too, was fighting back a yawn. "What's going on here?" he demanded. The cook turned to look at him, eyes glinting red.
"A youma!" they both gasped, then looked at each other in shock.
The youma, Mamoru sighed, was just like all the others. Big and ugly. Not for the first time, he found himself wishing he knew how to summon the Senshi. He turned protectively towards Usagi, uncertain if he should transform to protect her. He hoped she'd fall asleep or faint. But she surprised him. Instead of sidling close for protection or fainting, she stood apart from him, nibbling her lip and fiddling with her broach. His mind was suddenly filled with curiosity about what lay under that prim schoolgirl's blouse. He scolded himself, trying to remember she was a high school student, too young for him.
Still, his mouth went dry as an image of Usagi, sans broach and blouse filled his mind. But it wasn't long before a different image was permanently emblazoned into his brain. She'd removed her broach and was shouting something he couldn't hear over the hot rush of blood in his ears. And then, as he was staring at her, she exploded into light and ribbons. His brain froze, not paying attention to the power washing over him. How could he? He'd just seen Usagi naked!
A shrill scream brought him out of his shock just in time to dodge a potful of boiling water headed for him. He tossed a rose at the youma as he leapt, scooping up Sailor Moon and tucking them both safely behind an overturned table.
"You . . . you . . ." Sailor Moon was obviously overwhelmed.
Tuxedo Kamen to the rescue, he thought wryly. He had to think straight for the both of them. "Youma first, talk later." he ground out, Tarzan style. Great, he moaned mentally, what next? Me Kamen, you Moon? He was going to have to get a mental grip on himself.
But the command seemed to get through to the shell-shocked Senshi. No matter what was happening in her personal life, the safety of Tokyo came first. So she stood up and let the youma have it. It was barely dust before Tuxedo Kamen picked her and their bags up and carried them off.
For a few moments, Sailor Moon let herself enjoy the feel of being in her dream guy's arms. But reality came crashing through as they landed on the rooftop of an apartment building and she began to struggle. "Put me down!" she shrieked, right into his ear.
Tuxedo Kamen did, dropping her in reaction to the skull-splitting pain of her shriek. "Dammit!" he swore, his gloved hands holding either side of his head.
Sailor Moon had managed to avoid bumping her head when he'd unceremoniously dumped her, but her rear hadn't been so lucky. She clambered to her feet, both hands rubbing the offended region as she half-turned away from him. Behind the mask, Tuxedo Kamen's eyes darkened.
"Please don't do that!" he ground out.
She froze, skirt caught beneath her hands, the back hiked up about her waist. "Do what?" her eyes pure innocence. An innocence Tuxedo Kamen couldn't doubt was real.
He took a mental snapshot of her standing there, innocent eyes, hands rubbing her cute rear, that miniscule skirt hiked high enough to reveal the curve of that cute rear to him. His hands ached to touch her, so he kept them balled up into fists. Then she licked her bottom lip, nervous from his intense scrutiny.
Superhero or not, he was only a man. Suddenly the fact that they were atop a building in Tokyo with lots of other, taller buildings around them didn't matter. The only thing he could see was this angelic warrior, staring at him in confused desire and fear, with her skirt half pulled up. He crossed over to her. Wordlessly, he lifted her hands away from her skirt, letting the short fabric re-conceal those tempting curves. Pulling her against him, he spoke softly, "You really don't know what you do to me, do you?" Then he pulled her up, so that she stood on her toes, and he bent, bringing his lips down on hers gently.
He knew from the moment he touched her lips that she was the girl he stole a kiss from at that ball that seemed so long ago. He'd known then that she'd never been kissed and it thrilled him in a primal way to know that he was the first man to kiss the two girls he desired so much, both Sailor Moon and Usagi.
For him, discovering she was Sailor Moon wasn't as horrifying as he might have thought earlier. It made things easier. He felt a bond, a deep connection to Sailor Moon, a bond which would validate, in his mind, feelings for Usagi, despite their age difference. And trusting Usagi with his heart wouldn't be a problem, because he already knew how fiercely loyal and loving a person she was.
For her, it was a completely different story. She seen him transform all right, seen everything! She knew for certain now that his tux fit him perfectly. But even that shock paled in comparison to the fact that the man she enjoyed a teasing, antagonistic relationship with was the man she dreamed of at night. The man kissing the daylights out of her at the moment.
She pulled back suddenly as sounds of the outside world began to drift towards them. Sounds of clapping and cheering and laughter. They looked at each other, frowning in confusion, then looked around them. There were people hanging out of windows and leaning over their balconies, cheering them on. Sailor Moon blushed perfectly beet red and hid her face in her hands as yet another flashbulb popped.
Tuxedo Kamen was hardly amused, either. He flipped his cloak up to conceal her from gaping onlookers, then picked her up yet again and wrenched open the roof exit door. Shutting it firmly behind them, Tuxedo Kamen looked at her in the half-light. "I'm sorry." he murmured.
"For what?" she asked, frightened the answer would be, "For kissing you."
He took a deep breath. "I shouldn't have kissed you without your permission. And not in front of all those people."
Sailor Moon's heart sank, then rose as she listened to him. "Oh." An idea occurred to her. "Do I get to take revenge, then?" she asked, pretending to be insulted.
Tuxedo Kamen's heart sank. She didn't love him back? If she didn't love him, that would be revenge enough, but wary of incurring a Senshi's wrath, he raised his hands in surrender. "Do your worst." he muttered, sitting down on the steps.
Sailor Moon moved towards him, settling herself on the step next to him. She reached a hand out towards his face and Tuxedo Kamen prepared for a slap. Instead, she took off his mask. He turned towards her in shock, which was what she had hoped for. His lips collided with hers and her arms trapped him there, one hand tangling in his silky black hair, the other looping about his neck.
The kiss was soft and sweet. He let her lead, amused at the way she experimented with the kiss. But when she parted her lips to catch a breath, he decided playtime was over. Taking advantage of that small opening, he teased her mouth wider, letting his tongue in. When they finally came up for air, they both tried to speak at once.
Luckily, they were both trying to say the same thing. "I love you."
Author: Bunniko
Series: Sailor Moon - First Season Alternate Discovery of Identity (Pre- Venus)
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Usagi and Mamoru discover each other's identities in a ramen shop.
AN: Bikkuri means surprise. I got the name from a ramen shop in Kyoto. Taking a break from two darker toned fics in the Labyrinth region. Wanted to see if I could still write something WAFFy. (By the way, what is TAFF?) Again, reviews more than welcome, perfectly spelled flames may be sent to fieryfaerie@yahoo.com. Nope, don't own Sailor Moon.
It was that time of day again. Usagi had just escaped from the worst invention of all time, even worse than school: Detention. Oh, how she hated that word. It didn't help that, sometimes, she got detention solely because Haruna-sensei was in a bad mood. It was hardly fair, she whined mentally. Not for the first time the sunny blonde resolved never to be late again. She even went so far as to resolve to do her homework, study hard and never fail a test again. Or eat or fall asleep in class again. After all, she told herself as she headed towards Crown Arcade, she was a super-hero. Surely that meant she had super willpower. She would start on Monday. Haruna-sensei would never know what hit her, she smirked.
"Good morning, class." A dazed and distracted Haruna-sensei greeted her students, eyes on one brightly smiling, unrumpled-looking Tsukino Usagi. "Usagi-san, this makes the fifth day in a row you've been on time to class!" Usagi's classmates, especially Ami and Makoto, were expressing their shock as well. Usagi merely smiled demurely, a soft blush on her cheeks.
Haruna-sensei began to pass out their tests from the previous day. Usagi barely contained a squeal of joy at the sight of 90% in big red marker at the top of her page. Usagi looked up eagerly to see looks of stunned surprise on her friends' faces.
But instead, she found herself reacting to a sharp tap on the top of her head and a mocking "Earth to Odango."
"Huh?" she articulated intelligently, rapidly blinking her blue eyes. A male face filled her vision, handsome except for the mockery that ruined his features, especially those perfect blue eyes. To distract herself, she quickly looked around, noting that she was sitting on the pavement, with several people watching them. Her bag was lying between her and Mamoru, his bag over hers. "Lucky bag." she thought jealously, just before another thought rattled her. "Oh no," she moaned, "it was just a daydream!" Disappointment brought tears to her eyes.
Mamoru knew to stay well clear of Usagi's tears. He jerked back from her space, which he had invaded when she'd not registered either the impact of their collision or her fall. Instead, she'd sat there on the ground, grinning at him. Which was definitely not normal for Odango Atama. As afraid for his hearing as he was, he still knew he had to get her up off the sidewalk. It was hardly safe; the way motorcycles could sometimes drive directly up onto the sidewalk.
All of this ran through his mind at a fairly sluggish pace due to the fact that he was still staring into her tear-filled eyes. As a lone tear dripped down her cheek, he found himself envying it. The only way to chase those disturbing feelings away was to stop those dangerous tears.
He lazily climbed to his feet, keeping his attitude firmly about him, much like armor. Usagi was beginning to calm down on her own, her disappointment fading as her stomach suddenly rumbled loudly. Really loudly, she realized with embarrassment. Mamoru stared down at her in disbelief. That huge noise had come from such a small girl? Before he could even think of a mocking response to her stomach's growl, Usagi had hopped up, grabbed her bag and made her way over to a busy ramen shop on the corner.
Mamoru scooped up his own bag, but when his own stomach grumbled a bit, he decided ramen was a great idea. For reasons he really didn't care to analyze too deeply, he'd rather eat with the ditz of Tokyo than eat alone in his apartment yet again.
He made his way through the close-placed tables to the counter where Usagi was perched. Clearing his throat to avoid startling her, he joined her. Ordering a shrimp tempura ramen, he cast a curious glance at Usagi, who was frozen mid-slurp.
"Hungry?" he queried gently, a teasing note in his voice.
Usagi flushed, which was one of Mamoru's favorite reasons to tease her. "Starved." she admitted, the number of adults in restaurant seeming to have a dampening effect on her attitude and voice volume.
"Starved?" Mamoru thought worriedly. Motoki had told him about the time Usagi had decided to stop eating as a diet. "Have you been eating properly, Odango?" He hoped the question came out nonchalantly.
Usagi shrugged, slurping up her noodles in a less than lady-like manner. "Haven't eaten all day." she confessed.
Mamoru cringed. She ate ramen like an old man. He toyed with telling her that, but thought he'd rather not wear her ramen. He snapped his wooden chopsticks apart as his own ramen was placed before him. He dug in quickly. Ramen is best eaten hot. "You're not on some crazy diet, are you?"
She shook her head. "Nope. I overslept again and missed breakfast. When I got to school I was really hungry, so I tried to sneak some of my lunch, but Haruna-sensei caught me and made me throw it away. I didn't have money for lunch, so I couldn't buy a cafeteria meal and then I got detention."
"Umm, Usagi-san," he questioned carefully, "if you didn't have lunch money, how are you going to pay for your ramen?"
Usagi's head flew up, eyes huge, a look of panic in those expressive baby blues. "I . . ." her voice failed her. She'd been so hungry, she'd forgotten all about her lack of cash.
Mamoru took pity on her, for some reason feeling the need to rescue her. "Don't freak out. I'll take care of it." he murmured, like it was the most normal thing in the world.
Usagi blinked in utter shock. Mamoru was never nice to her. "Why?" she managed to choke out.
"The proper response would be," he smiled devilishly, "'Thank you, Mamoru- san, you're my hero!'" Usagi's eyes widened as Mamoru attempted to imitate her voice.
But then, she felt grateful to him for helping her, and his attempt to lighten the mood was amusing. So, deciding to play along, she smiled sweetly, fluttered her lashes and said, "Thank you, Mamoru-baka. You're my hero."
Mamoru wanted to laugh, until she completed her thanks with a hug to his left arm. He tensed at the thrill from her touch.
Usagi looked up at him, eyes filled with confusion. Was he upset she'd hugged him? She began to draw back, upset at herself and disappointed.
Mamoru stopped her by laying his hand over hers, surprising them both. Somehow, despite his fogged brain, he managed to growl out, "You were supposed to say, 'Mamoru-san'."
Usagi swallowed hard, his touch sending her senses reeling. "Something is really wrong with me today." she murmured. She frowned in confusion, wondering why touching Mamoru was making her excited . . . and sleepy.
That wasn't exactly the response Mamoru had been expecting. "What do you mean?"
"I mean," Mamoru noticed her words were getting a little slurry, "I . . ." she frowned, trying to think about what she wanted to say, but her eyes just felt so heavy. She looked everywhere but Mamoru, and what she was seeing slowly began to register. All about them, waitresses, customers, everyone was asleep. Everyone except Mamoru, herself, and the cook.
Mamoru, amused at her attempts to avoid looking at him, had followed her gaze. He was a little quicker on the uptake, though he, too, was fighting back a yawn. "What's going on here?" he demanded. The cook turned to look at him, eyes glinting red.
"A youma!" they both gasped, then looked at each other in shock.
The youma, Mamoru sighed, was just like all the others. Big and ugly. Not for the first time, he found himself wishing he knew how to summon the Senshi. He turned protectively towards Usagi, uncertain if he should transform to protect her. He hoped she'd fall asleep or faint. But she surprised him. Instead of sidling close for protection or fainting, she stood apart from him, nibbling her lip and fiddling with her broach. His mind was suddenly filled with curiosity about what lay under that prim schoolgirl's blouse. He scolded himself, trying to remember she was a high school student, too young for him.
Still, his mouth went dry as an image of Usagi, sans broach and blouse filled his mind. But it wasn't long before a different image was permanently emblazoned into his brain. She'd removed her broach and was shouting something he couldn't hear over the hot rush of blood in his ears. And then, as he was staring at her, she exploded into light and ribbons. His brain froze, not paying attention to the power washing over him. How could he? He'd just seen Usagi naked!
A shrill scream brought him out of his shock just in time to dodge a potful of boiling water headed for him. He tossed a rose at the youma as he leapt, scooping up Sailor Moon and tucking them both safely behind an overturned table.
"You . . . you . . ." Sailor Moon was obviously overwhelmed.
Tuxedo Kamen to the rescue, he thought wryly. He had to think straight for the both of them. "Youma first, talk later." he ground out, Tarzan style. Great, he moaned mentally, what next? Me Kamen, you Moon? He was going to have to get a mental grip on himself.
But the command seemed to get through to the shell-shocked Senshi. No matter what was happening in her personal life, the safety of Tokyo came first. So she stood up and let the youma have it. It was barely dust before Tuxedo Kamen picked her and their bags up and carried them off.
For a few moments, Sailor Moon let herself enjoy the feel of being in her dream guy's arms. But reality came crashing through as they landed on the rooftop of an apartment building and she began to struggle. "Put me down!" she shrieked, right into his ear.
Tuxedo Kamen did, dropping her in reaction to the skull-splitting pain of her shriek. "Dammit!" he swore, his gloved hands holding either side of his head.
Sailor Moon had managed to avoid bumping her head when he'd unceremoniously dumped her, but her rear hadn't been so lucky. She clambered to her feet, both hands rubbing the offended region as she half-turned away from him. Behind the mask, Tuxedo Kamen's eyes darkened.
"Please don't do that!" he ground out.
She froze, skirt caught beneath her hands, the back hiked up about her waist. "Do what?" her eyes pure innocence. An innocence Tuxedo Kamen couldn't doubt was real.
He took a mental snapshot of her standing there, innocent eyes, hands rubbing her cute rear, that miniscule skirt hiked high enough to reveal the curve of that cute rear to him. His hands ached to touch her, so he kept them balled up into fists. Then she licked her bottom lip, nervous from his intense scrutiny.
Superhero or not, he was only a man. Suddenly the fact that they were atop a building in Tokyo with lots of other, taller buildings around them didn't matter. The only thing he could see was this angelic warrior, staring at him in confused desire and fear, with her skirt half pulled up. He crossed over to her. Wordlessly, he lifted her hands away from her skirt, letting the short fabric re-conceal those tempting curves. Pulling her against him, he spoke softly, "You really don't know what you do to me, do you?" Then he pulled her up, so that she stood on her toes, and he bent, bringing his lips down on hers gently.
He knew from the moment he touched her lips that she was the girl he stole a kiss from at that ball that seemed so long ago. He'd known then that she'd never been kissed and it thrilled him in a primal way to know that he was the first man to kiss the two girls he desired so much, both Sailor Moon and Usagi.
For him, discovering she was Sailor Moon wasn't as horrifying as he might have thought earlier. It made things easier. He felt a bond, a deep connection to Sailor Moon, a bond which would validate, in his mind, feelings for Usagi, despite their age difference. And trusting Usagi with his heart wouldn't be a problem, because he already knew how fiercely loyal and loving a person she was.
For her, it was a completely different story. She seen him transform all right, seen everything! She knew for certain now that his tux fit him perfectly. But even that shock paled in comparison to the fact that the man she enjoyed a teasing, antagonistic relationship with was the man she dreamed of at night. The man kissing the daylights out of her at the moment.
She pulled back suddenly as sounds of the outside world began to drift towards them. Sounds of clapping and cheering and laughter. They looked at each other, frowning in confusion, then looked around them. There were people hanging out of windows and leaning over their balconies, cheering them on. Sailor Moon blushed perfectly beet red and hid her face in her hands as yet another flashbulb popped.
Tuxedo Kamen was hardly amused, either. He flipped his cloak up to conceal her from gaping onlookers, then picked her up yet again and wrenched open the roof exit door. Shutting it firmly behind them, Tuxedo Kamen looked at her in the half-light. "I'm sorry." he murmured.
"For what?" she asked, frightened the answer would be, "For kissing you."
He took a deep breath. "I shouldn't have kissed you without your permission. And not in front of all those people."
Sailor Moon's heart sank, then rose as she listened to him. "Oh." An idea occurred to her. "Do I get to take revenge, then?" she asked, pretending to be insulted.
Tuxedo Kamen's heart sank. She didn't love him back? If she didn't love him, that would be revenge enough, but wary of incurring a Senshi's wrath, he raised his hands in surrender. "Do your worst." he muttered, sitting down on the steps.
Sailor Moon moved towards him, settling herself on the step next to him. She reached a hand out towards his face and Tuxedo Kamen prepared for a slap. Instead, she took off his mask. He turned towards her in shock, which was what she had hoped for. His lips collided with hers and her arms trapped him there, one hand tangling in his silky black hair, the other looping about his neck.
The kiss was soft and sweet. He let her lead, amused at the way she experimented with the kiss. But when she parted her lips to catch a breath, he decided playtime was over. Taking advantage of that small opening, he teased her mouth wider, letting his tongue in. When they finally came up for air, they both tried to speak at once.
Luckily, they were both trying to say the same thing. "I love you."