Akira: Hello! Been a damn long time I'd say. I realize that somehow, I get inspired by songs more than anything else. Here's a little something to prove it. This was in fact, inspired by the song, 'you shouldn't kiss me like this' by Toby Keith. Enough babbling, let us move on. This has been sitting in my hard disk since forever, took me over a year to finally find the drive to finish it.
You shouldn't kiss me like this
Filtered sunlight shone on two figures that stood beside a tall metal fence surrounding the backyard of the school, both dressed in brown and green uniforms. Brownish maple leaves crunched under graceful steps as the aqua haired girl turned around, facing a tall freckled boy while she opened her mouth to speak.
"I'm sorry, Narutaki-san," apologized Michiru as she bowed to the teenage boy who stood in front of her with a disheartened expression visible on his face.
The boy named Narutaki faked a smile as he replied calmly, "I'm fine, Kaiou-san. I understand, don't worry about it."
He slowly turned to leave, letting out a sigh as soon as he was out of sight and away from the beautiful girl.
He was the fifth one in the week he'd heard, the ones before him all ended up disappointed and turned into emo kids after being turned down by the most sought after girl in the whole of the campus. It wasn't their fault for trying though; after all she had just broken up with her boyfriend and was single and available once again.
xxxxx
"Having problems with being too popular again, are we?" teased Haruka as she leaped from the thick branch of the tree, landing on the soft grass perfectly with her athletic reflexes.
The tall blonde lightly prodded her best friend's rosy cheeks while grinning cheekily at the other girl.
The sea green haired girl quickly swatted the blonde's hands away and puffed her cheeks in a cute manner, complaining, "It's unfair Haruka. All you have to do is just hide in the trees and nobody will find you."
"Well, that's always a viable option for you too, either that or you could always just get that person over there to go with you," shrugged the dashing blonde as she flashed a toothy grin at her best friend, gesturing towards the figure in the reflection of the tinted window; namely, Tenou Haruka.
"Ara, is the charming school heartthrob Tenou Haruka asking me out?" Michiru struck a thinking pose and let out a soft teasing laughter.
The taller of the two smirked mischievously at the shorter girl and replied smugly, "Oh, so someone thinks I'm a charming heartthrob?"
"Maybe," was the answer she got from the aqua haired painter and that was it; nothing more, nothing less. Through the years, things always went that way between them, only subtle flirting here and there, and nothing ever went past the line of friendship.
The taller of the two felt her smirk falter a little when she received the expected reply but decided to continue with the conversation nevertheless.
"So what will it be, Kaiou Michiru-san?"
Michiru did a little curtsy at her childhood friend who was trying to be all gentlemanly and played along while she responded, "As you wish, Tenou Haruka-kun."
xxxxx
Rumors sure spread quickly.
In the short span of the next few hours, news of Kaiou Michiru having Tenou Haruka as a date for the coming prom night were already running rampant throughout the whole school.
Occasion whispers of "did you hear?" and "I knew they weren't just best friends" were heard almost everywhere as the two friends entered the school cafeteria in the midst of all the gossip with almost all eyes upon the pair.
Within the gossip, disappointed comments were also made by students of both genders for their failure to capture the hearts of Kaiou Michiru and Tenou Haruka. After all, the prom was the best time to strike and grab the hearts of the school idols.
"I guess they already know," Haruka chuckled lightly before continuing, "I never expected the school paparazzi network to be so… resourceful though."
The aqua haired girl beside her giggled lightly as she kept her pace steady while she remarked, "Should've expected this when we agreed to go together, Haruka."
"Well, what they don't know is that we're not actually dating," replied Haruka as she paused in her speech a little to think of the following statement that she made, "though that information is best kept omitted from the public knowledge, lest they start asking you out again."
"Aren't you forgetting something?" asked the smaller girl.
"No?" was the unsure reply.
"Oh? And I was so sure that I'm not the only one with popularity problems, Tenou-kun," chided Michiru as she gently tapped the taller girl's nose playfully, a sly smile gracing her features at the public show of affection in the school canteen where her actions were obvious enough for everyone to witness.
"Hai, hai, we're both saving each other's asses," grinned Haruka.
"Haruka!" chided Michiru again for the language she'd chosen.
The blonde let out an adorable pout as she apologized reluctantly, "fine, pardon me for my language, your highness." With that, she did a little bow and straightened up.
Laughing lightly at the blond teen's antics, she gave a haughty reply in return, "Your ignorance is pardoned, commoner."
"What? I'm just a commoner? Surely I deserve the title of a knight at least?"
The aqua haired girl opened her mouth to reply to that playful banter that both were enjoying, only to be interrupted by a snide comment of "get a room!" by some anonymous voice which disappeared in the crowd as soon as it came.
The blond athlete stuck her tongue out slightly and let out a small "oops" and all was back to normal again. People in the cafeteria were no longer watching the happy banter between the two but minding their own businesses as the time passed.
"It's set then. I'll pick you up at eight in the evening on the day," grinned the blonde.
"Okay, see you then," Michiru smiled.
xxxxx
She had been preparing for this event for an entire week, such as going to the lengths of getting herself a tailor made black tux and waistcoat, as well as a designer white shirt on the inside. Looking at herself in the mirror once again, she adjusted her silk bow tie one last time and smiled in satisfaction.
'This should do.'
Grabbing her keys from the desk in her room, she brushed off some imaginary dust from the shoulder of her tux and headed down the stairs quickly. With one last look at the house to make sure she'd turned off all the appliances, the tall blonde shut the door lightly and locked up quickly. She took a quick glance at her watch and cursed under her breath.
"Crap! I'm running late! Michiru's going to be so pissed!"
xxxxx
The aqua haired beauty hummed a soft tune as she sat at the vanity table brushing her aqua green locks, trying to look her best for the night. The violinist set the brush down on the table and reached for her pale pinkish lip gloss which lay near the edge of the vanity. After applying the cherry flavored lip gloss on her lips, she placed the object back in its place and glanced at the clock. It was already five minutes past the hour but the blond teen was nowhere to be seen in sight.
Kaiou Michiru was a person who was very particular about punctuality. It was really strange how she wasn't even annoyed at the blonde's lack in punctuality. It wasn't long before the screech of tires sounded in the porch and the aqua haired girl found herself in front of the door, waiting patiently for the knock on the door before she opened it.
"And I thought you weren't coming anymore," the violinist teased as she took her time to take in her blonde friend's look. The blonde was dressed in a designer black tux with glossy silk lapels, a white wing collar shirt with a dark green colored waist coat on the inside, completed with a teal colored bow tie and matching cufflinks which greatly accentuated the color of her eyes. In the many years they'd been together as best friends, it was actually the first time she had almost swooned over how amazingly handsome and smart her best friend was.
On the other hand, it seemed like the blonde took a while to register what the aqua haired violinist had said as she was busy observing how beautiful the violinist had looked. She was dressed in an elegant aquamarine strapless evening gown which matched her hair color and displayed her curves nicely. The bodice was decorated with teal blue floral appliqué, with detailed pleats on the skirt. It was a sight that she couldn't look away from.
Noticing the blond athlete's stare, she smiled slyly, "Earth to Haruka? Can't take your eyes off me?"
The blonde coughed into her fist and averted her gaze as she felt the temperature of her cheeks rising.
"Of course not, let's go," without warning, the taller of the two reached for the violinist's hand and led her towards the car which was parked in the porch.
xxxxx
They wasted no time in getting to the venue. The hall was decorated with large disco balls hanging from the ceiling, multi-colored lights shone on the dance floor as the students participated in a dancing fervor.
"Aren't you going to dance?" asked the beautiful aqua haired girl as she sat opposite her friend who was eyeing the dance floor the whole time.
"No, I'm a bad dancer, have you forgotten how I wrecked Yoshida's summer party the other time?" the blonde athlete replied, wincing at the thought of unwanted memories. The aqua haired girl laughed at the memory and replied, "It wasn't even your fault that Asakura's hair caught fire."
The blonde laughed, remembering the bald spot right in the middle of the poor boy's head after his afro caught fire from the sparks of the fireworks. "Well, he never talked to me again after that. And I didn't even set the fireworks on him intentionally."
"I'm going to get some punch, you want any?" asked the blond athlete as she started to walk towards the table by the side.
"Sure," the violinist nodded.
Ocean blue eyes traced the dance floor, following the movements of the students who were busy having the time of their lives dancing to the song by most popular band in school. How strange was it? It hasn't even been two weeks since the breakup and she was completely over the relationship within days. It was always the same for her past relationships. The failures never seemed to affect her much, even though she was pretty convinced that she was once in love with her previous boyfriends.
'What's taking Haruka so long?'
Her muse was soon interrupted by a deep voice behind her.
"May I have a dance with you, Kaiou-san? Looks like your partner has been caught by a pack of hungry wolves on the other side."
The blond boy jerked his thumb above his shoulder. The cerulean haired girl peered over his shoulder and true enough, the charming blonde had been surrounded by a couple of cheerleaders while holding the 2 cups of punch above their heads as they closed in on her. The Kaiou girl unconsciously frowned and turned swiftly towards the boy, immediately agreeing to his request.
"Pleasure."
The boy smiled politely as he led the violinist towards the crowded dance floor.
xxxxx
"Just one dance Tenou-kun?"
The tall blonde let out an awkward smile as she tried not to spill the drinks she still had in her hands onto the cheerleaders.
"I'm sorry, but I've got to get back to…"
"Kaiou-san? But I saw her heading towards the dance floor with some guy just a moment ago."
'She did?'
Being tall was a good thing, she noted. It was easy to spot the aqua haired girl in the crowd, after all, there were only so many people she knew that sported that outrageous hair color. One was Michiru, the rest were her family members. The aqua haired girl was swaying her hip to the music and her hands were travelling up and down her sides. The blonde athlete gulped at the sight of her best friend swaying her hips sexily to the beat of the music. Well, one dance is harmless, isn't it?
xxxxx
The lights to the hall dimmed as a beautiful piano accompaniment rang in the hall. The students who were indulged in the fast paced music slowed down and began holding onto their partners for the last song of the night.
It had been a while since they stopped after running into the other awkwardly while moving wildly in the mingling crowd and hormone driven teenagers. Slowly sipping her punch, the tall blonde looked at the beautiful aqua haired girl standing beside her through her peripherals and decided to ask her best friend for a dance.
"Michiru?" asked the blonde as she turned to face her shorter friend fully.
"Hmm?" answered the violinist as she faced her friend inquiringly.
"May I have your last dance?" the blonde extended her arm and bowed a little, her teal orbs meeting ocean colored ones gently with a small smile tugging at the corner of her lips.
The smaller girl returned the smile and replied, "of course."
As she took the offered arm, the pair made their way to the middle of the dance floor with their hands joined. Turning to face each other, the blonde bowed in courtesy as the girl curtsied in reply. Without wasting anytime, she held the cerulean haired girl's small hand in one of her own and gingerly placed the other hand on her back while the smaller girl placed her free hand on her taller friend's shoulder. The cool bare skin of the violinist's back felt like it was burning under the athlete's fingertips. The blonde girl composed herself, and listened intently to the lyrics of the song as she led her best friend in the steps. The pair started swaying to the music slowly, just like the other couples on the dance floor did.
There's a calm surrender
To the rush of day
When the heat of the rolling wind
Can be turned away
Flashbacks filled the blonde's mind, reminding her of the times they spent together through the years, sharing each other's secrets, talking about anything under the sky, laughing at each other's stupidity (well, most of the stupidity belonged to the dorky blonde), and crying over the loss of a very dear and precious friend (Michiru's dog, Shiro-chan that died when they were ten). They swayed a little to the right, and then back to the left, maintaining a slow pace as they went.
An enchanted moment,
And it sees me through
It's enough for this restless warrior
Just to be with you
Michiru smiled as she followed Haruka's lead, moving forward, swinging to the left, twirling away from the dashing blonde and then back into her arms as they moved. It was the right thing to do to go to the function with the blonde, she decided in her mind. Never once had she had so much fun during a slow dance. It was the trust that they had between them that she could move freely, knowing that Haruka'd catch her wherever she was.
And can you feel the love tonight? (Tonight…)
It is where we are
It's enough for this wide eyed wanderer
That we got this far
The blonde athlete smiled tenderly at the fond memories that they shared. Their eyes met briefly as she spun back into the handsome blonde's strong arms, the blonde going for a dip as the chorus came. Michiru leaned backwards almost fully, trusting that her blonde friend would support her no matter what.
And can you feel the love tonight? (Tonight…)
How it's laid to rest
It's enough to make kings and vagabonds
Believe the very best
The violinist's lips curled into a mischievous smile as Haruka brought her back smoothly, her hands slowly moving from her best friend's shoulder to the back of her neck in a teasing manner as the chorus ended. The dashing blonde froze in her spot for a brief moment as she felt the aqua haired girl's arms wrapped around her neck, bringing them closer. Teal eyes searched ocean orbs for answers, but found nothing.
There's a time for everyone
If they only learn
That the twisting kaleidoscope
Moves us all in turn
It didn't take long for the blonde to register that she had to wrap her arms around the beautiful violinist's waist and so she did. Small hands played with the soft hair at the back of the tall athlete's neck and she shuddered at the touch. How long had it been since she realized that she had fallen for her beautiful best friend whom she had known since seven? That she couldn't remember. What she knew at the moment was how beautiful the violinist looked under the dimmed lights. The violinist pulled the blonde down to her height gently, staring into teal pools gently as their foreheads touched.
There's a rhyme and reason
To the wild outdoors
When the heart of this star-crossed voyager
Beats in time with yours
"Michiru?" the husky voice inquired softly. The lyrics were slowly escaping her mind, and the close proximity was making her so nervous that she could feel her hands sweating. Nothing was making sense anymore.
And can you feel the love tonight? (Tonight…)
It is where we are…
"Shh…"
Why hadn't she noticed before? All along, the one she loved was right beside her. Dating that college guy was the last straw for her. She just couldn't help but compare him to her best friend. It was then that she realized that the reason she kept comparing the guys she'd dated was because none of them were as caring as Haruka was, none of them as gentle, and none of them could make her smile at the drop of a hat like Haruka did.
Without thinking, the violinist tipped her toes a little, her lips touching her partner's tenderly. The blonde pulled back a little, taken by surprise. She felt Haruka freeze for a short brief moment, but then eased into the kiss within the fragment of a second.
It was magical. The moment their lips touched, she felt like something had been set off in her head. Their eyes were closed, they were oblivious to the surroundings, and neither of them knew what they were doing anymore.
"Michiru, stop. You know you don't mean it like that," said Haruka breathlessly, her voice barely above a whisper as she looked into those deep ocean colored pools which she couldn't tear her eyes off of. She could feel her pulse quickening; the ache that nested deep within her heart pounded painfully against her ribcage emerged as she waited for the violinist to say something in return.
"I do mean it like that," the violinist whispered in reply, burying her head in the tall blonde's shoulders.
"Then show it to me."