"Oh, dear Lord. I am so late." Setsuna mumbled as she practically flew into the front door of the girl's dorm. Taking the stairs two at a time she mentally constructed an apology and thought of a way to make up to her charge. She let out a small yelp as the toe of her shoe struck the edge of the stairs, making her tumble forward. Shooting her arm out, she grabbed the stairs handle bar, quickly regaining her balance before resuming her mad dash to the fifth floor.
By the time she arrived at the door of her charge Setsuna was doubled over heaving heavily, trying to get air back into her burning lungs. Wiping the perspiration off her forehead with the back of her hand she leaned back onto the cool wall, stretching her aching back, before taking one last huge gulp of air to calm her nerves.
Facing the dark mahogany door she knocked softly and stood back, grinning wearily when her heightened hearing caught a muffled shuffling on the other end of the door. Not a second later a pouting Konoka poked out of the door.
For a moment Setsuna stared back into big brown eyes, before her eyes trailed down on full pink lips quietly wondering exactly how soft they were when pressed on hers. Blushing at the thought she looked down, staring at the caked mud on her brown shoes.
"Um..."
"Sechan! You're so late. I was really worried you know?" Konoka cut in as she stepped out onto the empty corridor. She reached up to cup Setsuna's face, making the samurai blush a darker shade of red, her frown getting deeper. "You're bleeding. What happened?" she asked, her thumb gently wiping the blood from her split cheek.
"Huh?" Setsuna's hand shot up to her cheek, right above where Konoka's thumb stopped. She winced slightly when the rough pads of her fingers grazed the wound, something Konoka didn't miss.
"It must have been from that surprise attack." She mumbled absentmindedly, pulling her fingers back, grimacing at the sight of cheery red liquid coating them.
Konoka's frown deepened. She turned her head from side to side. Certain that no one was in sight she leaned in, tenderly planting a kiss on her cheek, right beside the wound. Setsuna felt a warm tingling feeling on her cheek, though she didn't know whether it was from Konoka's healing magic or from the blush she was sure was there.
Konoka stood back, satisfied with her work, giggling softly at the way the hanyou was nervously shifting in her spot. Taking Setsuna's hands in her own she quickly led her in, softly closing the door behind them. Leading her guardian into the middle of the room she gently pushed her to sit on the couch.
"You must be hungry. I'll go heat up your dinner." Konoka happily chirped, obviously forgetting her earlier fuss. Setsuna was about to kindly refuse Konoka's offer when her stomach rumbled loudly. Konoka's hand shot up to her face as she tried to stifle her giggles. Setsuna bowed her head looking anywhere but the giggling chocolate haired princess before her, trying and miserably failing to control the growing blush on her normally pale cheeks.
"Now, now Sechan, take it easy. Make yourself at home I'll be back with dinner in a minute." Konoka said before she turned and disappeared into the tiny kitchen. Setsuna breathed out as she relaxed somewhat into the couch. After a while she cocked her head to the side as a sudden feeling of anxiety made itself prominent, via the uncomfortable flips her stomach was doing. Curious Setsuna let her eyes roam about the room, looking for the source of her uneasiness.
"Konoka ojou-sama?" Setsuna tentatively called out.
"Yes?" Konoka piped up from the kitchen.
"Where are Negi-sensei and Asuna-san?"
"They're... out." Setsuna swallowed dryly, finally understanding the reason for the abnormal way her body was responding.
"Fo-for how long?" Setsuna strained her ears trying to decipher any words mumbled past the continuous kling-kanging going on in the kitchen. After a while of silence she started to nervously fiddle with her fingers, her eyes darting to the door from time to time.
Konoka had the habit of latching herself onto Setsuna whenever they were near, even more so when they were left alone. She knew Konoka took pleasure at the discomfort she was able to procure from the stoic hanyou. It wasn't that Setsuna disliked the attention the princess was giving her rather it was the complete opposite. Setsuna knew, from the way her body responded, that she was undeniably attracted to the young princess. No matter how much she denied the idea she couldn't find any other explanations as to why her body reacted the way it did, except for the obvious.
And that was exactly why she needed to get out of there.
Unfortunately for Setsuna she had no more than rose from her seat when Konoka popped out from the kitchen, a steaming plate of curry rice in hand.
"Sechan~" Konoka sing sang as she walked over to the kotatsu. Setting the dish down she waved Setsuna over as she made herself comfortable at the futon to the right. Setsuna swallowed dryly, slowly making her way over to the kotatsu. Sitting herself down she furtively glanced over to the smiling brunet, feeling her body relax a bit as she did. Not a second later Setsuna eagerly dug into her meal, sighing happily as she let the mild spicy flavour of the beef graze across her taste buds.
Konoka propped her arm up to rest her head as she silently watched Setsuna finish her plate "So? How is it?"
"As expected of Konoka Ojou-sama. It tastes wonderful." Konoka's smile widened at the comment. Snatching the empty plate up before Setsuna could move Konoka grabbed on one of Setsuna's arm, tugging at it as she stood, getting the message Setsuna quickly followed suit. Leading the hanyou back to the couch Konoka playfully pushed Setsuna down before skipping back to the kitchen to put the plate in the sink.
"Ne, Sechan, have you practiced the dance moves for p.e.?" Setsuna stiffened. She had completely forgotten the whole thing about their physical education's final exam. Sure she was good at p.e., what with the other 'extracurricular activities' she had to do for the dean she was more than fit enough to breeze through that specific subject. Problem now was how in the world did dancing become an essential part of p.e.? No- Better question, wasn't it more like an art than a sport?
Setsuna groaned at the thought of dancing in front of the class. She wasn't one to dance, she rather disliked dancing and she wasn't big with the whole 'being-the-center-of-attention' thing. Even the thought of it made her stomach churn.
"Erm... well no, not really..."
"Well then!" Konoka exclaimed wrapping her arms around Setsuna's neck from behind. Setsuna's hands came up to the slender arms around her neck from the shock, but knowing whose they were didn't make a move to extract them. "How 'bout you partner up with me for the night. I pretty much got the routine down. I can teach you. By the end of the night you'll be dancing like it was the most natural thing to do."
Pulling her arms back Konoka bounced over to the small cd player on top of their only study table. The moment Konoka withdrew her arms a part of Setsuna suddenly missed the warmth provided by the princess, while the other berated her for even thinking that way. Setsuna groaned at the conflict going on in her mind, another reason why she should better leave.
"Konoka Ojou-sama, maybe I should just go. I'm sure I'll be oka –" she stopped mid-sentence when a warm pair of hands clasp firmly on her arm, softly tugging at it.
"Aw don't be like that Sechan." Konoka whined, cutely in Setsuna's opinion. No, she should probably get out of there, it was already getting late.
"I'm really just bother –"
"Not at all, come on Sechan it's just a dance. I won't bite." Setsuna blushed at the last sentence but stopped all attempts of leaving, instead started to fidget in her spot. "O-okay, just- just one dance." Setsuna conceded. Inwardly Konoka grinned.
Letting go, Konoka once again bounded over to the cd player. A pile of cd cases were strewn across the table, their colourful labels up. After a while of sorting through them Konoka finally popped one of the cd's into the player. Grabbing the small remote control she casually made her way back to where Setsuna stood.
"Do you remember the basics?" Konoka asked.
Setsuna tried to recall the steps their p.e. teacher had shown them the month before. She could vaguely remember a few foot work and hand movements but couldn't pin point exactly which coordinated with which and what the names were.
Konoka couldn't help but giggle at the facial expression her guardian was unconsciously doing. Her face had gone from questioning to serious concentration to downright confusion then finally to frustration in less than a minute.
"I'm sorry Ojou-sama, I can't seem to remember the dancing pattern." Setsuna finally concluded, sending Konoka a helpless look.
Smiling even wider Konoka reached down to take Setsuna's hands. Leading her to a more spacious part of the room, right by her bed, she pressed some buttons on the remote before chucking it to her mattress, soon after a soft instrumental music began emitting from the speakers.
Konoka slowly guided Setsuna's right hand right by her shoulder blade and the left in her own hand, hovering at their side. Setsuna felt her cheeks burn at the sudden close proximity. She tried to pull away but the moment Konoka's left hand rested over her shoulder she lost all thoughts of pulling away, instead stared mesmerized into Konoka's brown eyes.
"Okay Sechan, we're all set. We're going to do the-" Konoka stopped, noticing the intense stare directed at her. Konoka uncharacteristically blushed but forced herself not to look away. "-w –we're going to do the classical waltz."
"Now follow my instructions, and soon we'll be dancing in time with the rhythm." Setsuna nodded in understanding and dipped her head slightly so she could see her feet. "Ah- Sechan, keep your eyes on me." Konoka softly berated, cupping Setsuna's chin with her left hand to bring her head up. The blush on Setsuna's cheeks became more prominent as she returned her gaze to Konoka's eyes.
"Good. Ready?"
Again Setsuna nodded.
"Okay now, left foot forward, now side with the right and close with the left. Good. And now right forward, left side and right close. That's great Sechan." Setsuna sheepishly grinned at the praise. Dancing wasn't as bad as she thought. Then again it wasn't as if she actually listened to any of the instructor's lesson.
"Okay again. Left, right, left stop. Right, left, right stop." As they continued practicing Konoka had begun turning to the side to avoid hitting the wall and other objects without even looking back, as if she's memorize the whole room. Setsuna was impressed, usually Konoka paid little to no mind to her surroundings whenever she was focused on doing something. What the hanyou didn't know was that she has been unconsciously veering the young heiress to avoid collisions.
Konoka, on the other hand, was somewhat surprised, not only did Setsuna catch on fast she had also quickly and efficiently took the lead. But one look at her guardian's face and she almost doubled over in laughter. Despite the gentle way she held Konoka and the relaxing swaying motion they were doing as they waltz her facial expression was far from soothing, rather she looked too serious.
Biting her lower lip to keep her from giggling Konoka leaned closer to her guardian, lightly resting her chin at the base of her neck. "Sechan, you'll get more wrinkles if you keep up that look. Relax, it's just a dance."
Setsuna nearly jumped when she felt Konoka's warm breath tingling in her ear. Her cheeks reddened drastically as she belatedly realize Konoka's chin was snuggly resting on the crook of her neck, cheek on her shoulder . "S-sorry, I'm not really good at dancing."
"You're doing great . You'll ace that exam no problem!" Konoka mumbled. Closing her eyes Konoka contentedly listened to the light music accompanied by the soft breathing of her dance partner, slowly but surely lulling her to sleep. Their movements slowed, to a point that they were basically swaying on the same spot. Tentatively Setsuna pulled her left hand from Konoka's and gently rested it at the small of Konoka's back. Konoka's free hand, losing contact automatically found its way to the back of Setsuna's neck. They continued swaying long after the song ended and the cd player clicked to a stop, bathing the room in silence. A soothing silence, one only accompanied by the random cicada clicking to the night and the soft breathing of the two occupants of the room.
"Sechan." The young heir mumbled drowsily, unintentionally sending chills down the hanyou's back, effectively snapping her out of the haze in her mind. Not quite trusting her voice Setsuna hummed "can you" she stopped, letting out a small yawn "can you stay, for the night? I don't think Asuna and Negi-kun are coming back anytime soon. Please?"
The swaying stopped. Self-consciously Konoka fingers desperately gripped the back of Setsuna's shirt, pulling the girl closer, she whimpered.
Setsuna nearly choked at the small sound the girl in her arms was producing. It was late, and she should head back to her dorm room, but with one request from the young heiress she knew she wouldn't be able to say no.
"Please, Sechan." Konoka whispered her grip lax now. She gasped when she felt Setsuna's head lower unto her shoulder, and took a shaky breath. "If that is what Kono-chan wishes, then so be it."