Time and Tide (Part 2)
by BrDPirateMan
Shiki's failure to seduce Neku in the forest had the unforeseen effect of leaving her with a burning question to ponder over for the rest of the day.
What is Neku planning for me? she thought to herself. He's always had a knack for surprises. If he is anything to go by, it's something to look forward to.
But waiting for something that was slated to happen at night was torture. After all, it was only morning! She had never wanted it to be dusk so quickly. The wait would prove agonizing.
With time, however, she calmed down. As she busied herself with the day's activities she tossed the mysterious plan for the night to the back of her head. She was here to enjoy her time with Neku, not get agitated for no good reason.
In the morning, the couple set about making their temporary love nest as comfortable as possible. It was Friday today and they would be here for three days and two nights, returning to Shibuya by Sunday evening. It didn't sound like a lot of time at all, but she was grateful that they even took time off at all for their very special weekend.
Normally, they wouldn't even have any time to themselves. They were both college students but were studying in different universities, or to be precise, different countries. Shiki elected to stay in Japan to study fashion design at a Japanese institution that was well-known for churning out graduates who would later become very famous people in the field of fashion. Neku, on the other hand, chose graphic design as his major, but his parents insisted that he take his degree in the United States, where they felt the university they had him enrolled in was of much higher quality than the ones found in Japan.
So between the two lovers and their excessive workloads, they didn't have a lot of free time. While their semesters were underway, the only way they could get in touch was by e-mail or IM. But even their first semesters were brimming with coursework, so flexibility with their schedules was at a premium. There was many a time when they couldn't contact each other for as long as one whole week.
…Well, for them, one week was a long time indeed. If the laws of time and space (and money) allowed it, they'd talk every single day.
Instead of whining for the rest of their time on this camping trip, Shiki told herself to grab every opportunity and use it well. She helped Neku to lay out the sleeping bags inside the tent. She volunteered to be their chef and was in charge of cooking their simple yet filling lunches. And when the pot and utensils were washed and cleared away, she spent time talking with Neku about everything in general.
Life was good.
The afternoon rolled in and the heat made the beach feel more like a desert. The sand was so hot it felt more like glowing red coals. Staying in the tent was no option either because it was like an oven inside. They opted to retreat to the very edge of the forest where they could sit in the shade of the trees and find some respite from the heat.
Shiki had her legs tucked against her chest and her arms resting lazily on her knees. "Man, what a scorcher. I know it's summer but it's a bit too much, isn't it?"
Even when they were in the relatively cooler shade, the heat still got to him. Neku was sweating buckets. "Yeah… we brought along normal clothes to wear when we're not swimming, but…"
"…it looks like our swimwear will have to be our normal wear for this weekend, huh?"
"Ha ha ha… If I had known, I wouldn't have packed all those T-shirts in."
Shiki grinned. "Me too. Didn't think it'd come to this though. Our summers were almost never this hot… Um, would you mind if I wore bikinis for three days straight?"
"What, me?" chortled Neku. "Do I look like I'd mind?"
"Then… can I?" Her mischievous smile grew wider as she edged closer and laid her head on his shoulder lovingly.
"Why not? I'm going to have to wear trunks the whole time too. Both of us might as well dress for the occasion."
"You're funny."
"Really?"
"And perverted," sniggered Shiki, giving him a light kiss on the cheek.
"Says the one who stripped naked and pulled my trunks off."
"Neku!" She slapped him on the arm playfully, blushing as she remembered how embarrassingly forceful she was mere hours earlier. She did try to have a nice round of sex with him… leaning against a tree no less… But it was only human instinct. There was nothing wrong with it now, was there?
"Well, you're free to do what you like as long as you're happy," said Neku cheerily, stroking her cheek with his palm, "but I need tonight to be extra special, so just refrain from doing anything too crazy."
"Easy for you to say!"
Even while she was talking, however, she was growing sleepy. The trek through the forest on such a hot day must have taken its toll on her and tired her out, even though her backpack wasn't all that heavy. Her eyelids were getting heavier.
"Mmm… Neku," she mumbled, "is it okay if I take a nap?"
"If you want to catch some Z's," said Neku, "I suggest you don't use the tent. Seriously, it's like a sauna inside. You'd have to be crazy to go inside; it's too hot."
"I know… But where should I sleep?"
"I could bring my sleeping bag out here in the shade so you can use it as a mattress, if you like."
"That's a splendid idea."
Neku fished his sleeping bag out of the horrifyingly warm tent and laid it on the thinning grass. Shiki promptly lay down on it, though she didn't tuck herself beneath the covers as it was pointless to do so in the hot weather.
"Wake me in an hour, will ya?" she yawned.
"Sure. Sweet dreams, sleeping beauty." He planted a kiss on her forehead, causing her to smile as she fell into a deep sleep.
With nothing else to do, Neku whipped out his MP3 player and started listening to his favourite songs as he sat down near his sleeping girlfriend, keeping watch over her protectively.
XOXOXOXOXO
Unknowingly, Neku himself had dozed off too. When he awoke, a dull pain spread across his neck. It wasn't a wise thing to sleep sitting up. He was also oblivious to the fact that his MP3 player had finished playing all of its songs and had fallen silent.
Wait a minute, he thought, my player doesn't stop playing; it cycles through all the songs repeatedly.
He flicked the "on" switch, and when it didn't respond, it occurred to him that the batteries had run dry. Much to his chagrin, he remembered something: that he forgotten to pack in fresh batteries. And he had constantly told himself while packing to include them in his backpack! In a way, he remembered that he forgot to remember. He grumbled at his bad luck, but nothing else could be done.
About one and a half hours had gone by and the afternoon, while still hot, had grown more tolerable. Shiki had asked him to wake her up at around this time, so he whispered in her ear to try and rouse her from her sleep.
"Shiki, wake up. Shiki…"
No response. It was always like her to sleep soundly, and usually a lot of effort was required to get her to wake up. This would prove to be no exception. He heaved an exasperated sigh when he shook her lightly at first, then harder, but yielded no positive results. What could he do to wake the sleeping human log?
He was about to consider yelling in her ear when an idea suddenly struck upon him. A delicious idea.
Gazing at her beautiful half-naked form, he could see how vulnerable she was. And if nothing could wake her, then he was free to… experiment with all sorts of things until she did wake up. A great number of weird fantastical thoughts began to manifest themselves in his head, none safe enough to mention in daily conversation.
Oh yes, Neku was going to have himself some fun…
He grazed his fingers across her arm to establish a yardstick on how she would react to touch, and she didn't even stir in her sleep. He drew his index finger lightly along the slope of her neck, hoping to tickle her, but again she was blissfully motionless. Even when he tapped lightly at her nose, surprisingly or perhaps not surprisingly, nothing happened.
Clearly amused, he began to try other unorthodox methods…
His hand found its way on top of one of her breasts, and at first, all he did was caress it lightly, enjoying how smooth and tight her chest felt cradled within her bikini top. Then, very gently, he squeezed it, wondering if she would notice. Needless to say, the sensation of touching her breasts never got old for him; it was a fantastic feeling. There was hardly any guilt at all because he knew that both of them were very comfortable with each other even when they were completely naked. After all, they had made amazing love a good number of times over the course of their relationship.
He ran his hand everywhere along her bare tummy, as well as up and down the hips. Nothing he did could coax her out of her deep slumber. Neku chuckled at how much he could get away with his increasingly bold actions. Even though they had known each other for ages, her ability to sleep so soundly never ceased to amaze him. It was almost like a fine addition to the many mysteries of the world. Why, she could even have her own place in the Guinness Book of World Records.
At last he even went so far as to massage her between the legs, although it was through the cloth of her bottom piece. He wasn't rough with her. He twirled his fingers this way and that, hoping to at least induce a moan or two.
Nothing worked. She didn't wake up. Apart from her breathing, she could very well be mistaken as a corpse. What was he supposed to do? Kiss her on the cheek like Prince Charming did to Sleeping Beauty?
Wait… he hadn't tried that yet. It was worth a shot.
Amazingly, when he pecked her cheek, she groaned and woke up. He gaped in astonishment. What was the logic behind this? He could call her name over and over again and caress her everywhere but nothing would happen. And although he knew better than to test the theory, he could have sex with her while she was sleeping and she would be none the wiser… But kiss her on the cheek and she would inexplicably wake up, nice and easy. Of all the craziest things in the world…
Shiki yawned and rubbed the fuzz out of her eyes. "Neku? What time is it?"
"Wh-What time? Oh!" He fumbled to look at his wristwatch. "Just past 4 pm."
She said nothing and sat up, but quickly noticed how Neku was staring at her with a quizzical look on his face.
She trained her gaze at him suspiciously. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing! Nothing at all…"
Neku thought it best to just lay low and stay quiet about the whole thing. It simply wouldn't do to have her know that he was playing with her body while she was sleeping and unaware…
XOXOXOXOXO
A cluster of puffy clouds had appeared in the sky, partially blocking out the sun. Now that the weather was much more agreeable, Shiki had decided to take the opportunity to work on a nice tan. She invited Neku to join her, and while he wasn't really a fan of sunbathing, it wasn't like he had anything to do at the moment.
The couple laid down on separate blankets, next to each other, immobile like rocks as they soaked up precious sunlight. They exchanged friendly banter, occasionally jabbing playful jibes at each other.
"Heard the latest?" said Shiki. "Eri's found a new boyfriend."
Neku was incredulous. "Seriously? That girl is always changing boyfriends, but… didn't she start dating her last boyfriend only three months ago?"
"Apparently, he was a bit of a jerk, so she dumped him."
"Oh boy… well, at least she's found love again. So who's the lucky guy?"
Shiki pushed the bridge of her sunglasses further up her nose. "Someone she met at a mixer. Apparently he's a student working part-time at some engineering company. They hit it off pretty well."
Neku snickered. "Heh… She can hit it off with anyone, it'd seem."
"Yeah, that's how she is. Compared to her, we were so awkward when we first confessed to each other. She just grabs someone and they're as good as going out!"
"Aren't you concerned, Shiki? She seems rather careless to me… What if she picked up a creepy guy?"
"I am a bit worried, to be honest…" she sighed, "but she'll be alright, I guess…"
"At least we don't have this problem," Neku said, turning to Shiki with a smile on his face.
"Yeah… true love…"
How long has it been since their first meeting in the Reapers' Game? About three years…? It wasn't love at first sight, no… far from that. They hated each other, but when their personalities mellowed and they changed for the better, it would be the start of better things.
If someone had told Shiki during the beginning of the Reapers' Game that the then-terrible Neku Sakuraba would end up as her longtime boyfriend, she wouldn't have believed it. She would have spat at the very thought of going out with such a vile person. But fate is a strange and wonderful thing, and now, blissfully together, they were more interested in necking than pecking, making love rather than making war.
Speaking of making love, Shiki felt an uncontrollable itch in her heart. Slowly but surely, lust was eating away at her sanity, and looking at Neku's fantastic body didn't help matters at all. He had told her to abstain from sex till tonight, but she feared that she wouldn't be able to cope.
One more look at his fabulous toned muscles and that was all it took for her to snap. She wanted gratification and she wanted it now.
Neku was minding his own business, eyelids firmly shut. The sunny goodness his body was absorbing enveloped him in an unchanging warmth and left him in a peaceful Zen-like trance. Maybe sunbathing wasn't so boring as he thought it was.
Through his eyelids all he could see a uniform redness that was the sun shining strongly down on his eyes. Suddenly, the redness faded to black. Something was blocking out the sun. When he opened his eyes to look…
"Shiki?" His heart stopped.
There she was, on all fours above his body. Not a single thread of cloth on her; obviously, she had taken off her bikini again. Carnal fire was burning up her body, baking all good sense to crispy perfection. He could only stare at her, confused and rather alarmed.
"Neku…" she whispered dangerously, tossing away her sunglasses, "come on… you and me…"
"Whoa, hold on, Shiki," gulped Neku. "We did agree to wait until tonight…"
"I can't wait anymore." She traced lingering circles on his chest with her moist tongue, an action that had a profound effect on him. Despite his reluctance to get it on with her, a certain muscle of his was slowly twitching to life. He desperately willed it to calm down and return to normal, but nothing he did helped.
"Shiki, that's really naughty of you," he groaned, "but I don't want to do this right now…"
"Too bad… I'm afraid I'm going to have to disobey."
She grasped the band of his trunks in both hands. Neku was shocked that she had the audacity to pull them off for the second time in a single day especially when he clearly told her not to. Leaving his trunks curled up at his knees to render him immobile, Shiki was delighted at the sight of his fully exposed body and how superbly erect he was. Even though he had a strong will, he was still a normal guy at the end of the day… And no man could resist the charms of the woman he loved.
"Oh, Neku… I'm so sorry about this," she growled sexily, "but I am going to get what I want."
"Sh-Shiki, you can't…"
Hearing him plead for mercy made her feel powerful. She was usually the one who was passive in their relationship. In bed she was almost always beneath him, and while she didn't mind and in fact loved the feeling of being trapped while he performed miracles on her body, being on top was a nice refreshing change. She was tempted to laugh and torment him some more, but her own needs were far more urgent.
She reached down for his rock-hard length with one hand while she stabilized her upper body above him with the elbow of her free arm. Once she flipped it skywards, straight up at her eager moist opening, she began to bodily lower herself…
Much to her glee, he embraced her with both arms. Yes! she whooped deliriously in her mind, He finally sees the light! I'm so sorry, Neku. I know you've got a surprise waiting for me but the suspense is literally killing me.
But before she could finish the job, Neku summoned the strength of ten men and spun both of them around in the blink of an eye, wrestling her onto her back so that he regained the upper hand. He had kicked away his trunks in the process, so even though he was still precariously naked, at least his legs weren't bound and he had more freedom.
Shiki was amazed by his muscular abilities. She knew he worked out in the States but this was the first time she saw proof of his newfound strength. Dazed and impressed, all she could do was utter a quiet, "Wow." She didn't mind being underneath him once again, not at all… not as long as she got some action in. Looking at him hovering above her in such close proximity, poised to attack and bring her glorious pleasure, filled her heart with anticipation.
However, her happiness was marred when Neku sighed in slight annoyance, "Impatient again, Shiki?"
"Huh?" She was confused by his change of attitude. "Aren't you going to… you know?"
"No," he said firmly, "I can't!"
He had placed her on her back so that she wouldn't be able to force him to enter her. Now that she understood his true intention, she became enraged and even more frustrated than before. But she had not lost this fight yet.
With lightning speed she wrapped her legs around his waist and pulled him closer. Neku saw that his plan had backfired and now he was panicking, doing his very best to keep himself from coming into contact with her smooth hairless slit. Fighting in a desperate life-and-death struggle, neither wanted to capitulate to the other, but for different reasons.
"Neku!" she seethed, "why are you holding me back? I need this!"
He saw that he was losing the battle as he watched himself get lowered slowly but surely, unable to fight back against her. "Not now… Shiki, dooooon't!"
"But I really want to make love right now! We haven't had any sex for two whole weeks!"
Sweat poured down his face. Much to his growing horror, his tip had now just touched her. In fact, it was neatly positioned right in the middle. Shiki could feel that rigid extremity of his tickling her down below and was growing insanely excited. Just when she was about to expend all of her energy in one final constriction of her legs to take him in, she stopped when she heard Neku's pleading words.
"Shiki, no, please… I just want tonight to be perfect!"
Suddenly she felt a wave of guilt wash over her. What was she doing? She was just satisfying her selfish desires and wants. By not even considering her lover's feelings, she realized that she was no better than a dirty old man. What she was trying to do… it was actually like attempted rape on her boyfriend, wasn't it?
She promptly let her legs fall to the sides harmlessly, freeing Neku from her embrace. He sat up in a crouching position beside her, inwardly breathing a sigh of relief. Had he not stopped her, he probably would have went ahead and done it with her, regardless of whatever.
Shiki scrunched her naked body up into a fetal position, a sure sign that she wasn't in a particularly great mood, though her anger was all but gone. She felt guilty instead, for attempting to force Neku into sex. She folded her arms on top of her knees and then buried her head in her arms.
"I'm sorry, Neku," she mumbled, traces of tears in her voice. "I shouldn't have done that… Now you're going to see me as a real pervert, aren't you? Because that's what I am."
Neku put his trunks back on and sidled up against her side. He consoled her as best as he could. "Shiki, the only reason you wanted so very much to make love is that you love me, not because you're a pervert or anything. It's human nature, after all."
"But… But this is…"
"Shiki." He raised her head by the chin, and they stared into each other's eyes. Then he leaned in and pressed their lips together. She slowly unraveled her body and wrapped her arms around his neck, but the kiss they shared was sweet and free of wanton lust.
"Neku… I…"
"Shiki, I love you. I wouldn't hate you for something so trivial."
"Trivial?" she gulped. "Wh-What I did was hardly trivial… But do you really… forgive me?"
"Like you have to ask," he replied with a kind smile.
"Oh, Neku…!" Overcome by relief and joy, she launched herself at him in a bear hug but he lost balance and fell over backwards. As a result, she ended up on top of him as she continued to hug him to pieces. Neku himself was growing slightly aroused again from the feeling of his girlfriend's bare body on his own, but graciously returned her affection, stroking her naked back lovingly.
"Neku, thank you," said Shiki, "I'm so glad you're my friend."
"Boyfriend to be exact," corrected Neku gently, "but no matter… I know what you mean."
"Hey, um, Neku?" Her heart was palpitating. "What's so special about tonight? Is there a reason?"
"There is, in fact, a very good reason, but… well, I'll tell you when the time comes."
"Okay then… Let's leave the lovemaking for tonight when you surprise me."
"My plan exactly…"
"But for now," she giggled sheepishly, "could we just kiss? Nothing horny though, don't worry."
"Alright… that sounds nice."
Neku and Shiki spent the next half hour making out very romantically. Even though she was still fully unclothed, she no longer had any weird thoughts and urges, and for that matter, neither did he. For them, being together was all that mattered now, and they were happy in each other's arms until the evening approached to paint the sky in breathtaking orange hues.