First Kiss (Part 3)
by BrDPirateMan
Neku's encounter with the jellyfish during his trip to the beach was unpleasant but not fatal. He was discharged from the hospital after a few days, free to once again pursue the elusive rush of a sweet shared kiss with his ladylove.
They managed to find a quiet spot in Shibuya, not an easy feat as privacy was at a premium in this bustling city, and in celebration of his successful recovery, they were now cuddling and doing the sorts of things that couples often did. Practically no one was around in the backstreets of Udagawa at this time, so they were free to do what they wished without fear of repercussion.
Shiki, who was pinned against the colourful mural wall, whispered, "Neku, don't overstrain yourself now… You just got out of the hospital."
"I know." Neku was stroking her cheek softly, enjoying the way she was purring and moaning to his touch. "Well… this is kind of like therapy."
She giggled. "Nice one. Say…" Her eyes darted furtively to her left and right before turning back to him. "This is going to sound like retreaded territory by now, but…"
"…you want me to kiss you?"
"Yeah…"
"Then I wouldn't waste anymore time," said Neku, who promptly scooped her into his arms for a loving embrace.
He leaned in, and she leaned in too. Slowly and steadily, their lips glided towards each other, as if destined to meet on this day. Their minds were filled with all manner of romantic thoughts, blossoming like a whole field of beautiful flowers. Finally they were going in the right direction… again.
But no! The gods or whoever was upstairs controlling people's fates had to rain destruction on their romance once more. Suddenly from the shop nearby burst forth a sizable group of tourists, led along by a tour guide waving a flag like they were a flock of dumb sheep. They were obviously foreigners and/or Japanese who weren't familiar with Shibuya, and they were here to admire the sights and sounds of the city.
The next thing on their list of things to see and do was to watch the romantic goings-on between the two halves of a consistently unlucky couple.
Neku and Shiki froze when they found out they were the centre of attention for this mob of tourists. Exacerbating their embarrassment further was the tour guide, who, whether intentionally or not, seamlessly included them into her guided tour.
"…And here we have a sampling of an act from two of Shibuya's famous street performers. It looks like they're in the middle of enacting a love scene."
Shiki was most mortified. "Wh-What? !"
The tour guide continued, "Feel free to take some photos for your remembrance. These are, after all, part of an experience that is unique to Shibuya and found nowhere else." The tourists, unfamiliar with the city, believed her every word to be true and started snapping photos of our poor heroes, thinking that they were bona fide street performers.
The camera flashes, fast and furious, made everything look like they were under a stroboscope. "Argh!" Neku cried out, getting blinded real quick. "What the – Quit it, will you! We're not –"
"Neku, get your butt in gear and run!" Grabbing his wrist, Shiki dragged him into a frantic run through the nearest alley and didn't stop till they were back in the streets, far away from them.
When they were sure they had lost the tourists, they stopped to catch their breaths. Panting and heaving, their romantic atmosphere was all but shattered into oblivion. Woe was them!
"That was intense," gasped Neku, leaning against a wall.
"And this is ridiculous!" Shiki wanted to tear her hair out. "Every time we get in a good mood and find a good location, something always happens to stop us dead! I'm tired of this! Is there no end to the bad luck we have to put up with? !"
"Whoa, calm down…"
She grumbled, "I… I just want us to kiss already. Geez… what a hassle."
"I know…" He stroked her arm gently to calm down the raging beast in her. "Hey, let's go for some ramen, yeah?"
Back to Dogenzaka they went, where they were now having a nice simple meal of noodles and clear broth. As they reflected upon their past failures in silence, Neku suddenly had a brainwave. In a moment of clarity and sudden realization, he understood what exactly was the reason that they could never get to kissing. He wanted to slap his forehead; it was such a simple reason!
"Shiki, I've got it."
"Got what?"
"I know why we always fail at kissing," replied Neku, who had the air of someone who had finally solved a riddle that had perplexed him for weeks.
Though Shiki wasn't in the mood to bring up bygones long dead, she was nonetheless curious. "Well, why?"
"It's because we've always tried to kiss in a public place." Neku paused to slip more noodles into his mouth. "Remember? We've been trying at school, at the park, at various spots around Shibuya, and even at the beach far away from here. But nothing worked."
"Yeah… But I don't see how that makes any sense."
"It does," he said, suddenly feeling like a detective. "No matter how private a public place may seem, in the end, a public place is not a private place."
"Um… duh." Because she still didn't get it, she wasn't impressed. Maybe his explanation was too cryptic.
"Listen. It's all because there's no peace in a public place. If we want peace, we're going to have to do it in a place where we can be sure of privacy, like our homes, for example."
Shiki did a small gasp. "So… You're saying you want us to kiss at home?"
"Only then will it all work out, the way things look."
She stroked her chin, nodding slowly in agreement. "That might actually be a workable plan."
Growing uneasy from what he was about to ask next, he quavered, "So now the question is…
"Your house or mine?"
Their entire conversation had been largely ignored in the comfortable home-like ambience of the ramen house and the heavenly aroma of fine ramen. No one had paid any attention to the couple. But for a reason so inexplicable it could induce headaches, that last line simply had to be picked up by everyone's ears. He had tried to lower his voice as much as he could for those four words but… it was still somehow audible enough for all to hear.
The place went dead silent. Chopsticks stopped clicking about. Mouths remained slack, neither chewing nor swallowing. All eyes were directed at the boy and girl.
And Shiki wanted to crawl into a hole and never come out.
"Idiot!" she hissed at Neku, blushing deeply. "Do you realize what you just said? ! Do you think I'd –"
"No, no! S-Sorry," he whispered sheepishly, "that's not what I meant! Just… do you want to kiss at my house, or yours?"
The misunderstanding was cleared up well enough – of course Neku wasn't propositioning her – but everyone was still listening. And everyone was still shocked. If something wasn't done…
Shiki stood up from her seat and grabbed his collar, yanking him into a standing position. He protested, "Whoa, hey, what? What're you doing? I'm still eating –"
"We are out of here!" Leaving half-finished bowls of ramen behind – Neku's loss as he was treating – she dragged him out of the shop before things got seriously out of hand.
She dragged him through the streets for a second time, mere minutes after their first escape from utter and complete embarrassment at the hands of a bunch of overzealous tourists. They at last stopped in a residential part of Shibuya where there were a lot of apartment buildings and houses. Shiki wasn't an athletic person, so she had a hard time getting her exhausted system back to normal. But Neku had it worse.
His limbs looked ready to fall off and she was almost sure he would collapse unceremoniously in a pile of arms and legs. "Ugh… Shiki… Why… Why'd you make me run… so much… I'm still convalescing, you know…"
"…You brought this upon yourself, Neku."
"Argh… look, I'm sorry… okay? Ooh… My head. I can see all the colours of the rainbow…"
Well, Shiki did feel bad for making a recuperating person exert so much. At this rate, he might actually have to be readmitted into hospital, and that wasn't fun at all.
"Neku, you're going to need some rest."
"I know, Ms Obvious." Seeing him look so tired and pathetic took much of the sting from his sarcasm, though. It's not easy to be offended from a dying person, not that he was even close to dying, but you get what I mean.
"Come on. My house is close by. You can take a break and chill there."
He stiffened. Even though they had been going out for some time now, it suddenly occurred to him that he had never visited her home before, and vice versa. If she was offering him to rest at her place he wasn't going to refuse. It was a good chance to see what it was like inside; frankly, he was quite curious – of course any guy would be curious to know what his girlfriend's house looked like… what scrumptious secrets she may be hiding and all that… But there was also something else…
"Shiki…" he said breathlessly. "Your house… It's… It's a –"
As if she could read his thoughts, she finished for him, "A private place, yes. And… um…" She gulped and grew red. "…if you want, you could kiss me. M-My parents… They're on vacation for their wedding anniversary and I've got the whole house to myself, so… there's no one around to disturb us."
He wasn't sure if he was hearing things. Being rather unhealthy at the moment made him even less sure of himself. But no, he wasn't hallucinating, he wasn't schizophrenic, and he wasn't gripped by insanity. He heard her right.
And in addition to that, his male brain translated her words into: Shiki and I are going to be alone at her home… We can get away with pretty much anything! This… This may be the chance we've been looking for!
The thought of finally consummating… er, celebrating their relationship with a sweet innocent kiss made him so giddy that he could hardly stand on his already wobbly feet. So he didn't. He fainted and collapsed on the spot happily, waves of hormones coursing through his veins.
Shiki gaped in shock at her boyfriend's limp body. "Neku? Neku? ! Are you alright? ! …He's unconscious. But… why is he smiling? !"
XOXOXOXOXO
Neku awoke to the sound of his own cheeks being slapped gently but repeatedly. Shiki was trying to wake him up.
"Fwuh… urgh, Shiki, stop it… I'm awake."
She gave a sigh not of relief but of slight annoyance. "About time too. You were out cold for no reason."
"Out cold?" When he tried to shift into a sitting position, he discovered through his still-blurry vision that he had been lying on a couch. "What happened to me?"
"How should I know?"
"Ah… never mind. More importantly," he mumbled, gazing around the room, "what is this place? It's not my home."
Shiki handed him a glass of water. "Yeah, it's mine. My home. After you fainted on the streets, I had to drag you back here. Luckily it wasn't a long way, but… now my arms hurt a bit."
"Sorry. And thanks. You're a kind person."
She smiled and sat right next to him, purposely nudging very close to his body. Tired of beating about the bush, Shiki adopted a more straightforward approach to doing things and asked point-blank, like a shotgun to the face, "Neku, if you're not too sleepy right now, could you kiss me?"
…like a shotgun. BAM!
Filled with enough blushing heat to burn himself to death, Neku had to take a few moments to compose himself. "You've become so bold, Shiki," he said at last. He found himself backing away inch by inch on the couch while she crept closer and closer, like she was a stalking lioness moving in on its unsuspecting prey. But there was only so much of the couch he could back up into, and the armrest hit him in the butt rather rudely. He was trapped.
Her eyes glinted with hunger. And for the briefest second, she did look like a lioness, albeit a bespectacled one. He almost jumped out of his skin, stopping himself only when he remembered that animals don't wear glasses.
She pressed right up against him, their frames fitting perfectly. His heart thundered when he felt her soft hands on his chest.
"Neku, what're you waiting for?" she whispered, blowing into his ear seductively. "Come on. Let's kiss."
Without thinking, he blurted out, "Th-This new side of you is kind of disturbing…"
He subsequently suffered pain at her hands when she pinched the hell out of him.
"Ow! Ow! I just got out of hospital! I'm sorry! Quit it! …Please?"
"Way to ruin the atmosphere, you brainless idiot," said an indignant Shiki, "but I'm in a good mood, so I'll let your little spot of stupidity slide."
"Sorry… It's not that I don't love you, Shiki. It's just… this is unexpected of you."
She gave a short giggle, feeling better. "Well, when you're in love, strange things can happen."
"I don't mind this anyway."
"Heh…"
She approached him slowly, lips eager and straining to touch his. As she drew closer, she snaked her arms around his neck. "Is my home… private enough for you?"
"V-Very." Oh god, he thought, my sweet and gentle girlfriend is a monster at home… A hot monster.
"You don't know how… 'private' I can get with you, Neku," she growled, causing him to have some serious palpitations in the chest. His rising heartbeat could be measured in horsepower.
His eyes snapped shut, waiting for their efforts to finally come to fruition. There was nothing on their minds except romance. A bomb could explode right next to them and they wouldn't care. This opportunity had been guided to them by heaven. There was too much at stake to just give up now! It wouldn't be any longer… Their dreams of sharing a perfect first kiss would soon be realized!
…not.
Because, overcome by anxiety and nervousness, they became dizzy and simply collapsed into each other's arms and could do nothing more. Romance could be so stressful. They just lay there on the couch, groaning painfully from overheating and sensory overload.
And yes, I know you're just as disappointed as they are but… stop that booing!
"I-I'm sorry, Neku…" mumbled Shiki, steam rising from her head. "This… This is the best I can manage for now… ugh…"
"Y-Yeah… me too…" His hair looked like it had caught fire, the orange colour of his hair dye making it appear even more so.
Time passed like water as they waited for their brains to cool down and reboot. Their minds were zapped blank.
Shiki was the first to recover. "Whew… Maybe we should take a break, and think things through again." She drew a hand over her sweaty forehead. "We're just going to pass out from stress again if we rush in like this."
"Kissing is one of those 'easier said than done' things, huh…"
"For us, it feels like it's neither easy to say or do," groaned Shiki. "There… There must be something we're doing wrong. We just don't know what."
"So… do we have a timeout?"
"Yeah… timeout. I… I need to take a bath to cool down." Shiki rose from the couch and off of Neku. "We've been running the whole day, and I just want to wash off all this sweat. You should too. You go after me."
Maybe it was the intensity of the mental strain, but with his current inability to think clearly, Neku said the most incredible, most ridiculous and possibly the most perverted thing Shiki had ever heard in her life.
"Why don't we take a bath together instead? It'll save time."
She gasped and stared at him incredulously. It took Neku more than a few seconds to realize that there were some things that should never be said and he had just committed that very blasphemy. His doziness from earlier was to blame. But it was too late. Shiki was trembling from shock and outrage.
He tried to save himself. "Wait. Wh-What did I just say? !"
But it was in vain. She creamed him by pulling him into a headlock.
"ARGH! Ow ow ow! Shiki! I give! I give!"
"How dare you ask a girl for such a lewd request!" growled Shiki. "Do you think I'd agree to something like that so easily? !" She let go only after she was satisfied, but by then, his head had suffered its fair share of bruises from a series of intense and violent noogies.
"Ow… Ow, I'm sorry, Shiki… I… I wasn't thinking."
"Hmph! Honestly! You're so stupid and inconsiderate sometimes."
Neku rubbed his head. "Sorry… I didn't mean it."
She turned sharply around, her face out of his sight. "You're an idiot. A great big one. …Th-That said, I'd like to try taking a bath with you just once. Just… once…"
"I said I'm sorry already… I – What?"
She said nothing, trying to hide her trembling in anticipation and excitement.
"Shiki… Did you just say you want to – ? !"
"I-I'm going to start filling the tub now, so make yourself at home." She walked away hurriedly in the direction of the bathroom.
"Th-Then I got hit for nothing? ! Shiki, you…"
"Shut up!" And she slammed the bathroom door behind her, leaving him to spend the next few minutes in confusion. What exactly was going on with her?
Thinking about Shiki in nothing but a towel, giggling coyly and beckoning him with her finger, was an immense rush for Neku. His body temperature… it rose so high that he experienced spontaneous human combustion, or at least felt like it (it's the fire of love…). "This… This might be my best chance," he muttered, flames playing around his curled fist of determination. "I mustn't mess this up."
Conveniently, Shiki's toy plushie Mr Mew – which she made by herself – was sitting on the coffee table, staring right at him with expressionless eyes. He picked it up and, pretending it was his lovely girlfriend, started to bring it to his lips slowly and gradually. What he was doing, of course, was to get in some last-minute kissing practice.
"Must… practice… Ah… Shiki, I love you so mu– "
"Neku? ! What are you doing to Mr Mew? !"
Shiki's shrill voice broke his idiotic trance. When he opened his eyes, he found out that she had already emerged from the bathroom, having apparently readied the tub. And she was staring at him with a mixture of confusion and disgust. Surprised at her sudden appearance, he jumped. An interjection escaped from his throat, a bunch of silly jumbled sounds that could only be properly written as, "GRABABLEH? !"
"GRABA – what?"
"I-I'm sorry, Shiki," Neku laughed unconvincingly, sweat pouring down his face like he was caught red-handed (well, he was). "I was just… inspecting your lovely doll… Ahaha…"
"Whatever," she huffed. "Come." She grabbed him by the wrist and yanked him along to the bathroom. In the meantime, Mr Mew was very relieved.
"Wait, Shiki," said Neku, actually feeling scared about his girlfriend's strange behaviour. "Wait! Are… Are you sane?"
She didn't answer his frantic questions; instead she flung him into the bathroom where a tub with comfortably tepid water sat steaming. In spite of her obvious embarrassment and nervousness, she commanded him quite forcefully, "Get in the tub now. I'll join you in a minute."
"B-But Shiki, this is…"
"I SAID GET IN!" And with that, she slammed the door shut with a bang, causing him to jump two feet in the air.
Neku didn't know what to make of his situation. Was she angry? Well, she sure looked like she was mad, but if she really was in a foul mood, common sense dictates that she wouldn't agree to take a bath with him. Why, she'd keep hitting the living daylights out of him for having said something so perverted, wouldn't she? But… if she actually had a dominatrix-like desire to punish people by providing them with violent pleasu–
"No! Dammit, she's not like that!" He shook his head vigorously to get all thoughts of a leather-clad Shiki out of his head. "The Reapers' Game shouldn't change her so much." Yes, she may have some psychotic tendencies – an occasion where she tried to force his pants off of him just to fix a loose button comes to mind – but that's not nearly enough to justify that she was, indeed, a crazy person.
He didn't know what to do. But she had given him some orders, and in quite the frightening way too. For now, he decided, the best and safest course of action would be to do as she asked, even if it was terrifically uncharacteristic of her. Better than getting another noogie to the head, and his hair was ever so precious. And so he stripped down and hopped into the bath.
For the next sixty very tense seconds, the four words he kept repeating to himself ad nauseam were, What is going on? His feelings were a complete mess. He was naturally excited at the prospect of sharing the same bath with a cute girl, but generally, his mind was sprinkled with a substantial helping of puzzlement.
Just as he was about to formulate another theory for her peculiar behaviour, the door opened, and Shiki stepped inside the bathroom.
The first thing Neku noticed was that apart from a flimsy towel, she was wearing nothing. Just like in his dreams. But unlike in his dreams, she didn't even wrap it around her body. It was just hanging loosely in front of her, like a curtain. If a draft happened to billow about…
He had to quickly jam two fingers into his nostrils to stop the blood from gushing out. Of course he didn't mind the sight of a near-naked Shiki because it was even better than his dreams but it was too much for his blood pressure!
Without thinking, he spluttered, "Shiki! Y-You're still indecent!"
Shiki's facial redness grew to a worrying intensity. "Shut up! You're the one who's indecent! Asking me to get naked in the bath together with you!"
"What? ! I never asked you to specifically 'get naked'! Besides, I was dozy and I didn't really mean it, and anyway, you're the one who wants to bathe with me in the first place!"
"That… I…" Realising that she was losing this argument, she simply snapped, "J-Just shut up! And… And turn around! I don't want you staring at me as I get in the tub!"
Neku felt slightly disappointed. What guy wouldn't when he knew that he wasn't allowed to catch even a millisecond-long glimpse of his girlfriend getting into the tub together with him? He grudgingly turned to face the other way, wishing that he had eyes at the back of his head… or at least a mirror in front of him.
Shiki must have sensed the tension building up within Neku. Now, it wasn't that she didn't trust him. But if you were in her shoes, you probably would do what she was about to do too.
"Hey, Neku?"
"Y-Y-Yes?"
"Close your eyes. I need to get inside the tub."
"What?" By instinct he turned around to talk to her but got a swift smack upside the head. Shiki then swiveled his head in the right direction by force with her free hand.
"Just do it. I… I don't want you seeing my reflection in the bathroom tiles!"
Neku snorted in amusement. She could be so cute when she was nervous. "Um… they're matte, you know. Plus I'm looking away from you anyway. I can't see anything even if I wanted to."
Shiki gulped. "And… y-you want to?" Feeling vulnerable she clutched the towel closer to her body.
"Uh…" Toughest question ever…
"N-Never mind! Look, just close your eyes, okay? ! I… To be honest, I'm very nervous right now… At least cooperate with me till I get in."
"Fine, I'll be good." So for a completely needless reason, he closed his eyes shut. A sneak peek was now totally out of the question. At least he could still listen to the delicious sounds of her dipping into the water… That might be interesting…
"And before I forget, cover your ears."
"Huh? But… But what's the point? !"
Shiki pretended to make her annoyance seem more severe and serious than it should. "Oh, I see. If you're going to refuse to do what I ask of you, then I guess you can bathe alone…"
No! Neku's best chance to share a bath with the pretty Shiki Misaki was swirling down the drain! He panicked and for good reason. "No, no! Okay, I got it. I'll face the other way, I'll close my eyes and even my ears are sealed. I promise. So… any other of my five senses you want me to switch off?"
"Yes… your sarcasm."
"Th-That kinda hurts my feelings, Shiki…"
Like an idiot, Neku sat there in the bath, body all scrunched up and facing the wall, with his eyes squeezed shut and hands over his ears. Shiki saw how ridiculous he looked – like some sort of twisted take on an Egyptian mummy – and was powerless to resist a giggle. It was all the more gleeful for her because she knew he couldn't hear her laughter.
But onto the main matter at hand. Here she was venturing into very dangerous territory. She loved Neku, and he was a normal guy, but if she made one wrong move, he might shed all of his inhibitions and turn into a mega pervert. Her safety was at stake. He was a ticking time-bomb with a live fuse… and depending on what she did now, she might make that fuse shorter or make it even shorter. Either way, this being a matter of not if but when, she was doomed.
And knowing how tight a situation she was in, she was naturally quite afraid. How did it come to this? When Neku suggested taking a bath together, she was delighted. It conjured up images of them relaxing together in a hot spring, with not a single soul to disturb them so they could be as lovey-dovey as they wanted… feeding each other grapes or even fried tofu or something. True, a bathtub was no substitute for the mixed section at a public bath late at night when no one else was around, but it was better than nothing. It might even serve as practice for when they would go to bathe at a hot spring for real. (…Bathing practice?)
She had come this far, though, and to back out was not an option. The point of no return had long been passed, and now it was time to eat the music… or whatever proverb that is. Throwing caution to the wind and her towel onto the nearby rack, she prepared herself.
Neku isn't shallow, she thought to herself as she went into the bathtub, right behind him. He can be a bit of a pervert at times, but then most boys are. But he's nice and sincere. He wouldn't break this promise. He wouldn't peek.
True to her expectations, he did not peek at her, but it would be a stretch to say that he didn't want to. The light ripples she made when she slipped into the water tickled him, and though he could neither see nor hear, it didn't mean he couldn't think, and the sensations on his back triggered some very tantalizing fantasies… He could almost visualize Shiki dipping her long slender legs into the water, and that was just the start.
If Shiki knew what sort of crazy stuff was going on inside his head, she might have asked him to shut his brain off in addition to covering up his eyes and ears.
The whole thing couldn't have lasted more than three seconds, but it filled him with more lust and hormones than he could handle. However, being a gentleman, he didn't want to hurt Shiki's feelings by taking advantage of her. The result was a battle of epic proportions against himself. As much as he hated to admit it, however, it was a losing battle. The white flag was within arm's reach, ready to be waved at any time so he could completely devour her.
Our cheery bespectacled seamstress friend – the kinder half of the two protagonists – was experiencing her own set of similar problems too. She was feeling extremely bashful from staring at his slim but wiry back – a kind of guilty pleasure for her. He wasn't muscle-bound at all, but at least his body wasn't ugly. She was quivering so much that the water surface was close to churning.
All the while she was thinking about how a relatively simple problem of how to have their first kiss could evolve into a much more delicate and complex situation of positively scandalous nature. How indeed! We're not getting off-track, are we now?
"Hey, Shiki," called out Neku blindly, "are you done yet?"
She was about to reply when she remembered that with his hands over his ears, he was essentially deaf. With a chuckle she gently grasped them and pulled them away (his hands, not his ears) so he could hear like a normal person once more.
"Silly," she muttered smilingly. "Of course I am. Now let's just try to relax, yeah? We've had a crazy day."
He blushed at the touch of her hands on his, slowly opening his eyes. "Yeah… um… really crazy."
"Well, the worst is over, so… wanna hear about my day?"
They had a nice chat in the bath, and as they grew more and more comfortable with each other, the initial awkwardness that arose from sitting in the same bath au naturel quickly dissipated. If you didn't know that they were in the bathtub, you would have thought they were having a fairly common conversation.
"…And then Eri got mad at him and dumped him. Quite a shocker, huh, Neku?"
"Yeah…"
"Neku, you're spacing out. What's wrong?"
"Nothing… It's just… do I have to keep facing the wall? I've been talking over my shoulder for the past five minutes!"
Shiki froze. She knew it wasn't very nice of her to make him stay that way, but her modesty was more important. "But if you turn around, you'll see me…"
He tried to be as gentle as possible in reasoning with her. "Well, it's just weird like this… Plus, regardless of whether we're in a bath or not, isn't it rude to not look at the person you're talking to?"
She launched a counter-argument of her own, though it was weak and unconvincing because she was stuttering. "Neku… d-do you really want to see me naked that much?"
"Th-That's not it!" he spluttered partially in denial. "I'm just saying that people should face each other when they talk. Besides, Shiki… you're pretty, and… and you've got a cute face. Is it not a bad thing to want to gaze at your face?"
A cherry tint coloured her cheeks. "Er… um…" Her faltering speech indicated that she was getting flustered, but at the same time, a growing smile was spreading across her lips.
"Okay, Neku," she said, her voice soft and whispery. "Y-You can turn around. But only if you promise not to do anything funny to me."
"I… I really can?" He wondered if he was on one of those TV prank shows. But even though this may seem too good to be true, in the end, it was true… and good!
"Yes."
"Shiki, I promise I wouldn't do anything to upset you, so… may I?"
"…Alright."
He turned around as soon as he heard the last syllable of her confirmation, so impatient and excited he had been to see some skin! When he finally earned a good look at her, all he could see were her bare shoulders and her face looking all fresh and pretty with that adorable blush. The damp hair that framed her head lent her a beguiling mature beauty that was a far cry from her normal appearance which was plain but still likeable. If she looked this gorgeous above the water surface, Neku thought to himself, then below it she must be…
"Neku," she gulped, "I'm flattered that you think I'm cute, but firstly, please stop trying to see through the water at me. And secondly, why are you pinching your nose like that?" She fidgeted from his awestruck gaze and instinctively wrapped her arms around her body tighter.
He couldn't say that he was stifling his nosebleed. "Oh, I'm trying to stop myself from sneezing," he lied through his, uh, nose.
Something about the way she was looking at him askance told him that she didn't buy it…
"Um…"
"Shiki, what's wrong? I'm not making you uncomfortable, am I?"
"No, no. But… I know you must be thinking how strange all of this is. I mean, we're sharing a bath!"
Not knowing how to respond, he didn't say anything. After all, it wasn't very appropriate to say "That's alright, I don't mind at all!"? Lewd undertones were the destroyer of many a platonic romance like theirs…
"…But we're going out, right?" said Shiki, her heart ba-dumping. "And… And if we're lovers, we… we should be comfortable with each other's bodies… I mean, each other. That's why I wanted us to bathe together."
He struggled with his nose again.
"N-Neku, don't get a nosebleed over a slip of the tongue! You idiot!"
"No, no, I'm holding in my sneeze. Don't… Don't misunderstand."
"Hmph. But back to what I was saying…" She cast earnest brown eyes at him and spoke softly. "We're going out, so I want to spend some good times with you. Maybe we could watch the fireworks festival hand-in-hand. Or go sightseeing in Akihabara or something."
He smiled. "I'd like that too. That ought to be fun."
"…Even snuggling up on the couch is good."
"Yeah… That'd be fun too."
Both of them sat in the tub blushing madly. In the steamy silence of the bathroom they swore they could almost hear each other's thoughts. Thoughts like "He can be so cute" and "Dammit, I just can't see anything in the water." No prizes for guessing whose thoughts belonged to which teenager.
Eventually, Shiki broke the spell that befell them. "Well, I guess I'm done bathing and it's time for me to towel off, so… Neku, would you be so kind as to turn around and close your eyes and ears again?"
The bathwater was growing cooler now, so it was probably best to get dressed. But for Neku, those blissful few minutes they shared together weren't nearly enough. Their bath seemed way too short! It's unfair how time flies when you're having fun…
He refused to budge.
"Neku? Did you hear me? I was asking you to – Eek!"
To her horror, he nudged closer until he was right in front of her. She tried to scurry backwards, but it was no use. He had her trapped, cornered like a timid mouse about to be eaten by a cat.
"Wh-What're you doing, Neku? !" she yelped, panicking and covering her chest with her arms. "I thought you promised not to do anything weird!"
He paused, as though reflecting upon his actions. She stared him down, bracing herself for the inevitable outrage to her modesty. Of course boys couldn't be trusted. Not even Neku! The tension between them was greater than what ten years' worth of highway car chases and giant explosions could provide. The very air could catch fire. Heck, even the water could catch fire.
Just when she couldn't take it anymore, just when she was ready to punch his jaw at a moment's notice, he said, "Shiki… How about if we kiss here?"
Her eyes went wide like she was told that The Prince was quitting showbiz. "I-In the bath? ! Wh-Why? !"
He touched her cheek softly, making her flinch, but she didn't jump out of the bath in revulsion. Said he, "I know it's strange and maybe inappropriate, but… it'll make a nice memory. Something we can look back to and say how much fun we had."
Even in her frazzled mind, Neku's words made sense. Yes, kissing in the bathtub with no clothes on was over-the-top, but it was also incredibly exciting. It was akin to the kind of excitement you feel when you perform a dangerous dastardly deed and get away with it, laughing maniacally all the way home.
…Okay, maybe not that. But you understand, right?
And something about his fierce blue eyes reached out to her without being forceful at all. For a fleeting moment, she thought he had the look of one of those handsome, flirtatious, big-eyed male protagonist characters often seen in romance manga novels. A look that, while fresh, was also extremely creepy. His eyes weren't even that big to begin with…
Among other risks, there was the small chance that one of them might accidentally pull the plug in the bathtub and the water would drain away, revealing their glorious naked selves to each other, but… that horrifying imagery aside, she was curious and eager to kiss him here. And if that misfortune did happen, she could always beat the heck out of him to make him forget.
"Okay Neku, you got me," she said, fixing him with an inviting gaze. "Go on…"
He clutched her bare shoulders with his hands, and she lightly rested her own hands around the nape of his neck, like a pair of seasoned lovers. As per the usual routine for kissing, they closed their eyes, leaned in at a snail's pace… Even though their bare bodies weren't touching, they had never felt so hot in their lives. Shiki was both excited and somewhat ecstatic, Neku even more so. Oh, joyous day!
"I love you," whispered Neku as he angled his head.
"You mean the world to me," said Shiki breathlessly. "I love you too. Now kiss me already, you big fool… Kiss me n–"
"ACHOO!"
At the final decisive moment, before they could engage each other in a hot sensuous lip lock, Neku sneezed.
…Yes, he actually sneezed. At that very crucial time. Can you believe it?
Shiki got a rude shock in the form of a blast to the face at close range. And when she opened her eyes to an apologizing, sniveling Neku, she began to tremble from frustration. How could such a perfect opportunity be ruined so terribly? All of the ambience, all of the playful sexiness, and all of the love blew away with the wind… or in this case, his unceremonious sneeze. Just like that.
Argh. Face-palm. Head-desk. Body-floor.
"Ugh… Excuse me. And… there. That takes care of it. Um, Shiki?"
She exploded in fury. "What is wrong with you? ! Our first kiss at long last and you dare to spoil it? !"
"Wh-Whoa, Shiki. Sorry for sneezing, but no matter how you look at it, that was out of my control…"
"Yeah, well, it still ticks me off! Do you realize how stupid this is? !"
"I… I'm sorry… W-We should probably pick up where we left off."
"Forget it," pouted Shiki, arms crossed angrily and facing away, refusing to even look upon him. A dismayed Neku directed pitiful apologetic eyes at her, seeking forgiveness, but she wasn't so merciful. "Look, I'm not in the mood anymore. We'll kiss some other time."
What? ! The girl of his dreams didn't want to make out anymore? ! Even when she was in a nice comfortable bathtub with her gallant boyfriend? ! This was a nightmare! He could cry. His best chance… gone…
"Now turn around; I'm done with this bath and I – er… N-Neku? !"
He raised his hanging head just enough to look her in the eyes. "I… I only wanted to – "
Everything he said after that became unclear. She was aware of something touching the inside of her leg. Something that felt suspiciously like his hand… Come to think of it, only his right hand was visible above the water surface, so that might mean his left was…
Yup, Neku's left hand had found its way onto Shiki's thigh, but it was purely by accident in the earlier chaos. He didn't know it was her he was touching. And the natural viscosity of the water made it hard for him to discern if he was even touching anything in the first place. Plus he was kinda distracted by Shiki's outburst.
When she felt his hand creep up her leg once more (unintentionally, of course), it gave her a nice layer of goosebumps all over and that was the final straw.
She gave an almighty scream – "YAAAAH! ! !" – and stood straight up in a hurry to shake off his roving hand. Taken by surprise at her second and more severe outburst, he reared backwards as the water splashed onto his face.
"Guh! Shiki, wh-what's the big idea? !" He was busy wiping water out of his eyes so he could see.
"I told you not to do anything funny!" she snapped. "I trusted you, you moron!"
"What are you talking about? ! I didn't do… any… th…"
"If you're trying to explain yourself, I can't hear your mumbling! And what are you looking at anyw–"
It was here that their next source of fatal embarrassment reared its ugly head. Recall that Shiki was now standing.
Recall also that right now, she hadn't gotten dressed yet.
So there she stood dripping wet in her birthday suit before Neku, who was in a complete state of both bewilderment and fascination.
Neku Sakuraba went to heaven. As thanks for witnessing such a picturesque sight, he promptly lost control of the restraints on his nose. An unrealistically massive amount of blood sprayed out in the mother of all nosebleeds… and it splattered all over Shiki, coating her in a layer of gruesome body paint.
With blood cascading down her entire skin, with spatter on the shower curtain, and a bloodless silhouette of her body outline behind her on the wall, it must have seemed like the goriest murder scene ever. But there was no murder, though there would soon be one…
She screamed the whole city down. "KYAAAAH! ! !"
"Shiki – Ow!"
"Neku, you… you IDIOT! PERVERT! DEVIANT! I'll KILL you! KILL… YOU! ! !"
And thus ended his short-lived joy. "Shiki! Wait, I'm – ow! – sorry! OW! MY SPLEEN!"
…I'll leave it to you to imagine how she mercilessly pummeled him into mincemeat. Violence… can be disturbing. Not to mention saddening. The poor guy. To be beaten to a pulp right after he was discharged from the hospital…
Somewhere far away in a distant realm, an ominous voice could be heard: "Finalist. Shiki Misaki wins. Fatality. Flawless victory."
XOXOXOXOXO
For the next four days, Shiki gave Neku a wide berth. So he was unsurprisingly sad. Not only could he not see her, he also couldn't sample her fried tofu. Now, with only substandard school lunches to tide him over till the end of the day, he was the gloomiest person in Shibuya.
And the injuries he sustained from her delayed his full recovery from the jellyfish fiasco.
But it wasn't all that bad… It's not often you can get to see the love of your life looking so… stunning. Ahem.
Eventually, after a profuse apology and much kowtowing from Neku, Shiki finally forgave him, albeit just a teeny bit grudgingly. It's not easy to let someone off after an incident like that.
"I guess I owe you one now," said Neku, trying to laugh it off. They were on the rooftop at school, having had lunch, and were now chatting.
Shiki produced a lollipop from her pocket and peeled the wrapping away. "Seriously!" she huffed, starting to suck on it. "You've got to learn to be more appreciative of a girl's feelings."
"I'm really sorry about everything." He did a small bow in embarrassment. "And I know I'm not exactly the smoothest guy around, but… I'm learning."
She twirled the lollipop in her mouth. "We haven't kissed yet either. When you think about it, it's absurd that we've failed so many times, whether it's at home or in public."
"We'll think of something to get round our problems… Rest assured we will. But in the meantime, let's just concentrate on being happy. If you're happy…" He wrapped his arm lovingly around her shoulder. "…then so am I."
Her blush reached right up to her ears and she was forced to look away. "D-Darn it, Neku… You say you're not smooth, but you're smooth enough as is."
They spent a few quiet moments, basking in each other's warmth.
Shiki spoke up after a while. "Hey, Neku?"
"Yeah?"
"I've… I've got a little something for you."
"For me? What is it?"
"This."
She took the lollipop out of her mouth and then swiftly crammed it between his lips. At first, he was taken aback. But when the true meaning of what she did came to light, his eyes grew wide in realization.
The lollipop hung comically from a corner of his mouth. "Shiki… This… Was this an… an indirect kiss?"
"That's the best we can do for now," she chuckled, standing up. "But it doesn't count as a proper kiss, okay? Just a stopgap to prep us for the real thing."
Neku wanted to say something, to say thanks, but all that came out of his mouth was a series of unintelligible garbles.
Shiki, however, was well aware of what he was thinking. "You're welcome, Neku." With a giggle and a blush that made her look so cute, she took the stairs down and left him in peace.
"B-Best thing ever…" he muttered crazily to himself, thoroughly enjoying the sweet taste in his mouth. His hands were shaking from delight, tears were running down his face, and a torrent of blood was trickling from his nose. Even though a real kiss would be way better, for now, it was truly, like he had put it, the best thing ever. A lollipop fit for a king.
"I need to take my time savouring this to the fullest." And he did. He made sure to leave no trace, licking it so thoroughly that a grooming cat would be put to shame. And when he was finally done and satisfied, he kept the lollipop stick for remembrance.
But his happiness came at a price. Having indulged himself so greatly, he had lost track of time, and by the time he hurried back to class, he was exceptionally late.
"Quite the tardy one you are, Neku Sakuraba!" snarled the teacher. "What's the big idea of coming back this late to my class? !"
However, the overwhelming laughter from his classmates and the detention he spent in the library afterwards couldn't hamper his delirious joy. It wasn't his first kiss by a long shot, but it was still incredibly powerful. As he sat fantasizing and drooling with a big grin and a faraway look in his eyes, the few students lingering around grew more and more uneasy. The librarian nearby was the same way, and at last she could take it no longer.
"Stop it, kid!" she snapped. "You're scaring everyone here!"
Unfortunately, her pleas for mercy fell on deaf ears and everyone in the library was subject to his worrying behaviour for two whole hours until he went home.
XOXOXOXOXO
Right now, sad to say, this story must reach its conclusion because, well… my hands are tired from writing…
But it was a marvelous journey of romance and discovery, wouldn't you agree? Even though they had failed miserably so many times, the fact that they never gave up, not even once, was proof of how much they loved each other. We could all learn something from them.
Even all of those failures would become something to reflect on later in life as well as a source of good laughs. When they can poke fun at themselves, suddenly nothing would seem so bad at all. Even a jellyfish sting would be peanuts.
How Neku and Shiki would eventually go about having their first kiss is another story for another day… For now, however, our favourite couple must embark on another gallant attempt to seal their first kiss…
"N-Neku, I'm so happy," said a blushing Shiki, as she intertwined her fingers around her boyfriend's. "This movie is great!"
"You've been going on about how good this film is going to be," said Neku, smiling, "so I thought, 'Why not watch it and have fun on a date at the same time'?"
They were watching an interesting romantic comedy in a cinema, and of course, they were watching from the back seats, where they could take advantage of their privacy…
"It's everything that I imagined it to be." And she leaned closer.
"And more, because of you." He did the same.
"Oh, Neku…"
Their breathing was hot and quick. Inside their shoes, their toes were wrestling with each other. And their insides were rearranging themselves into a great big visceral mess. Their lips came closer… and closer… And then…
Click.
…they were interrupted by the glare of a flashlight in their faces. Unfortunately for them, the usher had come over to give them a piece of his mind.
"Kids," he whispered curtly and sternly, "please remain quiet."
They apologized on the spot, and it went without saying that yet again, they were disappointed at another failure. But their perseverance was remarkable.
As soon as the usher turned on his heels and walked away, Neku spoke into Shiki's ear, "We could always try again after the movie, you know. Since there'll still be time after this, how about we hit up a bathhouse? There's one not too far away from here."
Delight and anticipation turned her face a nice shade of pink. "Mixed section?"
"Naturally. And at this time of night, there aren't many people. So you know what that means…"
"Goodness, I'll love that!" she squealed, hugging his arm. "Neku, you're the best!"
Ah… it's so romantic! Their adventures certainly are crazy and no less kooky, but… it's still so very romantic!