Chapter 4: ("Let's go out….")
Tsukune sat outside the bathroom door, where he'd been listening to the sounds of sobbing drifting through until they had finally, thankfully, ebbed. His fists and teeth were clenched tightly, and his eyes were squinted against the throbbing in his temples and the raging emotions threatening to tear him apart. He'd never felt so helpless…. His mind kept replaying the scene in his mind, over and over; it was as if he were unconsciously a masochist…. Kurumu-chan…. I hurt you… and… I'm so sorry.
He closed his eyes and saw her, the towel draped precariously over her hips, her chest heaving, her lips parted, and her eyes begging him even as she said, "Tsukune… I want you to… massage me everywhere. I – I love you, Tsukune! I love you!" He grit his teeth. Why…? Why did I say no…? Don't I… don't I want her? I do… I want Kurumu. No matter what I may try to say, I want her….
He tried to recall what had been going through his head when he'd jerked away from her. It wasn't Moka, or Mizore or Yukari…. It wasn't anything but my own…. I couldn't do it because…. He felt a dull pain in his hand, and brought it up to his face to see the crescent moon-shaped scars he'd dug into his palm with his fingernails. He jerked his head up at the sudden sound of running water from behind the door, but he knew it was just Kurumu running the shower. She probably doesn't want the smell of that oil bringing everything back to her….
He stood up shakily, and walked over to her overnight bag, pulling out a set of clothes. He numbly walked over to the bathroom door and knocked on it, calling out, "Kurumu-chan, I'm going to come in; I have some clothes for you…. You don't have to say anything…." He gently opened the door, took two steps inside, and placed them down on the sink's countertop before expeditiously turning on his heels and walking back out, shutting the door quietly. He walked over to the bed and sat down on it, dropping his head into his hands. After a few moments, he felt well enough to get up and put some clothes on, taking time to towel off as much of the residual oil on his back, arms, and shoulders as he could. By the time he'd finished pulling the brown tee shirt over his head, the door creaked slowly open, and Kurumu stepped out, in the clothes he'd taken in to her.
Slowly at first, then with more surety, she stalked over to where Tsukune was and stood less than a foot in front of him, her eyes staring straight ahead, just beneath his chin. She reached a hand out and touched his chest. "You've gotten a lot taller since we first met…."
The corners of his mouth twitched upwards as he waxed nostalgic. "You've gotten a lot prettier, too…."
"Was I so ugly back then…?"
"What? Kurumu-chan…."
"Don't! Don't call me that, now…. Not now, after what I…."
"Sorry…. What would you like me to call you…?"
"I want you to call me your Kurumu."
"All… all right, Kurumu; I'll call you whatever you want…."
Her eyes moved up to meet his, and held them fiercely. "Is that just because we're a couple, only for these three days? When this is over, will I go back to just being Kurumu-chan? Why do we have to do this, Tsukune? Don't you know that I… don't you know how much I love you? That I would wait for you, no matter how long it took you to realize that I'm the one you were meant to be with? Why do you have to have this… game… for you to start to see that?"
Tsukune lowered his eyes. Her words, while no less true for it, stung. "Kurumu…. The truth is… the truth is that I… love you. And, at the same time, I love all the others, too…. I couldn't be the guy who knows who he loved the most, because I love you all so much that there is no more, or less, with you. I only thought that if I could spend just three days… with all of you, maybe I could just…. Choose."
"Tsukune…." She reached up, circling her arms around him and clasping her fingers behind his neck. "Tsukune…. Tsukune…. Tsukune…." She whispered his name over and over, and each time his shoulders seemed to slump more and more, as if she were piling on more and more weight with each utterance.
Slowly, he brought his hands up and put them on her waist just above her hips. "Kurumu…. What do you want me to do? Just tell me… please, I'm begging you. What do you want me to do?"
She pulled his face down closer to hers, until their foreheads were touching. "Tell me you love me again…. Don't talk about them again; just say you love me. And keep saying it."
"I love you. I love you, Kurumu…. Kurumu, I love y-" She had silenced him with her mouth, and the force with which she pressed her mouth to his made his lips feel as if they were aflame. He noticed that she was crying again, the fresh diamond tears rolling down her cheeks. He wanted to wipe them away; he wanted to comfort her, but… he'd refused her. She had offered herself to him completely, and he'd said no. He felt as if he'd lost all right to it. He could feel her trying to pry his mouth open with her lips, and he allowed it, too dazed to think of doing anything else. He felt, tasted her pink tongue explore his mouth; he tasted cherry, and mint, and he smelled her shampoo, lavender; he smelled the sickly sweet of the coconut oil mixed in behind the cherry blossom fragrance of her body wash. He opened his eyes, and noticed with a slight start that her eyes were open, searching his face.
He slid his hands up her back, felt her body tense. He pressed his tongue against hers actively now and heard her moan into his mouth. He pulled her body against his; she pushed up onto the balls of her feet to stand eye-to-eye with him. She tightened her arms around his neck, and he enveloped her in his arms, holding her tightly against him by the small of her back. Suddenly, she yanked backwards, but not to draw away. She pulled him like an undertow current, until she felt the wall behind her. Pressing her back to it, she hopped up, and wrapped her legs around his waist; their lips never parted.
The action had forced her skirt up to mid-hip level, exposing her underwear. She pressed her thinly covered womanhood against him, felt him respond. His mind was scrambling; thoughts passed through him like air…. He tried to reach out and grab at a blurred image of a face, but it vanished; all thoughts vanished, except for the scene of Kurumu lying on that massage table, facing him, topless and glorious, panting and begging for him, the desire in her eyes completely unmasked. The thought, the fear, the hindrances that had stopped him then were left behind, and without letting himself think to stop it, he brought his hands up to the outer part of her thighs, and slid them back and back and back until they came to rest on the curve of her buttocks.
She jerked and arched her back beneath his touch. His fingertips sent electrical current shooting through her entire body. The dull warmth that had taken hold in her belly directly beneath her navel suddenly roared into an inferno, and opened its fingers to take hold above, and especially farther below. She could feel her underwear becoming warm and moist at the bottom. She was too charged and hot to be embarrassed about it; she could also feel Tsukune's body responding and pressing urgently against her, but didn't take a moment to consider that, either.
Suddenly, he pulled his head back, separating their lips for the first time in an eternity, but before she could protest he dove in and closed his mouth against the soft flesh where her neck met her shoulder, and began sucking on a mouthful of her flesh while his tongue lapped softly against it. She buried her face in his hair, letting it stifle her yelp and moan. She could feel her need building, so much so that every moment that passed while his mouth ravenously explored the flesh around her neck and collarbone she felt she would burst with it, but each time he pressed his lips somewhere new it grew, exponentially.
She gasped, "Tsukune… Tsukune!" He pulled his head back and looked at her, his eyes burning, his expression an unspoken question, and a promise. If I hadn't said anything, he might have…. She shook her head to clear away the distracting internal monologue. He's mine…. Even if only for tonight, he is mine. I won't let him go this time…. I won't! She clutched two handfuls of his hair, raising his face to look into her eyes. "Tsukune… now, before we stop again…. I want you. I want you to-"
A knock on the door shattered through the room like cannon fire. Their heads jerked towards it simultaneously, but neither moved. The knock repeated, then again, and a small voice sounded through the door, "Hello? I'm sorry; I have a delivery for you."
Her eyes widened and she turned back to face Tsukune, whose eyes were still fixed on the door. "Don't…. Tsukune, please… don't answer it." But she felt that she'd lost him again. His erection had disappeared, and she could feel the wildfire in the lower recesses of her belly begin to subside, though it still sent urgent pulses through her occasionally. He gently pulled back, let her slide down to the floor. She held onto him for a moment longer, then let her arms fall.
He turned and walked over to the door, straightened his wrinkled shirt, and opened it. "Yes, hello?"
The postman squinted at him, then back at the envelope in his hands. "I have a delivery here for a Kurono-san?"
Tsukune held out his hand. "She's in the bath just now, but I can take it for her if you like."
The postman blushed. "Oh, well, er, yes. Please just sign here and here, and initial here." Tsukune made three short scribbles, and took the manila envelope from the postman's hand.
"Thank you very much. Have a good evening," Tsukune murmured politely, and closed the door. Turning and walking back to Kurumu, he held it out for her.
Kurumu's eyes seemed lost in thought, as if she were trying to remember something, then lit up with recognition. "Oh! That's right…. I'd ordered two tickets to a concert that's happening tonight…. I thought at the time that we might want to go out and do something, after having been here a day and a half…."
He opened the envelope and withdrew the tickets. He studied them for a moment, then raised his eyebrows. "This is a good band; I've heard some of their singles before…. Would you like to…?"
Kurumu looked down at the floor, chewing on her lower lip, then looked back up at him. "What would you like to do, Tsukune?"
He looked at the tickets, then back at the wall where they had stood just moments before, a handful of words from Kurumu's mouth away from…. I… I have to get out of the room for a while…. But I wouldn't think of leaving Kurumu alone here right now…. I need to think, before she pulls me in like that again. I can't think in here… and if I don't think, I know I'll…. He nodded his head, swallowed, and softly smiled. "Let's go, Kurumu…. I'd like to go out with you, to the concert."
They arrived at the concert with the setting of the sun. The venue was tightly packed; it was a popular band, more so than either Tsukune or Kurumu had realized. Still, they stood shoulder-to-shoulder in the midst of a sea of bodies, and eventually their hands found their way to each other, clasping until their knuckles were white. When the band came onstage and picked up their instruments, she pressed her body tight against his. When the music started, he felt her bury her face into his sleeve.
She loves her momma's lemonade
Hates the sounds that goodbyes make
She prays one day she'll find someone to need her
She swears that there's no difference between the lies and compliments
It's all the same if everybody leaves her
And every magazine tells her she's not good enough
The pictures that she sees make her cry
She would change everything, everything, just ask her
Caught in the in-between of beautiful disaster
She just needs someone to take her home
She's giving boys what they want
Tries to act so nonchalant
Afraid they'll see that she's lost her direction
She never stays the same for long
Assuming that she'll get it wrong
Perfect only in her imperfection
She's not a drama queen
She doesn't wanna feel this way
Only seventeen, and tired, yeah
She would change everything for happy ever after
Caught in the in-between of beautiful disaster
She just needs someone to take her home
She's just the way she is
But no one's told her that's okay
She would change everything, everything, just ask her
Caught in the in-between of beautiful disaster
She would change everything for happy ever after
Caught in the in-between of beautiful disaster
She just needs someone to take her home
She just needs someone to take her home
By the end of the first chorus, they had started dancing, just clutching at each other and shuffling their feet in time to the drum beat. By the end of the second chorus, they'd kissed, and it wasn't until the song's end that they realized they hadn't stopped once, but neither seemed terribly embarrassed by that fact. Kurumu rested her head on Tsukune's shoulder so her lips were right next to his left ear. "Tsukune… can we leave? Please…?"
He nodded, smiling, and guided her through the crowd to the exit.
It was after midnight when they got back to the resort, but when they walked into the suite, neither of them looked tired. They walked through the entrance way, where he dropped his door key, watch, wallet, and shirt; and she dropped her purse, shoes, hair pin, and jacket. They walked past the kitchen, where a blouse fluttered to the floor. The wet sound of lips smacking against each other moved slowly but surely towards the bed; along the way, earrings and a necklace, a pair of blue jeans and a cotton skirt were unceremoniously left abandoned. The sound of bedsprings squeaking as two bodies fell onto them broke the stillness in the air, followed by the soft moan of a woman, as two shadows on the wall melted together.
-Okay, that's Chapter 4! I was actually not terribly happy with how this chapter flowed at times, but sometimes what I think I want and what the story ends up doing don't always end up being the same thing…. I hope you enjoyed reading it, at least! I apologize if the song lyrics being inserted surprised you…. In case you're curious, and to ensure credit goes where it's due, it's called "Beautiful Disaster" by Jon McLaughlin (I am in NO way accredited with any part of it!). I'll be hard at work on the next chapter very soon, so don't worry, the inevitable chapter is right around the corner!-
-P.S., Again, thanks so much for everyone who's read thus far; this is all for you, so I hope you're enjoying it! As always, a very special thanks to all my reviewers! See you again soon!-