A/N: god! i'm glad i updated... my thesis really took a huge toll on me and the thesis defenese was very hard and tiring... i do hope you guys don't hate me.. T-T anyway... thanks to those who reviewed my story and i'll try to update asap.. i hope you guys won't grow tired in reading them... since you guys are my only source of happiness... corny but true XD
Chapter 7: Kallistēi
"Damn that girl!" Natsuki grumbled in annoyance. Closing her emerald eyes, she remembered the reason why she fell off the tree.
-Flashback, a few minutes ago-
Hearing the brunette tease her with a seductive, Natsuki felt all her blood rushed up to her face. "S-shut up! We don't want to stay here until nightfall so start taking your bath! Duran will be with you there so don't worry about any wild animals nearing you, and I'll just be here." She retorted to the teasing brunette with a blush on her face. She continued with carving the branch in her hand to shape, trying to remove the blush that had crept into her face due to the teasing of Shizuru.
But then she noticed the sudden quietness of her teaser and took a small peek below her. To her surprise and with a soft audible yelp, she saw Shizuru stripping off her blouse. She suddenly felt her face turn red and slow tickling feeling was trailing down from her nose as she gaze on Shizuru's half naked sexy torso.
Rubbing off the nosebleed away from her nose and following Shizuru to the spring with her emerald eyes, her eyes had widen in surprise. Lo and behold, the sight of a half naked goddess before her, submerging into the waters of the spring made her heart starts race and her breathing had began to quicken. 'Oh my god… I think I just saved a goddess named Shizuru.' she thought in admiration. Her nose had started to bleed again and her face was blushing like the color of her own blood.
Her staring at the Shizuru made her balance at sitting atop of the branch to waver and let her slip and fall down from the branch. Luckily for her, the fall wasn't too high and she's not in any kind of injury, just a sore butt.
"Ara! is Natsuki alright?" Natsuki heard Shizuru asked. She knew that the brunette was suppressing her laugh.
Hiding her blush from Shizuru, she just retorted with one of her prideful lies. "I-I'm fine! I-I just slip! Hmp!" she stuttered. She got up and climbed the branch as quick as possible to avoid her blush being seen by Shizuru.
-End of flashback-
Natsuki had finished carving the branch into a shape of a paw with a wide and smooth surface at the metacarpal pad part of the paw and a small hole at the top part of it. She smiled as her marvel at her woodcraft. But somehow she felt that something's missing and began to think at what would make her craft complete.
Her thoughts had wondered and had end up to one thing… Shizuru. And without her thinking straight and lost in the thoughts of Shizuru, she already carved the last two hiragana characters of Shizuru's name (1) and a kanji of the word 'suki'; which she thought was the characters for the last four letters of her name (2) at the bottom part of the metacarpal pad part of the paw and the word 'Kallistēi' (3) just below it.
"Natsuki! Can you get me the towel? I'm finished taking my bath." Shizuru said, making Natsuki stop and looked at Shizuru at the spring with a sweet smile plastered on her face and pointing at the base of the tree she's sitting at.
Natsuki's brow rose up and looked below to see her blue bath towel above the bag. Not thinking of the consequences, Natsuki jumped off the branch and placed the paw into the bag. She grabbed the towel and made her way towards the brunette. Without looking, she reached out the towel to Shizuru.
"Here" Natsuki said flatly while looking away from Shizuru.
Shizuru, having a wicked smile on her face, grabbed Natsuki's hand that's holding the towel and pulled the blunette to the water.
"SHIZURU!" Natsuki yelled out in surprise, wiping away her drenched hair from her face.
Shziuru could only laugh at Natsuki, while the brunette was flicking away the wet strands of hair from her face. "k-kannin na Natsuki." Shizuru apologized while trying to stop her laughter.
Natsuki glared at the laughing brunette but suddenly, her face had turned red in color. Infront her, she saw the beauty of Shizuru. How the water from her honey colored hair flow down from her face and down to her bra-clad chests; the entrancing laughter, and the smile that shows no façade or anything.
Shizuru stopped laughing and noticed how Natsuki was staring at her. She felt a blush had crept to her face and her heart stared to beat loudly. 'Her stares… as if she's staring straight to my heart. Kami-sama… how can she make me feel this way?' she thought.
"Shizuru…" Natsuki said softly. Her mind was clouded with the thoughts of Shizuru that she didn't notice that she was already a few inches closer to her red eyed-goddes. Her hand, slowly raising up from the water and cupping Shizuru's left cheek. "kirei na…" she said with a sweet smile.
Shizuru was speechless and blushing. The mere touch of the blunette to her cheek already sends strands of electricity throughout her body and she felt weak in her knees. Her mind was going on a rampage. She didn't know what to do or how to react.
'I… I want her… I love her…' Natsuki said in her mind. She leaned closer, not thinking of her actions.
'My heart's telling me I'm inlove with my savior… love… to her, it's not a deep word anymore...' Shizuru thought, closing her eyes as she noticed Natsuki was about to kiss her.
Everything was so sudden for the both of them. A few minutes ago, Shizuru was teasing Natsuki and now they were kissing. A very gentle and sweet kiss. Both of them didn't realize that they are hugging each other and their hearts are beating in a rhythm.
'Her lips are soft…and they're so damn sweet!' Natsuki thought as she deepens the kiss between the two of them.
Shizuru reciprocate the deepened kiss by moving her arms away from the blunette's waist and up to her neck. Encircling her arms around Natsuki's neck and pulling her closer.
To them, it's seemed like forever at how long they were kissing. Savoring each other's closeness and didn't bother that they were in the water, nor did the whimper of Duran that's sitting at the base of a tree.
After a stopping their short in reality but hours in their own dreamy world to breath, both of them blushed after realizing what they did. Natsuki blushed after processing what she just did and seeing Shizuru stare at her with a slight crimson hue on her face. Thinking that she offended the crimson eyed brunette, she bowed her head in apology. Seeing that Shizuru has no response on her apology, she tried to emerge from the water when a gentle hug stopped her.
"Shi-zuru…" Natsuki stuttered. She felt tense at the sudden hug but relaxed as soon as the brunette held her tightly.
"Ikezu… My Natsuki kissed me so passionately a while ago and now she's going to leave me…" Shizuru said sadly, tightening her hug and burying her face at the well toned back of Natsuki.
Natsuki held Shizuru's hands that's clamped around her waist and smiled. "I would never leave you Shizuru. I just thought you're angry at what I did. Considering you're engaged and all." Natsuki said with a slight sadness in her tone. She turned around and faced the sad Shizuru, cupping the brunette's cheek and looking at her with a sad love look in her eyes.
Shizuru smiled and leaned the side of her face at Natsuki's palm that's cupping her cheeks. "Natsuki's jealous? Would my Natsuki take me away from my fiancée?" Shizuru teased. Part of her tease was true since somehow, the blunette had captured her heart.
Natsuki glared at Shizuru and pinched the brunette's cheek lightly. "baka! I don't get jealous, I never get jealous." Natsuki said after pinching Shizuru's cheek. She removes herself from Shizuru's hug and decided to get out of the water. "c'mon, let's go back to the hut before you catch a cold there." she grabbed the towel that she had let go a moment ago before being pulled to the water by Shizuru and placed it at the edge of the ground. "I'll just be around the trees to give you some privacy to change." She said in a hurry with a slight blush on her face, hiding behind a tree with Duran following her..
Giggling slightly, Shizuru nodded and grabbed the towel that had been thrown at the ground near her. She got out of the water and wrapped the towel to her body and made her way to the bag for a change of clothes.
After changing to a sleeve-less blouse and denim shorts, Shizuru found a wooden paw inside the bag. She took out the paw and looked at the carved inscriptions carefully. Her faced blushed as she fully understood each inscription very well. 'Ara… is this what she thinks about me? My little wolf is so sweet.' She thought happily.
"ne Shizuru, are you done yet?!" Natsuki yelled out from behind a tree.
"yes Natsuki, we can go back to the hut now."
Natsuki went to Shizuru and grabbed the bag and swung it at her back. "well c'mon, before Duran here starts to whine about being hungry." her brow rose up upon seeing what Shizuru was holding.
Shizuru smiled sweetly and gave Natsuki a peck on the cheek. "Ookini Natsuki." she said while waving the wooden paw infront of Natsuki.
Natsuki's eyes widen at the sight of the wooden paw at the hands of Shizuru. "o-oi! How did you get a hold of that?!" she yelled out in surprise. She wasn't suppose to give the paw to SHizuru but somehow, fate had given it to the brunette.
"ara! Would my Natsuki take back what's she supposed to give me? ikezu! Natsuki must think that I don't deserve to have anything from her." Shizuru pouted. Covering her eyes with her palms and letting out audible sobs.
Duran barked angrily at his master, seeing that Shizuru was sad. Natsuki had sense her wolf's anger and felt guilty on why Shizuru was sad. She took out a thin braided strand of leather strap and reached it out to Shizuru. "Here… stop crying and use this as a necklace for that." Natsuki said with a slight blush.
Shizuru looked at the leather strap and to Natsuki without any tears in her eyes. "Does this mean that Natsuki's really giving me the wooden paw? And does this mean that what she carved here is true?" Shizuru asked with a playful smile plastered on her face. She took the leather strap and inserted it to the hole of the wooden paw, making it a necklace.
"y-yeah… w-well… argh! Just c'mon!" Natsuki stuttered, pulling Shizuru and started walking back to the hut.
They reached the beach line of the island after a torture of teasing and realizing what Natsuki had carved in the paw. Although she can take the paw back and re-carve new characters, a part of her stopped the idea and let the brunette keep the inscriptions. 'Heck! Nobody would even know who gave that to her after we go home.' Natsuki said in her mind.
it was already night fall when they got back and both of them had finished eating their dinner. Again, Shizuru offered to help Natsuki with the dishes but she still had the same answer.
"No." Natsuki answered flatly.
"why won't you let me do anything?"
"this is my punishment, and I don't want to treat you as a maid. So NO!"
"Let's play then, since you don't want me to help and all."
Natsuki looked up to Shizuru with a brow raised. "Play?"
A grin appeared into Shizuru's beautiful face. "a game Natsuki. After you wash the dishes, let's play questionnaire." She said with a Cheshire smile.
Natsuki, not knowing what game that was, only nodded and got back into washing the dishes while Shizuru happily walked towards the sea shore and sat in the sand.
Shizuru took the paw pendant and looked at its inscriptions again. She smiled as she read the inscriptions in her mind. 'zuru suki, Kallistēi… Kallistēi… as I recall, it's a Greek word which means 'to the most beautiful' Ara… does she think that about me? And the kanji… surely she mistook it as her name, unless she meant she likes me…'
"Hey Shizuru, what does this 'questionnaire' game mean?" Natsuki suddenly asked, making Shizuru startle a little.
Shizuru looked at Natsuki and smiled. "It's a game in which we ask each other some questions to know more about one another."
Natsuki just sighed and gave Shizuru a lazy look. "fine! You first."
A/N: I don't know if the hiragana and kanji characters appeared... XD
(1) Zuru-ずる; last 2 characters of Shizuru's name.
(2) Suki-好き; Natsuki thought that this was her name but it meant as "like/love" so in combining it with Zuru, it meant that she likes Shizuru.
(3) Kallistēi -was inscribed on the Golden Apple of Discord by Eris, meaning "for the fairest" or "to the most beautiful" in ancient Greek. The word καλλίστῃ, "kallistē(i)", is the dative singular of the feminine superlative of καλός, beautiful). In Latin it is pulcherrimae.
