Teen Hiroki

Chapter Seven: The Blindfold


Akihiko was staring at a spot on the ground between his bent knees as Hiroki walked over and stood in front of him. She stepped up so quietly and Akihiko was so lost in his thoughts, it took a while before he realized he was no longer alone in the clearing.

When he did notice, he looked up, his eyes widening with surprise.

"Hiroki, what are you doing here?"

His voice sounded tired and the pain on his face tugged mightily at Hiroki's heart. Still, she was furious with Akihiko for breaking the sanctity of their "secret place."

"I could ask you the same question, Aki." Hiroki's voice became more heated with each word she spoke. "I finished with practice early and came here to read the new story you gave me."

She threw her backpack containing the notebook at Akihiko."But, after what I just saw, I'm not sure I need to!"

Raising his arms in defense, Akihiko knocked the pack to the side, almost losing his grip on his cigarette in the process. But Hiroki's outburst did not seem to faze him. Staring at his angry friend, Akihiko's expression, outside of his agonized eyes, remained unperturbed. His voice was low and even.

"How much did you see, Hiroki?"

Then suddenly, his face lit up with knew Takahiro would be beside himself with embarrassment if he knew anyone else had seen what had happened.

"Wait, did Hiro see you come in?"

After everything she'd just witnessed Hiroki couldn't believe her ears.

He's still trying to protect Takahiro?

Hiroki fought hard to keep the tears from forming in her eyes, the tremble out of her voice. "I saw enough. How could you Akihiko? How could you bring that boy to here to "our" place?"

"I didn't think you would be here, Hiroki. That's why I asked you today if you were coming." Realizing how lame this sounded, Akihiko dropped his eyes and added softly. "Where else was I supposed to do it? I wanted to tell him in some place that was special."

Shame burned Hiroki's cheeks when she'd realized how foolish she had been in her imaginings of his question for her. She felt doubly betrayed: first by Akihiko and then by her own heart..

"You're right Akihiko, this place is special," Hiroki shouted; her small hands clenched at her sides, "but I thought it was special to 'us'!... This has been our place and no one else's since we were small!

"Or have you brought others here as well?"

Akihiko glanced up, shocked by her words. Hiroki watched as a new pain was added to already heavy burden reflected in his lavender eyes.

"You're right, Hiroki. You should be furious with me." Akihiko stubbed out his cigarette and bowed his head, his words heartfelt and contrite. "I completely deserve it. I should have never brought Takahiro here knowing what this place means to you. I wasn't thinking, clearly…

"I'm sorry."

The sincerity in his voice only made Hiroki madder. "God damn it, Aki! Don't you dare be kind to me right now!"

She stepped up and kicked the sole of one of Akihiko's shoes. "Take your stupid apology back… I don't want it! How in the hell am I supposed to stay mad at you, dumb-ass, when you're so freaking understanding!"The exertion of her outrage had left her panting.

Akihiko looked up into blazing hazel eyes. Hiroki's fists were still clenched; her scarf had worked its way out of her coat and now hung precariously off of one shoulder.

Both stilled, each silently regarding the other. Then, despite the anguish still present in Akihiko's eyes, his lips curled into a small smile.

"You Jerk!" Hiroki exclaimed, kicking his shoe again, only this time without much force.

She stamped over and flopped down next to him on the ground, ignoring the sudden feeling of dampness that seeped up from the grass through her thin skirt. Crossing her arms over her chest, she leaned back up against the tree.

"You're impossible, you know that. Right?"

"Yes," Akihiko replied simply, his tone much lighter now.

They sat in silence then, Hiroki focused on smoothing her skirt while Akihiko teased some blades of grass with his long fingers.

As they sat there, Hiroki's mind was awhirl. She knew she was stupid; she should still be furious with Akihiko. She understood too that she should abandon her feelings for him and just walk away. But she found she couldn't bring herself to do either of these things: Kamijou Hiroki was not the kind of person who gave her affections away easily and once her heart was engaged, it loved incredibly hard.

She sighed and her nervous fingers moved from straightening her pleated skirt to twisting wild auburn locks.

"Aki," she whispered softly. "Does this mean that you're a homo?"

"Does it matter?" Akihiko said, miserably, not looking at her.

"No! It's just…"

"Look, Professor, I don't know… I never felt for anyone, boy or girl, the way I feel about Takahiro. I mean, from the first time I saw him, I knew he was… Special…"

"Uggh,"Akihiko groaned softly, obviously frustrated with his complicated emotions.

"You have no idea how much it hurts, knowing that he had no concept of the depths of my feelings for him. I thought I had been making it so clear…"

Though she remained silent, inwardly Hiroki sighed. I just might have some idea.

However, as much as she hated to admit it, Akihiko's articulation of ambiguity revived her stubborn hopes.

If only I could show him how much I love him... If he isn't 100% homo, maybe he would realize that it should be me.

Maybe he could forget all about that stupid Takahiro.

"Aki?" Hiroki's heart was pounding in her chest. It seemed so loud in her ears she was surprised that the sound of it didn't send the birds on the branches surrounding them into flight.

"Hmmmm." Akihiko was deep in thought.

"Have you ever really kissed a girl?"

"Outside that one time when we were small, no. Why?" Akihiko glanced over at her, his expression confused. He had been hunched forward, but now he leaned back into the tree again and slid his long legs out straight in front of him.

"Well, maybe if you tried it... You'd find out you didn't like Takahiro so much after all."

"Ki-chan, don't be ridiculous! Akihiko snorted derisively.

"Besides, I'm not about to start going around kissing random girls in an attempt to fix my broken heart."

Hiroki knew that it was now or never.

She was surprised with her own grace and speed as she quickly slid over and straddled Akihiko's thighs. One of her small hands clutched the front of his jacket, the other took his angular jaw and tipped it up towards her.

"I'm not being ridiculous, Akihiko you ass. And I wasn't talking about some random girl!

"I was talking about me!"

Hiroki was suddenly aware of everything: the feel of the jean clad legs between her bare thighs; the smoothness of Akihiko's jaw beneath her fingers, the steady beating of his heart under her closed fist. But mostly she was conscious of the fact that he did not immediately push her off of him.

Akihiko just sat there with a stunned look on his face. "What are you doing Hiroki?" His voice betrayed neither anger nor pleasure, only a cool curiosity.

Hiroki's cheeks had never burned so brightly. She looked off to the side, unable to meet the wondering lavender gaze.

"When we were small, you kissed me once and it made me feel better. Allow me to return the favor now..." Hiroki whispered. "Maybe I can help make some of your pain go away,"

Looking back up and seeing the awe in Akihiko's eyes, Hiroki felt on the edge of losing her nerve. She could hardly bear being so open, so vulnerable. Without really even thinking about it, in an instant, she grabbed her scarf and wrapped it around Akihiko's head, binding his eyes, blindfolding him.

Resting her cheek against Akihiko's, her eyelashes brushed the soft fabric of the scarf. She shifted, her lips almost grazing his earlobe and whispered in his ear. "Don't look at me, just feel me."

Akihiko stayed passive throughout this, saying nothing, offering no protest. Hiroki wasn't sure whether this response should thrill or terrify, but she felt both.

Despite this, she kept Akihiko's cool face between her hands and leaned in for the kiss.

In that moment cool met warm.

Hiroki brushed her lips over the soft surface of Akihiko's mouth tentatively at first. Her lips embraced his upper lip first, tasting. Then they moved down capturing the lower. Beneath her, Akihiko began to respond.

Emboldened by this and the invisibility the blindfold provided her, Hiroki pressed further. Akihiko opened himself up, allowing her tongue entrance to his mouth.

Hiroki tasted the smoky flavor of the cigarettes on Akihiko's tongue. One of his hands reached up and clasped her wrist, just under his jaw. The other hand slid around and slipped up the back of her shirt, resting on her lower back, slightly above the waist of her skirt.

The chill of this hand sent shiver's racing up Hiroki's spine.

She pulled her mind off of the electric sensation of this touch and focused instead on pouring all of her feelings for Akihiko into her kiss. Hiroki tried to suck the memory of Takahiro out of Akihiko's mouth as though it were venom.

When at last, she broke the kiss, they were both breathing hard.

Akihiko's hands dropped and he turned his head to the side.

"Aki?" Hiroki whispered. It was more a plea than a question.

"Hiro…" Akihiko gasped in answer.

Hiroki waited for one breathless moment for him to finish saying her name. One syllable, two letters, it was so simple; it was all that she needed.

When these didn't come, she knew she had lost.

In an instant she pushed herself up off of Akihiko, grabbed her pack, and fled the enclosure.

Behind her, Akihiko slowly drew his knees back up, wrapping them with his long arms. His head dropped forward against them.

Curled silently into the pain of his double loss, Akihiko sat like that for some time, never once trying to take off the blindfold.


Thank you for reading.