That Summer Heat: Chapter 7
-:-
It was hot. Smoldering, even.
The loud splashing sounds from the pool were more than inviting and she was certain her body had just sweated out the last part of moisture in her body. Common sense told her to just jump in the pool before she passed out from dehydration.
But Hikari couldn't bring herself to even look at the pool, let alone go in it.
"Kari, come ooon! Get in the pool with me!" Miyako half growled, half whined. She tugged fruitlessly at the elder girls arm, surprised how hard it was to move the girl despite her tiny frame.
"Miyako, just jump in without me." Hikari murmured despondently from under the shady tree a few feet off the watering hole.
She initially wasn't going to come to the pool that afternoon, but Miyako had threatened her into her bathing suit with a sharp looking ballpoint pen. But here, at the pool, Miyako had no pen and Hikari was in no shape or form going into that pool.
Her ruby-colored eyes flickered at the mass of water, narrowing onto the pool walling just beneath the diving board. Her face grew warm, fleeting images of the prior night filling her brain and sending tingles straight to her belly.
"Kar-"
"No, Miyako." The brunette ordered this time, a sharp tone coming to her usually light-hearted voice. She was frowning now, though she looked more hurt than angry.
"I am not going in the pool, now either sit here with me or jump in the pool"
Miyako only blinked and stumbled back a bit, startled by the sudden outburst from her usually quiet bunk-mate. She chose the latter of the two, deciding that perhaps her companion needed some very-needed 'alone time.'
Hikari sighed, appalled by her behavior. She prided herself on her usually chipper and upbeat disposition, often the voice of reason and fairness throughout many situations. But today, now, this situation…
"Oh Yamato! I think I'm drowning!" Chad howled from the farther end of the pool, a forced pained look on his face as one hand absently splashed water onto his face for emphasis.
She glanced up out of habit at the name, wincing at her own reaction. Commonsense would have told her to look away, avoid the trouble, but it seemed commonsense had taken leave for the summer.
The very reason for her unease was patrolling around the edge of the pool, obviously fulfilling his life-guarding duties. He notably took a wider stroll as he neared the area Chad was swimming in, giving the flamboyant boy wide girth for his own personal safety, she presumed.
It was then, he looked up and she cursed as his stare caught her own.
He paused in his movements, lingering, his stare, lingering…everything; lingering. There was something fogged in his eyes, something shielded and covered and she was almost slightly tempted to clear the clouded doubt that shrouded him.
He suddenly shifted, making quick movements for her and she quickly jolted to her feet and scampered off in the opposite direction. She couldn't face him now, or later or ever.
She just couldn't.
-:-
Life was bullshit.
Complete and utter bullshit.
This summer was supposed to be of the elite. No parents, no curfew and best of all, he was a figure of authority. He was in charge. So anything he did, he didn't have to answer to anything OR even feel bad about. Why?
Because he was in charge.
And now, now he wasn't in charge and he wasn't even sure who in hell he was anymore and shit like this doesn't happen in 3 weeks. He hadn't felt this aggravated since mom and pop split.
And even then, he felt better after a week or two (At least from what he told himself...)
And presently? Presently, he felt horrible.
Fucking horrible.
"Ishida!"
The blonde snapped up, glancing around the cabin and slightly taken aback to notice all the stares directed his way. More so was his fellow counselor, Taichi, who had an arm extended his way, a cooling bottle of Sapporo in his hand.
"Wanna beer?"
Yamato blinked quite a bit, peering blankly at the alcoholic beverage as if he had never seen such a thing. He was losing his cool and he knew people could see. He had lost his mind, he surely couldn't lose his reputation with it.
"Nah bro, I'm good. It's just been hot today, gettin me all light headed and stuff. I think I'm gonna take a walk."
The Head Counselor assumed a queer look, glancing back as his the younger male made quick movements for the door and disappeared into the darkness of night. Something was wrong, he knew and he wanted to figure out, exactly…
"C'mon Tai!" Sora purred from under his arm, redirecting his focus onto the slight-brunette curled up against his frame.
"It's your turn, Truth or Dare?"
Taichi chuckled a little nodding, as he dismissed the curious thoughts from his mind. The boy was old enough and he surely could solve his own problems. He had enough problems to deal with, as of late.
"Dare"
-:-
Hikari stood silently in the far back of the camp barn, situated near the beverage tables. She absently sipped from the cup of pineapple soda in her grasp, glancing around her bearings.
It was 80's night at the camp and everyone was a buzz, dancing around and engaging in the skate boarding activities. She should be participating in the action, she reasoned…having fun and experiencing what camps are proposed to present. She should be talking and meeting and possibly even liking people, allowing her first summer in Japan to be a real blast.
But she wasn't and she couldn't and she really hated herself for it.
She hated when she damn well knew the answer to something and didn't follow it.
"Kar, you having fun?" Miyako called over her shoulder, laughing, as Iori swept her away back into dance.
The American forced a grin, lifting her cup up in an affirmative. It was all that was needed for her lilac-haired bunkmate to turn her attentions back to the excited dancing she was participating in.
Honestly, Hikari had wanted to just stay in for the night and sleep. She was in no mood to deal with the bright lights or jubilance or seeing all the happy, dancing couples around.
Because she was the teensiest jealous, maybe. Slightly.
She sighed, head shaking, as she turned around and decided she would just go back to the cabin. Miyako was too preoccupied with her Trumpet Boy to notice.
She gasped, startled, as she collided into someone.
"Good job, Freak."
Oh, exactly what she needed.
"Not now, Catherine." She halted her before her high-toned, highly annoying tirade.
Hikari made a quick bow out, side-stepping the blonde and her perpetually accompanying cohorts and continuing her way to the exit. She ignored the not-so silent remarks that followed her, as well as the cold damp figuration that was forming on the front of her shirt.
She couldn't have at least spilled it on Catherine.
"Hey there babe." A male voice called out to her.
Her eyes narrowed out of instinct, slowly glancing up from her spilled top to discover two male campers were standing before her. They seemed around her age, maybe twenty or so, but both had a beer bottle accompanying each hand.
One was exceptionally tall, with spindly limbs and beady, untrusting eyes. The other, was a short pudgy one, seemingly younger, with ebony-black hair and rounded, piercing eyes,
"A pretty girl like you shouldn't be wandering around alone this late." The skinnier one purred, trying to sound sensual though it came off more hoarse and choppy than anything else.
"Yeah," The rotund one followed, grinning slightly as he neared the female.
"Lots of things happen at this hour."
The brunette swallowed heavily, eyes darting around frantically and woefully discovering there was no one in close enough range to help. The dance didn't seem like such a bad aspect, presently, and she really had wished she had stayed, even with Catherine.
The tallest suddenly reached out and snatched her by either arm, twisting them tightly behind her back.
"NO!" Hikari cried out, jerking back in an attempt to break free of his grasp. It was all but feeble, his grip tightening as he began to pull her over to a particularly dense gathering of bushes.
"I hear she's American, Po." Her assailant remarked sinisterly behind her, chuckling at her continued and still fruitless attempts at release. He reached up with his free hand, covering her still screaming mouth with it.
"American's do a lot of things, don't they brother?" His fat accomplice prodded, as he reached over for the front of her shirt.
"There's only one way to find out, right?"
This was nothing what she imagined it to be like…Camp, being seventeen…none of this was possibly happening. None of it, this was all too surreal because things like this didn't happen in wholesome little camps like this and she was too young and too new and too not right for this type of thing.
None of this was right.
And she wanted to cry but she didn't wanted to cry into some dirty old palm of this rapist and god why did she have to leave-
All at once, the pressure holding her arms back was released and the loud clatter of beer bottles smashing the ground shattered around her. Her eyes dart up and she sees as the lanky one is suddenly hoisted into the air and hurled into the shorter, fat one. But it doesn't stop, no, as suddenly the skinny one is hoisted up again and slammed again into the bigger one, and again, over and over until suddenly it stops.
It suddenly turns and there's a dark glimmer around its figure and her eyes narrow and shift and adjust and she's relieved and unease all at once. Yamato stood over the now splayed bodies and the usually warm, mischievous glint is eerily vacant.
It's absolutely petrifying how cold he looks and his eyes had dropped into an almost grey haze, teeth grit and she could almost swear his hair was curling and tightening with his rage.
He turns and faces her and his face falls. His eyes muddle down again, into a swirling blue and he bent forth, taking her frame up against his.
"Hikari," His voice is rough and she can almost swear he sounds broken.
"Hikari, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I wasn't here.."
The brunette could do little more than lay there, amidst the bushes and bottle shards, her tiny form clung firmly against his front. Everything else felt like it was simply a bad dream, none of it happened and she had just been woken up, like Sleeping Beauty.
Her Prince had come and woken her up and now they could live happily ever after.
"Did they…you know, did they-"
"No, Yamato." She interjected quickly, not wanting to hear the rest. She sighed, eyes fluttering shut as she allowed herself to rest against his front.
And it isn't at all awkward, for some reason. It isn't what she thought it would be (weird, stuffy and uncomfortable) and she had completely forgotten that incident in the pool and she almost feels as if she's known the blonde rogue all her life and it's almost like he's like Michael, back in Cali only better…
The seventeen-year-old released a faint squeak of surprise as she suddenly found herself lifted up, her arms flying out and curling around his thick neck for support. She glanced back briefly, the two men from before still splayed about the grass and she grinned a little, strangely satisfied by the image.
She then turned her attentions upward, against her common sense and she felt her breath hitch in her throat. She had been this close before; she'd seen him and felt this close before but for some reason, in such near proximity to his face still made her all queasy on her insides.
They suddenly came to a stop and she blinked as she found herself at the wooden dock at the camp lake. He carefully situated himself onto the edge, his legs hanging freely off its edge. She remained perched on his lap the entire time, partly because she didn't want to go and the rest because he held her tightly there, the whole while.
It was silent, as it had been since the bushes. The lake was vacant of any vessels or people, the waters calm under the darkened sky with the half moon's beams glinting off the waters surface. It was a beautiful image, all in all and undeniably romantic and for some reason, she suddenly found herself blushing at the aspect.
"I'm sorry Hikari," Yamato admitted gruffly, his eyes stare firm and far into the distance. She made a motion to intervene, speak up but he tightened his grip on her, to passively silence her.
"I'm sorry about the pool and-and I shouldn't have…it shouldn't have happened. You're too…innocent for that sort of thing."
The slight little female suddenly wrenched up, sitting up on his lap and sufficiently causing him to stop talking.
"It's not your fault, Yamato. You make it sound like I had nothing to do with it and I don't regret an ounce of it. I'm not as innocent as you assume me to be." She confirmed, eyes rolling to the back of her head in a sign of her frustration. She was too preoccupied in her little tirade to notice the compromising position she was in, literally straddling his lap with her legs at either side of his waist.
"I enjoyed it too, you know."
There was a moment of silence that followed and Yamato wasn't entire sure what had just happened. It had almost been as if he'd been scolded but all at once, assured…he was absolutely confused.
And the blonde was almost never, scratch that, he was never confused. He knew everything, how to handle it and how to not and he wasn't sure what he should do, presently.
Alarmingly, however, he suddenly found more pressing problems as the tiny bound of fluff atop him shifted, adjusting her posture for a more comfortable position. Such a subtle movement had unwittingly spiked sensations on his lower half, something he hated because this certainly wasn't the time to be thinking of that.
But he had gone weeks without that and having a lithe, supple vixen straddling him; with her delectable scent filtrating his entire being; it was too hard to resist.
So he moved his own hips too, in a certain suggestive fashion and he felt a devilish grin pull his lips at her startled gasp in response.
She glanced up at the sensation and had suddenly realized what type of position she was in and her face flushed with realization. This, now, was awkward (weird, stuffy and uncomfortable type of awkward.)
"You enjoyed it, huh?" His deep voice rumbled from his chest and she couldn't help but to shiver a little when it flitted across her frame.
Yamato reevaluated the situation. Honestly, he could probably most definitely get something tonight. He had saved her and comforted her and hell; they were under the stars on the dock. It was a painfully convenient setting and he hadn't even planned any of this, not one bit.
He could grab her right now, by the scruff of her neck and just kiss her and let nature, take its course, and really, honestly, he could really use it.
"Yamato…" She whispered and her voice was tiny, but not scared, almost…excited. And god, he was excited too, really. He could feel her tremble beneath his touch as his fingers found their way through her long mane and it felt like silk.
She sputtered a squeak of surprise, however, as he gently moved her head onto his shoulder and allowed his arms to settle around her tiny waist. She had expected him to kiss her or something and now..he was…holding her?
The tiny girl dared to sneak a glance up, confused by the boy's odd behavior. His face was stern and unyielding, almost pained. Hikari was bewildered by the expression but soon felt her own soften at the realization.
He had wanted to kiss her, definitely. But he didn't want to be so forward, he didn't want to mess up their silent moment of understanding by stupid sexual desires. She felt comforted by that aspect, almost tempted to cry by it, but only smiled a little as she snuggled herself closer into the curve of his neck.
Yamato swallowed the heavy lump in his throat as she shifted closer to him, willing other lumps in his entity to calm. He knew it now. He knew he wasn't sick or anything like that. But maybe a little…
"Thanks, Yama." She murmured softly into his throat, her hand reaching up to rake her own hand into his golden tresses.
She tugged his head down, however, peering up at him with surprising mischief in her eyes. It made the ever cool Yamato Ishida falter, even just briefly and Hikari only grinned.
The brunette perked up and gently placed her lips over his, brazenly darting her tiny pink tongue into the hot moist mouth and exploring every inch of it. He had tried to response, take the lead, but she wasn't allowing him to have one bit of it.
He even squeaked, yes squeaked, as he felt her teeth softly nip at his lower lip, tugging him closer.
This. Was. Bullshit.
Here he was, trying to be proper and slow and she was adamant about making it one of the hardest moments of his entire life. Much to his relief, and undeniably his disappointment, she pulled back and allowed herself to settle back into his hold.
"Yeah."
He blinked, confused.
"Yeah, what?"
He felt her grinning into his neck.
"I enjoyed it too."
-:-
So, how long has it been? *ducks from on-coming objects fully intended to injure, bwordsworth*
Alright, I know. I neglected you all and I really would appreciate it if you didn't burn me at the stake. *Glances nervously at the burning pole* Please? I'll try and make it a point not to completely forgo updating for the next buhjillion months like I did prior.
College and all those silly boyfriends stuff and life got in the way and really, honestly, writers block mind fucked me severely for a while that I out in out gave up. For shame, I know.
So if you could, kindly review with something. For I love you all!
