Title: Peerless
Author: sllebswap
Characters/Pairing: Kobayashi Rindou and Tsukasa Eishi
Type: OneShot/Drabble Collection (InComplete)
Genre: Romance/General/Humor
Word Count: 5973
Rating: M (Contains content suitable for mature teens and older)
Disclaimer: Shokugeki no Souma belongs to Tsukuda-san.
Summary: To be peerless is to be unrivalled. Standing at the highest peak, unchallenged and without equal. To be peerless is to endure; the pressure of the world clamoring at your feet, the stark bite of loneliness clawing at your back. …Or is it always?
Loosely interconnected one-shots/drabbles exploring the curious relationship between Tsukasa Eishi and Kobayashi Rindou. Updates may not be in chronological order.
Verse: Canon Divergent AU
Chapter Last Revised on: 11/06/17
Eyes on me
You're going to meet this girl, this woman, and she's going to flip your world upside down. But if she's the one, you'll ask yourself how you ever lived right side up.
— Nicholas A Browne
Tsukasa Eishi was not a touchy feely sort of person.
If anything, he possessed something of a touch-aversive personality. It was not that he hated being touched per se – he was ambivalent for the long and short of it – but it was more the touching other people part that he had the greatest trouble with. Reaching out to other individuals, connecting with other human beings in this most basic, physical way of conveying feelings and emotions – he had always had a problem in comfortably doing so. One issue was his own fussy, anxiety prone nature that made it difficult for him to properly express himself without that inevitable stir of pessimism clouding his thoughts and casting doubt with regards to his actions, leading directly to the next problem of his constantly second guessing himself and worrying if whatever he was doing would be deemed offensive or regarded as a negative experience to the people around him. In the end, the whole thing always seemed more trouble than it was worth.
All in all, interacting with people was always stressful for him, the only difference laid in the level of stress he incurred with respect to the type of interaction he was having as well as the identity of the individuals whom he was with. He had grown better at managing his aversion over the years, his discomfort becoming so subtle that people tended to think that he was just being his usual eccentric self, but that had not always been the case, especially back when he was younger.
As such, when Eishi first discovered cooking, he very quickly fell in deep, earnest passion for the culinary arts. In cooking, he found another way to reach out to people without having to go through the entire song and dance of having to constantly read them and second guess their intention and fret over their reaction to him. In cooking, everything became simplified and straightforward. He only had to worry about delivering the flawless results that they had come to him for, and his response to their demands was always nothing less than exquisite. People were happy with what he made for them, he was happy not having to deal with them directly yet still managing to get his ideas and inspirations conveyed across to his audience, and in the end, everyone got what they wanted. Win-win situation.
However, even in the perfection he sought, in that meticulous, immaculate creations that came from his kitchen, flaunting his precise control over this domain where he was both lord and master, his sense of self remained thoroughly suppressed. Not a hint of himself was allowed to be found in his cooking – he was like an invisible ghost, an untraceable phantom, and that suited him just fine. He had never sought attention, had never wanted to be noticed in the first place. He had even gone so far as to draw a clear, distinct line between himself and what was allowed to be presented to those who ate and experienced his food, and that impassable separation made all the difference.
After all, he was flawed, faulty, and full of insecurities.
If his cooking was destined to be nothing less than impeccable perfection…then it was absolutely imperative that he kept himself completely out of it.
It was as simple and as complicated as that.
For the most parts, his steadily growing fanbase supported his beautifully elusive, mysterious style. They raved over his pristine methodologies and waxed poetic over his amazing talent. At face value, hidden behind the elaborate veil of his fantastic cooking, he was simply, divinely perfect.
But those who truly knew him for what he really was, knew better than to actually believe so.
Rindou was obviously amongst those select few individuals, but then again, he never could hide anything from her in the first place. They were intertwined too closely for him to pull that same trick on her; she knew him too well, watched him too often for it to ever work…
That time during the Moon Banquet Festival in their third year, he still remembered that one innocuous comment that she had made in reference to him, as well as his subsequent response to her.
Someday…I'd like to taste a dish that's got more of you in it.
…My cooking doesn't need any of me in it.
Even now, he could still see in his mind's eye the quiet, knowing amusement that lurked in that cat slit gaze of hers as she studied him those years ago, and while she hadn't pursued the subject further, he had known better to think that she had been fooled like Yukihira and the others. She had always possessed that infuriating ability to pierce through all the formidable layers of armor that he had so carefully donned around himself, exposing all those imperfections that he had tried to hide…but maybe that was also why he felt so at ease and comfortable around her even in spite of that.
She knew him for all that he was…and she still stuck around, anyway.
Then, they actually got together, somehow miraculously after all those long, patiently enduring years of friendship – sometimes the realization that she actually wanted him still threw him in for a loop – and once more, their relationship was starting to evolve all over again.
And therein laid all the new problems and conflicts, waiting to be slowly resolved by the new couple.
Coming full circle back to the latest little conundrum that he was currently experiencing.
To reiterate once again, Tsukasa Eishi was not a touchy feely sort of person…but Kobayashi Rindou was.
She had always been a physical, tactile creature. She was demonstrative and open and always oh so incredibly warm. Mesmerizing heat and fiery hair, flashing gold eyes and crimson, smirking lips.
She was perfect.
She ate too much but always with great relish. She was too loud and quite bewilderingly weird at times but she was never unkind or thoughtless. She was bossy and nosy and was always getting into other people's business but she was also painfully loyal and she always took care of her friends and she did her best to fight for them. She was always doing things with no care or regard for the consequences, always living her life to the fullest in the here and now. All the many endless little imperfections that he could list down one by one from all the years that he had known her, that should irk him to no end, but yet, she was still utterly perfect as she was.
He had never been a touchy feely sort of person, but he wanted to touch her.
The problem was he did not know how.
She, obviously, had no such problem. Growing up together, she had always been the one with all the playful side-checks, amused nudges, curious pokes, amiable back slaps. Almost all the contact that they shared were initiated by her. He was more reserved, but that was fine because she was more than willing to pick up the slack. He never really had any need to reach out for all the physical exchanges because she was already doing them anyhow, and he was content with the status quo. And it was the same now…and that was fast becoming a concerning issue, as Eishi was starting to realize. Nothing had changed.
Precisely. Nothing had changed.
They were…dating, weren't they? Or at least Eishi believed so – they hadn't exactly sat down and discussed the ramifications of what kissing each other meant. Rindou had certainly seemed to enjoy that new activity shared between them, and so did he, for the matter…but outside of the hungry, dizzying make out sessions, it was as if everything else had stayed the same. Dating involved an increased level of closeness, right? Touches, handholding, subtle displays of fondness? Eishi was not quite sensing any difference…which made him start to wonder and second guess himself again.
Maybe they weren't dating, after all? Maybe Rindou had decided that he would make an adequate partner to practice kissing with and they were just fooling around? The thought made uneasiness ripple through him. …But she still frequently nudged him for attention and grabbed him by the arm whenever something caught her interest and she was eager to show him. She still looped her arm around his sometimes as they walked down the streets, especially when it was freezing and she was not-so-subtly trying to steal his body heat. She still leaned into him when she was curiously reading whatever article he was looking at on his phone over his shoulder. The comfort she derived around him was easy and casual, but that was also how she had always been around him. She had never actually demanded or forced him to bend his will to her whims – or at least not anything that he expressly did not want to do…and she wasn't about to start now, even as their relationship was changing into something that expected more intimacy.
…Maybe it was him who needed to be the one to change a little, he was starting to realize…
"Tsukasa, look! Roasted chestnuts! I didn't know that they have 'em here in Paris too!" Her golden eyes sparkled brightly with interest as she observed the roadside stand at the corner of the street. "What do they taste like? Do they roast 'em the same way back home? Oh, they smell so good! Let's get some!"
She started to dart forward to the stall, but before she could go too far, he impulsively reached out and caught her hand unthinkingly. The callused tips of his long, graceful digits brushed against hers, and then he held onto her.
…Now what?
She paused in her steps to stare at their linked hands in bemused interest, and then she looked at him, a faint question lingering in her eyes. But he said nothing, even as he quietly interlaced their fingers together and then tucked their joined appendages into the pocket of his coat. It wasn't because he was trying to be aloof and cool as he stared ahead and kept walking, wordlessly tugging her along with him. The tips of his ears were tinged the faintest pink; he was embarrassed and a bit uncomfortable about the whole thing but he was trying, for her.
Her gaze glowed with quiet amusement and realization as she watched him…which really did not help in abating his discomfiture. He really needed to think harder about the consequences of this sort of things before he went right ahead to do them, he decided dourly-
But then her slender fingers squeezed his, and they were warm.
"Tsukasa," she whispered, cat slit eyes dancing with humor. He slanted her a wary glance.
"…Yes?"
"I don't mind holding hands, but how are we going to peel the chestnuts later with only one free hand between the both of us?"
"…"
The problem with the studio apartment that he was currently living in was that the furnishings were meant for the occupancy of one person. One bachelor, to be exact. Him. Everything in there was minimal but functional and there was very little clutter so that made it easy for him to keep the place neat and tidy. Eishi especially liked his living quarters to be neat and tidy, and knowing exactly where everything was. For the most parts, this small apartment that was his temporary residence in Paris suited his needs just fine.
Rindou coming to stay with him for a few days just meant that he had to accommodate the presence of another human being in his private domain, but this was not the first time, and she was Rindou, so he could deal. She was not the neatest roommate for sure, but she wasn't entirely messy either. She just made her presence felt. The bathroom carried the faint, lingering scent of her body wash and shampoo. Her toothbrush sat in the glass container together with his by the sink. Her comb as well as assortment of accessories and lotion were scattered amongst his on the counter. Her coat was carelessly strewn over the back of a chair. The Daruma she gave him guarded his kitchen table, lending a bright splash of color to the otherwise sleek and impersonal surroundings.
Whenever Rindou was around, his place suddenly felt more lived in, softer around the edges, homey. He could not quite understand it, let alone begin to explain this mysterious phenomenon. But he did not dislike it either, simply accepting this comfort that always seemed to come with her.
Like that time when she had visited him in Barcelona, he had ceded his bed to her. Or rather, this time she did not have to bully him into giving up his bed, so at least he had become more automatically compliant to her demands (it was impossible to resist her anyway hence he did not even try). The couch was a sofa bed which also served as his sleeping space, conveniently working around the limited floor area of the studio suite. Since she occupied the bed, he brought out the spare futon to use instead, taking the floor the last couple of nights she was staying in Paris.
It was her last evening here with him, anyway. Tomorrow morning, he was going to have to send her to the airport and put her on a flight heading back to Japan, and with her, she would take away all that easy banter and aching familiarity and teasing warmth that she had always shared so generously and openly with him. He already felt a pang of loss at the thought of their imminent separation, that feeling so much more potent compared to their previous parting. Maybe it was because this time around he knew exactly what he was letting go. This time there was no pretending away just what she represented, and that he was going to miss her just because she reminded him of home.
He wanted to sigh.
This relationship thing was unexpectedly…difficult.
Wasn't it supposed to get easier after they got over that first big hurdle? It felt more to Eishi like he had just been momentarily airlifted from the deep end of a diving pool…only to be unceremoniously dropped right into the middle of the deep, fathomless ocean. He was in over his head.
"…Tsukasa." A hand waved before his face. "Psst. Earth to Tsukasa. Are you in there, space ranger?"
He blinked and her face filled his vision. He started a bit, not expecting to be so out of it that he hadn't registered her stealthy approach. She started to look faintly amused all over again, the beginnings of an impish smirk lifting her lips, exposing a tiny hint of her fang.
Those long, sharp incisors of hers were very distracting, he could not help but think not for the first time. They brought attention to the shape of her full mouth, the lush curves of those Cupid's bow lips. The fact that he now knew how soft and tender that mouth felt against his own made it even harder to ignore. And then there was the fact that he could never ignore her in the first place…
That urge to sigh in abject misery grew in intensity. Why. Why was his life so full of difficulty and suffering.
"Geeze, you sure look like you're going to be a bundle of fun tonight," she commented sardonically. It was late, they were already starting to wind down. They had spent all of day visiting the various notable sights in Paris and he had helped to haul back all the random knickknacks and souvenirs that she had bought for the people she had waiting for her back home. Most of that evening had been spent packing everything away, and soon she would be gone too, in a few more hours' time.
The expression on his face was not a happy one, and the reason for his discontent was obvious enough. He wouldn't hide it – it was no use to do that with her, anyway.
She was already changed into her night shirt, a button down, knee length cotton affair that was more comfortable than anything else. The material was loose and billowing, the collar undone and showing off the jut of her clavicles and the graceful line of her smooth, bared throat. Her red hair fell loosely down her shoulders, framing her face, rippling down her back, and she looked entirely ready for bedtime. So was he, for the matter, in a shirt and a pair of sleeping pants. Rindou plopped onto his bed that she had claimed as her own. She drew her bare legs up to the side, and then she petted the mattress beside her, looking at him.
"Tsukasa," she spoke his name again, her voice steady and clear. Not a hint of hesitation whatsoever. "Sleep with me tonight."
He stilled and stared at her, his gaze focusing on her face, the way she looked so serene and sure of what she wanted sitting there, that he felt a bit resentful because it was as if he was the only one being all tripped up and on tenterhooks right now.
"Sleep…with you?" he sounded a bit taken aback, but she only nodded.
"Mm. The bed is big enough for two in the first place," she replied blithely, and that was how he realized that she really had no subterfuge or hidden meaning behind her request. He did not know whether to be relieved or disappointed by that understanding. "C'mere and lie down with me." She smirked playfully. "I won't bite this time, I promise~"
She did not really wait for his reply, reaching down to grab his pillow and set it beside hers. She pulled back the covers and watched him expectantly. "Dim the lights first, though."
She was really bossy as usual, but since he would have done the same even without her instructions, he went and switched off most of the lights in the apartment, leaving only the one in front of the bathroom on. Then he went back to her, hesitating at the foot of the bed.
"Are you sure?" he asked, still a bit lost and not entirely understanding her intent.
She nodded, but when he was slow to climb in with her, she reached out, hand catching his own, and wordlessly coaxed him into bed. He could only follow. They laid back down and settled in, but he was still rigid when she went straight for him, fitting into his side so naturally like it was as if she had always been doing so all her life. Her arms snaked around his middle, her face tucked into side of his neck. She was very warm, and very soft, pressed up against him like that.
She hummed happily.
"You're too stiff," she murmured by his ear, her warm breath puffing against his earlobe and causing his awareness of her to become even more intensely acute. And indeed he was both bewildered and a bit tensed. What was she doing? Once again, he wasn't quite sure what to do in this situation, his arms held taut by his side, not knowing if he should reach out for her, or not.
"Relax," she whispered, and then she pressed little soft kisses up the length of his ivory throat, her fingers digging into the fabric of his shirt, stretching out half over him like a content feline, wordlessly claiming him. He closed his eyes, focusing on the pleasure of her lips, the way she caressed his skin with that rosy mouth of hers. A soft, shuddering exhalation escaped him, and his fingers twitched. The need to feel her beneath his hands, to memorize and appreciate the warm, tangible feel of her was overwhelming. It was more than just desire that he would seek from her. It was intimacy.
She paused after she kissed her way to his jaw, and then she drew back slightly once more, resting her pointed chin on his shoulder and just watching him. Her golden eyes glimmered in the semi-darkness.
"I'm waiting," she announced, and he opened hazy lavender eyes, looked at her.
"…Waiting?" His voice was slightly husky, and her pupils dilated a bit at that delicious roughened lilt of his quiet tenor.
She nodded. "Mm-hm. I'm waiting for you to take advantage of me."
He wondered if he was hearing correctly.
"…Huh?"
"I read the books," she told him. "I'm supposed to lead you to bed, cuddle up to you, and then you're supposed to take advantage of my moment of vulnerability and have your wicked way with me."
His tension went away in a hurry at her ludicrous comment. "…Wait, what?" Exactly what sort of books has she been reading?
Who was filling her head with all this nonsense, he thought with growing exasperation. And then came his next realization. He paused and stared at her. "You want me to take advantage of you…and have my…wicked way with you?"
He sounded completely gobsmacked. Was she serious?
"Yeah…? Am I not displaying my womanly charms enough?" Her hands went up to the front of her nightshirt. "You're supposed to be all over me by now, sheesh."
His eyes widened when she started to undo more of her buttons, revealing the shadowed hints of her pale, milky cleavage…and that was when he realized that she wasn't wearing anything under that nightshirt. Oh, god.
This time, his hands quickly came up to cover hers, stopping her in her tracks.
"What are you doing?" he asked sharply, alarmed. He pushed her hands away and hurriedly buttoned her back up, all the way to her collar in fact, until there were no more buttons left for him to button. She looked a bit like a virginal nun by then. An incredibly sexy, disheveled, virginal nun, with a full, heaving bosom that he was having trouble tearing his gaze away from, but that was neither here nor there…
Rindou was not the least pleased with his chivalrous considerations, though.
"Tsukasa, you're supposed to take off my clothes, not put them back on!" She was complaining.
"No, I'm not taking off your clothes. In fact, nobody is taking off anything tonight-"
This was a bad idea. This was a TERRIBLE idea. He should have known better than to let her lure him into her bed. This woman was going to be the death of him.
"Why are you doing this?" His heart wasn't going to be able take all this excitement. She kept pulling this sort of things on him one after another and he was always sent reeling and disoriented each time she did. Were it anyone else he would have given up by now. He was not the type to enjoy surprises, and she, she had always had this effortless ability to bring him to his knees. Sometimes he wished that she did not hold so much power over him.
"IT'S BECAUSE I'M TRYING TO SEDUCE YOU, STUPID," she bellowed at last, glowering at him for being so bright when it came to certain things but a dense block of wood when it came to others. "Do you even want me or not? Because sometimes I can't tell at all, Tsukasa. Are you just going with the flow because I kissed you first? If you don't want me at all, then just come up front and tell me! Don't pity me!"
His mouth opened, but no words came out. He was visibly stunned by her outburst. And then he saw that glint of hurt in her eyes, and it felt like he had just been decked himself.
Oh. Oh. He was wrong. It wasn't just him who had been feeling uncertain in this relationship, he was starting to realize. This was entirely new to her too. It wasn't as if she had any other means of comparison to figure out what was going on…and he had wounded her because of his own doubts and hesitation. God knew how she must have felt for all the times she had reached out and he had looked like he would rather be anywhere but there with her.
She scrambled upright and threw the covers aside. She looked ready to leave. That sight finally spurred him into desperate, instinctive action. He didn't want her to run from him. The very thought of it sent distress rippling through his entire being. What would he do without her in his life? She had been a permanent fixture for as long as he could remember. He would be utterly lost without her.
"…Wait. W-Wait!" He pushed himself up and lunged at her before she could get out of the bed. His arms curled around her torso, and he hauled her back before she could take flight. She struggled furiously, of course, but he was stronger and he held her close, refusing to let her go.
"I want you. I do so want you, Rindou."
She turned her head and glared venomously at him. He withered a bit. He had never actually been the recipient of one of her glares before but that basilisk stare could petrify stone.
"Don't lie to me. You cannot even bear to touch me."
He shook his head quickly, almost stuttering in disbelief at her mistaken assumption. How could she even think that- "T-That's not it. That's not why-" he broke off, sighing loudly. She was still glaring ferociously and that made him wilt further. He didn't like being at the receiving end of her displeasure, he was quickly realizing. He slumped a bit, but still, he did not dare to let her go.
"You always make things so hard for me," he accused unhappily. She started to stiffen, eyes flashing like an enraged dragon, but he ignored her to continue. "It always feels you're three steps ahead and one skip to the side and I'm forever scrambling to keep up with you. You're really infuriating, you know."
She was starting to twitch. Was he taking this opportunity to pick at her faults?
"If you're so-"
He squeezed her subtly with faint reprimand, and the rest of her words died in her throat.
"Quiet, you. I'm not finished yet."
She gazed at him in muted surprise. …When did he become so assertive?
"What I'm trying to say is this; you drive me up the wall, Kobayashi Rindou. You always have. You derail my carefully made plans, and you make my resolve waver. And now, you're testing my self-control. I cannot possibly touch you tonight and still put you on that plane in a few hours' time. …Do you get it now, or am I going to have to say it even clearer?"
He sighed miserably again, mumbling into her hair. "…Actually, I'm not confident that I can touch you and not want to go home with you when you have to leave. So, please have mercy on your poor boyfriend."
…He called himself her boyfriend. She stared at him. "…What exactly are you trying to ask of me? No, wait. Before you answer, let me go first."
She was starting to calm now, but he still eyed her suspiciously. This might be a trick to get him to lower his guard, for all he knew.
"Are you going to run? Or are you going to head butt me?" he asked warily. He wanted to be mentally prepared for all the contingencies, just in case.
She glowered at him.
"Am I only allowed to pick one of these two choices?" she asked him in return, her tone dangerously even.
He swiftly shook his head. "…No, I'd rather you not pick any of those two, actually.'
"Then let me go," she insisted.
She wasn't going to budge until he did, he could tell as much. So, after another beat of hesitation, he loosened his hold on her.
She immediately turned around, wrapped her arms around his neck, and kissed him deeply. Aggressively.
He rocked back in surprise, but this alternative was much, much preferable to the first two which he had suggested, though before he could settle in and kiss her back, she pushed him away. She licked her lips and watched him intently with those gold slit eyes of hers, crossing her arms before her chest, waiting.
"Okay. Now tell me. What are you asking of me?"
She had always been a smart one. She already, instinctively, knew where he was going when he started to lead in with this topic. His pale lavender eyes met hers steadily.
"…I want you to wait for me."
"…Wait for you," she repeated slowly. She was silent for a while, silently considering. "For how long?"
"One year," he told her. "I need only one more year, and then I'll come home to you."
He needed one more year to perfect his cooking, one more year to refine all the techniques that he had learned and assimilated, one more year before he was ready to return to Japan for good. And until then, he could not afford to entertain…distractions, and she was the biggest one he knew. His Achilles' heel.
"One year…" she trailed off, before her gaze focused on his again. Inscrutable. "A lot of things can happen in that time."
She could lose interest in him. Someone better might come along and charm their way into her good graces. She might decide that he was not worth all the trouble…
He knew what she was trying to do. He had anticipated it, even. She had always been so feisty – she would not tame easy now, and he had just stung her pride.
Something that seemed almost like affectionate amusement flickered across his lavender eyes.
"Perhaps so," he agreed. "But you will wait for me all the same."
It wasn't a question now, not with that confident way he spoke. He was calling her bluff.
Her eyes narrowed, but he was undaunted, for this evening she had inadvertently showed him two unbeatable truths, and the trump cards he now held close to his chest.
"You'll wait for me, Rindou, because you want me…and I am yours."
Her gaze flickered, and she glared. She looked ominously close to livid again, but he held his nerve. Steady, now…
"Are you, really?" she asked challengingly. How dare he. This was the man who was boldly forsaking her and was now setting her aside in order to pursue his first love. To say that the fierce, acidic fire roiling in her chest right now was not raging jealousy would be a lie. And he was even selfish enough to command her to wait for him-
He held her glittering gaze unwaveringly. His reply was quiet, unhesitating.
"Yes. I am."
There was nothing else left for him to say. All his cards were on the table. He had just backed her into a corner and there were only two ways that she could possibly react at this point. He knew which he was banking his hopes on.
She was unnervingly silent for the longest moment.
At last, she leaned in towards his, nostrils flaring with pique. She looked incredibly, breathtakingly, beautifully angry.
"I am going to make you suffer this whole, entire year."
Pleasure filled him, even as he smiled faintly at her, not the least intimidated by her threat. "You're already making me suffer a lot."
But it wasn't the kind of suffering he was unwilling to bear.
Of course she would wait for him – he left her no choice. But that did not mean she wasn't going to extract her pound of flesh in the process, and she could be vindictive. He was making her play second fiddle to his cooking, and as much as she was seething over it, she also would not force him to put herself before that thing that he loved the most. It was ludicrous, this position that he had put her in – other women got to be jealous of actual human competition for their partners' attention. She was jealous because he had just proven without a doubt the lengths he would go to for the sake of his cooking. She had never thought herself to be a particularly possessive individual, but he drove her crazy, too.
Would she still want to have anything to do with him if he was otherwise, though…
She undid the first couple of buttons at her collar, scowling a bit more at him before her brow smoothed out, and she visibly calmed again. He started to get a bit apprehensive. She was plotting something in that head of hers and he was sitting right at the top of her shit list right now.
"…Fine. If you can't touch me for a year, then you will watch."
He didn't understand what she meant at first. Without another word, with the grace and aplomb of a young queen, she reached down to grab the hem of her nightshirt, and in one smooth, fluid move, she pulled it over her head and tossed the material onto the floor.
And then she was gloriously, proudly, naked before him, all flawless, porcelain skin and soft, smooth curves, red, fiery hair and heated, glowing eyes.
His world came to an absolute standstill. His breath caught in his throat. It was as if somebody had punctured his lungs, because all the air had suddenly left him.
He could do nothing else but stare.
Look. This is what you're giving up, she was silently telling him.
"Rindou." His voice was strangled.
Oh, god.
She lounged back and stretched out boldly over his pillows, unfurling languidly, the sensuous warmth of her body sinking into his sheets, her heady, mesmerizing scent lingering amongst his bedding. She was well aware that he was going to have this image of her seared into his brain for as long as he lived.
Good.
Her hair tumbled down one bare shoulder in a cloud of silken crimson. She ran a slender hand carelessly over the swell of her high, full breast and then down along that narrow, graceful dip of her waist, to the enticing flare of her hips. His darkened eyes followed the flowing, elegant movement, automatically slowing as they caressed her lush figure with his heated gaze, lingering along her lean, toned thighs, her long, coltish legs. Her dangerous cat slit eyes were turbulent and hungry, and she bit her kiss swollen lips, a throbbing, heavy spike of feminine excitement racing though her at the way he was staring at her.
He was right. She wanted him, and the fact that she would not be able to have him until a year later was almost enough to make her howl in frustration. Her only consolation was that he seemed to want her just as badly. It was a pyrrhic victory at best, because they could not have each other regardless.
But now was not the time to think about that. Now, she had his full, undivided attention, and she intended to make the most of it. Her palm briefly cradled her heavy breast, feminine fingers lightly tracing the soft, plump flesh in a way that made her wish that it was his tongue marking her instead. No matter. She would close her eyes and imagine. Her head lolled back lazily, eyes fluttering shut, exposing that elegant, enticing column of her neck. Her fingers caressed her aching, unlearned body tenderly.
Everything about her invited, cajoled, begged for his touch.
She was so cruel.
"Eishi," she sighed huskily, her fingers slowly drifting lower. He shuddered at the deliberate way those red, red lips of hers caressed his name, this young, vengeful goddess intent on driving him to madness.
"Don't take your eyes off me, okay?"
::owari::
Questions That I Would Like To Answer Before You Ask:
Moral of the story: Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.
Some of you wrote in the comments wondering if Rindou could get jealous, after experiencing the last couple of chapters of jelly!Eishi, lol. The answer is obviously yes! The only reason why Rindou doesn't get easily jealous of Eishi with respect to his dealings with other people is because she understands him well enough to know where the real threat lies, and it's most definitely not the people because we all already know how people avoidant Eishi can be.
Jealous!Rindou, well, she can be a rampaging dragoness on the warpath, so it's good that she doesn't easily get that way unless really pissed off, haha.
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I hadn't intended to breach the M-rated parts of Peerless this quick, but welp, the plot ran away from me again. Anyway, this is just borderline M at most, but I'm upping the rating for this series just in case.
So yeah, there might be smut in future chapters, we'll see!
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Main leads' ages in this chapter: 20 y.o.
This installment actually follows right after chapter six's 'If you're hungry and you know it.' Eishi and Rindou at this age are kinda a strange mix of youth and awkward inexperience combined with an ever growing need/intensity to express themselves and explore each other. Rindou in particular, as you can see in this chapter, is a confusing/beguiling mix of innocence and budding sensuality and I don't envy Eishi at all for being in his position. (RIP Eishi, haha!)
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The quote at the beginning of this chapter was something I came across while I was browsing through tumblr, and I thought it pretty much embodied the whole EiRin ship in summary. I love it. If I could I'd slap it on every chapter and yell it at everyone passing by, ahahaha.
…Please ignore the idiosyncrasies of this idiot fangirl.
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Last but not least, I've always wondered about Eishi and his curious ideology of keeping himself out of his cooking. I've always wondered how he might have started with that incredible drive of his to develop his culinary ability to such an impossibly honed, refined edge, to the degree of completely removing himself from tainting his cooking, and the beginning of this chapter reflects some of my headcanons, I guess. Do feel free to share your thoughts if you have any! I'm always happy to jabber about conspiracy theories if you guys are willing to share!
Thanks for reading, as always! Happy weekend, y'all! :)
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Your reviews make me update faster; so please leave a comment if you like this fic!
-sllebswap
