This Time I Have Really Led Myself Astray
One month later…
Kurama POV
"You're depressed again, Kurama. Maybe you should go home. Get away from this place," Shizuru suggests.
For the last month I've been staying here at the temple. "I've tried."
"Then why are you so depressed? If you want to be here?"
"I've been leaving a rose outside Anna's door every morning," I explain. Shizuru doesn't say anything which is good because I already know how sappy it is. But in twelve hundred years I've never felt this way. I didn't know what else to do. Especially since she was avoiding me until a few days ago. "At first she just threw them in the trash. Then after a few days the scent of roses started coming up from the garbage disposal."
"Oh, Kurama." She looks sad.
Then Atsuko, who's already here, ready to party, suggests, "Get drunk tonight and forget it for a while. I'll make sure she doesn't drink too much and you don't do anything too embarrassing."
"Like you'll be sober enough to do that," Shizuru mutters. She looks at me, "Just don't do anything you'll regret."
I nod just as Anna walks in. "Hey." She's been like this ever since I told her she was pretending. More relaxed. At least according to Shizuru.
I smile and wave. She nods back. She's even been more tolerant of me, at least after she stopped avoiding me altogether.
She makes a sandwich and sits down at the table. I move next to her. She doesn't move. Awkwardly, I ask, "Why'd you stop shredding them?" A few days ago the sink's scent of roses started to fade. That was also when she stopped avoiding me.
"It was pointless. It achieved nothing."
"What was it supposed to achieve?"
"I was hoping you'd take the hint." She sighs and picks at her sandwich. She still wants me to drop it. I can't convince myself that doesn't hurt. And because of that hurt, I have a bad feeling that I'll end up following Atsuko's advice, which is very rarely a good idea.
Anna POV
I finish my sandwich, wash the plate and return to my room. There are four roses in a pile in the corner. There is a wilted one on my bedside table. I try to throw it out every day. That's been real effective.
Today's a Saturday. I've stayed away from the alcohol since the disaster that first night. I somehow think that attempt at building a good habit is going down in flames tonight. I somehow think it has to do with the fact that I am no longer avoiding Kurama. I'm tired of seeing him so sad. It makes me sad. But I don't want to feel that way. Not about him, not about anyone.
I've given up on not liking the others. I could even let myself like Kurama if he would just give up on the love aspect. Because I won't let that happen.
Eight hours later (nine o'clock that night)…
I tried not to get that first drink. I really did. But once I had that first one, I knew it was too late. I'm not even trying to keep track anymore. I think I've had… I don't know. A lot. By now, I think I'm a little drunk. Maybe even a lot drunk.
Where's Kurama? I wanna talk to him.
Kurama POV
What time is it? Nine? I had my first drink at about seven… I think. And now everything's blurry. I like it.
I find the cooler and reach for another, but Shizuru stops me. "You've had enough to drink, Kurama."
"But I'm not drunk yet." I'm not, am I? Course not. I used to drink all the time. Haven't had that much yet.
"You sure as hell aren't sober," Shizuru mutters. Dragging me away from the drinks, she adds, "Shuichi, remember? As Shuichi, you don't drink. As Shuichi you have a very low tolerance for alcohol." Oh yeah.
"Anna!" I say. "Good to see you!"
"Good to see you too." She smiles. Why's she smiling? She never smiles. 'Specially not at me. Whatever. I don't care why.
"You're beautiful when you smile, you know that?" I ask.
"You're an idiot, Kurama. Don't do anything you'll regret tomorrow," Shizuru warns and walks away. How could there be anything to regret? Nothing can go wrong with Anna here.
"What do you want, Anna?" Why do I feel like my tongue isn't working properly?
She looks at me. "I wanted to talk to you."
"No need to talk." I grin, step forward and pull her to me. I lean my head forward and kiss her. This feels vaguely wrong. Should I be doing this? But I love her. You're supposed to kiss the girl you love, right?
And she isn't objecting. She kisses me back, pulling me a few feet to the nearest couch. She's so warm. My hands have moved to her waist. Her arms are around my neck, pulling me closer as she presses her body to mine. I love her so much. I never realized how much I wanted to kiss her.
Why do I feel as though I shouldn't be doing this, even though it feels so right? So right. I pull her closer and keep kissing her. At the same moment we both pull back, breathing heavily. We look at each other a moment then I pull her toward me again. She doesn't resist. She feels the same way. This has to be right.
In the background someone shouts, "Yusuke! Kuwabara! Some help!" Who is it? Keiko? Who cares. I have Anna.
Suddenly someone grabs my arms and pulls me away from her. What are they doing? They ruined it. I was so happy. I try to fight, but Yusuke has my arms pinned to my sides. I don't remember him being this strong. Maybe I'm more drunk than I thought… Keiko is holding Anna, but she just sits there looking dazed.
Kuwabara appears and, with Yusuke's help, drags me back to my room. They shove me into bed.
I'm so tired…
The next morning…
My head. God. This is why Shuichi doesn't drink. The hangovers are killers. I know that, but I'd forgotten how bad they can be. Hopefully Botan and the others have that brew ready because… god.
I sit up slowly. I feel slightly nauseous. I stagger down the hall to the kitchen where Anna is already nursing a mug of the stuff. I signal Keiko, and she hands me my own. She sighs. "We'll leave." The three of them exit the room. Why? What happened last night that makes me and Anna need to be alone?
Anna… I… Anna… Oh no. I jump up and follow them. My head. I really need to drink that stuff. I run into Keiko, almost knocking her over. She looks at me. "Did I…?" I point at myself then back towards the kitchen.
Keiko nods. "Although she didn't exactly object. But it took Kuwabara and Yusuke to get you back to your room." It's easy to see that she doesn't approve of our actions last night.
This is so embarrassing. I slide to the floor, head in hands. The memories are coming back, blurry but there. She is going to hate me for this. I kissed her. She didn't protest, but she was at least as drunk as me. At least, I think she was… Ohhh… I don't want to go back to the kitchen, but I really need that stuff.
I get up and slowly walk back to Anna. She has gotten herself a bowl of cereal and is now reading the milk carton.
"We need to talk about last night," I mumble, sipping the drink. Oh sweet relief.
"No we don't." How I wish that were true.
"Yes, Anna, we do."
"No we don't."
"Do you even remember what happened last night?"
"Vaguely and unfortunately." I flinch. It hurts that she so obviously doesn't want to kiss me now that she's sober. That the only reason she did is that she was wasted. It's a miracle she even remembers it.
"We kissed, Anna."
"Don't remind me."
"Are you angry with me?" Best to get the explosion over with now.
"The way I remember it, I was more drunk than you, and I sought you out. You had told me your feelings, and you were drunk. I, personally, don't feel you can be held responsible for your actions. In fact, they were to be expected. Neither can I be held responsible for my actions, despite the fact that I'm the idiot who encouraged your advances." She is still refusing to look at me. She is almost as embarrassed as I am. She's just hiding it behind this matter-of-fact attitude.
"But I kissed you first." Do I want her to get angry? Maybe… I kind of deserve it right now.
"I don't blame you, so unless you want me to get angry, drop it."
She doesn't blame me? But… she always blames me if she possible can. Then, I guess I do want her to get angry, I say, "You kissed back. Which means you feel something for me."
I close my eyes, waiting for the blast of anger.
"I know I do," is all she says. "And that's the problem."
Hahaha. I told you guys Anna is a bad influence. Hope you enjoyed that chapter. It was so much fun to write. Anyway, sorry the consistent updates got not-so-consistent. I'll try to fix that. As usual, I only own Anna. This is also one of the chapters that kind of makes me go, uhhh, is this story really appropriately labeled T? So, my opinion is yes. However, if you feel it is not, please take it upon yourself not to read the chapter if you feel it is inappropriate for your age group...as if...no comment.
animegrlsteph: now do you see what I mean by REALLY drunk? yes. very bad influence.
