A/N: As I've told you who reviewed the previous chapter, so here it is. Bye the way, thanks a lot. I'm happy you dropped something for me. It made me smile ;)
Chapter 12. Lock
Whenever the memories flashed Yumi's mind, which was very frequent, she couldn't help but shiver with excitement, and could hardly suppress a smile from permanently appearing in her lips. She didn't want to be the center of teasing again, especially if Yoshino would see her. She was sure that she couldn't hide from her friends anymore if she was confronted, so she hastily made an excuse and fled their room as soon as classes were over. Even if she would see her friends again in a couple of minutes because they would stay in the Rose Mansion to do some homework before going home, she still wanted to try and collect herself so that maybe, just maybe, she would be more relaxed later when she was with everyone.
"I wonder where she is..."
Yumi craned her neck, looking from left to right, hoping to see a certain black-haired beauty. The other reason why she hastily left the classroom was to see Sachiko before they would be with everyone else. She sighed with disappointment when she didn't saw the familiar figure of her Onee-sama.
'Or should it be my girlfriend?'
Fighting the faint blush that appeared in her cheeks, she quickly made her way to the Rose Mansion. Maybe Sachiko was already there and if she would get lucky, found her alone. Then maybe they could...
A more prominent blush appeared in Yumi's cheeks and this time, she totally lost the battle to quickly erase the red hue in her cheeks. How could she, when she was feeling warm again at the thought of being alone with Sachiko and the possibility of getting a kiss. She missed Sachiko very much. The latter hadn't stayed long in their house yesterday, and she hadn't seen her yet after the many kisses they had shared yesterday.
Grinning like silly, she opened the door to the Rose Mansion. Her grin widened when she saw who was waiting for her inside.
---o---
Sachiko had been debating whether she should go upstairs or wait downstairs for Yumi. She saw her coming and despite trying to be casual about everything that happened yesterday, she couldn't help but feel excitement at seeing Yumi and the prospect of being alone with her, even for only a short time. She was glad that Rei had decided to visit the kendo club first before coming to the Rose Mansion.
A faint blush appeared in her cheeks when she once again recalled everything that happened yesterday. Once she was inside the Fukuzawa house yesterday and had exchanged a few words with Yumi's surprised mother, she was told to wait for Yumi. But when Yumi's mother proceeded upstairs to call Yumi, she had asked if she could do it, and was granted permission.
She remembered how she had stayed rooted at Yumi's door for a while, before she realized that Yumi's family would wonder what was wrong with her if she kept on acting like that. When Yumi didn't respond to her knock, she opened the door with reluctance and peeked inside. Seeing Yumi asleep, she debated whether she should go back downstairs or wake the sleeping girl. In the end, the pull of the chance to see Yumi's sleeping face won, and she quietly made way to the bed. And just as quietly, she pulled a chair and gazed at the sleeping girl. She had watched for a long while, wanting to take in the serene features of the younger girl. And despite herself, she couldn't take her eyes off Yumi's lips as she remembered how it had pressed upon hers. It was a surprised that she didn't attempt to repeat what Yumi had done and pressed hers on the unsuspecting lips of the sleeping girl. It had crossed her mind, but she had stumped it. If she would kiss Yumi, she wanted the latter to be awake and aware.
And her wait was rewarded. She hadn't only kissed Yumi once, but many times. However, she didn't stay long at the Fukuzawa house, feeling a tinge of guilt that she was welcomed with open arms and then there she was, taking advantage of Yumi, though there was definitely no objection from the latter.
She thought she would have troubles again in sleeping after the event but last night was different. Though her mind was again full of Yumi, which usually caused her sleepless nights, last night it had the opposite effect. She had fallen asleep early, and no doubt with a smile in her lips, and had dreams about Yumi, which mostly included kissing. It was a pleasant sleep.
Gingerly, she touched her lips, glad that she was alone at the moment. She could still feel Yumi's soft lips on hers, and could still hear the gentle sounds Yumi had made when they had kissed. As what had been happening since the event occurred, a tingling sensation travelled her spine. If not for her years of training, her feelings would have shown in her face. Nevertheless, she had slipped a few times, but only Rei noticed, mostly because Rei knew her a lot.
"Are you feeling alright, Sachiko?" Rei asked with a frown. She had noticed that Sachiko wasn't in her usual calm self. There was something different in her friend that she couldn't put her fingers on.
"Hmm...Yes, thank you for asking," Sachiko answered absently, before she caught herself and became alert.
"Are you sure? You have been spacing since earlier?" Rei asked with concern.
"Yes, I'm sure," Sachiko answered calmly.
Rei was silent for a moment, gazing intently at Sachiko, before she casually asked, "What are you thinking?"
"You don't want to know, trust me."
As soon as those words had left her lips, Sachiko knew she made a mistake. Instead of pacifying Rei, she knew that she had strengthened Rei's curiosity. However, not one to show that she had said something that she shouldn't, she shrugged nonchalantly and then stared at the book she was holding, not really seeing the words printed there but rather of a face of certain someone.
Sachiko snapped in attention when she saw the door slowly opened. Her attempt to be expressionless was shattered when Yumi grinned widely at seeing her. She smiled almost just as wide.
---o---
"Hello, Yumi. How's your day?"
"Um, great," Yumi answered with a blush, much to Sachiko's amusement.
Suddenly, Yumi was feeling shy. Despite what had happened yesterday, she was still unsure how to react with Sachiko. Well, especially because of what happened yesterday. She had an urge to move towards Sachiko and hug her...and kiss her. She had missed Sachiko so much, even if they were together yesterday.
Moving closer, Sachiko placed a hand on Yumi's shoulder. The moment the contact was made, both of them shivered with excitement.
"Did you miss me, Yumi?" Sachiko whispered, her breath fanning Yumi's face.
"Yes..." Yumi whispered back. She was having difficulty breathing already, even if she was just standing there, even if she and Sachiko weren't doing anything yet except stood faced to faced and talking.
Slowly, Sachiko lifted her other hand and gently placed a finger on Yumi's lips.
Yumi shivered again, not only because of the soft finger placed in her aching lips, but also of the way Sachiko was gazing at her eyes. Slowly, she closed her eyes, and the moment she did it, Sachiko moved closer and replaced the finger with lips. Their lips touched for a few seconds and enjoyed the pleasant tingle in their spines, and then Sachiko pulled away, much to Yumi's dismay. However, she felt satisfaction when she saw that a faint blush had appeared in Sachiko's cheeks.
"The others might come and see us," Sachiko explained.
Yumi's eyes widened. She had forgotten about the fact that other people might come any moment. Her eyes looked around, and then stayed on one place. A light bulb exploded in her head. Her eyes gleamed. Reaching for Sachiko's hand, she moved towards the thing that got her attention.
Confused, Sachiko let Yumi led her. Comprehension dawned on her when she saw where she was being led to.
"This would do," Yumi said, closing the door to the stock room in the Rose Mansion. As soon as she let go of the door, she was spun around and then locked in a loose embrace.
"Your mind is quicker than usual, my kitten," Sachiko teased as she leaned closer to Yumi.
Yumi pouted. Nevertheless, she also leaned closer to Sachiko.
"Sometimes, I guess so."
And then their lips met in a tender kiss, their heartbeats quickening as the kiss became deeper, more passionate. Yumi had her hands at the back of Sachiko's neck, her head tilted upwards, while Sachiko had one hand on her waist, and the other tangled on her hair. As what had happened yesterday, they would separate for air, then would leaped back to kissing. The noises that Yumi was making made it hard for Sachiko to stop from trying to make Yumi moan some more.
After some time of kissing, actually after a long time of kissing, the two separated as if they were burned. Their previously closed eyes were wide opened, and their thoroughly kissed lips were parted in shock. They stood a few steps apart, gazing at each other, face red, both breathing heavily, and their hands on their sides, one was clutching her skirt tightly, the other had her hands balled in a fist.
"Um, I think m-maybe we should go u-upstairs," Yumi stuttered, her mind in a whirlwind. She was utterly shock, but couldn't deny that she was also excited. What happened was unexpected. Nevertheless, it wasn't unwelcome if her body had a say on it. And if she would be thoroughly honest with herself, she would say that she wanted some more.
Sachiko was still speechless even when Yumi had spoken. Her hands were still shaking. Her hands which had moved on its own and touched…
"Onee-sama…"
When Yumi raised her hand as if to touch her, Sachiko snapped out of her dazed and said, "Yes, I think that's a good idea."
Both tried to straighten their uniform and smoothed the tangled hair. While making sure that the state of her uniform wouldn't attract unwanted attention, Yumi's gaze landed on her front, making her blush some more.
When Sachiko noticed where Yumi was looking, she also blushed. She lowered her gaze, which landed on her trembling hands. It wasn't really her intention to have her hands on Yumi's…
Shaking her head to chase the thought away, Sachiko moved towards the door and tried to turn the doorknob. Her brow furrowed when the knob didn't move. She tried to turn it once more, and then twice, dread creeping in her.
"It seemed that we're…locked in here…"
"Wha…"
Yumi moved in Sachiko's side and tried to turn the knob. Nothing happened. She started to panic.
"How are we going to get out of here? Maybe the others have arrived. We should call on anyone and…" Yumi paused when she realized something. If they called on anyone to open the door, then how were they going to explain their presence in this room? But should they worry about what would others think about their situation? At least they wouldn't be stuck in this room. Besides, if they weren't going to ask for help, then how should they go out?
"Let's wait, Yumi. I don't think the others would hear us from the second floor, especially if the door in the meeting room is closed," Sachiko said quietly.
"Okay…" Yumi agreed, though she believed that Sachiko just didn't want to make a scene by banging and shouting for help. That wasn't Sachiko's style.
After finding something comfortable to sit upon while waiting for a chance to call on someone to open the door, silence enveloped in the room.
"Um, I didn't know that the door's lock is broken. You have a key to this one, right, Onee-sama?" Yumi said uneasily, breaking the uncomfortable silence.
"Yes. But it would be of no use if I have it here with me."
"I'm sorry, Onee-sama. If I hadn't pulled…"
"It's not your fault, Yumi," Sachiko interjected, preventing Yumi from blaming herself some more.
Silence once again enveloped the room. Both occupants were lost in their thoughts.
'Lock huh. First, we locked the door to have some privacy. And then, we were locked in a passionate embrace. And now, we're locked in here. Then again, being locked with Onee-sama here isn't such a bad thing.'
Yumi gazed at the quiet person beside her, blushing as her gaze settled on Sachiko's hands on her lap.
'Those hands…'
Yumi closed her eyes and tried to shake away the thoughts that had appeared. Thought they weren't unwanted, still, it would be difficult to handle if she let it ran freely.
"We are going to have the doorknob changed to prevent this from happening again. We don't want people getting trapped in here…Um, I'm not saying that we should be doing this again here. No. What I mean to say is…"
Yumi groaned. How come she couldn't say the right thing that she wanted to say? A giggle close by halted her from calling herself stupid over and over in her head.
"I know what you mean, Yumi. Maybe we should have a lock that is not operated by keys. Like for example, the commonly used lock now is the dial or combination lock (17)."
"I don't think we need a complicated lock for this door, Onee-sama," Yumi said with a frown. "And we're not sure what went wrong with the current lock."
'Why would this door need a complicated lock? There's nothing worth stealing...'
"We wouldn't want to be locked inside again due to broken knobs or things like that, would we?"
Yumi's eyes widened and she flushed when she saw the gleam in Sachiko's eyes.
'Does she mean that we're going to repeat this...'
"But let's not talk about it. How about we make the best out of this situation?" Sachiko said with raised brows, her lips twitched in a hint of a smile. Her words were half-joke and half-truth.
Feeling excited once again, Yumi smiled shyly, then tentatively placed a hand on Sachiko's shoulder. She met Sachiko's gaze, then closed her eyes as their faces became nearer. Soon, their lips were locked on each other again.
Sachiko could feel her heart thumping in her chest. She wanted to do something, something she had unconsciously done earlier. It must have been brought upon by the heat of the moment, but she didn't regret it. She had had thoughts about touching Yumi before, and wasn't entirely surprised that she had acted upon it. She had been getting bold since the first time Yumi's lips touched hers, which was only a few days ago.
Yumi's eyes snapped open when she felt the gentle pressure on her front, just a little below her chest. Seeing Sachiko gazing at her questioningly amidst the kiss, she attempted to smile to convey the message that she didn't mind. It wasn't a good idea, though, because their lips were pressed together and the attempt to smile resulted into a moan that sent a shudder to Sachiko's spine.
The moan had encouraged Sachiko to press more on Yumi, just as the latter started to slowly move her hand from Sachiko's shoulder downwards, but both of them froze when they heard something not far from their side. Pulling away from the kiss, they turned and watched as the doorknob turned.
---o---
"I wonder what happened to Sachiko-sama and Yumi-san," Shimako said as they left the meeting room of the Rose Mansion.
"Yumi-san left in a hurry earlier and I didn't know where she went," Yoshino said, leading the way downstairs. "Rei-chan, how about Sachiko-sama? Do you know where she went? Did she go home ahead?"
"I don't know either. She was acting weird earlier, though," Rei answered with a thoughtful expression.
"Oh, I just remembered something," Yoshino said, making the others turn expectantly at her, thinking that she had an idea where Sachiko and Yumi were. "The lock in the stock room is broken, I think. I forgot to mention it last week."
"What's wrong with this?" Rei asked as she reached for the doorknob of the stock room. She paused before she could reach the knob and turned to Yoshino quizzically. "Did you break this?"
"Of course not," Yoshino said hotly, thinking that she was being accused. "That knob is old. It's no wonder if it's malfunctioning."
"I am merely asking," Rei said, rolling her eyes. She held the knob and tried to turn it. When the knob didn't budge, she used greater force, turning the knob back and forth. "Oh…"
Giggles erupted as they watched the doorknob gave way to the pressure.
"Well, now we really need a replacement," Yoshino said, laughing at the somewhat embarrassed expression of her cousin. When Rei started to push the door open, she prevented her by saying, "We can't do anything about it now so let's just go home. I want to get some rest and have a delicious warm soup."
Leaving the door slightly open, they went home.
---o---
Once the voices had faded and the shutting of a door reached their ears, Sachiko and Yumi both sagged with relief. Now they could go out without asking for help and without being found out and answering uncomfortable questions.
"I thought we're done for," Yumi said weakly, leaning onto the wall. She and Sachiko had watched with great trepidation as the doorknob was turned, more so when the door started to open. Both of them were unmoving, even holding their breath, scared to make any noise. True, they had decided to ask for the others' help. However, that still didn't stop them from being scared and worried at being caught locked inside the stock room. It was, therefore, a great relief for them when the others left with the door slightly open. They didn't need to ask for help anymore. They would just wait for some time to make sure that the others were gone, and then they could go out.
"I thought so, too. My brain froze for a moment and I didn't know what to do. But if they left with the door still locked, I would have called out," Sachiko answered. She too, was leaning on the wall, having let go of Yumi as that short but felt like an eternity event had unfolded.
"We're still lucky…"
"Indeed…"
(17) "Lock (fastening device)." Microsoft® Encarta® 2009 [DVD]. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Corporation, 2008.
A/N: A simple chapter, isn't it? ;) Re-reading and revising this chapter cheered me up a little.
I don't feel like babbling today (readers sighed with relief ;). Sometimes I feel so down that think I want to cry (which naturally won't help me at all, except release the tension maybe). Smiling would be a lot better, right? Of course, not the forced smile…I think I'll watch the MSGM naisho later. It never fails to make me smile, laugh even, even though I've seen it many times already. Besides, they are very short so it won't take so much of my time ;)
Well, bye folks! Hope to hear from you. It would cheer me up (unless you're cursing me, of course that will have the opposite effect).
---Arvendell---
08 August 2009
11:45 AM
