Chapter 13: ("Wow! This lunch is delicious!" "Yes… delicious…." "M-my neck!")

The shuttle ride was almost ridiculously long, but the two of them managed to make it bearable with their conversation. Tsukune even introduced her to a few road games he'd learned as a child, and Moka had played along sportingly. Every so often she would catch him looking at her for a few moments too long, thoughtful and smiling, and it always turned into awkward laughter and blushes. They continued on this way for a few hours, and finally around lunchtime Moka brought out the boxed lunches she'd prepared for them.

They were practically certifiable gourmet: large mounds of steamed white rice; sealed cups of soy sauce with wasabi stirred in; several different kinds of sushi, prepared by hand in the nigirizushi style, of shrimp, yellowtail, salmon, and tuna; and plastic-wrapped bowls of miso soup. Tsukune devoured all of his food and nearly a third of Moka's like it was his last meal. Finally finished, he leaned back and patted his stomach appreciatively. "Woooow, Moka-chan! That was amazing! Thanks so much; I'm sure it took a long time to prepare it all."

She laughed behind her hand. "Oh, Tsukune-kun; not at all! Besides, it's the least I could do."

He grinned as he blushed, rubbing the back of his head. "Well, even so, thanks anyway! When we finally get to our destination, I'll be sure to cook up something really good for you, too."

Moka blushed a deep fuchsia. "Oh, Tsukune-kun, you mustn't! Please, let me handle everything! I've been coming up with lists of things I could cook for you, and I'm really looking forward to spoiling you a little! I'm sure you must be getting tired of eating out by now…," she said, giggling.

Tsukune chuckled anxiously, but chose not to disclose any details about the sukiyaki and sake dinner he'd shared with Kurumu.

She clasped her hands in her lap, and moved a little closer to him. "I've really been looking forward to our time alone together, Tsukune-kun…. Although, to be honest, I was worried that you might have already decided on someone before our dates even came up, so it's been a little nerve-wracking…."

Noticing the ever-shrinking distance between their bodies as she spoke, he fidgeted and blushed, but realized he was against the inner wall of the van and had no more room to shuffle back. "Well, of course not, Moka-chan…. I couldn't do anything like that. To be honest, I've been really looking forward to spending some time alone with you, as well…."

His words had a strong effect on Moka; she started twirling her index finger into her hair nervously even as she blushed and leaned farther in towards Tsukune. "Oh… r-really? I'm… so happy to hear that, Tsukune-kun…. I… feel the same way." Slowly but surely, she inched closer and closer to Tsukune, who fidgeted more and more erratically as she did. Her eyes suddenly swiveled up to meet his, and held them as their faces came closer and closer together. "I… I've really missed you this past week…."

Tsukune's heart thudded hard in his chest. Moka-chan…. She's so close now…. I can smell her shampoo… and her perfume…. And her eyes are so… so pretty…. Is Moka-chan… is she actually going to…? In his mind, an unlikely scene played out where they stood on a palace balcony overlooking an ocean scene with an unnaturally large opaque moon behind them as they leaned in and lips met lips….

Before he knew what was happening, he felt her hair tickling his nose, then the all-too-familiar sensation of a dainty set of fangs piercing his neck even as her saliva acted as a localized anesthesia at the spot to deaden the pain, even making it (almost) pleasurable in a bedroom-only sort of way. He gave a violent shiver, and a large sweat bead sprouted up on the side of his head. "M-M-Moka-chan! A-already?"

She took three long draws of his blood, allowing some time between the act of sucking it out and swallowing it to relish his exquisite flavor, before grudgingly pulling away, leaving two tiny puncture marks that they both knew would heal quickly on their own. Tsukune reached up and brushed the area where her mouth had been with the pad of his fingers, never failing to be astounded at how well the topical anesthesia in her saliva left the skin practically completely devoid of pain despite the lingering holes. He shivered again and withdrew his fingers, glancing up at Moka's face and finding her expression of bliss as charming and complimenting as ever. "That good, huh, Moka-chan?" he asked with a soft laugh.

She responded with a long, closed-mouth moan of pleasure that brought a dark blush to Tsukune's face, even as he battled back thoughts of a decidedly impure nature. "Oh, Tsukune-kun…. You just don't understand. The fragrance, the texture, the body, the richness, the synergy of the flavors of your skin, sweat, and blood all mingling…. It's unlike anything I've ever tasted! So yummy!" She tilted her head and gave a large, innocent smile with her eyes closed that Tsukune somehow couldn't help but associate with that of a shark as she asked, her voice bright and cheerful, "Can I have some more, please?"

He started sweating profusely in his sudden anxiety, and immediately regretted the reaction, however involuntary it was, when she seemed to be able to smell it and started to salivate. "B-b-b-b-but Moka-chan…! L-later… more later, I promise! …Much later."

Tsukune had shouted that out a bit louder than he'd intended, and in the front of the van, even behind a rolled-up glass window, the driver smacked himself in the face with a dark expression. "That kid… he's truly the enemy of all womankind…."

Tsukune sneezed violently, and leaned back, sighing helplessly. I think… I might be lucky if I'm still alive by the end of these three days…. He returned his attention to making small talk with Moka, and soon they were engrossed in carefree conversation and laughter.

After one particularly flirtatious joke from Tsukune, their laughter turned into a sudden elongated stare. One could almost imagine a hazy background of pastel colors and bubbles lazily floating by as they gazed into each other's eyes and inched closer towards each other.

"M-Moka-chan…."

"Tsukune-kun…."

"Moka-chan…."

"Tsukune-kun…."

"Oh, Moka-chan…."

"Oh, Tsukune-kun…."

In the front of the van, the driver had, despite all his best precautions and training, started nodding off, and soon his face was pressed against the steering wheel, a large bubble expanding and contracting from one nostril as he loudly snored. His face started to slide down the front of the steering wheel, and he opened one eye groggily, and was greeted with the sight of an upcoming sharp turn at a ludicrously tall precipice. "Oh, shi-!" Intended word nearly became unintended action as he maniacally spun the steering wheel hard to the left while chanting every prayer to every deity he could recall. Though it got far closer than was comfortable for him, the van managed to make it through the hairpin turn no worse for the wear. He sighed, trying to slow down his pounding heartbeat.

In the back of the van, Tsukune was finding himself regretting not having put his seatbelt on. He'd found himself contemplating the deeper truths of such things as momentum and inertia and Newton's laws whilst living as a screaming human pinball for several horrible moments. Finally, he landed face-first with his tongue pounding in pain. "Owh… I feenk I bih mah hongue…." He slowly took stock of all his extremities. Suddenly, he recognized a somehow familiar, pillowy shape in his right hand, and realized his face was buried in a soft satiny fabric. His fingers twitched involuntarily, eliciting a sharp gasp and a confused, frightened, and distinctly female squeal. He raised his head and opened his eyes, and was greeted with the sight of Moka's crimson face looking down at him between the round mounds of her chest, one of which was currently adorned with his clutching hand.

Moka's woman's intuition suddenly screamed in her head. Her breath caught in her throat, but she managed to squeak out in a whisper. "Tsukune-kun… whatever you do… don't… look… down."

Human psychology being what it is, Tsukune made it exactly 1.2 seconds before his eyes swiveled downwards. Moka's legs kicking upwards when she'd fallen backwards, in conjunction with Tsukune's body landing conveniently between her legs, had forcibly hiked the hem of her skirt up to her waistline, and Tsukune could swear he now knew what the Buddha must have been picturing when he'd tried explaining nirvana to the uneducated masses. "P-p-p-p-p-p… pink lace with side-knots!" was his last thought and unintentional statement before Moka screeched, and with the panicked closing of her legs, unfortunately right around Tsukune's neck, knocked him into total unconsciousness.

Moka finally managed to reposition Tsukune so that he was leaned against the opposite side of the van, and heaved a great sigh of resignation. She fidgeted nervously. "Um… Ura-san… you didn't… happen to…."

("…Happen to see you make a complete fool of yourself while simultaneously giving Tsukune a full-on look at your ridiculous underwear? On top of letting him totally get away with copping a feel of your… no, our, which is so much more maddening I'll have you know, breast? Why no, Omote-chan, I didn't at all…. Please, describe it to me, in the most vivid of details.")

Moka winced at the sharpness of her voice. "Ah…. Well… I'm sorry…."

("Sorry… you're sorry…. Well, I guess there's no point in telling you how completely mortified I am about this…. I might as well have let you go to Hotel Adonis, at this point….")

"Hm? Did you say something?"

("Agh! Nothing! N-never mind!")

"So, Ura-san," Moka began, a hint of mischief in her voice. She was hoping to turn the tables on her inner self, and thought she had a good idea of how to do so. "Do you have anything planned for your date with Tsukune-kun yet?"

The result was immediate, and exactly as she'd hoped. The rosary turned a shade of pink, and started to bounce up and down. ("W-what? W-why, you…. I don't see what business it is of yours, anyway….")

Moka giggled lightheartedly. "Awww, come on, Ura-san…! I'm trying to make a little girl talk with you while Tsukune-kun's asleep. Maybe I can help you think of something."

Ura, the inner Moka, scoffed. ("With your track record, I'd be better off doing nothing at all with him. You'll just have to wait and see, Omote-chan.")

Moka pouted childishly, puffing out her cheeks. "Well, fine, if that's the way you want to play it…."

("It is.") The inner Moka spoke with a definitive air of finality.

The remainder of the drive was decidedly quiet, so much so that Moka finally decided to take a nap herself, after having watched Tsukune sleep so peacefully. With a sigh, she leaned back, kicked her shoes off and put her feet up on the top of the seatback, and drifted off to sleep.

(Some time later….)

Tsukune's nose twitched, and he turned his head and yawned deeply. What woke him was a sudden strange sensation and taste in his mouth. He opened his eyes slowly, and it took his mind all of a handful of seconds to realize the situation he was suddenly in. "Wha-?" He froze, and a violent spasm of terror shot up his back. Moka had drifted off to sleep, he saw, and while one leg was still raised and draped over the seatback, the other had slid sideways and swung down, plopping the end of her foot into his mouth.

He felt as if at a crossroads of life, or at a "Turn to Page…" section of a second-person perspective "Choose Your Adventure" book. On one end, he envisioned the end of the line in which Moka woke up, realized what was going on, and suddenly transformed into her inner self in a fit of rage (nightmarish pain, B-movie level torture, eventual sweet release of death… "Bad End"); on the other, he imagined miraculously finding a way to remove her foot without waking her and going back to sleep, during which time he'd likely have steamy dreams in which the same thing occurred in an very different context, after which he would wake up physically aroused, which Moka would notice and then suddenly transform into her inner self in a fit of rage (nightmarish pain, B-movie level torture, eventual sweet release of death… "Bad End"). His pupils dilated to mere pin pricks, and he started to weep silently.

(Some time later….)

The van stopping at their destination, the ferry out to Mizushima Island, finally roused Moka from her slumber. She stretched lazily, a contented smile on her face. What a nice nap…. Wh-why do my toes feel all damp…? She grinned over at Tsukune, until she recognized the expression of doom engrained into his facial features. "Ts-Tsukune-kun? Are you all right…? You look exhausted…! Didn't you get any sleep?"

His eyes audibly creaked as they moved to look at Moka. "I… I feel like I can never sleep… again…."

Moka could only look at him, mouth slightly agape, and a hopelessly confused expression on her face.

-Okay, I'm gonna call that Chapter 13! Or… maybe Chapter 12.5…. I know the last couple of chapters have been a little short, and I deeply apologize for this! I've been very busy with work lately, and have found the majority of my time eaten up by that lately, so for a little while I'll probably be forced to mete out some shorter chapters, when I'd really rather give you something a little meatier to read…. Please bear with me during this crisis! Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this little bit of lighthearted comedy; for all you big Moka fans out there asking, "Where is the lovey-dovey sexy stuff?!" I can only say… c'mon, you've gotta set the mood first! …Buncha closet pervs…. ^^; Nah, just kidding. Regardless, it'll be along soon enough, just enjoy a little hijinks in the meantime! Until next time!-

-Wow, so many reads and reviewers! I'd like to give a huge "THANK YOU" to everyone who has reviewed, or favorited, or who are following, my story! You guys are awesome; I can't express how thankful I am for your appreciation of this simple story! Every chapter, every paragraph, every word… it's all written for you, so I'm unendingly happy you're enjoying it! Look forward to the next chapter!-