Chapter 14: (The Blowout…)

They stood together at the front of the ferry, gazing out to the distant island of Mizushima as it slowly came into view. Moka stood slightly behind Tsukune, and he was glad to act as her shield from the occasional ocean spray. He turned his head slightly to look back at her, smiling broadly. "So, your father actually owns a vacation property way out here? It's hard to imagine that guy relaxing at a beach…."

She giggled into her hand, eyes closed. "You're right; that is tough to imagine…. But, no, this place is more for our enjoyment, my sisters' and mine. Though, I don't know how often Kahlua uses this place; she's usually very busy with her job…. And Kokoa, well…."

"Yeah, it's even more difficult to imagine someone as tightly wound up as her relaxing here," Tsukune said as he chuckled.

Moka tilted her head. "Oh… you think so? Well, she is my sister, but… I guess you're right." They laughed together.

The ferry boat made anchor at the Mizushima Port without incident, and the two teens gathered their belongings and started their trek across the outer circumference of the island, making their way slowly to where the Shuzen vacation house sat perched atop a high bluff overlooking the ocean. The water was crystalline, pure undiluted blue-green; Tsukune could see through to the bottom for several yards out. The sand of the beach was fine and snow-white. The sun's heat was pleasant on them as they made their way, laughing when they would stumble due to their shoes sticking in the powdery sand.

Finally, the house, or mansion would actually be more appropriate, came into view, and Moka pointed it out to a stunned Tsukune. "So, there it is, Tsukune-kun!"

He could only laugh nervously as a large bead of sweat rolled down the side of his head. H-holy…! Man, sometimes I forget just how loaded Moka-chan's family really is…. This place is nuts! But he merely smiled at Moka as she took hold of his wrist and, laughing, pulled him along and through the vegetation growing in the more hilly regions of the island towards the beach house.

She threw the door open and motioned for him to go ahead. He stepped inside and his jaw dropped. The house interior seemed completely out of place for its location. It seemed more fitting for an English lord's manor in the late 1800's. The rooms were flooded with warm light from incandescent light fixtures built into the ceiling; the floor was lacquered hardwood and polished to a mirror-like sheen; the furnishings of each room were perfectly aligned around their centerpiece, gorgeous and lush rugs that Tsukune could only assume were Persian or Egyptian, based on their quality and softness; the staircase handrails were dark oak, and were adorned with ivory, hand-carved statues at their ends. The den sported a large fireplace and a massive billiards table, flawlessly shaped from marble. Outside at the rear of the house, which faced the bluff's edge and the beach below, there was an expansive screened veranda, and instead of simple chairs, there were small mattresses embedded into the deck with ivory posts from which lace curtains crisscrossed overhead. The first story comprised of four massive rooms, a kitchen stocked with more food than Tsukune imagined the school cafeteria had stored away; the aforementioned den; a reading room adorned with velvety reclining chairs and an enormous wall-to-wall bookshelf filled to bursting with all manner of books from all genres and including a stepladder for reaching anything on the top shelves; and what Tsukune could only assume was a "music room," which housed a Grand piano, two Stradivari violins, a flawlessly polished flute, a double bass, and two José Ramírez 1a Spanish classical guitars, as well as vinyl record players and an expansive collection of records.

Just when Tsukune was imagining he'd never before seen such a ludicrously luxurious place in his life, Moka ushered him upstairs, where there were three bedrooms, each with a king-size Western-style bed that, upon Tsukune's investigation, he realized were all authentic down, from the comforters to the mattresses and pillows, while the sheets were either Egyptian cotton that Tsukune could barely tell was there when he lifted it in his fingers, to completely all-natural silk that gave Tsukune goose bumps just to touch it. The bathroom continued the theme of "sinful luxury" with its all-marble furnishings: a jet tub, walk-in shower with sliding frosted glass doors, and sink with a large vanity bordered with gilded gold.

Moka was showing Tsukune the mind-boggling selection in the underground wine cellar when he finally shook his head. "Moka-chan…. This is… totally surreal. You're telling me that you used to come here on vacation, just for maybe a few weeks a year?"

She nodded. "Well… yes. Our family is very well-off. Our father is a well-respected lord, even amongst vampires. I guess it is a little… much, isn't it? I'm… I'm sorry, Tsukune-kun."

He smiled and shook his head. "No, no, it's not that, Moka-chan. I was thinking that this seems like it's maybe a little outside of the bounds of the rules, though…. I mean, this is owned by your father, after all…."

She winced, feeling suddenly foolish and chastised. "Oh…! Tsukune-kun, I'm so sorry! I didn't even think about that…! Oh, I just thought it might be a nice way to spend a few days together…. Like I said, I wanted to spoil you a little bit, and…." She blushed, looking up at him. "…And, after all…. If you picked me… it's places like this that we could spend time together. I guess on some level… I thought that it might… benefit me, just a little… for you to know what all comes with being with me. I'm sorry I acted so selfishly."

He blushed at her words, but he shook his head and smiled reassuringly. "Well, I guess there's nothing for it now. It's a nice change of pace, to be sure, and I think this might be a really nice place for us to spend some quiet, relaxing time together." He looked around. "Well, now that the tour is done, I think maybe I'll head back upstairs to a room and start unpacking-" a hand clutching his shirt stopped him in mid-turn to leave. "M-Moka-chan?" He turned back around to find Moka standing within a foot of him, eyes furtively glancing from the floor up to his eyes and back, and a crimson hue spreading across her face.

"Tsukune-kun…. I wanted to tell you, that… that if there's anything you'd like while you're here… anything at all… you need only ask. I want you to think of me as more than just your friend while we're here alone together…."

Tsukune's breath caught in his throat. "M-Moka-chan…. What are you saying…?"

She turned slightly away from him, took a deep breath, and turned to face him, placing her hands gently on his upper arms, just below the shoulders. "Tsukune-kun, I'm saying that…. I'd like you to think of me as your g-girlfriend, and even more than that…. I want to take care of you here… of all your wants. I want to make you see what I'm willing to do for you, before you make your decision…. I have to admit, I'm a little scared. I worry sometimes that you might decide you want to be with someone else… and I don't want to lose you…. If we were together, I'd do everything I could to make you happy…."

Tsukune's eyes widened. Moka-chan…. He remembered where they were, in the damp darkness of the wine cellar, the only light in the room coming in from the kitchen above the trap door overhead. He felt the warmth of Moka's body, so close. He smelled the woodsy, earthy smell of the cellar, and hints of citrus and jasmine coming from Moka's skin. And even in the weak light, he could make out Moka's gorgeous features. "What I want…? What I really want…?"

She blushed deeper, but her eyes remained transfixed to his. "Yes…."

He swallowed, and stepped gingerly forward. She inhaled, and flinched slightly, but stayed rooted to the spot. Tsukune-kun… what… will you do now? She wondered for a brief moment at her inner self's silence, and wondered if Ura was also waiting. At the same time, with Tsukune's sudden proximity she felt herself overwhelmed by Tsukune's scent. She breathed in, and her nostrils flared open as she took in the scent of his skin, perspiration, and the blood flowing through his circulatory system. She fought down her slavering thirst, but she still broke out in a cold sweat.

Ignorant of her internal battle, Tsukune found himself hesitating. What I want… is to… is to… what? Is it really a… a kiss? He steeled himself, and raised his arms, resting his hands on Moka's slender waist. He felt her jump at his touch, and smiled softly. "What I want, Moka-chan, is…." He leaned down and in, his lips relaxing.

She was overwhelmed by a mixture of emotions. Tsukune-kun is… he's…. She trembled slightly, but also moved in, craning her neck up. Suddenly, her predatory instinct kicked in, unquenchable. She could hear, feel, the steady rhythm of Tsukune's pulse in his throat, and against her will her head swiveled to the side, moving towards her usual spot on the side of Tsukune's neck. What happened next made her eyes widen and her heart skip a beat.

With a sudden, fluid movement, Tsukune side-stepped, anticipating her movement, and lifted her face with his fingertips under her chin. The next thing either of them knew, their lips suddenly and softly were pressed together. She stayed with her eyes open and shimmering for several moments before she let them drift closed, and her hands clenched into fists around the sleeves of Tsukune's blazer as she felt his hands slightly tighten around her waist.

Her thoughts raced wildly. Tsukune-kun… he's… he's kissing me…! Suddenly, she felt Tsukune suck her bottom lip into his mouth and mildly suck on it. She stiffened; this was a new sensation entirely. Her hands moved up from his arms and she wrapped her arms around his neck, crossing her wrists behind his head. Suddenly emboldened, he wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her more tightly against him. Their kiss deepened despite its closed-mouth nature. Moka managed to withdraw her bottom lip from between Tsukune's and, feeling daring, returned the favor, coaxing Tsukune's bottom lip in, gently at first, then more fervently. Her tongue tentatively moved forward and grazed against it, and she felt Tsukune stiffen with shock. Her thoughts on this vanished as she tasted his lip. She hungrily pulled it farther and farther in, and her tongue moved over every bit of it. She heard Tsukune moan quietly behind his closed lips, and felt his breathing through his nose get deeper. Still, her head swam with the intimate flavor of his lip and saliva.

Neither wanted to initiate it, but gradually it started to happen naturally; their mouths opened once, twice, and it was on the third time that their tongues bashfully met the first time, nothing more than a passing brush, but it was enough to open the floodgates. The next time their lips naturally opened mid-kiss, both their tongues were lying in wait, and collided passionately, exploring each other more and more feverishly with each passing moment. Moka's hands were moving to clutch Tsukune's head when a voice boomed in her head like a gunshot.

("Hey! That's about enough of that!")

Startled, she did a mini-leap backwards, one hand raised to her mouth and her eyes wide in shock. They stared at each other for a long time, breathing heavily, both with shocked expressions. Tsukune broke the silence first, taking a tentative step forward. "Moka-chan…."

She flinched back away from him, looking lost and dazed. "Tsukune-kun… I'm… I'm sorry!" She turned and bolted up the cellar stairs into the kitchen, leaving Tsukune wondering just what the hell had happened.

Moka hastily retreated up to the top floor of the house and to her bedroom, slamming the door behind her. She paced back and forth, trying to slow her pounding heartbeat, and finally took a deep breath and looked at herself in the mirror. Her face changed to a look of angry resolution.

The both of them spoke simultaneously. "Just what do you think you're doing?!" ("Just what do you think you're doing?!")

Ura, the inner Moka, spoke angrily, with a gruff huskiness to her voice. ("Oh, no…. Don't you get angry with me. What did you think you were doing, letting that boy fondle my body like that?! You should know better; it's undignified! What do you think he's going to think of you now?")

"Just what right do you have to tell me what to do? It's my body, too, Ura-san! I… I love Tsukune-kun! You know that…! You don't have any right to stop me from kissing him!"

("Don't have any right…?! You must be joking! You may be the one who's outside all the time, bumbling your way through your day-to-day life, Omote-chan… but that's my body you're letting him put his hands all over! I won't stand for it! You seem to forget that just because you can't see me, or hear my thoughts all the time, that I can see and hear everything that goes on through your consciousness! And that's what you're subjecting me to?! Some adolescent fantasy-fueled make-out session in some musty cellar? Unacceptable!")

Moka clenched her fists at her sides, gritting her teeth and practically burning a hole through the mirror with a look that would melt steel. "Oh, come off it! Why don't you just admit, that you're just jealous?! You want Tsukune-kun all to yourself, and you can't stand the thought of him choosing an artificial identity like me over you!"

The inner Moka was thunderstruck. ("Th-that has nothing to do with this-!")

"I knew it," the outer Moka said, her eyes filling up with tears, cutting inner Moka off. "That's it, isn't it? You feel like Tsukune-kun would never want to be with me, and you're just trying to come between us…."

Ura growled in frustration, then released a loud roar of anger. ("You're… impossible! You're such an idiot! I can't even stand to hear you say one more word! If you want to submit yourself to such a shameless display, be my guest! Just… do whatever you want, but don't you dare come crying to me if he loses respect for you and runs off with that succubus; I won't have any part in your self-pity! In fact, just go ahead and stop speaking to me altogether! I'll be better off for it!")

Omote felt the psychic link between herself and Ura snap, and it was like the slamming of a door in her face. She numbly walked over to her bed, and fell into it more than climbed into it, clenching her jaw and fighting desperately to hold back tears.

-Okay, this will be Chapter 14. It's not really where I wanted to stop this chapter (and it's still a hell of a lot shorter than I originally intended it to be), but I'm actually going to be working for the rest of tonight and tomorrow night, and I wanted to put something out for you to read until I can really dedicate myself to writing more. At this point, it looks like the Moka arc will actually have a lot more chapters than the last two, unless the rest are just really damn long (which the next one probably will be; expect the remainder of this first day between Omote and Tsukune, and then the majority [if not all] of the next day, which will be primarily Ura and Tsukune, in the next chapter!)…. So, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and please, Constant Reader, look forward to the next installment!-

So, 59 reviews in now (I don't count my own, which was in response to Klaus von Pommern's question… in fact, I'm not even sure I should count his, as it was just a question, but seeing as how so many of them are requests for more sex [not that I'm complaining! XD], I'll count it, too), and I can't thank you all enough! All your words of encouragement, appreciative comments, and even thanks (you don't have to thank me; I'm just so happy you're enjoying it!) are really touching and motivating. So, again, thank you, and arigatō gozaimashita! See ya next time!-