Hello guys :D
…sorry for disappearing on you…internship, lack of inspiration and all, it wasn't helping. My internship is almost over now. ^^
That said, I thought about telling you all how it was progressing but I didn't want to post only an author's note so I did it on my profile but I think I'll do it at the end of the summary. I don't think lots of you actually go to my profile page so it's probably the best option.
Anyway, this is the probably the longest chapter I've ever written. Can only blame myself for starting like that… -'
Thanks for reading, following, favoriting and reviewing :D ^^ And special thanks to The Emblem of Ice for the ideas ^^ (The large list did help a lot XD ;) )
Disclaimer: I don't own SnS.
Chapter 26: Blazing fire, discreet smoke
Wednesday morning, Nakiri villa
... I'm going to kill her.
Erina stomped away angrily, already thinking about ways to kill her infuriating cousin. There were lots of ways to reach that objective so she had a large choice in front of her. Some were quite unusual and fancy and she figured she could go with one of those. It'd probably be easier not to be found out but she had to think about how to hide the body as well.
Hmm...
For some reason, Erina just thought that Hisako knew how. She wasn't sure why but she just believed it. And she was actually right since her purple-haired friend had indeed looked that up ever since the whole Isato fiasco.
Why did she want to kill Alice this time? Well, to answer that, we'll have to go back in time a little bit...
Tuesday morning, Nakiri villa, dinner hall
"Will you stop picking at my food already Yukihira?!"
Takumi's voice resounded in the hall and everyone turned towards him to see what was going on.
Sōma was blinking at Takumi innocently with a piece of food that was obviously Takumi's at the end of his fork as the latter was glaring at him in irritation. Judging by the force of said glare, this must have been going on for a while before the blond finally snapped.
At the other side of the redhead, his girlfriend was heaving a sigh, just in between resigned and relieved that it wasn't her plate he was picking at for once. For some reason, he was toning down on the teasing and skin ship this morning - not that she minded one bit. Why would she mind him toning down on it? Exactly, there was absolutely no reason to. And so she didn't mind. At all.
...it's just that it felt a bit weird. There was some air of awkwardness around him...but maybe it was all her imagination.
Erina was abruptly pulled out of her thoughts when something solid and wet landed square on her face.
Silence fell on all of them as they all watched the piece of meat slowly make its way down the heiress's face before finally landing on her plate in a sloppy sound.
The honey blonde girl was still silent but they could clearly see the anger building up and it wasn't long after it showed on her face that they all feared the upcoming explosion. Unexpectedly, Erina slowly turned towards the direction the duck meat (as her nose informed her) had flown from, her amethyst eyes unsurprisingly falling on the two deer-in-the-highlights faces of the previously bickering boys.
Some more time passed before Sōma hesitantly broke it with a guilt-laced "Er...sorry?" accompanied by a nervous laugh.
A vein popped on Erina's temple as she let out an ominous "...Yukihira...!" before exploding and starting to rant as the others quietly resumed their meals, deciding to ignore the quarreling couple.
Red eyes followed the scene as their owner's smirk grew. The day was starting well and she had lots of plans for it to continue that way.
"Those two get along as well as ever I see..." Hisako murmured with an amused and fond smile, earning Alice's attention for herself.
A giggle escaped the white-haired teen as she fully turned towards her neighbor, remembering that morning's events. "No, they get along even better than before - when they're not bickering at least." Then she whispered with a conspiratorial air around her, "Want to see something interesting?" in a suggestive tone.
Hisako stilled for a second, wondering just what the red-eyed Vixen could possibly have to show her before letting her curiosity win and cautiously nodding. As soon as she did, Alice took out her phone and presented Hisako with it. The purple-haired girl examined it for a bit before a blush suddenly engulfed her face and she turned away from it.
Intrigued by the scene, Yūki leaned over from her seat next to Hisako to look at the locked screen and Alice let her. She examined it for a moment before a blush overcame her face as well.
There, standing as Alice's locked screen background was a picture of the young couple - but not any picture. This one was with them still asleep, in bed. Together. From the looks of things and the height of the tent made by the sheets, their limbs were probably intertwined and the two were loosely hugging each other in their sleep. Thankfully, they still had their clothes on. She didn't know what kind of face she would have made if that wasn't the case...
Apparently, her current one was enough to intrigue her fellow dorm mates who soon inquired about the reason behind the expression she currently had plastered on which was a mix of embarrassment, surprise and an under-sense of not knowing where to look at anymore. Unable to think of anything to say, she ended up unable to form coherent sentences and soon gave up on it in favor of resuming her breakfast.
Shun observed Yūki quietly as her eyes were darting everywhere but into the direction of the still arguing couple and came to the conclusion that it concerned the two of them. And seeing the color of her face, it must have been something with quite an impact...not that it really mattered to him, he never was one to join the gossip but Daigo and Shōji certainly were.
Not wasting a moment they both made their way towards the girls to discover the cause of their sudden unease and happened upon the still lit up the locked screen. It took them a moment to process the image they were seeing but when they did they whistled, impressed by how far their relationship had gone, and sent meaningful looks to Sōma who, sensing their eyes on him, looked their way, halting his quarrel with his 'girlfriend' and stared at them for a while before letting an inquiring "What?" drop from his lips.
After a brief moment, the two boys answered.
"We just didn't think you two would have gone that far already..." Shōji said as he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively which caused Sōma to blank out for a second in momentary confusion.
Sōma's aureate eyes slid down from the two boys to the table and beyond the edge, caught sight of a phone which was currently being reclaimed by the white-haired vixen. It took him a few seconds to connect the dots and when he did, his brain stalled. Then, regaining some composure he countered with a light "It's not what you're thinking about." before resuming his meal, leaving the heiress without a quarrel partner.
Confused by the whole situation and the obviously present innuendoes, Erina just stared back and forth between Yukihira and the Polar Star residents group before her eyes fell on her cousin who was currently bickering with Hisako about this or that. She could faintly hear Hisako reprimanding Alice for taking a...picture? Of what? And why was her face so red? Just what was going on?
Erina would have pondered over the subject some more if the sound of something falling on the ground hadn't cut her train of thought. Following the direction it had come from, she found a flustered Tadokoro who looked about ready to panic or explode in embarrassment or both as she fell down to her knees to pick up the knife and fork she had dropped.
For some reason, she stayed in that position longer than necessary and when she finally got back up and reclaimed her seat, she kept her gaze downwards. Erina stared at her for a few more seconds before resuming her meal, deciding to enjoy it while she still could seeing as her dear 'boyfriend' was being quiet at the moment...which was actually a bit unusual. But she wasn't complaining.
At least she wasn't until the redhead resumed arguing with his blond neighbor. Well, actually, it's the blond that started the fight again by picking a piece of meat of Sōma's plate and waving it in the air but the result was the same. Once again, it flew right at Erina's face.
A vein popped on the blonde heiress's temple as she struggled to maintain her fury in. She ultimately failed and exploded at the two, restarting the previous argument.
As they watched the scene, the others occupants of the room wisely chose to stay silent and eat their breakfast to stock up energy for the upcoming day. They wanted to visit lots of places that day so they'd probably come back late.
"Why did you take such a picture?!"
"Hmm?" Alice hummed as she peeked behind her curiously, only to discover the disapproving face of one Arato Hisako. "What are you talking about?"
Hisako gave Alice her best unimpressed look and rolled her eyes in exasperation before she elaborated. "The one where they're sleeping together."
Alice's expression brightened up at the mention of it. "Oh! That one! Weren't they just so cute sleeping together like that?"
Hisako' face reddened a bit at the comment as she tried to find her words "Well...they were but, hum..." before suddenly straightening in a fit of anger "That's not the point! You shouldn't have taken it, Alice-ojou! Much less let it be seen by so many people..." Hisako added as worry started to peek out from behind the scolding, "Erina-sama won't be happy with that at all when she discovers what you did..." she finished after looking around once to check their surroundings.
Thankfully, it seemed like the others had gone back to their respective rooms and decided to quietly go get ready for the day after breakfast so the halls were deserted at that moment.
"It's fine as long as she doesn't, right?" Alice countered and quickly added before Hisako could answer, "And even if she does, it's a fact and it probably would have been found out at some point anyway so well, it just happened earlier than it could have been. Besides, it's because of your face that the others all got so curious about it, Hishoko-chan." Alice finished in an airy accusing tone.
A few seconds passed before Hisako found her voice again after the shock Alice's remark had caused. "That's- You- It's-" Her tongue refused to form complete sentences and Hisako resigned herself after a few tries before adding a half-grudging "Who are you calling Hishoko..." to which Alice only grinned completely unrepentant before changing the subject.
"Anyway, we should get ready too. We have a long day before us and we'll visit lots of places." the red-eyed teen declared with a playful wink.
That calmed Hisako a bit as her mind wandered towards the information they had received before breakfast. "If I recall correctly the first place we are visiting is..."
"Nakagusuku Castle Ruins!" Yūki exclaimed as her starry eyes took in the scenery laying in front of them. "I heard there's a great view from the top!" she added as she turned towards her companions her whole body dripping with excitement.
Ryōko looked around and commented, "I can barely imagine what it must look like from the top..." keeping her excitement at a moderate level.
The others silently agreed, looking around as well and anticipating the upcoming visit. Erina was no exception and Sōma chuckled at the sight of the heiress trying to contain her excitement and failing miserably just as she had when they had gone at the aquarium on their first date. She looked like a child who had been presented with their favorite dish and was waiting for the okay before digging in. It was refreshing to see her like that, especially after the night before.
A few more seconds passed before Yūki spoke once again and urged the group to follow her. "Let's go!" she exclaimed as she started walking forward once again.
"Yeah!" the more excited Polar Star residents exclaimed in response before moving to follow her upstairs, finally starting the long awaited tour. Sōma casually put his hands into his pockets before following the group, but not without a last look at his girlfriend, unaware of the pair of green eyes watching him from afar.
...are they really that close...?
"You know, Nakagusuku castle was built by Lord Sakinakagusuku in the mid-14th century and was expanded upon by Lord Gosamaru in the early 15th century. However, in 1458 it fell to attacks by Amawari. The castle is made up of six baileys, each of a different elevation." Marui said as they started the ascension.
"Leave it to Marui to know historical facts like this." Shōji snickered with Daigo as Shun looked around with Yūki, Ryōko, Megumi and Miyoko. Ikumi was standing a few steps behind with the Aldini twins, her green eyes fixated on the couple standing a few feet away to her right.
Erina-sama was excitedly looking around while Yukihira was gazing at her...lovingly and chuckled, probably because of the enthusiasm that was dripping from the heiress. Ikumi had never seen the God's tongue acting like that...maybe it was because Yukihira was around?
Ikumi bit her lower lip as she looked away from the sight, unable to take it any longer. Yes, she had decided to give up on Yukihira but it didn't mean that she was ready to see him like that with another girl and, let's face it, moving on was not that easy. Especially when you saw the object of your affection every single day. It definitely wasn't helping.
Sensing Ikumi's sour mood, Takumi decided to take it upon himself to cheer her up. Looking back at his twin, he discovered him admiring the view a few meters ahead of him. A few seconds later, Takumi's face lit up as it hit him. That was it! It would make a good distraction.
"Hey."
Ikumi looked at her side where the voice had come from and found Takumi at the end of her gaze and judging from the look he was giving her, he had been the one trying to get her attention.
"What is it?" Ikumi inquired politely and Takumi pointed towards the landscape.
"Check this out!" he exclaimed and Ikumi followed his finger to find just what he was pointing at. When she discovered the scenery, her green eyes widened in awe and she got closer to admire it with Takumi on her trail.
A few meters away, Alice was watching the scene with interest. Hmm...what an unexpected pair. she thought with a knowing smirk playing on her lips. Well, that makes one less rival for Erina though with things as they are now, I doubt any would dare to make a move. Still, I'd better keep an eye out for her. Alice thought as her eyes slid towards Tadokoro-chan. She didn't think she had given up on Yukihira-kun just yet but if everything went smoothly, she would probably do it soon. After all, her cousin and her 'boyfriend' were obviously in love with each other, everyone but them could see it and the bluenette didn't seem like the type to try and snatch away someone else's boyfriend.
Thinking about them... Her red eyes slid towards the couple to see how they were doing. It seemed like something in the lower levels had caught their attention. They were peeking at them from over the railings and discussing, Yukihira-kun's arm around Erina's shoulders (which didn't seem to please her all that much, Alice thought with a playful smile) and they were probably planning to go and see them from a bit closer. Oh? Was that red adorning her dear cousin's face? Alice chuckled at the sight and shook her head in amusement.
Watching those two was always interesting and she would have continued for a while longer if someone else hadn't caught her attention, namely her aide, Ryō. He was looking around by Hayama's side and lightly discussing this or that. The two boys had grown even closer after the festival - not that she really minded but she didn't really like the fact that Ryō had so easily left her side.
A frown overcame her features but she soon smoothed them in a small smile and made her way to the two boys.
"What are you two talking about?"
Come on, we can go see the well alone if the others still want to stay here for a bit you know, we're a couple after all, nobody will get mad at us for this." Sōma declared as he looked down at the blonde currently cursing him and his closeness. "Besides we did worse than that already." Sōma added in a teasing voice with a wink and Erina flushed at his comment.
"And what could you possibly mean by that?" the heiress inquired as she looked away in an attempt to put some distance between their faces with a would-be indifferent air. It probably would have worked better if she hadn't had that blush threatening to take over her whole face.
Grinning at the response he got from the girl, Sōma leaned in enough so that his mouth was barely a centimeter away from her hair before whispering directly in her ear in a husky voice "I'm talking about what we did last night of course." unknowingly sending a shiver through her spine.
Erina blushed even harder as she pushed his face away and tried to put some more distance between them. "Stop with this nonsense and- get off me!" the blonde exclaimed earning a laugh from the boy who obediently gave her more space, lifting his two hands in the air as Erina quickly took two steps away from the amused lad.
Erina took a few moments to compose herself once again before looking back at the redhead who was still staring at her with a mirthful glint in his eyes. "Stop staring at me already and let's go." she said before turning on her heels and heading towards the stairs soon followed by her red-haired boyfriend.
Yellow eyes followed the scene from a few meters away and watched the two go away until they could no longer see them and probably would have continued to stare into the direction they had disappeared to if their owner hadn't been lightly pushed by someone. They immediately darted towards the origin of that push and found themselves looking at a Chinese maiden.
"Houjou-san...?" Megumi got out after her initial surprise, "You scared me. Did you want something...?" she said uncertainly. She didn't think the girl would come to her without reason but why would she - oh. Her guess was confirmed a few seconds later when the Chinese teen spoke up.
"Are you going to talk with Yukihira today?" Miyoko asked with her head slightly cocked to the side after crossing her arms under her voluminous chest.
"Ah...um..." Megumi started nervously before averting her eyes from the girl and biting her lower lip in slight frustration.
Miyoko watched the conflicted girl in silence for a while before she sighed and spoke up again. "I was just asking. The moment you decide to talk to him is really up to you. Just thought the sooner the better but I didn't mean to put pressure on you." she explained before looking around and deciding on her next stop. "I'm going to go look at the walls' remains a bit more. You want to come with me?"
Megumi looked up at the violet-haired girl and considered the offer for a few seconds before nodding and following the girl towards the walls.
Green eyes followed the two girls' movements from afar for a while before focusing back on the tomb standing in the yard below him. They stayed fixed on it even when their owner's mind wandered to the events from the beach a few days ago. Akira, as most of their group, had heard Houjou-san ask Tadokoro about her feelings towards the infamous redhead. Somehow, it seemed like the guy was becoming more and more popular with girls and guys alike. If he was asked, he'd have to say that he actually found himself enjoying the redhead's company...when he wasn't being unbearably annoying and making himself at home when he obviously was not. The guy was really something, expecting everyone to go along with his craziness…but most of the time, they actually did. Which was even crazier but nobody seemed to mind all that much so well.
Alice's whiny voice brought him out of his thoughts. Unexpectedly, she was having another fit at her aide.
"Mou~! Ryō-kun! You have to come with me!"
The black-haired guy only looked at her nonchalantly before replying. "If Milady wants to go right now, feel free to do so. I'll join you later, I still want to have a look from up here."
Alice pouted angrily, sulking before trying once again. "But you have to be with your mistress! If I go down then you have to come too!"
Ryō only blinked before a familiar thought occurred to him once again. What am I supposed to be? A dog? He didn't dare to vocalize it though and simply looked back at the landscape in front of him. He knew he wouldn't win that argument and he was feeling a bit bad about leaving her alone earlier. She had expressed herself on that matter and let's just say she hadn't been too happy about that...about 'being neglected' to use her words.
Glancing back at the white-haired girl, he found her sulking and muttering to herself about this or that. He let his red eyes rest on her for a bit longer before he sighed, resigned.
"Fine. But give me a few more minutes before then." Ryō said and Alice's face instantly lit up in happiness.
"Yay!" the red-eyed vixen exclaimed as she took his arm and immediately started to drag him away, obviously not caring about the few minutes he had asked for.
Ryō blinked once then twice before sighing and letting her drag him away. It wasn't as if he had expected her to comply anyway...not that he would have had it any other way, he thought as a ghost of a smile played on his lips.
"Diving?!"
Alice turned around to face her startled cousin and nodded. "Yup, diving. I said it this morning before breakfast though so it shouldn't be a surprise - ah, sorry. You weren't there yet since you were busy elsewhere." Alice finished snickering as she brought her hand to her lips to hide her mouth.
Erina frowned and gave her white-haired cousin a wary look before carefully asking "...what are you insinuating...?"
"Oh, nothing!" Alice replied a little too quickly as she clasped her hands behind her back.
Erina eyed her suspiciously for some more time before resuming the previous conversation. "We'll talk about that later. Anyway, what was that about diving?"
Some of the airiness was replaced with seriousness as Alice replied. "We're going to dive right now. There's a famous place for it called 'Blue Cave'. I know how much you've been waiting to see the fishes up close so I thought it'd be a good idea." she finished in a too innocent tone with a too angelic smile.
Erina glared at the reminder of what had happened after her date at the aquarium and at the beach. It looked like she just wouldn't let her live it down. She took a deep breath and decided to ignore it for now. It was true that diving sounded great after all.
"It'll be even better than the aquarium." Sōma commented at her side and Erina's eyes slid on him. "Don't stop moving this time though, you'll sink if you do." he teased with a grin which earned him a glare from the blonde.
"As if I would." she harrumphed as she turned away from him.
"Well, I never know with you so better safe than sorry. " Sōma smirked with a satisfied air around him and Erina punched him in the shoulder.
"Shut up." the heiress chastised which would have been more effective if the corners of her traitorous mouth hadn't slightly lifted upwards.
Sōma snickered in response but didn't say any more on the subject and focused his attention back on Alice. He hadn't known about that either so he was interested in hearing about it too.
"If you two are done flirting, I'll proceed with the explanations." Alice teased before continuing, "So, it's probably better to go before eating to avoid vomiting and stuff like that." Alice started, "Does everyone know how to swim?" Everyone nodded after briefly glancing at one another, some more hesitantly than the others but they all did. "Okay, then is everyone okay with diving? There's snorkeling too if you're not though."
They discussed a bit among themselves and in the end, they all decided to go for diving. The experience would be that much better.
"Good." Alice said as she clapped her hands in satisfaction. "Okay for diving then! We'll eat afterward. It's only 10 o'clock anyway so it's all right. Let's go to the diving shop!"
"Yeah!"
And with that decided, they all boarded the car (wow, they were getting a bit too used to the Nakiri sense of the word) and left in direction of the shop.
Thirty minutes later, they were all in wetsuits and ready to go. Their clothes and stuff were put away in a locker room and they made their way to the van that was going to take them to Cape Maeda where they would enter the sea. It was a short trip during which their guide explained how to use the material that was put at their disposal and soon enough they disembarked and went down the stairs in the cliff. Down there, they entered the water behind the instructor that led them all the way to the Cave.
If they hadn't known why it was called Blue Cave before, they instantly knew the moment they entered it. Inside, the water was completely bathed in a fairylike blue light. Coral was adorning the bottom of the water and the rocky edge added to its charm. It was simply breathtaking.
For Erina and Sōma, it reminded them of their time in the aquarium and they were taken back to that first date they had together, the unique difference being that they were actually in the water this time. They both glanced at each other at the same time and embarrassed at being caught, averted their gaze before they refocused on their surroundings.
The instructor invited them to follow her even deeper into the cave and they complied. A few moments later, they were completely surrounded by a swarm of tropical fishes which came to pick at them. It was kinda ticklish and frankly entrancing. It was a first for all of them and they thoroughly enjoyed the moment.
Some fishes went to pick at Erina's hands and she moved away brutally in surprise, colliding with the nearest person who caught her by the shoulders and stopped her movement. A little embarrassed but still thankful to them, she turned her head to face them and froze. Her amethyst eyes fell into familiar golden pools and she silently cursed herself for even being surprised by his presence at her side.
Time seemed to stop for an instant and it simply felt surreal. The blue light surrounding them gave the other an ethereal aura and they found themselves unable to look away. They could have stayed like that for a long moment if a blue tropical fish hadn't decided to swim right in their line of sight at that exact moment. It caught both their attention and their eyes followed it until they lost sight of it in a nearby coral reef. Only then did Sōma realize that he was still holding onto Erina.
Suddenly, he felt a little self-conscious and slowly let go of her as she glanced back at him before some clown fishes finished distracting her and the moment was lost. Erina indicated them to Sōma who followed her finger to see what she was pointing at and discovered the orange fishes stripped with white lazily swimming around an anemone. They both decided to get closer and swam up to them, not going too close as to not scare them away and watched as all the fishes started to come out from behind the anemone and the coral as if to greet them.
They were completely entranced in the moment as were their companions and during the following hours they simply enjoyed swimming with the fishes and looking at them until they had their fill. That's when they decided to go back and the instructor led the way back to Cape Maeda where they emerged and got out of the water. It felt a bit weird to feel the hard ground under their feet once again at first but after a little moment they got used to it and made their way to the stairs then up the cliff.
They decided to walk back to the shop instead of taking the van this time since they were literally dripping wet, it would only take fifteen minutes anyway so it was better that way.
"It was awesome!" Yūki exclaimed with a big grin and stars in her eyes.
"It was, wasn't it?!" Shōji easily agreed and Daigo nodded in agreement.
"It was a great experience indeed." Miyoko concurred as she walked along the group.
"Yeah! Thanks, Nakiri-san!" Yūki exclaimed enthusiastically as she turned towards Alice and gave her a grateful smile.
"You're welcome." Alice said with a smile before adding "But call me Alice please, it's confusing since there are two Nakiris here you know."
That took Yūki by surprise but she quickly recovered and nodded. "Okay, Alice-san."
Alice smiled in response before turning towards her cousin. "And you Erina? Did you enjoy it?"
Erina smiled. "I really did. Thanks for organizing it." Erina said sincerely and it could have ended on that good note if Alice hadn't added "Well, I know just how much you wanted to swim with the fishes so I thought I'd help you make your dream come true."
Unsurprisingly, that earned her a fierce glare from her blonde cousin to which she responded with an unrepentant smile.
Sōma casually put his arm around Erina's shoulders and the blonde reflexively turned to look at him. "Well, it's true that you really looked like you wanted to when we went to the aquarium." he said with an easy grin.
At that moment, Erina's glare found another recipient. "Don't encourage her." she scolded before swatting his arm off her - or at least she tried to but the guy had a good grip on her and she found the task way more difficult than she had first thought it would be. She struggled a bit against him, as discreetly as she could but he simply refused to let her go. "Let me go." she whispered from behind clenched teeth and a forced smile.
"Hmm..." Sōma faked thinking about it before looking back at the princess and leaning in. "No can do." he whispered directly into her ear and Erina gritted her teeth in displeasure.
Hisako watched as the two started to quietly bicker once again and wondered how many times that made it for that single day. Thankfully, she could see the shop already so it wouldn't be long until they reached their destination. In her relief, she missed Yūki and Ryōko whispering among themselves and glancing at the couple from time to times. Later, she wished she could have seen it because that was the foretelling of a coming storm...
"Well, that was good." Sōma said as they stepped out of the Sailfish Café where they had gone to eat after taking a shower and getting changed at the diving shop.
Erina gave him a look that meant she wasn't all that satisfied with the food. "It was barely passable. Even if they say anything is good when you're hungry."
"Oh, come on, there was good Okinawan food in there." Sōma replied.
Erina only gave him another look and didn't bother answering. Seeing that, Sōma sighed in resignation. It wasn't like she'd change her mind anyway. Sensing that this conversation was over for the girl, Sōma looked behind him to see how the others were doing.
The girls were enthusiastically speaking about that morning and the boys were snickering about this or that. Or most of them were anyway. It looked like Hayama and Kurokiba were quietly following Alice who seemed to be engrossed in reading a flyer. It was kinda unusual for the white-haired vixen to be that silent. He briefly wondered what it could be about and his question was answered a few minutes later.
"Hey guys!" Alice exclaimed, effectively catching the others' attention. "What do you think about going to walk along the Nakijin castle ruins? It's good to walk after eating after all and they say that the cherry blossoms are beautiful to look at there."
"I'm in!" Yūki immediately exclaimed as she lifted her hand high in the air, earning herself a chuckle from Ryōko and a smile from Shun, amused by her antics.
"Sounds good to me." Sōma agreed with a glance at his girlfriend who nodded in approval.
Alice's red eyes slid over their group, noting the nods of approval and nodded herself. "Then it's decided. Next stop, Nakijin castle ruins!"
"Hello?"
"Sōma."
A smile turned Sōma's lips upwards as he recognized his father's voice from the other end of the phone. When he had seen the unknown number, Sōma had excused himself and stepped out of the group as they were looking around the ruins.
"Pops. Where are you?"
Laughter rang from the phone. "Is that the first thing you ask your father after so long? " Jōichirō's deep voice asked as he laughed some more before continuing. "But, to answer your question, I'm in Arabia right now."
"Arabia?" Sōma repeated in surprise although he really shouldn't have been but, well. "Why there? Did a friend invite you again?"
Jōichirō laughed once more before he confirmed his son's hypothesis. "Aa. I've been there before. Anyway, that's not why I'm calling." That got Sōma curious and he silently waited for his father to continue. "I heard you've been doing well with Erina-chan." Jōichirō said and Sōma could just hear the teasing grin he must have had on his face as he said that.
"Pops!" Sōma scolded as he made a conscious effort not to let his blood redirect to his face and glanced behind him to check on the others. They were farther away, his dorm mates curiously looking at some burned down ruins while the others were examining the remnants of an ancient kitchen. Relieved, Sōma turned back and focused his attention on his father. "Where did you even hear that?"
"Who knows~ " Jōichirō teased with a chuckle, not answering in the least. He couldn't just give away his informant now, could he?
Sōma sighed at his non-response. "What was I expecting..." he muttered to himself before speaking a bit louder for his father to hear. "It's not what you're thinking."
"Oh? It's not? "
"It's- it's complicated." Sōma tried with a sigh. "I can't say more than that but it's probably not what you're thinking."
"Hmm. And here I thought you were madly in love with Erina-chan..."
"Dad!" Sōma scolded once again with a hint of embarrassment in his voice.
After laughing at his son's obvious discomfort, Jōichirō casually inquired "That aside, how is Okinawa? "
Sōma stared at nothing in disbelief for a while before finally replying with "I'm not even going to ask." and closing his mental box of questions on how on Earth his dad could know so much while being so far away, he must have had good informants. Then, he actually answered to Jōichirō's question. "Well, it's great really. We're visiting lots of places and today, we went diving at Blue Cave. Honestly, it was amazing. But I'm sure you already went there."
"Actually, I didn't."
"...seriously? There's actually a place you didn't go to?" Sōma said, disbelief dripping from his voice.
"No. Just kidding." came the lighthearted answer before Jōichirō quietly added "...I went with your mother once."
Sōma let out a small "Oh." and let silence fall upon them. After a few seconds, he finally asked what he had been wanting to those last few days. "...say, how did you know it was her?"
A few moments of silence passed between them before Jōichirō's voice was heard through the phone.
"...I felt it. In my heart. After a while, she was always on my mind, at the center of my thoughts and when the time came for me to leave, I just couldn't stay away for long. She had become a part of me already. Without me realizing, I had fallen for her."
Fallen...it's truly a fall. You only realize you did when it's already too late. Sōma thought as he pondered over his father's words.
"Well, I gotta go back to work now." Jōichirō said and Sōma could hear loud exclamations in a language he couldn't quite understand behind him, probably calling for his free-spirited father. "Say hi to Erina-chan for me." Jōichirō teased and Sōma could almost see the wink that went along with it.
"Dad..." the young man said exasperatedly but all that answered him was laughter and the dialing tone signaling the end of the call. Pulling the phone away from his ear, Sōma looked down at the screen and shook his head as a small smile played on his lips. Jeez...thanks Pops. Sōma thought before he turned around and began looking for the others.
To his surprise, they were nowhere to be seen. They must have continued with the visit while he was on the phone with his father. Scratching the back of his neck with his right hand, he wondered where he should go look for them first. They couldn't be too far away anyway, he hadn't stayed on the phone more than five minutes so well.
Sōma was in the middle of deciding which course he should follow when he felt someone blow on his neck, sending a shiver down his spine. Alert, he reflexively turned around and discovered a smug looking Erina who was smirking at him in satisfaction. He felt his lips part in stupefaction and the smirk on the blonde's lips only widened at the sight.
"See how it feels now?" Erina asked in a 'Now you know how I feel when you do that to me' tone as she uncrossed her arms and extended her right hand to soundly close Sōma's mouth. "Wouldn't want you to catch flies, right?" she said, her smirk still firmly in place and it just smelt like payback and satisfaction from finally being able to do the same to him.
Sōma stared at the heiress dumbfounded for a few more seconds before a smirk of his own stretched his lips and Erina's smirk vanished in response. She didn't like the mischievous glint that had appeared in his eyes and her instincts were telling her to flee.
Erina turned around to do just that but before she could take a second step away from the boy, she felt two strong arms encircle her and lift her up so that she could no longer feel the ground under her feet. She had a strange sense of déjà vu and tried to wriggle her way out of his arms. Luckily, there was no water around this time but there were people not too far away and even worse, their companions could come and check on them any second and it would be really embarrassing if they were discovered like that, even if they thought they were going out.
However, her struggles turned out to be in vain as the red-haired lad only tightened his hold on her, refusing to let her go that easily. A few seconds later, Erina felt his hair tickling her face and neck and his face buried in the crook of her shoulder. She renewed her efforts only to still when she felt something soft and slightly wet against her skin and recognized the shape of his lips.
Erina could feel her entire body growing hotter as Sōma kissed her right at the junction between her neck and shoulder and when he finally pulled away, she was pretty sure that her entire body was glowing red. It had felt way more intimate than the previous kisses they had shared up until then and she just couldn't believe that he had done that, much less in public where anyone could see them.
Since her back was against his chest, she missed the loving and longing look in his eyes as he pulled away and slowly put her back onto the ground.
By the time, she turned around to face him, he had schooled his expression and only the mirth dancing in his eyes could be seen. Erina sent him the best glare she could currently muster but its effect was greatly diminished by the still present body-sized flush. Sōma chuckled at the sight as the thought of how adorable she looked struck him once more and he grinned down at her, completely unrepentant.
Erina glared at him some more and harrumphed as she turned away from him, her nose up into the air and her arms crossed under her chest once more which only earned her another chuckle from the redhead. Sōma let a few seconds pass before he spoke up and broke the silence.
"Now, come on. Let's look for the others." he said, taking one of her hands and pulling her along in his search.
Unbeknownst to them, hiding behind a nearby wall, was someone covering their mouth in shock at the scene they had just involuntarily been made witness of. As the images played into their mind once more, they could hear something breaking into their chest. I shouldn't have come back...
As Sōma looked left and right, trying to see if he saw the others, Erina was concentrating on making her blood go back to its normal course. By the time she succeeded and focused back on her surroundings, she no longer knew where she was but it would have been hard to given that she couldn't see anything past the twin golden orbs that were staring at her.
In her surprise, Erina took a step back and it could have helped in increasing the distance between them if she hadn't slipped on a tile resulting in Sōma's arms reflexively extending to catch her and prevent her from falling before pulling her into his arms thus decreasing the distance between them down to zero in a fraction of second.
Before she had even realized, her face was pressed against his chest and his arms wrapped tightly against her frame. She vaguely heard him telling her to be more careful but she couldn't be sure since the sound of her beating heart covered up most of the sounds trying to reach her ears.
It took her some time to calm down and when she finally did, she realized that the redhead had yet to relinquish his hold on her. Her heart started to beat louder once more but for a completely different reason and she was about to tell him that he could let go of her already when the sound of someone clearing their throat could be heard.
They both turned their heads towards the direction it had come from and discovered a smirking Alice who was giving them an 'I didn't mean to interrupt but...you're in public.' look. Around her, Erina could see the more or less embarrassed faces of the rest of their companions. Erina slowly felt her own face heat up once again and she pushed herself away from the redhead who obediently let her and stuffed his hands into his pockets.
While Erina composed herself, Sōma completely turned towards their friends and started talking. "So that's where you were. We were looking for you."
"Certainly didn't seem like it..." Daigo commented as he snickered away with Shōji and Alice glanced at them before continuing.
"Well, we moved quite a bit while you were on the phone but Tadokoro-chan went back to tell you which direction we had gone into, didn't you meet her?"
Sōma blinked before quickly revisiting his memories but no, he couldn't recall seeing Tadokoro after he had left the group to take his call. "Nope. Thinking about it, I don't see her here." Sōma remarked as he glanced around.
"True..." Alice murmured as she quickly glanced around herself. "Well, she knows where we went so she'll probably meet up with us soon." she added in reassurance.
"Probably but...I think I should go look for her." Yūki proposed as she glanced behind her worryingly.
"Wait." Ryōko stopped her, grabbing her forearm and turning back towards the couple. "What were you two doing after that phone call...?" she asked, her voice getting higher by the end of her sentence.
Sōma blinked at her, not having expected that question but he answered anyway, wisely leaving the whole grabbing Erina and kissing her in the neck part out after glancing at his princess and correctly interpreting the threatening look in her eyes. "...nothing much. Nakiri had stayed behind, waiting for me so we looked for you together."
Ryōko gave him a 'Really...' look before unsurely replying "Yeah...I think Megumi will be fine on her own. She'll come back soon enough." she added with a meaningful look at Yūki, telling her to let her be alone for now without any words. There was probably a lot left unsaid between the waiting part and the looking for them part so...yeah. She couldn't even begin to imagine what they were actually up to but she thought Megumi would be better on her own for now, at least if she happened to run into them doing whatever they were doing like Ryōko thought she did.
"Anyway, we found the cherry blossom trees." Ryōko added as she turned back towards the couple and pointed to her right.
Following her hand with their eyes, Sōma and Erina were met with one of the most beautiful views they had seen so far. There, longing both sides of the tile alley were cherry blossom trees in full bloom as if they were warmly welcoming them into their midst. They were also at each side of the stairs that they were currently standing on top of and between the tree rows, pink petals were playfully dancing with the wind.
After a while of simply admiring the view, they slowly began their descent. Erina stopped at the second step to catch a falling cherry blossom petal, extending her hand in the middle of its course and watching it slowly descend until it gently landed in her open palm. At her side, Sōma was affectionately watching her, enjoying one of her rare moments of pure peace and enjoyment without a fight in the air and as he was doing so, he saw a petal fall upon his 'girlfriend's' head.
Casually extending his hand over her head, he caught it then examined it for a second before letting it fall into Erina's still open hand. That had Erina questioningly glancing at him but he only smiled in response and Erina refocused on the petals in her hand.
"...they really make a cute couple, don't they..."
Yūki started and whipped around to discover a glum-looking Megumi standing a few feet behind them. "Megumi!" she exclaimed as she threw herself at her friend, making the bluenette lose her balance and almost throwing her over in the process but Megumi quickly recovered and stabilized them both before they could fall over, returning the girl's embrace as she did.
The two girls stayed like that for a while before Yūki pulled away and looked directly into Megumi's yellow eyes in concern. "...you okay?"
Megumi blinked then she looked away and answered with a small "I'm fine - I'll be fine." before looking back at the orange-haired girl and giving her a tentative smile which could have been more convincing had it not been a bit watery towards the ends. Yūki continued to look at her in concern and Ryōko gave her an understanding and encouraging smile from behind Yūki's back.
Giving them both a thankful smile, Megumi closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "I have to be..." she murmured and Yūki pulled her back into her embrace.
...I have to...
"Mihama American Village?"
Alice turned towards Hisako's incredulous face and nodded excitedly. "Yes, Mihama American Village."
"Why would we go to an American center when we're in Okinawa?" Akira asked, just as incredulous as Hisako currently was. They were currently in the car, rapidly leaving the ruins behind and apparently now heading to Mihama American Village.
"That's a really good question...and I have a very good answer." Alice started and everyone gave her their undivided attention. "I wanted to go there."
Silence ensued during which they all stared at her disbelievingly.
"AND" Alice started pointedly, "I thought everyone could enjoy the Ferris Wheel that they have." Most of the girls' faces lit up at the words Ferris Wheel and Alice continued with "But it looks like I was wrong so we'll go somewhere els-"
"NO!" Yūki and Ryōko interrupted with a lot more force than necessary before realizing what they had done and letting out a nervous laugh before repeating more calmly, "No, no. We are very happy with that choice, right guys?" Ryōko asked, glancing at her companions who felt compelled to nod under the intense look in her eyes. It looked like the violet-haired girl really, really wanted to go. "See? Let's head for Mihama American Village." Yūki added encouragingly and Alice looked back and forth between them before smiling.
"To Mihama American Village then!"
As they stepped out of the car, the teens were all under the impression that they had crossed so much more than a few kilometers. If they hadn't known better, they could have thought that they were in America, in an open shopping center with all the American style shops around. There even were food stalls selling hot dogs and hamburgers. It really was as if a little bit of America had been implanted in Okinawa.
...and it was well protected if the military bases all around were any indication. It was a bit impressive at first but they easily got over it and focused on the entertainment center.
"I read that sunset is really impressive from the Ferris Wheel so let's keep it for later and enjoy the Village for now!" Alice proposed, putting a damper on the Polar Star girls' excitement but they recovered fast and decided to look for something else to do in the meanwhile.
Without wasting any more time, they all started to walk around, looking at what the different shops had to offer. After five minutes or so, they happened upon a bowling center.
"Hey guys! Want to go bowling?" Sōma asked, stopping in his steps and nodding at the building.
They stopped and stared at the edifice, considering the idea. The guys quickly agreed and the girls soon followed.
"I'm challenging you, Yukihira! I'll leave you in the dust!" Takumi exclaimed, pointing at the redhead with fire in his eyes.
Sōma looked back at the blond, a challenging glint entering the depths of his golden eyes. "That's what we'll see, Takumi. I accept your challenge." he declared, a fire engulfing the both of them.
The others sweat dropped at the scene and ignored the two, starting to make their way inside instead.
Since they were 17, they had to separate into three groups. That being the case, Sōma and Takumi chose the same group and they ended up like that : group 1) Sōma, Takumi, Isami, Erina, Ikumi, and Hisako ; group 2) Alice, Ryō, Akira, Megumi and Houjou ; group 3) Yūki, Ryōko, Marui, Shun, Shōji and Daigo.
After deciding on the groups, they all changed into bowling shoes and headed for the three bowling lanes that had been attributed to them. They were all next to one another so it didn't really feel like they had split up but it was better that way.
"So who's starting?" Alice asked, looking at the board. Upon seeing the names that had been entered, she blanked.
After a few seconds of silence, the others looked at her and discovered her staring at the screens, her lips slightly parted and her eyes wide in shock. Intrigued, they looked up to the monitor only to blank as well.
After a minute or so, Erina broke the silence.
"Who entered the names...?" she asked as her eyes slid over the group. Her purple eyes stopped on the competitive duo whose eyes were shining with mirth and amusement. "Aldini-kun, Yukihira-kun, do you have anything to say to us?"
The rest of the group all turned to look at the two obvious culprits in surprise.
"Hum," Sōma started a bit uncertainly, "it sounded cool?" he tried and Takumi tentatively nodded in agreement.
"...really?" Erina let out as she looked back at the screens.
On it, were shining their two groups' names...if you could even call them that. In order, on the first screen, they were 'Brown Bear', 'Red Flame', 'Princess', 'Faithful Second', 'Blue Knight' and 'Golden General'. On the second screen, the names were 'Red Devil', 'White Hawk', 'White Vixen', 'Sleeping Water' and 'Chinese Flower'. How on Earth they had managed to fit some was a mystery. Then again, kanjis were just that convenient. It probably wouldn't have fit in hiragana and katakana.
Isami's muffled laughter rang through the air and they turned to look at him, blinking before deciding to let it slide and looking at the other group's screen. Truthfully, it wasn't any better and resigned, they all took a seat.
"So, who's Red Devil?" Alice asked, her eyes darting between Yukihira and Ryō.
"I suppose it's me." Ryō replied, glancing at Yukihira for confirmation from where he was standing, already choosing his first ball.
"Yeah." Sōma confirmed before turning towards the others. "And White Hawk is you." he declared, looking at Hayama.
"Figures." the white-haired teen said as a light sigh escaped his lips.
"I'm guessing I'm Brown Bear." Isami spoke up, glancing between his twin and the redhead.
"Yes." Takumi confirmed. "I'm Blue Knight and Golden General is Ikumi." he added with a look towards the green-eyed beauty. As usual, she adorned sexy clothing and if they weren't already used to it, they wouldn't have known where to look.
"Let me guess, she's Sleeping Water and I'm Chinese Flower?" Houjou asked, pointing at Megumi and herself.
"Yup. And I'm Red Flame and she's Princess." Sōma said, putting his arm around Erina who simply glared at him.
"And I'm Faithful Second." Hisako said and it was more of an affirmation than an interrogation.
"I'm guessing I'm White Vixen then." Alice deduced and received nods of confirmation from the two boys. "Well, now that this is clear, let's start." Alice suggested, looking back at their lane only to sweat drop as she saw Ryō heading for them, the ball that was in his hand nowhere to be seen. A quick glance at the board informed her that his first throw had resulted in a strike and she frowned at her aide. "Ryō-kun!" she started in a reprimanding tone, "You could have waited for us to finish the explanations before starting the game!"
Ryō blinked before replying, "Well, the other group had already started so I figured I might as well."
"Well, that's not how it works!" Alice scolded and started explaining why he should have waited for them to finish first.
Cheers covered Alice's voice and they turned towards the other group to see Shōji and Daigo in the middle of an high five, both with spares next to their...names - or at least they supposed it was theirs.
"Well, I'm guessing it's my turn then." Akira said, standing up and heading towards the balls.
"Yeah, I'll be going too." Isami said as he stood up and chose one ball.
At last, the game was finally starting.
By the end of the fifth turn, Ryō and Alice were leading separated by a small margin and ahead of Sōma by 15 points who was first in his group. Only 5 points behind him was Isami who was followed by Ikumi. In fifth position was Hisako who was actually just after Erina. Takumi was dead last. With only 27 points, except if Sōma suddenly started to play poorly, he wouldn't be able to beat him in this game.
"What was it again? 'I'll leave you in the dust'?"
Takumi flinched as he glanced behind him, and was met with the smirking face of one Yukihira Sōma. He felt his face grow hotter as he started to tremble in frustration. It didn't get any better when Takumi heard his twin's muffled laughter right next to him.
"Shut up." Takumi muttered in Isami's direction as Yukihira wiped all the remaining pins, scoring a spare for his sixth turn.
Seeing this, Erina stood up to take her turn and picked up a ball. Sōma stayed on the side of the lane to watch her play as he did since the beginning of the game. Since it was her first time playing, he had been teaching her and she seemed to be getting the hangs of it now.
Erina approached the foul line and worked on aiming the ball as Sōma had told her to before releasing it. It went rolling towards the center pin but deviated towards the left a few inches before colliding with it and only 3 pins were sent flying.
"It's always going a bit to the left when you throw so try to place yourself a bit more on the right next time. Now, try to aim more to the right." Sōma said from where he stood a few feet away from her.
Erina glanced at him and nodded as she took another ball and adjusted her grip on it. Then, letting her hand fall by her side as she firmly held onto the ball, she started to swing it as she tried to aim for the right. After one or two swings, she released it and the ball rapidly rolled towards the right, scattering the standing pins at the end of its course.
"Spare!" came the loud comment of the machine and Erina's face lit up in front of the now bare lane. She turned towards Sōma with a bright smile but when she was met with his own fond smiling face, she suddenly felt a bit self-conscious and cleared her throat, schooling her too excited expression in the process.
"Thanks." Erina simply said as she turned around to sit up down, letting Hisako take place in front of the foul line with her ball.
"You're welcome." Sōma replied as his smile widened before he moved to sit next to his princess and focused his attention back on the game, unaware of the eyes that had been watching the exchange.
Ikumi sighed in resignation as she averted her eyes from the scene. Hearing that, Takumi turned towards her and eyed her with a mildly worried expression for a few seconds before opening his mouth to speak.
"You're alright?"
Ikumi glanced at him, a bit surprised at his words before looking back at the lane and replying with an unconvincing "I'm fine." which brought a light frown on Takumi's handsome features. He was about to speak again but she beat him to it. "That aside, you might want to get up right now." Ikumi said as she glanced between him and the lane.
Following her gaze and halting at the screen, Takumi felt his lips part in mild shock at seeing that yet another spare had been scored by the purple-haired teen. He had yet to score any and he could feel the frustration and embarrassment begin to build up as he stood up and picked up a ball.
"Try not to aim for the gutter." came the mocking voice of his younger twin and Takumi could just hear the restrained laughter in his voice.
The blond felt his ears heat up as he muttered a small "Shut up." and walked towards the foul line.
A few seconds later, the sound of the ball rolling towards the pins could be heard, soon followed by the sound of it dropping into the right gutter. Isami's muffled laughter could be heard in the silence that followed even as his red-haired rival aimed a half mocking half encouraging "Don't mind him."
Takumi could feel his body heating up by the second as his closed fists shook in frustration and embarrassment by his side. He couldn't let the game end like this. He had to catch up with the redhead no matter what.
Nodding, he walked away from the foul line to pick up another ball before coming back to it and staring at the lane in concentration.
A few seconds later, the sound of scattered pins and a robotic voice shouting "1 pin!" could be heard in the silence.
The frustrated Takumi quietly stared at the still standing pins in frustration. Even after all that wobbling, they still ended up staying up and proud.
He swore, they must have been conspiring against him. That was the only explanation.
"Be careful not to stand up during the ride." the man said as he closed the cabin behind the couple.
From where he now sat in front of Erina, Sōma looked up and let his eyes rest on the heiress. The blonde was excitedly looking outside as they began moving upwards.
After the bowling game had ended (unsurprisingly, Takumi ended up losing miserably and was laughed at by his teasing brother and amused rival), they decided to stop at a small stand to grab a bite before heading towards the Ferris Wheel. Sōma had chosen to try to a cinnamon roll but since the size of the thing was big enough to feed at least ten people, he had ended up sharing with the rest of the group. It was really good and even Erina had admitted to it not being too bad which had elicited an amused smile turned chuckle from her 'boyfriend'.
When they were done eating, they had noticed the sky slowly turning orange and had finally started to head for the highlight of the Mihama Village, the Ferris Wheel proudly standing in its midst.
Unexpectedly, Sōma and Erina had ended up taking a cabin for themselves and were now seating face to face as they were slowly lifted towards the top. After staring at the blonde in silence for a few moments, Sōma spoke up.
"So? How was today?"
Erina glanced at him before looking back at the scenery even as she parted her lips to answer.
"Well, it was okay." she simply said and Sōma smiled at the remembrance of the excited heiress looking around at the ruins, cave and now sky. His smile rapidly turned into a smirk as he spoke.
"Only okay? You seemed pretty excited for an 'okay' day." Sōma said in a teasing voice as a mirthful glint appeared in his eyes.
Looking back at him in an attempt to glare that failed exceptionally, Erina opened her mouth to speak before closing it again and taking her lower lip between her teeth as she deliberated with herself. Sōma's eyes followed the action and he was suddenly assaulted by the urge to kiss her right here and there.
Did she only know what she was doing to him? Probably not. She surely had no idea how much he just wanted to close the gap between them and taste those alluring rosy lips for himself at the moment. And he couldn't let his thoughts wander that way or he didn't know if he'd be able to restrain himself even with his arms crossed across his chest.
Shit. Stop biting your lip already… Sōma thought as he forced his golden eyes to slid back up to her purple ones only to find them glancing at him hesitantly.
…this definitely wasn't helping at all and he decided to look at the scenery instead, averting his eyes from resting on her person completely and tightening his hold on his arms.
As he tried to aim all of his thoughts towards the beauty of the slowly setting sun, storing the dangerous ones away, Sōma heard the heiress murmur "I guess fun would be a better word." In a quiet voice and he felt his lips stretch in a gentle smile at the admission.
Before he knew it, he was meeting the purple eyes of the blonde and found himself unable to look away. It was Erina who broke the spell for him by looking back outside. The setting sun was even more beautiful from the peek of the Wheel. Erina watched as it slowly started to merge with its wavy water reflection until she felt the cabin wobble and turned wary eyes towards her companion.
He was now standing and she silently watched as he made his way to her and sat beside her, putting his arm around her shoulders and pulling her towards him.
Confused, she sent him a questioning look before quietly asking "What are you doing…?" to which he only answered with a smile before he let his head fall on top of hers. She had half the mind to free herself from him but stopped herself and decided to let him. Who knew who was watching right now…so she let him and only let her eyes fall back onto the scenery.
…but if she was being completely honest with herself, she'd have to admit that she didn't completely hate it.
"Listen Erina, you only need to listen to me. You only need to approve of what I approve of. Everything else should be thrown away. Throw it away, Erina."
Azami took Erina's wrist and began to drag her to the nearest trash can. Erina struggled against him and held on tight to the plate which she had only taken a single bite of still in her hand.
"No…! I don't want to! I don't want to throw it away! Father, don't make me please!" Erina cried out with teary eyes and a trembling voice.
"Oh? Then I don't need such a child." Azami declared coldly and suddenly, Erina was the one standing at the bottom of the trash can.
The sound of a deep breath being taken filled the still air of Erina's room as her eyes popped open in terror. Her wide purple eyes slowly took in the moonlit room and a few minutes later, Erina sat up on her bed. Looking down at her, she noticed that she was still wearing her day clothes and vaguely recalled hitting her bed as soon as she entered her room and deciding to take her shower a bit later. Looked like she had fallen asleep completely instead…until then at least.
A water drop landed on her thigh and she looked down at it. It was soon joined by another one and it took her a few seconds to realize that those were her own tears falling down from her cheeks. When she did, she lifted her right hand and touched her face.
Why am I crying…? Erina wondered as she stared at her now wet fingertips in silence for a long moment. …it's been a while since I last had that dream…
Letting her eyes slid over the room, she let rest on the bathroom door before deciding to take a shower. It'd probably take her mind off it.
Ten minutes later, a refreshed Erina sat up on the bed. She finished drying up her hair with one towel hanging around her neck as to not wet her pajamas. Once she was done with that, she got up and hang them up behind the bathroom door before crawling under the sheets and getting ready for the night. Then closing her eyes, she slowly gave in to the slumber that was attracting her into its depths.
A sharp intake of air echoed in the air as teary purple eyes shot open in the dark of the night. It was followed by the sound of rapid breathing as the heiress focused on her surroundings. Then sitting up, she wiped the tears that were beginning to fall away and blinked to stop the remaining ones to achieve their formation.
…again…
The blonde slowly let herself fall back into the sheets, her eyes still wide open. It was the second time that she had that dream that night. She didn't know if she would be able to endure a third round and now feared to fall asleep once again.
Why was this only happening now? She had learned about her father the day before so wh- wait. The night before she had slept with - oh. Was that the reason why she hadn't had nightmares? Because he had been there beside her? If so, maybe she should - no. She wasn't so weak as to rely on the redhead not to have nightmares at night. She'd get over it all by herself. After all, she was Nakiri Erina.
The ticking of the clock resounded in the quiet room whose sole occupant was currently deeply asleep on his bed. His chest rose and fell rhythmically along with his serene breathing as he let himself be lulled into a deeper slumber. Or at least that was the plan until the sound of a door cracking open echoed in the silence, soon followed by the sound of light footsteps that seemed to be coming his way.
They stopped a foot away from him and as the slumber slowly released him from its chains, Sōma gradually cracked one eye open and let his vision adjust to the darkness. When it did, Sōma was mildly surprised to discover a nervous looking Erina. He watched as she extended a hand towards him only for it to stop a few inches from his shoulder before she retracted it to her chest. Somehow, she seemed to be very conflicted about something.
Observing her more closely, Sōma noticed the dried tear tracks that were faintly shining when a moon ray hit the heiress's cheek and let his eye take in the entirety of her face. For some reason, she seemed to be frightened about something and wary. Plus, it looked like she had been awake for a while now and it was almost 1 a.m as the lit up clock hands informed him.
What could be keeping her up this late? He clearly remembered her fast asleep so she must have woken up because of something. Did she have a bad dream? What could possibly - oh.
"…at night, I'd dream about him throwing me away like he did the food and I'd wake up in a start with tears all over my face…"
A fragment of the previous night's discussion came back to mind and gave him the answer he was seeking. That explained everything…except the reason behind her presence in his room so late at night.
His interrogation was answered when he felt the mattress dip in not too far from his own location. It dipped in a bit more and was soon followed by a small "Sorry for intruding." as the girl seemed to take place next to him.
Sōma let the silence fall onto them and observed the girl for a moment before opening his mouth to speak.
"How bold of you."
Erina almost jumped out of her skin at the sound of his voice and whipped around to look at him. In the darkness lying upon him, she hadn't noticed that he had awoken and stared at him with a deer in headlights expression plastered on her face.
Her mouth opened and closed but no sound exited it and she ended up remaining silent.
Sōma watched as an internal conflict played in her eyes until she twisted around and prepared to get off of the bed. That's when he shot up to grab her forearm and prevent her from doing so. She didn't even glance at him and only tried to break free from his hold but that only made him reaffirm his grip on her.
"I'm not chasing you." Sōma started in a gentle voice, "You had a nightmare, right? Just stay." he offered but Erina remained in the same position and was still giving him her back so he pulled her towards him. Losing her balance, Erina landed directly next to him and he smiled down at her before lying back down and closing his eyes, ready to fall asleep once more.
Erina watched him do so before she closed her eyes in mortification. She had planned to come and go before he could wake up but that obviously hadn't happened that way…she didn't even really want to come in the first place. What had prompted her was her third time waking up from that nightmare. She hadn't been able to fight off sleep and had fallen asleep before she had even realized it and had awoken in a start. Again. So, tired and worn out by her repetitive nightmares, her feet had led her directly into the redhead's room.
Now, she could either leave or stay. The perspective of another nightmare wasn't so appealing but the embarrassment that staying would cause wasn't either. She balanced her options for a while before the fear won the fight and Erina decided to remain on the bed where the young lad was already snoring away.
She briefly wondered how he could have fallen asleep so easily before she felt herself slowly being pulled into the depths of slumber where hopefully no nightmare would come bother her once more.
Ushered voices could faintly be heard from inside the room and Sōma stirred as he fought with the last remnants of sleepiness still present in his being. As he slowly came to and focused on his surroundings, Sōma noticed the radiating warmth pressed against him and recognizing his love, he blanked out for a moment. It took him a few seconds to understand the situation as his drowsy mind gradually recollected the night's events.
After he did, he pulled her a little bit more into his chest with the arm that was hanging around her and burrowed his face into her hair. She must have been really terrified if she had to come into his bed in the middle of the night to get some sleep. Pulling away to have a look at her face and satisfied by the peacefulness he found there, he resumed his position - or at least that was the plan.
Just as he was about to, a knock resounded in the room. Startled, Sōma turned his face towards the main door of his room and hoped whoever it was would just go away without insisting. With their current position, there was no doubt that whoever it was could have some kind of misunderstanding and he was pretty sure that his princess would be less than happy if it became known by all that they had slept in the same bed, along with some other rumors...though Alice already knew.
…if only it was just Alice…
As he remembered the previous morning's breakfast, a sigh escaped Sōma's lips. By the look of things, it seemed like his dorm mates knew already and knowing how quickly news spread among them, maybe their whole group knew by now…he just hoped Erina wouldn't find out about that.
His prayers would stay unanswered and a hesitant knock echoed in the room once more - or more precisely in Erina's currently empty room and his because of the door connecting their two rooms.
…they were so screwed…
The slow cracking of Erina's main door being opened confirmed that fact, even more when it was hurriedly closed by their mysterious visitors, probably after their eyes had laid on Erina's empty bed.
Oh well, what was done was done. Better enjoy the remaining peace while it lasted.
And with that thought, Sōma tightened his hold on the still sleeping blonde and closed his eyes in hope to catch some more sleep. He'd deal with it later.
"…Excuse me?"
The tone that the blonde heiress used to respond had shivers running through the Polar Star dorm girl trio who wondered if it wouldn't have been better not to ask anything instead of facing the powerful girl.
Meanwhile, Erina was wondering if she had actually heard them right. She couldn't have, right? There was no reason why they would ask her something like that since there was no reason for them to know about that, right?
Under Erina's icy stare, Yūki, Megumi and Ryōko felt like disappearing from her sight already but it couldn't be undone now and the question had been on their mind all day yesterday so to hell with it, they had to know what was going on.
…or maybe they could have lived not knowing. They weren't so sure they would survive this conversation (if you could even call it that…) right now so they probably should have kept their mouths shut and keep on living wondering.
After a full minute of silence, Yūki finally found her voice again and tried to explain.
"Well," she started in a voice shakier than what she had intended, " we saw that picture on Alice's phone yesterday morning and you weren't in your room this morning so we were just wondering - eek!" Yūki's voice had gone steadily higher and higher as she talked until she found herself unable to continue further under the eyes of the furious blonde. The purplish orbs promised hell and Yūki found herself too frightened to speak. How on Earth could Yukihira deal with that, she didn't know but she guessed he was a special case.
Yūki's attention snapped back to the heiress when she took an incandescent step towards them and her green eyes closed in anticipation. She only opened them again when she heard Nakiri's steps fade away in the distance and was sure it was safe to do so.
Praying for God's protection for whoever would have that wrath unwrapped unto them, Yūki watched with the girls as the last of honey blonde hair disappeared around the corner and contemplated their foolish previous selves.
What on Earth had made them think it was okay to just go up to Nakiri Erina right after breakfast and just ask if she had been sleeping with her boyfriend for a long time? She honestly couldn't remember anymore.
…let's just hope nobody will die today.
Present, Wednesday morning, Nakiri villa
Aliiiiiiiiiice!
Erina was so going to kill her right now. How far did she have to go in humiliating her like that? Didn't she have enough by now? Well, Erina did and she would make sure that this was the last time that she suffered such a loss of face from her hands.
Finally reaching Alice's room, Erina angrily turned the knob, not bothering to knock, and slammed the door open preparing to finish her cousin off only to freeze in place in shock.
There, standing before her two very eyes were Alice and Kurokiba-kun, completely wrapped around the other. They were currently engaged in a tight lip lock and Erina felt all her murderous predisposition melt like snow under the summer Sun as pure shock replaced it all.
At the sound of the door violently crashing against the door stop, Alice pulled her face away from Ryō's and turned to see who was intruding on their private time. As her red eyes took in the shell-shocked form of her blonde cousin, she disentangled herself from her man's embrace and fully faced her uninvited guest with one of her carefree smiles.
"Hey Erina."
Erina could only stare, unable to form any coherent thoughts, much less any words. Her purple orbs slid back and forth between the two of them as the young man nonchalantly put his hands in his pockets, uncaring about the whole situation and Alice was looking at her as if she hadn't been engaged in an intimate act in front of her cousin less than ten seconds ago.
…what ? Just - what ?!
Tbc…
And now, I think you all understand what I meant when I said that I can only blame myself for starting like that. That said, hope you enjoyed :) (and this is subject to edits)
Answer to guest reviews:
Putangina: He is indeed though we probably won't see him much here.
Haru: Glad you like it so much ;) And sorry for the wait :/ I'm guessing you had time to reread it in between… ^^' Yeah, even when he's not physically there, he can bring lots of damage for our blonde :/
Guest (1): …hope this one was worth the wait as well… ^^' Well, I love it when I get replies for mine so I do it too x) …hope you didn't actually check everyday though…
Irza: Right? XD Fake? Well, officially yeah but it's more like he's doing what he really wants to under that cover ;) She should ^^ But the road until then might be long… :/
Guest (2): …I can't even imagine what you'd say about the time I took this time…
Selpi: You're welcome ;)
Guest (3): You're gonna make me blush XD Thank you x) Glad you're enjoying this story ;)
Guest (4): I don't wanna be a murderer though XD But here's another fluff attack? ^^'
Atsuko: …sorry for the late chapter… Glad you liked it x) Well, I don't actually want Azami to physically appear since it would lead to even more complications and I could go there but it'd be super long and I don't want the original plot to influence me and just write what's already official. I try not to actually make up too many things and stay as close to the characters' infos we got. Like Soma's mother. We don't actually know if she's dead or not but I suppose she might be because it makes more sense like this. …did I make you even more confused? True XD He's getting touchy-feely though he's just enjoying it while he still can. He doesn't know what will happen after the time limit after all.
Guest (5): I would have loved to give you some when you needed it but I just couldn't seem to finish this chapter… Hope I can still help with your motivation.
Guests (6 & 7): Here it is :)
Guest (8): Sorry for the long wait :(
Jjha: I'm not stopping until it's complete ;) …that might take some time.
Raven11: Hey :D Happy to hear that ^^ …and sorry for the long wait… hope it was worth it…?
Guest (9): You're welcome and sorry for the wait…
Concerned Reader: I'm not, don't worry. ;) I'm never gonna abandon our Sorina ship :D :D :D
Poochie: Yes XD ^^'
Hai: A year. LOL Thankfully, I didn't take that long lol…
Eris: Done ;)
Thanks to the registered reviewers as well silentworld94, ChaosOmega8, Keysone, that-girl-on-the-corner, madeyemoody95, lilydarrens, Master E.N.D, Eramis8, acpeters, jawdas33, Justinsj5, BlackZ3r0, LeoneKun, cherryblossom321, OrangeSpark5555, sarara1.8, raydark182, Generation Zero, Mei-Aihira, aominesshi, HelL4DAluCarD, JuniorL Cloud, Hinate, HiragaSaito16, Vincent D'Great, kiba zero, NPwall and julieeamazing. (I'm still replying to some, sorry about that.)
…well, till next time?
Ja na~