Seventh Kiss ~Pot and Kettle~

Author's Note :

Summer break is here, and Rito needs a break from the stressful situation he's created. When helping a friend turns into an unexpected getaway, Rito may be in over his head with the latest girl to set her sights on him.

Start :

"But why me?" Rito asks again, thinking this must be some kind of trick.

"Because she's embarrassed, Rito-san." Momo says.

Haruna again presses the ticket into Rito's hands. "She said you're the only other person she's talked to about this and that you would understand."

"They just left her there? All alone?" Rito asks. His own parents were never around, but he couldn't believe the story Haruna and Momo had just told him.

"They never showed up." Haruna explained. "She worked so hard to save up money for this trip and they called at the last minute to tell her something came up. Risa got the call when she was already on the bus." She sighs. "I wanted to go myself, but my sister and I are leaving tonight to go visit our parents out of town."

Rito looks down at his hand, and the bus pass Haruna has given him. It would take most of the day to get to the beach resort, and then turn around and bring Risa back. "I still don't understand why she needs an escort." He thinks.

As if reading his thoughts, Haruna continues. "She's too upset to get on the bus by herself, and she said there are a bunch of guys that keep looking at her funny." She leans in and grabs Rito's hands, closing them on the ticket. "It would mean a lot to her if you would do this. She doesn't have a lot of close friends like us."

Haruna leans forward a bit more and kisses Rito gently on the lips, melting away whatever resistance he still has. "Alright. I really don't mind." He says, his heart racing suddenly. "I just didn't know if it would seem weird, me going to help Momioka with all that's going on around here."

He turns back towards the front door but Momo catches him by the arm. "Don't worry. I already told Mikan, and Nana and I can keep Lala busy today." She says, handing him a travel bag. "Here is the bag Momioka-san wanted you to bring for her."

"Well, I guess I'm off then." Rito says, surprised how quickly his first day of summer vacation has gotten away from him. He turns again, this time heading down the street towards the bus stop.

As soon as he has turned the corner, Momo snaps a glare on Haruna. "What was that for?!" She says with a hiss.

Nemesis laughs as she returns to her own form, rubbing her lips with one finger. "So that's what it's like." She says, smiling. She looks at Momo, who is still glaring at her. "Oh, calm down Princess. He needed a bit more of a push, otherwise he was going to keep asking questions." She hands Momo the cell phone she had deftly lifted from Rito's pocket.

Momo looks shocked for a moment, staring down at the device. "You forgot to plan for that, didn't you?" Nemesis asks. "How would this plan have worked out if he called someone from the bus, hmm?" Nemesis shifts again, assuming the form of Rito. "Now." She says, in Rito's own voice. "Lets go entertain that sister of yours."

Momo shudders at the lewd wink Nemesis gives her. "No funny business while you're wearing that face." She whispers harshly, as she follows her into the house.

Rito is startled awake as the bus comes to a stop. The trip was even longer than he thought it would be. He can already see the sun preparing to set. "I can't believe I forgot my phone." He thinks. "Mikan is going to be angry if I don't let her know how late I'm going to be."

As he steps off the bus the cool breeze from the ocean hits him and he forgets about being stressed out. "We should have planned a beach party for summer break this year. I wonder if there's still ti-".

"Hey, Yuuki-kuuuuuun!" A happy voice calls out to him, interrupting his thoughts. Rito looks over and sees Risa sitting at a table at an outdoor cafe, waving to him enthusiastically.

"Momioka!" Rito says, surprised. He sees she is sitting alone at the table, with 3 empty glasses in front of her. "What are you doing? You're not old enough to drink!"

"Bah, you sound just like my waiter." She says, holding up one of the empty glasses to indicate she wants another. "Relax, I'm just drinking tea." She waves to the chair next to her and Rito sits down, still eyeing her suspiciously.

"Well, I'm glad to see you're feeling better." He says. "Sairenji said you were pretty upset before." He pauses and looks around, noticing that Risa doesn't seem to have any luggage. "Shouldn't we go and get your things? We need to catch the bus going home."

Risa laughs. "No way. All my stuff is already up in our room, besides…" She points at the bus Rito just got off of, which even now is pulling away. "That WAS the last bus. There won't be another one until noon tomorrow."

"Last bus… wait, OUR room?!" Rito's mind spins. "I can't stay here tonight, I didn't even bring any clothes."

"No?" Risa asks, raising an eyebrow. "Then what's in the bag?"

Rito holds up the travel bag that Momo had handed him. "It's the stuff that…" He trails off as the pieces start to fall together, quickly opening the bag to discover that it's full of his own clothing. "Momo." He mutters, eliciting another laugh from Risa.

"So I guess the whole story about your parents abandoning you here was all made up too, huh?" Even as Rito finishes, he sees a hard edge come over Risa's eyes.

"No, it's true." She says, the joy leaving her voice suddenly. "They told me three days ago that they couldn't make it. Three months planning and saving and 'Oops, sorry, maybe next year.'" Risa's mood suddenly brightens again, just as quickly as before. "Anyways, Momo overheard me complaining to Haruna and she came up with this idea. I didn't want to spend my vacation alone so…" She waves her hand in Rito's direction. "Sorry for tricking you, Yuuki, but Momo seemed to think you could use a little vacation yourself."

"It's true." Rito thinks. "But I can't help thinking this is just going to complicate things more." He grips his head in both hands, as if trying to physically wrestle with his thoughts.

"Well, we're stuck here for at least one night anyways. Let's just have a good time and decide what to do about it tomorrow. Deal?" Risa extends a hand, and when Rito doesn't move to shake it, she simply grabs his hand herself. Rito's face immediately turns red. "Ha. If that's all it takes, you're in for a rough night."

Risa grins when she sees the look on Rito's face as the elevator doors open on the top floor. "Oh, did I forget to mention that?" She asks. "My parents booked the main suite for the whole week and it was too late to get a refund. So now it's mine!" She places a hand in front of her face, feigning shyness. "Although I guess now it's yours too."

She quickly moves across the giant room towards the heart shaped bed, piled high with pillows. "What have we here?" She asks, eying an ice bucket on the bedside table. Inside it is a large bottle of champagne. "Looks like room service didn't get the memo about me taking my parent's room. We can save that for later though."

She turns back to see Rito slowly exiting the elevator. Alarm bells are going off inside his head. "I shouldn't be here. I shouldn't be here."

"I told Momo to pack you something nice, so better get those clothes unpacked. We got a dinner reservation in 30 minutes." Risa calls over her shoulder as she heads towards the bathroom. "I'm going to go pretty myself up for you, Yuuki dear."

As the door to the bathroom closes and he hears the shower turn on, Rito finally starts to calm down. "She's just playing with me again." He says aloud. "I can keep this under control. At least I don't have Nemesis trying to control my body this time." He says, thinking back to the time Risa spent the night at the Yuuki house.

Rito checks the closet and is relieved to find a futon folded up in the corner. He pulls it out and unpacks it on the floor. "At least I won't have to worry about sharing a bed."

He sits down on the bed and starts rummaging through his clothing, trying to find something decent to wear. As he pulls out a slightly wrinkled dress shirt, a determined look comes over his face. "They may have tricked me into coming, but that doesn't change why I'm here." He thinks. "I'm helping a friend."

"Ah, yesss!" Rito jumps when he hears Risa moan loudly. "This shower is amazing. You sure you don't want to join me?"

"Helping a friend." Rito repeats to himself, as he continues to get dressed.

Risa checks herself in the mirror one last time before leaving the bathroom. "Hair? Check. Makeup? Check. Smallest towel I could find? He he, check!" She is still giggling when she exits the bathroom and is surprised to find Rito, not curled up in a corner cowering, but standing at the bedside mirror, adjusting his necktie.

"Haruna wasn't kidding, you DO clean up nice, Yuuki." When he turns to regard her she sees his eyes go wide for a second, seeing the towel that barely covers her. He surprises her again, however, when he merely smiles and goes back to fixing his tie.

"Oh, so he's going to try and play it cool, huh?" She thinks, moving to the closet. She checks to make sure her reflection is clearly visible in Rito's mirror before dropping the towel. Rito's reaction causes him to choke himself with his tie, drawing another laugh from Risa. "It's going to be a fun night, Yuuki. Just you wait!"

After nearly an hour of dancing (or rather, Risa dragging Rito around a dance floor while he tried not to fall onto anyone), the two finally sit down to dinner.

"You should be taking notes Yuuki." Risa scolds. "From what Haruna told me, your last date sounded pretty lame. Stick with me, I'll show you the ropes."

Rito is exhausted, but smiles despite the obvious jab. It was true, Risa did seem to know how to have a good time, and he was beginning to finally forget about his troubles for once.

"Your parents sure know how to pick a hotel." Rito says when their food is set before them. The conversation had been lagging, but he immediately regrets the comment as soon as he sees Risa's expression turn cold again. They eat in silence for a while before she finally speaks up.

"Let's set some ground rules." Risa says. "No more talking about parents. Tonight is all about fun." She winks at Rito. "Speaking of fun, what's this I hear about you building a harem?"

"What?!" Rito yells, drawing looks from some of the tables nearby. "When did Momo tell you about that?"

Risa grins. "Actually, it was Haruna who was telling me about you, her and Lala. But now I'm REALLY interested." She pauses for a moment. "I should have known Momo would be involved. This was all her idea after all. Did I ever tell you about the time she tried that whole innocent little girl act on me?" She leans in close to Rito, licking her lips. "It got real steamy, you know."

Risa leans back, thinking again. "Wait, is that why everyone has been acting so strange around you the last two weeks?" When Rito refuses to even look at her, Risa laughs. "Yuuki, you dog! Just how many girls are you after?"

"It's not like that!" Rito insists. In his panic, he stands up too quickly, knocking both of their drinks over and soaking Risa.

"Oh my, Yuuki." She says, standing up. "If you're trying to get me out of these clothes, I'm afraid it's going to be a bit more difficult than that." She smiles. "I may not play hard to get like that Kotegawa-san, but I'm not going to make it that easy for ya!"

She starts walking away, towards the restrooms. "I'm going to go freshen up a bit. You take care of your mess there. Just charge the meal to the room."

Rito flags down a waiter and signs for the meal, relieved to have a few minutes of peace. "The night's almost over." He thinks to himself. "Just need to get back to the room and go to sleep without saying anything else embarrassing."

As Rito turns to leave he notices a disturbance near the restrooms and hears Risa's angry voice. "Sorry pal, I already got a date tonight." As he gets closer, he sees Risa standing outside the women's restroom and two young men blocking her way from leaving.

One of the laughs. "You don't mean that shrimp you were dancing with, do you?"

"Come on, we can show you a better time than that." The second man says. He turns when he notices Rito approaching. "Take a hike kid, we're talking here."

Both men are taller and heavier than Rito, but he refuses to back down. "She already said no." He says, extending a hand towards Risa. "Come on, Momioka."

As Risa tries to move between them, the first man reaches out and grabs her wrist. "Hey! Let her go." Rito yells. As he reaches for Risa's shoulder, the second man throws a punch, but Rito's clumsiness saves him again. When he tries to pull Risa away, he tears the shoulder strap on her dress. In a panic, he steps back and the punch flies past him and hits the man that was holding her wrist, staggering him.

"Hey! What's going on over there." Two of the wait staff approach, hearing the commotion.

"Yuuki, let's get out of here." Risa says, grabbing Rito's hand and leading him away in the confusion. They hear more shouts behind them, but Risa just laughs as they rush through the crowd and out of the restaurant.

Risa is laughing again when they finally slow down. They are now walking on the beach, which is deserted at this time of the night. "Well that was exciting, huh?" She asks, pausing to catch her breath.

"Ya, exciting." Rito says, rolling his eyes. "If you could avoid getting me beat up for the rest of the night, that would be great." Risa leads him towards a set of lounge chairs. Rito sits in one, expecting Risa to sit in the one next to him. Instead, she sits down on his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"You know, Yuuki…" She says, purposefully letting the torn side of her dress fall a bit. "That's the second time you've come to my rescue." She leans in, pressing her chest against him. "How will I ever repay you?" She says in an exasperated voice.

"Wait, Momioka." Rito says, trying to extract himself. Before he can move, she lifts one leg over, straddling him in the chair.

"And where do you think you're going?" She asks. "I told you, didn't I? Tonight is all about 'fun'."

She continues to lean forward. Rito closes his eyes, but to his own surprise he does not push her away. Soon he feels the now familiar feeling of lips pressed against his own, and the warmth of a body pressing closer. Rito's thoughts spin again, but he can not deny the attraction he feels for her, despite his earlier insistence that she was just a friend.

Reality comes crashing back in as he feels Risa pushing him back against the chair and climbing more fully atop him. "Wait!" He yells, breaking away from the kiss and pushing her off, a bit more roughly than he had intended. Risa lands at the foot of the chair on the sand, a shocked look upon her face.

They both stare at each other nervously for a few moments, before Risa breaks the silence with another laugh. "That's a lot further than I thought you'd let me take it." She says. "I thought maybe you were going to call my bluff and let me go all the way for a second there."

Rito continues to stare at Risa, as she climbs to her feet, brushing the sand from her dress. "You don't have to keep putting on the act Momioka." Rito says extending a hand to help her up. "I fell for it twice before, but even I won't fall for the same trick three times."

Risa stops laughing and looks at Rito, both surprise and respect showing on her face. "I guess there's no hope for me now, huh? Even oblivious Yuuki Rito can see through me." She chuckles. "I've spent all this time making fun of you and Haruna and your clumsy relationship when I have less experience with this stuff then either of you." She folds her arms over her chest, shivering in the cool breeze.

"You're not hopeless, Momioka."

"Oh? So you're saying it was a good kiss then?" Her eyes light up and she reaches for Rito. "Ready to try again?"

Rito places an arm around her shoulder, guiding her back towards the hotel. "How about we both stop picking on each other and go get some sleep?" Rito suggests.

Rito is not the least bit surprised when Risa exits the bathroom wearing a nighty that is almost completely see through. She winks at him as she climbs into bed. Her own bed, do his relief.

"Only you would choose to sleep on the floor of a five start resort suite, Yuuki." She sighs. They both lie in silence for a while, considering the crazy day they just had.

"Hey Yuuki." Risa says, turning in bed to face him. "You think you're going to end up with Haruna?"

Rito is surprised by his reaction. His initial impulse is to say yes immediately, but the more he thinks about it, the more confused he becomes. "...I don't know." He says finally.

"That's what I figured." Risa says, sighing. "Well… just don't you forget, when you do finally make your decision, there's going to be a lot of girls in Sainan that'll be disappointed."

"Gee, thanks Momioka. That makes me feel a lot better." Rito says, laughing despite his worries.

"Hey, we're not going to let you off easy." She says. "But, when you do make that decision, I'll have your back, alright?"

"Deal." Rito says, happy to end this strange day on a high note.

"As long as your choice is me." She says, as she turns over to go to sleep.

Rito is awakened to another familiar sensation, someone laying on top of him. "Strange." He thinks. "Why are there two of her?" He opens his eyes to see not just Risa, but Mio laying in his bed with him.

"You really tired him out, didn't you?" Mio asks, running a finger across Rito's chest.

"Yep. You should have seen him last night. Like a stallion." Risa giggles.

Rito leaps to his feet, his face quickly turning bright red. To his relief, he notices both girls are fully clothed, looking ready for the beach.

"Good morning Yuuki!" Risa says happily.

"You can't sleep all day." Mio chimes in. "Let's hit the beach. Your bus doesn't leave for another two hours."

Rito quickly grabs a blanket to cover up, realizing he is standing in the middle of the room in his boxers. "You're off the hook, Yuuki." Risa explains. "Mio managed to get a few days off of work. Unless you want to stay here with both of us, that is." She wraps an arm around Mio and both of them smile at him. "I'm willing to share if you are."

"You said you wouldn't pick on me any more." Rito grumbles, as both girls laugh and head for the door.

"Oh? You think that was a joke?" Risa asks, grinning again. "See you at the beach, Yuuki dear."

End.