Taint
I wonder if she'll wake up before I go back.
Settled in the driver's seat of his car, Kenji sighed as he briefly took his eyes off the road to glance at his wristwatch; it was a little past nine o'clock. After he had brought the ice cream back to his friend, he shared a bowl with her while the two watched a show on television regarding criminal investigations solved by forensic science. Just before nine, she had dozed off to sleep, and he took the empty dish into the kitchen to wash, then jumped into the bathroom for a quick shower. Grabbing a change of clothes that he had brought from his house earlier, he randomly threw an outfit on before stepping out the door to go to the party. Approaching the street that Cronos' home was on, according to the map, he slowed down his driving when a large one-story house came into view, practically the size of a mansion.
Thank goodness Yugo and Alice are at that NGO conference meeting this weekend, he thought to himself. If my brother knew where I was going at this moment…
Crowds of teenagers occupied the humongous lawn in front, while he took note of the loud whooping and cheers that filled the air as he found a parking spot some distance away, and walked back towards the lively residence. Nearing the place, he raised an eyebrow when he spied people messing around in the backyard pool that was visible due to the opened door that allowed outsiders to look inward. Shrugging aimlessly, he tucked his hands into his pockets and continued strolling down the sidewalk, stopping before the entrance door, and knocking on the tall wooden frame. A few minutes passed, and all he heard was the noisy music coming from inside that blared through the windows; getting impatient, he placed his hand on the knob and turned it. To his surprise, it was unlocked, and he stepped in.
"Whoooooo!" was the first thing the dark-haired ninja heard when he sought to observe his surroundings.
The multi-colored lights flashing over the walls of the room made it hard for him to focus very well, but when he looked foreword, he faintly discovered that a fast blur was heading his way! Twisting his body to the side to dodge, he righted his balance back up, only to watch someone lurch out the door, and puke onto the shrubbery and bushes aligning the pathway leading to the house. Frowning in distaste, he shook his head pitifully, and started exploring curiously, meeting other hoards of students gathered about the place. In what he presumed to be the living room, couples occupied many of the loveseats scattered around, most of them kissing, making out, while a few of the immodest ones were outright groping each other right there in plain view.
Grimacing in disapproval, the mole zoanthrope quickly exited, and continued down a long hallway, peering into the other rooms to see what else was going on. In one, he saw several guys and girls sitting on the carpet floor, forming a circle, holding cards in their hands; the only thing irregular about the situation was that a few of them were missing articles of clothing. Kenji felt confused, as he didn't know why they were in that state, but he didn't want to stick around to find out, so he didn't bother lingering there. Moving on, he passed by a room with a closed door that had certain noises emitting from inside, giggles, squeals, low moans, and he twitched at the thought.
Hastening his pace, he poked his head into the last space, blinking at the absence of light, though he had no trouble seeing in the dark, as his animal counterpart was a creature that adored living underground. Wide couches and laid-out air mattresses were inside, all before a large-screened television that was on, and showed a movie. The sixteen-year-old glanced up to see the contents, and his eyes widened when he sighted a naked man and woman boldly fondling each other, especially in the private region area. Seeing the female engorge her partner's insanely long penis into her mouth and start sucking him while the guy grabbed her immense breasts, roughly rubbing and pinching them, invoked a foreign twinge in the cobalt-haired teenager. To make it worse, partially nude bodies were writhing together upon the couches and mattresses, in-sync to the action displayed on the TV.
Getting the distinct feeling that what he was watching was wrong; he whirled around, facing the opposite direction, trying to calm the strange throbbing that had ignited somewhere in his nether location. He suddenly realized as he was walking away, his cheeks flushed crimson, Good lord! I think that was pornography! Balling up hands into fists, he clutched the open edge of his jacket as he headed for the front door, already regretting his earlier decision of coming to this obscene gathering. Music blared from seemingly everywhere, the sounds pounding into his ears as he walked, and he flinched when the volume was raised.
"Ohgami…!" He faintly heard a slightly slurred voice call from over his shoulder as a hand heartily slapped his back.
Recognizing the speaker, Kenji sighed and reluctantly turned to glance into the leering, distorted expression on the face of his former fighting opponent. "Hey, Cronos. Nice…gathering. But, I've stayed quite a while, so I have to go now. Thanks for inviting me."
"Oh nooo, noo," The other teenager protested, shaking his head as he staggered over to a table full of liquid-filled cups, and retrieved one, bringing it back to the ninja. "Stay longer! Have some…" - he paused and burped rudely - "fun! It's the weekend… enjoy yourself…!"
…Where the hell are this guy's parents? The mole zoanthrope wondered to himself as Cronos teetered away, leaning his forearm against the wall for support as he began talking to a girl that was smiling dazedly. The pulsating heat and musky air of the environment did make him thirsty, however, so he sipped the drink, feeling sweet-tasting soda bubbles gurgle inside his mouth. Chuckling at the ticklish sensation, he downed the rest of it, then proceeded to the table where more cups were and took another, as his throat was relatively parch dry, since he hadn't drank anything for hours - melted ice cream didn't count.
His backside resting against the edge, he resolved to calm down and relax more, releasing a heavy breath of tension, when just then, a female student went up to him and exclaimed, "Kenji-kun! Come dance with me!" Firmly grabbing his arm, she pulled him out of his comfortable position, and he rolled his eyes, agilely snatching another drink before he was tugged over to the dancing floor.
*****
Countless minutes later, Kenji no longer noticed how loud and irritatingly noisy the music was - in fact, he found himself enthusiastically moving to the beat and rhythm of the catchy, fast-paced melody. Sweat glistened upon his face, and his head throbbed painfully as several times, his vision swirled and he was briefly overcome with dizziness, but he shook the effects off. He could hear his heart pounding fiercely, and he was beginning to feel albeit tired from dancing, but everytime he would try to sit down, some other girl would dragged him right back out to the floor again. Somewhere in his groggy, baffled mind, a voice told him to leave, check up on and continue to take care of… take care of… Take care of whom?
He released a shrill laugh at that moment, then started coughing into his cupped hand, startling his current partner, who left momentarily and came back with a drink for him. Murmuring, "Thanks…" with a foolish grin on his face, he quickly dribbled the liquid into his mouth and down his throat before dancing again. The girl before him smiled licentiously, her lips curving into a mischievous grin as she went up to him closely, and encircled his firm waist with her arms, inquiring next to his ear, "You're a real cutie, Ohgami. You don't have a girlfriend somewhere, do you?"
"Girlfriend?" For some reason, he giggled uncontrollably as he answered, "Noo… I just have a fest briend…I mean best friend…"
She chuckled while her hands furtively traveled down to boldly squeeze the twin cheeks of his buttocks through the denim material of his ash-gray jeans. "Mmm… you smell nice…" Eagerly parting her lips, her tongue slicked out and licked his salty, slightly sweat-glistened cheek. "Do you wanna go somewhere more private, and…play…with me? I promise you'll have a great time…"
All of a sudden, he clutched a hold of her side for balance when a sudden wave of nausea hit his stomach, and his eyes slid upwards into their sockets. Alarming the female even more, the ninja whispered to her raggedly, "'S-Scuse me… but I think…I think I hafta go outside and barf…"
Her eyes widened, then narrowed into a look of disgust when he burped in her face. "Riiight… Whatever," she snorted, turning around to stalk off, "You go do that. I'll catch you later when you're better…"
When she left, he sniggered devilishly, covering his mouth with his palm. "Gull…gullible… Now, ish time to go…" His words slurred, but he shrugged it off, and began stumbling through the room, blinking when certain aspects swirled and became blurry.
Shaking his head in confusion, he searched for the door, and when he located it, proceeded over there on weak-limbed legs, accidentally tripping over a busily-groping couple seated in a couch on the way there. Snorting carelessly when they cursed his clumsiness, he offered them a mere faint shrug, then continued to his destination, fumbling with the knob for a bit before being able to pull the tall wooden frame open. Outside, he passed by a few unconscious students laid down on the grass lawn, but he paid little attention to them, as he was groggily trying to remember where he had parked his car earlier.
Damn… I'm tired… The mole zoanthrope yawned while he thought that, walking a-ways before finally arriving to a familiar-looking blue corvette. Tilting his head to the side albeit, he stared at the vehicle for a few minutes, wondering if it was indeed his, then decided to retrieve his key and find out. Sticking it into the lock, he twisted the small object to the side, and laughed when the bolt yielded, slipping into the driver's seat, relieved. Turning on the ignition, Kenji absentmindedly ran his free hand through his dark cyan bangs, brushing them away from his eyes as he began to pull out of the parking spot, never giving a second thought to his stupid decision.
*****
"Hey, Daki! Look, Ohgami just left! That's his car driving away."
"Whaa? Oh, yesh… Is he… did he look…?"
"Dunno, man. What did ya give him? How strong a dose?"
"Just the…the ushual…" A malicious giggle followed the drunkenly slurred statement.
"With E in it too?"
"Of courshe…"
"Duuuude… too bad he didn't stick around… It'd have been hella funny to see what he would've done, you know…"
"I…I shent Wendy afta him…"
"Eh? Ya did?? Then why ain't she baggin' him right now? You know she can get guys into bed with the drop of a hat…"
"I dunno… Now shtop asking me so many queshtions… My head hurtsh right now…"
*****
Knock… knock… knock…
"Mmmm…" A whimsical smile curved Uriko's light carnation pink lips, and she snuggled more deeply into the warm comfort of her bed sheet, her mysterious lover's embrace cooing and persuading her back into the world of slumber. Gently cupping his cheek with her hand, she stroked his smooth skin, trailing a thin line along his cheekbone, while her fingers bristled against his dark… blue hair?
Knock, knock… Pound, pound!
"Ahh!" The girl was jostled from her pleasant dream, and she rubbed her eyes with the back of her wrists, blindly gazing into the darkness of her living room. What was that…? Did I really hear something, or was it just in my dream?
Scratching her head bewilderedly, she reluctantly arose from her sleeping position on the couch, and stretched her arms straight up in the air for a moment before slowly striding over to the front door, and looking into the peephole. "Hello?" She called, "Is someone there?"
"U-Uriiiiko?" A hoarse voice questioned, dragging out her name for some strange reason. "You…awake?"
Who's that? "Well, obviously…" The sixteen-year-old murmured, not in the best of moods to be bothered, as her back began to ache, but she ignored the pain and asked, "Who is this…? You know how late it is right now?"
"Ummmm… time to… sleep…?"
"Yes," she answered agitatedly, straining to recognize the speaker. "Who are you?"
"Sssorry…" came the apologetic, shaky whisper. "Uriko… ish me, Kenji… I…I think I'm sick…"
"What?" Kenji?! But isn't he- Turning around, she looked about the place frantically, at that moment realizing that her friend's presence was indeed absent… but after stealing a quick glance at the clock, she saw that it was near eleven o'clock. Tugging open the door, she met the form of her zoanthrope compatriot leaning against the wall, seemingly gripping it for support, as his stance was visibly unstable. She instantly became instantly awake at the sight. "Oh God, Kenji! What the hell are you doing outside at this time of night! Get into the house, quickly, before you end up catching pneumonia or something!"
Numbly nodding, he obliged, although instead of gracefully stepping inside, he stumbled through the doorway, collapsing into the open arms of the un-expecting auburn-haired teenager, practically making her fall from his full weight leaning on her. After releasing a surprised yelp, she struggled to help him regain his balance, gritting her teeth in effort as she leisurely led him over to the couch and then made him lay down onto the cushion seats. Letting out a heavy breath, she sought to start interrogating him about where he went, but seeing a fine sheen of sweat moisten the skin of his face, and noting that his eyes were closed yet twitching albeit, she pushed her inquiries away. Her first priority was to make sure her friend was all right first; there would be time for questions later.
Sighing, feeling concerned for him, the Kenpo student dashed into the bathroom briefly and returned with a warm, damp washcloth clutched in her grasp. Bending to her knees, she knelt next to her companion, and delicately ran the soft material across his forehead, dabbing his cheeks, wiping away the growing-thick beads of sweat. At the contact, he began to shiver, as though he had been left out deeply buried in snow for a long period of time, and then he groaned quietly, as though he were in pain. Her large brown eyes filled with compassion, Uriko wondered if he was still conscious, but if he was resting, she didn't want to disturb him, so she remained quiet.
It was he who started the conversation; "My…my head hurts… And I…I feel nausheous…"
"Shhh… save your strength," she coaxed, placing a slender finger over his quivering lips, silencing him. "I want to know where did you go, and what happened, but you can explain later, in the morning. If you feel sick, then just rest now - get some sleep, okay? I'll stay with you throughout the night just in case you need anything…"
It wasn't just the fact that he felt sick why he was in no mood to go to sleep at that moment… but he dared not explain to her the other reason behind it. Weakly glancing up at her, his vision slightly blurry, he grasped the image of her doe-like face as pale moonlight shone over her skin, making her seem to glimmer exotically. The long dark strands of her chestnut brown hair drifted down, hanging just inches above his nose, and his fingers twitched, aching to reach up and grab the thin lengthy ends. Her lips were in a partial pout, yet they were moreso pursed together in effort to tend to his condition; offering him a tiny smile, she trickled one fugitive hand along the curve of his smooth cheek, stroking him comfortingly.
Oh gods… Unknowingly, she was invoking a foreign feeling in Kenji, awakening a part of him that been well hidden until that moment, when she was beginning to touch him tenderly. The hastening pace of his heart rate suddenly isolated itself into acknowledgement and blood pounded in his ears, while the loud sound of his racing pulse made him flinch. His gaze flickering over to her eyes, he watched faint speckles of dainty gray in her light brown irises, her pupils shining despite the darkness of the night, seeming larger and more luminous to him.
Even with all the brightened aspects, he still noticed that the corners of her eyes were slightly drooping, signifying the state of fatigue that she was in. He waited for her to open her mouth and mention her tiredness, but she never did, just continued to lightly slide the tips of her fingers repeatedly over his skin. Instead of calming him like she probably intended to, she was bringing a heated fervor to him, making the cyan-haired ninja more aware of her motions. He keenly kept his attention on her, following the direction of her every movement, from the casual swipe of the cool washcloth across his forehead, to the light tap bestowed upon his utterly dry lips.
"You're…" he started speaking just then, a distorted look betraying in his eyes. "You're really…pretty…"
Uriko blinked at his sudden proclamation, allowing pink blush to cutely dot her cheeks before recovering, "Ah, um, thanks… I'm not, really, but thanks for saying that anyway…"
He feebly shook his head. "No… you are… Don't be… don't be shy in…admitting it…"
"Oh, you're such a charmer, Kenji," his friend teased him gleefully. "Your lines vary everytime." Before he could protest any further, she shushed him gently. "Now come on, go to sleep… You need your rest."
"Okay, okay…" he playfully growled, shrugging in defeat.
Closing his eyes, he relaxed his breathing, making it become steady and tranquil; satisfied, the teenage girl got into a comfortable sitting position, then laid her head onto his shoulder, and allowed the embrace of slumber to whisk her away. All the while, she never noticed or knew that after she succumbed to sleep, one eyelid slowly slid up, the twin creaking open as well, and the pair of darkened brown pupils that watched her dozing form.