A/N: Not my characters. My idea, though. Written originally for a challenge, but I liked it so much, I thought I'd share with all of you. Takes place in the live action Sailormoon universe, so if you don't know the characters, it's understandable. A note about the titles- "C'est la Vie" is Aino Minako's hit single that plays frequently at the karaoke center. "Lemons" gets explained in-story. Enjoy!
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It had been an average day at the Crown Karaoke center. Between the girls coming in after school and Mamoru sitting with me behind the counter, I hadn't had time to worry about the incident last night. Unfortunately, things had wound down to where I had plenty of time to think.
The issue with friends is that I feel bad if I tell them "no." You could consider it my downfall, or my biggest advantage. I guess that's why last night happened, really.
Yesterday started normally enough: after school, I went to work here at the karaoke center, checking people into their rooms. Usagi-chan and her friends came in as usual, flashing their year-long passes and heading into their favorite room. In all the time I've worked here, I've never seen anyone else use it. Mamoru came by, lamenting again about his failed love life with Hina-chan. He's a good guy, but has terrible luck with ladies. Case in point: Hina-chan. They grew up together. Her father was his benefactor. They got engaged and were going to study in England together. Then Usagi-chan got involved. Hina thought Mamoru had feelings for her and was seriously jealous. And I made things worse! Long story short, they called it off on her terms. I don't know if they even still see each other.
Back to yesterday, though. Takai had come by asking for help with some project in science. Naturally, I let him stay with me the rest of the day and we went home together. It wasn't anything weird or new, really. Perhaps I should explain a bit about Takai, first.
Takai is shy around girls. He gets hiccups bad. Everywhere he goes, his bento box full of lemon slices goes with him. He says it's his best way of curing hiccups, but I don't think it really works. He's also a fellow turtle-lover. Kamekichi and his turtle get along great. I think she's the only girl he isn't shy with. Once, we went to the amusement park. There were six of us, and it was like a big group date thing. There was Takai, Mamoru and I and the girls, Usagi-chan, Makoto and Rei. We got paired off: Usagi-chan and I, Mamoru and Makoto, Takai and Rei. They didn't go on a single ride. He was so nervous he wound up sitting right by the entrance, sucking on his lemon slices the entire day. That wasn't even the worst part of it, but it's in the past, and I already forgave Usagi-chan for ditching me in the funhouse.
Anyway, it isn't unheard of for Takai to come home with me. I'd been in the same class just last year, so I still remembered a lot from it. Helping him out with his homework would be easy. We'd finish it up and grab a quick bite to eat before I sent him on his way for the night, right? Wrong, apparently. We got set up in the living room, and were just getting down to work when I noticed his paper was complete. So was the poster he was supposed to do. I was confused, to say the least. If he wanted to spend time with me, all he had to do was ask. We're friends, right? And friends hang out together, right? So why the set up? To be honest, this was more elaborate than I'd ever given him credit for. Takai's a good guy, but aside from his massive turtle knowledge, he's kind of…lacking in the brain department.
I kinda shrugged it off, thinking that he probably had a good reason for not telling me why he really wanted to come over, and he'd tell me when he felt ready. At least, I hoped he'd tell me. I consider myself a pretty open person, and like to think that any of my friends can talk to me about anything that's bothering them, but sometimes, that just isn't the case.
So after I discovered that we didn't have any work to do, Takai was a little…quiet. Like he was hiding something. Never one to pry, I suggested a movie or maybe something to eat. He leapt at the idea, so we decided to eat at my apartment. Cheaper than going out, anyway. I don't even remember what we ate, but that's not the important part.
After dinner, Takai helped me with the dishes, washing while I dried. We sat back down on the floor and stared at each other for a moment, trying to figure out what to do next, and that's when it happened. I was so deep in thought, I never saw it coming. I never even saw him scoot closer, lean up or anything. One moment I was thinking about maybe shaved ice for desert, then the next I realized I was being kissed. And hugged. And there was a very comfortable Takai in my lap. I did the only thing I could- I kissed him, too.
It was nice. Nothing deep or wet, but his lips were soft and he was in my lap and I was…I was…I was freaked. Nothing like that had ever happened to me before. I'd never been kissed by one of my best friends, especially none of my best guy friends. I stood up, Takai tumbling to the floor, and bolted. I was halfway down the next block when I remembered that we had been at my place. Ten minutes later, I sheepishly opened the door to my own apartment, expecting Takai to still be there. Of course he wasn't. All his stuff was gone, too. I sighed and headed off to bed, expecting a bad day, and bad dreams to top it off.
The dreams weren't bad in the least, really. We were back in my living room, and he was back on my lap, pressing against me. We were kissing, but this time, it was open and I could taste the lemons he'd been sucking on earlier. His hands were all over my back, clutching at my shirt. We broke for air and both our shirts were next seen flying through the room toward corners. His hands were dry and warm, sliding over my chest as he kissed along my jaw and neck, lips gentle and slightly moist. I took control, leaning over him, one hand ready to help him remove his pants. I deftly unbuttoned his jeans, readying myself to slide them down. The only sound he could make was obnoxious, the sound of a frog in its death throes, or something similar, so I tried silencing him with a kiss. That was when I understood the sound. It was the same noise my alarm clock—my alarm clock! I shot up in bed, and quickly readied myself for school.
I didn't see Takai at all during school, so I think he's avoiding me. I really hope that isn't the case, because I think I have a solution to his hiccupping problem. He doesn't need to be around girls at all. If he came back over, maybe we could continue what my alarm so thoughtfully interrupted. Maybe he'll stop by the karaoke center later. I can hardly wait to see if he really tastes like lemons.