PROPINQUITY is defined as the state of being close to someone or something; proximity. A kinship.
Constant physical contact can result in an emotional bond forming between two people. Kindred spirits call to each other creating ties made even stronger with each interaction. Once this connection is fortified with a mutual understanding, it will not be easily broken.
"Don't be in a hurry to leave when the bell rings," the teacher said, slapping the piece of paper down on Denji's desk. "I want to talk to you. Cheating is unacceptable."
"Cheating?" Denji picked up the paper. There was a big red C with multiple question marks after it at the top.
The teacher decided to give the class a pop quiz based on the math assignment last night. Apparently since Denji did not completely fail, he had cheated. Laying his head down in his desk, he decided he might as well take a nap for the last hour. The subject was English, and Mari would be tutoring him on that subject tonight anyway.
A little over an hour later, once the classroom cleared of students, the teacher ambled toward his remaining lazy and careless student. He slammed his fist down on the empty desk in front of him.
Startled, Denji jumped, raising up his head. The test paper was stuck to his cheek by the drool that had pooled on it. Peeling it off, he yawned and looked up at the irate, red faced teacher with his bleary eyes. The man held another piece of paper in his hand.
"Here," he said, thrusting the paper at him. "I want you to retake the test right now. These are all new problems, and there is no one around for you to copy their answers. This will prove you cheated."
Denji took the paper, resisting the urge to snatch it out of his hand. He slapped the paper onto his desk and grabbed his pencil. A small smile formed on his face as he looked over the problems. He knew how to do this. Once done with the ten math computations, he confidently handed the test back to the teacher who had observed him the entire time.
"I didn't cheat the first time either," he said simply.
"We'll see," the teacher muttered, straightening his glasses as he took the test.
Yep, we'll see, Denji thought, his smile widening. He stood up to begin placing everything in his book bag. He looked forward to seeing Mari and telling her about this.
"This can't be," he heard the astonished teacher mutter just as he zipped up his bag. "Fuck me."
Denji's lips separated in a feral smile revealing his pointed teeth. When he turned to look at the teacher, the man blanched like he wanted to run but did move from his desk.
"Well, sir?" he asked, waiting in front of his desk.
"I don't know how you did it, but I know you cheated somehow," the irritated man insisted, handing him the test.
There was a B at the top this time. It was small and crooked. Obviously the teacher had not really wanted to write it.
"How did you do it?" the teacher asked, pushing nervously at his glasses.
"I didn't cheat. i have a tutor now," Denji explained, stuffing the paper into his bag.
"A tutor? Seriously? Who would - "
"Can I go now?" he interrupted, getting annoyed. This asshole was keeping him from seeing Mari. "I'm going to see her right now to study as a matter of fact. I look forward to the test on Friday."
Without waiting to be dismissed by the gape mouthed, flummoxed teacher, Denji headed for the door.
Out in the hall, someone waited for him. Hirofumi Yoshida leaned on the wall, giving him a lopsided smile.
"Hey, buddy," he greeted him a little too familiar as always. "How ya doing?"
Yoshida lunged at him, hooking his arm around his neck. Pulling him down, he gave his unwilling friend a vicious noogie grinding the knuckle of his middle finger into the top of Denji's head.
"Get off me, douche bag," he snapped, shoving the friend he never asked for or wanted away. "I don't have time for you right now. There's somewhere I need to be."
"So I heard. On the way to see your tutor huh?" He fell in beside Denji trying to match his long, quick strides. "How much are you paying her? Who is she? Does she go to this school? What school does she go to? Did you find her online?"
Denji was in no mood to play twenty questions. Keeping his eyes straight ahead, he refused to answer any of the questions flung at him.
"Is she your girlfriend? Did my little Denji find a girlfriend all on his own?" he asked in a distinctly mocking tone.
Is she my girlfriend?, Denji questioned himself. Mari had said she wanted to be something else, but she couldn't possibly mean she wanted to be his girlfriend.
Adding on a little speed in hopes of creating distance between himself and the irritating Yoshida, he ducked his head and shifted his book bag strap across his chest. Like an irritating, buzzing fly, his self-appointed guardian stuck right next to him almost jogging to keep up.
"Who is she? Come on, man, I need to know."
"No, no, you don't."
Denji tried to smack him in the face with his locker door when he opened it to retrieve his sneakers.
"What? Are you kidding me?" groused the guy who didn't know how to shut up. "Usually you're so willing to talk about the kind of girl you want and what you want to do to her but now all of a sudden you have one and you've gone silent? What the hell?"
"Back off, Yoshida," Denji warned him, heading for the exit doors of the school.
Before he could reach the steps, Yoshida seized him by the collar of his jacket.
"What's the hurry?" What's she teaching you besides math? Hmmm?" he hummed, poking him in the ribs with bony elbowing and giving him a salacious wink.
Denji swung his arm to knock Yoshida's hand away to free himself. He did not really want to start a fight but this guy was pissing him off.
"See ya, Yoshi," he said, sticking out his tongue. Hurdling over the three steps, he ran for the gate at full speed. He wanted to get to Mari's as fast as possible to tell her the good news.
~\'/~
"Coming!" Mari exclaimed from somewhere inside her apartment after he knocked on her door.
He could not wait to hear her yell that under different circumstances. His cheeks ached from the wide smile on his face from the salacious thought. He was still simpering like an idiot when she opened the door.
"Hi," she giggled, stepping back and waving her arm to invite him in. "What are you so happy about today?"
He could not take his eyes away from her face. She was wearing glasses; the cat eyed rims a royal blue color with a trio little rhinestones in the corners. Just when he thought she couldn't get any cuter.
"I didn't know you wore glasses," he stated as she took them off.
"Oh, I don't need them all the time. I've just been doing a lot of reading today."
"Do you work in an office?" he asked, noting her attire as she turned to walk away.
Today she was wearing a baby blue off the shoulder shirt with a ruffle around the top. The long sleeves extended past her wrists onto her hands a little. A body skimming black skirt that hugged her derriere nicely and stopped at her mid calf completed her outfit. Her feet were bare of course.
"Sometimes," she replied vaguely without bothering to add more details.
Maybe she works temp jobs and they change all the time, he thought, following her down the short hall to the kitchen.
"What are you all smiles about, Denji?" she inquired, restating her earlier question he ignored. She turned to face him, squinting her eyes while looking him over from head to toe. "What did you do? Or what are you about to do? You look like you're up to something Mister?"
"Actually," he began speaking, walking past her to drop his book bag on the low table. He took off his jacket, draping it over the couch, and rolled up his sleeves. This might become an every day ritual. "I've been up to something really good."
"Oh? Do tell," she responded excitedly, retrieving two cans of soda from the fridge.
"You have to come see," he said, pulling both tests out of his bag to show her.
"Here. I hope you like strawberry," she said, handing him the cold drink.
Mari popped the top on her can while waiting for him to go on with what he was saying. He held the pages behind his back while he placed the can of soda on the table.
"It's a good thing you worked with me on that math last night. The teacher gave us a pop quiz today."
He produced two sheets of paper, handing them to her. She exchanged them for her can of soda which he started to drink rather than opening his own. At first she looked perplexed. The big red C had several question marks after it. The other had small and almost illegible B on it. Her eyes opened wide, and she smiled so broadly he could see most of her straight teeth.
Denji finally understood the statement "a smile that could light up a room." His insides felt warm and happy just looking at her.
"Denji, this is fantastic!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms around his neck. She planted a hard kiss directly on his lips. Backing up from him, she held out the papers, pointing to the extraneous punctuation. "What does that mean?"
"The C was the first test. The teacher made me retake it because he was convinced I cheated. He even stood over me while I was doing it to make sure I didn't cheat."
"And you made a better grade! Take that, asshole!" she exclaimed, punching the air triumphantly. She grabbed Denji for another hug. "Oh, this is amazing! Yay! I'm so proud of you!"
Mari bounced up and down on her toes, her big boobs bobbing up and down as well. Denji's eyes followed them making him look like he was nodding. She must be wearing a strapless bra, pastel blue no doubt, since her shoulders were bare the ruffle of her shirt fluttered wildly over her bouncing breasts. In that moment he realized he had developed an unexpected obsession with the color of her undergarments.
Denji had a new appreciation for studying and saw there were advantages beyond the obvious to getting good grades. Receiving congratulatory hugs and kisses not to mention her little celebratory dances would be so worth the work. He rather enjoyed being showered with praise as well.
"Hungry?" she asked, walking back toward the kitchen. "I'm making Udon tonight. I might even have the ingredients to make you a cake."
"Udon?"
The first time he met Makima, she took him to eat Udon at a roadside stand. His heart ached so intensely he put his hand on his chest, rubbing with his fingertips as if he could massage away the pain.
"You don't like Udon?" she asked, closing the refrigerator door.
Denji debated if he should request a different food or decide to make a different memory associated with Udon so he would always think of Mari instead.
"Udon sounds great."
"Hey, you want to help me mix up a cake first?"
"Sure," he agreed with a smile, joining her in the kitchen.
Mari snatched the pink apron from the hook in the kitchen. While she tied it around her neck, his hands reached for the lower straps to tie them around her waist. Looking over her shoulder at him standing behind her, she smiled.
"Thank you."
"No problem at all."
"Can you get the flour and sugar for me?" she requested, pointing at the cabinet to the left of the stove.
She got the eggs, butter, and milk out of the refrigerator to put them on the counter. After getting the bowl and the whisk, she handed them to him. Placing her hand on his back, she leaned around him to flip on the oven to preheat it then instructed him to get the pans from the drawer under the oven. There was not much room in the miniscule kitchen, leaving her no choice but to brush against him or lay a hand on him in same way every time she moved.
Her breasts pressed against his back and over the width of it when she scooted past him to dig in a drawer on his other side for measuring cup. Pushing up on her tiptoes, she strained to reach the vanilla. Her fingertips barely brushed the bottle on the second shelf pushing it further back.
"Dammit," she grumbled.
Denji reached up to grab the bottle. He held it out to her, returning her beaming smile.
"Thanks. I hope a vanilla cake is okay. I'm out of cocoa powder. I do have chocolate chips," she added, moving away from him to open another cabinet.
"Vanilla is fine," he assured her. "What do you need to me to do to help?"
"Since you have plenty of muscle..." She raised her arms in a body builder pose flexing her biceps although they were hidden by the flowing sleeves of her shirt. Her antics made him chuckle. "I'm going to need you to whisk the butter and sugar together." She squeezed his bicep as if testing his muscle mass. "Oh, yes, that's quite nice."
Denji blushed with happiness, feeling warm all over. Once the butter and sugar were measured and in the bowl, Mari handed it and the whisk to him. He liked being close to her. Performing such a mundane activity as mixing up a cake felt special while standing beside her. It was special because it was his cake.
They were in constant physical contact, arms and hips brushing and bumping, as she moved around him, measuring and adding more ingredients to the bowl while he continued to stir. His eyes would flash to her face from time to time to see her serious expression, eyebrows drawn together. Sometimes her lips would move, mouthing words as she silently talked to herself - probably going over the recipe in her head to recall ingredients and proper amounts.
He had learned to cook a few things. Once Aki was gone, he was forced to learn how to cook for himself or die of starvation. He wished he had paid more attention those times when his roommate and friend had tried to teach him how to cook.
The deaths of his work associates always came as a shock, although it really shouldn't since there profession was Devil hunting. The fact he thought of them as friends, made it even more difficult.
"Denji."
"Hmm?"
"You can stop stirring now." Her hand rested on his to make him cease moving. Her large, barely blue eyes blinked at him questioningly. "Are you okay?"
"Just thinking," he replied, setting the bowl on the counter top. His frown was so deep he could feel the muscles drawing his lips downward.
"Yeah, I have a bad habit of that too," she joked, giving him a wink and a smile.
Denji sighed in relief. He was glad she did not ask him to talk about it or make a comment about the sad look on his face. His eyes followed her hands as she poured the batter into the two pans, evenly dividing the batter to make a two layer cake.
"We can make the icing after dinner when the cakes are cool. Oh, shoot! I should get started on dinner as well."
"Can I help?"
"Of course."
Once the pans of batter were in the oven, they moved on to preparing the next phase of the meal. Mari placed the wooden cutting board and knife on the counter, and he dutifully took his place to get ready to slice and dice. Her breast pressed against his arm when she reached around him to place the head of napa cabbage and two large carrots on the board.
"This is nice," she remarked, placing the pot of water on the stove.
"What is?" Denji asked, scraping the onions and garlic into the hot skillet. He purposely stepped a bit closer to her so their sides would be touching just a little as she stirred the food in the pan.
"Being here...with you...like this." She glanced up at him, a toothy grin on her face. Her cheeks were pink. He could not be sure if it was from the heat of the stove or a blush of happiness. Either way, she looked beautiful.
"Yeah. I like it too," he agreed. "It's so much better than being alone."
"Meals always taste better when eaten with someone. I wonder how much better it will taste since we're making it together," she mused, casting him a furtive glance.
Denji inhaled and held his breath when she pushed against him, his arm nestling between her breasts as she reached for the sliced cabbage and carrots. He exhaled noisily when she turned back, taking her breasts away from hugging his arm, to dump the vegetables into the skillet.
"Can you put the noodles in the water? It's boiling. Please stir them so they won't stick together," she directed him. "We're almost ready."
"It smells great." He nudged her hip with his while stirring. She pushed back with her hip and giggled.
The timer when off for the cakes.
"Oh, where are those stupid...aha!" Mari exclaimed, grabbing for her oven mitts. Once they were on, she tapped Denji's leg to signal him to back up a little.
Denji took a few steps back to stand right behind her. His eyes instantly went to her behind as she bent over to pull out the first cake. The skirt clung to her in all the right places, accentuating the roundness of her hips. The material outlined the curve of her behind, highlighting the firmness of her butt cheeks. His palms itched he wanted to grab her ass so badly.
As she reached for the second cake, he stepped forward, leaving her no choice but to back into him when she stood up. For a moment, his bulging erection pushed against her wonderfully muscled backside.
"Oh!" she exclaimed in surprise, almost dropping the cake but managing to recover in time for it to only wobble uncertainly in her grip.
Denji's hands rested on her hips, his body turning with hers when she rotated to set the cake on the counter next to the first one. Inhaling, he could smell the scent of vanilla on her as if she had used it as a perfume.
He placed a kiss on the back of her neck left uncovered by her short hair. His tongue sneaked out to take a lick, tasting a little bit of saltiness then a cloying sweetness as if she had been sprinkled with sugar. She shivered, rubbing against him.
A wave of heat rolled over his body from his head down to his toes. Sweat beaded above his lip and across his forehead. His entire body thrummed with each beat of his heart. It was so damn hot in this tiny kitchen and getting hotter.
"Uhm, I should take up those noodles. We don't want them to overcook. Nobody likes a limp noodle," Mari reminded him.
There was definitely no limpness here. Denji lifted his hands from her hips.
A plume of steam rose up like a cloud when she poured the noodles into the colander in the sink. She dumped the noodles into the skillet.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"I'm making Yaki Udon. I prefer the noodles stir fried rather than in a soup," she explained, stirring them around with chopsticks.
Well, his second experience with eating Udon with a woman could not be more different from the first already considering he was assiting her with the cooking. Mari had just made it even more unique. She continued placing many many degrees of separation between herself and Makima. One more reason to fall further in love with her.
"Let's eat!" she announced, turning to face him with a large bowl of noodles in each hand.
"Bon appetit," he said, taking one of the bowls.
Mari threw back her head, laughing loudly. He liked that she wasn't afraid to laugh as loud as she wanted, to fully enjoy whatever made her happy in that moment.
"Bon appetit indeed," she said with an undercurrent of an amused chuckle in her voice.
Denji walked around the counter to take a seat on the other side on one of the barstools. For a change, rather than staying in the kitchen, she sat down on the other stool beside his. After a few bites, she moaned her approval.
"Oh, my God," she sighed, slurping up another mouthful of noodles. "So good. It is so much better because we cooked it together. Ohhhh," she groaned heartily, sucking in another mouthful.
"Whoa," Denji murmured, watching her eat.
For the first time he was seeing her dig into her food with gusto. She was making an absolute pig of herself, filling her mouth until her cheeks puffed out. He found it weirdly sexy how she kept rolling her eyes and moaning, talking with her mouth full to utter how good it tasted.
"I should help you cook more often," he said, turning his attention back to his own food.
"You should," she rejoined enthusiastically.
"Do you want me to help with the dishes?" he asked, imagining what fun might ensue there. They could engage in a bubble fight. Or he could "accidentally" spray her down, drenching her shirt. Then she would have to take it off.
"Nah, I'll do them later after you go home," she said.
FUCK! What a way to burst my bubble without meaning to, Mari, he thought, raising his bowl to his mouth to shovel in the last of his noodles.
"We need to get to your studies," she reminded him, further verbally dousing cold water on him. "You've got study for your English test right?"
"Yeah. The words are anatomical terms."
"Rrrreally?" she growled suggestively, her eyebrow jumping upward.
Her sudden burst of flirtatiousness caught him offguard. His face heated rapidly, the blush extending down his neck to his chest. He sputtered and coughed.
"Oh, goodness!" she exclaimed, hopping off her bar stool. She patted him on the back a few times then ran around to the refrigerator to grab a bottle of cold water to hand it to him. "Are you okay?"
He twisted off the top with a crack of the seal and drank down half the bottle. She was still patting his back as if trying to burp a baby.
"I'm fine," he wheezed. "Ready to get started?"
"Ready whenever you are." Then she remembered the cakes needed to be turned out onto the rack to finish cooling. "Get everything ready, and I'll be over there in a minute."
"Okay."
Denji proceeded to the low table. This time he only took out one notebook, his English textbook, and a pen. After taking a seat on the cushion, he wondered how she was going to sit down here in that tight skirt.
He did not have to wonder for long because she sat down on the couch instead, crossing her legs at her ankles while leaning forward. Although she was not sitting on the floor beside him, this was so much better because he had a lovely view down the front of her shirt. As he suspected, the color of her bra matched her shirt perfectly. Her underwear collection must be extensive to match all of her clothes.
"So what have we got here?" she asked, reaching for the textbook with words in English in different fonts and colors all over the cover.
"I have to be able to pronounce them and spell them," he explained. "I think they're pretty basic."
"But anatomy? Really? These terms are so random. Oh, I see. Each chapter has a different theme. Whatever," she mumbled. "Want me to call them out? You can say it and write it down as I call them."
"Okay." He positioned his pen over his notebook paper.
"Cranium," Mari said, placing her hand on the top of his head.
"Why are you doing that?"
"Memory reinforcement. Touching the body part will help you remember the name of it." Her fingers flexed, her fingernails gently scratching his scalp. "Spell it for me. Cranium."
Denji had no doubt he would remember something about this night but not necessarily how to spell these words. She continued to touch each body part as she said the word. Her hand rested on his shoulder, staying the word several times as he spelled it. Each time he called out a wrong letter, she squeezed, and he would start over. It was quite a pleasant way to be told he got it wrong.
"Spine." Her hand slid down the middle of his back along his spine as he called out the letters to spell it. When he finished, her fingers walked back up his spine while he wrote down the word.
"Cervical spine."
"Isn't that part of a woman?" he inquired, glancing up at her from his paper.
"No. That's a cervix. Quite different," she said, the corners of her mouth twitching. Her eyes narrowed as she glared at him with suspicion. "I swear, Denji, I think you're making this assignment up."
"I swear I'm not," he replied, looking back down at his paper. "You see it there in the book. Besides, if I had made up the list, I would have included the word penis."
"Denji!" she shrieked.
He ducked his head and squeezed his eyes shut to brace himself for the impact of a slap across the face or a smack to the back of the head. Nothing happened. When he heard her laughing uproariously, he opened one eye to tentatively glance her way. She was shaking her head but still chuckling.
"You big goofball. Okay. Back to business." She placed her hand on the back of his neck. "Cervical spine," she repeated, digging her fingers into his neck.
Goosebumps raised along the nape of his neck as her fingers massaged gently. Her hand slipped down his neck, gliding over his collar bone, and onto his chest. Grabbing his pec like he would grab her tit, she called out pectoral. She lowered her body from the couch onto her knees to kneel on the floor next to him so she could reach his abdomen.
Denji turned his head to look at her. Their lips were close, so close he could feel her breath. His belly sucked inward, the muscles forming even more defined lines. She pressed her flattened palm more firmly against the middle of his rock hard abs.
"Ab-do-men," Mari enunciated carefully, her lips brushing his.
He had no idea studying could be so interesting - or stimulating.
"Uh, uhm, could you spell it for me?" he requested.
Her hand moved in a slow circle over his midsection while she spelled it slowly.
Denji closed his eyes, straining to repeat the letters in the order she had just said them. He opened his eyes to write them down.
"Very good," she complimented him. Her hand eased downward over his hip to rest on his thigh. "What's this?"
"Leg?"
Mari squeezed his thigh. He made a hissing sound when he sucked in air through his teeth.
"This part specifically," she clarified.
"Thigh. Ti - " He received a squeeze. "Th? Thi..."
He was stumped. Then he felt her finger moving on his thigh. It took him a minute to figure out she was making the letters with her forefinger.
"T-h-i-g-h," he spelled out loud.
Mari positioned her mouth close to his ear.
"Very good," she whispered, her breath caressing his neck to bring up more goosebumps. She giggled, running the nails of her free hand along the length of his neck which made every nerve stand on end with a prickling sensation. "Chicken skin."
"What?" he scoffed, his nose bumping hers when he turned his head to look at her.
"Haven't you ever noticed how goosebumps make the skin look like that of freshly plucked chicken?"
Denji looked down at his forearm. Goosebumps had formed there as well from her fingers stroking him while her soft voice tickled his ear.
"Huh, they really do," he agreed.
He placed his hand over hers to cease the motion of her stroking fingers. He brought her hand to his mouth, placing a kiss on the pad of her forefinger.
"Finger. F," he began to spell. As he stated each letter, he placed another kiss on one of her fingertips. When he ran out of fingers at g, he started over at her forefinger to finish.
"You're smarter than you give yourself credit for," Mari said, brushing the tip of her nose across his.
"I guess it depends on the teacher," he returned, placing a kiss in the middle of her palm. Holding her hand to his mouth, his tongue lapped out. He could taste the umami saltiness from the soy sauce she had used on the noodles.
"Denji."
The way she whispered his name made his thigh muscles tense and heat rushed between his legs due to the influx of blood. He released her hand, pressing his forehead to her lightly puckered lips.
Her hand went to the buttons of his shirt. The top button at his collar had already been opened so her fingers dipped inside to delve into the hollow of his throat.
Denji tilted his chin upward to press a kiss to the hollow of her throat in return. He placed another on her collarbone as she released the next button his shirt. He continued to drop kisses along the length of her prominent collarbone. By the time he reached her shoulder, she was leaning heavily into him pushing her shoulder into his mouth while she pulled his shirt from the waist of his pants. His teeth sank into her skin ever so slightly as she opened the last button.
Mari made a strangled gasping sound when his sharp teeth pressed into her skin a little further, pinching but not breaking through. She thrust her fingers into his hair that extended well below the nape of his neck. Grabbing a fistful, she pulled his head back. Her mouth pressed to his neck over his Adam's apple.
He held his breath when she kissed the hollow of his throat. Only when she sat up straight to hover him did he find the ability to breath again. Their eyes locked as she leaned down. He expected a kiss but she stopped, leaving a small separation between them.
Her hand roamed over his chest. Her soft fingers discovered every dip and bulge of the finely sculpted pectoral muscles built by battling Devils rather than lifting weights. She pulled a moan from his throat when she pinched both nipples to cause a simultaneous burst of pain and pleasure.
Mari covered his parted lips with her mouth capturing his next moan when her nails scratched across his nipples. Her fingers roamed lower, over his abdomen. Her fingernails scraped his ribs, accidentally tickling him.
Denji grabbed her hand, grunting in protest while wrenching his body away from hers.
"Oh, sorry," she apologized, chewing on her lower lip. She giggled. "I never would have expected you to be so ticklish."
"I get sensitive when you touch me," he said, grinning sheepishly while his cheeks filled with a reddish color. "We should stop here for tonight. I'm kinda tired."
"Yeah. Okay." She sat back on her heels. Her eyes went wide. "What about your cake?"
"I'll be back tomorrow night," he reminded her, closing his notebook. He wasn't lying about being tired. Weariness settled on top of him like a heavy blanket. He needed sleep.
"You'll be back?" she asked, gnawing her lower lip.
Denji cupped her jaw.
"Of course I'll be back. There's no where I'd rather be."
Her eyes lowered from his, momentarily breaking contact.
"I have a confession to make," she said, her eyes reconnecting with his.
A confession? Is she about to make a love confession? He felt sick and excited all at the same time, almost overwhelmed by anticipation but nauseated with what she might say.
"I like you. A lot. I miss you when you're not here. I spend my days thinking about you, looking forward to seeing you again. And my nights..." Her entire face turned tomato red. "I think about you then too...in my dreams."
"I think about you all the time too," he confessed in return. The dreams he had dreamed about her were quite obscene but in a good way. He wondered if she had the same kind of dreams.
Her mouth opened then closed, and opened again as if she wanted to say something.
Why is it so difficult for her to say what is really on her mind? OUT WITH IT WOMAN!, his inner voice screamed.
"I-I'll walk you to the door," Mari said, getting to her feet.
"When can I stay all night with you?" Denji boldly inquired, shoving his book into his bag. He stood up, shouldering his satchel. He did not bother to try to button his shirt.
"Soon. Please be patient with me," Mari pleaded, raising up on her tip toes and kissing him squarely on the lips. "I don't want to make any mistakes with you. I want to keep you in my life for quite a while."
Devil Hunters had a frighteningly short life span in his experience. However, he had no intention of going anywhere any time soon. He kissed her forehead.
"I want to be in your life as long as you'll have me," he said, turning to go to the door. "I hope that's for a very long time."
"Do you ever think about the future? What you're life might be like?" she asked as she followed behind him.
"No. Not really," he answered truthfully. "I've always lived one day at a time. I've never really thought about the future because I didn't think I had one. I never knew if I was going to live to see another day. If I didn't starve to death, the Yakuza could have killed me on any given day. Now...well, things are different but it's still hard to see past the next twenty four hours. And sometimes that's difficult."
"Hmmm," she murmured sadly, staring at her toes. "I guess we never really know what the next minute brings, do we?"
"I can tell you what our next minute will bring. I'm going to kiss you."
Denji enveloped her shoulders, pulling her forward. He held her so tightly her breasts squished against his chest as he gave her a closed mouth good night mouth kiss.
"See ya tomorrow," he said, letting her go and opening the door.
"Good night," she called after him.
Denji raised his hand but didn't look back. He did not hear her door close. At his door, he glanced over to see she was still standing half way in the hall watching him.
"Denji, I - " Her voice faltered and she cleared her throat. "I want to be your girlfriend. Do you want me? I mean, ah, uhm, do you really want me to be your girlfriend?"
Denji smiled and nodded. His heart beat in his ears deafening him. He was glad she did not try to say something to him because he would not be able to hear her.
Mari wiggled her fingers in a small wave and retreated back into her apartment.
It wasn't quite the love confession he expected, but it was even better. He officially had his first girlfriend.
