Original Character Interview.
by artisanrox
Authoress' notes: OMG!oneoneone!I neglected to UPLOAD THIS ENTIRE CHAPTER! I'm so sorry. I totally messed up. THis entire chapter was added on 12/7/05. I feel so totally stupid. (falls over) (dies)
CHAPTER 13. DESPERATION.
Akiko gritted her teeth as she looked down to the objects on floor. She continued to persevere despite intelligent opposition and seemingly insurmountable odds, but she had, as a result, lost all three of her bracelets, and one of her earrings. They rested on the floor, seemingly laughing at her.
No, the jewelry wasn't doing anything to her, she admitted to herself. She knew she was continually hearing the chuckles coming out of her handsome, naked opponent, who sat aside her. He seemed to waver between amusement and boredom, and was taking full advantage of the fact that Akiko was distracted by his body, and moreso, his irresistible charm.
Losing again meant Akiko had to take off her remaining earring. She knew with dread that her second earring was the last of her accessories, and now she'd have to start cutting into her clothing reserve by taking off the belt around her kimono. Setting the earring on the ground, she waited for her opponent to chuckle, or make some sarcastic comment. However, when she looked over to him, he seemed to be gazing intently at her clothing.
"It's not coming off yet, so don't even think about it," she snapped at him. She still had her belt, her kimono, and her long, dark brown inner shirt to take off before she officially lost.
She glared at him for a long moment, but he didn't meet her gaze. It seemed like he was absolutely fascinated by the earthy, brown-and-gold pattern on her deep, dark green kimono sleeve.
"So. What's that on your kimono there?" he said, nodding toward Akiko's long sleeve.
Akiko raised an eyebrow again, then rolled her eyes, irked at his lame attempt at some conversation. She figured he was toying with her, but the lack of a sarcastic grin in his face this time was confusing.
She humphed and crossed her arms. "Reeds. And mandarin ducks," she said sharply, her head solidly facing forward, and her eyes closed. She knew she shouldn't look at him due to his unclothed state. However, when she didn't feel his gaze break, she turned to him anyway. "Why?"
His dark cobalt eyes flicked up at her for a second, then down again at her sleeve. His eyes narowed for a second, trying to take in as much of the design as the lighting in the room would allow. "Nice pattern," he simply said.
Her eyes traveled all along his body, then rested for a moment on his legs. Nice legs! she thought.
She squeezed her eyes together again and shook her head. "I don't want to talk anymore. Let's start again already, because I want to get this over with!" she announced.
Suikotsu grinned. "Big Brother will make sure she gets nowhere fast! He likes to take his time, especially with girls!"
Renkotsu hmmmed. Kyoukotsu and Ginkotsu chuckled.
Regaining that disarming smirk on his face again, Bankotsu's eyes twinkled. He hmphed playfully, and the game was reset again.
Akiko was trying harder and harder to defend her character, but eventually lost yet again. She growled, and undid the belt around her kimono. This was getting awfully uncomfortable, in more ways than one.
Before Akiko placed her belt on the floor, Bankotsu leaned back against the wall, a bit peeved. "I guess ducks aren't a good luck charm for you, because they're not doing anything to help."
Akiko was furious. She snapped her head toward Bankotsu, a hard scowl on her face. Bankotsu simply smiled at her in return. "Shut up!" she said, throwing down her controller again. She mashed her belt into a big ball and threw it at her opponent.
Bankotsu genuinely laughed out loud a bit. He flinched backward, putting up a hand to deflect the belt attack. He wasn't too concerned about being fast enough to bat it away, so the belt ended up smacking him lightly in the face. He reveled in the fact that she was so much fun to annoy!
Akiko immediately began the next match. She knew this would be her second to last chance of winning. She had nothing left after this other than the shirt under her kimono.
And sure enough, in a few minutes, Hotarubi fell to the ground again, to Akiko's horror. Gritting her teeth and growling, she beat the floor with one of her little fists, gripping her controller tightly. When she recovered, she straightened up, took off her kimono in the most dignified way possible, and placed it to the side.
She could feel Bankotsu's gaze on her for a long few seconds, so she glared back at him. They both knew that this was it! This was the deciding match, and one of them would lose either their honor, or their freedom. Akiko desperately tried pulling herself together.
She picked up her controller, and began the last game.
Her opponent's behavior was not what she expected for such an important match. He seemed to be constantly gazing at her as their two characters prepared to face off. He seemed to be in deep thought.
The final match was begun, but neither competitor made a move for quite a long time. It was truly all mental this time. Both opponents waited for the other to snap first.
Suddenly, Bankotsu put the game on "pause".
Akiko raised an eyebrow at the little word "pause" on the screen in front of her, at the same time feeling a rush of air over to her right. Looking over in that direction, she noticed Bankotsu's controller lying on the floor, unattended.
She quickly flipped her head this way and that way, wondering where the heck her opponent could have gone. He had disappeared.
She angrily screwed up her face, crossed her arms, and clucked her tongue in disdain. "Well, he could have at least told me he needed a bathroom break before just leaving like that!" she said quietly to herself.
She relaxed her posture for a little while as she waited for the young man to return. Her attention lagged, and she soon began looking around the room again, trying not to think about the fact that one more loss could mean her opponent could end up owning her for an indefinite amount of time.
She looked up at the screen seperating the weapons room from the main room again. She noticed he shadows were still there, just as they had been before. Gosh, that's kind of weird of them, she thought.
She placed her chin in her cupped hand, and placed the corresponding elbow on her knee while she continued to wait. Rolling her eyes in impatience, she briefly thought about how things would go if she had won her competition with the young man.
Hmmm. I guess we'd have to rehearse quite a bit. And it might even be better if I stayed here a few days at a time too. I had to travel so much to get to this stupid interview! Boy, the job market is just so horrible these days. You have to be in cahoots with someone just to be able to make a yen! It's ridi-
Akiko suddenly heard something softly coming up behind her, and stiffened when it made contact with her back.
She began to turn her head backward, but before it got very far, a bronzed, muscular hand and forearm came out from behind her. It held two of those little sealed sake jugs she had seen in the boxes she had previously dug through.
The hand placed one of the miniature sake jugs right in front of her, then the other.
It reached behind her, and ever so gently brushed her long hair over to her right shoulder. It came back to the front, across her body, then curled back around her waist. It pressed in a bit, and held her firmly to the person behind her.
Akiko was so thrown off guard, she unconsciously placed her own little, very fair hand on top of the one encircling her waist. What an incredible hand! It seemed so strong, it could snap katanas right in half. It was so dark compared to her own. She could feel the muscles in Bankotsu's forearm flexing as he moved his fingers.
Bankotsu temptingly slid a little closer to her, supporting himself with his other arm and pressing himself up against her back. He inhaled deeply, letting her feel his chest rise and fall.
"So," he breathed into her ear. "Want some sake?"
Akiko felt a large bicep press into her left side. Oh my god! I'm sooo done for! thought Akiko.