Chapter 6: Swimming Lessons

THIS TAKES PLACE SHORTLY AFTER VOL. 5

PLEASE RxR


Text Key:

'Thoughts'

"Talking"

Dreams

-FlashBack-

Taking it in his hands he saw it was the blue tanzaku Akira had given her and on it was written-

'Let him know

He's not alone

Let him see me there

and take my hand

Let him love me,

The girl behind the princess'

Mitsuru read it a few times before noticing she had tied something to the back of it,- an ebony feather...

end

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Mahiru walked slowly back to the entrance of the fairgrounds, her eyes staring blankly ahead as her mind raced elsewhere. 'I wonder where he went... I hope he's ok...' She blinked a few times, clearing her mind, before looking around. She was at the entrance, but no Akira, Misoka, or Nozomu. "Excuse me sir, but could you tell me what time it is?" she stopped a man who was leaving the grounds, "Oh, of course miss, it's... 10:45." Mahiru bowed and thanked the man. 'Well, they said an hour, I guess I have abour fifteen minuets.' But suddenly a flash of light directed her attention a ways down the street, where in moments a throng of people came running. Mahiru stepped out of the way of the stampede just in time to avoid being swept away. "MONSTERS!" one woman yelled, "A VAMPIRE!" came another voice. Mahiru didn't hesitate, how many vampires could there be in one city? People shoved past her until she reached the spot they were desperately trying to get away from.

"Nozomu!" she yelled. The Vampire was indeed Nozomu, and he sat, perched on the hood of a car. Across from him the two members of Dawn's Venus stood. Hokuto, the leader of dawn's venus stood chanting exorcist spells, while his partner Mutsura aimed his arrow. Misoka stood back a ways, trying to help as best he could, without getting in the way. "Princess! stay back!" Mahiru looked past the two to where Akira stood. It was a rare occurance for him to call her princess, but when he did, it usually meant he was being serious. She could see his pupils dilate from where she stood, and he had the expression of a rabid wolf. The last time she had seen him like that, had been when dawn's venus had trapped them at the WPF. But her thoughts were interrupted in a flash of silver and the screech of Mutsura's bow string. Akira tried to sidestep the arrow, but the projectile managed to slice through his side. The boy cried out in pain as crimson blood flowed from the wound, and fell to the pavement. Why hasn't he transformed? But the answer came to her instantly, 'Tonight's the new moon! he has no power! Akira no!'

"Princess!" this time the voice came from Misoka," Nozomu was the only one who brought a power charm, and tonight is-" but before he finished she bolted forward, she had to get to akira, if she could just touch him! Akira seemed to see where she was going with this and made a mad dash for the girl, his speed catching the dawn's venus off gaurd, he reached her in moments. It took only one small touch, her hand to his, and he transformed. where a once wounded boy stood, now a nine foot werewolf towered. His eyes glowed with a blind fury as he advanced on them.

'That girl... she somehow holds the key to their power... she must truly be the foulest demon of them all...' came the astonished reasonings of Hokuto. "Mutsura! Quickly! Kill the girl, she's a demon!" The archer quickly shifted his aim from Akira to Mahiru, and with a speed that might have rivaled even the werewolf's, he let the arrow fly. Mahiru watched the arrow, wide eyed, as it sped towards her. It seemed the world had shifted to slow motion just so she might be able to look back down at her body and know how she died. Mahiru clamped her eyes shut and waitd for the end, but instead of the feel of silver against bone, she felt flesh against flesh as two arms wrapped themselves around her waist. In a moment the strong arms became even stronger, until she found herself cradled in the grip of a massive Tengu.

"Mitsuru?" She managed to get out, her chocolate brown eyes wide with shock. Had he really just saved her? "See! what did I tell you? She is indeed a demon! look how she transformed the boy into the Tengu!" Mutsura strung three arrows into his bow, and aimed each for the young girl in the Tengu's arms. "DIE!" he cursed as he sent the arrows flying. Mitsuru dodged the first two arrows, but left himself open to the third. "Kya!" Mahiru cringed, waiting, once again, for another arrow to pierce her, but when nothing happened she opened her eyes. In front of them Nozomu hovered, holding the arrow in one of the claws on his wings.

"GO! Get the princess away from here!" Mitsuru thought for a moment of where he could possibly go and not be noticed, but the sight of Mutsura stringing three new arrows into his bow, snapped him into gear. Mitsuru outstretched his wings and shot off over the dawn's venus's heads. The sound of tires screeching signaled that they weren't going to let them get away that easily. Mahiru wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, and buried her face in his shoulder. 'They want to kill us...' were the only thoughts that resounded in her head. Suddenly the wind stopped, and Mahiru realized Mitsuru had stopped flying as well. "What?" Mahiru lifted her head from his shoulder to see where they were. Above them the clear night sky watched their every move, below them was the dark water of the Sea of Japan.

The bridge that closed the gap between the small harbor was just a glowing dot from where they stood. Mitsuru's eyes were wide with fear, and his teeth were gritted. Few people besides Mahiru knew Mitsuru's secret, he couldn't swim, and had an overall fear of water. "Mitsuru! you can't stop here!" Mahiru pleaded with him, if they stayed where they were they would be trapped between the water and the Dawn's Venus. Clump the sound of a car door slamming was head below them, and Mahiru saw Hokuto and Mutsura climb out of the vehicle. "Mitsuru! look out!" Mitsuru turned just in time to see Mutsura let go of the arrow. unfortunatly this time Mitsuru didn't have a chance to dodge, the only thing he did manage to do was turn his back to the arrow, putting himself between Mahiru and the projectile. Even though it didn't strike her, Mahiru could feel the pain of the cold tip piercing Mitsuru's back. A shudder ran through the Tengu's body and he began to shrink, back into an auqua haired boy. She felt them begin to drop, and wrapped her arms tighter around him.

They hit the water, sending a splash into the air. In her arms Mitsuru was a dead weight, dragging her down with him, 'I won't let you go... I won't let you go... I won'-t... wo-...let...' Mahiru could feel her life being sapped away as bubbles seeped from the corners of her mouth, and the warmth of Mitsuru's blood as it seeped from the wound on his back made her cringe.

-Is this how it's going to end? The Lunar Princess drowned because she was to afraid to live?-

'I'm not afraid...'

-No,... you cling to him like he'll somehow spring to life and save you. No, not this time, this time it's your turn princess... No ones coming to save you... what can you do?-

'I won't let go,... but I won't let us die either!'

Mahiru felt a surge of energy, and her eyes filled over with light. When Mitsuru's head broke the surface he gave a few hacking coughs before going unconcious, but Mahiru simply stood, the water continuing to rise until she was standing on the surface of the waves. The swells broke over her ankles, and the wind blasted towards shore, as if she held the power of the tides in her palm. Hokuto and Mutsura began to back away, their eyes full of dread. Mahiru continued to walk, with Mitsuru's limp body in her arms, until she stood not three feet in front of them.

"You have found patience in the blood line of the princess, but she grows weary of your actions, take heed, for the next time we meet, may be your last." the voice was not just Mahiru's, but the voices of every princess before her. The two men scrambled backwards and got into their car and sped away. The light in Mahiru's eys faded as the wearyness returned to her limbs and in momnets she fainted, falling to the ground over Mitsuru... "Oh we'll be back,... now that we have our trump card..." Hokuto said to himself as the car faded in the distance.

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The next night

Mahiru bolted upright in bed, her head covered in sweat, and her sides heaving with labored breaths. In her dream she had seen the Previous Lunar Princess, and something about water, and Mitsuru,... 'WAIT! that wasn't a dream! MITSURU!" It wasn't until then she noticed where she was,- back in her room. At the foot of her bed was akira, who was curled in a ball, sleeping. Next to her Nozomu and Misoka sat leaning against each other, drooling, but sleeping. Then, in the corner of her room, in the shadows, two dangerously deep eyes watched her, very much awake. Mahiru sighed in relief when she saw who it was. She placed her head in her hands, just happy to be alive.

"Gir- I mean, Mahiru?" Mahiru looked up as Mitsuru walked over to stand before her."Misoka said he saw you,... saved me." He waited, as if he expected her to confirm her actions. Mahiru just nodded, not able to look him in the eyes, she fiddled with the sheets in her hand to distract herself. "Thank you..." Mahiru looked over at him quickly, had he just said thank you? That was definitely not like Mitsuru. Mahiru opened her mouth to say something, but he cut her off,"But you know, if you would learn to take care of yourself those sort of things wouldn't be necessary." Mahiru stared at him blankly for a moment, but it quickly turned into a look of annoyance. 'What did he say!'

"Well maybe if you let me teach you how to swim I wouldn't have to save you every time you fell into a puddle!"

"Oh yea!"

"Yea!"

"Really!"

"Yep!"

By this time they were in each others face, threatening and insulting up a storm, until Mitsuru stopped, looking her in the eyes he seemed to notice how close they were. Mahiru gave a confused look when he stopped yelling and gave her that wierd deep stare. Mitsuru could feel himself leaning closer, and memories of the other night came back. Without realizing it Mahiru began to lean in too. "Errrr... I should leave..." came an awkward voice from the end of the bed. Akira's tail waged slowly as he stared at the them. The two pulled away suddenly, Mahiru backed against the wall and Mitsuru almost fell backwards onto the floor. "Wha? NO! I mean... SHE STARTED IT! and Like I said! if you would just learn to take care of yourself! So thanks but no thanks!" Mitsuru blurted out and stormed out of the room.

Mahiru just got that panda look and a band of red stretched across her face. By now Nozomu and Misoka were awake with all the ruckus. Misoka mumbled something that sounded like 'so close' before walking over to smack akira in the back of the head. "Good to see you're awake princess, you had us worried for a while there, You've been out a whole day. We'll let you get some rest now." With that the three of them left the room and closed the door. 'Did he just try to kiss me?... HAHAHAHA! yea, right!' she waved her hand in front her face as though to shoo the thought away and laid her head on her pillow...

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Next Morning

Mahiru only slept for a few hours and was down in the kitchen, even before the early rising Misoka. Sitting at one of the bar stools she buried her head in her arms. The sound of light foot steps and someone sitting in the stool next to her made Mahiru sigh, but she didn't lift her head. "Could you really teach me how to swim?" Mahiru smiled, tilting her head to look at the Tengu. He wouldn't look at her ; just stared ahead uncomfortably. Mahiru searched his features until she caught his eye. "Yes... if you're willing to learn, but you're so stubborn... it'll definitley be a challenge." Mitsuru growled at her comment and got up," Name the time and place, I'll be there." there was a definite shake in his voice, but he kept his features icy as usual.

"Alright, how about today, at my High School, five o-clock." She stated sleepily. "My swim practice ends at 4:30, and the pool closes at five, but my coach lets me stay late when I want." She explained. Mitsuru looked for a moment like he might change his mind, but instead he nodded and stalked off towards his room...

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Today, at my High School, five o-clock

Mahiru finished up her practice as ususal, She may have bad luck, and not be good at too many things, but swimming was one she excelled at. Each of the girls walked up to her, like they did after and before every practice, and asked if they could touch her so some of her good luck might rub off on them. Soon the only people left in the pool area were Mahiru and the coach, who handed her the keys to the biulding and walked of to the locker rooms. Mahiru pulled herself up onto the side of the pool and sat on the edge, just waiting. Suddenly there was movement outside the window on the opposite side of the biulding, and an auqua haired tengu hopped over the ledge. He stood, already in his swimming trunks, and looking a bit uncomfortable. Mahiru felt her face flush, as she looked at him, his chest exsposed. He had full muscles, but not so he looked bulky. They rippled under his skin as he walked over to her. When he turned around to look over the other half of the gym, she felt a pang of giult when she saw the healing wound on his back.

"So... teach" He commanded walking over to her. Mahiru smiled and got up, moving quickly over to her bag, she began rifling through it. Mitsuru almost choked as she got up from the ledge, her body flowed beneath the material of her bathing siut, making him turn a bright red. Her hair dripped water down her back and pooled between her thighs. Memories of her changing flooded back and he felt a little weak in the knees. "Ahah! here they are." Mahiru pulled out two inflated orange water wings. "seeing as how last time you were here you nearly drowned in the shallow end I figured I'd come prepared. "No-fucking-way." he stated plainly. But Mahiru wasn't going to take no for an answer, she walked over and tried to slip one on.

"I said no! god damn it!" Mahiru crossed her arms and an evil grin crossed her face. "Well if you really dont need them..."

"what? WHAT! Ack! Mahiru no!" But it was too late, Mahiru had already charged at him, pushing him backwards into the water. Mitsuru flailed madly until he managed to grab hold of the side of the pool. "WHAT THE HELL! you could have killed me!" Mahiru gave him a sarcastic 'you poor thing' face and bent down next to him, dangling the water wings over his head. Mitsuru growled as he took them. Then it was his turn to give her the evil grin. The sight of a smile actually coming across Mitsuru's face unfortunatly threw Mahiru's gaurd down and she didn't catch on quite quick enough, "What- ACK!" Mitsuru grabbed her arm and pulled her into the water. Satisfied, Mitsuru slipped the water wings on and let go of he wall. He splashed around for a few moments until he realized he really wasn't going to sink. Mitsuru glared out of the corner of his eye when he heard a snort coming from the other end of the pool. When he looked over, Mahiru was staring at him, apparently trying hard not to laugh.

"What are you staring at?" he growled at her. "oh just... taking in the image." Mitsuru tried to swim at her, but ended up getting a mouthful of water instead. "God damn it just teach me already!" He said righting himself. "Ok, ok, don't get your trunks in a bunch." wiping a tear from her eye she swam over to him," How's about we start small" grabbing his hands she pulled him back over to the shallow end of the pool where he could stand. "There,... now here's what were going to do..."

The rest of the evening went pretty much uneventful, besides the occasional sarcastic comment and splash fight. Mahiru made sure they stayed in the shallow end for his first lesson, but eventually they would move to the deep end. Around 6:45 Mahiru ended the lesson by climbing out of the pool and towling off. Mitsuru follwed behind her, tossing the orange water wings at her, and sitting on a pool chair. "Well, looks like you lied." He said matter of factly, as he dried his hair. Mahiru just cocked an eyebrow. "You said you could teach me how to swim... well, here I am, and I still can't swim without orange balloons tied to my arms." Mahiru snorted again, trying hard not to laugh and set off another Mitsuru time bomb.

"Well, duh, you can't expect to learn to swim in two hours." Mitsuru turned to face her, "You mean we have to do this again!" He moaned and fell backwards. Mahiru shook her head as it began to turn red, and moved away to find an invisible, non-existant something from her bag. "Don't sound so disappointed,... if you ask me, I-I thought we had fun." keeping her back turned to him she hoped he didn't notice her falter. "Well, if you didn't already know, tengu's are extemely adaptable, and learn like this-" he snapped his fingers imitating the speed at which a tengu could learn new things. "Well then, oh mighty tengu, what's your excuse? You haven't seemed to learn much at all about swimming in two hours, well actually you haven't learned too much your whole life by the looks of it..." Mitsuru stood up at this and gathered his things. For a moment Mahiru wondered if she had made him mad.

"My exscuse?..." his voice was sierious and thoughtful. "I blame the teacher." He grinned sarcastically at the girl, "Gya!" but the grin was soon hidden behind a sopping towel that flew at his face. Mahiru slung her bag over her shoulder and stormed out of the biulding.

'shit, shit, shit, shit.'

-why do you allways do that?-

'I don't know! it just happens!'

-I blame the teacher! what the hell was that!-

'Well its true!'

-What are you talking about? Are you kidding me?-

'How the hell am I supposed to pay attention to a fucking swimming lesson when,- well!- When the girl I'm in love with is standing in front of me in a bathing siut!'

Mitsuru went a bright red as he finally admitted this to himself.

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'What an idiot,... selfish, rude, ungrateful-' but suddenly Mahiru felt a hand grab her arm. She turned to give the tengu a scolding stare, but it melted as soon as she looked at him, his eyes had that same deep,... dangerously deep feeling to them. Like if you leaned in too close they could swallow you whole. "D-don't be stupid,... it'll take forever to walk home. then they'll have to send me back out to find you." Mahiru sighed, guessing that as good as she was going to get from the stubborn boy. Mitsuru wrapped his arms around her waist like he usually did and soon the bond between them and the earth was broken. Mitsuru seemed to be thinking deeply about something, but he was such an enigma, it was anyone's guess what it was. Mahiru gave another sigh, only this time a more contented one, and layed her head in the crook of his neck. "ungrateful, handsome, kind, thoughtful...' were her last thoughts as she drifted into one of the best sleeps she had had in about a month...

yeeep, that there is mushier then strained peas... hope you liked it duckies, and thanks for all the encouraging reviews! RxR i'll get the next chappie up soon, it's one of my favorites!