A/N: I am deeply sorry for going the whole summer without adding a new chapter. Summer proved to be a very busy time for me, as I moved houses and started taking classes again AND got myself a new job.
Unfortunately, things don't progress too much in this chapter, but I do hope you'll enjoy it all the same. The next chapter hopefully won't take as long.
Chapter 8: Awkward Silence
Lettuce began pacing back-and-forth in their room, trying to make sense of what she was feeling. "She knows, doesn't she?" she asked herself. "That's what she was trying to say! But then, what do I say to her?"
Lettuce then realized one other thing. "She was at the door. She heard me…m-masturbating!" she said. "I knew I shouldn't have done it! Why did I?"
Lettuce crouched down as all of her anxiety was giving her a headache. "I need to get some air," she sighed.
And so, tossing her towel onto her bed, she quietly snuck out of the room, leaving the other three girls behind.
Little did Lettuce know that Zakuro had one of her eyes open and saw everything.
Ichigo looked down at her body as the hot water from the shower rained down all over her. In particular, she paid much attention to her groin.
Earlier, she discovered that Lettuce's side of the bed was damp. Despite Lettuce claiming that she was sweating all night, Ichigo wasn't so sure.
Deep down, she knew what might have actually happened and it worried her.
Ichigo shook her head. "No, it couldn't have been me," she said to herself. "My side of the bed is still dry. Plus the pillow was still there when I woke up. And I know I wouldn't have climbed over it."
Ichigo took a deep breath. "Yeah...yeah, that's what happened."
Ichigo sighed as she turned the knob, shutting the water off.
Ichigo walked out from the bathroom and out into the room. She toweled off her hair and looked around. She noticed that Lettuce was nowhere to be seen.
"Looking for Lettuce?" Zakuro asked, suddenly.
Ichigo jumped. She wasn't expecting Zakuro to be awake so early. "Zakuro!" Ichigo said. "I didn't know you were awake!"
"Lettuce just stepped out a moment ago," answered Zakuro, as she rubbed her eyes. "She seemed kinda…worried. I heard her say she needed some fresh air."
"Oh! I-I wonder what's wrong," stammered Ichigo, as she tried to feign ignorance.
"I don't know," yawned Zakuro. "Did something happen while we were gone last night?"
Ichigo's body tensed up. "W-What makes you say that?" Ichigo asked.
"...just a hunch," said Zakuro. "In any case, you should probably go and talk to her."
"Y-Yeah, I should do that," agreed Ichigo.
Ichigo sat her towel on one of the chairs and began making her way towards the door. "Wait, aren't you coming?" Ichigo asked, confused as to why Zakuro was still in bed.
Zakuro let out a yawn. "I still feel pretty tired," she said, "unless you really want me and Minto to help..."
Ichigo gulped. "Uh, that's fine!" she said, nervously. "I'll find Lettuce myself." The last thing she wanted is to get Zakuro and Minto involved. Especially Minto.
Ichigo walked out of the room, leaving Minto and Zakuro alone in the room.
Ichigo ran down the hallway, hoping to catch up with Lettuce. But she stopped in her tracks when she realized something.
"Wait? They were gone last night?" she asked herself.
As it was still early in the morning and the sun was only just beginning to rise, the light around the resort was still dim and the air was rather chilly.
Lettuce walked around the resort, hoping that the stiff ocean breeze would help clear her mind and make her forget about what happened last night.
But no matter what, it kept playing in her head.
"No…wait…this is too embarrassing!"
"Please don't stare…"
Lettuce winced as she remembered some of the stuff Ichigo said in her sleep.
"I know…it's a little bushy…"
"I didn't know we were going to do this!"
As Lettuce kept thinking about that night, she felt a...funny feeling in her groin. She covered herself with her hands and pressed her thighs tightly together. The strange feeling was beginning to grow stronger and stronger. And with Lettuce completely nude, she couldn't really hide it well.
Then, Lettuce's eyes popped wide open and her body froze up. She lifted one of her hands up and carefully examined her fingers. She saw that they were now covered with a clear gooey substance.
She hated to admit it, but Lettuce knew exactly what it was.
"Oh no…" she thought.
"Lettuce?" said a voice
Lettuce perked her head when she heard her name being called. Standing beside her…was Ichigo, looking concerned. Lettuce stood completely still, mortified. She was the last person she wanted to see.
"I-I-I-I-Ichigo!" Lettuce stammered. "What are you doing here?"
"I came to look for you," Ichigo said, "you just left us behind. Are you okay?"
Lettuce opened her mouth, but she couldn't speak. "How come you're covering your vagina?" Ichigo asked. "Are you...hurt down there?"
Lettuce quickly pulled her hands away from herself and hid them behind her back. "N-n-n-no reason," she stammered. It was then that she was glad to be an "innie."
The two of them just looked away from each other, like they did just a few moments ago in their room. The silence was broken only by the sound of a small cough from Ichigo.
"Do you…want to…get breakfast?" Ichigo asked.
Ichigo and Lettuce walked over to the resort's restaurant, the same place they had dinner with Minto and Zakuro. Unfortunately for them, since it was still early in the morning, the kitchen was still closed. They could see the staff behind the counters prepping and getting everything ready.
Ichigo and Lettuce decided to sit down at one of the tables looking out towards the ocean. They sat across from each other, but they had a hard time looking each other in the eye.
"I guess we're here a little early," Ichigo said, trying to make small talk with Lettuce. "Sorry."
"Oh...that's fine," replied Lettuce. To be honest, she didn't have much of an appetite anyway.
Both of them struggled to come up with something to say to the other. "If the food from last night was good, I bet the breakfast is even better!" Ichigo said, trying to keep the small talk going.
"Y-yeah," Lettuce replied, nervously.
Another moment of silence between the two. Ichigo tried to come up with more things to say.
"So…you never answered my question," said Ichigo, "How come you just left us behind?"
"Oh! Uh…I…just needed some fresh air," replied Lettuce.
"But why?" Ichigo asked, worriedly. "Are you feeling okay?"
"Oh yeah! I'm totally fine!" Lettuce replied, frantically.
"Are you sure?"
"Yep! Never better!"
There was another brief moment of silence between the two.
"Um, Ichigo?"
"Yes?"
Lettuce then took a deep breath. "When you were waiting for me to get out of the shower," began Lettuce, "did you...hear anything?"
"Like what?" Ichigo asked, confused, "you mean like the shower running?"
"Uh...not exactly."
Lettuce then pondered to herself for a moment. "Nevermind. Forget I asked," she said, hastily.
Ichigo was still confused by Lettuce's question. She truly didn't hear anything while Lettuce was in the shower.
It was then that Ichigo asked a question of her own.
"Actually, I was wondering," she began, "did you hear anything? Last night, I mean."
"Huh?" Lettuce asked. "What do you mean?"
"Like...was I talking...in my sleep?"
Lettuce let out a small cough. Ichigo was talking in her sleep, but Lettuce would die of embarrassment if she were to repeat any of it.
"No," she said, "why do you ask?"
"You mentioned that you had a hard time sleeping," replied Ichigo, "I thought it was because I was talking in my sleep. I do that sometimes. It annoys my parents."
"Oh no! It wasn't that at all!" reassured Lettuce.
Although Lettuce was a little concerned. She had hoped that if Ichigo was talking in her sleep around her parents, she wasn't saying the same things she said last night.
The two were quiet again. They both wanted to ask more questions, but they were secretly afraid of what the answer would be.
"Hey, you two!"
Just then, they heard the sound of a cheerful voice greeting them.
Ichigo and Lettuce quickly turned around and saw Aimi walking up towards them. They were surprised to see her up and early, and with a bright smile on her face to boot.
"You're the check-in girl!" said Lettuce.
"Yeah…Aimi, right?" asked Ichigo.
"That's right!" Aimi said, cheerfully. "I'm surprised to see you two up early!"
"Uh...y-yeah," Lettuce replied.
"I'm surprised you're up this early," replied Ichigo.
"Me and mom take turns getting up early to check on everything, just to make sure it's all ready by the time everybody wakes up," explained Aimi.
Aimi stretched her arms up towards the sky. "If you're here for breakfast, the kitchen should be opening up soon," she said, cheerfully.
Ichigo and Lettuce blushed as Aimi's generously-sized bosom jutted out.
Aimi looked down and noticed that Ichigo and Lettuce's faces were bright red and their eyes were turned away from her. "What's the matter?" Aimi asked. "You guys look really nervous."
"I-It's nothing," stammered Ichigo.
"Yeah, nothing," agreed Lettuce.
"You sure?" Aimi asked. "You two are acting like a couple who just had very awkward sex with each other."
Both Ichigo and Lettuce cried in shock. "What are you talking about?!" Ichigo asked, mortified. "We did not do anything like that!"
"How did you know about that?!" Lettuce asked, horrified.
Ichigo and Lettuce froze in place. They slowly turned to face each other, realizing what the other people had said. Aimi looked on in confusion as Ichigo and Lettuce slowly slumped back into their seats. Their faces were redder than ever. "Are you two feeling okay?" Aimi asked.
"Yep!" said Ichigo.
"Never better!" said Lettuce.
But Aimi wasn't so sure.
Just then, the girls noticed that the kitchen windows behind the buffet counters were opening. The chefs then placed a few plates of hot-and-ready food out on the counter for anyone to grab.
"Oh look, the kitchen is open!" Lettuce said, somewhat breathlessly.
"About time! Let's go get breakfast!" Ichigo replied in an equally hasty fashion.
They both then let out a stifled, nervous laugh. The two got up from the seats simultaneously and stomped over to the buffet, leaving Aimi by herself. "I...guess I better go and get the front desk ready," she said to herself.
As she made her way towards the front desk, she couldn't help but think of Ichigo and Lettuce. She knew that something was up between them. "There goes another one," she murmured.
Ichigo and Lettuce grabbed whatever food was put out on the counter and hurriedly sat back down at their table.
The two of them then began shoveling food in like mad. They kept their eyes glued to their own plates, not once looking up and facing each other.
"What are you two doing? Practicing for an eating contest?!" said a voice.
Ichigo and Lettuce froze up upon hearing that voice. The two knew who it was...and neither were particularly happy to see her.
They looked up and saw Zakuro and Minto walking over towards their table. "Oh! H-Hey, you two!" stammered Lettuce.
"I should have known you would leave us behind for food," Minto said, annoyed.
Minto looked down and saw their plates stacked with different breakfast items: toast, eggs, pancakes, waffles, french toast. "Is there even anything left for us?" sighed Minto.
"Take it easy, Minto," said Zakuro. "I'm sure the chefs are making more food right now."
"Yeah, so lay off!" snapped Ichigo.
"I'm surprised that Lettuce is eating a lot of food too," said Minto.
It was only then Lettuce realized how much food she had on her plate, food that she knew she wouldn't be able to finish but she grabbed it anyway.
"Both of your butts are going to blow up big if you keep eating like this," taunted Minto.
"Minto," scolded Zakuro.
Ichigo just pouted at Minto. "You're one to talk about butts blowing up," she said.
"And what's that supposed to mean?" Minto asked, angrily.
"Piece of advice, next time, don't slam the bathroom door!" Ichigo shouted, slamming her fist on the table. "Especially when other people are sleeping!"
Minto (and Zakuro) felt as if something got caught in her throat. "That's right," Lettuce added, innocently, "I do remember hearing a loud bang last night."
Zakuro scratched the back of her neck nervously. It's no surprise that they would have heard Minto slamming the bathroom door, but now she worried about what else they might have heard last night.
Minto's face turned red as she looked away from them. "I-I-I don't know what you're talking about."
"You still have a smear on your butt," mentioned Ichigo, as she took another bite of her pancakes.
Minto let out a loud yelp as she frantically tried to take a look at her butt. "Oh my," gasped Lettuce.
"B-B-B-B-But," panicked Minto, "I thought it was clean!"
"She's just kidding, Minto," replied Zakuro.
"Hehehe," Ichigo snickered evilly.
Suddenly, Minto wrapped her arms around Ichigo's neck and locked her into a chokehold. "Oh, you think that's funny?!" Minto growled.
Ichigo was quick to tap out. She smacked her hand vigorously against Minto's arm as she tried to wiggle her way out. To make matters worse, a pancake got stuck in her throat, further adding to Ichigo's inability to breathe.
"Guys, come on," Zakuro said, letting out a frustrated sigh, "it's way too early for this."
Lettuce let out a sigh too, but more out of relief. While earlier, she was afraid of seeing Minto and Zakuro, with how awkwardly quiet things have been between her and Ichigo, they provided some much-needed emotional relief for her.
She hoped it would last the rest of the trip.
TO BE CONTINUED
