Okay, so this is going to be a long chapter. To make up for the past couple chapters being short, this one'll be the longest chapter in the story. At least, I think it will be.

- - -

Pink Camellias
18 – Being With You…
SethSolare

- - -

"So, uh, I called Shinobu, Keitaro," Yumihiko said over the phone. "So, whatever you wanted to do later on tonight is good for – well – whatever."

"What time are you picking her up now?" Keitaro asked, his ear plugged by his other hand trying to drown the sounds of the Tokyo street.

"Around three. We're gonna get some ice cream, hang out at the park and stuff," Yumihiko responded.

"You don't have to tell me where you're going to go," Keitaro laughed nervously. He stopped with the crowd at a crosswalk.

"I guess this would be sorta awkward, you feeling all brother-like with her and all," he said.

"Well, I guess she kinda deserves a guy like you. Motoko said some nice things about you before, you know, Kitsune," Keitaro walked onward through the crowded streets.

"That's a good compliment," Yumihiko responded happily. "Thanks for that. I'll be nice to her. But, I gotta get going. My break's almost up."

"Alright. That's fine. Maybe we'll see you tonight. Bye, now," Keitaro said.

"See you soon," Yumihiko said, and his phone clicked off. Keitaro closed his phone as well and kept on walking towards Tokyo University.

He passed through the opening to the campus, walking towards the library. Keitaro looked around as he sat down on a bench. Sighing, he pulled out his phone again, looking around before dialing Naru's number.

Opening his phone, he called her number while still looking around for her.

"Hello," Naru said, tapping him on the shoulder.

Keitaro jumped a little, closing his phone immediately, "Oh, wow, hey. There you are."

"Yeah, sorry, I had to help Mutsumi out a little – take her to the clinic and stuff," Naru said plainly.

"Oh, uh, is she alright?"

"Yeah. Just the usual stuff," she responded.

"Oh, so, yeah. I guess it's okay then," he said trying to shift around in his seat. "I got your book."

"I can see that," she said with a slightly sweeter voice.

"So, you gonna ask for it or should I just give it to you and leave?" he said, slightly saddened.

"About our fight," she started, "I'm sorry about all that."

"Yeah, well, I probably shouldn't've been like that either. It's just, you know, it was weird, fighting about them," he said.

"I'm kinda glad we fought, really," she said.

Keitaro looked at her puzzled, "What?"

Naru shifted to turn toward him, tucking her legs underneath her. "You know, first of all, that I love you. And, for all that love, we've never really had a full on, deep argument about stuff. Or, if we did, it was about really trivial stuff and it wasn't when we were all together.

"We fought once about my diary. And our closest fight ever was when I went and ran away after, you know, our thing. You know, when we were at all those hotels and we didn't really do anything."

Keitaro turned to her and smiled, "It was a little refreshing. Something important."

"Yeah, it was a good fight. Short, but good. And, I'm glad we had our first real fight. And, I think it's time we had our first, you know, make up… thing," she smiled.

"Really?" Keitaro's eyebrows rose.

"Yup," she said meekly.

Keitaro smiled, "Well, that's great. I kinda thought we'd make up and I thought we could go to Kanagawa's Neverland tonight. I mean, sure, Shinobu and Yumi'll be there, but we could do our own thing."

Naru giggled, "You can't be that oblivious."

"What?" he asked.

She giggled again, "You're so cute when you're clueless." She stood up from her seat and kissed Keitaro on the lips. "Go and get us tickets, then."

"What do you mean clueless?" he pushed.

"What do you mean Yumi and Shinobu?" she asked in return.

"Well, apparently Su really wanted to let Shinobu have a date. So, instead of Su going with Yumi, blind date for Shinobu."

"That's, like, weird. And Yumi's okay with the whole being thrown around thing?" Naru asked.

"Apparently," he answered. "They're both cute, I guess. They're both pretty special, right? I mean, last girl he went out with started dating a girl."

Naru hit him on the shoulder, "That's mean," she giggled. "And, yes, they're both very good picks."

"Also, uh, I think there might be something more going on tonight. I mean, sure, I'd like to take you to the place as our little celebration of our first fight. But, well, I kinda suggested that Motoko ask Kitsune to go there, too," he said, slightly embarrassed.

Naru smiled at him, "So you really want them to be together?"

Keitaro sighed in relief, "Well, at least you didn't get mad at me." Keitaro smiled up at her, "And yes. I do. They're wonderful together."

"And you're not just saying that because you think you might catch two girls making out on the couch one day?" Naru asked slyly.

Keitaro stood up as well and handed her the book. He leaned in, kissing her softly, "Go to class."

"Look at you, trying to be all smooth," Naru teased.

- -

"This is a nice place," Shinobu said, checking her hair as she walked into the building. "Is it any good?"

"I would be a terrible date if it was," Yumihiko responded, walking in behind her.

"You haven't been. In fact, you've made it a record three and a half hours with a movie and bit of lunch before that." Shinobu stepped into the interior and the smell of waffle cones wafted through the air. She smiled back at Yumihiko, "So I can get what I want?"

"As long as it's not that coconut flavored ice cream, get whatever you like. I think coconut is terrible," he said.

"What are you talking about? Coconut is great. In fact, I think I'll get it to spite you," she teased. She flipped her hair around and bounced over to the counter.

"Wow, she's definitely, wow," Yumihiko thought to himself. He walked up behind her, looking at the flavors he hadn't tried.

"He's cute. And he's tall. And why would Motoko want to give this guy up?" Shinobu giggled to herself. "I'm acting like a dreamy little girl. Gah, that's so not cute."

Yumihiko laughed a little, noticing her face turn red. "You act so cute. It's, uh, cute," he stuttered, his own face turning red.

"You seem flustered, Yumi," she said, trying to hide her embarrassment.

"Oh, and you're not?" he retorted.

"Definitely. I'm a cool, sensible woman in the face of men. The shoes say so," she said defiantly.

Yumihiko laughed as the two approached the counter.

After getting their ice cream, they walked along in silence, eating ice cream. They neared the park and sat down at a bench in a sunken, paved clearing. Surrounding them were trees and a garden on the far end. Several people, some on dates of their own, littered the area around them.

Taking in the view of the place, Shinobu sighed as she ate. "This really wonderful," she said.

"What? You've never been on a date before?" he asked.

"Huh? What? Oh, uh, no, that's not it. It's just that, well, aside from one date a while back, that a lot of them have been kinda crappy. Especially my last boyfriend," she said.

"Why? What was he like?" Yumihiko asked.

"Well, he was more into the physical thing. You know, 'Hey, let's go back to my place and stuff. I'm just kinda bored with talking to you.' Really dumb stuff like that," she said.

"Oh," Yumihiko responded. "It would be weird, I guess. I'm more of a talk and ice cream kind of guy myself."

"I can see that," she said, happily eating her ice cream. "I can hardly believe we've spent all this time together. I mean, I can hardly stand to be around the rest of the girls for this long."

"I bet it's a bit hectic at Hinata house. But, I bet Keitaro likes living there, being around girls all the time," he laughed.

"Actually, I bet he'd tell you it's overrated. Having to clean up and do stuff for us girls all the time is probably a pain for him. But, something tells me that he kinda likes it, too. Especially when Naru's around," she said.

"I can imagine. Motoko kinda mentioned stuff about them. Perfect relationship and stuff," he said, finishing up his own ice cream.

"They are kind of perfect. It's like, you know, destiny and stuff. Every girl dreams about that," she said.

"Every girl?"

"Every girl," she responded. "We've all got our fantasy wedding and stuff like that in our heads. Perhaps that movie star guy. But Naru's got her fantasy."

Yumihiko smiled to himself and looked away from Shinobu.

Shinobu turned quickly to him, "I mean, not that I've been thinking that far ahead and all. I mean, you know, we just met so it'd be kind of weird. I was just talking about the other two."

Yumihiko laughed, "I know. You didn't seem the type that would get all dreamy around a guy like me."

"Don't say that. You've been a wonderful date," she said, wolfing down her ice cream. She continued to talk with a muffled voice and ice cream in her mouth, "Most awesome date ever."

"Ever? In the history of dates, this is the best one?" Yumihiko asked.

Shinobu swallowed down the chunk of cone and ice cream, "Yup."

"Cool," Yumihiko smiled and nodded in appreciation. "So shouldn't we be meeting up with the rest of the crowd? Or is it just going to be us?"

"Motoko and Kitsune? We're not supposed to meet up with them, remember?" she reminded. "I do know that Motoko's gonna try and leave the house first without Kitsune."

"Why's that?" he asked.

"I have no idea. Probably doesn't want it to seem like a date. Or, you now, maybe she wants it to seem more so like a date, meeting up and all. It's weird dating someone you live with. But, like, I kind of worry about those two," Shinobu said.

"I'm kind of the reason for that worry, though. Kitsune thought that Motoko and I were getting all together-y a few days ago. But, she was just, you know, Motoko."

Shinobu laughed a little. "It's been like that with them for days, now. They don't talk to each other. They can't even look at each other. It's all pins and needles and it's hard for them, I bet.

"I mean, I like them both. But, if they're not together, it's just weird. They even had a fight this morning."

"Really?"

"Yeah, Keitaro called me today. Before you picked me up, in fact. Anyway, he kinda mentioned those two meeting us there and, me being curious, had to ask why. So, they're apparently trying to work things out. Or at least Motoko wants to. Kitsune, maybe not."

"Why?"

Shinobu sighed, "So many questions, you." She patted him on the back. "At least you're more interested in my life than my last guy. You're pretty special."

"Like, 'stop-eating-the-paste' special?" he laughed.

Shinobu laughed with him.

- - -

Kitsune and Motoko waited in silence at the front of the park for their friends. It had been nearly twenty minutes with no phone calls or anything. Kitsune felt more nervous with every second. She tried to keep the morning out of her head, but she knew that whatever damage she'd done started a week ago.

Motoko, on the other hand, tried to be calmer. She felt confident in front of Kitsune. "This has to work. For the both of us, this has to work," she thought to herself. Turning to Kitsune, "We should just go into the park without them. They'll call us if they want to meet up."

Kitsune looked up at her, trying to push away her discomfort, "I guess. I have my phone with me, so, yeah. I guess they'll call."

Motoko nodded, "Well, let's go." She took Kitsune's hand, smiled, and led her inside.

Within, they started off with roller coasters and spinning stuff. Kitsune, after some time, began to finally relax. As she laughed with Motoko, she remembered that this was much easier with someone. Life was easier. She felt herself becoming who she was again.

Motoko felt herself draining into Kitsune. Her happiness with Kitsune was all that seemed to matter as they plummeted several stories on the roller coasters. And, as they got off the rides, it all seemed to be like it was. Like the morning didn't matter.

"So, let's get some really good sake, hmm? I get to buy drinks and stuff," Kitsune said happily.

"I'm the one that asked you out. I should be doing that," Motoko said, smirking.

"A date? Is that what this is?" Kitsune asked, smiling back.

"Well, no. It's not supposed to be. We're supposed to be good with everything and have fun and all that stuff," Motoko responded.

"Good. Then since it's not a date, drinks for both of us," Kitsune said, starting to march off.

Motoko, though, grabbed back at Kitsune's arm and led her away. "Better idea," she said.

"Better? What's better than this place's sake?" Kitsune complained with a bit of a giggle.

Motoko continued to lead Kitsune through the pack of people to a nice little café, lit, now, by evening lights. The building itself was fashioned in a European style, a reddish, coppery hue came from within.

Kitsune looked up at the place, "Coffee's good, too." She shrugged as she followed Motoko inside.

"Actually, you need to try… this," Motoko said, shoving a piece of a chocolate covered banana slice into Kitsune's mouth.

Kitsune nodded in appreciation, "Mmm, you know, Su should totally be here for this."

"Actually, she bought out the entire store last time we were here, with Keitaro," Motoko laughed. "She still has some in her room somewhere."

Kitsune became distracted by the display cases. Within them were hundreds of confectionary treats that she'd never even seen. Many of these were imported, rare, and expensive. Waving Motoko over, "Since you took me here and asked me to this place, buy me that." Kitsune pointed at a huge loaf of fudge. In front of it was the sign, "Chocolate Coconut Coffee Fudge."

"I'll get you slice with some cof-"

"No, the whole thing. The whole… loaf. Is that what I call it? Loaf?" Kitsune asked giggling to herself.

"I think it is a loaf. Do you even want coffee?" Motoko asked, her stomach feeling slightly queasy.

Kitsune noticed Motoko's visible discomfort, "Hey, you don't have to eat it. But that looks amazing. It would be a crime not to get it."

"Well, it's your stomach," Motoko said. And she turned to place the order for the full loaf of fudge and two coffees. As soon as it was all wrapped up, they went outside and sat under the night sky surrounded by lights and sounds.

Kitsune took a sip of coffee and opened up the package of fudge. It was shaped like a long loaf of bread, sliced as such. Tearing off a piece, she popped it into her mouth and shivered a little, "This is amazing. It's crazy."

"You're crazy if you think you're ever going to finish that," Motoko said, her eyebrows furrowed.

"I can, and I will. But not tonight," she responded.

Motoko looked out at the park, realizing that they'd been there for nearly three hours. "You know, they never did call us."

"No. And I'm perfectly okay with that," Kitsune said, downing another bite with a sip of coffee right after it.

"Well, I guess Keitaro planned on it," she said.

"Planned on it? What do you mean?"

"He was kind of the one that suggested I take you here tonight. I mean, you know, after our… fight," she said meekly.

"It was a fight," Kitsune shrugged. "We used to have those a lot."

"Yeah, but never that intense. No actual blaming and stuff," Motoko said softly.

Kitsune shrugged again, "I'm okay. We were meant to fight. But, it's good we can still, you know, be friends."

Motoko nodded, "Friends, yeah."

"What?" Kitsune asked.

"No, friends is good."

"And, you know, don't worry about Friday. After this afternoon, it might be a good idea to stay friends," Kitsune said, her smile slowly disintegrating. In her head, she wished for Motoko to say differently. But after a few seconds of nothing, she turned away, shrugging again.

"I just, you know, need some time," Motoko tried to get her voice above the crowd around her.

Kitsune tried ignoring the words, trying to find something else to do. "I need to change this whole thing. Need a distraction," she thought to herself.Then, jumping from her seat, she quickly repacked the fudge loaf and grabbed her coffee. "Come on, follow me."

Motoko barely even noticing Kitsune had even stood up, jumped up and followed on. As she followed, she felt more boggled by what had happened. "This was supposed to be me doing stuff. I mean, what am I doing? Why am I feeling worse and worse about this? How did this get turned on me?"

And as she had her last thought, she stared straight up. It was a large Ferris Wheel. In the night sky, it seemed to be coated with glitter and some other magical shine. Each little basket had beautiful windows and were neatly painted.

The two girls entered into their own little world in the Ferris Wheel basket sitting opposite each other. But as they sat there, they were silent. "Maybe this was a terrible distraction," Kitsune thought.

"So, why'd you want to do this?" Motoko asked with a slightly forced laugh.

"I don't know. It seemed like a really good idea," Kitsune responded, not believing herself.

"It does. It is," Motoko said. "But, well, don't you think we should, you know, sit next to each other?"

Kitsune tried shrugging it off again, "If you want to." And Kitsune made room next to her. Motoko, then, sat next to Kitsune. And the two sat in silence, watching the park below slowly drift away from them.

Kitsune looked toward Motoko with a weird look, "I feel a bit weird."

"And you really wanted to get fudge?" Motoko asked sarcastically.

"Well, it seemed like a really good idea before the Ferris Wheel idea. And then it wasn't a good idea."

"Well, here," Motoko said, taking Kitsune's hand. With only her thumb, she began gently rubbing the back of her hand. "Does that make you feel a bit better?"

"No. I still feel funny," Kitsune said. "But it feels nice."

"Well," Motoko shrugged, "then I'll keep up on it."

Kitsune closed her eyes and tilted her head back. Motoko looked over at the girl, not understanding what she was really thinking. "This is just so awkward. I really blew it this morning and she doesn't want to even be here. This was a terrible idea," she thought to herself.

Kitsune tilted her head over more to Motoko's shoulder. Finally, trying to get comfortable, she rested her head on Motoko's shoulder while still holding onto her hand. Her eyes still closed and her voice soft, "Don't move. I might throw up on you and that won't be good."

Motoko's body relaxed as she sat, unmoving.

- -

Below, at the bottom of the Ferris Wheel, the four absentees watched the basket containing the two girls circled around.

"That was really sweet of you, Keitaro," Naru said clutching Keitaro's arm.

"Do you think this'll be good for them?" Yumihiko asked.

Shinobu pushed up against him, "Hey, don't say stuff like that. They're really trying… I think."

Yumihiko laughed at the phrase and turned away from the attraction. He and Shinobu began walking away toward the café that the girls had been to earlier.

"We should get going, Keitaro. You know, before they see us," Naru urged on.

Keitaro smiled, "So you think what I did was really nice?"

Naru scoffed, "Are you trying to get points with me?"

"When am I not?"

She rolled here eyes and followed the other two. "Fine. I'll cuddle tonight. We'll even sleep in your room," she teased.

"Then let's hope this is a good thing," Keitaro said, following Naru toward the other two.

- -

In her room, Kitsune threw her coat aside toward the back of the room. The gigantic loaf of fudge sat on the table in the middle of her room. "Aside from the obvious weirdness, it was a good night."

She hung up her coat and began dressing for bed. She switched into her favorite pink cami and shorts and tucked herself into the futon at the back of her room. Before switching off a small lamp on her floor, the only light source, she looked up at the framed picture of she and Motoko at a Cherry Blossom festival. She smiled before shutting off her light.

Seconds later, though, a light tap came from her door. And, then, a small crack of light entered in from the hallway. "It's nearly midnight. Can't I ever get sleep?" she asked herself as she sat up, pulling up her blanket to cover herself.

"It's me," Motoko said from the doorway. "Can I come in?"

"Uh, yeah, of course," Kitsune responded.

Sliding the door open fully, she entered as Kitsune turned on the small lamp again. Motoko entered wearing the same clothes as Kitsune. Closing the door behind her, she stood in the opposite corner of the room. "I have to say something. And, you have to promise not to interrupt me."

"I won't," Kitsune said slowly, trying to read Motoko.

"Good, then, well, I have to say that this, tonight, was good. I mean, I was happy. I know you looked like it. And, when I asked you to do this thing, I hadn't planned on it being very date-like. I wanted it to be just friend stuff. Obviously a relationship wasn't working with us."

Kitsune nodded slowly.

"And, well, frankly, I had originally thought that this thing tonight would help me realize that we can still be really good as friends."

Kitsune looked away from Motoko, slowly trying to connect the words together.

"I mean, that's not to say that my answer on Friday wouldn't have been yes. I mean, it might have been. B-But, that's not important. Today, you know, we both really hurt each other. I mean, you know, I-I said some things that I shouldn't have said about you. And, well, there was the whole ultimatum thing. And that really hurt me.

"Honestly, we've been nothing but a world of hurt for each other. A-And, so far, that-that hasn't worked out so well. So, you know, maybe going back to friends like I had wanted to today wasn't such a bad idea."

Kitsune looked away, disappointed.

"And I know it's hard. I mean, we've tried so hard to make this work. But, really, there hasn't been a lot of it. We just kinda threw each other together without really making an effort at making a relationship. And-and that kind of thing is a lot of hard work.

"We just kinda made out one day in the rain. That was just, you know, sort of random. Relationships should take time. It's a-a-a step by step kind of thing. We should, you know, really work hard at things like building trust, and being together, and cuddling up together some nights, talking more, doing things together.

"I mean, I always imagined that whatever relationship I had, it would form, you know? I mean, I wanted to talk the time to, like, make things happen. Or let them happen. Something. And, I wanted to have that time. I wanted to spend all that time. I know it's such a long process, but it's needed."

Kitsune put up her hand to stop Motoko from speaking, but it was ignored. Motoko continued.

"I dreamed of the relationship I wanted. I wanted it to be slow. And, I didn't get that. W-We… we didn't get that. This all should've taken time. And it needed it. And you know what?"

Kitsune looked up, her eyes blinking rapidly. A small tear began forming at her eyes. "What?" she asked meekly.

"I don't care about that anymore," Motoko said with a sigh of relief. "Can you, just… Can you please just come here. Kiss me," she whispered.

Kitsune looked stared back at Motoko, her mouth agape.

"Please? Kiss me?" Motoko repeated.

Kitsune's muscles relaxed. She felt a soft smile come across her face as she stood up from her futon. Motoko inched forward toward Kitsune. Holding each other, Kitsune felt herself gripping tightly to Motoko with both arms. Her breath quickened. And as she closed her eyes, Kitsune felt the soft lips touch hers. She smiled through the kiss as she felt herself fall away. She felt herself, her lover, fall down to the futon. The weight of Motoko on top of her, their lips still together.

Motoko broke the kiss for a second to whisper a few words. Then, the lights were gone.

"I love you, too," Kitsune responded.

- - -

A nice climactic chapter. Uh… no pun intended .

I tried to make the implications at the end obvious. Obvious in the sense that they are both like… 20-ish. So, yeah. I'm not gonna spell it out.

Anyway, I really worked hard on formulating the last speech the Motoko gave. By working hard, I mean, I kinda just wrote stuff down and made her repeat stuff a lot. I had an idea of what she would say… the concepts and stuff. But, I never really thought out what exactly she would say. I just started typing away and seeing how long I could draw it out. And, in the end, that's what I got.

For those that think I stole the last scene from Buffy when Tara/Willow had their conversation similar to this. Yes, I did watch the show. And I had already planned this entire thing. Though, the drawing out of the conversation and some elements of Motoko's speech were filled with Tara's stuff, it was all mainly filler stuff. I wanted to draw it out as long as I could before I couldn't take it anymore. So, I pulled from just about every romantic speech I could think of, and the Tara/Willow thing was the one that came to mind. So, sorry. (

Hope you enjoyed the story so far. I figure there'll be an epilogue. Or, hey, maybe even a continuation at some point. Maybe life after finally falling in love.

See you soon.

SS