Part IX: Of Laundry Rooms, Perfect Kisses, and Social Dilemmas
The next morning, you woke up unnaturally early. It might have been the fact that you slipped out of your bed and hit your head on the floor during your wonderful dream of eating an entire room full of chocolate cake, but you were okay with that, since there seemed to be a mountain of laundry to do with your name on it.
'Laundry is such a hassle,' you thought irritably as you emptied the pockets of a pair of Yoh's pants. 'The least Yoh could do would be to take the stuff out of his pockets before giving his pants to me!' Just as you were about to stuff the pants into the washer, a small, folded piece of paper fell onto the floor at your feet. At first, you pretended not to notice it, but after listening to the silent house for a few moments, you bent down and picked it up. You knew you weren't supposed to invade your employers' privacy, but this was probably just a receipt from a convenience store or something. But just to make sure of what it was, you unfolded the paper silently and read the heading.
'How To Give A Perfect Kiss.'
You smiled, trying to suppress a small giggle. Where did Yoh find this? Obviously, he had looked long and hard, since this wasn't something one would come across every day. And when the brunette had found it, he seemed to have been in a hurry, as the side of the paper was jagged; as if it had been ripped from a book. After reading the page over several times, you flipped it over. It had various passages labeled 'French Kissing,' 'Suck Kissing,' and so on. Becoming slightly startled by this, you folded it back up and set it onto the edge of the top of the dryer so that you could finish reading later.
'That was really weird,' you thought. Why would Yoh have this? And, why would Yoh want this? He doesn't seem to like Anna very much, so why would he have been planning to kiss her? They are engaged, but…--Wait a minute!
"Oh crap…" you moaned, instantly getting the picture. "It's for me-e-e-e…!" you fake-sobbed, smacking your head against the wall.
"What's for you?" a voice drifted from the doorway. Being in the overly-emotional mood you were in at that exact moment, you "WAH!"-ed and flailed around momentarily. A yukata-clad Ren was leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed and hair tousled. Apparently, he had just woken up; he didn't appear to be a morning person. But, then again, he didn't seem to really be an anything person. You attempted a smile in his direction before answering.
"Oh, it's nothing," you lied as you tried to hide the folded piece of paper by backing up into the dryer. "Hey, could you go plug in the waffle iron for me? I promised Horohoro-san that I would make him waffles for breakfast." Anything to get rid of Ren so you could hide Yoh's paper; you didn't want him to think that it was yours, after all!
"Why the hell did you promise him waffles?" Ren asked, not moving.
"It's sort of an apology for last night's civet," you said, grabbing onto the paper square behind your back so you could hide it as soon as Ren left. Ren nodded, but didn't budge other than that. Then he eyed you questioningly as you fidgeted with the paper.
"What are you hiding?" he asked suddenly. You scolded yourself mentally for grabbing onto the paper; now he would think you needed help kissing somebody. It wasn't like you had experience or anything, but you certainly didn't need advice from a crumpled up piece of paper.
"I-It's nothing!" you stuttered. Ren didn't seem to believe you, as he stuck out his hand for you to place the offending item in. But, all in all, he had a right to do so; you weren't allowed to hide anything from your employer. For all he knew, what you were holding could be a grenade ready to explode.
"Give it," he demanded. You flinched as you held out the paper, now balled up in a tight wad from your fidgeting with it. Thundering footsteps were heard somewhere on the upper level of the house, but you paid them no attention as you sorrowfully handed over Yoh's little secret. Ren smiled. "Good girl," he said victoriously as he uncrumpled the paper. You scowled momentarily at the "good girl" remark, then tried to inch your way out the door.
Ren's eyes scanned the paper, then he turned as read as a tomato. You blanched when he looked from the paper to you.
"I found it in Yoh-san's pocket when I was emptying them before--" you tried, but Ren stuck up his hand to silence you, re-reading the sheet of paper over and over again. Then he looked up at you again, though his eyes were softer than before, and took a few steps towards you, so that you were now almost face-to-face. Shooting one last fleeting glance at the paper, Ren let it flutter to the floor before wrapping an arm out around your waist drawing you closer to him.
"Tell me if this is perfect," he murmured, quoting the page on the floor, then he pressed his lips to yours shyly. You gasped silently; so many different alarms were going off in your head, though the love theme from 'Romeo and Juliet' was drowning them all out. What if someone saw you! --You could hear Pirika yelling at Horohoro somewhere in the house, but it was pretty distant. Having either of the Ainus see you like this would probably fall into first place on your 'Why I'd Like To Quit My Job' list; Horohoro would harass you about it day and night, and Pirika would never forgive you for locking lips with her crush.
Feeling Ren run his tongue across your lip snapped you right out of your half-formed thoughts, and you instinctively opened your mouth a bit, allowing him full access to you. He shyly inched his tongue into your mouth, and you shivered slightly, not moving an inch. But apparently, he was as afraid of this situation as you were, as you could feel the arm he had wrapped around your waist was trembling. You smiled a little as you draped your arms over his shoulders, and he relaxed slightly. You would have, also, but the Ainu-made shrieks and footsteps were approaching ever-closer by the second.
Not knowing what else to do, you attempted to break the kiss to inform him of the coming intruders. But when you tried to push him off lightly, he seemed not to notice. And your incomprehensible muffled moans (meant to be words) weren't getting the message across either. But what would break the kiss was a pair of sky blue blurs running past the door, who both did a double take and shot back to the door to see what was going on.
The more feminine of the Ainu blurs (who had been trying to retrieve a stolen hairbrush from her brother) gave a small squeak from the doorway, which roused Ren from his previous actions. Blushing profusely, the pair of you shot apart and began to stutter explanations, or (in Ren's case) death threats. Horo appeared to be slightly distressed, while Pirika was just plain stunned. She stood in the doorway, mouth slightly open and eyes wide and shining with unshed tears.
"Katsumi…" she squeaked, shaking her head from side to side. "How could you…? Even after I told you… about how… how I felt…" She couldn't continue stuttering. She ran off down the hall, tears falling freely from her face onto the wooden floor. The remaining Ainu gave Ren a look of disgust before running down the hall after his sister.
You sighed, leaning against the dryer and sliding down the smooth white surface onto the floor. There, you sat curled up in a ball with your arms resting on your knees and your face hidden in your arms. You heard Ren sit down next to you, probably in a similar position.
"Well, I'm fired for sure," you mumbled into your forearms. "Anna-san really won't want me around after what just happened."
"Why's that?" Ren asked.
"Because she thinks I'm a slut," you whined. Even though you couldn't see him, you could tell Ren was smiling a bit.
"Yeah, that dress is pretty bad," he said, fingering the lace at the bottom of your skirt. Apparently, after the kiss, Ren seemed to be more comfortable around you.
"It's a uniform," you said. After a moment of silence, you spoke again. "Should I go apologize to Pirika?" you asked, turning your head so you could see Ren, who stretched out his legs a little in front of him.
"Not now," he said. "You're probably the last person she wants to see right now. You'd better let her cool off a bit; I'm sure Horohoro will make her feel better." You gave another sigh, then felt tears well up a bit in your eyes; you were sure that you were going to lose your job, your home, and your friends. Before either of you could say another word, you began to cry softly. Ren looked a bit concerned.
"Don't worry, Katsumi," he said in a stern voice. "It's not like we actually did anything wrong or immoral. Teens kiss all the time." Ren was right; teens did kiss all the time. Only, they usually wait until they're alone… But you were alone…
"But for all Pirika knows, we could have a heated sex life full of nights of endless pleasure and -- what's so funny?" You glared at Ren, who had snorted in that annoying Ren-way that he did when he was trying to suppress a laugh; usually that particular honor was reserved for Horohoro, but today, you were the lucky winner.
"Your antics," he said, a hint of a playful smirk lurking at the corners of his mouth. "If we did have a heated sex life and so on like you said, wouldn't Pirika hear us?" You blushed, the tears in your eyes quickly disappearing. You smiled sadly.
"You're right, but I'm still fired when Anna-san finds out." Ren snorted again.
"No you're not," he said. You blinked.
"Why? Pirika will tell her and--"
"I'll talk to Pirika. She won't tell Anna if I ask her not to."
"Alright…" you sighed. Silence.
"So…" Ren started, blushing a tiny bit. "Was it perfect?" he asked in a Ren-ish tone. You smiled thoughtfully for a moment before shooting a quick glance at the crumpled sheet of paper that had caused you so much internal grief in such a short period of time.
"Yes…" you lied. Of course it hadn't been perfect, you twit! If it were to be perfect, Pirika and Horo wouldn't have interrupted!
"For some reason, I don't believe you, Katsumi," Ren said, slowly shaking his side. "But we can always try again…" And with that, he gathered you into his arms and pressed his mouth to yours. This time, though, he seemed to be more confident in himself; he was not shaking, and he seemed to be a bit more rough, as he forcefully shoved his tongue into your mouth. The two of you carried on for a little while longer, but when the sound of a certain blonde itako stomping down the stairs reached your ears, you were forced to detach your mouths from each other.
"I think it really was perfect that time," you said softly as you combed your fingers through your now-tousled hair. Ren nodded, blushing furiously as he retied his yukata, which had all but come off in the previous encounter. Then his stomach gave a loud growl, and you smiled.
"Didn't you say something earlier about waffles?" he asked, currently feeling more social than he had in quite a few years. You smiled, then tutted mockingly, shaking a finger in Ren's face.
"Yes, but you forgot to plug in the waffle iron," you fake-scolded. Ren scowled.
"In case you didn't notice, I was busy wreaking social havoc with you." You laughed a little, then pointed in the direction of the kitchen.
"Okay, now that we're done sucking face," you started, watching Ren blush even more than before, "Go plug in the waffle iron. I still owe Horo-san waffles." Ren stood up and started to leave the laundry room, but you stopped him by tugging on the hem of his yukata. "And drop the social mood. Anna will think something's up if you strut around here like Mr. Sunshine."
"Right," Ren said, before securing his signature scowl back at home on his face as he walked down to the kitchen.
Well, great. You were going to have a lot on your hands if anyone found out about your first kissing session on the job. So, you made up you mind then and there that this whole incident would remain a secret from everybody else.
You sighed and looked over at the pair of Yoh's pants that you were about to wash before this all started. You wondered how Yoh would take it if he found out about this. He did go to all that trouble to get the page from the book just for you…
End Part IX.