"Friend?"
"Yes, friend," Mary responded, sounding slightly irritated. She didn't necessarily mean to be rude or anything, but Ririka's unnecessary repeating of something that was a bit embarrassing for Mary to admit was making her feel agitated. Ririka had again found her after morning class and was following Mary through the corridors. This had become a regular habit, at first it started when the Student Council President had ordered the Vice President to accompany Mary, while the election went on. This too, had probably something to do with the fact that Mary had already turned down a seat in the Council once, and now they wanted to keep tabs on her. Now, Mary was quite sure Ririka was doing this out of her own quirkiness and social awkwardness.
The whole Momobami family was a mess of its own caliber. Mary was sure they were not from this planet. Not only because of the recent events at the school that included having their family disputes settled inside the school, while hindering with the other students' normal activities, but also just the strange things, like Ririka's creepy mask or the fact that the two sisters changed roles every now and then. Mary was quite adept at reading people, but when one is wearing a mask that covers the whole face, she was never sure if she was talking to the real Ririka and not Kirari just pulling of another stunt to mess with her head.
"Hmm… This is quite new to me, please tell me what I need to do for you, as your friend, Saotome-san," Ririka sounded formal as ever. She kept the mask on whenever they were in crowded places, Mary knew it to be pointless to argue about this but made sure she took the mask off if they were alone.
"Well, you could stop calling me 'Saotome-san' for starters, 'Mary' is just fine!"
"Well, Mary-san, is there something you'd like me to do as your friend?" Ririka kept asking, Mary was not sure if she was being serious about this or not. After thinking about it, she was quite sure this peculiar person had never had a real friend before.
"What do you mean? I don't need you to do anything, it's a bit strange to have you following me around, though, maybe we could hang around after school and do something, like normal friends do," Mary pondered.
"So, you don't want me to follow you around in school?" She sounded a bit hurt.
"It's a bit creepy, that's all…" Mary noticed the other girl looking rather upset, "…but, I'd like to do something together after school today, my classes stop around 4pm, how about yours?" she tried to sound reassuring.
"I need to check with the student council, but I don't think we had anything planned for today, so it should be OK, Mary-san!" The expression on Ririka's face lightened up.
"So, it's a date! Let's meet up in the main hall after classes," the blonde said, with a huge smile on her face. She waved for goodbye and disappeared into a classroom.
Ririka was left standing in the corridor alone, staring at the blonde's back when she walked away.
"… a date?"
Ririka entered the almost empty student council room. Sayaka was sitting in front of the large table, going through some papers and only slightly acknowledged that someone had entered the room. She gave the Vice President a quick look and a nod before returning to her paperwork. Maybe it was because of the mask, Sayaka did not notice how flustered the Momobami twin was. Ririka knew Sayaka had a huge crush on her sister, actually everyone knew about it even if they did not say anything, this sometimes made Ririka feel very awkward around Sayaka, especially if they were in the council room alone like this.
"I'm sorry to bother you, Igarashi-san, but I need to ask you something, do you have a minute?" The Vice President asked timidly. Sayaka lifted her gaze from the papers.
"What is it, Vice President?" Sayaka was clearly annoyed. When it came to the Momobami sisters, she had little respect for the timid one, hiding behind the mask and being way too indecisive about anything.
"I've recently acquired a friend, and I would like to know what the appropriate course of action in this situation is," Ririka explained.
"A friend? You? Don't tell me it's that arrogant Saotome-san you've been hanging around lately?" Sayaka sneered. She could not hide her amusement, nor could she see the malicious expression on the Vice President's face when she called Mary 'arrogant'.
"Well, as a matter of fact, yes, Mary-san is my friend and I don't think you have a right to call her 'arrogant', Igarashi-san" the cold decisive voice startled Sayaka and sent chills down her spine.
"Ahem, I apologize for my disrespectful tone, what was it that you wanted to ask?" Sayaka tried to correct her behavior, she did not want to start a war with any Momobami, fully knowing it'd not turn out well for herself if she did.
"What kind of things are we supposed to do now that we are friends? She wants to do something today after school, but I have no idea what she would like to do," the Vice President's tone was a lot friendlier again.
"Well, I don't really have time for friends so I can't say that I'm the expert of this but I guess the kids these days go the movies, eat out at low-key restaurants, go to each other's houses to play games or study," Sayaka listed out some things, looked rather puzzled while trying to think activities.
"I haven't really been to the movies or eaten out much, I wouldn't know any good places, do you know any?" Ririka was panicking. She was convinced she wouldn't know what to do with Mary.
"Well, just take her to your place for dinner then, I know the President will be busy with all this for the evening so she's not coming home to eat anyway," Sayaka said, pointing the pile of paper she had in front of her and sounding a bit more excited than what was appropriate.
"Right, I could do that… Thank you, Igarashi-san!"
"I apologize again for being rude, hopefully you have a good time with Saotome-san," Sayaka said politely.
"Oh… one more thing. She said, 'It's a date', does that mean like, a romantic date?" Ririka was blushing heavily under the mask.
"Oh, wow, uh- she specifically asked you out on a date?" Sayaka felt a bit jealous, for obvious reasons.
"No… Well… I'm not sure… Maybe?" Ririka tried to remember if this was implied, she had felt so nervous in the moment that she was not sure what had happened exactly.
"If you agreed to go on a date, then maybe asking her to come over to your house is not the best idea, might send some really romantic implied signals," Sayaka said, wondering what the Vice President actually wanted out of all this. "But if that's how you feel for Saotome-san, I can definitely keep your sister busy here, so you have the house to yourselves! You would owe me one favor in return, of course."
Ririka felt her heart thumping out of her chest. Was this what she really wanted with Mary or was this just Sayaka's own obsessions messing with her head. Of course, Sayaka would jump to this conclusion in a matter of seconds. Mary had been blushing over the whole friend-thing when it happened, what did that mean back then? If there was someone special in Ririka's life, that person would unquestionably be Saotome Mary.
"Uhm… Keep my sister busy here, please, just in case."
Ririka stormed out of the room, she was feeling so nervous that it made her stomach turn. She decided to go see the school nurse and skip the afternoon's classes.
Ririka was waiting in the main hall, she had skipped all the classes that afternoon, nervously paced around trying to calm herself. She had tried to go back to the council room, but Sayaka drove her out when the pacing around got on her nerves. She was getting anxious, she already knew which class Mary had, she double-checked this in the council room earlier, she restrained herself from going outside the classroom to wait because they had agreed to meet in the main hall.
Students started to fill the halls when the classes ended. Soon, Mary too appeared, walking towards the main hall with Suzui and Yumeko. Ririka was wondering if Mary had plans to go out with Suzui and Yumeko too, she would feel very uncomfortable around so many people if they were to join.
"Ok, guys, see you tomorrow!" Mary said to her friends and they parted ways in the middle of the main hall. Yumeko flashed the Vice President a big smile and waved, Ririka gave a shy wave back. Mary approached the girl who had been waiting for her, also looking a bit nervous.
"Have you been waiting for me long, Ririka? Yumeko kept trying to get me to do some afterschool gambling," Mary said, she always felt a bit weird when she was talking to Ririka while she was wearing the mask. She didn't know where she was supposed to be looking at. Ririka was blushing under the mask, heavily, because Mary called her by her name. "…oh, right. Manners. Can I call you Ririka?"
"Y-yes, of course," Ririka replied with a small voice.
"So shall we go, then? I usually take the train to the city, but we can stay around the campus too if you'd like." Mary said while gesturing that they should start walking towards the doors.
"We can take the car too, it's no problem. Just let me know where you would like to go," Ririka said, referring to their family's town cars with personal drivers, each of the sisters had their own, waiting in the school parking lot.
"Oh, right. Fancy. Sure, let's take the car." Mary kept staring at the ground while walking. Her own background was not wealthy at all, she only got into the school with a scholarship and struggled financially during her first year. She managed to win enough by gambling to survive in the school where most of the students came from rich families. She was not ashamed of her family but had been accustomed to the fact that the students from rich families had no concept of reality when it came to the actual value of the money they were so eager to gamble away.
Ririka noticed how the blonde seemed a bit absent while walking to the parking lot. She decided not to pry too much. The driver apparently spotted Ririka approaching and drove closer with the black sedan. The driver stepped out and came out to open the doors, he had pilot sunglasses on, but Mary could swear she felt the long stare on her as Ririka probably never had company.
"Here you go, Momobami-sama," the driver said politely while opening the back door. "Your friend will be joining us today?"
"Yes, she will. We are not going home yet, where did you want to go first Mary-san?" Ririka turned and asked Mary.
"W-what… Right… I really don't have a preference but if it's up to me, then closer to the city, I guess." Mary said, she had been a bit lost in her thoughts for a few minutes. The two girls got inside the car, driver hurried to open the other door for Mary and startled her when he rushed past. She hadn't decided yet if she liked to be treated like this or not and was not sure how to react. "Thank you, sir."
Driver gave a kind smile, apparently he appreciated the small gestures. The car itself was lacking personality with everything covered in black leather with small chrome details. Mary kept looking out of the window, still spacing out and thinking if she could ever get used to this kind of lifestyle. The silence was starting to feel uncomfortable for Ririka, who tried to think of something to say. It was clear that the blonde had her thoughts occupied with something, Ririka was itching to know what was going through Mary's head. She was worried that Mary had changed her mind about being her friend. Moments kept passing and starting any conversation got stuck in Ririka's throat.
They drove ahead in silence and approached the centrum. Mary turned at one point to check up on the Vice President, when she noticed her restless fidgeting, Ririka was idly playing with the strap of her bag in her hands. She still had the mask on so whatever expression she had on her face was unreadable.
"Hey, uh, Ririka? Can you take off the mask, please?" Mary asked.
"Sorry, no." Ririka replied quietly.
"But the windows are darkened, and we are nowhere near the school anymore—"
"I'm sorry, Mary-san. I have specific instructions to wear it whenever I'm in the presence of our staff," Ririka said even more quietly.
"WHAT?! That's insane!" Mary shouted a bit more loudly than she intended. "What kind of a sick- oh, wait- I know where this-" she continued, rotating her head and looking out of the windows. "DRIVER! Please, stop the car!"
Driver glanced from the rear window, he looked for a good spot next to the sidewalk to park the car. Mary shot out of the car, barely missing traffic on her side, door slammed shut with a loud 'thump'. The driver was just getting up from the driver's seat.
"Sorry about the door, no need to get up, can you wait a bit?" Mary shouted, already pacing around the back of the car.
Ririka was on the back seat, speechless. She barely had time to react when Mary had already circled the car, pulled the door open and held out her hand to Ririka.
"Let's go! Now, please." Mary's frantic tone got Ririka to grab the hand without a second thought. "Thank you, uh, Mister Driver, no need to wait here, I'll make sure she gets home safe, bye!"
The driver looked puzzled; he was not sure what to do in this situation.
Mary started walking, still holding Ririka's hand and didn't stop before they were around the corner. Ririka's heart was racing, she barely had time to enjoy the blonde's decisive hand holding hers, she was more worried Mary would be angry at her. She obediently followed Mary, almost bumping into her when Mary suddenly stopped.
"OK, so, now, can you lose the mask, please?" Mary asked when the town car was not on sight anymore. She kept staring at the Vice President, her poker face was giving Ririka no implication of how she was feeling. Mary was still holding Ririka's hand, Ririka had her schoolbag in her other hand, with a split-second choice, she decided to drop the bag and remove the mask while still holding Mary's hand.
Ririka's face was flustered to say the least, her cheeks burned red and eyes were starting to water. This was not at all the start she would have hoped for the evening. She was aware of squeezing Mary's hand, tried to loosen the grip a bit but her muscles were not responding. Ririka was holding her breath and waiting for any reaction from the blonde staring intensely at her.
Mary squeezed her hand reassuringly, her expression cleared, and she even gave a small smile.
"A lot better, thanks! I know I said we'd go to the city, but I got a better idea when I saw the route the driver had chosen." Mary said, staring into the blue eyes that were hidden underneath the mask just a moment ago.
"S-so you're not mad at me?"
"Of course not! Why- Did you think I was mad?" Mary looked worried.
"Well, you didn't say anything in the car and I wanted to ask about it, but couldn't find the right words to ask without sounding too intrusive," Ririka hurried to explain how she had understood the situation.
"No need to be so coy with me, it's just me, Ririka." Mary flashed a grin and a faint tint of red was forming on her cheeks as well. "So, let's get going, it's still a bit of a walk from here. Don't forget your bag!"
Feeling awkwardly out of hands to use, Ririka was forced to let go of Mary's hand to pick up her bag and tuck her mask inside. Mary waited for the other girl to gather her things before gesturing the direction they were headed and started walking. Ririka walked slightly behind her, holding her schoolbag with two hands in front of her. Ririka remembered the lecture Mary had given her a while ago how she should start making her own decisions and decide what she wanted. She couldn't stop thinking how she'd like to hold Mary's hand, as they approached a cross road with a red traffic light for pedestrians she took a long breath before opening her mouth.
"Actually, Mary-san, I liked holding your hand back there. Would you mind if we did that for the rest of the walk?" Ririka tried her best to hide the nervousness in her tone. Mary was taken aback by this sudden suggestion.
"Eeh?! What's this all of a sudden? I guess it's OK, though…" Mary kept blushing and looking away, but held her hand out. Ririka gladly grabbed the hand and beamed. The light turned green and the girls crossed the street. Ririka had no idea where they were, she had never really been walking in strange places like this before. The buildings were tall, but there were not many big department stores around, just small shops and restaurants lining the streets.
"Ahem, so I guess I could tell you where we are going and why," Mary started, still holding Ririka's hand. "Since I know how awkward you get around people, I thought it'd be nicer to spend time with just the two of us. I'm very curious to say the least to know more about your uh- interesting family arrangements."
"Oh, like the deal with my mask?" Ririka caught the drift where the conversation was going.
"Especially the mask, yes. And what's up with switching places with Kirari all the time? I mean, I get why you do it do get people off guard when you are gambling, but does it happen often, and did you practice this a lot when you were kids? Whose idea was it anyway? I have like a gazillion questions, sorry."
"No, it's OK, I can tell you when we're somewhere private, I promise. But on one condition," Ririka said, expecting Mary to ask what the condition was.
"Heh, of course there is a catch. So, what will it be?" Mary asked, slightly amused.
"I get to ask a question every time I answer one of yours," Ririka stated.
"Oh, sure! My life's not half as interesting as yours though…" The blonde was confused why someone would be interested to know more about her mundane things.
"I guess we'll see who wins! Can I start by asking where we are going?" The blue eyes lit up and Ririka was clearly in a better mood already.
"Right, I guess I didn't tell you yet. That doesn't have to count as a question because I already promised to tell you. My apartment is behind the corner here." Mary said, pointing at a building in front of them.
"Oh wow, I get to see Mary-san's apartment!" Ririka was genuinely excited now.
"It's really not special at all! I just thought you'd enjoy your time more in a quiet place," Mary said, blushing again.
"Thank you, Mary-san, for taking such good care of me, I don't know how I can thank you for this," Ririka squeezed Mary's hand tighter.
"Oh, come on, it's no big deal, really. Just don't tell anyone I'm this nice, it would ruin my reputation," Mary joked, feeling a bit awkward of this sudden recognition. She led the taller girl around the corner, and they stopped in front of a door with lots of call buttons. "Here we are, wait, I need to find my keys."
Mary let go of Ririka's hand and started rummaging the front pocket of her school bag. She pulled a small set of keys, chose a small bronze one and opened the door.
"Here we go, you first!" Mary said, holding the door open. "It's on the ninth floor but we can take the elevator."
Mary flicked on the lights in the hallway and called for the elevator.
"Oh, I have never been in a place like this!" Ririka was strangely enthusiastic.
"Well, figures why not, but really, there's nothing special about this place. It was cheap and quite close the school," Mary was waving her hand and belittling the apartment building.
"Don't say that! It's very special to me at least! Something I've never seen before!" Ririka wanted to add the fact that it was Mary Saotome's building what made it extra special but was too embarrassed to mention about it. The elevator made a small 'bling' noise when it came down and the doors opened. Mary pressed number 9 on the board and the doors closed. Neither said anything on the short way up.
On the 9th floor there were 8 doors, Mary walked to the far-left corner, door had a small metal sign on top that stated "906" as the apartment number. Ririka had a sudden flashback of seeing this number somewhere on Mary's personal sheet she had peeked once in the council room.
"Ok, here we are. Please make yourself at home, I'm going to make some tea for us!" Mary said as she flicked on the lights in the dim genkan they just entered. She took of her shoes and dropped her schoolbag on the floor next to a small table. "I didn't have time to clean up properly, I wasn't really planning on having guests here, but I hope it's OK."
"Thank you for having me here, Mary-san. It's perfect, don't worry." Ririka said while removing her shoes.
She looked curiously around, in the small hallway was a door on the right to the bathroom, on the opposite wall the small table and a big mirror on top of it. The hallway opened to a small cozy room with a bed, coffee table and a TV on top of a small shelf. Small kitchen was on the right side, it had a small dining table with two chairs. The whole apartment was peaking Ririka's curiosity, she kept noticing small interesting details, family photos, small figurines and souvenirs on the shelves, a lot of books, DVDs, a few peculiar posters of abstractly resembling owls, a lot of small boxes filled with various small items such as a box full of hair ribbons. Ririka didn't even notice that she had been standing in the middle of the room. Mary emerged from the kitchen.
"You can sit down anywhere you'd like, we can drink the tea here or in the kitchen," Mary said, interrupting the curious girl.
"Here is fine, do you need any help?" Ririka asked.
"Sure, you can choose your cup," Mary said, returning to the kitchen and Ririka followed. "I have quite a few, choose whichever you like."
She opened a small door and showed her collection to Ririka, each cup seemed to be of different design, Ririka picked a light blue one with a cute cartoon bunny on it.
"I know you probably drink some fancy tea at home, but since we're here, you're going to get a bit different tea experience," Mary said with a wide grin.
"I'm sure I'll enjoy whatever tea you're making!" Ririka looked shyly to Mary's direction, holding the bunny cup with two hands.
"Glad you're embracing this 'ordinary life experience' so openly, I was afraid you'd be a snob like half of the other students in Hyakkaou," Mary said, clearly feeling more relaxed that her simple life outside the school was so intriguing to the Vice President. "Hmm… the water is ready, let me bring this to the living room, you go ahead."
Ririka took a seat between the bed and the table on a small sitting pillow. Mary came carrying the tea kettle and her own cup, settled down on another pillow in front of the coffee table.
"Let me know when you're hungry and I'll make something, another crazy experience for today," Mary said and winked. "I have some good instant ramen cups, I bet you've never tasted before."
"Sure! Maybe later, I'm not so hungry right now," Ririka said feeling surprisingly comfortable in this new situation. "So… The questions?"
"Ah, yes. The questions. Should we make this interesting and make a bet on it," Mary asked.
"Sure! We can count points- but how do you know if you get a point or not if it's just a question and an answer?"
"Hmm… How about if we ask the question, then guess what the answer is before the other gives the answer and if the guess is correct, then it's a point!" Mary said, thinking this was a rather silly game more than a very serious one.
"Deal. Though- no easy and obvious questions are allowed then, like if I have a sister or something stupid like that, is that OK?" Ririka asked.
"Sure, no cheating any points either. What does the winner get and when is the game over?"
"How about we ask 5 questions each, to begin with and decide if we want to go for a second round. I'm not sure what the winner should get, though." Ririka continued.
"5+ extra rounds to settle the score sounds good. Winner gets to ask the other to do a 'dare', how'd that sound?" Mary was getting excited to play the game.
"A dare? Hmm… OK, but nothing too dangerous or humiliating, OK?" Ririka was trying to think of any dares she'd want to ask Mary to do. The blonde was pouring the tea while discussing the rules for their mock gamble game.
"No, of course not." Mary grinned.
"So, who starts?" Ririka asked and Mary reached to a small box next to the TV and searched it for few seconds before finding what she was looking for.
"My lucky coin, heads or tails?"
"Tails. I get to choose the order," Ririka said, the blonde had already flipped the coin and caught it on the back of her hand. Mary peeked under her palm.
"Tails it is," she showed the coin to Ririka.
"Hmm, you start." Ririka said and grabbed her cup.
"So, seriously. The mask. What's the deal with the mask?" Mary asked almost instantly. "Oh right, I had to guess too. Well… Since you said you have to wear it in front of the staff, it's some crazy thing like… uh… it's just a crazy thing so it's hard to think any actually rational reason for it but… If I had to guess, I'd say that your family wants to keep it a secret that you two are identical twins, for any messed-up reason there is."
"Well, that's only part of the truth. A bit obvious guess too, I thought you'd get it closer. Well, you could just be nice and play this safe." Ririka was getting rather serious. "Actually, the one huge reason I've been asked to wear it is because I 'show my weaknesses' on my face, I'm easy to read and easily provoked. And we've been trained not to show any emotions since we were very young. Kirari has always been good at not showing anything, I blush very easily as you might have noticed. It's quite involuntary reaction, but I guess it was a reason enough. Long story short, they think I would have failed miserably in Hyakkaou Private Academy if it weren't for the mask and my family is ashamed to have a Momobami who can not live up to their standards."
"Whooo- that's messed up. And the reason why the staff can not see you without it?" Mary was astounded how deep this went with such a stupid thing as gambling or family honor.
"They can not see that I'm weak." Ririka said quietly.
"I'm truly sorry for you, that's just… unforgivable. They've taken away your identity, and for so long too. And I've seen you get serious, you're not weak at all!"
"But it has played out well for Kirari to have a 'secret twin' card up her sleeve whenever she needs it, she sometimes sends me on her errands posing as her. That I actually do well, when I'm pretending to be her, any insults or provocations are a lot easier to deal with when I don't take them personally at all."
"Wow, just… If there's anything I can do to make it easier, let me know," Mary was feeling quite helpless, she really wanted to be more supportive and offer something more concrete.
"This actually makes it a lot better. I feel like I don't have to hide anything from you," Ririka kept blushing while trying to elaborate how great the feeling was to have a special friend like Mary. "But… enough about me, let me ask you something now. Why did you ask me out on this date?"
Mary nearly choked on her tea.
"I'm going to give you my guess before you get too awkward about my question." Ririka hurried to explain. "My guess is that I read too much into the whole 'It's a date!' thing you said earlier today. Now that we have been here for a while it's obvious you are interested to be a very good friend for me, but not more than that. I was nervous for no good reason, I always get like that and if I was acting weird on our way here, I apologize."
"So… wait… question was that why I asked you out on a date and your guess is that I didn't?" Mary summarized.
"Yes." Ririka answered. She could feel her stomach turning unnecessarily again but tried to calm herself and not get over excited over nothing again. She had a permanent blush on her cheeks now.
"Eeh… let me get this, so you did think I asked you out, right? Like in a romantic sense, or whatever?" Mary felt embarrassed to ask about this.
"Yes."
"And you agreed?" Mary was now staring at the half empty cup of tea in her hands.
"Yes." Ririka's voice was very quiet. She could barely hear herself from the ringing that had started in her ears. She was sure if this discussion continued for much longer, her heart would just jump out of her chest.
"To be honest, because I don't want to hurt your feelings here, I did think you needed a friend, like a real friend, someone like me who doesn't want anything from you because you are you. And I was super impressed by the way you handled the war game; you can be as scary as your sister if you want to be. I just never considered something more for what we have here," Mary explained quietly, lifted her gaze from the cup and wanted to handle this more like an adult.
"My feelings are not hurt, don't worry about me," Ririka said, turning her face away. Things were becoming blurry for her. She had felt close to Mary for a while now, Ririka was grateful to have her recognized as a friend but despite this, getting her feelings rejected like this hurt more than she cared to admit.
Mary noticed how upset the older girl was suddenly, she put down her teacup and crept closer. She put her arms around Ririka. "You really do suck at hiding your feelings, and it's totally OK." Mary whispered in her ear. "I'll accept any of your feelings, so please don't be afraid to show them to me."
Ririka turned to return the embrace, closing her arms around Mary and clenched the fabric of the blonde's school blazer in her fists. She rested her forehead against Mary's neck and whispered, "Thank you."
"See, it's not so bad. I'll even give you a point for guessing the answer somewhat right. I'm sorry I didn't know you wanted me to take you out on a date. I would have made more effort for this if I had known," Mary tried to lighten the mood. Ririka was still holding tightly and Mary did not object. "I can just stay here, and we can continue playing."
"Really?" Ririka lifted her head. Their cheeks were nearly touching each other.
"Uhm, of course, let me just get a better position here," Mary said, blushing a bit. She turned around to sit next to Ririka, shoulder to shoulder. "Give me your hand."
"What did you mean with 'more effort' just now?" Ririka asked, sitting close like this was a new kind of exciting for her, at least her stomach had stopped turning. Even holding hands felt more exciting now than what it did earlier.
"Was that an official question?" Mary asked.
"Was that an official question?" Ririka answered.
"What- wait… yeah it's my turn again, sorry. I was confused. No, that was not my question." Mary laughed. "Ahem, so my question… I'm going with a bit easier one to catch up on points. Do you have a crush on me? And my guess for this would be: yes."
"That's not fair!"
"Yes, it is, what you just said earlier was that you thought this was a date, I read the affection part all on my own after that." Mary said proudly and exaggeratingly pointing at her chest while raising her chin up.
"Fine. Well, yes, I guess I do," Ririka pouted. "I guess I'll aim below the belt then too, how about you? Heart fluttering to see me again after this?"
"Oh wow, that's dirty play…" Mary failed to sound surprised, she kept smiling and blushing.
"No, wait! I need to guess first! I'm very optimistic here and I will guess 'yes'. Don't you dare to break my heart twice during the same night," Ririka squeezed Mary's hand.
"Hmm… Ok, I won't say 'no'." Mary said and suddenly found the back of Ririka's hand very interesting thing to stare at.
"Score! So, it's 2-1 for my favor. Your turn!" Ririka gave Mary a small nudge. Mary was still staring at their hands locked together and her face was burning redder and she was breathing rather heavily.
"Uh- So would you like to kiss me? Like… right now?" She carefully turned her head a bit to see Ririka's face. She too, was staring at their hands and was too nervous to move.
Mary moved her other hand to brush it against Ririka's arm, as she did this, she noticed Ririka's breathing getting a lot heavier. Mary lifted her hand higher, ran her fingers softly along Ririka's jawline and gently gestured for her to turn her head and look at Mary's direction. Ririka suddenly felt awake as she had never felt before. Each small touch Mary was giving felt like electric shocks, a strange warmth filled every inch of her body, there was a strange tingling feeling in her toes and fingertips. She tried her best to move but couldn't, her head felt dizzy when Mary turned it to her direction. Ririka closed her eyes, to block at least one of her senses working seriously on overdrive. She felt Mary's hand sliding behind her neck, brushing her ear gently on the way, a gasp escaped Ririka's lips when the contact sent a jolt of pleasure around her body. Mary pulled her gently closer, pressed her lips against Ririka's.
The kiss started out slow, there was a bit fumbling to find the right rhythm for both. Mary clearly took a lead but Ririka got out of her trance and was able to move her hand and grabbed the front of Mary's clothes and pulled her closer. As the tension transformed from nervous to something heavier and hungrier, Mary felt like they needed a quick time-out and pulled away from the kiss.
"Riri, wait." She said apologetically when Ririka tried to pull her back. Ririka released her grip of the clothes.
"Mmm-hmm, time-out. Good idea," Ririka breathed, she fixed her sitting position, she had shifted off the pillow when they were kissing. Mary held a hand in front of her mouth and was trying to catch her breath.
"That was… really… look I'm still shaking," Mary said and showed her hands to Ririka.
"I know. I feel like I'm still out of breath," Ririka replied breathlessly.
"Just a wild guess, but this game we invented seems a bit… risky, to continue." Mary said, feeling a bit unreal about the past few minutes. "I give up, you win!"
"But you just got a point, didn't you?" Ririka smirked.
"No, I never guessed anything. Frankly, I didn't care about the game or the points much at that point when I asked you if you'd like to kiss me."
"I thought you were just fishing for easy points!" the older girl teased.
"Not at all! I seriously felt like I needed to do that right then or I'd burst or something," Mary said with a long exhale. "I need water, or something cold to drink," Mary got up and walked to the kitchen feeling very wobbly in her knees. Ririka followed, waited for Mary to finish drinking her water and took the glass from her hands and drank the rest.
"Now, if I won, I know what I want you to do as your 'dare'," Ririka said, her eyes drooping and she was playing with Mary's lower lip with her index finger. She noticed she was a bit taller when she was standing so close to the younger girl in front of her. Mary looked up to the blue eyes looming over her face.
"Where did you get all this confidence, Riri?" Mary was seriously intrigued by this new change of pace in their interaction.
"I like it when you call me 'Riri', you did it just now when we stopped kissing," Ririka purred and placed her hand behind Mary's neck, pulled her closer and lowered her head so that her lips were nearly touching Mary's ear. "Just let me know when you're ready for round two." Ririka breathed against the blonde's ear and placed the earlobe in her mouth, sucking slightly.
"Nnngh, Riri, that's…" Mary's head was spinning, she wasn't sure if she could stay standing up if Ririka continued like this. Suddenly feeling a bit colder, she noticed her blazer had been sneakily removed and it fell on the kitchen floor. She felt a warm hand sliding up her thigh and reached the hem of her skirt in a few very decisive movements. "-seriously, I can't stand up if you do that." Mary gathered the last remaining strength she had to gently push Ririka away a bit. She grabbed the hand that was on her thigh and led the Vice President back to the living room.
Mary sat on the bed, patted the empty space next to her, "Now I'm ready for whatever you have planned for my 'dare' punishment.