Over the next few weeks, their 'special kunoichi training sessions' were few and far between, and April found herself missing then. Very rarely was the lair left empty for the two of them to practice, but when it was, they wasted no time.
Read their reactions… April churned the phrase around in her mind.
She was practising the figure-eight's again, this time slightly altering her movement with each attempt. She'd managed to master the fluidity of the movement, but it still wasn't eliciting any reaction from the older girl, despite Karai commenting on her improvements. This time, she trailed her finger up and around Karai's throat, before resuming the pattern of the figure-eight. During this, she carefully studied Karai's eyes and, much to her delight, noticed two rapid blinks during the unexpected motion, along with a slightly hitched breath, though this was barely noticable.
April smiled inwardly. Progress.
But this progress went a little too slow for April's liking. Karai taught her a few more moves, but nothing April did seemed to work too well on the older girl. She was a closed book, and April confessed her lack of experience led her to lack imagination with such things. Thus, she could only repeat what Karai showed her, and like her trainer said before, she wasn't going to just show April her weaknesses. She had to figure them out on her own.
April knew she needed help, but she had no clue who to ask. The guys had just as much experience in this as she did, and besides, she didn't exactly feel comfortable talking about… things like that… with them, yet. She knew Casey was into her, and thus bringing up such a topic would be unfair on the poor boy that, unfortunately, she didn't reciprocate feelings for. Shinigami would know - April could tell there was something going on between the two of them, proving she wasn't that blind - but even if she'd talk to April, there's no way she'd help her out in winning this game.
Thus, April turned to the one place that she knew would have all the answers, and so much more.
The Internet.
In all honesty, April felt scarred after her foray into the wonderful world of the internet.
For clarification, she knew where she COULD look, and she did NOT look there.
There was many things her fragile mind was not yet ready for, and besides, they weren't exactly what she needed anyhow.
Instead, she turned to blogs and fanfiction communities. She tried to think of shows she'd watched and comics she read that contained a character similar to what she knew of Karai. Then she just… upped the age rating a tad.
In the past, the only fanfiction stories she'd ever read were the nice kind, the kind you wouldn't mind your parents reading over your shoulder.
April's stomach filled with shame at the thought of someone reading these over her shoulder.
Regardless of the trauma, she was pleased to say that she had some ideas on how to best Karai at 'training'. When they were next in the lair alone, she'd suggest another session, and see if she could mimic anything she'd learnt.
A few days later, the guys went out on patrol alone; Karai had said she and April were having a one-on-one training session, so they would skip this one out. Naturally, no-one asked any questions or became suspicious in any way. On the contrary, they were thrilled to see Karai and April getting along so well, in spite of their tumultuous history.
So, once they left, Karai gave April a knowing look, and the two of them silently changed into their training gear. April wore a purple short sleeved t-shirt with black tracksuit bottoms, while Karai sported her usual black tank top and cotton shorts, lightweight and perfect for agility.
While Karai was doing her usual stretches, April flashed her a challenging grin. "I think I've got you figured out."
Karai raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And what have you figured out?"
"How to get to you."
Karai's grin grew wide; she abandoned her warm-up. "I like your confidence, O'Neil. This is well-timed, cos I've thought of the perfect training exercise for you."
April grew a tad apprehensive, but she was determined to push that back and not let it show. "Which is?"
Karai took out a stopwatch-timer from her pocket and tossed it to April. It read three minutes on the display. "Simple, really. You have three minutes to get to me, I have three minutes to get to you. You win if you can hold out that long. I'll even make it fair and avoid your ears."
With this added stipulation, April felt her confidence rise. "Alright. Any other rules?"
"Nothing under the shirt, nothing below the belt," Karai replied with a wink.
This made April blush. "Y-You think I'd even…?"
Karai shrugged, laughing. "Who knows what goes on in your mind, O'Neil," her sultry voice sent a shiver down April's spine; she suddenly felt her chances depleting.
"Alright, you go first," April offered, though her intonation made it more of a challenge, one Karai was more than happy to oblige.
With a click of the timer, the countdown began.
After two and a half minutes, April scurried away from Karai, stammering, "O-Okay, Okay, y-you win…"
All things considered, April had held out against Karai's assault quite well. It was only when the black-haired girl realised her chances of winning were not certain as the seconds dragged on, and thus she resorted to lightly brushing her hand against April's chest, grazing her firm nipples, which were the product of her previous work. April caved, slightly out of fear of where Karai might go next, but mainly due to the sensory overload.
Laughing aloud, Karai clapped her hands in glee. Checking the stopwatch, she exclaimed, "Oh, you were SO close, princess! I'm impressed!"
Straightening out her shirt, April took in a few deep breaths in order to clear her mind, though she struggled to free herself from the ghost of Karai's hand drifting over her breasts. She steeled herself, running her counterattack through her mind, trying to fight back any nervousness that remained.
"Your turn, O'Neil," Karai smirked with a shallow, mocking bow that motioned for her student to take centre stage.
Exhaling deeply, April said, "Okay, I'll go, but you gotta promise you won't go all 'ninja' on me."
Karai's brows furrowed. "What do you-?"
Before she could finish the question, April had grabbed a large chunk of Karai's hair and snapped her head back, kicking into the back of her knees to force the girl to kneel. Keeping a firm grasp on her hair, April swiftly moved in front of Karai and crouched before the girl, taking a moment to enjoy the wide-eyed expression of her usually collected trainer.
Still wincing slightly from the pain, Karai licked her lips and attempted a smirk. "Nice strategy, O'Neil, but-"
April cut her off by using the bone on her index finger joint to tilt Karai's neck upwards, like the tip of a knife pressing into her throat. "Don't. Talk," she warned, and Karai couldn't help but let out a shaky breath and a gulp.
April's teeth lightly grazed down the side of Karai's slender neck, eliciting a faint shiver from her opponent. She'd gathered Karai's neck was an especially sensitive spot for her; some of her 'light reading' gave April ideas on how to exploit such a weakness. She alternated between small bites and tender kisses, trailing her lips up and down her neck, occassionally straying towards Karai's throat, making the older girl gasp. April noticed Karai's fists were balled up tightly, and she was fighting to keep her breathing steady. April's lips raced along the not-so-measured drumming of Karai's pulse, causing April to smile in satisfaction.
The younger girl was enjoying Karai's reactions.
This is the Karai that had taunted her, used her, hurt her, and there was something so sadistically pleasing in reducing the powerful kunoichi to… this.
April didn't know exactly what that something was, except for being something visceral. Primal. An urge for dominance, for victory.
Though she seemed in control, in actuality, April had no real idea what she was doing - instincts kicked in just as much as memories from previous training sessions, although she'd never quite been taught this before. A lot of this came from her reading material.
April was a quick learner, but an even better improviser.
This proved so, as what she was doing seemed to be working, as Karai was visibly shaken by the redhead's sudden dominance and the working of her neck. Her head lulled forward slightly, but April snapped it back with the remaining grip on her hair and used the opportunity to bite down hard on the skin where Karai's neck met her shoulders. Karai cried out and hissed in pain, and for a brief moment April wondered if she'd gone too far, hurt her too much.
If she had, Karai would have given in. That's all she has to do, April assured herself, suckling at the wound, marking Karai with a bruise.
From the sounds the redhead was eliciting from her opponent, Karai quite enjoyed the rough treatment. This came as little surprise.
Her hands wanted to explore just as much as her mouth did. So, she took the one that wasn't holding Karai's head in place and, while her teeth continued their work, she trailed her hand from Karai's knee to the upper part of her thigh, then back down again. When her hand trailed up the next time, it reached further, lightly grazing the skin around Karai's hip where her black shirt had rucked up. The older girl shuddered, biting down hard on the inside of her lip.
But just as April's hand was edging slightly higher, the timer went off.
Instantly, April released herself from Karai and went to shut the beeping off. Taking a quick look over her shoulder, she saw the older girl still on her knees, her eyes slightly glazed over and woozy. April smiled with satisfaction.
Even if Karai had technically won the game, April knew she was the real victor here.
Despite 'winning', April found she was not unscathed herself; her heart rate had increased tenfold, as did the growing heat beneath her stomach and the electricity jumping between her nerves. Nevertheless, she tried her best to hide it and appear nonchalant. "You totally lucked out cos of the timer," April started saying with a chuckle. "I had you cracking like a-"
Suddenly, April found herself falling backwards. Unable to catch herself, she landed with a 'thud' on the dojo floor. April was powerless against Karai's strength and was trapped below her in an instant. Strong hands grabbed her wrists, pinning them to the floor beneath her. Karai's thighs pressed against April's hips.
"W-What are you doing?" April sounded far meeker than she had intended. Why couldn't she push Karai off? She wanted to... didn't she?
"You broke the rules, O'Neil," Karai purred darkly. Such a voice did not help the hot, tingly feeling jumping around April's body, setting her nerves on high alert. "Below the belt AND under the shirt… you must have enjoyed taking liberties like that."
Karai sneered, then slowly and purposefully leaned closer to the redhead until their lips touched fleetingly. "Tell me the truth… do you… want me?"
April's eyes flashed wild and panicked, like a deer caught in a set of headlights, and she blushed ten shades darker. There was no right answer to this question. April could only shiver. The beating of her heart was drowning out any other sound besides that and Karai's breathing.
This was unfortunate, as that meant she didn't hear the sound of footsteps entering the dojo.
Karai, still being tuned to the world around her, raised her voice loud enough for the new spectator to hear, "Come on, Red. I showed you this one twice now. Escape!"
Still sort of delirious, April struggled to snap back into focus. When she did, she found Karai quietly hissing, "Ju-shinji. Ju-shinji!"
Eyes flashing with recognition, April tugged Karai's wrists to one side, then used her hips to flip the girl over her shoulder and roll on top of her, her first in the air, ready to strike down on Karai's face.
There was a clap coming from the doorway, and April turned to see Leo with a big smile on his face. "Nice going, April!"
Smiling nervously, April replied, "Thanks Leo. Patrol go okay?"
"Yeah, nothing special. Mikey's heating up some pizza if you guys want some?"
"Be there in a minute."
With a small wave, Leo left the dojo, and April managed to breathe again.
"You're still on top of me, you know?" Karai's voice startled April, and she all but threw herself off the older kunoichi.
Rubbing the bruise on her neck, Karai struggled to her feet, feeling the tingling in her legs not retreating. April, on the other hand, was practically on jelly-legs from it all, ashamed by how much Karai had gotten to her in such a small space of time.
I was doing so well, too…
Brushing a stray strand of hair back behind her ears, April made to leave. Before she could, Karai suddenly snaked a hand around April's waist and pulled her in closer, using the other one to wrap across the top of her ribs, keeping her in place.
April squeezed her eyes tightly shut, trying to fight out the burning inside her as she knew where Karai would strike next. Predictably, Karai leaned in towards her ear and huskily breathed, "I'm still waiting for an answer, Red…"
All the blood rushed to April's ears; she fought her way out of Karai's grasp, shaking through the shameful heat churning between her legs. Saying nothing, she hurried out of the dojo.
Karai could only watch her go, a smile dancing on her lips.