Chapter 4

"Well, shit."

Mary was at a loss for words. The girl had actually passed out after her orgasm. Judging by the way Yumeko was sprawled across her bedspread, she must have really exhausted the girl.

She had to admit, she was kind of impressed with herself.

Suppressing the surge of pride she felt in the moment, Mary spurred into action. It was quickly approaching one in the morning, after all. She rushed over to her dresser grabbing sleep clothes, her toiletries, and a wash cloth; all but sprinting out the door towards the bathroom. Pausing with her hand on the door knob, she spared a glance over her shoulder to the girl on her bed—Yep, still there. Alright, then.

Mary took a moment to lean against the closed door. She felt ridiculous for running away from the sleeping girl, but she had no idea what to do. After all, she had made it clear that Yumeko was never to sleep over in her dorm room—rule number three.

She let out a deep sigh walking out into the dimly lit hallway. As she passed each door, she silently thanked her dorm mates for choosing to visit their homes this weekend. Just the thought of them hearing the sounds coming from her room during the past hour or so brought a blush to her face.

Finally reaching the bathroom, she put down her bundle on the shelf next to the sink. Methodically, she began her end-of-the night routine. Having structure in her life always helped to center her mind in times of disarray. As she brushed her teeth, she let her thoughts wander back to the events that led to this moment.

Mary turned away from the sickeningly sweet pair giggling at each other. "I'll be off now…" With briefcase in hand, all she wanted to do was relax in the comfort of her room after an extremely successful gamble. "Oof!" The force of another body slamming into her back caught her off guard.

Her face heated up at the feel of Yumeko's breasts pressing into her back. Turning her head towards the girl, she blurted, "What?!"

"The game became exciting all thanks to your proposal, thank you very much!"

Yumeko's hands and arms were wrapped around her torso. "Get off!" She was all-too-aware that Suzui was still watching them interact.

"If possible, may I refer to you as 'Mary-san' from now on?" Her face was pressed next to hers, the words being said loud and clear, but Mary's mind was a chaotic mess. Sensory overload, Mary thought.

"Huh? Why!?"

"Because we are friends now, right?" Yumeko brought Mary's hand up from her side, cradling it between both of hers. Her eyes were practically sparkling with every word coming from her mouth. Mary could feel the cold, metal kiss of Yumeko's thumb ring pressing into her skin. It was a mocking reminder that being friends is the only thing that Yumeko wanted them to be. Not that Mary wanted more than that. Whatever.

It didn't stop her from wondering what that ring meant to Yumeko, though.

Flustered, hoping that those thoughts hadn't somehow shown on her face, Mary gave her answer, "Well..."

She looked to the side. Suzui was still gawking at them. Ugh. "That's fine, I guess."

The girl gave a gleeful jump, rushing in to give Mary another hug, "Thank you so much Mary-san!"

Mary tried to ignore the fluttering in the middle of her chest at the feel of the girl embracing her. She tried even harder to ignore the growing arousal she felt at the press of her breasts against hers.

It was easier than she thought it would be; instead focusing on the unmistakable feel of a folded playing card in her hand. Mary had felt the girl slipping it into her hand earlier when she had taken it between hers.

She dropped the mysterious card into her blazer pocket wanting to leave now more than ever, now that Yumeko had sprung this on her.

"Get off me!"

Mary spit the toothpaste out of her mouth and rinsed with water. She grabbed the washcloth from her bundle and began to lather it with soap and water.

It was a small thing, really: Yumeko sleeping in her room…on her bed…naked. But it's been two weeks since the day she had given her that playing card. Two weeks since they've started whatever this was.

Never in the span of those two weeks did Yumeko break rule number three. Usually, after Mary was satisfied with her house pet for the night, she would leave the room with her bundle of toiletries and sleep clothes. While she was in the bathroom going through her nightly routine, Yumeko would leave Mary's bedroom and head downstairs to her own. The only evidence of her ever being there would be the distinct smell of sex lingering in the room.

So it was jarring, to say the least, when Yumeko decided to choose tonight to have a naked sleepover in her room.

Mary shook her head. She was a smart girl. Something as trivial as this wasn't going to faze her. She set aside the washcloth and began to unbutton her blazer, slipping it off her shoulders and hanging it on the door. Her fingers, accustomed to this routine, ran through her uniform tie letting it fall from her neck. One by one, she popped the buttons of her whi-

"WHAT THE HELL!?" Mary's hands hurried to unbutton the rest of her white button-up as fast as she possibly could. All the while, her eyes were fixated on the skin of her slender shoulder. It seemed Yumeko-the-house-pet was turning into Yumeko-the-rule-breaker.

There, on the previously un-marked skin of her left shoulder, was a Yumeko-sized bite mark.

She furiously wiped at the blemish with the washcloth hoping it was some sort of trick of the eye, but the abrasive contact only made the skin redder.

"No! This can't be happening," Mary said aloud, "What is this girl trying to do?!"

Hurriedly, she finished undressing and wiped down the rest of her body as if it would erase everything that had gone wrong that night. She threw on her sleeping clothes, grabbed her belongings, and ran back to her room.

Bursting into the room, Mary was ready to lecture the house pet on the importance of upholding their rules, but all the scathing things she planned to say stopped in her mouth.

Yumeko was laying on her side with her knees drawn up to her chest, arms clutching a spare pillow against her stomach, and her lips drawn into a cute little pout. Adorable. The sight made Mary's heart drop. She had only seen one other girl sleep in that position before.

Golden eyes glazed over as she imagined dark blue strands of hair instead of black. Waves of flowing hair instead of the sleek, straight locks that were currently strewn across her pillows.

Mary collapsed into the desk chair beside her, overwhelmed by the sudden flashback running through her mind. She reached into her desk drawer pushing aside a folded playing card and found what she was looking for.

She always worried that the blush pink color of the headband would fade as time went by. But as her thumb brushed against the flowers adorning the accessory, Mary was relieved to see that not one thing had changed about it.

With her back to the sleeping girl on the bed, she couldn't help but whisper her name, "Tsuzura."