Chapter 9: Who's to Blame

"I apologize, I always ruin everything."

|Sakura|

"You don't know how weird I thought I was for feeling like that." Sarada laughed, shaking her head as she leaned back into the sofa.

"Don't feel weird," I assured her, "It's natural for you to want to do those kinds of things, but honestly, I'd feel better if you waited. Like I said, fifteen is kinda young to be doing stuff like that."

"What about you?" She asked, and I gave her a confused look, "When did you first start talking to boys?"

I pinched my chin as I thought about, "I was honestly a greenhorn, so I didn't start dating until I was a junior in high school."

"A junior?" Sarada didn't bother to hide her shock, "Wait, so that's when you and Papa got together?"

I shook my head, "No, your dad and I started dating our senior year. We were both…awkward our junior year and didn't have the courage to say anything to each other."

"But you knew." She chipped in.

I nodded as I laughed, "But we knew."

"Hm." She grinned, pushing her glasses back up onto her face, "Is Papa the only man you've been with?"

"Basically." I tilted my head as I answered, "I mean I went on a couple dates with this guy Genma, but my heart wasn't in it. Other than that, your father is…"

I trailed off as I realized I was about to lie.

'The only man you've ever been with? Well, that was true up until last week.' She laughed.

I tuned her out as I realized my pause could lead to a misunderstanding, and I quickly tried to save myself by restarting the conversation, but Sarada quickly put a hand up.

"Actually, ew, don't say anymore. I just pictured something, and I feel like I'm about to throw up." Sarada shook her head in disgust.

Before I could respond, a knock came at the door and we both turned our heads to it. I looked back at her and raised an eyebrow.

"Were you expecting someone?"

"No." Sarada threw a cushion at me as I stood up, "Were you expecting someone?"

I caught it and laughed, "Of course not. It's 10:32 on a Friday night, I can't imagine anyone who'd wanna visit right now."

"Yeah, yeah. Hurry up and answer the door." She shooed me, "Maybe it's one of your boyfriends."

"Good one. As if—" I cut myself off as I opened the door and recognized the person who stood before me.

"Yo, Sakura-chan." Naruto scratched the back of his head sheepishly, "Mind if we come in?"

"Why are you—?"

"Sakura-obachan!" Boruto popped out from behind his father, "Is Sarada awake?"

"Of course I am." Sarada appeared at my side, "And what are you doing by my house? Do you have any idea what time it is?"

"Hey, take it easy!" He put his hands up as he pushed past me, "Tou-chan and I were stretching our legs!"

"Uh huh, and you two stretched your legs all the way to Katon Lane." Sarada voice was thick with skepticism.

Boruto laughed, "Crazy right? Anyways, you never texted me back about…"

His voice faded as they went further into the house, leaving me and Naruto at the door. We stood in silence, and I swallowed hard before meeting his eyes.

"Boruto." Naruto offered a small laugh to break the silence, "Always doing what he wants without a second thought. I'm sorry he—"

"Like father, like son." I interrupted, but I immediately wanted to take those words back as his smiled waned.

"What do you mean?"

Despite my better judgement, I crossed my arms and leaned against the door frame before continuing, "You brought him here so I wouldn't be able to turn you away, right?"

"What?" His eyebrows furrowed at my accusations, "Sakura-chan, that's not—! We were just in the area, it's not like I wanted—"

"How convenient." I laughed uncannily, "You two just happened to be around my house at almost a quarter to eleven."

"For Kami's sake, Sakura-chan." Naruto facepalmed, "Would you stop talking to me like I'm some kind of menace that you'd hate to be around?"

I scoffed, "That's because you are."

With those words, he glared before lowering his voice, "If this is about that night then you're being unfair. And last time I checked, you're as much to blame as me."

"I was drunk!"

"So was I!" He fumed, "But I'm not using that as an excuse, ya know!"

"Tou-chan?" Boruto called from inside, "Everything good?"

Before I could think, Naruto responded over my shoulder, "Yeah, Sakura-chan's just being a real pain right now!"

"Sakura-obachan, let Tou-chan have it!" Boruto encouraged me, and I heard Sarada harshly shush him as Naruto turned back to me.

I stepped down and shut the door so they wouldn't hear us again, and silence enveloped us. Naruto kept his eyes on mine until I could no longer bear to look at his face, and I broke our eye contact to look at the ground, resulting in a heavy exhale from him.

'This is your chance.'

'To do what exactly?' I asked her as I raised my head.

'To tell him that you want him.' She sounded exasperated, 'The only reason you're being so aggressive right now is because you don't want to accept that.'

'I don't want him.'

'Just keep telling yourself that. Maybe it'll come true.'

"Sakura-chan," His voice broke me away from my back and forth with her, "I know you're upset about what happened between us, but you've gotta understand that I never meant for it to happen."

I slowly took a seat on the front steps as I considered his words.

"Hontōni." He sat down beside me, "I've been thinking about it all this time, and I just keep wishing I could go back and change things, ya know. We've been friends for a long time, Sakura-chan. I don't want this to be the reason we stop."

I shut my eyes as I unwillingly recalled that night. Maybe I was being too hard on him, after all, I had gotten myself blackout drunk and accompanied him to a hotel…I'd even gotten in the bed with him; of course something was going to happen.

'Why do you keep denying the fact that you wanted something to happen?'

'That's because I didn't!'

'Stupid girl, do you think saying that makes it true?' She raised her voice, 'Sasuke-kun hasn't touched you in years, probably because he's got a woman on the side to take care of his desires. You saw an opportunity to finally get some action and you took it, end of story!'

'I—'

'Now instead of throwing a hissy fit or forcing yourself to be angry, you should just tell Naruto the truth; you want to do it again.'

"Sakura-chan?" Naruto lightly shook me, "Still there?"

I turned to him, shaking my head, "Yeah, gomen, just…thinking."

"Good thoughts I hope?" His sky-blue eyes showed a hint of fear as well as anxiety.

Thanks to her useless intervention, I couldn't help but notice how close we were in proximity, and a reckless thought came over me to just crash my lips against his.

'I can't do this right now.' I thought to myself as I stood up, "Naruto, I—you need to go. Gomen, but I need more time to think."

Nodding his head, he stood up after me, "It was kinda stupid to expect an answer right away."

I opened the door and stepped inside.

"And I'm not trying to sway your decision or anything, but I need you to know," His words made me look back, "I care about you, and I don't want to lose you, Sakura-chan."

Unable to give him a concrete response, I simply nodded my head, and he gave me a light smile before coming inside.

"Boruto!" He called from the bottom of the stairs, "Oi, it's time to go!"

He placed his hands on his hips as he tapped his foot impatiently, and I couldn't help but recall those same hands and how they had felt as he caressed my body. Everything from that night was truly an experience…

'I'm insane.' I quickly lifted a hand to my head and turned away, 'I'm actually insane.'

Fortunately, Boruto descended the stairs before my brain got the chance to conjure up more of those memories. I stood by the door until they were down the street and out of sight.

"So, now that those two are gone…" Sarada playfully poked me in the back.

I turned to her and avoided looking her in the eyes, still ashamed of my thoughts, "Actually Sarada, I'm gonna go to bed."

"Really?" Thankfully she didn't sound disappointed, just surprised.

"Yeah." I nodded my head as I began to climb the stairs, "I'm just feeling really tired all of a sudden. You can take care of yourself, right?"

She scoffed, "Of course I can, do you even have to ask?"

"Right, right." I chuckled at her spunk, "Oyasumi, Sarada."

"Oyasumi, Mama."

|Sarada|

My phone vibrated as I received a text message from Boruto, and I tapped the notification to open it up.

Is Aunty Sakura acting weird?

Yeah, how'd you know? I replied, surprised at the sudden inquiry.

Dad is too. I think they fought over something, and it's gotta be pretty big 'cause he's acting like a dick.

I chuckled to myself as I sent back another text, Lol, at least you have a dad to piss you off.

Trust me, times like this I wish he was back at the firehouse.

Whatever.

Wack response. Mad that it's not Mitsuki texting you?

Shut up. I scoffed to myself, And like I told you, we haven't spoken in while.

In other words, I'm right. Anyway, just wanted to confirm something. Talk to you later, Sara.

I left him on read and switched off the TV before stretching my arms. When Boruto had been here earlier, he had confronted me about what had happened at the party. After having my embarrassing Sex Ed talk with Mama, I discussed what had gone on with Mitsuki minus all the explicit details.

Although I had refrained from sharing too much, Boruto seemed to get the gist from what I had shared and spent the entire time afterward poking fun at me. I knew it was all in good fun, but I couldn't help but take the chance to confront him about what had gone on in the basement.

"Hmph, you're making fun of me but who were you hooking up with in the basement?" I crossed my arms.

"B-Basement?" He sputtered, and I had to hide my smile, "What are you talking about?"

I looked at my nails and tried to be nonchalant, "Word gets around, and apparently so does noise. 'Right there! Kami, right there!' Does that ring a bell?"

He rubbed the back of his neck, "Fuck, how the hell did you of all people find out about that?"

I let my grin show as I poked him in the side, "So, who's the special girl?"

"…Tsubaki." He revealed her name begrudgingly, and my mouth fell open.

"Tsubaki-san?" I couldn't believe it, "No way! How long have you two been dating?"

Boruto gave me a look, "What kind of joke is that?"

"Wait, what?" I faltered, confused by his response, "You're not dating?"

"Of course not." He scoffed, "Don't tell me you think you have to date someone before you can have sex with them."

"I…" I trailed off as I realized I had shown a naïve side of myself, "I mean…"

The look slid off his face as he quickly followed up, "Well, it's different for everybody. If you want to date them first, that's fine. I'm just saying that I don't need that kind of commitment, ya know."

I nodded my head in understanding.

"So I'm guessing you didn't go all the way with Mitsuki." He wriggled his eyebrows, "Since you're not dating."

I punched him in the arm, "You know he came to my house the next day? I left my purse at his place, and he came to drop it off."

"Is that all he did?" I couldn't stand the jeering look on his face.

"We talked about what happened." I could feel my face turning red, "He also gave me his number and k-kissed me."

Boruto whooped, "And since then?"

I held my arms together, "I mean, I texted him a couple days after and we said a few things, but nothing's really happened."

"You've gotta make things clear, ya know." Boruto smacked his forehead, "I know what he's thinking. Guys don't wanna assume and end up scaring the girl away, but if you let him know that you're interested—"

"And who said I was interested?" I interrupted, not wanting to give Boruto too much information about my affairs.

He rolled his eyes, "Okay, if you're interested, let him know. Otherwise, he's just gonna play the fence."

Before I could get anymore advice about how to handle the situation, Uncle Naruto was calling his name from downstairs, and it was time for him to go. After a quick hug, I saw him off, happy to have somebody I trust know the full situation. As much as I loved Mama, I wouldn't dare tell her that Mitsuki had shown up to the house the next day as only Kami knew what she would've done.

I got up and decided to head back to my room for the night. As I reached the top of the stairs, I saw that the light in Mama's room was on, and I figure I might as well go and say goodnight, maybe even talk to her for a bit. After Boruto and Uncle Naruto had gone, she had told me she felt tired and was going to bed. Perhaps she had woken up to watch Netflix.

I grabbed the doorknob, but when I heard her talking, I refrained from turning it. Something told me not to open the door and instead, I pressed my ear against the it and listened.

"Wait, I'm confused—what exactly did he say after you asked him if he was cheating?" Mama asked.

I kept myself calm and continued eavesdropping. There was a pause as she seemed to listen the other person's response before she spoke again.

"Kami in Heaven, Ino. No wonder you slapped him; how could Sai say such a thing?"

I slowly released the doorknob and backed up as quietly as possible until I reached my room. Shutting my door with the same carefulness, as soon as I had settled on my bed, I scrolled through my list of contacts and tapped Inojin's name.

The phone rang once, twice, and I almost hung up on the third ring, but he picked up.

"…Hello?" He answered sleepily.

"Inojin, have your parents been acting weird recently?" I asked, not wanting to jump into my findings immediately.

"Sarada, it's 2 a.m."

"Answer the question." I ordered.

Sighing on the other end, he obliged, "Kind of, why?"

"I think your dad might've cheated on your mom."

The phone went silent, and I feared for a moment that he'd hung up, thinking that this was some cruel or distasteful prank call.

"Inojin?" I called his name tenderly.

"Yeah, I'm still here."

"I mean, did you know or…?" I trailed off, his flat tone making this exchange awkward.

"I didn't but I sure am grateful you told me. Anything else you wanna tell me?" His response was laced with sarcasm.

"I didn't mean to make you mad, gomen, I just thought you should know." At this point, I was just waiting for the chance to hang up.

"I'm not mad." He said, although his tone was beginning to indicate otherwise, "But it's two in the morning and this isn't something I'd consider important enough to wake somebody out of their sleep over."

"I—"

"In the first place, what am I supposed to do? Walk up to my dad in the middle of the night and demand an explanation?"

"No, but—"

"Or maybe I should go and tell my mom that she needs to get a divorce? Right now? There's literally nothing I can do with this information." Inojin berated me.

"Gomennasai." I cut in, starting to get angry as well, "Would you have preferred it if I didn't tell you?

"I'm surprised you're actually asking that Sarada." Inojin laughed bitterly, "Use that brain of yours; if you know something that no one else does, next time think on whether it'll benefit anyone by sharing."

He hung up and I almost threw my phone at the wall. Instead, I took deep breaths to calm myself before lying flat on my back and staring up at the ceiling.

'What a prick.'

I had immediately informed him about his parents' situation and what did I get? A passive aggressive scolding.

"It's not like it's my fault." I muttered to myself.

After all, if it were the other way around, I would want to know, although the thought distressed me. Imagining Papa kissing up to some other woman while Mama was at home or the idea of Mama sneaking around with some man repulsed me. But that was impossible; while I wouldn't exactly say they were head-over-heels for each other, the chances for any such betrayal were really low.

"They would never." I assured myself as I set my phone down on my nightstand, "They would never."

|Sakura|

I shook my head in disbelief, "And that time when Sarada ran away?"

"We still hadn't talked about that night, or anything that has to do with those photos." Ino sighed, "Kami, saying it out loud only makes me feel worse."

"Ino, you have to confront him." I reminded her, "He doesn't get to come back and put up his feet, not with that second picture, and especially not after his response. 'It's none of your business what I do when I'm away.' Who does he think he is?"

"I know, I know." She agreed, "But I've already…I'm already compromised."

"What do you mean?" I questioned, confused by her statement.

"I…Last night we slept together." She admitted to me, and I went silent for a while, "Sakura? Please say something."

I opened and closed my mouth before finally responding, "Shit, Ino, it's like you're not even listening to me. If you were just gonna give in to him like that then there was no point in bringing up the mystery woman that night!"

"I—"

"And has he even gone to get tested? The photos only showed them kissing, but we don't know if they did more. Come on, you're better than this. You know better than this. What are you gonna do if you come down with a disease?" I scolded her.

"Gomennasai, gomennasai." She apologized tearfully, and my anger immediately dissipated.

I tucked my phone between my ear and my shoulder as I switched off the TV, "Don't apologize, it's your body and your life. I just want the best for you."

"Mhm." Ino sniffled on the other end, "I didn't…I didn't plan to do anything but, y'know, we were being cordial and Inojin was at school…one thing led to another and the next thing I know, we're upstairs and then—"

"It just happened." I finished for her, pinching the bridge of my nose as I got out of bed.

She hummed in agreement, "And I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to. Eight months, Sakura. Eight months. Just imagine if you were me, and Sasuke-kun suddenly decided to touch you. Wouldn't you do it?"

"…I would." I admitted to her as I shut off my lights and climbed back into bed, "But Sasuke-kun hasn't cheated on me—"

'As far as you know.'

"And then told me it's none of my business when I asked about it." I continued despite her interruption.

Ino let out a shaky breath, "I know I have to confront him properly, but I love him so much, Sakura, you know this. What if this is the breaking point? What if me being stubborn and asking about this woman is what pushes him away?"

'Then you're better off without him,' was my immediate thought, but I pushed it aside and responded as neutrally as I could, "You won't know if you don't ask."

"Arigato." She said sarcastically, "Really puts my mind at ease."

I leaned back into my pillows and put her on speaker before lowering her volume, "I'm just saying: the only way to find out the answer to any of those questions is by talking to him. So do it."

"I will."

"When?" I pressed her, wanting to be sure the next time we spoke she wouldn't still be at the same spot, "The longer you hold off this talk, the harder it'll get."

"Monday." She blurted out a random day, "I'll talk to him on Monday."

"Ino—"

"Sakura, I swear to you, by Monday evening, everything will be cleared up." Ino said this will a little more strength and clarity in her voice, "I swear."

I sighed as I shut my eyes, "If Monday comes and goes and you have some excuse for why you didn't do it, I'll punch you the next time I see you."

She laughed on the other end, "I would deserve that. Oyasumi, Forehead Girl; I love you."

"I love you too, Ino-buta. Oyasumi." I bid her goodnight before hanging up.

Setting my phone on my nightstand, I rolled over onto my stomach and drifted off to sleep.

|Sasuke|

"Only downside about being part of the Gedō is the late-night reporting." Deidara joked as we entered the elevator, "I sent Misaki-san up already, hm."

"Arigato." I thanked him before pressing the second floor and rubbing the back of my neck, "I don't want her to know about Jūzō. She knows the job requires violence, but I don't know how she'd take it if she found out I killed someone."

"I understand." He nodded his head, "I'll tell the others to keep it quiet, but I want you to know you shouldn't feel bad about killing that piece of shit. He was living on borrowed time, and you doing it earned everyone's respect."

The elevator dinged and Deidara patted me on the back as the doors opened before stepping out before me. I bid him a goodnight and turned down the hall to where my room was.

It had been over a week since we'd moved to this larger room, and when it first came time to sleep, I had knocked out on the bed. After that, Karin tried to have us alternate every night, with one of us taking the bed while the other took the couch, and while I had no problems with the arrangement, it soon proved to be troublesome when she couldn't get a good night's rest on the couch to save her life.

After a bit of back and forth, I eventually ordered her to take the bed and not bring up the subject again. Unbeknownst to her, I was used to a couch; many a fortnight when Sakura and I had gotten into a dispute, if the argument hadn't been resolved, I would grab a blanket and make myself comfortable downstairs.

As I reached the door, I shook my head to stop from reminiscing my days at home, 'You're here now, think for here.'

The door creaked open, and I grimaced as I quietly slipped inside. I know I didn't like to be woken up in the middle of my sleep, and I would've hated to disturb Karin the same way. With much care, I lightly shut the door and turned back to the room; what I saw was a sight for sore eyes.

While Karin looked relatively undisturbed by the creak from my entrance, she was sprawled out on the bed with a thin red blanket seemingly the only article of cloth preventing me from seeing her naked figure. How she had managed to fall asleep like that and with the lights on, I couldn't tell you, but as dumbfounded as I was, I couldn't stand by the door forever. I forced myself to move and took a seat on the couch.

Slightly flustered, I loosened my shoelaces and in the process of removing my shoe, dropped it from a height of about three feet. It made a considerable amount of noise as it clattered to the ground, and I froze and looked over at Karin. Thankfully, she hadn't moved.

Setting down the other leg, I removed my tie from my neck and let it fall to the floor. My suit jacket and dress shirt were quickly taken off, and I would've removed my pants but each time I shut my eyes, I drifted further and further into dreamland. Giving up on getting completely undressed, I stood up and went to the bathroom to remove my contacts. When I was done, I came out and shut off the lights before collapsing into the couch and letting sleep come over me.

I woke up later in the night due to a semi-hot sensation in my lower area.

As my eyes fluttered open, I expected to see a random erection but instead found myself eyeing a black-haired mass molesting my nether region. Once my vision cleared and I identified the sleep-paralysis demon as Karin, it took me a couple of seconds to react.

"What are you doing?" I questioned as I sat up, rubbing my eyes in disbelief.

She had tossed on an oversized grey t-shirt compared to her nudity from before, but other than the top I could see no other cloth. Pushing her black hair behind her ear, when she looked up, her red eyes struck me as particularly alluring, and she slowly approached me.

Grabbing my right shoulder, she brought her lips within an inch of mine and after a second of hesitance, initiated a soft kiss. Reflexively, I pushed my tongue into her mouth and a soft moan fluttered from her lips. This sound cleared the haze I had been in, and I pulled away from her.

"You're…you're drunk." I stated, having regained my senses.

Her breath reeked of Junmai and with a quick whiff, I knew it had been transferred onto my tongue as well.

"Is that a problem?" She latched her fingers into my hair and leaned in for another kiss, but I held a hand up.

"Why?"

Sighing, she got up off her knees and instead took a seat on my legs, effectively preventing me from getting up.

"Toss back half a bottle of Junmai to get the courage to give a guy a handjob or more, and what does he do?" She laughed uncannily, "He tries to ask you why you're drunk."

"Hand job?" I raised an eyebrow in confusion, "Why would you even—?"

"Gomen." She began to rise, lowering her left foot to the ground, "Guess you weren't as tired as I thought."

"Wait." I held her hips and forced her to stay put, "We're not done talking. Why would you drink half a bottle of Junmai? And what's this about giving me a handjob?"

Her eyes lowered to my hands once I was done talking and she smirked, "I never thought you'd like this position."

"Misaki."

Huffing, she looked away, "Can we not go any further into this? It was a bad joke, one I won't make again."

"I don't believe that." I countered as I lifted a hand to her face and forced her to look at me, "Where were you tonight? Pain gave me a break, but you weren't at the table."

"I was…around." She shut her eyes, "You were gone for two hours, I had to at least get up and mingle."

"Mingle with who?" I asked, not liking her reluctance to face me.

After a moment, she leaned forward and pressed her head into the crook of my neck, shuddering as she quietly wept, and I pulled her into a sound hug.

"Daijōbu, daijōbu." I said as I patted her back in an effort to calm her down.

"I…" She continued with a croaking voice, "I was with Suigetsu and Jūgo. They didn't recognize me but, y'know, we talked for a while, and they were the same. Suigetsu's the same. It's like—like—"

Her breath hitched and she cut herself off as she became overwhelmed.

I thought back to the days of our mischievous friend group Taka, and the idiotic plots we'd engaged in during our teenage years. Karin was the only female in the group, and in the early days I'd made a concerted effort to talk to her thinking she might have felt left out, but once Suigetsu came along, I didn't have to worry about that.

The spark between two of them was made instantaneously, and because of that Jūgo and I developed a close friendship, since the two lovebirds would often ditch us to go on their own. That being said, Jūgo and Suigetsu still seemed to have a deeper bond, but I didn't let their closeness bother me. Even if we spent more time with one person than another, at the end of the day, it was the four of us against the world.

Then the summer before junior year happened.

Suigetsu had an idea, a really stupid one looking back on it, but we agreed to help him anyway. It was supposed to be an in-and-out thing, Karin and I waiting in the car while him and Jūgo ran and grabbed whatever had caught Suigetsu eye. A light upstairs flicked on and there was yelling, although the words couldn't be discerned.

Next thing I knew the light went off and the house was silent, and soon enough Jūgo and Suigetsu came running to the car, whispering for me to drive as normally as possible. I'd seen a bit of blood on his shirt, but it was only after we'd gotten a considerable distance away from the area and stopped that I saw the blood all over his hands.

We switched seats and he dropped me off at home, thanking me for coming with him. That was the last I saw of him or Jūgo. Karin's brief explanation when I'd asked later on was that Suigetsu had done something terrible that she would never forgive him for, and she had told him to never speak to her again. It was only when I'd seen the Wanted poster that I got the full picture: Teenage Male wanted for Murder, stabbed elderly man in home and left him for dead.

My view of Suigetsu changed for a while, but in the end, I rationalized it as him making a terrible mistake and running from the consequences rather than facing them head-on. Karin, however, was not as lenient and deemed killing as the ultimate sin one could commit.

"I shouldn't be feeling like this." She sat back and wiped her eyes, shaking her head, "So what if they're here? It's been twenty years, it doesn't matter."

I thought for a moment before speaking, "No matter how much time passes, some things will always have a hold on you."

"You're telling me." She sniffled before laughing cheerlessly and getting off me.

She returned to the bed, and I couldn't help but follow her with my eyes. It wasn't until she had settled in and pulled the covers up to her head that I figured I could lay down, but after a few minutes of tossing and turning, I knew I wouldn't be falling asleep anytime soon.

I sighed quietly and began to count off sheep in my head.

"Toshiaki…can we share the bed? At least for tonight." Karin's request pierced the silence.

I sat up, contemplating her request. As much as I hated to admit it, I was one of those people that found it easier falling asleep when next to someone. Although I could manage on the couch, whenever I laid next to Sakura, there was no need for me to count off sheep.

Getting up, I decided to remove my dress pants, and I tossed them aside before pulling out my drawer and jumping into a pair of blue shorts. I went around the side of the bed and climbed in beside her. We ended up close enough to the point where I could feel the heat of her breath on my nose.

As we stared into each other's eyes, I couldn't help but feel as though we were slowly moving closer to one another, and this was confirmed when our noses brushed against each other as we joined our lips. I bit her lower lip impulsively and sought to bring her tongue into my mouth when I felt her hands on my chest.

"Hold me…" Karin said breathlessly, and I didn't hesitate to wrap both my arms around her, "Arigato."

Nodding, I shut my eyes and let sleep wash over me.