Alcohol Aftermath

Albert Diyosa

My summer is almost ending. Farewell to bum-nation, to fangirl chronicles, to weekly and absurdly fast updates (both here and in deviantart), and to well, super slow flow of life. I would be saying hello to plates, plates, and more plates to come, but hey! Life is not bad, not bad at all. I love doing plates, and I love brainstorming (but only when I can conceptualize easily). I will miss writing, too. I will still write, but it will probably be sporadic considering that, I am in college and I tend to use up majority of my time in school (yes, both bumming and learning, if anyone cares to know).

My summer is almost ending. I say, thank you Lizza-chan for being an avid reader of this fic. :D I greatly appreciate it, and the reason why I update so fast is that I am keeping up with my fire for writing fics again. :) It loses the moment I switch myself to academic mode (I know it is weird, but true). Thank you again. :)

Here is the last installment of this fic. :)

Disclaimer: I do not own GTO, and so do you. Sad but true.

Nota Bene: The italicized statements are the characters' thoughts or for emphasis.

Chapter 6

Yoshito gulped as he remembered his 'date' with Tomoko. That included his involvement in this reunion. He could have said no, chickened out, and might probably be working his butt off as of the moment. Now, he had his first taste of alcohol, and it was not a memorable first. More importantly, he was now in a situation he could not escape.

Remember, it was now or next time… or even never.

Yoshito made eye contact with Urumi with all the confidence he could muster. Though she somewhat felt like shying away, she decided to keep the gaze locking he had started.

It had to be now, or next time. That was, if there would be a next time. Yoshito swallowed hard again.

"Uh, Kanzaki…" His voice shook, letting Urumi know that he was dead nervous.

'Oh dear, could he be?' Her heart beat faster because of excite and tension. "Yes?"

'Man up, Yoshito. She is just Urumi.' He chanted mentally. 'Man up, man up, man up.' Yoshito never thought it would be this difficult to spit even a word from his mouth.

It was a sad thought that sometimes, geniuses were not so smart after all. For a genius like him, he could not find a way to ease his anxiety and blurt what he had to blurt.

In addition to his being nervous, the noise pollution caused by their screaming classmates inside made the atmosphere a bit off. How could he tell something so important when the noise inside got in the way? He could barely hear his voice.

Urumi's gaze turned to glare, tapping her fingers on the ledge, and looking sternly at the bespectacled boy genius. "Speak. We don't have forever, Yoshito."

Yoshito was not silent because he was collecting his thoughts, but because of what he was feeling inside. He felt as if his insides were riding a roller coaster. Now, both his head and system disturbed him.

'She said it, we don't have forever Yoshito.' He kept telling himself in his thoughts. He took a moment to breathe in. Breathe out. He opened his mouth to let the words pour out like rain.

"Our classmates, they are noisy."

That was smooth. The nicest line he ever threw the whole time they were conversing.

"Uh, I can hear that." She arched an eyebrow in reply. Her eyes reflected disappointment. Disappointed, she was. She was. Urumi was half-expecting he would say something—as if he would confess something and would make the night memorable. She guessed he did not have the guts or he probably could not weave the proper words to use.

It might not be tonight. They could have known that earlier. Yes, they could have known that earlier. Yoshito gave out a sigh.

'That was smooth, Yoshito. In fact, so smooth you'd be doomed to keep your head inside a brown paper bag.' He scolded himself in his thoughts. 'Next time, make sure you've got with you a big sack and throw yourself to the ocean to die.'

Sweet mother of romance, composure fell at the least expected time. Yoshito could feel sweat trickling from the roots of his hair, down to the bridge of his nose. Urumi noticed that. She placed her right hand on Yoshito's forehead and placed her left hand on hers. There was a manifestation of baby pink tint on each of Yoshito's cheek.

"It's funny for you to sweat like that. Your temperature's perfectly fine." She removed her hand from his forehead. "It must be because of the alcohol."

He shrugged. Relief was what Yoshito felt that time. Thank God Urumi did not think he was nervous or something.

'He's nervous, all right.' She concluded. Whoops, Yoshito's thought was wrong after all. "Come inside and I'll take you to your room. The sofa and the carpet are loaded already."

Without hesitation, she grabbed his hand. Urumi did not care if holding his hand would make her feel tingly and jumpy inside. The poor genius boy was now a prisoner of the intoxicating liquid, and he needed help. Drunk or semi-drunk, she could never leave Yoshito. It was a choice. It was her choice.

She was positive that Yoshito was going to say something important—something life changing. She was sure of that. He thought so, too. Yoshito and Urumi had been good friends in high school, and being good friends, he always knew what to say. Nevertheless, his thoughts just went blank, obviously leaving him blank.

Everything was blurry. His sight, the night, even Urumi. Instead of it helping him, his glasses seemed to make things more difficult. Urumi was probably right. It was probably the alcohol—the mastermind behind everything that occurred tonight.

Everything was blurry. Nevertheless, there was a manifestation of life around him. It was the gentle grip of Urumi. He returned her grip with a strong one. Urumi felt the change in his grasp, so she turned round and stopped.

"Is there something wrong, Yoshito?" It seemed as if someone was fond of using a certain individual's first name.

He did not respond in an instant. He just stared at her, even if she looked blurry in his sight. Urumi knew something was different. His tired eyes did not look tired anymore. They were serious—dead serious even.

Award silence ensued.

"You said you haven't drunk alcohol yet, yes?" Yoshito suddenly spoke, keeping his eyes locked with hers, and keeping his grip firm.

Urumi nodded. "Alcohol is one element I wish not to make contact with. It's way beyond my limits." She stared back at Yoshito, though she was feeling uneasy already. She could tell something would happen. However, this time, her intuition told her that the probability of what she was expecting to happen was big and fat.

She hoped she was right this time.

"It's like I'm not sure if I can handle its after effects." She continued. She could hear her heartbeat pounding hard on her chest.

Yoshito did not say anything. He just stared, which frightened Urumi a bit. What was up with the staring game? She had no idea.

The boy genius inched closer to Urumi, losing the tightness of his grip. For a moment that seemed forever, Urumi's thoughts switched off, leaving her off guard, but at the same time… blight of all feelings.

Yoshito held Urumi's chin, guiding her to meet his lips. Yes, their lips met, leaving miss super genius shocked. Naturally, she would pull back, and she did. He felt her resisting. He held her left arm, but this time, he held it gently. He did that to avoid Urumi from evading his little gift. After a few minutes of having a tensed arm muscle, Urumi finally relaxed. Her left arm found a comfortable spot on his chest.

It was a chaste kiss, but it meant a lot for the both of them. There were no teasing and hormone-awakening actuations—just a kiss, suitable to spell sheer love.

He tasted like beer. Nevertheless, Urumi liked the feeling. She was right. She was so darn right this time.

Five seconds of euphoria, oh yes.

Yoshito ended their unusual encounter, slowly inching his face away from the now startled and blushing crimson super genius. Her fingers found her lips. The feeling of his lips on hers earlier was still fresh as birth. Yoshito smiled contentedly. What he could not form using words, he showed in his actions.

Urumi removed her fingers from her lips and looked up at Yoshito. "Wow, so much for intoxication."

"You can say that again." This time, it was his turn to marvel at the fresh and not to mention new feeling of their 'after-kiss.'

Urumi giggled. Yoshito snickered. Soon enough, they were laughing for no apparent reason.

Urumi did not have to try drinking alcohol to know if she could take its aftermath. It was all thanks to her dear genius friend.

'Tonight, I had my first bittersweet taste of alcohol, and tonight, it'll be my last.' Urumi mused. She smiled at Yoshito, as they held hands and looked at the night sky again.

The stars were beautiful, and so was their night.

Yoshito vowed never to drink alcohol again. As for Urumi, she hoped that moment would happen again—of course, with the absence of the bitter-tasting, composure-destructing liquid known as alcohol. Yoshito hoped that, too.

End of Chapter 6

Congratulate me! I have finally written the last chapter of this fic. :D Congratulate me congratulate me! Okay, I am being weird here.

This is just the end. We all know that in death, there is a new beginning. This does not end here. Creative juices are still pouring. :D

My summer is almost ending.

P.S. I felt a bit uh… queasy writing the chaste kiss part. Yiigh. Do not ask.