So here is another chapter finally, I packed plenty in for you guys and I guess I can tell ya there isn't long to go before fluff ends and genuine romance begins.
Please enjoy!
The silence between them might have lasted a life time had mother nature not decided to break it instead. After staring at one another for what seemed like eternity, the room lit up for the briefest of seconds in brilliant white. Almost immediately it was followed by the loudest burst of thunder yet.
To Natsumi it sounded like someone had thrown a wrench into some hellish engine suspended just above her head.
To Kotaro it just sounded impressive and he immediately rushed to the window to take another look at the storm outside, hoping for another lightning strike as powerful as that one.
"Cool! That one had to have been right on top of us, right Natsumi-neechan?" He asked in an excited voice, turning back to face his room-mate. "Nee-chan?" His eyes grew wide as he looked back to see Natsumi on her knees on the floor, facing downwards – her bangs covering her eyes. He was beside her in less time it took most people to blink. "Nee-chan? What's wrong?" He asked frantically, searching the room for anything that could have caused her to fall or any enemies that might have been hiding. Something to blame or attack.
But there didn't seem to be anything, and the only person he could smell was her, her normally appealing scent soured only a little by the smell of fear she was radiating.
Her only response was to look further away from him as he heard a sound remarkably like a sob. His eyes widened as he sniffed the air.
"A-Are you crying?" Had she been looking, she would have seen his ears droop in confusion. As it was she could only hear the worry in his voice.
"No... No, I'm not. Really." Her voice wasn't convincing, strained as more sobs were kept down. Large, pretty but tear-filled eyes looked up at him as she tried to put on a brave face. "I just don't like thunderstorms is all." Her smile was beautiful, even if it was fake. "I'm sorry... its just, they scare me..." She admitted pathetically. "But I don't mean to be such a stupid crybaby over them."
"You don't need to apologize to me about that. It's alright to cry if you want to." Kotaro told her, his voice a little awkward as he strayed into comforting territory – something he wasn't familiar with. "You don't need to pretend you aren't. Girls are supposed to cry."
"Huh?" She sniffed, confused that he was trying to comfort her by putting down her gender. "That's not a nice thing to say Kota-kun..."
"But I think they are... " He continued, sounding unsure as he tried to figure out a way of explaining. "If girls didn't cry, then stupid guys like me wouldn't know when something's wrong." He told her, seeming a little shy as he spoke. She wasn't sure if it was because he was talking about the female sex – a subject he didn't seem totally comfortable on – or because he was having to explain his ideas. He was definitely not confident about his intelligence, so that could be it, but she got the impression it was probably both. "Or that's what I think anyway. I don't know if other guys are better at figuring out emotions and junk than me." He finished off with difficulty.
He looked at her again and realised her smile was looking more genuine now, and that the tears weren't coming anymore.
"Thank you Kotaro-kun, that really made me feel better." She told him truthfully as she wiped her eyes on her hand, glad to see how relieved he looked when she said it.
"I'm kinda surprised." He confessed, not one to put much value behind anything that came out of his own mouth - unless it was a threat at any rate. He considered himself pretty good at those. "Why?" The Hanyou asked.
"I like hearing you talk..." Natsumi answered simply, reddening a little as she admitted it. That was all she needed really, someone to speak to her to let her know she wasn't alone. It helped that she was genuinely interested in what he had to say though.
"Um... you should sit down." He held his clawed hand out to her and she took it gladly, her heart jumping as she realised he was actually blushing at her, even if only a little. 'Is it because he's holding my hand?'
At that moment he pulled, and she noticed again his amazing strength as he lifted her easily without moving an inch himself – despite being a full head shorter than her. Natsumi allowed him to lead her to the couch and sat on it without complaint, happy to find it was still very much warm from his body heat.
Kotaro sat down beside her and, after a second of thinking, moved his blanket to cover her slightly.
"T-Thank you." She said as she pulled the material over her very bare body. Though she had the feeling that it was just as much to do with him thinking she might want to be covered up as with thinking she might be cold. Smiling at him she made sure to put the blanket partly over him too.
"Kota-kun?"
"Yeah?"
"Isn't it okay for boys to cry sometimes too?"
"Huh?"
"Well if girls are supposed to, shouldn't boys as well?"
He seemed to think for quite a long time before answering her, but she was getting used to his long pauses before answering serious questions. Not that she understood it really, usually he just said whatever came into his head to other people and didn't care if he sounded stupid or not. 'Maybe he doesn't want to seem stupid to me?' She thought to herself. He seemed so lacking in confidence about his own mental abilities, she made a mental note to try and compliment him on saying something smart sometime.
"I don't think so." He answered finally. " I don't think its alright. Guys shouldn't cry."
"Why not?" She frowned in confusion. Again, there was a pause before he responded as he got his thoughts organised into a sentence that sounded like it made sense.
"Cause crying makes people worry. A real man should take care of things himself, he shouldn't make people worry about him."
"But girls can?"
"Yep. If girls didn't worry then guys wouldn't know what to beat up for them." He announced confidently with a nod.
His explanations made her giggle, she loved hearing how he thought about the world – even if it did seem to be a world that ran on crazy logic. He didn't seem to mind her laughing either, if anything he seemed happy to make her laugh.
"Kotaro-kun?" She asked again after a little thought.
"Yeah?"
"What if the girl is stronger than the boy? Like Kaede-san or someone? Doesn't that mean the girl should fight to protect the boy?" This didn't take him nearly as long to answer as the other questions, in fact it was almost immediate.
"No, that'd be stupid." He told her simply.
"Why?" This on the other hand stumped him for a good while before he managed to finally construct an answer.
"Um... you know that game that the midget likes playing with Negi? I can't remember the name."
'Midget? Isn't that what he called Yue-chan?' "Which game?"
"That board game with the black and white pieces." He made the gesture of someone moving around chess pieces with his hands and she realised that was the game he meant.
"Chess?"
"Um... yeah. I think so." He nodded. "Well, y'know how those ones at the front are really weak and crappy compared to the ones at the back at really really good and strong?"
"Uh-huh..." Natsumi nodded, frowning. She wasn't even sure if they were still on the same subject anymore. "The pawns you mean?"
"Yeah." He nodded again. "If they suck and the ones at the back are better, why doesn't everyone ignore the pawn ones and just use the back pieces instead?" He asked her, breaking out in a smile as he finished, utterly pleased with himself. He wasn't really used to the idea of metaphors, but he thought that was a pretty good one himself.
Realization dawned on Natsumi's face as she began to understand his analogy.
"Because the pawns aren't important... it doesn't really matter if they get taken. But the back pieces are..." She thought aloud. "And even if the enemy is attacking, by sacrificing pawns you make it easier for the stronger back pieces to win."
He nodded at her, doubly pleased that he had apparently made sense.
"So boys should fight for girls even if the girls are stronger, because girls are more important no matter what?"
He nodded again.
"That's a really good way of putting it Kota-kun..." She told him, actually surprised. She hadn't expected such a complicated answer from him.
"Thanks." He responded simply, giving her another smile.
Natsumi tried not to stare at him as she ran through the conversation again in her head – shocked by how much you could learn about someone from just a few simple words. It really was amazing to see how he thought about gender roles like he did. At first she had always seen him as someone who thought boys were better, that they were stronger and faster and braver than girls and that was that. But whether he thought like that or not, it was also obvious to her that in his mind he clearly thought boys were pretty much around to serve girls – or at the very least protect them with no thought to their own lives. He seemed to sincerely believe his entire gender existed because sometimes women needed someone to punch things.
Altogether it was a life view that really didn't have much place in the modern world at all, but wasn't that why she liked him? Polite, soft, quiet, calm. He wasn't really any of those things - those were Negi's traits. Instead Kotaro was rough, hard, loud, strong and often quite decently angry. A throwback to a time where the ideal partner for a woman was something powerful, violent, dangerous and just a little bit frightening even to its allies. These were the things that attracted her to him at first, and the way he could still be caring and kind and sensitive towards her when she needed him to be was what kept her attracted to him.
So he wasn't exactly a feminist, but she didn't think that mattered much. After all, she didn't want him to be one. She liked him how he was now, a handsome scary animal who still knew how to be tender towards her when she needed him to be. The way he could give her such kinds words and comfort even despite his true aggressive, demonic nature was evidence of that.
When the next bolt of lightning hit, Natsumi felt proud of herself over the fact that she only flinched slightly when the sound of thunder followed. She did scoot up a little closer to him on the chair however, so that their shoulders were touching. He didn't pull away even a little though and she saw that as a good sign.
"I-It seems stupid being so afraid of a storm..." She thought aloud from, looking at her feet feeling ashamed.
"Not really. They used to scare the crap outta me." Kotaro admitted, looking at her with an awkward grin she could only really describe as cute. "When I was little I thought it was the sky shouting at me." He explained, looking embarrassed of himself. "I'm not really the smartest of people..."
She giggled again, feeling a little better for knowing that even he had been frightened of them at one point. Though it was hampered a little bit by the fact even he had only been afraid of them when he was younger – when he was already around four or five years younger than her to begin with.
"That's alright, not everyone needs to be a genius." She consoled him. "And you're nice, that's more important than being super-smart."
"You're nice too y'know."
"Yeah, but I don't really have much else going for me. I'm not super strong or brave like you are..."
"No, but you're an awesome cook." He offered, and she smiled at the complement. "And you're good at acting." He struggled a little now. He knew loads of things he liked about his room-mate but he wasn't sure he knew the right words and it was getting difficult. "And I think... I think you're really pretty..." It was quieter than the others, but not to quiet she couldn't hear it as they both blushed.
"Y-You think so?"
He nodded. "Yeah, not just when you wear that stuff either. I think you're really beautiful..." He was looking away from her now, instead seemingly more interested in his socks, but she didn't mind. She was far too busy with the excitement that was building as she realised he really really did think she was good looking.
Not wanting to push any harder, she didn't ask for an explanation. Instead, she simply thanked him.
"It's no problem." He responded automatically. "I'm just pointing the obvious out..."
"Still, thank you. It's sweet of you to say something like that." She beamed at him. Underneath the blanket a pale feminine hand sought out his strong masculine one, and held it gently. A heart already beating fast tried hard not to go into overdrive as he responded by – somewhat nervously – clasping his clawed and calloused fingers around her far softer and more human ones.
Kotaro turned to look at her, eyes curious and blush evident. The strange scent was back, floating over the normal mixture of smells she usually held for him, and though he still wasn't sure he thought perhaps it could be what affection was supposed to smell like. Being right next to her it had never smelt stronger to him, so he breathed in deep. Kotaro liked it. Natsumi already smelt good, but that extra scent was especially nice.
Yet another bolt of lightning struck, far further away from them than the last one had been and giving them a little warning before the thunder hit. This time Natsumi only winced and closed her eyes briefly before trying to get back to normal. Her hand did clench tighter around his though, and he squeezed hers back briefly in what he hoped was a comforting gesture.
"You don't seem too scared of the storm now..." Kotaro told her nervously, and she guessed it was because she was holding his hand. It amazed Natsumi how quickly he could get shy when he was exposed to things he would usually call 'girly'. In most situations he was loud and confident and generally walked around like he owned the place. Mostly because with his strength it seemed like he probably could. But when it came to hugs and kisses and feelings he shied away and tried to keep everything at arms length. She wondered if it was his young age that was doing that or if he really had problems getting close to people – but she doubted asking him would help much. He didn't seem like the type for deep self-reflection and she would probably just end up embarrassing herself.
"I don't mind them so much when someone else is around..." She explained. "Usually Chizu-nee is here so I don't get as frightened. But since she's gone, its a little harder. That's why I couldn't sleep."
"Can I help?" Kotaro asked. "I know I'm not Chizuru-neechan or anything, but you don't need to be frightened when I'm around." The boy told her.
She blushed and tried to answer without making a fool out of herself. "I know, but um... that's sort of the problem..."
"Huh?" He cocked his head in confusion, and she had to try hard not to stare over how cute it had looked. Soemtimes he really was just like a big puppy.
"I'm not afraid when you're around, but you're sleeping in another room." She explained. "So you're not around."
"So you want me to sleep in your room?"
She nodded, surprised at how easy it had been.
"I mean, if you wouldn't mind..." The redhead mumbled. "Since Chizu-nee isn't around I thought you could have her bed..."
Kotaro shrugged at her. "Sure. I don't mind." He said, not one to care where he slept if it could make her feel better. She could have asked him to sleep outside and he wouldn't have complained.
She smiled widely at him again, before standing up. He blushed as her chest entered his eye level, and then she did too as they both quickly remembered precisely what she was wearing.
Natsumi moved into her bedroom with the fastest walk she could manage, fast loosing the confidence that had first allowed her to show off her body in front of him. Kotaro stared at her retreating behind for a few seconds before shaking his head and following her inside her bedroom, closing the door behind them.
"Um... that's Chizuru's bed right there so um... good night!" Natsumi squeaked out as she dove under her covers before lifting them right up to her cheeks to watch him get into her friend's bed.
Kotaro nodded, deciding to put Natsumi's unusual behaviour down to the thunder that was still playing up randomly outside and just go to sleep. He didn't bother getting undressed, just climbing onto the bed as he was and getting comfortable.
"Night Natsumi-neechan." He told her. "And if you're scared of the storm again just wake me up, I don't mind." He gave her a confident looking grin and Natsumi nodded at him, flushing a little as she smiled back.
"Thank you Kotaro-kun." She said. "You've been really nice to me..."
"Of course. I wanna take care of girls I like." He told her nonchalantly. "Don't worry about it, I'll always help ya how I can."
"H-Have a good night Kotaro-kun." She replied as she groped for the light-switch by her bedside table. Nervous. clumsy hands found it eventually and the entire room was plunged into darkness. 'I can't believe he said that...' Alright, so she knew that he really meant the girls he liked in general, but for a few seconds at least to her crush-addled mind it had almost sounded like a confession.
As usual he was unconscious in just a few short minutes, having long ago mastered the art of falling asleep in any situation and any location.
But Natsumi did not. Instead she lay awake in her bed, comfortable and warm and completely content – if a bit red in the face from remembering the day's events. Their bedroom wasn't very large. In fact she could have reached over and touched him if she had wanted to, if at any point she grew afraid again. But although the offer was there, Natsumi didn't think she'd need to do it - because she was no longer afraid.
Being able to see him now, even if it was only as a dark lump on her best friend's bed. Being able to hear his soft breathing as he snoozed so close to her. Being able to reach over and touch her hand to him. Closing her eyes and imagining she could even hear the relaxed, sleepy beat of his heart in his chest. All of that made being frightened seem impossible.
She wasn't alone with the storm. She had Kotaro, and he was special. Special in general, and special to her.
Hours later, no one bothered to wake up as the front door was opened and slammed shut.
She stood in the middle of the dorm, water pouring off of her to the floor, trembling with rage and gritting her teeth. She turned to face her younger classmates room, and growled, before moving with single minded purpose and emotion towards the bedroom door. 'He will pay!'
And then just before she was about to burst in and attack him, Ayaka's hand stopped on the handle. She sighed as her anger melted away, and let it fall to her side. Instead the blonde girl returned to her room and began changing into some warm dry nightclothes.
The class president knew she was considered a selfish girl, and occasionally even a cruel girl. She knew this was because it was often true. But even she had no reason to want to get in the way of Natsumi and Kotaro's new relationship, no matter how early it was. Going in there and beating him senseless would really only ruin what for Natsumi had probably been a pretty good night. And she had empathy towards the young red-head - she truly did - and not just because her crush was as young as hers. Just like Negi had so so many girls in his life so did Kotaro. True, there were less – that was because Kotaro was Kotaro and Negi was Negi. Of course the annoying mutt wouldn't have gained as many female friends.
But there were still a lot.
First, and most important was Chizuru. Natsumi's best friend for years, the only woman Ayaka had ever met whom she would admit that perhaps – just perhaps – she considered more attractive than she herself was. And Ayaka was not blind, she saw how Kotaro looked at the older girl. There was admiration and loyalty and not a small bit of fear in his eyes when he saw her. If that wasn't a crush at some level at least, then Ayaka would eat her own shoes.
Natsumi would never ever try to go against her. It was as simple as that. If Chizuru wanted Kotaro, she would take him and Natsumi would sit and watch and try to pretend everything was alright. After all, there was a reason that the little actress had chosen a time when her best friend was away before trying to do anything with her so-called 'brother'. And what was worse was Ayaka could see the interest from Chizuru with ease. There was flirtation between them, and if it turned out to be serious then she had to doubt little Natsumi's chances.
But that wasn't even all. There was also Kaede. An equally mature-bodied girl who's interest Ayaka did not yet fully understand. It might be maternal or maybe romantic. But it was there, and just like with his his pseudo-mother figure Kotaro gave Kaede those emotion filled stares too. And that was just when they were around, perhaps their relationship was even stronger without spectators? For all Ayaka knew the young boy might care even more for her than he did Chizuru. It could certainly explain why he was always so eager to go on those long extended camping trips with her.
Ayaka smiled despite herself, such an elegant thing the camping trip. If only she could have gotten Negi early then perhaps she could have managed it with him. If she tried it now the whole thing would turn into a group affair.
And speaking of the group affair there were also the rest of Kaede's walking club. Fuuka and Fumika were hardly the seductresses the other examples were, but they looked and acted Kotaro's age at least and they also went on those camping trips. What's more they seemed to like him, coming over every so often either separately or together – often to do nothing more than pull on those strange decorations he wore. True, he would chase them and call them pests as he did it, but he would also smile and play games with them too, mostly variations on 'Catch-the-fast-annoying-midgets'.
And when they did the blonde beauty noticed that Natsumi would often just stay quiet and out of their way, not wanting to get involved at all. And if her petite friend could let a couple of flat chested little girls take her crush's attention away from her then she was definitely going to have a hard time dealing with the real competition.
All this wasn't even mentioning that exchange student, the one Kotaro had apparently fought in the Mahora tournament. Not that Ayaka knew much about her, but she knew from Chizuru that the girl was about Natsumi's body shape and also blushed whenever he so much as spoke to her. And all of these girls were just the ones she knew about, it wasn't like she actively tried to keep up with the brat's day-to-day life. Who knew who else was interested in their violent little boy.
It occurred to Ayaka that Natsumi was really not well suited for any sort of competition- love or otherwise. She was shy and unsure of herself and honestly, somewhat self-loathing too. If you asked her just generally about vague things she disliked, the first answers you'd likely get were freckles and red-hair. Worse though, instead of talking to people and seeking comfort she usually just tried to hold all her problems and insecurities inside of herself, and that did nothing more than reinforce and focus her troubles inwards and make everything worse.
But there was hope there somewhere. Kotaro did not only look at Chizuru and Kaede with something strange in his eyes. Ayaka had seen the way he looked at Natsumi too. He cared about her, he wanted to protect her from everything – he actually seemed a little possessive of her. And that was promising.
Ayaka sighed. On some level she knew that not everything could go right for people all the time, and that even if you helped someone there would come a time where they would simply need to gain the courage to make a move or move aside so someone who already had it could try. But if Natsumi didn't get far enough into this relationship before Chizuru came back she simply didn't have any chance at all. The class president seriously doubted she would try to continue this with her best friend around to watch.
'Oh well...' Ayaka thought to herself, shrugging. 'I suppose i'll just have to help them along.'
The heir to the extensive Yukihiro fortune had many, many downsides. Stupidity was not one of them.
It didn't take long for her to figure out a plan that was both massively advantageous to Natsumi, and still decently vindictive to the bratty horror that had forced her to run all the way to Library Island in a dangerous thunderstorm.
Natsumi woke up when the screaming started. Sitting up as fast as a rocket it took her a good few seconds to figure out what was happening in her bedroom.
On Chizuru's bed was what looked like a big squirming sack of damp cloth – and it was shouting swears at the top of its lungs. Next to it stood the class president in her nightclothes, holding an empty bucket in her hands.
The taller girl seemed to notice she was awake and turned to smile at her. "Sorry to wake you Natsumi-chan, just getting my revenge." Her voice was absolutely clear of any malice or anger, until she turned back to the cursing... thing on the other bed. "Do you hear that you brat! I had to run for an hour in a thunderstorm because of you!" She shouted, and slowly Natsumi realised that the sack was in fact constructed of Chizuru's bedsheets pulled up and tied together with something that looked like a piece of clothes line.
At the same time Natsumi figured out that the massively aggressive obscene swears were coming from Kotaro, and the innocent girl immediately turned scarlet. She didn't even know some of the terms she was hearing.
"Such a filthy mouth." Ayaka seemed to think aloud, before picking up another bucket from the floor – and Natsumi could see now it was bucket full of water and ice. "Little boys should be polite!"
"Iincho! Wait!" From her bed the redhead watched as it was poured on the struggling boy, who's shouts were immediately doubled.
"Right. I think that's about done." The tall blonde girl turned to her and smiled. "Make sure you make the most of this Natsumi-chan." She winked at her, and the smaller teen got the idea that she was missing something. "I'm sure you'll figure out what I mean in a bit. Oh, and don't worry about the mess. I'll take care of it all in the morning."
"Wha?" The petite actress just stared as Ayaka ran out as fast as she could, a slam from the other side of the dormitory indicating she had returned to her bedroom. Natsumi wondered if she would have been so quick to return to her room if she knew Kotaro could have put his arm through the door without thought – lock or not.
Seemingly he had had the same thought as her, because at that moment a clawed hand shot out from the sack and began tearing a hole big enough for the occupant to escape.
Natsumi squeaked as a growling, soaking wet, shivering head poked out from the improvised prison.
"That bitch!" He roared at the top of his lungs, murder in his eyes. The younger boy climbed out of the sack and stood in the middle of the room, his clothes clinging to him and his body shaking with cold. "I'll kill her!" He started making for the door, leaving wet footprints behind him.
"Kota-kun..." She only said his name quietly, but immediately his head whipped around to look at her and she recoiled on instinct, frightened and intimidated by his stare.
Kotaro's expression rage melted away in seconds – leaving nothing more than guilt and chattering teeth.
"Sorry Nee-chan..." His ears went flat with shame as he saw how much he had frightened her. "I'm supposed to be making you feel better, not scaring you."
"T-That's alright Kotaro-kun... I don't mind if you're angry. But you played a trick on Iincho first..." Not that she supported the retribution, and honestly her classmate should have thought about everything before blindly believing Kotaro's lies, but walking around in a thunderstorm was dangerous. Not to mention – to her at least – probably the single most terrifying idea she had ever heard of.
"I'm not gonna get revenge for this am I?" He sighed.
"I'd rather you didn't... but if you apologize to Iincho then I think she'll apologize back."
"Alright, but in the morning. I don't want to her see me like this." He gestured down to his soaked, shivering body. "I'm gonna go into the shower quickly, kay?"
"Alright." She nodded. "Leave your wet things outside the door and I'll bring you some dry things in a minute alright?"
"Kay, thanks Nee-chan." He grinned at her happily before walking out of the room, removing his clothes as he went.
Once he was gone, the redhead quickly got up and closed the door behind him, still not entirely sure about whether or not to put on something else over the lingerie she was wearing. Showing off before had felt good, but she still didn't feel entirely comfortable being like this for long periods of time. She enjoyed being ogled by Kotaro... more than a lot. But the idea of him staring at her body just made her feel so self-conscious it was hard to act normal around him.
'Maybe just a loose shirt to wear over the top...' She thought to herself. 'Just long enough to pull down if I get embarrassed...' Nodding to herself, the small teenage girl opened the larger of the bedrooms two cupboards, the one that contained her clothes and the small amount of clothes that Kotaro had. Then she stared, because it was empty. She couldn't put her own clothes on, and she couldn't even borrow one of Kotaro's shirts either.
Well, it wasn't entirely empty. There was a piece of paper on the bottom with the word 'NO!' written on one side, and: 'I've taken Chizuru's too' on the other.
A few seconds later Ayaka heard banging on her door.
"Iincho!" Natsumi whined. "Please give them back!" The door opened for the briefest of seconds and an immaculately manicured hand shot out, pulling her inside in a second before the door slammed shut again.
In the darkened room a wide-eyed Natsumi looked up pathetically at her taller room-mate.
"Natsumi-chan, when it comes to relationships you are a coward." Ayaka told her, plainly and matter-of-factly, but somehow not unkindly. "So I am going to make sure you're put into a situation you cannot possibly back out of. First of all, by ruining his bed so you share, and second by making sure you don't put anything over that." She gestured up and down Natsumi's body.
"But Kotaro-kun doesn't have any spare clothes anymore!" The little red-head wailed. "He's gonna be nude!"
"Oh yeah... didn't think of that." Ayaka thought aloud. "Oh well, wont that just make things better for you?"
"No!" Natsumi said in the loudest hushed voice she could handle. "I'm not ready for that sort of thing yet!"
Ayaka sighed. "Alright, I'll let you have one piece of underwear. Tell him I forgot to take it or something." She handed a pair of white boxer shorts to her, and Natsumi took them thankfully. "But maybe in return I should take a piece of yours." The class president pretended to be earnestly thinking about it.
"What?" Natsumi squeaked.
"Like your bra I think."
"What?"
"Well, that'd help wouldn't it? Guys like breasts." Ayaka grinned at her, reaching forwards. Natsumi was out of the door before she could even touch her, leaving Ayaka to laugh and lock the door again. Having them sleep together would have to help their relationship, and maybe Natsumi would even be able to kiss him or something.
Natsumi had left Kotaro's underwear by the bathroom door and retreated back into her own room, once again hiding underneath the covers – pulling the bedsheets right up to her face. Ayaka's words were coming back to her as she looked at the thoroughly soaked bed on the other side of the room – completely unusable now.
Could she? Could she really do something like that. Invite her crush into her bed when she was wearing... this. Not to mention when all he would be wearing was... oh.
Kotaro entered the room, dripping wet and smiling.
"Hey Natsumi-neechan. There was only this outside the door."
She stared at him from beneath the bed covers, recalling that wet fabric had a tendency to cling.
'Isn't it supposed to be smaller?'
"Nee-chan?"
"Wha?" She blushed and shook her head, trying to keep her gaze above his waist and disgusted at herself for finding it difficult. "Oh um... Iincho took all our clothes as revenge... she just left that one behind so you wouldn't have to be nude..." 'He's a little boy. He's a little boy. He's a little boy! He's a little... he isn't! Little boys don't have six-packs! Or such good, strong looking arms... and they don't bulge like that there!" He was too young for puberty wasn't he? She was a good four years on him at least and she had barely even started! He was only supposed to be a year or so older than her teacher at best, at worst he was the same age. Maybe it was because he was a demon? That had to mess with the whole thing didn't it?
"Wow. She really must be pissed at me." Kotaro thought aloud, completely oblivious to the internal struggle going on just a few metres away inside the terrifying battleground of a teenage girls mind. "Do you want me to go get them back?"
"Um... no... better not. Iincho locked the door and you'd have to break it to get them. She said she'd give them back in the morning though..."
"Oh, alright." Kotaro frowned as he looked at her closely. "Hey Natsumi-neechan, are you feeling alright? Ya look all red." It didn't help that she was hiding beneath the blankets, but he just assumed that was a girl thing. Besides, she seemed kind of embarrassed having him see her in those clothes. Though he had to admit, he really enjoyed the sight.
Kotaro thought all of the people he lived with were pretty. Actually, he couldn't think of any girl he was close to he didn't think was good looking. He'd even grudgingly admit that the twins were cute, if a little annoying sometimes. But he didn't usually find himself actively wanting to see more of them. The only comparable situations were when he had to take a bath with Chizuru or help bandage one of Kaede's wounds. But then they were usually naked and how could he not want to look? It wasn't like it made him less of a man to be a little bit interested in girls. Not that he'd admit that out loud – if Negi found out he'd never live it down.
But he couldn't remember ever really looking at someone who was still wearing clothes like that. And he really wanted to look at Natsumi more. He even kinda wanted to see what she looked like without them, though he had made sure not to try in the bath. After all, there wasn't a problem with most of the other girls he knew, they either seemed to want him to look or just didn't care. Natsumi on the other hand seemed terrified he'd see her naked, and he wasn't going to try if she got that upset over it.
Not that he really understood why anyone could be embarrassed of themselves naked. Or why some people would and some people wouldn't be. But as with most things, he just marked it down to weird human habits and let it be. It was easier that way.
"I-I'm fine Kota-kun..." His attention was brought back by her answer quickly enough for him to realise she didn't sound entirely truthful. She didn't sound afraid or sad or anything, but she didn't sound comfortable either.
"Oh, it's because of the bed right?" He felt proud when she smiled weakly and nodded agreement. He was getting better at guessing people's feelings – or at least at understanding Natsumi.
"I've never shared a bed with a boy..." The young girl mumbled, immediately regretting her own words. It was just a big blinking sign telling him how she thought about him, as a possible partner instead of as her adopted little brother. Which was how she thought their relationship was supposed to be.
"That's fine Natsumi-neechan, I'll just sleep on the floor next to your bed."
"But won't that be uncomfortable?" He couldn't just go to sleep on the floor could he? Especially not wearing so little.
"I'll be fine, really." He smiled at her again, but she didn't look happy.
"No." He looked up at her curiously and Natsumi tried to return a confident look although it didn't quite work. Natsumi felt light-headed and she was sure she could feel her heart stuck in her throat, but she said it anyway. "J-Just hurry up and get into bed Kotaro-kun..."
And then, though her entire upper body had gone strawberry pink and she was sure she was trembling, the petite, embarrassed, flushed young woman moved up on the bed and pulled open the covers for him.
"I don't really need to have a bed y'know..." He was blushing heavily too and she realised this meant maybe he wasn't the only one who wasn't thinking of the other as a sibling. If he just saw her as his adopted sister, he wouldn't be embarrassed at all would he?
"I'd like you to share it Kota-kun..." She told him, having never ever said anything more truthful in her life. Sure, the idea terrified her and made her feel guilty about herself. She wasn't sure if it was right, and she certainly wouldn't want anyone else to know they'd done it. But she still wanted to.
He nodded and got inside, giving her a brief, slightly awkward smile as he lay down next to her.
They stared one another in the eyes for a few minutes, both red as one another, before agreeing to turn and face the other way to sleep. But despite this, Natsumi still made sure to seek out his hand underneath the covers and touched it gently, holding it in hers and smiling widely when he returned the gesture without hesitation.
And before the young girl fell asleep she allowed herself to feel a little proud, because she was sure that this was not something a coward would have done.
Another chapter finished! I actually noticed I made a mistake in my last one, I had Ayaka amazed at Kotaro and Negi being fighters last chapter but I designed this to be set after the Mahora festival – just before they go to the magical world. Ayaka was clearly present for Negi's last match and probably at least heard of some of the others, especially since both Natsumi and Chizuru saw them all.
I've corrected that now, but it goes to show what happens when you don't pay attention.
So now I've finished this chapter I will be tied up in my Lucky Star work for a little while, so it may be another wait for you guys. But don't worry, I plan another great chapter! And to anyone who is waiting, my profile is regularly updated with how far I've gotten on chapters and other news about my writing.