Slow Burn
Chapter Five:
"Good Night"
The next morning, Kokoro woke up to warm breath on the back of her neck. She smiled and turned. "Come to wake me up, Matt?"
"Who's Matt?" Kokoro whipped around as fast as her body would allow, meeting the voice.
"Kasumi?" The girl smiled down at her. "What are you doing here?"
"Your mother just let me in. Just came to visit you, Kokoro, but… who's Matt?"
"It's good to see you!" Kokoro sat up.
"Some of the others will be coming into town today and tonight. But who is Matt? Your boy?" Kokoro blushed. "Aha! You finally got one?"
Kokoro smiled sheepishly. "I guess he is, I don't know, we haven't talked about that yet." Kasumi narrowed her eyes. "What?"
"He's here isn't he? You thought I was him a second ago." Kokoro blushed. "You two didn't!?" Kokoro's eyes widened.
"No, no, no… we haven't! We had a first 'date' last night… so no, we didn't."
"Then why is he staying here?"
"His hotel blew up." Kasumi laughed.
"You expect me to believe that?" Kokoro turned on her television to a news channel. The explosion story was playing. "Oh… why was he in a hotel?"
"He's spending his summer here, I don't know. I didn't ask more than that." Kasumi hugged her friend.
"Well did your date go well?" Kokoro nodded. "Did you two kiss?" Kokoro nodded while Kasumi laughed.
"It was a sweet night. It ended with a bang." Kokoro said. Kasumi just looked at her. "The explosion? Bang, get it?" Kasumi smiled.
"Well, yeah. So where is he?"
"Hold on, let me get changed." Kasumi nodded and walked out to the living room where she saw Kokoro's mother talking with a tall young man, which both of them turned and looked at her.
"Good morning, Miyako and um…"
"This is Matt, if Kokoro hasn't told you about him." Kasumi turned to look at him and bowed to him. He bowed awkwardly in return, at which she smiled.
"She did, but not at any length." He smiled at her. They made small talk until Kokoro came out of her room.
"Good morning, mother." she said with a hug. She walked to Matt and hugged him, "Good morning." she said and released him. "Did you sleep well?"
"I slept alright."
"I'm glad." she said as she took a place at his side. "Oh! Matt, this is an old friend, Kasumi."
"Nice to meet you." Kasumi spoke.
"Nice to meet you, too." Matt returned the sentiment.
"So, breakfast, dear?" Miyako asked of her daughter.
"It would be wonderful about now, I'm really hungry." Kokoro said with a smile. They all moved to the already set table and ate breakfast.
"Kokoro, what are your plans for the day?" Miyako asked.
"I haven't really thought about it to tell you the truth." Miyako raised her eye brow. "It's Saturday, so I may spend some time with Kasumi and Matt."
"There's a 'party' tonight, after the rest of the girls are coming in tonight." Miyako looked at her daughter. "It won't be much, just a little reunion."
"Well, I don't see the harm. Who is all going, if I may ask?"
"Um, Hitomi, Lei Fang, Tina, Cristie, and Helena, and ourselves." Kasumi stated.
"It'll be great to see them all again." Kokoro replied, "Matt, do you want to come with me?"
"If you really want me too."
"Is that a yes?" she said with a gleeful tone.
"Apparently it is." he replied with a smile. She made a happy noise similar to a 'squee!' Kasumi laughed. Miyako smiled a bit.
Later on that night, around six o'clock. Kokoro was dressed in a similar garb as her date, a blue short dress and black leggings. Matt, at his protest, had his clothes taken and washed by Kokoro. The trio was getting ready to leave. "Kokoro, I could've bought more clothes today."
"Yes, but you're cute in that, so we can get some more clothes for you tomorrow." Kokoro said with a sweet smile and grabbing his arm and pulling him closer. He smiled a little bit.
"Kokoro, I have to ask: drinking?"
"Maybe, it will be there but I do not know if we will be consuming it." Kasumi replied.
"I don't drink so I can watch over her if you would like." Matt replied unsurely. Kokoro squeezed his arm gently as if to say 'Thank you'.
"I would like that, Matt." Miyako said cautiously. "Can you have her back here tonight?" He nodded.
"Yes, mother. I'll be home tonight." Kokoro assured her mother. Matt promised to have her back. The trio departed afterwards, it was a short walk to the other hotel. "I hope this one doesn't explode…" Matt laughed. When they arrived there was a chorus of greetings.
"Wow! It's so good to see you all again!" Kokoro gleefully exclaimed.
"Kokoro! It's so wonderful to see you! How have you been?" Hitomi said while giving Kokoro a big hug.
"I got a college degree and I'm looking for a new college." she modestly answered.
"So… good then?"
"Very good." she smiled happily.
Kokoro looked around the room to scan the faces. There were almost as many men as women in the room. They brought dates. She turned to see where hers was, who was no longer there. "Koko, what's wrong?" Lei Fang asked.
"Where did he go?"
"Who? That boy?"
"Yeah."
"He's in the kitchen." she answered. Kokoro nodded and went to fetch him. Lei Fang caught her arm, "Hold on, sweetheart. Tell us about him." she said with a wide smile.
"He's a little older than me, in college, and American."
The rest of the girls simply stared and began to laugh, "Koko, what is he like, we all saw him. He's an awkward one." Tina commented.
Kokoro laughed at it, "He can be, but he's actually really sweet."
"How long have you known him?"
"Almost a week."
A pause full of smiles, "Well, how did you two meet?"
"He was my dance partner for a while, after Jin failed to show up and got me into trouble, again."
"Was he any good?"
"He was alright I suppose, he was kind of nervous. I just ran in to him and asked him to dance with me out in the hallway, to be honest." Kasumi and the others just laughed. "But I like him, all the same."
"Good," Kasumi said with a friendly hug, "He's very nice and really polite for an American." Tina blinked.
"Wait, you said he was nervous?"
"Well, we slow danced, and he was nervous about putting his arms around me the first few times." Kokoro laughed a bit, "Though, he has gotten a little better, I'm getting him used to it, so he can enjoy it as much as I do."
"That last part sounds dirty." Tina joked. They laughed, Kokoro blushed. "You two haven't, have you?" Kokoro shook her head. "Really? You mean he hasn't tried anything?" Kokoro shook her head. "Nothing!?" Again, Kokoro shook her head. "Wow, you either have a closet case or a miracle on your hands Koko. An American who hasn't tried to get into your pants and you're a looker too." Tina said with a wink. Kokoro blushed brighter. "Sweetie, it's okay, you'll understand why we joke about it when you finally do it with a guy." Kokoro was red at this point.
"Um… c-can we change the subj-ject?" Kokoro managed to eek out. Tina hugged her apologetically. "It's okay. We've discussed this all before."
"Two years ago…" Lei Fang chimed in.
"Well her views haven't seemed to have changed since then." Tina said. "Which is good. There aren't many girls like you left out there. Keep it until you get married." Kokoro blushed a little and nodded.
"That was the plan, Tina." Kokoro said with a smile.
"So does he seem like a candidate?" Tina asked, Kokoro blushed. "What? I was just asking…"
"Not anytime soon, I am pretty sure he's going back home at the end of his summer." Kokoro said with a little hint of despair.
"Aw, is he going to come back to you?"
"I hope so, but I think it would be too much to ask of him."
Lei Fang draped her arms around Kokoro's shoulders, "You say that now, but if you end up falling for him, it will be a different story."
"You think?"
"You say that you like him, and if he's good to you he might not be a bad thing in your life. So as far as I am concerned, I hope he does come back to you."
"Really? What if he forgets me?"
"How could he?" Tina smiled.
"What do you mean?" Kokoro asked. Tina didn't answer, but helped pour some drinks and passed them around. The girls now had drinks in hand. They all drank the first serving of sake of the night.
"I mean that you, my dear, are an amazing girl. You're beautiful, smart, and kind. How could he forget a girl like that!? If he did forget you, he certainly doesn't deserve to be with you, or even have you think of him for that matter. However, you should cross that bridge if it comes. Here, drink up!" Kokoro took the second cup and downed it. "But, um, how are you getting home tonight? Need a place to sleep?"
"No --" Kasumi cut her off.
"Matt doesn't drink so he's walking her home tonight. He was living in the hotel that blew up last night, so he's staying with Koko for a while." The girls all raised an eye brow, and giggled.
"Well Koko, do please call me when you go home?"
"Um… sure." she said cautiously.
"We can always all walk you home…"
"If you want." she replied with a giggle.
At the end of the night all of the girls were summarily smashed as were all of the men save Matt. Kokoro, still able to walk, hugged Matt, "Can you take me home now?" she said with a happy smile. She wasn't anywhere close to the drunkest one of the entire event, close to the last. Her speech clear and movement sure, she was minimally inebriated.
"Are you ready?" he asked, she nodded, smiled and took his hand.
"Yes, take me home." He smiled and they left with glorious applause. "Bye guys!" As they were walking home she wrapped her arms around him and laid her head on his shoulder. "Matt, when you leave…" A long pause.
"Yes, what's on your mind?"
"Dear, I mean Matt, I really like you, but I wonder about all of this." He looked down at her.
"Yeah."
"Are you mine? I mean, I want to be yours… but I'm scared that when you leave to go back to America you won't come back to see me or you'll just forget about me and move on. I couldn't do that, I can't forget about you. Our talk last night at the restaurant made me really want to get to know you, and the way you have treated me makes me want to be yours, because I want you to be mine." She squeezed him as tightly as she could, he hugged her back.
He sighed, "I like you a lot too, Kokoro." she melted at the sound of him saying her name, "I want to be yours more than you can imagine, so while I do have to go…" she tightened her grip on him. "…I won't forget about you, and I'll come to visit you when I can." She stopped walking and pulled him to her face.
"You can kiss me when I'm a little drunk, right?"
"Once or twice, yeah, but nothing too much." She smiled. He leaned down and kissed her gently on the lips. It lasted for but a moment. "Do you believe me?" he asked.
"Why shouldn't I, my dear?" she responded.
"Not sure." he said pulling her to him. She giggled as she tightened her grip in him more. When they got home, her mother looked her over and smiled and nodded at Matt. He took her to her room, and laid her down in her bed and tucked her in. "You okay? Need anything?" She shook her head. Neither noticed Miyako watching them. She put her arms around his neck, like when they danced together, and pulled him close, so their foreheads and noses were touching.
"Will you sleep with me tonight?"
"Sorry, no, I can't." he said with a chuckle.
"I didn't mean sex…I wanted to just hold you like a teddy bear." she said with a smile.
"I know, but still I can't. It doesn't seem right, you know?" She nodded with a smile.
"Matt… that's a nice name, is it short for Matthew? Like from the Bible?"
"Yeah, it is. You read the Bible?" She smiled and nodded and pulled a gold cross from a jewelry box next to her bed and a Bible from beneath her pillow briefly before replacing it under the pillow again.
"I do, see?" she said getting really close again. She paused for a long while, each starring into the other's eyes. "Can I tell you a secret?" He nodded. "You have sexy eyes." He smiled.
"Yours are prettier." She paused again, smiling.
"I'm so tired… I need to rest, but can I give you a goodnight kiss?" She didn't give him a lot of time to answer before she just kissed him on the cheek quickly. "Goodnight, Matthew." She whispered into his ear before drifting off to sleep, cross still in hand.
"Goodnight, Kokoro." She smiled in her sleep. Matthew rose from her bedside and turned to see her mother looking at him with a smile on her face. "…did I do something wrong?" he whispered.
"You treated my daughter like she should be treated… No, you didn't do anything wrong, Matt." she said warmly. He smiled.