[ Chapter 8 ]
"Don't come back here, you're not welcome here anymore." Dakota says, looking over to me.
"Okay, I'll come back again some other time when you're not cheating on me, 'kay?" Minami says, his eyes energetic and joyful.
"Hey, what did I just tell you?" Dakota says behind clenched teeth. His hands ball into fists. "If my dad hears about this marriage, he'll murder me and then I'll come after you and-"
"And Mia-chan," Minami's eyes glance to me. They turn soft, welcoming.
"Y-Yes?" I lift my eyes to him, glancing over at Dakota momentarily.
His eyes narrowed. "Let's get ice-cream sometime, okay?"
I nod shyly. "O-Okay, sure."
He giggles, poking at my cheek. "Kawaii…Mia-chan, kawaii."
I smile bashfully. "Mm, thank you."
"And remember," he says running to the stairs. I step out of the doorway to see him. "Fighting." He smiles widely, putting up two fists.
"Fighting," I nod, doing the same.
"Bye-bye, Mia-chan!" he waves, going down the stairs.
Dakota goes to the baloney. "Baka, don't ignore me and just run off!"
Minami blows him a kiss from the parking lot. "Oyasumi, husband-kun!"
"I'll get you for what you did!" Dakota calls back.
I giggle, joining in and waving as Minami leaves.
Minami waves back and he runs off down the street. Dakota turns to me. "Come on, let's go inside."
"Mm." I nod, following him.
He shuts the door. "That idiot…"
"So what does oh-ya…su-me mean?" I ask, sitting in front of the TV.
Dakota joins me, collapsing to the floor and folding his legs. He yawns, leaning back his head and showing his fangs openly. "Sleep well and goodnight, I believe. But that may be wrong. I'm still in learning."
"Ah, I see." I say, staring at him as he clicks on the TV and hunches over lazily. I stare at his long, somewhat straight black hair that's tied into a sloppy ponytail. Still it showers down his back and still travels to the floor. I wonder just how long it was when he was sitting down and it wasn't in a ponytail? How long would his hair be then?
His small snorts, twitches when he blinks. I watch as they flutter, sweeping his cheeks.
I find myself blushing a soft pink when he rolls his head around in a circle, sketching his neck.
Even his long neck and jaw line are cute… I hear myself think.
His silver eyes flicker over to me. "What? Why are you staring – is there something on my face?"
I jump, looking down at my purple tights. "N-no…I was just…"
"What…do you still like me?" he says quietly.
My eyes widen. "W-w-what? No! I didn't mean to stare it was just that…"
He rests his palm to the floor, leans closer to me. His breathe is warm against my cheek. "So you don't still have a crush on me?"
By the burning of my face I know I'm red from the neck and up. I feel myself start to fidget. "I said I didn't', didn't I?"
"But you do, don't you?" He said, teasing me. "Should we give it a try then, dating that is?"
"W-what?" I turn my head to him, but don't look him in the eyes. I focus on his shirt.
"You know something, you really are cute." His forehead touches mine. I open my eyes.
"I think…we should…" I mumble.
"Should what?" his head tilts slightly.
"D-dating…we should trying dating…" I look away, my voice slightly trembling.
He blinks. "Do you really like me…that much?"
I nod. "Mm…"
"Hey Mia…"he says softly. "Close your eyes."
I nod weakly, closing my eyes. In that moment, his lips find mine.
So this is what it feels like to be kissed… I say to myself. His lips…they're soft.
"Hey Mia, we're back!" I hear call from the other side of the door as it begins to open.
I jump back, my face red and biting my lip. Dakota glances to the door and back to me. He winks, putting a finger to his lips. I watch as he stands and greets Faith.
"Sorry we took so long, guys, but we brought yogurt." She says sweetly.
"Thanks mom," Dakota takes both of cups of yogurt and sits them next to me. I nod my thanks. "Be back soon, gonna help put groceries away. Pause the show, okay?"
I nod again, clicking PAUSE on the remote, having forgotten the TV was even on in the first place. "Need any h-help?"
"No, we're good." Dad answers.
"What's wrong, big sis?" Cara asks shyly from my side.
I look up at her, face still red. My lips slide together as I clear my throat. "N-nothing, it's nothing, I'm fine."
"You sure, dear?" Faith says from across the room.
I nod. "I'm fine."
"You sure you don't have a fever? Your face is all red." She says worriedly.
I look frantically at Dakota and lower my eyes. "I'm…um…I'm fine."
"Alright then." Dad glances at Dakota and goes back to helping Faith. Dakota does too.
Cara shrugs, sits down. "What's on?"
"I-I don't know." I answer honestly.
"What do you mean you don't know? You were watching TV, weren't you?" she asks disappointedly, her eyebrows curved.
"S-Sort of…I meant that I don't know what it's called." I try to lie.
She looks at for a moment. I freeze, my heart pounding in my chest.
"It's a drama," Dakota answers for me, stealing Cara's attention. "It's like a soap opera sort of, but in Japanese."
"Oh," she stands, smiling and jogging towards the other side of the room.
I watch as she grabs her yogurt from the fridge and returns to her spot next to me. "Is it good?"
He nods, joining us on the wooden floor with two spoons. "Yeah, most of them are."
"Ah…cool." Cara's eyes brighten with interest.
I jump from our hands touching when he hands me the spoon. Somehow, I can't look at him, but still his eyes flicker down to the cold spoon lying on the floor and back up to me.
"Guess we'll have to share a spoon." His smile is innocent.
"S-share a spoon?" I look at him. "N-n-no, that's O-OK! I'll just g-go and get another one…"
"Too much effort." He says, handing me my yogurt and the spoon.
I peel open the seal and take a bite of the yogurt. The strawberry flavor bursts on the taste buds of my tongue. I smile its creamy sweetness. "It's good."
"That's good." Dakota says, smiling at calmly, which makes me blush even more.
"Mia dear, aren't you going to come and say goodbye to Dakota before he leaves for school?" I hear dad call.
"One second!" I answer, stepping into the pants mom packed for me. Finally, I run out of the room, dressed in the outfit mom picked for me. I leave my hair tied in a side ponytail and let it rest on my shoulder. "Sorry if I'm making you late."
Dakota puts a hand to his chin, gazing up and down at my outfit. "Mm, it's alright. It was worth it to get to see how cute you look."
I blush at his words, looking down at my outfit. Suddenly my hot pink skirt began to feel clingy on my hips, as did the cheetah print knee-high tights that strapped around my legs, and as if that wasn't bad enough, the white t-shirt that she decided for me was begins to make me feel necked. It was a normal t-shirt with long sleeves, but it was just that it had been deliberately cut in half. And then there was the pale jean vest and all furry tan-ish boots… "Well, I wouldn't say cute exactly…" I said quietly, heart racing as I sucked in my curve less stomach. "I don't think that word fits."
"You're right, the word doesn't do you justice."
I look up at Dakota and blinked suddenly, forgetting what it was that I wanted to say. He'd looked so handsome in his skinny black pants, black sweater vest, white button down shirt, and dark blue silk tie uniform. I look at his face, realized how triangle his jaw is when his hair is tied up differently. Instead of being down, the mane of his head is separately into two sides and is tied around is his head, creating a ponytail in the back while the rest stays down and comfortable on his shoulders and back. I blink down, noticing his odd *shoes that are sickeningly tall and white at the top, but black at the bottom with a cross on the front, on top of the toe part. Somehow, they make his look cool.
"What's wrong?" he asks.
I shake my head, blushing more. When did he start to look so cool? "N-nothing…nothing's wrong. I was just…" I can't find the words to finish my sentence.
He walks over to me, pulling me into a hug. I fall forward into his chest and he catches me, putting his arms around my head. "I'll see you later, kay?"
I bite my lip, realizing our parents can still see us. I attempt to nod, staring at the white collar of his shirt. His black sweater shirt that is warm against me.
"Bye-bye, Mia-chan." He pulls away, taking my hand and placing a kiss to my forehead.
I don't move, stunned still as I watch him place a kiss on his mother's cheek and smile his goodbye to my father. I find my hand touching my forehead.
"Mia, you alright over there?" dad says, leaning against the door with a curious expression, as if he seen the whole scene
"F-fine." I mumble, running into the only room in the house.
Cara blinks at the slam of the sliding screen door. "What time is it?" she asks, still dazed as she sits up and yawns widely.
"Um, s-sorry, C-Cara…I wasn't trying to wake you up." I hang my head, putting a hand to my lips as I remember how soft and warm Dakota's lips are.
"It's OK, big sis…what happened?" she asks, her head nodding off as she blinks slowly.
"It's…um…nothing." I say quietly.
"You sure?" she yawns again.
I nod. "I think I am…"
She blinks again and falls back to the pillow of the futon, rolling over and straightening the cover so that her goat legs don't hang out. I bite my lip, wishing so much that I could tell her about my feelings, but she was only eleven. I sigh, collapsing to the floor.
What was I getting myself into?
"Tadaima – I'm back." Dakota calls when he opens the front door. I watch as Minami joins him inside. He locks the door. Out of the corner of his eye Minami notices me.
He flashes a bright grin. "It's Mia-chan. Tadaima."
I bow my head shyly, still looking at him. "W-welcome home."
"Ah! Mia-chan's been doing her research." He says, walking over to me and joining me in front of the small TV. He crosses his long legs at the ankle and leans back on his arms.
"And what about me?" Dakota joins us too, taking the seat on my right.
"…w-welcome h-h-home, Kota." I feel my face heat.
"Mm," he mumbles. "Thanks."
"So what is Mia-chan watching?" Minami asks, taking the remote and switching to the guide. "Ah, I like the drama 'Playfully Kiss'. It's cute."
I nod shyly. "I agree…"
"So where did everyone go anyway?" Dakota asks, falling backward. He puts his arms behind his head, shutting his silver eyes.
"They said they were going to go some theme park for a family outing…but I decided not to go."
Dakota sighs. I watch as his chest rise and falls. "And why is that? You could've had some real fun."
I shake my head, my ponytail falls from my shoulder. "I'm not really all that into theme parks and things like that…and besides…Dakota hadn't came home yet."
"So you were waiting for me?" one of his eyes opens.
I quickly take a long sip of my soda, leaning my head back and shutting my eyes tightly as I realize what I just said. Suddenly I feel a kiss placed on each of my cheeks.
I open my eyes, starting to choke. I stare nervously at the now soaked wood, my cheeks instantly turning red. "O-Oh no," I stand. "I'll go and get something to clean this up!"
"Wait, Mia-chan, are you OK?" I hear Minami say as I dash off to the bathroom.
I grab one of the small towels in the small, cramped closet and run water on it. Looking in the mirror, I see that my lips are curled in and my face is a bright red.
What have I done now? I ask myself, returning to the small living room. I quickly fall to my knee and clean up the mess I've made. I notice that the soda stain isn't quite coming out.
"I-I'm so s-sorry. I really hadn't meant for this to happen."
"Iie," Minami says, spinning around to his knees too. "It's our fault really."
I flinch my hand away when it touches his. "S-sorry."
"It's alright," he offers a comforting smile. "But hey Mia-chan, can I ask you something?"
I nod. "Sure, what is it?"
"Those horns on your head…" he begins, I stiffen, feeling my heart begin to pound in my chest. "…They're real…aren't they?"
*Shoes: please see link for the image of how Dakota's shoes look - .
I couldn't quite explain them the way I was hoping, but aren't they SUPER COOL and AWESOME shoes? ^-^