... GOMEN NASAI! I'm so sorry everyone! -bows- I'm terrible for not updating this story! ...However, I shall reward everyone's patience with a very, erm, steamy scene! Mwuhahahahaha-Himeno throws tennis racket at me- Owie... Well, anyone, enjoy... I may need to up the rating on this story. O.o
Chapter Seven: In Which Himeno Discovers a Very Disturbing and Upsetting Thing About Herself
~Himeno's POV~
He kissed me.
I could still feel the scalding brand of his lips against mine, the touch of his hand against the small of my back. The way his other hand had gently cupped the side of my face, tipping my face to meet his own. The way his breath tickled my lips the instant before the mind-shattering kiss.
He kissed me.
He hadn't been gentle, either, in his kiss. He had been forceful, pillaging my mouth, making it his own, to the point where I didn't know who's tongue was who's. But at the same time, his hands had cradled me as if I was the most precious thing in the world. Christian had never kissed me like that before. Ever. With Fuji... I felt special. Cherished.
He kissed me, and I had kissed him back.
I wasn't in the habit of lying to myself. Despite my protests to Fuji, I knew full well that yes, I had indeed kissed Fuji back. And liked it. Part of me was horrified. I hated him. I loathed him with all my heart. But, apparently, not all of it. Because somewhere, deep down inside, I had liked it. Part of me had liked the kiss, and was yearning for another one.
I had to do something. The hatred I felt for him was dying, and that thought terrified me. He had ruined my life, stolen the one thing I truly cared about away from me. I couldn't like him. I couldn't! I couldn't let myself be attracted to him, to fall for him! This facade I was putting on for my sister was getting too close to the truth.
And, that evening, it only got worse.
My family, including Kody and Fuji, decided to go out to eat, as we were sick of ordering pizza. Mom and Dad were too busy with the upcoming wedding to cook, and Mikage hated to do it. And my ability in the kitchen... well, it left much to be desired. It's rather depressing when you burn frozen dinners or mac n' cheese.
Anyway, it was over dinner at a nice restaurant named Conley's that my mother made my life just a bit more difficult. And it began with a simple little announcement, too: "Himeno, I have some good news for you. Your Uncle Ross is actually able to make it to the wedding."
I looked up from my steak in surprise. Uncle Ross was my Dad's brother, a freelance photographer who traveled around the world to take pictures of nature. My dad thought he was a flighty loser who didn't care about anything, but I knew that wasn't the case. Uncle Ross just liked to have fun, that's all, and always sent us cards and such for our birthdays. But I was surprised that he was going to be at the wedding – last time I had heard, he was down in Australia!
"That's great!" I said excited, delighted at the fact that I'd be able to see my favourite uncle again. I looked at my parents as they exchanged a look. THE look. The one that said something was up. "What?"
"The thing is, Himeno... we don't have enough rooms for him, since it was so sudden." my father picked up where my mother left off.
Oh no. Oh no, no, no. I did NOT like where this was going. Not one bit.
"Your mother trusts you, even though I disapprove." my father continued, turning a bit purple in the face. "But since we don't have anywhere else for that... my brother, we, well, want..." my father's face contorted strangely and my mother had to take over.
"Do you mind terribly if you and Shuusuke-kun share a room, Himeno dear?"
I choked on my steak, staring. Although I knew that this was going to happen after my father's first sentence, it still came as a shock. A choking sort of noise came from Fuji's vicinity, and I glanced at him. His eyes were bulging out of its sockets, and he was alternating between going bright red and ghost white. He opened and shut his mouth several times, trying to speak, though nothing came out. Me? I couldn't say anything either, just stared at my parents.
How could they even consider this idea? Me? Share a room with him? Especially after what he had done! Okay, true, my parents didn't know that little fact, but STILL. What were they thinking! I would've expected this from Mikage, not from my parents. Then a horrible thought dawned on me.
Mikage had planned this. Somehow, someway, she had done this.
I looked over at my sister, who gave me the "V is for victory" sign. My dangfangled sister had plotted this out somehow, on a misguided sense of duty. Since she was so happy, she would've thought it her duty to see my happy. And OF COURSE that would mean spending the remainder of the week in the same bedroom as my "boyfriend"! I knew my sister was into romance and stuff, but this was going too far! I was about to protest when she sent me a pleading sort of look, mouthing, "Pretty please?" over my mother's head.
No one in their right mind would agree to something as ridiculous as this. But I knew that this meant a lot to my sister, and that she wouldn't be fully happy if I didn't at least pretend to be happy. And that wasn't right, especially when the wedding was so close. I truly wanted my sister to be happy. But I really, really, REALLY, didn't want to do this. Not with Fuji. However, my sense of duty... well, I guess I'm not in my right mind."You owe me!" I mouthed back before turning to my parents.
"...not appropriate! I mean, we are just teenagers and-" Fuji was saying really fast, face red. I mentally thanked him and ruefully apologized him in my mind for what I was about to do to us.
"It'll be fine, Fuji-kun." I interrupted, fixing a smile on my face as I looked at my parents. "I don't mind. It'll be great, having Uncle Ross her!" Some more choking noises came from Fuji's vicinity, and I smiled sweetly at my parents. "If you'll excuse us, Fuji-kun and I will need to figure some things out."
"Sure, sure." Dad said, waving his hand, glad that the explaining part was over. Then he narrowed his eyes at my "boyfriend". "Oh, by the way, Shuusuke, touch my daughter and I'll murder you."
Fuji gulped. "Yes sir."
With that, I grabbed his hand and dragged him out of the restaurant.
*Fuji's POV*
This is not good. Not good at ALL. That was the only thought that was going through my head as Himeno almost literally dragged me out of the restaurant. Himeno had a vice-grip on my hand as she dragged me back to he house. The girl forcibly pushed me, still sputtering, into her room, slamming the door behind her. The instant the lock slid into place, she rounded on me, tawny eyes glittering. Uh-oh. This was not going to be pretty.
"Let's get something straight here, buddy-boy," she growled at me, poking one finger into my chest. "You so much as think about pulling something like what you did at Starbucks and I will personally murder you. Or castrate you. Whichever hurts most, I suppose..." Would you believe she actually sounded thoughtful!
I groaned, closing my eyes. Why had I even done that stupid kiss in the first place? If Tezuka ever found out, he'd kill me! Or worse. But I had been so mad, so upset, that I hadn't really thought, just acted. And now I had to deal with this!
Did God hate me that much?
A strange, loud noise made me open my eyes. Himeno was kneeling on the ground, duct tape in hand. I quirked an eyebrow at her as she stuck the end to the ground. "Uh, Twerp, what are you doing?
"It's HIMENO. HI-ME-NO. Not all that hard to pronounce." she snapped. "And I'm making a boundary line."
Boundary line! What did the girl think I was going to do to her, rape her in her sleep! It had just been one kiss! One meesely, stupid, warm, amazing kiss, but one kiss just the same! "You're being irrational." I informed her.
"I am NEVER irrational." she snapped back.
"Fine. You're being stupid."
Himeno threw the duct tape at me. I ducked and the roll bounced harmlessly off the wall and onto the floor. She gave a little shriek of anger and stomped over to me. "That's IT! I've had it!"
. . . huh? "You've had... what?" I asked, eying her warily. Had she lost her mind? Whatever train of thought she boarded, she had left me behind at the station.
"IT! I've had IT!" she yelled.
"...did I miss the beginning of this conversation?"
She loomed over me like some kind of scary monster, eyes flashing. And believe me, she WAS scary. "Oh, you've missed more than that, Fuji-kun, and you'll be missing a certain body paret if things don't change around here!"
I closed my eyes again and laid back on the bed. I wasn't going to deal with that. Not at all. "Come back when you start making sense."
Himeno sputtered in outrage. "No, this is my room and -"
"Ah-ah-ah! As of fifteen minutes ago, our room." I corrected.
Himeno took a sudden step towards the bed, to do what, I was too afraid to think about. But in the process of that, she somehow managed to trip over her own feet and, with a little squeak of surprise, went sprawling.
Right on me.
That confirmed it.
God hated me.
She sat up, steadying herself on my chest. It took her all of ten seconds to realize she was straddling me and ten more to stiffen up and turn bright red. I quickly shoved her off of me, springing to my feet. Oh, God, this wasn't good. I could feel my face turn red as I ran a hand through my hair. "I-I'm sorry." Wait, why was I the one apologizing? She had fallen on me, not the other way around! I had to get out of here - she was affecting me way too much. I had to leave before she ended up killing me.
And before I, ya know, did something stupid.
"I'm gonna go, ya know, get my things." I mumbled. I turn to leave only to have a hand close about my own.
"We're not finished yet!" Himeno told me fiercely.
I don't know why I did what I did. Maybe it was because I had momentarily lost my mind, being locked in the room with this particular female. Or maybe it was the jet lag, tricking me into doing something that I normally wouldn't do. Or maybe some demon possessed my body, the most likely reasons. Because what I did next was something that I would NEVER had done if I had full possession of my senses.
I grabbed Himeno's wrist and yanked her into me, letting myself fall backwards on the bed. She let out a squeak of surprise and, perhaps, rage, as I pulled her into my lap. I ignored it, and wrapped on arm around her waist, the other hand snaking up to turn her chin towards me. Her eyes widened as she realized a split second before I acted what I was going to do. She squirmed, placing her hands on my chest, trying to protest. "Fuji-kun, what are-"
I silenced her by crashing my lips onto hers. She stiffened, struggling in my embrace, but I only tightened my hold on her. I gentled my kiss, lightly touching my tongue to her soft lips, tracing the shape of them. She remained still and unresponsive in my lap, so I gently brushed my lips once, twice, three times across her own before kissing her harder. It was no fun just kissing someone one-sided, so I was trying to coax her into participating.
But what she did floored me.
She actually kissed me back.
She gave a little sigh of surrender, her hands sliding up from my chest to lock around my neck, drawing closer to me. She kissed me back, groaning as she opened her mouth for me, and I willingly entered, exploring greedily. She shifted on my lap so that her legs were on either side of mine, butt nestled on a very sensitive area. I drew her closer to me, exploring her mouth and gently nipping at her bottom lip. She moaned and her hands gripped my neck tighter.
I drew back, hearing her whimper in loss as I broke the kiss. She drew in a sharp breath, however, as I pressed a kiss to the pulse on her neck, then moved down to nibbling on the exposed collarbone of her v-neck shirt. I bit down a gently, then soothed away the hurt with my tongue. Her skin tasted incredible, like cinnamon, and I couldn't get enough of it. She entangled her fingers in my hair, leaning down and taking the tip of my ear in between her small, neat teeth. I sucked in a sharp breath as she nibbled on it, and moved my lips back up to hers.
She shifted on my lap again, and I moaned into her mouth. What was this girl doing to me? Normally, I would never do something like this. This wasn't like me, to lose my head over a girl like this. But I was drawn to her like flies to honey, and couldn't get enough of it. I pulled her closer, the hand on her waist rubbing circles on the small of her back. She hummed in pleasure, leaning more fully into me, pressing full breasts into my chest.
I probably would've done something stupid if it wasn't for the loud bang on the door, which broke through my pleasure fogged brain. I blinked at Himeno, who stared up at me through slightly dazed tawny eyes, her mouth swollen from my kisses. Both of us gasped for breath as we stared at each other, neither one of us able to say anything. The banging on the door happened again, shocking me into reality. Himeno was almost fully sprawled on me, flushed and panting, on my lap, glasses askew, lips bright red.
With a gasp, my senses returning with another loud knock, I leaped to my feet, pushing Himeno off of me. I fumbled around for the doorknob - when had she locked it! - and wondered how the hell I was going to fix this mess. "I-I'm sorry! I'm going to, um, leave, now!" And with those words, I'm not ashamed to admit it, I fled.
~Himeno's POV~
A part of my brain commented on Fuji's hasty retreat, murmuring, "Isn't it the girl who usually runs away?" But the larger part of my brain was too busy being dazed by his kisses. I couldn't think, just stared blankly as my brother walked into the room, looking rather confused.
"Onee-chan? Is Shuusuke-sempai okay?" he asked. I nodded absently, not paying too much attention to what Zach was saying. Fuji had nearly kissed me senseless, and my brain was trying, and failing to start working again. "Onee-chan, onee-chan, will you play tennis with me? Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease? We haven't played in forever? Please, please, please, please?" The word "tennis" snapped me out of my kiss-induced fog, and I stared at my brother.
"Oh, Zach, I can't... my wrist..." I tried to explain. Zach didn't know the extent of the damage done to my wrist. He only thought I had broke it, and that was that.
"But-but you're healed now! You even said!" Big tears welled up in my brother's brown eyes. "Please, Himeno-onee-chan? I've wanted to play with you forever? Please? Please?"
What sort of monster could say no to a ten year old boy who pleaded with his sister, in tears, to play with him? I couldn't. I sighed. "Fine, Zach, you win. Go get the net set up." I'd have to play right-handed. I wouldn't... couldn't bear to even try to do it with my left. I couldn't risk it.
"Yay!" Zach cried, throwing his arms around me in a rare display of affection. Little boys his age weren't very huggy, after all, and I loved his rare hugs. In spite of my worry, I smiled and ruffled his hair before he dashed off to do what I said.
As his footsteps receded, I stood up, running a hand through my disheveled hair. I stared at myself in the mirror. I was flushed still, and my eyes were very bright. My mouth felt tender and swollen, but in that delicious good way. I groaned and thumped my head on the glass. What on earth was I going to do?
I had done the unthinkable and fallen in love with someone I hated!