XXx Aya xXX
I feel…odd.
Everything about my body feels sluggish and heavy. I can't even tell which way is up.
What the hell happened?
My head is pounding, like someone is beating on the inside of my skull with my brain. That's the only thing I can concentrate on at the moment. Everything else is just…blanked out.
And then I feel it. Something smacks the side of my face.
It starts of as a minor annoyance. But as I slowly begin to grope towards consciousness, it gets harder and harder. I go to open my mouth to yell at the idiot who decided to hit me, but as soon as I try, I choke on water.
Then my body begins to spasm. Someone lifts me off my back and flips me over onto my hands and knees, holding onto my hand as I cough up the water. The chlorine burns my throat and mouth, and my tongue feels like a swollen dead weight.
As soon as I'm breathing normally again, the hands remove themselves from my hands and shoulder. They loop around me, pulling me into a hard body. My head rests in the crook of his shoulder and my breath becomes more even.
"God you scared me Aya-chan," I hear Mitsukuni whisper as I feel him fist a hand in the hair at the nape of my neck.
My eyes float open lazily, watching as the green blurs around me take shape into a dense jungle. The light filtering through the trees is really harsh on my eyes, so I quickly squeeze them shut and burry my face back in the crook of his neck.
"I'm sorry," I manage to choke out through my dry mouth.
Shivers run down the length of my spine as his hands gently trail down the skin of my back.
But my head hurts too much to think about what that means for me. I hesitate for a second before wrapping a trembling arm around him. The arm he has around my waist tightens protectively, setting my heartbeat in frantic overdrive.
"What the hell happened?" I finally ask when the silence begins to become too much.
He finally pulls back, and my arms fall limply to my sides. I'm a bit terrified to look up at him as he brushes my damp curling bangs out of my eyes.
"The control panel for the wave pool got switched when Tama-chan smacked into the totem pole," he explains as he stands up from his crouch.
"Oh," I mutter as I busy my hands by ringing my soggy braid.
My hands drop to the floor around me and I shakily push myself to my feet. I've almost made it to an upright position but then everything begins spinning. I begin to stumble, but Mitsukuni steadies me before I take a nosedive.
I stare up at him, trying to ignore his firm grasp on my shoulders. He's got that serious expression again, making more shivers run down my body. I hug myself, trying to pass the chills off as just that…being cold.
"How long was I out?" I mumble as I fist my fingers around a lock of my bangs.
"Not long," he responds as he drops a hand from my shoulder. "I just pulled us out a minute ago."
I look back up at him, feeling slightly nervous at the mixture of concern and relief that swirls through his eyes. He keeps searching for something in my face, looking for any indication that I don't have any extended injuries.
"Thanks," I mutter, trying to ignore the stinging in my skin from scraping the bottom of the current pool.
I look around us, unable to find some road back to the main plaza. But all I can see are palm trees and jungle foliage for miles in either direction.
"How are we gonna get back?" I ask quietly.
Mitsukuni shrugs, looking up at the dense canopy of trees. His eyes scan for something that could lead us back.
"I guess we can just follow the current pool back to the main plaza," he muses as he follows the snaking trail of water.
Just then, a weird guttural rumbling sound rings through the area. I freeze, refusing to believe the first thing that comes to my mind. There's no way…
"Uh…I'm all for it…but I'm not so sure I want to stay on the ground," I stammer as I take a step back from the nearest clump of bushes.
Mitsukuni nods before walking over to the nearest tree. I follow slowly, still trying to get control of my legs again.
"Why don't you rest a bit first Aya-chan?" he suggests as he notices my struggling.
"I'm alright," I mutter defiantly as I shake my head.
He shoots me a concerned look, but nods anyway. He glances up at the tree we stand under, eyes brightening as he finds a low hanging branch.
"Come on then," he says before launching himself up into the tree.
I follow, my legs screaming in agony as I force them to squat. I push off the ground and am air born without much of a problem, but as soon as my feet land on the tree branch, wooziness hits me again and my legs turn to overcooked pasta.
My stomach plummets as I lose my grip on the bark and slip off the branch.
Crap.
A cry of distress sticks in my thick throat as I plummet downward towards the hard packed soil on the jungle floor. I manage to land on my feet at first, but as soon as I touch down my shaky legs give out. A stream if curses leave my mouth as they slip out from under me and I land on my back, just barely propped up by my elbows.
"Honestly, you really should rest a bit."
I look up, seeing Mitsukuni offering a hand to me. The concern hasn't left his eyes, but it's temporarily shoved aside by…amusement…? I sigh heavily, giving in and letting him pull me to my feet.
"Fine," I groan.
He smiles softly, making my head spin faster. It isn't for several seconds that the severity of the situation dawns on me.
I'm stuck out here with him...by myself…and I just fell flat on my back.
Embarrassment washes over me like a tidal wave and I quickly go back to hanging my head. I don't know how I'm going to last out here if I keep having to hide my face from him every three seconds.
Just then, another growl breaks through the stony silence of the jungle. I freeze as my suspicions are the same as the first time around. An alligator? No. N-no. This park belongs to Kyoya's family. There's no way there would be an actual alligator here, could there?
As if to answer my unasked question, a bunch of luminous yellow eyes peek through the foliage. There must be at least six of them staring at us. I start and stumble back a few steps, and they begin to slink out of the cover of the plants.
Damn, I'm confident in my ability to fight off people…but they never tell you what to if attacked by an alligator in any of my classes. What the hell am I supposed to do?!
My thoughts are interrupted as Mitsukuni suddenly scoops me up in arms full on princess style. Before I can even so much as squeak in protest, the ground is rocketing away from us at a dizzying speed. I squeeze my eyes shut and tuck my face into his neck as we shoot upwards through the branches of the tree. I grit my teeth as they scrape the skin of my arms and legs as we crash through them.
"You ok?" Mitsukuni asks after a second.
My eyes open gradually to see him staring down at me. He lowers me back down to my feet carefully, but his arm still lingers on my waist to keep me from falling. I swallow hard as I look down to see the alligators clawing at the base of the tree.
"Fine," I croak. "But, uh…I'd rather not stop to rest here."
He nods and scans the branches around us. They brighten after a moment and he turns back to me, a wide smile on his face.
"Come on then," he says as turns back to me and scoops me up in his arms again.
My cries of protest are quickly lost quickly as lush green scenery flies past us in all directions. It takes me a moment to realize that he's sliding across the gnarled and twisted branches like we did on the waterslides earlier today.
For a moment, I'm vaguely reminded of all the time I spent watching Tarzan as a kid. And I'm thinking the same thing I was thinking back then as Mitsukuni rockets off the branch and onto the one that cuts across it.
How the friggin' hell is this possible without getting a whole crap load of foot splinters?
After I get over my moment of awe I look up slowly, seeing Mitsukuni staring intently at the road ahead of us. And I'm sure as hell glad he isn't looking down at the moment. I'll be willing to bet my headphones that my face was redder than it's ever been in my entire life.
I quickly return my gaze to my hands.
Damn, it seems like lately he's always saving me from something. Wow, now I sound pathetic. But still, I can't help this odd little swell of warmth that begins to spread through my chest. He really is something to be able to get away with doing this to me.
"Almost there," he says. "Hold on tight for a second."
"Alright," I murmur before looping my arms around his neck and burying my face in his chest.
Mitsukuni pushes off the branch we're on, landing perfectly in the center of a large tree with an oddly flat center. The branches flare out around us as almost reminding me of Rafiki's tree in the Lion King.
Once he's caught his breath Mitsukuni stets me down on my feet before sliding down to sit against one of the branches.
"That should be enough distance," he pants. "I doubt those things can climb."
I nod, not trusting myself to speak just yet. Instead I just pick my own branch to slouch against, letting my hair fall over my face. Weariness begins to settle into my bones and even sitting up is beginning to feel like a chore.
"Get some rest Aya-chan," Mitsukuni suddenly commands. "I'll look for some food. I'm pretty sure Hika-chan and Kao-chan were eating bananas earlier."
"O-ok," I manage to mutter as he gets up to his feet.
"I'll be back as soon as I can," he says as I curl into a ball, watching as he turns to take off again.
"Be careful," I whisper as my adrenaline rush ends and my eye lids suddenly feel like they weigh a hundred pounds.
XXx Honey xXX
I smile to myself as I hear Aya's whisper fades behind me.
I take one last look at her over my shoulder before climbing the branches of the tree we're in.
She looks so small curled up like that. Her hair spills out of her hair braid and pooling out around her pale body, almost like she was a doll someone dropped face down on the floor. After the comparison, it's hard to leave her there alone, but I just make that my motivation to find food quickly.
Just like I predicted, it's not long until I come across a banana tree. After carefully inspecting the closest bushel I rip it off the tree before heading back to Aya. As much as I hate having to leave her there by herself, but I keep having to remind myself that she isn't some porcelain doll. She's perfectly capable of taking care of herself.
But the more I think about it, the more I think she's the kind who ended up this because she didn't have anyone to rely on as she grew up.
I crawl back through the branches of the tree, smiling as I spot her through the leaves. I increase my pace, pushing my way through the foliage that hangs in my face. I finally touch down a few feet away from her, setting the bananas down on the floor and ripping off the two closest to the top.
I set my banana down before making my way over to her. But my smile falls when I get close enough to see her face, which is pale and sweaty. She's curled in on herself, clawing at her arms as her forehead scrunches up in pain. She's sweating heavily, her hair sticking to her temples and the back of her neck.
"Aya-chan?" I whisper as I kneel next to her.
She lets out a strangled gasp, tears beginning to roll down her pale cheeks. I grab the hand closest to me, holding it tightly. I lace my fingers with hers and she grips back with enough force to break a weaker man's fingers.
"Aya-chan," I whisper around the sudden spurt of pain. "It's ok, I'm right here."
And, as if she suddenly knows someone's next to her, she slowly calms down. Her shallow breaths deepen, and her hand relaxes in mine and feeling returns to it. I'm confused as to what's going on, but I'm just glad she seemed to calm down.
I let out a sigh of relief, lowering my gaze to our hands. Just then, her grip on my hand tightens a bit, but more tenderly than the first time.
"Chérie…"
My head snaps up as I glance at her face. She still has her eyes closed, but she's smiling warmly, a soft blush spread across her face.
"Je crois…Que je tombe amoureux…avec vous ..."
When the last of the words leave her mouth, her blush intensifies.
I don't understand French, so I have no idea what she just said. But I find myself more concerned about her than those words at the moment. Her body relaxes that moment, and she's limp in my arms.
I exhale slowly, my shoulders slumping forward. Exhaustion settles in and even though I'd like to stay awake longer to make sure she's really ok.
Slumping back against the tree, I pick her up for the third time today and pull her into my lap. After making sure she's sitting as comfortable as I can possibly manage I place her head on my shoulder.
Once my heartbeat slows to its normal, fatigue hits me like a wave. My eyelids droop as I rest my cheek on the crown of her head. She still clutches my hand as I nod off, leaving me with a small smile on my face.
Hopefully it will still be there if she wakes up before I do.
XXx Aya xXX
My eyes flutter open, only to meet near total darkness.
What happened to the jungle? Seriously it was right there a second ago.
I push myself into sitting position, swiping my bangs out of my eyes. But it's so dark I can barely see my own hand in front of my face. I grope around the darkness for a few minutes, trying to feel my surroundings.
But my hands just close around air, causing my panic to spike higher than Mount Fuji. What the hell is going on?
"What the frig!?" I mutter after a good ten minutes of pushing myself to my feet.
"Ah…There you are."
My blood freezes solid in my veins.
I know that voice anywhere. I mean, how could I not?
My body and the surrounding area is suddenly bathed in a sickly green light. It's almost like I'm trapped inside some cheap hunted house with a cleverly constructed mirror room.
My palms start sweating heavily as a silhouette suddenly breaks through the shadows. My heart beats frantically as familiar features start forming, showing me the embodiment of some hell spawn wearing the face of an angel.
Simon.
He has an all too familiar devilish glint sparking in his emerald eyes. Just like when he ripped my heart out from between my ribcage.
"So you do remember me," he says with a cocky smirk.
Wait, had I said that out loud?
His smirk just widens, and then he's gone.
I search the surrounding areas of the void, franticly looking for any sign of him. The restriction of the light's circumference making it all the harder for me to find anything.
My eyes widen as I feel sudden blast of icy air on the back of my neck.
"You coward," he purrs in my ear.
The closeness makes my shiver, but not in the way I felt earlier. This is a horrible, spiders crawling across your skin feeling. Unconsciously, I begin clawing at my arms, trying to rid my body of the sensation.
A throaty chuckle is the only response I get.
"You know you can't escape this. You're weak. You always were. When I dumped you, responded the only way you knew how.
Face it Aya.
You're no better than I am. No matter where you run or where you hide it won't make any difference. There's no way to get rid of me."
By now, I can feel tears streaming down my cheeks.
I want to scream. I want to so badly…but all that comes out is a strangled gasp.
An ice cold hand wraps around my wrist, twirling my shaking body back to face him. I gasp in surprise, and stumble back. He reappears behind me and spins me around again, locking an arm around my waist.
"You hurt me," he says as he lifts my face to his. "Now it's my turn to hurt you."
I scrunch my face up, trying to turn away. Why am I even dreaming this? This is the last thing I want to think of.
"Now that won't do will it?" he asks.
His lips are hovering barely an inch above mine when a feeling of warmth starts spreading from my fingertips.
It quickly spreads through my entire body, making me feel oddly at peace. Simon, on the other hand, flinches back as if I've burned him.
"Aya-chan?" a warm voice asks.
It's laced with concern, and makes me feel something I'd never thought I'd feel again.
"W-what?" Simon sputters.
A soft light starts taking over the void, burning away all the dark and toxic green.
"Aya-chan," the voice repeats. "It's ok."
The voice drizzles over me like honey, making me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. A different, warmer pair of arms wrap around my waist, securing me in a protective barrier and filling me with a sense of calm serenity.
"I'm right here," it assures me softly but also firmly.
Simon glares at us, baring his teeth like a threatened animal at the soft promise before dissolving with the rest of the dark. I feel my body relax as I turn to face the person behind me, already knowing full who's hands are resting softly on my waist.
Sure enough, I'm gazing into a pair of deep mahogany eyes. They look down at me with deep adoration and affection, making me feel like I could be content with having nothing so long as these eyes would gaze down at me.
Right at that instant, my heart seems to thaw, the ice and stone melting and eroding away faster than the effort it took to construct them. The sudden exposure of such raw and genuine emotion is so powerful and frazzling, but somehow I can't bring myself to feel scared.
"Honey," I whisper. "I think…"
I trail off, suddenly extremely embarrassed. He tilts my chin up to meet his gaze, urging me on with his eyes. My cheeks burn like embers in a fire, but it's a good kind of heat.
"I'm falling in love…with you."
As soon as the words leave my mouth, it feels like a gigantic weight has been lifted off my shoulders. He pulls me closer and my eyelids droop as I press my face into the crook of his neck,
I feel like I could spend the rest of my life like this…
My eyes flutter open lazily, and the first thing I am aware of is my foot fell asleep.
Everything around me has a fresh rain scent, along with underlying notes of bananas and exotic flowers. I roll my neck groggily, feeling relief almost immediately as my neck gives a few satisfying pops. I glance down at my hands to find one of them weighed down by Honey and the other resting a little awkwardly in between my side and his stomach.
His head hangs down at an uncomfortable looking angle. Then I realize he must have fallen asleep with his cheek resting on my head.
Reluctantly I let go of his hand and raise my fingers to brush his bangs out of his face, giggling softly as his nose twitches.
He looks so angelic while he sleeps. I hesitate a minute before slowly extending my neck and brushing my lips lightly against his cheek. I pull back quickly, as if that would be enough to wake him up.
What is it that let him bring feeling back into me? I never wanted to let someone get this close to me again. I never thought I'd be able to say those words, even in a dream. In all honesty, he deserves much better. Someone who can be happy all the time like he can, not someone who's constantly lamenting about her past relationships. Someone who lives more in the past than in the now.
But part of me wants to be selfish and not let him get away.
I lace our fingers together again before resting my head against his shoulder and exhaling heavily. Falling in love again wasn't something I had planned on, but hey…what can you do. I'm only human.
I relax fully into his body, content with the warmth that he's providing me. I could really get used to this…
Before I can continue my train of thought a loud siren blares through the air, almost giving me heart failure and causing me to fall backward out of Honey's grip.
Honey's eyes snap open, and for a second he looks a bit stunned. But he shakes it off, jumping to his feet.
"What the hell was that?" I whine, pulling myself into a sitting position and rubbing the back of my head.
"I dunno," he answers. "But we better get outta here."
I nod, allowing him to help me up without protest.
"Can you walk on your own now?" he asks as his fingers slip from mine.
I think about exploiting his worry for a minute, but eventually I think better of it and just nod. Honey crosses over to the other side of the tree and effortlessly climbs up a few branches to scan the area around the canopy of our tree. After a minute he reaches out a few feet in front of him and pulls some vines free of branches before climbing back down and holding one out to me.
I can't help the grin that breaks out over my face as my fingers wrap around the thick vine. Hopefully my childhood dreams of reenacting Tarzan won't be cut short and this will support my weight. After all I have put on a few pounds in the past month.
"What is it?" Honey suddenly asks.
"Nothing," I say, pushing my thoughts aside and flashing him a quick smile and step up to a large gap in the branches. "It's just that I've always wanted to try this."
The sound of heavy footfalls breaks through my excitement as I see a flash of black on the ground below us. Multiple figures clad all in black trample through the lush foliage, helmets with tinted visors obscuring our view of their faces and large guns slung over their shoulders.
"Crap, it looks like private police," I mutter as we look down from our tree.
"Target confirmed!" a voice yells from below us. "The target has been captured by a suspicious man. We will take the target into custody."
We peer around some dense clumps of gnarled branches, only just barely making out two familiar figures in the center of the crowd of police men.
"Isn't that…" I trail off, already knowing the answer to my incomplete question.
"It's Takashi and Haru-chan," Honey confirms for me.
As soon as the words leave his mouth, Takashi throws an officer over his shoulder. He lands with a loud clatter on the jungle floor, and the sound rings in my ears.
"The suspect has resisted!" another man shouts. "Prepare to fire warning shots!"
With that Honey tenses. He grips the vine tightly before pushing off the tree; he's airborne without much difficulty.
"Takashi! Haru-chan! Get out of the way!" he commands.
With a battle cry he swoops down, planting his feet in an officer's head before landing in a graceful crouch. Huh…I guess I should be getting down there too. Can't let him have all the fun now can I? I push off the tree, taking a brief moment to enjoy the sensation of wind wiping through my hair.
"What do you think you're doing pipsqueak?!" an officer yells as he points his gun at Honey.
But as soon as he finishes his question my foot plants itself in his face. I use the recoil to push off his face, somersaulting backwards and aiming for the unlucky guy standing next to him. I stomp my feet into the middle of his shoulder blades, making him land flat on his face before moving to the next guy.
Between the two of us, the soldiers drop like flies. In six seconds flat all the officers are laying in a heap.
"Nice job," Honey calls to me.
"Not so bad yourself," I say with a small smile.
I've never done a tag team thing like this before. And that felt great.
"HARUHI!"
My eardrums burst as Tamaki bursts through the shrubs, making a beeline for the unfortunate first year.
"Oh hey, it's Tama-chan," Honey says nonchalantly as he walks up beside me.
I turn back to see Tamaki glomp Haruhi, tears of joy streaming down his face.
"I was so worried," he coos as he nuzzles his cheek to the top of her head.
Poor girl. She looks so done with him.
"I'm not sure what happened but at least they're still alive," Hikaru says as he pokes an officer in the face.
"It's pretty amazing that this is Honey-senpai's work," Kaoru continues. "He must have really been holding back."
"Well Aya-chan actually helped me out with this one," Honey replies.
The twins' eyes widen.
"You're a martial artist too senpai?" they ask.
I nod, suddenly slightly embarrassed.
"Our fathers trained together for some time when they were younger."
"Wait, back up a bit," Haruhi commands, pinching Tamaki's hand and forcing him to release his grip on her. "What do mean he was holding back?"
The twins look up at her, astonishment clear on their faces.
"So you mean, you don't know about senpai?" they ask.
"The Haninozukas are famous for their martial arts," Kaoru states.
"Not only have they trained the police and SDF forces, but they've also worked with several overseas militaries as well," Hikaru finishes.
"Honey-senpai in particular has been called the dreadnought of the Haninozuka clan," Kyoya steps in. "By the time he was in middle school he had already become the national champion in both karate and judo."
I try not to let the surprise show on my face. Slumping down on the ground, I glance back up at Mitsukuni. Damn, they make my family sound like amateurs.
"So how were you two able to find us?" Hikaru asks.
"Well it was kinda just dumb luck," I mutter.
"We just followed the current pool back here," Honey adds.
"We humbly apologize," a shaky voice comes from the ground.
We turn to see the members of the police force kneeling before Honey, sweating heavily and looking extremely nervous.
"I am a second generation student of the Ishizuka dojo," one man says.
"I'm a student of the Todoroki dojo!" another yells.
"And I'm from the Otake dojo!" another pipes up. "We are forever in your debt!"
"Why?" Honey asks innocently as he stares at them blankly. "Is something wrong?"
"Yes sir, we're so sorry sir!" one man cries. "We had no idea we were searching for Mitsukuni Haninozuka, we've committed a terrible offence here! I apologize for this confrontation. But my dojo will be so excited to hear that I've come face to face with the great Haninozuka. I cherish this moment!"
And with that they scurry off, leaving a trail of dust in their wake.
"Let's jet going shall we?" Kyoya asks. "The sun is already starting to set."
There's a mumbled agreement and everyone gets back on their feet to begin the long walk back to where we left all our stuff. Our stuff is already packed up for us, so we just change quickly back into our uniforms. By the time we're walking out of the park, everything is bathed in a rather calm and soothing orangey glow.
"You know, maybe we should go to the beach next," Hikaru muses.
"Yeah the beach would be nice," Kaoru says dreamily.
"You idiots," Tamaki sighs. "Haruhi isn't interested in anything like that."
"Actually," she says. "I might like to go to the beach. I may not be into this silly waterpark, but I do love the ocean. And it's so pretty."
This catches their attention, causing the three of them to halt mid-stride. Typical.
"Yeah!" Tamaki yells, making a complete 180 turn. "Alright, that's where we'll go next time."
"We're all gonna go to the beach Tama-chan?" Honey asks. "That'll be fun, don't ya think?"
Takashi mumbles a 'yeah' and I just smile and nod. I'm bone tired, and need to get some sleep. And more importantly I need to think about a lot of things….
XXx Author's Notes xXX
Twelve down...
Lotsa love, Krystal