I'm sorry that everyone's attempt at drawing an ASCII naked woman was thoroughly thwarted by fanfiction's text formatting. Truthfully, I expected more lewd comments than actual pictures; however, it was a satisfactory turn out. Your reviews have made me immensely happy, and though my time is restricted, I am working very hard to finish this small project.
It has come to my attention that this story desperately needs to be edited. Not only are there major grammar errors, but the basic story flow is atrocious; hence I shall begin slowly reworking the chapters. There will be no major changes in plot, but probably wording and sentences will be redone to fit better.
To iforgotmypassword: Nao is kind of like spicy/sweet sauce (perhaps tangy). She's so damn hot, it burns, but oh God, one feels like sinning with her.
To Hikairi: thank you for the review. I look forward to more comments from you, and will respond should you choose to drop me an email.
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You have an addiction ch. 14
Every couple of minutes I would glance over at her. It was hard to believe that I never noticed how beautiful she was before. My hand squeezed hers tighter. I would never let go unless the world ended.
The movie was mediocre; then again, I was never one for sappy romance. Everything was too convenient. The protagonists were really stupid, and I didn't believe in love. It was crap; they were crap, at least I thought so until now.
Mai looked like she was enjoying herself. It was worth the effort to seek out a few female classmates for information. Anything was worth it if it made Mai happy, especially if it made her happy with me.
Halfway through, she leaned against me, and held onto my arm. I stiffened out of nervousness, both at the sudden contact and fear of hurting her. I smell her shampoo lingering in her hair. All my attention now focused on Mai. I was acutely aware of every breath she took. The sweet warm air would gently glide off her tongue and caress the surface of my skin. I couldn't imagine anything more nerve-wrecking.
The movie ended happily. It was nice to see. We lived through enough tragedies. The Carnival dragged us through hell, broke our minds and souls, yet somehow we managed to survive, and we certainly didn't want to be reminded of our suffering.
I slept next to her that night. It was too late to go home, and she insisted that I stay for safety. It wasn't as if I could actually do anything with Mai at that point. She was still injured, and any unnecessary movement could tear her stitches. It was disappointing that I couldn't do much more than attempt conversation, but she let me sleep next to her to make up for it.
Sister was nice enough to give me an extra futon. Mai and I shared our covers. I made sure to be careful when we went to bed. I didn't want to roll over onto her, or accidentally hit her, so gently held her hand and softly kissed it. She giggled and gently brushed her finger down my cheek, as if to kiss me back.
I could remember the moments before slumber overtook me as clear as stars in a cloudless night sky. We were on our sides, facing each other. She smiled at me and said, "This was a wonderful date."
I couldn't help but smirk in return. "I never disappoint."
She giggled at the comment. "I'm so happy you asked me out today."
Hair fell to the front of her face, so I carefully brushed the strands away. "I'm happy you accepted." It was nice to see her smile at me. A calm, comforting look glowed brightly on her face as she closed her eyes. "Mai," I spoke.
"Hmm?" she tiredly mumbled.
"I love you."
Her eyelids shot open, and her mouth drew into a line. It wasn't exactly a frown, but it sure wasn't happiness. "I know," she said dejectedly. Her eyes were full of guilt.
"Ah, umm, I mean…" A little lump grew in my chest. "I'm sorry." God, that was stupid of me. Mai told me from the beginning she didn't know how she felt. I had to go and ruin the mood. Fuck me.
"It's okay. It's my fault." Her eyes avoided meeting mine.
"No, it's not. I shouldn't have said it. You made yourself clear at the hospital." The possibility that she didn't feel the same caused the lump to rise to my throat, and the thought of rejection cut through me like a painfully dull knife.
She grabbed my hand, and placed it on her cheek. "I don't want to hurt you."
"It's a little late," I said with a joking voice. It didn't seem to lighten the mood at all. Exasperated, I told her, "Just tell me when you know. I'll understand, I promise." Preferably, she'd fall in love with me sometime soon, so I wouldn't have to worry about the various possibilities. At least I knew what to expect. It wasn't as if she tried to deceive me from the beginning.
Finally, I saw another genuine smile form on her lips. I loosened her grip on my hand, and lightly ran my finger down the smooth skin of her face. "Go to sleep," I ordered.
--
It wasn't exactly sneaking around if we didn't bother to share our relationship. No one really asked, and it wasn't as if we were trying to hide it. Natsuki noticed right away. She carefully examined me when I showed up to work for the first time in two weeks.
"How's Mai?" she asked in an accusing manner. It was as if she knew I would know. Investigating strangers was one thing, interrogating a friend and employee was another.
"None of your business," I grumbled. "Just pay me." She still owed me money for the orgy house job. Natsuki managed to get the pictures off me the day after the shooting, but I didn't show up for any new jobs the next week, so the money remained on her desk.
She picked up an envelope and casually tossed it to me. I opened it, looked inside and counted the bills. It wasn't that I didn't trust her; the mutt just happened to be rather disorganized.
"There's extra," I said while my mind tallied the exact amount of the discrepancy.
"It's your bonus," said Natsuki. She quickly stuffed her mouth with a piece of sushi in an obvious effort to mask whatever she had to say next.
"Bullshit."
"Just take it." She growled. There was something off. The way she moved and avoided eye contact made it feel like she was hiding something.
I eyed her suspiciously. "What's wrong?"
She avoided answering by eating some more. I managed to grab her bowl and slam it on to the table. "Shit," she yelled, lamenting over the lost food.
"Answer my question." I demanded.
"I shouldn't have sent you on that case. It's my fault Mai was shot." Her shoulders slumped, and a look of guilt passed through her eyes. It was a little surprising she managed to make the connection to Hanai so quickly, but it was Mai we were talking about. Natsuki probably looked into the shooter; I know I would have.
"No, I screwed up." I threw the cash at her. "I don't need your guilt money."
Natsuki picked up the bills and tried to hand them to me. "It was my fuck up. I should have told you why I wanted to find Hanai in the first place. You would have been more careful."
I shoved her hand back. "No I wouldn't have."
We glared at each other for a little. Her eye twitched in anger. "Fine, I'll give it to Mai!" She finally relented. "She could use it anyway."
While it was true, I didn't want Mai to know anything about how I knew the Hanai family. "What would you tell her? The kid was one of your hits."
She paused in thought. "She knows what I do for a living."
"Doesn't mean she wants details," I replied.
Natsuki lifted her chopstick and pointed at me in an accusing manner. "Then I'll tell her you fucked up on a job, and it's from you."
I grabbed the offending stick and pulled it out of her hand. "Screw you Kuga. That doesn't make any sense." Too late, I realized the chopstick was covered in saliva. Now I had to wash my hands.
"Well, lie then. I don't care. Just take the cash." She shoved the bills in my direction only to have me roughly slap it to the side.
We argued for the next five minutes until the phone rang. Natsuki dropped everything and picked it up. Her voice changed in an instant. Suddenly she sounded like a professional. It always amazed me how people could change their demeanor so quickly. "Kuga here, please state your business."
I didn't hear anything coming from the other line. Instead, I decided it was time to go, and left her to deal with whoever was calling by herself. Before I was able to open the door, Natsuki yelled at me in the middle of her call.
There was a twinkle in her eye that I couldn't quite place, but was sure that whatever made her suddenly happy was going to upset me. "Mai says to study and don't forget to feed Mikoto."
"Why didn't she call me on my cell?" I grumbled. Soon, the device was fished out of my pocket. It was dead. Damn batteries were crappy. "Shit," I mumbled.
"Mai also says take the money." Fuck. She smirked in victory. I hated seeing that smug look on her face; it made me want to punch it. Natsuki didn't stop there. "She says that you deserve a bonus for doing such a good job."
"What the hell did you tell her?" I stormed up to the P.I.'s desk. She ignored me for a little as she kindly bid goodbye to my girlfriend over the telephone. I gritted my teeth in anger.
"Just that my client was so satisfied that he paid extra, and you got half." God that sick smile made me want to puke. The phone clicked as it returned to its resting place.
"I fucking hate you Kuga."
"You can thank me later." She waved as I slammed the door behind me. God damn it; that woman knew how to piss me off. I hope she choked on her rice.
--
The teachers were on my case about completing courses. Repeating a grade didn't seem like such a bad idea. Fumi guaranteed that the Fuuka Scholarship would remain in place as long as I was a student. Right now I didn't have enough for a security deposit let alone rent for even the crappiest places around town.
I sighed, the end of high school was coming up soon, and I had no plans. Maybe I could crash at someone's place. The more I thought about it, the more depressed I became. There wasn't anyone who'd let me live with them.
It would be great to live with Mai, but without knowing her true feelings things could turn out badly. I didn't want to risk pushing her away again, even if I could only be with her as a friend.
I worked hard on my extra homework. There was little else to do. Natsuki didn't give me another job, though I wished she did. It meant I had to go back the next day. Hopefully, I'd piss her off instead of the other way around. Her reactions were cute in many ways, but were mainly satisfying in the fact that I was able to excite an involuntary emotional response. Revenge was sweet.
Asahara resumed her old habit of following me around. It was far less pleasant than I expected it to be, but I tolerated it as a sort of apology. She deserved something for what I did, and this was my way to make it up to her. However, she always had the tendency to take things too far.
Three days after my date with Mai, Asahara went out of her way to invite me to dinner with her mother. Now I didn't understand why she would do such a thing since I made sure she knew I was completely not interested and that I wasn't friendly person. She reasoned to me that she had no friends in her school, and her mother wished to know why she spent so many late nights out on the town. I felt it was very important to draw the line of our one-sided friendship and completely rejected her request.
She still begged me. "My mom saw me following you around last night and wanted to know who you were. I told her you were a friend, and she asked me to invite you to dinner."
"I know for a fact that your mom is rarely home for dinner." I glared at the girl, daring her to deny it.
"But, she's never met any of my friends before, so she's interested. Please Nao, I need this. She wants to know I'm normal." Her hands clasped together as her eyes became watery. The puppy dog stare did not work on me, since I long became immune to her attempts at persuading me into doing things together.
"You aren't normal." I brushed her off with a wave of my hand. I didn't have time to visit the girl's mother. Plus, what would I say? "Hello I'm the girl who teaches your daughter how to beat the crap out of people and spy on their personal lives, nice to meet you." Surely that would turn out well. If she didn't kick me out right away, it would be because she planned on trapping me there, so cops could swing by to arrest me for child endangerment.
"She doesn't know that." Asahara took out a cell phone from her pocket and began dialing the numbers.
Mai's name glowed on the screen as the phone began ringing. In anger I snatched it away from her and hung up before anyone answered. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?"
"Mai told me to call her if you were being difficult." Why did everyone use Mai against me? It's not like I had to listen to her.
"You're not saying a word." I warned while pointing my finger at her angrily.
She shyly withdrew from me in guilt. Her phone rang. I looked down at the number. Fuck, it was Mai. I answered without a second thought.
"Hello, Asahara-san, are you alright?" Her voice was panicked. "Nao didn't doing anything did she?"
I mentally frowned. "Why do you sound like I murdered her?"
"Nao, is that you?" An undertone of concern and curiosity laced her voice. "What's going on?"
"Nothing important," I mumbled. "Why did you give Asahara your number?"
"Because I knew you would pick on her." She sounded so sure of the fact.
"I'm not that bad." I'm not nice, but not a bully either.
"Yes you are. It's endearing, but troublesome." She sighed, "Give the phone back to Asahara-san please." The demand was soft, and a little exasperated, but commanding. I complied, very unwillingly. Hopefully, Mai wouldn't agree to Asahara's stupid dinner plans.
They spoke on the phone for five minutes. I wasn't sure what they were talking about, since I could only catch half the conversation. From what I could gather, Mai indicated she would try to convince me to meet Asahara's mother. Somehow it seemed unfair. There was no reason for me to suffer with someone I didn't like that much. The girl handed the phone back to me, so I held it against my ear.
"Please, will you go meet with Asahara-san's mother?" Mai begged.
"No," I firmly told her. It was true that Mai could get me to do things that I would normally turn down, but it didn't mean she managed to control every aspect of my life. I had no intention of letting myself be subject to the whims of my girlfriend, even if I did love her.
"Then I'm calling in a favor." She seemed so sure that I would listen. I wondered why.
"Not a chance." I told her again.
"You owe me for that cut, the night in the motel and helping you take care of Osagawa-san. That's three favors you owe me." Mai had the memory of an elephant.
God damn it, I could feel her smile on the other end of the line. I knew I had to listen if she decided to use that against me. I had promised her to do anything to repay her for my mistakes, but was hoping she'd ask for something I didn't absolutely dread. "You shouldn't waste your freebies on Asahara." Hopefully, she really took in my advice.
"Nonsense, she desperately wants to be your friend, and I think you need more friends." I both loved and hated Mai for her absolute need to help people, even when everything was fine.
"I have you and Natsuki." Two people had to mean something right?
"I'm your girlfriend and Natsuki is your employer. We don't count." Damn it.
"Fine, but we're still going on that date on Saturday right?" My voice was a bit too enthusiastic. I hoped Asahara didn't hear it.
"Well, actually, Asahara-san told me that's the day of the dinner." Alright, that was it. I was going to kill that damn fourteen-year-old and dump her body into some ditch.
"There is no way I'm skipping out on the date." For the entire week she had been stuck in that house. As much as I wanted to visit her, Mai insisted that I stay home to study for class. She even went so far as to threaten me with a break up. While I wasn't sure how serious her threat was, I didn't really want to take the risk.
"You have to." She told me.
"Are you that desperate to get rid of me?" I asked. She was asking me to give up our date in exchange for a dinner with my former stalker and her mother. What was I supposed to think?
"That's not true at all and you know it." Mai responded. I wondered why she was so insistent that I familiarize myself with Asahara's family where she knew I did not like the girl in the least. While I did not specifically hate Asahara, it certainly did not mean I felt any type of fondness for her.
"Really," I asked her. "It seems like it."
"Nao, you're going to this dinner." God damn it; she was controlling.
It drove me nuts, and if I weren't so pissed off, I'd think her dominant attitude was kind of hot. "I'm not giving up our date." I insisted.
The line was silent for a minute. I could almost hear the gears of her mind turning. What was she thinking? "Okay, I'll make you a deal. We'll both go to the dinner."
"What? No! Not a chance." I said a couple of other negative things before she calmly tried to reassure me of her plan.
"We won't have to cancel our date, and I can meet Asahara-san's mother too." Since when did the brat matter?
"No." I meant it to be final, but we both knew that I was losing this fight.
"Yes," she insisted, "and please tell Asahara-san of the new plan."
"Fine, I'll let Asahara know." Mai knew how to negotiate, and I felt like a sucker for giving in to her wishes. Compromising sucks.
The line went dead as she ended the call.
I looked over to my protégé. "It looks like Mai and I are having our date at you house this weekend." My angry frown scared her enough to cause her to step back a little.
"I'm sorry sempai." She said.
"Whatever, just make sure your mom knows."
--
I picked her up from Yukariko's place that weekend. The beginning of our so-called date was unpleasant. I was still a little pissed off at her for insisting that we see Asahara. This was a date. We were supposed to be together, alone. As I mentally grumbled my many grievances toward Mai, we ended up in a sort of awkward silence until we got to the train station. Finally, she became annoyed at my constant angry glances and broke the silence.
She turned to me and said, "Stop acting like a child."
"Then how am I supposed to act? You know I don't want to go." It wasn't as if I was going to put up a fake smile and pretend to like it. I'm not that type of person.
"I don't want to either, but I'm not being stubborn about it." She sighed.
"Then why go at all?" This made no sense. She was forcing both of us to go to some dinner neither of us wanted to attend.
Mai raised her hand over her eyes in frustration. "Asahara-san thinks of you like an older sister. It's polite."
"Who cares? I still don't want to go." We boarded the train with little trouble. Mai's wheel chair wasn't the most maneuverable, but the other passengers gave way with little trouble.
She sighed again. "Think of it this way. The dinner is a sort of test run, and I want to see how you perform."
"What are you talking about?" I grumbled. My paranoia was creeping back up on me. Mai's tentative status as my girlfriend was also a test. Was this dinner some plot to see if I was compatible with her. It was moronic. What did Asahara have to do with Mai and me?
"Well, this will probably reflect how well you'll handle dinner with Takumi and Akira." Oh Mai, you're so devious, except that was all crap.
Still, it made me feel better. "How long did it take you to come up with that reasoning?"
"Three days, you like?" She smiled at me, and I returned the gesture.
"You have too much time on your hands." I gave her a quick peck on the forehead. Was it wrong that I found her cute that way?
She giggled at my gesture of affection. "All the more time I have to think about you."
Needless to say, my face probably looked like a tomato for the rest of the trip. I never thought she could be so cruel.
--
Asahara greeted us at the door with a faint blush shy embarrassment. She seemed extremely nervous at the fact that we were going to view her home.
"Mom they're here," she shouted.
Her mother popped around behind a corner in a dirty apron and introduced herself. "Hi," she warmly greeted, "Maeda Suzu. You can call me obaa-san." It wasn't unexpected for her to use her maiden name. Her ex-husband was a jackass.
Asahara introduced Mai and me. I gave a fake smile and nodded. Pretending in front of proper adults was always a hassle. Hopefully my pleasant mask would last through the evening. Maybe I could acquire a small reward from Mai afterward.
Mai slowly got up from her wheelchair and moved to return Maeda's warm greeting. I could tell that she felt a little pain from the movement, but that fact that she could do so was a vast improvement. Calmly, I let her hold onto my arm as she struggled to balance.
"Oh my," said Maeda, "Makino told me what happened. I do hope you feel better now." She looked slightly concerned for Mai's safety, and seemed a little anxious at the fact that she was now walking over the threshold. She even panicked a little when Mai walked over a small step on the ground. I wondered if she was worried about Mai or about liability if she got hurt.
"I do," Mai responded happily. "We're sorry for intruding."
I wasn't sorry. I still didn't want to be there.
"Don't be ridiculous," Maeda said, "You're my invited guests. You're not intruding at all."
Oh God, they were getting into small talk. I had to maneuver this further into the apartment, or we'd never make it out of the entrance way. "Let's go inside and get to know each other properly." I gestured at the dining table behind the kitchen. Everyone enthusiastically agreed.
It successfully stopped the conversation from moving onto anything unnecessarily mundane. When the flow stopped, Maeda remembered that she needed to finish cooking. Mai offered to help, but was politely turned down. Even if she was slightly disappointed at being out of the kitchen for so long, I was glad that she did not get a chance today. There were so many potential ways she could harm herself since she was not her best.
The three of us ended up sitting at the dining table in awkward silence. I had nothing to say; Mai was tired from the trip and Asahara deeply pondering something.
When Maeda finally announced everything was done. Asahara immediately went to help her mother. Mai managed to nag me into helping a couple minutes later. I couldn't say that this was the most pleasant family dinner.
"So, how long have you known my daughter?" She wanted to know her daughter's friends. I could understand that, but I really wished she wouldn't try to hide her curiosity behind small talk.'
I pondered for a moment. "Five months?" Really I had no clue and made up the number off the top of my head. There was a whole month she was unable to approach me, and there was also a short time I didn't know she existed.
"Oh, and you Tokiha-san?" Maeda kindly turned towards Mai.
I was shocked. Did she think that Mai was friends with Asahara?
"About a month and a half." She casually replied. Asahara was the one that caused me to realize my feelings. I wasn't sure if should thank the girl or hate her for it.
"Really?" She sounded skeptical. "Did you meet her through Yuuki-san?"
"Yes," Asahara interjected, clearly indicating she didn't like where the conversation was going. I wasn't quite sure what was going on, but ignored my feelings.
"What do you do for a living?" Maeda looked at Mai curiously. We were just having small talk now. There was nothing sinister or serious underlying her words. I wondered why she cared how we met her daughter over what Mai's job was.
"I used to waitress at a café, but they had to let me go after the incident." Mai smiled sadly. Damn it. She probably needed the money from that job. I wished I could do more to help her.
"That's such a shame. I'm sure you'll manage to find another job once you've recovered." Maeda chirped happily, and then turned to me. "Makino tells me you have a job too."
"Yeah," I said, "so?"
"What do you do?" I glanced over at Asahara; she clearly stiffened at the question. Then I looked back at her mother. Why didn't she tell her mother what I did? Maybe telling the truth wasn't such a good idea, but what else should I do. I decided not to lie. If anything, Maeda's response could turn out interesting. "I work part time as a private investigator."
"Oh really?" Maeda seemed a little unnerved. "When do you find time to do that when you're out with my daughter?" Then she visibly paled. "Have you been taking her with you?"
I raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, she wants to learn."
"I'm sorry?" Maeda turned toward Asahara. "You never told me you wanted to be a private investigator."
I laughed. "No, she just wants to know how to take care of herself." I purposely left out the stalker portion of the story.
The older woman faced me. "Why?"
"She feels weak?" I guessed, "I don't know."
"Is that true honey?" Concerned, Maeda moved her seat closer to her daughter, and leaned in close to her face in order to draw out the truth.
Shyly, Asahara twiddled her fingers and nodded. "Mom, I really respect Yuuki-sempai, because she's strong, and she's taught me a lot of things."
Okay, that was a nice compliment. I looked over to an oddly quiet Mai. She was smiling widely at the family interaction, and at me. "I'm proud of you," she whispered into my ear. It made me feel nice.
Maeda finally leaned back. "Are you learning anything from Mai-san as well?" She sounded a little worried. I imagined it was concern over the content of what we were potentially teaching her daughter.
"Umm, no," said Asahara. She was genuinely confused by her mother's question. Maybe the old bag thought Mai's waitressing job involved more risqué duties.
"Then why do you know her?" Did everything need a purpose for this woman?
I was a little annoyed. "She's my girlfriend." I said defensively. It didn't matter if she couldn't accept that. As far as I was concerned, people who had issues with us could just suck it.
"Oh my," said Maeda. She drew back and pursed her lips in surprise and discomfort, but not disgust. It was a good sign. Asahara was panicking; it was obvious she never discussed this with her mother before.
Mai elbowed my ribs. Well, I did put the woman under the spotlight. On the plus side, she didn't kick us out right away, but this also meant we couldn't really leave either.
The old lady recovered from her shock quickly. "I see. It's nice that you're not embarrassed about it." Well, that was cool, I guess. "Young love is so sweet."
God damn it; she just had to mention that word. I looked over to Mai again, who now looked pale and guilt ridden. I hated love; it was too complicated.
--
End Notes: This chapter drags a little; I'm sorry. It serves as an interim until I introduce a new arc of how Mai falls in love with Nao.
Coming Soon: Jealousy plagues our characters. Past loves and new suitors show up to test our couple's faithfulness. Can a relationship with one-sided love succeed? We'll find out next time on "You have an Addiction".