Chapter 56
"And then Professor Neuhaus said-hey are you listening to me?" Hitomi turned her head to see Leifang sit in front of her.
"Ah sorry. I kind of got distracted." Hitomi admitted sheepishly. "What were you saying again?"
Leifang shook her head and let a sigh pass her beautiful lips.
"Nevermind." she said and got up from her seat to sit down besides her girlfriend. "Something on your mind?"
Hitomi turned her head to face out of the window of the train they were currently sitting in. She watched the landscape pass by and let her thoughts wander a little. To the girl sitting besides her, to the tournament that she was participating in and most of all it was starting to be that time of the year again.
Last year hadn't been so bad since she had been busy with the changes, but now that she had gotten used to it all there was nothing distracting her from the feeling.
"Hey." Leifang said and gently turned Hitomi's head around so that she was looking deep into her brown eyes. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong. Well not really." Hitomi said.
"Is it the competition?" Leifang asked.
"Yeah." Hitomi said. It wasn't necessarily a lie, but she didn't want to explain it all to her right now so she added teasingly. "And you of course."
"Is that so?" Leifang asked with a playful huff. "Am I so distracting?"
"Only so much as I want you to." she said and captured her lips in a short gentle kiss. "But really it's nothing major. Don't worry."
"Alright. Seriously though, it's not like they stand any chance against you. You're the best Karateka in the country. Do you think you would've been allowed to participate in the Dead or Alive tournament otherwise? You'll be more than fine." Leifang assured her.
"Now I don't know about being the best, but it's a little bit different than the Dead or Alive. I have to follow a few more rules. It's also prohibited to use certain attacks. But you'll see." Hitomi said. "I think it'll be an interesting experience."
"Mhm. Though I'm actually a bit more interested in exploring the city." Leifang said. Hitomi put her right arm around her shoulder, making her lean her head against the other girl's.
"To be honest I've never been to Hamburg before. Of course I know some of it from TV, but it's still different being there in person. Now let's see..." she started to through the schedule. "The tournament is on Sunday, so that leaves us today and tomorrow to do something. Anything special you wanna do?"
"Well I thinking we could go out tonight, try having some fun. You know, just the two of us." Leifang said and eyed the man across from them. Joachim was more lying than sitting with his arms crossed in front of his chest. His lips were parted a little and the steady rhythm of his breathing told them he was fast asleep.
At least he found a way to pass the time. Hitomi thought. They still had four more hours to go before they would be in Hamburg.
"You think we should just dump him when we get off the next stop?" Hitomi asked jokingly. "We'd be all alone then."
"No. I'd rather not get on your father's bad side now that I've started to sleep with his little girl." Leifang answered and patted the German's leg. "But I gotta admit the thought did cross my mind."
They burst into a fit of giggles over that but it died down soon enough, leaving them both in a comfortable silence, the only noise being the sound of the train.
"God I'm bored." Hitomi finally said. "Hey, you think we could go out into the hall and just fight a little?"
"No." Leifang said in a tone that left no room for argument. "No way am I starting something like this in a train ever again. Next thing I know that groping pervert is around here too."
"Oh yeah that incident in the train... wait what? Groping pervert?"
"It's a long story."
"Well we have a lot of time. If there's some guy out there who wants to grope my girl I should better know about him." Hitomi looked at Leifang only half joking. She would seriously sock anyone who did that.
"So, your girl, am I?" Leifang asked and gave her a small smile. "When did that happen? Last time I checked I was my own girl."
"When I..." she whispered the rest into Leifang's ear, making her giggle and shove her a little.
"Stupid cow." Leifang muttered but still went on to tell her about her run in with the groper. As she told her about it she let it play out in her mind once more how she had first had the honor of "meeting" him after the 4th Dead or Alive tournament. Thinking back she shouldn't have reacted like that, but really, the man could have at least tried not to touch here there!
And to make things worse instead of completely sympathizing with her, Hitomi burst into laughter over the whole thing. After pouting for a few seconds she grabbed one of the magazines she had been reading, folded it up and slapped Hitomi's shoulder with it, but that only caused her to laugh even louder.
Leifang drew her arm back to hit her once more but Hitomi grabbed her by the wrist. They wrestled with each other, with Leifang trying to get free to hit her and Hitomi trying to wretch it from her hands. But neither got the upper hand and when they both pulled at the same time the rolled up magazine flew out of their grip and hit Joachim squarely in the face before slumping to the floor.
The man groaned and slowly opened his eyes.
"Are we-" he let out a yawn and stretched a little. "Are we at the next stop already?"
Hitomi and Leifang looked at each other and couldn't hold their laughter. They grabbed their sides and leaned against one another, while Joachim could only look at them in confusion.
The trio stood before the hotel that Leifang was so kind to book for them when she decided to accompany her girlfriend to Hamburg. She found it quite fitting for them.
"Uhm...Are you really sure this is ok?" Hitomi asked. "I-I mean we can just sleep at another hotel you know."
"Yeah. I think this a little..." Joachim searched for the right word. "Pricey."
Leifang had, of course, booked their stay in one of the most expensive hotels in the city. And not just any, but the damn Park Hyatt. But thinking about it, it made sense. The place had a Spa after all. And apparently her father always frequented this hotel whenever he had dealings in Hamburg.
"Really now. It's just for a weekend. And to be honest my parents would start to feel a little weird if I don't use the money from my trust fund for a little luxury here and there. So don't worry, it's fine." Leifang assured them like it was nothing. Hitomi couldn't really argue there, since she knew how stacked her family was, and she would be lying if she didn't find the idea of sharing an expensive room with Leifang really tempting.
"Alrighty then." Hitomi finally conceded and gave her father a shrug.
"You sure this is okay?" Her father asked her as they followed Leifang inside.
"Nope. But there's no way we can convince her otherwise when she's made up her mind. She's stubborn like that." Hitomi said.
"Like a certain someone I know." she shot her father a glare when he said that.
"Hey." she gave him a little shove.
Joachim only chuckled. They stopped a little bit behind Leifang who was talking to the receptionist. "I made a reservation. The name is Gāo."
"Let me check for a moment please." the lady behind the counter said and tipped something into her computer. After a moment she nodded. "Yes. Two rooms. A single and a double room both on the same floor. Just a second."
As the woman went to get their key Hitomi and Joachim looked at each other.
"A double room?" he asked.
"Yeah. So?" Hitomi shot back.
"Nothing nothing." Joachim shook his head and held up his hands in his usual pacifying manner.
"You're not gonna give me the birds and the bees now are you?" she asked.
"Would never think of that."
"Because I'm 20. So I'm kind of past that one."
"Are you trying to make me feel old now?"
"Maybe a little."
Both of them chuckled and they saw Leifang turn around and approach them with the keys in her hand. The Chinese handed Hitomi's father one set of keys. "Here you go."
"Thanks." he said.
"We're on the 4th floor. I went ahead and told them we wouldn't need help with our luggage since we're traveling light anyway." she explained, pointing at the their small traveling cases.
"I hope we got a great view." Hitomi said and took her case. "Well let's go then."
They rode up the elevator and headed to their rooms. Hitomi was a little relieved when she saw that her father's room was right across the hall instead of right next to theirs. As accepting of their relationship as he was she would rather spare him any intimate sound that may arise.
"So what are you two gonna do?" Joachim asked after letting out a whistle when he saw the interior of his room. "Going out?"
"Yeah. Might as well have some fun while we're here." Hitomi said and handed Leifang her case when she asked for it, then watched as she put them into their room. "And you?"
"I think I'll take a nap and then go see if the food in this place decent. I bet theirs isn't any better than ours."
"Take a nap? You've been sleeping for the whole ride." Hitomi grinned and planted her hands and either side of her hips.
"I'm an old man, I'm allowed to do that." he gave her a wink. "Have fun you two. And don't stay up too late."
"Will do." she gave him a wave and entered their room, closing the door behind herself, and looked around the room. Leifang was busying herself with her clothes.
Hitomi let out a whistle like her father, but she wasn't nearly as surprised since she had seen a few of those already. Now to what she wanted to know...
She walked over to the bathroom door, opened it and did a little jump. The interior was made out of marble and cherry wood and kept in an asian style. "Holy moly! A Jacuzzi!" she exclaimed. "It's bigger than yours!"
Hitomi turned to Leifang with a huge grin on her face. "Been a while since we had a relaxing bath together. Shit, is that a rain shower?"
"Language, Hitomi. Besides we only had one bath together thus far, and that wasn't as relaxing to you as it was to me if I recall what you told me right." Leifang pointed out. "And our showers together weren't what I call relaxing as well."
"At first." Hitomi added.
"At first." Leifang concurred with a telling smile.
They unpacked their things and sat down on the queen-sized bed. With a relieved sigh Leifang pulled off her shoes with her feet, making Hitomi smile. "You know if you're tired we don't have to go anywhere."
"No no. Just wanted to give my feet a little break. Besides," she checked her watch. "It's only half-past five. So if we take a little break I should be good."
Leifang turned to lie on the bed and held out her arms towards Hitomi. The German pulled off her shoes and heeded the invitation, lying down as well and letting Leifang wrap her arms around her in an embrace. Then placed a soft kiss on her lover's cheek. "Wanna follow suit and take a nap? We can just set the alarm."
Leifang looked like she contemplated the idea and after a moment nodded. Now that she was lying down she felt how draining the train ride was. "Yeah."
"Then let go of me for a sec." The German gently broke free of Leifang's embrace and pulled out her cellphone, setting the alarm. After having done that she returned into Leifang's waiting arms.
"So how about we test out that jacuzzi later?" she asked.
Leifang stifled a yawn. "That sounds great. But first: a nice little nap."
The Chinese drew her legs up a little and intertwined them with hers, closing her eyes. Hitomi leaned in closer and placed her head on the pillow beside Leifang. She too closed her eyes and it didn't take long for her to drift off, listening to the steady breathing of the other girl and inhaling her flowery smell.
Well that's it for this week. Nothing to see here.
Until next week. :)