~ Michi ~

"Waaah…" I yawned widely. I lived about thirty minutes farther walking time from work because of moving so I had to get up earlier to make it on time. Worth it, but still a minor annoyance. But I was going to kill Ikki and Kent later for keeping me up needlessly. "Hey Musca, what day is it?"

"Oh…" She paused to think about it. "The 20th."

"Do you think that gives me enough time to complete the last pathway before the deadline Ukyo mentioned?" I put my hands in my pockets, frowning. August was ending, slowly but surely. It felt like crunch time.

"You've still got a lot of chances to make it. And don't forget, what you've already been able to accomplish is remarkable. Have faith."

I nodded."You're right. I should probably just chill out and roll with whatever…" I trailed off at some brightness caught in my peripheral vision. "Is that… My favorite bumblebee cherub?!" I glanced both ways on the street before running across it, waving my arms. "Tomatoooo!"

Toma turned to me, eyebrows raised and smiling with amusement. "Would you stop calling me that?"

"Nope. Never." I grinned. "I saw you and had to come say hi."

"Ah, okay. You on your way to work too?"

"Yeah." We fell into step together. "I live a bit closer to you now. That's my new place, see?" I turned and pointed to the building.

"Yeah, that's a lot closer. Maybe you can come over more often now," Toma mused.

"Er…" My face turned bright red as the mentioning of his place brought back what I had recently recalled to the forefront of my mind.

Toma's eyes widened and he blushed slightly too. "J-just to hang out… If you want."

"U-um…" I cleared my throat and we both shifted awkwardly as we walked. "I'd… like that."

"Wait, really? I mean… cool. Good." Toma coughed.

"Yeah. Cool." I nodded. At this point I needed to get closer to him. I knew why our relationship had broken and it was mostly because of me, so it was also up to me for more reasons than one to fix it.

"So…"

"So?" I looked at him expectantly.

"Uh…"

"Michi… This is miserable. Fix it. Fix it now." Musca flicked the back of my head as she spoke.

"Oh yeah, that thing you texted me about last night." Toma swung his backpack onto his arm and rummaged in it before pulling out a small but thick book. "Here you go."

"Oh, thanks!" I took it and reverently stored it in my purse.

"No problem. Why do you want a Japanese to English dictionary so badly though?"

"No reason. There isn't any reason at all."

Toma glanced at me sidelong. "Uh-huh," he said sarcastically.

"I mean it! There's no reason. I'm just curious."

"Uh-huh."

"Stop saying uh-huh!"

Toma waited a few beats of silence. "Uh-huh." He smirked and laughed as I hit his arm. "Joking, I'm joking."

"Whatever…"

"So have you thought more about school? Myouga's new term starts after break."

I frowned, running my fingers along the English book. "Yeah… I just don't know."

"That's fine. You're only eighteen, so you've got plenty of time."

"Yep. But you'll be in your second year, Toma. How's everything going for you? Not partying too hard, are we now?"

He shook his head and laughed. "No, I prefer to keep to myself. College parties aren't all they're cracked up to be either."

"Really? Well what happens?"

"Inevitably there's someone drunk, most likely passed out on the floor, and then people always end up having sex on the floor or against the wall or some other creative place, and then all of the food is gone within the first ten minutes… It's annoying, do I don't go to them."

"I see…" I blushed. "So have you found a college girlfriend?" It felt like a world far away from me, filled with people Toma knew and I didn't. I had no clue about that separate part of his life and… it made me jealous. Intolerably so.

"Not really a girlfriend," he laughed uncomfortably. "Just, uh… Someone to… do stuff with."

"Huh?"

Toma sighed. "Never mind. You're still too naïve."

"Hey, don't be so dismissive."

"Sex friends, friends with benefits, whatever you want to call it. I've met one or two girls with that agreement." He frowned and shook his head in exasperation. "Why are we even talking about this? It really doesn't matter."

"Oh…" It was just as he said; I was naïve. The concept hadn't even crossed my mind. "Well… As long as you're happy."

"Hmph." He kept frowning, so I lifted a finger to poke his cheek.

"Be a happy little tomato, please?"

"Tomato is literally the only word in English you know, isn't it?" He swatted at my hand.

"I know more!" I poked him harder in return for the jibe.

"You…" Toma sighed and grabbed my hand, wrapping his fingers around mine tightly before biting my wrist.

"Wah!" I cried out on instinct and he leaped back, releasing me and then covering his mouth with his hand.

"S-sorry, I just… Wasn't thinking." He looked at the ground again.

I rubbed at my wrist, the light pain and faint imprint of his teeth there. "N-no, it's okay…"

"You're not mad?"

"Nope."

He looked immensely relieved. "Good…"

"So… You're no longer a little virgin tomato…" I nodded. "I see…"

"It's no big deal. I'm an adult."

"How can you say it's no big deal? It's supposed to be special! R-right?" I stammered, realizing again how childish I sounded and how vast the gulf between us was in this area.

"Not necessarily. But you should keep that ideal in mind… I like that about you."

"Oh." I bumped my shoulder against his arm gently. Yeah… Being naïve wasn't so bad. "I'm sleepy. I had to get up earlier this morning… Waaah…" I leaned against him with all of my weight until he staggered.

"Dammit Michi, I will bite you again."

"Bring it on, you golden retriever. Your bark is definitely worse than your bite."

He laughed. "We'll see." Then he looked thoughtful. "I was actually going to get together with some friends tonight if you wanted to come. Maybe you could get a sense of what college life is like, you know, ask some questions."

"Oh… Are you sure it's okay? It wouldn't be rude?"

"Yeah. Or we could hang out just the two of us." He spoke quietly now.

"Is that okay, then? To ditch your friends for me?" It was flattering in a roundabout sort of way.

"I mean yeah. You're most important to me. We haven't spent as much time together as we used to. I mean obviously we wouldn't, but, you know." He shrugged, face reddening still.

I nodded. "I want to be close again too."

Toma smiled brightly at me, saying nothing because his expression conveyed enough. I blushed and grinned back before we continued on to work.

"Hey, guys!" Sawa greeted us happily as she tied her apron.

I flinched at the sight of her. "H-hey."

"Looks like you're free to work in the back today, Michi," Toma cut in before the awkwardness could register on Sawa's side.

"Yeah." I nodded and rushed to change before settling to work in the kitchen for the rest of the day. Sawa never noticed my edginess around her because we were so busy that she had to run in and out of the kitchen while I rushed to complete orders.

Later on however Toma came in and leaned against the counter. "What's the matter? Isn't Sawa your best friend?"

"I mean, she's one of my best friends. And nothing is wrong."

"Really?" He crossed his arms and gazed at me dubiously.

I pursed my lips. "Really."

He sighed and kept looking at me.

"You just gonna stand there?"

"I'm on my ten-minute break. I have a lot of time to stand here and stare at you."

"You may as well make yourself useful then." I grabbed a spoon to scrape at something I'd made and popped it into his mouth.

He grunted with surprise but took the bite. "What's this? Our coffee cake?"

"Yeah. I was thinking, and I made it this way instead of the original by adding a cinnamon sugar crumble on top and a few teaspoons more vanilla. It was good before but too bitter. More balanced now, right?"

"A bit sweet for my taste, but I think people will like it better. Nice job."

"Oh yeah, you don't like sweets. What is your favorite thing to make?"

"Mm… I like making my own sushi. It's challenging."

"Yeah? You'll have to teach me."

"I dunno… Last time you could barely handle the rice," he teased.

"Hey, that was…" I trailed off and turned sharply away as my cheeks reddened. Thinking about him in any way was hazardous now because of what it made me think of: that day, the day we had broken up, the way he had touched me. Out of everyone, he had touched me the most and gotten closest to my heart. But that was all in the past. If I had been more accepting back then… things might have turned out a lot differently, especially in that moment.

"I'm just kidding. We can do whatever you want. Within reason."

I laughed. "Shut up Toma, you jerk."

"What, did I lash you too hard verbally?"

He said the words teasingly but my chest tightened. Lash me. Yes, he could… I shivered. Man, I had a dirty sort of mind. I peeked out the kitchen window that allowed a slight view of the dining room. "H-hey, Toma…?" I mumbled.

"Yeah?" He came closer to hear me.

"Will you… I mean, if you don't mind… Um…"

"You okay?"

"Fine!" I yelled, and he recoiled a bit. "Sorry… Come closer. I don't want to say this too loud." I ducked my head, looking at his chest as he stepped back to me as requested. "Will you… bite me again? When you have the time, er, if you want."

His eyes widened and his mouth fell open soundlessly. I felt my face get even hotter. "N-never mind, I don't even know what I'm thinking right now… Eek!" I yelped when he grabbed my wrist and dragged me away. "Toma, I'm working… Wait, what are you…" I stared at him, frozen, when he pushed my back against the lockers in the employee break room, the metal clanging in time as he slammed the door shut behind us.

He took in a slow breath and raised his hands to pull my clothes away from my neck, down my shoulder. They shook as he tripped the fabric. Then he pressed a thumb into the side of my neck. "Who's this from?"

"Huh?" I breathed, caught off guard by the question.

He frowned. "The hickey. You know what I'm talking about."

"I…" I didn't want to tell him, so I just shook my head. It was impossible to say the truth, that it was from Shin, Toma's best friend. Toma's reaction to that, too, was what i worried most about, especially in our current situation.

Toma sighed, tilting my chin up to nuzzle his face to my neck. "Doesn't matter." I felt his teeth graze my skin and I shivered. "We can call this punishment either way, whether or not you tell me."

"Just get it over with…." I squeezed my eyes shut.

His hand dug into my arm. "Keep your eyes open. It's easier to take advantage of you if you're not watchful."

"What?" I opened my eyes and caught my breath at how close his face was to mine.

"Like this, see?" He smirked and nipped at my lower lip before closing his teeth around my neck hard.

"Ow!" I gasped reflexively. "Gentler, gentler!" He shifted to adjust pressure, wrapping his arms around my waist tight as he bit with less force. I gripped his shoulders and closed my eyes again as I gradually relaxed. "A bit harder now… Perfect…" He seamlessly responded to my directions. I fell into an almost trace like state as we stood there embracing in our own special way. "We should get back to work now," I murmured after a little while. "Before someone comes looking."

Toma withdrew wiping at his mouth. "Right." He tilted his head. "Oh, I broke the skin a little here." He leaned forward again and I felt his tongue swipe at my neck before he straightened back up.

"Ha, you're like a vampire," I joked lamely as I fixed my clothes. Now that we were back in reality I was nearly mortified from the embarrassment.

"Dork," Toma laughed. He seemed much more relaxed now, all of his insistence and domineering faded.

"It's almost like there are two Tomas," I mused aloud. "The one you show to everyone and then the one you let out around me." He flinched, a worried hurt touching at his expression, and I held my hands up. "I mean that… It makes me glad that there's a Toma only I know. I don't think that this is something I can share with anyone else. It's just something for you and me, and it makes me feel… special."

Toma stared at me for a few long moments before smiling sadly and shaking his head. "If only you'd thought like that a few years ago."

It was my turn to flinch. Everything was fresh in my mind since I had only just remembered it, but Toma had been living with our broken relationship for years now; it must have felt so distant to him. What I had asked him to do just now must have been incredibly sudden from his view. "I'm sorry. It took me a while to accept and understand. I'm really, really sorry Toma. You never did anything wrong to me."

He bit on his lip. "It's hard for me to keep control around you. Everything you do just feels like something that's pushing me to the edge."

"Huh?"

He gritted his teeth and took a slow breath. "Like you said, we need to get back to work."

"Toma, I'm sorry. I don't know how else to say it, but I'm really, really sorry."

"I'm not mad." He smiled slightly and ruffled my hair. "It's not you, so don't worry."

"Then what…" I trailed off as he left the break room without me. "Toma…?" I touched my neck gingerly.

"Do you… like pain, Michi?" Musca asked once I had gotten back to the kitchen and started rushing to catch up on orders.

"Well… yeah, I do, a little bit. I guess… I guess that I like knowing someone cares enough to hurt me gently. Does that make sense?"

"Not to me, no, but my opinion on your tastes isn't what's most important, is it? It's your perception that matters the most." She frowned. "Toma is unpredictable. I feel like we just took one step forward and two steps back with him."

"I can figure him out. Rather, I won't leave him alone until I do." I wouldn't leave him all alone again.