So... Guess who lied? It was me. My last A/N ended up being wrong, probably because when I wrote it I was past having the capacity for actual thinking... I realized that there are exactly seven chapters left to write, including this one, and that only the last five need to be posted at the same time. Haha... So this one and the next chapter will be posted normally and THEN the finale will come. Please enjoy reading, and sorry for being a swank. Swank?

Also, WARNING. This chapter is mostly a sex scene. It's not too graphic and doesn't concern any large plot details, it just hints at what might come next. It's a skippable chapter but does include characterization and development in Toma and Michi's relationship. So, do as you please.

~ Michi ~

"Tch." I clicked my tongue as I stirred miso soup and crunched on light spring onions.

Toma watched me warily from across the table, dragging a hand through hair dampened by the showers we had taken after getting back from the pool. "You're still mad, aren't you?"

"Why would I be?" I muttered, opting to be passive-aggressive to teach him a lesson.

"Look, I'm sorry, okay? I was just joking. I didn't think you'd have a problem with it. I know you well enough for that… At least I think so?" His brows wrinkled with confusion, making him look like a sad golden retriever puppy.

"And I would've been laughing too but they all saw, Toma! And Shin, he… What must he be thinking right now?! Waah! Rah!" I slapped my cheeks to once again banish impure thoughts.

"Trust me, he doesn't mind at all," Toma muttered. "But, uh…" He coughed. "I didn't mean for that to happen. I thought it'd be just us for a little while longer."

"So what exactly were you trying to do?" I glared at him.

"… Nothin'," he mumbled, averting his eyes. "… Do you like the food?"

"Don't try to change the subject! But it's good. Anyways! Apologize!"

"Didn't I already say I was sorry?"

"Say it again and I'll forgive you."

"Okay…" He bowed his head. "I'm so, so sorry, Michi. It didn't turn out like I thought it would and I didn't want you to be embarrassed like that."

"All is forgiven."

"… You just wanted to make me prostrate myself, didn't you?"

"Perhaps!" I cackled. "But really, what did you think would happen, Toma? That really wasn't thought out at all."

"I just thought…" He blushed. "Just for a moment… Maybe I could get closer to you."

"Oh. You mean physically closer…" My face went red and I ducked my head behind my bangs and focused on eating instead of looking at him. I still felt his gaze on me, though.

"Not only that. I feel like…" He hesitated and I went still, breath bated in anticipation. "You and I get emotionally closer through touching each other. It's sort of like… a gateway? I know this doesn't make any sense."

"Just keep talking. Make it make sense," I murmured, wanting to hear more from him on this. Emotional closeness was what I was going for as well, for the sake of completing the pathway and just plain understanding who Toma was.

"Oh." He folded his hands and studied them. "We're comfortable when we're touching, like that makes us feel close enough to talk with each other. Even just touching your hand makes me feel safer. Better, you know. So I just… I feel like touching you is the best way to get to your heart. To make both of our hearts connect."

"Oh…" These words were only for me. I knew that he had never said them to anyone else. "I get it. I understand that, it's like… We can get to each other's hearts… By… pressing our hearts together."

"Exactly," he said softly. Our eyes met and we both looked away shyly. It was cheesy in a sense and yet it struck me deeply.

"Um… I think I'm done." My heart was in my throat now, choking me up and ruining my appetite.

"I-I'll clean up."

"O-okay." Normally I'd have insisted on helping but in that moment it felt like a better idea to leave the heated atmosphere. As I moved to flee the room Toma took my wrist.

"I thought that, I mean, what I hoped would happen was…" He sighed and shook his head before pulling me closer and sealing my lips with his, pressing in a deep kiss.

I held onto his shoulder tightly, unsure of what he was intending but becoming more suspecting when he put his arms around my waist and backed me against the counter. I fumbled behind me for balance, yelping when I knocked something over.

"Ah…" Toma pulled away to grab onto it, me having toppled a bottle of chicken stock. Liquid splashed onto the counter anyways and he laughed, leaning his head on my shoulder. "It feels like sometimes that we're an awkward sort of…" He trailed off, deciding not to finish.

"I can wipe that up," I mumbled, hands tentatively against his chest now, not sure whether to push him away or pull him in.

"I'll take care of it… You just go." He met my eyes for a second before frowning and looking away. "Before I attack you again."

I skirted past him as my heart thudded painfully. "Wah… Wah…" I took deep breaths, in and out.

"My, aren't we getting overheated?" Musca commented.

"Sh-shut up! I just… I don't know."

"This has been going on for a while now, hasn't it? The two of you just keep dancing around this issue," Musca sighed. "I may be a child in your eyes but as a spirit I've lived a long-ish time and I'm worldly enough to know this."

"What're you insinuating, huh?"

"I'm talking about the physicality between you and Toma," she sighed. "You can't pretend not to know it. The two of you, always touching each other and getting close, teasing each other like you do…"

"St-stop. I don't… I really don't get it."

"Look, I didn't want to hear about it or talk about it before but it's important. We're running out of time, Michi. Now isn't the time to hold yourself back because you're concerned over other people's feelings."

"That's not it… If I… If I let it happen, what kind of person does that make me? I mean…"

"What are you talking about? You're a human being. It's a natural drive." Musca shrugged.

"But would it be for the right reasons?"

"It's not as if the two of you don't love or at least like each other."

I hugged myself, scared and aflutter. "I want him to touch me," I whispered. "I've been wanting him to touch me for a little while now."

"And that's okay." Musca patted my head.

"I… I never had a mother or father to talk to me about this stuff. Dad just wasn't good at things like this and Mom was gone, so, I… Thanks," I said weakly. These feelings were scary, especially to a girl my age who felt like they were almost uncontrollable with never once having been satisfied or even talked through properly.

"I'm here for you, Michi." Musca smiled. "You should never be ashamed of something that's completely human, you know?"

"Coming from a spirit, that just sounds a little weird."

"Whatever, you." She waved her hand. "So what are you going to do?"

"I'm going to… I'm going to brush my teeth!"

"I mean, that's as good an idea as any, but that's not what I meant…" She floated after me as I furiously scrubbed my teeth. "You know… Toma's really grown on me. I think I could… accept it, if you were to want to be with him."

I spat and looked at her. "What made you change your mind?"

"He's just… different from what I had expected." She frowned slightly still. "A bit worrisome still, but not as bad as I expected."

"Well… I'm glad." I grinned. "Yay, Musca's made a new friend!"

"Hmph." She smiled, turning when we both heard slow footsteps approaching. "Well… Have a good night."

"W-wait…" She floated away and I was left facing Toma as he hesitated in the door frame.

"I, uh… Just came to…"

"Brush your teeth! R-right?"

"Exactly." We both looked at the floor.

"Well, I'll get out of your way then…" I squeezed past him, hunching my shoulders to avoid contact. I huddled in bed, wrapping myself in a light quilt. "What do I do…?" I didn't know what to do about it. These feelings were ones I hadn't had to deal with yet; it was an entirely new challenge.

"Do you want me to sleep on the floor tonight?" Toma asked as he emerged from the bathroom a few minutes later.

"No!" He jumped at my exclamation. "N-no, it's fine. Plenty of room for the both of us."

"Are you sure? You're acting a bit…"

"It's fine. I just…" I flinched as he lay down next to me.

"Tell me if you change your mind."

"I will. I mean, I won't. Change my mind, I mean. I will tell you, I won't change my mind."

"Seriously, you're being strange…" He rolled over to face me. "Everything alright?"

I lay down to face him slowly, hyperaware after talking with Musca. "I just… I'm really confused."

"About what?"

"Um, I…" I shook my head, losing the ability to spit out coherent, functioning words.

"Hm…" Toma patted my head. "Even if you can't tell me what it is, is there anything I can do to help?"

I inched closer and huddled against his chest. "This much is fine… I think." Everything was on fire, smoke clouding my vision. Yet, somehow, it all felt like a good thing. "H-hey, Toma…"

"Yeah?" He rubbed slow, small circles on my back, comforting even though he didn't quite know what the problem was.

"What did you want to happen, really?"

"What?" His hands stilled.

"Maybe… Are feelings like this not supposed to make any sense? Am I just supposed to roll with it or something?" I tilted my head, viewing this as somewhat of a revelation. Making sense of attraction would never work because in part it wasn't something that was meant to be sensible.

"Michi?" Toma's voice changed suddenly, becoming darker and heavier. It was familiar somehow, a sign that he was catching on and letting the feeling flow over him as well.

I hugged him tightly, mumbling into his chest. "Touch me, okay?"

He laughed, hugging me back. "You're being so childish…"

"I feel childish! I don't know what I'm doing… So, I… I…! Need you to take control here, since you're the one with ex-experience. You got that?" I scowled at him.

"You don't have to ask me twice." He slid his hands up my back underneath my shirt and I twitched from the unexpected coldness of them. "… But are you sure?"

I noticed that his hands were trembling just slightly and his expression was alight with conflicted emotions. "What is it?" Did he not want to? Had I misread everything?

"I… don't know how I'm going to turn out through this," he murmured. "What I might do to you in the heat of the moment."

I tucked my hands under his shirt to press my hands to his chest, feeling his heart beating harder and erratically. "You can go ahead and touch my heart, Toma. I trust you with it…" And with my body. Even if he ended up hurting me, it would be the kind of pain we both relished deep within ourselves.

He moved to put his hands against my heart as well, making us both blush harder. "… Okay." He pulled my shirt over my head and moved to usher me onto my back by getting on top of me. I tugged on the hem of his shirt uselessly and he smiled, removing it himself before leaning down to kiss my cheek.

"Uh…" I squeaked, surprised by such a tender gesture.

"How much do you want me to hurt you?" Toma murmured as he lowered to press his mouth to my neck.

"I… I don't know yet. Just let me settle into it."

"Mind if I leave my mark on you?"

"Er… Where?" I bit my lip to smother any embarrassing noises as he turned his attention to my chest, only kissing and licking at first but moving onto biting at and sucking on the most tender areas with gradually increasing pressure. I couldn't hold back a strangled gasp as he yanked my pants down to press between my legs through my underwear.

"Everywhere… I'd like to mark you as mine all over you."

"Is this what you're like with other girls?" I breathed, unable to imagine it.

He paused to gaze at me before leaning back up to push his lips against mine. My toes curled when he slid his tongue into my mouth and his fingers under my only remaining article of clothing. He swallowed up all of the whimpers I made that sounded unnatural to my ears, noises I would never normally make.

He kissed my cheek again when he pulled away. "Only you, of course." He sighed and smiled at me then. "You're going to have to spread your legs a bit more. You're making it difficult, you know."

"It's…"

"Now's not the time to be shy," he whispered, pulling my underwear down to my knees even though my legs were pressed together so as to make it somewhat of a struggle. "I've got you. Trust me and I'll take good care of you, okay?"

"… Okay." I loosened my knees slightly but couldn't seem to bring myself to do more than that.

"Come on…" Toma laughed, edging his knee between my legs to hasten progress.

"Why are you so very not naked?" I muttered. "I'm the only one who's exposed here…" I crossed my arms to cover my chest, half glaring and half pouting up at him.

"It's because you're cute when you're uncomfortable." He spread my thighs and kept his knee there as a blocker, hands moving to press my hips into the bed.

"Hurry up…" I murmured, looking away. "J-just do it."

"Not yet." He touched between my legs again, rubbing slowly. "You're not quite ready yet."

"Ready? What am I, a turkey?"

He shook his head, laughing. "Just leave it to me and stop complaining, will you?"

"But… You feel so far away," I mumbled, legs jerking randomly in response to his touch. It wasn't nearly enough; there was something lit in my chest and the pit of my stomach that demanded more than this especially since he was right in front of me. Besides… "I… I want –"

He cut me off my crushing his mouth against mine, kissing hard enough for our teeth to slip and clash together. "Want what?" He murmured, upping the sped and pressure of his touching.

I bit back a moan, scared of what sound I would make next and holding back answering his question in the process.

"I guess you don't need to tell me," he sighed, removing his fingers and holding them up to display a thin string of wetness between two of them.

"D-don't do that, it's –" I gasped as he pushed those fingers between my lips, pressing onto my tongue and filling my mouth with something almost tasteless but also barely sweet.

"Embarrassing?" Toma teased as I squeezed my eyes shut and bit down as what little revenge I could take for his playfulness at the moment. "You're childish, really…" He tugged his fingers out to press his lips to mine once again, holding onto my rear as he pushed his hips against mine, our bodies close but not close enough.

"Hold you," I gasped during a rare moment when he gave me a chance to breathe during an unrelenting kiss. "Want… to hold… you." My hands kneaded into his hair when he kissed me feverishly, shifting to remove his own clothes. "W-wait," I gasped when he moved to angle my body correctly. "C-condom, don't forget the condom you idiot!"

"Shit," he breathed, fumbling to reach into his bedside desk as he bit at my lips. He fumbled with the box, dropping it onto the floor after managing to retrieve one.

"You always keep 'em handy, huh?" I muttered.

"I'm a nineteen year old, of course I do," Toma said it as if it should have been obvious.

"Boys…" I sighed, then covered my mouth with my hands as he started to push into me.

"Don't do that," he murmured. "I want to see your face. Keep covering yourself and I'll just tie your wrists up, okay?"

I nodded, hugging his back instead as he went as far as he could go.

"Does it hurt?"

I could only nod, looking into his dazed, heavy eyes as he smiled at me.

"Good."

I'd thought that maybe he would be a bit gentle since it was my first time, but that was a sorely incorrect assumption. "It… hurts…!" I gasped as he moved without restraint.

"I can't…" He murmured. "I've been holding myself back around you for too long, I can't do it anymore. Bear with it…" He gritted his teeth, breath hitching for an instant. "Michi… Michi…!"

"You can… go faster… if you want. Just a little more." I groaned when he complied, feeling my expression twisting. "Don't look…"

"It's okay… I want to see you right now. I want to see what kinds of faces you make… They're mine to have," Toma murmured. "I love you so much…"

"Toma…" I reached out to him and he pressed close to me, rolling us over onto our sides as we pulsed together, desperately clinging to and dragging each other as close as possible. I threw my leg over his hip as he dug his fingers into my back and sank his teeth into my shoulder. It felt as if we couldn't get close enough even as we were pressed together infinitely.

"You're getting close, aren't you…?"

"I… I don't know…" It was about to boil over. I clung to Toma's back, feeling helplessly unsteady. In the rushing that soon overtook my body and mind I didn't care anymore what expressions I was making or what was right and wrong; all that was left was feeling. Once it settled I was left lethargic and sensitive, while Toma was still moving harshly. "T-Toma," I squeaked.

"Just a little bit more." He pushed me onto my back again and went as hard and fast as he possibly could.

I keened out a sound somewhere between a moan and a scream, tears leaking from the corners of my eyes from the pain.

"Shit," Toma swore under his breath as he moved one hand to my neck and the other to cradle the back of my head. His hands tightened gradually, pulling on my hair and pressuring my neck until he fell still and buried his face into the pillow next to my head, squeezing so hard that I gasped for air. He started breathing again and let go after a few long moments.

I sucked in a breath and gasped and he leaned down to place gentle kisses on my shoulders and along my collarbone. "You okay?" He whispered as he rested his head on my shoulder.

I nodded, eyes drifting closed as I petted his hair. "Yeah…"

"Hey…" He murmured, nuzzling my neck and putting his arms around me, cuddling our bodies close together and pulling the blankets up. "I know this doesn't mean that you choose me… But I'm still happy."

I kissed the top of his head. "I do love you… It's just that –"

"It's okay," Toma interrupted as he dragged himself up lazily to be at my level, reaching over me to dispose of the condom in the bedside trashcan. "You don't have to justify anything to me."

"Thanks." I smiled and he kissed both of my cheeks and my lips before resting on the pillow with a sigh.

"Is this okay?" His arms flexed on my back as he shifted.

I was too contently tired to mind at all. "Mm." I just hugged his torso and settled in for sleep. "G'night."

Toma sighed and smiled. "You're such a child…"

"You're dumb…" I mumbled. After squeezing in one last insult I drifted off, finally resolved in the feeling that had overtaken me so many times with the one next to me.

~ Toma ~

I tried to blink away the sun, groaning as light streaming in through slits on the blinds forced me awake. It would have been so much simpler to stay where I was forever, tangled up with Michi. Images had flashed through my dreams and were still present now; her hair thrown over her face, expression twisted with delighted pain.

I already wanted her again. Once this had been tasted, it would never be enough to only have it a singular time. I wanted to mess her up even more. She had no idea how much restraint I had shown, even as bites and bruises had solidified upon her while she slept. I heaved a sigh and ran my fingers delicately through her mussed hair, trying not to wake her.

I couldn't let go of her. The only thought left, the only option… "I have to make you mine, Michi…"

~ Musca ~

I closed my eyes, listening quietly from my place hovering near the thin door of the kitchen. He had to make her his, he'd said. In that case, he would never succeed. Yet, if that was the condition for passing his pathway in time… I shook my head. "There's no way…" Michi would never stand for it. She wasn't going to commit before the pathways were each resolved, much less while her mother was still out there. She wouldn't do that to Toma either, being with him for such a reason. "I'm so sorry, Lady Faera… I've failed you." Because Michi and her will were now more important to me than anything else, even my own fate or the fate of the ones I had called family.