Her Boyfriend

Dear readers,

Thank you for stopping by and reading this story. I would like to hereby thank you all for your comments, reviews, follows and kudos that this fic has been getting! ＾▽＾ As always, you guys are the best!

Regarding the storyline, we are still amid the party season. And, we will be for a moment longer, trust me. The plot's thickening, though! So hold onto your hats, folks! Because it's only gonna be a bumpy ride from now on! I'll promise you that much.

The music I used for this part is BTS's 'Boy In Luv (Instrumental).'

LuceroPerez - Thank you for your comment! I am so happy to hear that you liked the last chapter so much! As for your predictions for this story, the only way to confirm your hypothesis is to keep on reading! And, yes, Ryou seems always so snarky, isn't he? These little jabs at Ichigo are sometimes so much fun to write though, I just can't help it.

Lulyy Elizabeth Vaca - Thank you for your comment! I am glad to hear that you liked the latest chapter so much. We are still not even full half way in this fic, so there will be a lot more Kishigo scenes, trust me. Along with a lot more issues that will need to be tackled.

kiss meLove - Thank you for your comment! I am so happy to hear that you enjoy this story so much. As opposed to The Road to Perfection, Ryou and Ichigo's relationship will probably not cross the line of friendship in this fic. However, there will be a huge change in terms of their future interactions, but not exactly in the romantic way.

DrDark7 - Thank you for your comment! She most definitely did, didn't she? What else is there for Ichigo to unpack? And will she be able to confront her inner demons in time and come clean at long last? Only time will tell!

AnimeRoxx - Thank you for your comment! I am so glad to hear that you like the progress of this story so much. These few following chapters will be crucial for establishing the last remaining background details before we can fully get the party started. So stay tuned!

Kishlover985 - Thank you for your comment! I am happy to hear that you enjoyed the latest update so much. There is going to be even more massive development in Ichigo's way of thinking, as we delve deeper and deeper into the darkest crevices of her mind.

As always, please enjoy and review!

I do not own Tokyo Mew Mew

Ichigo could not quite elucidate how she had managed to fall asleep through yet another of her morning lessons, but she was more than positive that it had everything to do with all the most recent fighting, as well as her abysmal lack of good night sleep.

Unsurprisingly, it turned out that being a Mew Mew had truly proved detrimental to her psyche; in particular in regards to her sudden mood swings but also, and more importantly, to her rapid academic decline, which had made Ichigo begrudgingly accept that there had been school requirements that she could no longer successfully meet. This notion, of course, did not go entirely unnoticed by anyone, her teacher, Mr. Sugimura, included. In fact, it was specifically him that had called her out on her shortcomings earlier today. And, judging by his angry visage, he was not too happy with her poor grades in the slightest.

It was especially during times like these that the distressed Mew Mew could only dream to finally let the cat out of the bag; to simply explain that her current insomnia and rapid decrease in concentration were not her fault at all, but rather a byproduct of the double life she was forced to lead, whether she wanted to or not. And that it was primarily her being a student and a waitress by day and a hero and saver by night that was fucking with her life so badly. Maybe, if she had studied more, she would have at least a solid excuse for Sugimura as to why she had been flunking most of her school duties so much as of lately. But that not being the case, Ichigo had nothing to lean on; nothing to support her claims, nor to ensure that her behavior would change on its own accord without any disciplinary methods enforced.

Did her secret affair with Kisshu only add further stress to her already overloaded system? Hard to say. But it had certainly not helped Ichigo with her dire predicament, cutting her greatly reduced sleeping schedule even shorter than it had been.

'How far can a person push oneself before reaching the breaking point?' Ichigo mused, while her eyes continued to roam around the white plain walls of the almost empty room surrounding her.

She took a quick look around herself, surveying the minimalist space and sighed.

Detention classes were the worst.

Partly because they were so unambiguously boring and partly because there was literally nothing that could really stimulate one's mental abilities in any meaningful manner. Once you found yourself sitting in one of those plain rooms, you were practically done for, as the nothingness of the interior slowly began to torture your brain to the extent that had seemed formerly beyond possible.

This time, though, it all felt even somewhat worse, since Ichigo had been left in the abject misery of the confinement of her own mind in complete solitude. Usually, the detention classes were always packed with kids, yet, today, she was abandoned, sentenced to be the only slacker present to suffer the consequences of her grave misconduct.

There was, obviously, still Sugimura, whose innate crabby nature only occasionally alerted Ichigo that he was there with her within the same room, making sure that she would not do anything stupid such as running away. But his presence meant largely nothing and she knew that he disliked the idea of spending his afternoon here as much as Ichigo did. She could tell this immediately by the way his restless eyes moved across the paper in his hands only to look up from time to time to check whether or not Ichigo had somehow magically dissolved into thin air.

'This will be the longest forty five minutes of my life,' Ichigo drew a deep breath through her nose, as she stretched her arms above her head with a soft crack, 'Maybe someone else will join in later, there's still time…Or maybe not.'

Leaning over the surface of her desk with another dejected sigh, she turned her head sideways and observed the outside world through the thick glass-paneled windows. The sky was idly blue today. That kind of blue you would expect on a completely sunny summer afternoon, barren of any clouds, enticing the residents of Tokyo out and trying to make them enjoy the beauty of the day to the fullest. It had somewhat reminded Ichigo of the time when she was a mere child, with no worries to focus her attention on, and no boys troubling her mind.

She looked at her wrist that still betrayed the marks of her teeth and sighed again.

'Is this how it is always going to be from now on?' she scrunched her brow in deep contemplation, as the many assaulting images flashed in front of her eyes like a reel of film, forcing her to revisit her encounters with the alien briefly.

Could it really be that instead of fighting, her and Kisshu would only pretend to fight henceforth, and then fuck senseless? Or, better yet, skip the fighting part altogether? How long would it take for the others to recognize the pattern? Wasn't there something conspicuous about it already? Nobody had said anything to her upon her arrival back to the Mew Mews, so it must have been only her inner paranoia speaking again. Still, a huge part of Ichigo's conscience could not live down the fact that she had once more chosen to have sex with the Cyniclon, as opposed to reaching out to her team mates who had been actively searching for her at the Opera dome. She felt guilty. Guilty and dirty. But, above else, immensely satisfied.

'How the hell did he manage to excite me so much that I surrendered myself to him without second thought yet again? Not cool, Ichigo. Not cool at all,' she reprimanded herself, not that it really mattered.

Rebukes were, indeed, great to have, but they could only work as long as someone was willing to listen to them, which was not exactly Ichigo's case here. For, uncool or not, the pleasure she was getting from these few precious moments with Kisshu was beyond anything she had ever experienced. There was no doubt about that now. And, that was probably the very reason that had kept her going on with this charade without anyone knowing. Should she talk to Ryou about that? No. There was no way how she could tell him at this point. Besides, it was not like the Cyniclons had used the information she had earlier supplied to Kisshu against them in any way. Perhaps, she was just thinking a little too hard about it all. The frequency of the attacks had not changed, nor their level of difficulty. Perhaps, she was simply worrying too much. Perhaps, Kisshu was just curious, or Pai, for that matter. Whatever. If they had wanted to use this knowledge against them, they would have already done it, wouldn't they?

Surely.

"Ichigo!"

Too distracted, the red head registered the harsh voice of her teacher who had been standing above her for what looked probably like a good half a minute a moment too late.

"Yes?" she broke out of her trance as she jolted in her seat.

"Off to your little phantasy world again?" he remarked wryly before pushing his glasses further up the ridge of his big, bulbous nose, "As I was saying, I will let you be on your own for today. There're some things I still need to work on. You are to sit here for another thirty minutes. I expect you to accept your punishment and not try to sneak out under any circumstances. Are we clear?"

"O-of course," Ichigo squeaked, embarrassed at being caught spacing out for the second time within the same day.

"Good," Sugimura answered.

With that, he had left the room and shut the door behind him without sparing her another glance.

"He sure as hell is going to buy some hentai stuff, I wouldn't be surprised," Ichigo exhaled sharply, slumping further in her chair.

"Yup, definitely gives the creepy vibes," a familiar voice came from behind her, causing her to start.

Ichigo whipped her head at the unexpected sound and, the next thing she knew she was scared out of her skin when she found herself face to face with Kisshu.

"Yo," he grinned from his sprawled position in the air and Ichigo had to bite her lip not to begin screaming.

They were still at school, and it wasn't like Sugimura's office was far away from this room. If she was too loud, her teacher could still potentially hear her and come back to charge her with even more detention.

"What do you want?" she hissed in a low whisper, letting her eyes briefly flicker to the door before her gaze transferred back onto the alien hovering next to her.

"Why are you whispering?" Kisshu asked, fairly amused.

She gave him a look of total incredulity.

"So that no one can hear us?" Ichigo rolled her eyes at him in disbelief, not understanding how someone could be so smart and simultaneously also so dense, "What are you even doing here? Don't tell me you have all of a sudden discovered a deep-seated urge to enlighten yourself with human knowledge?" she groaned.

"Mmmhm partially," Kisshu smiled, floating closer to her, as his fingers grasped her chin lightly, "But I was more like waiting for the creep to finally leave you alone. Now we can have some real fun together."

"Real fun?" Ichigo chewed the words over, pausing in her train of thinking when the idea had finally struck her and she swatted his hand away.

"No way," she exclaimed, a little too loud, "We are at school, Kisshu!"

"Exactly my point," he bent over, waving his forefinger at her, "You look lovely in your school uniform, a perfect sexual fantasy."

She sucked in a breath when his lips found her neck and before Ichigo could shove him off of her, he began nibbling on the soft skin eagerly.

"Kisshu, please….st-," Ichigo moaned, while his hand slithered in between her thighs, making her breath hitch in her throat.

"Stop? Aren't you already tired of repeating this, Ichigo?" he eased away, letting his orbs scan her body quickly only to dart back up to meet her lust-filled gaze, "I thought we're already passed that point," Kisshu purred, a small grin forming on his face.

"I-I-"

His grin only widened at her inability to coherently answer him. In fact, he did not strike her as being even remotely surprised at her lack of resistance. But that was somewhat given, Ichigo supposed, taking into account all of their previous meet-ups. And, she would be a liar if she did not admit that there was something extremely liberating about the notion that there was no more reluctance to openly declare that they both wanted it; even though one of them was far more vocal about their wants than the other.

Without warning, Kisshu lifted Ichigo's body on the desk, causing her to shriek. But the sudden sound was soon muffled when he captured her lips with his, effectively silencing her, and it took merely another few additional seconds until she managed to pull away, her own breath short.

"Kisshu, w-wait! What if someone comes in! The door does not even have a lock. Sugimura is just a few-ah," she tried one last time, out of habit rather than real concern, but he didn't listen, much less stopped.

"Mmm, you worry too much. Now, be a good kitty and spread 'em,'" he replied, as he helped her part her thighs for him; an action that had required little next to no effort on his part.

Bit by bit, Ichigo started to forget about the possible risk of getting caught, of more detention and, upon remembering that Masha was safely zipped up in her school bag, there was nothing that could really hinder her from accepting Kisshu's magnetizing touch on her skin anymore. She momentarily wondered if there was anything that could possibly refrain her body from wanting this sinful pleasure. Because the longer his hands played with her, the more excited she had gotten, and it did not take much longer before she had to grab onto his shoulders not to lose her balance in the same way she had already lost her inhibitions and sanity.

An instance later, her fingers were splayed in his hair, pulling him fiercely to her and surprising them both with her imminent need for fulfillment. She wasn't sure if it was the heat of the moment that was slowly devouring her or her lack of patience, but she did not want to wait anymore.

Not when Sugimura could come at any point now, cutting their session short.

They had another of those no-risk-no-gain situations at hand, but, with Kisshu, she could hardly expect otherwise.

"Feisty today, aren't we?" the alien laughed, noting her obvious eagerness and the massive blush that was coloring her cheeks.

"Shut up and do me," Ichigo bit back indignantly, making his lips twitch but obey her order, nonetheless.

Without missing a beat, he pushed her down on the desk and, putting her panties aside, slid into her quickly.

"It's too bad," Kisshu pouted, feigning remorse, while his hands continued to run all over her bare thighs, "I was thinking of taking things slow today for a change. Enjoy the sweet moment, you know, really savor it. But it seems like it's gonna be a quickie yet again. Aw well."

"Kisshu," she growled through between her gritted teeth before another loud moan tore from her mouth, as he started moving inside her, making everything else dim in comparison.

The last thing Ichigo vividly remembered was the bright shimmering glint in his golden eyes when his lips momentarily parted only to immediately recede back into that obnoxious cat-like grin that appeared both taunting and exhilarating to her sight.

"Enjoy the ride."

As time went on, Ichigo began getting a grasp of Kisshu's personality.

He had a finicky nose; did not care for the company of anyone else save for his fellow aliens; was irritatingly arrogant, and very rarely answered any of her questions in earnest. None of that, however, deprived him of one very important credit that eroded all of the aforementioned without any deeper thought.

He had never finished before she had, putting her pleasure always above his.

And that act itself was what Ichigo valued about him the most.

She had always believed that guys were generally rather selfish in that respect, focusing on themselves and their own release instead of their partners' needs. But Kisshu had showed her that that did not necessarily had to be the case. If anything, he had proved to her over and over again the exact opposite. The random brief moments when he had ambushed her anywhere he pleased and shoved her against any horizontal or vertical surface started to seem otherworldly, whimsically charming even, to Ichigo. And something about that recent discovery sent tingling shivers of anticipation down her spine every time she had thought about it, barely containing her own excitement. His touch on her skin became totally addictive to her system, spurring her to crave more the second they had finished, wishing nothing but to continue or to look forward to their next encounter.

In a way, he was her fix, and their fling the coping mechanism that had kept her going; kept her pulsing with life which had somehow remained miraculously intact amid all the incredible chaos spreading all around her, along with the relationship with her boyfriend, whose presence she barely acknowledged as of lately. If it wasn't for Masaya's persistent reminders, in fact, Ichigo doubted she would even consider Masaya her boyfriend anymore. Which was a very disturbing and incredibly weird thought to have, but that did not change anything about the fact that this was precisely how Ichigo had felt about him, making her question their relationship more and more with each passing day.

Obviously, there was still a large part of her heart that adored and admired Masaya, but his image in Ichigo's eyes had inadvertently shifted. She could no longer enjoy his company as much as she had in the past, and she couldn't ignore the sudden void that she had often experienced whenever they were together; a void that she had never felt when she was with Kisshu.

Quite naturally, all of these convoluted thoughts had generated nothing but a peculiar mental state in Ichigo's mind that was fraught with semi-maddening questions and no satisfactory answers to fall back on. It was a puzzling limbo, to say in the least, wherein the Mew Mew was currently balancing herself on a very slippery slope, unsure and undecided about what tomorrow might bring when all of her life constants had been unexpectedly shaken from within their solid foundations.

Only the bitter taste of the contraception pill that was slowly melting on her tongue prevailed, providing Ichigo with the much needed self-assurance that this was all too real. That this was happening. That she was still somewhat there, closely tied to the reality around her, and that her secret affair with Kisshu required her to continue with these antics, unless she wanted some undesirable consequences of their actions.

'Come to think of it, can even humans and Cyniclons have children together?' Ichigo mulled this concept over, while the familiar artificial flavor of the medication continued to fully assault her taste buds.

She pulled a face in disgust before another thought seeped through her conscience, making her slightly pause.

Was this how cheating felt like? Bitter and utterly disgusting? How much longer would it take for Masaya to become suspicious of her? Could she truly retain her image of the perfect girlfriend when she had been giving her body to someone else by day and night? Did Masaya deserve this?

'No,' her inner voice immediately answered, causing Ichigo's head to hang low in shame.

Of course he did not deserve this. Who in their right mind would ever deserve such an atrocious behavior? Yes, he might have made her feel terrible about herself many times during sex, but Ichigo was not vengeful. She was actually rather the opposite thereof, trying to please all the people around her at all cost, and, more often than not, at her own expense.

This particular trait of hers was only further accentuated by her present banquet invitation; an invitation she was secretly hoping Masaya would promptly decline.

"And that's basically what it's gonna be about. Costume is obviously preferred, but not entirely mandatory. That is, at least, what Ryou said yesterday. But if you find it stupid, I totally get it," she gestured vaguely with her hand in the air before her eyes fell on the glass of water on her desk and she reached out for it and emptied its contents into her mouth, swallowing the taste of bitterness in one go.

Masaya watched her movements with jet-black, worried eyes. It took several more seconds for him to eventually part his lips and respond to her at long last.

"No. Not at all. I really like the idea," he smiled weakly before the corners of his mouth dropped a tad bit and more sadness found its way onto his boyish face, "To be honest, I would love to spend some time with you, Ichigo. We haven't been on a date for ages."

Well, that held true, as did the unexpected twinge of guilt that had instantly coursed through Ichigo's veins like lethal poison.

She was scarcely surprised that Masaya had noticed the evident reluctance to spend any time with him in her behavior. After the butchered oral sex incident a couple weeks ago, Ichigo had been little more than intentionally avoiding him, a fact that had clearly not escaped him. Surely, they had still maintained their study sessions on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but it was different. It felt different because the intimacy was gone and the idea of Masaya touching her repulsive at best. Time and time again, Ichigo had caught herself flinching away from his grasp whenever his hands stretched out a little too close and tried to stroke her arms or hair. And, with the way how things were currently between them, it did not seem very likely that her body had any real intention of rekindling the relationship with her boyfriend, nor reignite the spark the two of them had once shared anytime in the near future.

Had her blatant disinterest in doing anything even remotely sexual with Masaya started when she had begun sleeping with Kisshu? Probably. But that wasn't exactly something she could tell her boyfriend without immediately breaking his heart. Again, being all cagey and pretending that nothing had changed between them did not look as a sufficient means of how to solve her situation either. Yet, it had at least temporarily managed to perpetuate the false sense of security despite the many abrupt changes in Ichigo's mind.

At first, he was understanding. Very.

Whenever she had confided in him that she had felt sick, or when she had blamed her period or her migraine, he took it well. But, little by little, Masaya's calm mask had begun to chip. And the longer Ichigo had refused to sleep with him, the less trustful and patient he had been towards her excuses, making her realize that she would have to deal with the issue at hand sooner rather than later. Of course, Ichigo knew that she could not hide from Masaya's sexual attempts forever. But, in the meantime, the further away she was from him, the better. Because the closer Ichigo had gotten to him, the more she had dreaded that he would try and propose to have sex with her again.

And, there were only as many times a girl could talk herself out of sleeping with her boyfriend, when he was apparently at his limit.

"Ok, let's go, then," Ichigo returned his smile meekly, while she felt her inner muscles tense up with unease.

Why had she even invited Masaya to the banquet when she did not want to be anywhere around him in the very first place? Was she an idiot? Or was it that important to her to retain her social persona and prove to everybody that they were still the happiest couple in the whole universe? Who did she not want to disappoint exactly?

Masaya gave her a pointed look, his eyes flicking in between the glass in her hand and her face.

"You're still on the pill?" he asked, tilting his head slightly.

"Mmhm, yea. Why should I not be?" Ichigo countered, rather perplexed, before realizing her mistake straight away.

'Because you are not having sex with him,' her inner voice sneered at her stupidity, causing the girl to mentally face palm.

It was kind of ironic, truly.

Despite the fact that she had been more sexually active than ever, Ichigo had entirely forgotten that the same did not necessarily apply to Masaya. Just because she had been spending her leisure time fucking someone else did not mean that Masaya would be doing the same, would it?

And if he did, would you feel upset or jealous?

Unable to answer, Ichigo trained her gaze back onto her boyfriend, willing him to continue.

"Well, I thought that…since we didn't have much of an action lately…that you've stopped," Masaya answered frankly, massaging his neck in sheer embarrassment, "We haven't done it in a long time, you know."

Ichigo flinched, incapable of missing the implications of what he had been suggesting, as well as the slight edge of criticism to his tone. He would definitely pressure her for sex today. Now, she was sure of it. How many weeks had she not slept with him? Was it three? Two and a half? How long had it been, really? It all seemed so far, far away in the past. And, from the way how he had been looking at her now, Masaya was evidently not as elated by the absence of their sex life as Ichigo was.

Were there any more plausible excuses she could use to steer him away from this vastly undesirable prospect? Or had she really run out of all of her options already? That was the main question.

Think, Ichigo. Think. There still must be something!

"R-right," she forced out, while her mind continued to sort out through all the intricate ideas why the two of them could not have sex.

What had made the notion of sleeping with her boyfriend so wrong to her all of a sudden? He was doing nothing wrong. Well, nothing that would be any different from how he had been with her all these months ago. Was it all the orgasm faking, then, that had put her into such an uncomfortable state? Was it that she simply did not want to pretend anymore now that she had learned that she did not have to? Would he avoid having sex with her as much as Ichigo did, if he had known how terrible it had been for her all along? As her boyfriend, he had every right to do it with her, there was no dispute about that. People who date each other do it, right? Why couldn't she, then? They had done it so many times before. Why did it presently pose such a great problem for her to continue within this long-term established pattern? What was it that was holding her back now?

Wait a minute, was there actually something that was holding her back?

Kisshu was not her boyfriend. Yes, she could fuck him all night long. Just like last night, when he had snuck in her bedroom and showed her, once more, just how much fun sex could really be. But that did not necessarily qualify their 'relationship' as anything special, did it? He might have made her feel awesome, making her come over and over again, as she watched him with half-lidded eyes, panting breathlessly, her vision momentarily disoriented. Yet, the second they had finished, they both reverted back to their predefined roles, their former connection instantaneously lost. She was a Mew Mew and he a Cyniclon. That would never do, even if they were, as far as sex was concerned at least, as compatible as ever.

"I just don't get it, Ichigo. Did I do something wrong?" Masaya inquired in a quiet voice.

'Yes!' Ichigo internally wailed but not wanting to hurt his feelings, she proceeded with a white lie, nevertheless.

"E—eh no. Everything's fine."

"Then why are you so distant with me? We have barely kissed today. I don't remember the last time that I have touched you. I miss your body. I don't know-"

The longer he had talked, the more apparent it seemed to Ichigo that this problem would need to be solved pronto. And with the way how his accusative eyes were pinning her down, she doubted that he would take a 'no' for an answer today. She would have to go through with it and have sex with him. Contrary to her deepest wishes, she would have to grin and bear, because there was not a single cell in Ichigo's body that dared to confront this ongoing issue at the present moment. Although all the mental signs in her head told her that that was clearly what was soon going to happen, regardless of whether she really wanted it or not.

But was it right, not to mention moral? Why was she with Masaya anyway, if she didn't want him to touch her? Was it her conscience punishing her for her sleeping with somebody that was not her boyfriend? Making her feel less than due to all the incredible emotions that someone else's touch had produced on her skin? Or was she just scared that Kisshu was merely playing her and that is why she had kept Masaya as her back-up? To string him along, should Kisshu decide to turn his back on her? She knew very well that Masaya would never play her. He was a kind boy, her assurance, a solid wall against which she could lean when things did not turn right. Was that why she was still with him? To make sure she would always come out of every situation as a winner? Maximum gain, minimum loss?

The longer Ichigo had followed that particular line of thinking, the more she wanted to gag at herself.

Masaya didn't deserve this. But now was not the right time for her to unpack any of these complicated thoughts. Not when she was still quite unsure where she wanted all of this to be heading anyway.

"Stop," Ichigo placed a finger on her boyfriend's lips, silencing him instantly, as she straddled his lap, knowing fully well what she had to do now and why she had to do it.

Her parents were away. They had time for this. She would have sex with him once today and get it done away with. That way, he could not complain and she would buy herself some more time to figure out what she actually wanted to do. Or whom she wanted to do, for that matter. With that specific goal in mind, she leaned in and started kissing him; an action which Masaya reciprocated eagerly, making Ichigo almost reel back in shock.

It was so weird being intimate with him again. His kisses felt strange on her lips, completely foreign, just as his hands felt sloppy and awkward on her hips, posing a stark contrast to Kisshu's strong, almost painful grip on her lithe body. Whether Masaya had sensed any of Ichigo's current discomfort was rather unclear, yet the longer his tongue had continued to explore her mouth, the more the Iriomote cat girl had felt like pulling away, and ending it all.

But she couldn't.

She was his girlfriend. And, a good girlfriend would never pull away, even if her boyfriend would kiss her in a manner that had heavily reminded her of someone who was biting into an apple; not exactly a thrilling thought, she might add.

It was just so confusing.

In spite of the fact that Ichigo was about to have sex with her boyfriend, she felt like she was doing something wrong, almost criminal. Almost as if she was actually cheating. But why? Was it because Masaya's hands were not forceful, not hungry, not masculine enough? Or was it because they were not Kisshu's? Because she was so used to the alien's touch that it now seemed nearly unacceptable to let anyone else touch her? Was Kisshu really that good? Or was Masaya simply that bad? Why did she suddenly feel like crying and laughing at the same time? And, more importantly, how much had her affair with the Cyniclon really tied into all of this?

Upon a few more excruciating moments later, Ichigo ultimately realized that if she was to follow through with her plan and have sex with Masaya, she would have to employ her fantasy.

There was simply no other way around it.

"Let's be a little spontaneous, shall we?" Ichigo winked at Masaya playfully, trying really hard not to let her façade slip, as she guided him to her bed.

"Ichigo, I don't think-"

"Sssh. Let me take care of you," she slipped out of her panties and took off her bra, revealing her breasts to him fully before she sat on his lap and hooked her arms firmly around his neck.

She could do this. She could do him. This wasn't their first rodeo. Masaya was her long-time boyfriend. She could do it. It was all about her willpower nothing else, she mentally chanted, as she started slowly moving against him. All she needed was a phantasy, a perfect illusion, that it was not Masaya's hands that were currently grasping at her hips, and it could work; to somehow convince her brain that this was the same instance of rough, intense sex that she had been experiencing with Kisshu upon recently. The power of imagination was strong, Ichigo knew. If she just closed her eyes shut, she could imagine things. All the things they had already done together with the alien and all the more things that were there for them yet to be explored. It was all a matter of how far her mind could wander, and Ichigo wasn't exactly blocking these enticing thoughts, even more so when they felt so good, so inviting. The searing golden shimmering gaze was there to help her guide her way through the pitch-black darkness of her deepest fears and desires. She had nothing to worry about. He was there with her, as he had always been during all these other times they had been together.

"Yes, like that," she moaned, losing herself gradually to her phantasy, while her hand fisted in his hair, tugging at his emerald tresses harshly.

And, quite suddenly, she was back in the storage room, feeling the silk material of her dress sliding down her chest as a pair of two pale hands travelled down her body, tracing the vast expanse of her naked skin. She envisioned how his fingertips caressed her and toyed with her, just like any other time, giving her everything she had ever wanted and everything that her boyfriend had ever denied her. There was no holding back with Kisshu. He had always been thorough with her pleasure, never stopping, never ending, not before she had finished first. Again and again, with his vice-like grip on her limbs, devouring her fully until there was nothing left of her, making good on that promise he had once made to Ichigo in that empty dimly-lit alley.

"Harder. Oh my god! Fuck me harder," she felt her muscles starting to contract, as more heat rippled through her body while her pleasure continued to build from within her.

She could mentally picture his hot breath on her cheeks. How his mouth cracked into that wicked grin once again, letting his sharp fangs graze the soft shell of her ear before grasping at her harder, making her back arch and her body moan in utter ecstasy. She was close. So close. She could feel it. All it took was a few more thrusts. A few more moments of him whispering into her skin in that tone that had always sent paralyzing zings of excitement straight down her toes whenever he had drawled her name in that playful, extremely seductive manner.

Do you want me to make you feel good again, I-chi-go?

Not a moment later, with his name dripping on her semi-parted lips, did she find herself sinking her nails deep into his broad shoulders, as she came hard on him with one last high-pitched cry.

Squinting into the far-away distance, Ichigo could see the soft contours of the world around her slowly falling back in place; but it wasn't until she touched her brow, feeling the fruits of her labor on the hot skin of her palm, that she had finally noted that it was over.

For some odd reason, she was no longer surprised that she could reach her orgasm during sex, even with Masaya at that. Actually, after all the intense training with Kisshu, Ichigo would find it almost weird, not to mention crazy, if she could not come now that she finally knew what she enjoyed the most and what had kept her going.

Besides, it was as they said.

Practice makes perfect.

"Wow," Masaya let out after a while, still rather speechless at the aftermath of their fervent love-making.

Hearing the evident satisfaction in his voice, Ichigo internally cheered. Obviously she had done a good job and, judging by the results of her performance and Masaya's uneven breathing, she figured that she would be left off the hook in terms of having sex with him for some time now.

That notion itself had made her squeal with glee until a speck of guilt involuntarily weaseled its way back into her heart.

This feeling only grew in volume when Masaya, all of a sudden, reached out with his hand and stroked her cheek lovingly. His smile was warm and full of reverence, making Ichigo immediately understand that this was, by no means, any long-time solution to her problem. Rather, it was just a quick fix of sorts, which would only postpone the inevitable for the time being, but, in a long-time perspective, not solve anything at all. As the lightheaded state of happiness gradually began to leave her system, Ichigo realized that it wouldn't be exactly easy to cut things with Masaya cold turkey and rip him permanently from her heart.

Notwithstanding, it was something she should definitely start actively preparing for, lest she truly wanted to drive herself nuts in the near future one way or another.

"Let's eat something, shall we? You must be starving," Masaya suggested, pulling his pants back up once Ichigo fully detached herself from him and started looking for her undergarments.

"Huh?" Ichigo blinked, somewhat bewildered.

Had she fucked him too hard that his brain hadn't rewired properly? Again, blood circulation was an ongoing issue for many guys, especially shortly before and after having sex, Ichigo was aware of that much. There was no reason to believe that Masaya would be any exception to that rule.

"Well, you kept repeating it over and over again, so I figured you must be hungry?' Masaya laughed awkwardly, causing the girl's hair to instantly stand on end, "Either that or there's another guy with a really funny name to him," he finished with a small smile lacing his lips.

Ichigo stared at the jet-black haired boy on her bed in utter shock, her eyes as wide as dinner plates.

Based on the way how he had said it, she knew that Masaya had meant it largely as a joke, but Ichigo wasn't laughing. She was, in fact, far from laughing, if the sudden pallor on her face could serve of any indication, any signs of her former peace gone.

"W-what are you talking about?" she gulped, a sinking sensation starting to form somewhere deep inside her chest.

She could sense the feeble breeze on her skin coming through the semi-open balcony window, but it did nothing to alleviate the mounting feeling of terror that had started to claw at her mind.

Masaya looked at her good and long for a moment, trying to search within the depth of her eyes, as the many different emotions continued to play across her features with each passing millisecond.

A strange pause then stretched between them, pregnant and intolerable, during which Ichigo began to feel the sweat tricking down her neck the longer they had remained immersed in such an uncomfortable state of silence. It wasn't until she had heard Masaya speak again, however, that her visage turned completely stone cold all at once, as the bittersweet taste of adultery resurfaced on the tip of her tongue, along with another surge of panic and the newly-acquired understanding that had finally dawned on her.

"Kisshu*," he replied, his tone a bit less amused and more even-keeled now, "Just before you came, you said you wanted Kisshu."

*In case you were wondering, Kisshu's name is used as an intended play on words here. His original name in Japanese is derived from food, i.e. Quiche (pronounced and transcribed in the old TMM series often as Kisshu) which, according to the dictionary, is a baked flan or tart with a savory filling thickened with eggs, usually eaten cold, hence the pun.

Until next time!