The second she woke up Chizuru knew . Or maybe even before that. Either way , she knew . She remembered. All of it . Every touch, every movement , every word , every sound , every second . She remembered them all .
She felt her chest rising and falling, not by her own strength, rather by the force of his breathing, more than enough to move her .
His ...
She hadn't even needed to open her eyes . She had known instantly, even before she felt him , she knew that Kazuya was there . With her . In her bed .
Naked .
She could feel her head resting on his chest . She could feel her upper body sprawled across him . She could feel her right leg wrapped around his legs.
She could feel his right hand around her waist , fixing her in place , pushing her into him , enveloping her in him .
"This isn't how it should be ", she argued with herself .
"I'm supposed to wake up, completely unaware and then I'm supposed to see him. "
"See him ... " , the phrase bounced around her mind and she felt the sudden urge to see him .
Chizuru slowly opened her eyes and once her eyes readjusted , she saw him .
She saw Kazuya in a state of absolute bliss , peacefully snoring away .
Chizuru had seen many a beautiful sunrise , but on that occasion, on that morning, it seemed extra special, almost as if the sunlight was a little more golden , as if the heat it sparked on everything it touched was just a little more warm , as if it's radiance made her and all of nature feel a little more alive , a little more happy .
Almost as if it was a new sunrise that morning .
"Or", she wondered ,
"Is it simply because Kazuya is here that my world is more beautiful, more warm , more alive and better in every way? ".
She breathed slowly as she stared at him quietly until a gentle smile spread across her face .
She tried to shift just a bit but almost immediately she felt his arm tighten around her .
Confused , she tried again but found herself unable to move .
She breathed out again slowly , this time feeling his hold on her grow as her chest expanded.
This time she felt how hard he was holding her , with how much care, absolutely refusing to let her go .
"Geez ", she chuckled softly .
It was then that she felt the blanket on her bare back , covering her , protecting her from the cold .
But she was certain that there had been no blanket last night when she had closed her eyes last night.
Her smile grew as she pieced everything.
"After I fell asleep , he got up ,put the blanket on me and then put his arm around me before sleeping ".
"How did I get so lucky ?", she sighed out loud , snuggling against him as she did.
As sleep knocked on her door again, she laid her head back down on his chest , on that particular spot where it almost felt like there was a space, a groove where her head fit exactly .
She gently raised her right arm and wrapped it around him before falling back asleep.
Two Hours Later ,
Once again Chizuru was awake and this time she had had enough.
"He's slept enough ", she decided and went about trying to wake him up.
She poked him, called his name , even kissed him on his chest (that was as far as she could reach ) .
Frustrated, she was about to pinch him when a strand of her hair flew up and tickled his ear .
Almost immediately he started to stir .
She froze in place instinctively, even holding her breath , as she watched his eyes flutter before he opened them .
He first looked at the ceiling blinking a few times before muttering ,
"Huh ? Where am I? "
He sighed out loud before seeming to give up and was about to go back to sleep , when Chizuru's hand accidentally slid across his chest.
He stared at her hand for a few seconds ,apparently confused before he finally saw her sprawled across his chest , staring at him with wide open eyes .
"Chizuru ? ", he yelped out clearly surprised.
"What are you doing here ?",he asked before smiling and answering his own question.
"Oh we must have fallen asleep together again, huh? " .
Chizuru found herself unable to reply, the heat was spreading through her face as she stared at him , at his physique , exposed as plain as day in the early morning sunlight .
"What's up , your face is really red ", Kazuya pointed out laughing .
Exactly at that moment, Kazuya shifted slightly which ended up pulling Chizuru a little closer to him .
And then he saw . And then he realized, And then he remembered.
And then he shrieked.
"C..calm down ", Chizuru manged to say , even though his reaction had made her more flustered .
"B...but you ... we ... last night ...we ... ", he stammered
"Yes , we ... did it , okay, so just calm down " she told him with as much conviction she could muster .
"Okay ... okay " he replied before taking a few deep breaths.
With the last forceful exhalation, a smile grew on his face before he told her,
"Sorry , I was just shocked " .
"It's fine, I could barely believe it myself " , she admitted.
"Yeah", Kazuya nodded .
She watched him as he continued to gaze at her for a while before he spoke again,
"I'm really glad we did this ".
"Huh ? ", Chizuru reacted before asking,
"Really ? I didn't force you into it right? You wanted to ... " .
"Of course I did ", Kazuya interrupted, before admitting ,
"I was scared... but I wanted to . I have for a long time. And you gave me the push I needed.
Thank you . I'm really really happy now ".
"Me too . Thank you . I'm also very happy ", she replied.
Kazuya grinned before asking,
"Why are you getting all formal now ? "
"You started it ", she replied with an indignant laugh.
Chizuru then shifted slightly, rubbing her back against his hand , smiling as she did , relishing how his fingers stroked her skin .
He smiled too , realizing what she was doing and proceeded to gently glide his fingers across her back , rubbing her with the greatest care .
Simultaneously, almost like they'd rehearsed it ,they said together ,
"I love you " .
They smiled at each other without saying anything for a couple of minutes before Chizuru spoke,
"We probably have to get up now ,huh ? "
"Yeah ", Kazuya agreed before confessing ,
"I don't really want to , though " .
"Me too ", Chizuru sighed .
They held each other for ten more minutes before Chizuru's alarm started blaring .
They both groaned and started to get up .
Chizuru slid of Kazuya's back clearly staring at every inch of him as she did which emboldened Kazuya to take her in as well .
And for a moment he forgot how to breathe.
The sight of her alluring figure in the heavenly sunlight was just so captivating , it seemed to draw him in again, just like last night.
She knew what he was doing , it was obvious from the half embarrassed half pleased smile on her face .
He watched as she bent down and pulled out her clothes from the pile they both had discarded last night .
Then she turned back towards him with an accusatory glance holding up her t-shirt.
Her now torn t-shirt.
"Um .. sorry ? ", he managed to say .
She sighed before bending down again , picking up and then putting on his t-shirt ,a black one with a shark on it . It was way too big for her , reaching up to her knees.
"Wait what will I wear ? ", he asked .
She chuckled as she replied,
"Too bad , this t-shirt is mine now " .
"Huh ? ", Kazuya asked but Chizuru just clicked her teeth together, like a shark, smiling menacingly before walking out of the bedroom, declaring ,
"I claim this t-shirt as my reward ".
Kazuya waited for a few minutes, sure that she was joking and that she would come back, but when she didn't, he pulled on his sweatpants before walking out to the living room .
There was no sign of her .
"I'm going to have to run to my apartment like this ", he realized.
After running it through in his head , he decided to follow and so walked to the door , ready to sprint to his apartment when the door itself opened .
Chizuru stepped in holding another one of his t-shirts that she had clearly taken from his apartment to give him .
The second she saw him , she pieced things together and sat down on the floor , breaking up with laughter .
"So you were going to ... run into your apartment... half naked ... ", she managed to ask in between her laughs .
An embarrassed Kazuya waited patiently for her to stop laughing before pointing out ,
"It was your fault " .
"Sure ", she conceded .
They had breakfast together (after Kazuya had put on his t-shirt of course ) , having made it together first before Kazuya went back to his apartment to change for Uni .
Chizuru was already waiting for him when he came out , he smiled happily before locking his door .
He then dropped his keys , both of them bent down to pick it up and as they did , their fingers brushed up against each other for a second.
Immediately both of them shrieked and jumped back.
They stared at each other confused and now, for some reason nervous , before Kazuya asked
"What was that? ".
"You did it too ", Chizuru shot back, a little pale in the face .
Kazuya retrieved his keys and they walked down the stairs. On the last step they bumped each other's shoulder and they reacted the same way .
This time they ignored it and continued to walk .
It continued to happen , they would brush up against each other and they both felt like a spark of electricity was crawling through them , all while that nervousness steadily grew .
Finally, after having walked most of the way to Uni , Kazuya asked, tentatively
"Are you feeling nervous too ? "
"Yeah ", Chizuru nodded before explaining,
"Not just nervous, really self conscious too . But it's so weird, I haven't felt like this since we started going out , like the first time we held hands
But it doesn't make sense , we were fine like an hour ago.
I mean , it's barely been a couple of hours since we got out of bed .
Why would we feel like this now? ".
Kazuya was silent for a minute before admitting,
"I keep thinking about it . Every time I brush up against you , every time I smell your perfume,every time I look at you , it's like a reminder, like a flash of lighting and some moment from ... last night just sticks in mind and it's... "
"Really vivid ", Chizuru continued.
"Really vivid and unsettling. Like we're there again. Like it's last night again. Like you and I... are ... again..."
She breathed out loud before whispering,
"having sex " .
They walked a bit more before Kazuya spoke
"After all its something I've thought about so much , it seemed more like fantasy than reality. I can't help thinking about it . Reliving it again and again".
"You've thought about it before?", she asked ,
"With me ? "
Kazuya's face turned a little more red but he nodded again,
"Plenty of times, even before we got together ".
"Me too ", she admitted.
"I even dreamt about it... about you a couple of nights ago. "
They both laughed a bit , happy that they could be honest with each other.
Kazuya's smile faded into thoughtfulness before he suggested ,
"Maybe it's normal. After all it's the first time we've been so intimate . Not just with each other , with anyone . "
"That's true ", Chizuru agreed , smiling a bit now .
"It must be normal to feel nervous and self conscious.
It'll probably disappear and we'll fine once again".
"Yeah", Kazuya replied before adding ,
"But I really don't want to wait ".
He reached out and grabbed Chizuru's hand, firmly interlocking her fingers with his , ignoring the images from last night in his mind and focusing on her .
He could see her doing the same, blushing furiously before she relaxed and smiled radiantly.
"There , we're better now right? ", he asked .
"Definitely ", she agreed ,happily squeezing his hand before adding ,
"It'll probably be easier for us , next time " .
"Yeah ", Kazuya agreed and the two started walking again now hand in hand .
Then it hit Kazuya and he asked carefully ,
"Did you just say next time ? As in ... "
Kazuya stopped as he felt the heat of embarrassment burning in his chest and radiating from her hand before she shrieked ,
"You idiot , we had just gotten over it " .
"You're the one who brought it up ", he shot back .
"Okay , fine ", Chizuru admitted before she quickly kissed him on the cheek .
"Now we're okay ", she stated .
"What was that ", Kazuya asked, clearly flustered.
"A publicy acceptable kiss ", she replied matter-of factly .
"Who made that up ? ", he persisted.
"I did ", she replied haughtily before remarking ,
"Besides we're okay again ".
"Eh , you're right ", Kazuya realized.
They resumed their slow walk to their University, now once again, enjoying the seconds and minutes with each other , enjoying how they would squeeze each other's hands , enjoying their conversation and their jokes , enjoying their shared happiness, their precious relationship which had taken a giant step forward, a step that would help shape their relationship into their future .
"So ,if I were to do it , what's a publicly acceptable kiss that you'd like ? ", Kazuya asked as they walked together.
A/N : A beautiful sunrise shines over their day and their relationship as Kazuya and Chizuru awkwardly navigate the most intimate moment of their lives .
Next time : Visitors to Kazuya's apartment.