Author's Notes: Thank you YaoilovinKitsune and Valen Goncalvez for the encouraging reviews. I sure do appreciate them. I hope you enjoy the new chapter!
Satoru Gojō stood in the hall between his male pupil's bedrooms. At seven o' clock on a Saturday morning he proceeded to raise the pot and bang the bottom with a ladle to give them a wake up call.
"Wakey, wakey, kiddos!" he yelled, beating the pot like a gong. "We're going on a field trip!"
After much muffled grunting and thumping, most likely from tripping and falling, they eventually made it to their doors. Yūji opened his door and came out sporting his sheet like a fashionable college frat party toga. Megumi's door opened but a flying book proceeded his exit.
Satoru artfully dodged the book by leaning to the left well out of the flapping projectile's path. It hit the wall and fell to the floor with a bang like a gunshot adding to the din.
Megumi emerged, half a sleep and rubbing his eyes. His hair, even more haywire than usual, gave his teacher the impression the boy employed the nearest electrical socket to style it. However, a restless night spent dreaming about the unexpected and offbeat woman he was still not sure what to make of had given him the glorious gravity defying hairstyle.
"It's Saturday morning, Gojō! What the hell?" Megumi growled.
"Is there a demon we need to exorcise this early in the morning?" yawned Yūji, clutching his toga and not bothering to cover his mouth.
"Demons never sleep, Yūji, but no it's not that," his teacher repllied, dropping the ladle into the pot.
Both boys winced in response to the clanging of metal against metal.
"What is it then?" groused Megumi, scrubbing his hand over his face in annoyance.
"We're going to have some fun!" he exclaimed in his typical over exuberant manner.
"Ugh," both boys groaned.
This guy, their beloved and often impulsive teacher, could be a real pain in the ass. Sometimes he just got way too excited about life. He must have been the type of kid to wake up before dawn on Christmas morning to open presents.
"Can't fun wait? It's Saturday," Megumi muttered irritably.
"You're grumpier than usual. Not sleeping well?" Gojō asked the dark and grouchy dandelion haired boy.
"No, I'm not. I've had some...thing on my mind," he murmured, stopping himself before he said someone.
"Oooh, really? Like what? Is it a girl? What's her name?" the inquisitive white haired man needled him.
"I never said it was a girl," he snapped back. He wasn't lying because he did not in fact say who or what was on his mind, neither did he plan on telling them. If these dorks knew about Lily, he would never hear the end of it.
"Have you woke up Kugisaki yet?" Yūji asked, scratching the back of his head.
"No. I'm going there next," Gojō said.
"Good luck with that," Megumi grumbled turning back into his room. "Guess there will be an exorcism today."
Kugisaki isn't know for her charming personality early in the morning, any morning. If he dared to give her the same kind of rude awakening there would be hell to pay.
Two hours later they found themselves wandering the city streets visiting every candy store along the way. They should have known this supposed school sanctioned event was just an excuse for Gojō to indulge his sweet tooth. The man could have done that without dragging them along.
"I'm going in here," Nobara announced turning toward the bookstore to their left. "I didn't get up early on a Saturday to go shopping and only visit every sweets shop in the city."
"I'm going in too. I want to look at the celebrity gossip magazines to see if there are any new pictures of Jennifer Lawrence," Yūji declared, following his classmate and friend inside.
"Going in?" Gojō asked Megumi, holding open the door.
"Might as well," he replied with a shrug, walking into the store.
Shoving his hands in his pockets, Megumi began to aimlessly wander the aisles. Glancing at the tags on the end of each tall bookshelf, he read them off in his mind. He found himself in the fiction section. Fantasy, historical, horror, science fiction...romance. Warmth slid across his cheeks. He hurried past that section to join his classmates at the racks of magazines.
Megumi picked up a magazine as Nobara and Yūji discussed their favorite movies prompted by pictures of actors in the magazine they thumbed through. Fanning the pages without really looking at them, one picture suddenly caught his eye. Flipping back through the smooth sheets of beauty product ads, articles on weight loss and better relationships, he finally found the picture that had captured his interest.
His heart beat faster as he stared at the glossy full color picture of Lily. She stood in the middle of a traditional red bridge dressed in the white outfit she had been wearing that day in the cemetery when he first met her. The parasol lay propped against her left shoulder as she stared down into the pond over which the bridge offered passage. It is an ad for the clothes she is wearing which cost several thousand dollars.
"She really is a model," Megumi muttered to himself.
"Oooh, who's that?" Yūji inquired, peeking over his shoulder.
Megumi slapped the magazine shut and put it back on the shelf.
"I don't know. Just some fashion model," he mumbled, shoving his hands back into the pockets of his loose jeans.
"A pretty woman," his classmate returned, picking up the magazine to search for the picture. "She's not exactly my type...a little on the skinny side, but pretty."
"Is that all you think about? I'm sure she'd be thrilled to know she has your seal of approval, Itadori."
"Oh, hey, that's Lily Luz," Nobara said, snatching the magazine from Yūji.
"Hey!" he exclaimed, making a grab for it but she turned around to keep him from getting it back.
"Who?" Megumi inquired, pretending to be totally uninterested and just making casual conversation.
"They call her Lily Luz. It's not her real name of course. Luz means light in Spanish," she added. She held up the magazine to show him a different picture. "Look at this."
The name Lily Luz was scrawled in the corner in fancy script. This picture looked as if she had been standing in a completely dark room when it was taken. In this photo she was wearing a short white organza dress with long, loose peasant sleeves. Standing in the dark void barefoot, she held her hands together in front of her cupping a golden orb.
"Lily Luz," Megumi mused aloud. Although it wasn't her name, it still made perfect sense to him. The ball of light in her hands brought to mind the tiny floating lights that had appeared around her house when he visited her.
"It's kinda her thing, her brand. I heard she's going to be here in Japan for a while," Nobara said, closing the magazine and taking it to the cashier eyeballing them warily. Slapping the magazine onto the counter, she snapped crossly, "Yes, we're going to buy this."
"Ready to go, kids?" Gojō asked, walking toward the door. "There's a chocolatier next door. I'm heading over."
"Hey, I'm going to find a vending machine and buy a drink," Megumi informed everyone pausing at the door.
"Okay. Hey, Yūji, I'm hungry. Wanna find something to eat?" Nobara asked him since they were the only two left without someplace in mind to go next.
"I can always go for something to eat," he returned.
Megumi breathed a sigh of relief that there were no takers to go with him and walked out the door. A few minutes to himself. Finally. He srolled down the block to the bank of vending machines they had passed. After buying a strawberry soda, he continued on his way to the small park. Sitting on a bench at the outskirts so his companions could find him easily as they passed by, he slipped on his headphones to escape amid the noise of the nearby traffic of cars on the street and people on the sidewalk.
His mind meandered to Lily forming vivid pictures in his head of the two distinct and extremely diverse sides of her he has seen. He closed his eyes as if to see with his mind's eye more clearly.
One part of her is the beautiful and haughty fashionista with a sharp tongue. The other, and his favorite, is the cute, down to earth woman who looked like a girl his age. She is awkward and funny - and sweet. If only she really was his age...
Lily Nakamura could see demons and create a protective barrier along with using a sedation technique. Then there is Lily Luz, the model. The lovely flower of light. The more he learned about her, the more enamored he became with her.
Megumi sighed in exasperation. The more she learned about him the more familial their relationship and her attachment became. Oh, well.
A pair of cool, soft hands covered his eyes. He assumed it to be Nobara playing a prank on him. Pulling off his headphones and hanging them around his neck, he blew out a noisy breath.
"Stop, Nobara," he muttered, enclosing one of her wrists with his fingers. "I'm not in the mood for games."
"Oh? Something on your mind? Did I interrupt a deep thought?"
That wasn't Nobara's voice. Megumi's eyes flew open and his head slowly turned to the right to see Lily moving around the bench from behind him. His eyes followed her as she came to stand in front of him. Her sudden appearance was as if he had conjured her into existence from of his imaginings.
Her chestnut colored hair, natural and unstraightened, hung in loose curls around her face and shoulders. The blazing sun behind her created a golden halo around her head. Her eyes are hidden behind a pair of brown tortoiseshell rimmed, cat eyed sunglasses, but the smile on her lips conveyed her amusement. Although dressed in an embroidered sunny yellow peasant blouse and denim shorts, she still looked like an angel to him.
"Lily Luz," he whispered.
"What?" she asked, her toothy grin faltering. "Where did you hear that name?"
She looked disappointed, almost angry, as her lips gradually turned down into a frown. She stood up straight, pulling off her sunglasses. Megumi could not tell if her eyes were narrowed in anger or because of the afternoon sun beaming down on them.
"I saw it in a magazine a friend of mine bought," he said. "You already told me you were a model, remember?"
"Nobara, I take is, is this friend?" she ventured, sitting down beside him. She tucked one leg under her, sitting on her foot bearing a brown leather lace up sandal. With her other foot, roses crafted in leather across the toes of the sandal, she kicked at a rock on the sidewalk.
"Yeah," Megumi confirmed.
"Hmmm, I see," she murmured thoughtfully, placing her hand on the bench between them. She leaned toward him to bring her face close to his.
Every muscle in his body tensed when her warm breath brushed across his cheek. All he had to do was turn his head to kiss her. Instead he stubbornly faced forward staring at nothing to avoid moving a muscle.
"How close of a friend is she, Megumi?" Lily asked.
Each word she spoke made alternating flashes of hot and cold race through his body. Goosebumps raised along his arms despite the heat of the day. Megumi slowly turned his head. She was so close to him it made his eyes cross to try to look into hers so he lowered them to look at her pouty pink lips instead which loomed mere millimeters from his.
"Why do you want to know?" he inquired.
She had sounded peeved when asking the question about Nobara's relationship with him. Jealous perhaps? His heart leapt at the possibility. Surely she wouldn't be jealous of a another woman if she truly thought of him as a little brother.
Lily sat back, shrugging her shoulders nonchalantly as she did that little hair flip of I-don't-care and gave him a dazzling smile.
"It doesn't matter to me really. Just curious about, my little Megumi," she returned, her smile broadening.
What the fuck did she just say?, his affronted inner voice screamed. Little Megumi!?
But her face was almost the same shade of bright pink as her shirt. She also tugged at her earlobe self-consciously and lowered her eyes from his.
"You liar," he whispered not meaning to speak the words aloud.
Her head whipped toward him so fast he feared for a second she might give herself whiplash. When her furious eyes latched onto his face he thought she might slap him.
"What did you call me?" she demanded in a hushed voice that was more scary than if she had yelled the question at him.
"Hey, Megumi!" Gojō bellowed.
"Oh, shit," Megumi hissed through his clenched teeth.
Glancing down the street, he saw the trio of his friends walking toward him with Gojō in the middle. As if the man needed to bring extra attention to himself already being head and shoulders, literally, above everyone else on the sidewalk, he waved his long arm as if flagging down an airplane.
"Oh, god," Megumi muttered wishing he could sink into the sidewalk.
No, no, no, NOOOOO! They weren't supposed to see her or know about her!, the nagging and ever so obvious inner voice screamed inside his head.
Yūji broke free of the crowd, sprinting across the street risking jaywalking and getting flattened to reach them a hurry. He squatted down in front of Lily staring at her with shock widened eyes.
"Hey there, cutie. You're friend of Megumi's?" she asked, extending her hand to him. "I'm Lily - "
"Lily Luz!' he exclaimed, cutting her off. He took her hand and shook it so enthusiastically he jerked her entire body around. "I know who you are!"
"Hey, Yūji! Calm down, man!" Megumi shouted at him. "You'll pull her arm out of joint if you don't stop that."
"Actually, my name is Lily Nakamura. And you are...?" she prompted him despite just having heard Megumi say his name. Attempting to extricate her hand from between his strong ones that clutched hers between them, she pried at his fingers.
"I'm..." Before he could say his name, something changed - he changed.
Lily had felt the odd energy surge inside of him before the second set of eyes opened at the lower corner of each of his eyes that transformed from being wide and round and joyfully innocent to a smaller, almond shape. Black lines, very specific tattoos appeared on his face as if being drawn on as she watched. First on his forehead, then the bridge of his nose, his cheeks along the jaw and lastly his chin.
He smiled at her, an arrogant grin riddled with hate and malice. This being intended to hurt her. He squeezed her hand and pulled her forward, levelling his lips at her ear.
"I want to fuck you until I break you," he whispered in a gravelly voice to her as a menacing threat.
Lily ignored her somersaulting belly and the icy fear holding her heart as tightly as this man held her hand. Since he had no intention of letting her go, she put her arm around his neck to hold him close as she started to hum directly into his ear. She did not want him to wiggle away before she could put this creature who had suddenly rose to the surface to sleep.
Megumi observed in astonished disbelief as the tiny lights appeared around Yūji's head. They attached themselves to his head and back he assumed causing a form of paralysis because Sukuna did not move at all to grab her.
After what he heard the demon say to her, he almost called on his toad's to restrain Yūji until he regained control. Unfortunately, there were no shadows to be had in the bright sunlight. Thankfully, Lily quickly went into to action to subdue him herself.
Lily slowly released Yūji as the tumultuous energy ebbed away when the demon returned to his dormant state within his host. She lifted his chin with her hand to look into his eyes. She wanted to make sure it was truly Yūji and not the demon who greeted her so impolitely wasting no time in making his presence known. A pair of big brown eyes, bleary and muddled with confusion, blinked at her.
"Hi, Yūji, it's nice to meet you," she said to him, giving him one of her million dollar model smiles.
"Mmmm," Yūji groaned, shaking his head as if to clear it. "It's very nice to meet you too, Lily." His eyes instantly cleared and grew to be the side of dinner plates again. He stared at her in wonder. "Did you just...did you just hug me?"
"Something like that," she returned, sitting back as he stood up straight in front of her. "So who's the other guy? Or should I say who's the demon inside you?"
"Oh," he gasped, rubbing the back of his head self-consciously as his cheeks turned as pink ast he hair on top of his head. "That's Sukuna."
"Hmmm, I see," she hummed thoughtfully, looking him up and down. "How very unusual. You should tell me more about him later."
Megumi did not feel a rise of jealousy as Lily studied his friend. The way she looked at him was more clinical and sterile like a doctor examining a patient rather than of romantic or sexual interest. She also had the look of a sorcerer trying to ascertain exactly what they're up against. But she isn't a sorcerer.
"There's not much to know really. He's just a demon inhabiting my friend because he ate cursed objects," Megumi said offhandedly like it was no big deal. To them, it wasn't.
"And that's not fascinating to you?" she questioned him, propping her chin on her hand to stare at him.
He shrugged and rolled his eyes. "He ate a few cursed objects and became possessed."
"Cursed objects? What cursed objects?" she asked, apparently intrigued with the concept.
"Sukuna's mummified fingers," Yūji added.
"Ew!" she exclaimed in response.
"Yeah, it was as disgusting as it sounds," he confessed, pink spots of color forming on his cheeks.
"Lily Nakamura," Gojō said, roughly shoving Yūji out of the way.
"You know me?" she asked, standing to her feet to greet the incredibly tall man.
"I know a lot about you," he stated, putting out his hand to shake hers. "I knew your grandmother."
"Ah, that makes sense," she said, taking his hand. "The way you said that made me think you might be a stalker."
"Don't get too comfortable yet. He could still become a stalker," Megumi warned her only half joking.
Gojō reached over to snatch the open magazine out of Nobara's hands. She had opened the magazine down the street to compare the pictures inside to woman sitting beside Megumi as soon as they saw her.
"Will you autograph this for me?" he asked, handing her the magazine open to the page where she held the orb in her hands.
"S-sure," she stuttered, her blush deepening to a crimson red. "Uhm...do you have a pen?"
"Kugasaki, pen!" he ordered, snapping his fingers at her.
"What am I? Your secretary?" she retorted, her hands on her hips.
"Are you Nobara?" Lily asked hopefully.
"Yes," the pretty girl with striking orange hair replied. She seemed pleased at first then the smile dropped from her face, and she glowered at Lily in suspicion. "Why?"
"Megumi called me by your name when I surprised him," she said, extending a hand to her while hanging onto the magazine with the other as the men searched for a pen.
"He did, huh?" Nobara murmured, casting Megumi a skeptical glance with a self-assured smile on her face.
Is this girl thinking he has a crush on her now?, Lily pondered, grabbing the girl's hand to distract her from looking at Megumi who seemed to be ignoring their exchange completely as he unzipped his backpack.
"Hi, I'm Lily," she introduced herself although it was apparent they already knew her name. She didn't want to act like an egotistical, condescending bitch though.
"Oh, my god, it's so great to meet you," Nobara exclaimed, shaking her hand vigorously but thank goodness not quite as overzealously as Yūji.
"Same here," she returned. She actually meant what she said because she never thought she would get to meet his friends.
"Oh, wow, you're so nice. You're like a...like a real person," the girl said, holding onto her hand a little longer before letting it go.
"Uhm, yeah. I like to think I'm just a normal person like you."
"There's nothing normal about you," Yūji interjected.
I could definitely say the same thing about you, she thought as she gaped at him. Snapping her mouth shut, her teeth clicking together, she left the words unspoken. Lily could tell by the clueless and innocent expression on his face he did not mean that as an insult. He seemed to be as impulsive as his mentor who brazenly asked for an autograph. But really, she did not mind and couldn't help feeling flattered.
"Here," Megumi said, offering her a pen he had taken out of his backpack. He carried around a notebook and pen to jot down his thoughts to get them out of his head sometimes.
"Address it to Sotaru Gojō. The best Sorcerer ever," he added, giving her a big goofy grin.
Lily stared at him in disbelief for a second. Is this guy serious?, she wondered. Her eyebrow quirked upward questioningly before she could get control of her face to not register her thoughts.
She wished she could see his eyes, but a pair of round, black lensed rimless sunglasses hid them. Even though blocked from view, she could tell he gazed at her evenly and unflinchingly. He wasn't cocky but convinced; not bragging about his abilities only confident and stating a fact. Her grandmother had not mentioned this man to her often but what she did know had given her the impression he was more of a myth in the making or a legend waiting to happen. Seeing him for herself she was convinced of one thing - her grandmother had not exaggerated about his good looks.
"Snowy white hair, soft and fluffy as cotton candy. Blue eyes lit up with the inner light shining from inside of him. Tall and gangly as a scarecrow but handsome and brave like a white knight." Hiroko Nakamura had described him to her granddaughter on one of their video calls.
"Oh, my god, grandma, stop," she had pleaded, putting her head in her hands.
"I'm old, not blind or dead," her grandmother had returned with an indignant raise of her chin when her granddaughter scoffed about her assessment of the man she described him glowing, flowery terms fit for a cheesy romantic novel.
Afterwards, her grandmother went on to add Sotaru Gojō would be the most powerful Sorcerer the world has ever seen, and they greatly needed him to defeat the evil demons which seemed to be increasing in number and intensity.
Lily wished she had listened more closely when her grandmother went on to explain their roles as guardians, the unseen and largely ignored adjutants to the sorcerers. But she had already made up her mind that her grandmother was losing her mind, probably due to the onset of Alzheimer's and none of her ramblings made any sense. They didn't make sense because she refused to listen. She didn't want to be a guardian.
Lily sighed. If only she had listened...She did remember a few things though. The guardians were meant to be protectors and healers having no real defensive powers of their own. They would be a hindrance in skirmishes with demons.
They were first layer of protection, the alarm sounders, as well as the nurses and clean up crew when the dust settled. Remaining obscure assured their safety though. Her grandmother did die of old age instead of being killed by a demon.
Lily dotted the i in her name with a heart. That was one of her many little "branding" marks; not a unique one she was sure because hundreds of other celebrities and idols used it when signing their names. Sometimes she absolutely hated the concept of selling herself like some kind of product no different than the clothes she modeled geared at hoity toity socialite types who cared more about what they wear to their fundraisers than the actual reason they are raising the money.
"There ya go," she said, handing the magazine back to him.
Suddenly Sotaru Gojō turned serious, the smile dropping from his face as he took the autographed photo from her. "I would like to talk to you sometime. Regarding matters I'm sure your grandmother mentioned to you."
Goddammit, Megumi seethed. This is exactly what I didn't want to happen.
"Yeah, well, Gojō, I'm not - " she began to be cut off by Megumi seizing her hand and pulling her up from the bench as he stood to his feet.
"Lily has to go," he said, tugging on her arm and pushing apart Gojō and "She was just saying good-bye."
"Uh, yeah," she agreed, allowing him to pull her away from being the literal center of attention among his friends. Looking behind her, she waved good-bye to them as he dragged her away. "It was nice meeting all of you."
"You too!" exclaimed Gojō, returning to his childlike enthusiasm as he waved back to her.
"Thank you," she said to Megumi when they were out of earshot.
"You're welcome," he replied, dialing down the speed walk to a casual stroll but not stopping. "What are doing out here today?"
"Just wanted to do a little shopping. I never expected to run into you. I'm glad I did though," she said, squeezing his hand.
When Megumi became aware he still held her hand, he immediately let it go. He could feel the heat rushing up neck and covering his face all the way to his hairline.
"Hey, would you like my phone number?" she asked, pulling her cell phone from the back pocket of her shorts.
A dark blue case speckled with silver glitter covered her phone. It reminded him of the starry night sky they had gazed at together. Another rush of heat raced upward from his chest.
"Are you okay? Do you need some water?" Lily asked.
"No, I'm fine," he assured her. He quickly rattled off his phone number to distract her.
Lily typed it into her phone. A few seconds later, his phone began to vibrate in his pocket. She smiled as he pulled it out to look at it.
"Now you have my number," she said, ending the call and making her number disappear until he programmed it into his phone. "Would like to come over tomorrow for lunch? Sundays were always kind of a big deal for family as far as having lunch and spending the afternoon together. It was the one day of the week when we put aside everything to just be a family. I got to talk to my grandma on Sundays. I always looked forward to it."
"Okay. Sounds great," he agreed, staring at the sidewalk between his athletic shoes. "Just me right? Not everyone."
Megumi looked back at his friends who had been watching them intently but quickly looked away and pretended to be looking somewhere else. Seriously?, he thought, shaking his head. As if he didn't know they had staring and being nosy.
"No. Just you," she confirmed, putting her hand on his arm as she stopped walking. She gave him an apologetic smile when he turned to look at her. "I'm kinda being selfish, I know but -"
"It's fine. I understand. They're kinda...a lot sometimes," he admitted, casting another glimpse at them to see they were once again staring at the two of them. "I can't say I mind the break."
"Okay, then..." She shifted from foot to foot nervously as if struggling to find her next words. "Well... I'll see you about noon then?"
"Sure."
"I'll let you get back to your friends then. It's nice y'all are so close that you spend the day together," she said, looking back at them and waving. All of them waved back at once since they were watching so closely which made her giggle. She sighed sadly. "I think it's wonderful. You're like a little family."
"Yeah, we are," Megumi agreed, an unusual warmth blooming in his chest. It was the same affectionate sensation she aroused in him sometimes when she spoke his name a certain way.
"See you tomorrow then," she said, giving him a shy smile.
Before he knew what was happening, she leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. The kiss landed low on his cheek, the corner of her mouth almost touching the corner of his. His body tingled all the way out to the tips of his fingers and toes.
Lily gave him a little wave wiggling her fingers before walking away.
"Bye," he called to her, watching her disappear as the people walking down the sidewalk closed in around her.
A stinging slap on his back almost made him jump out of his skin. His fist raised in preparation to punch the person until he saw it was Gojō who stood beside him with an arm around his shoulders. Before he could react, the man twisted his arm around his neck to hold him in a headlock.
"I can't believe our little Megumi has a girlfriend!" he exclaimed, rubbing the knuckle of his middle finger into his scalp for a vicious noogie.
"She's not my girlfriend!" he yelled back, pulling his head out of the loose hold.
He smoothed down his hair that poked right back up. Our little Megumi, his indignant inner voice repeated back to him as if he had not been offended by the phrase enough the first time he heard it.
"Yeah, okay, whatever," muttered Gojō, shoving his hands into the pockets of his black skinny jeans that made his long legs look that much longer.
Meanwhile. Lily was having a difficult time taming her wildly beating heart. She wandered into a little shop selling curios, unique little trinkets and knickknacks from all over the world. Trying to take her mind off of the handsome boy with the untamed black hair, she studied a little glass bluebird.
The tag around it's neck identified it as the elusive bluebird of happiness. The clear glass is the prettiest shade of azure like the deepest parts of the ocean. it was the wrong shade of blue. To represent happiness to her, it should be an intense, dark blue, a shade of indigo like brand new dark wash blue jeans. It needed to be the color of Megumi's eyes.
"Dammit," she muttered, setting the glass bird back on the shelf.
Get a grip, Lily. He's a child. He's only sixteen, she reminded herself. He just turned sixteen as he informed her in his own words. How long along ago was just? Six months ago? Six weeks? Six days?!
"Oh, my god," she groaned, fixing her eyes on the Japanese fans meant for tourists as souvenirs.
Lily could use one of those fans for the hot flash of embarrassment she was having. Picking up a pink one, she spread it open to see the black silhouettes of dogs all over it. The universe was being excessively cruel to her. Everything she saw only drew her mind back to Megumi, the boy she should not be thinking about so intently.
Her shaking fingers rose to her lips gingerly touching them. Acting on pure emotion, allowing her body to move before her brain fully engaged, she had almost kissed him on the mouth. At the last second she diverted her target to his cheek. His skin had been so soft and baby smooth under her lips. He is a baby. She exhaled noisily feeling like a reprehensible pervert.
In four years their ages wouldn't matter despite her being older than him. Megumi would be twenty, her present age, and she would be twenty four. Hell, even in two years it wouldn't matter because he would be eighteen and an adult. But for now, it mattered, and she needed to pretend like she only considered him a friend, at best a baby brother - nothing more.