Note: This chapter contains mild sexual content.
-Faith, Love, and Forgiveness - Chapter Thirty-four: Prom-
Kaeda House - Fourteen months later - Prom night
Nana now completely understood why Lucy was three seconds away from having an anxiety attack on her wedding day.
The concept of "Prom" wasn't widely accepted in Japanese schools. At Kamakura's Jogakuin Junior/Senior High School, however, it was. It started as an experiment about ten years ago, but it turned out to be such a massive hit with students, it became a permanent event held every year just before finals. It was closely modeled after American proms. There was dancing, food, and "Prom Royalty" but there was no charge for entry, and prom "dates" didn't strictly have to be students.
Now, two months after Kouta and Lucy's second anniversary, Nana and Mayu were frantically running around, trying to get ready for their first (and last) time attending Prom.
With less than thirty minutes until Kenji was supposed to arrive, the young Diclonius checked her reflection in the mirror for the fifteenth time. Senior Prom was a once in a lifetime event, and Nana wanted to make sure it was worth remembering.
While most girls went for extravagant prom dresses, Nana's was relatively simple. It was a couple of shades darker than royal blue, with spaghetti straps and a V-neckline that showed a little bit of cleavage, but still fell squarely into modest territory. It was slightly shorter than knee length, and was fairly tight-fitting.
The door opened and in walked Mayu, who also had been stressing out over her appearance.
Mayu's dress was a deep green, A-line cut that came almost to the floor, and had an elaborate sequin design on the front. Unlike Nana's, hers was much more loose-fitting.
Both girls were so focused on checking their dress, makeup, and hair, they didn't even notice Yuka had walked in until she started speaking.
"Girls, my parents got both of you something as a graduation gift. We hope you like it." Yuka said as she handed both of them a small jewelry box. Inside, they found a pair of white gold "dangle" earrings with pear-shaped gemstones. The earrings were identical, but Nana's had sapphires, while Mayu's had emeralds.
Both girls were stunned. Neither of them knew much about jewelry, but it was obvious that they were expensive as hell.
"Yuka, I... I'm not sure I can accept these." Mayu said.
"Me either." Nana agreed. "They're beautiful, but I'm scared I'll lose them."
"Mom thought you two might say something like that, so she asked me to tell you if you don't accept them, she will never make cookies, cakes, candy, or homemade ice cream for either of you ever again." Yuka announced.
"That's SO not fair, but... alright." Nana said as she and Mayu hugged Yuka, thanking her for thinking enough of them to get them something in the first place. As the girls put their new earrings in, their doorbell rang, signaling their dates' arrival. Nana's was pretty obvious, but Mayu had refused to tell them who hers was because she wanted to surprise them.
And surprise them she did.
Lucy answered the door to find Kenji, and, of all people, Bando, standing on their doorstep.
The pink-haired girl was in shocked disbelief, but did her best to hide it for the time being.
"Come in, they should be done getting ready in a couple of minutes." she said. After letting the two of them in, she and Bando exchanged polite nods, then she returned to the kitchen where her, Kouta, and Yuka were making dinner.
Her husband was just as bowled over at Mayu's choice of prom date as she was, but both of them silently agreed not to say or do anything for the time being. Why in the name of God Mayu asked Bando to be her prom date was anyone's guess, but Kouta felt she must have had a good reason, especially since she had originally turned down the chance to go in the first place.
Nana and Mayu left the bathroom to find Yuka and the mercenary having a surprisingly civil conversation. Nana couldn't believe that the same man who had tried to kill both her AND Lucy was taking Mayu to prom, but she too assumed there must have been a good reason for it. Mayu wasn't the kind of girl that liked older men, and Bando clearly wasn't into girls her age.
"Y-You look nice, Nana." Kenji smiled as she came over to hug him. Bando looked at Mayu and sighed, shaking his head in disbelief.
"I don't know how the hell I let you talk me into this, but let's get a few things straight. One, I'm not your boyfriend. Two, I'm not going to hold your hand, hug, cuddle, or kiss you, so don't even try it. Three, I'm only hanging around for two hours, then I'm out. Four, don't expect me to dance with you, especially not on slow songs. Five, this is NOT a date, so do not even entertain the idea that it is. Do we understand each other?"
Mayu smiled and nodded. "So, do you think *I* look nice?"
Bando took a good look at her and simply said, "You look OK."
Nana snickered, trying not to laugh at her friend's annoyed expression.
"I look "Ok"? Not "nice", or "pretty"?" Mayu asked.
"Kid, you're seventeen, and I'm thirty-eight. "Ok" is the best you're getting."
Yuka barely managed not to laugh.
Kamakura Jogakuin Junior/Senior High School - Thirty-five minutes later
Most Principals would have called the police by now. Thankfully, Mr. Origata was a very, VERY patient man.
"What do you mean I can't bring a gun to prom?"
"It's a high school dance, Mr. Bando, not a warzone. Don't worry, I'll hold onto it personally and give it back as soon as you leave." he calmly reasoned.
In Western schools, they'd have already called SWAT by now.
"I, uh... I kinda got more than one."
"That's fine."
The Principal smiled politely as Bando handed over two handguns, a large knife, and...
"Is that a hand grenade?"
"Yeah... is that a problem?"
"Not at all." the Principal smiled before having one of the teachers go find a small bag to put everything in, and told the unlikely couple to enjoy themselves.
"At least he didn't shit his pants and call the cops." Bando sighed.
Once they were inside the gym, Nana was almost immediately mobbed by friends, and Kenji went to talk to some of the guys he was in the computer club with. Mayu and Bando found an empty table off to the side, and set an alarm on his watch for two hours.
When Nana was finally finished chatting, she started making her way over to their table, but was stopped by the other cheerleaders, several of which expressed interest in Mayu's prom date.
"That's Bando. He's... well, he's kind of an old friend of ours." Nana told them. Naturally, some of them wanted to go say hi, so the Sipelit walked them over and introduced them as the other members of the cheerleading squad she was on.
"You know what? He's pretty damn cute!" Reina remarked, an opinion shared by more than one of the others. Both girls were immensely relieved when the older man decided to tolerate the unexpected attention rather than do or say something that might cause a scene.
After Nana and her absurd number of friends wandered off, Mayu quietly thanked him for the way he handled the situation.
"Popular, ain't she?" he asked.
"You don't know the half of it." Mayu grinned. "I'm glad it's her instead of me."
"Why? You don't like your classmates or somethin'?"
"It's not that, it's just... I'm kind of like Nyu when it comes to this sort of thing. I really don't like being the center of attention."
"Oh, yeah?" he asked. "How's that horned freak been doing?"
Mayu quietly giggled at the question. Nyu and Bando had a... "complicated" relationship. You couldn't really call them enemies anymore, but calling them friends was a bit of a stretch too. They were civil to each other, but you certainly weren't going to catch them having hour-long phone conversations.
"She's been great. Kouta works from home, so she spends a lot of time running errands with Yuka, or helping clean and cook. They just had their second anniversary two months ago."
"She knocked up yet?" Bando asked.
"I... I don't think her and Kouta want kids. Neither of them have ever shown any interest in having a baby." Mayu replied.
"Let me ask you something, and don't fuckin' lie to me, got that?" he asked. Mayu nodded her head in understanding, so he continued. "That apology she gave me a few years ago... did she mean that, or was it a load of shit?"
"She meant every word of it." Mayu replied. "I know what she did was horrible, but she's not the same girl she was back then. She's become... well, I wouldn't call her an ''angel'', but she's so much happier and kinder than she used to be, that's for sure."
Bando just nodded, considering this for a moment. It pained him to admit it, but he believed her. The way she smiled and hugged him at her wedding made him suspicious that it was just an act, but apparently it was genuine afterall.
"Where did Kenji take off to?"
They looked over as Nana finally joined them at their table.
"Some nerd-looking friends of his dragged him off somewhere." Bando replied in a bored tone of voice.
"Well, I guess I can't really complain..." she sighed as she took a seat.
Thirty minutes later
"I didn't know what you liked, so I got some of everything." Mayu smiled.
"Not bad... I didn't expect there to be actual food here. " Bando remarked.
In addition to the typical sweets and punch (which a teacher guarded to prevent anyone from spiking it) there were trays of cheeses, crackers, half-sandwiches, and other finger foods set out for the attendees.
Nana took Yuka's advice and snacked lightly, trying to avoid possibly giving herself cramps by over-indulging on food and then dancing too soon afterwards. On one of the many occasions that Nana and Kenji left the table, Bando asked Mayu how the two of them met.
"At Kouta and Yuka's graduation. When Nana started public school, she found out Kenji was actually a student there already. Things just kinda took off from there."
"So, why don't YOU have a boyfriend?"
"I... I just haven't met the right person yet, that's all." Mayu blushed, caught completely by surprise. "What about you?"
"I don't have a boyfriend because I'm not into guys."
Mayu burst out laughing, and Bando couldn't help by grin. Despite him having no sexual or romantic feelings for the young girl, he DID care about her.
"I haven't really put much effort into finding a girlfriend, kid. Maybe someday, but I'm not in no hurry."
Mayu nodded, giving him a playful smile. "When you do, I want to come to the wedding."
"Don't hold your breath on that one!" he laughed.
The more the two of them talked, the more he opened up. Before they realized it, they were down to the last twenty minutes of their two-hour time window. Nana and Kenji had just sat back down when the Principal announced it was time to crown that years Prom Royalty. Once the winners from last year were on stage, the ballot box was brought out and presented.
"Who'd you vote for?" Mayu whispered.
"Reina. You?" Nana asked.
"Actually, I voted for you." Mayu smiled.
Nana just giggled, thanking her for it anyway.
"This years Prom King is... Kobayashi Eudo!"
Everyone applauded as the new King made his way towards the stage. Mayu didn't know the boy, but Nana did, and she quietly whispered that he was on the basketball team.
"The other guys nicknamed him "Kobayashi Uh-Oh" because everytime he gets the ball, he either misses the shot, or he loses it to the other team." Nana giggled. She got so caught up in talking to Mayu, she didn't even notice her name was being called until Bando kicked her foot to get her attention.
"Pay attention! They're calling you!"
Confused, Nana had no idea what was going on until Mayu excitedly told her she was voted Prom Queen.
"For real?!"
"Yes!"
Nana stood up and, though a little embarrassed, made her way over to the stage amid roaring applause and whistling, visibly blushing as the previous Queen draped her Prom Queen sash around her and transferred a glittering tiara from her head to the Sipelits.
The Principal then announced it was time for the Royal Couple's Dance. Nana wasn't exactly happy about slow-dancing with another guy, but went along with it. It was tradition, afterall, and she didn't want to rock the boat this close to graduating.
Besides, Kenji wasn't the jealously possessive type.
The other students moved back to give the royal couple room. After less than a minute, the other couples joined them. Apparently, the Royal Couple wasn't getting the whole song to themselves, just the first thirty seconds.
Bando's watch started to beep, signaling the end of their two hours.
"After this song's done, we're done."
Mayu nodded her head. "I know you said not to ask, but since we're about to leave anyway, can we go out there with them?"
"Forget it, kid."
"Please? I'll never get the chance to do this again, and the songs only got a couple of minutes left." Mayu implored.
The gruff mercenary sighed and stood up. Mayu smiled and half-led, half-drug him out on the floor. With extreme reluctance, he put his arms around her waist as she wrapped hers around his neck.
"If you try anything physical, I'm gonna break your arm, understand?"
"I won't." Mayu promised. Given the height difference between them, it was more "hugging while moving" than it was "slow-dancing".
Still, Mayu was grateful that he even agreed to it in the first place.
"Thank you for taking me." she said quietly. Bando nodded, telling her she was welcome, but added that if he ever needed a favor from her in return, she sure as hell better do it without complaint.
"If I ask you to shave the hair on my ass, the only thing I wanna hear from you is asking me if I'd prefer shaving cream or shaving gel."
"You have hair on your ass? That's weird." Mayu giggled.
"That's NATURAL." Bando retorted.
Just as the song ended, they heard "Come on, Nana!" coming from somewhere close by.
"Kobayashi, I appreciate the dance and all, but I've already got a boyfriend."
Mayu and Bando looked at each other, and started making their way over.
At the end of the song, the Prom King leaned in to kiss her, but grew irritated when Nana turned her head so he could kiss her cheek. He wanted a kiss on the lips, but the Diclonius obviously did not.
"It's just a kiss, Nana. Don't be so uptight."
"My boyfriend's sitting right over there. If you wanna kiss me, it's either my cheek, forehead, or hand. I'm not letting you do it anywhere else." Nana replied. This was starting to feel like Taru all over again, and the purple-haired girl was NOT having that shit.
"Who, Kenji? That guy's a loser! I can treat you a hell of a lot better than he can!"
Visibly struggling with her temper, Nana took a deep breath, calmly thanked him for their dance, and said goodnight. She turned to walk away, but the boy reached out and grabbed her roughly by the arm. "Don't walk away from me when I'm talking to you!"
The other cheerleaders immediately came to Nana's defense, but Bando beat them to it. He grabbed the pushy little bastard by the front of his shirt and yanked him closer.
"She said no, shit-bag. Get the fuck outta here so I don't have to kill you in front of the whole school." he threatened. As soon as he let the boy go, he glared at Nana for a moment, but left without another word.
Nana threw her arms around his neck, catching him by total surprise.
"Thank you..." she near-whispered.
The flustered man hesitantly hugged her back for a moment, then let go and stepped back as the cheerleaders ran over to check on her.
"Are you ok?!"
"Who does that little bastard think he is?!"
"Just wait until that little prick comes to school Monday!"
"He's already got a girlfriend, but still tried to force himself on Nana!"
"HAD a girlfriend. Chihaya is guaranteed to dump his ass if she finds out!"
"Oh, she's definitely going to find out, I recorded it on my phone."
"For real?! Oh, his ass is DONE!"
Watching from the sidelines, Bando just shook his head. He had once told the young Sipelit that she was just a freak with horns that would never be accepted by humans, but it appears that he was deeply mistaken. From what he could tell, Nana was not just accepted by them, she was loved and admired by them as well.
"What a fucked up world..." he said with a grin.
Kaeda House - Thirty-five minutes later
When the four of them returned to Kaeda House, the other three residents had already been made aware of what had happened, and the part Bando had played in it. Unsurprisingly, Yuka hugged and thanked him, just as Nana and Mayu had. Kenji, though grateful, was somewhat intimidated by the brutish man, and just bowed instead.
"Are you still staying at Kenji's tonight?" Mayu asked. When she said yes, Yuka went to go put Nana's dinner in a bento box so she could eat it later. Nana, meanwhile, had grabbed her PJs from her room and went back outside. Almost as an afterthought, Yuka made an extra one for Mayu's "prom date", who was surprised, but still accepted.
After Nana and Kenji left for the train station, Mayu thanked her "date" again, and started to go inside, but stopped herself and came back over to him and Yuka.
"Don't I get a goodnight kiss?" she asked with a playful grin.
"No."
"Why not?"
"Don't be a smart-ass, you KNOW why." he replied.
"Isn't it customary in America to kiss your prom date goodnight?"
"We're not IN America, and I already told you not to expect any affection." he replied.
"I almost get the feeling you don't like women." she teased.
"You're not a woman, you're a kid!" Bando retorted, making Yuka struggle not to laugh.
"Alright..." Mayu sighed. "I won't bother you about it. It's not like it's a once in a lifetime thing that I'll never have the chance to do again. At least Nana will get to look back one day and-"
"Fine!"
Mayu's sad expression instantly disappeared, and Bando reluctantly gave her a half-second kiss on the cheek. When she playfully complained about it being so short, Bando pulled out a gun, and Mayu quickly decided that pushing her luck any further would probably be a very bad idea.
"Thanks again for taking me! Goodnight!" she called as she retreated back inside. Bando put his gun away as Yuka giggled in amusement.
"You know she was just giving you a hard time, right?" she asked.
When he confirmed that he did, Yuka smiled and nodded. "Goodnight Bando, and thank you again."
After saying goodnight, Bando suddenly stopped and asked if "that bitch with horns could come out and talk to him". Yuka walked back inside, and a few minutes later, a pajama-clad Lucy stepped out.
"I want to ask you something, freak."
"And what would that be?" Lucy smiled in amusement.
"Why did you change?"
"Because I'm going to bed soon."she replied.
"I'm not talking about your clothes, I'm talking about your personality."
Lucy's smile suddenly disappeared, replaced by a look of hesitation.
"What are you talking about?"
"Don't play dumb with me. The girl that tried to kill me on the beach, and the one standing in front of me in pink PJ's may look the same, but they're not. I want to know what happened to make you change so dramatically." Bando replied.
For a moment, Lucy seriously considered just going back inside. After a few seconds, she sighed and tried to answer the question without giving away more than necessary.
"I just... reached a point in my life where I realized I had done a lot of things I shouldn't have, and I wanted to try and learn from them so I wouldn't make the same mistakes again."
"Both of those brats told me how much kinder and loving you've become. Call me crazy, but I don't buy a killer like you just suddenly being nice to people for no reason. Something must have happened, and I want to know what." he said.
The pink-haired girl just stared at the ground. Finally, she gave him the best answer she had.
"I-I've done some... some very horrible things to people. Things that I had no right to do..."
"Like gouging my eyes out and leaving me to die alone on the beach?" Bando asked.
Lucy looked down, and simply nodded her head. "When the people I'd hurt forgave me, they inspired me to forgive the ones who had hurt ME, and it made me want to be a better person. I wanted to be able to look at myself in the mirror without feeling disgusted. The only reason I can do it now is because they loved me enough to give me a second chance, though I know I don't deserve it, especially not from Kouta."
"Why? What'd you do to him?" Bando asked.
Lucy mentally kicked herself for saying too much. "I... I mean... You know what? It doesn't matter, it's over and done with."
"Spill it, bitch."
Lucy desperately wanted to just say goodnight and go inside, but deep down, she somehow knew that it'd be ok to tell him.
So, she did. She told him about their last night together as children (the night that she finally gave in to her DNA voice, and started killing everything that moved). She told him about how angry and hurt she was after she found out Kouta lied about his cousin's sex. Finally, she took a deep breath and told him what she did to his family.
By the time she finished, she was tearing-up, but still had a grip on her composure.
Bando had an expression of shock and disbelief on his face. "I don't believe you... there's no fuckin' way that guy married the girl who murdered his family. That's bullshit!"
"She's telling the truth."
Lucy turned around to see her husband standing behind her. The moment he closed the door, her grip on her composure broke, and she clutched him tightly against her body as she started to cry.
"You gotta be shittin' me... she really did that?" he asked.
Kouta nodded and held his crying wife tightly against him. "She killed my father and younger sister when we were children."
Without Kouta backing up her story, Bando would've never in a million years believed it.
"Why would you still marry her after something like that?!" he asked incredulously.
"Because I love her, and that love overruled all the hate, anger, and bitterness I once felt for her."
"If you ask me, I'd say hating her seems pretty damn justified."
Kouta shook his head. "Bando, life is too short for hate. She wanted forgiveness, and I gave it to her. It was not easy, but it was the best decision of my life." he said, comfortingly stroking Lucy's long, pink hair as she softly sobbed, apologizing to him all over again.
"I'm so sorry... I had no right to take them away from you... no right at all... Kouta, I'm so sorry... "
"Shhhhhhh... you've apologized enough. Let it go." her husband gently said.
Bando swallowed a lump in his throat as he watched the couple. He didn't really know either of them that well, but he did know one thing: Only the pure of heart could love someone that deeply.
"I think I get it now..." the older man said. "She wanted to be as compassionate and forgiving to others as you were to her."
Kouta simply nodded his head. "Forgiving her freed both of our souls. I let go of being hateful and bitter, and she let go of being cold and remorseless. That was the only way for us to have any hope of a life together."
He kissed his crying wife's forehead and hugged her a little tighter.
"That decision made me realize I loved her as more than a childhood friend, and it made her realize it wasn't too late to have a normal life. I know she's done some really horrible things before, but can you really say the girl you knew back then, and the girl you see now are the same person?"
"No... I can't." he answered honestly. For several seconds, the only sound heard was Lucy's soft crying. Then, he gave Kouta a slight smile and just shook his head.
"You really love her, don't you?"
"More than anything in the world." Kouta answered immediately. "I'd die for this woman without a second thought."
To his credit, Bando stood right there and patiently waited until Lucy stopped crying before he quietly apologized for the things HE had done to THEM. Namely, shooting Nana, giving Mayu a bloody nose, and sending Kouta to the hospital.
"Forget it, it's in the past." Kouta replied. He Iooked at Lucy, and she nodded in agreement.
"By the way, thank you for taking Mayu to Prom. It meant a lot to her."
"It was no big deal. Plus, she seemed like she had fun." Bando replied.
"Did you dance with her at all?" Kouta asked.
"For about two minutes... felt kinda awkward, but I could tell it made her happy."
"Thank you." Lucy smiled. Bando reached to shake her hand, but just like at her wedding, she ignored it and hugged him instead. Kouta couldn't help but smile to himself. Once again, Lucy had left him in awe of how much she had changed for the better. When the hug was over, he shook hands with the mercenary and thanked him again.
"Well..." Bando said as he looked at his watch. "Looks like it's time to go home. You two take care of each other."
Lucy just smiled and took Kouta by the hand.
"You too."
The couple watched as he walked away, already chowing down on the take-out bento Yuka made for him.
Kouta unexpectedly pulled her close and kissed her, getting a surprised gasp that very quickly turned into a happy sigh as she kissed him back.
"You really are amazing..." Kouta whispered.
"I'm just loved, that's all." Lucy whispered back.
After another few minutes of silently holding each other, the couple went inside to find Yuka and Mayu looking through the pictures she'd taken at prom.
"Mayu, be honest with me..." Yuka started to say before the young girl interrupted her.
"No, he didn't try anything."
Yuka simply nodded and took her word for it. When the mercenary walked in with Kenju, she at first couldn't believe he was actually Mayu's "date", which was understandable. Bando was almost fourty, and Mayu was seventeen.
Then Yuka asked what was clearly the "elephant in the room" question: "Why ask Bando to be your prom date when there are plenty of guys your own age?"
Her answer wasn't quite what she expected to hear...
Kamakura Beach - One month ago
"You know, you could probably get more done if you'd shut the hell up."
Mayu just smiled and kept working. The only sure way to get Bando to talk to her was to help him clean up the beach. So, that's exactly what she did. On this day, she was telling him about how the school was holding an event called "Prom" for the tenth year in a row.
"I know what Prom is, kid. I grew up in America, they had it every year at my high school."
"Did you ever go?"
Bando just shook his head. "You think any girl wanted to be seen in public with a guy like me? Hell no!"
"Did you ever want to?"
The man just sighed. "It would've been nice, but that's ancient history now."
After several silent minutes, he asked if her or "that other bitch with horns" was going to go.
"Nana has a boyfriend, but I don't. She'll probably go, but I don't think I will." Mayu answered.
"Isn't this your senior year? You won't get another chance at it, so you might wanna rethink it while you can."
"I don't know... I've heard most guys just use it as an excuse to pressure the girl into sex."
The mercenary scoffed. "Losers. I mean, if whatever girl I went with was into it, yeah, sure..."
"But you wouldn't try and talk her into it?" Mayu asked innocently.
"I ain't that desperate, kid." Bando replied.
The teenager wiped sweat off her forehead and turned to face him.
"In that case, I've got an idea." Mayu smiled.
Kaeda House = Present day
"I'm sorry for not telling you sooner. I know it must have been a little worrying," Mayu said.
Understatement of the year...
"Did you two dance together?" Yuka asked.
"A little, but it was right before we left. I was happy he did it at all." Mayu replied.
"What did he do for the rest of the time?" Kouta asked. Mayu started laughing, and told them once he realized there was more food than just candy and punch, he spent most of their two hours eating.
"He started eating that bento you made him before he even turned the corner." Lucy added.
Yuka just shook her head fondly. "What's important is he treated Mayu well. If she enjoyed it, I'm happy for her."
"I diiidddddddd." the young girl yawned. "I'm going to bed. Goodnight Yuka, Nyu, and Kouta."
"Goodnight Mayu." the three of them said together.
Before long, Yuka decided to turn in as well. After another hour of watching TV on the couch, Kouta and Lucy retired to their shared room, made love, and went to sleep.
Masaki Residence - Meanwhile
"Remind me again why so many girls love this movie..."
Kenji's parents were off visiting family, and wouldn't be back until Monday at the earliest. In a surprising turn of events, they gave their consent for Nana to spend the night as long as the apartment was kept clean.
After prom, the young couple stopped to pick up snacks before they returned home. Sitting together on Kenji's bed, they shared a bag of peanut butter cookies as they scrolled through the list of channels, trying to find something to watch.
Every now and then, they'd stop to make-out a little before continuing the search. Kenji had changed into jeans and a tank top, and hung his formalwear back in the closet. Nana, on the other hand, was still wearing her prom dress and makeup, but had taken off her high heels, tiara, and "Prom Queen" sash.
"Don't ask me, I hate this movie." the purple-haired girl replied. "This is the sort of thing Yuka or Mayu would want to watch."
According to the description, it was supposed to be about an overly shy, timid couple trying to broaden their horizons, but what it actually was could be summed up in three words:
Boring as hell.
The plot sucked, the characters sucked, and even the actors portraying the characters sucked. There were two different sex scenes in the first half-hour, and they were probably the single most boring, unappealing part of the movie so far. Nana might still be a virgin, but even she could tell they were doing a really, REALLY bad job.
"I don't know why she's moaning so loud, all he did was touch her leg." Nana complained.
"You wouldn't moan if I touched your leg?"
"Of course not. My legs aren't real, remember?" Nana answered.
"Um... S-Sorry, I forgot about that for a moment." he said sheepishly.
"I might if you touched... other places." the Sipelit giggled shyly.
At this point in the relationship, sexual intercourse was probably the only thing they HADN'T tried yet. So, when he touched those "other places", Nana welcomed it (something she never in a million years would have done with Taru).
It wasn't until she tried to turn the TV off that Nana saw something that actually got her attention.
"Oh, wow... I've never seen anyone get spanked in a movie before!" she said.
The sex scenes might have been boring, but this scene certainly wasn't! Nana blushed as she and Kenji watched the woman spend several minutes over the guy's lap.
"Are you sure she's OK with him doing it? It seems a little too hard to be consensual." Kenji asked. Nana pointed out that she wasn't being held down or forced, and she certainly didn't seem to mind how hard he was doing it.
"So, it's OK if it hurts?" he blushed.
"Sometimes..." Nana shyly smiled and nodded.
When it was over, the couple turned the TV off and looked at each other.
"H-Hey, um... would it be ok if-"
Before he finished his sentence, Nana interrupted him by pressing her soft, rose-colored lips firmly against his.
"Yes, Kenji, it would definitely be ok." she smiled, already knowing what he wanted. Nana reached under her dress, slipped her panties down, and stretched out over her boyfriend's lap. Kenji pulled her dress up and exposed her bare bottom.
"God, I love doing this..." Kenji blushed. Nana giggled playfully, smiling over her shoulder at him.
"What a coincidence, I love you doing it too."
As he started, Nana smiled and closed her eyes, thankful to have somebody willing and eager to indulge her strange little fetish without thinking she was some kind of pervert.
"I'm not being too rough, am I? I know you said it was ok if it hurt, but, like... it doesn't hurt TOO much, does it?" he awkwardly asked after a couple of minutes.
"Not at all..." she shyly answered.
Kenji was enthralled with the way Nana's porcelain smooth, milky-white ass was changing color right before his eyes. In only a couple of minutes, both cheeks had a very noticeable pink tint to them.
"C-Can I do this harder? I mean, if... if you're ok with it." he asked.
"If you want to, sure..." his girlfriend replied with a smile. He prodded her to get up and slid closer to the edge of the bed. When she got back in position, she was limply draped over his knee instead of being supported by the bed.
From that point on, it was... not really PAINFUL, but it definitely hurt a lot more than usual. It wasn't unbearable by anyone's standards, but she was certainly going to be sore tomorrow.
As he continued on, Nana bit her lower lip to suppress a gentle moan. She would have been willing to let him go on for hours if possible. She loved what he was doing, absolutely, but she wanted something more... something she had thought about several times, but never had the nerve to ask because she was never sure whether or not it was the right time.
In truth, she STILL didn't know if it was the right time, but she took a deep breath and went for it anyway.
"Kenji, there's something I want to ask you..."
Next chapter: Tradition.