Tenderness Sidestory: Things that Go Nin-Nin in the Night
A slight warning: Like with
previous parts, please have patience with any and all OOC behaviour.
------------------------------
Tatsumiya Mana was a loner,
intimidating and mysterious to her peers, and generally not a woman
that inspired much in the way of friendship. It hadn't always been
so, of course, nor was this state of affairs entirely of her own choosing,
but life had shaped the path intended for her and Mana knew it well.
Consequently she made no effort
of befriending anyone, nor did she try to be understood or at least
found less frightening to those that truly had nothing to fear from
her. These things were of little importance at the end of the day, when
she racked up her mental tally of the money earned against the costs
of keeping her ancestral shrine alive.
People, or rather those that
knew something of what was going on in Mahora and had heard of the work
Mana did, mistakenly thought Mana to be a callous mercenary that loved
only two things in life; money and her guns.
While it was true that Mana
had a surprisingly strong bond to her weapons of choice - not an uncommon
development in her line of work, she had found - money actually had
no importance on its own for her. Mana was the last of her family, and
with everyone she had once loved gone, she had nothing but the shrine
left to care for. And the shrine... was oh so costly, forcing Mana to
do whatever work she could find just to keep banks and debt collectors
from tearing the ancient holy ground apart.
Fortunately for Mana she was
more than just a pretty face... what she could do was a rare thing,
and those that were in need of such assistance were usually willing
to pay nicely for services rendered. Oh that did not meant that money
came easily, not at all, until she had gained a steady employment with
Konoe Konoemon luck had controlled her earnings, and sometimes lady
luck just wasn't in a charitable mood.
It was terribly convenient
to work for principal Konoe, as not only was the pay nice enough and
moderately steady, but she was close to home and her shrine duties,
and left with much spare time to pursue whatever other odds and ends
that might bring in a bit of extra yen.
It was not really until her
young and innocent classmates had looked at her with something akin
to the fear they might have shown a wild animal that Mana realized that
with all the pain, loss and struggling in her life, Mana herself had
gone cold inside. It was not that she did not have emotions, it was
just that she hid them so well that it was rare for something, other
than the joy of a hefty sum of money or a new shiny gun, to move her.
Then shortly after being employed
by the principal, Mana was introduced to one Sakurazaki Setsuna. The
shorter, slender swordswoman was stoic to a fault, much like Mana herself,
but unlike Mana it was fairly clear that Setsuna felt things very strongly.
Finding herself slightly intrigued by the girl that was technically
speaking her immediate boss, since principal Konoe had made clear that
Mana was first and foremost in Setsuna's employ for her work of guarding
the Mahora area against mystical intruders, Mana was drawn to her.
To begin with they were both
outsiders, standing on the sidelines observing, keeping watch against
the unknown, and strictly speaking not particularly interested in joining
in the childish goings-on around them. Additionally, after having fought
together for a while, a camaraderie grew between them, a particular
understanding that only those who had to repeatedly put their lives
in each other's hands could have, until Mana realized that somewhere
along the line she had gotten... a friend.
Mana watched in sympathetic
fascination as it became clear to her what her new friend's ‘holy
shrine' was... the ever-smiling young girl that Setsuna, and to a
lesser degree Mana, was employed to protect above all. Konoe Konoka.
Mana herself was not a stranger to love, despite her age, but thinking
of that particular loss... the memories echoed empty, the emotions long
since frozen in a place she could not reach.
She did remember the pain she
had felt though, and although she said nothing she hoped for a better
ending for her friend.
Having a friend, someone to
relate to even if it was an odd relationship given both their natures,
did serve to soften some of Mana's abrasive cold over time. Eventually
other classmates saw her joking with Setsuna and just like that, the
fear of Mana disappeared. There were still those that were intimidated
by her, naturally, but there were others still, like the cheerful and
open-minded children whom saw someone interesting in her. She grew to
have a fondness for these innocent souls and enjoyed the moments they
spent with her, a further softening of cold and supposedly impenetrable
walls.
Then Mana and Setsuna were
placed in another class at the beginning of one school year, the same
one as the young heiress that held Mana's sword-swinging friend's
heart. She watched in silent sympathy as Setsuna tried so hard to keep
her cool and keep her distance, even though young Konoka-ojousama clearly
wanted nothing more than to be by Setsuna's side. She tried to suggest
to her friend that perhaps a little closeness with the girl was not
a bad thing, but found it a subject difficult to broach, much less something
she felt she had any right to interfere in.
Somehow as Mana's attention
were on other things, Setsuna and Konoka-ojousama found their way back
to one another. Mana watched in amusement as the two of them clung to
one another like new lovers, and felt a great deal of gratitude on the
behalf of her friend that their young ojousama had managed to lift the
veil of stoic suffering from Setsuna, revealing the shy, pure and innocent
girl she was underneath the warrior.
Yes, Mana had watched Setsuna's
love for Konoka-ojousama for some time, and even seen signs of the corresponding
emotion in the heiress. Yet she had been completely unprepared for her
own reaction the day she had, as so many times before, walked into Setsuna's
room without preamble... only to find her friend and the ojousama in
a clearly heated embrace on the floor, undressing one another.
She was completely unprepared
for the pang of jealousy that was part of her response to the discovery.
Setsuna was a treasured friend, and one Mana would feel happy for now
that things seemed to go her way at last, and Mana had never held any
feelings for Setsuna beyond their friendship, yet... Yet, once Mana
took a long hard look into her own reasons, she found that while there
were no romantic feelings towards Setsuna there was a sense of belonging,
a sense that while the two of them were doomed to live without such
things as love, at least they would have each other to turn to. Setsuna
had found love and happiness after all, and a part of Mana felt left
behind, the only one remaining destined for a loveless, solitary life.
Alone.
Mana stomped hard on that unwanted
spark of emotion, eradicating it before it could cause trouble with
the only person she still truly considered a friend. She even managed
a few words of encouragement and advice to Setsuna, though the subject
was a difficult one and the statement costly, in terms of the images
and awful hollowness they brought with them. Still, she hoped her friend
would take her advice to heart, and not let her own low self-esteem
get in the way of greater happiness.
Another shock had been when
Mana had found out that not only had her friend scored the little princess
on high, apparently they were engaged to be married, approved of by
the ruling kings themselves. This time it was thankfully just the shock
of her friend's future taking off at rocket speed and not something
troublesome in her own character.
Setsuna's change in status
from a warrior of the shadow like Mana herself to a prince in the making
brought changes also to Mana's everyday life. While she met and spoke
to Setsuna everyday and they still patrolled together, Setsuna's time
in active combat and patrolling duty was being cut down, though Mana
was unsure if Setsuna even knew this. It seemed a natural and reasonable
thing to do, to lessen the likelihood of Konoka-ojousama's future
wife dying while perimeter-keeping with the rest of the fighters, and
had she been the principal Mana would have probably done the same thing,
if not more.
So it was that Nagase Kaede,
the school's resident ninja - that is, ignoring the two sweet little
girls trying hard to emulate their Kaede-nee - was added to the team,
and Mana found herself being promoted to Setsuna's second-in-command.
Considering the team as of yet consisted of three people, that was not
an overbearing title, but from conversations with their employer Mana
knew that a larger task-force was in the making. If such a thing were
to get off the ground Mana felt she would have to ask for a considerate
raise, all things considered.
In regards to the newcomer,
Mana was left somewhat bewildered. No-one could doubt Nagase Kaede's
combat skills, she was a one-woman army and Mana was quite impressed.
The trouble was not the good-natured woman's skill; it was the woman
herself... for Nagase Kaede besides being a capable warrior was a person
that was surprisingly kind, open, gentle and caring... qualities all
that Mana had a hard time understanding, especially in a person on a
warrior's path in life.
Kaede obeyed orders, there
were no problems there, and she was someone to depend on in a tight
spot. They worked well together, and exterminating the random creatures
that crossed Mahora borders became almost too easy with a small army
of Kaede at her disposal. The ninja was even pleasant to talk to, once
one got used to the almost permanent smile and her particular style
of speaking.
It was just...
It was just...
It was just that when walking
around on patrol with some small conversation going on with Setsuna,
she and Mana had been friends and warriors, doing their duty. When Mana
and Kaede walked around while on patrol and held a hushed conversation,
Kaede was a woman taking off some of her warrior's mask to talk to
another woman. Mana did not know how to act or react to Kaede, whereas
with Setsuna they had been of similar ilk and therefore it was easy
to understand her way of thinking. With the tall ninja Mana was left
with the unnerving feeling that she truly had no idea how her mind worked.
Despite her confusion Mana
knew she was warming up to that persistent smile. Then Kaede had to
go acting in a way that had Mana uncomfortably unsure of how to react.
They had been walking along
from a confrontation-site, the intrusion dealt with quickly and quietly,
and the mood had been light and somewhat playful. Mana had chuckled
at something Kaede had said, and the ninja had stopped on the spot.
Turning to see what happened,
Mana found herself face to face with Kaede at a considerably closer
proximity than she felt at all comfortable with. Narrow eyes had peered
at her with an expression Mana was unfamiliar with, and then Kaede had
grinned widely.
"You have a pretty smile,
Tatsumiya-san, you should show it more often de gozaru."
Then the ninja had bounced
ahead, leaving the stunned and confused Mana to stare after her, wondering
why in the world her heartbeat had picked up so strangely.
---
It started with a simple compliment
about her smile, but it didn't stop there. It was hard to pinpoint,
being that it all amounted to but small innocuous things, but Mana felt
she was getting surprising amounts of attention from the other girl.
Perhaps it was just that Kaede wanted to make friends and Mana was unaccustomed
to such behaviour, Mana thought and tried to put it out of her mind.
It turned out to be not so easily done.
Kaede's solicitousness of
her had Mana somewhat jittery, and she did not want to think too closely
about her own strange reactions to the ninja, oh no, having had an odd
reaction to Setsuna was quite enough thank you very much. So it was
with some relief she in class had opportunity to focus on said friend
and her new and rather public relationship. For some reason her eyes
kept going back to the tall girl against her will, and often Mana thought
she could feel the ninja's eyes on her, though of course it was hard
to tell if she was right or not.
So when the opportunity presented
itself, Mana chose the distraction of her friend's dilemma. Truly,
the young couple was amusing to watch, adorable really, and their classmates
weren't exactly making life easy for them with the sudden and immense
interest. Yes, for shy and introvert Setsuna it must truly be a trial,
but Mana was somewhat proud that her friend handled the pressure of
the children's curiosity so well. Occasionally someone would take
things a bit too far however, and for most of the time to Mana's way
of seeing things that person seemed to be Asuna.
Mana had watched with amusement
as Asuna had teased and teased about Setsuna's apparent kissing ability,
wanting to know her secrets and whatnot, and succeeding in making the
pale warrior blush deeply every time. It was not that the girl was mean-spirited
or meant any harm, Asuna just seemed the type to get caught up in what
she was doing to the point she was blinded to her surroundings. Honestly,
it had been quite fun... to begin with. Now it was somewhat tiresome
and after seeing a strangely helpless look in her friend's eyes, Mana
got just a little bit annoyed.
"Come on, Ms Fabulous Kisser,
give some hints to those of us less... experienced in the area." Asuna
was teasing and Setsuna stuttering and waving her arms. Even Konoka
for once tried to distract her roommate's attention from her lover,
but Asuna was leaning over Setsuna's seat by then and just didn't
notice her friend's subtle motions to cease.
Mana rose smoothly from her
seat, those few standing in the isle between the rows of seats before
her parting in awe that the dark and silent markswoman was apparently
participating in class on her own volition for once, nevermind why.
Mana made not a sound until she walked up behind Asuna and tapped her
politely on the shoulder.
The tall redhead turned slightly
towards her, and that was when Mana made her move.
In one smooth and fast motion
Mana spun the girl, clasped both her hands and put one behind Asuna's
back as she dipped her low while keeping the girl close. She held the
position and waited until the different coloured eyes cleared from the
disorientation before speaking.
"It would appear that what
you are truly asking for is a demonstration of Setsuna's technique."
The classroom went absolutely quiet while Mana spoke in her even tone,
her face looking absolutely serious. "Since I doubt Konoka-ojousama
would approve of such a demonstration, might I offer my own skills as
a substitute?"
Unknown to the suddenly bug-eyed
spectators Mana's grip on the energetic girl's hands might have
looked gentle enough, but with Mana's strength it was an easy task
of holding Asuna completely in place. She was after all accustomed to
handle the backlash of powerful guns that held nearly Asuna's mass
and twice the kick.
When panic grew in those wide
eyes and Asuna opened her mouth to voice some sort of protest, Mana
spoke again and derailed the attempt at resistance. "I take your lack
of objections as a ‘yes', then."
She inched her face dangerously
close to the beet red girl whose eyes looked as if they were just about
to pop out of their sockets. Of course Mana had no intention of kissing
her classmate, annoying or no, but she would give a little scare and
teach a lesson in her own way.
Her focus naturally being on
the girl in her arms, Mana had not particularly noticed the reactions
of the rest of the classroom, specifically the no longer smiling ninja
that was standing up in her seat behind them, and the furious and strangely
pale blonde quickly coming around from the other direction.
The book that slammed into
her head did not particularly hurt, but it did startle Mana enough to
jump back and lighten her hold on the redhead whom immediately squirmed
out of her grasp. Looking up at the one that had struck her Mana came
eye to eye with an infuriated Ayaka, ready to rant to high heavens.
Honestly speaking Mana did
not listen to a single word, and could not care less what the high-strung
young woman was rambling on about this time since she had learned long
ago that with this particular girl it was always something, however...
looking into the fuming girl's eyes Mana saw not anger but pain, and
the green eyes glittered with unshed tears. Still tuning out the voice
that bellowed on Mana looked to her former captive, now standing on
the other side of Ayaka and looking very sheepish and repentant.
Ahh, so that was how it
was.
"...IS ENOUGH! YOU HEAR ME?
NO MORE!" Finally Ayaka wound down, panting slightly. After receiving
confirming mumbles from a blushing Asuna Ayaka spun around and marched
over to her own seat while Asuna, looking very much like a scolded little
girl, apologized awkwardly to Setsuna before she slunk over to her own
chair.
Mana acknowledged Ayaka's
declarations neither in word or deed, but she did spare the blonde a
look that had her blushing in her seat as Mana calmly returned to her
own. As she passed Kaede she found her gaze once again seeking her out,
but to her surprise Kaede was turned away.
It was strange how that simple
sight of the other woman turned away from her had such a strong impact.
Mana returned to her seat upset with herself and the situation, and
very confused.
Try though she did for the
remainder of the school day, Mana never once managed to catch Kaede's
eye.
---
Patrolling with Kaede turned
awkward in a new way for a few days after that. Although they worked
as well as ever, the tendency to hold conversations and the curious
attentiveness was mostly gone from their interactions and Mana found
herself truly wanting to return to how things had been. About the only
thing Mana could tell about her now far too silent companion was that
Kaede's protective streak was as wide and strong as ever.
That had been blatantly obvious
as they were all three of them, Mana, Kaede and Setsuna, exterminating
a small nest of a type of particularly nasty shadow-creatures that had
quickly turned a section of the Mahora forest into their home. Dispatching
the creatures were not that difficult despite the location, but for
a brief moment when Mana was firing her guns at creatures in front of
her, another one charged from the trees directly above her.
Mana saw the creature although
she did not acknowledge it, intent on her targets and secure in the
knowledge that Setsuna was to her left and more than fast enough to
clear her own opponent in time to keep the charging one from reaching
Mana. She did not need time to consider her actions as this work pattern
was something ingrained from many battles in the past, Mana focusing
on long-range in such a situation while Setsuna could be counted upon
to cover Mana's back.
What happened instead was a
small cry from Kaede and Mana instantly found herself tackled and covered
by a body as large as her own, while the soft sound of cutting air declared
that Yuunagi had arched above, severing the attacker in two.
Even though Mana was startled,
her senses clearly picked out the angry charging roar of the wounded
creatures she had been firing at before being flattened on the ground,
and so, grasping the body on top of her own with her legs and securing
her guns in her hands, Mana flipped them over. As soon as she came into
angle, flattening Kaede underneath her own body this time, Mana opened
fire and emptied her magazines into the things.
When the sound of her guns
died out the forest around them was quiet and the creatures destroyed,
still Mana performed a habit that had saved her life on many an occasion:
immediately dropping the empty magazines and slapping full ones into
their place.
Setsuna watched them with a
curious expression on her face as her companions remained lying crushed
against one another during Mana's reload, and not until that was finished
did either of them attempt to move. She looked between Mana who picked
up her discarded magazines and pocketed them, and Kaede who was brushing
herself off before collecting her weapons, and then Setsuna gave Mana
a look that for some inexplicable reason had the dark warrior blush
rather profusely.
Setsuna did not question them,
and neither Mana nor Kaede spoke a word of what had happened. Mana did
however find herself looking at Kaede a lot when Kaede had her attention
elsewhere, wondering what that had all been about.
Then, with things continuing
to be awkward, Saturday came along.
It was a well-known fact that
Kaede each Saturday set out for the wilder parts of Mahora for her supposedly
secret ninja training, this time however... she invited the almost dumbfounded
Mana to come along.
Jumping at the chance to somehow
settle this strangeness going on between them, Mana agreed to come,
and uncharacteristically called in a few debts to make sure she could.
Informed of what to bring Mana gathered her items and met up with Kaede
to take off into the forest for, on Mana's part, parts unknown.
Being an athlete herself besides
a warrior, hiking the long distance while carrying a heavy backpack
was not a problem for Mana, yet for some reason each time Kaede would
turn to her with a smile something strange happened with Mana's breathing.
The hike itself should not have caused too much of a strain, and still
each time Kaede reached out to offer a hand over a particularly gnarled
root or a treacherous rock, Mana found her heartbeat pick up, or there
was a foreign kind of tingle in the pit of her stomach. What was going
on with her?
When finally Kaede took Mana's
hand for some obstacle or other, and just seemed to conveniently forget
to let go after it was cleared, a small smile found its way to Mana's
lips. Kaede spoke for most of the trek, in a cheerful but quiet voice,
regaling Mana with tales of her young roommates or funny things that
had occurred to Kaede during training trips in the past. Mana found
that she really, truly liked the sound of Kaede's voice, the warm
lilt was soothing and the peculiar speech patterns and words charming
beyond reason.
Eventually they made it to
Kaede's camping spot, a secluded clearing on high ground above the
rushing river yet buffered from the wind on all sides but one. They
set about putting up the tent and making camp right away, Mana following
Kaede's smiling instructions, and soon enough the tent, campfire and
other items were all in place.
After setting camp Kaede declared
that it was time to procure dinner, and Mana, glad that she had thought
to add her small wooden arrow gun to her pack, followed her companion
down to the rivers' edge.
Kaede apparently used her throwing
darts to catch fish among the rushes at that particularly rocky section
of the river, giving Mana the idea that Kaede had a habit of turning
everything into ninja training if given half the chance. Well, it was
an admirable dedication, and she could not exactly fault her since Mana
herself would spend most of her free time after work and shrine duties
were done handling guns, performing maintenance, doing target practice
or just plain breaking in a new one. Besides, the challenge of catching
her food this way was somewhat... fun.
Eagerly Mana stripped out of
her pants and shirt, wading out into the water wearing only a T-shirt
and her underwear, checking her gun and eyeing the silver forms darting
past under the surface for an appropriate target. She was so focused
on finding targets that she was only dimly aware of Kaede dropping her
weapons inelegantly as she turned her head to find Mana half-naked in
the water, and that she remained staring at Mana for a long moment before
shaking herself and returning her focus to the fish.
Mana did however notice Kaede's
strange behaviour while she lay down to let her legs dry in the sun
as they waited for the newly acquired fish to cook over the fire. The
other girl was supposed to do some ninja training exercise or other,
but kept stopping herself to stare at Mana every now and again, until
Mana drew the conclusion that Kaede was just uncomfortable with her
semi-undressed state and put her pants back on despite not being completely
dry.
She completely missed the small
pout that was the ninja girl's immediate reaction before returning
her focus to her training.
After they had eaten their
fish it was time to go scavenging through the forest for edibles for
breakfast, though Mana, somewhat amused, thought it was just a convenient
excuse on Kaede's part to go romping through the woods and generally
goof off, since that was what the other girl seemed to be doing. The
ultimate goal for the evening on the ninja's part seemed to be to
make Mana laugh, and the attention Mana had missed the last couple of
days she now got back, in spades.
Privately Mana came to the
conclusion that the reason Kaede used her multiplying ninja technique
as they moved along was so that she could claim to get the job done
while most of her were horsing around. This goofy playful side of Kaede
was also utterly endearing, even if it was a strange animal to the world
of Tatsumiya Mana. Mana found herself laughing, nearly to the point
of doubling over, at the various antics of the Kaede-litter, and even
blushing slightly at one point when the head of a Kaede - Mana had
long since lost track of which one was the original - popped out upside-down
in a tree directly in front of Mana and offered her a flower.
Accepting the flower, if somewhat
awkwardly, Mana carefully attached it to her breastpocket and watched
the smiling Kaede bound away to join a few others. It was... bewildering.
She had felt it before around
Kaede, this strange... stirring... inside, though she had yet to grasp
what it meant. All Mana knew for certain that it was Kaede alone who
could move this deeply buried emotion inside her, and whatever it was
had been locked away for so long that Mana no longer had a name to put
to it.
Finally it seemed the foraging
and frolicking was done, the extra Kaede disappearing to leave only
one widely smiling Kaede with an armload of various edible things the
forest had provided. Sharing the weight between them they set back towards
the camp at a leisurely pace, Mana pushing the other concerns to the
back of her head, content instead with the apparent improvement in her
conversational skills as she seemed able to keep Kaede amused, and genuinely
glad that they had managed to move past the uneasiness that had coloured
their interactions of late.
---
When the sky began to darken
Kaede told Mana that they should wash up and prepare for the night so
that they could enjoy the spectacular view of the sunset that they would
have from the high vantage point of their camp. Having no real objections
to this Mana rummaged through her pack and headed down for the river's
edge while Kaede was busying herself with the fire.
A while later as Mana did a
final splash of her face Kaede came searching for her, looking strangely
stunned. "Tatsumiya-san, you are washing up in the river de gozaru?"
"Yes... where else should
I wash myself?" Mana turned towards the voice and smirked slightly
as Kaede gave a start and turned to face the other way, apparently only
just then realizing that Mana was nude. "And it is Mana, please."
A soft chuckle under her breath. "Honestly, I think you might be nearly
as shy as Setsuna."
"Nin-nin." Kaede agreed,
though to what was up to Mana to decipher. "This one is heating water
for the barrel though de gozaru."
Mana got out of the water and
reached for her towel. "A barrel? You have dragged a barrel all the
way out here to have a heated bath?" She laughed again. "I am beginning
to think that this isn't somewhere you go to train, but rather your
little resort spot away from it all... Kaede."
The ninja managed to look sheepish
even while turned away from her, one hand coming up to scratch her neck
somewhat guiltily. "Will you not get... cold... de gozaru?"
"I am a shrine maiden."
Mana explained simply as she briskly dried herself off and picked up
her clothes. "I have been purifying myself in cold water regardless
of weather or season for... oh, years. I'm used to it."
She tapped Kaede lightly on
the shoulder. "You can look, I'm done. ...oh, don't force yourself
to take a cold bath just because I did, now."
And so Mana made her way back
to the camp, not seeing the frown and small pout as Kaede examined the
cold water's passage among the rocks.
---
The evening had been... pleasant,
very pleasant in fact, as they had watched the sunset sitting side by
side, speaking occasionally but also enjoying a comfortable and companionable
silence. It was peaceful, and Mana could understand why Kaede made this
trip each week. Out there under the burning sky a lot of the weekly
stress and agitation surely just dissolved, like steam in the open air.
Somewhere during the last rays
of the setting sun Mana found herself studying Kaede's profile, and
made an impulsive offer that startled even herself a little.
"Would you like to come to
my shrine some weekend? It is a beautiful place... and peaceful... and
I could even offer a hot bath." Here Mana grinned at her companion.
"Although I understand that it is hard to tear yourself away from
this view."
Kaede smiled widely and nodded.
"I would like that very much de gozaru."
Finding herself mildly excited
for some reason Mana immediately offered "Next weekend perhaps?"
"Nin-nin!"
Finally there had been little
reason to remain outside as the skies had gone dark and the fire had
been left to die down, and they decided to call it a night. It wasn't
until just that moment that Mana fully realized how cramped things were
in Kaede's little tent, or how intimate the simple double bedding
that filled the narrow space would be.
Still, although it was certainly
an unusual situation for her it was not something that Mana would let
herself be bothered with, so she picked a side and got under the cover.
After a moment she could feel Kaede do the same behind her back, and
in a hushed voice wished her goodnight. Closing her eyes with a small
smile at the content and peaceful feeling she had inside, Mana expected
to fall asleep quickly.
She opened her eyes again an
unknown length of time later, frustrated with herself.
Forget tranquillity, Mana just
Could Not Sleep, and she was getting annoyed. Not wanting to wake Kaede
by moving around Mana decided to try a meditation technique in case
that might help clear her far too active mind. It was at that moment
that a warm body pressed against her back and a pair of arms and one
leg wrapped around her.
Again Mana's heartbeat sped
up and she was left slightly breathless.
She told herself it was nothing
to get so worked up about, Kaede was probably just one of those people
that tended to sleep wrapped around a pillow at night, and, unused to
be sleeping with someone, had in her sleep assumed Mana to be that pillow.
This little theory was instantly
dashed when a warm voice spoke softly into her ear "Can't sleep
de gozaru? Neither can this one."
"Kaede? What are you doing?"
When no answer was forthcoming and the body wrapped so nicely around
hers was utterly unmoving, Mana spun herself to face Kaede in order
to get her answers.
Even in the dark Kaede's
eyes were shining, and looking into them while pressed up against the
other woman's warm, soft body, a strong jolt went through Mana.
Oh... so that was what it
was.
Attraction. Listening
to her body Mana readily found the thrum of desire coursing through
her. Physical, yes, certainly. Thinking back at her reactions
to this person, the unusual upheaval where her emotions were concerned
lately, and the strange urge to be near her. Emotional... a strong
possibility. She traced a finger along Kaede's jaw, surprised
at her own reaction to such a simple motion. Perhaps already more
than just a possibility.
Mana wouldn't call it love,
at least not yet. But perhaps... perhaps, with this one special person...
it could be?
Looking back into Kaede's
eyes brought another, stronger, jolt, and then they were simply kissing,
sweetly at first but soon hungrily, deeply. Kaede's hot hands against
her skin lit a fire in Mana that was completely new, and consuming.
In a few movements that were surprisingly swift, Mana divested herself
of her clothes, the desire and emotion in Kaede's eyes making her
shiver. Yes, Mana wanted this.
Carefully she grasped the edge
of Kaede's shirt and waited, not even in her haze of need and want
about to go further than her hopefully soon-to-be lover would feel comfortable
with.
"Nin-nin."
Kissing Kaede deeply in order
to keep herself from bursting out in a girlish giggle at the adorable
yet throaty and husky confirmation, Mana wasted no time in removing
the last obstacles to that vast, soft and alluringly hot skin. After
that point there was no turning back.
There would be time for words
of growing affection later, of promises for the future and the baring
of wounded souls, as the light of morning slowly crept over the skies
above. But for right that moment, in the heated and beautiful world
of Nagase Kaede, Tatsumiya Mana, owner of a heart frozen for far too
long, allowed herself to burn.
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