Friday on my Mind
Results of tonight’s Battle of the Blush: Natsuki: one blush in five attempts, Shizuru: eight blushes in six attempts. I really should stop picturing you in biker leathers if I want to stand a chance at winning in the future… Damn it, make that nine for you.
But anyways, if I can control my blushing, we are definitely going out to get you some biking gear tomorrow. Once you’re fully equipped, I won’t have to be as ridiculously careful as I was today, and I promise it’ll be even more fun. We can go to some places more interesting than just circling around Fuuka Gakuen, too. I’m so glad you enjoyed doing that with me, Shizuru. Despite the confidence I tried to show, I was really worried about how you’d take that suggestion. In any other circumstance, I could never imagine the graceful Fujino Shizuru doing something like that. It’s so sweet that you can let down that façade for me and just have fun doing this kind of thing.
I’m definitely going to try to do the same thing for you. First thing up is definitely going to be tea brewing and drinking. To be honest, I’ve never actually tried tea before. I was always on such a natural adrenaline rush when I had to get up early that caffeine just didn’t seem necessary. As for just enjoying it, well, I’m just now getting to a point in my life where I can spend time to enjoy anything. Hopefully I will be able to enjoy it, so that will be another thing I can do with you.
Now, what should we do tomorrow? Well, there’s getting you equipped for our bike rides. I guess we could do that right after school. Maybe we could have our dinner date after that. I’ll have to start thinking about where we could go. I don’t know that many nice places for dinner, though. I’m mostly just one for fast food when eating out. I hope I’ll be able to survive at some place fancier.
“Ugh, why do I suddenly feel like a walking cliché,” Natsuki muttered under her breath as she led Shizuru into the sporting goods store she frequented for biking gear.
“Ara, what could be bothering Natsuki?” Shizuru asked. Her tone of voice made Natsuki suspect she knew exactly what was up, but was just playing at it to tease her. She decided to resist the temptation to give in to and held her tongue as she led Shizuru through the store. Sadly, this just provoked Shizuru to push further. “Hmm, I guess I’ll have to figure it out myself,” she said, bringing a finger to her chin as she appraised Natsuki.
“Cut it out, Shizuru,” Natsuki grumbled. She could feel heat rising to her face and fought a battle to suppress it, or even better, think of some way to make Shizuru blush first.
“Nope!” Shizuru said cheerfully. She immediately reverted back to her analysis. “Now, let’s see. Natsuki’s all dressed up so cutely in her biker leathers, coming to outfit her girlfriend in some of the same. What cliché could that fit, I wonder?”
Fortunately the store wasn’t very crowded, so no one was able to see the smoke that Natsuki was sure was coming out of her ears as she fumed silently at Shizuru. She was at the point where it might be easier to just blurt out the cliché for Shizuru, but she didn’t want to give the girl that satisfaction. An idea struck her, and she decided to take a stab at it. “You realize if you keep going where I think you’re going, Shizuru,” she said, “you’re going to end up fitting the cliché of being my bitch. That is what they call your seat after all.”
Natsuki snuck a quick peak back at Shizuru and was pleased to see a hint of a blush forming on her face, though it was unfortunately accompanied by a mirthful smile. She’d take what she could get, though, and she let a victorious smile cross her face as she turned the corner to the biking goods section.
Her victory was short-lived, however, as Shizuru was quick to recover and launch a counter-attack. “Ooh, you mean like a dog? I get to be Natsuki’s puppy?” she said cheerfully. She ran up in front of Natsuki and faced her with her hands held up like paws and her mouth open, panting. “Woof! I’m Duran, and I love my master!” As if she wasn’t already being embarrassing enough, she followed this up by leaning in towards Natsuki and giving her a couple happy licks across the face.
“Shizuru, stop it!” she said, trying to push the girl off of her. The feeling of Shizuru’s slobbers prevented her from figuring out whether she was blushing, but she assumed she probably was. Even so, she couldn’t help but giggling at her girlfriend’s behavior, as much as she wanted to be mad at her.
Shizuru gave a light chuckle herself as she calmed down and gave Natsuki a break. “So, Natsuki likes me acting as her puppy. I’ll have to remember that.” She gave Natsuki a quick wink before turning around, fortunately missing out on the blush Natsuki felt rising to her face. “Ah, I see we’re here already,” Shizuru said as she scanned this region of the store.
The section of the store devoted to biking goods was a rough square in the back corner, loosely walled off by shelves on two sides and the walls of the store on the other two. In the center was an overly-large and inefficient bike of some American build, the only model sold by this store. Any biker worth her salt knew not to buy a bike from anything but a store devoted to them, but that wasn’t the draw of coming here.
The big draw was the vast array of miscellaneous gear they kept stocked here. As this store catered to a different demographic, they focused more on biking accessories in this section. This meant that they had quite a selection of helmets for Shizuru to choose from, along with a decent selection of leathers. There weren’t too many female bikers, but there was enough of an auxiliary market for girls who just wanted to look like bikers that there were plenty of outfits designed for girls here.
“Yeah, this is it,” Natsuki said. “Helmets are on the stands over there,” she pointed to the stands to the right, “and leathers are on the shelves behind them. You’ll want a shirt and pants, of course, and maybe a jacket. Gloves are a good idea, but don’t bother with any of their shoes; they’re no better than your average pair of runners.”
Shizuru gave a pout at this last part. “But none of my shoes will match the rest of the outfit,” she said dejectedly.
Natsuki sighed and rolled her eyes. “Fine, it’s your money.” Shizuru gave her a questioning and slightly mischievous look, so she repeated, “It’s your money.” I know you can afford it. I’m the one living off a scholarship and child support here.
Shizuru gave a disappointed sigh and pout, and she went over to inspect the helmets. Even though Natsuki was sure it was an act, she still felt a little pang in her heart seeing her girlfriend pretending to be hurt. With a mental sigh, she walked over to where Shizuru was looking through the helmets and brought a hand up to lightly stroke her back. She didn’t really know what message she was trying to get across. It wasn’t as if she was sorry for anything. It just felt like the right thing to do. Shizuru seemed to agree, as Natsuki could see one of her genuine smiles forming on what she could see of her face.
As Shizuru looked over the helmets, Natsuki started describing some of the choices to her. “The safest type of helmet in case of a crash is the full-face type, which is the type I wear. It’s also a bit more isolating, so you won’t have to worry about the wind getting in your eyes and stuff. Problem is that it may get stuffy inside for long rides, but if you get one with good ventilation it shouldn’t be much of a problem. I’d really recommend picking out one of those. Just find one you think looks nice and fits well.”
Shizuru nodded along to Natsuki’s advice as she looked over the helmets. Most of the helmets on the racks were black, as this seemed to be the color preference of 95 percent of male bikers. There were other colors available, though, including a few white helmets which appealed to safety-conscious riders thanks to their increased visibility and an array of helmets of miscellaneous other colors. Glancing over these, Natsuki could pick out immediately which one Shizuru would go for in the end, though she seemed to be making a token effort at not jumping right to it.
With a light chuckle, Natsuki went over to the end of the rack and picked out a helmet in Shizuru’s favorite shade of purple. As Shizuru looked over to see what she was doing, Natsuki brought it up and fitted it over her head, briefly surprising her. “There, how does that one feel?”
Getting a response of only muffled sounds from inside the helmet, Natsuki flipped up the visor for Shizuru. As her face became visible, another of her genuine smiles spread across it, and Natsuki could see a twinkle in her eye. “Perfect. Natsuki has quite an eye for these things.”
Natsuki gave a small smile back, but she quickly turned away when she felt heat starting to rise to her cheeks. Shizuru wasn’t going to get her that easily. She covered up her turning red by saying, “Okay, now for your leathers. Pretty much anything here is good enough safety-wise, so just pick out whatever looks good and fits you.”
It seemed Shizuru had another idea, though. Natsuki felt her hands creep over her shoulders, and Shizuru lightly blew into her ear. A shudder ran through Natsuki’s body at this sudden intimate act. “I have a better idea,” Shizuru said softly into her ear. “Natsuki seems to be getting quite worked up for some reason.” Might the reason be that you’re actively trying to work me up? “So, how about you go off and browse around the store yourself for a bit and cool off, while I pick out something. You can meet me at the dressing room in 15 minutes or so to see what I’ve found.”
“A-alright,” Natsuki said, trying and failing to ignore the warm breath that Shizuru was once again blowing into her ear. With one last wave of shudders, she slipped out of Shizuru’s grasp and headed out of the section. She turned back to give the mirthful Shizuru one last wave as she ducked out of sight.
Her mind briefly wondered what Shizuru had in mind with getting rid of her. Was she being a bit overbearing here? Did Shizuru need her space? Or was this just another way of teasing her? The last seemed the most likely, though it still felt like there had to be more to the tease than just this. With a sigh, Natsuki resigned herself to whatever big tease Shizuru was setting up as she headed off to browse around a bit.
She didn’t find much else in the store that grabbed her interest. Although she was certainly no slouch in most athletic endeavors, none of them held any particular draw for her. Eventually she settled on browsing some of the hand-weights; they would be a good way for her to keep in shape when she didn’t have access to the gym. After testing out what she could lift easily, she settled on a couple of 25 lb. weights which seemed to be just heavy enough to give her a bit of a challenge.
The flaw in her plan was revealed to her as she started walking back towards the changing room: She’d have to lug these weights around with her until she left. Although she was able to lift and carry them, her arms were bound to get quite sore before long. She glanced around to see if there were any employees about that could help her, but she wasn’t able to spot any. Well, at least this lack of employees wandering about kept any of them from walking in on Shizuru and me earlier, but still…
The changing rooms were mostly empty when Natsuki got there. In fact, only one seemed to be in use, so she assumed that Shizuru was likely inside it. “Hey, Shizuru, you there?” she said.
“Yes, Natsuki, just a second,” came the reply. Natsuki heard the sound of a zipper from behind the door, and it opened a moment later.
“Shi-Shizuru…” Natsuki was stunned by the sight. Shizuru had donned a pair of skin-tight black leather pants, accompanied with a dark blue leather vest which was disturbingly form-fitting on her. In fact, it seemed to even work to emphasize her form in just the right places…
Shizuru cocked her head, and an expression of concern rose on her face. “Ara, is Natsuki alright?”
“Y-yeah,” Natsuki said, barely able to vocalize the words. Just a blush, I’m sure. Nothing worse than what she usually does to me, but still… Why did it take me so long to notice how sexy she is?
Shizuru took a couple of steps towards Natsuki and bent her head down a bit. “Oh my, Natsuki. I think your nose is bleeding. Are you sure you’re alright?”
It took Natsuki’s mind a few minutes to get its focus off of Shizuru’s body and onto her words. When it did, though, the reaction was immediate. “Huh? What!?” Her left hand shot up to her nose, but the determination of whether or not it was indeed bleeding was interrupted by the determination that yes, she had just forgotten about the weight that was in her hand and yes, it had just painfully fallen on her foot.
Natsuki yelped in pain and her hands instinctively went to cradle her throbbing foot. This was of course a bad idea, as she’d forgotten about the weight in her other hand which chose that moment as a good time to obey gravity and strike her other foot. Another whimper of pain escaped from Natsuki’s mouth as she crumpled to the ground to cradle both of her feet.
Stupid sexy Shizuru…
“Ara ara, I’m so sorry, Natsuki,” Shizuru said as she placed the icepacks on Natsuki’s feet. “I was just trying to tease you, so I made up the nosebleed thing. I didn’t think that it might make you drop the weights.”
Natsuki grunted and turned her head away from Shizuru. She wasn’t really mad at her girlfriend, just at herself for being idiotic enough to forget about 25 lb. weights in her hands. But Shizuru regretting her teasing was a situation that didn’t come around often, and she wanted to milk the moment for all it was worth. “Did you really have to carry me out of the store like that? Everyone was watching.”
“It was only a couple of customers and the cashier,” Shizuru said. Her voice had taken a pathetic tone, and Natsuki imagined that a pout had formed on her face. “Besides, there was no way you’d be able to walk out on your own.”
Natsuki gave another grunt. No way she could really argue with that. To Shizuru’s credit, she had done everything she could for Natsuki after the incident. She’d immediately carried Natsuki out of the store, stepping back in quickly to pay for her leathers, her helmet, and Natsuki’s weights. She’d then driven Natsuki back to her dorm, where she was now applying ice packs to her swollen feet. The best part was that she’d done it all without a single tease.
With a sigh, Natsuki turned her head back to look at Shizuru. Perhaps she was going a bit far with trying to make her feel guilty. She really didn’t deserve that. It wasn’t even as if she really minded her teasing when it came down to it; she wouldn’t be Fujino Shizuru without it. Judging by the expression on her face, she was really upset about this, and Natsuki just couldn’t let her suffer if she could help it.
Natsuki forced a smile onto her face and said as convincingly as she could, “Thanks, Shizuru.” She did mean it, but it didn’t end up coming out very well. She was still a bit upset, after all. Whoever’s fault this was, it meant they couldn’t go out on their date this evening. Since she hadn’t even brought up the suggestion with Shizuru yet, it would be hard to explain that to her.
Shizuru’s expression softened a little, and she gave a weak smile. Pain showed through clearly in her eyes, though, and it looked like she was on the verge of tears. She was still obviously quite torn up, feeling responsible for hurting Natsuki. Natsuki in turn was torn up from seeing Shizuru in pain, and she struggled to think of what she could do to reassure her.
When an idea struck her, Natsuki held out her hand to Shizuru, who cautiously gripped it, unsure of her intentions. Not wanting to say anything and end up spoiling the moment, Natsuki simply pulled Shizuru over to her. When she was within range, she let go of her hand and brought both of her own hands up behind Shizuru’s head. She lightly pulled her girlfriend, who had started to get the hint, down to her face and gave her a tender kiss.
On one level, Natsuki was starting to worry that she might be overplaying this one trick. It seemed it was the only thing she could ever think of to ease Shizuru’s suffering. Then again, it had always worked. It was a good way for her to make her feelings clear without struggling and failing for words.
And of course, it was quite enjoyable. Natsuki didn’t think she’d ever get tired of feeling Shizuru’s lips against her own like this. They were so soft, and they always seemed to move against hers in just the right way. They had a unique taste all to their own, though it was somewhat reminiscent of green tea, which just screamed, “Shizuru,” to her. That was the best part, really, that it was Shizuru she was sharing this with.
As they parted for breath, Natsuki took a chance to hazard some words. “Don’t worry, Shizuru. It’s not your fault. I’m not mad at you,” she said as she looked into Shizuru’s eyes. She watched as the guilt in them faded a little, though it didn’t completely vanish.
Shizuru gave a small nod. “Natsuki is still upset, though,” she said. “What’s wrong?”
Damn it. Am I always this transparent? Natsuki let out a sigh as she dropped her gaze from Shizuru’s. No point holding back her concerns about their date at this point. “I was hoping… to go out for dinner with you tonight,” she said. A blush rose to her cheeks at the thought of how she was being too sentimental about this, but she pushed through. “I wanted us to have our first date…”
She couldn’t see Shizuru’s eyes since she’d looked down, but Natsuki was able to get a clear view of her cheeks turning red at this. She was never able to make her girlfriend blush when she was actively trying to, but it just seemed to happen on its own when she was going for something else. Ah well, I’ll take what I can get.
“You know,” Shizuru said, pulling Natsuki out of her reverie. “We don’t really need to go out for it to be a date.”
Natsuki furrowed her brow as she looked up at Shizuru. The girl had that mischievous glint in her eyes, though it wasn’t as frightening as it normally was. “Isn’t that the whole point of a date, though?” Natsuki said. “To go out and have dinner or go to a movie or something?”
“Oh, those are just the locations,” Shizuru said. She pushed herself up from the bed as she started to share her idea with Natsuki. “The point of a date is to be with someone you care about and just have fun and get to know them. We can do that perfectly fine right here. I’ll go order us a pizza – I know how you are for fast food – and we’ll have our first date right here in your room. Sound good?”
At the hopeful look on Shizuru’s face, Natsuki’s mind flashed back to when she was acting like a puppy earlier. She could just imagine that same expression showing up on a dog’s face, hopeful that she’d pleased her master. Thoughts ran through her head about how if this was all it took to qualify as a date, they’d already done that the previous week while Shizuru was taking care of her on a couple of days, but she pushed them away. She just couldn’t bring herself to disappoint Shizuru when she was acting like this.
“Alright then.” Natsuki allowed a smile to form on her face as she thought about how cute Shizuru was being. “It’s a date.”
Shizuru’s face lit up and she let out a squeal of joy. It seemed a bit over-the-top, especially for the normally reserved girl, and Natsuki suspected that she was deliberately making it that way for her benefit. She wasn’t complaining, though, except maybe about the fact that she didn’t have a camera on-hand so she could keep a record of this… not that she was planning on using it to blackmail Shizuru, but it never hurt to be prepared.
As Shizuru left to order them a pizza, Natsuki took a moment to inspect the state of her feet. She really hoped that nothing was broken or even sprained, as she couldn’t afford to miss any school. If that was the case, unfortunately she’d just have to suffer through the pain and go to class anyways, plus she’d probably have to fight off Shizuru’s offers to carry her to class.
With a deep breath to prepare herself for the worst, Natsuki sat up and nervously peeled the ice pack off of her left foot. It was still quite swollen, and a dark bruise had formed. That wasn’t too bad; a bruise she could live with. She cautiously tried moving her foot around, wincing at the pain this elicited. It was mostly located where the bruising was, though, so she hoped this meant there wasn’t any deeper damage. At least it was a good indication nothing was broken. She then replaced the icepack and repeated the process on her right foot. The damage didn’t seem to be as bad on that one, likely because the weight didn’t have as far to fall. She sighed with relief as she laid back down. She’d have to check a bit later to make sure there weren’t any sprains or anything, but the signs were good so far.
“So how are your feet doing, Natsuki?” Natsuki jerked in surprise at the sound of Shizuru’s voice. Damn, she can be sneaky when she wants to be. Her jolt prompted a giggle from the girl, which Natsuki tried and failed to shut up with a glare. Sadly, it seemed that Shizuru had developed an immunity to the Kuga Death Glare.
Growling briefly at her failure to stop Shizuru’s laughter, Natsuki rolled her eyes and responded, “They seem to be about as good as I could hope. We’ll see how they are later on, but I don’t think there’s anything broken at least.”
Shizuru gave a smile as her laughter quieted down. “That’s good,” she said. She approached Natsuki’s bed and took her usual spot on the side of it. “So, you think you’ll be able to make it to class on your own tomorrow morning?” she said with a hopeful glint in her eye.
Yup, I was right about that one. “Yeah, I think I should be able to make it,” Natsuki said, and the hope faded from Shizuru’s eyes as she went into pouting mode. Mentally growling at how she was letting herself be manipulated so easily, she conceded through clenched teeth, “You can carry me around the room tonight, if you insist.” Damn you, Shizuru. I really should be able to resist that fake pout of yours.
Shizuru’s face immediately lit up at Natsuki’s concession, and Natsuki was worried for a moment that she’d be picked up right there. Fortunately, Shizuru was a bit more merciful than this, and she gave Natsuki a reprieve for the moment. She wouldn’t be able to evade her grasp indefinitely though, she knew. With a sigh, Natsuki let herself fall back down to the bed. Might as well be comfortable while waiting for Shizuru to abduct her.
“So, I take it you’re done ordering the pizza?” she said, as she tried to find the perfect spot on the pillow to lay her head. “What type did you get for us?”
Shizuru gave an exaggerated sigh. “Well, I tried and I tried, but I’m sorry to say they just refused to put mayonnaise on it for you.”
“Baka,” Natsuki said. She contemplated sticking her tongue out at Shizuru, but decided against it when she recalled what happened the last time she’d done that. Okay, it wasn’t that bad… but later. “I don’t put mayonnaise on everything, you know.” Shizuru gave her a blank look. “Well, I don’t! It just doesn’t work with pizza, for one thing.”
Shizuru’s eyes rolled. Even if it she believed Natsuki, she wasn’t going to give in to it. “Well anyways, I got a half-and-half pizza. Veggie for me, meat lover’s for you. You’re going to need the protein to build up muscles with those new weights.”
“Excuses, excuses,” Natsuki taunted. “You know as well as I do that you just got it because I like it.” She was ready for Shizuru’s pout this time, and had her counterattack planned out in advance. Preparing herself for what she knew would be coming, she thrust her tongue out tauntingly at Shizuru. Sure enough, it took less than two seconds for her to find herself with her lips locked to Shizuru’s and her tongue deep inside the girl’s mouth.
Allowing herself only a second to chuckle over her victory at manipulating the master manipulator, Natsuki let herself be absorbed into the sensations of the kiss. Shizuru seemed to be focusing most of her attentions on her tongue, as Natsuki felt the silky texture of her girlfriend’s lips encompassing and massaging it while her tongue playfully circled around it and occasionally flicked at the tip.
Natsuki unconsciously let out a yelp when she suddenly lost track of Shizuru’s tongue. She rapidly brought her hands up to pull Shizuru’s head as close as she could into hers, tilting it to the side so their mouths fit together better, while she thrust her own tongue forward in search of it, conscious that this was probably exactly Shizuru’s intent. As soon as she found it hiding at the back of her mouth, it thrust back out along the length of her own tongue, extending well into her mouth.
She quickly realized that her tongue was no longer Shizuru’s primary target as she felt the girl’s tongue start to explore the depths of her mouth. So that was her goal, Natsuki noted as she let out a light chuckle, the motions of which Shizuru seemed to find quite enjoyable.
Deciding to simply let the girl have her fun, Natsuki allowed herself to relax and concentrate on all the sensations Shizuru was eliciting in her. The feeling of her tongue against the back of her mouth, even occasionally tickling the back of throat, was an obvious and quite enjoyable one. Moving beyond that a bit, there were Shizuru’s lips pressed up tightly against hers, not moving too much as most of Shizuru’s concentration was focused on her tongue. It was still quite nice feeling them though, especially with how well their mouths fit together with Shizuru’s head bent this way, almost as if they were made for each.
Bah, what do I mean “as if”? I don’t think I have any question left that we definitely are made for just each other. Natsuki would have smiled at this pleasant thought if her mouth were in any position that allowed it to move, so she decided to show her happiness in another way. She shifted her left leg to the side and under Shizuru’s body, and then wrapped it around her. Grasping her intent, Shizuru shifted her body up onto the bed, allowing Natsuki’s right leg to join its partner in clasping Shizuru against her. The movement caused a few sharp pains in her feet, but Natsuki was far beyond caring.
Natsuki’s hands were already pressed against the back of Shizuru’s head – and relishing the lovely texture of Shizuru’s soft chestnut locks while they were at it – so Natsuki only had to bring her elbows up over Shizuru’s shoulders to maximize the contact of her arms. Finally in a position where she had completely maximized the contact of her body with Shizuru’s, Natsuki allowed herself a moan of delight. She could certainly get used to snuggling with the girl like this, and she could barely wait until she got the chance to spend a night sleeping with her again.
The thought of this next occasion brought with it a reminder of what she’d promised she’d allow Shizuru to do to her before that happened, causing a wave of heat to rush to her face. A little voice in the back of Natsuki’s head expressed disappointment that with how focused Shizuru was on the kiss, she wouldn’t get to see this blush, but the much louder voice of Natsuki’s modesty promptly shut it up and started fretting about what Shizuru had planned for her.
As these carnal thoughts invaded Natsuki’s mind, her attention was drawn to a lower part of her body which was now pressed up against Shizuru courtesy of the position her legs were in. There was some extra warmth there – the kiss was definitely having an effect on her – but it didn’t feel like it was enough that she’d be comfortable overcoming her modesty to let Shizuru in. It was a little worrying, and Natsuki started to fear that it wouldn’t be any better on Friday, when she’d promised to let Shizuru go further.
Maybe it was just that she was missing the build-up. When pleasuring Shizuru, she hadn’t gone straight for the goal. All her research told her that she was supposed to play around a bit first, and that had certainly seemed to work. That was probably the whole point of it then: to get the other girl excited enough that she wasn’t afraid to let the other in.Ugh, why do I have to be such an idiot sometimes? Of course that’s the point, and I’m sure Shizuru will know that herself and make sure I… oh…
A wave of pleasure coursed through Natsuki’s body as she felt Shizuru’s lips press against her collar bone. She’d been too lost in though to notice Shizuru had left her mouth, but she certainly wasn’t complaining about this new sensation. It was as if Shizuru were reading her mind and confirming that yes, she was well aware of what she’d have to do to get her fully in the mood.
Natsuki felt like she was drowning in the sensations Shizuru was eliciting in her as she trailed kisses along her collarbone and up the side of her neck. If Shizuru were to press her much further, she didn’t know if she’d be able to resist, or even if she wanted to. One small part of her mind tried to complain that they were supposed to wait until Friday so they’d be free to sleep together afterwards, but its tiny voice was barely heard over the waves of pleasure coursing through her body at Shizuru’s caresses.
The small voice was vindicated however, when a sharp knocking jolted Natsuki out of her daze. Shizuru seemed to be stunned as well, and as Natsuki’s eyes focused on her face, she saw a grimace of what looked like anger forming on it. Could that be the pizza already? Natsuki wondered. How long have we been kissing? She turned her head to check the clock as she felt Shizuru crawling off of her to go answer the door. She hadn’t checked the time when Shizuru left to order the pizza, though, but it had been at least half an hour since they’d arrived. However she split it, it had easily been long enough for the pizza to get there, assuming Shizuru had ordered from a nearby store.
From the expression she’d seen on Shizuru’s face, Natsuki was a bit concerned for the delivery boy. However, Shizuru was a master at controlling her emotions, so surely she wouldn’t be too hard on him. Natsuki heard the door opening and some muffled voices making their way into her room. No yelling, so she let out a little sigh of relief. After a moment, she heard the door close and Shizuru strolled back into her bedroom, a mischievous smile on her face.
“Now, I believe Natsuki promised me that she’d let me carry her around her dorm,” Shizuru said, a dangerous look forming in her eye. Natsuki gulped in barely-restrained fear. She trusted Shizuru not to do anything to hurt her or that really made her uncomfortable, but unfortunately she also trusted her to push her limits as far as she could, and she had a sinking feeling she was about to experience just that.
Shizuru approached her and hooked one arm under Natsuki’s knees and the other behind her back, lifting her up much as she had earlier that day when Natsuki had first been injured. Okay, this isn’t so bad, Natsuki thought as Shizuru started to carry her out to the kitchen. As she looped her arms around Shizuru’s shoulders to steady herself, the girl suddenly snuck her head in to steal a quick kiss. It brought a light blush to Natsuki’s cheeks, but mostly it caused her to relax as she figured that was as bad as the teasing was going to get.
Of course, she really shouldn’t have underestimated Shizuru. Instead of placing Natsuki down at the place she’d set up for her, Shizuru simply pulled out her own chair and sat down, allowing Natsuki to come to rest in her lap. The blush on Natsuki’s face deepened as she realized the extent of Shizuru’s game, but the only response it got from the girl was a lilting, “Well, shall we eat?”
Natsuki glared at Shizuru, but got only a pleasant, if devious, smile in return. Shizuru didn’t wait long for her, though, as she opened up the pizza box and withdrew two slices from it, one for her and one for Natsuki, and placed them on her plate. The ploy didn’t please Natsuki however, and she demanded, “Are you going to force me to walk to my seat myself?”
“Ara?” Shizuru said, her face a mask of perfect innocence. “Why would Natsuki wish to do that?”
Natsuki knew if she told the truth she would be subjected to Shizuru’s pout and end up giving in, regardless of the fact that she knew that it was coming and would be fake. She struggled briefly for an excuse that might get her off the hook, and went with the first thing that crossed her mind. “Because if I sit right here, I won’t have enough room to eat pizza while looking into those beautiful crimson eyes of yours.” She batted her eyelids for added effect, and fortunately Shizuru simply blushed at this rather then breaking out into laughter at her performance.
“Ara, I’m going to hold you to that, you know,” Shizuru said, bringing her eyes up to meet Natsuki’s. As she got up and carried Natsuki over to her own seat, maintaining eye contact the whole time, Natsuki noted to herself that it would be breaking eye contact so she could properly pick up the pizza that would be the problem. There was something hypnotic about them that threatened to draw her in, and at this moment, she wasn’t sure that was such a bad thing.
The spell was broken when Shizuru put her down and turned away to head back to her seat. Taking advantage of her free moment, Natsuki snatched her slice of pizza off of Shizuru’s plate in case the girl demanded her eye contact again as soon as she sat down. Although she did immediately meet Natsuki’s gaze when she sat back down, offering her a loving smile, the hypnotic effect of her eyes was mercifully lessened with distance.
“So, I guess it would be appropriate for us to try to get to know each other better on our first date,” Shizuru said. After taking a bite of her slice of pizza – she of course used a fork and knife for it rather than something as ungraceful as picking it up with her hands – she continued, “But it seems to me that after her explorations last Saturday, Natsuki must already know all she could about me. I might just have to even the scores tonight.”
“Huh?” Natsuki said through a mouthful of pizza as she gave Shizuru a blank look and tried to puzzle out what she meant. Catching her confusion, Shizuru gave Natsuki a sultry wink to emphasize her point, prompting a fierce blush in the girl as she figured it out. She gulped down her pizza and snapped, “Oh no, you don’t! I told you no sneak peaks until Friday, and I’m sticking to that. Besides, it’s not as if I actually spent that much time learning about you; I was too busy just focusing on what you needed that I… I… really should learn when to shut up.” Natsuki covered up her embarrassment by quickly shoving what remained of her slice of pizza into her mouth, keeping her eyes well away from Shizuru.
Either Shizuru decided to be merciful or she was as stunned by Natsuki’s admission as Natsuki was to have made it, as she refrained from comment on this matter. She continued eating for a few minutes in silence. After she got out her second slice of pizza and Natsuki had finally worked up the courage to face her again, she tried a different line of conversation. “How about this: Ask anything you want about me, Natsuki. Fujino Shizuru is an open book to you tonight.”
Natsuki paused in her pizza binge to consider this for a moment. What didn’t she already know about Shizuru? She’d already figured out quite well what her deepest secret was, and a lot of her other private thoughts seemed to revolve around that one as well. On the other end, there were the aspects of herself that everyone knew about: her green tea addiction, her manipulative personality, her graceful Kyoto breeding… aha! There was one thing. “Tell me about your family, Shizuru,” Natsuki said. “Where do you come from?”
Natsuki noticed a slight twitch in Shizuru’s smile. It was subtle, but it seemed that she approved of Natsuki’s choice of questions. “Well, as you probably know, the Fujinos are a very successful Kyoto family. When the technology boom was just starting up, my mother’s parents sniffed the breeze and jumped right in. We’ve been well-off ever since. Of course, they didn’t let the success go to their heads, and they kept close to their traditional Japanese roots, and this extended through my mother.”
“Wait a second,” Natsuki cut in, swallowing her current mouthful of pizza. “Your mother’s parents? They’re the Fujinos?”
“Ara, I was getting to that,” Shizuru said. Her face barely budged, but a twinkle in her eye hinted that she was proud of Natsuki for catching that point. “Meanwhile, my father was born to an American immigrant and the Japanese beauty who’d convinced him to stay in the country. They had started up their own business, and they were moderately successful.
“Eventually they came to the attention of my parents, and they got into talks about merging their business into Fujino Technologies. For some reason I’ll never know, my mother’s parents were somehow charmed by my father, and they made the suggestion of an arranged marriage between him and their eldest daughter, my mother. It was quite the surprise to both my father and his parents. You see, my father is…” Shizuru seemed to struggle for the best way to explain her father, “…not very Japanese,” she settled on begrudgingly.
Feeling her input was required at this point, Natsuki piped up between bites, “How so?”
Shizuru paused for a moment to consider this. “Well, he picked up a lot of American values from his father, along with some other characteristics that I think it’s best you see for yourself when I take you to meet him.” Before Natsuki could protest this plan, Shizuru quickly continued, “But the result was that he never had much luck with Japanese girls. He was also the hopeless romantic sort, and so when this opportunity came up, he convinced both his parents and my mother to give things a chance between them. If the relationship worked out, great, if not, they didn’t really need to worry about the arranged marriage in any case; it was simply a suggestion to help cement the merger, rather than a requirement.
“Well, as you can probably guess, my father eventually was able to win over my mother’s heart. To my mother’s surprise, he was actually quite the charmer. His biggest problem was simply that he’d never had a girl give him a chance before her. Too many parents were frightened of a half-American oddball like him and chased him off.”
By this time, Natsuki had finished up her final slice of pizza, though Shizuru had spent more time talking and was thus only halfway done. She stepped in at this point and inquired, “So what about your mother, then? What’s she like?”
“For the most part, she’s what you’d expect of a traditional Kyoto lady,” Shizuru said, causing a picture of an aged Shizuru to flash through Natsuki’s mind. “She has a younger brother and sister, and they’re more the wild ones of the family, so she settled into being the mature, responsible one. I think she secretly always wished she were as carefree as her siblings, and maybe that’s part of what drew her to my father. He was able to bring some of that out in her over time, as well.
“Anyways, you were wondering about how I ended up with the Fujino name,” Shizuru said, after taking a short break to finish up her third slice of pizza. Natsuki nodded at this, and after taking a first bite of her final piece, Shizuru continued, “Well, my father really wanted to impress my mother’s parents – not realizing that he’d already done quite enough by helping to bring my mother out of her shell a little – and he brought up an old tradition where if the husband in a marriage were from a lower-class family, he would take his wife’s name. My mother was too flattered to object, and her parents couldn’t talk him out of it, so that’s how we ended up being the Fujinos.”
“What a nice story you have,” Natsuki idly commented as her thoughts drifted to her own situation. She’d been quite literally sold out by her mother – if she could trust Smith, which was more than a little doubtful – and then all but abandoned by her father. Maybe it would be a bit better if she decided to trust her mother’s love over Smith, but she was still dead in any case. “I wish I had a family like that…” she sighed.
“You could,” Shizuru said, snapping her out of her reverie. She immediately started to look embarrassed about what she’d said, and she didn’t offer anything more as she finished up her last slice of pizza.
“What? What do you mean?” Natsuki pressed.
“I’m sorry,” Shizuru said. Her eyes were downcast, avoiding Natsuki’s gaze. It was quite unusual to see the girl acting like this. “I’m getting ahead of myself. It’s just, I was thinking… I know my parents would really love you.”
Natsuki was stunned by this for a good minute. Multiple thoughts raced through her mind, including fear at the prospect of meeting Shizuru’s parents, fear of what she and Shizuru would have to do to make her legitimately a part of their family, and surprisingly a little disappointment that the current Japanese laws wouldn’t allow it. But there was something tempting about the prospect, and seeing Shizuru’s discomfort at having said this, she decided to choose this point to tell Shizuru. “It would be nice to have a family, I guess,” she said, giving a soft sigh. “I don’t even have Duran anymore now…”
Natsuki was pleased to see relief course through Shizuru’s expression. She thought she caught that mischievous glint for a moment, but if it was there, it was quickly suppressed. “Thank you, Natsuki,” Shizuru said. She was apparently well aware that Natsuki had chosen those words for her benefit. A slight frown then appeared on her face as she said, “Ara, I guess now’s as good a time as any to tell you, but my mother’s coming up to visit me on Thursday, so I won’t be able to spend time with you then.”
“Oh,” Natsuki said. She could feel herself deflating at this news, but she didn’t bother hiding her disappointment from Shizuru. She could find something to do… probably. She did have other friends who might be available.
“I’m sorry,” Shizuru said, only slightly relieving Natsuki’s disappointment. “There is one thing I did want to ask you relating to that, though,” she continued tentatively. “I still haven’t told anyone about our relationship, as you requested, and that includes my parents. In fact, they still don’t even know that I prefer girls. With the way things are going between us, it really seems like it’s about time I tell them at least that much, but I wanted to make sure you were okay with it.”
She couldn’t put her finger on the why of it, but Natsuki felt a blush forming on her face at this. It was something about the way Shizuru was acting, possibly, like a scared little girl worried about what her parents thought. A wave of warmth rushed through Natsuki at the realization that Shizuru was willing to reveal this weaker side of herself to her. Allowing a small smile to form on her face, she got up from her chair and walked over to Shizuru, forgetting all about the fact that her feet were supposed to hurt.
When she reached the girl, Natsuki knelt down and wrapped her in a hug. “Of course I’m okay with you telling them, Shizuru,” she whispered into her girlfriend’s ear. “I don’t know why you might think I’d have a problem with that.”
“Thank you, Natsuki,” Shizuru said, still a bit hesitant. “It’s just that, there’s a chance it might lead to questions of if I’m seeing anyone, and I wouldn’t want to lie.”
“Oh,” Natsuki said, considering this for a minute. “Well, I guess I don’t mind if you tell your mother about me, if this is that important to you.” She gave Shizuru her most encouraging smile, and she saw her friend’s face light up from her permission.
“Natsuki is too sweet,” Shizuru said, her voice almost breaking. Before Natsuki could even start to blush, she leaned in to punctuate this with a sweet kiss that made Natsuki forget what she was supposed to be embarrassed about.
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