Minato giggled childishly as she observed herself in her long vanity
mirror. In her opinion, she looked perfect. She was wearing a long
ashen Chinese style dress, (that Rinako had bought for Minato’s
birthday.) her favorite silver earrings and unlike most days, Minato
had worn her long golden blonde hair up, rather than loose and free
like it had been usually.
There was no special occasion...well, maybe to others, but to Minato
today was very important...
She was going to meet Natsumi.
Ever since they became friends, Natsumi and Minato had been seeing
each other in secret. That was two whole weeks ago, but the time just
seemed to whiz by for Minato. Hiding their friendship was tough enough
as it was. The Cross Blade Lancers and the Spring Breeze Assassins had
connections everywhere. No matter how careful Minato and Natsumi were,
they always had to be twice as vigilant to stay ahead of the game.
Especially from people like Izumi. Izumi Wakabashi was the eyes and
ears of Tomeishuu High. Nothing could go on in secret without her
knowing about it. Still, Minato had been able to keep her friendship
with Natsumi a secret for a whole fortnight, so she was beginning to
let her guard down a little.
Besides she had other things to think about. Although Minato loved
spending time with Natsumi, this little section of her wanted more.
Natsumi had no idea how captivating she was in Minato’s eyes. All the
blonde had to do was just stare at Natsumi for a few seconds and her
heart would be aching with desire. This was hard for Minato, love
always was. Mainly because she didn’t dare tell Natsumi her true
feelings. Friendship was enough. For now.
Minato grinned broadly at her reflection and blew a silent kiss to an
image of ‘perfection’.
After checking herself over, Minato slowly crept over to the door of
her dorm room. It was around 10.00, and Rinako was having an early
night due to her difficult training schedule, so Minato had to sneak
out of here. She was still not ready to tell Rinako about the
situation. Not right now.
With a little careful footwork, Minato left the dorm room she shared
with Rinako, and quietly made her way out of the dorm hall. This was
going to be difficult. Curfew was at 11.00, but Minato knew full well
that she and Natsumi wouldn’t get back until about 1.00 in the
morning. They just seemed to get along like a house on fire. Minato
had offered for Shizuka to come along too, but neither Shizuka nor
Natsumi liked the idea. Natsumi and Shizuka really didn’t like each
other all that much, Minato had no idea why, but she was willing to
work on them a bit.
In no time at all, Minato was out in the courtyard, and she quickly
walked over to the front gates. As usual one of the staff members who
watched the gates was there (the students call them guardians) to make
sure nobody iffy got inside.
Minato passed by the guardian, but he quickly stopped her before she
could pass through the gates. “Hold it young lady. Where’s your entry
pass. You need it to get back in school.”
Minato fished out her car, and flashed it at the guardian. “Is this
enough? Geez, you’ve seen me pass through these gates a bajillion
times already, what more do you need?”
The guardian grinned. “Sorry sweetie, but rules are rules. You need
the pass to get back inside. Anyways, It’s 10.05 right now, make sure
your back by 11.00.”
Minato waved off the guardian as she left through the gates. “Yeah,
yeah...I’ll be back in time.”
The blonde exited Tomeishuu with her chin held high. This was going to
be a good night. She had promised to meet up with Natsumi just outside
of the small park down the road, called Mizube Ai Park. And after a
short walk, Minato’s eyes laid upon Natsumi, waiting patiently for
Minato’s arrival.
{I hope Minato doesn’t take too long.} Natsumi thought. {I’ve been
looking forward to this for a while...she really is just so-}
Natsumi’s thoughts were cut short by Minato’s eager greeting. “Hey!”
A small blush popped onto Natsumi’s face as Minato ran towards her,
with that same charming energetic streak. “Minato...”
**********
“Really? You think so? Come on! I’m telling you, my Math class is the
most boring one of all classes! Especially since Principal Yagami
started taking over the teaching...whoa, that guy is a bore.”
Natsumi chuckled at Minato’s crack at the Principal of Tomeishuu High,
Daisuke Yagami. The two had left school about two hours ago, it had
gone long past curfew for them, but neither seemed to care. They were
both having way too much fun. The first thing they had done was to go
see a movie. Cinemas in Shinjuku were always packed to the brim, but
the two friends could tolerate it, as long it was a good movie. Which
it wasn’t...All action and no plot. Still, that didn’t faze them, they
just continued on and get a bite to eat at a ramen shop. As crude and
simple as ramen may seem, it did hit the spot, at least in Minato’s
opinion. Shortly after that, the two girls stopped a coffee shop to
relax for a bit.
Natsumi couldn’t help but think the whole situation over. A movie, a
restaurant, a coffee place? This whole evening had a striking
resemblance to a date. Well, minus the make out. And Minato didn’t
really seem to notice it. Even so, Natsumi was having the time of her
life.
“Is Principal Yagami really that bad?” Natsumi asked, her voice
cracked by laughter.
“Yep! He is that bad. You’re new, Natsumi so you haven’t had the
experiences that I’ve had with Principle Yagami but the guy is a
nightmare reborn. Far, far too strict for his own good.”
Natsumi rested her chin on her hands and gazed upon the blonde
intently. She really couldn’t care less about what Minato was talking
about, but as long as she was able to be with her like this...It was
all she needed.
“I could listen to you forever, Minato.” Natsumi breathed dreamily.
Minato blushed, chuckled a little, and scratched the back of her head
nervously. “Am I that good of a storyteller?”
“Uh huh.” Natsumi agreed. “You tell great stories.”
That was nice. To be complimented by Natsumi. It meant something.
Something special. “Thanks. It’s getting late, you wanna get back?”
Natsumi looked at her watch. It was getting a bit late, particularly
because they had to get up early for classes. Minato had always been
an early bird, so these late nights were kind of ruff on her.
“Yeah, lets get going.”
**********
Fifteen minutes later, Minato and Natsumi walked down the quiet road
to Tomeishuu High. Since Tomeishuu was on the edge of Tokyo, the
streets got rather calm at night. With a bright full moon above and a
cool breeze blowing through the cherry blossom trees, it gave this
setting a...romantic feel.
And this wasn’t lost on either of the girls. Natsumi looked over to
Minato to see if she sensed the aura of their surroundings also, but
she looked colder than anything else.
“Are you cold, Minato?” Natsumi enquired sweetly.
Rinako’s younger sister nodded. “A little.”
Without a second thought, Natsumi pulled off her jacket, and slowly
draped it around Minato’s shoulders.
“Is that better?”
Minato smiled briefly, clutching at the inside of Natsumi’s jacket.
“Yes. Thank you, Natsumi.”
The Shinto priestess blushed and looked towards the ground, whilst
maintaining her steady pace. “No...problem.”
Before long, the girls started to walk past the stone walls of
Tomeishuu High. If the girls tried to get in through the gates they’d
probably get caught, so they both had to use secret entrances used by
the student body. Minato would use the one on the north side of the
school; this was Cross Blade Lancer property. Natsumi would use the
one on the south side, which belonged to the Spring Breeze Assassins.
The two slowed to a stop when they realized that they were back at
Tomeishuu by now. Natsumi and Minato could say nothing to each other
for some reason. Something was...different between them. Neither
wanted to let this moment go. Not now. They knew that by going back
into this school, they would be cast apart as enemies. It was like
some sort of sick, cosmic joke.
Was this how it was going be from now on? Being separated from each
other just because their friends and family wish it to be so?
The silence around the two girls was becoming awkward, so Minato
decided to break the ice. “I really enjoyed myself tonight.”
Natsumi said nothing; she continued to stare at Minato, with the most
preoccupied of expressions. That did not deter Minato however.
“I know I’d like to go out again.” Minato said. “If...you wanna come
with me...then...y’know...”
Finally Natsumi broke out of her silence, and grabbed Minato by the
arms, shocking the younger girl. “Listen to me, Minato. Why do we have
to do this? We’re friends, aren’t we?”
Minato nodded, not willing to break Natsumi’s soft touch. “Yes.”
“So then why do we have to listen to what Ayane and Rinako tell us?
Why should we have to go in there and pretend that we are adversaries
even if we aren’t?”
Minato looked away, sadly. “I like you a lot, Natsumi. I really do.
But...Rinako is my sister. I love her. I just...I don’t want her to
think that I’m...betraying her. You don’t know how much she hates
Ayane. If she knew I was friends with Ayane’s friend, she’d be so
angry...I can’t go through that...”
Natsumi reluctantly released Minato’s arms. “So is this how it’s going
to be?”
“I don’t want it to be, but...” Rather than finishing her sentence,
Minato moved closer to Natsumi. So close in fact that the platinum
blonde could smell the sweet aroma of Natsumi’s perfume. Steeling
herself for just a brief second, Minato stood on her tiptoes and
softly placed the sweetest of kisses on Natsumi’s cheek. The eyes of
the brunette priestess wide as tomorrow, shocked by Minato’s display
of affection.
Minato just smiled. “Thank you for a wonderful evening.”
Natsumi still couldn’t believe it. {Does...does she feel the same way
I do? Can she...can she be...?}
With a silent blush on her cheeks, Minato was about to turn away and
head for the Cross Blade Lancers’ secret entry, however Natsumi held
onto Minato’s arm yet again.
“Wait...Minato...how do you...feel about me?” Natsumi asked, her gaze
now fully on Minato.
Minato beamed an embarrassed smile at her friend. Maybe it was the
atmosphere or what not, but Minato was afraid to admit this anymore.
Not now.
“I like you, Natsumi...I like you a lot. More...than you can know...”
{I have to be dreaming.} Natsumi thought. “...Minato...I...”
The sapphire-eyed girl said nothing to Natsumi, only pushed herself on
to her toes again and cradled her arms around Natsumi’s neck. With a
steely resolve, Minato firmly pressed her lips against those of
Natsumi. And in an instant, Natsumi desperate search for love was
over. Slowly, Natsumi’s arms wrapped themselves around Minato’s supple
waist, and returned the kiss with equal passion.
At last.
Minato finally had her special someone.
Back to Rival Rage: The Beginning of Aerolust Index - Back to Original Fiction Shoujo-Ai Fanfiction