Where Dreams Might Lead
Having just picked up the anime again after a long time I rediscovered
my fondness for the character of Ryuunosuke, the UY character that in a
roundabout way contributed to my "Ryûchan" nickname all those years ago.
As I see definite subtext between Ryuunosuke and Shinobu in the series
(as well as Benten and Oyuki, but this story isn't about those two) I
had to give it a go. Oh and I haven't seen all of the anime just yet,
but even the parts that I have seen I might very well have tossed around
or changed to fit what I wanted to write here.
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In the darkened mid-sized house that was home to the Miyake family one
Shinobu tossed and turned in her soft bed, her thoughts too disquiet for
sleep and her body still thrumming with the dreams that had wakened her.
Groaning her frustrations into her pillow, Shinobu tried to make sense
out of the whirling chaos inside her mind.
Although Shinobu was as skilled at self-denial as the next girl, perhaps
even a bit more so, there was no use pretending she had not just
experienced a very... intense dream about someone she considered a close
friend. While not exactly the first such she'd ever had, it was the
first time Shinobu had dreamt something quite so... elaborate about a
person she knew, and that was both bewildering and embarrassing enough
in and of itself; the fact that the person she had dreamt this about was
female did not make matters particularly much easier on her.
Ryuunosuke. Shinobu had dreamt of Ryuunosuke. Again, Shinobu mentally
added with a tiny snort and a faint sense of amusement, her classmate
and good friend Fujinami Ryuunosuke had been making her way into
Shinobu's dreams a lot lately, and usually for very good reasons too.
But this was something rather different.
Shinobu supposed that she should not be particularly surprised that she
was somewhat attracted to her boyish best friend, Ryuunosuke's
popularity among girls their age was an awe-inspiring thing to behold
considering the embarrassed girl had more female admirers than even the
rich 'prince' of the school himself, Mendou, and Shinobu could well
remember her own first reaction to what she at the time had thought to
be an uncommonly handsome and beautiful boy. In fact she had been
Mendou's unofficial date at the time, but even he had faded once Shinobu
had looked into those earnest, open and always glittering black eyes.
The truth had been revealed rather quickly, and Shinobu would not have
been Shinobu if she had not promptly and actively forgotten all about
her bout of instant attraction. Befriending Ryuunosuke she had seen
perhaps a bit deeper than most tended to when it came to the brash and
boyish martial artist, seen beyond the 'man among men' that Ryuunosuke's
father was so set on creating and seen the sensitive and awkward girl
that longed to be acknowledged but could never reconcile the male and
female aspects of herself enough to find some sort of peace.
Oh how Shinobu had ached sometimes to help Ryuunosuke past the confusion
and teach her those things she knew the other girl wanted to know but
never had the opportunity to learn with her father doing his best to
beat every remotely female thought out of Ryuunosuke's head. But there
had been far too many people interfering on that score already,
ironically most of them male, all of them trying to force Ryuunosuke
into their preconception of what a woman should be, and so Shinobu
instead defended Ryuunosuke's right to be herself, whatever and whoever
that might end up being.
To herself Shinobu could admit that she preferred the other girl the way
she was, not yet another carbon copy of sugary sweetness but a person of
complexity and layers, a strikingly handsome figure in her male uniform
with breathtakingly beautiful eyes and a chivalrous nature underneath
the rough male speech that even Mendou, with his high-class speech and
affected mannerisms, could never hope to achieve.
Realizing that she was back to thinking of Ryuunosuke's eyes, the way
her black hair fell into those eyes or the cutely abashed smile she
would have when embarrassed, and just what that was doing to her
heartbeat, Shinobu turned onto her other side, frantically trying to get
her thoughts back on track before she would accidentally picture
something like the other girl's, ahh, healthy figure when not wearing
the boy's uniform... *argh, too late darnit!* Shinobu hit herself in the
head with her pillow, repeatedly. *Stop that right now!*
Well, yes, fact established, clearly Shinobu was not merely attracted to
the more masculine traits of her friend. Sighing Shinobu clutched the
pillow a bit closer. She had so prided herself on being a perfectly
normal girl, too... knowing that she was a bit on the plain side
compared to her more illustrious friends, being known as 'the girl next
door' in all the chaos had eventually become her greatest merit. After
all, no matter how sexy they were, what boy would willingly take a
homicidal basket case home to meet their mother?
In Tomobiki, apparently nearly all of them. Aa, with all the trouble the
males of her immediate surroundings put her through on a daily basis,
was there any wonder Shinobu's thoughts strayed to sweet, shy,
kind-hearted Ryuunosuke? Shinobu rolled over onto her back to better be
able to stare at the ceiling.
OK, so the normal was a bit of self-delusion on Shinobu's part to begin
with, she kind of knew that. She had gotten enough of the
monster-treatment over time due to her great and unexplainable physical
strength that she was well aware that normal wasn't quite the word to
describe her. When really angry a normal girl at school might throw a
textbook or a pencil case - Shinobu would throw a desk. So what? Was
that such a big deal? Ryuunosuke certainly never seemed to think so.
Just being in school was a constant battle, in every sense, but at least
since the arrival of Ryuunosuke Shinobu had someone she could count on
to have her back. In fact, during the more physical bouts at school that
was exactly how they invariably ended up, back to back fighting off
whatever was coming at them.
Blushing slightly Shinobu touched her lips. Back to back, yeah... that
was how it had happened, Shinobu's first kiss. By all accounts most
likely Ryuunosuke's first kiss as well, but as Shinobu knew Ryuunosuke
had been on a date with that viciously conniving two-faced little devil
called Ran, she couldn't be altogether sure... and it was a bit too
delicate a matter to just right out ask the other girl about it.
Sure, the kiss had been by accident, and thanks to that cursed magnetic
lipstick that Shinobu still was not entirely sure how she had ended up
wearing, but...
But. Ryuunosuke's lips had been soft and warm, and the kiss, though
brief, was nice and left Shinobu feeling tingly and rather confused. She
hadn't been the only one, as Ryuunosuke had seemed quite freaked out by
it, but then again they'd had quite the audience at the time, the same
people that were always on Ryuunosuke's case about potentially liking
girls, so it was to be expected. Afterwards Shinobu and Ryuunosuke had
by mutual, unspoken, decision ignored what had happened, what was a
little accidental kiss between best friends?
Not what Shinobu was beginning to realize she wanted it to be, at any
rate.
It didn't end there though, not if she was honest about it. That day
when she had felt eyes following her as she was making her way home from
school alone, what was it that really had prompted Shinobu to race over
to Ryuunosuke, attach herself to the bewildered girl's arm like a lover,
and with a quiet plea ask Ryuunosuke to help her scare away whoever was
stalking her? Shinobu had always, before and since, taken care of such
things herself, and she had yet to meet the man she couldn't discourage
if she really put her back into it, err, put her mind to it.
Ryuunosuke had in her kindness agreed, and probably without realizing it
herself as she held Shinobu and wiped a few tears away acted very much
like a caring lover herself. It had warmed Shinobu's heart so much that
when a little while later she had found herself urged to go on a fake
date to discourage some at that time unknown would-be suitor, Shinobu
had eagerly grasped the opportunity to go on a date with Ryuunosuke.
It was just her typical rotten luck that the supposed fake date was not
even that, though, but rather an endless string of posing for
couple-like pictures with Ryuunosuke while constantly tormented by
certain demented so-called friends determined to 'save' them both from
forming any 'unnatural' relationships. As if that person in question
would know anything natural if it hit him in the head. And why oh why
couldn't the males of Tomobiki be at the very least normal enough to
simply drool and quietly dream of threesomes when faced with the
possibility that two girls were dating, the way hormonal teenage boys
everywhere were supposed to?!
Shinobu sighed again and tried to calm herself down before she threw her
pillow across the room in a fit of pique. At least she had come away
from the whole thing with a set of very nice pictures, and the memory of
being held in Ryuunosuke's strong arms like she was something precious.
In truth Shinobu couldn't quite remember why Ryuunosuke had lifted her
up and held her like that, because from the moment the taller girl had
scooped her up the world around them had just ceased to exist for
Shinobu. Held like that with her arms around Ryuunosuke's neck, Shinobu
had felt like a fairytale princess in the arms of her prince.
Smiling to herself Shinobu remembered how Ryuunosuke had sparkled then,
and how she had held and indeed carried Shinobu around for quite a bit
before remembering to put her down again. Of course, Ryuunosuke had also
tried to kiss her, something Shinobu now regretted that she had not held
the courage at that moment to let her. Then again it would just have
broken Shinobu's heart to know that she had been kissed by Ryuunosuke
twice and neither time had been intentional... since even this second
kiss would have been just Ryuunosuke caught up in the posing and obeying
the directives of the one holding the camera.
Hadn't she? Shinobu would never know, she supposed. The date had ended
in a spectacular fiasco involving a whole lot of people, including the
not-at-all discouraged but oh so very much unwanted suitor, and upset
and quite a bit confused Shinobu had stalked on home by herself, cursing
men all the way.
Ryuunosuke had shown up outside her house the next morning, all sweetly
apologetic and embarrassed, with a flower for Shinobu and an offer to
walk her to school. Charmed beyond reason by the flower and the gesture,
especially considering Ryuunosuke actually lived at the school and had
no reason whatsoever to be walking around her neighbourhood as it was,
Shinobu had accepted and linked arms with her friend all the way there.
They had been through a lot since then, and Shinobu had gone through
several half-hearted attempts at sort-of dating, mostly with Mendou,
again, but it never panned out and she couldn't be bothered to put
neither heart nor effort into it. The friendly outings she'd gone on
with Ryuunosuke had been far more pleasurable and memorable, especially
those when the two of them were on their own, but still, neither of them
had ever alluded to those being dates.
In fact, though she wasn't sure and couldn't prove it, Shinobu suspected
that Ryuunosuke had made at least one attempt of her own at dating with
another girl, this time with the rough and roguish biker-girl Benten. It
had burned quite a bit when the two tomboys had apparently made an
instant connection and Ryuunosuke had taken off with chain-wearing
Benten to spend the entire day doing who-knows-what. The last Shinobu
had seen of Ryuunosuke that day had been her rapidly disappearing figure
sitting on the back of Benten's red motorbike even though school was
still in session, and her frustration had not been lessened by the
mutterings of her classmates about Ryuunosuke and Benten being 'instant
soulmates'. Shinobu had been short-tempered and snippy towards everyone
for the rest of the day, although thankfully Ryuunosuke at least had not
been around to witness that.
Lacking the guts to ask Ryuunosuke about it, Shinobu knew she would
never find out what happened that day, just that Ryuunosuke was at
school as ever the next day and Benten didn't come back around for a
while.
Fighting back a jealous growl Shinobu tried to bring herself back on
track. Oh, right, her dreams about Ryuunosuke.
Was it the abject lack of even remotely passable - or for that matter,
remotely sane - males in all of Tomobiki that had made Shinobu
subconsciously turn to her best friend, the best friend whose
bewilderingly good looks and manner incidentally wooed girls by the
scores?
Something about that question just didn't sound right to Shinobu, but if
she was going to risk ruin a great friendship and face the inevitable
onslaught of her insane schoolmates over this she had better be sure.
Alright then, time for a little mental exercise as an experiment.
Setting aside emotions, personality, likeability and whatnot for now,
Shinobu called up the images of a few of the females she knew to be
considered the most beautiful by people in general. The first one was
easy, Lum. While she supposed her most-times-friend, sometimes-adversary
was pretty enough and that her exotic looks made her quite popular,
Shinobu felt absolutely nothing at the thought of the other girl naked.
The second one was Ran, and all Shinobu could feel was a sense of
revulsion for the clearly schizophrenic little puppet master and her
saccharine façade, so Shinobu quickly moved onto contestant number
three, the priestess-gone-nurse and also someone Shinobu considered a
friend despite the age gap, the lovely Sakura.
That was a thought that gave Shinobu pause and caused a bit of blush in
the process. Alright so Sakura was perhaps not the best test subject,
given that even small inanimate objects and single-cell amoeba
experienced palpitations and swooning whenever the raven-maned miko
passed by. So perhaps a fourth test subject would be in order, since
reacting to Sakura was clearly not going to be indicative of anything.
Who to pick though?
At a whim Shinobu called up the image of the constantly man-hunting but
much-desired Kurama, only to find that not only did the image of the
snow-white wannabe not do anything for her in the sense of the
experiment, but it also reminded her that this loud and obnoxious
stranger was another strong contender for Shinobu's Ryuunosuke-kun, in
fact Ryuunosuke was Kurama's ideal 'man' and the other woman had fully
intended to marry her before that trifling little issue of gender got in
the way. Shinobu seethed for a moment before collecting herself enough
to move on.
Alright then, on the female side of the experiment the results were...
nil, with one possible point for Sakura of course, Shinobu was still not
convinced the older woman should count though. That left the male side
of things, as loath as she was to consider it.
Attractive men in the general consensus would be Mendou, Rei and...
Shinobu wondered who else the girls at school would put on that list.
Clearly not Ataru, and Shinobu shuddered at the thought, but she
honestly did not know of any other man that stood out from the crowd.
Sakura's boyfriend perhaps, though honestly Tsubame was a plain and
uninteresting man and Shinobu couldn't quite get what the miko saw in
him. Nonetheless, Tsubame, Mendou and Rei it was.
Tsubame gave nothing but a vague sense of embarrassment that she even
entertained the thought, and in her mind the image of the man apologised
before disappearing, causing Shinobu to chuckle at her own imagination.
Second was the one she had sort of pursued for some time, Mendou, the
guy that had been the most popular person in school among the girls
before the arrival of Ryuunosuke. Picturing him made Shinobu shudder
slightly and feel grateful that she was past following him around,
though she was unsure of whether her revulsion had anything at all to do
with his looks, or if it had all to do with his wretched and lecherous
personality.
Finally the last one on her list was someone that was virtually a
stranger, but one whose looks had taken her in once before. Yes, Rei was
a very handsome man and women of all ages swooned over him, and Shinobu
was not quite unaffected herself even now. Strangely she was more
inclined to think him attractive if with clothes than without, and a
moment's critical thought gave her the answer to that... it was the
almost feminine parts of his appearance, in particular his eyes, that
she had liked, and that illusion did not extend below his neck.
That was three nil versus three nil. How frustrating! In the end nothing
was accomplished but to make Shinobu embarrassed and force her to avoid
Sakura for the next couple of days at school so that she would not end
up blushing and making a fool out of herself in front of the older
woman... particularly so since it seemed Sakura had a habit of reading
people's minds.
So, Shinobu thought somewhat annoyed with herself, she was not
interested in girls but she sure wasn't interested in boys either. What
did that say about her? More importantly, what did that say about her
considering she did react to Ryuunosuke?
Before she could think better of it Shinobu summoned up an image of
Ryuunosuke from the girls locker-room at school, naturally in the
altogether.
WHOA!
Shinobu shot out of bed with such force the previously clutched pillow
bounced against the far wall of the room, her face on fire with a blush
of epic proportions. *Shower! Shower, need shower now, cold water,
shower!*
Trying as best she could to calm herself down and not start
hyperventilating on top of everything else, Shinobu felt like hitting
herself in the head. How stupid was that? Well, if nothing else she
could with absolute certainty say that she was physically attracted to
her best friend - and how! - and also say with equal conviction that the
pang of interest at Sakura's beauty was negligent at best, and any
assessment of Rei's looks on her part was highly impersonal and meant
absolutely nothing.
At the end of the day it seemed Shinobu quite simply was a Ryuunosuke
woman, the thought bringing a half-hearted but amused chuckle and a
slight clearing of the recently overheated thoughts. A shower sure would
have been needed, though Shinobu realized she would wake her parents up
if she took one in the middle of the night. As she'd rather not have to
explain herself she'd better come up with something else to cool down.
Deciding on a walk to let the night air clear her head Shinobu craftily
snuck through the hall, getting a jacket and her shoes before just as
quietly leaving the house. There was a soda vending machine a block or
so over, the walk there and back should do her good.
As Shinobu quietly stepped over to the gate and closed it behind her,
studying the windows of the house carefully for any sign that she had
woken anyone up, she considered splurging and having a can of juice once
she reached her destination. A small sound made her turn around, an
uncomfortable shot of adrenaline rushing through her system and her
hands already halfway raised into fists just in case.
A pair of stunned yet ever-glittering wide black eyes stared into her
own in the dim light of the street.
"R- Ryuunosuke-kun?" Shinobu stared in disbelief as the girl that had
occupied her thoughts were standing there, looking terribly guilty doing
so, leaning on the wall on the opposite side of the narrow street
outside Shinobu's home. "What are you doing here?"
A small blushing competition was underway in the darkened street, but
the two competitors pretended not to notice.
"I-I... couldn't sleep." Ryuunosuke glanced up at Shinobu through her
bangs, crouched over enough to make Shinobu the taller for once, but did
not elaborate as to why the inability to sleep had led her to walk all
the way over from school to stand in the dark outside Shinobu's house.
Shinobu realized this and felt a small flutter of hope ignite. "Must
have walked here without thinking."
"Were you thinking about me?" Shinobu smiled encouragingly, feeling just
a bit bolder in the dark than usual, and knowing full well that
Ryuunosuke was too honest not to answer one way or the other. "Or you
wanted to see me, maybe?"
Bashfully the other girl looked away, her blush intensifying before she
answered in a quiet, hesitant voice. "Y-yes."
"Good... I was thinking of you too." Shinobu blushed a little at her own
admission but stepped forward all the same to link her arm through
Ryuunosuke's. "Would you like to come in, or should we take a walk?"
"A walk is fine with me..." Ryuunosuke answered absently as she eyed
Shinobu getting attached to her arm, but she didn't comment on it or
move away. When it came to Shinobu, she never did. "Wait, you were
thinking about me? W-what were you thinking?"
Shinobu giggled a little as she started them walking slowly. "Oh, I'll
tell you when I'm done thinking it." She teased gently but meant it all
the same.
They walked mostly in silence all the way to the vending machine that
Shinobu had picked as her destination earlier, only a few quiet words
exchanged and, at least on Shinobu's part, basking in the pleasure of
walking side by side with her arms wrapped around one of Ryuunosuke's
and her cheek lightly resting against the top of the same. Ryuunosuke
looked a bit embarrassed when Shinobu leaned on her like that, but there
was a tiny smile on her face and the taller girl again did not pull
away.
It was when Shinobu treated Ryuunosuke to a can of juice, receiving a
bright smile and honest gratitude in thanks, that it hit Shinobu just
how much she would truly like to go on a real date with Ryuunosuke
sometime. Indulging for a moment as they made their way over to a bench
to sit for a while, Shinobu tried to imagine how that would be, the two
of them on a real date.
It wouldn't be anything fancy, she decided, mainly because any dating on
their part would be paid for solely by her since Ryuunosuke was
perpetually penniless, Ryuunosuke's father always seeming to squander
whatever means they had in mysterious ways that not even Ryuunosuke
herself could fathom, but that would be ok. Ryuunosuke was a person that
appreciated the simple things, so it wouldn't have to be fancy to please
her, and Shinobu would be happy either way. A dinner at some more
inexpensive but still nice place, and then a trip to the movies, maybe?
Or a day for the both of them at an amusement park, Shinobu was sure she
could afford that for a special occasion. As long as it did not involve
a trip to the seaside, it was probably safe.
But then again, Shinobu thought to herself with a widening smile, just
sitting together watching the stars was nice enough. Ryuunosuke was
doing just that, her head tilted back to study the night sky while
carefully sipping her juice, and Shinobu decided to be bold.
Setting her can discreetly aside Shinobu eased even closer to her friend
until she quite simply, with some attempt at casualness, leaned her head
on Ryuunosuke's shoulder with a little sigh. The taller girl tensed up
for a moment, just long enough for Shinobu to doubt herself, then a
hesitant and slightly trembling arm came up to rest around Shinobu.
Resisting the urge to pump her fist and yell a hearty 'YES!' to the
sleeping neighbourhood, Shinobu instead wrapped her arm around
Ryuunosuke's waist, snuggling in a fraction closer.
They sat like that in silence for some time before finally Ryuunosuke
had to ask.
"Do girls normally do this a lot?" Ryuunosuke's voice held no
discomfort, merely curiosity, still Shinobu winced a bit inwardly at the
phrasing. She also felt as if there was something in the question she
was missing, but no matter, Shinobu would answer as best she could.
"N-normally? Well... with a boy they really like, sure. Someone they're
dating... something like that." There was a brief pause, during which
Shinobu could almost feel the questions forming in Ryuunosuke's mind.
"If you mean to ask if it is 'normal' for two girls to do things like
this... I can't really tell you, Ryuunosuke-kun. I think that it is up
to everyone to find out for themselves if they think it is or not. To me
I think it could be, but that is just my opinion and it doesn't have to
be yours."
"I do know that for me, whatever else it might be, to be here with you
is much more right than anything else I could imagine." *Whoops. Why not
go ahead and say the words 'I love you' while you're at it Shinobu?*
Then it occurred to Shinobu that she was thinking of Ryuunosuke in terms
of love. Wow, that was fast! An hour or so earlier and Shinobu had been
trying to coming to terms with being attracted to her best friend, and
already the love thing had slipped in. Drawing back just far enough that
she could properly face the other girl it occurred to her that the love
thing probably wasn't something particularly new, just something she
hadn't thought that closely about before. Alright.
*Ladies and gentlemen, this is Miyake Shinobu, going all in!*
"I-I guess what I'm saying is that I... have feelings for you,
Ryuunosuke-kun." Wincing slightly and biting her lip Shinobu gazed up at
the wide-eyed girl. "Does that... b-bother you?"
Ryuunosuke looked stunned at first, then blushed and scratched her head
in that strangely disarming gesture Shinobu had witnessed so many times
before. "No..." She avoided Shinobu's eyes. "Um, when you say
'feelings', you mean... ?"
Shinobu pulled her hands into her lap, suddenly feeling a lot less
hopeful and a lot more scared of the consequences of her little
declaration. "I-I mean feelings as in... going out on dates... holding
hands... kissing... _romantic_ sort of feelings."
"Oh." *Here it comes.* Shinobu tried to brace herself for a very awkward
rejection. "Shinobu?"
"Yes?"
"...I'm a girl."
"...yes."
"...you know that I'm a girl, right?"
A soft sigh. "Yes, of course I know that you're a girl, Ryuunosuke-kun.
I don't have these feelings because I picture you as a guy, or because
of what kind of girl you could become if you wanted to; I like you just
the way you are."
A hand found its way to one of Shinobu's, grasping it in a tentative
grip that grew more sure when Shinobu did not draw her hand away.
Looking up at Ryuunosuke Shinobu was startled to see a shy but happy
smile meeting her.
"You know I'm a girl but you like me anyway. Right." The smile widened
and Shinobu's hand was given a little squeeze. "I just wanted to be
sure."
"I-I..." Ryuunosuke cleared her throat. "really, really like you too,
Shinobu." Blushing furiously Ryuunosuke still managed to force herself
to look Shinobu in the eye. "Really really really really."
The hot flush of happiness that washed over Shinobu when she realized
what Ryuunosuke was actually saying was almost overwhelming. The soft
sound of happiness that slipped past her lips got muted by Ryuunosuke's
shirt when Shinobu, unable to help herself, grabbed the other girl in a
long, firm hug.
When she after long moments of hugging the taller girl tightly eased up
enough to create just enough space to be able to look at Ryuunosuke's
face, Shinobu discovered that she had somehow managed to all but crawl
into Ryuunosuke's lap in the process. Far too happy to even consider
being embarrassed by that though Shinobu merely beamed at the shyly
smiling girl she still had in a tight embrace.
"I guess that means that we'll be dating now, doesn't it?" Shinobu
needed to make sure they agreed on this, one could never quite know when
it came to the people of Tomobiki and the subject of relationships, she
had too much personal experience in just how easy it was to
misunderstand one another. "As in each other, only? Maybe even...
girlfriends?"
Ryuunosuke nodded eagerly and smiled widely. "Yes! G-girlfriends! And...
dating, just for real this time?"
Shinobu couldn't help but laugh a little at that, and leaned forward a
bit. "Yeah, for real this time, without the audience. Though we'll have
to be sneaky to avoid getting Ataru-kun or your father to follow us and
interfere." They shared an exasperated look and a small groan at the
thought, neither of them quite sure which one of the people mentioned
would be worst when it came to ruining things for them.
"Ryuunosuke?" Shinobu asked a bit more quietly after a moment, her
fingers idly playing with the open collar of Ryuunosuke's uniform
jacket. "Do you remember... um... our first kiss?"
A renewed blush and a very emphasized nod was her answer, making Shinobu
melt a little inside at how adorable Ryuunosuke could be sometimes.
Gathering her courage despite the tiny voice in the back of her head
that demanded to know what Shinobu thought she was doing, Shinobu leaned
in some more, their faces now very close to one another. She touched
Ryuunosuke's face in a small, gentle caress.
"Would it be alright if..." The quiet question was interrupted as their
lips met.
It was so soft, sweet and warm, everything Shinobu had remembered from
their first kiss and so much more. This was no mere accidental press of
lips, this was a real kiss... and everything else just faded away. By
the time they reluctantly drew apart Shinobu felt strangely weak, dizzy
and definitely out of breath... but oh so happy.
It took a few attempts before they could make themselves part long
enough to stop kissing, stand up and start the slow walk back towards
Shinobu's home, because as much as they would have liked to stay there
on their wooden bench by the vending machine all night, morning was not
far away as it was and the coming day was a school day after all. They
would more than likely fall asleep in class as it were, but that wasn't
as much of a problem as one might think, what with the usual goings-on
at school. Still, staying out all night and get caught at it by their
respective parents was perhaps not the best of ideas, so a slow walk
back and a very reluctant parting it was to be.
Their parting kiss was a long and involved one, leaving Shinobu to float
through the house to her room with a pounding heart and a general sense
of euphoria, and Ryuunosuke - once she had seen Shinobu safely inside -
to race the wind back to the small room she and her father rented,
bubbling with happy laughter all the way.
Mr Miyake was just exchanging his morning newspaper for his briefcase
getting ready to head off for work when he heard his wife's hurried
footsteps coming from the kitchen. He looked that way just in time to
see her excitedly round the corner to peer out through the small
decorative window on their front door.
"Dear! Dear!" Mrs Miyake cried and waved at him to come join her. "I
think I just saw our Shinobu kiss that nice young boy that is walking
her to school today, what was his name again? You know the one I mean,
the handsome one that has no mother."
"A well-mannered lad, as I recall..." Mr Miyake mused and peered out the
window beside his wife. Shinobu and her companion had already
disappeared behind the high wall edging the street though, but he didn't
mind much as he wasn't particularly keen on seeing his little girl do
things he frankly did not want to know about with her new boyfriend. "He
has walked her to school before, and didn't Shinobu mention that he had
helped her out with something a while back?"
Mrs Miyake nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, yes, that's him! He is so much
nicer than those other boys she has gone out with... sweet,
well-mannered and honest... much better husband material."
"Didn't Shinobu say that he was a hard-working lad, too? Some kind of
small-scale family business, I think." Mr Miyake considered what he knew
of this lad and weighed him against the Moroboshi's son and the Mendou
boy, and then nodded decisively. "If you still think she is dating him
by the end of the week, make sure Shinobu invites him over for dinner."
Some distance away a young couple stopped for a moment by a wooden bench
in order to properly put two forgotten juice cans in the trash, sharing
a moment of secret looks, blushing and happy smiles before linking hands
once more on their way to school.
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