Daa! Daa! Daa! Fan Fiction ❯ Why Not ❯ Kanata's Promised Date: A Small Step from the Present to the Future ( Chapter 17 )

A/N: Yeah I just wanted to say that this Chapter is not yet complete. I'd posted this just so that I can present something to you readers and prove that I am still going to continue what I stared. The whole and complete version of this chapter should be longer and edited than this one.

 

 

 

Previously on Why Not…

 

(Scenes from Chapter 16)

 

“If you just want us to talk then we can arrange something just like what we did when we got your wedding dress from Hanakomachi-san's store but I won't let your safety be in jeopardy just because I also wanted to hear from you as well.”

 

“Kanata…”

 

“What?”

 

“Honestly, you sound just like Mizuki. He said the same thing about using my phone when I'm driving the other day and I was like…”

 

“Another thing we have in common, huh? Sometimes I'm beginning to think that if you marry me instead of Mizuki you couldn't even tell the difference.”

 

“Don't joke around like that. It's really hard for me to take this animosity coming from the two of you.”

 

====

 

“Um, Saionji-sensei, if it's alright with you, may I know that somebody that you were talking to earlier?”

 

“Do you want the truth?”

 

“You can lie. It's also alright if you don't want to.”

 

“It was just Akira.”

 

“It was just Akira, huh? You're telling the truth.”

 

“Of course I do.”

 

“No wonder you're a little extra grumpy today. You're too happy because you were able to talk her that I end up on the rotten side of you.”

 

 

“No I'm not too happy because I was able to talk to her.”

 

“Now you are lying.”

 

“Besides you always end up on my rotten side anyway.”

 

“Now you're telling the truth again.”

 

“It's not good to keep your visitors waiting, Kouzuki-san.”

 

“Oh yeah. Of course. I have nothing left to say then. They may get suspicious or something. I'll be signing off now, Saionji-sensei. I don't want you to pay too much for your phone bill. ”

 

“Alright. Next time, think twice if you want to invite me in any of your social obligations. You know how it is.”

 

“Yeah. I'll keep that in mind.”

 

“And Kouzuki…”

 

“Yes?”

 

“It's really great that you're having that sleep over with your friends. It means that you don't have to be worried about being alone anymore.”

 

“But I wasn't too worried about being alone. Aside from them, I still have you as a friend, right?”

 

“Well duh! I was the friend who has been kissing you're worries away, remember?”

 

“How could I forget?”

 

=====

 

It's Aya's turn again to spin the bottle. She takes a good grip and twirls the thing as fast as she could. Santa closes his eyes then puts his hand behind his back and begins twirling his fore finger. Akane sees what the person next to her is doing while she puts her drink on the coaster behind her. She thinks it's just one of his nonsense and ignores it.

 

The bottle stops spinning and it points to Seiya. The rest ofcourse cant keep their silence in a minimum as they repeatedly say “KISS, KISS, KISS”

 

Since they are abiding by the rules thus far, Aya has no choice but to oblige. Seiya seems to be cool with it and smiles kindly at Aya. She recognizes his gesture as a gentleman and begins to crawl forward to his direction. Blushingly, Aya is successful on placing a soft peck on Seiya's face. That wasn't so bad now, was it?

 

====

 

“Seiya you could stop now if you want to.” says Miyu who is beginning to weep

 

“Either way I also knew that she would find out the truth. Of course, I couldn't predict how she would take it from me or from them. If I let them get to Miyu first I can assure they will do it with the utmost cruelty. She will hate them and she will hate me. I will not only loose the trust of the girl that I admire but also the companions that I felt like brothers.”

 

“Then in the end you decided to take the fall.” Nanami dares to speak

 

“In the end I took the cowards way out. I would forget about everything she and I shared to be the one who would deal the final strike. I would rather be the one to deal the appropriate damage just so I could protect Miyu from greater ruination. Miyu will hate me and only me, not another single soul. And the rest is history.”

 

“Miyu will hate me and only me, not another single soul.” Seiya repeats a verse from his story. “I had to be cruel to be kind. I made a very convincing act and made it look like I really toyed with her affection by hitting on another girl right in front of her. I called her names, insulted every inch of her and laughed at her when she's down on the gutter.”

 

“Mou, daijobu.”

 

“It was too late when I realized that I have become the very thing that I was avoiding. What I did was no different from what they wanted after all.”

 

“Seiya!”

 

“I'm sorry that I *sniff* I was powerless to defend you. And I am so *sniff* sorry that I made you look like a fool. I was afraid to be left alone by the others that I became selfish not to think that... *sniff* I promised to help you escape from your own loneliness. *sniff* Because I also owed them a lot that I could only do so little to protect them from doing the biggest mistake *sniff* of their lives, yet I've done so much to ruin yours. I knew I made the right decision but *sniff* I also knew that it wasn't the wisest. I never realized how it will come back to haunt me until I saw you once again and I…”

 

Before Seiya can finish his riveting speech, Miyu awards him his well earned kiss, just a simple press on his lips, enough for a gesture of appreciation for courage and sincerity.

 

=====

 

“The truth of the matter is, he only wants me to warn him if Akira shows her pretty little head here on your party.”

 

“Akira-san? Doushite?”

 

“I heard that she's planning to crash here just for fun. However, he persuaded her not to go because he was really worried that something might happen to her getting here with all of this rain going on. I'm sorry to tell you but his real intention is not all about what you think.”

 

“I see. He was only worried for her…”

 

“What's the matter? You've been acting a bit strange since you talked to HIM earlier. Did he say anything to you that he shouldn't have?”

 

“Actually, I think it's something he didn't said that he SHOULD have.”

 

“Oh? Whatever do you mean? He didn't told you about Akira?”

 

“He did told me about her, but it was only about them talking even before you could have the chance. He didn't mention anything to me about her coming here. It's not like something he would forget since they talked for over sixty minutes.”

 

“It's not a surprise to me. He always acts selfishly when it comes to her. Kanata aint really that fond with girls back then. Even though there legions of fangirls were out to get him, Akira was the only girl I know that he'll respond to and their chitchat could go beyond than a mere hour.”

 

“I got a feeling that he's like that. He only talked to me on your phone for about twenty minutes. It's not even half as much as Akira would normally get.”

 

“I'm sensing that you're feeling a little jealous.”

 

“Don't be absurd. Why should I be jealous? A teacher's love life doesn't concern me.”

 

“Who even told you that it was about his love life?”

 

“NO I mean to say…”

 

“You're feeling a bit threatened then. You should follow Hanakomachi-san's advice and just be honest. It is just the two of us here.”

 

“I'm not threatened, Santa. Besides, I already know that I don't stand a chance with someone like her.”

 

“Then you admit that you and Kanata are…”

 

“No, not really. He's a teacher and I'm a student. It just so happens that we are good friends.”

 

“Kouzuki-san, you and me, we're good friends. But I don't see you spending wild nights with me on my turf. There is something else, isn't there?”

 

“Well… maybe there was. Now that I thought about it, I said to him that I wouldn't allow unnecessary contact between us. Yet now I am worrying that Akira-san gets more phone-time with him than I do. I feel so stupid!”

 

“Kouzuki-san, do you still compare yourself to Akira?”

 

“At first I didn't even bother because I thought there was nothing around that would remind him of her. Then he sees her again and they had previous arrangements together. When we talked earlier, he sounded quite happy and all because he was able to talk to her again. I never heard him so glad before.”

 

“And it upsets you because he shows a different façade whenever she is around.”

 

“I don't know! Maybe I'm used to him worrying about me all the time, even if I am sad or in trouble. He said that I should call him if Seiya tries something funny. But now he forgets that Seiya is even here at my sleepover just because Akira was having trouble finding some place to spend the night!”

 

Miyu looks like she's about to cry by the sound of her trembling voice. It's the frustration building up and not the cold he is hearing. Her hands are curled up making two small fists. Looks like Santa made the fire a little too big. He needs to go to the next step while Miyu is starting to get sniveling like Seiya did inside.

 

“He wasn't even worried to ask if Seiya did anything bad to me *sniff* yet all Seiya did was pour his heart out.

 

“That's enough Kouzuki-san. Calm down. You're wishing for a teacher to be overly concerned about your private life. For someone who is not jealous of a teacher thinking of somebody else than you, you sure are taking this thing obviously the opposite way.”

“I just don't understand him. I thought I helped him. I thought he was over her already. Santa-kun, you're his right hand man. You could tell me?”

 

“The answer is simple, Kouzuki-san. For someone like Kanata, Akira was the right girl who was at the right place, at the right time.”

 

====

 

“Let me check my mobile.” Santa reaches down his pocket cautiously not to disturb Akane. “I always check time with this when…” He stops when he sees something interesting on the mobile screen. “Hold up, what is this… I got a voice mail from Akira-san.”

 

Miyu is taken aback. “Akira-san? Didn't you mention that Saionji-sensei want to watch out for her earlier.”

 

“Yeah but according here, I received this 11:08 pm. I didn't check my mobile since you returned it to me when you had that talk with him.” Unfortunately for Miyu, she doesn't know that Santa is lying. He did notice that voice mail from Akira but waited for the right opportunity to unleash it to the world. The time has finally come to reveal it now as part of his plan to make things even more interesting between his friends. “I must have ignored it when we were all having fun in there earlier.”

 

Santa pushes the button without any hesitation. Even though he thought of waiting for a while, he doesn't know what her message is. One thing is for certain, he sure hopes that it is something good. Scandalous Good

 

~~Hello Santa, it's me. I just thought of sending you this instead of an ordinary text mail so you can hear me. Kanata said that you might start moping again if I don't keep in touch again. Anyway, you don't have to worry a thing about me joining you and Miyu-san. To tell you the truth, I tried but the rain was too strong where I was and my car sadly died down on me when I still decided to go at Heiomachi. Since you're having such a time there, I called Kanata. He was kind enough to let me stay at his place. If you want to come over here, we could do some catching up… wait up… what's the matter with you Kanata, I'm just trying to be nice. What did I say about you being nicer to people around you? … Hello Santa? Sorry if you heard all of that. Kanata is being cranky since I ruined his beauty sleep and … K-Kanata don't! I'm ticklish there! No! *Squeal* Don't! *Squeal* Stop it! Ha ha ha! *Squeal*~~

 

====

 

“Tomorrow is the promised date at Fantasy Park that Kanata and Akira made to each other. Tomorrow is also the day when Miyu and Seiya are going out together to the same place. It's also possible that all of them will see each other. The word was already out so that means that a lot of people from our school are going there as well.” Santa says gently while patting Akane's head.

 

“You better take some shot eye. I don't want you to be wobbly when we go there tomorrow.” The sleeping girl suddenly speaks.

 

Santa lands his head on top of hers, absorbing the heat radiating from her body. “You're thinking the same thing, aren't you?”

 

“Are you kidding me? I want to see their collision course as much as you are.” Akane cuddles even closer to Santa. He responds my holding her even tighter. “If it's all the same to you, I'll stay up for a bit longer. I'll wake you up when the sun rises.”

 

=====

 

WHY NOT: CHAPTER 17

 

Kanata's Promised Date: A Small Journey from the Present to the Future

 

Disclaimer: D!3 is not mine.

 

Miyu looked like a wreck. She didn't get too much sleep last night. It was probably because she turned in at dawn, probably because she decided to sleep beside her snoring houseguests, or it was probably because she cannot forget her conversation with Santa earlier. It's a cool and humid Sunday morning. The over passed rain and the very damped ground take their toll on the morning air. The sun hasn't been fleeting completely behind the gray clouds. It's almost 6 a.m. and she needs to help prepare breakfast.

 

Despite the headache she has now because of the lack of sleep, she gently sat up from her futon and rubs the small muscle between her eyebrows then pinches her orbits. She opens her eyes and takes a look around. Everything is so blurry to her. She shakes her head and now she feels a bit dizzy. She closes her eyes shut to let it subside.

 

Miyu opens her eyes once again and sees the gang is still dead asleep. Seiya is sleeping faced down with his futon blanket all crumpled up covering his feet, Nanami is snoozing on her left side with her right arm hugging the pillow under her head, Aya doesn't have a good cold threshold so Miyu could only assume that the one who is completely under the covers shaped like a ball is Aya, Christine is sleeping faced up normally so there is nothing remotely odd there, and then ofcourse Santa and Akane all snuggled up together sharing one futon. Miyu takes a closer look and it looks like the couple didn't do anything weird. She made completely clear last night that there would be no fooling around, yet somehow she trusted Akane to control Santa. Miyu only smiles a bit thinking that they wouldn't even dare doing something so inappropriate here.

 

“Oh great. I'm the only one who is up to make some breakfast.” Miyu whispers to herself. She then starts moving to escape the bodies lying on the den floor. After tiptoeing passed Seiya's futon, she takes a moment to raise both of her arms in the air and makes a big vertical stretch. Her PJ top is being pulled upward because of the stretch hence exposing her petite belly to the cool humid air. She feels the temperature hitting her skin but she suddenly feels a warmer object touching her naked stomach. With arms still curled up, she takes a look at the object and it is nothing but an arm. Miyu turns her head and sees the owner of the arm who is practically hugging her. “A normal `good morning' would be easier, you know.”

 

Seiya's response to her is nothing more of a lazy yawn. “You idiot.” Miyu tugs an elbow on his chest. “Don't yawn with your mouth open when you're in front of me.” Seiya doesn't even flinch on her brute effort. “A simple `good morning' from you would be better as well, Miyu”, he smiles. “Did I startle you?” Miyu shakes her head and breaths in deep. She notices that his arm around her also moved through the motions of her diaphragm. “A little. I thought you were still dozing off.” Miyu looks at him. “Although I cant believe that I forget that I should get used to you sneaking up behind me all the time.”

 

Miyu wants to tell him to let her go before somebody else is playing possum and enjoying this morning drama scene. She can tell by looking at his morning face that he would only go this far for now. After the full frontal explanation from him last night, she doesn't dislike him as much anymore. Seiya has been trying so hard to prove his worth to her since his suspension was lifted. “Help me fix breakfast, Seiya.” He nods at her and then she takes his hand and leads Seiya to the kitchen, wondering what's a certain teacher is doing right now at this hour with a girl in his pad.

 

On the other side of the city, Kanata seems enjoying his sleep. Who wouldn't be? It is a nice cool Sunday morning. It is such a good time to lie there on the bed enjoying a peaceful and relaxing rest. Besides, no man can complain about anything when the very thing that he cuddles so intimately that he thinks is his pillow is none other than a beautiful girl…

 

“OH SHIT!!!!”

 

Kanata's eyes shoot wide open as he sees his bestfriend getting comfortable besides his bare torso. Even he cannot believe that his own body has forsaken his will as he notices his arms are wrapped around Akira's slumbering form. Fortunately enough, he is still able to control his free arm to pull up the thick-layered covers to see underneath, hoping that he can see what he doesn't want to see. Unfortunately, underneath them is just a pair of bodies. One has nothing on but a black boxers and the other has nothing on but white lacy undergarments.

 

Kanata quickly pulled the covers back down due to his disbelief. He even denies it first yet he takes another look under the covers, but still the naked truth is still there. Miyu is only the other girl that is lucky enough to spend sometime sleeping beside him and never throughout those times that they end up both in their undies.

 

“Akira… I…”

 

The girl shifts her curvy body and digs her raven-locked head on his bare chest. “You couldn't believe it either, huh?” the girl whispers. Kanata is still speechless. He wants to say lots of things but it seems that all of the words came all together so fast that they didn't even made it out of his mouth, like a bunch of people getting stuck on a small door. Instead of going completely ballistic, he stares at his bestfriend and interlaces his free hand with her soft fingers. The feeling of the moment is so very riveting that his mind is so close to the edge of surrendering to every passing heated seconds.

 

Yet this scene right here happening… it's just so surreal… he dreamed about this moment where he can be with the girl he idolized… atleast he used to dream about and used to idolize. The fact that Akira is still engaged to married to someone else trumps the fact that Akira is also his girl bestfriend, which happens to be his first crush. Are the fates trying to pull another fast one on him?

 

“Aki-chan…” The confused semi-naked male says to the semi-naked lass resting on top of him. “We didn't drink any booze before we ended up here, right? Please tell me that we didn't?”

 

The girl shifted her head upwards to look at the gaze of her bestfriend. She sees no regret on his eyes but she could sense some uncertainty. “I don't think so. I'm not woozy nor smell any hint of alcohol from both us. Why?”

 

Kanata squinted his eyes. He doesn't believe his assessment so he asked Akira. He as well does not feel nauseous nor smell liquor. He knows he cannot have any alcohol, especially when he is alone with a girl. Too bad Akira was away for so long that she doesn't know that yet. The masculine sighs at he lets his voluptuous and supposedly bestfriend spoon with him.

 

Back on the Kouzuki Kitchen, Miyu and Seiya are inside preparing the morning grub. “Alrighty then. I think I'll go making the pancakes.” Miyu said confidently. Her companion, on the other hand, thinks otherwise and let out a small chuckle. “Is there anything funny, Yaboshi?” she asked. The blond walks to the counter and takes the pancake mix. “Oh nothing. I just remembered that home made cookies you made the last time.”

 

Miyu is taken aback. She did remember those cookies. When she used to see Seiya years ago, both of them agreed that Miyu couldn't bake after tasting them. “Oh yeah? Well that is then and this is now.” She exclaimed. “It's been years now and I've been practicing.” He puts the item back down and smirks at her. “Okay. Good luck with that.” Miyu then sweeps the pancake mix off the counter and turns her back at Seiya. “Are you saying that girls like me can't do it?” the girl annoyingly asked. “Nope. Girls CAN do it. You can't.”

 

“May I remind you that you're still on thin ice, Yaboshi?” She starts by getting a big bowl from the counter. “You don't have to eat them after they are done. You're free to heat up the leftovers from last night if they are less toxic to your taste.” She's about to reach some of the other items needed in front of her, when Seiya stands behind her and his arms wrap around her waists.

 

A surge of tingling sensation shoots up and down Miyu's spine as the guy made his action. “You remember what I said when I tasted your cookies?” Seiya whispers on her lower earlobe then breathes calmly down on the side of her neck, which happens to be one of her soft spots that only Kanata knows. Seiya can see how Miyu is getting a little tensed up. Apparently, he found the X that marks the spot.

 

The girl is feeling ticklish all of the sudden from his continuous respirations on that sweet spot yet not enough to make the passive insults go away. Seiya is advancing in such a good pace. After letting himself go last night, he feels that huge boulder was lifted off his shoulders. The phantom weight that he can only feel now is the guilt that keeps certain that he would never forget the awful thing that he had done to the girl he is embracing so lovingly right now. The kiss from Miyu last night opened the floodgates of his tainted emotion towards her, especially now that he is sure that he is not the only guy who has made an impact to Miyu's life as of late. “You said they were delicious and ate every crumb.” Miyu smiles as she reaches out for the eggs. “You were such a liar.”

 

Seiya looks at her hands as they are scrambling the eggs on that bowl. “I would not gobble them up if I thought they were that bad, you know.” The blond boy says. Miyu's eyes shift to the corner to look at him slightly. “That was because you felt threatened that I would give them to Mizuki instead. Atleast he knows how to appreciate everything that I give him.” Miyu then feels that the waistlock looses its grip. It seems that she hit a nerve there. “You're jealous, huh?”

 

“I was.” Seiya said softly. “But I don't have to feel threatened by him now.” Miyu does not know what to say next after he said those until they both hear some noises outside the kitchen. “It seems the others are all awake now.” Seiya removes his grip away from her body. “I think you should go see them first. I'll continue that.” Miyu nods her head, washes her hand at the sink, and goes straight outside. Seiya looks at her as she left the room. “I'm more concerned on someone who is more dangerous than Mizuki. I will not let Saionji get the best of me.”

 

Speaking of Saionji, things are about to start. Kanata and Akira have decided to get out of bed to start of the day. Actually, it was the guy who made the initiative because he doesn't know what might happens next if both still stayed under the covers without anything on their backs. His female companion did thought otherwise, though. She would have liked to stay with him for just a few more minutes, but ofcourse she kept that for herself.

 

“Yeeeeaaaaahhhh!!!!” Akira yelps as she does her standing stretches and hears some of her bones crack. Kanata cannot help but to stare at his bestfriend. She is doing her morning stretches in her lacy white delicates right in point blank distance. Akira looks at her companion with a naïve look. “Kana-chan, what are you looking at?” Kanata's gaze immediately brakes. “Um, just looking at something bouncy, I mean, nothing!” he stutters. He receives nothing from her but a pillow right to his face. “You pervert!” she smiles at him. In exchange, Akira receives Kanata's Lavender long sleeve shirt, which is 1 day old. “Just shut up and cover yourself with that, will you.” Kanata looks the other way blushing.

 

He, as well, walks around with only his boxers so it is just proper for him to cover up. He approaches his closet to get something like a lengthy bathrobe. Kanata digs up inside to see if there is another one that Akira can use. “Did Miyu left the other bathrobe in the other room? I know I have one more somewhere.” Kanata mumbles on as he searches for the item. “You might as well have this bathrobe on yourself, Aki-chan.”

 

When he is about to hand over the robe, he sees Akira with the shirt on. It only covers her down to her panties and creamy upper thighs. She is also standing near the window so the early sunlight passes through the light green cloth, making a provocative silhouette of Akira's torso. She did not even bother to button it so Kanata can still see his bestfriend's uncovered whitish flesh in the middle, not to mention her ample cleavage snuggled comfortably behind her tight brassiere. “Thank you, Kana-chan.” She says to him as she takes the bathrobe from him.

 

Kanata quickly returns back to his closet to finally he finds the last robe inside. He puts the robe on as fast as he could and then faces the door. “We better make some warm breakfast and a cold shower.” He says to her. Akira smiles, takes his left arm, and hugs it. “Hai.” Kanata takes another glimpse of her for a second then both of them step out. After a few steps towards the kitchen, Kanata stops on his track and let Akira moves in front of him. He puts his hands on her upper arms. “You know what? I think I'll take that early cold shower now.” He says to his female friend before he takes a detour that leads to the apartment's washroom.

 

Giving another thought, he decides not to take the cold shower. He first fills the bathtub with steamy water. He turns to the washroom sink and splashes some cool water on his face a couple of times. It somehow refreshes him a bit and relaxes him for the mean time. The tiles are seemingly colder so he takes off his bathrobe and the remaining piece of clothing on him then goes inside the half-filled tub. He puts some soapsuds, bath salts and bubble lotion to the tub, and soon the tub lathers up into a soothing bubble bath. Kanata reclines his naked back and neck to the side of the tub and closes his eyes. Seconds later, he hears the washroom door being locked. To his surprise, Akira is standing beside the tub looking down on him. “Aki-chan?” he says nervously as she begins to take off her bathrobe. He becomes more stricken when she strips down to her “birthday suit” and then tosses her delicates besides Kanata's on the floor.

 

“What are we having?” Nanami says as she looks at the materials being thrown in together on the counter top. “I'm thinking of a Shotgun Breakfast to start of the day before we head off to Fantasy Park.” Miyu answers her friend. Nanami looks at her sheepishly. “Shotgun Breakfast? What's that?”

 

“It's a simplified term for the usual foods being served in a usual breakfast.” Aya walks in from the den into the kitchen table. “Fried eggs, buttered toasts, pancakes, sandwiches, franks, rice, coffee and fruit juices. The works.” Aya adds. She sees Santa sitting on the chair getting some more sleep while Akane is helping Miyu with the preparations. “I'll help with the pancakes, Miyu-chan.”

 

“Don't bother, Aya-chan.” Miyu looks at her other friend. “Seiya is already taking care of it. He is right over there cooking them with the skillet as we speak.” Miyu points at the blond boy who is being serious doing his task. Aya looks at the boy for a second and her cheeks develop a faint hint of flushing. She shyly walks towards him and thinks real hard what to say. “Yaboshi-san?” Seiya recognizes the girlish voice and turns to look at the one who spoke his name.

 

“Konishi-san, good morning.” Seiya greets her politely. “What can I do for you?” Aya cannot help but to feel a little giddy. She's been like this ever since he did that kiss last night. Sure it was just out of dare but to her it didn't look like Seiya was hesitant about the “punishment”… like it was no big deal to him. However, apparently it made a big deal out of Aya. “Do you need some help there?” she asks him nicely. Being the nice guy that he REALLY is, he stands aside and hands over the spatula. “You can do the flipping if, if you like.”

 

Unknown to them, Nanami has been watching. “Ohoo… I can smell something fishy…” Nanami says as she holds her chin like a thinking detective. “What are you talking about, Nanami-chan?” Akane asks the nosy girl. “We are not doing any fish.” Nanami smiles at Akane and Miyu. “Huh? Ofcourse you're not. Forget about it. Say, where is Chris-san, anyway?”

 

“I think she hit the showers first.” Miyu answers. “She said that she has some sort of a bathing ritual that she does, which usually takes about 20 minutes. Nanami-chan, will you get the powdered juice mix for me?” The shorthaired girl obliges and takes out the big pitcher from the glass cabinet. “Don't worry, Miyu-chan I got this covered.” Nanami says as she pours some liberal amount of powder inside the container. “20 minutes, you say? That's awfully long for a morning bath, isn't? Well she might as well be the first or all of we'll be late if she goes in last.”

 

The last pair of toasts pops out of the toaster. Akane picks them up with tongs and places them neatly on top of the stack of toasts on a medium sized platter. “Miyu-chan, are your folks joining us for breakfast?” she asks the blond hostess as she searches for any jars of sandwich spreads. “They are. I'll give them a wake up call soon.” Miyu responds as she scoops some freshly cooked rice from the rice cooker. “Since they are on a break, they are taking full advantage of all of the sleep that could get.” Says Miyu while molding up a few flavored riceballs.

 

“Good morning, everyone.” Says the pink haired girl, who was done with her morning shower. “Good Morning!” Everyone responds to Christine. She is wearing casual clothes with her damped hair resting on her right shoulder. “ I'll prepare the table. Kurosu-san, you are drooling.”

 

Kanata is not having such a pleasant early morning. Pleasant is not really a term one would say in this situation, however. Spooning with a beautiful girl on your bed after a wild night is one thing, but also having a supposed to be a tense-free bubble bath with that same girl together in the same tub is just simply outrageous. For an average guy, this is considered “pleasant” yet to Kanata, his idea of “pleasant” is having some private time to think about what is going on with his bestfriend, which is by the way, an average person would dream about sleeping and bathing with. It is not like he does not want her to be this intimately close with her. One must admit, throughout their story, Kanata has always have this “thing” towards Akira since the day they met up to the day she proclaimed her engagement to someone else.

 

For one brief moment, he was reclining on the tub and starting to enjoy the lathering action of the bubbles. Next thing he knew, he saw the only female occupant of the apartment, who was now COMPLETELY naked and took a dip in the bubble bath with him. Kanata is currently stumped. He doesn't know what kind of reaction he would act out. If this was the certain annoying blond girl, who he is used to then perhaps he would not been this confused. This girl, whose wet and slippery back is leaning against his torso, is quite different from the girl he is having issues with. He hyper extends his head and plants it on the tub's headrest.

 

“Aki-chan?” He speaks in a calm tone. “May I ask the reason why you are bearnaked and purposely joined me here inside the room?” Kanata asks his bestfriend who is currently massaging her arms with the soapy tub water. “Didn't you say that we should take a bath?” Akira replies sweetly. Kanata scratches his head to show his hint of awkwardness of the situation they are in. “I said take a cold shower.” Akira raises her lengthy left leg so she can clean it next. Her leg is so creamy smooth that the soapy water illuminates the fade light of the room, making Kanata gulp in awe. “Well, a bath is still a bath.” She responds back. “But I did not mean we should take the bath together.” Kanata tries to keep his tone in moderation so she won't get hurt.

 

Akira submerges her leg down and carefully shifts her entire weight so that she can turn to face her nervous friend. “Kanata, relax will you?” She advises him. “We have taken a bunch of baths together in the past. Besides, it is not like we have anything left to hide from each other.” With that Kanata's blush makes a deeper shade of red. “Aki-chan, we were only kids back then. We stopped having baths together since we started to know any better.” She hears him loud and clear. He is right. Still, Akira has that girlish smile, takes his arms, and wrapped them on her.

 

The touch of Kanata's hands on her flesh is silky under the water. He starts to run his palms down her bent knees to her shins and then he moves his limbs back up to knead his digits along her slippery thighs. Akira can feel all of him from her behind. Kanata's arms submerging into the small pool to envelope around her front, pressing her back against his bare chest as his arched legs surround the rest of her body from left and right. The water flows in and out between the crooks and crannies in-between their skins.

 

Kanata closes his yearning eyes, pushing her drenched dark hair away with his nose to access her left side of her neck and shoulder so he can bombard them with butterfly kisses. She is feeling the heat from head to toe, discerning of the locking of their bodies and the impiousness of Kanata's incitement that she senses poking her sacrum. Whispering his name, she is happy and relieved that she still has that effect on Kanata's manhood. “After you're done washing the rest of my body, could you scrub my back?” she jests him. Kanata obliges willingly as he kisses her nape. “I'll scrub your back and you'll scrub mine.”

 

Twenty minutes has passed on the Kouzuki dining table. Miyu's parents joined the party as soon as the teenagers have gathered around the big furniture. Everyone is doing small talk about menial things like schoolwork and other extra-curricular activities. This conversation is delivered more by Aya, who is into the dramatic arts and Christine, who is into the academics. When sports become an issue, the kids have no choice but to look at Santa, since he is the only one who is a sports club. Nanami is somewhat sporty on P.E. but joining a real club has not really interested her that much.

 

Seiya is somewhat being silent all through this time. Miyu notices his odd behavior. She knows that Seiya is both a brain and a jock. That means when chats like this comes to plate, a brain would blurt out things to show how smart he is and a jock would blurt out his ego to show how good he is. Seiya is doing neither. Miyu guesses that he is being silent to show his best modest face. She smiles at his choice of protest and lets it go.

 

The time now is 9:28 in the morning. Since Christine is already done doing her morning bath, all she has to do is freshen up. But before she could do that, she helps Miyu with the dishes. The rest has yet to do their showers. There are two bathrooms in the house. The first is downstairs along the hallway next to the kitchen, which is the one that Chris used. The other one is upstairs, 2 meters away left from Miyu's bedroom door and adjacent to her parent's room. The two bathrooms both look identical so there is no really any advantage in either one. The guys thought that it is only appropriate for the rest of the girls to take the upstairs bathroom. Seiya and Santa are the only guys so that leaves the downstairs bathroom to them. Should they finish before all of the girls could, the last one who hasn't gone yet can take the downstairs to save time. Both boys also took the consideration that girls take too much time dressing up anyway.

 

Santa agrees to go first. Seiya decides to go through his things to prepare the clothes he will wear for the next location of events. Fantasy Park is having its grand re-opening today. At first he wanted to take Miyu so both of them can have the alone time and tie some loose ends between them. Regardless of what happened last night and this morning, he worries that Miyu or her close friends would keep on throwing his “evil deed” to his face when the time is frustratingly convenient. Everyone who knew about their past would always see him as a bad seed; hence it is only proper for him to make them change their mind. This is the reason why he brought himself into Miyu's gang. His plan is somewhat a collective approach.

 

Ever since his talk with Miyu at the park that faithful night, his girl of desire started to behave like before when they were an item, little by little. After securing a small spot of a long shot, he tries to be with her along with the rest of the gang. In any event such as the sleepover, the gang knew more about him and in exchange he is able to know more about them as well. However, he must be careful on what he says and do. It is not like he has something to hide that everyone might think otherwise of him.

 

He really is a nice guy, just didn't went well with the rightful group to project his cheerful and sensitive side. Should Miyu's friends get even the slightest hint that Miyu is hurt once again because of him, his business will not be with one bird alone, but also with the rest of the flock, not to mention, the one bird that was the only one with the gall to confront him directly.

 

Seiya remembers the one who goes with the name Saionji Kanata. Natsumi once told him that the Math teacher is rumored to be extremely close with Kouzuki Miyu. Afterall what happened since his suspension, he knew that saying that they are “extremely close” is the biggest understatement he ever heard. But everybody knows the biggest loophole of this arrangement, which nobody else can deny. He is still a teacher and she is still a student.

 

“Ahchshzzchss!” Kanata sneezes. “Someone is thinking about me.” He sniffs. After twenty-five minutes of intense “bathing” that they shared together, Kanata and Akira are now on their bathrobes again, sitting at the dining table. They didn't have the time to make a decent breakfast because they used most of it by “fooling around”. Luckily for Kanata, he was able to salvage some thick crust pizza that he ordered last night for them to grub on. After he puts the pizza inside the microwave oven, he goes to the front door to get the morning paper on his doorstep. Akira is making them both a couple cups of coffee then sees her best friend return to her side while scanning the front page of the broadsheet.

 

Seeing this scene makes it somewhat bittersweet for Akira. From her eyes, they act like a young married couple, even more ways than before. She has spent the night with her bestfriend on the same bed a lot of times, but never before waking up naked until today. Akira has shared a bath together with him numerous times, but never before in full nude until today. She has eaten breakfasts along with him countless of times, but never before doing it after ALL of the things that they have done this past nine hours. These are the things that they could do together more and more. However, Akira knows that it is not meant to be, not anymore.

 

“Here are the business and entertainment sections.” Kanata hands the folded papers to her. She gladly accepts them. The man surely knows her knacks. After handing Kanata's cup of coffee, she receives a kiss on her cheek as his sign of appreciation. He sits down, takes a quick sip of the dark liquid, and skims the headlines of the news. She takes her seat, sits right next to him, and reads some of the articles published on the sections of her preference. Her right hand holds the side of the papers while her left latches on her cup of coffee. When she lets her finger slip off the ceramic object, Kanata entwines his hand to hers, and gives her a flirty wink.

 

She has dreamt about things like these years ago yet both of them were robbed of their early chances. He is a bachelor. She is now engaged. He will eventually find someone else. She is going to get married to someone else. In her dreams, the guy she wants to end up with has always been Kanata. After she left and spent time on abroad, the guy's face slowly faded away and became some else's. All she can do is dream in reality.

 

Last night she seized the moment and came to Kanata, days before her wedding, calling in the promise they made each other. The promise is to spend the whole day together and go up at the peek of Fantasy Park riding its Ferris wheel. She knows she does not have much time left and she knows what they are doing right now cannot last. They sure are more than bestfriends, especially after what they did, but not at the same level of being lovers. Being a couple is different than acting like one. Her loyalties to her bestfriend will always remain in her heart but her loyalties to her soon to be husband is also absolute. She hopes that God would forgive and understand her for trying to get back any remnants of what the He took away from her and Kanata.

 

“Are you okay?” Kanata asks his bestfriend who has been staring at him for a minute now. “You've been awfully quiet since we arrived here at the table.” She is about to speak when Kanata lets go of his share of the newspaper, faces her, and clasps both of her hands. “I wasn't rough with you earlier, was I?” Akira giggles at his worried face. She is pleased knowing that she still has Kanata wrapped around her finger. “Relax, Kana-chan.” The female reassures him. “I was just thinking and you were just great. Now go check the pizza so we can get a move on.”

 

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(To be Edited and Concluded)