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Anime/Manga » Kannazuki no Miko » Kannazuki no Miko: Priestesses unchained font:

B s : A A A

Author: Tsuyazakura Kouyuki

Fiction Rated: T - English - Romance/General - Reviews: 116 - Published: 07-29-07 -

Updated: 09-06-07 - Complete id:3690453

CHAPTER TWO: HIMEKO.

“Can’t you stay for a little longer, Chikane-chan?” Kurusugawa Himeko asked in a
pleading voice.

She and the blue-haired princess were the only ones left in her apartment. About
half an hour earlier, Souma-kun and Mako-chan had had to lug the Fanatic Trio, all
of whom were dead drunk from the insane amount of liquor they ingested, to his car
while saying in a half-serious voice that he should just put them in the trunk
instead of the backseats. To Himeko’s relief, her target of adoration and affection
had chosen to remain for another while and engage with her in conversations about
anything that popped up in her mind. Still, she could not help feeling that the
one-inch distance between their shoulders was still too great, recalling how soft
the other girl’s body had been while pressed against her during that sensual dance,
and wanting to put her arms around her first love once more.

It also didn’t help that she, too, had downed too much wine to effectively hold
back her deepest desires. She couldn’t tear her eyes from Chikane-chan’s gorgeous
face and irresistible lips. She found herself more and more aware of the delicious
curves the princess’s snowy one-piece dress failed to hide. She had never wanted
someone so much she was afraid she was going insane.

“I am sorry, Himeko,” apologized the princess. “It is too late already.” She
glanced at the clock on the wall, which read eleven in the evening. Time sure flew
when Himeko was having fun, especially in the presence of her first love. “I need
to wake up very early tomorrow, you see.”

“Then I guess I can’t be helped,” she said dejectedly. The more time she spent with
her beloved Chikane-chan, the more she realized that she could never get enough.
Physical attractions aside, she felt that they were connected on so many levels
they could have been a soul that was just split and housed in different frames. The
phrase “hopelessly in love” barely scratched the surface of what she harbored
toward the blue-haired princess. “I’ll... see you to your car,” she offered.

Anything to get her a few more minutes with the girl she loved. Anything to let her
look at this beautiful being for another while. Gods, why wasn’t I born with more
courage? she wondered. If I can just open my mouth... If I can just tell her I wish
her to stay...

“Thank you,” Chikane-chan murmured appreciatively.

The walk to the ground floor was stricken with silence and awkwardness. It was also
short despite her insistence on taking the stairs. Chikane-chan never asked why –
the girl did not seem remotely surprised when being led away from the elevator – so
she didn’t have to give a reason. In fact, she wanted to take the elevator in the
hope that the incident in the early afternoon would repeat... yet she couldn’t
count on it to, for she knew that the God of Luck, were there one, had rarely been
benevolent to her. That was why she had elected the good old stairs, which at least
would guarantee her a few transient moments basking in the luminescence of the
moonlight of her world.

Little did she expect to find luck on her side at the end of her short but
heartbreaking journey.

“Does this happen often in this neighborhood?” the princess asked, her forefinger
tapping her lips thoughtfully, her eyes transfixed at the flat tires of the
Mercedes MNK 1010. It was granted that every car had a spare tire in the trunk in
case of emergency. It would do little good now that all four had been deflated by
someone who hands must have been moved by the Gods.

“Um... not really...” Himeko answered, sensing moisture sting in her eyes.

“This is bad,” Chikane-chan assessed. “I would call an auto shop or my rental

agency... but I have a feeling they have already closed down.” Sapphire eyes, in
which joy were twinkling like the million eyes of the nocturnal heavens on high,
swiveled to meet Himeko’s amethyst. “What do you think I should do?” There was no
way she could miss the note of relief ringing in the princess’s crystalline voice.
She was not too much of an idiot to fail to realize that the love of her life had
wanted to stay over as much as she herself did. She berated herself mentally for
being such a weak-willed fool. She could have saved herself the agony had she just
gathered her courage and asked.

“Why... why don’t you crash in at my place for the night, Chikane-chan?” she
proposed. “You can make your calls early tomorrow.”

“Would it be okay? I mean, would it inconvenience you in any way should I stay
over?”

“No! No!” She shook her head hastily. “Of course not!”

“Then... I will take you up on your offer, fair lady.” Another of the princess’s
charming smiles crossed her lips as she took Himeko’s right hand into hers and
brought it to her mouth, where she placed a soft, lingering kiss on its back. “You
have my gratitude. I cannot say how much your hospitality means to me.” Himeko
blushed. If her lips possessed even a shred of emotion, they would have been very
jealous of the back of her hand, which her first love never let go even after they
had climbed inside the elevator and pushed a button on the navigation pane.

The confined space began its slow ascent to the second floor.

“You look... disappointed somehow,” Chikane-chan observed moments after the metal
door slid sideways at their destination. She made no attempt to move out of the
car. “What is wrong?” There was no curiosity in her voice. Only amusement and hints
of encouragement for Himeko to tell the truth. She had a feeling that her beautiful
princess was fully aware of what was going on in her mind. She just wants me to say
it, doesn’t she?

“I was hoping for another blackout,” she confessed and blushed furiously at her
first love’s smile.

“Why?” the blue-haired girl asked innocently. “I thought you were afraid of the
dark.”

“Not with you in the same place...” Himeko answered honestly, feeling her cheeks
burn. “Not if you’d... hold me tight like you did earlier...” It had to be the wine
talking. The usually timid Kurusugawa Himeko couldn’t have uttered words from the
bottom of her heart so clearly and easily. She would have blushed herself to death
first.

To her pleasant surprise, the princess pushed a button that closed the elevator’s
door. A swarm of butterflies violently trounced her stomach.

“If you want me to hold you,” her regal companion spoke, “you but have to ask.”
Gentle arms flew around Himeko, pulling her into an embrace much tighter and more
intimate than that which connected their body during the Viennese Waltz. Her heart
pounded erratically against her first love’s firm and ample chest. Her left
shoulder was graced by her beautiful princess’s chin. Her nose breathed in the
fragrant scent soaked in every strand of deep blue hair of her sweetheart. She
thought she was going to melt from the strong body heat invading her fibers of
existence. Her arms slipped beneath those of the other girl, climbed upward, and
deposited her hands on the small of the latter’s back.

“Does the management have surveillance cameras installed in this elevator?”

Chikane-chan asked, her embrace tightening. It was as though she wanted to absorb
Himeko into herself. She didn’t have any objection to that.

“Yes.” The guard sitting in his office on the ground floor always monitored it. She
suspected the old man was snoring atop his desk at this moment, though. He always
did at night. The knowledge, coupled with the sudden question from the girl she
loved, warmed the blood in her veins and pumped it to her cheeks.

“A blackout would have been very nice,” the princess stated and continued to hold
her close.

“Why... is that?” The girl’s body temperature was climbing, Himeko noted in
dizziness

Chikane-chan didn’t answer. She laid a forefinger across Himeko’s lips and smiled.
Himeko thought she was going to pass out from that one meaningful gesture.

A loud beep and the flashing of the floor indicator announced that someone had just
called for the elevator at the second floor.

“What a pity.” The blue-haired girl let go of Himeko the instant the door slid
sideways and admitted the bony figure of Kurozaki Tae, her neighbor. The middle-
aged woman worked night-shift for a coffee house that opened twenty-four hours a
day, seven days a week. Himeko didn’t like her. The woman loved to stay indoors all
day during weekends and do nothing except listening to her stereo blaring death
metal music. She was the reason Himeko had to leave the apartment and did not
return until late into the night, when she was sure Kurozaki had left for work. Her
distance toward her neighbor had just increased a little bit now, she realized, for
the latter had just disturbed her blessed moment with the one she loved. Worse, the
bony stick – no other phrase would offer a more precise description – was peering
into the elevator and at Chikane-chan the way a cat would a saucer of milk.

Nodding politely at the death metal addict, she led her beloved princess out of the
elevator. Chikane-chan was wearing a secretive smile the whole time.

“You dislike that woman, do you not?” she asked as soon as they went inside the
apartment and Himeko turned the lock.

“Dislike is such a strong word.” She winced. “I’m just... not very chummy with
her.”
“Why not?” her sweetheart inquired.

“Well, she’s really loud with her music,” she explained. “And... she brought...
strange women home.” She blushed hotly. Gods, but the noises they made – when it
was still light out, no less! – were so embarrassing she either fled the apartment
entirely or put on her earphones and wished she was deaf! She often caught herself
wishing her indiscreet neighbor had purchased soundproofed walls. Plus, her lovers,
whom she changed like clothes, looked more like thugs than decent folks. She knew
she shouldn’t judge a book by its cover... but she always felt as though they were
undressing her with their eyes. Once she saved enough money, she was definitely
getting out of here.

“You did too, Himeko.” Her regal companion let out a melodious chortle as the two
of them settled down on a couch, their hands still joined, their fingers threaded.
“Did you not bring me home? You should not have, you know. I am more dangerous than
I look.” Playfulness gleamed in her sapphire gems.

“I don’t think so!” she argued. “I’m very comfortable around you!” Sometimes too
comfortable, in fact. “I... I trust you,” she added with all the love she could
conjure.

Smiling sweetly, her beloved reclined against the couch and simply studied Himeko
with a pair of eyes that spoke volumes of affection. The princess’s hand, very
still around that of Himeko at first, began stroking hers in silence and stirring
the emotions she didn’t know she had.

The clock struck midnight.

“Don’t you have to wake up early tomorrow, Chikane-chan?” she pointed out
regretfully. She certainly wouldn’t have minded spending the next few hours gazing
at her sweetheart.

“Yes, I do,” the princess confirmed.

“Then... perhaps you should go take a bath and then take a goodnight sleep,” Himeko
suggested.

“Good idea.” The princess let go of her hand and rose to her feet. She paused. “But
I did not bring any change of clothes.”

“I... I’ll lend you something,” Himeko offered, her face warming up at the thought.
“Um... what are your... sizes?”

The princess told her. She blushed harder. Their waist and hip measurements were
roughly the same, as expected. Also as expected, their bust sizes were quite far
apart. Her gaze wandered unconsciously to the ample bosom of the blue-haired girl
and lingered there momentarily, where it admired her beautiful and sensual curves,
before it cracked back to her like a whip. Himeko hastily cleared the indecent
thoughts whirling in her mind and hurried to her bed, the thick wooden platform of
which contained drawers where she put her sleepwear and her delicate clothes. In no
time at all, she took out a white button shirt, the only color she had, and a white
towel from two of the three drawers. The content of the third, however, stopped her
dead in her tracks. Do I... lend her my underwear as well? she thought in distress.
Gods, but I wish I hadn’t thrown out the pajamas.

In the end, she decided that a bottomless Chikane-chan walking around her apartment
might just be too much for her to take. She wanted her sweetheart to fall in love
with her, if she hadn’t already, not be disgusted by her unrestrained behaviors.
“What... color do you like, Chikane-chan?” She looked up from the drawer to find an
empty living room at the far end of the apartment. Her sweetheart was nowhere in
sight.

“What color do you like?” The princess’s arms slipped around her waist from behind,
startling her in the process. Her heart raced at the speed of light as the other
girl’s gentle hands laced together against Himeko’s abdomen and her full chest
descended lovingly on Himeko’s stiffened back. Chikane-chan’s warm fragrant breaths
were caressing Himeko’s skin while the former’s mouth nuzzled affectionately on her
earlobe. The princess might be offended to the sky to know this... but she felt
very nice even with all the layers of clothes separating their naked flesh.
“Himeko?” she prompted after a moment of comfortable silence. Her sultry voice
would have made a girl blush hotly enough to evaporate water. Like Himeko was now.

“Red,” her mouth formed the word. It was her favorite color.

“Then red would be fine,” said the girl she loved.

Is it my imagination... or is she trying to seduce me? she asked herself while

retrieving out a pair of red panties from the drawer and laid it atop the towel.
Suddenly, the princess’s voice rang in her head. “I am more dangerous than I look.”
She hoped it was true.

“Um...” she cleared her throat. “Here you go, Chikane-chan.” Her hand indicated the
items currently lying on the bed. Her target of affection paid them no mind.
Instead, she untied her arms from Himeko’s body – she had had to try her best to
suppress a groan – and walked to where the clothes stand was. There, she picked up
a button shirt of the same color and size as the one Himeko took out from the
drawer of the bed.

“Would you give me this?” the princess requested with a voice so cute no one on
earth would have the heart to refuse. “Please?”

“But I wore that one last night,” Himeko said shyly. “I was in a hurry this
morning... so I forgot to put it into the washing machine. The one on the bed was
washed and laundered, Chikane-chan.”

“I like this one better.” She hugged the shirt tightly and buried her face in its
fabric. She took a deep breath. “It smells like you. It has your warmth.”

Words failed Himeko. Her cheeks gathered the heat of a thousand suns. She only got
her voice back after a full minute had passed, during which her beloved princess
gazed at her almost pleadingly. She’s so cute! a voice squealed at the back of her
head.

“If... if you like, Chikane-chan,” she assented. Not quite reluctantly, she might
add.

“Thank you.” Her sweetheart kissed her softly on her cheek, effectively turning her
world upside down. She was kissed once back in the Mercedes and a few times in the
darkness of the elevator... yet these were simply pecks either too quick or meant
for comfort. This one, however, lingered on her skin long enough to send her into a
powerful and gripping daze. She only snapped out of it a while later, when she
realized that her target of affection had already gone into the bathroom, from
where the sounds of water sprays striking the floor and flesh could be heard.
Images streamed unchecked in her mind. She could very well imagine a naked princess
whose curves were hidden by the steam and whose skin was caressed by the hot water.
As she rose to her feet and sat down on the bed afterwards, her hands rose to place
on either side of her face. Her skin was oven-hot.
The door to the bathroom swung open, hot air invaded the apartment, and Himeko
decided she was looking at the most beautiful creature in the world. Since Chikane-
chan was the taller between them, the shirt given to the former only covered an
inch past her hips, unable to conceal the red pair of panties tightly embracing and
kissing her most personal place, where her breathtakingly long and lithe thighs
joined with her lower torso. The top two buttons of the shirt were left undone,
revealing her pink seashell pendant and a considerable amount of cleavage. Since
her skin was still moist from the shower, the fabric of the shirt clung to her,
allowing Himeko to perceive the curves of the other girl’s ample breasts and notice
the delicious color of her areolas and firm rosebuds.

On Himeko, the button shirt and the piece of underwear looked plain. On Chikane-
chan, they greatly augmented her natural charms and enhanced her beauty. She would
give a supermodel a run for her money, Himeko assessed.

The princess settled comfortably down on a couch, swung one arousingly slender leg
over the other thigh, and began drying up her luxuriant blue hair with the towel.
Even in that she was graceful.

“Why are you so quiet?” The love of her life crossed the living room and stood in
front of her. “Something on your mind?”

“Um... I was just thinking that you looked beautiful in this getup, Chikane-chan,”
she confessed.

“You flattered me.” Her sweetheart smiled. “I am sure you will look even better in
the same outfit.” Her hand stroked Himeko’s head. “Would you let me see?” Long
fingers lovingly cupped her chin. The sultriness was back in the princess’s voice
again, and it was pushing Himeko toward the edge.

“Let me take a bath first?” she requested. It was rather blurry at this point which
one of them was the tenant of the apartment and which the guest.

“Of course.” Chikane-chan nodded. “Do not take too long, ne?” she whispered. “It is
very lonely without you by my side.” Another kiss on the cheek. Himeko half-
expected steams to rise from her ears.

It was the quickest shower Kurusugawa Himeko ever took. Emerging from the shower in
the same white shirt, buttoned up all the way, and the same red panties, she found
Chikane-chan standing on the balcony with her hands on the railing, her pretty
mouth humming a melodious tune that Himeko couldn’t recognize, and her face
affectionate as it ever was. The naughty October breezes were gathering around the
blue-haired girl, lifting the hem of her shirt often and uncovering her pretty back
dimples, the round shape of her petite posterior, and the curvaceous divide
separating her firm panties-clad cheeks. Up high, a sliver of the moon was being
attended by its court of sparkly nobles. Down low, a full moon was shining where
Chikane-chan stood.

Quietly, Himeko took a jacket from her clothes stand, went to the balcony, and
draped it over her sweetheart’s shoulders from behind.

“Thank you.” The girl she loved turned around with a smile on her lips. Then she
fell quiet as she surveyed Himeko’s scantily-clad frame. “I was right,” she
intimated afterwards. “You look adorable in this outfit, Himeko.” She blushed. Her
princess smiled.

“What’s the name of the tune you were humming, Chikane-chan?” she inquired. “I
don’t think I heard it before.”
“It doesn’t have a name yet,” the moonlight of her world answered. “I just made it
up.”

“It’s very nice,” she complimented. “You sure have talents, Chikane-chan.”

“You are spoiling me.” Her first love chortled, sounding genuinely pleased.

A cool breeze seized Himeko abruptly and departed the following heartbeat, leaving
her standing there shivering and running her hands up her arms to generate some
warmth. Smiling, the blue-haired princess took off the jacket and put it on Himeko.
“You need this more than I,” she whispered.

“Should we go back in?” Himeko opined. “It’s cold out here.”

“Yes.” Chikane-chan draped an arm across her shoulder, pulled her closer, and
walked with her back inside the apartment. The glass double doors swung shut. It
was only a little warmer than outside. The owner of the Kanagawa Apartments had a
lot of things to offer his tenants, but he wasn’t rich enough to give them either a
heating system or an air conditioner. That was why this apartment was very hot in
summer and freezing when winter came.

“Are you sleepy yet, Chikane-chan?” She winced at the hopeful note in her voice.
She sounded desperate. To hide her flustered expression, she took off her jacket,
hung it back on the clothes stand, and sat down on the bed. Her target of affection
remained standing, her back leaning against the double doors, her frame accentuated
by the silvery light cascading down from the moon atop the starlit heavens.

“A little bit. Will you let me borrow a pillow and a blanket?” she said, her lips
wearing a secretive smile. “I will sleep on the couch.”

“I... don’t have a spare of... either,” Himeko stammered. During the one year she
lived in this apartment, she never expected to have a guest. Neither did she
imagine that when she did, the guest would happen to be the love of her life.

“That is not good,” the other girl assessed, her smile bordering on
mischievousness.

“Well... if you don’t mind... we can share the bed and the blanket.” Himeko glanced
at the single-sized mattress and blushed. Although she had been trying to have the
girl she loved stay the night, she never once thought about them sleeping on the
same bed. “It’s a little small, though. We... might have to squeeze in.”

“I am glad it is small,” the princess said quietly. “That way, I can have an excuse
to cuddle you in bed.” Himeko found her breaths hot enough to sear the insides of
her nostrils. “In case you have not noticed, I love holding you, Himeko.”

“Then... come here, please...?”

She extended a hand toward the other girl. Once she took it, Himeko drew her closer
until the latter stood right in front of her. She didn’t expect her beautiful
princess to place her hands on her shoulders, lower her onto the mattress with the
gentleness once would employ to treat a lover, and climb onto all four atop her
flimsy-clad frame. Chikane-chan’s shapely bosom hung an inch atop her heaving own.
Her hands itched to rise an enfold them, caress them, and touch them through the
thin fabric. Unwilling to let that happen, she put her arms around her sweetheart’s
back and pulled the latter down until her gentle weight was fully deposited atop
Himeko’s body. Unfortunately, the other girl’s mind-blowing softness and warmth
provided no distraction from the fire burning fiercely where her smooth and toned
thigh was pressed against the sensitive region between Himeko’s legs. She didn’t
know whether Chikane-chan did it on purpose, but she did know that unless something
be done soon, she was going delirious with love and desires.

“How many have you taken to your bed, Himeko?” the blue-haired girl asked. Her tone
made it clear she wasn’t inquiring as to the number of people Himeko had slept next
to on the same bed.

“None,” she answered truthfully. Quite unlike many of youngsters her age, including
her friends, she had done everything she could to keep herself out of temptation,
not that she had ever been tempted to be unfaithful to the one person she had been
waiting for. Her Innocence was still untouched. Now, she was more than ready to
relinquish it to the girl she loved.

“You have not given your precious treasure to anyone, my little angel?” It was the
first time she was addressed in such an intimate way by the moonlight of her world.

Heart bursting with unspeakable joy, she shook her head.

“How strange.” The princess chuckled. “Seeing how you often shared a bed with your
best friend, it is amazing that nothing ever happened between the two of you.”

A lump of something rose in her throat and crushed against her cartilages. She
turned her head sideways in guilt. “I... wouldn’t say... nothing,” she mumbled, her
voice almost inaudible.

“What is it, then?” An unreadable look crossed her sweetheart’s face. It sent her
into a near panic. She admitted that she thought it kinda fun and cute to see
Chikane-chan jealous – she did enjoy the last two times that the girl was – but
this was a different story. This... was dead serious. Unless she handled it well,
this magical moment was going to be ruined for sure.

“Well... I lost my first kiss to her,” she confessed. Images flashed into life in
her head.

“And you told me your Mako-chan was just a friend.” Chikane-chan had said the exact
same thing earlier, but she did it in a playful tone. It wasn’t present now.

“It was an accident!” Himeko clarified hastily. “Do you remember me telling you
about how she sometimes crashed in on the wrong bed?”

A brief nod answered her.

“Well... It happened one night... when she was mumbling things in her sleep.” She
cleared her throat. “All of a sudden... she kissed me... on the lips. I was so
shocked I... pushed her off of my bed.”

“Is that all?” spoke the princess, tension ebbing from her gorgeous face.

“Please believe me, Chikane-chan,” she pleaded. “After that accident, I was so
depressed I didn’t talk for a week. I’d been saving my first kiss for the person I
was waiting for, you see.”

“Was?” reiterated her first love, her expression brightening at the word.

“Yes... Was...” She nodded quietly, feeling thankful for the bottle of red Bordeaux
that her friend Igarashi Aiko had brought to her birthday party. Without it, this
would never have happened. Without it, she would not be on the same bed with the
love of her life, whispering words she would never have the courage to utter in
other circumstances. “I’ve been waiting for you all along, Chikane-chan. My first
kiss was meant for you, but...” Her voice trailed off. “I’m sorry.”

“It is indeed regrettable,” the girl said after a moment of awkward silence. “I do
want your first kiss. I really do.” The corners of her mouth quirked upward in what
seemed to be amusement. Her face drew closer to Himeko’s, but a fraction of an inch
still stood between their lips. It was clear the other girl wanted to tease her.

“How can I compensate to you, Chikane-chan?” Himeko’s forefinger traced the moist
lips of her sweetheart. The blue-haired girl bit on it gently.

“Your first time, my fair maiden,” she said after a deep breath, “let it be with
me, ne?”

“I’m yours the moment I met you on the street.” She wrapped her arms around
Chikane-chan’s neck and pulled the girl’s mouth to hers in a passionate kiss,
realizing in cresting joy that the most magical moments of her life had just
started. “Forever and ever.”
Saotome Makoto took out the key to her best friend’s apartment from her purse and
used it to unlock the door. What greeted her was the sound of the dryer humming
pleasantly in the kitchen and the sunlight glaring in from the far side of the
modest rectangular chamber, where the glass double doors were opening to the
balcony and allowing fresh air to circulate into the room. On the single-sized bed
nearby sat the Photography Major, whose bare back was leaning against the headboard
and whose front was loosely draped over by a blanket that exposed her shoulders to
cool air. Makoto had come here numerous times before. In every single one of these
she had seen her former crush in a white button shirt and her simple underwear. The
fact that she was entirely without clothes right now indicated that something had
happened last night, and that something had undoubtedly left the golden-haired girl
in a terrific mood. Makoto suppressed a smile. People always said love would make a
woman look more beautiful. In her best friend’s case, it was certainly true.

“Where is she?” she asked and sat down on the hard mattress, which wasn’t exactly
designed to accommodate amorous encounters, trying not to notice the visible stains
on the white bed sheet. Her tone made it clear to her former roommate that she knew
who had shared this very bed last night. She was aware that the future photographer
didn’t want to part with her princely companion after the birthday party came into
and end and the crowd dispersed, yet she hadn’t expected that they would consummate
their relationship on the same day they bumped into each other on the street.

Himeko quietly handed Makoto a piece of paper on which she could see words flowing
in an elegant script. “I have an urgent business to take care of, so I have to go.
I hope I will be able to see you soon, my little angel. Himemiya Chikane. P.S.: You
are very adorable when asleep.” Every letter was colored in affection, every word
written in the ink of love. Souma often wrote her notes, but none of his could
rival this little slip of paper in terms of emotions. Well, much as she loved him,
she had to admit that he was rather dry sometimes.

Makoto returned the slip to her former roommate. The golden-haired girl took it
into both hands and held it the way she would a fragile egg, smiling and gazing at
it adoringly all the while. It would take a blind person to not realize she was
hopelessly in love. Makoto chuckled and shook her head slightly. The girl has it
bad. She herself was not a passionate person in nature, so her relationship with
her fiancé could be best described as a calm sea compared to the burning flame that
was the bond Himeko shared with her lovely prince.

“How was your first time, little angel?” She brushed the Photography Major’s golden
tresses.
“It was... wonderful,” the other girl confessed timidly. “She was very... gentle
with me.” Dark spots of color blossomed on her cheeks. A dreamy expression graced
her gorgeous face. She said no more. The index finger of her right hand rose to
brush upon her own lips, her amethyst gaze became distant, and the pounding of her
heart grew loud enough to reach Makoto’s ears. She looked like she was recalling
the details of her abandon with the blue-haired girl last night as her mouth closed
lovingly around her fingertip, kissing and sucking at it softly in the fondest
daydream. Makoto found her own cheeks warming at the sight. Himemiya Chikane had
had to be very good at what she did, seeing how she had left Makoto’s best friend
in such a state of lingering rapture. And are these hickeys I see on her neck? Her
mind spun. I’ll need to remind her to wear a scarf later.

“Who pounced on whom first?” Makoto demanded playfully.

The color deepened. “I kissed her first,” Himeko professed. Makoto laughed aloud.
“What?” The other girl peered at her in a mix of diffidence and curiosity. She
continued laughing, her whole body shaking in mirth.

“Are you sure about this, Makoto?” her fiancé asked dubiously as soon as he was
commanded to deflate the Mercedes’s tires. “Leaving a stranger with your best
friend for the night seems... dangerous.” He flashed a disturbed look at Himeko,
who was forcing herself to engage in a conversation with the half-drunk Trio.
Makoto could feel the crushing weight of the Photography Major’s sadness on her
fragile shoulders in the absence of the girl she loved. She fully realized that
this predicament only happened because Himeko didn’t want to inconvenience anybody
by her selfish request and the blue-haired girl didn’t want to scare her by going
too fast. The both of them were so transparent Makoto could see them through.

“Dangerous?” she repeated, amused. “In what way?”

“Well...” her fiancé scratched his head, “isn’t it obvious? Aren’t you afraid the
girl’s going to do some... weird thing to Himeko?”

“Nope,” she declared flatly. Her intuition had never failed her. It wouldn’t now.
“In case you haven’t noticed, Sou-chan,” she only used his nickname when she was
sure no one else was going to hear it, “our birthday girl loves her and needs her
so badly tears are going to be spilled the moment Himemiya drives off. If there’s
anyone who’s in danger in this whole ordeal, it would be her.” She laughed at her
own wits.

“I wish I can be as sure as you,” he muttered.

“You’re just bitter because the girl succeeded in conquering your first love and
you failed,” she pounced. “Your ego just can’t take it, can you?”

“You just know me too well,” he humored her.

“Just get down there and sabotage that Mercedes. Just don’t leave any fingerprints.
I don’t want them to arrest you on grounds of vandalism before our wedding day.”

“Aye, aye, captain.” Resignation was all that was in his words.

“What are you laughing at?” Himeko tugged at the sleeve of Makoto’s jacket.

She told Himeko about the conversation she had with the boy she loved.

“So it was the two of you.” The golden-haired girl grimaced. “Do you know how much
it’s going to cost her to replace all four tires?” Maintenance of a luxury car like
the Mercedes wasn’t cheap, and it didn’t exactly help that the auto shops were ever
fond of charging their wealthy customers for the most ridiculous things. However,
if the blue-haired girl could drive a Convertible MNK 1010, the costliest vehicle
money could buy on the market, her family should be loaded enough to fix it.

“No, it wasn’t us.” Makoto gave a brief shake of her head.

“But I thought you told Souma-kun to...” a faint smile crossed Himeko’s lips,
“vandalize the car.”

“I did,” Makoto agreed. “He didn’t. The four tires were already flat when he went
down there.” Her fiancé had been quite surprised and relieved at the same time.
“Somebody beat him to it.”

“Maybe it’s the kids in the neighborhood after all.” The other girl grimaced.
Having lived here for the last twelve months, she had seen many instances where the
cars of the tenants were viciously scratched on the doors, the wind shields, or the
roofs. She often stated her relief that since she rode to and from school on the
bus – Makoto occasionally gave her a lift with Souma’s car – she didn’t have to
deal with this kind of headaches.

“I don’t think so,” Makoto disagreed, her mouth twitching. “Say, Himeko, can you
recall that your girlfriend,” she shot her best friend a wry look, which made the
latter turned scarlet from head to toes, “said she needed to get her phone from her
car right after the dance?” She paused and waited for a nod from her former
roommate. “Souma left as soon as she came back to the apartment. And you already
knew what he found. I can’t speak for anybody else,” she winked meaningfully, “but
personally, I don’t think it was a coincidence.”

“So...” Himeko hesitated, “you think...”

“Yes,” Makoto confirmed. “I think she did it to provide herself with an excuse to
sleepover.”

“So that’s why she looked so calm when walking to the car with me,” the Photography
Major murmured softly almost to herself. “She knew what we were going to find at
the parking space. She knew I was going to ask her to stay.” She giggled quietly
behind a raised hand. The resultant chimes were full of happiness. “She could just
have told me and saved me from going through that nerve-racking rollercoaster. She
made me think she couldn’t wait to leave.”

Makoto shrugged. “Some people like to take a roundabout way.” She herself preferred
directness.

“But that’s what makes her so adorable!” the golden-haired little angel gushed,
giggling harder now. “Instead of asking for things directly from me, sometimes
she’ll just find ways to have me offer it. She wanted to sleep on the same bed as
me, she knew I’d love to snuggle with her,” she gave Makoto a rueful look, “but she
still asked to borrow a blanket and a pillow to sleep on the couch.” Her giggle
became melodious laughter. “If she wants to kiss me, she’ll probably claim that I
don’t want to kiss her because she’s bad at it.”

“Look at you.” Makoto pinched the girl’s cheek. “You spent a day with her and you
acted like you knew her all your life.” She paused and arched an eyebrow at the
thoughtful look stealing across her best friend’s face. “What? Did I say something
weird?”

“No,” Himeko murmured quietly. “What you said is actually right. Right from the
moment I met her, I couldn’t help feeling that I’ve known her and been in love with
her from only the Gods know when. Somehow, I just assumed that she knew I loved
her.”

“Bizarre,” Makoto commented. She retracted the remark completely, however, as she
recalled how Himeko had always insisted that she was waiting for someone she never
knew. Perhaps it wasn’t that strange after all. “In any case,” she decided to move
to a more important topic, “How long do you intend to stay in bed? Are you waiting
for your precious lover to come back and continue where you two left off last
night?”

“No!” the Photography Major denied vigorously, but the full blush on her
countenance proved Makoto’s arrow had struck bull’s eyes. “I... I was about to get
up when you arrived.” The way she refused to meet Makoto’s eyes told a different
story. The golden-haired girl wasn’t being honest.

“Then do so now,” Makoto suggested. “The concert, which may I remind you that you
need to attend for your assignment, is going to start in an hour.” She glanced at
her wristwatch. “Scratch that. Fifty-nine minutes.”

“Oh no!” her former roommate exclaimed in pure horror. “I’m going to be late!” She
attempted to rise from the bed, but stopped dead at a look at Makoto’s exasperated
face. She blushed so hard her ears glowed red even in the brilliant incandescence
of the morning sun. For some reason, she pulled up the blanket and had it draped
over her entire body. “Would you mind turning the other way, Mako-chan?”
Embarrassment was all that was in her tiny oh so tiny voice.

“Why?” Makoto demanded, puzzled. “I’ve seen you without clothes before.” She could
very well remember the times she witnessed the naked glory that was her best
friend, also a former secret crush. She could remember the admiration, the desires
roaring from the pit of her stomach, and the shame of seeing her friend in such
away souring her soul. They were all memories now, most fond, some regretful, and a
few bitter. “Why acting all self-conscious now?”

“Well...” Himeko hesitated, coloring more darkly now. It would seem that even her
hair was going to turn red. “Not that I’m self-conscious...” She made a few
strangled sounds in her throat, sounding awfully reluctant to continue. Her right
hand, no more visible than a gentle swell beneath the thin blanket, started to move
as though it had a will of its own. During its slow descent, it lingered briefly at
her left breast, it paused no longer at her flat tummy, it rubbed tentatively at
where Makoto was sure to be her navel, and it came to an abrupt halt an inch before
it arrived between her fully concealed legs. As if startled by her hand’s
traitorous expedition, she jerked it back up and curled it firmly around her
seashell pendant, her face bearing the color of metal being heated to its melting
point.

So that’s why, Makoto mused.

“In any case,” her best friend continued, seemingly having forgotten that Makoto
was studying her the whole time, “I’d be embarrassed to death if you... look. So
please turn away?” A note of exasperation entered her voice.

“Only if you answer one question truthfully.”

“What question?” She looked anxious now. She knew that whatever Makoto was going to
ask, it wasn’t going to be good. She scoffed mentally. It was true that she was
mischievous in her own ways, but she was nothing compared to Kouzuki Takako. If the
flame-haired girl had been here, Himeko would have been barraged with questions she
would rather bite off her tongue than answer.

“How many hours of sleep did you get last night?”

“Mako-chan!”

Makoto laughed and rose from the bed. “Just get dressed already, little angel.”
Judging by the Photography Major’s glorious but slightly tired and sleepy face, she
guessed no more than a couple of hours. The party ended around eleven in the
evening, and it was already nine in the morning now. Who could have thought this
anti-exercise girl could go at it for so long? The thought made her laugh harder.
“I’ll wait for you in the car. Oh, remember to wear a scarf.”
The Oogami Hall of Izumo Open University owed its construction to Oogami Kazuki,
the current leader of the ancient Oogami Clan. The High Priest of the wealthiest
Shrine in the Prefecture, maybe in the entire nation itself, had donated a very
generous sum of money when the University needed it most. Thanks to the middle-aged
man, whose heart-calming smile and soul-warming nature were as famous as his
intellect and knowledge in the religious field, the Hall now rose majestically in
the very center of the campus. If seen from the air, the great dome of the costly
structure glittered like a molten-white sun while its two colonnades strikingly
resembled two concentric rings of aurora radiance. That was why the Hall, pride of
the administrators, was dubbed with the most fitting name: “Amaterasu’s Court.”
Interestingly enough, the northern front of the Court, as the students and faculty
lovingly called it, was embraced by a shallow pond shaped like a crescent that was
rumored to be the tribute to the other Goddess of the Heaven, Tsukiyomi. It was
said that Oogami-sensei had supplied the design himself.

“It’s not true,” Kurusugawa Himeko’s best friend told her as they walked side by
side toward the entrance. “Kazuki-san is an academic, not an architect. Souma’s
elder brother is, though. Lament all he will that he’s more of a destroyer than a
builder,” the auburn-haired girl rolled her eyes in disbelief, “he’s one marvelous
designer.” Oogami Tsubasa, a cold-faced man with a perpetual cigarette on his lips,
was the blood brother to Oogami Souma. They were eventually adopted into the Clan
after an unfortunate event tossed the older into a juvenile correctional
institution.

“Did he do it all on his own?” Himeko asked.

“Yup.” Her best friend nodded. “Every single slab of stone, every chandelier, and
every seat is placed at his specific instructions. He’s a loner, you see. He hates
to let anyone else touch his work.”

She was awed. She had met Tsubasa only once at Souma and Mako-chan’s engagement
party. Every time his gaze settled on her, it made her want to jump into a fire to
seek some heat. It wasn’t that she disliked him. She was simply... frightened by
the man’s icy manners and even icier face. She was only glad that Oogami-sensei was
going to be the best man at the wedding. The man, despite his religious background,
had very willingly accepted Souma’s request and agreed to the express wishes of
Makoto’s immediate family members, all devout Christians who insisted that she got
married in a church. The High Priest didn’t even demand that a second wedding take
place in the traditional fashion of the Japanese. Makoto was indeed fortunate to
have him for a brother-in-law.

A few minutes of walking and occasional stair-climbing brought them into the
Reception Chamber of the Oogami Hall, where red tapestry hung from the ceiling and
red carpet graced the floor. The vast space confined within the perfect hemisphere
was currently swamped with students who were trying to squeeze past the opened
double doors to the left hand side of the great slab of black marble at the far end
of the Chamber, into the impossibly smooth surface of which the names of the
contributors to the construction of Amaterasu’s Court were etched. The entrance to
the left would lead her into the West Wing, commonly known as Shizuka Concert Hall,
and the one on the right would bring her to the Kotoha Wing, or Kotoha University
Theater. Each of them could hold five hundred people at the same time.

“Do I look presentable, Mako-chan?” She stopped a few feet away from the crowded
entrance of Shizuka Concert Hall. There, she gave herself a thorough survey.

Himeko was in casual clothes today. A red vee-neck tee-shirt worn over by a white
jacket adorned her upper body while a pair of slightly bleached out denim jeans
decently covered the rest. Her shoulder-length hair was stuffed neatly beneath a
snowy ivy hat, leaving two narrow streams of golden hair falling down either side
of her face. Her seashell pendant was slipped inside the comfy shirt. Loosely
winding around her neck now was a self-knitted red scarf that was absolutely
necessary to hide the love-bites her sweetheart had intentionally deposited on her
throat. On her left shoulder hung the strap of the carrying case containing the
top-of-the-line camera her friends had given her for the birthday present. To the
breast of her jacket pinned an identification card that proved her status as the
campus newspaper’s photographer and authorized her entrance to any school-sponsored
event. Thanks to it, she could attend concerts and theatrical performances she
liked without paying the fees upfront like everybody else, which she really and
really couldn’t afford.

Her best friend eyed her up and down. “You look fine,” she declared in
satisfaction. Then, with a face fit for a mischief maker, she added, “Little
angel.”

She blushed. “Would you stop that?” It was the nickname Chikane-chan had given her
last night, a phrase the princess had whispered reverently and adoringly while they
made love, and what she had come to cherish as much as her given name. From the
blue-haired girl, it was a caress that warmed her face. From the auburn-haired one,
it became a playful jab at her heart.

“Oh,” her former roommate’s emerald eyes twinkled wickedly, “she’s the only one
who’s allowed to call you so, isn’t she?” She shook her head in what Himeko was
sure feigned disdain. “I see now. Four years of friendship can’t measure up to a
night with a stranger, is that it?”

“You know it’s not what I meant.” She grimaced. “Of all people to model yourself
after, why do you have to pick Takako?”

“Because it’s fun,” the track-and-field athlete answered simply. Himeko sighed.
“Anyway, in you go or you’ll be late. I’d hate to see your boss mad with you
because you choose to dawdle here with me instead of...” She stopped abruptly with
her chin raised and her eyes fixed on something to Himeko’s left. “Himeko,” she
called, her head whipping back to Himeko, her emerald eyes shining with a very
strange light, the corners of her mouth twitching in what seemed amusement and
pleasant shock. “Did you attend the newspaper staff meetings?”

“I’m a staff member. I had to,” she stated, puzzled at a question that was
absolutely unrelated to what they were talking about. Her best friend didn’t do
that too often, she recalled.

“All of them?”

“Except one,” she clarified, eyeing the athlete suspiciously. What no good is she
up to again?

“The latest meeting on Wednesday. I caught a fever that morning and couldn’t even
go to class until Friday, remember?” On one hand, it was a horrible episode that
left her in a miserable situation where she had to frantically borrow notes from
her classmates and copying them down and trying to study at the same time because
the exams were approaching. On the other hand, she was grateful toward the heavy
storm that had kept her bedridden for two straight days. Without it, she wouldn’t
have to see a physician yesterday in Downtown. Without it, she wouldn’t have met
the blue-haired princess. Without it... last night would have never happened. Her
hand rose to her scarf, itching to slip inside and caress the love marks her
beloved Chikane-chan had consecrated on her throat. She jerked it back to her side.
Maybe later, where her best friend couldn’t see her.

“Right.” The corners of Mako-chan’s mouth quirked higher up now into an almost
smile she appeared to be refraining herself from making. She was evidently filled
with barely suppressed mirth.

“What made you ask?” she inquired and blinked the second Mako-chan’s emerald eyes
swiveled to her left again. It piqued her curiosity and compelled her to turn her
head. “What’s over there?”

She never found out, for her former roommate had cupped her chin almost forcefully
and stopped her in her tracks. “You don’t have time for that. Just go in, won’t
you?”

She hurriedly pulled Himeko toward the entrance of Shizuka Concert Hall, where a
pair of pretty girls was inspecting the tickets but having a hard time doing so
because the students were too busy gawking at them to let them do their job.
Regardless, the auburn-haired athlete managed to squeeze Himeko through the
impossibly small gaps of the standing crowd by employing a significant amount of
elbowing and shoving, eliciting yells from those who were outraged but couldn’t
find out who assaulted them due to the extreme density of the surrounding. After a
quick look at her identification card, the two girls nodded and practically pushed
her past the double doors, forcing her to leave her best friend back in the crowd.
The girl never purchased a ticket, nor did her have any attention of attending a
concert by Korona, a vocalist she didn’t like. She was only here because she
promised to drive Himeko to school and wait until the concert finished to take her
back to the apartment.

“Have fun!” her former roommate hollered shortly before she vanished into the
crowd.

Still puzzled no end by Mako-chan’s mysterious behaviors, Himeko decided that as

soon as she left later, she was going to take a good look at what her best friend
was so intent on not letting her see. With that in mind, she slowly made her way
toward the empty walkway behind the outermost row of seat and tried to find the
best vantage point to capture whatever that was going to happen atop the empty
center podium, a high platform surrounded by row after row of nicely cushioned
seats. She almost always stood in the same aisle inside this Shizuka Concert Hall
because she didn’t want to steal a seat from someone who actually paid for it. Only
in the rare instances where it was relatively empty did she find herself a place to
sit down and enjoy the music.

In a professional manner, she took out from her carrying case the tripod as well as
the expensive camera and began setting up the equipments for the event. Down below,
people were settling in and chatting in indistinct but excited voices. She was
amazed. As far as she could see, this West Wing was getting packed. She could
remember that the other members of the newspaper staff had speculated that the
audience was going to be sparse, for the vocalist named Korona’s fame had yet to
spread to the greater portion of the public although more and more people were
growing fond of her songs.

Eventually, the din caused by the oddly spirited audience calmed as the spotlights
focused on a man in formal suit standing atop the stage. The double doors at the
entrance swung shut. The performance was about to begin. Himeko felt a thrill.
Unlike her best friend, she liked Korona for her voice, her affable personality,
and last but not least, her relationship with Oota Reiko, the mangaka who happened
to be at the very top of Himeko’s worship list. In defiance of public uproar and
criticism, the two women had revealed to the public that they were romantically
involved and intending to stay together for the rest of their natural lives. As if
spitting in the faces of those who couldn’t accept that love was beyond the
boundaries of gender, they celebrated their engagement last month at the Mahoroba
Amphitheater, at the very heart of the city itself.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” the master of ceremonies intoned, his warm voice booming
through the tiny microphone pinned to his tie and effectively ending Himeko’s train
of thoughts, “welcome to Shizuka Concert Hall. It is indeed a pleasure to see so
many of you here on this beautiful Saturday morning. Honestly, I myself feared that
we, the management, would have to cancel the performance and refund the tickets to
you because of the abrupt change in schedule.”

She blinked in shock. Change of schedule? Why wasn’t I informed? Her mind froze as
the conversation she had with Mako-chan at the entrance to the West Wing came alive
in her head. It’s because I skipped out on that meeting!

“As you all know from the flyers that the Music and Theatrical Arts Department sent
out on Wednesday,” the man continued, “Korona-san had to cancel her performance
here because she had to fly to attend an urgent meeting at Hollywood with her
fiancée, Reiko-sensei. It was confirmed by reliable sources that the entertainment
capital of the world sought the sensei’s approval to bring one of her numerous
works to life.” Murmurs of astonishment rose from the audience and quickly died
down so quietness. “We had frantically tried to make adjustments. Thankfully, the
agency of another famous musician had come to our aid and agreed to fill the
vacancy. As mentioned before, we were afraid that the change would cause an
undesirable impact in revenues. But lo’ and behold!” He swept his hands outwardly
in a grand gesture. “All the tickets were sold out and this very hall packed!
Ladies and gentlemen, let’s give it up for the musician whose fame and talents have
made this possible! Let’s give it up for the composer and the pianist who has
graciously granted us her presence today!”

The master of ceremonies brought his hands together in crisply loud claps that were
amplified by his microphone. Amazingly enough, the audience immediately joined him
in thunderous rounds of applause that reverberated endlessly in the grand Shizuka
Concert Hall. Then, all but one of the spotlights began moving away from the man
standing at the edge of the platform and focused one more on a person who had just
stepped out from the shadows and planted herself at the center of the stage, near
where a grand piano with glass cabinet and gilded steel frame was rising from a
trap door atop the stage. At the sight, Himeko’s heart stopped and her hands flew
up to clutch at her mouth. The musician introduced by the master of ceremonies was
a girl in a snowy one piece dress that left her shoulders bare, snugly embraced her
slender body at the waist and thighs, but flared up at the hem like the flukes of a
mermaid. Her slender neck was adorned by a velvet choker of the same color that
bore a large sapphire stone sparkling in the light. Her hair was a luxuriant stream
of azure, her face more beautiful than that of any in the audience, and her ocean-
colored eyes as bright as the gem on her throat. Atop her falling and rising chest
hung a seashell pendant identical to Himeko’s own.

She was the girl who had shared a passionate abandon with Himeko last night.

Through the lens of her camera, Himeko realized that her sweetheart’s line of sight
was directed toward where she stood. She knows I’m here, she thought in a wave of
love-induced dizziness. She knows I’m watching her. As to how that was possible in
the darkness beyond the stage, she couldn’t imagine. All that she knew was that her
first love was acutely aware of her tiniest movements despite the great distance
standing between their frames.

“As you already know, Himemiya Chikane-san, the master of ceremonies gestured at
his regal companion, who bowed to the quieting audience, “is the genius artist who
has won numerous awards and prizes since her early days in elementary school. Her
records had been sold by the millions worldwide. Times Magazine praised her as the
most impressive musician of the century. Even the famous producers of Hollywood
itself had asked her to be the composer for their movies’ soundtracks! Unless I am
entirely mistaken, she herself is going to be a part of the same production staff
as Reiko-sensei in that upcoming movie!” The princess gave a brief nod of
confirmation.

I never knew! a voice screamed at the back of Himeko’s head. She couldn’t have. The
knowledge of her music was limited to the pop culture many claimed to be shallow
and insufficient in the ways of elegance. She was too busy studying and making ends
meet her whole life that she devoted so little time to news of the land beyond the
boundaries of Mahoroba sometimes she felt as though this very city was the whole
world. Now she cursed her unworldly self for it. Had she paid more attention, she
would have been able to meet the love of her life sooner. Had she known, she would
not have spent so much time waiting for the girl with whom she was head over heels
in love. Why didn’t she tell me?!

“Himemiya-san” the man turned to Himeko’s first love, “may I ask you a question?”

“Of course,” the beautiful girl assented.

“I was told by the higher ups that your agency had actually sought us out and
offered to fill the vacancy left by Korona-san’s cancellation,” he said. “Would you
mind telling me why a world-class musician like you would agree to a performance in
such a distant place like ours?”

“The chairman of your Music and Theatrical Arts Department is an old classmate of
my Father, Himemiya Aoki, as well as a dear friend,” Chikane-chan answered in her
musical voice. “He knew that my parents and I was supposed to be here this weekend
for a family-related business,” a shadow stole across her lovely face, reminding
Himeko of the omiai the girl had mentioned the day they met, “so he called me
directly and asked if I could help him out. I said yes.”

“I see,” the master of ceremonies murmured in satisfaction. “Well, there are more
I’d like to ask since I am a loyal fan of your works, Himemiya-san.” She smiled
politely in response. “However, I think our beloved audience cannot wait any
longer, so I shouldn’t take any more of your precious time. Ladies and gentlemen,”
he bowed deeply, “I give you the Northern Star of the music world. I give you
Himemiya Chikane!” The lone spotlight illuminating his figure from the beginning of
his appearance dimmed away. It could have been Himeko’s imagination, but she
thought she saw Chikane-chan conversed briefly with the man before he was
completely consumed by the darkness.

In the renewed vigorous applauses from the students, the blue-haired princess
walked toward her grand piano. There, she sat down at the bench, which was crafted
from the same transparent material as the cabinet of the large string instrument,
and waited until absolute silence returned to Shizuka Concert Hall. Then she let
her slender fingers danced atop the eighty-eight keys of the grand piano and struck
from them what had to be the most beautiful sounds Himeko ever heard.

Since Mako-chan liked classical music and enjoyed listening to them back in the
Ototachibana Dorm, Himeko was introduced to them on several occasions against her
will. She didn’t like them too much, she didn’t understand them, and sometimes she
was so bored by them that she fell asleep on her bed. She never thought she would
ever come to enjoy this kind of music. She was convinced she wouldn’t care for it
unless she enlisted its aid in inviting her much needed sleep.

Her princess just proved her wrong. The pieces Chikane-chan performed onstage were,
for the lack of a better word, alive. They were impressive the way each and every
note rang with the ones preceded and succeeded it in a seamless melody. Sometimes,
the rhythm was as impressive as the Niagara Falls with its lightning quick,
pleasantly loud, and grand movements. Sometimes, it simulated the songs of the
birds chirping without a care in a quiet and peaceful rainforest. Sometimes, its
sensuality and sweetness reminded Himeko of all the words she and the love of her
life had whispered into each other’s ear last night in bed, all the loving strokes
and caresses and kisses they had offered one another while entangled in the flimsy
blanket, and all the cries of utmost delights they had released the moment the
waves of pleasure crashed.

Yet, she knew full well it wasn’t her torrential love toward the blue-haired girl
that left Himeko enthralled by her performance. The audience, too, had fallen under
the gripping spell of the snow-clad enchantress. Their faces alike were encompassed
by a glow of amazement, their eyes glued upon the beautiful princess who continued
to weave notes into melodious rhythms that took their breaths away.

Eventually, the performance came to an end. Silence and deathly stillness reigned
in the Shizuka Concert Hall as Himeko’s first love rose in utmost grace from the
bench and proceeded to the rim of the stage, where she bowed to the audience with a
little smile on her lips. As if awoken from a fond dream, they sprang to their feet
and unleashed a deafening storm of applause that seemed to shake Amaterasu’s Court
to the base of its foundation. Himeko herself felt moisture sting in her eyes and
invade her nostrils. Were they to demand that she paid all the money she had stored
in her ban account for this concert, she would be more than willing to give them
what they wanted.

“As I already mentioned,” Chikane-chan said, her voice possessing such a commanding
tone that the entire Shizuka Concert Hall quieted down at the very first word she
spoke, “I came to Mahoroba because of a family-related affair. Had my parents not
pressured me, I would never have stepped down from an airplane in Mahoroba
International Airport yesterday. Yet, I am glad I gave in to my parents’ will. Your
city is beautiful, a perfect picture of nature and civilization blended together
and the very proof of your sense of aesthetics.” Her honest compliments brought
brilliant smiles and firm nods. “And yet, there is one wonder your city has that no
other place does. It is here that I found the missing piece of my existence. It is
here I fell into the embrace of a miracle I have been seeking my whole life. Here,
I search no more.”

Confusion and surprise warred on the young faces of the audience. It would appear
that none knew what she could be referring to, none having the vaguest idea of what
could be classified as wonder or miracle in this small city. Yet, Himeko felt
warmth rising in her heart. She thought perhaps she knew what her beloved was
referring to.

“Though a humble one, I am also a composer who often falls prey to the whims of the
Muses,” continued the girl she loved. “Last night, they came to me and offered me
inspiration as well as the words and the arrangement of a song I think decent
enough to be heard.” A few boys and girls ooh’ed in amazement. There weren’t too
many who could do that in a night. “Normally, my agency, money loving as they are,”
the comments drew a gust of laughter from the inhabitants of the Shizuka Concert
Hall, “would insist that I achieve the proper copyrights for my work, put it onto a
CD with a few of my old songs, and publish it just so they can rob a few more yen
from your pockets. But since they are not here to bother me,” she smiled a smile
that could steal a man’s soul, “I believe I can play it for you without incurring
their wrath. Would you like to?”

“YES!” the audience roared like thunder. “YES!”

“Then it would be my pleasure, ladies and gentlemen.” The princess gave an incline
of her head.

Her magical fingers danced once more atop the keyboard. This time, her beautiful
lips joined as they formed words that rose and fell according to the glorious
rhythm she was striking from the keys of her grand piano. This time, the beautiful
enchantress sang in a voice that no device man made could hope to imitate.

Under this endless azure roof and golden incandescence

Dwell those whose hearts do not speak.

Arid vessels of darkness thriving under the midday sun,

Deserts where the absence of life repeats in monotonous perpetuity.

I, too, am an empty shell drifting across vast expanse of standing waters,

Not knowing light, not knowing true joy, ready to embrace death,

Until the day I finally hear the songs of the world,

For it is the day a wingless angel forever lights up my life.

Kurusugawa Himeko recognized the tune. It was what she had heard last night right
after she stepped out from her bath and found the moonlight of her world humming it
at the balcony. Then a certain phrase in the line she just heard struck her. Her
face warmed, her heart fluttered, and her soul threatened to burst with unspeakable
happiness. She knew what was coming. She knew why this song was made. She knew what
it was about. Tears pooled in her eyes and streaked down her cheeks.

I know I am alive the instant you hurry toward me,

When I know only you are real in the heart of the crowded junction.

I know I am alive the heartbeat you fall into my embrace,

When I feel it is the warmth of your body I crave since birth.

I know I am alive the second you welcome me at your apartment,

When I believe in tumultuous emotions... that I am home.

She’s... singing about our first meeting, she thought. More tears came forth. Her
hands rose to clutch at her heart. It was beating so strongly and pounding so fast
she feared it would force its way out of her chest. It was aching so much she only
regretted that she couldn’t take it out. Love filled her to the brim, burned
beneath her skin, and urged her to move toward the stage, where her beautiful
princess was.

“Kurusugawa Himeko-san?” spoke a man’s familiar voice next to her and made her
jump. It was the master of ceremonies, who continued in a voice low enough for her
ears alone, “Would you follow me, please?” Not waiting for her assent, he gently
took her hand into his gloved ones and led her down the center aisle, toward the
stage, toward the moonlight of her world. Up there, she was still singing in her
amazing voice.

I know I am alive the instant you bless my existence with your touch,

When I decide I desire none other my entire life.

I know I am alive the heartbeat you glide with me across the floor,

When I thank the Gods on high for every beat of this divine rhythm.

I know I am alive the second you offer me everything in bed,

When I wish our passionate encounter will last for time without end.

“Wait here,” the man instructed the moment they arrived at the foot of the stage
itself and hurried away. Eyes fixed upon the beautiful girl who shared her bed the
night before, Himeko realized only very dimly that the music had stopped. Dazed,
she watched as the blue-haired princess once again rose from her seat and walked
very slowly toward the short flight of stairs leading down the stage, where Himeko
stood. The spotlight was moving with her, illuminating her slender frame,
consecrating her curvaceous outlines, and augmenting her natural charms. Himeko
knew she was crying silently as the moonlight of her world descended down the
steps. Meanwhile, she continued to sing.

I know I am alive when we first meet, in a place only you exist in my vision,

For I realize in heart-throbbing sensations... I am in love with you.

The spotlights engulfed Himeko. She found herself staring up at the love of her
life, standing an inch away from her and gazing at her with a pair of sapphire eyes
filled with love and affection. She thought she was looking at a Goddess. She’s so
beautiful.

“I do realize that this is a bit late, considering what has happened between us
last night,” whispered the blue-haired girl, her loving voice booming within the
confinement of the Shizuka Concert Hall through a microphone attached to the
elegantly cut neckline of her snowy dress, “but I hope you will forgive me and
accept my belated confession. While spending time with you, I lost sight of
everything else. While being by your side, I forgot the rest of the world.”

She took Himeko’s right hand into both of hers and brought it to her lips. The air
was so still and the atmosphere so quiet she could hear the quiet breathing of her
fellow students. She could feel their eyes on her, but she didn’t care. All that
mattered to her at this very moment was the girl she loved.

“I have never been romantically involved with anyone before,” Chikane-chan

professed. “I think it is safe to say I am quite inexperienced in this matter.” A
rueful smile crossed her lips. “I also am quite clumsy when trying to conveying my
thoughts, so I was afraid they would not reach you in the way they were intended
to. That was why I put all my feelings for you into this very song and hoped it
would come across. I named it after you, for you are the wonder, the miracle, and
the missing piece of my existence that I have sought my entire life.” She placed
Himeko’s palm atop her left breast, beneath which a heart was pounding in an
erratic rhythm. “I love you, Himeko. Would you become my girlfriend?”

“Yes,” she answered and threw her arms around her first love, tears breaking out of
her eyes like water from a burst dam. “I love you too, Chikane-chan.”
In the thunderous cheers and applauses that rose from five hundred mouths in the
Shizuka Concert Hall, they kissed. In the tight embrace of the moonlight of her
world, Himeko knew that she, too, had found the missing half of herself, deprived
from her since birth. Now, she was fulfilled. Now, she was complete. Now, she was
whole.
“I miss you,” Himemiya Chikane murmured between the deep and passionate kisses she
was showering her girlfriend’s beautiful lips. The two of them were in the waiting
room of the Oogami Hall, a large chamber that was furnished with several couches,
equipped with a widescreen plasma TV, and meant for the guests of the department to
use when waiting for their performance on the stage. The golden-haired girl was
standing on her toes with her back against the door, her arms tight around
Chikane’s neck, and her mouth issuing soft sighs of happiness and contentment when
it was not busy engaging with Chikane’s in toe-curling kisses. “I miss you very
much.” Her statements, saturated with love and desire for more intense body
contacts, were cut into pieces. Her hands traveled up and down her little puppy’s
sides, caressing her through her jacket and her shirt and eliciting small
delightful gasps from her, which quickly vanished into Chikane’s mouth, every time
her fingers brushed upon the undersides of her safely concealed chest.

They had retreated to this place shortly after her confession because she decided
she was not very fond of the idea of being intimate with her lover in front of the
public. It was not that she was ashamed – if she were, she would not have professed
her deepest feelings in a packed Shizuka Concert Hall – she was simply
uncomfortable having so many eyes on her while she was showing physical intimacy to
the girl she loved.

“I miss you a lot too, Chikane-chan,” replied the wingless angel in a voice
tattered by the fervent and amorous meetings of their lips. A few more kisses
followed, each taking a little longer to dissipate and involved a little more
tongue than the last. Chikane had been pleasantly surprised upon finding a soft and
moist and warm object brushing against her lips, requesting entrance. She had found
her mind spinning in mild disbelief at her lover’s boldness. She was overwhelmed
with pleasure when the beauty in casual but stunningly adorable clothes slipped her
tongue inside her mouth and tentatively caressed its every corner, offering its own
sweetness in exchange. “Why didn’t you wake me?” Her affectionate tone robbed the
words of their chiding sting. She took Chikane’s underlip into her mouth and sucked
on it lovingly, spreading powerful cascading waves of warmth across her existence
and injecting a lethal dose of bliss into her heart. “Don’t you know how scared I
was when I opened my eyes and didn’t see you next to me?”

The memories of the morning after their wonderful earthly encounter came alive in
her head.

Himemiya Chikane awoke to the chiming sounds produced by her cell phone, sitting
atop a small desk on the left-hand-side of the bed. Eyes immediately wincing shut
because of the light glaring in from beyond the glass double doors to her right,
she reached blindly in the direction of the chimes and tried to reach for the
traitorous device that just disturbed her slumber. Thankfully, her first grasp
delivered the Motorola Shinken into her hand. A quick press on a certain key
silenced it immediately. Still, the damage had been done, for it had reminded her
that it was she who set up the alarm clock to wake her at a specific hour just so
she could be in time to prepare for her concert.

Returning her left arm to its original position, she suddenly realized that nestled
within her tight embrace was something unimaginably soft, very warm, and so
fragrant its scent overwhelmed that of any other in her nostrils. Opening her eyes
again, she found herself holding the most wondrous creature the Immortals of Heaven
could have created.
Himeko, her beloved Himeko, was lying on her stomach atop Chikane’s body, the
former’s arms folded beneath Chikane’s head to provide comfort in place of a
pillow, her face buried in the crook of Chikane’s neck, and her nose issuing even
breaths that caressed her skin. The little angel’s back was mostly covered by the
thin blanket and the sparkly array of fine golden strands that were her hair. With
unrivaled clarity, Chikane’s front was registering the little angel’s modest bosom
rising and falling gently against her heaving chest, the golden-haired girl’s
rosebuds stroking the sensitive skin of her bosom, her girlfriend’s empty stomach
gurgling quietly against her flat tummy, and her oh so long and lithesome thigh
engaging with Chikane’s most private region in an never-ending kiss.

An emotional epiphany blossomed in her like fireworks. Love exploded into life in
her brain and followed every nerve to the furthest corners of her body. Moisture
gathered in her sapphire eyes.

So this is what Father meant, she thought, sensing tears streaking uncontrollably
down her face. In one of his numerous attempts to encourage her to find a romantic
interest, he once confessed that he was like her once, unwilling to give up his
bachelorhood because of his love for freedom and his unease toward love, a disease
without cure.

“However,” Himemiya Aoki stressed, “everything changed the moment Sanae came into
my life. Everyday, I am grateful to my parents for bringing me into this world.
Everyday, I am thankful to all the powers that be because they let me meet your
Mother and fall in love with her. One day, Chikane, you will feel the same as I
when you wake one morning to the face of the person you love.”

She did not think that she would ever agree. She was wrong.

“Why do I love you so much, Himeko?” she murmured amidst the rolling tears, her
arms tightening a little more around her little angel. Her sweet lover stirred
slightly in response, murmured some unintelligible phrases into the crook of her
neck, and continued to snooze away in her deep slumber. Smiling, she rolled onto
her side and gently laid the golden-haired beauty onto the mattress. In great
reluctance, she untangled herself from the adorable girl who had touched her in
various places, kissed her on places she was most vulnerable and easily excited,
measured her depth with her ever so hesitant fingers, and flew her to the highest
skies.

Unconcerned about her nakedness, Chikane climbed off the bed and pulled the
curtains over the glass double doors just so the sun would not bother her sleeping
angel. She froze in her tracks, however, the moment her eyes found what lay atop
the tiled floor. Two identical button shirts. Two pairs of red panties. Her face
burned at the recollection of their passionate encounters, in which she tossed
eighteen years of careful upbringing and her unruffled dignity out the window and
gave in to the irresistible calling of love and desires. Vision filled with images
replayed endlessly by her mind, she picked up the clothing articles and brought
them to the kitchen, where she deposited them into the washing machine. A few
minutes later, the thing began its first vertical rotation and continued on in a
continuous hum that was too low to wake her sweetheart.

Chikane went into the bathroom and took a shower, feeling quite regretful that she
had to wash away the scent, the warmth, and the lingering touches of the girl she
loved. Emerging from the steam-filled chamber in her snowy dress, she walked into
the apartment, where the washing machine had stopped its rotations, and transferred
the soaked articles into the dryer. Afterwards, she went straight for her bag,
which was lying on the table in the living room. She opened it, and became very
still at the sight of her tantou. A smile crossed her lips. The short blade was a
weapon meant for personal protection. Last night, it left its sheath for the first
time. What it cut down was the tires of her Mercedes. It had delivered her an
excuse to stay with her sweetheart. It had brought about the most magical night of
her life.

Smiling, she took out her Motorola Shinken and made the necessary calls.
Afterwards, took out a piece of paper and wrote a few lines for the girl she loved.
In the end, she went back to the bed and knelt down on the floor. Heart filled with
melancholy, she folded her arms atop the mattress and laid a side of her head on a
forearm. In silence she watched her little puppy sleeping soundly beneath the thin
blanket that could not hide the delicious curves of her heaving chest.

She did not desire to leave. She wished to shed her clothes and climb back onto the
bed. She wanted to snuggle with her lover, enjoy the other girl’s softness with her
own self, and wait for her to wake just so they could relive the wonderful
experience that had taken place atop this very mattress.

“I am sorry, Himeko,” she said, slipping the note into her slumbering lover’s hand.
“I must go.” She hated herself for saying it and wanting to do it. Yet, she had no
other choice. Rising back to her feet, she bent over and offered the sleeping
beauty one last kiss on her slightly opened lips before she walked out of the
apartment and headed straight toward the stairs.

Chikane bit playfully on her adorable girlfriend’s nose. “You mean beneath you,”
she whispered. Watching Himeko clam up and color furiously, she laughed aloud. The
girl she loved snuggled closer and hid her burning face in the crook of Chikane’s
neck. “Have I become your mattress?”

“Who told you to be so soft and warm?” Himeko’s lips brushed upon the skin on
Chikane’s throat.

“But so are you,” she replied in the same caressing
small of her lover’s back. “You are the best pillow
chortle escaped her mouth as she felt the beautiful
shyness and heat up a few degrees in embarrassment.
now,” she added in amusement.
manner, her hands roaming the
I have hugged.” A delightful
angel in her embrace stiffen in
“But I am in serious trouble

“What kind?” a very soft voice inquired.

“Snuggling with you makes me think the pillows back at my house or anywhere else
are not comfortable anymore,” she said, smiling atop her sweetheart’s ivy hat.
“They are concrete compared to you. I do not believe I can get a good night sleep
again.”

A moment of silence.

“Why can’t you just say what you want instead of beating around the bush?” her
first love said in a tone more suitable for whispering to a lover atop a bed at
night.

Even though she could not see, Chikane knew that Himeko was smiling fondly into the
crook of her neck. Because I want to hear you say it, she mused.

“You caused this dilemma, my little angel,” she whispered. “I expect you to take
responsibility.”

“Then,” a pause came, “I’ll be your hugging pillow every night. Are you happy now?”

“Nothing can make me more so.” Chikane cupped Himeko’s chin gently and lifted it up
so that they could look into each other’s eyes. Himeko’s amethyst ones were
mirroring the intense light of love she knew to be shining in her sapphire own. She
claimed her lips over and over again, her need for more refusing to be sated. The
little angel melted willingly into the passionate kisses.

“You haven’t answered my question, though,” she pointed out afterwards, her voice
uneven by the amorous meetings of their tongues and lips. “Why didn’t you wake me?”

“I needed to go first to prepare this little surprise for you, you see,” Chikane
answered with a smile. “If I had roused you from your slumber, I would never have
been able to leave. You should have realized by now that you are my weakness, my
addiction, and my deepest desires.” Each statement added a little more color to her
lover’s cheeks. “Can you imagine how difficult it was for me to resist you?” She
rubbed the tip of the other girl’s nose affectionately with her thumb.

“You’re doing a very good job right now, aren’t you?” As though finally hearing
what just leapt from her tongue and what it implied without her meaning it to,
Himeko stiffened to a splinter’s worth and blushed so hard her golden hair
threatened to turn scarlet.

“Naughty you, silly you,” she teased, laughing. “Do you think I would do something
like that in this waiting room,” she winked at her sweetheart, “when I know another
musician is arriving and will be using it before their performance begins?” Himeko
looked up at her, blinked, and then lowered her amethyst gaze to the floor in
shyness. “Now, if we were standing in your apartment, it would be a different
story,” she continued, her voice adopting a sultry and suggestive tone that warmed
her own blood.

“Then...” her lover hesitated, “should we... go back?”

“Not right now.” She shook her head. “We need to do a couple of things first,
Himeko.”

“What things?” The angel’s voice was tinted with disappointment.

“For starter,” Chikane said, “retrieving your equipments from the master of
ceremonies. I asked him to fetch it for you earlier. He should be waiting for us in
his office right now.”

“Ah...” the golden-haired girl murmured in gratitude.

“And I hoped you took enough pictures for your assignment?” Himeko gave a start. “I
guess not.” Chikane chuckled softly. “But you should not worry. You can take my
pictures anytime you want. And I think your newspaper staff has already changed the
headline by now.”

“You’re right,” her sweetheart agreed quietly, amethyst eyes gazing into her
sapphire and gleaming with love. “College girl succeeded in seducing world-class
musician.” She too, laughed. “I can imagine it on the front page of tomorrow’s
newspaper. Couldn’t you have confessed in a less... conspicuous way?”

“You do not wish the others to know of our relationship?” Chikane inquired softly,
her hand stroking Himeko’s cheek. “Are you... ashamed?”

“Of course not,” her little angel replied in a voice equally soft and rubbed a side
of her face gently against her palm. “I love you so much it hurts to stay apart
from you even in a split second.” Her voice was a melody the tune of which not even
the best composer in the world could arrange and the words of which not even the
best poet could make. “My feelings for you are nothing I need to hide from the
world.”
“That was what I thought,” she confided. “I want them to know I am proud of having
fallen in love with you, Himeko. I want them to know that I do not care what they
think, that you are all I need.”

“I may jeopardize your career in the future, Chikane-chan,” the little angel
whispered.

“If my audience is the kind of people who cares for my personal life than my music,
then I do not need them,” she announced. “Besides, my career for a lifetime of
happiness is a fair trade.”

“Chikane-chan...” her first love called, her amethyst eyes shining with moisture. A
moment of comfortable silence returned, during which they simply hugged one another
tightly and listened to the perfectly harmonized beating of each other’s heart.
“So...” she murmured, “what else do we need to do before we... can go back to my
place?” Her voice was dreamy.

“Do you wish to return to bed that much?” Chikane joked. “It is still light out,
you know.”

Himeko blushed, but she made no attempt to refute. “I didn’t get much sleep last
night.” Amethyst gaze regarded Chikane in an playfully accusing manner, but the
attempt at teasing was spoiled by a pair of downcast amethyst gems that conveyed
very clearly her own embarrassment. “My eyes are trying to close down right now.”

“Then I guess you will have to wait for a couple of hours, my little angel,” she
said. “We are going to a restaurant across town in a few minutes.”

“Are you hungry?” her lover inquired. “If you are, we don’t have to go to there. I
can make something for you to eat at home.” Chikane decided immediately that she
loved the way the other girl had changed the words “my place” to just “home” in
such a short amount of time. Ever since she moved out on her own, she had always
regarded the simple apartment in which she lived as just an accommodation, a place
to spend the nights before she embarked again on a journey to various countries
abroad where her concerts were held. Before, she only thought of the beautiful
mansion her family had in Tokyo as “home.” Now, wherever Himeko was, home was.

“That is not the main reason why we are going,” she explained. “Do you not remember
what I told you yesterday while driving you home?” The word tasted like honey on
her tongue.

Himeko’s eyes went wide in shock.

“Yes.” Chikane nodded. “I am going to take you to see my parents. It is high time
they knew I already found my ideal life partner, and that they did not have a
reason to play matchmaking anymore.”

“You know, that made me think,” the golden-haired beauty said, her eyes twinkling
in amusement. “How can I be sure that you really love me? For all I know, you might
have wanted to use me to deceive your mom and dad.”

“Do you think I would go to bed with a girl because of such a silly reason?”
Chikane humored her. “Do you think I would give up my first time to a girl I do not
love?”

“So it was your first time, too,” the sunlit angel whispered, voice overflowing
with happiness.
“And if that is not enough to convince you,” Chikane continued, “I will just have
to swear.” She erected a hand in front of her. “I, Himemiya Chikane, swear that if
I do not love Kurusugawa Himeko as much as I tell her, I would...” A gentle hand of
the girl she cherished was laid across her mouth and stopped her from saying the
rest.

“No need,” Himeko murmured. “I believe you.”

“I am glad you do.” Chikane kissed each fingertip lightly. Then, when the other
girl had retracted her hand and moved in a little closer, their lips met in another
deep kiss that made her wish they were back in that lovely apartment where they had
offered each other all they ever owned. “Now, why don’t we go surprise your future
parents-in-law and get it over with?” The full blush that was brought to Himeko’s
cheeks by the phrase made her more beautiful than ever.

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