Alex opened the door of the closet and entered the light. He waved at the group that was smiling at him and closed the door. A new door appeared, and after opening it, Sakamo exited the cubicle and was once again in his School’s toilet.
He looked at his reflection in the mirror and mumbled while fixing his collar, “Might as well go, considering I came here with that excuse…”
Sakamo entered the normal cubicle again, while Hangaku was outside the toilet, smiling at the group of adolescents that were glancing at her with angry eyes.
When Sakamo finally got out of the toilet, she held his arm again with a smile and pulled him closer, annoying to death the group of girls that kept on staring at the walking couple.
When they finally reached the back of the Gym, Hangaku went straight to a group of trees and sat on the empty bench.
She opened the boxed lunch and gave Sakamo his, with a big smile. “It’s better if you eat up. You are going to need all your strength, because I will squeeze out your life force with kisses!”
Sakamo grabbed the lunch box with a worried look. “You… are joking, right? If you do something like that, I could have indigestion and throw up my lunch. It would be such a waste, considering how much trouble Takechi-sama had with all this…”
“Hihihi! No, silly, I won’t do anything dangerous, you don’t need to worry. I just like to see you scared. You don’t even have to kiss me if you don’t want to. I am used to running after what I want, but it seems you need more time to adjust to my speed. While you were on the toilet, I realised I knew little about you and you didn’t know a thing about me. So, I thought we could play a game of questions and answers while we eat. What do you say?”
“I… suppose it’s a good idea, although I have some things that I need to keep secret. It’s too soon to tell you everything about me, but I can tell you as much as I can.”
Hangaku stopped with the chopsticks near her lips, holding a piece of roasted pumpkin. “You have secrets? That’s a pity, because those are the ones I like to find out about as soon as possible. Well, let’s start with the basics. I know you were raised in a shrine. There were other boys besides you?”
“No, I was the younger one. The youngest brother I have is twenty years older than me, and the oldest is almost ninety years old. My turn. You have siblings?”
“Yes, five years younger than me. My parents are training him to succeed my father in my family’s company. They wanted to make me do it, but I refused. I don’t like the idea of having to work in an office all day, attending meetings, voyages to meet business partners… They even tried to introduce me to some of their colleagues’ sons, to see if our families would merge! Like if I would ever accept being used like that! It’s me again. Why did you choose this School to attend, considering your score on the admission tests? You could go to a private School and go there by train instead of coming to this one. There are better Schools in Tokyo, you know?”
Sakamo took a sip of his juice and made a slight smile. “You think there are better Schools, but for me, this is the right one. It’s near my home, and it also has an arrangement with the University of Tokyo, where the best students have a spot already reserved for them.”
“Oh, you want to go to that University? What field are you aiming for?”
“It was my turn to ask, but I am going to ‘Disaster Probabilities’. It’s a new field, and complements with ‘Prevention of Disasters and side effects’, as a major.”
Hangaku opened her eyes wide and gasped, “That sounds difficult! So that’s why you are always playing with weird equations! If you graduate from there and find a well-paid job in that area, my parents would not have the nerve to oppose our marriage, for sure!”
“Wait a minute… Marriage? Oppose? Why? I am a good catch, you know?”
Hangaku made a dismissive wave of her hand. “They have this foolish idea that a girl of my status has to marry someone worthy of joining my family. As if I give a damn about that. As long as you love me, it’s good enough for me. Well, they once threatened that they would disinherit me if I continued to refuse their life plans for me, and I told them I didn’t need their money, because I could gain a lot as a luxury escort because of my looks. My mother was so mad when I said that! It’s my turn. Let me see… You were raised in a Shrine, the Monks there made a vow of chastity, which means that you never did… it, right?”
Sakamo almost choked on the piece of chicken he was eating. He slowly shook his head, with his face turning red. “That… I won’t tell you. But judging from what you already told me, you did.”
“Yes, a couple of times. It was fantastic, and I learned a lot. That’s why I am sure I could make you feel good. The last time I was in such a relationship, it didn’t turn out well. That stupid bastard reached the dumbest conclusion that he could make a fool out of me just because I liked to be with him! I won’t go into many details, but it ended with him getting a knee in his crotch and being thrown out the window of my room completely naked. And my room is on the second floor.”
“It doesn’t sound like you were in a good relationship. He kicked your dog, or what? To get such a punishment…”
Hangaku answered with a frown while stuffing her mouth with rice. “He betrayed me with one of my supposed friends. After the beating I gave her, that bitch was in a hospital for six months!”
Sakamo ate a bunch of vegetables so that he could have an excuse to be in silence, thinking about Shinatobe’s words that told him he would be hers first. Having two different lives in two completely different Worlds had its advantages, but also its quirks. His father told him when he gave him the pendant that it would be a good idea to separate things between Worlds, and not let anything that happened in one World, to influence his life in the other, because it would be easier like that. This was a good example of letting Azurath and Shinatobe out of the equation between him and Hangaku Mae.
Hangaku forced a smile while looking at him. “You asked about my dog, so it’s my turn again. How are you able to afford such a house, so near the centre of Tokyo? Monks are not rich for you to get a good allowance. You told me you have a part-time job, but you didn’t say what it was.”
“I didn’t make an official question, and I will not tell you now what I do. Perhaps I will show you one day, and you will see that your parents won’t have anything to complain about me. If we evolve to that point, that is. It is too soon to think about marriage, or meeting the parents, and I don’t know if you like me that much or if I only dazzled you. I am also not sure how I feel about you. I like to be near you, and I think you are fun to be with, but sometimes you say and do things that make me somewhat… awkward or… uncomfortable…”
Hangaku put on the bench the now empty box and took a big sip of her juice that she used to gargle before spitting into the grass behind the bench. She tilted her head and asked, “Like this? I just made sure my mouth was clean to give you a big kiss. You should do the same. I don’t want to get pieces of munched rice in my mouth. I guess I am too daring for you, or you are too shy around me. Perhaps we should get to know each other a little better. I am, in fact, dazzled by you, but it’s because you are not only good-looking, you are also very interesting. I can’t remember the last time I had such wonderful conversations with a boy as I have recently with you. Most of my previous relationships were not so challenging. You make me work hard to conquer you, and I like it. I won’t give up on you anytime soon, that’s for sure, for as much as you run away from me.”
Sakamo put his empty box on the bench and used his juice to gargle as well. After spitting on the grass, he approached Hangaku’s face while caressing her cheek. “Who said I wanted to run from you? I just want to protect my heart, and I also don’t want to give you false hope. Normally, I am sure about every decision in my life, but you are making me doubt my rationality. I am not used to letting my feelings rule me, but that is happening quite a lot lately, because of you. Probably I am indeed shyer than I am supposed to be, considering that I am a boy, and it’s perhaps a good thing that you rock me so easily.”
Hangaku approached her lips from his and whispered while holding the back of his neck, “I will continue to rock you if that’s what it takes to make you fall for me.”
They kissed, and when Hangaku opened her lips a little, Sakamo’s lips accompanied hers. She sensed her body becoming hotter, and her head dizzy. The lips and skin of that amazing boy were making her forget about everything, and when her tongue touched his, it was like a flow of warmth travelled from the tip of her tongue to her entire body.
It lasted for a few seconds, but the sensations were too much for her to bear, and Hangaku fainted. Sakamo noticed her going numb and hugged her, worried.
He mumbled in a very low voice, “Shinatobe warned me about this… The Magic from the contracts was still in my body, and she is not used to it. It was also strong for me, getting her feelings like that… I usually bring with me some Magic that quickly disperses, but I guess today was too much to disperse so fast… Maybe I still have enough to use Water Healing Magic…”
Sakamo whispered a few words while touching Hangaku’s forehead, and slowly, she recovered the colour in her cheeks. He caressed her head and waited, and after a couple of seconds, Hangaku slowly opened her eyes and blinked a few times, trying to focus her sight. She looked around and noticed that she was lying on the bench with Sakamo kneeling next to her.
She made a puzzled look and asked, “Did I… faint? Man, you really give the best kisses ever! I felt… I am not sure what it was, but when my tongue touched yours, it was like I was being filled with happiness! Did you feel the same?”
“I think I did. At least something, like… a calm sea bathed by a yellow-glowing sun or running in a field of flowers. I guess we really shouldn’t have kissed after eating so much. Perhaps we got a little low blood pressure or something.”
Hangaku slowly sat on the bench again and placed both arms on the shoulders of the still kneeling Sakamo. “Or was it our feelings for each other trying to get out? I don’t know about you, but I am in an excellent mood right now!”
“Surprisingly, I am too. It’s better if we don’t kiss again before finishing the digestion, because if we both faint, there will be no one around to wake us up, and we will miss the afternoon classes.”
Hangaku kissed his forehead and got up. She pulled him to get near her and said while looking into his eyes. “I suppose you are right, despite having your tempting lips so close to me. What about if we throw the boxes in the rubbish bin, and we go to the classroom? We could talk while we walk, and like that, we make sure we won’t faint again because of a kiss. Unless you cannot resist me and give me another big one.”
Sakamo gave her a slight kiss on the lips and cocked his head. “It seems like this is safe. If I am not mistaken, it’s my turn to ask a question, but I will leave that for another time. We will have other opportunities to play this game, right?”
Hangaku nodded with a smile and walked with him to the main building, doing her best to keep her heart from jumping out of her chest.
…