by Lexy Timms
Has he decided to leave me alone? To abandon whatever crazy quest this is? I mean, what is he going to get out of all this anyway? I don’t believe it’s just because he’s curious.
Then I remember those thoughts he had about me, of kissing me, fucking me. Yeah, I’d heard all of it, though I’d pretended not to. He’s interested in me. That’s why he’s on this trip.
But if he’s not here, maybe he lost interest?
Somehow, that thought grips my heart. I’m actually...disappointed?
I shake my head. No. Maybe he just decided to give me a bit of space. Maybe he’s waiting for me to come back. Or maybe he’s somewhere out there right now, watching over me from the shadows.
“Are you alright?” Toshi peers inside the capsule. “You got quiet all of a sudden.”
“Fine. I’m just...wondering if I should get back to my friends.”
Funny. I thought we weren’t friends.
“And?” Toshi asks.
“Maybe I should,” I answer.
“Unless you don’t want to.”
I lift my head to meet his gaze. “How are you so carefree?”
Toshi just shrugs.
“How about you?” I prop my head on an arm. “What are your plans for today? Shouldn’t you be at school?”
“No.” He sits on the edge of my bed, his lean back turned to me. “Actually, I was thinking today that I’d take you to see a bit of the countryside. You should see at least that before you go home.”
“Hmm.”
Tempting. On one hand, I’m concerned that Kyle and Theo might be worried about me and it’s been long enough. Though by now they’ve probably gone long past that and into the territory of being mad. Hell, I would be in their place.
But then if they’re already mad...I’m thinking this space between us is actually doing me some good, giving me room to mull over things. Surely, another day apart won’t hurt.
Just one more day.
“Fine. Let’s do it,” I tell Toshi.
He turns his head towards me, a grin on his lips.
“I mean I’d be crazy to turn down an offer like this. But, are you sure you want to? You’ve showed me around plenty, I think, to meet the requirements for your school project.”
His grin vanishes, his expression turning serious. “I’m sure.”
That gleam in his eyes tells me this isn’t about the school project anymore. Maybe it never was.
I look away, my hand going to my forehead to rub it, hoping he doesn’t see the blush staining my cheeks. What am I, twelve? Grow up.
“Your head still hurts?” Toshi asks.
“Yeah.” I let my arm fall to my side. “If we’re going anywhere, I have to get rid of this hangover first.”
Toshi’s grin returns. “Oh, don’t worry. I know just what will make it go away in no time.”
A GENTLE BREEZE BLOWS, sweeping back tendrils of my hair and cooling the sweat off my brow. I tuck some behind my ear as I straighten up, having already caught the breath I’d stopped to chase.
“Water?” Toshi asks, holding up a bottle.
I nod and he tosses it to me. I catch it, pressing the bottle against my warm cheek before gulping some of its contents down.
Toshi moves closer. “Are you okay?”
I stop drinking, putting the cap of the bottle back on and wiping my mouth with the back of my hand.
“Yeah.”
Toshi wasn’t kidding when he said he’d cure my hangover. In fact, it’s almost as if it never happened. Of course, the taste of that concoction, whatever that was, will be harder to strike out from my memory, but at least, it worked.
Now, I feel brand new, even more so since we started climbing this mountain.
Well, we’re not exactly climbing it, just following one of the trails, taking the time to commune with nature.
And again, Toshi’s right. This, along with the sleepy town we just passed by earlier, are a different side of Japan, a contrast to the hustle and bustle and all the lights and sounds and gizmos of the capital. It’s the other side of the coin but just as fascinating, with a magic entirely its own.
Of course, I was also just on a mountain two days ago but that was at night and I was too distracted to admire the scenery. Now, in broad daylight, I can.
As another breeze blows, I close my eyes, savoring the rippling of a brook in the distance, of the rustle of leaves, of the chirping of birds. I breathe the fresh air into my lungs along with the smell of spring.
Magical.
“Utsukushii,” Toshi says.
I eye him curiously. “What does that mean?”
“Beautiful,” he answers in a tone that makes my breath catch as he gazes right into my eyes.
I snort as I throw the water bottle back at him. “How about you teach me another word?”
He catches the bottle with one hand. “What?”
“Liar.”
He gives a sniffle.
“Well?” I place a hand on my hip.
“Usotsuki.”
I cock my head to one side. “Isn’t that what you said earlier?”
“No. What I said a while ago was utsukushii. That means beautiful. Usotsuki means liar.”
“Ha!” I rub my chin. “Funny how they both sound the same.
“Honto ka.”
My eyebrows bunch up. “Now, what does that mean?”
“That what I said was true,” Toshi explains. “I wasn’t lying when I said you were beautiful.”
There goes that intense gaze again, sending a delicious tingle up my spine even as my cheeks grow warm. I can’t help it. I’m a novice when it comes to the flirting game. But I’m liking playing it with him. I find myself imagine taking it further. A touch. A kiss.
I look away.
“How do you say stop?” I ask him, focusing hard on the view, trying to ignore the way my body is so aware of him, of his every move.
“Yamete.”
“Yamete,” I tell him. “Please.”
“Onegai,” he supplies. “That’s what ‘please’ is in Japanese, though if you want to say ‘please stop’, you say yamete kudasai.”
I simply nod, the lesson going too fast now.
“How about let’s just go?” I ask.
“Ikimashou?”
“I meant shall we just go?” I gesture to the trail ahead.
“Oh.”
I let out a sigh as I walk past him. I don’t know how to play these games and truth be told, I’m too scared to try.
I keep walking, glancing after a while to make sure he’s right behind me since he isn’t making a sound. He is so he’s probably just light on his feet. Moving forward, putting one foot in front of the other in silence, I let my thoughts take over once more.
This time, they turn to my experience with men or more accurately, my lack of experience.
I’ve always been a loner, more at ease with animals than with people so I’ve never had female friends, much less boyfriends. I only went out on a date once, back in college, and that was forgettable.
While I can’t really count these recent...experiences as dates, in these past week, I’ve been alone with a man more times than I have been my whole life.
Well, unless you count Kyle, who doesn’t really count since he’s my best friend. I’ve known him for years, ever since I started working at the Lab. I know. Having a male best friend is strange. I’ve heard the rumors. Some people think he’s gay. But he’s not. He told me once he’d had some kind of crush on me, but I couldn’t think of him that way. I’d kind of shut him down, and it’s been ok since. Like it never happened. He got over it fast enough and now I just feel so ease with him I’m glad we didn’t wreck things by trying to make our relationship something more. Maybe it’s best we just stay friends like this, since we’re both weirdos.
Strange. I came from being completely single with one unusually male best friend to someone ‘going out’ in the literal sense of the word with three men, three different men.
&nb
sp; I frown. Wait. That doesn’t sound right.
But if you were, in fact, dating them, who would you choose to have a relationship with?
The question comes out of nowhere and I shake my head, not wanting to answer or maybe not knowing how. They’re all just so different. Sebastian is hot but he can also be a jerk. Such a strong personality. Theo is very kind and protective, a little shy and secretive maybe. And Toshi...I pause to glance at him...he’s fun to be with, spontaneous but he also has a darker, more serious side that he tries not to let me see.
I really don’t know. I...
My thoughts come to a screech as I take a wrong step, sliding down a slope.
Shit.
I try to stop sliding with my hands but it’s too slippery, my palm just getting cut by the sharp edges of mossy rocks. Only when I’m close to the bottom, anticipating landing on my face or rolling in the mud, do I stop falling, Toshi catching me.
“I’ve got you.”
Yes, he does, his arm firmly around my chest, the other against the slope. He may be slender but he’s stronger than he looks.
I let out a sigh of relief, though that relief quickly vanishes as I become aware of his arm pressing against my breasts. Turning my head, I find his lips just inches away from mine, his iridescent eyes so intense, I feel like he’s putting me into a trance.
My heart pounds, sending ripples of heat through my cheeks. A lump forms in my throat. It’s hard to breathe suddenly.
He’s got me, alright.
And a part of me wants to surrender to whatever it is those kaleidoscope eyes are promising but somehow, I manage to break out of the spell. I think of pushing him away but remember my injured hand, not wanting to him to see it for fear he might also suspect I’m a freak. Instead, I pull away.
“Are you alright?” Toshi asks, his voice full of concern.
“Yes.” I keep my eyes on the ground, not wanting to fall under the spell of his again. “Thank you.”
“You’re not hurt?”
“No.”
I tuck my injured hand in my pocket, frowning as I notice the dirt on my arm. I try to wipe it off with my other hand.
“You know, there’s a waterfall near here. We could rest there and you could wash your arm.”
I can hear it – the drops of water tumbling down, splashing as they join the others below.
I nod carefully. “Sounds like a plan.” By the time we get there, my hand should be pretty well healed. I just need to keep it out of sight that long.
Toshi offers me his hand but I shake my head.
“I’m fine. It was just one wrong step and my head was going places. I’ll be more careful from now on.”
Thankfully, he doesn’t press the issue, gesturing for me to go on ahead of him.
I guess that’s another good thing about Toshi. He’s not controlling. He respects my independence.
I snort. Am I really still going on with this topic after almost breaking my neck?
Shrugging off the thoughts, I concentrate on where I’m going, following the sound of the waterfall.
I can already feel the mist from the waterfall, which already feels good against my skin. I can’t wait to wash off the dirt of the day.
“THIS FEELS DIVINE,” I tell Toshi as I stand beneath the waterfall, the cold water trickling down my hair and face and splashing off the top of my head and shoulders, the rest of my body immersed in the pool.
I know I was just supposed to wash my arms but the moment I saw the waterfall and that small, crystal clear pool it was tumbling into, so peaceful in contrast with the untamed falls, I just couldn’t help myself. I had to take my clothes off and take a dip in the water.
I still have my underwear on, of course, and I’m well aware of Toshi stealing looks but I don’t care. Let him look. The water just feels wonderful, washing not just blood and dirt away but also all my worries.
Amazing.
“You remind me of a monk,” Toshi says, sitting on a rock at the edge of the pool.
“A monk?” I throw him a puzzled look.
“Yeah. Buddhist monks meditate under waterfalls, you know. The water cleanses their minds and strengthens their spirits.”
And I completely understand why.
“I see.”
“Though, of course, since they’re meditating, they don’t say a word, unlike you.”
Frowning, I swim towards him, splashing some water on him.
He jumps back, scowling. “Hey!”
“Why don’t you join me?” I ask him.
“No.” His tone is downright surly. He practically spits the word at me.
“Come on. It’s fun.” I reach my arm out to him.
For a moment, he just stands there, the twisted features on his face letting me know of the debate going on in his mind. Finally, he moves closer to the edge, closer to me, but before I can pull him in, he’s gone.
What the...?
In the next second, I hear footsteps approaching. I realize just how naked I am and wonder suddenly what it was that compelled me to be quite so...free. This isn’t really me, despite how good the water had felt moments before. Now I’m just cold...and awkward. I look up and see Kyle, Theo and Sebastian. I should be surprised but I’m not. Kyle and Theo are both looking happy and relieved to see me, though both their eyebrows raise. Sebastian is annoyed as hell, as he looks around, eyes narrow as they scour the nearby rocks, trees and bushes in search of my companion, which I’m sure he can smell.
Besides, I can hear his thoughts.
Where is that devious, little jerk?
Yeah. He’s definitely looking for Toshi. For that matter, so am I.
Chapter Fourteen
~ Toshi
CROUCHED ON A BRANCH of a tree high above the waterfall’s edge, I stay still as a statue, deathly silent.
Below me, that Wolf stands, tension in every muscle of his body. He knows I’m around. He can smell my scent in the air just like I could smell him coming from a mile away, that constant smell of filth. But he won’t find me. When Cats go into camouflage, they can hide even their smell, and I’ve left my scent on enough different spots to confuse him, hence those furrowed eyebrows and flaring nostrils. He may have found Clarissa but he won’t find me.
“Come out and face me, coward!” he calls out.
I suppress a laugh.
What? Does he think I’m as stupid as he is? Why would I vanish if I was going to face him anyway? He probably thinks I’m frightened, a mewling coward, because that’s the only things dogs understand. They don’t understand subtlety...the art that comes of being a ninja dedicated to the element of surprise. I’m a Cat, not a fool.
Wait for the right time to pounce, then go for the kill.
“What are you doing, Sebastian?” Clarissa asks, worry in her voice. “Can’t you see you’ve scared him off?”
I frown at that last bit but pay it no heed, taking delight instead in Clarissa’s concern for me.
“You.” Sebastian turns to Clarissa, his tone heavy with command and condemnation. “What were you thinking, running off like that? Did you have no idea how you made us worry?”
“Made you worry?” Clarissa scoffs. “I’m not a kid, Sebastian. I’m not anyone’s responsibility. And in case you’ve forgotten, I’m not exactly helpless so it was unnecessary for you to worry. Don’t blame me for something you shouldn’t have done.”
“Well, you’re acting like a kid right now,” Sebastian sneers. “No, not a kid. A rebellious teenager. What did this guy promise you, huh?”
“How dare you!” Clarissa shouts at him. “You’re the one who made it impossible to stay, remember?”
“You what?” The bigger man, a Bear, turns to Sebastian.
I snort. One of the worst things you can do is to rouse a Bear’s protective instinct.
“Easy,” the fair-haired human – Kyle? – says as he steps forward.
What? Does he think he can stand between those other two? He doesn’t stand a chance.
>
“Sebastian, calm down, okay?” Kyle goes on. “We came here to find Clarissa, not to give her a lecture.”
Sebastian growls. “You don’t give me orders.”
I feel like slapping my forehead. If there’s one thing Wolves hate, it’s being ordered around. They don’t like to be ‘domesticated’ in the least bit. So many of their kind have already fallen to that. They’ll only follow one of their own, an alpha. And this Wolf clearly is one which means he takes orders from no one.
That Kyle might as well sign his death warrant.
Really, these men are all so stupid.
“Sebastian, back off!”
This time, the order comes from Clarissa and curiously, he seems to comply.
“I’m sorry for making you worry, okay?” she says.
“It’s fine,” the Bear tells her. “We weren’t helping you, so you left. It’s our fault.”
“No, Theo,” Clarissa answers. “You did nothing wrong.” Her gaze falls on each of them. “All of you did nothing wrong.”
How kind. Too kind. My lip curls.
“I just needed space,” she adds.
“I know,” Kyle says. “And you were entitled to it.” He glances at Sebastian before turning back to Clarissa with a grin. “Looks like you’re enjoying it, too.”
“Care to join me?” Clarissa asks, laughing a little awkwardly but splashing him all the same.
Kyle’s grin widens.
“Don’t mind if I do,” Theo says, jumping in and creating a big splash, the drops of water landing on the leaves all around.
Show-off.
“No fair.” Kyle pouts. “She was asking me.”
“Well, you’re too slow, human.”
“Come on in, then.” Clarissa gestures to him after wiping her face, which also got wet from Theo’s big splash. She turns to Sebastian. “You, too.”
“No, thanks,” Sebastian mutters while Kyle glances at her and shrugs. He starts removing some of his clothing.
“Come on,” Clarissa urges. “It might do you some good, you know, help you cool off.”
