Two months after the festival found winter beginning to settle over the campus of Cross Academy, but it had not yet snowed, and the last of the autumn leaves were tenacious. Today was an especially fine one, a brief respite from the cold snap that had started three nights ago, and Torahiko was taking full advantage of the warmth of the sunlight, sprawled out on the ground in a clearing in the forest that surrounded the grounds. His arms were spread-eagled out to either side of him, his eyes shut, and his chest rising and falling steadily. He was, in fact, asleep, but the way Tora and his brother slept was not the same way that other people did.
Perhaps it was an effect of the time theyād spent in incubation tanks, or perhaps it was the cruel rigors of their training. It might even be the abnormally-high degree of psychic energy in each of them, that gave Tora his psychometry and Tatsu his precognition. Whatever it was, it ensured that even when they slept and sometimes dreamed, they were aware, in some way, of how things proceeded around them in the outside world, able to wake at a momentās notice and react if necessary. It had saved their lives more than once.
Presently, it wasnāt going to save Toraās life, but it was going to provide him some entertainment. He sensed her coming, though he supposed she must have miscalculated where he was, because she tripped right over him, headed for the ground at a truly spectacular rate. At least, she was until one of his loose arms moved up to catch her, in what could have been a very lucky movement made by someone entirely caught in dream. Indeed, he didnāt exactly wake up when his tanned arm banded around her waist and stopped her fall by directing it atop his person, causing her to land more or less nose-to-chest with him, which in the latter case was a bare expanse of honey-colored skin, the result of wearing a haori-style shirt rather loosely. Nor was he fully conscious when his grip tightened and his other arm circled around her lower back. Rolling slightly, he moved onto his side and hugged her closer, nuzzling his nose into her hair and inhaling, murmuring something with sleepy satisfaction, too low and rumbly to make out the words properly.
A slight smile took up residence on his face, though without some rather acrobatic escape maneuvers, she probably wouldnāt be able to see it. Her hair, he observed without really having the thought, smelled almost as good as her mouth tasted.
Naya Akarui was hopelessly lost. She sighed, wondering if she should turn around again, but then she was brought back to reality as she tripped. She had been so absorbed in her own thoughts that she hadn't even noticed the scent, or his presence at all. She let out a slight yelp as she tripped, fully expecting to come face-first to the ground, but instead, she found herself on top of something almost soft as his arm caught her around the waist. She shut her eyes as she landed, increasingly aware that her face was quite literally buried into someone's chest, and it only took one sniff to realize it was Torahiko.
She froze when she felt his other arm encircle her and they rolled over, the motion entangling their legs quite thoroughly. Naya felt her face turning red, she was fairly certain one could feel the heat she was giving off. Tora muttered something, and she realized as he all but buried his nose into her hair that he was asleep. That really only made her blush further, and she was fairly certain that she was the same color as her aunt's hair. Oh, oh, this was so embarassing. This type of thing only happened to her twin, not to her. Well, she supposed there was a first time for everything.
She lay there, chewing on her bottom lip. She'd stopped moving, as when she did, she was rather aware of Tora's body, and that...well. Facing his bare chest alone was much more than she was used to, and while she was trying to decide if she should wake him up or not, she found herself becoming mesmerized by the planes of said chest, the broad muscles apparent beneath skin. She started slightly, realizing her train of thought and she sighed. Her voice was slightly muffled, being so close to him, but she spoke all the same. Her voice sounded oddly small to her. "Tora...? Please wake up..."
This really was just too much fun. To further exacerbate matters, Tora shifted slightly, exhaling a warm breath directly against the column of her throat, curling his much larger frame around her smaller one as though seeking to both give and receive warmth against the chill of the day. It was taking her an awfully-long time to react to what was going on, and though his ego hardly needed the boost, he felt it all the same. Tora knew he was very nice to look at, and heād rendered more than one person a stammering mess beforeāit was something he quite enjoyed. But something about doing it to her, someone with so much fire and brimstone in her, was immensely more satisfying.
When she spoke, he considered drawing the whole thing out a little more, perhaps pretending to be a heavier sleeper than he was, but in the end, the prospect of seeing her embarrassed face was far too much to pass up, so he brought himself the rest of the way to wakefulness, cracking open emerald eyes which had a hint of sleepiness left in them still and pulling back just enough to look her in the face. He blinked once, slowly, and allowed the small smile on his lips to spread into something positively sinful. She really was cute when she blushed like that. He took in the full details of the situationātangled legs, the state of his shirt, that delightful shade of redāand chuckled darkly. One of his hands snaked out from under her, and he used it to prop up his head, disinclined to either let her go or move from his present placement. The other remained banded about her waist, his thumb drawing idle circles at her hip, where his large hand rested.
āMmā¦ good morning, kitten,ā he rumbled in a low-thrumming tone. āYou know, if you wanted to sleep with me, all you ever had to do was ask.ā
This man. Most of the time Naya was torn between being drawn to him and wanting to beat the living daylights out of him. Now was one of those times. As embarrassed as she was, there was no denying the slight prickle of contentment she was getting from this, though at the moment, the embarrassment far outweighed it, especially when he spoke.
She supposed she should have expected nothing less than that from him. Sometimes she wondered just why she was so attracted to him, the man was a letch. So, trying to regain at least some of her dignity, she managed to scowl into his chest, not giving him the satisfaction of glare at him. However, she was still blushing, so it perhaps lost most of its desired effect.
"I had nor have no such desire, it was you who latched on to me when I tripped over you. Now will you let me go?"
Tora trailed the hand at her hip up her arm and into her hair, toying absently with the cornflower-blue strands, soft against the calluses of his fingers. He wasnāt particularly interested in her denials, especially when it was patently obvious that she had entertained the thoughts she was so fervently denying, now if not before. He blinked lazily down at her, raising an eyebrow as if the suggestion was somehow perplexing. āAnd why would I want to do that?ā he asked languidly, as though bored by the very thought of just letting her get up and go about her day. He did so hate being bored.
There were any number of ways he could have entertained himself in this situation, but Tora hated being predictable, so he went with the one he was quite certain she was definitely not expecting. Rolling them back over, he situated them so that she was laying half on top of him, pillowed on his chest and abdomen, the corded muscle of his arm still keeping her there. āTell me something about yourself, kitten.ā The question was admittedly a bit unusual for himāhe was not in the habit of getting to know people he was only interested in bedding, but he was ever a creature of his own whimsy, and had decided that he wanted to hear her talk about herself. So thatās what he would do.
Naya let out a muffled yelp as he rolled again, his arm taking her with him. Being on top of him with gravity doing its job really only made things worse, and she had the very peculiar desire to simply lay there and sleep. That alone was strange to her, but even stranger was his question. At least this way she was able to raise her head enough to look at him, although it may have been better had she not. Her face was cooling slightly, but she was still a rather bright shade of pink.
The universe really just hated her, that was all.
"I don't know what I could tell you that you probably haven't already heard. The school likes to talk about us." That was true, not only was she an Akarui -a rather prominent vampire family- but she was also a twin, believed to be a myth. That had been why her grandfather had wanted her and her sister before they were even born, why they had, between the two of them, more kidnapping contracts out than probably anyone else on the planet. It was a rather interesting thought when one thought about it.
"Though I guess if there would be something you didn't know if would be that my favorite color is green. Obviously, I like cats, and I like fighting." Like him, like his eyes. She sighed slightly. Well, there was no harm in him knowing that, she supposed. "I like to sing, too. Mom says I got that from our ancestor, Naoya. Apparently he was fond of music."
Tora listened surprisingly intently to her words, though his free handāthe one not around her waist, did wander a bit, mostly through her hair and over the contours of her form, caressing with a surprisingly-tender touch, a bit meditative, honestly. He also kept from going anywhere that would really be considered inappropriate, and ended up just stroking her back in circles and sweeps of strong fingers, pausing occasionally on a spot of tension and pressing deftly until he felt the muscle loosen and ease. He hummed a note in his throat when she finished, meeting her eyes, and half-smiling, an unreadable expression crossing his face.
āI donāt care what they say, kitten. I wanted to know what you would say.ā And now he didāhow interesting. He was admittedly a little intrigued by what sheād chosen to say. It was true that parts of it were things heād known already, but not all of it was. Winding a strand of her hair upon his fingers, he brought it to his mouth and brushed his lips over it, a curiously-intimate gesture for all that he was touching no skin. Perhaps it was because he did not once break eye contact with her. When he spoke again, his voice was low, rich, and still with that faintest hint of lazy sensuality.
āSing for me, Naya.ā
Naya's eyebrows rose. No one ever asked her to sing but Haru, and occasionally Reiko. She was painfully aware of every touch and movement of his hands, though he at least seemed to keep the contact somewhat decent. Her face finally managed to regain its natural color, though he managed to make her blush again when he began playing with her hair. She wasn't entirely sure how she felt, singing for him, but...he rarely used her name, either.
Maybe it wouldn't be so bad. A slight smile graced her face, and she let her eyes slip closed, exhaling through her nose gently. She let herself get lost in the melody in her head for a few seconds before beginning to sing. To be honest, as she was singing, she completely forgot that Torahiko was even there. She got utterly lost in the music, and she opened her eyes when she was finished, her face brightened by a genuine smile, pink dusting her face even so.
His gaze never left her, not even when she closed her eyes. She was talented, certainly, but he was less interested in that than he was in what happened to her when she sang, and when she opened her eyes again, it was to see that the expression he wore was curiously-soft. He made no initial comment, simply flowing into a seated position and taking her with him. Tilting his head to the side, he took her chin between his thumb and forefinger and tilted her face up towards him. Never predictable, though, he simply pressed his lips to her forehead chastely. āBeautiful,ā he said simply, and the arm at her waist loosened, freeing her from his grip. She was free to go with no more harassment than that.
Naya never really knew what to make of this man, honestly. The one who flirted with her and every other woman, who harassed her, who acted like he didn't care, and probably did not for all she knew...kissed her on the forehead and was now simply just letting her go. She just did not get him at all. He was like a puzzle that every time she put a piece in, some other, more confusing empty slot showed up, with more questions than answers.
Even so, it was a slight relief to be able to move again, though it felt strangely cold. Well, maybe that wasn't so strange, considering the weather, but...she shook her head, clearing it, and stood up. She looked at him sideways before leaving.
"All you ever have to do is ask, Kishi-Tora."
Perhaps it was an effect of the time theyād spent in incubation tanks, or perhaps it was the cruel rigors of their training. It might even be the abnormally-high degree of psychic energy in each of them, that gave Tora his psychometry and Tatsu his precognition. Whatever it was, it ensured that even when they slept and sometimes dreamed, they were aware, in some way, of how things proceeded around them in the outside world, able to wake at a momentās notice and react if necessary. It had saved their lives more than once.
Presently, it wasnāt going to save Toraās life, but it was going to provide him some entertainment. He sensed her coming, though he supposed she must have miscalculated where he was, because she tripped right over him, headed for the ground at a truly spectacular rate. At least, she was until one of his loose arms moved up to catch her, in what could have been a very lucky movement made by someone entirely caught in dream. Indeed, he didnāt exactly wake up when his tanned arm banded around her waist and stopped her fall by directing it atop his person, causing her to land more or less nose-to-chest with him, which in the latter case was a bare expanse of honey-colored skin, the result of wearing a haori-style shirt rather loosely. Nor was he fully conscious when his grip tightened and his other arm circled around her lower back. Rolling slightly, he moved onto his side and hugged her closer, nuzzling his nose into her hair and inhaling, murmuring something with sleepy satisfaction, too low and rumbly to make out the words properly.
A slight smile took up residence on his face, though without some rather acrobatic escape maneuvers, she probably wouldnāt be able to see it. Her hair, he observed without really having the thought, smelled almost as good as her mouth tasted.
Naya Akarui was hopelessly lost. She sighed, wondering if she should turn around again, but then she was brought back to reality as she tripped. She had been so absorbed in her own thoughts that she hadn't even noticed the scent, or his presence at all. She let out a slight yelp as she tripped, fully expecting to come face-first to the ground, but instead, she found herself on top of something almost soft as his arm caught her around the waist. She shut her eyes as she landed, increasingly aware that her face was quite literally buried into someone's chest, and it only took one sniff to realize it was Torahiko.
She froze when she felt his other arm encircle her and they rolled over, the motion entangling their legs quite thoroughly. Naya felt her face turning red, she was fairly certain one could feel the heat she was giving off. Tora muttered something, and she realized as he all but buried his nose into her hair that he was asleep. That really only made her blush further, and she was fairly certain that she was the same color as her aunt's hair. Oh, oh, this was so embarassing. This type of thing only happened to her twin, not to her. Well, she supposed there was a first time for everything.
She lay there, chewing on her bottom lip. She'd stopped moving, as when she did, she was rather aware of Tora's body, and that...well. Facing his bare chest alone was much more than she was used to, and while she was trying to decide if she should wake him up or not, she found herself becoming mesmerized by the planes of said chest, the broad muscles apparent beneath skin. She started slightly, realizing her train of thought and she sighed. Her voice was slightly muffled, being so close to him, but she spoke all the same. Her voice sounded oddly small to her. "Tora...? Please wake up..."
This really was just too much fun. To further exacerbate matters, Tora shifted slightly, exhaling a warm breath directly against the column of her throat, curling his much larger frame around her smaller one as though seeking to both give and receive warmth against the chill of the day. It was taking her an awfully-long time to react to what was going on, and though his ego hardly needed the boost, he felt it all the same. Tora knew he was very nice to look at, and heād rendered more than one person a stammering mess beforeāit was something he quite enjoyed. But something about doing it to her, someone with so much fire and brimstone in her, was immensely more satisfying.
When she spoke, he considered drawing the whole thing out a little more, perhaps pretending to be a heavier sleeper than he was, but in the end, the prospect of seeing her embarrassed face was far too much to pass up, so he brought himself the rest of the way to wakefulness, cracking open emerald eyes which had a hint of sleepiness left in them still and pulling back just enough to look her in the face. He blinked once, slowly, and allowed the small smile on his lips to spread into something positively sinful. She really was cute when she blushed like that. He took in the full details of the situationātangled legs, the state of his shirt, that delightful shade of redāand chuckled darkly. One of his hands snaked out from under her, and he used it to prop up his head, disinclined to either let her go or move from his present placement. The other remained banded about her waist, his thumb drawing idle circles at her hip, where his large hand rested.
āMmā¦ good morning, kitten,ā he rumbled in a low-thrumming tone. āYou know, if you wanted to sleep with me, all you ever had to do was ask.ā
This man. Most of the time Naya was torn between being drawn to him and wanting to beat the living daylights out of him. Now was one of those times. As embarrassed as she was, there was no denying the slight prickle of contentment she was getting from this, though at the moment, the embarrassment far outweighed it, especially when he spoke.
She supposed she should have expected nothing less than that from him. Sometimes she wondered just why she was so attracted to him, the man was a letch. So, trying to regain at least some of her dignity, she managed to scowl into his chest, not giving him the satisfaction of glare at him. However, she was still blushing, so it perhaps lost most of its desired effect.
"I had nor have no such desire, it was you who latched on to me when I tripped over you. Now will you let me go?"
Tora trailed the hand at her hip up her arm and into her hair, toying absently with the cornflower-blue strands, soft against the calluses of his fingers. He wasnāt particularly interested in her denials, especially when it was patently obvious that she had entertained the thoughts she was so fervently denying, now if not before. He blinked lazily down at her, raising an eyebrow as if the suggestion was somehow perplexing. āAnd why would I want to do that?ā he asked languidly, as though bored by the very thought of just letting her get up and go about her day. He did so hate being bored.
There were any number of ways he could have entertained himself in this situation, but Tora hated being predictable, so he went with the one he was quite certain she was definitely not expecting. Rolling them back over, he situated them so that she was laying half on top of him, pillowed on his chest and abdomen, the corded muscle of his arm still keeping her there. āTell me something about yourself, kitten.ā The question was admittedly a bit unusual for himāhe was not in the habit of getting to know people he was only interested in bedding, but he was ever a creature of his own whimsy, and had decided that he wanted to hear her talk about herself. So thatās what he would do.
Naya let out a muffled yelp as he rolled again, his arm taking her with him. Being on top of him with gravity doing its job really only made things worse, and she had the very peculiar desire to simply lay there and sleep. That alone was strange to her, but even stranger was his question. At least this way she was able to raise her head enough to look at him, although it may have been better had she not. Her face was cooling slightly, but she was still a rather bright shade of pink.
The universe really just hated her, that was all.
"I don't know what I could tell you that you probably haven't already heard. The school likes to talk about us." That was true, not only was she an Akarui -a rather prominent vampire family- but she was also a twin, believed to be a myth. That had been why her grandfather had wanted her and her sister before they were even born, why they had, between the two of them, more kidnapping contracts out than probably anyone else on the planet. It was a rather interesting thought when one thought about it.
"Though I guess if there would be something you didn't know if would be that my favorite color is green. Obviously, I like cats, and I like fighting." Like him, like his eyes. She sighed slightly. Well, there was no harm in him knowing that, she supposed. "I like to sing, too. Mom says I got that from our ancestor, Naoya. Apparently he was fond of music."
Tora listened surprisingly intently to her words, though his free handāthe one not around her waist, did wander a bit, mostly through her hair and over the contours of her form, caressing with a surprisingly-tender touch, a bit meditative, honestly. He also kept from going anywhere that would really be considered inappropriate, and ended up just stroking her back in circles and sweeps of strong fingers, pausing occasionally on a spot of tension and pressing deftly until he felt the muscle loosen and ease. He hummed a note in his throat when she finished, meeting her eyes, and half-smiling, an unreadable expression crossing his face.
āI donāt care what they say, kitten. I wanted to know what you would say.ā And now he didāhow interesting. He was admittedly a little intrigued by what sheād chosen to say. It was true that parts of it were things heād known already, but not all of it was. Winding a strand of her hair upon his fingers, he brought it to his mouth and brushed his lips over it, a curiously-intimate gesture for all that he was touching no skin. Perhaps it was because he did not once break eye contact with her. When he spoke again, his voice was low, rich, and still with that faintest hint of lazy sensuality.
āSing for me, Naya.ā
Naya's eyebrows rose. No one ever asked her to sing but Haru, and occasionally Reiko. She was painfully aware of every touch and movement of his hands, though he at least seemed to keep the contact somewhat decent. Her face finally managed to regain its natural color, though he managed to make her blush again when he began playing with her hair. She wasn't entirely sure how she felt, singing for him, but...he rarely used her name, either.
Maybe it wouldn't be so bad. A slight smile graced her face, and she let her eyes slip closed, exhaling through her nose gently. She let herself get lost in the melody in her head for a few seconds before beginning to sing. To be honest, as she was singing, she completely forgot that Torahiko was even there. She got utterly lost in the music, and she opened her eyes when she was finished, her face brightened by a genuine smile, pink dusting her face even so.
His gaze never left her, not even when she closed her eyes. She was talented, certainly, but he was less interested in that than he was in what happened to her when she sang, and when she opened her eyes again, it was to see that the expression he wore was curiously-soft. He made no initial comment, simply flowing into a seated position and taking her with him. Tilting his head to the side, he took her chin between his thumb and forefinger and tilted her face up towards him. Never predictable, though, he simply pressed his lips to her forehead chastely. āBeautiful,ā he said simply, and the arm at her waist loosened, freeing her from his grip. She was free to go with no more harassment than that.
Naya never really knew what to make of this man, honestly. The one who flirted with her and every other woman, who harassed her, who acted like he didn't care, and probably did not for all she knew...kissed her on the forehead and was now simply just letting her go. She just did not get him at all. He was like a puzzle that every time she put a piece in, some other, more confusing empty slot showed up, with more questions than answers.
Even so, it was a slight relief to be able to move again, though it felt strangely cold. Well, maybe that wasn't so strange, considering the weather, but...she shook her head, clearing it, and stood up. She looked at him sideways before leaving.
"All you ever have to do is ask, Kishi-Tora."