Yukarin wrote: ↑Thu Mar 21, 2024 5:43 amRecently went on a nostalgia trip and reread a lot of the fics here I was reading a long time ago and was pleasantly surprised this story's still going!
I keep forgetting how diabetes-inducing Rika is on this story, remembered why this was one of the stories I really liked to read here.
Looking forward for more chapters in the future!
Rika's a sweetheart and I'll hear no arguments otherwise!
“Just be careful.” Hisao fusses as I grab hold of the ladder at the edge of the pool and gingerly lower myself into the heated water below. I can’t hide my annoyed look back up at him causing him to look away guiltily. Glad to know he knows he’s smothering me again.
I get it; I really do. I’d be the same to an extent but it’s been a week since I came back to school and he’s been more of a worry wart than usual. I didn’t even plan to come to the pool yet but I needed to relax and this is my favourite way to do that.
As soon as my waist sinks into the warm water, I can’t wait any longer and gladly fall backwards with a splash, disappearing under the water. The pressure of ten thousand gallons, give-or-take, of perfectly warm water engulfs my entire body. I’ve missed this so much. My body sinks from the momentum but as my body relaxes, I can let physics to do the rest. My body breaches the surface again and I squirt a spout of water from my mouth for effect.
I look over to Hisao with a beaming grin and I can see him physically unclench. Finally! That’s more like it!
“You gonna join us, senpai?” I shift my weight to stand in the chest-high water as Saki idly circles me with a grin. It’s so weird to see her in school blues rather than her usual swimsuit. I brush my loose, wet hair back and give him my most alluring look.
“I don’t want to leave Taro on the sidelines all alone!” Hisao says, circling the pool and taking a seat on the edge next to Saki’s newly announced boyfriend - who doesn’t own any swimming gear apparently. I guess only having one arm would be a hindrance to swimming but I applaud him showing up for Saki; something he’s been making a habit of, apparently.
“Don’t worry about me, sir. It’d be a shame to see one of Akio’s best pranks go to waste.” Taro jokes and Hisao nods in mild agreement before shaking his head. While Hisao is dressed in his usual t-shirt and ludicrous swim shorts, Taro opted for a baggy pair of knee-length cargo shorts so he could dip his toes into the pool.
“Does he always wear a t-shirt?” Saki asks quietly, strafing around me a second time.
“Yeah…” I sigh. I would have thought he’d be over his body issues after all our topless time together but I guess he doesn’t want to share that with an audience. I lean back again and allow my body to float as Saki’s drift makes slowly rotate. “The water feels great.”
“First time since your operation, right?”
“Yup. Needed a nice soothing float, hoped it would be just as good and it is…” I sigh contentedly, closing my eyes and just allowing myself to be for a little bit. It’s not as peaceful as it used to be but I kind of enjoy having Hisao and our friends here too.
“Sounds good to me. That stuff with my Mom was… rough.” Saki says and her light swimming stops. I peek to see that she’s adopted a similar floating position to me but keeping some momentum with her arms.
“I have to admit; that does look relaxing.” Taro comments. “Wish I could join you.”
“I haven’t quite gotten the hang of it. I can’t give up control of my body like that.” Hisao admits and I remember how tough it was to get him to float, even for a few seconds.
“I guess it’d be kinda hard not to fight against the water.” Taro offers in consolation.
“We’re made of, like, sixty-percent water. It doesn’t have to be a fight.” Saki says, somewhere near my feet. “Just go with the flow.”
“As the great Bruce Lee once said: ‘Be like water, my friend’.” Taro says with a sagely nod.
“See? Taro gets it.” I laugh at the couple’s interplay and look over at Hisao with a smile, raising my eyebrows expectantly. C’mon, Senpai…
“Yeah, I guess I could do with a dip too.” He smirks and pushes himself off the edge of the pool and into the waiting water. He slips-in quietly and allows himself to fully submerge before popping up beside me. “Hey.”
“Hey, you.” I smirk up at the dripping Hisao as I slip my arms around his waist and twist my body to face him. I give him a quick peck on the lips then slink back into the water, holding his hands.
“You feeling okay?” He asks quietly and it immediately annoys me. Could he just relax for five minutes? Could he just let me enjoy this? I sigh and let go of his hands.
“I’m fine, Hisao.” I state, drifting away, unable to hide my disappointment. The realisation of having fucked-up is immediate and he glides forward to reach for my hands again.
“Sorry, sorry, I know… I’m trying, alright?” He whispers as we move gently away from prying ears. “I don’t want to be this annoying, overbearing pain-in-the-ass so tell me what I can do to not be that and I’ll do it.”
I don’t want to be the girlfriend who’s constantly annoyed at her caring, if overbearing, boyfriend either, y’know… I just don’t want to be handled with kid-gloves. I want us to have fun like we used to! I bring his hands closer to me as we tread water quietly.
“Touch me.” I say softly as I lead his hands to my chest. His eyes go wide with shock while my hands slide up his arms to keep them where I want them. His head snaps back toward Taro and Saki but I pull his focus back to me. “They’re not going to notice if you play it cool. C’moooon, senpai, just go with the flow.”
After a few seconds of obvious internal debate, he presses his palms against my swimsuit. Now this is more like it. I breathe out shakily as goosebumps erupt all over my arms and thighs. I reward Hisao with a lustful look and a deep kiss. He seems to approve as he matches my energy and presses harder against me. And speaking of hard…
I stroke the noticeable reaction to my actions and my heart thumps wildly with desire and anxiety. It’s an exciting, intoxicating mix of emotions and something I’ve desperately wanted since I got out of the hospital. Its one thing to be supportive but a girl likes to feel wanted too… And I definitely want Hisao to know how much I want him.
I trace my fingers along him before breaking our kiss. He looks flustered but happier. At the very least, he’s not opening his mouth to ask silly questions. Not that I’m going to give him much of a chance to. I smile wickedly before sticking my tongue out.
“Thanks, senpai. I needed that!” I wink and kick off the side wall of the pool, launching into a swim away from him, leaving the dumbfounded Hisao in my wake. Mission accomplished.
“Wai-wha-hey! G-get back here, Rika!” He calls out behind me and I hear frantic splashing as he gives chase.
“-so I’m gonna talk with her again at the weekend. Hopefully our last conversation gave her something to think about and she’s not going to be such a bitch about it.” Saki bemoans her current parental woes. “It’s like playing chess against the person who taught you how to play…”
“I get where you’re coming from but I can’t imagine being so antagonistic with my Mom.” I comment as I pat my hair with a towel.
“You’re lucky to have so many people care about you, Rika.” Saki looks over to me, her face a little sad and wistful. “Don’t take that for granted.”
“Hey. You know I care about you, right?” I say, almost reflexively. We might not have the best history but I like this Saki at the very least.
“Really?” She blushes, hiding her face as she ruffles her hair dry with her own towel and enters her stall. “And I… I better say thanks, I guess.”
“I wouldn’t be in a rush to thank me. I think I’ve caused more trouble for you than I thought I would.” I reply, entering the stall with my all school stuff in it.
“Heh, I was always going to get into trouble. But this is a different flavour of trouble than I’d get into on my own. A sweeter taste of trouble.”
“Oooh, I like that! That’d be a good album title. Or a book. It deserves to be written on something anyways.”
“Maybe that’s my next thing; writing. I’ve already done art and music; why not go for the hat-trick?”
“I’m sure you’ll figure out what you want to do eventually. It’s something I need to do as well.”
“Still not sure what you want to do with your extra life?” Saki asks, before asking herself a follow-up quietly. “Am I using that right?”
I chuckle at her attempt to use video game parlance with me while thinking about the question itself. I told Hisao that I wanted to work towards a future now but I still have no idea what that means.
“I don’t…” I confess, huffing as I stuff my towel into my bag. I exit the stall, fully-dressed, and wait for Saki to join me. “But I’ve got plans in the short-term.”
The door to Saki’s stall opens and she steps out, leaning against the wooden frame with a scheming look.
“And those plans would include a certain Hisao Nakai, I presume?”
“Yeeeeeaaaah. I wanted to ask you a favour, actually… You’ve got a sense of style.” I say. Saki looks down at her drab grey hoodie and then back at me with a doubtful eyebrow.
“N-no, like you know wh-what’s fashionable!” I splutter and, again, Saki looks down but can’t help but let out a giggle this time.
“Sure, Rika, what do you need?”
“A fancy dress…?”
“What kind of fancy are we talking here? Gala, opera, ballroom?”
“An adult date fancy?” I blush and look away but Saki’s piercing gaze and probing questions don’t care for my embarrassment.
“How adult?” I can hear the smile on her face before I look with the most clueless, unsure look I think I’ve given to anyone.
“…Hoping to end the night having it taken off me kind of adult?” I say, feeling my entire body warm up as her grin widens and there’s a twinkle in her bespectacled eyes.
“Well, hot damn! That is adult!”
“Y-y-you don’t have to help if its weird b-b-but I want it to be special and I don’t have any fancy clothes for a fancy dinner date an-” My rambling is cut off with a solitary finger on my lips. My eyes follow the line from the finger, up the arm, to the confident face of Saki.
“Shhh. Say no more. Come to my room later and I’ll see what I have.”
“There’s twenty white hexagons and twelve black pentagons.” Hisao answers confidently, not even looking up from his own work while Fuuka and I argue back-and-forth over the problem. We both look across the table at him while Jiro looks at him, a little impressed. Hisao finally notices our stunned silence and looks up.
“What?”
“How…” Fuuka looks utterly baffled by the speed of his answer.
“I played a lot of soccer before I came here and Takumi tried to distract me one time after I twisted my ankle on the field and had to sit out. He asked me how many of each there was on the ball and I had to answer only using math. Took my mind off the pain but gave me a headache trying to work it out based on size and the shapes.” Hisao explains, articulating the roundness of the ball with his hands.
“You couldn’t just count the shapes?” Jiro asks with a bemused smirk, Hisao shaking his head in response.
“I should have, really.” He snorts with amusement. “I’d have gotten it right.”
“So now you just know that? It’s stuck in your brain forever.” Fuuka laughs and Hisao nods, a bit embarrassed by Fuuka’s needling.
“Hey, it turned out to be useful info!” Jiro defends, pointing his pencil at Fuuka. “You’d never have gotten the answer without him.”
“I’d have figured it out!” Fuuka protests but I can tell by the ‘oh really?’ look Jiro is giving her that he has her number. Not that I’d be any closer…
We continue our study session and in-between idle chit-chat and questions about problems, Fuuka and I manage to get our math assignment done while Hisao helps Jiro with a science assignment they both had.
Hisao and I tease each other with glances, knowing how I left him at the swimming pool. He whispered he’d get me back but we haven’t really had a private moment since. It’s like that anxiety you get before your birthday or Christmas. The potential of excitement.
“Hey. I see what you two are doing. Do you want us to disappear?” Fuuka mutters out of the side of her mouth to me but miming pointing at a problem on the page.
“Sorry, I kinda teased him in the pool but I guess it got me too.” I giggle and Fuuka follows, earning us both looks from our boyfriends.
“I think they’re plotting against us, man.” Jiro leans over to whisper conspiratorially with Hisao but still be loud enough for us to hear.
“Oh, definitely.” Hisao feigns fear. “Should we get out of here while we still can?”
“No.” Jiro stands with an air of authority, clenching his fist dramatically. “I shall lead them away so that one of us may live!” He hops over the table with an uncanny agility. I guess I shouldn’t underestimate a track team member, even one with a prosthetic leg. Fuuka doesn’t miss a beat as she shifts into her chair to give chase to the now slowly-moving Jiro.
“I’ll get you, my pretty! And your little butt too!” She cackles like a witch and rolls toward the door as Jiro just leaves my sight. Hisao and I are in hysterics but between my tears I see Fuuka wink at me as she slides the door closed. Thank you, Fuuka. I turn my attention toward Hisao and slip onto the floor.
“Shame your friend left you all alone…” I stalk on my hands and knees around the table toward Hisao, who goes from laughing to fake-cowering pretty quickly.
“With a hungry-looking predator at that! Whatever shall I do?” His sarcastic barbs do little to dissuade me from padding toward him and taking hold of his shoulders as I crawl onto his lap, mounting him. “Oh no. I am caught.”
“If you’re not going to play in the spirit of the game; why play at all?” I pout as I lean back and press my lower half against him.
“Because I still want the prize for winning.” He smirks, nuzzling my neck as his hands find my hips.
“And what prize would that be, Hisao?” I tilt my head and sigh happily.
“You tell me.”
I don’t even get the chance to answer as his tongue touches my neck and draws a line up it to my ear. The shriek of joy that came out of my throat surprises us both. I didn’t know I was capable of such a high pitch. The shiver that ping-pongs through my body like chain lightning is another thing all together and I have to press my mouth into his shoulder as aftershocks make my body quake to suppress my moans.
“Did you just…?” Hisao asks, his voice more wary than it ought to be. You didn’t do anything wrong this time, Hisao. You did very good. I nod rapidly as my body ignites with heat from my core, my skin pinkening all at once. He sighs, a little chuckle on his breath, as his arms wrap tight around me and his head rests against my shoulder.
I don’t have the words for what just happened. I know it’s been a while since I… It had to be because of earlier, right? That teasing and Hisao hitting my weak spot for massive damage. Oooh, I’d take revenge on him if I only knew what his was…
“Are you okay?”
All at once, my body and brain flushed with endorphins and serotonin, I press my whole weight against Hisao; forcing him onto his back with me on top, straddling him. His look of surprise is almost enough for me to crack a smile but I’m pissed, and horny, and I want him to stop fucking asking that!
I groan, pinning his arms against the floor and pressing my nose against his. “I am more than okay, Hisao…”
“R-Rika?” His eyes are wide, he’s frightened, and maybe a small part of me likes that but I relent, sitting upright but keeping my hands firmly planted on his stomach so he doesn’t get up.
“I am sooooo tired of asking you to stop that shit, Hisao.” I’d rather show you just how okay I am.
“S-sorry… I didn’t actually mean it like that this time.” His guilty hangdog expression kills me as he explains. “I just wanted to know if you were okay… Going further?”
“As in…?”
“Yeah…”
“O-oh!” My tense body relaxes a little as I blush. A growing pressure from his lower half to mine is encouraging but this isn’t really how I wanted it to happen… “I, um, I was thinking the same…”
“Okay.” Hisao smiles up at me and shifts his weight but I press my weight down on him again.
“Not now. I…” I blush even harder and my hands hide my face just as quickly. Crapbaskets, I swore I was going to be more suave about this. “I want to have a proper date. Dinner, dancing, and then…”
“Oh! Yeah, I guess that makes sense. I forget how girly you are sometimes.”
“I’m plenty girly!” I fume impotently as Hisao looks down his body at our current positions.
“You pinned me down and growled at me.”
“I d-didn’t growl!”
“You’re so cute when you’re flustered.”
“St-stop changing the subject!”
From almost actual-fighting to play-fighting, I really am feeling woozy as Hisao chuckles. Bouncing between states like a pinball is giving me emotional whiplash. I lean forward and nestle into his chest as his arms wrap around me.
“So are you going to ask me out on a date then?” Hisao asks quietly.
“I think you should be asking me that.” I counter.
“This was your idea.”
“You’re the guy in this relationship. It’s kinda your job.”
“Again, you pinned me down and growled at me.”
“Are you still griping about that?”
“It happened literally thirty seconds ago!”
I groan and push myself up off his chest to straddle him once more, not even trying to hide my smile and allowing Hisao to get into a seated position.
“Hisao, would you like to go on a date with me this weekend?”
“I would love to, Rika.” We kiss to seal the deal and then embrace. Great! Now I just have to figure out how to organise an adult date…
I don’t think I’ve ever felt this anxious about anything. Never about my operations but I guess this isn’t like those at all in that I have no idea how to do this. Being a sick girl on the verge of death is easy when you’ve done it all your life but going on a real date with the guy I love in the hopes of ending the night…
“Just make sure to keep it under four-thousand, okay?” Mom’s reminder breaks me out of my daydreaming as she hands me a generous wad of bills. “The table’s booked under your name for tomorrow at 6pm sharp.”
“I will, I promise. Thanks again, Mom. I was really scared of screwing this up and saying the wrong thing and ordering something too expensive.” I ramble, not quite making eye contact. I never thought calling her for advice would mean she came all the way here to give me money and a pep-talk. She has to know what I have planned and wants to mess with me.
I’m sure of it.
“It can be daunting, especially for someone your age. I remember getting so anxious about calling places to book in case they heard how young I sounded. I wanted to be taken so seriously.” She laughs, hugging me tight. “But being young is about making mistakes and taking leaps of faith. You know that nothing is guaranteed so I expect you to show some initiative next time. I won’t always be there to plan your dates for you.”
The little smirk on her face is almost condescending but I know she means it as a challenge that I can rise to. Thanks to the assists from Fuuka and Saki, I don’t think I have anything else to worry about. Hair, clothes, money, restaurant, all taken care of. I’ve searched cosy places to go dancing online too so I have a good idea on where to go afterwards…
“Well, not too many mistakes, I hope.”
I pace back and forth in front of Ichigo nervously, checking my phone every couple of seconds as if I wouldn’t have heard the ringer go off… Ugh, I knew we should come together but I wanted to be dramatic, give the evening some flair! So stupid… I just hope Hisao remembers the way…
“I think you look how I feel…” Hisao’s voice suddenly surprises me from behind. How did he sneak up on me like that? My heart races as I take in the handsome boy in front of me. Smartly dressed in brown slacks, a tasteful black button-up shirt and a suede blazer.
“Wow.” We say in unison, a beat of silence, and then we both laugh.
“You look amazing! I feel like I should have put in more effort…” Hisao scratches his cheek as his eyes scan me up and down. “You’re beautiful, Rika.”
“Y-you look pretty dashing yourself, Hisao.” I blush, rubbing my left arm and swaying gently from side-to-side.
“Soooo… What’s the plan after dinner?” He crooks his arm and offers to me. I entwine my arms with his and turn with him toward the entrance of the restaurant.
“Spoilers, senpai!”
Previous Level <---> Next Level
Given the last chapters signs I'm worried that Rima's heart will act up in the adult date. Hope not.
Otherwise, this is very fluff, thank you! Just what I've needed to end the day in the good mood ta-da
I provide tech support for this forum. Ping me by email, Discord or DM.
forums changelog
Fleeting Heartbeat Studios: site, Discord.
My own legacy.
That's a sucker's bet.
