This is the regular forum safe version of this story.
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This is for people who for whatever reason want to read it here because, well, I love this story and want everyone to be able to experience it.
Enjoy!
Wow, this feels like a big moment for me!
As those I talk to regularly know, this has been a long time coming, and well... I hope you guys enjoy all of it as much as I hope you do.
“Suki Yo, Captain” Like flat little soldiers raging in battle, in rows stretched high on lines across the balcony, the wash danced violently in the wind as Saki stared at it all through her bedroom window. She sat quietly at her desk, occasionally tapping a pencil to her chin absent-mindedly over the near-forgotten sheets of music laid out on the surface before her.
Watching the clothes wave now like flags high above a ship engaged in battle over the roiling sea, she sighed. She knew she should really pull them down before they get soaked in the storm that was sure to hit at any moment, but they were fastened tightly to the lines, and once the rain was over they’d eventually dry again anyway. Despite anything her mother might tell her to the contrary. Her clothes might smell funny or be a bit wrinkly as a result, but she wasn’t as concerned about her fashionable appearance as others she knew.
That thought sent her mind a-whirl again, and as the pitter-patter of rain began echoing against the window in front of her, her thoughts drifted off into the world of dreams.
“If you were on a deserted island,” Saki asked the person she held beneath the blankets in the dark, feeling completely relaxed and at ease in the safety of the embrace. “What one thing would you have with you?”
“Why, you of course,” She responded, giving Saki a smile and a light kiss on the nose. Her nose wrinkled at the soft touch.
“Besides me, silly,” Saki teased, poking the girl in her tender side. “I never even considered that we wouldn’t be there together.”
The other grinned. “Well let’s see… I guess it would have to be my hairbrush.”
Saki rolled her eyes. She shouldn’t have expected anything else. But then she smiled in the dark at the girl she held. “Why does that not surprise me?” she asked, echoing her thoughts.
“Well if you’re there,” the girl replied. “I couldn’t stand it if I didn’t look my best.” At that Saki felt herself blush, but it soon faded at just the wonder of being with the girl she loved so much, and who she never wanted to leave again.
“Anyway,” the girl said, and Saki drew a breath at the mischievous glint in her eye. “I think that’s enough talk, don’t you?”
Saki soon regretted not taking the breath a moment ago as the girl slid down against her body to disappear beneath the covers. In what seemed like no time Saki felt her body tremble at what the girl was doing to her. “I… uh…” She’d somehow lost the power to form cohesive words, her eyes rolling slightly back into her head.
“You huh?” the girl asked innocently, snaking up her sweat-slickened body to reappear again close to her face, licking her lips deliberately. “Did you want to say something to me?” Her voice was like the sweetest honey… though the kind that would also quickly poison you and leave you helpless to resist her wanton seductions.
“I…” Saki tried to begin again, but found herself lost in the dark pools of brown she stared into.
The girl smiled that soft, secretive, knowing smile of hers. “Suki yo, Captain,” she told her in a slow, breathy whisper. Those words, spoken with both the utmost intimacy and respect, sealed the love between them. Hearing those words, Saki knew they would be together forever.
When their lips met, her mind once more became a whirlpool.Feeling herself tossed ‘round and round, Saki moaned as she fought against the current, the waves seeming to crash around her even though she didn’t even know whether she was going up or down.
“No…” she moaned.
“She loves me, I know it…”And the next moment, the vortex faded into a muted howling of wind and rain assaulting glass, and she lifted her head from the desk to blink groggily into the darkness. As she began reorienting herself, she realized she couldn’t even see the wash through the wall of water now pummeling the balcony outside her bedroom. She glanced quickly at her bedside clock to see it read
1:38, and groaned at the papers in front of her that she now knew were impossible to finish memorizing by the time she had to catch the train at 5:45 in the morning.
“Some example I’m being…” she mumbled. She’d barely settled into working full-time after graduating high school. Maybe she should have taken her friends’ advice and gone on to college with Momo. She had the scores for it, with even a glowing recommendation from her math teacher. It was only a thought though. She knew that what she truly wanted lay elsewhere.
Packing the papers neatly together, she quickly changed into her pajamas and wrapped herself tightly within her covers, gazing once more out into the storm though she only distantly heard the thunder now. What an ill-omened night before the day she had planned for tomorrow – the day that she knew one way or another would change her life. The neglected music now seemed unimportant as she ran plans for the coming day through her mind one more time, though the rain dampened her spirits. Eventually, with a heart that seemed to keep becoming heavier, she drifted off into a disappointingly dreamless sleep.
…
Miyabi pushed herself, trying to keep up with the two smaller girls she always made it her mission to compete with in learning a new dance. Singing had always been her strong point, but she was quietly proud how far she’d come with dancing recently as a result of experience like she obtained from
Buono!. Especially this year, as she finished her last year of school, she’d even begun receiving compliments from the other members at how well she moved.
The compliments she took to heart the most though were from the other
Buono! members, as well as their Captain, since she admired their abilities the most. Airin actually claimed recently that Miyabi had surpassed her, and for the first time Miyabi felt the girl really believed it. She of course had calmly denied the claim.
As she twisted and jumped and twirled to the end of the dance, she felt her muscles ache slightly in exertion and did her best to catch her breath. The girls she’d been scrutinizing relaxed easily and began giving their
“arigato gozaimashita!”’s with barely a hint of exertion except a few beads of sweat on Saki’s brow, and Miyabi once again felt envious. However much she improved, she still did not have the endurance of their tiny bodies, even if she did notice Saki had slight shadows beneath her eyes today.
After saying something to Momoko that sent them both into soft giggling, Saki turned to Miyabi and walked over to her, dabbing at her forehead with a purple Mickey towel Miyabi felt envious of.
“Is it okay to meet up just outside the first-floor elevator when we’re ready to go?” Saki asked. Miyabi nodded as she stretched, knowing Saki would need to meet with their managers before being done for the day.
“I wish you’d tell me where we were going though,” Miyabi growled softly. “I won’t know how to dress otherwise.”
The other girl grinned. “I think you should for once not worry about what you are going to wear, Miya.” She playfully batted at Miyabi’s shoulder. Miyabi frowned at the sparkle that also lit up the others’ eyes.
“But if I don’t know where we’re going, I’ll feel like a foo—”
She couldn’t finish though as she was interrupted by Saki pressing a finger to her lips.
“Hi~mi~tsu!” the girl chimed, and danced away, not losing one whit of that sparkle.
Miyabi grunted.
“You’d think, after all these years, she’d know how I feel about wearing the right clothes…” she grumbled under her breath.
“What was that, Miya?” Chinami asked, coming up with her own towel to join her in the walk to the locker room.
“Nothing,” Miyabi told her in a sour voice, and Chinami shrugged as they made their way out of the studio.
…
Waiting patiently in front of the elevator, Miyabi tugged her dark wool cap further down toward her sunglasses and readjusted the bag on her shoulder. She knew she’d have to wait a bit for Saki, but her impatience still rose in an urge to get out of the building. Since the older girl wasn’t forthcoming with information about their outing, she decided to go the middling route of the three outfit types she always carried to work for any potential occasion – a rock-style tee with English lettering beneath her leather jacket, and a short patterned skirt from 109’s
~one spo~. If Saki wanted to take her someplace this wouldn’t work… well… the threat of the leather would give plenty of warning that she could just beat her up!
After a few minutes and seeing other staff come down the elevator to leave for the day as well, Miyabi glanced back at yet another
-ding- to see Saki step out in a cute red and white striped sweater over belted denim shorts. Thankful the other girl’s style fit hers well enough, Miyabi fell into step with her as they headed to exit the building, Saki beaming back at her.
“You gonna tell me where we’re going yet?” Miyabi asked, but Saki’s smile just widened, and with a roll of her eyes in response to the smile, they walked on.
It turned out that Saki took her to a moderate-level, trendy izakaya nestled among the towers in Shinjuku. They chattered about the day’s rehearsal, and Miyabi felt only slight surprise when Saki ordered warm
sake for the both of them. As usual, the server didn’t question their ages.
After a while, when they had moved on to dessert cocktails, Miyabi was definitely feeling warm, but also incredibly loose to where she quite enjoyed the dinner. She drank occasionally at izakaya or parties, but normally didn’t go out of her way for it.
Noticing Saki’s eyes focused on her face as she smiled behind the glass held at her lips, Miyabi took a sip of her own and asked, “What?”
The other girl lowered her hands slightly. “You look a little flushed, Miya. Maybe I shouldn’t have asked for that last glass?”
“I’m fine,” Miyabi replied, waving the comment away and taking another full gulp this time. She really was. She was in full control of her…
She jumped slightly in her seat, blinking down at the glass falling hard onto the table which had seemed to jump up to meet it. Was the table a few centimeters higher than just a minute ago? She slapped it, as if that’d help it return to its normal and appropriate size.
When she heard the other girl giggle, she pushed her glass away. “Yeah, I think that’s enough for me. I’m no lush like a certain Captain of mine.”
“Aww,” Saki replied, taking another sip. “Here I thought getting you drunk might make it easier to take advantage of you. Now I’ll have to do it the hard way~♪”
Miyabi blinked, not sure she heard the girl correctly.
It’s just the sake talking… she told herself, and nodded firmly. Her vision swam a little at the sudden movement, though she knew from past experience the effect wouldn’t last too long.
Saki seemed incredibly amused by something though, and Miyabi thought she even caught a mischievous glimmer in her senpai’s eyes as she took another sip. Again Miyabi wondered how such a small girl like her could take so much
sake. Maybe it was how fit she kept herself...
Miyabi blinked again. On second thought, how many drinks had Saki had? Obviously the
sake, but after that she wasn’t completely sure the girl had received more than that one glass. That was ridiculous though; surely she had just as many as herself, and she knew she was on her third… or was it fourth?
Abruptly Saki set down her drink and picked up the check. “Well if you aren’t going to drink any more,” the girl said, “I guess it’s on to phase two, ne?”
“Phase two?” Miyabi asked. What was the girl talking about? Saki just smiled as she rose to head for the register.
…
“I hope you enjoyed the dinner?” Saki asked cheerfully and warmly as they walked down the busy evening street to gods knew where this time. Miyabi only had to put a bit more concentration than usual into walking, even though Saki held her arm tightly as if happy for the excuse. There was an odd tone to the girl’s voice – that warmth but an unusual softness as well – but Miyabi just attributed that to the amount of alcohol she must have had.
“Nn…” Miyabi responded affirmatively enough. “You didn’t have to pay for it, you know.”
“Well it was your birthday last week,” Saki replied.
Miyabi glanced over at her. “But you guys already threw me a party… got me plenty of gifts too. More than I needed.”
She saw the light smile touch the girl’s face again. “Yes, but I feel as Captain I should do something more special for you just by myself.” She left it uncertain whether she meant Miyabi specifically or included all the members in that duty. Without a thought, as Saki knew she would, Miyabi took it to mean everyone.
“You take everyone to such a nice place?” she mused. “The company must be paying you more than what I get.”
“Well I
am Captain,” Saki responded indirectly, otherwise continuing to smile. Miyabi just nodded understandingly.
After another minute of walking she asked again, “So where are we going now?” She adjusted her arm that was in Saki’s firm grasp. Had the girl crept closer to her as they walked? It was hard to tell, even though her mind was beginning to clear.
“You’ll see,” Saki replied simply.
After rounding another corner, Saki led her to the entrance of a massage and bath house. Miyabi stared up at the sign. “You’re kidding me,” she said in disbelief. “First a full meal and now a massage? It seems I should have worked harder to become leader of
Buono! and not spent so much time trying to actually improve my singing and dancing…”
Laughing, Saki pushed her toward the door and followed. “But you’ve learned to dance so well!” she heard from behind before being enveloped by the aromatic herbal scents of the parlour. “Besides, now you’re nice and relaxed after dinner it’s the best time for a massage.”
A short time later found her moaning into the towel her face was pressed tightly down onto. The massage had been going on for a good fifteen or twenty minutes, and already it felt like the best of her life. She didn’t know if it was the stress of work lately – it wasn’t school at least since she wasn’t really worried about entrance exams – or the skills of the masseuse who somehow seemed to put extra care into every little movement unlike any she’d ever had before, as if giving Miyabi Natsuyaki the most pleasurable experience ever was all that mattered.
She certainly didn’t mind. As her consciousness swam in the midst of the pleasing relaxation as well as the warmth of the drink from earlier, her narcissism bloomed up as if in a dream.
Of course… Why shouldn’t I have the best of everything?She hardly noticed when it was over, as it seemed to have gone on forever, but when she turned her head she saw Saki pulling on her yukata beside the other table while quietly observing her. She had to open her mouth a few times before her muscles could focus themselves enough again to produce sound, but she finally managed a raspy, “Are we done?”
Saki smiled and nodded. Despite her state, Miyabi was certain she saw the mischief dancing like twin flames in the girl’s eyes this time.
“Do you need help up?” Saki offered, and she went to take Miyabi’s arm, pulling her up to sit on the edge of the table as she tugged the towel around her. “The baths are this way when you’re ready.”
When Miyabi finally managed to make the trip to the baths, she paused at the edge of the steaming tank to inhale the various herbal aromas hanging in the air around them before slipping off her yukata and into the water after her companion.
Immediately her muscles relaxed once more, and she wasn’t sure if she’d ever be able to use them to make herself walk again. She felt a stir in the water beside her, but didn’t realize until she slitted her eyes and rolled her head that Saki had sidled up to her as she sat soaking on the ledge. Almost as if in a dream she felt the girl cuddle up to her side and an arm snake around her, moistened tender skin against moistened tender skin, hardly registering what was happening.
When Saki laid her head against her shoulder she heard her murmur softly, “Did you enjoy the massage?”
“It was wonderful…” Miyabi said, letting her eyes close again slowly in submission to the comfort surrounding her. “I’ll definitely have to try this place out again.”
She heard a soft giggle beside her ear. “I’m glad,” Saki responded. “I was worried since I’d never done it like that before, and so nervous, but I really tried hard to practice.”
“Mmm…?” Miyabi murmured, before the girl’s words sank in. Then she also suddenly realized consciously that they were in a bath, all their clothes back in the dressing room, with her Captain cuddled up to and basically now wrapped around her.
She felt herself flush so hard the water seemed to actually turn cold for a moment.
“Aaa…..” she began, but realized that despite her apprehension, her muscles couldn’t tense to match it at the moment to save her life. She halfway wondered if her life wasn’t really at stake.
Saki seemed to read her hesitation though, and to Miyabi’s increasing horror, the girl slid velvet-like around her body to straddle her as she sat, her arms hanging loosely around Miyabi’s shoulders and their bodies pressed very closely together.
“Did you…” Miyabi finally managed to get out, “Did you intend it to happen this way the whole time?” Her muscles still couldn’t tense, helpless to her senpai’s molding. However, she knew she could pull herself out of the situation if she really wanted to…
Suddenly her eyes widened as the other scandalizing realization fully hit her. “You…” She swallowed. “You were the one who gave me the massage, weren’t you?”
Saki’s smile bloomed across her face, only centimeters in front of Miyabi’s own, perhaps the only part of their bodies that wasn’t already touching. This, too, seemed calculated. Miyabi felt a voice within her mind laugh hysterically.
What else to expect from someone so skilled at logic and arithmetic?“I’ve wanted to do something like this for you for the longest time… but I was young, you were young… and I was so shy too.” She nodded almost imperceptibly at the question she saw in Miyabi’s eyes. “Yes,” she replied to it as if spoken. “I was shy. Plus, even though I felt we were close friends, you’re so popular with everyone. I was so scared of how you’d feel; if you even really noticed me.”
“Of course I noticed you, Captain,” Miyabi said gently, in disbelief, though not sure of what at this point. She felt like she was just drifting along for the ride wherever this shocking yet so far idyllic encounter led her.
Saki shook her head, almost imperceptibly as well. “I was young. I’m more confident now. I hope I’m more confident. I wanted to make this so wonderful, so perfect, that you couldn’t…
you couldn’t…"
The two stared hard into each other’s eyes for a moment, and during that time Miyabi almost forgot about the small, warm body wrapped around her within the bubbling faux hot spring.
“Miya…” Saki said, so softly she could hardly be heard. Then, a bit stronger,
“I love you…”Thinking now that she’d already taken it this far, before Miyabi could respond she closed the last distance separating them and pressed their lips together.
Her eyes closed within the kiss as she enjoyed what she knew might be the only time she felt this since she was still uncertain of how the girl would respond, after a moment Saki pulled back. Almost not wanting to end the dream, she opened her lids to peer through long lashes into dark eyes that stared intensely back into her own. Her breath, still held from the kiss, still didn’t come. The intensity of that gaze was one of the reasons she had fallen in love with this girl, her kouhai and group mate for well over six years now.
She left her questions unspoken –
Was this all right? Did I make things impossibly awkward? Do you hate me now? – and just stared back, trying to glean answers from those inscrutable features. As seconds dragged on, Miyabi didn’t respond.
When Saki was just about to push away and run and hide and cry in some corner, not caring if she found her clothes along the way or not, she felt a brush against her hips and realized for the first time Miyabi had begun to move… and was wrapping strong arms around her.
She felt a rush of air into her lungs before the girl pulled her back tightly against her, their lips crushing together and this time with hunger. This kiss lasted much longer, but before it could go too far she withdrew from it and grasped lightly the wrist of the other girl’s offending limb to pull it just away from touching her.
Miyabi now looked questioningly into her eyes, suddenly scared and worried herself, but Saki just smiled, her dream come true. “Not here,” she said, and leaned in to press another light, quick kiss onto the other’s lips.
Untwining her legs and sliding off of the other girl’s lap beneath the water, she crawled dripping over the edge and gave Miyabi a hand to help her up. Finally she let herself freely admire the other’s body, water cascading down it in rivulets and the bottom half of her extensions sticking to her back and arms. Miyabi didn’t even seem to notice she was naked.
…
A few minutes later they fidgeted in their yukata while waiting for the elevator, Miyabi having just learned that this bathhouse had hotel rooms as well… and that this elevator led to them. Saki had already reserved one.
“You know, it’s not right to have just
expected to seduce me and get into my pants tonight,” Miyabi growled down to her, looking around nervously and lowering her head more, afraid that someone would notice what they were doing. Nobody was near at the moment though, and the few who did pass by seemed quite… engrossed in their own affairs. She’d never think of bathhouses the same way again. “I should just stamp my foot and storm out the door right now.”
“You’d have to find your clothes first,” Saki responded, amused. Miyabi had also learned just after the bath that Saki had apparently hidden them somewhere while preparing for the massage. “Unless you want to make that yukata into a new late-night street fashion statement. Besides, I felt pretty confident if I could just get you naked.”
Miyabi flushed deeply as the elevator dinged, though Saki tightened her hold on her hand. “You’re evil.”
…
A good while and much mutual enjoyment later, even though the two girls knew they had to return the room soon, they snuggled comfortably in each other’s arms beneath the sheets.
“I hope you had a nice birthday,” Saki commented tenderly, though a little nervously, adjusting to hug the girl tighter to herself. Her reasons for today were more than just a birthday gift.
Miyabi smiled, hugging Saki tighter as well. “I’d call it ‘nice’… among other things,” she responded, giggling lightly. “I had… a very wonderful night, actually.”
“That’s good,” Saki replied happily. “…I couldn’t ask for more.”
“I can think of one more thing,” Miyabi replied, twisting around to look into the other’s worn out features. After giving her a soft kiss, making sure she held her newly accepted lover’s eyes fixated on her own, she whispered delicately,
“Suki yo, Captain.”