And this is the official continuation to Malfunction. Yup.
Perv? What perv? >_>
XDDDD
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"Bye bye~!!"
Individually and in pairs, the girls bowed off stage, waving enthusiastically at the cheering fans, some blowing kisses, some winking and flashing a peace sign (guess who?), which only drew louder cheers from the mostly male crowd. At the end, only the leader and sub-leader were left on the stage, bringing up the rear in a sense, and they took one final bow to the audience together, before vanishing backstage, arms linked.
With the usual "otsukaresama deshita!" to all the stagehands and crew, the girls made their way to their dressing rooms, feeling a combination of physical exhaustion from a grueling concert, and a euphoric high from a successful performance. Some made faces for the camera crew filming for the backstage extras, others stopped to entertain the camera for a moment, while a certain leader, as per her usual practice, ran right past with barely a wave and a nod acknowledging the camera's existence.
Risa blinked from where she had paused to talk with Eri, wondering what was the hurry. It wasn't like they had anywhere else to go after this, except maybe to rest. Eri took one long look at her best friend, one eyebrow raised as the gears in her head started turning. It didn't take a genius to put two and two together. The fact that Gaki-san had her eyes firmly fixated where Ai-chan had disappeared spoke volumes about what she really felt about their leader. Not to mention all the not-so-subtle flirting (mostly initiated by the lovesick fool next to her) going on during the whole concert...Eri wasn't that blind to miss it. And of course, there was that famous "moment" earlier...
Such a pity that nothing came out of it, Eri mused. She glanced again at the wistful expression on Risa's face, and decided to help her friend out a little.
"Hey Gaki-san!" Risa shook herself out of her reverie and focused back on Eri.
"What is it?" Eri pointed down where Ai-chan had vanished, smiling vaguely.
"You know, you can go talk with Ai-chan if you want. You guys look like you have something to say to each other towards the end just now." Eri unsubtly hinted, nudging Risa in the side to egg her sub-leader on. Risa flushed slightly at the non-implication, her eyes drawn inexplicably back to the shade of where Ai-chan had once been.
"I suppose I should..." Risa mumbled hesitantly. Eri took the opportunity and started herding her best friend towards her destination.
"Go now, Sayu and I are planning to go out for food later, and you can invite Ai-chan along too! Call me to confirm later!" Eri bubbled cheerfully before disappearing into her own dressing room. Risa was left alone in the hallway for an indeterminately long moment, staring at the offending door.
"Ok..." Risa breathed in deeply. Ai-chan was her best friend too. Calling in on her shouldn't be too difficult, right?
But then, there was that almost-kiss on stage earlier...
Blushing heavily, Risa shook her head vigorously, trying to banish the image, the sensation of having Ai-chan's face so close to her in an almost-intimate fashion... Swallowing deeply, Risa slapped herself to keep from going down a dangerous mental path.
Bad brain, bad!Deciding to just go with it, Risa threw aside her worries and plastered on her most cheerful expression, knocking on the door before she could have any second thoughts about the whole thing. A muted "come in" was her ticket of entry, and Risa took it without hesitation, mentally still chanting "best friend, best friend, Ai-chan is my best friend...nothing else...". She couldn't quite avoid the "damn" that followed after that mantra, no matter how hard she tried.
Accordingly, she couldn't help the "damn!" that followed right after she opened the door. It really wasn't her fault, since Ai-chan was standing near the dresser, positively glistening due to excessive sweating, wet hair plastered to the sides of her face..and removing some of the accessories of their costume. Risa had seen Ai-chan's latest photobook that had a similar effect in some of the photos, but somehow seeing the real thing, skin flushed after the rigorous workout of a concert, little rivulets of sweat trailing down her chin and neck as she slid off the peculiar fuzzy armbands off her limbs...
Risa found it somewhat difficult to stop staring, even as she woodenly entered and closed the door behind her. Was it her or did the temperature rise suddenly?
"Gaki-san?" Ai turned around to look at her visitor. "Was there something?"
"Ah..." Risa felt like her tongue had caught on something, so she went on autopilot instead. "Kame wanted to invite us to go out for dinner later with her and Sayumin!" Yeah, that was a safe topic. A lot safer than thinking about how hot her best friend looked right now.
"Oh? I suppose that's alright." Ai agreed after a moment's pause, walking closer to the mirror and starting to remove her stage makeup. "What time did Kamei-chan say to meet?" Risa, her mind still whirling off into unimagined dimensions, found herself responding in an almost stilted fashion.
"Eh, she said to call her when we're ready..." Risa found herself staring at Ai-chan's profile, memorizing every already well-known detail and contour of her best friend's figure. Ai-chan's body seemed tense, Risa noted inwardly, being sort of an expert on her best friend's body language. Before she knew it, she had moved behind her leader, placing her hands on the suddenly stiff shoulders.
"You seem tense, Ai-chan. Are you stressed?" Risa's voice was little more than a whisper. Beneath her hands, Ai quivered almost imperceptibly, their gazes meeting via the mirrored reflection. Both were darkened and unreadable...yet almost familiar.
She had seen it once before. Just earlier. On stage. In that almost-kiss during the microphone malfunction.
"I'm just...tired..." Ai knew it was a lie the moment she let it slip from her lips. She was far from being tired at this very moment. All her senses were on high alert, and she was acutely aware of their proximity to each other. Behind her, Risa released her own breath slowly, her mind still not quite catching up with her own audacity (as it failed to before when she made that...proposition for them to share that sole microphone between them).
"You shouldn't...push yourself so hard..." The sub-leader chided automatically, her voice low and husky for some inexplicable reason. Her hands moved of their own accord, kneading the stiff muscles underneath them. Ai shivered slightly at the attention, eyelids drooping as her hands dropped to prop herself up on the table.
There was a long moment of charged silence as Risa's skilled hands worked the knots out of Ai's tense muscles. Neither said anything, although Ai was sure that Risa didn't have to move that close to her to do it, and Risa was wondering why Ai-chan was gripping the edge of the table so hard that her knuckles were white from the effort. One could almost sense that each was waiting for the other to say (or do) something, but neither made a move. That was one of the problems between them: that neither would make the first move to end the stalemate between them.
After an indeterminate period of time, Risa deemed that Ai's muscles were relaxed enough (although unknown to her was that Ai's knees felt incredibly weak also) and released her grip somewhat regretfully and reluctantly, taking a half step back.
"Better?" The tension seemed to lower with the slight removal in distance, and Risa for her part felt somewhat more relieved (and partially disappointed, but she didn't want to think about that).
Ai turned to smile at her, about to thank Risa for the impromptu massage, only to find that she had misjudged the distance in which Risa had backed off, as well as the strength of her own legs. As a result, she stumbled slightly, prompting Risa to instinctively move forward to steady her. The ending collision had Risa stepping on Ai's toes, their bodies pressed against each other, Risa's arms around Ai's waist, and Ai's face half buried in Risa's neck.
"Oww..." The tiny leader moaned softly as Risa apologised frantically, conveniently forgetting to let go of her Ai-chan (although she did remove her feet from squashing the other's toes).
"Ai-chan? Are you ok?" Risa asked worriedly. Ai raised her head to look into Risa's face to reply.
"Yeah I'm...fine...." Her voice trailed off uncertainly, suddenly struck by the closeness of the younger woman's face. Risa appeared oblivious to the situation for a moment, since she was overwhelmed with concern that she had managed to hurt her Ai-chan, but that didn't last long in the face of the intensity of Ai's gaze.
Deja vu, much? They both thought simultaneously as they stared into each other's eyes. Except, this time, there were no cheering crowds, no cameras, and more importantly, no interruptions.
Risa felt her heart thumping so loudly that her eardrums might burst. Could she? Dare she? They were alone. There wouldn't be any official repercussions. They wouldn't have to laugh it off as an accident. There would be nothing even remotely accidental about this. But there would be a sea change in their relationship if something did happen right now. Risa didn't know whether or not she could chance that, to risk damaging her relationship with Ai-chan forever.
Ai had similar thoughts. She was a bit cautious about her own feelings, especially with the adrenaline-charged moment on stage with her Gaki-san earlier. Was it just a moment of over-enthusiasm, or was there genuine emotion driving the whole encounter? Ai didn't want to gamble her already fragile friendship with Gaki-san over such a big "if". Or would she? A searching gaze at Gaki-san's face revealed the same deep desire she was sure was reflected in her own expression. She didn't know if this would just be a one-time thing driven by a post-concert high, or if it would be...repeated in the future.
Well, she wouldn't know unless she tried it out, right? Ai wavered for a moment, then made her decision.
Risa tensed at the sudden change in expression on Ai's face, a current of heat running through her entire body in an instant at the determined glint in her leader's eyes. Any and all thought was completely obliterated though, by what happened next.
The first contact was tentative, shy, even. Risa was so shocked by Ai's lips on her own that her vision literally blacked out for a moment. There was a hesitant pause at the still-chaste kiss, as if Ai herself wasn't sure what to do, and Risa could almost feel the older woman about ready to pull away. Well, after waiting so long for something like this to happen, she wasn't about to let it go this easily. So she reacted, pressing herself into her leader's slender frame, trapping her Ai-chan by backing the older up against the table behind them with her forward momentum.
Ai let out a surprised yelp, her hands looping around Risa's neck to brace herself, and Risa took the opportunity to deepen the kiss, still half-stunned by her own eagerness as she acted on instinct alone. Hormones plus too much waiting around for something to happen clearly had an effect on her libido. The nineteen year old wasn't exactly sure what she was doing, but judging by how enthusiastically Ai-chan was responding to the kiss, she had to be doing something right.
Emboldened by the response she was getting, the young sub-leader decided to explore a bit further, her hands starting to wander a bit. Risa had always slightly resented a certain groping demon (who had thankfully already left the group by now) for touching her Ai-chan all the time, but on second thoughts, she couldn't quite blame Miki for targeting Ai-chan so frequently. Lord knows her friend (or more now?!) was a walking temptation just by existing in the same space as others.
Ai didn't know what to think. She didn't even know if she were capable of thought at the moment. One moment she had just initiated a completely innocent (yeah right) kiss with her Gaki-san, and now...how to put it? She was fairly sure it was completely NOT innocent now, not with their tongues tangled with each other and Gaki-san's hand touching her butt...well, more like stroking, but Ai wasn't keeping track. Not that she was complaining, mind. The 21 year old purred and pulled her Gaki-san closer, her hands tangling in Risa's long hair. The younger obliged by pushing herself even closer, erasing any iota of space separating their bodies, practically ending up on top of her leader in doing so.
After a few more heated moments, their lips came apart with a wet smack as they panted heavily, unused to the whole concept and quickly running out of air halfway. Ai leaned her forehead against Risa's, both of them breathing heavily for more reasons than one, both not quite daring to look each other in the eye directly. Risa, for her part, had her eyes wandering down from the lips she had just thoroughly kissed and on to the flushed and sweaty skin of her Ai-chan's neck, trying her best to avert from her eyes' inevitable destination but failing miserably. A surge of something akin to shame rose in her, and she tore her gaze away from staring down Ai-chan's top, lifting her eyes to meet the half-lidded eyes of her best friend.
"Gaki-san..." Ai whispered softly, enunciating Risa's name in a way that she never had before. Risa felt herself grow more flushed, shifting uncomfortably and hyperaware of where their bare skin came into contact with each other, while struggling between her rational self and her newly released instincts. What was she doing to her best friend? What were they doing to each other? Risa wanted to let go and run away, but at the same time there wasn't anywhere else she wanted to be more than right where she was in Ai-chan's arms. Feeling distinctly confused (and aroused, but let's not get into that), Risa puffed out a small breath.
"Ai-chan...what..." Risa struggled to find words to express her current state. While she was undoubtedly drawn towards her leader, at the same time, maybe things were going a little too fast for them to handle. The younger woman looked pleadingly at the older, hoping that the other would be able to say or do something to reassure her panicky state.
",,are we doing?" Risa managed to finish before Ai's intense gaze rendered her effectively speechless again. Ai let out her breath slowly and deliberately, trying to calm her racing heart, even as she leaned in closer to come nose to nose with Risa.
"I don't know..." The leader murmured. One hand reached up to push the messy locks of hair away from Risa's face, lingering almost lovingly on her sub-leader's cheek. "
You tell me."
One didn't get more of an invitation than that, frankly. The two girls stared long and deep at each other, almost daring the other to make the first move. When they did move, however, it was as one, but the resulting contact was a lot softer than their first, almost desperate kiss. Risa felt like she would melt as Ai delicately threaded her fingers through her hair while nibbling on her lower lip. Both were them were so into the moment that they didn't hear the soft click of the door opening...
"...Ai-chan? Mame-chan?" The shock of hearing a familiar voice calling out their names made them freeze for a moment, before turning as one to stare at the unexpected arrival.
"Aha, I knew it." A beaming Ishikawa Rika leaned against the doorframe with the door half open. The incriminating position that she found her juniors in hardly seem to faze the leader of Biyuuden. If anything, she seemed more amused than horrified, much to the utter mortification of the two gokkies, who were so stunned by the intrusion that they couldn't do more than blink and blush redder than a traffic light.
"Enjoy yourselves, I'll make sure no one interferes~" Rika waved jauntily before closing the door after her. The resounding thud made them jump apart from each other rather belatedly. There was a long silence after that interruption, both of them steadfastly avoiding the other's gaze. Ai slid off the table awkwardly, unsure of whether to approach the suddenly skittish Risa or to stay put where she was.
"Ai-chan...that was..." Risa stuttered, breaking the tense silence between them. She shifted from one foot to another, suddenly feeling very vulnerable and embarrassed. She was fairly sure that bolting out of the room wouldn't be the best course of action now, but apart from that she was unaware of what else she could do.
"Gaki-san...I...we..." Ai tried to organize her tangled emotions into a coherent strand, but seeing her friend (?) in such distress made her equally uncertain. So she did the first thing she thought of. She stepped forward and hugged Risa, who tensed up at the contact but relaxed into the comforting embrace, returning it after a moment's hesitation. They held each other like that without speaking, taking comfort in the friendly, familiar contact.
"We...we're still friends, right?" Risa asked timidly. Ai smiled into the air behind her Gaki-san's back.
"Of course." Ai paused, changing the subject. "Are we still going out for dinner with the rest?"
Despite herself, Risa chuckled, stepping back to look at Ai-chan in the face, but still holding on to her.
"We could..." Risa looked almost shy then. "Or we could go back to the hotel...and talk some more..."
"Talk...yes..." Ai replied faintly. "That's a good idea."
They grinned foolishly at each other.
Eri wondered why Gaki-san never called her that evening.
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-cough- Talk. Yes. Talk is good.
And that's all they did! Really! >_>
...unless the perv vote comes through, of course.
Topic: Estrea's Sandbox [6/4 - Treat] (Read 201259 times)