After the adrenaline high of our date, we were both saturated with emotion. We just sat side-by-side, my head resting on his shoulder, his hand holding mine, the small plastic bag with its precious cargo resting in his lap. The rhythmic clack-clack of the train was the only sound, a steady drumbeat carrying us from the bright, noisy world of our date back to the quiet of our own.
By the time we stepped off the train, the sun had completely surrendered to the evening. The platform of our tiny, seaside station was empty.
Our town, so close to the tourist rush of Atami, always felt like a different universe at this hour. There was no one. Not a single car passed on the main road. The only sounds were the distant cry of a gull and the soft, rhythmic tapping of our own footsteps on the pavement. The silence was absolute, a private, moonlit stage just for us.
My feet, which had been fine all day, suddenly remembered they'd walked for hours. My legs felt heavy, the muscles aching with a sweet, dull exhaustion. The shopping bags—filled with Jun's new clothes, our peace offering for Aoi, and that box—felt like they weighed a ton in his hand.
I let go of his arm and stopped, stretching my arms high above my head with a small, theatrical sigh. "Ahhh, I'm so tired..."
It was the signal. The one I'd used since we were kids and I wanted him to piggyback me home from the summer festival.
I waited for him to sigh, to call me a "princess" in that teasing way of his, and to obediently crouch down.
He didn't.
Jun was standing perfectly still, watching me. The shopping bags were pooled at his feet. The moonlight carved his face into sharp, handsome planes, and his eyes... his eyes were dark, fixed on me with that same intense, hungry look from the fitting room.
"Jun?" I asked, my voice suddenly small.
Without a word, he closed the distance between us. He didn't bend to lift me. His hands came up, large and warm, and cupped my face.
He leaned in, and his mouth captured mine.
It wasn't a soft, rewarding kiss. It was a claiming. A continuation. This was the kiss that had been interrupted by the store clerk, the kiss we'd been holding back on the crowded train. His mouth was hot and demanding, his lips moving against mine with a fierce, possessive pressure.
I let out a small, surprised "Mmph!" as his tongue, bold and insistent, slipped past my lips.
He didn't just kiss me; he devoured me.
My mind went completely blank. All the exhaustion, the soreness in my legs, it all just vanished, replaced by a dizzying, electric heat. He tasted like the sweet melon candy he'd bought at the station, mixed with something that was just, undeniably, Jun.
Ahh... thank goodness no one is here.
I tried to tell him that this wasn't what I meant, that I just wanted a ride, but my tongue was already... occupied. It was already tangled with his, a wet, clumsy, desperate battle. My brain, that useless traitor, just gave up. I surrendered completely, my hands coming up to grip the front of his shirt as I gave in, kissing him back with all the pent-up energy of the day, sucking lightly on his tongue, tasting him, swallowing.
It felt like an eternity before he finally, slowly, pulled his head away. A thin, glistening thread of saliva connected us for a second before it snapped. My lips felt numb and swollen, my breath coming in short, sharp gasps.
"Baka," I panted, my voice a husky whisper. I hit his chest weakly with my fist. "That's not... what I meant."
I had wanted him to carry me because my legs were tired. Now, my legs were trembling so badly I wasn't sure they could even hold me up.
Jun just looked down at me, his breathing just as ragged as mine, his eyes still dark with that dangerous light. He reached out, his thumb gently tracing my swollen lower lip.
"Is that bad?" he whispered, his voice a low, rough rumble.
This idiot. What kind of answer could I possibly give to that? If I said yes, it would be a total lie. If I said no, it would be a complete surrender to his teasing.
My hand flew up, grabbing his cheeky cheek and pulling. "Idiot!"
It was the only answer I had left.
A deep, satisfied chuckle rumbled in his chest. He easily scooped me up into his arms, gathering the shopping bags in his other hand as if they weighed nothing.
"Yes, yes," he said, nuzzling his face into my hair as he began the walk home. "I'm your idiot."
I just looped my arms around his neck, hiding my burning face in his shoulder, completely, utterly defeated.
*
"We're back!" Jun called out, his voice cheerful as he nudged the front door open with his shoulder.
"Welcome home!" Mom called from the living room. She appeared in the hallway, wiping her hands on her apron. "How was the... oh."
She stopped, her eyes taking in the scene: me, still being held in a perfect bridal carry by Jun, who was also laden with half a dozen shopping bags.
"How was the date?" she asked, her voice laced with a knowing, maternal amusement.
"It was fun!" Jun announced, beaming.
I couldn't look her in the eye. "Umm, yeah," I mumbled, my voice muffled by his shirt. "It was... great. More than I expected."
It was great, but it was also way too erotic! There's no way I can tell my mom that! I lost count of how many times we kissed, not to mention the fitting room, or the convenience store... or just now!
Mom just smiled, her gaze shifting to Jun. "You must be very tired, Jun-kun. You have to carry that heavy thing all the way home...every day."
"Not every day!" I yelped, my head snapping up. "And I'm not that heavy!" I kicked my legs in a half-hearted protest.
My eyes darted to Jun. I gave him my most ferocious glare. Choose your next words very, very wisely, Mr. Kuroda.
He didn't even flinch. He just smiled, adjusting his grip on me as if I weighed nothing at all. "Oh, this is nothing, Auntie." He looked down at me, his expression softening into that deep, serious look that always melted my bones. "I think... I was born to carry her. Just as she was born to be in my arms."
"Oh, my," Mom breathed, pressing a hand to her heart, her eyes sparkling.
I was going to die. Right here. From secondhand embarrassment and a heart that was beating way too fast. I hid my face, which was now the color of a boiled tomato, back in Jun's chest.
"We-we're tired!" I announced, desperate to escape. "From all the... walking! and we already ate in Atami. And, umm, we have to... study! For Jun's classes! So, please don't disturb us tonight! Okay?"
The excuse was so comically bad, so transparently thin, that the silence that followed was deafening.
"Study?" Mom's smile widened, her eyes twinkling with a knowing light that was utterly mortifying. "On a Saturday night? My, you two are so diligent."
She knows! She totally, 100% knows!
"Let's go already!" I hissed, tapping his shoulder with a desperate, frantic rhythm.
"Right," Jun said, his voice miraculously steady. "Goodnight, Auntie."
My personal carriage started moving, carrying me away from the scene of my humiliation and up the stairs. As we rounded the landing, safe from my mother's knowing gaze, I felt Jun's chest rumble with suppressed laughter.
"Study, huh?" he whispered, his lips brushing against my ear.
I just groaned, keeping my face hidden.
"I'm looking forward to it," he continued, his voice a low, wicked purr that sent a shiver straight down my spine. "What subject are we going to do, Yui?"
He paused, his footsteps stopping for just a second at the top of the stairs.
"...Anatomy?"
A small, shameful, utterly defeated sound escaped my lips.
"...Umm."