Sweet Kiss

He was walking in front of me, bags of grocery stuff in both his hands. I held one bag with my stuff; beer and noodles. He had asked me to come to his house to fix his leaking tap(sounds like a convenient excuse for asking your crush to go to your house eh?). I combed my red hair away from my face as we entered the apartment lobby.

He looked back to see if I was following him. Smiling at him, I took a large step and walked beside him. When we reached the elevator door, we stood there for a second looking at the sign in front of it. ‘Under repair’… Shinya made an irritated sound.

"Guess we’ll have to take the stairs eh?"

He shrugged.

"Hey, those are heavy, let me carry for you," I said as we started the first flight of stairs. Shinya’s apaato was on the fifth floor.

"I can manage myself," he said, refusing my kind offer. That was Shinya ne? Always so independent and strong despite his frail appearance.

"You are stubborn. Don’t strain those skinny arms of yours; gimme those bags."

"I won’t and I’m not stubborn. Stop bullying me." He shot me a glare with his narrowed hazel eyes.

"See! You won’t let me help you now and then when you play drums tomorrow, your arms will be aching and then you’ll regret!" I frowned. "I only have one bag, let me carry the heavier one for you." I wrapped a hand around one of his arms; skinny but toned. At that time we were on the second flight of stairs. Three more flights to go.

"Stop it, Die! They’re not heavy," he said, pouting but he never realised it when he did. He raised one arm to show me.

"Come on," I insisted like the gentleman I was(*ahem*). My hand tried to wring the grocery bag out of his but he quickly snatched it away.

He gasped as he overbalanced and slipped down two steps. "Ah!"

"Shinya!!!" O___O!!! I squatted down beside him worriedly. "Are you okay???"

He did not answer me but instead, tried to stand up. He winced and sat back down on the step. "Itai…>.<"

"I think you sprained your ankle." I put down my grocery bag and with my back to him, I clutched his thighs around my waist. "Put your arms around my neck," I said.

"What? What are you doing?" he asked as I sighed and mechanically wrapped his arms around myself.

"Piggyback you to your apartment?" I gathered all the bags in my hand and stood up. I felt him tighten his arms around me in fear of falling. I smiled but he couldn’t see it. "I’ll never drop you," I said as I began up the steps. "See you shouldn’t have been so stubborn or you wouldn’t have hurt yourself!"

"Nani?! It was your fault! If you didn’t try to take my stuff, I wouldn’t have fell!" He hit me on my head.

"You should’ve just let me help you. Now I have to carry everything plus you anyway."

"Die, just…grr…" I sensed he was struggling not to hit me again and then suddenly he just let his breath out in a resigned sigh.

I smiled at my victory.

***

"No, the eggs go in that basket next to the toaster!"

I nodded and dumped his eggs into the basket as instructed. I padded to the hall where he was sitting on the couch with his injured leg on the table. "Okay, done! You want me to fix the tap first or fix you first?"

I could’ve sworn I saw him blush(?) but he turned away quickly. " Fix the tap."

"I think your sprained ankle needs the attention more," I said, eyes on that bruise that was starting to form on his leg. He bit his lower lip when I touched that spot and my heart hurt seeing him in pain. I found some bandage and ointment for it in his bedroom.

He had that pout again when I came back to the hall but he didn’t see me; he was looking at his toes. I leaned against the wall and gazed at his side profile. His lashes drooped down slightly and met his eyes look even more feminine, his nose delicate and his lips full, cheeks smooth with his copper hair framing his face. I didn’t know how long I stood there staring stupidly at him but when I realised he wasn’t looking at his toes anymore but were regarding me with a curious, puzzled look in his eyes, I snapped out of my reverie.

I laughed sheepishly as I went to him and knelt between the couch and the table. I took his injured ankle in one hand, lifting it up to put it on my thigh. "Does it hurt in this angle?" I pushed the hem of his pants up a little.

He shook his head. I squeezed some of the white cream on my palms and rubbed them till I felt it hot between my palms. Gently I rubbed my hands at the sides of his foot, massaging his flesh with my fingers. With my thumb, I circled the bluish purplish spot just next to his ankle, pressing down lightly once in a while.

"Nn…"

"Pain?" I looked at his face.

"Iie…" His face seemed slightly flushed. "It feels rather good…you’re skilled at massaging ne." He spoke softly.

I smiled gladly. "You like? Actually when I was still doing kendo, I hurt myself quite a lot…after a while, I learned how to massage myself," I explained, still working on his foot. I put more ointment on my hands and rubbed them into Shinya’s skin.

"You must be very good…I mean at kendo," he said.

I didn’t reply; I just stared at his foot. I touched the skin over the ankle and I could feel him tremble. I took the bandage and started to unroll it.

"I don’t think bandage in necessary," I said suddenly, putting the roll of gauze on the floor.

"Oh, okay…" He moved his foot around in different angles, hissing softly at the pain at certain points. "When I twist my foot certain angles, it still hurts," he said, pouting again.

"Sou ka?" I looked at him but my hand was caressing his foot lightly. This time, I clearly saw the blush on his face. Then before I even realised it myself, I leaned forward and kissed the bruise on his foot and I heard him gasp out in shock.

"Die!"

"Hmm…" I brushed my lips over his ankle bone and moved downwards, literally kissing his foot. "Does it feel better now…?"

He was shaking and he tried to pull his leg away from me but I held him still. I flicked my eyes up to stare into his. "Shinya…" It was as if his eyes pulled me into its deep darkness, taunting me to explore the vast darkness. Inside sparkled the innocence and beauty that hypnotised me. His slightly parted lips tempted me to kiss them.

But something inside pricked me. I felt disgusted by myself but…

Suddenly I let go of his foot. "I..I am so sorry!" I turned around, not believing what I just did. "I…I…I’ll go fix the tap!" And I escaped from him, his scent and his warmth, lest I did something stupid again.

The whole while I was fixing the tap, I cursed myself. I wondered what Shinya was doing; he was so quiet but I dare not sneak a look at him. I would never forgive myself if Shinya came to hate me for that little slip I made.

The cold water ran over my hand and I washed my arms and face with it. It didn’t leak when I turned it off. Well, at least I fixed his tap… Now I stepped into the hall and saw that Shinya was still there on the couch, reading an old magazine. He didn’t say anything when I sat down on the single sofa beside him. Knowing Shinya, he would probably pretend nothing happened…but that’s a good thing ne? En…

"It’s okay now." I wiped my wet hands on my jeans.

His hazel eyes flicked up at my face then quickly they flitted back to the magazine. "Ah, arigato." He put the magazine down but still he avoided looking at me, choosing to admire his hands.

I felt a little sad. Actually I felt very sad.

"Well, I guess I better get going. Take care of your foot." I stood up and threw a glance over the kitchen counter to spot my grocery stuff. I bit my lip hesitantly. "Shinya…?"

"Hm?"

"I’m sorry for… I’m sorry. Bye." I finished hastily, taking my plastic bag. My whole body felt cold and my heart felt like it was breaking apart when my hand twisted the doorknob. I have to admit, I was a coward when it came to this sort of feelings.

"Die?" His voice reached my ear.

I stopped and worked a smile onto my face before turning to face him.

"Can you help me to the bedroom…? It still hurts when I step on it."

How could I not help him?

"Okay."

I half led, half-carried him to his bedroom, my heart beating fast with his body so near to mine. I helped him onto his bed. "Will you be okay?" I asked worriedly. Unconsciously I brushed the stray strands of brown hair away from his eyes.

He was pouting again as he tucked his hair behind his ears. Then when his eyes darted upwards and met mine, I felt as if a bolt of lighting hit me and I was speechless. There seemed to be flames dancing within the deep irises and they swallowed me. I felt his smooth hands touch my cheeks and my neck.

"Shinya?" One of my hands reached up and covered his hand. My other hand cupped his face, slowly bringing our faces nearer till our lips touched lightly. Since he didn’t pull away, I knelt down on the bed and deepened our first kiss. I swept my tongue over his lips, darting in and out of his mouth, as I held his face now with both my hands.

He moaned against my lips as his hands slid down from my neck, now lingering over my chest. "Die…" he murmured as our lips parted.

I looked at him and noticed the blush spreading over his cheeks. "Shinya, you don’t know how long I’ve wanted to kiss you," I whispered, my voice husky. Then my lips descended over his again; this time, gently caressing his lips with mine. I pressed him down among the mount of pillows, careful not to hurt his injured foot, and my mouth trailed over his jaw, down his neck, kissing the white flesh that smelt clean like soap.

His fingers curled around my hair and tried to tug me away. I continued kissing and nipping at his neck.

"Die, stop..!" He pushed me away and held me at arm’s length.

I pouted. "What is it?"

"I…I…" His face was very red and I think he knows coz he turned away and tried to hide his flushed face.

I smiled and held his hands gently in my bigger ones. "Shin-chan…" I kissed the tips of his fingers lightly. "Okay, I know it’s too fast for that…" And I grinned teasingly as I saw he buried his face into a pillow and on purpose, I took that pillow away so that we faced each other.

"Go away," he said, rolling to his side.

"No." I wrapped my arms around him from behind and nuzzled at the back of his neck. "Shinya…be my koi?" He was quiet. I frowned and pouted, tightening my arms around him. "Please?"

"Iie."

My heart sank. "Is that your answer? You were just kissing me for fun then?"

He turned around in my arms. "If you want me to say yes, then you promise me first." He put up an index finger in front of me, his lips pouting again.

"What is it? I promise I’ll treat you very good and will never cheat on you!"

"Hmph, something else too…"

A dismayed look appeared on my face. "You don’t mean you want me to quit smoking, do you???!" He nodded and I started pretending to cry. "That’s so mean!"

"So you won’t quit? Then fine, my answer is no, then…" Pouting-ly, he wriggled away from me. But I knew he was teasing me of course. I knew his answer already…

"Some other thing ne…? Please, please! Shinya, you know how much I want you to be my koi! But I can’t stop smoking straight away! I promise I won’t smoke as much anymore! Be my koi???" I hugged him and kissed his lips.

"Okay…" he blushed as he agreed.

"Yatta…!"