There are few pleasures simpler in life than a casual stroll on a warm day through scenic forest on a well-trodden path. The lush and vibrant greens soothe the soul and gently relax the body. As the legs wander, so too does the mind; the body moves automatically while deeper thoughts and feelings bubble up to the conscious surface.
As was quite often the case, Hikaru’s thoughts were drifting off towards her boyfriend. Kyosuke was trailing behind them at a slight distance, carrying the bulk of the equipment himself. He was trying to pretend he wasn’t as strong or as cool as he really was. Again. Not that it mattered much to her. So long as she knew the truth, what difference did it make?
Besides which, she could feel his gaze lingering on her butt. Normally she would blush and react in some way: A stern lecture or trying to hide away from his leering eyes. Today? She simply didn’t feel like it. There didn’t seem to be any particular reason for it. Maybe it was the pleasant nature of their walk along the trail. Or it might have been something else. Was she ready to take the next step in their relationship? The very thought sent butterflies flitting around in her stomach. Maybe if she could drag him off somewhere for a little alone time…
“It certainly is a beautiful day,” Madoka noted idly, and Hikaru nearly jumped out of her skin. She’d been so focused on Kyosuke that she’d somehow managed to forget completely that Madoka was also there! Ooh! That could have been so embarrassing! If Hikaru had made a move on him while she was still around… “I’m so glad we’re getting to spend this time together.”
“Uh huh!” Hikaru cheerfully replied. “When I’m with my two favourite people, everything seems so much brighter!” Her boyfriend Kyosuke and her best friend, Madoka. A girl that was everything she aspired to be. Beautiful. Powerful. Intelligent. Endlessly charismatic. Her mind went back to what those boys were talking about before, about the two of them being such close friends and how they so obviously shared everything. Clothes, magazines, hobbies…
<i>Then why not share Kyosuke too?</i>
Hikaru shook her head in marked defiance of that stray wandering thought, but attempting to shake off an unwanted thought by exerting will was like trying to scare off ants by smearing yourself with honey. All you were doing was expending time and energy while accomplishing the exact opposite result. The idea was ridiculous on the face of it and sort of popped into her head out of the blue. Hikaru was his girlfriend. Not Madoka. While the two of them got on rather well, and anyone would be lucky to have a relationship with either of them…
But then again, wasn’t it rather selfish of her to block that? Keeping them both to herself like that, when there was so much love that could be spread around… No, that was silly. Where was this even coming from in the first place?
“Hrm. Wasn’t this the weekend that new <i>Space Rip</i> movie comes out?” Kyosuke asked out of the blue. His tone betrayed that he was desperate to talk about something, anything at all.
“Why, yes. I think you’re right,” Madoka said, adopting that half-interested tone she liked to use when she was, in fact, very interested in what was being talked about. “It would be rather interesting to see what they do with this one.”
“Sounds goods!” Hikaru enthusiastically interrupted, fighting back this weird feeling of being sort of left out of the conversation. “Why don’t the three of us go, then? Right? That sounds like fun!”
“Well, I suppose…” Kyosuke hesitantly murmured. Then he looked quite quickly between herself and Madoka before sighing and saying, “Alright. Fine. It’s a date.”
It’s a date. Between the three of them. Her, her boyfriend and her best friend. Together. On a date. How could something sound so wrong yet so right at the same time?
<hr>
You can’t trick a trickster because they know what to look for. But you’ll have even less fortune with someone smart that’s actually paying attention. Madoka was well aware of her looks. She’d have to be fairly stupid not to notice how men and boys reacted to her, and if there was any list of adjectives compiled to describe her then no search - no matter how thorough - could discover a synonym for “stupid” in there. Simpler to find antonyms. She was the kind of person that, when applying herself, could get the top grades at school on a whim. This contrasted quite effectively with her public image of the bad girl supreme. The kind of person that snuck smokes out back during breaks, intimidated anyone she caught bullying…
And then she met this guy. A goody-goody, by-the-book, cut-from-clean-cloth, perfect stereotype of a wannabe nice guy. Except that her instincts told her time and again, “There’s something a little off about this guy. Something different.” She hadn’t worked it out yet, but that boy was too interesting to step away from. Never mind the fact that he was dating her best friend.
So she’s a smart girl. Really, very smart. By no measure at all could anyone think she was stupid. Which made it really easy for her to tell that someone was (probably) manipulating her and she didn’t know how they were doing it. Her reasoning was simple. She’d been feeling a little off all day and couldn’t shake the feeling no matter how hard she tried. Little thoughts kept on bubbling into her head out of nowhere. The kind of thoughts she’d never normally have.
To begin with: She genuinely liked Kyosuke. Yes. Spending time with him did make her feel really nice. He was dating Hikaru which make her feel much less nice, but she was fine with it because she so wanted her best friend to be happy. That’s just the kind of person she was. Except that she was starting to see things in her head. Images of both of them walking down the street with him, arm in arm. The whole idea of them all going out to the cinema together when they got back sent a little bit of a thrill right through her, and the thought kept on coming back again and again and again.
<b><i>Share him.</i></b>
The scary thing was that a part of her kind of wanted it. The same part that was blissfully aware of the way he was checking them both out, but trying to keep that fact a secret from the rest of her mind. A part of her mind was finding the entire situation (ridiculous as it was) a complete turn on. As for who could be responsible… Kyosuke was out. That boy wouldn’t do something like this, even if he somehow could. On the other hand…
“Was it my imagination or were those two perverts behaving quite oddly today?” Madoka asked.
“Hmm, now that you mention it…” Hikaru muttered thoughtfully. “They weren’t behaving so nasty as usual. Actually, they were kind of funny!”
That was the impression she had as well. Even just now, before they had left… Talking about how close they were as friends, how they shared everything, and then going on to talk about a funny prank they could play on Kyosuke later on. It seemed like a good idea at the time, and she kind of wanted to go along with it… But still…
“What did you think?” she asked, peering over her shoulder at the boy. She had to actively fight the urge to employ a husky tone or do anything deliberately seductive. But from the way she noticed him swallowing nervously, she probably hadn’t succeeded. “Were they behaving a little oddly?”
“I guess?” Kyosuke answered, indecisive as ever. “They seemed as goofy as they usually are from where I was standing, but…”
But he wasn’t a girl, so it wouldn’t be quite as obvious to him. Naturally. On the other hand he wasn’t exactly the type to notice something like that anyway. Whatever was trying to manipulate her thoughts and feelings, she’d just have to roll along with it until she worked out what it was, and then -
“We’re here!” Takashi said, drawing Madoka’s attention towards a beautiful crystal-clear lake. The sun’s reflection created an effect similar to glimpsing heaven’s gates, and all she could do was stare breathlessly at the sight. “Alright, everyone! Let’s get set up!”
- Back at the cabin, the hentai and the twins are playing a new game.
- Back at the cabin, a surprise visitor arrives. What’s Akane Kasuga doing there?!
- Kyosuke tries to figure things out, and accidentally triggers one of his powers.
- Madoka and Hikaru decide to try out the prank suggested by the hentai.
- Something else
No comments:
Post a Comment