I felt like doing something...different tonight, especially after
rewatching Mahou Tsukai Tai.  Here's the result. Let me know what you
think. It's been a long time...three years, really...since I've written
anything of this nature.


******

So round, so smooth, so creamy...how he wanted to...

"Takakura-sempai?"

She was looking at him, pleading in her eyes, hunger on her lips...
"S-sawanoguchi-kun..."

"Please don't drool all over my ice cream...didn't you buy yourself one?"

"Ah...ah, h-hai! Hahahahah...sorry about that," the bespectacled boy said,
laughing nervously. He handed the shorter girl the double vanilla scoop ice
cream, retrieving his own from the vendor. With that, the pair continued
walking, the warm wind pleasant upon their faces, its breath fragrant with
the sakura which continued to fall from the sky.

"It was so nice of you to ask me to go for a walk with you," Sae said,
blushing ever so slightly. Behind her, Takeo just laughed in that funny
nervous way of his.


Across the way, concealing themselves among the crowd of people enjoying
the pleasant afternoon, Aburatsubo Ayanojou and Nakatomi Nanaka sliently
trailed the pair. Ayanojou had insisted on following them to see what they
were up to, and Nanaka, wanting nothing more than to be near her beloved
sempai, went along for the ride.

"Look at him," Ayanojou said, smiling. "He's so cute when he's shy like
that."

"He's always shy like that," Nanaka remarked.

For several minutes, they followed them...through the bustle of outdoor
vendors along the street, into and through a small park, all the way to a
deck overlooking a broad waterway. "Hey, they're stopping," Nanaka
observed.

>From the cover of a hedge row, the pair watched. "What are they up to?"
Ayanojou wondered.


"Are you alright, sempai?" Sae asked, concern on her face as she peered up
at her respected, revered club president. He seemed to be in pain, as he
continued clenching and unclenching his jaw, and sweat trickled from his
forehead.

*For once, Takeo,* the older boy told himself. *For once, keep it
together.* Removing his glasses, Takeo began, "S--sae-chan."

"Sempai?" Sae asked, startled.

Takeo placed his hands on her shoulders. He was shaking badly now.
"Sae-chan...I...I..." There was a long, uncomfortable pause. Sae continued
to stare into his eyes, transfixed.

Finally, Takeo raised his face to the heavens, as though defying the gods
themselves. "I LOVE YOU!" he cried out, loud enough to be heard into the
park proper.

Sae's eyes widened. "Taka...kura...sem...pai..." Her voice trailed off as
she found herself being pulled into a long, slow, loving kiss.


Ayanojou stared at them with wide eyes, sinking to the ground in numb
shock."N...no... Takeo-kun..." A lone tear streaked down from his eye.

Nanaka sighed, and wrapped her arms about  his shoulders, drawing him into
her embrace. "You knew this day would come," she said softly.

******

Two weeks had passed, and Takeo and Sae were now on their third date, to
the same park, where they would stand on the deck, watching the water, and
share a tender embrace.

Across the way, crying silently, Ayanojou watched them, as he had the last
two times; as he would continue to. As before, Nanaka was with him,
consoling him as best she could, comforting him in her warm embrace, the
embrace of a friend who wished to be more...

******

The park had been empty, the day of their sixth date. Empty enough, in
fact, that they had allowed their embrace to become one of passion, had
given in to their love.

Two new lovers stood, arms around each other, watching the wind stir gentle
currents in the water as the soft, pink blossoms drifted down from the sky.


Across the way, under the same sakura rain, numb acceptance began to set in
for Aburatsubo Ayanojou. The comfort Nanaka offered him started to feel
more inviting, needed from the depths of his broken heart. The girl said
nothing, merely holding him, unmindful of the sobs which had racked his
body as the two of them had watched Takeo and Sae make love.


Until the sun sank beneath the horizon, they remained that way, both
couples. And around them, the sakura rains gently fell.



---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Deus ex machina: God from the machine
Deus ex machina lavantem: Mokona got mixed
in with the laundry again ^_^

The Eternal Lost Lurker
..,who just found a dinosaur in a mound
of icicles, and is teaching it to ride a ball...
lurkerdrome@earthlink.net

It is better to give than to receive.
Particularly when what is being given
and received is bullshit.