Obsession (Ayano x Budo)

Chapter 49

"Kiss him"?

Ayano's mind was like a battlefield - busy, excited, wholly preoccupied with the onslaught of thoughts that were bulleting through her mind like a machine gun releasing hellfire. It was so strong that it was disabling - Her body was petrified, her face cleanly blank, while her mind scrambled for a response.

Simply put, she was shocked.

Did he really just say-?

The gears in her head turned as his words echoed in her head, again and again. And each time, it boomed both louder and softer, more honest and then more sultry. An unwilling pink warmth spread up her cheeks, as bit-by-bit it dawned on her - what he meant... 

Without her realising it, she found her gaze dropping of its own accord to his lips, and her mind imagined that possibility. A fantasy of warm lips, touches, and pulling him close. A flutter of pink blossoms around them, the air warm and flowery, the grass sweet and green below them...

The realisation of what she was thinking hit her like a splash of cold water. Immediately her gaze flashed back to his eyes, but it was too late - Her face was already a steady flame of red, and the slight wind that breathed by did nothing to to help cool them down. Even worse, Budo seemed to have realised. She could see it in his eyes as they watched her.

"Ayano-?" His steady-as-always tone did not reveal anything, but Ayano couldn't help but feel embarrassment.

"Shut up!" she whispered between her teeth. She tried furiously to calm herself. Combined with her shame, her mental attention was struggling. Why had that image of them, together, under the cherry blossom tree, popped up in her mind? Her most precious fantasy, specially reserved for Taro, like a special box wrapped carefully in pink ribbon, meant for some one person. Pulling that ribbon apart and lifting the lid of that box would be the same as opening up Ayano to expose her most vulnerable parts. It was possibly the greatest present she had to offer.

Budo looked at her, his originally unperturbed, calm expression becoming more bemused by the second. Did he know what he was doing? That look in his eyes, that slight smile, annoyed her. Ayano wasn't quite sure what she was feeling overall, but that was the one thing about which she was sure. She clung onto the certainty that right now she didn't like how cocky Budo looked. And then she remembered again the outrageous proposal he'd made, right in public, right now, so casually, as if it meant nothing!

Her hand swung through the air and connected with the side of his face.

Whack!

The sound the contact made was satisfying. Budo fell backwards under the force, caught off guard, as if he truly hadn't expected such a reaction. With the agile reflex of a cat, his leg took a quick backstep and he resisted the backward-toppling pull of his momentum.  He recovered his posture and stood up straight again. 

Ayano eyed him while his hand rose gingerly to the side of his face where he'd been hit. At the slightest of touches, his eyes flickered closed in pain and his lips flinched tight. A part of Ayano felt gratified by his reaction and the red handprint glowing on his cheek. 

After releasing a hiss of air through his teeth, Budo sighed and opened his eyes once more, "Well, first of all, good hit. Second, I'm... sorry?"

"Budo, I don't appreciate your suggestion," Ayano told him straight-out. She crossed her arms, managing a steady voice through the nervous beating of her heart. "'Kiss you'? You do realise until this point I have viewed you as my comrade, and-"

"Ayano."

Her mouth shut immediately in surprise. He almost never interrupted her. Always, he made a point of listening to her fully, attentively, so why?-