Hapi Mari novel: Update 2!

Without waiting for my reply, he untied the ribbon with his long fingers.  Resting inside the Christmas wrapping is a simple leather cellphone strap.  Everything Hokuto owns is outrageously expensive, so I figured that I'm relatively limited to what I can give.  However I don't think this is a bad gift.  It's not, right?  Or is it?

"Oh, it's nice."

At his words, I finally sigh in relief.  It took me quite a while to find this.  Hokuto isn't the type to call or send messages frequently, but I hope he will think of me when he sees the strap hanging on his phone.  And it'll be nice too if he calls me more because of this.  I suppose you can say I have an ulterior motive.

"I haven't picked out your present yet..."

"Nope, it's all right.  It'll count if you say you love me," I half-joke, expecting him to ignore me.

"I love you," Hokuto says in a serious voice, causing me to drop the fork I had just picked up.  My heart skipped a beat, and I'm faintly aware that my face is turning red.  Unwavering, Hokuto looks deep into my eyes and repeats, "I love you, Chiwa."

"Wait, Hokuto..."

"I love you."

He must think my reactions are funny.  Definitely.  His voice may be serious, but his eyes are laughing at me secretively.  That idiot, he's the worst!  And I'm an idiot too for reacting like this.  After we've moved back to the bedroom that night, I found Hokuto's kisses surprisingly tender.  It almost feels like his tongue is gently caressing mine.  Is it because he's happy about his early Christmas present?  Or is it because he knows I'll be disappointed during his business trip?  I'm happy that he's so attentative about that, but to be honest, I'm a bit frustrated.  I wrap my arms around Hokuto's neck and ardently entwine my tongue with his.  He said at dinner that if I wanted my reward in bed, I'll have to work for it, and work I do.  Ah, his neck finally flinched a little.  I wonder if I've made his skin and tongue heat up?  At the same time that my heart soared, Hokuto pushed me onto the bed with some force.  Throwing away all pretentiousness, he kissed me hotly, biting my lips.  His tongue chased my retracted one deep into the recesses of my mouth.

"Ah..."

It was only after he broke the kiss off that I could breathe again.  His lips are but a wisp away from mine, and I can feel his heated breath flow into my mouth.

"I won't be able to hold you like this for a while starting tomorrow", he says while descending to kiss me on the nape of my neck.

I wonder if that means he feels as lonely as I will.  I wanted to ask him, but the spams of pleasure running through me are too great and I'm rendered speechless, shivering.

Tracing lazy patterns on my skin, Hokuto continues, "That's why I'll indulge to the fullest tonight."

"In...indulge??"

How can he be so unabashed?  He doesn't even try to beat around the bush.  Yet while my mind screams in protest, the blood coursing through me heats up almost instanteously.  Hokuto looks at me amusingly from behind.  Even though it's dark in the room, I know his eyes are shining with mischief.

"Don't...don't look at me like that."

"Let me see you," he says, unbuttoning my pajamas with his long fingers.

In just one moment, he stripped me down from the shoulders to my chest, and I can feel the warmth of the heater on my sweaty skin.  His lips travel from my neck down to my collarbone, and further yet still to the swell of my breast.  And then he sucks hard.  I flinch a little from pain, and I hear him chuckle to himself.  His breath continues to tickle my skin, and I rise with a start.  Beginning with the places he kissed, my whole upper half heats up rapidly.  As Hokuto becomes more intense, he speaks less.  In no time, the only things I can hear are my own voice, Hokuto's breath, and the sounds of our bodies moving together.

"...you alright?" Hokuto asks huskily in my ear from behind.  I've just realized how parched I am.

"Hmm..." I answer, feeling too sluggish and embarrassed to give him a longer answer.  I fumble for my underwear and pajamas hung precariously at the end of the bed, ready to put them back on.  Hokuto stops me, holds my arms up, and presses me firmly into the bed.

"I'll do this again after I come back," his lips brush lightly against my ear.  My skin prickles at the thought from the neck down to my back.

"Ho-Hokuto you dummy!"

How could I possibly wait until after he comes back after seducing me like this?

"Dummy?  Why?"  Hokuto asks disapprovingly.

I turn away from him and press my face into the pillow.  There's no way I would tell him such an embarrassing reason.

Starting from the next day, my life, to say the least, was very lonely.  Lonely when I wake up, lonely when I eat, and lonely when I sleep.  Just as Hokuto had said that he may not be able to come home, he barely approached even the front steps.  He comes back home to change every now and then, but I'm at work during those hours.  Even if I do see him, he has no time to talk to me.  It doesn't even feel like he's still in Japan when he's busy like this.  And so this situation continued until today, when he finallly left the airport during noon.  I look at the sky restlessly from work, unable to call him to say goodbye, much less see him off.

"He could have at least left me a message saying he's going now.  Or tell me to be careful by myself...or asked me what souvenirs I wanted," I grumble as I return home with bag from the convenience store on Friday night, tired by a week of work.  Dinner has been like this lately.  Making dinner is too much trouble if I'm eating by myself.  The only reason I can cook after a hard day's work is because the person I love is able to eat it with me.  I wonder if Hokuto has left me a note somewhere in the house.  I walk around hopefully inside, only to find nothing.  It is Hokuto after all, and he isn't the type to leave notes.

"So it'll be a week from now..."

I toss the bag onto the living room table, and flunk down onto the sofa ungracefully.  Even if it was Friday, I declined all invitations to go drinking or partying.  I have no plans for the weekend either.

"This is so strange..."

I've been by myself for longer than I have married Hokuto, but why is it that without him, I become so enervated?  Without him, the double bed feels too wide and I'm unable to sleep at night.  I tug my sweater down and look at my chest.  The hickey Hokuto left has faded so much that if one were not to look for it, one wouldn't find it.

"I need more of him..." I say in a quiet voice to myself when the cellphone in my bag begins to ring.  Is it Hokuto?!  I jump frantically for the phone and look at the display.  It says Souma Taeko.  She's Hokuto's secretary.  I wonder why she's calling?  Did something happen to Hokuto?

"He-Hello?!"

"Good evening, madame.  It's been a while.  This is Souma."

In contrast to my squeaky voice, Souma sounds as calm as always.  I could almost see her smile that smile at me, the one that makes her look thirty years younger.  So I guess nothing happened to Hokuto after all?  But Souma is the type to put her hand to her cheek and only sigh "That's troublesome" even if the world were to perish tomorrow.  I'm still not at ease.

"Did...did something happen to Hokuto?" I ask anxiously.

Souma must have been a little disconcerted at my question, but she finally giggled aloud.

"Ah, nothing happened.  I'm sorry for surprising you.  He has called me to say he arrived safely over there."

"I see, that's a relief...called?  He called you?"

"Huh?  Yes, he called..."

Just after my heart soothed over, anger and irritation starts bubbling up.  I can't believe him!  I know he's a workaholic.  But if he can find time to call the company, can't he call his wife?  It seems as if my feelings got across to Souma, for she began to intervene to mediate my anger.

"He called at a time you were at work.  I think the president was trying to be considerate of your life in his own way."

"But I was worried."

And lonely.

"The president's consideration for you and your concern for him...doesn't that mean both of you are thinking of each other?" Souma assertively sugar-coated Hokuto's actions, and cut me off with her next words.

"This may be sudden, but can you meet me somewhere right now?"

"Eh?  When you say now...do you mean now now?"

"Yes, now."

"Can I ask why?"

"I cannot answer, but it's a matter of extreme importance."

"Extreme importance...?"

What on earth could it be?  But if Souma says something like that, it must be important.  My grip on the phone tightens.

"Alright, see you there."

"Thank you," she says.

Souma has asked to meet at the cafe at the nearest train station, and told me that she was already waiting there.

"I'll change first and be out in a second," I say before hanging up.  Hurriedly, I take off my sweater and throw it aside, changing into a knit-dress.  I grab my coat and bag and take off running to the cafe.  Inside sits Souma, elegantly holding a teacup to her mouth.  Once she sees me, she nods at me, a smile dangling off her lips.  Didn't she say it was a matter of extreme importance?  It doesn't look like it...

I rush to take a seat, but Souma only stands up and walks towards me.  Standing before me, she greets me kindly, "Good evening, madame.  Shall we go now?"

"Eh?  Go...where?"

"It's a secret," Souma evades my question with a big smile, and exits the cafe.  I follow her for the time-being.  Or rather, forced to follow as she led me away calmly, not taking any protests.  We board the train, and switch halfway through-- I trust her not to take me anywhere strange.  But my trust wears thin after that slight betrayal.  I look at her questionably when we arrive.

"Umm...isn't this the airport?"

"Yes, it's the airport."

Finally Souma grins.  I have a bad feeling about this, since this is a smile not even Hokuto could oppose.  I brace myself for the worst, but Souma only hands me my passport and an airplane ticket.

"Eh?"

"It's madame's passport."

Encouraged, I look down.  It does say "Mamiya Chiwa" on the inside.  I've gotten it after we've married since there may be chances to go overseas.

"Why do you have it Souma?"

"Did you forget? I've told you earlier that I needed it for some documents at the company and you handed it to me.  Even though it was an awkward excuse for me to get documentation from employees' families, neither the president or madame questioned me.  I was happy that you trust me so much, but it hurt me to do it."

"So it means you lied?"

For you to get your hands on my passport.

"What is it for?"

"Well, passports are for traveling overseas."

"Haah?!"

Of course I know that.  But that's not it.  Traveling overseas?  Me?  What is this all about?  Ignoring my confusion, Souma takes my hand and leads me to the international check-in counter.  I look up at the signs overhead, and finally yelled out in the middle of the airport, "What the hell?"

What?  Whaat?  Whaaaat?

That's how I felt like after boarding.  After cutting loose in the airport, I don't remember a thing.  Not how I went through immigration, not how I boarded the plane, and not a single detail about my first time riding in first class.  The crowd carried me away, and once I've come to, I'm standing outside the airport alone.  An airport in another country.  I open my eyes dumbfoundedly, blinded by the dazzling morning sun.  It was midnight when I left Japan.  And now I'm all too conscious of the heat and humidity wrapping around my body.

"It's...so hot."

My head spins as I look around.  People of all nationalities milling around with suitcase in hand, wearing clothes you would wear for the height of summer.  In fact, I'm the only one with a knit-dress, coat, and boots on.  But with this weather, it's not surprising.  Sounds of languages I'm unfamiliar with ring out everywhere, and I stop to look at the entry permit stamped in my passport while wiping away my sweat.  It's from the southern island I've seen so often in television and pamphlets.  I've dreamed about going here before I married, but to arrive in such a fashion now is unthinkable.

"This must be a dream...must be."

But no matter how much I rub my eyes or pinch my cheeks, the scenery doesn't change.  Not the sparkling sun, nor the palm trees that soar above into the sky along the road.  Nor the fact that people dressed in t-shirts or sleeveless clothes are oogling at my choice of winter fashion.  I finally begin to wake a little after being numbed at mind by countless nonsensical events.  This is a southern island overseas.  And I've arrived at a tropical resort just days before Christmas in Japan.

"Ehhhhhhhh?!"  I scream as I look at myself.  Of course the clothes are a problem, but I only have my bag with me.  Inside is a wallet, a phone, and other small daily things.  What will I do?

"Souma-san!" I cry out.  I begin to take off my jacket when I feel someone pull at my bag.  When I turn with a start, I see a man with sharply sculpted face latch on to the straps.

"What..what are you doing?!  This bag...umm..this bag...is mine..." (T/N: In italics, she said it in English)

Urgh...my English isn't coming out!  Not that I know if he even understands it!  Wait, no, I should scream!

"Thief...!"

Just as I begin to scream, another hand has reached out and grabbed my bag.  So there are two bag-snatchers?  But it doesn't seem like he's trying to steal it.  The other man said something in a foreign language, causing the thief to run away at full speed.

"Ah, thank you so much!  Thank you very much!" (T/N: In italics, she said it in English)

I bow earnestly to my savior.  When I try to raise my head, I feel him push me back down.  WIth no time to be surprised, a voice booms in my ears.

"You dummy!!"

Ehh?  This voice.  And the merciless hand that tightens around my head as the ring on Son Goku's head does.  I remember this.  Where was it again?  I know it well.

"Ho..."

Hokuto!

Commentary: Omg, this update took me forever, and I'm finally finished!  I really wanted to post the picture no matter what (since posts with just writing looks so dry), but I couldn't until I reached that part in the story.  But I'm so glad!  And I hope this makes for a good Valentine's gift~  The love scene (while not explicit) took me forever to figure out to put into words...because the language was so simple in the original text, and when you read it, you get a feel for it and the imagery in your head.  I tried, re-worded, and re-worded my draft until I think captures the moment.  Hokuto is such a sadist sometimes that I feel sorry for Chiwa.  Anyways, please enjoy!