HA HA, TIME FOR LEWD

I knew she'd be there.  She always comes to swim when she's stressed.  It helps her clear her mind, she says.

I think she just does it to get away from people.  Take some time alone.

I slip into the water, into the lane next to her, and start swimming.  Slowly, luxuriously, letting myself feel the water move over me.  It's a glorious, free feeling, to float weightless in the water.

Eventually, I pull up beside her, my longer, stronger limbs keeping up easily.  She still hasn't noticed me - her eyes are glued straight ahead.  I smile.  That's just like her.  Always looking forward.

Eventually, she stops to rest, breathing hard.  She pushes herself when she swims.  I duck under the lane line, move up behind her.  She stiffens as she hears me moving through the water, but doesn't turn.

"Midori?"  Even her voice is tired.

"I'm here."  I walk up to her back, moving in the slow-motion dance the water imposes on me.

"I'm tired, Midori.  I'm so damned tired."

"I know you are.  Heavy lies the head that wears the crown, huh?"  I wrap my arms around her stomach, and rest my chin on her shoulder.  She freezes for an instant, then leans back against me, letting me support her.

"Yeah. I suppose it does, doesn't it?"

"Mhmm."  I bury my nose in her hair.  She still smells faintly of cigarettes and maple syrup, with a touch of cordite.

"I...I'm not cut out for this...this Warmaster stuff.  I can't make the right decisions for the Officio.
Hell, I can't even make the right decisions for myself."  She sounds so tired it makes my heart break.

"You're trying to take everyone's burdens on yourself, silly.  Of course you can't do that."  I kiss the nape of her neck lightly, lips trailing across her skin.  "You can't do everything alone."

"I know, but -" I cut her off by spinning her around and kissing her.  Not the light, playful kiss from before - I kiss her hard and long.  There's a message I'm sending her with that kiss: 'I am here.  I will always be here.  Let me bear your burden with you.'  As I pull away and look into her eyes, I think she understands.

She opens her mouth to speak, but I kiss her again before she can start.  I pull back, and she does it again.  So I kiss her again.  This time, when I break the kiss, I just look at her, one eyebrow raised.  She lets out a tiny, breathless little laugh, and pulls me down to kiss her again.

This time, she holds me to her with one hand, the other snaking up between us to caress my breasts.  I gasp, and she presses closer, deepening the kiss as she plays with me.

I bury my fingers in her short hair and moan into the kiss.  This seems to galvanize her, as she stops fondling me through my top, instead reaching around to unfasten the strap.  I distangle one hand from her hair, and do the same.

I break the kiss and spin her in place, wrapping one arm around her stomach and squeezing her small breasts with the other.  Her arms reach around and clasp behind my hips, grinding me into her back.  I slide my chest up and down her back, rubbing my nipples against her bare skin.

As I continue to work her breasts with one hand, I let my other move downward, fingertips trailing lightly across her stomach.  She shivers, and I run a line of kisses up the side of her neck, gently biting her ear as my hand slips beneath her suit.

She gasps, and I hook my leg inside hers, forcing her to spread her legs slightly.  Her breath comes sharper, and she lets out a low, lazy moan.

I pick up the pace a bit, until her moans run together into one continuous sound of ecstasy.  She tightens around my fingers, arches her back, and screams her climax to the heavens.

I turn her back around and kiss her, slowly and thoroughly.  She looks slightly dazed, but there's a tiny, satisfied smile on her face as she pulls back and leans against me.

"Thank you, Midori."

I can feel myself blushing.  "I-it was nothing, sem-"

She cuts me off, placing one finger over my lips.  "Chiaki."

My face is probably redder that a fire engine.  "I-it was n-nothing, Ch...Chiaki.  I'd do anything for you.  I..."  I take a deep breath, and say the words that have been waiting to come out for months.  "I love you."

She raises an eyebrow.  "I know."

"Oh my God, did you ACTUALLY just go there, Murderface?!"  We both spin to face the door, to see Sayaka Miki standing in the doorframe, camera in hand.  "I mean, I knew you were an ass, but not THAT big an ass!"

Chiaki turns to me.  "Looks like your turn will have to wait, Midori.  Hang on just one second."  She pulls herself out of the water and grabs a towel, and the taser beneath it.  Sayaka swears and runs out the door, Chiaki hot on her heels.

I push off from the wall, and float there on my back.  'I know,' huh?  I can work with that.