Murakumo 1

“This cake is delicious, Anon.” Murakumo said softly behind you.

 

“What was that?” You asked, not quite hearing her from across the room.

 

“I... IsaidthiscakeisdeliciousandthankyouforbakingitformeAnon!” Murakumo forced out, the spaces between her words so slim as to be nonexistent. You couldn't help but chuckle as you returned to your work. You didn't really have time to come up with any other sort of present, so you offered to do something special to each of Murakumo's masks instead.

 

“Well... Offered is a strong word...” You whispered to yourself at the thought.

 

“Anon?” Murakumo asked, hearing you mumbling to yourself.

 

“Nothing, Kumo. Finish up now. Your present is almost ready.” You said with a wide smile to the girl.

 

“A... A-Alright...” She stammered out, her smile betraying her shyness as she took one last bite. The girl practically ate the entire cake by herself, saving you only two pieces for yourself when she had finally finished. After taking a drink from the glass of milk you gave her, she looked around for her mask.

 

“Huh? I could've sworn I left it right here...” She whispers to herself, turning in place and looking around, the expression on her face growing more and more concerned as you set yourself down at her side. Seeing you there, she lets out a concerned whimper and straightens herself out, trying to act natural. “S.... S-S-So!”

 

“...So?”

 

“SowhatdidyougetmeformybirthdaypresentAnon!?” The girl spoke. You were constantly surprised each time by how she barely needed to breath between sentences.

 

“Kumo...” You began

 

“Y-Yes!?” She barked.

 

“Calm down.” You stated. Murakumo's face got flushed even brighter.

 

“S-SORRY!!” She practically yelped. You couldn't help but laugh at the excitable nature of the shy girl. After a moment, Murakumo returned the smile, though still blushing and looking about nervously. “I'm sorry Anon... I just, can't seem to find my mask anywhere about.”

 

“That's because I have it.” You replied, holding it up to show her the Hannya face she always wore before handing it to her. She takes it and prepares to put it on before stopping dead in her tracks.

 

“A.... A-A-A-A-A~”

 

“Kumo?”

 

“ANONWHATISALLTHIS?!” She belts out, forcing you to try and break the words down through the wave of syllables to get her question. Her showing you your past hour of work assuredly helps you pick up what she wanted to know.

 

“That's your birthday present.” You said with a smile. “Kumo never believes me when I say that she's super cute, so I thought I'd make it so she always knew anytime she put one of her masks on.”

 

Murakumo looked back down at the words 'Cute' scrawled across the inside of her mask in permanent marker.

 

“I...” She began. “I... I-I'll wear another one then!” She decided, reaching over to the bag of spare masks she brought. “I wouldn't want to get Anon's nice gift all over my face!”

 

“It's plenty dry, I assure you.” You stated.

 

“No, that's alright!” Murakumo exclaimed, pulling the bag over to her and pulling out one of her tiger masks. “Anon worked hard to give me this so I.... I...”

 

“I?” You asked, a knowing smile on your face. She turned the mask around and held it out with a wide eyed look on her face.

 

“ANONDON'TTELLMEYOUDIDTHEMALL!?!” She exclaimed. You smiled wide.

 

“Every single one!” You replied. Kumo went through one by one. The wolf, the monkey, the crane, the fox, the octopus... No matter what sort of mask she had as a back up, you had scrawled the words 'Cute,' 'Adorable', 'Lovely' and 'Wonderful' all across their insides, forcing Murakumo to see them every time she went to put her masks on.

 

“Aaahh... I can't wear any of these now!” Murakumo whined.

 

“How come?” You asked. She looked up at you with teary eyes.

 

“Because Anon's hard word will get smudged and messy when I sweat! And just looking at them makes me so self conscious...” She let out a whine like a puppy, looking back down to the masks. “Even the Boo mask Anon got me last year...”

 

“Wear them.” You said, putting your hand on hers. Murakumo looked up at you with eyes as wide as could be. “I want you to wear them. Even if I have to wash your face after myself, I want Kumo to wear her masks knowing that no matter what anyone else thinks, or even what she thinks about herself, I'll always think she's the cutest girl in the world.”

 

Murakumo looked back down at the masks, biting her lip, her toes clenched and unclenched as she thought about what you just said. Taking a deep breath, she grabbed her Hannya mask up and wrapped it around her head. Once again in her comfortable place, she gave a deep chuckle.

 

“Can't be helped then. Very well, I shall take up Anon on his kind offer without reservations.” She stated, the confidence in her voice returning. You smiled wide.

 

“Good. It makes me happy to know my super cute girlfriend is willing to rely on me, even for something like this.” You said with a grin. “Happy Birthday, Murakumo.”

 

“Thank you very much, dearest Anon.” Murakumo replied. You practically see her smile even beneath the mask. “By the way, why something like this instead of a regular present?”

 

“Well, I thought long and hard about what to get Kumo for her birthday this year.” You explained. “So instead of just another mask or a trip like last year, I wanted to do something a bit more special, even if it meant being a bit more on the cheep side.”

 

“It's not a cheep gesture Anyon.” Murakumo said, leaning forward. “It's quite schweet.”

 

“S...Schweet?” You asked, looking up. Murakumo was a bit wobbly looking, and talking softly even with her mask on. You could only stare on in partial terror as the woman wrapped her arms around you even with her Hannya mask on, nuzzling against your face with a giggle.

 

“Anyon workt haard to make my maskseses filled wif happy wordsh~” She slurred. You sat her up, pulling the mask off to see her eyes half glazed over and partially dilated. Placing the mask down, you went over to pick up the marker you used, seeing that it warned of fumes in the fine print on the side.

 

“Dammit... I didn't even consider it...” You hissed to yourself, reaching into a drawer to pull our a rag and some rubbing alcohol. “Sorry, Kumo. I'll clean your masks up and do it all in a non fumming marker.”

 

“Gao~” Murakumo stated behind you. You turned to look at her as she stumbled to her feet, wearing her wolf mask. “I'm Kotaro! I'ma gonna gobble yous up Anon! Gao gao~”

 

“Kumo, wolves don't go gao...” You said with a gulp, the way she was breathing likely not helping to bring her down off the high. The girl pounced on you, pushing you to the ground, knocking the mask off in the process. You winced—more in shock than pain—as she reached up, grabbing the back of your head and biting your neck softly like she was marking you. The moment seemed to last a bit longer than you'd imagine it would. You looked down at her out of the corner of your eyes after about fifteen seconds to find her licking and sucking at the spot she was nibbling on.

 

“Anon's neck ish jiru jiru~” She giggled.

 

“That's cause you're drooling on it...” You sighed. You were loathe to admit it, but the contact high had made her rather cute in the end. Wrapping your arm around her, you let her giggle herself into a small nap. No need to wake her up before her head cleared after all.