Neko thought the Tenoh-Kaiou's had the nicest traditions. Their house was covered in ice blue and red decorations. Tenshi's parents and Puroko seemed to have tried to make everything perfect for the day - her favorite colors, her favorite foods, it seemed they tried to use everything she liked.
The dinner was Tenshi's favorite too. Yakitori - boneless chicken skewered with leeks. They also had prepared some gyokuro to drink after the meal and before giving Tenshi her presents. Neko inhaled the strong fragrance of the sweet tea, impressed with how big a deal Tenshi's family seemed to make of their birthdays. Tenshi's parents treated Tenshi like an honored guest, sitting her at the kamiza with Neko at her side. Surrounded by such classy surroundings, Neko felt even more overwhelmed than she usually did when eating with Tenshi's family. But she managed to stay as poised as her hosts.
Finally, it was time to give Tenshi her presents. As Haruka, Michiru, and Puroko gave her theirs, Neko suddenly began to feel like hers wasn't really all that good. She hadn't spent much on it, and she had thought it was a good idea at the time, but now it just seemed dull and cheap. Even though she knew Puroko's had been picked out by Haruka and Michiru, she still felt like her present had even been upstaged by Puroko's.
But when Tenshi opened Neko's gift, Neko felt better. Tenshi seemed to love the picture Neko had framed for her. It was one that had been taken when Tenshi had won Regionals that summer. Tenshi stood on the winners' platform with her first place trophy, and Neko, who had come in fourth place, had joined her for the picture. Neko's eyes were only for Tenshi as she gazed adoringly at her champion girlfriend. Tenshi felt that was the best part of the whole picture.
"Come on, Koneko. Let's find a good place for this in my room," she suggested enthusiastically, forgetting that there was still dessert to be eaten.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Neko let Tenshi lead her to her room. She hadn't been upstairs at the Tenoh-Kaiou household much. It was still new and a little intimidating for her. And being in Tenshi's room� that seemed almost sinful. And with her parents and Puroko just downstairs, too. She shook her head, trying to put such thoughts aside and relax.
"There." Tenshi put the picture on her dresser, positioning it so she could easily see it from her bed.
Neko was examining her room. She smiled at the school picture of her that Tenshi had put in the corner of her mirror. As she turned towards the bookcase, she gasped in admiration. "Tenshi-kun, you have sooo many trophies!"
Tenshi had been in track a long time. And while she knew she was good, she didn't really want to brag about it. Not to Neko, who was the second best female pole vaulter in the school. And she really wasn't going to mention that the junior high trophies were for running on the guys' track team.
"Come on. You and Mi-chan have loads of trophies too. These aren't that exciting, really." She attempted to steer Neko away from the bookshelf, but as she touched her right shoulder, Neko flinched. "What's wrong?"
Neko shook her head. "I just hit it at soccer. Don't worry about it. It's just a bruise."
Tenshi sat her down on her bed. "Didn't anyone tell you that soccer is not a gladiator sport?!" she teased.
"No, it's not that bad, really," Neko asserted, blushing, as Tenshi began to pull the collar of her blouse down over her shoulder.
"Now what good is having a girlfriend who can heal if you don't take advantage of it every once in awhile?" She glanced at the exposed shoulder. "Koneko," she said, concern creeping into her face upon seeing the purple and yellow bruise that was superimposed on Neko's upper arm. "You did this today?"
"I, uh, did it on Monday," Neko confessed. She looked away. Tenshi was very against her being in pain, and would've wanted to know about it as soon as possible after Neko had received the injury. But Neko didn't want to go running to Tenshi every time she got a bruise or a paper cut. If Tenshi wanted to heal her occasionally, she could wait until times like when Neko was losing blood from a deep cut or an inch away from death or something.
But Tenshi's affection for her was obvious, and Neko knew that she wasn't going to allow her to get away with any kind of pain. Yet Neko still felt compelled to tell her, "Tenshi-kun, you don't have to-" She gasped as Tenshi touched her fingers to the sorest point. But while it hurt a little bit, it actually felt nice to feel the touch of her hand and through it, her soul.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Tenshi ran her finger along Neko's silky skin. She coursed it up and down across the bruise, slowly erasing the mark as her chi flowed into Neko's body. She felt mesmerized by each stimulating stroke, as she ran her finger along the smooth arm. Neko watched her intently, her eyes fixated on Tenshi's face, her breathing slow and heavy. They could both feel the intoxicating energy generated as Tenshi caressed Neko's arm.
As Tenshi erased all traces of the bruise from Neko's shoulder, she found herself unable to escape the sensuality they had been feeling. She followed the curve of Neko's shoulder and neck, and even before her hand reached Neko's cheek, Neko was kissing her.
Tenshi couldn't help but wonder if Neko's reaction was inspired, at least in part, by Tenshi's lifeforce transferring some of her desire. "Koneko," she quietly objected, "I didn't mean for you to feel you had to-"
Neko put her hand over Tenshi's on her cheek and gently drew it away. She gazed longingly into her eyes. "Do I look like you're forcing anything on me?" she asked, her voice taking on a seductive quality Tenshi was unused to hearing in it. She fell back into the bed, pulling Tenshi on top of her. "We just can't go any farther than this." She illustrated how far she meant by resuming her earlier action, with the same fire as before. But as she began to kiss Tenshi even more fervently, she apparently changed her mind. "Maybe just a little further," she breathed.
As she made out with her, Neko could feel Tenshi's love for her, her longing for her. If she hadn't known that her psychic link existed only between her and Mi-chan, she'd have thought that somehow it had extended to Tenshi. Right now she felt so much closer to her than to anyone else in her life.
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