Finding My Way

Chapter 8

"Hmm...which card should I pick?" Takuma wondered aloud as he hovered his hand over the two cards Rima held in front of her. "Ah, I'll pick this one."

"Ugh, no fair," grumbled Rima as Takuma selected the correct card.

"You're too easy to read, Rima," Takuma said cheerily.

"Senri, why aren't you playing?" Rima asked, looking over at Senri who lay on the floor reading a manga and munching on cookies. He looked up at her and replied, "I got tired of losing."

"Yeah, but that's why I want you to play!" she whined.

"Maybe when Hanabusa gets back from shopping with his parents, he'll play too," Takuma said soothingly.

The Night Class members were all at one of the Aido vacation homes in the mountains. After a full day of skiing, most of them were relaxing in the living room in the villa. Ruka had found Kaname in the library as she herself had selected the novel she was reading. She had left him to his studies and went to join the others. But she found it incredibly difficult to focus with the banter between Rima and Takuma, and the fact that her eyes kept darting to where Akatsuki knelt by the fireplace, manually lighting the fire. Ruka knew that he could have lit the fire in seconds, but she also knew that he enjoyed lighting fires the normal way. He had always been quite the pyromaniac, even while they were children.

"But Hanabusa is really good at it too," Rima pouted. Rima hated losing and everyone knew it. Many of the other Night Class students liked to challenge Rima to see her competitiveness come out. It broke her usually calm and detached demeanor and drew out this completely different side of her, which they all enjoyed seeing.

"Here, take a cookie," Senri said, offering her one without looking up from his manga.

"Gee, thanks," Rima said sarcastically, but she took the cookie.

"Well, what do you want to do now?" Takuma asked brightly. "Oooh! How about I make some tea for all of you. It's been a while since I've performed a tea ceremony!"

"Yes! Anything other than this stupid game," Rima said, trying not to sound too excited. Takuma was a master at tea ceremonies, which was quite a rare skill to have. Even Lord Kaname loved Takuma's tea.

After Takuma left the room, Senri rose up from his position on the floor and sat down next to Rima. They began talking quietly.

Ruka tried to turn her attention back to her book, but still could not focus. She found herself watching Akatsuki's strong and sure hands as they arranged the firewood and, finally, as they struck the flint, igniting a spark. Quickly, the spark caught the paper he had set at the bottom of the wood and steadily spread to envelope the rest of the wood. Akatsuki slowly rose and looked at the fire with a satisfied expression. He turned and met Ruka's gaze. She felt embarrassed at being caught and felt the heat rise in her face, just as the heat began to emanate from the fireplace. Akatsuki smiled a little at her expression and raised his eyebrows. She nodded and flicked her eyes towards the door to the hallway. He seemed to understand what she meant and quietly exited the room.

After stealing a glance at Senri and Rima, who seemed pretty entranced with each other, she set her book down on the end table beside her and left the room. Akatsuki was waiting for her, leaning against the banister to the staircase. Seized by an impulse, she wordlessly grabbed his hand and pulled him up the stairs. He willingly accompanied her and was surprised to find himself in her bedroom. She closed the door and pulled down on his shirt, kissing him.

She pulled back a little and placed her hands on the sides of his face. "Hey," she whispered.

"Hey to you," he said, bringing his lips to hers again. Now that they were a couple, he couldn't get enough of her. They had been together for a few weeks now, but they hadn't had much time to spend together one on one. They had been able to manage a few stolen kisses every now and then, but otherwise their time had been occupied with exam study and vacation activities. They had been at the Aido residence for over a week now, but had been unable to find time alone. That probably was partly because they hadn't told the others yet. They wanted to keep their relationship private while they enjoyed exploring the possibilities of a romantic relationship with each other. After all, they had been friends their whole lives, but not romantically involved. They didn't feel like dealing with Hanabusa's or anyone else's teasing just yet. All the others knew was that they were talking again.