Ch213-Entangled
I yawned awake, kicking against my beddings in a trembling stretch, one unlike any other. My body felt more rested than it’d been in months and that was even with the swirling hangover still lingering in my head. I reached to scrub the sleep from my eyes only to find a weight on my arm.
At my side, cuddled up with crumbs of cupcakes and dessert smeared on her lips was Mei. My heart leaped, skipping more than a beat as blood flooded into my head, sending a panging ache as memories of last night returned with full force.
I had a proper look around my room. I’m…at home. Home was a mess. There was a spilled bottle of sake dripping from the bedside table, about a dozen half eaten cupcakes littered on and around my bed— I recalled their taste, it still lingered on my tongue right next to the melting sensations of Mei’s lips clashing against mine.
Blood flushed elsewhere this time and my fluster became a full on blush as I searched my hazy memories for any sign that we’d gone that far. Fortunately, I didn’t have to think long, I still felt my clothes on me, albeit my shirt was nowhere to be found and Mei’s was conveniently to do without her trousers, lying against me in only a shirt and underwear.
An attempt was made, that’s for sure. After that blissful first makeout session, we stumbled up the stairs feeding ourselves cakes and washing it down with an excess of sake and a spoil of kisses. I remembered where my shirt was now and Mei’s trousers.
While I’d have been more than grateful to share my first time in this world with her, I’d rather not have it be when we’re both drunk out of our minds. For that, I was grateful for my weak stomach, my bed’s cloud soft pillows and mattress must’ve knocked me out between snacks and greedy kisses.
I stared at the ceiling, the sensations still fresh, Mei’s scent still intoxicating beside me and her hair tickling against the inside of my elbow. It felt like a new day, a new year, heck even a new me. There was a new kind of burden on my shoulders now, I felt it weighing just as heavy if not more than that of my responsibility as Kage— the weight of loving and being loved.
It’s here…it’s finally here. I felt my throat close up as a thousand ways I could fuck it all up assaulted my mind at once. I banished them as soon as they came. No, negative thoughts breed negative actions. This…this will be perfect.
“Yaguraaa…” Mei’s honey dripped voice called. She twisted in bed, rolling atop me with a groggy, half-lid smile on her face as she picked blindly at my hair. “Wow…it's so good to see you.”
I couldn’t help but snort, “You just saw me last night.”
Mei shook her head, twirling my hair between her fingers she leaned in and stole my lips all over again. My hands drifted to her hips as I moaned into her but she pulled away all too quickly. “Not like this.”
Her emerald eyes highlighted all the mischief and excitement she intended with me. I gulped as she sat upright on me, the blankets draping around her waist, her auburn mane a tangled, spiky mess I wanted to run my fingers through. She yawned wide and loud, made a face as she picked and wiped last night's dessert off her cheek.
“Ugh, no, I should go wash up. Good morning, Yagura-kun.”
“Good morning…Mei.” She smirked at my hesitance, that glint of mischief only sparkling as she leapt off me and the bed, landing with an updrift of her all too short shirt. I sat up, eager to watch her walk away from me except—
“Ah!” she tripped, hopping on one foot to balance. Mei gasped at something at the foot of the bed, “Yagura! What is that!?”
“What?” I was on the floor next to her in a flash, she clutched my elbow and pointed accusingly at the slithering, eight feet long, inky blue eel at the foot of my bed.
“That!”
I instantly recognized the creature as a summon. It was patterned with bioluminescent lines that pulsed as it breathed and curled up against itself to ‘stand’ before me. It flared its vestigial fins and spoke, not through its mouth but through a manipulation of the water molecules in the air.
“Sea Sage Yagura…Lord Kaizoku demands your presence in his domain. He has sent me to retrieve you by any means but you were…entangled until now.” It couldn’t narrow its eyes without eyelids but I felt the judgemental burn of its gaze on me either way.
I turned to Mei, “It’s fine, it's just one of my summons.” I said, happily watching her worry dissolve.
“Oh…okay. I guess I’ll just go wash up?”
I nodded and urged her to do so. Once she left I turned my attention to the eel that invaded my room and privacy. “First off, what’s your name?”
“I am Suiko but you may call me SlipFang if you wish.” It said, seeming particularly proud of its alternate name.
“SlipFang huh. Well, it’s good to meet you, I’ll be sure to summon you again should I ever need your service.”
“I am well versed in administering poisons onto my Lord’s enemies, you can rely on me for my discretion and lethality.” It said, speaking through the very moisture in the air— an impressive feat of Water Release I’d admit but at the moment I was too distracted by the fact it invaded my privacy, though that too was a feat credit to its claims.
“Understood, but you have to go now.” It looked instantly confused and partly alarmed. “I know why Kaizoku wishes for my presence, but there are matters within my own domain I must handle before I subject myself to his training.”
So far I’d attended just one training session with the colossal Sea Serpent and while it was productive in more ways than I could’ve machinated on my own, there were other things I’d rather do with my day right now.
As I began to rack more valid excuses than the beauty taking a shower in my bathroom right now, one pressing matter lurched to the forefront of my memories— Utakata. I blinked as the information parsed through my mind, the nature of the problem and the confusion the young Jinchuriki was left in.
Clone made a schedule too. I need to be at Turtle Island like…right now.
“Lord Yagura, Kaizoku demands—”
I sent the slithering eel a stern gaze that shut it up where it lay. “Go, tell Kaizoku I will be with him sooner than he thinks and that I am sorry for keeping him so long. Understood?”
“Yes.”
I gave it a nod and it poofed out of sight, returning back to its realm to deliver what would surely be upsetting news. I pitied it. Kaizoku wasn’t exactly the most forgiving or merciful, his fury would surely bathe SlipFang in my stead.
Unfortunately, pity is all I can offer you now SlipFang. I delved into my wardrobe and picked out a fresh pair of clothes. I stopped, holding the still fresh pressed trousers in hand. There was no sign Junichi had worked on it, in fact, taking care of my clothes was the furthest from his responsibilities. But at a time I barred all the foreign faces Uncle had brought in to live in and serve my needs from entering my room, including those whose duties were my laundry.
He brought these clothes personally. I sighed and threw them on quickly, pushing away the emotions, replacing them with urgency and the brave floral scent that wafted in as Mei walked in.
“Getting dressed or undressed?” She asked with a smirk, a towel tied across her chest and twisted in her hair like a head dress.
I managed a chuckle as I pulled on a clean shirt, “Getting dressed. Headed to Turtle Island, some…Jinchuriki business.”
She raised a brow at that, her eyes searching for our slithering intruder. “Was that why…?”
“No, that was a different thing, I’ll handle that later.”
She shook her head at me as she walked over and seized my chin. Despite my best efforts and passive effects rolled out from Tailed Beast chakra breaking and remaking my bones, I found myself a head and more shorter than the steaming woman leaning over to smother my lips.
All the urgency to meet Utakata nearly drained out of me as her tongue invaded. But as much as the rushing blood in my nether regions commanded I toss her onto the bed, I had to go. “Mmm, that was…phenomenal.” I said, pulling away.
She rolled her eyes. “And you’ll be back for more? Mizukage-kun?”
I love the sound of that.
“Yes, promise and…maybe we can have a date of our own making next. Talk about…expectations?” My heart pounded madly at the errant thought of having Mei but I knew things couldn’t be so simple, my status wouldn’t allow it and hers…
Mighty as she was she was still a Bloodline user and if there’s anything I’ve learned this past month, it's that Kirigakure wouldn’t be forward thinking as I was until I made it so. That’s another thing I have to settle, the Poison Mist, the main clans. I need to put them all in check, set expectations and new standards or else…
Mei plopped onto the bed, crossed her legs and blew me a kiss. “Go, be important.”