n-3^07-! (I love you)

Chapter twelve

A few minutes passed, and Ruri and Senku had not returned. The life of the party, however, was far from over it seemed like. Yae held a drink in her hand and took a sip. Her face went sour at the bitter taste of alcohol swimming in her mouth. It was her first time having a drink, and she wasn't sure she could ever get used to it. She stared down the ripples forming in her cup as the voice of an older woman echoed in her head.
Stop, Yae!
No! You need to understand why drinking is so dangerous for you! She heard her own voice.
I need it!
Like hell you do! What about me? I don't want you to die!
I'm sorry, sweetie.
Stop it! Why couldn't you have just told me? I needed a mother, not a friend!

Yae suddenly didn't feel like drinking anymore and handed her drink off to someone nearby.
"Yae!" Asagiri yelled her name. He was waving at her, trying desperately to get her attention. It looked like he wanted to be saved from the clutches of the villagers.
Yae did her best to come to his rescue, but the villagers were persistent in making him stay.
"Yae, I need you to find Senku for me. There is something very important I need to tell him." Asagiri Gen told her.
"I'm pretty sure he's with Ruri right now. They're probably talking about something really serious. Are you sure it can't wait?"
The pleading look in the mentalist's eyes told Yae otherwise. "Just...go do it, please."
Yae thought for a second. She didn't like the idea of pestering Senku, but Asagiri Gen seemed to have something serious to tell him, too. "Okay, I'll do it." And she headed off in the direction she'd last seen Senku and Ruri go.

Kohaku had taught Yae how to follow tracks, thankfully for her, Senku and Ruri's footprints seemed to have headed in one simple direction, so finding their location was easy enough. As she was close, Yae spotted Ruri making her way back alone.
A little concerned, Yae asked, "Where is Senku."
She pointed. "Just up ahead. I think he wants to be alone." She paused. "But maybe a closer friend is what he needs right now. Will you go see if he's alright?"
Yae nodded. "Of course."
Ruri smiled. "I'll see you two back at the village." And she waved before walking away.

As Yae made her way up the hill where gave stones sat, she heard Senku muttering to himself.
"Is everything okay, Senku?" Yae asked as she reached the top.
Senku looked back at her, a bit surprised. He wasn't expecting to see her. "Yae?"
"Ruri said you might need a friend."
"You followed us?"
"Uh..." Yae looked off to the side. "Not exactly."
Senku laughed. "Whatever, I don't care."
Yae looked up at him, nervous. She came here on a mission for Asagiri Gen. "The mentalist has something to tell you. He sent me to come look for you."
"Ah," said Senku. "I bet it's about Tsukasa." He started making his way down.
Yae followed after but slipped and slid a few inches down the rocky hill.
"Here, let me help." Senku offered his hand.
"Oh, okay." Yae reached up and was surprised by Senku's strength to pull her up so easily. "Thanks." She said. When she tried to pull away, Senku kept his grip on her. It would appear that the young scientist wasn't going to let her fall again, so helping her down the rest of the way was the only option she had.

As he turned his back, Yae smiled. Even if this simple gesture of kindness didn't mean anything to him, it did to her.
"Are you still mad at me?" Senku asked as they reached the bottom.
"What do you mean?" asked Yae. She noticed they were still holding hands even after making it down the hill.
Senku stopped abruptly, causing Yae to bump into him. "About kissing you..."
Yae's face flushed pink. "Uh...No. Not anymore."
"Good. Then we can leave behind the awkwardness between us."
Yae nodded. "Sure..."
"You don't sound sure." Senku let his grip go, his back still facing her.
When Senku didn't carry on, Yae stumbled around with words inside her head. "W-we'll always be friends, Senku! No matter what." She felt dumb for saying that. It was so cheesy.
Senku chuckled. "No matter what, huh? That sounds nice."

It was silent between the two of them for a long moment.
The moonlight shined down on them, making them seem like the center of attention while the rest of the world was shrouded in darkness. Yae stepped forward, wrapping her arms around Senku and rested her head on his back.
"You've never been alone after all, I see that now. Byakuya left you with an amazing gift, the gift of family."
Senku heaved a heavy sigh. He hated these kinds of touchy-feel moments. He wanted to pull himself free some Yae, but at the same time, her generous hug made things feel all right. He felt her pick her head from his back, and seconds later, her soft lips leaned in and kissed his cheek.
Senku ripped himself free from Yae and turned to face her. He looked at her shocked.
"Oh, shit..." She took a step, head down. "I'm sorry. I'm such an idiot. Go ahead and say I am. I don't care." She held her arms firmly at her side, hands balled into a fist, and eyes squeezed shut. "Who am I kidding?" She went on. "I'm a nobody. Why would someone like you ever have feelings for someone like me?" On she went, putting herself down while she raised that high and mighty ladder Senku was standing on.
"Shut up." He suddenly said.
Yae forced herself to look up at him, shocked. "What?" She blinked a few times, tears resting at the corners of her eyes.
"You shouldn't talk about yourself so negatively. You're like me. Don't forget that." He closed the gap between them, reached out and pulled her in by the waist. He pressed her against him, his body heat swallowing her up as he planted a kiss on her lips. This time Yae didn't pull away. She let him do whatever he wanted—move his hands wherever he wanted.
With her plump breasts pressed against his chest, Senku thought back to when he first felt them in the river when looking for sand, and then the time he saved her from Mantel peeping at her. The image of her naked body excited by ten billion percent.

Yae moaned against Senku's mouth. And when she did it again but louder, Senku realized what it was that she was making so much noise over. His hand was gripping her ass tightly, giving her a good squeeze. He loosened his grip but firmly kept his hand where it was and deepened the kiss. This was only his second attempt at kissing, so he wondered if he was doing it correctly. Yae didn't seem to mind, though, so he kept going. He licked her bottom lip, hoping to experiment further with her. Just as he hoped, Yae opened her mouth enough for Senku to slip his tongue inside. Shivers ran down his spine as he listened to Yae's innocent moan grow louder. He explored the inside of her, playing with her tongue as they fought over dominance.

Senku could feel the blood from his head rushing to his penis and he pulled away before the tension could escalate. He never knew how much effort and energy it took when making out. He didn't mind though.
The bridge of saliva finally broke and fell from their lips and to their feet. The results were satisfying.
"Was that too much?" Senku asked. Yae shook her head. "Good." He reached for her braid and trailed his finger down to the white cloth tied in a ribbon. He put it to his mouth and pulled the ribbon loose with his teeth. "I'm going to borrow this. I hope you don't mind."
Yae was awestruck. She didn't think Senku had it in him to pull a stunt like that. "I-I don't mind."
He smirked. "Good." And he stuffed it inside one of his pockets. "Now, you said something about Asagiri Gen?"
Yae nodded, remembering why she had walked out here in the first place. "He said it was very important. We should hurry. I don't think we should waste any more time."
Senku smirked. "I don't think it was a waste of time, do you?"
Yae blushed. "Uh, no, of course not!" She smiled shyly. "What do we tell the others?"
Senku answered her right away as if he had been thinking about that long before this night. "You can tell them whatever you want. I don't think we need to  announce ourselves to anyone. I'm sure others already suspect."
"Like Kohaku?"
Senku raised a brow. "Yeah, Like Kohaku. How did you know?"
Yae shrugged. "Kohaku is really good at reading people. I think she knew even before I did." She took Senku's hands. "Come on, let's head back."

When they reached the village, Yae and Senku were still holding hands and not caring who might have seen. Asagiri Gen could be heard talking to some of the villagers about how if he got drunk he wouldn't be able to talk business.
"Now that the village is one place, I have a message to deliver."
"Yeah, let's hear it, mentalist," Senku said. Everyone's attention was now focused on them. "What's happened in the Tsukasa Empire?"
A menacing grin spread across Asagiri's Gen's face as he looked up at the young scientist. "They're coming! Tsukasa and his army."
Everyone looked worried by the news, but on the other hand, Senku seemed excited about it. "It's finally time to show them the power of the kingdom of science. This is exhilarating."