The Town Where I Live 2

"W-what?"

The next morning, Shinji woke up with sweat all over his face and foggy memory. All he remembered was that one moment he was talking about his mother, and the next moment he was being carried to the bedroom by a tall figure. He looked around himself and saw the ever-familiar shackles constraining him to the bed – which made him realize that he was unsuccessful in making her warm up to him. The one good thing that he noticed was that his mind was fresh and lacking any sort of haze.

Even though the sun hadn't risen yet, a few birds swooshed past the windows, bringing life to the atmosphere. Since the house was built near a road, from dawn to morning sound of bicycles could be heard near it.

"Hey, you're awake!"

Sitting in front of a brown desk, complete with a few books scattered around and a brightly lit laptop, was Mizuki. She had a blue pair of glasses over her eyes and an open book in her hands. She closed it with a thud when he stood up from the bed and flashed her trademark smirk at him. It was evident that she had been awake for a long time, as the edges of her eyes were red, and her usually vibrant demeanor was nowhere to be found. Shinji noticed that her irises rapidly dilated when he came in front of her, like two cameras zooming unto him.

"You're awake at a time like this to study? I don't think that's very healthy. Look, even your eyes are red." Shinji uttered with a tight tone and sat in the chair next to her.

Mizuki looked surprised and turned around, her pyjama's shirt that had tightly clung to her feminine body wobbled a bit, due to her fast movements. Her cheeks turned slightly flushed, as she scrutinized Shinji, and asked with a slight stammer, "Shin, I…never realized you look at me this closely. I…I'm a fool for not noticing; I thought y-you didn't care…hn!"

Shinji shook his head with a smile, and answered back with half-closed eyes, "I'm just reciprocating the care you've given me so far; the fact that you're here, studying without the lights on speaks a lot about how much you think about for me. Even though you don't know how to cook, you bothered just for me, and try to keep me entertained. So far, no one has…acted like this to me. "

Mizuki's smile brightened as she grasped the Shinji's hands with fervour. His warmth, albeit desirable and intoxicating, was scalding to her very touch. She replied, with her lips slightly twitching, "Far more than I had hoped for. Thank you…"

Of course, Shinji wasn't lying. The fact that she had trapped him in her house was scary, but he didn't see anything harmful in her behavior. The love this girl had shown for him exceeded any limits, which was evident. Now all he had to do was to make her warm up to him, which was contradictory considering how much obsessed she was with him.

Shinji had warmed up to the thought of living with her; thus, he wasn't that cautious around her anymore. With curiosity hidden in his voice, he insisted, "I'm surprised you love me this much. I don't even know why you bothered waiting six years for me."

As if Shinji had asked her something undeniable and funny, a short giggle burst out from the mouth of the fair maiden. Her eyes widened a bit, as she declared, "You are my salvation, a work of God. I'm obsessed with you, so much, that I'm willing to do anything to make you look at me, and me only. I don't have anything in my life except you, just like you. Look, I still have this," she paused and took off the simple, and childlike plastic hairband from her head, and waved it in front of Shinji, "a hairband that you gave me when we were just kids. And much, much more, but I won't show them to you just yet~! Hehe."

"I…don't have anything as a keepsake; I don't even remember the time I spent here. "

Shinji sighed as he tried his best to recollect, but just like the hundred times he had tried over the six years, he couldn't remember much. He remembered the people and a few dots of blank memories that had transpired decades ago, but that's it; he could remember nothing else, as if something in his mind was blocking his memories.

"Oh, don't worry about that, you'll remember. "

After seeing her appearance, none would think that she was anything more than a flawless, smiling hydrangea, yet Shinji could sense a few movements underneath that hard exterior. Her eyelashes rapidly fluttered, and her smile suspiciously flattened. He took it as a hint, and tried to change the direction of the conversation, "S-so, what are you studying?"

Suddenly, a few moments after Shinji had uttered his question, Mizuki blinked and pounced upon him. She put both of her hands atop his shoulders and embraced him in a half-standing position. The chair's backrest was short; as such, it shifted a bit back due to their weight.

"W-wha--?"

"Trying to change the topic, hm~?" She whispered into his ears, her hot breathing teasing his ears.

"No, I-I was just trying to see what you were studying."

Mizuki tilted her head, and answered with a smirk, "I'm studying Kahler and non-Kahler surfaces – it's just math, a bit easy even. Do you recognize it?" Her tone was a bit teasing, as she looked back at the notes she had been taking.

Shinji tried his best but couldn't recollect anything like that – even though he was good at math. It might be some advanced topic, almost university level for him not to recognize it. He asked, not the least shocked, "It's something advanced, isn't it? I swear I don't understand toppers; their minds work in mysterious ways."

Mizuki snorted a bit, and continued, "And that's what you talk about in a girl's room? Tell me; this is your first time – figuratively, as you were here yesterday – in a girl's room, right? Don't you ever think about naughty stuff here? "

"No will suffice as an answer to both questions. "

'How about," she paused for a moment, and like a bolt of lightning, moved forward and smooched Shinji's lips. Her thin, raspberry-scented lips bit onto his, as she drank his drool. Unlike the last time she had kissed him, she didn't wait on him for long and stopped, and glared at him with an inquisitive gaze, almost like a child stepping on a pond to see what would happen. She continued, "now? Are you turned on yet?"

"Is a girl supposed to do this…?" Shinji wiped his mouth and stared at her with a flushed expression.

"Maybe. Maybe not. Oh wait, look at the time. Its morning already!"

Shinji stared at the girl as she frantically stood up and ran towards the door. "Wait here; I'll be back."

Of course, Shinji should've known. He should've known…

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The gentle stroke of the wind caressed Shinji, as his breathing unravelled like a tsunami. He made sounds resembling a fish flapping on open sand, as he stumbled towards the gate of his college. Mizuki was walking near him, wearing nondescript casual clothes, and donning a vibrant, and happy countenance on her face.

"Dear, what's wrong?"

In a bizarre public display of affection, worry appeared on Mizuki's face, as she embraced Shinji's left arm and clung to him. A few bystanders before the college gate stared at them, while a few were mesmerized by Mizuki's beauty. Of course, it wasn't something weird, most of them gave both a passing glance and returned to their work. However, there were a few men that were focused on Shinji, as if they wanted to commit him to their memory.

"You…you son of a…!" Shinji was almost about to curse but stopped when he noticed the slick, mischievous look on Mizuki's face. He felt like he wanted to climb into a hole and die because yet again, he had been drugged. If it wasn't for her, grabbing him tightly, he was sure that he would fall over and instantly die.

"Um, mmm…dear, not here. I-I'm sorry, I should've known my place. I'll let go." With a few delicate sobs, Mizuki let go of him and wiped her reddish eyes. She looked towards another direction, as if she was hurt, yet didn't abandon him.

Seeing such a scene, most of the onlookers frowned. Shinji felt goosebumps rise in his skin, as he realized what was happening. Unfortunately, he was too sloshed to judge, and stumbled on a rock and fell face-first on the pavement.

"Aaah, Shinji, be careful, I take my eyes off of you for one second and…"

Mizuki grabbed the fallen Shinji and helped him get up. Meanwhile, he tried to rub off the dust from his face but was interrupted when she took a handkerchief from her bag and wiped him with it. "There you go, all cleaned up."

Shinji, albeit very sloshed, realized that whatever she was doing had meanings far deeper than it looked like on the surface. He calmed himself and walked together with her into his class. As he stepped onto the stairs, he remembered something and asked Mizuki, who was walking behind him, "Why…are you coming with me? Are you even in the same department?"

Mizuki tilted her head, and answered calmly, "Of course, I'm in the same department. I sat for the wrong classes that day~!"

Shinji didn't even question further, and waked into his class with a steaming face. He decided that he wasn't going to be played…

///

The men in the class stared at Mizuki, as she came as fast as lightning and sat to Shinji's right. Some of them remembered the pure and delicate personality she had but didn't recollect seeing such dreamy eyes on her – as if she was a maiden deep in love. This time she wasn't acting weird; all she did was sneak a few peeks at him with a red face.

"Dude, where were you yesterday? " A man wearing a white shirt and a pair of white glasses tapped Shinji's shoulders and asked.

"I was—"

"Alright, I'm not interested. Yesterday you told me you don't have any history with Mizuki Aira, right?" He asked, almost zooming in on him with his eyes.

"She's just a childhood friend, alright?"

"Dude, just look at her. She's oogling you with laser precision eyes. I'm hundred percent sure you're in a hitlist now!"

Yuhara of course, was either too immersed in his delusional rants, or didn't care that he was acting strangely like a drug addict. Shini didn't care either, as he realized that Mizuki's only motive was to bring the intoxicated him here, so she could probably make everyone hate him…

A bit too farfetched…but, anger had already clouded his mind. . .

"Bro, stay safe, alright?"

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AU Note: Thanks for reading so far. If you guys have any tips or some criticism my ears are open.