Chapter Twenty: A Break; Part One

Kazane was up and running the next morning, and it only took a couple days for Daichi to be good to go. I couldn't get much sleep over the next few days however. I kept having nightmares about my brother and I fighting, the hateful words he said and how he wanted to kill me, about my comrades, my friends, dying to the hands of the Dark Elementia one by one, and soon enough, me, being consumed by Atiyama's darkness. I was starting to get the bags I had under my eyes before I turned.

I decided to train outside by myself whenever that happened, trying to get my mind off of it. It worked for a little bit, until I started to see images of Raito again and attacked them, remembering all of his accusations and the hurtful things he said. On one particular night however, something happened.

I panted heavily, the area around me smoking and burning from all my random attacks. I sighed to myself. "Feeling stressed?" I heard Jinny's voice from behind me and jumped, turning to face her. She chuckled. "Calm down, it's just me." I nodded and calmed myself, sighing again.

She stared at me for a few seconds, not saying anything. I blinked a few times, averting my eyes. "W-What is it?"

She grabbed my hand suddenly and I gave her a surprised look. "You've trained enough. It's time you hung out with all of us! So let's go!" She grinned, pulling me inside.

"W-Wait, b-but, a-ah..." I stuttered in vain. I couldn't remember the last time I'd felt so flustered. I didn't know why Jinny was making me feel that way. I had always play-fought with her all the time a little over a week prior, so I couldn't understand why holding her hand was suddenly making my heart flutter. I didn't have much time to think about it as she pulled me to the lounge, where everyone else was already waiting.

"About time, I was getting bored!" Kazane grumbled.

"Well I didn't wanna get shocked to death." Jinny rolled her eyes.

"Good point." Kazane giggled.

"W-Wait, what the heck's going on?" I asked them all, confused.

"Well, J-" Jinny suddenly shot a sharp glare at Agni. I couldn't figure out why at the time, but Agni continued to speak before I could give it much thought. "We all thought you've been pretty stressed lately."

"You're pretty distressed huh..?" Akari muttered with a worried look on her face.

Hanako nodded in agreement. "We can all tell from the way you've been acting recently."

"If you don't ever let your mind rest, soon you might end up losing control of your element. It might try to control you." Daichi said.

My eyes widened as I remembered the fight I had with my brother yet again. Even though I was unbelievably exhausted after learning the Plasma Elementia was my brother, I kept fighting with energy that came from god knows where, my anger controlling my every move. "So...back then..."

Akari nodded as I spoke. "If you continue to freak out about this, it's going to get worse. You could get yourself killed Sanda..."

"Which is why we're going to be hanging out all day!" Kazane grinned.

"Why would you all do this for me..?" I muttered.

"There are several reasons." Jinny spoke up, patting my back. "Our minds also need a break. It's not like we all have anything better to do either..." She looked into my eyes. "Oh, we also don't want you to die, idiot." She grinned at me and she gave me a noogie.

"A-Ack! K-Knock it off..!" I lightly pulled away from her.

Everyone was smiling at us when I looked, Jinny smiling at me as well. "We're your friends. Don't ever forget that." I felt a bit embarrassed and scratched the back of my neck. Jinny pulled me over to the couch. "Well come on, let's get this party started!" She grinned.

"Cheers to that!" Kazane hollered as she turned on the TV. There were lots of snack foods, blankets, gaming consoles, etc. We had a movie marathon, a video game marathon, made a pillow fort, and so much more. I was laughing my head off along with everyone else from all the fun we were having. It was like everything that had just happened was all a bad dream, and we all forgot about our situation for the day. We didn't think about the things to come nor the past, only the now, and the fact that none of us were alone. We all had each other and that was never going to change, no matter what.

We continued our fun by dancing and partying. I saw expressions and heard things I never thought I'd see or hear from certain people. For example: Agni grinning and laughing, Daichi's booming laugh, Hanako being silly and playing around with Kazane, and Akari's already unbelievably bright smile becoming even brighter when she grinned.

After things calmed down, everyone decided it'd be fun to hangout at the little bar. I didn't mind, but I wasn't going to drink anything, nor was Kazane. We both just drank various juices. I learned that Daichi actually used to be a bartender as well, and he made all of our drinks. Jinny was downing drink after drink. I couldn't tell what her tolerance was, but she was unbelievably drunk at that point. Agni and Daichi were also drunk, and I think Kazane must've gotten a drink or two because her face was red and she was hiccuping and giggling quietly. Akari was passed out on the couch, as was Hanako on another, both the sleepy kind of drunks.

Agni suddenly wrapped his arm around mine and Daichi's necks, and I thought I might be choked to death his grip was so strong. "Listen here you two...we're the only guys here, so us men have to stick together..." Agni muttered, but he could obviously be heard by the other two girls.

"Yeah, you're right! We can't let these women dominate us!" Daichi shouted. I facepalmed and giggled nervously.

"Yeah right, only two of you are men! Sanda's never even kissed a girl remember..?" Kazane said, clearly drunk from he sound of her voice alone.

"Oh yeah... I forgot about that..." Agni hiccuped.

"W-Wha..? S-So what?! That doesn't make me any less of a man!" I hollered.

"Is it really true you've never kissed anyone..?" Daichi eyed me suspiciously.

"Yes! I've never kissed or been kissed by anyone! Why does it ma-" I suddenly felt a tug on the collar of my shirt, being pulled and turned, and something soft pressed against my lips in a rough manner. I blinked a few times as I saw Jinny's face, my eyes widening and my face turning several shades of red, sparking, and steamed as I realized Jinny was kissing me. She didn't stop with just a light kiss however. She slowly released my collar, cupping my cheeks and deepening the kiss slowly. The others just stared in awe and bewilderment. She pulled away after a few more moments and I thought I might faint. "W-W-Wha... W-W-Why..???"

"Well..?~ Now you can't complain about never kissing a girl...~" Jinny giggled seductively.

"I've never seen her act like that before! You go Sanda!" Agni and Kazane drunkly cheered.

"Do we have to do more to consider you a man..?~" She ran her hand down my chest.

My face started to steam even more. "What the heck is going on?!" I internally shouted. All of a sudden, Jinny hiccuped and slid to the right, falling. "Jinny!" I fell with her and caught her, protecting her from hitting the ground with my body. She had blacked out from drinking too much.

I sighed and lifted her up. "Can I get some hel-" I stared in disbelief as I saw the other three fast asleep. "Son of a..." I lifted Jinny up, bridal style, and she clung to me in her sleep. I blushed, but carried her to her room. Once inside, I gently laid Jinny on her bed, covering her with her blankets. I stared at her face and gently traced my lips with one of my fingers, blushing still. I couldn't get the image or the feeling of our kiss out of my mind. I quickly shook my head and turned away, starting to walk out, but I felt a tug on my shirt as I did so.

I looked back to see Jinny holding onto my shirt, her face flushed as she gazed into my eyes sadly. "Please don't leave..." She looked like she might tear up.

"W-What's the matter..?" Seeing her like that made my heart ache. I kneeled beside the bed, gently running my fingers through her hair.

"Stay..." She muttered, her face getting a bit closer to mine before she suddenly pulled me onto her bed and hugged me, burying her face in my chest. I blushed, trying to get away, but her arms and legs were wrapped around me, so there wasn't much I could do. My whole face was red feeling her womanly curves pressed so tightly against me. I eventually passed out from the sheer embarrassment, my head resting against hers.