Relationship

Before the trip, he had asked a friend from university to take his car for a drive at least fortnightly. Vehicles parked for a long time could start to break down, and the last thing he wanted to do when he returned home was to have to think about trifles like taking his car to the mechanic's. That's why he left him the spare key and the ignition card.

The time in London felt long to him, mostly because he kept thinking about Tenten and how much he wanted to go back to be with her. Especially seeing her only in underwear and then with nothing on the other side of the camera. He wouldn't tell her, but he had sought out some of the women on campus over the course of the semester trying to blow off some steam, sadly it wasn't the same, he wanted it to be her specifically.

He supposed that getting his mother off his back the first few days after his return was going to be difficult, so he was checking available flights with his last day of classes in mind, finding one that had no layovers, which was better and also gave him practically a day off. A day in which he could see Tenten, or at least sleep if she couldn't, because jet lag was a headache, literally speaking.

As soon as he bought it, he wrote to the brunette and knowing that she agreed to meet, he called his friend to ask him to take his car to the airport and leave the ignition card in the cup holder, somewhere in his carry-on suitcase was the key. It was a night flight, so he tried to sleep most of the way and still yawning he had gotten off, letting her know he had landed and heading for the conveyor belt where he had to wait for his suitcase.

Tenten had run to him even before he could see her, he hugged her and kissed the crown of her head, happy to see her again. What was it about that brunette that attracted him so much? He didn't know, at the moment he wasn't interested in the answer, they just went to look for his car and when they heard the beep of the alarm from far away they went to it. In the privacy of the vehicle he could finally kiss her properly, surprised to see the excessive fieriness in her, they didn't want to waste time so he started at once.

As they were stuck in city traffic he watched out of the corner of his eye as the brunette's skirt had ridden up and exposed much of her legs, not just the parts covered by the thigh-highs but some skin and he wanted nothing more than to slide his hand down there.

Or well he did want something else, and that was to get out of the damned jam they were in. While it was true that his apartment was in the neighboring citadel and that going through the center was usually a bit of a delay, it seemed to him the traffic was worse than usual. Or was it just his eagerness that they could finally be alone?

He looked on the traffic app for the fastest way and cursed at once, there were two possible routes to go north and exit to where he lived, at the point where the two met it turned all red, probably an accident or something like that but it didn't look like it was going to be solved any time soon. A very wild idea crossed his mind and he checked the map, the road was clear so he turned the next corner and they headed west.

Stopping a little over half an hour later at a place they had been before, he wanted to explain the reason for his unromantic choice, but before he opened his mouth Tenten had thrown herself into his arms from the copilot's chair.

He could manage his own patience very well, he knew how to control himself when the situation required it, what he hadn't foreseen was having to deal with the brunette's need as well, and the result was almost explosive. She moved to the back seat crossing in the middle of the front seats as he got out and opened the door to get back in and settled himself on top of her.

He pulled her blouse up so he could see her breasts clamped in her bra and rolled up her skirt at her waist. Could he consider that he was being rough and a bit hasty? Maybe, however instead of complaining Tenten had only taken it upon herself to unzip his pants.

Only once before had he done something in a car and he had found it an uncomfortable experience due to the lack of space rather than entirely pleasurable, this time it wasn't the case. His thrusts were fast and he supported one of his hands on the back of the front seat to stand up a little and thus give himself better support and increase his strength. For her part, she didn't know where to put her hands, taking them behind her head and rubbing the other door while moaning along with his movements.

From the glove compartment he took out a box of tissues that he used to wipe himself a bit before rearranging his pants, she did the same and lowered both her blouse and skirt, definitely an advantage that she was always in that kind of garment. A voice in his head told him that he had forgotten something, but he couldn't remember what, now calmer they returned to the front seats and drove to a restaurant that had drive-thru and went to the viewpoint to have lunch together while they talked and hugged as if time away hadn't existed.

Towards the middle of the afternoon he insisted on taking her to her house but she as always refused, he asked again taking into account that the temperature had dropped more than expected and she wasn't warm enough, so with a pout she accepted, putting the address in the GPS to guide them as the brunette had no idea if the roads were one way or not, saying goodbye with a kiss and the promise to see him again the following week.

Once at his own house his mother was surprised to see him and his sister was happy because he could go with her to graduation, he had dinner with them and as he got early into bed he looked for a delivery service to send a gift the next day to Tenten, that's why he had been a little more insistent than before with finally getting her address. With that finally settled he turned in for the night.

.

Her mother had requested her day off that week for that Saturday, which was her graduation, she could understand that she didn't want to attend but she still wanted them to spend a nice day together and not think about the ceremony. Breakfast had been a plate of succulent hot cakes with real maple syrup, a treat they couldn't afford often but the woman had made sure to have for that day.

For lunch she was going to teach her how to make sesame dumplings, her favorite dish even though she didn't know how to make it. A great mix, two things she loved, cooking and that food specifically. They were about to get down to work when the door rang, they looked at each other in surprise, they didn't usually get many visitors. Her mother took off her apron and opened it cautiously.

"Tenten Ama?" She peeked out from the kitchen, frightened that someone would ask her name.

"Here she lives," a chart with a spreadsheet was extended to her. "What is this?"

"She has a delivery, sign there." A delivery? Her progenitor signed her name and then stepped aside for a man with a gigantic flower arrangement to enter. Unloading it on the table and then going for something else, extending what looked like a cake box to her.

"Thank you," the door was closed and the lock put back on. "Who sent this to you?" She was in shock, only one person could have done something like that. In the absence of a response, her mother advanced to the card.

=A shame you decided to miss the ceremony, here something almost as beautiful and sweet as you to cheer you up.

You don't know how much I had missed you.

I love you,

Kiba.=

She read aloud and then showed her the note to which she blushed. In the box was a heart filled with lots of chocolate strawberries.

"Is he the guy you were dating before?" She nodded. "I thought you broke up."

"No, it's just that his mother sent him to London to do the semester of univer..."

"University? How old is he?!" She interrupted her and she bit her lip.

"22... but it's not what you think, mom, he..."

"Tell me he's not the brother of your schoolmate," she looked upset.

"Yes, but mom..."

"Why do you insist on being involved with that family? Have you forgotten who his mother is and how she treated you?"

"Of course not, mom... but he is different from her and he has never said anything like those Tsume's words... he doesn't think like that."

"Tenten..." She left the note on the table and came closer to hug her. "He is someone older and has lived things that you haven't, he can see in someone of your age a naive young girl and take advantage of that."

"No, Kiba wouldn't do that... mom, I love him and... and I think he loves me..." It was the first time she pronounced something like that out loud, besides the message precisely said 'I love you' from him.

"Oh honey, I don't like it," she paused. "But I'm going to trust that you have enough criteria. Ok?"

"Thank you."

"I guess now we have dessert for lunch," she smiled. "Go on, hide that note and if your father asks, the flowers were sent from the school. Understood?"

Her progenitor was a serious and generally strict man, so she accepted that and ate a strawberry before going to leave the note in her room, write a grateful message to the Inuzuka and go back to the kitchen to what they were doing before the interruption.

Kiba wrote her to go to a movie the following Saturday, she obviously agreed at once. That week there was going to be a scholarship application day for the university so she enlisted the documents that the call for applications said she had to submit and early she had been on the spot.

One of the advisors was pleased with her report card, but he frowned when he read the name of the school she graduated from, asking her if it was the same one attended by the children of some politicians and big businessmen, she affirmed and the man gave her back the documents, if she had been able to go to a school like that she didn't need any kind of help. She explained that it was a scholarship given to her precisely because of her good grades, but there was no human power that could make him change his mind.

The situation was repeated the following week in two different places to which she presented herself, by that time in December the universities were in open enrollment and she couldn't let the date pass, the answers she got were the same.

On Sunday, which was the eve of Christmas Eve, she met Kiba, as they couldn't see each other on Christmas proper. They had gone up to his apartment and part of her anger with the unfairness of the scholarships fizzled out in bed, but only part of it, she was still sulking about it.

"Sorry sweetie," they were snuggled together, "and... directly with the universities?"

"I was only able to go to one, they referred me to the first foundation I asked at. I also got an answer to one of the emails, another no."

"But... Have you already decided what you are going to study? The last time we talked about it, you were hesitating between philology and... no, I don't remember the other option."

"Foreign relations or something to work as an official translator, I like languages."

"What if you study in a language center meanwhile?"

"The institutes are expensive, I'm self-taught but... if you don't have a certificate it's useless."

"The school certified you C1 in English and A1 in French. Didn't it?"

"The A1 is not much use, with English I could try to do something... but you forget the usual problem."

"Which one?"

"I'm still underage, so no one will give me a job... I need to turn 18 so I can start working and save money."

"I need you to be 18 too," the words were accompanied by a bite to her neck so she started to laugh. "I was thinking..."

"Tell me"

"I don't want us to hide anymore, we will shout to the whole world that you are my girlfriend as soon as you turn 18." She didn't remember an official proposal, however she was delighted to hear him refer to her in that way.

"I have two big reasons for wishing March will come soon."

.

January had passed without much news, she had surrendered to the endless refusals she had received and resigned herself to the fact that until she could work and save money the idea of going to a university or study something in a formal way would be postponed. So she spent her weekdays at home looking for pages on the internet that explained grammar or different pronunciation exercises of French and Chinese, she kept focused on the fact that she wanted to improve them and then she would think about certifying them. On Saturdays she met Kiba early and returned home when the sun began to set. Except for her boyfriend, her routine wasn't very different from previous school vacations.

In February the boredom began to be felt more strongly and manifested itself at times with her snacking more than usual between meals, or sometimes getting up in the middle of the night to eat a loaf of bread or whatever she found in the fridge that she knew wouldn't be part of her parents' lunch the next day. That was also still part of her routine, bringing forward part of the dinner and lunch that her parents would take to work, as well as finishing cooking with her mother and of course, just like every vacation she was in charge of the cleaning of the house, those were the moments when she was grateful to live in something small.

"Honey, did you taste this?" February was ending and that night she was with her mother in the kitchen, she had made the rice and chopped some potatoes and other vegetables to cook them with the meat that the woman would buy before coming home.

"Sure, is something wrong?"

She took a spoon and scooped out a little bit of rice, fearing that maybe the pot had been badly washed and tasted like soap or that it had undercooked, although she didn't remember it that way. She bit into what she had put in her mouth and didn't taste anything unusual.

"You're still keeping happy when cooking," it took her a second to understand the analogy.

"Is it salty again?" Strange, to her taste it was just right.

"Just a little bit, we'll balance it with the stew," she nodded and chopped the meat, keeping her hand away from the salt jar and leaving it to the elder to take care of it because in previous occasions she had overdone it. "We'll add a little more water and potatoes... with that we'll have enough for more..."

"Bad day?" She asked at once.

"The hotel has a bad run, they won't pay us overtime for this fortnight and they won't give us any for the next one... and with the increase in rent." Her mother didn't usually complain, so she was a little worried about it.

"I'm almost 18, I'll work then and you'll see we'll adjust." She felt guilty, because of her staying at home all day they hadn't taken away the internet service and now she felt worse about overeating being alone without even telling them.

"No, honey, that's not what I meant..."

"It's okay mom, we'll get out of this," she assured, returning her attention to the pot that was already boiling and smelled good.

They served and when she tasted it, she felt that the food was too tasteless, so she went to the kitchen with the plate and added a little salt only to what she was going to eat, her engrossed mother didn't mention anything about it.

She tried then to taste and add salt to her portion before going to the table so she didn't have to get up afterwards and that way she didn't have to complain for making the whole meal salty, also trying to avoid snacking between meals and drinking water until she felt satiated to trick her stomach that was asking for more.

Although she admitted that on Saturdays with Kiba she took the opportunity to eat much more than at home, it had become usual for her to steal fries from his hamburger while he laughed and said he was going to start asking for hers also enlarged or an additional portion.

Her birthday was that weekend, so her boyfriend called her and told her to ask permission to spend the night with him at his apartment. He wanted them to go to dinner and well, as she was finally 18 she should stay with him as she had never done that before. Her father frowned at her request and her mother didn't seem very happy either, they didn't like neither that she had a boyfriend nor who he was specifically, because to the inquisitive questions of her father she had to tell him about his age and last name.

She begged and promised that on Monday after doing the paperwork to have the identification she would go to look for a job, finally the man accepted and told her that if the Inuzuka was a real man he would have shown his face before, she just kept silent at the accusation.

Saturday morning, she checked her closet, spring was just beginning so the cold temperatures remained. In the bag that Kiba gave her the year before she packed the change of clothes for the next day and went downtown, it was she who didn't want him to go to that neighborhood too much and avoided him to do it every chance she got. She smiled when she saw the car from afar and got in happily, the first stop was his apartment, ordering lunch delivery as usual and in the middle of the afternoon the Inuzuka handed her a box with her gift. She opened it and inside she saw an elegant dark green dress and at the bottom was a pair of 2-inches heels.

"The restaurant has a dress code," she nodded and went to the bathroom to change at once.

The dress was simple and she loved it, it had a brooch at the neck, left her arms uncovered and fell loosely in an asymmetrical way in some parts at mid-thighs and in others below her knees. She put on her heels and then combed her hair into a high bun that looked better than her usual two-buns.

"How do I look?" she asked, turning around fascinated by the way the fabric lifted.

"Beautiful, as always," he came closer and brushed her lips. "It's my turn, I won't be long."

A few minutes later Kiba came out in a tie-dye suit, took her by the hand to go to the car and drove for about 40 minutes before stopping in front of what looked like an old mansion. A man opened the car door for her and she got out fearful of doing something out of place, because that's how she felt, getting a huge reminder that she didn't belong and would never fit into such a place.

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Hope you like it!