Authors: Violet Walker
D
aiki shot a bolt of fire at the Ootoris. I felt the flames coiling in his belly, rushing down his arms, and then lashing out like snakes. I aimed my crossbow and felt his thoughts guiding me, his hands brushing over mine through the link and holding me steady as I fired, catching Hikaru in the shoulder as he was busy avoiding Daiki’s fire.
We moved as one. As Minako shouted for her brother, I leapt onto the stage and stood with Daiki, aiming my crossbow as he set both of his arms on fire to warn the Ootoris off. Ichiru lay in front of us, groaning in pain. Daiki shot another ball of fire at Minako, catching her in the chest and sending her flying back to the edge of the stage. Hikaru, who’d fallen hard when the bolt hit him, tried to raise his crossbow and point it at Daiki’s face.
I was there in an instant. I felt Daiki’s confidence and muscle memory working through me as I kicked the crossbow out of Hikaru’s hand. I saw a brief flash of fear in his eyes before he gritted his teeth and stared me down as though daring me to kill him.
“We should kill you,” I said, my voice and Daiki’s melting together to become one. The part of my mind that belonged to Daiki was itching to deal out justice. Justice for his mother, his father, and the hundreds of other shifters who’d lost their lives to the Ootoris’ bloodlust. Looking down at the Hikaru Ootori, I could feel Daiki’s anger and grief – so intense and corrosive that it threatened to consume me.
But there was something else beneath it all: fear. Fear for Ichiru, who lay prone and vulnerable on the stage. Daiki’s love for his family was just strong enough to come through all of the pain, anger, and vengeance. I latched onto that feeling, pushing it to the fore and pulling Daiki away from thoughts of fire and blood.
For a moment, our minds jarred and fractured. Then, we found our harmony again. Together, we turned away from the Ootoris. Minako, who lay senseless on the opposite side of the stage, and Hikaru, who watched me go with a look of confusion and disbelief on his face.
Daiki and I knelt by Ichiru. I could feel Daiki’s concern as I set my crossbow down and held Ichiru while Daiki pulled the bolt sharply out of his shoulder, causing the old man to grunt with pain. Daiki set his finger ablaze and used it to cauterize the wound. I pulled the crossbow bolts from Daiki’s thigh and wing, feeling the agonizing pull as though it was my own flesh being torn asunder, and watched as he cauterized those wounds as well.
As Daiki and I worked, we shared a wordless conversation.
You need to get him to a hospital, I sent through.
This is my fault, he shouldn’t even have been here.
He loves you. He wanted to protect you.
He cast an angry look to the Ootori siblings. I wish you’d let me kill them.
You’re not a monster, Daiki.
We can’t stay here. They’ll just keep coming.
Then run.
I don’t want to leave you.
This isn’t about us. Ichiru needs to heal and he can’t do it while he’s stressed out about hunters. Take him somewhere safe.
Daiki lifted his grandfather into his arms. The old man looked so small. It reminded me of the memory I’d seen earlier that day, of Daiki being held in his grandfather’s arms while his family’s home burned around them. I held Ichiru’s hand and smiled at him. Daiki kissed me on the cheek and walked out of the theatre without looking back.
As I watched him go, the link stretched, trembled, and then broke. I was one person again, not two. The loss of Daiki’s presence in my mind made me gasp and fall to my knees. I’d almost forgotten that the Ootori siblings were in the room.
Then Hikaru spoke. “I have never seen a link in action,” he said. The crossbow bolt through his shoulder didn’t seem to be bothering him, although he was clearly favoring the other arm as he leaned up on his elbows to get a better look at me. There was awe in his eyes. I pushed myself to my feet as he continued: “Was it you who decided not to kill us?”
“We decided together,” I replied. “That’s how the link works.” Hikaru looked over at his sister, who was starting to stir. I saw something soften in his face and I said: “You killed Daiki’s family. He didn’t kill yours.”
I left the Ootoris there and let myself out of the theatre. I came out into the sunlight and gazed around at all the people who didn’t know that shifters and hunters existed. I felt powerful, as if bearing this secret made me untouchable somehow.
Instead of hailing a cab, I walked back to my apartment. It was a two-hour trek, but I felt the need for some silence. I didn’t think about the fact that Daiki and Ichiru were running away from the city at that moment, that I had no idea when I would see him again, or even whether I was safe in New York with hunters swarming all over the place. I didn’t think about my parents’ reaction to my Japanese boyfriend. I didn’t think at all. I just let myself be numb.
My legs were aching by the time I made it back to my apartment. I ran up the stairs, taking them two at a time despite the pain. Once my apartment door was locked behind me, I began stripping off my clothes on the way to the bathroom.
“You’ve earned yourself a nice warm shower, Skye Louise,” I told myself as I stood, naked and sweaty, in the bathroom.
I turned on the shower, waited for it to get hot, and stepped inside. I felt instant relief. A hot shower couldn’t actually solve my problems, but it could at least soothe the ache. As I felt the worries and horrors of the day melting away with the near-scalding water falling over my back and sides, I felt Daiki pressing against my mind and eagerly let him in.
Skye? His voice was faint but he was there. Can you hear me?
Are you okay? I asked.
We’re safe. We’re in Montreal
I felt a wave of relief so intense that I had to lean against the cold shower wall. Tears welled into my eyes as I asked: How did you get there so quickly?
Flew.
Do you speak French?
I’ve never learned. We won’t be staying long. As soon as Oji-san is well, we’re heading back to Japan.
Well, thank goodness for universal healthcare, I sent through, keeping my tone as light as I could, knowing that he could probably tell that I was upset.
But I had no right to be upset. He and his grandfather needed to be safe, and New York just wasn’t safe for them anymore. Ichiru had planned to take them back to Japan anyway. It was the best plan for them. It didn’t make me feel any better.
I reached out through the link, gently caressing Daiki’s mind and showing him how much I would miss him. I felt an answering caress. Where in Japan?
Kyoto, he replied. It’s where my father grew up.
I’ll miss you, I sent through. But at least we can still talk.
I can see you, he replied. His voice was a little hesitant, as if he were worried about how I would react. I was confused before I realized that I was in the shower.
Pervert, I replied affectionately.
You’re so beautiful, he sent through.
I reached out through the link, trying to get a picture of him like I had that afternoon. Images filtered into my mind – odd, half-imagined thoughts which gave more of an impression than a clear picture. A misted mirror, a cream shower curtain with mold growing around the bottom, a strand of wet, dark hair on a warm cheek. I could see him in my mind’s eye, standing in some hotel shower with water cascading down his back. There was an angry red burn on his leg.
I imagined running my hands down that firm, tanned skin. He arched his back and gasped and I pulled away sharply, creating some distance between his mind and mine. Then I pressed harder.
“Skye,” he said out loud. I could hear him echoing through the link, even though all I could really see was his mouth opening and his eyes closing. I felt the sensation of lips ghosting over mine and a wet leg slipping between my thighs.
I could see that he hadn’t moved. He stood in the shower, reacting to my manipulation of the link, but remaining still and letting his body react. But I could feel him. His legs tangling with mine, his lips and tongue pushing insistently against mine, his hands in my hair. I wasn’t the only one pushing my wishes through the link. There were two of him: the Daiki in the shower, and the Daiki in the link, touching me the same way I touched him. His penis was red and proudly erect in the shower as his ghosting hands teased my breasts, sliding down my back and thighs. I realized that the Daiki I could see – the one in the shower with the hard-on – was grinning. Smirking, actually.
Oh, you think you’re so clever? I thought at him. It should have been frightening to know that he could manipulate my body like this, but I could feel his lust for me blazing through everything, warming me from the inside out.
I imagined the feeling of sliding my lips over his penis and the Daiki in the shower immediately reacted – bucking his hips and grabbing onto the curtain rail. I imagined running my tongue up and down the shaft and felt his answering groan in my blood as his ghosting hands slid down my body. In reality, he could never touch me like this while I was sucking him. He wouldn’t be able to reach. But this was not reality.
I wanted more. I wanted to feel his real hands on me, his real penis growing harder and thicker in my mouth, and his real lips peppering my neck with kisses, but this was an acceptable substitute. In fact, I thought as his ghosting hands tweaked my nipple as I tongued the sensitive underside of his shaft, I could get used to this way of doing things.
Daiki seemed to share the sentiment. His ghosting fingers ran down my body and slid against my core, teasing the warm bud with wet nudges.
“Don’t stop,” I said out loud. I pressed my hands to the wall of the shower as I felt, rather than heard, Daiki moaning with me.
His fingers pressed inside of me, pumping slowly as if he could tell what would feel best – which he could, I realized in the midst of my pleasure. He could give me everything I wanted, because this was a beautiful dream shared through the link. With that thought, I doubled my efforts. I kissed, licked and sucked until those ghosting fingers did something very right and sent a bolt of pure pleasure through me.
My breathing came faster as I thrust my hips forward, grinding on fingers lay deep inside me, allowing Daiki to have his way with my body as I had my way with his. Sharing control while we were fighting had been wonderful, but this. This was nirvana.
For a tense moment, our bodies stood poised on the edge. The Daiki in the shower tensed his muscles, holding onto the shower rail like his life depended on it, while I felt the warm water beating down on my back at the same time. Then, in that one moment of vulnerability, Daiki let me in completely. The link between us opened and, like a lightning bolt or a burst of flames, I could feel it all. Everything he felt for me, everything he wanted for us, stronger and more beautiful than I’d thought possible.
He loved me. Daiki loved me.
Without warning, my body spasmed, sending me toppling over the edge of an orgasm so intense that I fell to my knees on the slippery shower floor. Daiki cried out as I poured that sensation through the link, forcing him to feel what he’d made me feel. Every ounce of love I had in me went out to Daiki. I saw him in my mind’s eye as he released a heavy load of semen down the shower drain.
His knees gave way and the shower rail snapped. He yelped as he fell hard in a tangle of limbs and shower curtain.
I laughed. I couldn’t help it. He looked so adorably confused when he untangled himself and rubbed his ass where he’d landed on it. I laughed so hard I almost couldn’t breathe.
Are you okay? I sent through, even though I couldn’t really hide my giggles.
He grinned sheepishly. Yes, he replied. I don’t think the railing was designed for that.
You’ll have to explain it to the concierge.
Sorry sir, I was having telepathic sex with my girlfriend and I needed something to hang onto. They should really make these sturdier.
Yes, it’s the shower rail’s fault.
We were both laughing. I could see his smiling face as if he were right there in front of me. It made me unbelievably sad for a moment. Although my body still trembled with the force of the orgasm he’d brought me to, feeling the ghostly touch of his hands through the link just made me want to hold him for real.
But I couldn’t. Not yet.
Soon, he sent through as if he could read my thoughts. Which, I realized, he could.
Soon, I answered. I turned off the shower and shivered in the cold air for a moment, reaching for my towel as Daiki did the same.
I love you, he sent through. As if it were the simplest, most obvious thing in the world.
And I replied: I love you, too. Because it was.
W
hen I’d finished showering and dried myself off, I walked naked through my bedroom and stood in front of the half-finished portrait of Daiki. I wondered if I would ever get around to finishing it. The Institute wasn’t exactly creatively stimulating.
Without giving it much thought, I sat down on the edge of my bed and pulled my laptop towards me. The cool evening air was making me shiver but I didn’t want to put on clothes just yet. Daiki’s ghosting touches lingered over my body.
Pulling up the search history, I remembered what Ichiru had said when I’d first met him – about New York City being a challenge to overcome. I had to wonder if the challenge was worth it. There was nothing tying me to the Art Institute beyond a dream I’d had as a child. A dream I’d dreamed before I’d had the chance to properly understand what dreaming was.
I pulled up the site for Kyoto school of art, read through their program a second time, and then went through the student testimonials. All of the English-speaking students listed painting as their favorite subject.
Daiki Hamada was not a part of my New York dream, but meeting him had shown me a new dream. One where he and I got to be together, and I got to study what I loved.
I found the International Student Application form and clicked
Download
.
THE END