Chapter Text
Love Is A Stranger
Love is a danger of a different kind,
It'll take you away and leave you far behind,
And love, love, love is a dangerous drug,
You have to receive it, and you still can't get enough of the stuff…
And I want you,
And I want you,
And I want you so,
It's an obsession.
Eurythmics; Love Is A Stranger
Chapter 1: For What You Dream Of
The hall of dangers,
The power in love,
You walk the fire,
For what you dream of.
Bedrock: For What You Dream Of
"Can you feel anything yet? I don't think I can."
Kaoruko sighs. It's the third time Haruka has asked the question in the last 10 minutes. She leans in towards her friend, shouting against the throb of the music. “Nah, not yet. Look, I told you, mate, it’ll take a bit of time to kick in, yeah? We'll know about it when it does, I'm sure.”
Even in the gloom of the club, it's easy to see just how anxious Haruka is actually looking. Wide-eyed, teeth bared, and her fingers tap-tap-tapping out an incessant staccato rhythm on the table that's got nothing to do with the beat of the music.
“But, like, it can be dangerous, you know, if we're not careful? So – well, that's what I've heard, anyway.”
Kaoruko bites back an expletive. “Look, this was your idea as much as mine, Babes, don't you go gettin’ cold feet on me now, eh? Anyway, it's a bit late to start flappin’ about it now when we’ve already necked the things. Plus - well, that's what we transformed for first, wasn't it? Just in case, y’know? Come on, it’ll be fine.”
Haruka nods her head unhappily, biting on her bottom lip. “I know. I'm sorry, Kaoruko-chan, it's just –“ her face splits unexpectedly into a dazzling smile, catching Kaoruko completely off-guard – “I'm, like, so excited, but scared too, and I feel naughty and bad really, because it's not good, is it, but, you know, it’s so exciting for all of us and for Sayo-chan in particular, and I'm proud of you for being brave for her, and…”
Sheesh.
Kaoruko lets her friend ramble on, getting it all out of her system, while she basks in the soft, comforting aura of Haruka's company. She's always been Kaoruko's sun, her light, her warmth. And now, sitting here, watching her spark and crackle, a fizzing ball of nervous energy, she's more irresistible than ever.
Kaoruko is still doing her damnedest to resist, though.
"You're the bravest person I've ever met, Kao-chan. Please, d'you think you can be brave one more time, for all of us?"
Months have passed, and still Sayo’s words haunt her. Maybe – maybe she can be brave, and show her how she feels, one little piece at a time, eh? Tonight certainly seems like a good moment to start.
Deep breath.
She stretches out across the sticky wood of the table and covers Haruka's dancing fingers with her own.
“Look, just chill the fuck out, Matey!” she smiles, masking her own trepidation, hoping that her fingers aren't shaking too much, that her thumping heartbeat isn’t about to blot out the sound of the music, “it'll all be fine. It'll all be fun. We're here for Sayo anyway, ain't we, yeah? Let's help her along with gettin’ this Findin’ Me New Self bollocks out of the way, then we can all go home and have a nice cup of tea.” She laughs at Haruka’s startled expression. “You know, pretend this never happened, yeah?”
Haruka gives her a slightly pained smile back in return. “I don't feel great about it, though. Heroines Of Justice shouldn’t really be doing this, um, well, you know –“
Kaoruko shrugs. “What, gettin’ mashed off their tits in a nightclub? Yeah, can't imagine Vatz’d be happy. Best not let ‘em know, eh?”
Someone’s coming. She looks up as Sayo looms over them, picking her way through the noisy crowd. She's clasped three plastic bottles of water together between her fingers, and has the determined expression on her face of an Olympic athlete settling down into the starting blocks. Even when she's not the Ice Maiden, she's still the bloody ice maiden, Kaoruko thinks, with an inward sigh of weariness. Still, you can’t say she hasn’t got her game face on. She’s applying the same meticulous seriousness to her first venture into getting off her face that she’s always shown in every other endeavour.
It's Sayo who’s to blame for this little escapade, too, let’s not forget. And it’ll be Sayo who Kaoruko’s going to be scrapping with in the car park afterwards if anything goes wrong. She remembers it perfectly.
Why don't we go clubbing, or something? Just you and me, head into town, do a load of pills and stay out all night, dance til the sun comes up?"
"You serious?"
"Why the fuck not? Maybe I fancy getting off my tits and dancing like a monkey. Or find some nice lass who'll take me home, stick a collar on me, bend me over and give me a proper seeing-to."
"Sayo-"
"What? What, Kaoruko-chan? Are you gonna do that for me? This is it, the whole point. Why do I always have to do what other people think I should do?"
"Well, yeah, okay, I get that, but d'you really wanna get mashed on Es and fuck some random you pick up in a club?"
"I don't know. Maybe. Probably not, but maybe, yeah. Don't I get to choose?"
Well, she’s certainly chosen now.
Sayo squeezes into the booth between her friends and sits herself down, spine ramrod straight, mouth drawn up in a tight line, and her eyes fixed on the dance floor like a particularly conscientious general watching over a battlefield.
Kaoruko follows her gaze for a moment, gets bored, and nudges her in the ribs.
“You alright there, Party Central? This everythin’ you thought it was gonna be, eh?”
Sayo turns her eyes to Kaoruko, seeming not to see her for a moment, and then comes around with a visible start. A flush creeps up on her cheeks and her mouth curls up in an embarrassed little smile. “Oh, I'm sorry, Kaoruko-chan. I was miles away there. It was…” her eyes drift back towards the dance floor, “I just thought I felt something out there. Something that shouldn't be here, perhaps.”
Kaoruko feels a twist of fear at Sayo’s words and leans forward, eyes directed down at the dancefloor, staring unseeingly for a moment as they scan back and forth, then turns back to Sayo once more. The other girl seems to have gone back into her little trance. Kaoruko wafts her hand in front of her friend's face, causing her to jump.
“Mate, I don't want to be too obvious about it, but we've just necked a bunch of pills. D’you think that maybe that's what you're feeling, coz the whole point of ‘em is to mess you up a bit, ain’t it?”
Sayo tilts her head, giving the matter some consideration. “I don't think so,” she says, shouting over the music, “it felt more like a ripple, you know?” She puts up a hand in front of her mouth and cranes in towards Kaoruko, hissing at her in a comically obvious stage whisper that’s barely audible over the throbbing bass. “It felt a bit like dark magic.”
Kaoruko sniffs. “Well, that might just be what the drugs feel like, couldn’t it? It ain't like any of us have got much to go on, have we?”
“Eek, you're right!” Haruka cranes across the table, her face a mask of worry. “How will we know if these things even work? I don't know what they should feel like, do you?”
Kaoruko glares, her brows furrowed. “They better fuckin’ well work, price I paid for ‘em. I gave that skanky bitch Homari-san twelve thousand Yen for ‘em, an’ she was laughing her arse off as well.” She redirects the glare towards Sayo. “Should have been you buying them, anyway. This is your party, pal, we’re just the guests, remember?”
Sayo has the grace to look somewhat embarrassed, at least. “Yes, well, I'm very grateful, Kaoruko-chan, you know that. I just thought it might be a little bit awkward if -“
“Yeah yeah,” Kaoruko rolls her eyes, “Can't let Little Miss Future Head Girl get caught buying evil ecstasy off slags like Takahashi Homari, can we?” She snorts in dark amusement. “Better off letting the big city girl with the shifty rep get ‘em instead, eh?”
Sayo throws an arm around her and hugs her tight against that ample bosom. “I'm very grateful,” she whispers into Kaoruko's ear, “I haven't forgotten. And I'm very happy, and very grateful, that you kept your promise. I really am.” Her eyes flick across to Haruka, who is watching them, out of earshot, from the other side of the table. She’s chugging away on her bottle of water, the bulging cheeks and eyes making her look a little bit like a tie-dyed chinchilla.
Sayo nods to her friend cheerfully, then leans in closer. Fucking hell, she’s so shit at any sort of subterfuge it’s unbelievable. “You made me another promise as well, about what you’d be doing this year, and I've not seen much evidence of progress. Be brave one more time, remember?”
Kaoruko grimaces and turns away. Of course she can fucking well remember, she's not likely to forget it in a hurry, is she?
“You two... you're my best friends in the world, you know that, right? I'd love to keep you like that for ever, I really would. But you're in love with her, Kaoruko-chan. Not a crush or something. You're in love. That's not going away any time soon, and I'd rather we risk things and maybe see you happy, than do nothing and know you were so miserable. You're the bravest person I've ever met, Kao-chan. Please, d'you think you can be brave one more time, for all of us?"
* * *
They've talked things through plenty of times beforehand, of course, in a whirl of nervous, guilty excitement. Nobody could know. Not friends, not family, and sure as shit not Vatz-han.
It had all been planned very carefully in the end, following a simple chain of logic, and – credit where credit was due – it was Sayo who’d taken the lead in putting her Voyage of Discovery into action. They'd have to be transformed, to get the benefit of their anti-detection magic, but not obviously transformed. Nobody could recognise them by their real names, or they were completely sunk, and they couldn’t go in through the front door of the club anyway, either as themselves (too young!) or as Tres Magia (too famous!), so they had to find an alternative…
So then, bags had been packed, points of entry scoped, and timings worked out with the precision of a well-drilled bank heist. Maybe they’d have been better off as a team of villains, after all? Certainly, Sayo had shown a startling lack of scruples for someone usually so hidebound about the slightest infringement.
This obviously meant a great deal to her.
The three girls had met up, transformed, and then quietly flown to the roof of the building, before stripping off their Tres Magia uniforms and getting themselves into something a bit more appropriate for a night on the tiles. ‘Anon Mode’, Sayo had named it, a snappy little bit of subterfuge in case Vatz overheard them. A way for the three of them to enjoy the anonymity of their recognition inhibition (Sayo had almost exploded with smugness when explaining how she’d come up with the name), and the comfort blanket of their transformation powers, while still being able to blend in with everybody else. After all, they reasoned, nobody wanted to have their fun curtailed on a wild night out by having Tres Magia turn up being all Heroines-of-Justice-y about stuff. That would really piss on your chips. So, ‘Anon Mode’ it was, with a quick change on the roof.
That had been mortifying enough in itself. She'd seen her friends in various stages of undress, ranging from dishevelled clothing to full-frontal nudity, too many times to mention. But it didn't make it any easier on this occasion. Quite the opposite, in fact.
Ever since all that business over New Year, when Sayo had bullied her into finally admitting her feelings, anything like this was just a drawn-out torture, with Kaoruko horribly self-aware of her desire to gawp at Haruka and the desperate need to avoid doing so for the sake of her own sanity, and the knowledge that Sayo was standing there, right there, hovering over her like a fucking vulture, watching for the faintest slip or sign of failing resolve, laughing up her sleeve at her and at the same time pushing, prodding, nudging her into the sort of gut-wrenching declaration that Kaoruko would rather gargle bleach than make in public. Stupid Sayo and her Brave New World of self-expression. Honestly, half the time it made her want to just chuck a chair at the knucklehead, and only a nagging feeling that that would somehow make matters worse had stayed her hand thus far.
So, Kaoruko had stood resolutely turned away as the three of them fought their way through buttons and hooks, crinoline and petticoats, wobbling awkwardly to strip off boots with nowhere to sit, and then hurriedly delving into their bags to dig out their ‘disguises’, as Haruka had laughingly called them.
The whole thing reached an apogee of awfulness as Kaoruko shimmied herself into a pair of shorts she was only half-convinced she could pull off successfully, fastened the belt around her waist and hastily pulled a black vest-top over her head, positively glowing with mortification at the knowledge that Haruka was directly behind her, less than three feet away, wearing nothing but a pair of standard-issue Magia Magenta panties and a whole heap of Big Positive Energy. She could reach out behind her and touch that soft skin, imagine the way those doe-eyes would light up, and ..
Focus.
Sayo was there, on the very edge of her peripheral vision, squeezing those awesome Tits of Mass Destruction into a white halter-neck dress that seemed to be at least two sizes too small to accommodate them and had a hemline high enough to make any genuinely prim and proper shrine maiden spontaneously combust with shame. Not that Sayo had been that for some time, it was fair to say.
Kaoruko risked a quick sideways glance in Sayo’s direction and caught her friend’s eye. Sayo had obviously clocked her blush, and was smirking in a way that frankly made Kaoruko want to knock her teeth out, but she had the decency to turn away and busy herself with last-minute adjustments as Kaoruko silently stewed.
Then, she'd made the stupid mistake of turning round and catching sight of Haruka's outfit at extremely close quarters, and had had to feign a coughing fit to give herself an excuse to turn away and explain her glowing red face.
The dress is a simple-enough design: hemline at the top of the thighs, then a simple tube of fabric up to just below the armpits, and two thin straps to keep everything firmly in place while still showing off all the wearer's assets to full effect. It's a bright patchwork of tie-dye neon, an explosion of colour which is oh-so Haruka, and made of some sort of lycra-enriched fabric that doesn't so much hug Haruka's figure as cling to it with the desperation of a shipwrecked sailor clutching a passing barrel.
That dress is one lucky bastard.
Kaoruko's got an extremely vivid imagination when it comes to what's going on beneath Haruka's clothes. This evening, she doesn't need to use that imagination. Not in the slightest.
She'd seen it before tonight, of course, had been there when Haruka bought it, in fact, but nothing could prepare her adequately for seeing it in the flesh, on the flesh, in all its terrifying, heart-stopping glory.
As she stood, bent over double, hands to her face and with Haruka anxiously patting her on the back and murmuring words of comfort, she didn't need to look up to picture the knowing smirk on Sayo's face.
Eventually they were all ready. Transformation hearts safely stashed, uniforms neatly folded and tucked away, then on through the fire exit, the alarm neatly disabled with a quick little burst of magical energy courtesy of Sayo, down the shadowy flight of stairs, Kaoruko trying to ignore the way that dress of Haruka’s clung so tightly to her body, stretching and flexing with every… and finally, the hushed, nervous little gathering at the bottom of the stairwell, where Kaoruko had dug into her back pocket, pulled out the little foil parcel, and unwrapped the goodies.
There they sat, in the palm of her hand. Six little pills, one for now, and one for an unspecified ‘later’. Frightened little glances around the group, as they stood on the precipice. Then, with a muttered curse, Kaoruko had picked up a pill, popped it into her mouth with a grimace at the taste, and snatched the bottle of water off Sayo to wash it down.
And one by one, they'd all taken a giant leap into the unknown.
* * *
So now, here they were.
'Here' is a round table in a small booth, set two steps above a mezzanine floor that runs around the edge of the club, some twelve feet above the heaving mass of happy humanity below. This place is big; bigger than Kaoruko had been expecting. She's not sure precisely what she had been expecting on her first foray into the whole nightclubbing scene. But yeah, she has to admit - this is pretty cool.
The mezzanine runs along three sides of this great rectangular barn of a building, with the far end a blank wall instead, crowded with speakers and a crazy network of brackets and scaffolding for the lighting rig. Up here, above the mad press on the dancefloor, the place is still crowded with folks much like themselves. There's that same restless, nervous, happy excitement, heads nodding, feet tapping, eyes turned to look down on the action below.
The dance floor is heaving.
This isn't like some disco thing, with people standing around watching each other, or couples dancing. It's just - it's more like a pit, hands in the air, bodies pressed close together, bouncing along to that incessant thud-thud-thud-thud that's reverberating through the floor, the walls, the ceiling. Strobes and spots and lasers dance across the walls and the crowd, but there's no other lighting. It's dark, hot and sweaty, and it's hard to hear yourself think, let alone what anyone else is saying to you.
Kaoruko looks out, eyes slightly unfocused, feeling for any trace of whatever Sayo was wittering on about. To be honest it's difficult to be able to zone in on anything in here, when every one of her non-magical senses is being fucked with royally.
What that something there? Maybe something... some sort of tingle? She can feel it on the back of her neck. Doesn't feel quite the same as usual, though; it's vaguer, muffled, as though...
Her eyes snap back into something like focus, and she realises with a start that she's been staring vacantly for some time and Sayo's been talking to her for - who knows how long? - without paying her any attention. Instead of concentrating, she has just been - what? Moving her feet up and down, finding the pulse
Is that tingle growing stronger?
"Kaoruko-chan?" Louder, but muffled, coming to her like Sayo's underwater. She turns, chewing on her lip, her jaw working side to side to stop her muscles cramping up.
She feels...
Sayo is staring at her.
Her eyes are enormous! Great black pools, with that ruby-red rim twinkling in the low light.
So pretty!
The music is really pumping now.
She smiles, a big, warm, wide-open smile, a smile of pure pleasure at being here in the company of her bestie.
She never tells Sayo that, does she? Never sits her down and explains to her how much she loves her. Why?
It's daft, isn't it?
She has to put things right between them.
The thought is on her in an instant, and the need to do something about it is overwhelming. Kaoruko twists in her seat, swinging her whole body around to give her friend, her dear friend, the attention and affection she deserves.
Her hands reach out, fingers closing around the smooth skin of Sayo's lean forearms. They feel lovely beneath her hands. Lovely! She slides her palms up towards Sayo's elbows, setting off a pleasant buzz in her hands that cascades out and up, fizzing through her wrists. Her thumbs press down into the soft flesh around Sayo's elbows as she turns her gaze upwards.
"Sayo-chan!" she squeaks, her throat tight, "I'm glad we came!" She breathes in through her nose, a deep, deep breath, filling her lungs. Oh, they're swelling up like balloons she can feel them, under her ribs, and then out, and...
Oh!
It shivers, trembling right through her. And now, she can feel her pulse, fast and feverish as it pitter-patters, pitter-patters, and Sayo is smiling, and sparkling, smiling so wide, her features swimming in and out of focus in pink and green flashes amongst the shadows...
She feels warm. Really warm. And soft, and toasty, and-
"I think," Sayo is leaning in, close, so close, Kaoruko can feel the heat humming off her, "I think I might feel something, you know? Kao-" she bursts out into a fit of giggling without warning, a moment of unguarded, giddy joy that is so unlike her friend's usual strait-laced seriousness that it fills Kaoruko's heart, "Kao-chan? Can you...?"
Kaoruko works her jaw around, trying to loosen up those muscles and tendons which are tight now, very tight. She flexes her tongue around inside her mouth, eyes painfully wide, and nods enthusiastically. "Yeah, I think... I'm not sure, but I do feel a little bit different, you know, just -" she gazes at her friend, feeling laughter welling up inside her, "yeah just a bit, I think. Whooo, yeah...!"
She looks up, her face glowing, and sees Sayo looming over her, grinning wildly, her brow beaded with sudden sweat, and those angled cheekbones as hard as marble with tense muscles beneath them. "I'm so glad!" She leans in and envelops Kaoruko in a sweltering hug, arms wrapping tightly around her, squeezing and filling her with joy. It's too hot, and too close, and Sayo's way too big, and it feels like absolute heaven. Sayo's face turns in towards her, cheek to cheek, lips close to Kaoruko's crazily sensitive ears, "I'm so glad you're my friend!"
The vibration in her ear makes her shudder. Kaoruko tenses, shivering with the rush, bubbling and bursting and sparking. Right now... oh! Oh, she's got to move, got to stand up, do things.
She doesn't even know what. Doesn't care. But she does know she's tingling all over, every hair on her body quivering, every follicle on her arms standing to attention with goose pimples so pronounced they're almost painful...
And she is awash with love.
"I'm so glad, too!" Her tongue feels clumsy in her mouth. and she eases those jaw muscles around again, softening them into a relaxed smile, and then the laughter is on her, bursting out, and she can't contain it any longer. "Fuckin' - arrrgh! Mate, seriously, this was such a good idea! We gotta do this again, all three of us!"
Sayo nods, so urgently Kaoruko's half-frightened she’s going to snap her head clean off. “Gods, yes! Yes, all three of us. Oh, Kao-chan, Haruka-chan, my special friends! So happy! You see, I told you!” Sayo pushes them apart, still holding on tight to Kaoruko’s shoulders, and glares down at her with mock-seriousness. “So, Kao-chan, I’m still waiting. Be Brave, you said you would. Now, go and tell her, like you promised! Right now!”
Yes, yes, of course. That's what she needs to do. She needs to go and tell Haruka right now. She's bursting with love.
She looks up across the booth, and there she is.
Her special girl.
Standing up behind the table, hands clasped tightly together against her chest, bouncing up and down to the music and, just...
Radiating.
There's no other word for it. Her darling Haruka, Magia Magenta in all her glory, that smile as dazzling as a newborn star.
She turns the blinding smile on Kaoruko, trembling with pent-up emotion, and Kaoruko’s not sure how she manages to keep her eyes fixed on her friend without just melting away into a pool of gloop.
"This is amazing oh, I love you I love you oh my friends, my special friends, my special precious friends, hehehehe, oh but this is so naughty, and it's great and I love it and, oh but we mustn't do this ever again, though, but oh, it's...!"
The lightweight dress is clinging to every curve, and Haruka's skin is glowing in the dim light. Her eyes are twinkling emeralds and the transformation heart that hangs around her neck, dipping into the soft valley of her cleavage, is pulsing with a vivid pink light, creating all sorts of interesting highlights and shadows across those curves and..
Focus, Kaoruko.
She drags her reluctant eyes back up towards Haruka's face.
That rhythmic swaying's getting more pronounced. The girl is rolling her hips, the knuckles of her bunched fists white, and her lips clamped tight together as though she's trying to keep in an explosion of laughter. She looks from Kaoruko, to Sayo, and back again, bangs her hands on the table, flashing that devastating smile once more, quivering with energy.
"Come on then, girls! I need, oh I need to - come on, come on, come on, come on, come on! Let's go!" She turns and plunges off along the mezzanine walkway, making for the stairs down to the dance floor. Kaoruko’s eyes follow her every step of the way, a vivid blur of bouncing hair and Day-Glo fabric stretched tight, so tight, across her supple body, the pale skin of her bare arms and legs dappled in spots of lurid colour in the disorienting lighting.
"Yes, let's go!" Kaoruko starts out of her reverie and looks up to see Sayo grinning crazily back at her, already pushing herself unsteadily up onto her feet. "Come on Kao-chan, we gotta get down there and catch her up. You made me a promise." Sayo's laughing as she turns away and sets off, weaving her way through the bodies on the balcony walkway, trailing along in Haruka's wake.
And Kaoruko is going to follow them.
Of course she is.
Just as soon as she feels a little bit less wobbly. Because, fucking hell, she’s feeling wobbly right now, her arms and legs trembling with a hazy quiver she can’t explain. It’s sure as shit not because she’s cold; she’s burning up, sweat threatening to break out across her scalp, the back of her neck, her armpits, between her legs... She can feel the blood pumping through her body, and her skin feels – sizzling, soft and sort of clammy and just – whoah– so, so sensitive! She crosses her arms, rubs her fingers up and down her bare biceps, elbows, forearms, and back once more, feeling the heat tracks they leave as her skin responds to the touch, glowing and humming and...
This is incredible.
She gasps, barely able to draw enough air into her body, and tries to push herself upright before promptly collapsing back down again.
Shit.
Her legs are gone completely.
She should be terrified. She’s sitting here, on her own, in the middle of a club she’s never set foot in before, surrounded by people she doesn't know, absolutely off her head on something she’s never taken in her life, and her body has now decided that it doesn't know how to stand up anymore.
But it feels so gooooood….
The laugh has burst out from between her lips before she’s had any warning that it’s on the way. She’s Tenkawa Kaoruko, she’s Magia motherfucking Sulfur, and she’s not going to let her own pissing limbs tell her what she can and can’t do, just because she’s an ickle-little bit out of it. Hah!
She pushes down, harder. Come on, knees, you useless fuckers, give us a bit of a hand here, eh? Manages to get her right leg straight, balancing against the back of the booth for a bit of extra support. Now, pick up that left foot. Swing it forwards. One foot in front of the other, there you go. And - we're – upright! Only minimal holding on required, too! Yeah, she's fucking bossing this.
Kaoruko holds on tight to the black-painted woodwork, letting the worst of the flutters subside, and then sets off towards the staircase. The music is a living thing surrounding her, pumping against her ears and skin, throbbing through the club like the heartbeat of some angry monster she’s found herself stuck inside. Her feet feel heavy, clumsy, hard to lift and hard to put down again, giving her no stability when she’s pushing back against the floor, like she’s walking through some heavy swamp on the Moon, weightless and heavy at the same time.
As she walks, the tables and rails and people and lights stream past her on either side, leaving her feeling like she's standing still on top of some giant treadmill, rolling the world around beneath her feet while she stays still, the only fixed point in a universe of churning colour and sound.
Kaoruko ducks and sways between the groups of clubbers who have gathered, leaning out over the balcony to watch the entertainment below, half-stumbling, reaching for the handrail when she needs it, but making progress, getting there, surrounded by friendly faces and friendly feelings. Figures shimmer as they pass her by, leaving flickering, ghost-like images behind each point of movement as they do, like the contrails of her own aura when she flies. She waves her own hand in front of her face, marvelling at the rippling patterns of light she leaves behind, glowing like the glare from a sparkler when you’re writing the name of your loved one in the air.
Haha.
She sucks in another huge lungful of air, and her brain swims with the renewed rush. She jabs her finger forward and traces out Haruka’s name in her very best calligraphy, marvelling as the characters swirl before her eyes, before in the next instant they’re gone, dissipating away into the throbbing darkness of the club without a trace.
Down the spiral staircase, knuckles white where her hand grips the bannister, her knees bowing and bouncing like they're made of rubber. Down, and down, to the floor.
The sound is even louder down here, a physical barrier in the air that she has to swim through to make progress. And it’s more chaotic than ever. Wafts of dry ice billow through the crowds, illuminated by the sharp beams of lasers and wider washes of colour, and on every side, more images, and sounds, and whirling bodies.
Her heart is hammering away, fit to burst. Her stomach churns. Her skin tingles.
Finding her friends is going to be tricky. Every person in the club is taller than her, it seems, and that dance floor is rammed. But she doesn't care. They're all lovely people anyway, she'll fit right in.
Okay then, no time to lose. Where has her girl got to?
She pushes herself away off the pillar she's been clinging to in the dark beneath the mezzanine floor and launches herself into the press of bodies, finding her hips moving instinctively, head and shoulders rolling, and eyes half-closed, losing herself in the music. There are words now, maybe from the speakers around her, maybe in her own head, but words, singing, cutting through even the throbbing bass and low thud of the rhythm pounding away.
When the taking and the giving starts to get too much,
Let the music hit you with its healing touch,
Last night's just a way of marking time,
Everybody must express the feeling some time,
Pressing on and through the crowd. Smiling. Nodding. Gently easing her way past strangers with a gentle push, and a hug, and a shared laugh. Deeper on out, away from the shore, into the heart of the whirlpool.
She's no idea which direction she's going in now, and there's no point in calling for help. She doesn't need help. She just needs to be here.
They say a tree is as tall as its many branches,
But not all god's children have the same chances…
She must be somewhere near the middle by now, though, since it's too crowded to move onwards any further. Instead, she stops and just lets the beat take over. Feel the music. Be the music. Her feet; her knees; hips, rear, back and shoulders, arms, neck, head. All one big, pulsing, moving ball of dazed happiness.
She turns slowly on the spot, her skin fizzing with electricity, liquid joy coursing through her, hemmed in on every side...
And the beat drops out.
There is whistling and cheering from the crowds as the strobe lights kick in with a vengeance. Black and white, stark freeze-frame. Images all around her, figures twisting, arms in the air...
The music is building dramatically, stabs of synths climbing higher and higher, intoxicating flurries of notes fluttering past her in the air from every point of the compass.
Kaoruko's heart is in her mouth.
The crowd seems to part before her, rolling away to left and right, leaving a single slender figure silhouetted against the blinking lights.
Arms raised, lithe and sinuous, her movement exaggerated by the strobe flashes, as hips and thighs and shoulders twist and sway and grind in perfect synchronicity.
Kaoruko is holding her breath as the dancing girl slowly turns towards her.
Head thrown back in complete abandon, face turned to the ceiling, eyes half-closed and mouth hanging open in a rapturous smile.
Higher and higher.
Then the beat drops, colours explode all around them, and the crowd goes berserk as the music kicks into gear once more. But Haruka is there, right in front of her. She opens her eyes, turns her face to Kaoruko, and smiles.
Kaoruko gasps.
Her heart is pounding in her chest, fighting to get out.
Haruka’s eyes focus in, and she seems to see Kaoruko properly for the first time. And the smile brightens still further, terribly bright. It’s painful, too painful, the image hurting her eyes, hurting her heart. But she can’t look away for a single second.
Haruka reaches out with her right arm, fingers extended, beckoning Kaoruko towards her, and Kaoruko is drawn inexorably inwards, hooked, caught in her siren song.
Haruka hasn't stopped dancing for one moment. The hypnotic orbit and pulse of her hips keeps on grinding on with the precision of a Swiss watch. Mesmeric. Her eyes are half-hooded as Kaoruko drifts in closer, lips faintly parted, that broad smile still there, but transformed now, morphing from euphoria into something more sultry, more sensual.
And her eyes, absolutely fixed on Kaoruko’s face, unblinking, deep liquid pools of jade and jet.
Any pretence Kaoruko might have had about self-control, keeping up her defences, staying cool and professional and all that crap – it is completely gone, flaming up and crumbling into ash in the face of Haruka’s burning allure.
For what you dream of,
For what you dream of…
She reaches out, her fingers interlacing with Haruka's, and lets herself be drawn in, feeling the soft, cloying warmth of Haruka’s hand melting into her own, their point of contact dropping down lower towards her waist as her body closes the gap between them.
Haruka’s left hand slides across her shoulders, fingers tracing across her back, her neck, tangling up into her hair, and then stroking along her scalp, fireworks exploding under the fingertips. Kaoruko feels her own hips picking up the pulse of the music once more, and her face cracking into a smile, wider and wider.
Haruka keeps reeling her in, soft but insistent pressure across her head and nape and back, closing the distance...
And they're in perfect rhythm now.
So many times before they've danced together, enjoyed music together, performed together.
But not like this. Never like this.
Haruka's fingers squeeze down on Kaoruko’s left hand once more as their hips touch for the first time.
And Haruka is right in front of her, right there, knees to knees, hips to hips, breasts to breasts, nose to nose.
Her eyes are enormous. Hypnotic. Chilling.
She leans in towards Kaoruko, closing her eyes at last, breaking that enchantment, as she presses her warm forehead against Kaoruko's own and laughs
The warm breath ripples across Kaoruko's mouth, their lips nearly touching. Kaoruko's right hand reaches up, trembling, and strokes tenderly along Haruka’s left flank. Down, and up, and down again, more confidently, feeling the muscles moving beneath the skin, the warmth of Haruka’s body smouldering through the thin layer of fabric that is all that separates them. Down, and down further, before they come to rest securely on Haruka’s hip, pressing down, and in, squeezing the pair of them together.
Haruka beams. She turns her face, pressing her cheek against Kaoruko’s own as she dips her head down, lips brushing against the shell of Kaoruko’s ear.
"Oh, Kaoruko-chan… My precious friend. My beautiful, precious friend."
* * *
To be continued...