Disclaimer/note: Characters and setting are property of Team Ninja. This fictional story is based on Dead or Alive Xtreme 2. The story features lesbian relationships: and some days (i.e. chapters) also feature violence or offensive language. Please don't read it if you aren't old enough.
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-Morning of Day Ten-
I woke and kissed Hitomi's forehead. Her warm body cuddled against mine almost made me stay in bed. I eased away from the gorgeous brown-haired woman and put my feet on the floor.
Hitomi shot upright, startling the hell out of me! I jumped reflexively, landing on the other side of the bedroom. For her part, Hitomi's eyes opened, as she shook off sleep abruptly. "Of course!" she said.
"G-good morning," I said.
"Oh, Leifang! You startled me!"
"That makes us even."
"I think I've got it though," my girlfriend continued. "Just give me a few minutes."
"I'll start my workout while you're doing that," I told her. "But I've got to ask: you've figured out what?"
"The numbers. Seriously, I'll be able to tell you what they mean shortly."
"Cool!" I went to the spacious living room and began my stretching.
Within 30 seconds, I was aware of Hitomi's eyes on me. I, in turn, looked at her. "I can't concentrate, knowing you're doing that," she explained sheepishly. "I'll watch you, then work on the numbers."
"Please do; I love when you watch me." I proceeded to work out, though I sexed it up a bit for my audience; I ran my hands along my legs and torso, gave Hitomi an occasional inviting wink, and other small actions.
"Oh you sexy girl!" Hitomi murmured. She crossed her arms and squeezed her legs together, obviously fighting the urged to touch herself or me.
I finished my workout and advanced on her. The couch was wide and deep enough; I kneeled, facing her, sitting on her thighs. I kissed her lovingly. She kissed back with just as much tenderness. I lost myself in the feel, the smell, and the taste of her.
Eventually, I got up, pulling her with me. I slipped off her robe and we went to the shower. Despite our strong desires for each other, we were quite content to wash without having sex. Hitomi's hands washing my body felt so great, better than any orgasm I'd ever had masturbating. I hoped she felt the same about me and listening to her quiet groans as I lathered her, I believed she did.
We split up to get dressed and ready for the day. I thought about wearing "Aquamarine" but decided to let people see it in the casino again before I wore it outside. Instead, I wore "Electra." Hitomi was coming back to my suite, so while I waited I checked my cameras. I was glad to see that nothing looked out of the ordinary.
Hitomi was back in a few minutes. "Now to solve this cipher," she said. "Lei, consider this: if you ignore the zeroes in the tens column, doesn't the typical date have a bunch of ones and twos?"
"We already know the dates of arrival, but yes," I answered.
"And if it's not the dates? Don't we also get a bunch of ones and some twos if we write the alphabet, ignoring zeroes except for the letters represented by 10 and 20?"
I understood. "It's a substitution cipher?"
"Uh huh. So the item was sent by someone calling herself Kiana. It was delivered to someone using the name..."
"...Lisa," we said together.
"Fuck," I said.
"Hey, don't be concerned," Hitomi said sensibly. "Let me check the numbers a few other ways first."
Interested and a bit worried, I helped her work on the numbers we had. Unfortunately, this was the only way that made sense. "That still doesn't mean much," Hitomi told me. "There could be more than one Lisa, or someone else cautiously using her name instead of the real one—"
"—No, it's her," I murmured.
The lovely blue-eyed woman looked at me with puzzlement.
"I remember-things that didn't register at the time," I explained. "She mentioned seeing you get jealous when Christie kissed me, but was she there to see that? She's been gone some of the time; not even Tina knows where. Besides that, there's no way to know she wasn't the first girl to the island, but she definitely could have been. And who else would be making stuff from intricate machine parts?"
"You," Hitomi said. Then she tried to keep a straight face.
I glared at her. I started making silly expressions to try to make her smile.
In less than five seconds, she giggled. She's so adorable! I tackled her to the cushions. "You smart ass!" I mock-chastised her. We kissed and wrestled around for a minute before getting serious again.
The German girl and I regained our composure and she said, "Lisa wouldn't be doing anything that could endanger us."
"I believe you're right. But then why the secrecy?"
"Maybe she just wants privacy?"
"Hm, maybe we should ask her. But let's wait a bit; I feel like now we can go play without worrying."
"That's my Lei!" Hitomi jumped off the couch. "Let's have fun!"
We went to the marina and found Christie and Helena. Christie was wearing "Aquamarine." In this environment, it looked less risqué but just as sexy. The sunlight affected the golden suit differently from the way the casino lights had. From different angles, at different times, parts of the suit seemed to vanish completely.
This could be distracting. Thank goodness I had a race to win or I probably would've stared a while.
If Christie had worn "Aquamarine" to get an advantage, she was disappointed. A new course had been formed: the toughest one yet. No one could afford to break concentration; the waves were too tall and the turns were too sharp.
This race was fun, but it was also work. By the last lap, I didn't know who was behind me or who was ahead of me, just that I was going to charge one more turbo if it killed me.
I was amazed; when the race was finally over, I'd earned second and Helena had gotten first! Christie and Hitomi had each been disqualified, thanks to the numerous hairpin turns. Hitomi confessed to me afterward that she'd gotten completely turned around at one point.
As we were leaving the race harbor and heading toward the pool, we saw the Americans and the Japanese. "Hey!" Tina yelled. "Let's talk for a minute, girls." I noticed Kokoro and Lisa were carrying wickerwork baskets.
"Let's all eat together, ne," Kasumi said. "We've got our lunches to go and we're going to Bass Island to have a picnic."
"We'll wait for you, of course," Tina added.
Apparently, everyone was amenable. Hitomi and I got some grilled tuna, a couple of side salads, and a 12-pack of Kirin. Christie and Ayane joined the group just after we did and the nine of us strolled to the often-submerged peninsula called Bass Island.
Someone-Kokoro, I guessed-had arranged for a shady pavilion. It was up and ready and I for one was happy to be out of the strong sun. We all talked and ate and drank. I loved the atmosphere. We felt like comrades. We were all getting along. I'd never really done this in my life, not with a group this size. Was this pretending or were we becoming friends in spite of our quarrels and rivalries? Oh, who cared? It was nice, even if everyone was just ignoring the truth for a few days.
We were drifting freely in and out of a bunch of different conversations when suddenly my ears fixed on something. "...won a jackpot on your machine last night," Lisa was saying to Christie.
"What did you think?"
"Not what I'd expected-but in a very good way. Unfortunately, I only won once before I got called away to a poker game. I'll be trying again tonight."
"So you approve?" the British woman stated more than asked.
"Oh yes," the dark-skinned American replied.
That was the end of their talk about the slots. Oh well, I'd see for myself this evening. For sure, I silently vowed.
Every now and then during the long lunch, I found myself wondering what Lisa was thinking. She sure wasn't acting like a person with something on her conscience. She must have a good reason for hiding what she was doing, but I couldn't help feeling slighted. She hadn't confided in me, but wasn't I her friend, and trustworthy? But I wanted to think that she must have a good reason not to tell me her secret activities.
The Americans had brought some sake and so had Ayane. Between that and our beer, we were pleasantly buzzing before we finished the luncheon party. (Some of us may have been more than buzzing; I thought I saw Christie having to bat Ayane's hands away from "Aquamarine" once or twice.) We played little games, like dizzy bat races and watermelon seed spitting contests.
I made up my mind to privately confront Lisa tonight, while the vibrations were so good. Surely she'd tell me what she was up to when I told her how much I already knew.
We broke up our gathering in the early afternoon. Kokoro, Hitomi, Lisa, Tina, and I suggested that perhaps we should have a reunion next year, with or without an invitation to a "tournament" from Zack.
"Oh and Hitomi," Tina said as we were about to leave for the Sports Shop, "I'll take it personally if you and Leifang don't invite me to your wedding."
Hitomi and I blushed hard. Lisa and Tina laughed and I laughed embarrassedly as well. "Go do whatever you're doing and stop bugging us!" Hitomi stammered. The Americans were still chuckling while she grabbed my hand and pulled me into the store.
It had been a joke. But I could hear Tina's voice in my head. "Wedding."
Just what was I doing with Hitomi? How long would we last, once this vacation was over? Were we just playing? "Wedding." My parents had always expected me to marry some man they approved. I'd expected to marry a guy. But I'd said I love Hitomi and I meant it every time.
I've dreamed of having children of my own. But on the other hand, I'd never felt for anyone what I felt for Hitomi. I'd taken it for granted that my mom would find me a Prince Charming and I'd fall in love with him. Now that I considered that, it was kind of crazy.
My parents love me and I love them. I try to be a good daughter and do what they suggest (sometimes what they command.) But I've put my foot down with them before. "Wedding." There aren't many bigger moments in a person's life.
