SHEET OF PAPER
Author's Note: This is my first M-rated fic, and after several years, I decided it was time for a little cleaning up. Authors never really finish a story; they only run out of enthusiasm and retire from one piece of work when they move on to another. Well I found a little more enthusiasm to devote to this one, so I'm taking some time to correct a few grammatical errors, clean up some sentences, and get the flow designed properly.
The story remains a spinoff of Operation: REDISCOVERY, and is still the product of my imaginative conjuring, using expanded characters based on the creations of Tom Warburton.
Enjoy, and please review, make suggestions, demand changes, request additional stories and whatever a simple writer can provide you through his words.
It's only a sheet of paper! Wally told himself as he stood at the door between his room and Kuki's.
Tonight was their last night in Japan before they would need to return to the U.S. In a few days, the both of them would begin the last two years of college to complete their respective graduate degrees. For Wally it was to become a qualified physical therapist, for Kuki it was becoming a nurse.
This sojourn had been the final segment of a grand trip that was their treat for receiving their Bachelor's. The earlier parts of the trip had involved their other friends, but this part had been just the two of them.
Wally thought back to how this had all begun.
Was it only eight months ago?
He had met Kuki, Hoagie, Abby and Nigel a short time after a strange accident had caused each of them to lose their memories of the first semester of their senior years. Ironically, in addition to the lost memories of college, none of them remembered most of their childhoods either. All had been diagnosed with a strange form of 'selective amnesia' that took out random portions of their lives from memory, and seemingly without reason. The quintet had met at the urging of Wally's clandestine, though loveable and resourceful little brother, Joey, who had provided evidence sources that suggested they had all been close friends and confidants during the periods of their lives for which they had no memory. According to Joey's evidence, the memories had been erased by a group of vigilante child protectors that fought a world-wide shadow war for the rights of kids...
Even though it came from his tell-no-lies little brother, even Wally still had a hard time swallowing that bit of info.
Those pitfalls of sensibility aside, Wally had happily entered into a firm network of friends that had comfortably carried him through the last stressful months of school.
One of those friends had been a very welcome addition to his life in ways Wally had never even considered he might need.
Is this sheet of paper really that all that's keeping me here?
Following their respective graduations, the five friends had all decided to go on a trip together to Europe. After about a month of travel, the group had gone to Costa Rica to visit Abby's older brother, and indulged in some SCUBA diving and zip-lining before catching a flight home. Wally and Kuki shocked their friends when they announced their plans to go and visit family and friends in Australia and Japan together.
No Nigel, no Hoagie, no Abby… just us two.
The un-included trio had respected this surprising change of plans, although they entertained a healthy skepticism about just what it was Wally and Kuki were going to do during this "alone-time". Abby and Hoagie had only parted after trading jokes back and forth for a full twenty minutes. Jokes that left both Wally and Kuki red in the face from alternating moods of rage and embarrassment.
Lousy, no-good, gutter-dwelling, filth-mongering… does Kuki think about any those things too?
Wally and Kuki had left their friends with some harsh and offended feelings, but had eventually settled on having a good laugh about the whole ordeal. Even so, there were some just reasons for their other friends to be as skeptical as they were. Though Wally and Kuki hadn't been sharing rooms throughout the course of the trip, the two had frequently been sneaking out at night to go walking through the various cities and villages they visited, or taking time to sit and talk in late night cafés or on park benches amid the hustle of the seedy night-life characters.
Talking had been augmented with holding hands. Holding hands encouraged increased physical contact, and expanded into full embraces, and soon enough, it went to kissing, which deepened and deepened as time went on. During the last two weeks of the trip, Wally and Kuki had been kissing frequently and had several times been caught by their friends while passionately making-out. It certainly never got more intense than that, but still Abby, Hoagie, and even the less-attentive-in-such-regards Nigel, were left constantly curious and suspicious about what the two more amorous members of the group did whenever they didn't have supervision.
Having roommates never caused us any qualms about being together. So what's so big and bad about this giant piece of tissue paper?
The first stop on the exclusive Kuki-and-Wally trip was in Australia near Canberra. Wally took Kuki to see some of his family, including his uncle and some old friends around the university where he'd spent his freshman year. After a few days of that, he took her to a remote spit of country to meet his martial arts master: Meng Jing kuang. At first, Kuki's relationship with Master Meng had been somewhat tenuous. All of Wally's stories about his old master's deadly potential and superior skills as a fighter had instilled a fear in Kuki that at first would not abate, no matter how kindly she was received. By the end, she had been sorry to say goodbye to such a kindly and obliging man, but he encouraged them to come visit him again when the time was right. Wally departed Australia with his distant family expressing complete and utter adoration for Kuki, and Master Meng approving of his old student's good taste in personal associations.
Yeah, Kuki's great, and everyone thought so. So what's your hold up now?
When Wally first arrived in Japan, he was confused by both the culture and the language. The fact that he preferred smaller towns and fewer people to giant cities like Tokyo also made the transition difficult. However, with Kuki at his side he had made it through without much difficulty, and had been having a great time as soon as she got him over the initial culture shock. While visiting, Kuki had introduced Wally to her grandparents when she brought him to their house just outside of the city. The old couple was very friendly, and at their insistence, the two young visitors had been placed in the most distinguished guesthouse. Kuki had later mentioned that she found this a strange arrangement, since whenever she came to visit, she stayed in a room in the main house where her grandparents could be near her throughout her stay. Despite the unorthodox arrangement, Kuki had no desire to inconvenience her grandparents or argue with their decisions, so she took her place in the guesthouse without question.
Does she have some problems being here? Is it because I'm a guy and we're around her grandparents? Is it because it's me and we're around her grandparents? Is just because it's me?
For crying out... it's just paper?
The plan for their departure was for Kuki's grandma to come and wake them around 6:00 so they could catch their cab to the airport, then get through security and be in the boarding area in time for their 10:00 flight. Wally didn't have a watch, but he could guess the time had to have been near 1:00, if not later.
The paper that was so afflicting his thoughts now was the shoji door that separated his room from Kuki's. Wally had been standing in front of it for probably close to half an hour now and debating over and over again whether to go see Kuki in her room. He found it strange, crazy even, but he knew there was only a single word that was prompting him to conduct all of this internal analysis and reason out the significance of all that had been going on and all that was going on in his mind right now.
Love.
I love her... I love her, and I'm stopping here because there's a handkerchief big enough for Godzilla in my way! What's the matter with you Beetles? Are you a coward?
Wally had tried to lie in bed and sleep, but when his thoughts turned to tomorrow his mind had gone off on the most unusual tangents. He thought about going back to school, about going through his lonely college life, and having to endure the fact that Kuki was on another campus, far removed from his own. He knew he was being melodramatic, but it felt like tomorrow would bring so many boundaries between him and her. As he stood there staring, Wally felt a tingling feeling coursing all through his gut and chest. Every breath he drew was feeding a lust and an urge that he could neither contain nor control. For all that he drew in air and kept his breathing deep and controlled, it felt like he was suffocating. Master Meng had taught him that the inability to resist his basal urges would make him little more than the little wild wallaby for which he was named, but Master Meng had been referring to stirrings and biological urges, which Wally had felt and overcome before. This was something different. Something deep within him wanted to slide open the shoji, walk into that room, take Kuki in his arms, and hold her till his arms fell off from holding on too tight. Looking at the simple paper door that separated him from the woman he loved he saw something that he knew to be mere paper and wood, but his mind had twisted it into a barrier as tall and impenetrable as the Great Wall of China.
China? You're in Japan, moron. Just go up to the door, slide it open slowly so she knows your coming, then… then…
What was eating at him the most was fear of what might happen if he were to do that simple sounding action. If he dared open that door and walk into Kuki's room (assuming she was still awake) what would be her reaction? Would she welcome him in? Would she tell him to go away and let her sleep? If she said 'go away' would he have the will power to consent and go back to his own room?
He hated this idea of being so unsure and so lacking in control. And it was that fear alone that kept him standing there without touching the door.
It's only a sheet of paper, Beetles… a sheet of paper…
A dilemma raged on the other side of that rice paper sheet as well.
Kuki stood square in the doorway, feeling physically tired, yet alive with an inexplicable excitement in her bosom. Within her there was a feeling of something trying to claw its way out, and she had no power to fight it down. It was a hunger. A ravenous hunger that demanded to be sated, and it could sense the key to its appeasement beyond the paper door.
Kuki had been raised by parents of liberal disposition and following, but harsh and traditional mindsets. As such she knew the importance of propriety, and the remarkable frailty of good standing among others. A woman exhibiting forward behavior was tantamount to familial dishonor, and loss of face was something that Kuki had been schooled to accept as a fate worse than death. For all that her upbringing had taught her, however, Kuki could not deny the feelings of impetuous behavior that seemed to be ravaging her insides, clamoring for her to take action.
It isn't all impetuous. I'm thinking, I'm reasoning. And I'm feeling too…
She had been thinking about Wally all night. Her thoughts had begun with remembering their earlier travels with Nigel, Hoagie and Abby. She remembered the late night café in Paris, the tapas stand in Barcelona, the fountains in Rome, the little lagoon near Drake's Bay where the water came in warm and calm and no one could see you…
Without needing to discuss any of these behaviors and playful encounters, she and Wally had had the good sense to act mature and abstained from such activities while around their relatives, and for the last two weeks he had been nothing but a cultured gentleman around her. Yet there was more going on beneath that blond hair and behind those green eyes if the earlier few weeks meant anything. What did he feel for her? He cared about her, no doubt. After all the times he'd said it, and all the things he'd done, and all the things he'd done, and eagerly involved her with, she had no doubt about that fact. The question was, just how much did he care? Did his feelings compare with the feelings she felt for him?
Does he really care for me? …treasure me? …adore me? …love me?
Kuki could feel all these questions stirring in her mind. She thought back on previous engagements, other evenings and other times she'd spent with him in between all the work she had to do at school, but she found nothing new to help her answer those questions. In all that they had been through and all that they had shared since they met in that café in Cleveland eight months ago there was nothing to suggest that he was hiding anything from her.
So ask him. Slide the door open and go ask him. All that's in your way is a piece of paper.
And while she dwelt on such matters she felt her inner yearnings shake her like a cage around wild animals. She could imagine her ribs now serving as a set of prison bars, holding in a wild beast. The desire she felt was so strong, and the yearning so fierce it made her feel as though she was suffocating and dying being denied what she craved. All the things that were barring her from Wally: propriety, time, distance, the rice paper wall, even her own sleeping kimono, seemed to be strangling her. Air was keeping her alive, but it was as much a blessing as a punishment if she were so restricted in her power to feel and show what was in her heart.
Birds kept in cages go mad when they cannot fly. Are women so different that they can endure not being able to let love spread its wings?
Yet though her desire was fierce, and her spirit strong, Kuki, like Wally, had lost her inner resolve the moment she came upon that sheet of paper. If that fragile piece of paper were to slide to the side, or be ripped away, what would happen then? Kuki wanted to believe her good sense would keep her in control, but she had never felt such a screaming internal desire before. She feared the loss of that barrier because she didn't know what she would be capable of, or more so, what she wouldn't be capable of without it.
Physically it was a simple sheet of paper between the two of them, but as long as it stood, its psychological power made it as strong and solid as stone.
When the agony reached a crescendo, both Kuki and Wally decided they would rather dare the unknown than wallow in their self-stylized purgatories. Kuki lightly touched her slender fingers to the screen as Wally shakily put the tips of his broad hand to the door frame and gently and gracefully slid the shoji open. As it slid, Kuki looked into the other room and thought for a moment she was looking at a mirror when she saw a figure about her same height. Only when she saw the other figure's hand come down from the door did she remember that it was indeed the doorway to Wally's room. She let out a quiet gasp of surprise, and he echoed with an equally quiet and subdued gasp. The moon cast a beam on the floor from the windows behind Wally, and from the floor came a reflection that illuminated each others face in a glow that was almost supernatural.
Both of them stood there silently for a moment, afraid that even one word from either of their lips could damage the atmosphere. Then Kuki, taking a quiet breath and determined to be bold spoke the only word her thoughts and voice could form:
"Wally."
Wally was so transfixed he could only reply by uttering the only word in his mind:
"Kuki."
For another moment they stood staring. Not a blink or breath exchanged.
When the moment passed, the two of them came together and enfolded each other in a fierce embrace. Wally pressed his lips against Kuki's, while she ran her fingers through his hair and pressed back with equal and opposite pressure.
All the awkwardness lost, all the hesitancy cast to the wind, and the psychological stone wall shattered in an instant, the two of them were ravenous in their actions. Kuki walked backwards pulling him along, making sure that her lips did not leave his. She pulled off her sleeping kimono with such ferocity she came close to ripping it. A fierce rush of adrenaline flowed into her limbs as the small whisper of conscious, rational thought in the back of her mind warned her that she was now naked in front of a man. Her rational thoughts, however had little effect on her decisions at that moment, and the rush brought on from her risqué behavior only served to hasten and embolden her efforts to carry out what her deeper feelings demanded. As she laid herself down on the tatami bed, she set her hands upon Wally's own kimono, but she didn't dare allow her eyes to wander away from his face, or their lips to part, except for the briefest of moments to alter the position of their mouths and deepen the kissing.
If this were a dream, she hoped she would never wake up.
Wally struggled with his kimono, trying to extract the condom he had slipped into the belt tie. To enter a lady's room with a condom in his hand had sounded presumptuous and ungentlemanly, but he didn't have any pockets, so the belt tie had had to serve this purpose. He tried his best to get at it, but it became a near battle between him and Kuki as she tried to disrobe him and he tried to recover it from his robe, while simultaneously trying to aid her efforts in removing the robe from his person.
At last, Wally pried the plastic sheath from his clothes and applied it to his person while keeping his face centered on Kuki, his lips still in a passionate lock with hers. Once he had effectively 'covered' himself, he brought both his arms around her narrow body and for several minutes just kissed her while holding her close, cuddling tenderly, and allowing his hands to explore. Kuki felt bliss in this position. That Wally desired to hold her and kiss tenderly instead of proceed straight to sex only reaffirmed her conviction that this was the right thing for the two of them to be doing. After several minutes, the kissing began to slow, and together they proceeded in their practice of physical love. The couple rolled sideways, and Kuki found herself atop Wally, with her legs straddling his hips. She arched her head back sensuously, and with utmost care and tenderness, Wally entered her.
Kuki gave a mild gasp as she felt him penetrate her, then she moaned with pleasure as she settled herself over him and into his arms. She looked into Wally's eyes, holding herself up with her forearms on the floor around his head. Her long hair draped over her shoulders and obscured what little light came from the moon outside, but with the light reflecting all around the room, she had just enough to make out his face.
Though it was a first time for both of them, there was a strange familiarity in seeing one another as they did: Wally lying down and Kuki lying on top of him. Not wanting to fritter away time with assumed déjà vu, Wally brought both his hands to the sides of her face as he moved her hair out of the way and allowed himself to see her clearly before they continued. One more kiss was shared before the two lovers began to move, caressing each others back and sides with their hands and arms while their bodies slid back and forth against each other. Lips met sporadically as the tempo increased, and moans of pleasure were given freely.
Several long, pleasurable minutes passed before they decided to pause. Both of them still had plenty of energy to continue, but they allowed themselves a moment to breathe deeply and savor these wonderful feelings. Kuki stood herself over Wally again by planting her elbows in the mat and holding up her torso. Her body was covered in a light sheen of sweat, and she drew in and expelled her breath heavily and deeply. A broad strip of her hair hung over her face, slightly obscuring her view of his face, and his view of hers. Kuki picked her hand off the floor for a moment, but sensed that she didn't have the strength to hold herself up by one elbow while brushing the obtrusive black strip away.
Wally solved her problem when he reached up and slid her hair back over her ear. He felt himself slipping out of his waking mind and becoming attuned to his senses. He felt the soft brush of Kuki's breasts against his chest, the light scent of sweat tinged with the sweet smell of her breath, and the steady tempo of her pulse as it came to him through his lower extremities. Though it was the middle of the night, he felt awake and alive as he'd never felt before. His mind felt sharp, his body felt invigorated, and all of his being seemed attuned to the experience he was now partaking in.
Satisfied that she could indeed breathe comfortably again and that her voracious skin-hunger was being satisfied by the cuddling, Kuki lowered herself as she joined her lips with Wally's. She felt muscles in her pelvis tense and loosen spasmodically and she broke the kiss a moment to let out a deep sigh. She then felt Wally's hand trailing down her side from under her arm, down to her waist and still further until it found her thigh, then it traveled back up, this time gliding along her back. She felt pleasing shivers running from her pelvis upwards through her frame and down to her legs and out to the tips of her toes. There wasn't a feeling she had ever experienced before to which she could compare it, and she could do nothing but let out another sigh to declare in the most atavistic way that she found if very much to her liking.
Feeling once again rested and eager the couple resumed the more vigorous component of their lovemaking, then after a much longer interval of sex they stopped, rested and then started again… and again… and again…
I'm making love! Kuki thought to herself. Why didn't anybody tell me it would be like this!
She knew that was a ridiculous question the moment she chanced upon it. The sensations she felt now were beyond what the words of any woman of the world could share with a woman who had never tasted a man. No words could describe what she was experiencing. She just couldn't believe that she was having this experience. She, Kuki Sanban, the sweet, happy-go-lucky "Witch Doctor" who had never felt comfortable when it came to being around guys, and had never found a man that was the right combination of cute, kind, and lovable, now lay with a young man that had reached her as no other ever had, and touched her in ways no other could. With him, she had felt that paragon of emotions for the first time. And now, with him still, she felt that magical feeling extended to the physical realm as well.
He's so tender… and earnest… and sincere…
She giggled lightly at the small part of her brain that was trying to assert itself by analyzing what her senses were telling her in all the ways they possibly could. When Wally heard her giggle and saw her smile, he responded in kind with a smile of his own, and it made her smile even more.
I'm in love with him. No two ways about it and no doubt in my mind. I'm in love.
Even if she didn't hear him say he felt the same way right then and there, all she needed to know at that moment was what she had told herself.
I love you Wallabee Beetles.
And though Wally couldn't hear any thoughts but his own, he was feeling something magical in that moment as well.
I love you Kuki Sanban. Came the whispers in his mind. I love you.
Author: Well, I may not be at a point where I'm brimming with new ideas for stories to churn out and enthrall all of my wonderful readers, but I hope you appreciated the rewrite, and I would love to hear from anyone who has enjoyed this story or has something they want to say.