Subject: [Fanfic][Orig/Miyu] Ari Side Story 1 Final Version
From: "Charles K. Hurst" <charlesh@teleport.com>
Date: 7/21/1996, 4:09 PM
To: fanfic@fanfic.com

Made one brief grammar fix at skywise's suggestion, otherwise this is the
same, if you read it the first time.

Well, this is just a little bit lemony, but enjoy.

Ari SideStory 1
Amai Mondai no Kisu
The Sweet Problem of a Kiss

**)(**

Ne-chan snuggled in Ari's lap, leaning back against him and resting her
head against his chest.  She was listening to his heartbeat.  She had told
him once when he asked that she always did. Ever since their parents'
deaths 8 years ago, she had crawled up into his lap to cry or simply hold
onto him.  She had only been 5 when they had died in the car wreck.  He
had been 8, he remembered sitting in his wheelchair with two wailing
children clinging to him after Grandfather had gently told them they would
never see their parents again.  After a few years she had mostly outgrown
it and his lap, but every once and a while she still would track him down
on a gentle evening and sit quietly in his lap, her arms wrapped around
him tightly.

He knew it was the fear that he too would disappear from her life and
leave her all alone.  When she had been three, she had gotten separated
from everyone on a family outing and had been lost for two days before
being found.  She had been discovered wrapped up in a small ball under a
tree, cold and shivering.  It had taken two weeks for her to stop
desperately clinging to one family member or another at all times, and
several months before she could be enticed to go outside and play.

She stirred in his lap, and tilted her head back to look at him.  He had
called her Ne-chan since she was little, though it wasn't her real name.
She acted and looked like a cat at times, and he teased her often these
days about it, accusing her of grooming in front of the mirror in the
morning or napping in the sun in the afternoon.  He had even gone as far
as pouring a bowl of cream for her one morning, but she let him know in
her quiet way that calling her Ne-chan was all she would take.  She didn't
cry very often, but when she did she did it in his arms.  It was one of
the wonderful things about being an older brother and one of most terrible
- he felt utterly helpless when she cried softly on his shoulder.  She
never wanted words of comfort or solutions or jokes to cheer her up.  He
was her safe place.

She smiled at him, and reached up to touch his cheek.  "Oniichan, have you
ever . . ." and she paused, blushing a little, "ever kissed a girl?"  He
groaned inside.  Where did she get these questions?  She always could tell
when he was being evasive or not telling the truth, it was her strongest
gift, something their mother had been able to do.  He could feel his face
heating up and he shifted uncomfortably in the chair.  "Why do you ask?"
he said, escaping with a question.

She continued to look at him, unblinking like a cat, but as he watched he
could see her large expressive eyes widen slightly.  "Oh, just curious.
Some of my friends at school have been wondering what it is like to kiss
someone.  I was deputized to find out what you knew about the subject.
They felt a cute older brother would know all about it."  She looked at
him expectantly.

He blushed again.  He did not need a bunch of giggling 13-year olds
talking about his love life or lack of one, as the case was.  "No, I
haven't yet."

"Really?  What about Mieko-san?  I know you like her.  You've really never
kissed a girl before?"  She sat up, placing her hands on his shoulders.
He stared back, helplessly.  It's not fair, he told himself for the
millionth time, mother should have been here to answer these questions.
The place where she had always been ached inside.  It had never stopped,
though it helped to hold Ne-chan or play with Kuriko, his other sister,
still only 10, but already knocking the breath out of him when she jumped
on him and tried to flip his wheelchair onto its back.

He sighed and smiled at her, tilting his head to one side.  "Really, I
haven't."  "Wouldn't you like to?" she asked, wrapping her arms around his
neck and moving closer till there was only a few inches between their
faces.  He could feel her breath lightly on his cheek.  She tilted her
head so she could look directly into his eyes again.

"Yes, of course I'd like to, but it just hasn't happened yet."  She tilted
her head back and closed her eyes.  She leaned into him and pressed her
lips against his.  Startled, he tried to move his head back, but her arms
around his neck held him in place.  Her lips were soft against his,
kindling a passion within that left him terrified.

His lungs demanded air, but he dared not open his lips.  He felt her mouth
move, and hoping she was stopping opened his to get a breath of air.  He
gasped and froze as a small wet tongue touched his lips.  Oh, no, Ne-chan,
please don't, his mind cried as his body responded.  His lifted his arms
up and placed one on each side of her head, gently trying to push her
away.  She resisted fiercely, pushing her mouth hard against his,
breathing in as he breathed out, and he in return.

Finally, seizing upon a weakness of hers, he lowered his hands and pulled
her shirt lose.  Baring her sides, he tickled her gently just below the
ribs.  It proved to much for her, and she broke free from him, laughing
helplessly, though her eyes still acc used him of his crime.

He leaned his head back, taking in long breathes of air.  He could still
feel her lips on his and her tongue in his mouth.  He shifted again,
desperate to hide his discomfort.  A part of his mind was sick at the
feelings coming from the rest of his body and soul.  She was his sister.
"Ne-chan, don't do that again.  Please."  The last was a plea.

She stared at him a moment longer, her eyes unreadable and dark.  Finally
she blinked, looked away and then back, grinning at him.  "Akiko said to
try that.  She didn't think I would, so she dared me to."  Relief washed
over him and he relaxed.  Thank you, God, she wasn't serious.  He grinned
back and touched her nose with one finger.  "You shouldn't do everything
your friends dare you to do, Neko-chan."  She smiled and hugged him
briefly, then rose to her feet, extracting herself from his lap.

Bowing gracefully, the slim girl let her hair swirl down around her face.
"Domo Arigato, Oniisama," she whispered, then twirled and ran from the
room, laughing as she went.

Behind her, alone again, Ari reached up to touch his lips briefly,
pressing the back of his hand against them.  A faint tinge of fire
responded.  "Traitorous self," he whispered to himself.  He brought his
other hand up and slapped himself in the face hard.  "Forget it, it was
just a joke.  Think about kissing Mieko-san or . . . or anyone else."  But
the taste of her lingered, and his heart still beat a little faster.
Sighing, he turned to look out the window.  Spring had ended, and the
promise of summer's full bloom shimmered in the air.

**()**

No, I have never kissed my sister.  No, I have never thought about it.
Yuck!  But when I go to bed at night to that other place and to the other
me, sometimes things are different and stories linger.  The title is my
attempt at translating "A Sweet Kiss's Problem" or "The Sweet Problem of a
Kiss" into Japanese.  Originally I wanted to call it "The Curse of a Sweet
Kiss", but my Japanese/English dictionary is missing an number of
interesting words, which just happens to include "curse", so that was out.
I think the current title works well, though.  Thank you for taking the
time to read.  C&C much appreciated!

Thanks goes to skywise, who has given me some helpful advise on the
wording in part of this story.