Hime ni Naru by Kourika This story is based off of the manga version of Hime-chan no Ribon, therefore Daichi never moved away, and he and Hime-chan continued to see each other frequently. The characters presented here are not mine; they are the creation of Mizusawa Megumi-sensei, and Shueisha and TV Tokyo own the rights. Please don't sue me; I'm just a college student, so I wouldn't have anything worthwhile anyhow. ^_~ The portion in between the asterisks is a flashback from four years before the main storyline and took place immediately before Daichi left for college. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Erika's face glowed with happiness as she gazed lovingly at her new husband, and Himeko's heart clenched painfully. It wasn't that she envied her friend's happiness, and Sei had become a man Erika and the entire Magic Realm could depend on to guide them...but how long had it been since she had simply existed for the moment and been deliriously happy like that? She scanned the crowded reception hall sadly and hugged her arms to her chest. Couples...couples everywhere, and Himeko was alone. The blonde girl took a glass of punch from a passing waiter and wandered out to the veranda to nurse her melancholy thoughts in isolation. "Today is Erika's special day," she murmured softly. "I don't want to spoil it by acting depressed..." Light footsteps sounded behind her, and Himeko turned in surprise. "I...I'm sorry," a familiar voice apologized in embarrassment. "I didn't realize anyone else was out here. I assumed they'd all be inside at the festivities..." "Daichi?!" Himeko gasped, stepping forward into the light streaming through the doorway. The fair-haired young man's eyes widened in shock. "Himeko?! It's been a long time..." ********************************************************************* Daichi wrapped his arms around Hime-chan and playfully nuzzled her right ear, pulling her closer. "Nothing's changed in all these years, has it?" he smiled. "This house is still our secret place filled with special memories." "It's hard to believe that four years ago I lived here for an entire month," the blonde girl sighed contentedly, reaching up to stroke her companion's face. She rotated in his arms to bury her face in his chest. "Do you really have to leave?" Himeko queried plaintively. Daichi gently rested his chin on her hair and tightened the embrace. "We've talked this over a thousand times, sweetheart. I don't *want* to leave you, but there's no other choice if I want to get the best education available to me...and I'll call...and write; I promise!" He carefully cupped her face in his hands, so he could look her in the eye. "I promise, Himeko..." The girl entwined her arms around his neck and desperately pressed her lips against his. She nibbled at Daichi's mouth with a frenzied need until his tongue finally darted out to tease the tender flesh where her lips met. Himeko clutched his upper arms convulsively, instinctively pressing her body more closely against his. Emboldened by his companion's behaviour Daichi plunged his tongue deep into her mouth and fumbled with the buttons on her blouse. Hime-chan's small breasts barely filled the palms of his hands, but she gasped with gratifying pleasure as his inexperienced fingers lightly brushed the cotton-clad nipples. He abandoned her mouth to probe the girl's sensitive ears with his warm, moist tongue, stopping momentarily to snap open her bra as he guided her to the bed. Himeko frantically pulled at the young man's shirt until he urgently tugged it over his head, drawing her flush against him. Daichi's skin burned against hers, and she dragged her fingertips across his chest, blushing as his breathing quickened. She tentatively licked his ear, then nipped the earlobe, attempting to imitate her companion's actions, but he winced in pain. "That hurts a little, darling," he whispered heavily against her throat, sending pleasurable chills down her spine. "You're not trying to pierce my ears! Let me..." Daichi's hot mouth closed over the tip of one breast, and Himeko writhed in ecstasy as his tongue laved the sensitized nipple. The young man then turned his attentions to the girl's other breast, continuing to tease the erect peak with one hand. The other hand gradually feathered down over the smooth skin of her stomach and cautiously plucked at her skirt's waistband. Himeko felt a strange heat uncoil in her belly and wriggled seductively under Daichi's delicate touch. She ran her hands over his face and shoulders, kneading the muscles in his back to avoid scarring him with her nails. He responded by hungrily running his hands over her hips and kissing her navel. His fingertips mischievously 'walked' along one slender leg, then slid up under Hime-chan's skirt to toy with the lacy edge of her panties. She moved her hips against his hand and moaned softly. Daichi shyly inserted one finger under the fabric and probed the soft hair... Something overflowed inside Himeko, and she suddenly yanked at the young man's belt, forcing his hips down against her lower body. He paused in surprise as she pulled down his boxer shorts, discarding her moist underwear in the process. He fiercely plundered her satiny lips as he plunged into her warm depths. They settled into an awkward rising and falling rhythm until his seed exploded inside her, and Daichi collapsed on top of Hime-chan, spent. He rolled to the side in a tangle of discarded clothing, noting the humour in Himeko keeping her skirt on the entire time, and gathered his lover in his arms. "I didn't mean this to happen," he said quietly, "but in a way I'm glad it did." She smiled brightly and tenderly brushed his bangs out of his face. "Parareru parareru Daichi dake no hime ni naaare!" ********************************************************************* "The next day at the train station you told me that you loved me and promised once again you'd keep in touch...but I never heard from you!" Himeko accused angrily. "I waited for weeks, months...then four years had gone by, and I realized that I didn't even know where you were anymore!" Daichi reached out to lightly caress her cheek and sighed. "Things were crazy when I first arrived in Tokyo...I always meant to write, but there just wasn't any time..." His fingers wandered across her cheek to play with the shorn hair at the nape of her neck. "By the time things had stabilized Shintarou had written me saying that you had cut your hair...and you were spending a lot of time with some "Urayama-san"." Tears began to well up in the blonde girl's eyes, and she furiously tried to scrub them away. "You never though to ask me though, did you?! Kei-kun was my math tutor at Kazetachi University, so we frequently met off campus for study sessions!" "I'm sorry, Hime-chan," the young man whispered sorrowfully, wiping the remainder of the tears away with his thumb. "I was too hurt and confused to think it through clearly, and I never considered how my actions would affect you..." Hime-chan's breath caught in her throat, and she swayed slightly towards Daichi as warm, pleasurable sensations pooled in her lower body. "Even after all these years I still melt at his touch," she sighed mentally. Desire shone in her companion's dark eyes, and he bent his head towards hers... "Don't touch me!" the girl snarled, ripping out of Daichi's loose embrace and slapping him with all her strength. "You should have thought of that before! Besides I'm not the one you should be thinking about now!" The young man stared back in puzzlement, nursing his bruised cheek. "You really haven't changed at all...what are you talking about?!" Himeko turned away to look out at the garden and hide the pain in her face. "Congratulations on your engagement, Daichi," she choked out, feeling the tears clog her throat. "Manami told me that Tetsu told her you were getting married..." She turned back to face him, and to her horror she could feel burning tears of rage streaming down her face. "I've learned to live without you, Daichi, and I truthfully wish you all the happiness in the world, but how could you bring another woman into that house?! That place is full of *our* memories, and you had no right to give it to someone else!" Daichi stared on helplessly as Himeko buried her face in her hands, her accusatory words lying between them. Finally, he tenderly gathered her to his chest, as he'd done in their middle school days, and just held her while she cried, unknotting all her tangled emotions. "I didn't buy our hiding place," he said softly after the girl's desperate sobbing subsided. "Erika's grandfather gave it to me in exchange for making his other 'granddaughter' the happiest woman in the human realm." He pushed Himeko to arms length and awkwardly handed her a velvet covered box. "It's not the most traditional one, but it reminded me of you." Himeko opened the box with trembling fingers, her insides quivering in anticipation. A small diamond and ruby ribbon shaped ring nest against the dark fabric, and she gasped in delight. "It's a miniature version of my ribbon! Daichi, I can't take this!" "I never forgot you these past four years," the young man said passionately, "not even when I though I'd lost you forever. I can't count the times I'd see a blonde woman in the street, and I'd run to catch up hoping...but they were never you!" He clasped her shoulders tightly and gazed into her brown eyes. "No other woman could ever fill the place left in that house or my life when you disappeared from them!" The girl turned red and tried to break away. "Daichi, you're hurting me..." His hands dropped to carefully clasp hers, and he breathed deeply. "Himeko Nonohara, will you marry me?" Daichi blurted nervously. She stared back at him in shock. "The woman you intended to marry was *me*?" she babbled incredulously. He nodded shyly, and light flooded her face as she threw her arms around his neck nearly knocking him over. Erika and Sei watched the intertwined couple from the doorway, and he slid his arms possessively around his bride's waist. "I think she said 'yes'," Sei laughed softly, as Hime-chan enthusiastically kissed Daichi, sending them sprawling. Erika smiled and tugged her husband's arm to lead him back inside. "We have better things to do than just watch other couples," she suggested mischievously, watching Sei's eyebrows fly upwards in surprise. Before she re-joined the party the Magic Realm's crown princess looked back over her shoulder and grinned broadly. "Hime-chan, it was about time." --------------------------------------------------------------------- Author's Notes 1. Hime-chan's last sentence in the flashback means "Parallel parallel Become only Daichi's princess!" It's a bad pun on her name because "Himeko" is written with the kanji for "princess" and "child". An approximate meaning would be "little princess". 2. Daichi comments on Himeko cutting her hair because in many societies it is a sign of a trying to move on after a loss, a physical way of indicating the cutting of an emotional bond.