Cat and Mouse Game - Ch 2 - Hard to Get
#2 of Cat and Mouse Game
After their awkward but honest conversation in the changing stall, Kaneko and Mizune finished getting dressed in silence. Kaneko put on a flippy black skirt with yellow accents and pulled a loose white tank-top over her black racerback sports bra.
She grabbed her duffel-bag and stepped out of the stall and then out into the bright sunlight outside. Mizune was already out there waiting for her, wearing khaki capris and a sky-blue blouse that matched her eyes perfectly. Not that anyone could see them, since she was shyly looking down at her tennis shoes and the sandy ground.
Kaneko scratched at her ear, unsure of what to say. Mizune had come out of the closet to her, even though they'd only been reunited for a couple hours. That was heavy and Kaneko didn't want to mess things up. Finally, she mumbled, "Sorry about that, Mizu."
Mizune looked up, smiled slightly, and quietly replied, "It's okay, Kane."
That innocent look tugged at Kaneko's heart in a way she hadn't expected. Sure, Mizune's cute, but I never knew her that well. Where's this feeling coming from? Is this...? Kaneko cut that thought off and smiled back.
Now that she knew that Mizune wasn't upset, Kaneko's confident demeanor returned in full force. She cheered, "Well, let's go hit those souvenir stands!" She hooked her arm around Mizune's and tugged her back toward the boardwalk.
The meek mousegirl struggled to keep up as Kaneko beelined for the nearest stall. They zipped from shop to shop for over an hour, buying a few souvenirs and snacks, giggling and having a good time. The didn't stay put long enough to really think about what they'd told each other back in the changing room.
Finally, Kaneko had enough of running from her feelings. As they stepped away from a fresh fruit stand, bowls of sliced fruit in hand, Kaneko took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I'm really glad I ran into you, Mizu."
Mizune just smiled and said, "Oh, thanks... It's been great seeing you again too." Once again, she seemed oblivious to Kaneko's advances.
Well, that didn't get my point across, Kaneko thought, Let's step it up a bit. "Yeah, I was hoping to find new romance here on Okinawa, but I found you, which is even better."
Mizune flinched a little in surprise and her round ears perked straight up, as if she was questioning what she just heard. Instead of answering, she took a bite of fruit and nodded as she chewed. "Mm, mmhmm."
Kaneko narrowed her eyes and angled her ears forward. This mouse is tricky prey indeed. Screw it. Gonna be blunt... "Hey, Mizu. Are you looking for romance right now?"
Mizune stopped walking. Actually, she stopped moving entirely. Even her thin tail was frozen in place in the air behind her. The crowd of tourists maneuvered around the stationary woman, casting a few questioning glares her way in the process.
Kaneko looked from side to side, a little panicked. Oh crap, I broke her! What do I do? First, she put her hands gently on Mizune's elbows and guided her out of the middle of the thoroughfare. Then she waved her hands in front of Mizune's eyes. "Mizu? You in there? Earth to Mizu!"
Thankfully, the spooked mouse came to her senses pretty quickly. She shook her head and blinked a few times, then looked right at Kaneko with a blank, overwhelmed expression. She opened and closed her mouth a couple times, then finally said, "I... I b-better go. My f-friends are, uh, probably worried by now."
That was far from the response Kaneko had been hoping for, but she didn't have time to worry about that. She had to act before Mizune escaped. "Wait a sec, please," she begged, then she quickly dug into her bag and pulled out a pen and a receipt from one of the souvenir shops. She scribbled her phone number on it and handed it to Mizune, who still looked a bit stunned.
Mizune looked down at the receipt, apparently from the shop that sold little statues called 'Shisa', which looked like a cross between a lion and a dog. The locals claimed that they could protect your house, but Kaneko just thought that Ayane would like the look of 'em, so she bought a pair as a gift.
Kaneko reached over and pointed out the part she'd written on. "That's my cell number. Just text me and we can hang out tomorrow, with your friends too so they won't be worried about you." She wore an easy, reassuring smile, hoping it would put Mizune at ease.
Mizune nodded, put the receipt in her purse, then scurried off without a word. She quickly disappeared into the bustling crowd.
Kaneko was left behind thinking, I sure hope she texts, since I have no way to reach her. I don't even know what hotel she's staying at...
Kaneko jogged back to her own hotel, loving the feeling of the warm breeze against her face, arms, and legs. She was also enjoying the familiar, comfortable feeling of exertion. Since she was on vacation, she had tried to take a break from exercise and be lazy, but being active was just part of her nature.
She arrived at the hotel to find her canine friend already in the room. Now that was a girl that knew how to be lazy.
"Welcome back, Kane!" Ayane called as she flipped idly through a magazine. The dog-girl was lounging on one of the beds on her stomach, wearing just a blue bra and matching panties. Her fluffy black and white tail flicked teasingly through the air over her perfectly pert butt.
Kaneko had to force her gaze away before her thoughts got rowdy. She's my best friend! I don't want to think of her like that! She shook her head to clear her thoughts. And besides, I got my eye on Mizu now...
"Hiya, Ayane," Kaneko said flatly.
Ayane looked up from her fashion magazine. She'd barely been paying any attention to it anyway. "Just 'hiya'? That's not like you, Kane. I was expecting 'Oh, Em, Gee, girl! You won't, like, believe what happened!'"
Kaneko scrunched up her nose and folded her ears forward. "I do not talk like that!"
With a giggle, Ayane swung her legs around and sat up on the edge of the bed. "I know, I know. I was just teasing you to test the waters. You're not in a terrible mood, but definitely not a good one either. What's up?"
Kaneko flumped down on the bed next to Ayane. With a sigh, she said, "Well, there's this girl I'm into..."
Ayane interrupted to say, "I wish I could pick and choose like you. You've got twice the dating pool..."
Kaneko turned and just blinked at her friend for several seconds before realizing what Ayane had implied. "Uh, Ayane... I'm not bi," she said slowly, "I only like women. That means a much smaller dating pool."
Ayane leaned back and her ears shot up in surprise and her grey-green eyes went wide in an expression that was almost painfully cute. "Ohhh... I just assumed for some reason... all this time..." She scratched at one ear and blushed red with embarrassment. "Sorry for dragging you on that double date then..."
Kaneko patted Ayane on the shoulder. "Don't be! I was happy to help you out, being your wing-woman, so to speak."
"Aww, you're the best, Kane!" Ayane cheered as she pulled Kaneko into a hug, smushing the catgirl's face into her soft cleavage.
Kaneko was beyond conflicted. One one hand, there is a wonderful pair of boobs in my face. On the other hand, they belong to a straight woman who is also my best friend...
Kaneko wiggled free and changed the topic, "Anyway, about that girl I'm interested in. She's single and she seems to like spending time with me, but when I asked if she was looking for romance, she ran off. What are your thoughts?"
Ayane hummed to herself for a moment, then said "Seems like she's playing hard to get. I've done the same thing, particularly when I'm on the fence about a guy. She wants you to pursue her, to work hard for her."
Just then, Kaneko's cell-phone beeped and vibrated as it received a text message. She pulled it out of her bag and quickly scanned the message, 'This is Mizune. Today was fun. Sry for running off. My friends are going to the aquarium tmrw if you want to come.'
With a smile on her face, Kaneko replied to Ayane, "Well, I've already been pursuing her pretty hard, but I guess I can step it up when I see her tomorrow. She just invited me to the aquarium with her friends!"
"Go get 'er, Tiger!" Ayane cheered, then slapped Kaneko on the back.
Kaneko forced a smile, but she wasn't a fan of that nickname. I don't have any stripes, so I wish people would stop calling me 'Tiger'. Her grumpiness faded fast as she tapped out her text reply to Mizune, 'I had fun too! Of course I wanna come, that sounds great. Where we meeting and what time?'
The next morning, Kaneko got dressed in a black skirt and an orange tank-top and met up with Mizune and her group of friends outside their hotel. It was a bit of a walk from Kaneko's hotel, but supposedly quite close to the aquarium.
Kaneko enjoyed meeting Mizune's interesting group of friends. Hattori was a super friendly dogboy with huge, floppy, tan ears. His best friend since childhood was Chisuke, a nerdy but talkative mouseboy. The last two were quiet and calculating twin sisters named Hana and Mai, and they had tiny stubby antlers and adorable fluffy tails. Embarrassed, Kaneko had to ask what species they were, since she had never met any deer-girls before.
They were all nice enough, but Kaneko was mostly focused on Mizune, who was wearing a cute frilly blue and white sundress and a straw hat. The hat even had holes cut in it for her big, round ears to fit through. Kaneko struggled to keep a straight face, thinking, Mizu is just... too... adorable!
During the short walk to the aquarium, Mizune's friends gave some sort of signal to each other. Starting with Hattori, they all suddenly 'changed their minds' about the aquarium and ran off, leaving Mizune and Kaneko all alone.
As they left, Mai yelled back, "I'll let you two childhood friends catch up!"
Kaneko had an idea about what Mizune's friends were up to, but that didn't make it any less awkward. She pawed at the hem of her black skirt, fidgeting. "So... I guess we can go on without them? Unless you'd rather not go to the aquarium after all?"
Suddenly, Mizune was right up in Kaneko's face, her blue eyes wide and excited. "No! I want to go!"
Kaneko stepped back in surprise and even Mizune seemed shocked by her own passion. Her normal shy attitude returned and she whispered, "Uh, if you want to, I guess..."
With a smile, Kaneko said, "I do want to." They resumed walking again, chatting about nothing in particular for a while. During a lull in the conversation, Kaneko asked, "I assume you came out to your friends?"
Mizune nodded shyly. "Yeah... It was just so liberating when I told you. Well, terrifying at first, and then liberating." She hid her mouth behind her hands and said, "So I told Hattori first, and I may have mentioned that I..." She turned bright red and murmured, "Nevermind."
"May have mentioned what?" Kaneko asked, her eyes glowing with curiosity.
Mizune fully hid her face and whimpered, "Nothing."
Just then, Kaneko recalled Ayane's advice from the night before. She wants me to pursue her? Alright... She leaned a fuzzy orange ear in close and asked again, "Mizu, c'mon! What did you mention? The curiosity is killing me here."
Mizune whispered, almost too quiet to hear, "That I like you..."
Kaneko couldn't help but break into a wide grin, her sharp canines bared. Understandably, that spooked Mizune, who turned away and fled down the boardwalk.
'Hard to get' indeed, Kaneko thought as she chased after the fleeing mousegirl. "Wait up! I like you too!" she yelled. Then she turned bright red herself as she realized what she'd just yelled in the middle of a crowd of tourists.
Mizune heard it. She got even more embarrassed, turned even redder, and scampered away even faster.
Kaneko kept chasing and caught up with the Mizune just outside the world-famous Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium. "You must love aquariums, since you sprinted all the way here," Kaneko joked, trying to distract from the real cause of Mizune's embarrassed escape.
Mizune fidgeted, her white tennis shoes twisting back and forth on the hot blacktop walkway. "Actually, I really do love them. I'm the reason why our group chose a hotel so close to the aquarium."
Kaneko blinked a couple times, surprised that her random quip went over so well. "Oh, that's cool. I've never been to an aquarium before, so you can be my guide, Mizune."
Mizune tilted her head in thought for a moment, then her eyes went wide with realization. "Th-this is like a d-date, isn't it?"
Kaneko smiled happily. "Yeah, isn't it great?"
Mizune hadn't been kidding about her love for aquariums, and this wasn't her first visit to the Churaumi aquarium, so she already knew her way around. She flitted from exhibit to exhibit, eagerly explaining all the cool animals and ecosystems to Kaneko.
Kaneko found it all really interesting, and having a passionate guide made it even better. Passionate and cute, she thought as she watched Mizune's tail flick happily through the air.
On the other hand, Kaneko never really liked water, so some of the bigger tanks were a little unnerving. She avoided looking too far out into the deep blue water, or thinking too much about the huge creatures lurking out there. However, nothing could have prepared her for the Kuroshio Sea exhibit: a tank so large that multiple whale sharks comfortably swam through it with space to spare.
As soon as she stepped into the room, where one wall was dominated by a 20-foot glass window into the tank, Kaneko's hand reached out and clamped down on Mizune's. At first, Mizune blushed at the daring but not unwelcome gesture. But she quickly realized that Kaneko was actually terrified
The catgirl's hands were clammy and her pulse climbed ever higher. Her green eyes were wide and vacant as she rattled off, "Let's go back to the tidal pool exhibit. Okay? Okay!" Then she pivoted on the spot and took off at a near jog, pulling Mizune behind.
Kaneko was actually going the wrong way for the tidal pools, but Mizune could tell that her goal was just to get away from the big tank. As they rounded a corner and stepped into a sunlit but empty hallway, Mizune said, "There's no tidal pools this way, but there's some other cool stuff I'd like to show you."
Kaneko stopped and just stared out the window, which looked out on the boardwalk shops. After a moment, she turned around and smiled shyly. "Sorry about that. I don't like deep water." 'Don't like' is an understatement. I thought I could handle tanks of water, since they're so small compared to the sea, but that thing was insane! She shuddered just from thinking about it again.
Mizune gave a kind smile. "Don't worry about it. After all, I'm usually the spooked one," she said with a giggle.
Kaneko laughed too, then realized she was still holding tight to Mizune's hand. She dropped it and started to apologize again, but Mizune grabbed Kaneko's hand again, squeezing it softly.
With her voice barely over a whisper, Mizune said, "It was actually kind of nice, holding hands like that..."
Kaneko's heart rate kicked up and she smiled mischievously. "Yeah, it was. But you know what's even better, Mizu?"
Mizune tilted her head and her long white hair slid smoothly over her shoulder. "Hmm?"
Kaneko looked side to side, making sure their little hallway was deserted, then she suddenly tugged hard on Mizune's hand.
The mousegirl teetered and fell forward into Kaneko's open arms and was squeezed in a warm, thankful hug. Mizune flushed bright red, alarmed at the sudden intimacy, but she calmed down when Kaneko spoke.
In a low, heartfelt tone, she whispered, "Thank you, Mizu, for not judging me about my fears."
Mizune nodded, her head nuzzled into Kaneko's chest. "Of course."
Kaneko moved one hand to Mizune's chin and lifted it up, until they were looking eye to eye. "And thank you for the wonderful date..."
Mizune blinked once and repeated, "Of course..."
Kaneko bent down, her lips getting closer and closer to Mizune's. Mizune didn't move any closer, but she did purse her lips and close her eyes. Mizune had kept her sexuality totally secret for her entire life, so she'd never so much as kissed anyone. All she had to on was what she'd seen on TV and in manga.
"Alright, children, stay close. My favorite exhibit is right this way!" a man's voice called out from down the hall.
Immediately after, a boy's voice teased, "What, the 'kissing girls' exhibit?"
Mizune felt Kaneko's breath on her lip, hot and imminent. But it disappeared suddenly. Kaneko stood upright and spun around so she was standing next to Mizune, pretending to look out the window.
The tour guide, a tall catboy, had been walking backwards, herding a group of kids. He turned to look over his shoulder but all he saw was two women looking out a window, with a solid foot of space between them. He looked back at the kids. "What? No. I mean the Kuroshio Sea! We're proud to have one of the largest tanks in the world, housing huge animals like manta rays and even whale sharks!"
He crouched down to the kids' eye level. "Now who can tell me whether whale sharks are mammals or fish?"
The group of children, all with fuzzy ears of some form or another sticking out from under their souvenir hats, crowded into the hallway and started shouting out answers.
In the chaos, Kaneko grabbed Mizune's hand and lead her past the kids and down another hallway. Once it was quiet again, she tried to pick up where she left off. She grabbed Mizune's chin and leaned close.
However, Mizune turned her head away. In a whisper, she said, "Maybe we shouldn't. This isn't the place for this."
Kaneko frowned, but only for a second. That implies that there is a place! She nodded sagely and said, "Good point. Lead the way, my lovely tour-guide!"
Mizune blushed, but she did lead Kaneko toward the next exhibit, one about varieties of seaweed and how important they are to Japanese cuisine. The aquarium was clever enough to put that exhibit near the cafe, with the delicious smell of cooking food drifting over.
Soon, a rumbling sound played in stereo from both girls' bellies. Mizune was embarrassed by it but Kaneko patted her own grumbling stomach and proclaimed, "Let's get some food, Mizu!"
The girls quickly learned one entire wall of the aquarium's cafe looked into the deep-sea tank, so that option was off the table. There was a sit down restaurant upstairs, but that felt too formal. Instead, they wandered out into the surrounding Ocean Expo Park and found several food vendors.
Kaneko was set on experiencing as much of Okinawa's culture as possible, so she was drawn to a stand selling umibudo, a kind of seaweed also known as 'sea grapes'.
Mizune balked at the strange food at first. "Raw seaweed? That doesn't sound very good, Kane..."
Kaneko grinned wide, already buying two portions. "Where's your sense of adventure? I've heard it's like eating tiny salty grapes."
Mizune put her hands in front of her mouth, both from habit and to cover her unpleasant expression. "Uh, that doesn't sound very--"
She was interrupted by Kaneko tugging her along to the next stand, which sold fried goya, a fruit also called 'bitter melon'. "Here you go, Mizu. This stuff is fried. Ooh, and you can get it on a burger!" Kaneko was already salivating from the smell of cooking beef.
She was about to order two burgers and some goya rings when she turned back to Mizune, who was stiffly holding two little plates of strange-looking seaweed balls. Kaneko asked, "Do you eat meat? I didn't want to assume."
Mizune nodded. Most mouse-people were omnivorous, but some species like deer-people were entirely vegetarian.
"Great! These goya hamburgers smell amazing. Vegetarians would be missing out!" Kaneko said, then remembered to add two sodas to the order.
Kaneko paid for everything, which seemed only fair since she picked all the strange food. The women found a secluded table in the shade and sat down.
Kaneko tore into her burger first, while it was still hot and juicy, but Mizune started by nibbling daintily at the umibudo. She could see why they called it sea grapes, since they had a similar consistency, but they were salty indeed. She moved to grab her burger, but her eyes caught on Kaneko and she stopped partway.
Kaneko was quickly devouring her hamburger, but somehow also savoring every bite. Her eyes rolled back with pleasure and she moaned something that sounded like, "Damn, that's good." Some grease ran down her hand and she paused to lick it off. Her pink tongue darted out between her glossy lips and slid succulently along her fingers all the way to the tips.
All the while, Mizune was enthralled by it. Her eyes were focused on Kaneko's lips and tongue and fingers, but her mind was elsewhere. She was imagining those lips on her own, that tongue against the skin of her neck, those fingers in--
Kaneko giggled. She had noticed Mizune watching her, and she recognized the look on her face. After all, she wore that same expression when her mind frequently wandered into lewd territory. She set down what little remained of her burger and said, "You seem wound up. After this, want to go somewhere to relax?"
Mizune went stiff, her ears straight up, her mind racing. She was still in a dirty mindset and she thought she'd just been invited her to go somewhere to get intimate. She turned beet red and stammered something unintelligible.
Kaneko laughed out loud, then said, "So you do have some lewdness in you, it just doesn't show itself easily." She reached across the small table and gently patted Mizune's hand. "Calm down, Mizu, I only meant we could go sunbathe or go for a jog or something else relaxing."
As Mizune visibly calmed, Kaneko thought to herself, But later... that's another story. I'll have to remember to text Ayane and ask her to clear out of the hotel room...