Blessed are you that you did not waver at the sight of me.

For where the mind is, there is the treasure.

- The Gospel of Mary (2nd century A.D.)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Now alone with Anna, Teek slid off the arm of the sofa and sat more properly. Anna hid her embarrassment by turning her head away. Then after a resolute breath, she stood up and approached the bathroom, cocking an ear to listen. She tossed her hair out of the way and leaned against the door when she found she could hear Hank urinating.

He spoke abruptly, surprising her. "What do you want, Anna?"

She stammered. "Ah. Ana. Yeah." After a moment of listening further, she tried acting naive. "How can you pee with that thing?"

"Leave me alone."

She waited for him to finish before rapping on the door with a knuckle. "Look," she said with humility, "I kinda egged on Teek and Sehrish with what we did to you. I guess I wanted them to be jealous."

"Yeah," Hank mumbled, unforgiving.

Anna rested her head on the door. "Really. I am very sorry."

He turned on the water to wash his hands. "What for?"

"Oh, I don't know. For everything. I told you these guys were sex fiends."

Hank opened the door and turned off the light, but remained in the bathroom, wiping his hands on a towel. "I don't want you to apologize for everything."

Anna barely moved her head from where it had lain on the door. Peeking up at him, she spoke in a sultry voice.

"No? Well, what do you want from me?"

"Why don't you start by not being a shit?"

She rolled her eyes and slumped comically, waving her arms by swaying back and forth. "I'm sorry for being a shit."

Hank left her in the doorway to put the towel back on the rack. When he returned, he grabbed her shoulders to get her to stop swaying. Squinting with disapproval, he peered at her from between his luscious chocolate lashes.

He became demanding. "Act like you mean it."

She gaped. His toasty warm almond butter eyes in the semi-dark of Aika's bathroom, while in the possession of his strong hands, made her catch her breath.

"Hontoni gomen ne," Anna said, mostly to herself. "Hoo boy. Warui warui." (I’m really sorry. My bad.)

"Thank you, Anna-san. Dōmo arigatō."

Hank walked back into the ell-shaped room. It spanned half the length of the apartment, going on for at least twenty meters, but the walkway measured only more than a meter at its widest. It was romantically lit by two nightlights glowing over dual sinks, with one near each of two entry doors on opposite ends of the room. Soaps and perfumes, and other toiletries, were scattered across its long counter, creating a heavenly scent.

Anna followed Hank around the darkened corner. She found him running his fingers through his hair as he stood in front of the mirror. While he chose to ignore her, she couldn't keep from gawking. He got her to knock it off by standing motionless with his hands in his hair. Her eyes rose from his butt to the reflection of his face. She made a gulping sound as she closed her mouth.

"Why do you treat me so bad?" he asked with honest sincerity.

Anna blinked. "Ana…" she repeated, with another gulp. "What?"

"Why do you treat people bad?"

"I do? I mean, I don't."

Hank disagreed by squinting again. The whiteness of his skin shone bright when compared to his dark brows and lashes. If Anna had not the peach colored skin of a young Asian woman, she would have blushed redder than Sehrish's hair. She resigned herself unto his beauty and fell into his arms, pressing her chest to his. She rubbed her aching body against him and tangled his hair with her fingers. He lowered his hands to her ass, clutching it so neither of them could escape.

She rose to her toes and spoke into his mouth, smacking his lips with kisses. "I… won't be… so mean… to you… anymore," she said between cute pecks. As he played along, her pecks became more forceful. "I promise I… won't be… a shit."

He grabbed two fistfuls of her hair to make her place her feet flat on the floor. He then gently pulled, to pry her lips from his face. Her hands fell to her sides as she became submissive. Keeping his claim on her hair, he lolled her head in his hands.

"Fuji and Sue Marie are nice to me," he said as he played with Anna's head, making her eyes roll in their sockets. "Maybe they like me more. Or you like me less."

She purred with her mouth wide open, staring straight up at the ceiling. "Say something nice about me," he said as an order.

She pondered as he lolled her head. "Welp. I do like calling you Stud."

As punishment, he lolled her head harder "And I just called you Shit."

She dug her nails into his butt to make him stop messing with her head. "I could call you Sweet Tea," she offered with honor. "I mean, I like my tea very sweet."

Accepting it, he kissed her eyes shut. She heaved a bosomy sigh and laid her head upon him, breathing in his scent. The next time he spoke, she heard it as a rumble in his chest.

"And I will call you Beautiful."

Anna nuzzled deep. "I'd like that very much."

"Me too."

"Yoroshiku onegaishimasu."

After the tender moment had passed, Anna broke free and trembled. She walked in small circles, half-heartedly straightening her hair. On the other side of the long counter top, between it and a built-in vanity, a European toilet sat beside a matching bidet. With one hand still stuck in her mussed-up hair, she sat on the lid of the toilet.

"Oh my God, Sweet Tea," she said, turning her head away. "Oh God. What are we doing?"

Hank approached with caution. He leaned his butt on the counter near where Anna sat. She turned further away, in a desperate attempt to ignore him. Then she whipped around, staring up at him with the look of a troubled girl.

She started to confess. "Did you know I took a PEP test?" she asked. "Did you know that I got pegged for a second, Genius revealing test?" Hank lightly shook his head. "Do you know why I didn't go back for my second test?" She carried on before he could answer. "Have you ever seen a Dot who is also an Asian? No, because there aren't any. The ones who become Dots disappear. Always, like a few days later."

She waved her hands in the air at the wall in front of her, speaking to the shadows they made. "What happens to them? One day they're Dots, and the next…" She held her arms high in the air. "Poof! They're gone!"

She dropped her arms to the floor and slumped, returning to her confession.

"Do you know why I got tested?" Her eyes filled with love as she forced herself to look up at him. "Because of you, you rat! You wanted me! You waited for me to grow up so you could ask me out. Then you never did. You got PEP scanned instead. You never asked me out."

Anna reanimated her arms and resumed making shadows on the wall, they being easier to talk to than Hank's handsome face. "You never asked me out. But guess what? You became a Genius. You were going to disappear, but not like how Asian Dots disappear. You were going to get a scholarship, and get trained at some damned glorious job like Genius Belly Dancer, or freaking Air Force Ranger, and just run off and leave!"

Anna could bear it no longer. She sobbed, but fought through it bravely. "So I got tested too, before you went for your second test, so I could leave you first!"

Anna looked up at Hank again and with a big snort, stopped sobbing. He used the break in her diatribe to try to apologize.

"I never knew."

She wanted to hear nothing of it. "But I got scared. I chickened out. I was afraid I might be a Dot and disappear like all the others, so I never took my second test."

Anna clutched the hand Hank had on the counter nearest to her face. He squatted to be at eye level as she remained seated on the toilet lid.

She held all four of their hands together. "Then you didn't go back either, for your second test. You waited and waited and never went back, and I thought 'Hey, maybe he's okay with just knowing he might be a Genius.' You were happy at Asok's, and I was happy, too. I got out of my crowded house and Fuji let me move in with her, and with my best friend, Sue Marie. She got me a job at the PEP Center and I got to know her real well. I made a ton of new friends with Fuji, and with Sue Marie, and I hung out with them a lot, and with my family less."

Anna stopped talking for a moment. She stroked one of Hank's middle fingers.

"Then one day you were gone. Just gone. I found out you took that second damn test, and you disappeared!"

Hank apologized profusely. "Anna, I'm really sorry. Please forgive me. I beg you. I simply didn't know."

She grasped his finger in her fist before he could say another word, threatening as if to break it. Looking deep into his eyes, she spoke in a fierce whisper.

"I found out where you lived, you shit, but you weren't there either. I staked out the place. I hung out at Asok's. I searched everywhere. You disappeared like all the others, like the Asians Dots I knew. Where did you go? What did you do?"

He mumbled on an answer, unsure of what to say.

Anna huffed. "I don't care, Sweet Tea. I don't. I could've been a Genius long before you went. Yeah, I know I was worried I might be a Dot, but I am not a coward." She shook his finger for emphasis before stroking it again with love. "I could've moved in with Aika, you know, or with other Geniuses like Teek and Sehrish. Fuji would have helped. But guess what? Aika called, right from the blue, and said she had a Genius she wanted me to counsel. My very own first PEP Genius!"

"Me," Hank said, already knowing.

"It was unbelievable. Fuji and I were amazed. We were wondering where you were, and Aika called and gave me to you, the very same day I saw you sitting outside Asok's."

Anna smiled out the side of her mouth and drew Hank's finger to her lips. She gave it and all its mates a kiss. He then brought their fingers to his lips, and placed kisses on the back of her hand.

"I love my new momma-san," Anna said. "My Fuji and Squirrel Girl Sue Marie. We're so happy together!" Anna shook their hands to get Hank to stop kissing her. "All I needed was you, Stinker-boy. You dumb sōshoku danshi."

She unwrapped their fingers to stand up and walk away. She took several steps towards the second door leading out of the bathroom, on the other end of of the walkway.

"But you don't need me anymore," she said, turning to face him from afar. "You don't." She studied him as he rose from his haunches, until he had gained his full height. "You have someone else who gives you love."

Hank opened his mouth to speak, but when Anna believed no denial was coming, she paced in little circles of anger and rage and confusion. "Ah! I knew it! Ah!" She put her hands to her temples and stared at her feet as she paced. "Why do I have to be so damn smart?" She pounded on her head with her fists, and was reduced to making one sound.

"Ah! Ah!"

Hank glanced between the two doors leading into the bathroom. He figured someone had to be coming soon if Anna kept yelling and hitting herself. She stormed up to him and stood on his toes to rage into his face.

"Fuji told me to drag you away by your nuts when I saw you again. She said she'd straighten you out, and make you see that we should be together!"

Anna grabbed Hank's shirt collar with both hands, stretching out the fabric. He wasn't sure if she wanted to strangle him or kiss him, and was pretty sure she'd do both.

"That's why Sue Marie was so amped up over meeting you. She knows what a stupid heart I have for you, and couldn't wait to see mean ornery Anna go soft and squishy for a boy!"

She released him from her clutches, and returned to pacing and pounding her temples.

"Ah! Ah!"

"Anna, it's really not like that. Everything… everything that's happened since I became a Dot—it's all been unreal. I don't know what I'm doing! I don't even know what I'm thinking!"

Anna stopped beating her temples and pounced on Hank again. This time she pressed her whole body to him, bending him backwards over the counter and pinning him where he lay. He struggled with the erotic mixture of her burning flesh and amped up emotions, everything soaked in their pheromones.

"Ah! For years I have waited! Ah!" She shook him by his collar. "You wanted me! You wanted me! You waited forever, you jerk! You saved yourself for me, and made me want you so much! You don't even know what you do to me! Do you? Do you!? Ah!"

She released her grip on his collar, but didn't release his body. She clamped his hands to the counter and buried hot tears on his chest, using her strength to prevent his escape. She fought against an enraged desire to rip off his clothes and have her way with him. She knew he wouldn't resist. She'd take from him every drop, every ounce, and leave him begging for more.

Hank tried soothing the woman who had pinned him to a bathroom counter. "Anna-san. Please don't be mad. It's not what you think. Not at all."

She spoke with her face in his chest. Now he heard her voice as a rumble. "Oh Yeah? Well, why don't you tell me about it?"

Hank took a deep breath, and Anna's body rose as she lay upon him. He then started his confession.

"I don't know how to say this, but I'll try my best."

"Good luck."

"Being a Dot—if I am a Dot…"

"What the hell do you think you are? You keep telling everyone you're a Dot."

"Okay. Fine. Being a Dot isn't exactly what you think it is. They're different. We're different. We are. We're a different sort of Genius. We know how to do things."

"I know how to do things too. Wanna see me suck your dick?"

Hank sighed. "Anna please."

"Call me Beautiful," she demanded, still laying motionless upon him.

He hugged her for all he was worth. "My Beautiful. Please forgive me. My beautiful Anna-san. I've seen so much these past few days. The world is different now, knowing I'm a Dot. It's like magic! I can do anything!"

She finally looked up at his face, resting her chin on his chest. She said nothing, but her eyes begged for more.

"Milton? You know? Rio's otoko? He made Bumbles out of thin air!"

Anna straightened up, but kept Hank pinned by pressing her hands to the counter, with him in between. "Milton made a dog," she stated, as a ridiculous matter-of-fact.

"He did! And only Dots can see him!"

Anna resisted the urge to hurl an army of insults. "Everyone sees Bumbles."

"Not at first, they couldn't! Before I came along, he used to look like a cartoon that only Dots could see."

"Un-huh."

"Maybe only I could see him. I don't really know. And now, because of me, I guess, or maybe because of Milton, everyone sees Bumbles."

Anna had heard enough. Her eyes flitted about the room as she sought the best door through which to escape from this crazy man. Hank sensed her change in attitude, knowing full well he sounded insane. He searched himself for something more convincing to do or say. Frantically, he grabbed her head, holding her by the temples, as Rio had done to him in Milton's conference lunch room. He hoped to be able to plant images in Anna's mind. Not of wind and monster teeth, but of beauty and grace in a sun-splotched glade. An image of the people he saw by the millions in his PEP test induced dream, before it became a nightmare and everything was crushed by the black.

He didn't know if it worked, but he knew something that would. Now with her head in his hands, and while still being bent over backwards, he pulled her mouth towards his to beg for a kiss. She obliged, and took over the act, burying her tongue down his throat. She released him to let him gasp for air only after he sputtered.

She again spoke with her face buried in his chest, to hide an angry tear. "What difference does it make?" she asked, not expecting an answer. "You left me for another. You chose someone else over me."

As far as Anna was concerned, the conversation was over. She wouldn't cry anymore for someone as stupid as Hank. She also wouldn't let him go.

"Things keep getting weirder and weirder," he whispered, as his tormentor kept him pinned.

"It doesn't get any weirder than this, Stud."

She closed her eyes and slid up his body, to bring her face to his. Once there, she licked his lips, being sure to coat every bit. She then surrounded his lips with hers and sucked as hard as she could, pulling the breath from his lungs. As she made him harden beneath where her pussy lay, she straightened out his twisted shirt collar before checking her look in the mirror. Using long and luxurious strokes, she ran her fingers through her hair, making it fall all around him. While grinding her pelvis on his, she tossed back her hair, and when she was done doing that, she adjusted the lay of her boobs in her bra, a scant inch away from his nose.

She then rose to release him, hitching up her pants to prove it was over. "Let's see what the girls are up to," she said, squeezing past him to head out the door.

"No," Hank demanded. "Wait."

Anna turned and smiled but didn't speak. She also didn't look happy.

He stammered like a schoolboy. "I… I want to say something more."

"Spit it out."

"Um. Well… I want to tell you that, um… I'm…"

She admonished with brutal force. "Sweet Tea…"

Hank became a man. "I'm sorry, Beautiful, but you're so pretty and it makes me nervous. You're very special to me. I should have asked you out and I didn't."

"No shit. Now say why."

"I never thought I was worthy."

"And what makes you think you are now?"

"I don't know. I guess because now I know you better."

"That doesn't sound like a ringing endorsement."

"I was just a stockboy at Asok's, and you seem to deserve so much more."

She laughed full in his face. "Oh, so it's not your fault then? It's me. I'm just too damn special."

"Anna, my beautiful, I've never thought of myself as being worthy of anything, much less a woman like you. You're so perfect, and I'm not."

She chose her next words carefully. "Have you ever met my family? Do you even know what they're like?"

"Well, um… No. Why?"

"Why? Well how about maybe, why not? I'm the great big daughter of a great big family of tiny little people. You've never seen my mom or dad? Or my grandparents or my brothers? Or like, anyone else in my family?"

"No," Hank repeated, embarrassed.

"No." Anna laughed again, this time sounding sad. "You've never seen how small they are, and how huge I am by comparison. Doushiyō!" she said, mocking the Japanese accent of her family. "Give Anzu-kun pickle jar! She open with giant hands!"

"Look. I already said I don't know them. What are you getting at?"

"Hank-sama, you don't know a single thing about me. I am the freak of the family. I'm the one who knows more English than I do Japanese. I'm the one who can't wear the traditional clothes they brought with them from Japan. The clothes they want to hand down to me from their own sofubo, because I'm too goddamn big, and my ass and tits are enormous."

"I don't think you're big," he said, failing at soothing her.

She grew nastier instead. "And what are you, anyway? Some perverted stalker? Are you ditching me to go after littler girls? Is that it, maybe, sōshoku?"

Hank heaved his shoulders greatly, and lowered his eyes to the floor. "No. I'm just sorry. That's all. I should have asked you out and I didn't, and so I'm very sorry."

She practically begged for some scrap of knowledge he might have about her. "Don't you know anything? Anything at all?"

He spoke to her feet. "I know what your name means."

She snarled. "Yeah. I told you what it means. It means 'Duh,' remember?"

"No. I mean what it really means."

"You mean 'Apricot?' I told you that one, too."

He summoned the balls he needed to look her in the eyes. "People haven't been naming their daughters Anna for thousands of years because they think it means 'Duh' or 'Apricot.' That's not what it means."

"Yeah? Well, how do you know what my name means?"

"It's kind of a long story."

"I'd like to hear it."

He took a calming breath. "It's a name of ancient origin. One of only a chosen few that have been popular for thousands of years."

A rare moment occurred, where Anna wanted to listen more than she wanted to talk.

"It's Hebrew in origin. It means 'Graced' or 'Favored.'"

"Favored by who?"

"Um… by God, Anna-san. Your name means 'Favored by God.'"

"Oh."

Silence reigned for a while, as neither could look at the other. Anna, because she was ashamed over how she'd been treating Hank, and Hank just because he was Hank.

"How do you know this?" she asked quietly.

"Well, people also mistake the meaning of my name. They think Hank is short for Henry, and that my name is English in origin. They think I'm named after King Henry, and so my name must mean 'King.' But they're wrong."

He gently took up her hands, as her heart had grown for him. In the dimness of the two nightlights, the size of her nearly all black eyes gave her an unearthly glow.

"My name is ancient Hebrew, too. Thousands of years old, just like yours. In fact…" Hank brought Anna's hands to his lips for a heartfelt kiss. "We have pretty much the same name. My name means 'God's Grace.' It's more like a cheer, like saying 'Praise God!' or 'God's great!'"

He raised her hands high over their heads, being silly to make her smile.

She laughed. "So it's 'Praise Hank' now, is it?"

"Only if Hank is allowed to praise Anna."

"Praise Anna," she said, with her gaze back on the floor. After more precious moments of silence, she asked, "How is it our names are the same?"

Hank stole a tender kiss. "Well, Anna is the same name as Hannah, and that name is also ancient."

"So?"

He leaned in, to make her look at his face. "Hannah is female for Hank. So we have the same name. And… um, Anna-san totemo utsukushī, even though I am unworthy, I think you're perfect for me."

Her body heat rose astronomically.

"But only if you'll have me," he managed to eke out before she launched herself at him, and kissed him forever.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Sometime between now and forever, soft music swelled from somewhere.

"What's that?" Hank asked between kisses.

Anna whapped his chest several times, as if beating a drum. "Aha! It is Teek! She is calling! It's time for us to eat dinner!"

Anna bolted from the room, leaving Hank in the nightlight dark. "You might wanna ask Sehrish for a shirt," she called from the living room.

"Sehrish?"

"Yeah. She collects men's clothes as trophies." Anna peeked back in the bathroom at Hank. "And I kinda got snot on yours."

"You little shit," he said, laughing softly as he examined the stain.

The Book of CHASTITY - Chapter FOUR

0 Comments