Monomyth: Taro Arai's Story [Complete]

[Sharp-O]

Chapter Twenty-Four: Reform in a Tea Cup

We went back to Ritsu’s room without much more of a fuss. She showered while I put her wet clothes in the laundry. We cuddled up on her bed and, eventually, she fell asleep. Not much chance of that for me. I don’t know how long I was lying there being spooned by my emotional fragile girlfriend before I cautiously lift her arm from across my chest and get off the bed. She squirms under the covers as I close the door behind me.

The dorms are eerily quiet as I make my way to the dimly lit common room. The TV is on and a lone figure sits snoozing on the sofa. I place the blanket over Miki and make myself a cup of tea, Molly-style. Might as well try it out. I guess I was making too much noise because I rouse the girl from her slumber.

“Couldn’t sleep?” A drowsy Miki asks from behind me.

“Neither could you it seems. Well, obviously you could but you’re down here instead of in bed…” I ramble idly with barely any energy.

“Hoping to catch you if you decided to make a quick exit. Fair play to you for sticking around.”

“I don’t abandon the people I care about…”

“I know, but that shitstorm earlier would scare anyone.” Miki responds. She’s not wrong. One person in particular comes to mind.

“Shit… How’s Molly?”

“Shaken but she’ll bounce back.” I wince at Miki’s words, as she steps up to me and leans with her back to the counter, wrapped in the blanket.

“I’ll apologise to her in the morning… I’m sorry for making you worry too.” I give her a forlorn look and she shakes her head.

“Don’t worry about it. I was more surprised than anything. I never thought I’d hear Ritsu be so… spiteful.” Miki ponders. “I heard enough to get why she was pissed. You know how my Mom left me and my Dad, so I understand… But the way she spoke to you and Molly…”

“Please don’t punch my girlfriend.” I offer a weak smile and Miki snorts.

“No promises.”

“Just not the face, that’s one of my favourite parts.”

“I’m not even going to ask…” She smiles a little and shakes her head.

She replaces the blanket and pats me on the back before heading upstairs. “Get some sleep, big guy.”

“G’night, Miki.”

I finish making my tea and head back to Ritsu’s room. To my surprise, she’s awake.

“Where were you?” She asks quietly.

“I couldn’t sleep so I went to make a drink. Do you want me to go make you one?” I ask and she shakes her head.

I place my mug on the nightstand and cuddle up with Ritsu again. We sit quietly for a long time, the silence is thick and only broken by intermittent sniffles and the sipping of tea. It’s pretty good, actually. I could get used to having it regularly.

“That doesn’t smell like coffee.” Ritsu states, peering at the mug through the darkness.

“It’s tea, would you like some?” I offer the mug and she cautiously takes it in both hands. She sniffs the brew before sipping it. She tilts her head in thought before smiling.

“That’s pretty nice. Maybe a little too sweet though.” It’s nice to see her smile again.

“I’m still getting the hang of it. I only learned to make it in the past couple days…”

Ritsu takes another sip before handing the mug back and nestling into my side again.

“I missed you, Taro…”

“Missed you too, Ritsu.” I place the mug down and stroke her arm.

“…That was our first fight.” She sighs.

“It had much less table-throwing and bruises then I thought.” I joke, hoping to keep the mood light. “Though you got me pretty good in the chest…” I rub the spot on my chest, which is still a little sore. Ritsu places her hand over mine and looks up at me.

“Sorry…”

“I’ve had worse.” I plant a kiss on her forehead.

“I’ve got some apologising to do tomorrow.” She grimly admits.

“Yeah but if you explain what happened, I’m sure Molly will understand.”

“I was a real bitch though… She didn’t deserve the awful things I said…”

“It’ll work out…” I smile, pulling her closer and closing my eyes.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

I wake up with a familiar weight on my torso, Ritsu had decided to use me as a body pillow and was sleeping peacefully. I smile and stroke her hair, causing her to stir.

“Whu’ time is it?” She mumbles, squirming and stretching on top of me.

“About 10:15, give or take.”

“Can we stay here all day? You’re really comfy…” She smiles half-jokingly. I poke her nose and she scrunches her face up.

“No can do. We’ve got things to see and people to do.” I smirk a little.

“You’ve been hanging around Akio too much…” She pouts.

“When Hana starts saying it, then you should be worried.” I joke and she laughs. We lie there for a few minutes more before Ritsu pats my belly and jumps out of bed.

“Right! You go shower and change and I’ll put on my war face.”

“War face?” I ask with a certain amount of trepidation.

“I really fucked up yesterday and said some awful things I’m not proud of. I have some serious apologising to do so I’m going all out!” She pounds her chest twice and points at me. Nice to see her confidence back. Let’s do it!

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Well, that confidence didn’t last long… I awkwardly watch the sobbing mess that is Ritsu and Molly hugging, on their knees a few feet from me. I feel like I’m intruding. Like trying to jump on a merry-go-round that’s already spinning.

I can’t understand a word they’re saying either. It just sounds like wailing but apparently they understand each other perfectly. I look down to the redhead beside me who looks a little emotional herself.

“Fuuka, can you translate? I don’t think they teach “Crying Girl Communication” as an elective here.” I joke a little, more to make me feel less tense than anything.

“It’s going well. It’s mostly been apologies. Joking threats. Derisive comments about your manhood.”

“Wait, what?” I look and she has a wicked grin. It’s good Akio never got together with her, they’re probably siblings…

The crying stops and they laugh and eventually get back on their feet turning to Fuuka and myself.

“No cat fight?” I raise my eyebrows expectantly.

“No, we sniff buried the hatchet.” Molly smiles a little.

“Thank you for not doing it literally.” I bow to Molly and she laughs. I’m being serious.

“Great! Nobody died, c’mon, Molls! We still have shopping to do. You promised to make us all katsu curry!” Fuuka rolls back and forth impatiently.

“And we’ve got a date with a Shanghai latte!” Ritsu cheerily announces, hooking her arm around mine.

“{They’ve got your toiling in the kitchen again? Do you need a hand}?” I ask Molly in English.

“{Sure you’re not looking for an invite}?” She eyes me shrewdly and I laugh.

“{I think I owe you a meal. Both for the other night and for being so forgiving}.”

“{Don’t worry about it! Watch yourself though, mate! She ever catches you actually cheating and she’ll have your bollocks in a vice}!” She laughs and wanders off with Fuuka. I shake my head and turn to Ritsu who is narrowing her eyes at me.

“What was that about?” Ritsu asks.

“Trying to wrangle an invite for some katsu curry.” I grin and her face softens.

“Man, I haven’t had katsu curry in so long!” Ritsu looks a little disappointed.

“You should ask your new best friend, she’s quite good at it!” I laugh and receive a jab in the ribs for my levity.

“You’re buying the first round, jerk!”

-------------------------------------------------------------------

We while away the afternoon in the Shanghai. I’m no Miss Tsunemori but I do my best to have a productive conversation with Ritsu about her family. It’s emotional but she has the chance to vent and that can only be good for her. We eventually move on to lighter fare, like Class 3-3’s newest couple and my new appreciation for British tea.

The sun is soon setting when we reach the dorms hand in hand. We’ve spent every moment together since Ritsu came back but I think Ritsu has other ideas about what that means.

“So, my place or yours?” She coyly smiles.

“Why, Miss Tainaka! Are you propositioning me?” I raise an eyebrow as I pull her in close for a kiss.

“I am and I think you’re going to accept…” She presses herself against me, her hands snaking around my neck.

“And why is that?” I probably would anyway, but I have to play along.

“Because, Mr Arai…” She presses herself against me and whispers into my ear. “The beds here are much sturdier than the one you had at home.”

My eyes go wide and Ritsu leads me by the hand toward her room.

[HoneyBakedHam]

Crying Girl Communication and "sad vagina" are gonna be my favorite inside jokes from this fanfic.

[swampie2]

“The beds here are much sturdier than the one you had at home.”

Lost it at that line.

Another great chapter sharp!

[AntonSlavik020]

Crying Girl Communication and "sad vagina" are gonna be my favorite inside jokes from this fanfic.

Agreed, they're both great. This is one of my favorite ongoing stories, which is impressive considering how fast it's being updated. Quality and quantity.

[Sharp-O]

Crying Girl Communication and "sad vagina" are gonna be my favorite inside jokes from this fanfic.

“The beds here are much sturdier than the one you had at home.”
Lost it at that line.

Crying Girl Communication and "sad vagina" are gonna be my favorite inside jokes from this fanfic.

Agreed, they're both great. This is one of my favorite ongoing stories, which is impressive considering how fast it's being updated. Quality and quantity.

I'm glad everyone is enjoying the humour and the continued story! Hopefully you'll like what's going to be coming up in the next few chapters!

[Sharp-O]

Chapter Twenty-Five: Heart’s Desire (18+)

I don’t recall when we agreed this was the time but then, sometimes things are best left unsaid. We step into Ritsu’s room and I instinctively lock the door. Her expression is the same seductively coy smile she always wears when we play but it’s her eyes that convey her feelings, much more so than our usual tête-à-tête. Determination. Desire. Lust. Love.

We take our time, the setting sun casting an golden aura into the room that tells us we have all the time in the world. She slowly pulls my shirt over my head and I do the same for her. I lean in and kiss her tenderly as she unbuckles my belt, my hand deftly unhooking her bra with little resistance. Every movement is practiced, every item discarded, until we’re left naked, pressed tightly against each other. Our lips meet and our passion ignites. She hops to wrap her legs around me as I grab her butt and carry her over to the bed. I lay her down gently, her arms draped around my neck.

I break from her lips to kiss down her face, neck collarbone and chest, taking her nipples into my mouth in turn. She strokes my hair and gasps with every fresh lick or nip. I smile up at her and she nods with a grin, pushing my head a little. I soak my tongue in saliva before tracing it down her stomach to her hips.

Ritsu does me the courtesy of scooting up the bed, into a wide-legged sitting position. I give her a wink as I venture downwards, kiss her inner thighs before I reach my prize. I blow slowly on her privates, sending shivers through her body. She scowls and I smile before taking one slow lap of her pussy. A long, hissing, intake of breath followed by a moan is my prize and I dutifully set about her with vigour. I lap like a dog, switching to swirling my tongue inside her and teasing her clit.

A firm grip of my hair tells me I’m doing my job right so I step up the game. A lone teasing finger finds her g-spot and rubs circles around it as I gently bite her clit, sending her over the edge in a shuddering orgasm. The husky groan she emits from her throat is music to my ears and I sit back, cleaning my fingers. I crawl up to her and give her a long deep kiss. She smiles and pushes me to take her place and I oblige.

She locks eyes with me and slides down my body. I feel one of her pert nipples graze against my dick and I let out a curt ‘Mmh’. She smirks and keeps sliding until I feel the tip of her tongue brushes against my tip and runs the full length of my shaft down. She kisses her way back up and takes me fully into her mouth. I don’t see the reason for doing this; I’m good to go but hey, why break tradition? I chuckle to myself and gently stroke her hair behind her ear for her, Ritsu’s eyes lock with mine again and my member twitches in her mouth causing her to giggle.

“If you keep going, we won’t get to the main event…” I quietly tease, the first words spoken since we were outside. She nods and releases me with kiss. I reach for my pants to pull a condom out of my wallet but a firm weight is pressed against my chest. Ritsu puts her body weight against me and pins me to her headboard, kissing me deeply as she straddles my legs. I look concerned for a second when she breaks away and she just smiles broadly.

“I’ve been taking birth control since before we went to Nikko.” She says in a hushed tone.

“A secret plan to have our first time there?” I ask with a wry smile.

“I would have had you the first night if Kyoko hadn’t have interrupted us. Or your bed hadn’t have broken. And then there was my home sit--” I cut her short with a finger on her lips. Let’s not spoil the mood by bringing up bad memories. I give her a reassuring smile and hold her cheek before kissing her.

“You have me now. That’s all the matters. If this is how you want it to go…” I brush my thumb against cheek and she holds my hand.

“Are you ready, Mr Arai?” She asks, positioning my member against her wetness. The heat is astounding.

“Whenever you are, Miss Tainaka.” I continue to hold her cheek as she eases herself onto me. This is both my first time with Ritsu and the first time without a condom and the feeling is… indescribable. The sensations and emotions are overwhelming, I can only imagine what Ritsu is feeling. Her breathing is heavy and rapid and her fingers are digging into my shoulders.

“Oooooh, fuck!” She gasps, stopping with a shiver and falling forward onto my chest. We press our foreheads together and share a tiny laugh.

“So I take it that was intense for you too?” I sigh heavily.

“Gimme a second… How do you do that to me?” She gives me an accusatory glare that quickly turns into a bright smile. “God damn…”

“Yeah, that was… Wow.” I chuckle. “You okay?”

She nods and we kiss again, my hand still hasn’t left her cheek. She takes a deep breath and begins to grind slowly, her thighs quivering slightly as she moves. My hand slides down her neck to her chest to grope her breasts. She moans at my touch and she increases her pace. We find a matching rhythm and Ritsu’s moans grow as wild as her ever-increasing mane of light brown hair.

“Taro, please tell me you’re… Nnnnghclose.” Her arms move from my shoulders to wrapping tightly around my neck, pressing against me. I wrap my arm around her back and buck my hips to match her.

“Getting… There… Are you sure… You want me to?” I gasp for breath and edge closer and closer.

“T-Taro… Cum with me~” She’s almost there and I press on her lower back as I thrust up into her a few more times with an erratic rhythm, my legs buckling as my climax surges through my body and into Ritsu with a guttural roar from my throat. She throws her head back at the sudden hot sensation filling her insides and gasps loudly before letting out a raspy curse as her body spasms.

“Taroooo~.”

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Time is not even an abstract concept to me right now. I don’t know how long it’s been since we climaxed but it feels like eternity. We lie in post-coital euphoria; the scent of sex and sweat in the air and the our shared love enveloping us.

“I love you, Ritsu.” I finally say, looking at the dishevelled girl rest on my chest.

“I love you, Taro…” She sighs dreamily.

“That was incredible.” I admit, half-knowing what her response will be.

“Yeah, I was pretty great, huh?” She musters what little energy she has left into a devilish grin.

“You’re incorrigible…” I laugh, running my hand through my hair before resting it on her butt.

“Says you! I still have some feeling in my lower half, I know where your hand is.” She giggles and I give her a gentle pat.

“What? I like your butt.” I smile.

“You better! You’re the only guy to have ever seen it, Mr Arai.”

“I’m honoured, Miss Tainaka. I shall treat it with the reverence it deserves.” I laugh and give her another playful pat.

“Jerk!”

“Minx!”

“I’ll show you ‘minx’ when we’ve rested up…” She sighs but stops to raise an interested eyebrow. “Never mind, we’re back in business…” She smiles coyly as she no doubt feels an encroaching hardness.

“I’ll take the lead this time!” I say, excitedly rolling her onto her back and slipping between her legs.

“Round Two!” Ritsu giggles, only to gasp and shoot me a wicked grin as I enter her.

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The morning comes eventually after a steamy night of passion. I loathe to wash Ritsu’s smell off me but the sticky feeling of dried sweat is too gross to ignore. I’m in the shower when I hear muffled voices in Ritsu’s room. I shut off the shower and wrap a towel around my waist. I throw on yesterday’s shirt before half emerging from the bathroom to find my bathrobe-clad girlfriend talking to Emi Ibarazaki, seemingly fresh back from her own trip home.

“Morning?” I wonder why she’s here.

“Oh! S-sorry to intrude, Taro…” She blushes profusely before looking at me with worried eyes. “I couldn’t find you in the boys’ dorm and Akio said you might be here so I ran straight over without thinking…” She rambles before I raise my hand.

“It’s okay, Emi. What’s up?” I raise a quizzical eyebrow.

“I need your help. I can’t find Rin.”

[HoneyBakedHam]

Worry Tree, I bet. That or the dandelion field.

[Mirage_GSM]

Skipped the smut, so just commenting on the last paragraph:
Sowering in the girls' dorms? Guy's got guts...
Also first he's hearing the voices in Ritsu's room, then they are standing on the corridor in front of the shower. It's possible they went outside while he dryed himself, but it's a bit strange.

[Sharp-O]

Worry Tree, I bet. That or the dandelion field.

"This isn't the Art Club room..."

Skipped the smut, so just commenting on the last paragraph:
Sowering in the girls' dorms? Guy's got guts...
Also first he's hearing the voices in Ritsu's room, then they are standing on the corridor in front of the shower. It's possible they went outside while he dryed himself, but it's a bit strange.

Sorry, I was under the impression that every room had an en suite bathroom? At the very least a shared one between two rooms. That's what the art assets always implied anyway.

[Mirage_GSM]

"Here, small corridors branch off from the main hallway."
"Each of these minor halls seems to have a toilet and shower, as well as four rooms."
"The name plates on the rooms adjacent to mine are blank. I guess there are just two of us here."

So Hisao is sharing his bathroom with only Kenji but just because the other rooms in his corridor are empty.
I don't think we get an exact description of the girls' dorms, but it is heavily implied that the layout is similar, and over the course of the VN we get to see all the girl's rooms except for Shizune's, and an ensuite bathroom is never mentioned.

[Sharp-O]

Huh. I even wrote Midnight Snack from that assumption too...

Ah well, it's a minor oversight.

[HoneyBakedHam]

Worry Tree, I bet. That or the dandelion field.

http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa12 ... 5hixbl.jpg
"This isn't the Art Club room..."

I don't get it. I know the picture is from Haganai (I love Sena), just not what you're referring to.

[Sharp-O]

Worry Tree, I bet. That or the dandelion field.

http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa12 ... 5hixbl.jpg
"This isn't the Art Club room..."

I don't get it. I know the picture is from Haganai (I love Sena), just not what you're referring to.

Rin got lost, not only winding up in a different club room but in a different school all together (with a very similar uniform)

[HoneyBakedHam]

You think the uniforms are similar? I don't, but whatevs.

[Sharp-O]

The colour is a little muted and the girls wear the blazers instead of blouses but I think there's a definite similarity.