50 Day Challenge: Shiranui Genma
Prompt: Write a story that starts with a word you picked out of a dictionary at random.
Word: Chockablock (extremely full; crowded; jammed: a room chockablock with furniture and plants)
Song Inspiration: Fruity - Hyolyn feat. Kisum
Chockablocked. As soon as he walked into the club that was the first word that came into mind, seeing how it was chock full of people. The word of the day calendar Hayate gave him was finally paying off.
Speaking of Hayate, Genma suspected that the only reason he was dragged here was to take his best friend home once he became completely drunk. He’d had another fight with Yuugao and decided to have a night at the club with the guys. From the table they had commandeered he could see Hayate being egged into drinks by Aoba, while Raido tried to stop them from climbing on top of the bar.
Normally, he would be right there with them downing drinks and having a good time watching the chaos, but he’d just gotten back from a month-long escort mission to Sand. That meant 30 days of traveling on foot through sand, sun, sandstorms, and more sand. If the pay hadn’t been A-Ranked, he wouldn’t have taken on the C-Ranked mission. He’d only had time to take off his mission pack before Hayate barreled into his apartment and dragged him here.
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A bright, airier song started playing which was an interesting change from the usual mix they played. There was a bit of commotion and noise on the dance floor, so he turned to see what was going on, and oh.
Moving on the dance floor was a petite woman in the middle of a dance battle. She had long black hair tied in a high ponytail, that swayed in time with each move of her hips. While the lights on the floor made it hard to see the color of her eyes, Genma could very clearly see her pale pink lips that were much too sweet for the way she was currently waving her body – and oh wow, did she just drop into the splits and get up in one movement. He couldn’t help but swallow seeing the look she gave her opponent over her shoulder.
He’d met many kunoichi and they always knew the best ways to use their allure, but somehow, he couldn’t tear his eyes away from this woman. She didn’t come out again, staying at the sidelines to cheer on her team, and every movement she made followed the rhythm of the song. He didn’t know how long he’d been watching until everyone started clapping (dear god, her smile).
She was a tiny thing but her black off-shoulder top and matching high-waisted shorts, clung to her svelte form, and paired with high-heeled ankle boots showed off her legs that went on for miles. He was broken from his stupor when Aoba smacked him in the back.
“Hey! Why aren’t you joining us?” Genma couldn’t respond, watching her dance with her friends in a daze. They danced around her protectively and he could see guys and girls alike trying to move closer to the group, only to be pushed aside. One guy decided to be brave (more like stupid) and reached into the circle to grab onto her arm.
In a flash, Genma was there gripping the idiot’s arm, “I wouldn’t do that if I was you.” The other guy wasn’t bad looking, tall, dark haired with dark eyes to match, he looked built with lean muscle but was clearly a civilian with the way his eyes panicked.
Once the idiot stumbled off, Genma turned back to apologize for meddling only to be dumbstruck seeing her dark blue eyes look up at him. “I-I-I uh,” he stuttered like a fool before stiffly nodding and walking away.
What was that! What was that! What was that! He was a grown man struck dumb because of the most beautiful set of eyes he’d ever seen, even thinking back now he felt like he was looking at the night sky. God, maybe he was the idiot.
He avoided his previous spot at the table where Aoba and Hayate were staring at him like he’d grown an extra head – and was that Raido hunched over the table in laughter? God, he wasn’t going back there.
Going towards the bar, he wanted to order a drink but knowing he’d have to lug his three friends home later, he opted for an iced tea instead. At his side, a soft voice chimed in, “Actually, could you make that two iced teas, please.” His head turned so fast he nearly gave himself whiplash.
Standing there was the petite fairy of his dreams (and what glorious dreams they will be), smiling at him and speaking – oh, she was actually saying something.
“Thank you for earlier.” Oh god. Even her voice was adorable, and he was even more confused now, how old was she?!
“Uh, yeah, sorry about that. I wasn’t trying to be nosy but he’s a regular here and known to be pushy,” he sheepishly rubbed his head with one hand.
“It’s alright, let me pay for your drink,” she said with a smile, looking up at him shyly through her eyelashes.
Was she flirting with him?! There was only so much he could take and watching her eyelashes flutter against those blue eyes made it hard for him to breathe. “Uh sure! What happened to your friends?” Internally he was panicking, trying to figure out how to ask for her age without sounding like a creep.
“Oh, they’re still dancing. I can’t keep up with them sometimes,” she laughed.
One of her friends came over and slung an arm over both of their shoulders and slurred, “Sshe’s Hikari and sshes ssingleeeeee!!!!” She turned towards Genma and he tried not to grimace at the strong smell of alcohol in her breath. Cupping her hand to cover her mouth as if she was planning to whisper, she loudly remarked, “Dooooonnn’tt worrrrryyyyy! Sshe’s tiny! And frickin adorableeeeeee! But sshe’sss actuallyyyyy 25 this yearrrrrrrrrr!” Winking in his direction she bounced off back to the dance floor and welcomed by the cheers of the crowd.
Hikari covered her face with one hand and he could see her face flush with embarrassment, “I’m so sorry. She’s mostly harmless.”
Genma swallowed and felt the last shred of doubt fade away, extending a hand he asked, “Do you want to dance together?”
She looked at him through her hands before placing her hand in his, “I’d love to.”
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The two danced for hours, and when he woke up the next morning with her in his arms, he kissed her shoulder, hugging her even tighter when she sighed in contentment.
Next time they went out, he’d buy Hayate all the drinks he wanted.