Chapter Thirty-Five: Sweet Little Prelude:

"You still haven't told me why we rushed out into downtown Kyoto this morning," Anna murmured. Tsuzuki nuzzled her neck.

"What do you mean?" he asked. The shinigami rushed Anna out of their futon a couple of hours ago. He didn't give her a chance to ask questions. Now, they were in one Kyoto's private romantic cafes that just opened.

"Why are we here?" Anna tried again. "What did you have to rush us out of bed for?" Tsuzuki gingerly breathed on her warm ear.

"We're on a date, remember?" her boyfriend whispered. Red, bold walls as far as the eye could see surrounded them. The couple looked out at the lovers below them from the balcony. Tsuzuki and Anna hid away in the back corner. Anna shifted her body away from her boyfriend.

"I know that, but we didn't have to get up early for it," she told him. Tsuzuki nuzzled the nape of her neck again. The clean scent of her hair teased his nose.

"You're doing it again," he whispered. Anna's eyes trailed behind her in the booth.

"What do you mean?"

Her boyfriend softly breathed in her hair. "I've grown to notice little corks about you."

Anna gave him a puzzled look. "Little corks, how?" Tsuzuki closed his eyes for an instance. The soft jasmine incense burning in the café air mingled with the clean scent of soft russet locks under his nose. Neither smell was overpowering. Their softness calmed him down, but yet stirred tender emotions awake inside of him.

"For starters, you think about everything too much," Tsuzuki murmured in her ear as his strong, gentle arms embraced her under her full, perky breasts in a warm gesture.

"Do I?" Anna asked in a soft voice. His heart beating at her back was having the same stimulating effect that the incense and her hair had on her lover.

"Mm-hum," the shinigami whispered. He gave her a small kiss on the neck. "Have you ever thought about just enjoying everything around you?" Anna's brain was too relaxed to form a counter remark to his question. She shook her head instead. Her hair tickled his face as she did so.

"I see," Tsuzuki whispered. His right hand disappeared down to her lap. His fingertips met the bare skin of her right knee.

"I have a challenge for you on this date," the shinigami purposed. The glow of the floor tea lights played into the romantic atmosphere. The hanging lights weren't used during the day. No, those were reserved for the night. Genteel Koto music on a CD floated over the patrons' heads as they ate their breakfast with freshly brewed green tea made the traditional way. Anna's eyes trailed behind her.

"And what is that?" she whispered. Tsuzuki playfully nibbled on her ear. Anna trembled under her lover. Her boyfriend licked her ear in response.

"For this whole date," he issued. "I want you to feel, not think." His fingers danced up from her knee to her creamy pale, bare thigh. Anna took in slow deep breaths as he did so.

"How?" she whimpered. Tsuzuki's wandering hand disappeared under her short, frilly yellow skirt.

"You feel that?" he whispered.

"Mmm," his beloved murmured. Tsuzuki's fingers moved to the crotch of her panties. He held onto her the whole time, licking her ear again.

"Good," the shinigami whispered. "Just go with your feelings; don't think about the outcome of what would happen, understand?" His girlfriend softly shut her eyes. She too took in the scent of jasmine in the air. His touch put her mind in a soft, airy place. Her breath began to relax.

"Yes," Anna murmured. Tsuzuki's left groped her breasts in reply. He kissed her on the nape once more.

"Good girl," he whispered. An idea floated into his floated. "Hey, if you do a good job," Tsuzuki went on. "I might take you somewhere private and devour you later. How does that sound?" He moved his fingers into her panties this time. Tsuzuki pressed a kiss into her nape as well. Anna whimpered as she folded to her own desires.

"Yes!" she almost yelped. Suddenly, someone cleared their throat at them. The couple quickly looked up. A waitress stared them down. "Get a room!" the look in her eyes told the lovers. Tsuzuki and Anna quickly separated. The woman's cheeks were a candy apple red.

"Right," the curvy waitress spoke up. "You ready to order?" Tsuzuki sat up.

"Yes," he replied. "I'll have some green tea with your sweet cake, please." The waitress wrote down his order.

"Want the tea sweetened?" she asked.

"Yes," the shinigami said with a nod. The waitress wrote it all down and turned to Anna.

"And you?" she asked. The other woman blinked.

"What?" she asked. The waitress forced herself to smile.

"What do you want to eat?" she asked. It took a moment for it to sink in.

"Oh!" Anna said at last. "Uhh…" The waitress waited with a notepad in her hand. Tsuzuki gently held his beloved's hand under the table. Anna glanced over at him. He gave her a kind smile.

"It's okay," his eyes told her. "Feel, not think." Anna began to let her mind relax.

"I'll have some cinnamon cream sticks with some green tea," she said at last. The waitress wrote down the order.

"Better," she said. "Would you like the tea sweetened?"

"No," Anna said. The waitress finished writing down the order and suddenly smiled for real.

"Okay," she said. "I'll be back with your meals." The waitress turned and headed down the stairs to the kitchen. As Anna and Tsuzuki sat waiting, the woman shuddered. She felt so cold without his arms around her, so cold without his hands all over her body. Tsuzuki seemed to sense this because he let go of her hand and touched her right bare knee. Anna looked over at him. Her boyfriend gave her a little smile.

"Don't worry, there will be more of that when I devour you later tonight," the look in his eyes told her. Tsuzuki rubbed her knee as a promise in an innocent way. Anna smiled back as her hand lightly touched his. It was only morning after all; they had the whole date to be all icky on each other.

The couple was blissfully unaware of the storm brewing in their direction.