Summary
If the timeline was fractured, granting Beryl a chance to resolve old scores, how might it pan out?
Beryl Returns
I loved the dark little streets of downtown Tokyo. There I was, my long red hair flying out behind me as I swirled like an enchanted dancer. You know, in that Old Russian folktale, the one about the girl who wore those fated red shoes and cursed, never to stop dancing. I loved the sound of my sandals as these clicked against the bluestone and the echoes fluttered about me like invisible pixies as I swirled and pivoted.
I laughed like a child. Yes, I was a little girl again, and a faery princess of a long hot Japanese summer, for a while anyway.
I sang as I danced with the leaves and dust devils on this near deserted cobbled mall. The enchanted buildings erected just after the Second World War in the last century, their shade a benediction bestowed upon a free spirited young woman, complements of the Sun Goddess herself, Amaterasu.
I adore this place; its old world charm always makes me feel so at peace, a welcome retreat from my turbulent life at home with my neurotic mother; Lisa Canoga.
Yes, you guessed it, not a fluke, nor a convenient coincidence. I am the world-renowned lead singer of the hot Japanese rock and dance sensation, Dark Empress Butterfly - Beryl Canoga.
I want to tell you my story, one both tragic and liberating. I am not the same girl I was all of five years ago when my far off ancient past descended upon me as I atoned for my previous obscurations. Oh, the irony, that, of all people to set me on the path to redemption would be my former bunny-haired nemesis, Tsukino Usagi, showing me the way out of the mire.
So let me begin my story, as a student, dealing with life as a young woman and the rigors of university life.
Atonement
After starting first year, I had uncovered one of the ancient city’s best-kept secrets, my favorite retreat, Sakura Lane. Here, there were cafes, restaurants, clothing and beauty boutiques, fruit and vegetable sellers, bakeries and music shops and more. J-pop, C-pop and other delights piped throughout the narrow causeways twenty-four-seven, where no cars dared intrude.
I just loved it. I honestly feel free and alive in this place any time of day or night, and especially on those long summer evenings when the stars are glittering in the night sky and that haunting moon that always held me spellbound looking down upon us, the perfect place to bring my guy.
I love the dawn, I can get into the CBD with little trouble, find a parking spot, and walk in the cool summery breeze, and head for my favorite retreat that had and will always be my enchanted special place, it was gorgeous. It afforded me privacy, a sense of calm, and freedom; how I loved that feeling.
There I was, Sitting with my legs crossed a café latté in one hand and armed with a good paperback resting upon my knee, soaking up the atmosphere was pure bliss.
You know, I keep coming back here. When I could still do this undisguised or without my entourage of bodyguards, those were the days!
What I loved most about this Gothic sanctuary was the big antique grandfather clock in the central library. I would park my little black Honda Lucida a block or two away, and visit the old library and drink in the atmosphere. The intoxicating smell of old books, carpet and the strange incense and the paintings, these must have come from all over the classic world. There were Rembrandts, Picasso and other notables including Japanese and other Asian masters. It was elegant, cool, mysterious, and sexy.
After paying homage at the library, I would sit in the little three-story Victorian bookshop-come Manga café, reading my favorite Manga, use the computers and sit in the tatami room drinking green tea. I often did this alone or with a girlfriend and brought Kunz here, too. He loved it.
The interior of the antechamber decked out with a twist of Gothic beauty in keeping with the décor of most of the buildings in this little hamlet was so enchanting and the impact on all my friends who I had brought here was always the same – they fell in love with it as I had.
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Often while reading, I would pause to take in my surroundings, drink in the atmosphere, and yes, hunt.
Aside from my flirting and teasing, the straight-faced studious guys I would drive crazy. I would give them a coquettish smile, and they were caught in my trap in an instant. Oh, by batting my eyelashes, and if the guy was especially cute, I would brandish my sculpted legs like seductive weapons as I sat in the swivel chair totally impassive feigning ignorance to how my athletic choreography turned those poor guys inside out, and giggled.
My victims would squirm, blush and find themselves suddenly in a most embarrassing situation as more than their temperatures went up. I was delightfully cruel and loved it.
Hey, the poor things probably would be too shy to ogle a girl on their own. They need to think more about sex and not so much about textbooks and Manga. Otaku is not good for the soul if you don’t live a little in-between. Come on, I was giving them a little spice in their otherwise studious dry lives where cram school, normal daytime study routines and even reading for pleasure was their only respite and retreat. I must confess; they kept coming back. My long legs, curvaceous figure, wistful stares, my ritual seductive application of my lip-gloss proving all-too much for some. I was pleased to find much later that some of these guys had gotten a little spark and were accompanied by shy studious girls, some were quit pretty, so my flaunting games of long ago had the desired outcome for some.
I confess I had taken my flirtations to dizzy and somewhat cruel heights the day my boyfriend and I decided to play a game with these turgid bookworm-types. Mean of me, I know. I love theatrics. Kunzite came strolling into the reading room, where I held court. He sat, his metal framed glasses perched upon his nose, so sexy and dorky all at once. Boy did we have fun creating ‘the look.’ Then, he leered at me almost salivating as I did my siren thing.
He rose and staggered towards me in sight of the guys sitting around the room adoring me with their bespectacled eyes in shock as one of their own approached the unapproachable object of their fascination as they continued to worship from afar.
He had broken their unspoken creed, stepping behind the holy-of-holies as he said, “I couldn’t but help admiring your beauty. I just can’t take it anymore. I must have you!”
Well, the sighs and agonized gasps issuing from my faithful entourage were incredible and the moment one I will never forget. I unfolded myself from the chair like a sleek cat, exaggerating my movements, and purred, “I hope you know what you’re up against. You better be man enough cause I have high and I mean high,” I said dripping sensuality and hitched up my skirt for emphasis and laughed, “Standards, are you game?”
“Oh, most certainly, I am driven by a force that compels me to accept your challenge. Lead on…” he replied with a wink, bowing like a robust knight, no doubt drinking in the contours of my long tanned legs. I for my part, trying all the while not to snicker as I wiggled my ass, tossed my hair over one shoulder, throwing my book and reading glasses into the leather chair behind me and led the way upstairs.
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I loved the way Kunzite ran his large hands up and down the smooth skin of my legs as I kept one to two steps ahead of him on the impossibly steep staircase, as he kissed the backs of my thighs. I shuddered with the pleasure this evoked, but remained focused as I continued to maintain that two-step gap. Turning every now and again, wiggling a finger of admonition saying something like, “Now, now, be a good boy till I say…play!” exaggerating the final word, this making us both giggle as we continued up the stairs to the so-called, ‘haunted tower.’
I got quite excited, and breathless I can tell you. We snuggled up, fondled, kissed, and did all but the final act. Both of us flushed, breathless and yes, covered in dust and cobwebs. My inner thighs, breasts, and neckline smothered in love bites.
Much later, The looks on the faces of the boys in the reading room, still waiting for us as my guy made a point of straightening his clothes, smiling like a loon and winking at the poor things, simpering and suffering was priceless. Silence and bitterness rose like the stench of death from behind their books, the room reminiscent of a dank tomb, for their living fantasy had been taken from them. I was mean, I know, but it was a delicious wicked…worth the entire pretense. As I said, most of these guys did find love, and maybe I did them a favor; you know, gotta be cruel to be kind, ne?
We looked disheveled and pleased with ourselves. It was truly romantic. I was determined to let him deflower me. It would be a night of my choosing and one worth remembering for all the right reasons. Only when I had him, where I wanted him, in my heart and not just in my panties would I be satisfied.
