Chapter 35

Desires fulfilled. That was the ultimate goal of Caleb and Akane's relationship. Desires completely and totally fulfilled. Most couples strive for perfection, whereas they wanted to be the perfection that other couples strived for. Already the whispers at school had begun. The two lovebirds were officially that couple. At least by the standards of Japan, anyway.

They did try to tone it down in public. If for no other reason than to not cause a disturbance. All the same, it was clear to any who passed them by that the two were completely lost for one another. After over a month of dating, they'd yet to lose that loving spark of passionate excitement. In the few moments Caleb was not with his beloved he could rest easy knowing somehow, in some way, she was still watching his every move. And as for Akane, her obsession only seemed to deepen as did their feelings for one another.

Which is why they both decided it was time to meet the parents.

Caleb would be graduating before too long. After which he intended to get a part time job and wait while his beloved finished school. Whereupon the two would start the next chapter of their lives together as a couple. Marriage was a foregone conclusion in both their minds. (Admittedly for Caleb this was more akin to an ultimatum from his beloved.) Which was why they decided now was as good a time as any.

Akane was slightly more nervous about this than Caleb was. If for no other reason than she was still a little insecure about her home life. Which was why Caleb volunteered to let her meet his mother first. Of course, as had become the norm, once their plans had been set in stone, Akane began to fixate and obsess. She needed Caleb's mother to like her almost as badly as she needed him to. Setting a good first impression with the woman who raised the man she adored was paramount in her mind.

Which was why the day she was scheduled to meet Mrs. Barlow, Akane took it upon herself to break into the penthouse and clean it from top to bottom, all while her beloved was still soundly asleep. When Caleb at last awoke, he did so to the sight of his girlfriend leaned over him, eyes fixated and unblinking on his still unconscious frame.

"Good morning, my love," she declared softly whereupon he promptly lurched up in surprise, smacking their heads together in the process.

"Gyah!" He rubbed his aching forehead. "Akane, what the hell are you doing here? Mom won't be off work until six in the evening."

She whined in pain, rubbing her head as well. "Is that any way to greet your girlfriend first thing in the morning?"

"Sorry but..." He shook his head to knock the last vestiges of cobwebs from his cranium. "...how did you even get up here? We're on the roof of a thirty story building. The only access is an elevator that requires a keycard."

Akane giggled at him sweetly. "Not if you use that hidden passage your mom had installed."

He gawked at her incredulously. "You...you know about our panic room?"

She nodded brightly. "I knew the elevator couldn't have been the only way in or out. Considering the people who are after you, I was confident your mom would be smarter than that. So I spent what time we weren't together trying to figure out where the entrance to her emergency exit might be."

Truly, there were no words here.

"I'll admit, it was tricky. Your mom was very clever installing a vault door in the underground garage then disguising it as just another concrete wall. But I eventually found the secret keypad you placed under the junction box."

"Okay, so how did you figure out the six digit pin?" he asked next, still blown away by the fact they were even having this conversation. "You only get three tries before a silent alarm triggers and our private security outfit shows up."

"Oh, well that was easy. I remembered the combination you put in for the meat locker and figured it would probably be the same thing. Turns out I was right!"

Again, he just looked stunned. "But there's a secondary security door behind that with a thumbprint scanner."

"So for that, what I did was I snagged a thumbprint from your desk with a piece of tape. It took me a few tries, but I was eventually able to pull a print that worked."

"There's thirty floors worth of booby traps set in there!" he insisted, still in denial.

She giggled. "Those were a fun challenge! I'll admit your security system is impressive but I could definitely offer your mom a few pointers once she's here."

He remained silent, his mouth agape in quiet disbelief.

"Anyway, you'll be happy to know that I'm officially done cleaning the penthouse," she declared proudly. "It's important that your mom likes me, so I want to make the best first impression I possibly can."

"You...you cleaned the penthouse?"

Akane beamed at him and nodded. "I was going to start prepping for dinner tonight, but I'd really appreciate your help, Darling."

Caleb took a minute to let all of this settle. Finally, he took a breath and smiled, chuckling under his breath at her.

"What is it?" she asked in confusion. "Did I say something funny?"

Rather than answer her, Caleb pulled the bewildered girl onto the bed with him. She yelped in surprise as he kissed her fiercely before slowly melting into him. A thought occurred to Akane at that moment and she pulled away.

"Caleb! Are you decent under that comforter?"

He chuckled in amusement at her scarlet face. "Relax, babe. I'm wearing pajama pants."

"With boxers?" she asked insistently, her hands on her hips.

Caleb scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "Well..."

Akane quickly averted her gaze from his lean, cut frame. "You promised we'd take things slow. That's what we agreed to, right?"

"It's just a bit of skin." A knowing smirk crossed his lips as he threw off the covers. "Are you saying this is distracting you?"

She pouted at him, folding her arms and keeping her head turned away. "You already know how your body makes me feel. Don't act like I haven't made it obvious." Akane pointed towards the dresser. "Now seriously, go get dressed. I want to get started on the prepwork for dinner."

He rolled his eyes, that same self-indulgent grin on his face as he stood up and stretched. "I'm gonna grab a quick shower first."

Despite herself, Akane eventually caved and snuck a glance as he walked away. Once more she felt her cheeks flush whereupon she quickly made herself scarce, grinning like an idiot.

God, I have such a hot boyfriend!

As giggly as it made her, she needed to be careful. Akane had already decided she wanted to wait until she was absolutely certain they were both ready. And after the talk they had regarding the inherent risks that came with having sex with a blood cultist, she really couldn't afford to be impulsive. Even if her boyfriend did basically look like a giant piece of candy with perfect hair.

For now, she would have to be content with simply catching his drool in her mouth while he slept, that was a close second.