Kikata crossed her arms, tapping her fingers lightly on her elbows as she looked down either side of the hallway, "Where should we go?"
Richard shrugged, "It's your head."
Kikata rolled her eyes, "You just can't get enough of getting inside me, huh?"
"Hey. This is the first time I did it willingly." Richard laughed, though he couldn't help being slightly aroused by the way she worded it.
Kikata laughed, "Oh it can't be all so bad!" She said as she nudged his arm, "And I'm pretty sure with Kina you were more than willing to get in there."
"Well that was much different." Richard said, pushing Kikata back lightly. "Now how about we check out some of these rooms?"
Kikata stopped, looking to her side. The thought to enter the doorways that lined the hallway hadn't really crossed her mind. "Can't hurt." She said, curious as to what she might find she quickly flung open a door.
They stepped inside of a wide room, the walls and floor decorated in much the same way. The room was littered with tables and boxes, all holding various books and pictures.
"What is this junk?" Richard wondered aloud.
"Hey! This is the contents of my brain! Don't call it junk!" Kikata laughed, walking over to one of the tables. She lifted up one of the books, "Hey, this is one of my old text books." She flipped through the pages, noting how some of the words were blurred or simply out of place. But certain familiar phrases and definitions were right where they should be.
"Looks like this one is missing some pages." Richard said, thumbing through a separate book.
"Yeah."
"There must be millions of pages in here." Richard muttered looking down the wide expanse of the room.
"Every page I've ever memorized." Kikata muttered quietly. She dropped the book onto the table, "This must be all of the knowledge I've gathered throughout my life."
"Huh." Richard said, setting his book down in trade for a stack of photo's. They were all diagrams and charts. "Makes sense."
Kikata shrugged, "I don't know if anything here will help us. Just random information."
"You sure have crammed a lot of stuff into that brain of yours." Richard said as he followed Kikata to the door.
"Thank you."
~ ~ ~ ~
They traveled from room to room. Each was filled with seemingly random assortments of images or texts that Kikata in some way or another memorized. It was all very literal, and boring. After about ten different rooms they rounded the corner, surprised to see an elevator.
"Shall we?" Richard asked, hitting the call button.
Kikata nodded, following Richard into the elevator. "So, you think you have that many rooms full of memories?"
"I doubt it." Richard laughed, "School was never my thing."
"Is that why you dropped out?"
Richard nodded slowly, "I suppose so."
"Well tell me about it!"
"About what?"
"I don't know. Anything. Here I am showing you around my mind, your seeing everything that I have out there. Tell me why you dropped out of school."
Richard shrugged, "I mean. Theres not much to say. I found it boring."
Kikata eyed the panel, "I only have two floors in my brain."
"Narrows down our options." Richard said, hitting the button labeled "2".
"So. You found it boring? Is that really it?"
"Yeah I guess. Though high school I skimmed through with C's and once I got to college I just didn't see any places for me to fit in."
"Makes sense. Because you're not dull Richard."
"Thanks. I guess."
"No really. You're not all that dumb."
"Only a little." Richard chuckled.
"So you didn't find a place to stay in college. And you joined the Marines, did you feel much more in place there?"
Richard shrugged, "A little. For the first year. I guess I sort of fit in where ever everyone is just kind of, coasting along."
"Yeah. Because I was thinking. Um." Kikata's eyes flickered towards the door as it opened.
"Thinking what?"
Kikata winced, "Eh, I forget, come on let's go."
The second floor was very different from the first. They found themselves in a wide marble hallway, decorative pillars separating all of the wide wooden doorways. Intricate paintings flowed up the stone pillars in fantastic spirals. The floor shone brightly, the speckled designs giving it a very ancient yet stunning appeal.
They walked out into the much more open hall, their steps echoing loudly against the stone floors and walls. "Looks like a museum." Richard commented, he glanced towards Kikata, her cheeks were noticeably red. "You feeling alright?"
"Yes. Fine." She stammered, she felt her forehead, "God I got fidgety all the sudden. Like I'm embarrassed."
"Wonder if we'll see anymore naked pictures down here?" Richard commented with a small smile.
"Richard!" Kikata gasped, smacking him on the shoulder.
"Not of you!" Richard said rubbing his shoulder, "Maybe your sister-" He yelped as Kikata attacked him again. "I'm kidding! I'm kidding!" He continued to laugh as she chased him into the next room.
The imagery of a museum continued as they looked around the new environment. Small pedestals displayed various objects, and images hung upon the wall all around them.
"Oh my gosh!" Kikata gasped, stepping towards one of the pedestals, "This was my favorite doll!"
Richard chuckled, eyeing the stuffed creature, "So what do you think this stuff is?"
Kikata looked around, "Everything is bringing back so many memories. Fond ones." She said as she walked away from the pedestal. Each frame held either a photo or a short video of random scenes from Kikata's life. They walked past her childhood games and her family vacations. The further they walked the younger the memories.
They left the room and moved across the hall, though Kikata stopped short. "I don't want to go there." She whispered.
Richard halted, "Why?"
"I think...I don't know I just have a gut feeling."
"I can peek inside, see what's there?"
"Alright." Kikata said, bringing her hand to her lips as she began to chew her nails.
Richard nodded, stepping through the door. The room was dark, each memory illuminated ominously from below. He shut the door behind him. He walked past each frame slowly, there was no doubt that this was the room filled with Kikata's fears. He would get a tingling sensation on the back of his neck when ever he stood still. The pictures showed dark forests or burning buildings. He passed some more specific fears, graveyards with family stones and scenes from inside of the ship.
Richard decided that the room would not hold many valuable answers to getting Kikata to wake up so he left.
"What was in there?"
Richard shrugged, "Just stuff. Let's keep moving."
Kikata ran her hands through her hair, "I feel like we've been in here forever."
"Yeah. I'm getting that feeling too." Richard said as they slowly made their way to the next room.
They pushed through the large wooden doors to reveal another room filled with images. Kikata and Richard strolled side by side, stopping before a large square pane.
"What's this?"
Kikata studied the video, like most of the images it seemed to be from her perspective. "This was in intermediate school." She said, recognizing her old friend sitting across from her. Kikata's vision kept shifting from her friend to a girl sitting by a window. "Oh god...I remember this." Kikata said with a wince. "That girl was new to our school. She was awkward, nervous, and perhaps a little overweight."
Richard nodded, it was a familiar story from even back on earth.
"She had no friends. Not a single one." Kikata sighed, "So she ate lunch alone, by the window." Kikata's voice grew higher as she spoke, "And I always wanted to go and talk to her but I was afraid for my reputation. Like a fool...and...and...two years later..." Kikata covered her lips with her hand, "S-She...She killed herself."
Richard hung his head and nodded, not sure what to say. He felt Kikata's hand grip his.
"I-I felt so responsible. If only she had a friend..." Kikata pulled her arm across her eye, "I can't look anymore." She said, half pulling Richard away from the picture. But each picture seemed to bring about another memory of regret or shame.
"Hitting the bottle hard hm?" Richard commented, trying to nudge some spirit back into Kikata. They looked at the inside of a wine glass as the liquid slowly drained away. "What's this? Your first time getting sickly drunk?" He chuckled.
"I'm not sure." Kikata said squinting at the picture.
The glass dropped, revealing an oddly familiar sight. The inside of the private room where Kikata and Richard met the General for dinner.
"Hey is that?"
"I don't know, come on." Kikata said, pulling Richard away from the picture, "Let's get out of here. The last thing I need to do is bury myself in all of my mistakes."
"You're probably right." Richard said as he followed her back outside.
Kikata looked down, noticing that she still clutched Richards hand tightly. "Sorry." She whispered.
"No problem." Richard said, wiping his palm on his pants as she released him.
~ ~ ~ ~
They went from room to room much as they had the previous hall. They looked out over many memories, each invoking a new feeling. From pride and joy to regret and fear. Some rooms would be more vague in their theme. Like the feelings you go through as you wait around in boredom.
They came to a large door, much wider than the previous ones. They pushed their way inside.
"What's this stuff?" Richard asked, like he did when entering most rooms.
Kikata blushed, her emotions suddenly whirling in a confusing storm. The images were all memories with Runo. "This must be my heart..." She whispered. The room was larger than the other rooms. She and Richard walked across the first wall. Everything was here, the first kiss, the day on the beach, everything. Many of the memories brought a smile to her lips.
"Why would he just throw this all away..." She whispered to herself. Richard had chosen to give her a little bit of space. "All of these cycles...all gone to waste."
"Not everyone marry's their first." Ricahrd offered.
"True. But we had made the commitment." She turned the corner as they reached the end of the first wall, "He promised me he would wait. And I believed him." She sighed deeply, her mood growing worse again. "To tell you the truth Richard I started to question it sometime last cycle. He changed when he started to really break into the business world." She shook her head.
"Would you ever forgive him?" Richard asked cautiously.
Kikata stopped, the scene of the bedroom on that final night filling her eyes, "Forgive? Maybe." She looked towards Richard, "But I would never take him back." She looked back towards the image. "That cheating bastard brought that woman right into our bed. As if it makes a difference." She gritted her teeth as she stepped forward gripping the edge of the framed image. She lifted it from the wall and threw it across the room with a loud shriek. "Enjoy your whores!" She spat.
Richard stared at Kikata wide eyed, "Pent up anger much?"
Kikata stared at the broken picture frame, "I guess so." She walked over to the frame and kicked it across the room.
Richard watched as Kikata moved from picture to picture, tearing it from the wall and crashing it upon the floor. She pushed over the pedestals that held gifts and other romantic artifacts. Richard strolled around the room himself, eyeing a row of doorways at the far end of the room. They were all pretty narrow except for one at the end.
~ ~ ~ ~
Kikata panted heavily as she kicked around the bits of broken glass. She pulled her hair back behind her ears, "Well. I feel better." She sighed. In fact she felt much better. "Richard?" She called, noticing the room was empty. Her eyes fell on the row doorways across the room. She stepped her away around the broken picture frames and came to the first narrow door.
"Richard?" She asked again as she peered inside. Her brow furrowed as her eyes fell on a row of moving images. All including the same actor. She had the biggest crush on him when she was a young girl, and even into her teenage years. She moved onto the next room, it was similar to the first. It was filled with images of an older boy from the town that she often oogled at when ever she saw him. "Oh no..." She muttered to herself as she continued. She rushed to the final door, winder than the rest and froze.
"Quite the collection, huh?" Richard said, eyeing the many images.
Kikata laughed weakly and stepped inside.
"So this is where all the Nova Force memories are kept, eh?"
"Don't play dumb..." Kikata said, blushing deeply still as she eyed the many memories of Richard.
They fell silent for a long few minutes, neither quite sure what to say. Kikata slowly worked her way towards him, her stomach twisted in a knot. She swallowed nervously, "So now you know." She whispered.
"We can trash this room too...if it makes you feel better." Richard said, "I was never fond of looking at myself in pictures anyway-" He felt a warm hand curl around his own.
"I don't want to break these memories..." She continued softly.
Richard gently stroked his thumb along the skin of her hand, "I have one of these rooms too."
"For me?" Kikata asked, turning towards him with a smile.
"No. For me." Richard said, hiding the smile that wanted to crease his lips.
"Oh shut up you!" She said pushing away from him, "And to think it almost got romantic."
"Sorry." Richard said softly, still gripping her hand tightly. She walked back towards him, "But...should we talk about it?"
Kikata lowered her gaze as she thought it over, "Seeing as we might be here for what might be an eternity...yes."
Richard led her back outside of the room, they stepped over the shattered shards of Kikata's memories of Runo and left the room. "So uh. How long?"
"Since I've been collecting those feelings for you?"
"Yeah. I guess."
"Well. Since I met you basically. At first it was sort of like, oh my gosh I just rescued a cute little human! And then...well it became more."
Richard laughed, "I found you pretty cute at first...until you started to try and eat me."
"Try?" She asked with a grin.
"Oh right. You did eat me. And now you finally admit that it was indeed eating and not some containing mumbo jumbo."
Kikata laughed, "But it was!" She leaned her head against his shoulder as she clutched his arm, "It's nice to finally get this all out. And I mean in a dream what is the consequence?"
"For you? Nothing I suppose. If we ever do leave here I'm going to be the only one that remembers it."
Kikata paused in her step, "Really?"
"That's what they told me."
"So...let's say we do get out of here. Will you act on this new found knowledge of yours?"
Richard thought his words carefully, it was a big question. "Kikata...I would never do anything if I felt like it might hurt you."
"That's sweet." She giggled.
"And...eventually I'm going to go very far away."
"Yeah..." She whispered. "Maybe in the real world this just isn't meant to be." She tightened her grip on his arm, "But...on the chance that we end up spending an eternity here..." She came to a full stop looking up into Richards eyes, "I can't think of anyone else that I would want to spend that eternity with."
"Well there must be someone."
Kikata shook her head, leaning in a little closer. Her eyes slowly drifted shut, she could feel the warmth of his breath mixing with her own. Their lips pressed against one another in a way that they never could in the real world.
Kikata opened her eyes and looked around, they were back on the ship!
"Should I even ask?" Richard asked as he looked around.
"No." She giggled, leaning in for another long kiss. She pulled her lips away slightly, "I feel okay about this." Her hand reached up beneath her neck. She pulled away the zipper as they continued to kiss, every single repressed feeling rushing into her heart. "I want this to go on forever..."
"It might." Richard responded in a low whisper.
"Better like this than alone...trapped in space with no one to come to you." She shrugged her sleeves off her shoulders and let the top half of her jumpsuit fall behind her. She gripped the zipper on Richards jump suit, the one he had never actually worn, and pulled it down. "Do you promise to never hurt me? If this memory fades from me forever?"
"Never."
"I want you to take me now."
"Are you sure?" Richard asked, "I know how you feel about-"
"This is different." She said, stepping out of her jump suit, "I am realizing how fast I can lose my chance to ever do it at all. I want to take this in the heat of the moment. I don't want to hold myself back anymore."
Richard looked down as Kikata pulled away his jump suit, her perfect figure displayed before him. Their eyes met, their bodies suddenly becoming one. Kikata gasped, her body quivering at this new pleasure that engulfed her. She moaned lightly, closing her eyes as she gently pushed herself against him.
"Kikata?" Richard asked.
"What." She whispered.
"You're growing."
"I'm-" She opened her eyes, looking around herself. Her hands clutched Richards sides tightly as she continued to grow larger and larger. She held him to her stomach as the pleasure continued to spread through her. Her back grazing the roof of the ship. "Oh...Oh!" She moaned. There was a sudden cracking sound.
~ ~ ~ ~
Kikata gasped. Her eyes shot open, all her memories flooding in and out at the same time. "W-Where am I?"
"She's awake! She's awake!" A white furred Marlek shouted.
"I'm...what?" She turned her head down towards a small table where Richard was just pushing himself to his knees.
Richard turned towards Kikata and smiled, "Hey." He said, all of the memories still fresh in his mind.
"You were in a coma brought on by fungal spores. We had to hook Richard to a computer, it was a big risk but it worked!"
"Risk?" Kikata said, she eyed Richard curiously. Something felt different about him, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. She shook her head, "How long have I been out?"
"Um. About three hours now."
"Three hours?" Richard asked in disbelief. "I felt like that took weeks!"
"Yes, your mind treats time differently when in the subconscious."
"Subconscious? Richard what happened?"
Richard went to speak but held himself back. Suddenly he realized what a great responsibility he held. If he told her everything she might not believe him. And if she did what would they do? It was a false hope that he might stay with her forever, someday he had to go home..."N-Nothing. I hardly remember myself." Richard said shaking his head, "It was all weird."
"Oh..." Kikata responded. "Well be better get going then, we were only meant to stop here for two hours at most." She held her hand for Richard, "Thank you, I guess."
"Don't mention it. I owned you one."
The Marlek nodded, "Yes. If he had not volunteered it is a question of whether you ever would have woken up. And if he failed he too would have succumbed to the deathly coma."
"Wow." Kikata gasped, eying Richard for a moment longer, "I guess that makes us even then?"
Giantess World
Nova Force by Ginbug