The Steps of Friendship
Summary: Kujo stumbles upon our favorite Golden Fairy of the Library dozing off. Little does he know that she's remembering her first friend, which leads to an interesting conversation. Kujo and Victorique Fluff! Sorry for the super crappy title and summary.
Disclaimer: I do not own Gosick or any related characters.
A bored sigh echoed though the plant life of the Library, coming from its very own Golden Fairy. The light reflected across her golden-blonde hair, as she daintily pulled a brush through it. 'Where is that oaf, Kujo? He should have been here by now…' she thought. Victorique let out another sigh, yet this one had a touch of sadness to it. Though she wouldn't admit it out loud, the Gray Wolf missed his idiotic remarks. 'He's almost as big of a fool as that idiotic, self-proclaimed inspector… I still doubt that we're related, the fou.' She placed her brush aside, and stared off at the painting on the celling. Even though Victorique must have seen it a hundred times, something new always caught her attention about the painting. What she saw this time was a small angel set off far away from the rest. She began to doze off, her mind wandering off to the past, before she even came to the academy.
-Many Years Before-
A young girl remained huddled in a cold, dark, brick room. The only ways in or out were through a thick, wooden door and a window. The door was far too heavy for the young girl to pull, and despite that, the lock was too high for her to reach even when she stood on all of her books. She could barely reach the window under the same circumstances. In fact, the window was positioned in such a way that the sun never directly shined in, and the moon rarely did. But when the moon did, it reflected in her emerald eyes and illuminated her pale face. Other than the moon, and the food and water that were slipped through her door, she had no contact with the outside world. One day, however, when she was especially lonely, a piece of 'chaos' flew in through the window. A little butterfly fluttered around the moon-lit room, which she quickly deduced as yellow swallowtail with a damaged wing. When the tiny swallowtail took a rest on her nose, she couldn't help but giggle. Due to the joy the butterfly brought her, she decided to name him Soleil.
Soleil visited the young girl every day for a week, each day bringing her the same happiness as the first day. As much as she enjoyed his company, the young girl began to wonder when the little butterfly would migrate to someplace warmer for the winter. It was already starting to get fairly chilly, and any colder would be dangerous for any insect to be out in. The little butterfly continued to visit her for the next few days. One day, however, it was especially cold out. The little girl could see her own breath in the room. "I sure hope Soleil found someplace warm to stay…" The young girl whispered. She began to curl herself up to preserve her own warmth until something caught her eye. It was small and yellow in the opposite corner. "No…" The girl quickly crawled over to see a small, swallowtail butterfly, with a damaged wing that she'd recognize anywhere. "No…" She croaked out again, with tears beginning to spill down her cheeks. "Soleil…" She came to the realization that her winged friend died because he chose to stay with her. Her tears sparkled and danced in the moonlight as they hit the floor. She didn't dare let her sadness be heard, though, for if it was she knew there would be serious consequences. Through her tear-filled eyes, she gently scooped up what now appeared to be a yellow and black blob. After carefully stacking her books, she reached as far out the window as she could, and let the wind take her friend back outside. She let out a muffled goodbye before huddling back into the corner and sobbing into her dress. It must have been at least a half hour until she heard footsteps coming from outside the window. She looked up to see a woman outside the window with a taken-aback expression on her face. She had long hair, as gold as Soleil's wings. The woman got over her shock and motioned for the girl to come to the window. The young girl came over and put out her hand out the window, and felt something cold being placed in it. "As long as you have this, whenever you are in trouble, I'll come running…" The young girl looked at the locket in her hand, then realizing that she herself also had hair the same shade of gold. "Mother!" She called outside, only to find that she was already gone. "Mother…"
"Victorique!" An Asian boy called while running up the steps to the Library. "I'm sorry I'm la-" He stopped in his tracks when he finally saw the Golden Fairy of the Library. She was curled up, her head resting on her arms, and her hair scattered all across the floor. Kujo smiled to himself. 'I've never actually seen her sleep… She looks kind of… cute…' At that thought, heat began to rise to his cheeks. He quickly shook his head, as if to clear the thought out of his head. He cautiously walked over to her sleeping form, and sat down next to her. 'Where did a thought like that even come from? I mean, Victorique and I are just friends… If she even considers me a friend. She's always calling me an idiot, so…' The Asian boy looked down to see that he had subconsciously pulled a section of her hair into his lap, and was finger-combing through it. Kujo began to blush even harder, quickly disentangled his finger from her hair and placed his hand to his head. 'She's right. I AM an idiot.' He sighed, and turned his attention back to the Gray Wolf. Instead of her peaceful slumber like before, Victorique continued shifting around, muttering something inaudible. 'I wonder what she's dreaming about… Should I wake her up?' After watching her stir for a few more minutes, he noticed tears welled up in her eyes. That answered his question. "Victorique… Victorique!" He called while gently shaking her shoulder. "Victorique!" CRASH! Victorique had awoken with a start, making her forehead collide with his. Kujo rubbed his sore forehead, with a wide-awake Victorique mirroring his action. "Victorique, are you oka-"
"Idiot!" She cut him off, the tears in her face betraying her words. The Golden Fairy looked away in shame.
"Victorique... Look at me." She only winced farther away at his voice. "Victorique…" Kujo gently turned her face towards his, forcing her to look at him. "Did you have a nightmare?" She blushed due to having someone so close to figuring her out, along with just the idea of having someone at such a close proximity to her. She wanted to shoot down that idea, and call him a fool, but…
"No… A memory…" …She ended up telling him the truth. The Asian boy gave her a confused look.
"A memory of what?"
"A memory of… My first friend…" Upon seeing his puzzled expression, she added, "He's gone now…"
'He?' Kujo thought with a twinge of jealousy. Putting it aside, he asked, "What was he like?"
"… He was a good listener. He visited me every day back… When I was a different person." Kujo thought this over before asking his next question.
"What was his name?" After a few minutes of dead silence, Kujo assumed that Victorique was not going to respond, until he heard a small voice…
"Soleil…"
"Who would have a name like that?" He asked with a chuckle, until he felt her glassy-eyed glare on the side of his head. 'Baka!' He thought to himself regretfully.
"I thought it was fitting." The glare in her eyes contradiction the calmness of her voice. "Soleil is French for sunshine. His wings were the color of sun, and I had read about it giving happiness." Her voice had gotten quieter with every word. 'Matta, did she say wings?' Kujo thought to himself. After reading his perplexed expression, she clarified.
"He was a yellow swallowtail…" 'Swallowtail?' He thought to himself.
"You mean your first friend was… A butterfly?" The Asian boy asked with shock evident on his features.
"Oui…" She said quietly, as she looked away in embarrassment. She waited for him to laugh, walk away, or call her a fool. She braced herself, but she only heard dead silence.
"Victorique…" He began quietly. 'Here it goes,' she thought to herself.
"… What happened?" The Golden Fairy chanced a glance at him, shock written all over her adorable features.
"What?" Whatever Victorique had been expecting, it certainly wasn't that. Kujo bit back a chuckle: It was odd to see the omnipotent Gray Wolf so confused. It seemed completely out of her character. But, his smug expression died down as he continued.
"I only woke you up because… It looked like you were going to cry. What happened?"
"… I was alone in a room where the sun never directly shined in. I was always in the shadows… Until, a little piece of the outside world flew in. I named him Soleil because he was the sunlight in my shadows. He visited me every day for a week… Winter was right around the corner, and I realized that he should probably migrate to somewhere warmer soon… One day, it was especially cold. I didn't see him that day, and I assumed he migrated… But…" Her voice trailed off.
"But…?" Kujo asked quietly, silently asking for her to continue.
"… He chose to stay with me… and lost his life for it…" Part of her wanted to cry then, but she was to numb from the memory. Kujo drew in a shocked breath. "… Then, later… My mother came by, and gave me the pendent…" Victorique motioned to the pendent that was no longer there. "But I didn't even recognize her until after she had left…" Her voice trailed off again.
Kujo let this all soak in. Then, he realized that the Gray Wolf was waiting for him to respond. Unsure of the words to say, he gently pulled her petite frame into an embrace. After a moment's hesitation, she returned the hug. After a few minutes (of waiting for her blush to die down) Victorique pulled away. "… What about you?" Her question caught Kujo off guard.
"What do you mean, what about me?"
"What type of chaos plagues you?"
"W-Why do you want to know?" He felt the heat rising to his cheeks at her concern. Victorique, expecting this question, had already come up with an excuse.
"So I can better understand the mind of an idiot." She replied in a 'matter-of-fact' tone, hoping to stifle her own blush.
"Oh…" He responded in a slightly dejected tone. "It's just that… Victorique, am I your friend, or just some idiot who follows you around?"
"Well, you ARE an idiot who follows me around…" Kujo sighed. "But, that's what makes you my friend… In fact…" She stopped herself. Yet, she could not stop a blush from rising to her face.
"In fact…?"
"N-Nothing!" The Golden Fairy stammered.
"… Your face is red." The Asian boy said rather bluntly.
"No, it isn't!" Which only succeeded in making herself blush harder.
"Yes, it is." Kujo added with a chuckle.
"It isn't if I say it isn't!" She shouted like an elementary school student. Kujo chuckled again.
"How about this: If I can deduce what you were going to say, then you have to tell me if it's right, okay?" 'Deduce? Really, Kujo? If by deduce you mean wild guess, then…'
"Fine." Then she looked at his smug expression. "Oh, darn it!" She added with a sigh. Kujo chuckled.
"It must be something pretty troubling if you were just outwitted by an idiot." He added seriously.
It became a battle of pride right then and there. Seeing who would crack first: Figuring out the other without being found out themselves… And both parties were determined to win.
"Who says I've been outwitted?" Victorique responded smugly.
"Well, you just confessed to-"
"Exactly." She interrupted. "Just, as in the ONLY thing I confessed to is that I was going to say something else." Kujo studied her for a bit, trying to use the very same logic she did against her.
"Well,… Judging on your reactions, I think…" He pondered for a bit. "I think that you're worried that you'll lose me in the same way you lost Soleil." The Gray Wolf's breath hitched in her throat. Kujo thought again. "And going off of that… I'd say that's true, but not quite what you were looking for." Victorique stood up slowly, and Kujo followed her suit. 'When did he learn to read people so well? Even more so, when did he learn to read ME so well?' She thought to herself.
Kujo was busy trying to put the pieces together. Yet, the answer he came up with didn't seem right. 'Victorique doesn't like me THAT way! Why is that the only idea I can come up with?... Well, it's a game of pride now, and I have no other ideas… At least this way when she laughs in my face, I can at least justify why I thought it…'
"…Well?" She asked timidly.
"I think… That you love me." The Asian boy said that with all the confidence he could muster, and hoped that she didn't notice his shaking knees, sweaty palms, and the blush forming on his face. He was expecting a slap, laughing in his face, being called an idiot in different languages… But not her running toward the staircase as fast as she could. Quickly, He began chasing after her. "Victorique! Matta!" She began running down the steps, and around the fifth or sixth down she tripped. Kujo grabbed her hand and almost fell down after her, just barely catching the railing with his flailing arm. "Well… Do you?" He asked quietly to her teary gaze. She nodded slowly, not trusting her voice. She quickly gained a fascination with the stairs. He stepped a few stairs below her, so they were at about eye level. The Asian boy smiled. "Well, that's good, because I love you too." He gave her a peck on the cheek, making both their faces red.
"Kujo…" The Golden Fairy began with a small smile on her face. She kissed him on the lips. Kujo just hoped that she didn't notice him stumble to the railing to hold himself up before he kissed back.
'Victorique… I guess I shouldn't have picked a logic battle with you. You always win in the end.'
Translations:
Fou- French for Fool
Soleil- French for Sun or Sunshine
Baka- Japanese for Idiot
Matta- Japanese for Wait
Authors Note: Wow! That took a lot longer to write than I expected. Anyways, this is my second story, (And my first Gosick story) And it could have been worse, I guess. (Not to say it couldn't have been better, because there's a WHOLE lot that could be. :P) Anyways, sorry for some OOCness. I tried not to make it seem that way, but I failed in parts of it. Sigh. Critique is appreciated and encouraged! I'd love to know any ways I could improve it! If you see any grammatical errors or things that just don't seem to flow properly, please let me know. I'd LOVE your imput. Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful day!