Daybreak

"You know, Rima you should come with a label, like, Caution: impassive."

"Really? Maybe you should have one that reads, Caution: Cross-dresser."

—Yoru no Mukou

(The Other Side of Night)


He had a routine.

Nagihiko stretched, and glanced at his alarm clock. Five-fifteen AM. Perfect. He was going to be late by fifteen minutes. His alarm must have been sleeping, too. He stood and headed to the bathroom.

Sometimes, he disliked waking up so early. After all, who in their right mind would get up at such an ungodly early hour? A person who actually likes walking to school, or rather, a dancer who was told that waking up early and walking early increases stamina and grace.

It's not conventional, and it's down right weird, but not much that he does is, anyway.

He checked the time.

Five forty.

Already? His mind was still half-asleep. He took a sip of the tea resting on the counter.

Nice and warm.

He set the teacup down and drained the rest before placing it in the sink. He felt bad about leaving the dirty teacup for his mother to clean, but if he didn't hurry, he'd be late for class. He would make it up to her later, maybe with some flowers or a new tea set.

Nagihiko rushed out the door, holding his bag.

It was still dark outside, despite the fact that the weather was growing warmer. His neighbors were asleep, but their pets were awake. He could hear the cats and dogs, meowing and barking like the world was out to get them. It was a wonder his neighbors could sleep with this entire racket.

The thing is, when you got to same place everyday at five A.M., you start to notice the same people. People whose schedules are either, as screwed-up as yours or, simply screwed-up themselves.

Like a certain petite girl by the name of Rima.

"Hey, cross-dresser!" She called, coming from behind him.

Nagihiko twitched at the title, "Hi to you too Rima-chan."

The first time he saw her in his neighborhood, he figured it was pure coincidence, then after a few days he finally walked up to her asking where she lived.

That of course resulted in the nickname "stalker" for a week, but at least he knew where she lived.

He glanced at her features, as beautiful and cute as they were, they were….impassive, expressionless, emotionless.

He chuckled, "You know, Rima you should come with a label, like, Caution: impassive."

"Really? Maybe you should have one that reads, Caution: Cross-dresser." She shot back, "Why do you cross-dress, anyway?"

"It's a family thing," he said shortly.

She tamped down on a smile, thinking it inappropriate, but still pleased that he is being at least just a little bit open with her.

Rima nodded slowly. "So, kind of like one of those family-run Italian restaurants?"

There is a glint in his eyes, as he chuckled. "Something like that."

She considered that. "Well, I heard they have good breadsticks."

Now he's amused. "You're a strange girl," he said, almost-smiling

She smirked, "Me? Yeah. Sure, call me that when you catch me cross-dressing."

He sighed, "That's getting old, you know."

She giggled, "Croooossss-dreeessseeerrr~!"

"That's getting REAL old now, Rima."


God, that took me a while to write after a certain member of my family decided to spill orange juice on my laptop. :-(

But whatever. I hope you guys liked this little one-shot, I'll be sure to write more (with a lot more fluff….)!

Review?

—Yoru no Mukou

(The Other Side of Night)