|| . [Bulletproof] . ||
Comments: very old fic I figured I'd re-upload rather then let it gather dust on the computer XD the poor unwanted words Dx
Just a simple touch: just a simple glance, makes me feel like flying. But where are you tonight? Something isn't right. Can you please stop hiding…?
I am trying not to think about,
All the things you did before,
But sometimes it all just gets to me: I can't fake it anymore. I'll stay with you, but remember; be careful what you do.
Cause I'm not bulletproof.
| Chapter [One] |
Our Friendship Foundation
"Just a spoonful!" the pleading girl playfully begged.
"Why can't you get any from your Uncle?" he asked.
"He's a health freak," she sighed deeply.
"You should still try asking him for some. She might say yes."
"She can't leave the Institute for another week. Oh come on, I've got an urge for something sugary. Please, pretty please, come on! Please, please, please, with a cherry on the top?"
"I'm going to get into trouble for this …"
"Heeheehee …"
"You're finding it funny?"
"No, I'm finding it sweet."
"S-sweet? What is that supposed to mean?"
"Sweet. Like that treat your going to go fetch for me from the kitchen: sweet."
"Who said I would?"
"Well you practically for saying 'I'm going to get into trouble for this'. Come on, you can't tease a girl. You're too polite, too kind to do that.".
Triumphant in success, she watched with bright yellow eyes, as the black headed boy made his way across the empty cafeteria. There were few people about, and after her constant pestering, she had finally gotten the goodie good, extremely kind, boy to fetch her ice cream from the back of the kitchen. Her heart was pounding excitedly against her ribcage, her blood dancing around in her veins. Looking down to the plate of food, that looked rather dismal to her bright eyes, she picked up her fork loosely between her finger and thumb. Light reflected off the silver sharply as she stabbed the food with the sharp ends of the cutlery, playing with the food she never ate. She sighed deeply; and now she could've been having a lovely, albeit too healthy, meal with her uncle, rather then eating (or trying to eat) the slug the boys were forced to eat, and had been forced to eat, every day of their young lives. She moved it from one side of her plate, to the other, and then the other again. Again, she breathed out a small sigh as she lifted her juice carton to her lips, taking the straw into her mouth. Looking through the corner of her eye, she could see the black headed boy skirting past a few other boys his size with blonde hair. Then, she watched as he quickly slid through a door, into the kitchen. She sucked up some of the orange juice, letting it swish around in her mouth, against her tongue. Swallowing it, she put the carton on the table, taking the straw out of her mouth.
Her eyes slowly moved foreword to the seat he had been in, opposite her. There was a small wet mark from where his damp sleeves had rested on the table, and the small, black, umbrella was resting by his nearly empty plate. Well, the remains of it, that was. As graceful as the girl was, she had managed to slip over during the downpour of the rain (that had yet still to cease), thus crashing his umbrella into the wall as she fell. Ignoring the searing pain that was running through her leg, all she could think about was the umbrella she had spectacularly broken.
"I'm so sorry! I'm sorry, sorry. I'll get your dad to get you a new one; I'll apologize to him too."
Now all she could think about was that searing pain in her leg. Her eyes looked down to her thin, blue jean covered, legs. The left leg was in a state, the jean dyed red from her blood; the strong fabric sticking to her wound underneath it. Moving her hand down to her leg, she tugged at the fabric, unstitching it from her cut. 'That's the last time I go jumping in the puddles like a maniac.' She told herself. She had rolled her jeans up to her knees, all to splash around in the grey puddles without getting her jeans wet, but she had managed to slip over, smashing her leg on the pavement. Him, being the kind soul he was, insisted on her going to the Doctor, yet she just denied and eventually, after a lot of "fiery talks" they had ended up in the Cafeteria, later then the rest of them. She rubbed the wet jeans and looked back up to the door he had slid through.
He wasn't back yet. Just in case he had gone a different way to their table, her eyes glanced around the cafeteria, which was lit by the horrible yellow bulbs going across the ceiling. She hated the cafeteria, especially when the outside was dark and gloomy. There were few windows as it was in there, without the sky being dark, thus making the people turn on more of those horribly common, bland yellow lights as an attempt to make an artificial sun. She didn't like the fact he wasn't back yet. But there had been no yelling, so perhaps that was a good thing. Perhaps he was still in there, fetching the icecream for her.
God, she prayed he was. She even found her fingers wrung around the silver cross that happily hung from a silver chain around her neck. Not that she was a religious girl one bit, but that piece of jewellery that was around her neck was important to her, not just because of the Religious aspect. Her slim, bright red tipped, fingers held tightly onto it as her yellow eyes watched carefully. She tried to avoid eye contact with those other boys she hated.
"Please stop glaring at them," the voice caused her to jump so quickly, she almost fell out of her seat. Her eyes widened as her hands shook, quickly retracting from the cross around her neck. Before she could take a second to look at who made her jump so wildly, she heard the clatter of a bowl being placed on the table, making her eyes look down.
And there, sitting by her plate, was the white bowl, filled to the rim with beautifully delicious, melt in your mouth, ice cream. Chocolate flavour too: her absolute favourite. Her eyes widened as she stared at the bowl, unable to find words. In the corner of her eye, she saw him sit down beside her; offering the silver spoon to her.
She blinked a few times, completely stunned. "Ah … you …"
"I said I would," he said, shaking the spoon he held. "Here."
With her slim fingers, she took the spoon, holding it delicately. She dug the metal into the soft ice cream, taking a little spoonful and sliding it into her mouth. She smiled as she ate the sweet treat, her tongue coiling around the spoon to collect as much as she could. Taking the spoon away, she smiled gratefully at him.
"Thank you so much, Nigredo!" she smiled happily. He nodded.
"It's alright," he said, smiling himself. His emerald eyes gazed down at the ice cream and she couldn't help but laugh. Pushing the bowl foreword, she held the spoon out to him.
"Go on, try some," she said. "It's only fair, after all. You did get it," she noticed how his eyes were set on the spoon in her hand, as if it were a monster. She smirked. "Come on, you've known me for half a year, at least. I don't have cooties, NiNi."
'Ah that name again …' he thought as he stared at the spoon, trying not to look into her unusual yellow eyes. He hadn't been given a nickname before, let alone from a girl. Hell, he didn't even know any other girls (well apart from Citrine, but he couldn't really count her). Gulping, he tried his best to hold back a blush, as he slowly reached for the spoon. He didn't have a problem with 'cooties', he was too mature to even think of something like that. But it was always strange being with her. Everything was a bigger deal then it normally should be. He eased the spoon from her fingers, almost dropping it as she suddenly released her possession of it. He dipped the spoon into the icecream, tasting it on his tongue.
She smiled widely as he happily ate the ice cream, going in for another spoonful. Then another, and another, and another. Finally, he stopped: his eyes wide as he stared at her. "I'm sorry!" he gasped holding the spoon out to her. "Here, you have some more. I didn't mean to eat that much."
"NiNi, it's okay," she smirked, leaning back on her chair. "Eat it all. Seriously, I don't mind … but …"
She looked at the bowl, noticing he had brought a small, red cherry too. She dipped her finger into the cold treat, scooping up the bright red cherry and eating it. She spoke whilst the fruit was in her mouth. "I want this."
He smiled again, something that was quite rare unless in the presence of her or his brothers. He took another mouthful of ice cream, looking at her. "How's your leg?"
"S-," she stopped herself from speaking, and then quickly thought of something else. "So-so. It doesn't hurt anymore, it's all good, so don't worry about it, kay?" she smiled assuredly, not wanting Nigredo to worry. Otherwise then he'd end up blaming him, and she hated when he did that. Glancing back down at her leg, she saw the red liquid was getting deeper on her jeans. Yeah, she'd defiantly need to get a bandage wrapped around that, but it could wait. She was good at handling and hiding pain. Better then most people. As he finished off the rest of the icecream she wondered when she'd be able to get to the doctor, without Nigredo accidentally finding her. Yeah, she could get her Uncle to do it – sure that would be a wise idea. All she had to do was find him, which wouldn't be hard enough.
"Hey, give me the bowl," she gestured when he had finished with it. He pushed the bowl over to her, smiling contently from the treat. As she looked at the remains of the chocolate icecream, she couldn't help but feel a pang of regret. Why did she have to be so kind? At that moment in time she'd have loved to eat the icecream, but Nigredo had finished it off. Damn, that probably would have been her only chance to eat a delicious treat like that in a long time and her horribly kind heart stopped her from enjoying it.
"Thank you, Nirvana," he smiled as he watched her scrap some of her dinner into the bowl, to cover up the fact it had once been filled with the sweet ice treat. "I'll get you some tomorrow, and you can eat it. You have to."
Nirvana silently danced in her head. A chance to eat the yummy treat! And this time she'd let her stomach win over her heart. Hell, she deserved it just as much as Nigredo deserved it (though probably not as much – before the days of being in the Institute she could eat it until her hearts content). Grabbing the plates, sliding Nigredo's under hers, she stood up to her feet only to cry out in pain, her knee collapsing underneath her.
Dropping the plates to the floor, she heard the porcelain smashed on the ground near her, but she couldn't care less. She had landed straight onto her knees, her head just avoiding a collision with the table by a mere inch. Landing on her knees had caused a small whimper, yet not a cry, to leave her lips. She tasted a bit of blood in her mouth from the pain as she shifted the weight of her knee, straightening her leg out. Nigredo had moved to her side, a hand on her arm to help pull her to her feet.
"Ah, I'm alright, really," she assured, using him to stand up to her feet properly. Finding her balance, she looked dismally down at the mess she had created, Nigredo's gaze following hers.
"Don't worry about it," he said. "The cleaners will clean it up, alright? Come on, I'll take you to the Doctor so you can have some Nano Technology on your wound."
"Just a bandage," she corrected, limping foreword a few steps to get away from his touch. She picked up her dark purple and black check jacket, wrapping it around her slim, almost frail looking body. Nigredo watched, knowing that her body was defiantly not frail from the amounts of fights she had gotten in without loosing.
Nirvana zipped the jacket up, the loud noise of the teeth clipping together ran through his and her ears. She straightened her cloths, looking at her red jeans and sighing. "I hope this comes off in the wash."
"It comes off the U.R.T.V uniform," he said as he stood close to her, making sure she wouldn't fall as she limped out of the cafeteria.
Nirvana smiled faintly, brushing some of her slightly damp plum coloured hair behind her ear. "Don't tell me your turning into your father, Dmitri, and are gonna start trying to make me wear the uniform."
"Never," he gasped, looking at her with wide eyes. "I wasn't intending for that at all, Nirvana. I was just pointing it out – you seem to injure yourself quite a bit."
"Only when I act like a maniac," she pointed out, wrapping her jacket closer to her body as the doors opened, letting the cool, cold air brush against their bodies.
The rain pelted against their faces, signalling the sign of autumn. The trees were a rare shade of browns, reds, oranges and yellows as their leaves were pulled away from their week branches by the strong wind, leaving them to dance around the sky with the wind. Nirvana's hair had begun to curl from the rain, making it result to its natural, thick ringlet way. The sky was dark and grey, almost as if it were night, which would be approaching soon. It was half six in the evening, meaning the dark grey would soon be turning to a pure black shade, yet Nirvana wondered if the rain would hold up during the silent night or not. She hoped not: she loved walks in the rain, especially when it was night, where there was the sense of emptiness in the world as everyone slept. Well, almost everyone. There were always the odd couple of Institute guards, on the lookout for intruders or for wondering U.R.T.V's, who would soon be sent back to their sleeping quarters.
"Sorry about your umbrella again," Nirvana managed to shyly mumble. "I'll get dad to buy you a new one, okay?"
"He won't do that," Nigredo almost sadly mumbled as he looked up to the gloomy sky. They walked down the wet pathway, their feet splashing in a few large puddles that had been created. It had been raining like this for a week, and by the way some of the scientists were talking, it looked like it wasn't going to stop for a good while.
Nigredo hadn't noticed Nirvana leave his side as he walked, deep in thought. The thing that pulled him from his thoughts was the sound of the glass floor being trodden on by quick, yet careful feet. He turned his head, to see Nirvana crouching on the walkway that was just above the pond in the courtyard. He would've just carried on walking up the pathway if he hadn't heard her foot steps. Curiously, he watched her as she stared intently at the water just below her feet. She was getting wet, so was he, and that would never be a good thing, especially as she had a weaker immune system then him. Surely she'd get a cold if she spent too much time out in the rain.
"Hey, Nirv," he gently called, making her turn her head to him. "Come on, you're going to catch a cold if we stay out here too long."
"There are fishes," she said, returning her eyes to the small pond.
"There are what?" he repeated, walking over to her.
He had to stop himself from slipping over on the wet glass, causing her to smirk a little as she turned around, catching him tightly gripping the metal pole. "Shh," she whispered, nodding down. "You're going to scare them."
"Sorry," he mumbled, crouching down beside her. His emerald eyes looked at the dark water, trying to see fishes she was mentioning. It was dark, and the splashing of the raindrops wasn't helping his sight much either. But then his emerald eyes flashed with excitement as he saw a black figure, about five inches long, swim past, disappearing into the water.
"See? I told you!" Nirvana excitedly said, leaning closer to the water. Quickly, without reason, Nigredo grabbed her shoulders, holding her back.
"Don't lean too close," he ordered; his eyes serious. "You'll fall in their. Remember a few months back, Nirvana?"
She sighed, playfully glaring at him. "Don't mention that. It wasn't even my fault! Albedo was the one who was chasing me. He said he had a spider," her eyes were o-so serious, as if Albedo had been chasing her with a mallet, threatening to kill her. But Nigredo could see through her little playful act and he couldn't help but laugh, unsure of whether it was because of her fooling around or because of the memory of her falling into the other pond running through his head.
"Alright, alright," he smiled, standing up. "Come one, we need to go inside now. You can look at the fish another day, when you don't have a chance of getting a cold or the flu."
Reluctantly, Nirvana stood to her feet, looking back down at the pond a final time. It had been … ages since she glanced at another creature that wasn't a bug or a human (or U.R.T.V for that matter). She caught up with Nigredo quickly, despite her damaged leg. He led her indoors, where it felt much better without the horrible cold weather, though she liked the rain. Once inside, she tore her damp jacket off her body, hating the damp clammy cloths against her soft, olive toned skin. She hung it on her arm as she looked at Nigredo, biting her lip gently as she began to speak.
"I think I'm going to dress my wound myself, in my room," she said, making his head turn to her, a little shocked. "I don't like Doctors, Nigredo, plus I'd rather not bump into any of the adults right now."
"But, are you sure?" he asked with concern in his voice. She nodded, smiling.
"Yeah, sure," she said. "Come on, you can even come to my room to make sure it's alright."
She saw his throat move as he gulped: a sudden wave of nerves over powering him. "Y-your room?"
"Yeah, not scared are you?" she smiled. "I've been in your room. Twice even."
"But …" he bit his lip, realizing how trapped in a corner he was, still he tried. "You only came there to get a book and then a …"
He lost his words as he looked at her. She was pulling that usual cute, puppy eyed look she'd have given to him many times. Gently, she tilted her head to the side, as she watched him delicately, seeing his cheeks slowly begin to flush a bright shade of red. After a few moments of watching her, he gave up, turning his head quickly away and coughing into his hand.
"Alright, I will," he said, looking at her to make sure she had stopped pulling that face. To his relief she had, and she was smiling at him widely.
"Thanks, NiNi," she smiled happily.
Her room was not how he imagined it. Instead of the usual uniformed rooms, with plain white painted walls, blue beds by the windows, and a desk and wardrobe opposite, her room was bright and colourful. The walls were painted a dark, hot pink shade, making the room look darker then it was. The light was a dull white, letting the pink shine through better. Pasted on the walls were tons of drawings, of animals, butterflies, houses and other things on the outside world. Her bed spread was a white one, with spiralling abstract pink and purple patterns on it. There was a bunch of different sized pillows on the end of the extremely neat bed. The curtains were wide, letting her look out into the courtyard of the Institute from the second floor they were on. Her desk was covered in more drawings, art books and all sorts of coloured pens and pencils. Her wardrobe was an average, wooden one, and next to it was the door leading to the bathroom. Hanging on the door handle was a small plush lion, with a ribbon around its neck, holding it to the wooden handle. Nirvana casually threw her wet jacket onto the chair by her desk.
She turned around, to find Nigredo curiously staring at the pictures of the wall she had drawn with immense accuracy. She shuffled from one foot to another, feeling exposed as he stared at her art with such intensity. "I know I can't draw," she managed to say, her voice shy.
"No, you can draw," he whispered, taken back by her work. "They're beautiful."
Nirvana couldn't help but smirk. "If you keep staring at them like that, you'll be dragged into them."
"I wouldn't mind that," Nigredo sadly whispered, not intending for Nirvana to hear. She sighed as she looked at him, feeling sorry for him. He had never been outside these walls, never ever and it saddened her that he would never get to see the outside world.
She moved to her wardrobe, pulling out a pair of denim shorts, shutting the door she looked at Nigredo, who still stared at the pictures. She cleared her throat, in an attempt to get his attention. "Hey, Nigredo, I'm going to get changed, will you help me when I'm done?"
She saw him nod his jet black head, his soft locks moving slightly as he did so. She slipped into the bathroom, closing the door quickly behind her. She slipped her wet jeans off her body the second she could, reaching the white towel and taking it off the hanger. Sitting on the edge of the bath, she looked down at her leg. Her knee was completely drenched in the blood that had gotten thinner from the rain water. The skin was sore and red, not just from the blood. She wiped around the blood and cut with the towel, drying off her legs, before sliding her shorts over them. She was careful to not touch the wound as she did that. Her eyes looked foreword at her reflection in the mirror, and for a second she was mesmerized.
Nirvana was a petite girl, with a slim figure and stood at around 5"2, two inches shorter then her friend, Nigredo. Her hair was curly from the rain, slightly damp too and a beautiful plum colour, that would go into a purple-pink shade when it wasn't wet. Her fringe brushed across her forehead, almost covering her left eye. Her eyes were an unusual bright yellow shade, which gave her an almost eerie look she despised strongly. She was wearing a white shirt, with a smiley face on it and of course her denim shorts. Clearing her throat, she looked away from her reflection to the door.
"Nigredo," she called, looking down at her wound.
As she waited for him to come in, she reached for the first aid kit under her sink and began to wipe her wound clean with the towel. He knocked, and then opened the door, unsure of what to do with himself. He helped a little as she dressed her wound, once she had done they walked back into her room and he hovered around, again unsure what to do.
"Want me to tell you about the other world?" she asked, moving to sit on the edge of the bed. She set her yellow eyes on him, gesturing for him to sit down. Just as he awkwardly sat down beside her, she smiled widely, stretching her arms out in front of her.
She moved to the other end of the bed, so she could sit by the wall. She pointed to a picture she had drawn, of a windmill. It was a small, but detailed drawing. "Mama and me used to live in the countryside," she began. "Beautiful place, we even had a windmill. I used to climb to the very top, on the inside. It had all these turning wheels, like clockworks," she began to make circles in the air with her fingers eagerly. "I don't know whatever happened to my mother after I was six…" despite the fact her eyes had become glazed and emotionless, a laugh escaped her lips. "I don't really remember much after I was six 'till I came here…"
"That's …horrible … I'm sorry," he said, putting a hand on her shoulder. Nirvana shook her head.
"Don't worry about it," she said, forcing a smile. "At least I got to meet my mother. What about you? Have you met her yet?"
"N-no," Nigredo answered slowly, struggling to speak clearly, his eyes glazed as he stared down at the bed sheets. They were so weird, so comfy against his skin. He moved, to lean his back on the wall, the sheets still soothing against his skin. "I haven't, nor do I believe I will …"
"We'll find your mother one day, NiNi," Nirvana smiled, squeezing his hand gently. She leaned her back on the wall like he had done, leaning her head on the cold wall. She sighed deeply, feeling her eyes shutting, her mind drifting off into a deep slumber.
The tapping on the window was getting harder and harder, pulling her from her deep sleep. Groggily, she moved a little, her eyes opening slowly. The light in her room was still on, her legs still spread out ahead of her and her back still against the wall, though her head was leaning on something different. She blinked a few times, moving her head slightly, only to have her eyes widened. She gasped, trying not to disturb his slumber. She had her head leaning against the sleeping Nigredo's shoulder: the both of them having their backs against the wall. She heard the creak of the door opening, making her lift her head up quickly, snapping it towards the person unwontedly entering her room. Her heart began to pound, her hands trembled a little and she worried whether it would be Albedo or Rubedo. If it were, they would have fun tomorrow teasing Nigredo and Nirvana about the little "situation" they had caught them in.
But instead, a tall, muscular man entered the room. His hair was neatly trimmed, a shade of the night sky. He wore a black suit, making him look bland and boring. His skin shade was a direct copy of Nirvana's: a dark olive complexion. His eyes, a dark blue colour, looked at her and hers looked back. They exchanged glances for a few seconds, Nirvana feeling disgust for him wearing those contacts. She knew all too well the shade that hit beneath them: a bright yellow like her own. An L'Elfen family trait.
Silently, he gestured for her to come outside into the hallway with him. A quick glance at Nigredo showed he was still sleeping, and as gently as she could, she moved off the bed, hoping not to disturb him. She had an urge to lay him down, but she didn't want to think what would happen if he woke up. Though, he waking up wouldn't be that bad an idea. She didn't understand where she was meant to sleep now he was there, resting on her bed. It would be too weird to purposely sleep beside him. Her Uncle looked at the bandage around her thin leg as she moved out into the cold hallway with him, hating the fact she was wearing just a shirt and shorts. Damn, the hallways at night had to have been colder then the outside.
Her uncle shut the door behind her, looking at her with concerned, but slightly angered eyes. "If Dmitri knows you were bonding with number 669 like that, he will be most displeased."
"Starters," Nirvana furiously glared at the man who was only linked to her because of their eye colour. "He has a name and it's Nigredo. And secondly, I wasn't bonding with him like that! He's my friend, that's all, Lucas."
"You shouldn't befriend a U.R.T.V," he said, rubbing his temple in frustration. Nirvana couldn't care less if she was frustrating Lucas or not, she continued.
"Who am I supposed to befriend then? The little lion you gave me?" she gritted her teeth. "Yeah, I'll do that. Befriend a lion, a lion that isn't even real, and then I'll get sent to a mental hospital. Or worse, to the Goddamn mental ward in the Institute. The reminds me, Uncle," she spoke the word sourly. "How is number 333 doing? Did you find her yet?"
"That's what I needed to speak to you about …" he began, looking awkwardly down to the floor.