Mwaha. Random pairing time! And the lucky two are...
Alba Meira and Chae Lim!
Sorry, it isn't a random pairing, actually. I thought they'd be quite adorable together... The songs I started adding after I wrote this fic, because I thought they fit. I'm rather attached to Dashboard Confessional now, so this chapter is called, 'Don't Wait'.
-- The sky glows
I see it shining when my eyes close
I hear your warnings but we both know
I'm gonna look at it again --
Anxiety had replaced the blood in her veins as she had climbed the stairs to the rooftop of Geese Tower where her next opponent waited. Yeah, she could've taken the elevator, but that was so... bogus. It would just have made her feel more anxious. At least with stairs, there was some distraction. For instance, she wondered if anyone knew that there were 32 steps in between each floor, except for 7 to 8, where there were only 30, and the one that led to the roof, where there were 47...
She saw no one as she walked into the large, open space. She was standing on a helipad, but she didn't notice. Nothing but the view... all of Southtown could be seen from the top of the tower. Bustling cars that looked the size of mice zoomed down the streets, and the red lights of control towers blinked like stars in the setting sky.
It was beautiful, in a very crowded, electronic sort of way.
"I've never seen you before..."
Chae's head whipped around, but she still saw no one... her eyes traveled up the length of a red and white crane, and stopped on the man who stood atop it. His hair was red, with the same silver-white streak in the bangs that she kept. Such an odd coincidence... she'd never met this man before, either. He wore sunglasses, concealing his eyes, and his red and black leather jacket and pants covered the rest of him. Boots that were surely steel-toed on his feet... she'd have to avoid those.
He leaned forward, his hair whipping out behind him as he fell from the crane, spinning and landing on his feet. A tremor ran through the rooftop from the force, causing the Korean girl to rethink her footing in order to keep her balance.
"Are you tough?" he asked simply, taking a few steps forward.
"I loathe evil..." she muttered, her fists clenching as she took her stance. He obliged her and did the same.
His style seemed to be some kind of karate that Chae couldn't name... nevertheless, she didn't have time to ponder it. His strikes kept her onguard constantly, forcing her to wait until he left an opening...
She found one. Stepping to the side, she spun and aimed her foot perfectly for his chin. His head whipped back, and he stumbled for a moment, allowing her to get in a few more well-placed strikes.
It didn't last. He regained his bearings and blocked finally.
The fight continued in this manner, almost assuring Chae Lim her victory, and advancement to the next opponent.
"Crescent!" She leapt forward, jumping and flipping. Her timing would have been perfect for the landing, and possibly the win, if she hadn't underestimated his speed...
"Thunder God Unleashed!" A wave of pure battle energy interrupted her attack, knocking her backwards and against a wall.
Then, blackness swallowed her.
-- Don't wait, Don't wait
The road is now a sudden sea
And suddenly, you're deep enough
To lay your armor down --
It wasn't the light that woke her, but the headache that accompanied it. Anxiety overtook her, and she shot up, forcing her eyes open. They stayed that way for only an instant; the light seemed so bright, she had to keep them closed or she might be blinded.
A soft, small hand gently pushed her back down. A girl's hand.
"Alba says you have to rest! Mignon is supposed to make sure of it!" Her voice was light and cheerful, and it would have given Chae Lim a headache if her temples didn't feel like they were being stabbed.
She knew better than to argue or ask who Alba was. She'd been knocked out before... "Water... some tylenol, please," she asked quietly, moving one hand to rest over her eyes.
"Mignon will be right back!" the girl chirped.
Chae's eyes managed to stay open under the shade of her forearm. She could remember the fight... and what had knocked her out.
She'd hit that wall with such force... she guessed she had a concussion. She was grateful to be alive. She assumed she owed that to the man who had saved her; Alba.
"Is she up?"
Chae could hear voices outside the room.
"Yes! And stay out, Soiree! She wants tylenol, not harrassment!"
The girl came back into the room, and Chae could see that she had bright pink hair and soft brown eyes. It was so strangely styled! And her outfit was rather odd.
"Here! We don't have any tylenol, but Soiree had some Vicodin!" she said, handing Chae a glass of water and a small pill.
She drank it thirstily, and swallowed the pill. "Who's Soiree?" she finally asked.
"Oh! He's Alba's twin brother! He's so... rude!" Mignon huffed.
"Are you related to them?" Chae asked, sitting up again and brushing her hair out of her eyes. To her relief, she was still fully clothed, and had been laying on a twin bed.
"Nope! Mignon knows white magic! Mignon met Soiree and he asked for help when Alba brought you here!" she answered cheerfully. "Mignon's one smart cookie!"
"Where is here, though?" Chae asked, glancing around the room. The wallpaper was dingy, and it was sparsely furnished. A chair in one corner, and a bookshelf in another. Two doors, one leading out into a short hall, the other, presumably to a closet.
"Oh! This is Alba and Soiree's apartment! But, whee-deedly-dee, this is Alba's room!" she answered in a sing-song voice.
"Ah, I see..." Chae leaned against the wall. "Where's Alba, if you and his brother are here?"
"I think he's fighting that Duke guy..." Mignon said, a thoughtful look coming over her face, but it passed just as quickly as it had came.
"He's fighting Duke," Soiree said, leaning against the door frame. Soiree, although he was Alba's twin, looked nothing like him. His hair was a white-silver color, short and spiky in some places. His sky-blue vest was open, and his pants hung loosely from his hips, looking about to fall off at any moment. "See, if you had beaten my bro, you would've fought me, and then, if you had beat me, you'd be fighting Duke right now..."
"Who's Duke?" Lim asked, glancing to Soiree.
"Leader of Mephistopheles, the sponser of the KOF," he replied. "God, I hope Alba wins..." he mumbled, then turned and left.
"Mignon will stay here with... uhm... hey, you didn't tell me your name!" Mignon smiled at her.
"It's Sohn Chae Lim," she replied.
"Chae Lim! Nice to meet you!" The pink-haired girl daintily hopped up onto the bed and sat next to her. "Alba should be home soon! He left right after he brought you here!"
"That's good... I'd like to thank him, and then--" Chae Lim was cut off by Soiree's shout of "Bro!" Both girls slid off of the bed and ran to the source.
-- You get one look
I'll show you something that the knife took.
A bit too early for my own good
Now let's not speak of it again --
Alba was beaten up pretty badly. His jacket was torn to shreds, his pants were ripped and frayed at the hems and in the knees, and lacerations appeared scattered on his once clean and flawless skin. Purple-green bruises littered everywhere. His shades were broken and hanging from his left ear. Soiree had both arms wrapped around him, supporting him.
"Bastard... got away..." he muttered, licking the sticky blood from his lips as more dripped from his nose.
"Lay him down on the floor, Soiree," Chae Lim instructed.
"Oh... you're awake..." Alba gave her a soft smile. "Are you alright?" he asked.
"I'm fine," Chae Lim admitted with a light flush, "but you need help. I don't think you have to go to the hospital--"
"No hospital," he agreed, nodding.
"Lay him down, Soiree," she repeated, then looked to Mignon. "Get some towel, bandages, and a bowl of water. And some rubbing alcohal or peroxide..." she instructed.
"Below the bathroom sink," Soiree said, gently laying Alba on the floor. "Damn... he got you pretty bad, bro..." he murmured.
Chae Lim knelt beside him. "He's right, you did..." she agreed.
Mignon returned quickly with all the things Chae Lim had requested.
"Strip him," she said firmly, fighting back a blush.
"What?! She gets right down to it, I like her, Alba!" Soiree exclaimed.
A smack from Mignon calmed him down.
"He probably has more cuts, you pervert! Mignon will strip him!" Mignon said, bracing herself.
"Ow... just let me do it... you poor little virgins won't do it right..." Soiree teased.
Chae Lim doubted that there was a right or wrong way to take a man's clothing off, but she wasn't going to argue. She didn't have to do it, thanks to Soiree.
Soon, Alba was shirtless. There were more cuts than Chae Lim had expected.
"This is gonna sting," she warned, looking down at his face for a moment.
"I thought you hated guys like me," he said with a chuckle.
'He's delirious,' she thought. "No... you're not evil. I was wrong about that," she admitted, pouring some peroxide onto a small towel and gently applying it to the cuts on his chest.
He winced. "Dammit..."
"Don't be such a baby," she chastized, giving him an encouraging smile. "You beat me in a match, and you can't handle a few stings?"
He said nothing to that, just laid there and let her tend to him while Mignon and Soiree watched in awe.
Finally, she was finished, and had bandaged up some of the deeper cuts. Soiree took his cue and moved to undo Alba's pants.
"No... my legs are fine," Alba said, much to Chae Lim's relief.
"I'll take your word for it." She stood, and with Mignon, put away the unneeded things.
"She looked just like a mom right there, ya know? Couldn't you just see her with a couple of kids! She's fucking cool, bro!" Soiree said in quiet excitement to his twin. Chae Lim smiled and pretended she hadn't heard. "I wonder if she cooks..." Soiree picked up his brother and began carrying him to his room. "If she does, I'm gonna marry her. She's kinda cute," he said, causing Mignon to giggle and Alba to give a wry smile.
"What about Mignon?" he asked.
"Soiree can have Chae Lim! Mignon gives her blessing!" Mignon called in jest.
"I'm still here, you know..." Chae Lim pointed out.
They all laughed.
"Why? Bro, you want her?" Soiree asked.
Alba wasn't about to admit it, but there were quite a few admirable things about Chae Lim...
-- Don't wait, Don't wait
The lights will flash and fade away
The days will pass you by
Don't wait To lay your armor down --
Chapter fin.
Leave meh some reviews, betch! I really do appreciate comments on my work... since this is the first thing I've uploaded here. v.v; This is also on but it does not look as pretty.
P.S. This is a finished work, so... yeah... don't make requests for this. Make requests for something else, and I'll think about it. Also, I don't want any comments about the songfic-ness. I added the songs after I wrote the chapters because I thought they fit. FLAMES WILL BE USED AS OFFERINGS TO THE ASH CRIMSON SHRINE IN MAH CLOSET, BETCH!