Title: Here's to the Nights.
Author: Evoker.
Genre: Friendship/Romance/Angst.
Rating: T
Characters/Pairing: Matt x Siofra (OC)
Spoiler Warning: Character Death.
Summary: "I'd have that day with you again." The smile on his lips never faltered. The tears in her eyes never fell. "I'll be waiting here for you... So if you come here, you'll find me. I promise."
Author Note: Just a simple Mini-Series. It's been rewritten as of 11/29/2011.
Mail "Matt" Jeeves hated going out. If he could avoid it, he would, but today just wasn't his day. He stepped onto the over crowded train and was instantly surrounded by people on every side. The doors closed behind him, prompting him to lean his back against them. A sigh escaped passed his lips. God, he wished he could smoke right about now. Closing his eyes, Matt attempted to clear his mind. Wash away all the odd smells, loud noises, and the peculiar behavior of the people around him. He knew he stood out just a bit too much. The fact people had a hard time seeing his eyes because of the obtrusive goggles made them uncomfortable, but it made him feel confident. Regrettably, he couldn't accomplish blocking out all the noise. Matt opened his eyes half-way and let out another sigh. Through half-lidded eyes, someone beside him caught his attention. She was seated directly beside him, the only thing separating them was the metal of the armrest; she kept her head bowed to stare at a little screen. Her fingertips rapidly tapped the little triangle and x buttons.
She was young, and he could only assume she was in her late teens. The little screen flickered with life and the little sprites moved around. It made Matt wish he had brought his PSP along. The trip would have gone a hell of a lot quicker. Fighting back another sigh, he leaned over just enough to gather a better look at the screen.
"Pokemon?" He mumbled, his voice unfazed by the realization. He should have expected as much. It was typical for the females that actually 'gamed' to play such games as Pokemon or dating shit. He didn't call that gaming, but they apparently did.
Abruptly, she snapped her DS shut and tilted her head to stare at him. The gesture startled him, but he didn't budge, meeting her eyes with a questioning look from behind the tinted goggles. From the hesitant movement of her lips, it was as if she wanted to say something. Instead, however, she turned in her seat and let her eyes fall back to the closed DS. She seemed nervous as her fingers idly fiddled with the edges of her gaming system.
The train slowed to a stop at the next station. Matt stepped away from the doors just as they opened. He casually stood in the middle as others pushed passed him, boarding and exiting.
An older woman entered the train and stood near him. The girl, that seemed suspicious of Matt, stood up. She motioned in a quick gesture to her seat. The old woman let a nearly toothless smile fall to her face. She shuffled her way over to the seat and plopped down.
"Thank you, young lass." The older woman said, and though her Japanese was flawless, her accent was not of Asian decent.
"Not a problem." The girl answered, and Matt realized her accent resembled the woman's too a T.
Matt raised a curious brow.
Foreigners?
By now his curiosity had been sparked just enough to actually take notice of the girl a few feet away from him. Her skin was fair and slightly on the pale side, her hair was straight, blond, and stopped a little passed her shoulders. The ends were cut in a messy fashion and her bangs framed her face. He squinted as he stared at her hair. It almost seemed to be faintly streaked with gray. His gaze fell to her cheeks, where he could barely see a faint dash of freckles upon them. Her eyes, that were cast towards the floor, were of a clouded gray. They almost matched the faded streaks within her hair. She honestly didn't look of Japanese or Asian decent. But she didn't look like anything he had ever laid eyes on before. Not to mention that peculiar accent.
While taking in her appearance, he failed to notice her uncomfortable disposition. The girl nervously shifted under his gaze. However, it was not because of Matt. She seemed to shy away from another man. In his early thirties perhaps, the man wore a tan dress suit with a wrinkled tie. His rapid glances towards the young miss only served to make her inch away even more.
When the older man made a move towards her, the girl abruptly stepped away. Her back slammed against Matt's side. Despite having a hold of one of the overhead straps, Matt was still taken by surprise, and found himself stumbling from the blow. He kept his mouth shut though, his attention now rudely drawn back to his surroundings. Quite honestly, she didn't even seem to realize she had practically shoved him. Her eyes were locked on the creep that neared her. Matt stood completely still, head turned forward, and his attention appearing to be on something else. He didn't want to get involved in something like this. He needed to stay out of the publics' eyes as best as he could. However, he still had enough of a view of the girl, and the man, from the corner of his eye, and he could clearly feel her tense up against his side. It was all hard to ignore.
"Are you a high school student?" He seemed to be attempting to incited conversation.
Matt scoffed to himself.
She avoided eye contact with the other stranger, ignoring his question, and directing her gaze back to the floor.
"Come on, no need to be shy." He moved closer. "You look like a foreigner. Are you?"
His questions were insistent.
Matt let a displeased sigh pass between his lips. This was getting annoying, even if it wasn't any of his business. He had an arm free, and nothing better to do on the boring train ride. So, he swung his arm around the foreign girl's shoulders, and cocked his head towards the other man. She seemed just as surprised as the train's pervert. Of course, she opened her mouth to protest, but Matt took affirmative action, removing his arm from around her shoulders, and covering her mouth with a gloved hand. It must have made her think he was a partner of the man's because the look she gave him as she tilted her head back spoke volumes of her fear.
However, her fears were quarreled when the other man spoke. "Sorry, I didn't realize you had a boyfriend."
He seemed anxious now.
"My apologies."
With that, the man turned his back on the two and made his way down the train car.
Matt quickly withdrew his hand. "Don't go thinking I'm a pervert now."
Once she had calmed her frantic heart, she cocked her head to the side, a grateful smile on her lips.
"Thank you, mister."
Mister? They seemed to be in the same age group.
Matt scoffed to himself. Though that unusual accent provoked him enough to inquire about it. "What Nationality are you?"
"I stick out a lot, don't I?" Her smile seemed to falter.
Matt shrugged his shoulders. "About as much as the next person."
His answer seemed to comfort her a tad.
"I'm Irish." She said.
Matt furrowed his brows for a moment.
"I wouldn't have guessed that. No one sees many Irish in Japan. Americans are more common than you."
She laughed. The laugh was oddly pleasant to his ears.
"So what are you doing in Japan? Shouldn't you be in Ireland?"
She must have thought he was teasing her because her face seemed to light up like Tokyo's lights.
"I should, shouldn't I?"
She turned her line of vision towards the windows.
"I hail from Ireland, and I honestly rather be there. No offense to your country or anything."
She cast him a kind smile. "My mother is Irish as well. Though my father is a mix of Irish and Japanese and another nationality that I can't quite remember."
The girl's shoulders slumped. "I have a distant Aunt here. She's Japanese as well. It's a bit complicated to why I am here and not there."
Matt wasn't sure how to respond. She talked amazingly fast, and dumped more details than necessary on him. He was sure if he heard everything correctly or not. The young man didn't want to seem on the dense side by asking her to repeat it all. And quite frankly, it wouldn't have made a difference anyway.
She continued on, "My father is obsessed with Japan and all its history. So when he found out that one of his distant sisters lived here… Well, he took it as a sign to move here. My mother was not happy. Oh, by the way, he has a lot of sisters and brothers. Distant and close. My grandfather was a man-whore."
The label she had given her grandfather made him chuckle. "So that's why you're here? Because of man-whore Gramps?"
"Pretty much. Hopefully we'll return back to Ireland soon."
She let out a sigh.
"You speak Japanese fluently. Your father's influence?" He quirked a brow.
She nodded. "Yup. I also speak English and Irish."
"I've never heard Irish before." He wondered out loud.
"Anseo théann tú." She gave a witty grin.
He furrowed his brows. "What?"
"I said; Here you go." She chuckled.
He leaned his head back. "So that's what the Irish language sounds like, huh? Pretty nice."
Abruptly, the train slowed towards the next station.
"Oh! This is my stop." She bowed her head to him.
The gesture made him raise a brow. She was formal, too formal, and it made him a bit uncomfortable.
"It was really nice talking with you, mister. And thanks for bailing me out earlier. I owe you one."
The doors slid open.
"Bye bye, mister."
She waved before disappearing with the crowd.
Surprisingly, Matt was slightly disappointed that he hadn't been informed of the little Irish girl's name. He huffed to himself as a sulky pout played on his lips. The rest of the train ride was going to be boring without the little Irish.
Matt wished he hadn't gone out.