Author's Note: For mukirome :)
Lonely Journeys
Rin sighed as she took a seat at a bar. She was too young for them to actually serve her, of course, but people tended to be nice to a young girl travelling alone and would let her sit for a while. Sometimes she'd get lucky and they'd give her some water or juice, and, sometimes, she even managed to get some food. Rarely, of course, did she get anything at all, however.
"You look shady."
Rin coolly turned to the speaker, whose mature voice had her expecting some punk trying to take advantage of a helpless little girl. Instead, she saw a girl who looked only a couple years or so older than her. Her sharp retort died on her tongue.
"Are you dangerous?" the girl questioned.
Rin stared back at her, trying to figured out what the girl was trying to do. Then, slowly, cautiously, she replied, "No."
"That's good," said the girl, leaping up onto the seat beside Rin, who continued staring at her cautiously. "Because I thought we could strike a deal, and I need to know that you're safe before I offer it up to you."
"I'm not interested in any deals," Rin replied shortly. "I have enough on my plate already."
The girl smirked at Rin as a waiter arrived immediately to serve the stranger. "It doesn't look like you have much, actually. In fact, I see no plate in sight."
Rin scowled. Stupid girl. "Leave me alone," she growled, turning away.
But she could help but turn around when she caught the scent of the warm food placed in front of the new arrival. It wasn't like Rin hadn't eaten in days. It was that she hadn't eaten in days. She was absolutely famished, and the people in this area weren't very generous. She stared at the girl cautiously as the stranger pushed the plate over to her.
"Have it," the strange girl offered. "And, in exchange, listen to my proposition."
Rin inspected the girl's face carefully, but she knew that she was in no position to refuse. So, without a word, she accepted the dish and started taking slow, delicate bites, though all she wanted to do was stuff it all into her mouth all at once.
"So, anyway, first off, you're a traveller, am I right?" the girl wondered.
"Yeah," Rin replied carefully.
"Well, I want to travel," the girl continued. "But, my parents aren't very supportive of my wish."
Great, Rin thought. A spoiled little girl wanting to defy her parents.
The girl rambled one confidently. "So, I figured that, maybe, if I had someone with real experience to take me along, they might be more open to the idea."
"You're lying," Rin cut her off.
The girl froze, then she smiled slyly. "I should have known you'd catch on."
"You want me to kidnap you," Rin continued. "You want to just disappear one day. I'd believe you had your parents permission, and you'd be long gone before they'd notice."
"Correct," said the girl, still smiling. "I like you. What's your name?"
"Rin," the blonde replied.
"I'm Miki. So, will you be my travelling companion?"
"I see no way in which this arrangement benefits me," Rin replied haughtily. In truth, she really wanted nothing to do with the girl. But, at the same time, a part of her begged her to take the girl along.
"I'll pay for all our meals and lodgement. Is that acceptable?" Miki wondered.
Rin paused in consideration, staring at Miki's outstretched hand. Then, she took it, and replied, "Deal."
. . .
"How long have you been travelling?" Miki wondered, her arms looped around Rin's torso as they rode on the back of Rin's horse. The beautiful creature plopped along the trodden roads of the town in the early autumn morning, bouncing them rhythmically on its back.
"Four years," Rin replied.
"All by yourself?"
"Yes. Travelling is best done alone."
"Is that so? Doesn't it get lonely?"
"Not at all," scoffed Rin. "In my line of work, I normally have at least one person hoping to be rid of me, so it's best not to draw other people into it."
"Oh dear," laughed Miki, her breath forming puffs of air beside Rin's face. "Does that mean my life is now in danger?"
"Most definitely. Exciting enough for you, princess?"
"I can think of something more exciting," Miki murmured teasingly, narrowing her eyes prettily as Rin peered down at her. Rin scowled, but there was no mistaking the rosy blush on her cheeks deepening past the cold.
"You're a strange girl," Rin replied, turning her gaze back ahead of her.
"Am I?" the girl wondered. "Or are you the one who is strange?"
Rin snorted in contempt. "I'm perfectly normal, unlike you."
"Yes, I guess you are," Miki replied wistfully. "It is quite normal for people to live in denial, am I correct?"
"It's too early for these mind games, princess," Rin retorted. "I don't start thinking until the sun rises."
"Sometimes, thinking too much does nothing more than cloud our vision," Miki replied nonchalantly, puffing out clouds of crystals for show and peering at Rin in the corner of her eye, her eyes a beautiful, dark honey colour in this darkness.
"I don't know how someone can't think too much when you go spewing out random nonsense every other word," Rin informed her. "Do you ever think before you talk?"
"Only when I'm with unimportant people," she replied.
Rin said no more in response, and they fell into silence, with nothing but their breathing and the sound of the horse's hooves against the frost-bitten ground to fill the nighttime silence.
. . .
Rin stared, amused, as Miki laid her seductive gaze on the bartender, convincing him to give them their meal for free if she'd perform tonight. He refused her in jest a couple times, but, as she'd leaned closer to him, dragging herself slowly across the counter, he'd laughed and agreed. She'd smiled that devil's grin at him and returned to her table where Rin awaited her.
"Are we out of money?" Rin wondered. "Or do you just do that for fun?"
"Not quite yet, but I wished to spend some on winter clothing," Miki replied, taking a seat across from Rin and taking a bold swig of hot cider. She cast her thick-lashed gaze at Rin and wondered, "Unless you had wished to sleep together every night to preserve our body heat."
"I think that's a wish of yours, not mine, princess," Rin replied, smirking in response.
"I must admit, I do enjoy those nights," Miki responded, smiling slyly at Rin. "And, to your other question, it's only fun when it's you."
Rin peered at the bartender, who stared at them with a smile on his lips, which annoyed her. She turned back to Miki. "I believe it's time for you to perform."
"Will you sing with me?" Miki wondered.
"I don't sing," Rin replied promptly.
"But will you sing with me?" Miki repeated, standing before Rin and holding a hand out to her.
Rin stared at the hand, then up at Miki's confident gaze. "I don't sing."
"But you are not alone anymore," Miki urged. "So can you not sing with me now?"
Rin stared at Miki. "But I do not know any songs."
"I'm sure you do," Miki responded. "I sing it every day. Do not think I do not notice you singing along."
Rin's face went red and she looked away. "I don't sing."
"Rin, do not worry," Miki insisted. "I swear I will not leave you alone. You will have no need to ever be lonely. You may sing with me without worry. I shall stay with you always."
Rin stared up at the girl and wondered, "You'll always be with me? You won't leave me alone, to sing only one half of the song?"
"I have left my home to stay with you, Rin. I have no plans on ever letting you out of my grasp. We shall sing song after song together as we travel across this world, seeing all there is to see. We shall always be together. You will not have to be lonely anymore."
"Then I will sing with you, Miki," Rin replied, taking the girl's hand. "And I'll sing with you everyday. And we'll be together, always."
As Rin formed this pact with the girl she'd met only months ago at bar, all the lonely journeys she'd seen ahead of her vanished. Instead, before her, she saw lovely adventures filled with songs completed by Miki's beautiful voice as the girl would smile that devilish smile and leave Rin enraptured forevermore.
Author's Note: I dunno. Is this fluff? I just didn't think a kiss or saying "I love you" matched the mood of the story. Anyway, this came from nowhere. I seriously just wrote and this came out. I really like it, though, and I'm considering redoing it as a chapter story. What do you think? Anyway, review please! ALSO, I'm sorry this is late, mukirome, I hadn't realised that I'd never actually posted this. I'd uploaded it, but never posted.