Disclaimed.
REVIEW.
Doki doki The stage was set. Labored breathing rang through the air. Everyone was watching them, their every move just entertainment to the audience. They didn't care. One bleeding, trails of crimson going down his body. The other smirking, smug and proud as he raised his profile to full length. The atmosphere reeked of desperation. One winner. One loser. Pure-hearted Fighters.
Chapter Un
--The Stage is Set--
"That was great sempai! Just amazing! Can you hear them? They're cheering! For us! Us!" The speaker, a brown haired teenager, jumped up and down with excitement, cheeks lush with ecstasy as he looked up at his sempai, fake blood all over his face and most of his garments. His sempai smiled kindly, throwing him a towel.
"You know Misaki; you don't have to call me sempai, we starting acting at the same time." The teen, Misaki, started to pout, "But you did great. You really know how to act. Especially when we do horror and fighting type plays." The older male started to chuckle as Misaki's face brightened up at receiving the compliment. "Of course sempai! The gut-wrenching yells of terror! Death! Anguish! It's all so interesting!" Before letting Misaki begin to ramble about his most questionable interests, the man started walking towards the only exit in the room, already in normal civilian clothes.
"Hey Misaki, get yourself cleaned up. You don't want to keep your brother waiting, right? I have to go home to set up dinner, but I trust you to put your costume away." Misaki nodded, waving in his sempai's direction; yelling out 'see you tomorrow sempai!' with a grin that seemed to cut his face in half. Before leaving the dressing room completely, sempai turned around and said, "You don't have to call me sempai, just Nowaki is fine."
--
It all started roughly six months before the previously mentioned performance. I was causing brother nothing but grief again and decided he would have been better off without me; thus the idea of running away from home sprang to my mind.
I didn't even really think about it, just ran away; nothing planned, nothing ruined, right?
It was mid-afternoon, bright, sunny, the opposite of how most dramatic scenes were supposed to be like. I didn't even run, I just told brother I was going for a walk and that I was probably going to be late for dinner, or not even show up; but I didn't feel like mentioning that last bit of information.
So I was walking down the street, chin up with a pep in my step. It looked nothing like a runaway teenager, man was I good. While turning a corner I tripped on a cat; totally not cliché, and fell on top of whoever was closest; who writes this stuff?
Thump Damn, I hope that box didn't contain anything breakable.
"Oh no, are you alright?" What a stranger with manners! "Yeah, ack, sorry about that. I didn't mean to trip on the cat, I swear!" He started to chuckle, which just made me want to punch the guy; here I was apologizing and all he does is laugh at me! I take back my 'stranger with manners' comment. This guy is a total dick.
"Ah, I apologize myself. I should have been watching where I was going better. It's all completely my fault. How about I treat you to some coffee? There's a café near the flower shop where I work. I'll get you something since my shift is almost over if you don't mind waiting for a bit."
I can totally go for that, nothing beats free. I agreed whole-heartedly, ignoring brothers' rule of no talking to strangers. Besides, this stranger didn't look like a pedophile, and he looked around my age! He's definitely harmless.
I followed him to his job, which was less than a block away from where we bumped into each other, finding out that the box he had dropped earlier was full of ribbons and wrapping paper. Hey now, paper is heavier than it sounds! He finished up what he had to do, said a quick bye to his boss man, and we crossed the street to the café he had mentioned earlier.
We talked for a while; getting along nicely for the less than wonderful greeting we shared. We found a lot of things in common and for what we differentiated in, we held a silent agreement to not argue over it. We stayed in the café for hours, I had totally forgotten about the coffee.
It was after eight that the stranger, Nowaki, walked me home. Saying stuff about how 'non-adults' shouldn't walk around at night. I made sure to kick him in the shin for that.
There went my overly-awesome under-planned running away scheme.
--
Which brings us up to now. Years later; present time. It's mid July, nice weather time. It's been over five years since sempai has contacted me, last time being after the play. He never went back to the acting troop, I asked around to see if anyone knew where he was. It seemed he quit the troop, and two of his six jobs. I asked the flower shop owner, but it seemed that sempai had asked to actually work less throughout the week. I didn't try anything anymore. If he didn't call me, I wouldn't make an effort to call him.
I've been in a really bad mood since then, and it's been showing in my schoolwork. I just can't concentrate. Ahh, and my test prep scores suck. I'll never get into M University. And the worst thing is that I can't remember what sempai looks like or even what his name is. It's like all I get is a dark blank whenever I try thinking about him.
"D… D… C…" I can just feel brothers' disappointed stare going right through me as I recited my entrance examination grades. I sighed, "I guess Mitsuhashi U. is nothing more than a fantasy."
I walked home with as much enthusiasm as a dog at the pound would have. I could see my house from even my bent head angle. Now that was really close. I needed to prepare myself. Get him distracted, yeah! I'll just make him forget all about the exam grades! He won't even think about asking! It's fool-proof!
With this, my walking turned more into a jog, the conversation we would have running through my mind. I was right in front of the door by now; legs shaking with anticipation.
I semi-slammed the door open, yelling being my first instinct. "Brother!"
"Misaki! Welcome home! H-Hey, get off now Usagi-san."
My next instinct was, of course, obvious.
I froze.
-----NOT Nowa/Misa:/