Don't You Understand?
written by A. E. Stover
this version was last edited March 12th, 2013.

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What started out as a drabble eventually turned into a short fic. It's highly imperative that you keep in mind the fact that as all of this is from a single person's perspective, the chances of things being biased and warped are always there.

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CHAPTER ONE
the roommate


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Her roommate, Ino saw, was a blonde. That was the first indication that this year would not go well.

Not that there was anything wrong with being blonde — she was one herself, after all. It was just the kind of blonde that her roommate was that troubled her. Short, straight blonde hair. Sharp, ice blue eyes. Perfect body, perfect curves. Ino found herself drawn in and repulsed at the same time. She wanted to push the woman out and lock the door, tell her she was at the wrong suite. But instead, she just watched her with careful eyes, cupping her hands around a small vase of orange flowers on the round white table in their kitchen.

Her roommate surveyed their suite with an even gaze; it swept the room up twice over like she was playing a game to find what was wrong. Then, her roommate settled those unnerving eyes on her and met her gaze. She hand she had on her suitcase loosened and she suddenly came forward without it, smiling warmly. "I'm Samui. Are you Ino?"

Ino tried a smile, but her face felt heavy and the presence of the other woman was ruining her own. She clenched and unclenched her hand beneath the table, trying to find where she stood against this stranger and found herself being swallowed whole by the grin on the other woman's face.

Intelligent. Calculating. Seductive. That was the kind of blonde her roommate was.

Impulsive. Crass. Slovenly. That was the kind of blonde she was.

This woman can not stay, Ino determined. She had to be gone. From where she sat at the table, her chin in hand, she gave her roommate a silent, challenging look. She idly traced the curving outline of the white porcelain vase she'd gotten for the small bunch of orange flowers now inside, her eyes forever fixed on the other blonde in the room. "Do you know what a doppelgänger is?" She asked slowly, purposefully, as her gaze sharpened and focused on the way her roommate arched an eyebrow at her.

"Yes," the stranger replied, and Ino hated the sound of her silky voice. "It's German, isn't it?" she pointed out helpfully, as if it were something Ino didn't know. "Literally meaning 'double walker,' and believed to be a paranormal double of a living person; a harbinger of death and misfortune."

Ino lowered her eyes to the flowers and gently smoothed her thumb over a velvety petal. "What do you think you're supposed to do," she continued, "when you meet one?"

Now, her roommate was the one watching with careful eyes. She could feel it in the air, like the odd disturbance took on a tangible form, and in it she found that it was easy to curl her lips into a smile. The uncertainly of the other woman delighted her, and she knew she had her right where she wanted. She was back in control.

"Do you know?" Ino asked again, her voice resonating in the still room. She plucked the petal off and blew it at the other woman. Her breath pushed it off her finger and barely sent it over the table. It hovered at the edge before it finally conceded and dropped to the floor in silence.

"You kill it," were the words that fell from Ino's smiling lips.

That was all they ever said to each other until one rainy day, many months later.

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