I hadn't written any SetoMary in a while. Again, Happy Valentine's Day~!
Mary sighed in irritation, propping herself up on her elbows as she stared out from her window.
A soft breeze made the leaves murmur and sway in the trees. But even with this small disturbance the thin threads connecting some of the auburn leaves snapped and soon fell to the ground. This was the state of Mary's front (and back) yard, littered with thousands of these specks of dead vegetation. She didn't mind it at all though. If anything it was good, nature's way of reminding her that winter would be coming soon.
Mary shifted restlessly on her elbows and soon changed her position so that she was laying on her back, her head hanging out the window. She kept a firm grip with both her hands on the sill so as not to fall out. Her long, white, and wavy hair trailed all the way down to the forest's floor outside.
Her dark pink eyes skimmed over the overcast sky above her. A solid wall of grey to match the dreary feeling that hung over her heart. Was he not coming today?
The passage of time was something Mary had never taken particular attention to. Her small house had no clock to mark the hours after all. Every day was the same. When the sun came up, she woke up. When the sun went down, she went to bed. When she was hungry, she ate. When things needed to be done, she did just them. There was no designated time for anything, only the amount of light given in one day. But ever since she'd met Seto, Mary had begun to realize how slow the seconds, minutes, and hours of the day seemed to tick by.
She'd wait, agitated, almost everyday to see him, talk to him. Being alone these countless years had her, without really realizing it, craving human contact. And when he wasn't there she ached. She ached for the rest of the day to go by faster. To fall asleep as she quivered in anticipation of the proceeding day. She ached to hear his voice again. To feel the warmth and presence of another human being, even if she wasn't one.
Maybe it was more than that at times. Maybe what she really wanted, or missed, was her mother and the peaceful days they once shared. Yes, that was what she truly longed for, but Seto was her friend and she cared for him more than anything in the world. That's why she waited, as patiently as she could for him to walk down the heavily weeded path each day. It was much like today, except her patience was wearing thin.
Oh, Seto, where are you? Mary whined inwardly. Was he not coming today? Surely he would have told her in advance like usual. Still pondering this, she pulled a chair over to the window to sit and rest her tired hands, but her head still hung out the window. She then covered her eyes with her palms and sighed. The faint sunlight filtering through her skin caused her to see nothing but red.
"Mary? Whatcha doing?"
Mary felt her heart leap with joy as she heard Seto's voice. She was so excited in fact that she forgot to place how close his voice was as she lifted her head. Their foreheads bumped together painfully in full force. Both made exclamations of pain and Mary sat up in her chair, rubbing her forehead to soothe the throbbing ache.
"Seto..." Mary turned around to face him. He was rubbing his forehead too. He wore a light blue jacket she'd never seen on him before, but that was no doubt meant to replace the hood he'd given to her. Despite the pain he was no doubt feeling, he still smiled at her.
"Sorry about that," Seto apologized, "didn't mean to scare you." He moved his hand from his forehead revealing the red mark where she'd hit him.
Mary couldn't help but crack a smile and stifle a giggle. "'S okay." she muttered. Then she looked at him and poked out her bottom lip in a pout. "Why we're you so late?" she questioned.
Seto looked down sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, sorry about that. Kano wouldn't let me leave until I'd helped him finish his homework." He sighed at the memory.
Kano? Mary was momentarily confused and it probably showed on her face, but then she remembered Seto talking about his siblings.
"Uh, Mary, it's kinda cold out here. Can I come in?" he asked.
Mary flushed having realized they were still communicating through an open window, like some sort of scene from Romeo and Juliet, and a broken shuttered one at that. "Oh yeah, hang on." she said and shut the window, but left its shutters open. She practically scrambled off her chair, the wood creaking with her frantic movements. Then she opened the door just as quickly.
"Hi." she said somewhat breathless.
Seto chuckled lightly, "Hi." He slipped off his shoes in the doorway and entered with only his socks.
Mary hadn't changed anything since Seto had last been here. Except for the one still propped against the window, the wooden chairs still encircled the table. A clear vase with wilting, brown daisies laid in the middle of the table accompanied by a few open faced books she was re-reading. Her unmade bed was tucked in the corner, so that the sun couldn't disturb her when it came through the windows, which were her only source of light besides the few stubs of wax that were used as candles.
"It's always so cozy in here." Seto commented as he slipped the grey-green backpack off and deposited it on the table.
"Th-thanks." Mary said and pulled up a chair and sat down. She watched intently and with fascination as Seto shifted through the backpack and pulled out a red notebook as well as a math text book.
"What's that?" she asked, her voice almost quivering with excitement.
Seto smiled as he pulled out a pencil. "I didn't get a chance to do my homework at home, so I thought I'd be able to do it here. Is that alright?"
"Mhm." Mary nodded.
Though it didn't seem as if Seto enjoyed the pastime, Mary enjoyed it very much. The simple equations that seemed to make Seto groan Mary examined in awe. She didn't entirely understand the concept of the math equations, how Seto could add, subtract, multiply, and divide all these separate numbers (and sometimes letters?) and get entirely new numbers. And then the combinations seemed endless. Infinite.
Seto dropped the pencil and yawned. He stretched his arms out, hands interlocked, above his head until his shoulders made a satisfying pop. Mary blinked in surprise at the sound.
"Thanks for letting me stay here." Seto said sitting back heavily in the chair.
Mary rested her head on her crossed arms, looking straight at Seto. "It's nothing..." she said sleepily. She was so warm and comfortable that she almost felt like she could fall asleep, and so did Seto.
"Oh!" Mary suddenly exclaimed making Seto jump, "Did you bring it?" she asked eagerly.
"What? Oh, yeah I did." Seto fished in his jacket pocket and pulled out his iPod. Mary squealed in delight. "The only thing is, I lost the earphones." he said, "I didn't happen to..."
"I have those." Mary said. She got up from her seat and crossed the room to the corner where her bed was. The sound of a chair scraping the floor and soft footsteps indicated that Seto was following behind her.
Mary opened the drawer next to her bed and pulled out the earphones. They were wrapped neatly to avoid knitting. As Seto sat down on her bed she showed him her find. "You left them last time you were here." she explained.
Seto picked the earphones from her gently cupped hands, smiling. "Thanks, I thought I did, and I was too afraid to ask Kido for hers in case I lost them too."
Kido... another name Mary knew she'd heard before, but couldn't put a face to. She didn't dwell on it too much though.
"You wanted to listen right?" Mary nodded. Seto reached over and stuck the ear buds in her ears. She couldn't really put them in herself. He placed the iPod in her hands, the cool metal of it pressing against her palm. Then the music started playing.
Mary still found music incredible. The only thing she'd heard as music was the birds' songs outside her window. The beats of the speakers made her heart feel like it was fluttering at the same pace. She soon found herself grinning wildly and looked over at Seto.
"Uh, Seto?" Mary slipped one of the ear buds out, as she looked at her friend. He was slouched over a bit, his blue hood almost coming off completely. His eyes were closed and his face looked blank in sleep; it was the closest thing from a smile Mary had ever seen him wear. Even with her words Seto didn't stir, but his back moved up and down steadily with every breath he took.
"Hey..." She reached over and shook his shoulder. Seto blinked his eyes open and took a deep breath.
"Hmm? What?" he rolled his shoulders, "Sorry, did I fall asleep?" Mary nodded sympathetically. "I haven't gotten that much sleep lately-" Seto stopped, and Mary looked towards the windows.
It started out soft, one drop here and there, and then two in a chain until there was practically a dull roar of rain drops pounding against the roof. It was raining, and raining hard.
"Ah! It's raining." Mary commented out loud, but when she turned Seto wasn't there, at least not sitting up. He was curled up on her bed some pasture as before, his hands also folded near his cheek.
Mary didn't know what to do. She pulled the other ear bud out of her ear and laid the iPod and earphones on the bedside table. She looked over at Seto. He hadn't moved and the rain was still falling. She just stared at him, watching him breath and hearing his soft snores. She reached out and gently brushed aside some of his hair aside from his face and stroked his cheek with the back of her hand. Then there was a raining noise in Seto's pocket and Mary jumped back.
Seto sighed in his sleep and turned slightly, but otherwise ignored the noise. Mary soon felt safe enough to approach to discover the ringing was coming from his pocket. She bit her lip. With shaking hands she reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone.
The instant she felt the weight of it in her hands the phone stopped ringing. At first Mary was confused, but then the phone started ringing again and she felt her heart skip a beat. Seto had explained to her how phones worked, but she wasn't exactly sure if she should answer it. She thought about putting the phone back into his pocket until the thought occurred to her: What if it was an emergency? Pressing the green button, Mary lifted the phone to her ear like she'd seen Seto do.
"Hello?" she asked in a tiny, insecure voice.
There was sound coming from the phone, but it was too faint for Mary to know exactly what it was. That's when Mary realized she had the phone upside down. Righting her wrong she was finally able to catch the voice on the other end.
"Hello. Kousuke? Hello?" It was a girl's voice, and it was laced with concern.
"Hello?" Mary said, a little louder and more confident.
"Hello. Who is this?" the voice asked.
"Um... well I... Um..." Mary stuttered, not planning anything past the 'hello'.
"Wait. Mary? Is this Mary?"
Mary stiffened, suddenly a bit scared. "Y-yes." she said hesitantly.
"Sorry. I'm Ayano, Kousuke's older sister. He's told me a lot about you; I didn't mean to make you feel weird. Is Kousuke there?"
Seto's older sister... just how many siblings did he have? "Um, actually, he's sleeping. He fell asleep." she said.
"Oh, I see." Ayano said.
"I- I can wake him if-"
"No." she said, "Let him sleep. He doesn't have an umbrella. I called because I was worried he might try to walk home in this rain. You wouldn't mind letting him stay there right?"
"No. No, no, no, I don't-" Mary was cut off by a crashing noise on Ayano's side and then some yelling.
"Shuuya, stop teasing Tsubomi!" Ayano said firmly, and it was obvious she wasn't speaking to Mary. "Well, I gotta go." she said, "Thank you; it's just till the rain stops. It was nice talking to you."
"Bye..." Mary said softly and then the call hung up. She placed the phone next to Seto's iPod on the bedside table instead of back in his pocket. Meanwhile, Seto hadn't moved an inch and continued to sleep peacefully.
Mary curled up into Seto's back, but it felt a little awkward considering his small, thin frame. She didn't think he'd mind really and knew she didn't. It felt nice, it felt warm, and felt safe. She liked it. So with the noisy drizzle of rain on the roof and the closeness of a friend by her side, Mary fell asleep, having a little more faith in the world.
