Title: Stepping in Old Tracks
Word/Page Count: 1,351/6
Author's Notes: So, here it is, at luvracci's insistence- the sequel to Volume. WARNING: It's gonna be a much darker, more dramatic story, so watch out. All the lyrics are taken from Water Stop by Dispatch, one of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard. There's a good cover of it on youtube- listen to it. Akio, Saku, and Nishi-san's shop all belong to the awesome and wonderful Sandileina. Each chapter is divided into two parts (angles): one focusing on various people at Seigaku and one on various people at Rikkaidai.
Summary: The setup; we check in with Hikari, Eiji, Fuji, Marui, Niou, and (a new character) Hozumi.
---
The Seigaku Angle
---
"Hi. Ka. Ri." Hozumi said each syllable clearly and carefully. "Hikari?"
Her
voice resonated through the empty house.
---
"Nii-chan,
something's wrong. I can't find Hika."
"Satou-kun? I think she said she was to Nishi-san's shop."
"Which is…?"
"The pottery place next to the bus stop."
"Nii-chan? Thanks."
"Wait, Hozu-chi!"
Nomuri Takahito turned to Kikumaru Eiji.
"The
line died."
---
"Hikari."
Satou Hikari looked over her shoulder, then turned back to the clay vases in front of her.
"Hikari."
Her head turned.
"HIKARI!"
She jumped at least a foot into the air before she looked between the cabinets.
"Ch-chameleon!"
---
Hikari sat down on the
tiny couch inside her living room, barely enough for her to flop down
on and read manga magazines on yet currently holding four other
people. She squeezed in between Hozumi and Eiji. Hozumi seemed
unaffected, simply tucking in her elbows; Eiji, on the other hand,
looked pleasantly surprised.
"What's your name?" asked Hikari quietly, her voice obviously directed toward Hozumi.
"It's Hozumi right now," Hozumi replied brightly. "I haven't changed it since you stopped speaking. But I'm gonna change it soon, now that you're talking again."
Fuji (who had come along mostly for the fact that he was wondering who in the world was getting dragged along by Hikari by the wrist whimpering, "Nii-chan!") raised his eyebrows.
"Don't you dare talk so cheerfully," Hikari said, her voice threateningly quiet. Takahito and Eiji were both staring at Hozumi with a kind of pleading look in their eyes, as if asking, "Why?"
And Fuji was left in the dust.
---
As
soon as the Nomuri siblings walked out, Hikari flopped onto the
couch, legs almost straight out in front of her.
"I can't believe them!" she yelled, her voice loud and piercing. "Eiji, how could you!"
"Me?! Hika, I didn't do anything!"
"Yes you did!" she cried, tiny dots of mascara already sliding down her cheeks. "You told him about it. Eiji, no one was supposed to know!" Hikari got up and ran into her room, slamming the door behind her.
"Wait- Hika!" Eiji raised a hand to slam on her door, but Fuji grabbed his wrist. "Don't," he warned.
Eiji glared at him. "It's your fault too," he hissed angrily. "Why'd you have to fall in love with her?" He ran from the living room into an adjoined kitchen and into the Kikumaru's house.
Fuji
stood alone, reaching out his arms as far as they would go and
feeling nothing, nothing at all.
---
"Why, Hozumi? Why?"
Hanako sat, her forehead resting agonizingly in her hand. Takahito
sat in front of her, staring straight ahead.
"Kaa-ch-san." Hozumi sat, staring at her hands. "I'm not Hozumi anymore."
Hanako burst out crying.
"Hozu-chi, this isn't the best time to change your name," Takahito said quietly.
"I'm not Hozumi anymore!" she yelled. "I don't care about what happened! I want to talk to Hikari again!"
"Hozu-chi-"
"I DON'T CARE!" Suddenly, she curled up her legs and sat, quietly crying into the knees of her jeans. "I don't care," I don't care," she repeated, over and over.
"You're right," Takahito said
suddenly, getting up, still staring blankly at Hozumi. "You don't
care. That's the problem." He walked out, slowly and silently
while the words were absorbed into the carpet and never made it to
Hozumi's ears.
---
"I finished my homework. Chameleon's
back," Hikari said, the words coming out in a single, solid
line.
Satou Nomura froze and set down the spoon currently stirring a pot of soup. "You're kidding."
"No," she replied fatly. "She tried to talk to me, too. And…" Hikari bit her lip.
"Oh god," Nomura said, sitting down for a minute and patting the seat next to her. Hikari stood standing.
"What are we going to do?" Hikari whispered. Nomura put her arms around her, warm and tight and trying to protect her from all the evil in the world.
---
The Rikkaidai Angle
---
"Hey, Marui."
"What?"
"Dude, it's been almost two months. Wait… oh…. so that's why you're so depressed."
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"White Day is coming up." Niou grinned. "Idiot."
---
It was raining outside.
Huge, fat droplets fell, one by one, hard and cold and aching. Marui sat, head in his hands. "White Day," he muttered.
He hated White Day.
Two months wasn't really that long ago, was it? It seemed like ages, like a thousand years ticking by slowly. Two months since he had first believed in love at first sight. Two months since his belief had been broken.
When will the water stop
Will it pour all day
When will the water stop
I know that you can't say
He sighed. Tennis practice had been cancelled; the outdoor courts were soaked and the indoor courts were under renovation. His hair curled and frizzed in the humidity, the damaged strands lifting up like a strange halo around his head.
Jackal looked worriedly at his doubles partner, "Marui, you 'kay?"
"Yeah, he muttered, still shirtless after changing. "You go. I'll catch up later."
When you dove,
Drunk with sleep in your eyes
You stole what was left of the sky
I remember how you freed your hair
Hung your head in a forgotten stare
And I thought… and I thought…
---
"ANIKI!" Akio and Saku ran over to their big brother, barely reaching up to his waist. He scooped them up cheerfully and tried not to show them his eyes. Akio and Saku were masters at reading eyes; he had to be careful.
He was successful. All he had to do now was wallow in his self-pity.
---
The rain went stop-and-go, stop-and-go for two days.
When will the water stop
Will it pour all day
When will the water stop
I know that you can't say
"One, two, three." Niou turned to Marui, eyes open wider than wide. "Three days until White Day, right?"
Marui scowled in response.
Niou grinned, resting his arms lazily on his desk. "I still have those photos you know." Marui froze.
"But of course, they aren't very useful, considering I currently don't have to blackmail you for anything. Niou walked off, coolly and steadily.
Marui finally stopped holding his breath.
---
"Aniki!"
"Aniki!"
"C'mon, we wanna play a game!"
"Okay, what's the game?
"We count to three and then you find us-"
"Like right now! ONE, TWO, THREE!"
Three days until White Day.
"ONE, TWO, THREE!"
It was currently 19:23.
"ONE, TWO, THREE!"
In four hours and 37 minutes, it'd be two days until White Day.
"ONE, TWO, THREE!"
Eight hours after midnight, school would start.
"ONE, TWO, THREE!"
That gave him sixty hours and thirty-seven- wait, thirty-six- minutes to think up of a plan.
"Aniki, let go, you're hurting me!"
Marui lifted his hand to see finger-shaped bruises on Saku's arm.
---
It was midnight.
Truth be told, it was never the smartest idea to be up at midnight.
Tick. Tick. Tick. In the silence, the clock was deafening.
He had originally planned to stay up and make a wish at 23:11- 11:11 according to 12-hour time, which thanks to a mishap with a gaijin was what the clock in his room ran on. But he'd slept through it, only to awake 39 minutes too late.
56 hours.
56 hours and he still hadn't thought of a plan.
Tock. The number changed.
Tick. Tick. Tick.
55 hours, 59 minutes to go and he still hadn't thought of a plan.
When will the water stop
Will it pour all day
When will the water stop
I know that you can't say
She is washed up
On his shore there's no time to
Get into his life
---
This was ridiculous.
Marui Bunta was not the type of person who was going to sit around for hours on end, thinking up a plan for someone he barely even knew. No. He was Marui Bunta, the bright, clever, resourceful magic volleyer. And he- he was going to do this.
Marui Bunta the bright, clever, resourceful magic volleyer smiled to himself.
Meanwhile, in Tokyo, two girls were crying.