EDIT: April 23, 2013 - again, fixed grammar mistakes and a few other things.
GLITCHED: In Fate's Hands
Sometimes I must admit I was like a living magnet that attracted only the odd, uncommon, and obscene. Up until this day, I had always thought of it to be a good thing. It always brought me to finding rare artifacts and unique animals wherever I went, but I would never expect to be encountered with...this.
It all started when the air suddenly got tense and the waves stopped crashing up against the shore. Everything became seemingly soundless except for the sound of my footstep as I walked out of my shop.
I knew something was suspiciously wrong the second the air got heavier, but it wasn't until I left my shop that I realized what was wrong. It was me. And the whole beach.
I was making a turn to the left, toward the ocean, to see that the waves didn't stop physically. They were still sweeping against the shore, only without a sound. But before I could make a full stop, I was abruptly turned around one hundred eighty degrees by a part of myself that wasn't myself. My body moved without my command and sat itself down on the beach's bench before I could even blink in response. Apparently, I had zero control over my muscles, but my body could move according to itself. On the bench that I was perched upon I noticed a familiar silhouette strutting down the stairs. It didn't take long to see the same awkwardness in his movements too.
As he came close enough for me to make out his face, I was laughing so hard on the inside it was almost hysterical. Of the many people in this town, it just so happened to be him. His face was displaying a content smile, but I knew inside he was dying. Whatever event this was, it was keeping me amused just by seeing such an unnaturally happy expression on his face. I knew him, he hated me as much as I loved to tease and disrupt his psyche. This was only to be expected from rivals—or that's what he liked to label us as. In reality, I didn't even think of him as highly as a potential rival. It was crystal clear which of us Neon preferred. Sure, I was not around all year long, but that actually worked out better for me. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, as a wise man once said.
When he finally made his way in front of me, he planted himself a foot away from me and simply stood there smiling down at me. His eyes stared down into mine, sending me all these mixed signals right now. Behind the forced friendliness in his eyes, I could feel the disturbance and turmoil directed at me. Then again, it would had been weird if it wasn't so.
I felt the corners of my lips pull back, and then in came a deep breath. The air left my lungs as my tongue formed a string of words that I had thought I would never be able to say, "It's good to see you again, beautiful. Sit with me until my break is over, please?"
That left a terrible feeling in my mouth. First, that was not something you would hear coming from my mouth voluntarily. It sounded too much like a cheesy pick up line you'll come across in Pick-up Lines You Shouldn't Use books. Second, this was Kurapika I was dealing with. The Kurapika Kuruta who wanted nothing more than to have me exiled from this town. To say that to his face was like begging him to stab me in the heart with a dagger. At that moment, I honestly thought he would just punch the life out of me while I could only sit through it all.
But then I remembered our situation. He was just as incapable as me. Everything he did was probably out of his control as well. But that didn't mean I wasn't shocked when he said, "I'd like that." Truth was it gave me a fright in its own way. I was mostly shocked at the conversation we were having. It was most definitely not proper in terms of our usual exchange of insults. In fact, I can even say the previous conversation we had this morning was more of a proper conversation than this.
As to what was happening to us, I'm starting to catch on. With the flow of everything and the hint our greeting suggested, it wouldn't take a scientist to figure out our situation. I had a feeling it would be something like this when I noticed how the waves became silent. The phenomenon only occurred when you trigger a heart event with the girl that liked you in that way. Now a heart event was the special moment you're awarded with when your relationship with her significantly deepened. As in when strangers become friends, friends become close friends, and from close friends to love interests. During these few events, you obviously become much closer to the other than you already were. However, it was something up to fate to decide because the special events only happen when both parties felt the same for each other and the timing was perfect.
So from what you can see, the blond in front of me was nothing special like what I've listed above, maybe except the mutual feeling part since we both shared mutual disdain. So my point being, this should not be happening to us who were rivals. It was a mistake on fate's part, whatever fate was—though it seemed plausible to me that the Harvest Goddess played the role of the mastermind. Considering she was the Goddess of this place. But for me, I didn't believe in any of those spiritual beings like gods. I believed only in myself and what my eyes witness. Say perhaps the Goddess here, for I had seen her in reality when I accidentally dropped a flower I intended to present Neon into the spring in front of the ore mine. The Harvest Goddess appeared from thin air thanking me for giving her an "offering". That was when I had first come to this town, across the ocean from my home town.
With the troublesome thought of this being a mix up, my attention was brought out of my calculations and back to the boy that sat uncomfortable close beside me. My mouth being its own being, said with false ease, "Say, what is your favourite season?"
My head turned to my right and watched as Kurapika voiced his answer, almost instantly. "It's summer, if you're going to make me choose. It's when most plants grow and it is also the only time of the year when Red Grass grows. Although it is poisonous if eaten, it just appeals to me that much more. Maybe I just like red, huh?"
I hummed quietly in response. I had never expected it be to such a simple reason, but then I realized it didn't take much to favour one season over the others. It was a stupid question to ask someone, in my opinion. But my body forced its reply from me, making me say much more than I wanted to reveal, "Right. I also like summer most. It's the time when I can come here and be away from my home town with an eligible excuse."
"Do you not like it there?" He immediately shot back with curiosity. I really didn't want to feed his curiosity. It was none of his business anyway. But fate seemed to want to make it his business, because I told him, "I hate it there. The place is trash to live in, literally and metaphorically. Everywhere you turn is garbage. Though honestly, I don't even know why I need an excuse to be away from there. It's not like anyone cares, but maybe—I just..." want to have a place to call home and return to. And I was glad fate at least allowed me to keep that much to myself. It would be weird if your rival knew more of your secrets than the girl.
He repeated softly, "It's not like anyone cares, huh?"
Then, almost as if I had control over myself again, I slowly looked down into the eagle-like eyes of the small librarian, returning his observant gaze I was unaware of. Then this was the awkward moment when we did nothing more than stare at each other and probably even try to figure out what the other one was thinking about, which I still had no clue what it was.
Looking away, I got on my feet and straightened my back. With my fingers combing through my slicked back hair, I heaved a breath and said loud enough for the both of us to hear, "Well, I have to get back to work now." Giving Kurapika another glance, I whispered, "Later then."
Staring back, he smiled as he mumbled, "Bye." He turned around and headed for the stairs, while I myself turned back around for my shop. I took a step off the ground, but I was suddenly jerked back and it started all over again. I was spun around and before I knew it, I was right behind him, hand on his wrist.
Pulling him to a stop, I told him quickly, "Wait, I forgot something." Slipping my fingers into my pocket, I hooked them onto a chain and pulled it out. Flashing it in front of his face, my lips pulled into a taunt smirk and I said to him, "I'm giving this to you." He whipped his head up and looked at me almost terrified, if I subtracted the obviously empty grin on his lips. I knew he didn't want it from me, but neither did I want to give it to him. I was planning to put that up for sale, if not for this messed up heart event. The necklace was worth quite a bit, compared to anything I had at the moment. It was only a jade pendant, but the handicraft was incredible. It was a cameo finely carved by skilled hands, I was certain, and the gold that enwrapped it was looped onto a moderate sized chain of gold. Although I was reluctant, my hands showed none of that resistance when I pulled the chain around his slender neck and snapped it onto place.
"There," I choked out with satisfaction on my face that didn't belong to me. I was starting to regret it now, coming out of my shop to inspect the waves. The beginning was amusing, but now it was just disappointing. I mean, I could have sold that piece for a lot of money. Not to mention I said too much I'd rather had left unsaid.
He nodded and thanked me and finally, I was able to control my body when he left. I moved my fingers about, testing them as I got comfortable again. In a daze, I gazed into the ocean and sighed. Somewhat bothered, I stalked back into my shop as my fingers combed my hair once again. Tousling my hair, I opened the drawer on my desk and took out a notebook I used to record artifacts I found. Flipping to the most recent log, I filled out, "Today I found a rare eastern jade necklace. But I gave it away—" and paused. I considered if I should leave it at that and end with a period or continue with a comma and then a name. Then I decided, "—to Kurapika."
