Me: We're back, everyone!
Daisy: I'm so glad you finally got this done. You were driving me crazy, using my laptop all damn day.
Me: Don't complain. I know you love me.
Daisy: -sigh- whatevs. You own NOTHING!
"She was beginning to feel numb, becoming indifferent one way or another."
Little Women
Chapter Three
Color Red
"Oh my God... he said s'later?"
Rima was on the phone with Utau. Sitting on her bed, legs dangling beneath her, she was told all about the amazing events of Utau's day. Including Amu, Ikuto, work, and Kukai. She loved hearing about Utau's life, as it was much more exciting than her own. Rima would never tell anyone that, though. She prided herself in just listening... she was an excellent listener.
"Yeah," Utau replied, from the other end of the line. "He did. I'm really scared."
"Well, Kukai does seem like the s'later kind of guy." Rima shrugged. While talking to Utau, she was exploring the internet on her netbook. It was balanced on her lap, while she balanced the phone between her ear and her shoulder. Excellent at multi-tasking, she could chat with Yaya while hearing Utau's life story. She was that good.
Utau was silent for a while. "... Rima-chan... what does s'later even mean?"
"The world may never know." Rima shrugged, continuing to chat with Yaya. Her internet conversation went as followed...
BalaBalance: hey yaya.
Baby4Life: wat is it?
BalaBalance: kukai said s'later to utau.
Baby4Life: no frekken way. thats baaaaaad. o.0
BalaBalance: he must be rlly into her. *.*
Baby4Life: duh. kukai dosn't just say s'later 2 N E 1. this cud b rlly serious. has a guy ever said s'later 2 utau b4?
BalaBalance: not that i no of.
Baby4Life: r u on the fone w/ her rite now?
BalaBalance: duh. this is a crisis. Dx
Baby4Life: rite on, sista. tell utau not 2 w8 4 kukai 2 talk 2 her. tell her that she needs 2 talk 2 him, 1st. its the only sensible thing. and 2 take a deep breath, obvs. she def needs to calm the hell down, bcuz this isnt the end of the world. yet.
BalaBalance: rite. ill tell hurrrrr...
Rima hadn't gotten finished typing her last sentence hen Utau's voice boomed through the phone, loud and demanding.
"RIMA! ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO ME?"
Rima almost dropped the phone. When she got her hearing back, though, she was quick to convince her friend otherwise. "I'm here, Utau-chan, I'm here." She said calmingly. "I'm chatting with Yaya-chan right now, and she says to take a deep breath and assess your situation."
Utau audibly took a breath, doing as told. "You're right, I'm sorry. Let's begin the assessment. Kukai hasn't really dropped any hints that he likes me."
Rima sighed hopelessly. "Dear God, Utau! Boys don't 'drop hints'. They throw bombs!"
"But Kukai's not a bomb-thrower." Utau said. "And I'm not too sure he's a hint-dropper, either."
"So he hasn't really shown any signs."
"Not really... no."
"So you have nothing to worry about."
"... Right..."
Rima wondered why Utau sounded so disappointed. "Utau-chan... I'm gonna go. Call me back if you need help, or call Yaya-chan. Or Amu-chan. We're all here, nothing to do on a Saturday, wasting our time. But we can help."
"Thanks, Rima-chan."
And then Rima hung up, just like she said she would. Throwing her phone on the bed, she sighed in relief. She loved Utau to death, honestly, but her obsessions over the smallest things worried her. Utau wasn't getting enough sleep, and it was making her a bit OCD. Everyone was concerned, but they wouldn't interfere. They were just as messed up as the popstar, herself was.
Baby4Life: OMG rima r u still there? O.O
BalaBalance: yea. just got off the fone w/ utau.
Baby4Life: is she ok?
BalaBalance: i hope so. i think she just has 2 much 2 do, and shes just spazzin at errrrrrthing.
Baby4Life: her job is crazeeeee. 1 day, shes just gonna explode and we r gonna be like "saw that comin. fail."
BalaBalance: but we cant let her explode! TT^TT
Baby4Life: i know girlie. im just kiddin. everythings so messed up now all u can do is just laff it off. seriously... im worried about us.
BalaBalance: im worried about us 2. but, hey, if 1 of us explodes, we all explode 2gether, rite? xP
Baby4Life: helllllll ya.
BalaBalance: thnx yaya.
Baby4Life: 4 wat?
BalaBalance: 4 bein the queen of s'later xD wat wud we do w/out u?
Baby4Life: idk, but thnx. text ya later, kay?
BalaBalance: kay :)
Rima smiled to herself, signing off of the chat and closing her netbook. She placed it on her night table, thinking of all her friends. How desperately they needed each other, because of their imperfections, really. Rima was great in school, but her family was falling apart at the hem, Yaya's family was intact, but she was failing every subject because of the weight her parents put on her as the big sister. Amu had her priorities straight, it's just that her problems were driving her insane, Utau was perfectly sane, but her job was destroying that for her. So you see, every girl had her own problem. And together, they were probably just even more messed up than they were apart. But they loved each other.
Rima hopped off of her bed, slipping on her yellow flats, thinking that she should probably go for a walk. Walks always gave her time to think. Though, not fully understanding what she needed to think about, she left her bedroom, out into the open hallway of the second floor of her house. As soon as she did, she sighed.
Her parents were fighting. Again.
Rima slowly crept over to the top of the staircase, so she could hear what her parents were saying. They were fighting every day, now, and it was driving her crazy. Mostly, all of their fight were about her. And she didn't mind it, really, she just wanted it to stop. All of it. As she perched herself up on the top step of the staircase, she could begin to hear every word they said.
"You never do anything around here! I have to do all the work!"
"YOU? I bust my ass everyday for this house, just to come home to you."
"You don't have to take care of Rima."
"Woop-dee-do. You act like she's such a burden. She's only a kid."
"Would YOU like her for a day? Hmmmm?"
"Don't just go dumping her on ME!"
Though the word dump was a bit harshly used, Rima only bit her lip. It was obvious that because the fight was taking place in the living room, she would have to escape out of the back door. She would have to be subtle, yes, because her parents just loved to bring her into their fights every once in a while, asking her questions and all that. She hated it. But she didn't hate them.
Slipping down the stairs very quietly, she tiptoed her way to the bottom. Her parents shouts and accusations became louder, making it easier for her to get away, at best. She slowly went down the hall, grabbing her jacket off the coathook, and back to the kitchen. It was easy cruising from there. From the kitchen, her parents were even louder, and she struggled not to yell back at them as she continued. The back door was just on the other side of the room, and soon she was there, twisting the nob and opening it.
She slowly closed the door behind her.
"Fresh air." Rima sighed, taking a deep breath.
She walked out of her backyard, through the gate that was always left open. From there, she just lightly trod on the sidewalk. Rima never liked to be around when her parent fought... and especially after they fought. They would fight over her, and say things like 'Rima, tell your father that I said...' just to emphasize the fact that they weren't going to speak to each other until the next fight they had. Being outside felt good, and she never wanted to be inside. Her house felt like a cage... a guarded tower, where she was locked away.
Rima realized that there was no one willing to save her.
Then she recognized a familiar red ribbon lying on the sidewalk. It made her stop, right before she stepped on it. The ribbon belonged to her friend Nadeshiko, or rather, Nagihiko, as he called himself now. She hated Nagihiko, but Nadeshiko was one of the rare friends that she had... and she knew that sounded crazy, because they were the same person, but it was true. Reaching down, Rima picked up the ribbon.
How could Nadeshiko leave her ribbon on the sidewalk?
Whatever reason there was, she wasn't going to give it back. She couldn't explain it, but the ribbon gave her some sort of hope... like maybe, just maybe, she would be able to escape her guarded tower.
And besides, Rima liked the color red.
Me: My responses to my reviews!...
Response to Blossoming Hope: Thank you. And in the next chapter, we'll get to the school life and how different characters participate in it.
Response to -PiercingMelody-: No, it's okay. I sort of get what you mean. I love Kutau, too! And Amuto, of course, but my favorite couple is probably Rimahiko. But it really depends on the story I'm writing. And yes, there SHALL be amuto.
Response to Free Parking: Yersh! I wasn't too sure if I got Utau quite right... I think I made her a bit to angsty, but whatever. And no, you're not sadistic. Lots of people like a read about life problems and all that crap. YES! In my school, S'later is the one thing that girls dread. Of course, the only guy who's ever said S'later to me is my boyfriend Cody, but that still counts, right? And darling, who else would Utau end up with? If Kukai was for someone else, there would be no need for her existence as a character. However, since Kukai doesn't belong to anybody else, he and Utau are destined for each other! So here we have Rima's little self-baised chapter, and after this, we're going to see Yaya and then go on to the normal point of view. And hopefully, it'll be a chapter involving at least ONE Shugo Chara guy.
Daisy: REVIEW!