A/N: Another chapter. I'm not sure how long it's been since I updated, but probably too long to justify given that the chapter is only three pages. I've written longer drabbles. XD Oh well, here we introduce another character. Hope you like her because she'll be hanging round for a little while longer, at least. :P
Disclaimer: As previous
Chapter Three- Two-Seater Sofa
"She's here." Ellie said, with such horror that Kaoru found himself wondering who 'she' was and what was so bad about her. Ellie offered no explanation however, saying instead "Oh no! I completely forgot! She'll kill me!"
Kaoru assumed she wasn't being literal. Or, that if she was, this girl wouldn't be violent enough to kill him too. "Then maybe don't answer the door?" He suggested.
"No, I have to..." She said, going to do just that. Kaoru stayed sitting in the kitchen wondering what was going on. A moment later, an unfamiliar voice drifted in to him.
"Hey sweetie, how're things? I brought popcorn! So, are your parents back yet?"
"Um, no, not yet. Victoria, listen, I'm kind of busy..."
"Busy? How can you possibly be busy? Isn't it girls' anime night?!"
"Yes, but... I have a guest. I'm so sorry, his coming was arranged last minute and I forgot to tell you!"
Kaoru tuned out as the conversation went on and Ellie explained things. Great, he thought, another otaku and a girls' anime night. Just what he wanted.
Only then Victoria walked in and maybe it was just what he wanted after all. Completely unexpectedly, she was beautiful. Ellie next to her really was the ugly duckling next to the swan. Victoria was taller, slimmer and better formed, her blond hair shining and immaculate. She was lithe and angular and her eyes were brilliant blue as she blinked in surprise at Kaoru.
"Hello." She said, in English. "I'm Victoria Hayden. Good to meet you."
"You too." Kaoru responded, surprised Ellie of all people would have a fashionable friend. "I'm sorry to disrupt your plans."
"That's no problem." Victoria said. "It's her fault for not telling me she had such a good-looking guest!"
"Maybe she should have told me she had a good looking friend." Kaoru returned, smiling. It was a relief to find that there were some English girls at least who worried about their appearance.
"Thank you." She said, absently fluffing out her hair. "Actually, I've been modelling for Mrs Graham since I was ten. That's how I ended up being friends with Ellie here!"
"Maybe you could show me some of your pictures sometime. My mom's Hitachiin so this kind of stuff interests me."
"Your mom is Hitachiin?!" Victoria said, delighted. "That's amazing! I love her stuff!"
Kaoru felt a warm glow of pride. "Yeah, it is." He agreed. This was followed by a stab of homesickness as he wondered again how Hikaru was getting on. He stared down at the whirls in the wood of the kitchen table.
"Are you alright?" Victoria asked, concerned, then noticed the ice he was holding to the back of his head. "Oh my! What has Ellie been doing to you?!" Gently she prised the ice off and admired the bump underneath. "That's quite something. You poor thing."
"It's fine." Kaoru said, replacing the ice all the same.
"Still, I should go." Victoria said, unable to stop herself looking disappointed. "I don't want to disturb you two."
"Oh, don't go." Kaoru said. "I was the one who pretty much turned up unannounced. Go ahead and watch your anime."
"Oh, no, I only watch that for Ellie. Why don't we put on something we'll all like?" She turned to her friend. "Go find a movie, okay?"
"Oh, right." Ellie answered, heading upstairs.
"Thanks, Grey-chan." Kaoru said, seeing as she had been so pleased about being thanked before.
"Grey-chan?" Victoria echoed, giggling. "Do you call her that because she's so..."
"Plain?" Kaoru supplied.
"I was going to say dull." She laughed. "It suits her, anyway. Come on." She upended the bag of popcorn into a dish and carried in on arm, taking hold of Kaoru with the other. "Let's go sit down, and I bet you three to one she'll come back with Phantom of the Opera."
Ellie did indeed bring Phantom of the Opera down just a few moments later. Victoria groaned loudly.
"Ellie, again?"
"Yes." Ellie defended. "I like this film."
"I like cake, but if I ate it as much as you do..." Victoria let her sentence trail off. Kaoru couldn't help but smile, remembering the four am cake session.
"I just like baking." Ellie frowned.
"Sure." Victoria smirked. Kaoru had to try even harder not to laugh. If it had just been him and Ellie, he might have done- he had to get her to hate him, after all- but he didn't want Victoria to think he was cruel. His being stuck here was nothing to do with her.
"You can't have too much of a good thing." Ellie said staunchly, putting the DVD in and then turning to find somewhere to sit.
Victoria had lead Kaoru over to a two-seater sofa on the edge of the room, curling her legs up underneath her in such a way that she was ever-so-slightly angled towards him. He wondered why he was even so aware of it. Either way, there was no room for Ellie. She sat down in an armchair on the edge of the room and settled down to watch the film, coming across only to steal popcorn occasionally. She was unusually quiet, Kaoru thought, but it didn't really matter because Victoria certainly made up for it; criticising the 'stalker' phantom and 'fop' Raoul. Kaoru had never seen the film before, but he had to admit the storyline was pretty stupid. At least the music wasn't unbearable. Still, it was the sort of film he would have hated without Victoria's commentary making it funny.
Eventually, the film ended, and Victoria stood to go.
"Hey, do you guys have any plans?" She asked. "We should hang out more. Maybe we could take a look round Worcester tomorrow or something."
"What's in Worcester anyway?" Kaoru asked.
"...just shops. Pretty standard really." She laughed. "Oh, but the river is pretty! You can take boat trips and stuff, too."
"That sounds fun." Kaoru answered.
"I was going to take Kaoru walking up the Malverns tomorrow." Ellie interrupted.
"Oooh, hill walking, how thrilling." Victoria rolled her eyes. "Honestly, El..."
Kaoru had to admit he agreed with her. "I'm more of a town person." He said.
"Fine." She sighed, taking the empty popcorn bowl out to the kitchen. "Why don't you come over here for ten tomorrow, Victoria, and we'll decide where to go then."
She must have known she'd lost, Kaoru thought, but didn't want to give in yet.
*
"You sound like you're having fun." Hikaru sounded peeved and Kaoru had to immediately backtrack.
"No, not really." He said hastily. "You know what? She probably wasn't even that pretty. It's probably just because I've been stuck looking at Grey-chan all week."
Hikaru said nothing, breaking off to cough. He wasn't any better, to Kaoru's disappointment. Even so, that wasn't the only sound he was worried about. It was almost three am, but he could have sworn he could hear noises coming from Ellie's room next door. It sounded like crying.
He wondered if it was because he had said no to going hill walking. He wanted her to hate him, but he only wanted to make her mad. He didn't want to make her cry...
"So what're you guys doing tomorrow?" Hikaru asked.
"Ellie wants to do more walking." Kaoru sighed. "Seriously, I bet she doesn't normally do this much walking. Otherwise she wouldn't be so fat."
But then again, she was nowhere near as fat as she had been on that photograph. She actually looked a little unhealthy in that respect, like she was losing weight too fast. Come to think of it, she hardly ate anything. It really was a mystery how she was still... plump.
Hikaru laughed. "She's doing it to spite you. She probably didn't want you in the house after all."
"Maybe." Kaoru agreed. "Victoria wanted to go into town instead, maybe she'll come rescue me."
They talked a little more, but in the end Hikaru realised how tired Kaoru was and hung up. Stifling a yawn, Kaoru got into bed and realised he could still hear Ellie crying quietly. He considered going to check on her, but it wasn't like they were friends. It would be more embarrassing than comforting for both of them. Besides, he was tired. Ignoring the sound, he settled down and was soon asleep. The next morning, as they were in the kitchen waiting for Victoria, he decided not to mention it, even though she still seemed troubled.
"Kaoru-san." She said, eventually.
"Yeah?"
"Just... be careful of Victoria."
That hadn't been what he was expecting. "What do you mean?"
"...nothing." She said, shaking her head. "Never mind. Have you decided what to do today?"
"I think we should go into town."
"I see." She sighed but didn't argue. "Then please go and gather what you need. The buses don't run very often so we'll need to leave soon."
Kaoru headed back upstairs to grab his wallet and phone, as well as a jacket; because although the sun was out he was almost certain it would be raining again by this afternoon. Downstairs, the phone started ringing. Probably Victoria cancelling, he decided glumly, heading out of his bedroom door. The Wellington boots still stood next to it.
He thought of Ellie crying last night. Well, if Victoria wasn't coming...
Grimacing, he pushed his feet into the things, trying not to look at them and headed downstairs. Ellie was surprised.
"I thought now would be a good time to go hill walking." Kaoru explained. "While the sun's out."
He had been spending too much time with Tamaki.
She smiled happily. "Alright! I bet Victoria will need some wellies too... I'll go find some in the shed." She headed for the back door. "Oh... Kaoru-san, I'm sorry, but that phone call... something urgent came up so I won't be able to entertain you tomorrow. I'm really sorry!"
"It's fine." Kaoru answered, privately thinking it couldn't be any more boring without her. At least Victoria hadn't cancelled after all.
When she arrived, she wasn't impressed with the hill walking idea either, but seemed to know they were doing it to humour Ellie, or at the very least because Kaoru felt sorry for her. She seemed even less impressed by the Wellington boots, claiming she would die of shame. At least hers were black rather than frog green. She was only convinced into them to stop herself getting mud on her designer jeans. Her top was one of his mother's, Kaoru noticed.
She perked up, however, when realising Ellie would be busy the next day.
"That's okay." She said quickly. "I can entertain Kaoru. We can go into Worcester."
"I'd like that." Kaoru answered, and so it was settled. Things were finally looking up.
Of course, it was harder to remain optimistic when he was up to his knees in mud half way up a hill in the middle of nowhere.
*
A/N: But the Malvern Hills are nice. They get bottled water from there. Hope you enjoyed!
And yes, I was listening to Phantom of the Opera while I wrote this. XD But I always intended to have her like it...