An: Merry Christmas from the UK!
Here is my gift to you guys
*°.˛*.˛°˛.˛*.*.*..* *Merry *。* 。
._██_*.*. .*/\.˛*.˛。.*Christmas *。˛.
.(´• ̮•)*.。 / .. \ ˛.˛.*˛_Π_. ˛* ˛*.
.( . • . ) ˛ /•' '•\.* ./_ _ /~\ *. ˛*.。
(...'•'.. )* ╬╬╬╬╬°. |田田|門|*˚ .˛ *.
Feel free to copy it.
Chapter 4: A pair of wallflowers
It was her fifth day here, just two more more before she would be discharged.
Akaba would visit her daily and the two of them would talk to each other.
She wouldn't give away much about her past and he wouldn't either about his career.
Both knew about the others' interests and their personalities.
Sena was introverted, cynical but humorous.
She was also sarcastic, sharp witted but slightly emotional, whereas Akaba was more calm and aloof. He has the tendency to use musical metaphors and is also analytical. The two of them came from two completely different worlds but their similar situations brought them together.
"So where will you go after you get discharged?" Akaba happened to ask.
"I don't know, I suppose I'll just keep on travelling." She shrugged, looking away from him.
Sena revealed to him that she was a runaway, he didn't really say nor do much, but on the inside he felt that he still needed to reach out to her.
"Then come stay with me."
"Eh?"
"You can stay in my house; I usually don't stay there much do to my… job."
Akaba lied; he pretended that he works as a freelancer and has to be constantly on the move.
From what he could gather, she was not one for TV or Computers. Sena was an avid book reader
and so he knew that she wouldn't find out about his real identity.
"Then why are here?" She chided.
"It's my holiday." Akaba stated.
"It's not even Christmas." She was relentless.
"So what? I can choose my holidays." He smirked; Akaba knew he won that one.
He liked that Sena gave him banter, ever since he was famous; everyone around him kissed up to him and didn't even bother to answer back, even when they were right.
"Well, thanks for using it on me." She smiled.
Akaba stared at her before looking away a few seconds later.
'She looks beautiful when she's smiling.'
He blushed after realising what he just said.
"What are you doing?" Sena was getting suspicious, why did he look away when she smiled,
was she ugly?
"N-Nothing." He brushed aside his thoughts and the two began talking about each other again.
"Akaba… I think I'll accept your offer."
"What's with the change of heart?"
"I dunno… "
The two stopped talking, Akaba ran out of stuff to say that didn't involve his career or past
and Sena ran out of books to talk about.
"I just remember, have you read the Hungry Games*?"
"No, what's it about?"
The conversation began to flow once again and Akaba had to go, he promised to give her the trilogy on Christmas as a present.
Meanwhile, Sena's adoptive family realised that Sena was missing. Her uncle didn't mind.
"Once less mouth to feed."
Her cousin however was shocked, she knew that she bullied Sena but she never thought that she would leave. It was just five days before Christmas and their relatives gathered in the house asking about Sena. The older brother that promised to take Sena with him was there, it was as if he forgotten his promise and he acted as if he had no recollection of this.
"What are you getting worried for? She took her credit card and college fund, she'll do just fine."
He reassured, his little sister may have bullied Sena but he knew she genuinely cared for her. Unlike the rest of them. Unlike himself.
"But…"
Mamori looked for over three days, Sena was nowhere to be seen and this affected her mood.
The customers noticed this whenever she was on her shift.
"Sena-chan please be safe." She prayed to God, hoping he would answer.
Her dad asked the customers to keep an eye out for a short, girl with brown hair yet there was still no mention. Until the 22nd of December, one of his customers happened to be one of the nurses that helped in her operaton.
"Mamori, we're going to Bando hospital."
Sena was starting to look better, Akaba noticed how pale her skin was even after the operation but now she was the picture of health. A nurse came in with Dr. Sasaki who had a smile on his face.
"Good news Sena, we've decided to discharge you early after seeing you Ct scans and X-rays."
Sena's face lit up. She was finally able to get out of this place. Not that she minded it.
"So can we go soon?" Akaba inquired his friend.
"We will need one hour, just to do some final checks."
Dr. Sasaki and the nurse checked her heart rate, asked her a bunch of questions before taking the tubes out. That was it. She was free, free to go anywhere with Akaba.
The two actually never noticed how close they've gotten and Akaba never noticed his heartbeat faster when he was with her.
"Sena-chan we're here!" Mamori gasped from the door, her father by her side.
Everyone in the room looked at the two.
"So.. Are you her family members?"
* Hungry Games is my spoof of the Hunger games.
Sorry for ending it so soon but I will do a part two soon enough.
Stay Tuned~
