The Illusion of Normal
Part 4: A Kiss Under the Mistletoe
Walking passed the dojo in the winter was not really normal, thought Callesto, she looked through the gate and sighed, her hands resting on the gate. "He's not coming," she turned to see her classmate, a funny American with dark blue steel rimmed glasses. "I suppose even he knows it is cold."
Waiting for a moment, Callesto sighed and walked on. "You know the holidays are coming, why not go to the flower shop and pick up some flowers for your brother?" her friend laughed a little and adjusted her glasses just a little. "Anyway, did you hear my book was picked up for publication here."
"That's great, Lyra, I bet Bradley might even…" that was when for a moment Callesto strained her eyes little.
"Come on, just ring the doorbell and talk to him. I bet he's waiting for you too," Lyra looked around the cold streets. "I'm heading to see those guys, I need to pick up some flowers anyway for…" she blinked and wondered why her friend was distracted. "Oh…I get it, you have a crush on that guy."
"WHAT?" Callesto jumped at the mere thought. "Kenshin is just a very kind person!" She walked up to the bell reaching for it and then blinked as she saw him walking out from behind the door and was coming to the gate. "Oh…Kenshin, it is great to see you, aren't you cold?" She pointed to the fact he was only dressed in a red gi, his hair was undone, and he seemed to be only in sandals with no socks.
"Oro?" he looked down and nearly jumped at that, he opened the gate and let the girls in, he was blushing a little when he rushed inside with them. "Gomen, this one was waiting…and quite forgot about the cold."
"I noticed," Callesto giggled a little and brought a blanket up. "I don't think your cousin is going to like that you're walking around like that."
Kenshin again blinked and noticed Lyra was blinking. "Oro?"
"Gomen, this is my friend, Michaelson Lyra, she's a writer and works for the university as a folklore expert."
"Nice to meet you," Lyra bowed a little and shook her head at her friend. "Don't talk about the degrees please. Geez, even Bradley seems to mention the fact I study Japanese mythology like it's some kind of ultimate prize, it's embarrassing, that's what it is."
"You study Japanese folklore?" Kenshin blinked as if this was some kind of new idea he thought he had never heard before. He seemed rather interested in that topic and though he was confused that Lyra was talking in a language that was far beyond her years.
For a moment or two, Kenshin realized how uncomfortable Lyra was feeling since she just stared at her feet thinking. "I'm sorry, but this one must have…"
"Not, it's just Lyra is not always comfortable discussing something without going into such detail that she ends up confusing everyone," Callesto smiled a little as her friend nodded. "She's not altogether too popular with the professors at the school right now, though she can teach an entire term on Japanese mythology and works with the top professors, people still think she's a bit of a show off."
Lyra nodded and her expression deepened. "It isn't as if they don't like me, or even consider me an equal, it is just I'm not as old nor am I…"
"Bradley always says you shouldn't be surprised that people underestimate you." Callesto told her and laughed as Kenshin watched the interaction. "Just talk to Ran, I'm sure he might understand where you're going when it comes to literature."
Kenshin and Callesto were talking. "Oh, I almost forgot," she dug into a bag and brought out a small green envelope, she smiled holding it in both hands. "This is for you."
Blinking Kenshin gazed at the small envelope and smiled a little. "Oro?"
Lyra blinked. "It's a Christmas card, Callesto handed them out to everyone, even your cousin, who had the same look as you do." Lyra glanced at her wrist watch and blinked. "I better go before the woman who runs the dorm decides to lock me out. Tell Bradley and Schuldich that I hope to see them at the Christmas party at the college. I hope to see you again, Kenshin." She had to go back to the gate, which Kenshin and Callesto saw her off.
"This one is concerned, you shouldn't be walking home alone, no that you should not," Kenshin was putting on a jacket, struggling with the buttons. Then found Callesto shaking her head.
"No, don't worry, do you by chance have a phone that I can use to call Bradley for a ride?" she smiled a little. "Walking with Lyra was out of the way, usually I will stay at her dorm until Bradley comes for me, but here might be closer for him."
She smiled at him after she made the call and turned her head. "Why not open the envelope?"
Kenshin blinked taking it into his hands again and opened it, the small card came out and a picture of a cat painted on it. "Very pretty," he smiled at her. "This one is honored."
"Thank you, but there is more to it," she looked rather pleased, then smiled a little. "Its also an invitation to a party at my college. I was hoping you could come."
Kenshin blinked as he gazed at and smiled. "Hai, this one would love to…I will tell Ran."
"Absolutely not!" Ran nearly gaped at the idea, he looked at Kenshin's face. "What happens if your powers come out, worse, what will happen if you accidently bite someone? I can handle it if you bite me, but…."
"I'm going, this one promised, Callesto-dono," Kenshin gasped and shook his head. "This one has never broken a promise!"
Ran sighed and shook his head. "I guess I have no choice…"
There was a moment that Kenshin could see his descendent's eyes turn dark and then look away, he was shaking his head. "Just so you know, I'm against this idea, but if you want to…then I don't see a problem with just going along to make sure you don't…"
"Oro?" Kenshin blinked and wondered. "What does casual mean?"
For a moment, Ran was side tracked and looked at the invitation. "Um..you don't have to dress up, but you can't just go in your gi. Let's see if I can find something for you to wear."
It was not like Kenshin could go into a closet and just pick out a set of clothing for himself, since he had not left the Kamiya Dojo in so long. He saw his descendent go into his room, come out with a white dress shirt, the same he wore the day to the library. "I suppose what you wore to the library will work. After all this is just a visit to a college club room."
Lyra-dono, she…she might be there too, I wonder if Ran has met her yet? He smiled a little as he went into his room. "I am surprised that you are not at the flower shop tonight, I thought…"
"It was nothing," Ran walked off and shook his head. "Maya-chan is out of the hospital for a short visit with Ken, I'm not surprised that he would rather I was not there." He walked into his room and then walked to the door. "Just don't be surprised if Ken brings her to see the roes. She likes the smell."
The next morning, Kenshin found he was entertaining a woman who wore dark orange lensed glasses, her eyes were a light orange color. She was sitting in the shade as Ken brought a rose bloom up to her nose letting her smell them. "Beautiful, did he out do himself or what?" Ken smiled looking at Ran who was sitting a good distance away, almost like he was trying to avoid what was being talked about.
Kesnhin saw the look on Ken's face as he doted on Maya, this was not pity that he saw, this was pure love. Ken was in love with Maya. The woman was thin with short brown hair, her eyes were not seen well through the glasses, but she was having trouble with the sunlight. "I'm sorry, but Maya-chan has never been good with bright lights. Not since her accident," Ken apologized.
"None needed, let her rest and enjoy her day," Kenshin smiled.
Maya smiled and seemed to sit her face turned out, when Ken and Ran had left, she turned her head to the side. "I wish I could see it all again," her eyes were down, and shook her head. "I wish I could see Ken without everything being in shadow. I missed so much. Ken, he told me about you living here all your life, don't you miss the outside?"
"How can I miss what I have never seen?" Kenshin looked up and smiled at her. "Ran takes me out sometimes, though sometimes I am a little scared of it."
"Don't be, I was the first time Ken tried to show me different things, in fact where I came from was far worse than anything this world can show," she touched the table letting her fingers etch the side.
"It must have been bad for you, this one is sorry." He decided that maybe there are things that could have been worse than being a vampire.
Maya looked sad and then smiled a little. "Ken took away all that, he promised no more experiments by Rozen Kreuz, no more being turned into a weapon," her voice was soft. "I think he kept his promise to me, and I'm happy. I won't be returning to that place ever again, even if my eyes are now as bad as they are, at least one thing I am happy to have is my life. A life I can live with Ken." She smiled. "Ken told me that Callesto comes to see you, she is special. I know her very well."
"Tell me of her," Kenshin wanted ot know more about the one he liked and grew fond of.
"She came from the same place I did, but she was very different. She used to lock herself away, she used to hide from everyone. Only in her artwork did she find happiness. She used to tell me she would dream of a man with red hair coming to save her, to tell her she was safe. She said in his embrace she felt no more fear of the doctors at Rozen Kreuz. She would draw and sometimes the face was always the same," Maya's voice was much different, more like she was trying to strain an image from her mind. "I remember a sketch, it upset her brother terribly and he ripped it up, he said he could not bear the idea of his sister waiting for someone so imaginary, yet maybe it isn't so imaginary if you are here."
Kenshin remembered something important and whispered, "Sometimes imagination is something more important than some of the most amazing people." He did not realize how he sounded and saw Ken rushing in, he looked almost like something scared him.
"I think we better go, Maya-chan. It is good to see you Kenshin-san, I hope Maya-chan didn't…" Ken looked very different, almost protective, like he was hiding something from everyone especially from him and from Maya. "Let's head back."
"All right, thank you for listening to me remember, Kenshin, you are a good listener," Maya whispered.
After Maya and Ken left, Ran saw the look on Kenshin's face. "Rozen Kreuz, what is it?"
"It's a place, that was where Maya-chan came from, she was hurt by those people, they did all these experiments on her, and eventually her powers hurt her to the point that she almost lost her vision altogether. This is what I fear, Rozen Kreuz finding you and taking you away." Ran whispered.
"I will not let these people take me from my home," Kenshin whispered. "I worry though for Maya-dono and Ken, that I do. I hope nothing comes from that worry."
Ran knew that Maya nearly gave everything away, he wanted to keep his life with Weiss and his life with Kenshin separated as much as possible. He had made no attempt to say anything to anyone regarding his problems. He drank as much blood as Kenshin did in two days, while Kenshin would drink almost that much in a day. It is getting worse, his powers, his own need, they are almost in the same link to his desire to see Callesto, he turned his attention to the practice hall.
He knew that tonight like most nights, Kenji would come to check up on his father and on the guardian. "He found someone?" Kenji asked in concern. "A person who loves him?"
"I don't know, her name is Callesto, she goes to Tokyo University. I worry for their meeting, I have not told him about Weiss or even what is going on. Kenji-sama, I beg you please find someone else to watch over…" Ran saw Kenji's eyes change to a dark red.
"There are no others who can watch him. To-san's memories, are they returning, can he tell us who the vampire is that did this to him?" the Himura asked.
"His memories are returning, little things set them off, but I will not stand for Callesto's blood to be given as the reason to the memories," Ran knew this was going to take time, he knew that he had to make the decisions for the best for the family.
Walking into the house, he realized that Kenshin was not in his room, in fact he was walking outside toward the gate. Looking outside it, he turned his head. "I have to learn about this world," Kenshin gazed out the gate.
"Yes, you have to," Ran walked behind him. "But you can't learn it all in a day."
Kenshin smiled and went to his futon letting his head rest on the pillows, I will learned everything. He smiled slipping into a dream.
He knew the dream world, he was holding Callesto in the dream, she was dressed in a white and pink dress, her hair was done back with a pink ribbon. She looked very pretty standing with a group of people, but something about this group did not seem right. He looked around only to see several people he did not recognize. "Please not again," he heard Callesto's voice. "I don't like it."
"I know you don't like it, but we have to know if the person is lying or telling the truth," a man with orange hair whispered. "I could go into his mind, but it would be like tearing him up, you're much better because of your ability to read emotions."
Callesto, she's like me, Kenshin dropped his eyes and saw the person they were talking to. "He's…telling a lie," Callesto looked sad, her eyes were down. "Please just let me not see what happens." She rushed from the room, she walked right passed Kenshin, she did not see him. She was in tears, like she knew what was going to happen to that person.
He saw the man with orange pull something out of a holster, then a strange popping sound, he woke suddenly, "Kenshin?" he heard Ran. "Are you okay? You were screaming."
"Dead, the man is dead…Callesto-dono! She's in trouble!" Kenshin was gasping sitting up, he felt a blanket being put on his shoulders.
"It was a dream, a terrible dream," Ran told him. "She will be fine, you can see her tomorrow."
When the sun came up on the cold December morning, he looked outside, Kenshin was leaning against the window. It was chilly, and he knew that Callesto was at her party. He put on a shirt and felt Ran's hands trying to check everything and helped apply the makeup. Putting on a brown vest, Kenshin blinked as he looked in a mirror. He did not look like himself, but he felt strange now, he touched his teeth, feeling the sharpened fangs.
Ran was dressed in a similar outfit, but he looked very different with the gold earring. "I'm sure she's fine."
"This one is worried, that I am," Kenshin said honestly as they walked down the street with Ran coming with an umbrella.
"I don't need you getting sun sickness all over again," Ran muttered.
"Oro? I only got that once and it was an accident."
The walk to the party was pretty easy going considering how far it was from the Dojo. Kenshin had memories of the idea of the university when Yamagata was telling him about it so long ago. "Its practical to have a university, at least a place where all the knowledge would be assembled and passed to the next generation," he sounded proud of this idea, then again, he was looking at Yahiko. "Young men will go to this school one day and it will bring pride to our nation."
This place was filled with the hopes and dreams of many people. Kenshin smiled walking through the gate and smiled a little. "Ran, this place, I remember when it was just a drawing on a piece of paper. I like how it became real."
"Oh…they built onto it since World War II, Kenshin," Ran explained the whole thing about wars and also the unfair treaties that China was forced into. "We were foolish, the problem was we felt we had to help China when China could help themselves just fine."
It was a simple expression of great things to pass through a gate like this. The guard at the gate looked at their names and smiled. "All right, the party is in a few minutes, please come this way," they were lead into a large meeting room and found it looked rather well kept and also a few of Callesto's artwork was hanging up.
"This isn't a meeting room, this is gallery party," Ran gasped and turned his attention to one of the few paintings hanging up.
"What she didn't tell you?" someone walked in, it was Omi who was smiling talking to a girl with short black hair. "Ouka-chan this is Kenshin-kun."
Ouka seemed like a very pleasant if not a bit obsessive girl, she like Omi and was happy to have met Kenshin at least. "Thank you again for the help in history, I actually got an A this time," the boy's smile was bright and happy.
"I'm glad to hear that, indeed I am," Kenshin smiled and looked around.
"Oh, Callesto-san is still talking to the art director," Lyra was walking in and looking like she just ran through half the school, but she also looked a little bothered. "I'm sorry, but the meeting is running a tad long."
"Long?" the door opened and a boy with short black hair and dark indigo eyes walked in. "Ne-san is still recovering from her illness from last night." He sat down and then blinked looking over at Kenshin. "You're the one Ne-san likes, it is nice that someone meet…"
"NAGI!" Lyra's eyes were dark and she made a face. "Not nice and you didn't even introduce yourself. I'm sorry this is Naoe Nagi, he's a ward of Callesto's brother's. In fact Nagi is also a student here at the college even though he is only fifteen…"
"I never met a child prodigy before," Omi blinked and smiled.
"Nor will you see one that often in Japan, many of us crack from the stress," Nagi yawned a little.
Stress? Kenshin thought and saw Nagi walking to the back, he seemed a little bothered, he turned his head and when Ran and gone off to talk to Lyra, it was time that the boy said something. "You're here, so ne-san will be here too."
The door opened and Callesto came in, she seemed perplexed, but her face showed that she was happy to see people. This party, this place, everything made her happy, but something drew Kenshin to her. "I'm happy you made it. I'm happy everyone made it."
Something made Kenshin uneasy, it was something to do with Callesto, she was happy to see him and in minutes he saw the painting the one she did of him. "Oro? Me?"
"Well…apparently the professors were picking paintings and somehow this one was on the top," she smiled a little, her eyes were still on the painting. "Kenshin…are you all right, you look so upset?"
"This one was worried that something hurt you," he looked up at the painting.
Her eyes were down and she looked up. "You have nothing to…" she blinked and looked up. "NAGI!"
The boy was smiling from a distance and looking at the table. "Oro," he looked up to see something hanging above their heads.
"You two should kiss," Nagi walked by them and smiled a little, his eyes were on the painting.
Kiss? Callesto kissed his right cheek and whispered. "Don't let Nagi tease you."
