Secrecy
A/N: This is just a chapter filled with regular events—and by that, I meant no gaichuu fighting or whatnot. Just Zazie and Emi spending their day as Letter Bees—with no gaichuus. So, yeah… action will come soon, don't worry! ;)
WARNING: This is a ZaziexOC pairing.
DISCLAIMER: Kleia does not own Letter Bee—only her OCs.
CHAPTER FOUR – Expedition
Once Emi soundlessly stepped inside her temporary shelter, she felt a sense of safety—not to mention a slap of tiredness—wash over her as the warm and homely ether welcomed her in. Her stoic grey eyes wandered around the halls and rooms in search of Sylvette, though she knows that that girl, who was always fond of cooking albeit the unpalatable result of her effort, would always be found in the kitchen, a wooden spoon in hand.
"Emi? Lag?" her high-pitched voice asked from the kitchen after a few seconds of silence. Instinctively, Emi walked to where she was, her face showing no emotion as always. Showing up by the doorway of the kitchen, Emi knocked on the wooden frame of it, catching Sylvette's attention. A smile immediately spread on her lips. "Oh, Emi! You're home early. Came over for lunch?" Sylvette dipped the wooden ladle in the pot, raised it, and tasted the soup, a delighted look on her lineaments. Emi inwardly wondered how she thinks that her soup tastes good, if not, the best. But she decided to brush it off and waited for Sylvette to face her way.
She did, and Emi immediately shook her head. "It's only fifteen minutes until the tenth bell." She pointed out insouciantly. Eccentrically, she knew Sylvette would ask her that, for she had been cooking for a while now. But Emi hadn't really expected herself to be prepared for that question. She knew Sylvette for only a day but she feels like they have been friends for a month or so. Maybe it was because she observed people a little too much. As a child, she was considered to be "weird" since she spends her time watching people, observing them, mentally taking down each person's nature. People thought she couldn't speak well, for she was the most inaudible child among all the other kids from where she was. They were all too sprightly. They all loved outdoors. They were all the same.
But she wasn't.
She was the child who was different. She was the rotten apple among all the fresh apples. The one-legged tin soldier amid the perfectly made tin soldiers. She was an indoor person, preferring hot chocolate and books over juice and toys, listening rather than talking too loud. And she couldn't force herself to become one of them because she loved silence. For other kids, it was too loud for their liking. But for her, she thinks that silence was made for her. So she listened to it.
She hadn't realized that her words have been hanging in the air for a while. She blinked and snapped her eyes at Sylvette, who was looking at her worriedly. "Are you okay? Sick? Is that why you came home?" She walked towards her, taking Emi's hands in hers, her azure eyes showing concern.
Emi shook her head no. "I have a delivery with Zazie," she said, her eyes not leaving Sylvette's. "We'll be back in maybe three days."
Sadness was discernible in Sylvette's features—Emi noted—but she quickly replaced it with forced happiness. "I'll help you pack," she said, "You did say you have a few clothes with you, didn't you? I'll lend you mine." Sylvette said and Emi watched her stroll towards the pot and cover it with a lid, walking towards her after. "Come on." She grabbed her hand and led her to Sylvette's room. "Too bad we couldn't shop because of that." Sylvette said in discontent after a long silence, Emi looking up as she blinked multiple times.
"I don't really like shopping," She suddenly admitted, watching Sylvette fishing out clothes for her to wear.
In a small pile, Sylvette planted the clothes at the edge of her bed, eyeing Emi questioningly afterwards. "Why? Don't you think shopping is fun? You get to see cute clothes!"
"I just don't like crowded places." She nonchalantly said, as if she told this to people so many times she lost count. She was surprised by this sudden action, but brushed it off instead.
Sylvette kept eyeing her. "Why didn't you tell me then? I could've got clothes for you myself." She stated, expression filled with worry and maybe, as she could've guessed, very slight irritation.
Emi shrugged, gently taking Sylvette's clothes and, one by one, as if each piece of cloth were made of porcelain, she placed her provisional clothes inside her messenger bag. "I don't have the need to tell you." She said after silence followed, her eyes focused on the clothes inside her bag as she arranged them neatly. Just as she tilted her head up to take a glance of Sylvette, she immediately noted how she hurt her feelings, judging by how quick she ended their eye contact, her hand rubbing her other arm.
She'll give up on me soon, was what she thought just as she fixed the strap and planted it on her shoulder, removing her blonde curls under the strap. She never had people with her for a long time. They all give up on her before she even knew it. They'd leave her unknowingly just because of a single thing she'd unconsciously say, like a robot—she was said to have no feelings. Unflappable. Emotionless. Unmerciful. That's what they all call her.
And she was used to it.
Her ears perked once she heard the tenth bell ring. She glanced at Sylvette. Avoided her eyes. And dashed towards the exit. "Ihavetogo." She said in a great imperativeness, as if time was leaving her already. And she had to catch up. She needn't to look back to see if Sylvette was chasing her too. If she was standing by the doorway, out of breath, silently bidding her goodbye. She knew she wouldn't do that to someone like her. So she never looked back and kept running ahead, anticipating a certain boy named Zazie impatiently waiting for her.
And he was. Standing by the fountain in the middle of Yuusari, was Zazie, arms folded across his chest, his head slightly tilted towards the sky, an annoyed expression on his face as he counted the stars that dotted the evermore midnight sky. Emi ceased running and decided to just walk toward him at that distance. So she did.
Reaching a safe meter as their distance, his head suddenly snapped at her and she found herself having eye contact with his dark eyes. Her heart skipped a beat at the sudden movement of Zazie which caused her to slower her pace. Everything around her suddenly became blurry and Zazie was the only thing her eyes were focused on, how his eyes are dark as he stared at her with an expression that is burning with irritation and impatience, how he stood so casually, leaning by the fountain. That was what she sees in him. He is gallant. Not afraid of showing people his true emotion. And she may be fascinated about that fact.
Zazie's sudden tsk snapped her of her train of thoughts. She blinked and saw Zazie now walking towards her, hands still in his pockets. "You're late." He simply pointed out, already an arm's length away from her. She never avoided his eyes and never did he. Looking down on her due to their height difference with authority, he removed his hands from his pockets. "We'll be taking a carriage to Honey Waters and deliver all the letters as soon as possible. If distractions are to come, then finish them off instantly. We should be back within two to three days." He informed, eyes still on Emi's as she mentally took note of what he was saying.
"Did you bring money with you?" He questioned, and she nodded.
He nodded back, slightly turning around. "Okay. We'll just stick to the Sub-Master's orders—I'm offense, you're defense." And with that, he turned around.
…
Emi knew, and needless to say, predicted, that the ride to their destination would be a road to deafness. Neither Zazie nor her spoke. Not even a word. Well, they did—but it was only about their delivery. And that was it. No ifs, buts, or anything out of that topic. All she did was nod to what he was saying—admittedly, even if she didn't get what he was saying, just for the sake of getting it over with—and stare out the window afterward.
It wasn't even like she wanted to talk to him about everything without talking about anything at all. She isn't—and never was—like that. So she should brush it off. Forget about it. But as she unconsciously averted her gaze from the midnight blue sky, she threw a glance at Zazie, who seemed to be in deep thought as he stared out the window, chin at the palm of his gloved hand, eyes staring beyond what he sees, mouth curved into a profound frown and legs crossed, forming a 4 as Wasiolka slept at his feet, she knew that maybe—just maybe, she wanted to strike a random conversation with him. At least a small one. She could make friends. Have friends. Keep friends. She could—
No. Perhaps she couldn't handle it. She's taught to be independent. Taught to live alone. Personally, she didn't like to spend a lot of time with people to begin with. So why was she troubled by the thought of socializing anyway? Why—
He turned his head to face her. And there she realized, she had been staring at him since the moment she started to think deeply. She flinched as her heart skipped a beat. She instantly returned to stargazing but as five seconds passed, she decided to throw another glance at him. He was still looking at her. She looked back at the sky.
"Saw anything interesting?" He suddenly asked, breaking the pregnant silence. She slowly turned her head to face him, putting on the most stoic face she could ever muster. She blinked as she familiarized herself with his facial details. He was smirking. And that was the only thing she noticed. Not the eyes, not the hair, not the posture. But his smirk. And now she knew why she needn't to be friends with a person like him.
She turned away. "No."
Once she started back to gazing at the stars, the carriage came to an abrupt stop, causing their bodies to slightly be thrown forward due to the force. She held on to the wooden frame of the window for life's sake, and snapped her head to where the driver was. "My apologies! This is the farthest the carriage could go!" the carriage man exclaimed, voice showing sincere apology and a tad embarrassment. "Up ahead is a cliff, so it's very dangerous for a carriage to cross that area." He informed. "I hope you forgive my sudden stop. Have a safe journey!" He said as they hopped off the carriage, their things in hand. The man thanked Emi as she handed him the payment, and afterward, he left the two with a kind grin.
"Guess it's time to finally walk," Zazie finally said, stretching his arms toward the midnight sky, groaning in satisfaction in hearing his joints pop. After which, he began to stroll toward the cliff that leads to their destination, Wasiolka tailing behind him. Emi and Shiro followed suit, keeping a safe distance from the two ahead of them.
As expected, the trip was like walking into a ghost town. Emi wasn't surprised at all by this circumstance. But she was rather shocked at the thought of her wanting to talk to someone nowadays even though she'd rather be alone. It was confusing and frustrating. Like the feeling of adding so many other ingredients in the stew, but it won't taste right or just how you want it to be. Maybe even worse.
She blinked and rapidly shook her head, somewhat stumbling in her steps as she did so. Unfortunately, Zazie caught her in the act. He stared at her nonchalantly—with boredom. "What's gotten into you?" He asked, his tone monotonous as he retraced his steps. He was now beside her, slightly leaning in and facing her, getting a better view of her visage. "Hm?"
She faintly withdrew her face because of the very small proximity between their faces, lineaments showing a morsel of shock. After moments of looking into each other's eyes, she finally shook her head and pushed her way through, not looking back.
Emi shut her thoughts out and focused on walking. Fast. Though she knew he was catching up, she kept from ceasing. Until she heard a feminine voice call from the distance:
"It's you!"
A/N: Okay so I decided to tweak a little things here and there, and ended up with this. So yeah, I hope you liked the edited version better. :)
EDIT (6/23/14): So yeah, I edited some major parts of the story, to those who read this earlier, you'll notice a very big difference in it. I dunno, my writing may have changed ever since school has started but... eh. Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy this edited version! And I hope it'll never be done again, lol.
EDIT 2 (10/31-11/01/2014): Okay I know I hoped that it'll never be done again but how could I help it? I was seriously vomiting over my ugly writing. (Not really.) Anyway, I now hope I won't edit this again and also, Emi is now more solitary or isolated. Pardon me if she is a bit rude(?) but that is how she is. Or what I think she is. It has been a while since I've last written, to be honest. Major writer's block. The worst kind. I couldn't even bring my hands or finger on the keyboard because I don't know what to write. It is indeed bogus. (Sorry for the word.) Also, I have changed my username, in case you haven't noticed. I decided to be a new person. Not Fianan Gleoite anymore. But I will be here as Kleia. (I'll still be the same though, so what's the point?)
Regardless, I am forever hoping that you liked this updated version more than any edits I have done before.
Any comments, critiques, suggestions, or opinions about this chapter? Review or PM me! I don't bite!
