A Bad Hand, Ch4: A Loaded Deck
Rin woke up at the sound of the phone ringing downstairs. He pulled himself into a sitting position. He was in his old room at Kaede's house. It hardly seemed to have changed since he had lived there himself, and he doubted Kaede ever went in there. There was even dust, when Kaede usually made a point of keeping the entire house spotless. 'It's like she's afraid to come in, even though I'm not here any more, or maybe because I'm not here any more. I don't know what's wrong with her most of the time, she always suffers in silence, until she can't hold it in any more...'
He pulled himself out of bed, and took his now dry clothes and put them on. He hung them by the radiator to dry. It had rained most of the night, and it had to have been the one day that Ama was out, so she could not drive over to get Rin. Kaede's father was off on one of his many business trips, and Sia and Nerine's fathers had both had their licences taken away for 'dangerous driving.' They had actually both been completely drunk, but the police did not want to offend the kings of the gods and demons, so they had only had their licenses taken away.
Rin finished dressing and walked down the stairs. He saw Primula talking on the phone, "Oh, wait a second, he's just come down." She motioned for Rin to take the phone. "Asa," she said before walking off.
Rin put the phone to his ear, "Hello."
"Oh Rin! I've been so lonely without you!" Asa said through the phone, trying to sound as much like a damsel in distress as possible.
"Asa, I've only been gone for one night, and you get to see me again in about an hour."
"That's not good enough, I'm coming over right now to see my boyfriend who I miss so much, even though he's so mean!"
"Asa, you know I was only teasing, and I missed you too, it was a very lonly night without you, but I managed."
"Oh Rin, you are naughty, I thought you might have missed me for other reasons, but I suppose we can have some private time when we get home, to make up for what we missed last night."
"That's not what I... Asa you!"
"Haha, well I'm gonna be there in ten minutes, maybe five if I run."
"Okay, just don't wear yourself out."
"Oh I'll keep plenty of energy for later, you can be sure of that!"
"Asa!"
"Well see you soon, love you."
"Love you too."
Rin hung up the phone and turned to go upstairs to tell Kaede. He knocked on her door, but she was not there. Then he heard the sound of a shower running, 'She must be there.'
-----
Asa was jogging towards the Furude house. She had been lonely the previous night, since Rin and her mother were both out. She also did not like leaving Rin with Kaede, and between Sia and Nerine's houses. She did not want to think about what one of the girls might try to pull while she had her back turned.
She reached the house, and knocked. Primula was the one who opened the door. "Come in, Rin and Kaede are upstairs at the moment."
Asa entered and started to walk up the stairs, when she heard voices.
"Okay, and thanks for last night Kaede, you're a life saver."
"That's okay Rin, any time."
"Well you'd better get dressed before Asa gets here," Rin turned to walk down the stairs, when he saw Asa.
Asa was currently putting two and two together, and had made what appeared to be four. 'Why wasn't she dressed? And he thanked her for last night? He said on the phone that he 'managed' without me. No he wouldn't...'
"Oh, you got here sooner than we expected Asa." Rin walked down the stairs towards her. 'He did it, he slept with her, he's just a perverted...' Rin was surprised when Asa turned and ran out of the house, with tears in her eyes.
-----
Rin was still waiting for Kaede to come out of the shower, when he head the water stop. 'About time, Asa'll be here soon.'
He heard the lock click, and Kaede emerged, in only a towel. When she saw him, she stopped still, and blushed, "Uh... Rin, um..."
Rin's face was almost as red as Kaede's. "Um... I just came to tell you that Asa phoned and she'll be here to get me soon."
"Sure, but would you like some breakfast before you go?"
"Okay, and thanks for last night Kaede, you're a life saver."
"That's okay Rin, any time."
"Well you'd better get dressed before Asa gets here," Rin said, as Kaede went into her bedroom to change. He went to the stairs to go down when saw Asa about half-way up, "Oh, you got here sooner than we expected Asa." He walked down, then noticed she looked a little upset, he was about to ask if she was okay, when she turned and fled.
'What the...' Rin ran after her. 'I hope she's okay, but why is she running away?'
'Oh yeah, she's a lot faster than me,' Rin thought as she disappeared into the distance, 'Now what am I going to do?'
-----
Words of Wisdom, clubs: Shit happens, live with it.
-----
'Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, SHIT!' was roughly what was running through Fenrir's mind at that point as he surveyed the situation through his watch. Neither the game, nor the fate that was centered around it, was going well. Ask had won two more rounds and was set to win this one, 'That'll put him in the lead now can I stop him?'
This was like playing with the deck loaded against him: almost impossible. He knew what cards Ask had in spite of not being able to read his mind, as he could read the others', but he now could not tell how he would respond to certain ways of playing. 'I have all the information, but none of the right cards, he has the right cards but none of the information. Just like Asa knows why everything has happened, but is in a bad position, while Kaede is in a good position, but is clueless about what's going on.'
Frustrated, Fenrir continued playing, just managing to stop Ask from winning at the last trick. 'That was far too close, I wonder how he got so much better, he was third last time we played. Maybe it's because fate wants Kaede to have Rin. Not on my watch she won't.'
-----
Asa ran crying up the steps to the outlook. She had not really thought about where she was going, until she found herself there. 'Back where it all began, and where it nearly all ended once before...' She stood at the edge, looking over the town. 'It's so beautiful, but...' She felt utterly separate from everything around her: it was beautiful, she felt horrid and ugly inside, everything seemed so happy, she was so very sad. Her tears dropped onto her hands that clenched the railing tightly enough to turn her knuckles white.
"How..." Asa choked out, "How could he?"
"What did I do this time? I feel like a complete jerk, making you cry, so please tell me, what did I do wrong?"
Asa knew who it was, but did not move. "Go away, go back to that little bitch that you thought you'd use for a night, then come back to me like nothing had happened."
"Asa, nothing happened between me and Kaede, I swear it didn't, you're the only girl I love, and the only one I could love." Rin sounded serious, but Asa still refused to believe him, 'How can you trust him, after what he was saying to her...'
"Asa," Rin put his arms around her from behind, "Asa, you know I couldn't intentional hurt you, I love you more than anything..."
"Really? Then why were you with Kaede when she was naked."
"Asa think, I'd only just got off the phone to you a few minutes before, I knew that you were coming, I wouldn't have been stupid enough to do anything like that. I went to tell her it was you who phoned and that I would be going soon. She'd just come out the shower, and she only had her towel on, so I thanked her for letting me stay, and said she should get dressed."
Asa let go of the railing and turned to look at him. His brown eyes were filled with fear over what she might say or do if she did not believe him, worry over what might happen to her, and love... that was what made Asa believe him. She leant in and put her head on his chest, "I'm sorry..."
"That's okay, you were just upset because you misunderstood something, now let's go home, we can pick up the shopping some other time, you need some rest after all that running."
Asa would have made some kind of quip about him being more tired than her, but did not want to spoil the moment. They left the outlook and walked away holding hands.
-----
Words of Wisdom, clubs 2: Usually, there is some way out of the shit.
-----
'Crisis averted, just.' Fenrir sighed as he made a final trick to win the round.
"You have a game, well done Fenrir," Loki said, looking at the points.
"One more from you and that's it," Wodin said, scratching his head, "How do you do it?"
"As I said before, I just do." Fenrir was less impatient than normal, more pensieve. He was also worried. Asa had already suspected Rin, quite wrongly, of cheating on her. 'The sooner this is all over, the better, but I don't want to rush things, I may be good, but can I beat fate?'
"Well let's see how it goes, I have a feeling that something could change." Ask was so full of himself, Fenrir thought. As he had said before, Fenrir knew that the ending was inevitable, but that did not mean that Fenrir could sit back and not play, he had to play this game, as he had for a hundred years, not only for Asa's sake, but also for his own.
-----
Rin sat by the kitchen table back at Ama's house. Asa was asleep in the bedroom. She had been in a state, and although she had calmed down, she had been very tired. He hoped that she would feel better soon, she had given him quite a shock. 'I'm not going to let her ever be too far away, I'm going to stay as close as I can, so she feels safe with me.' He knew that she was a little insecure at times, especially about him, but never to the extent that she thought he was cheating on her.
He sat back in his chair and sighed, closing his eyes briefly. The fact was that he was tired himself after chasing Asa and walking/carrying her home.
"Rin!" he heard a little call from the bedroom: Asa. "Rin, could you come through here!"
Rin walked through to find Asa sitting up in the bed, "What is it Asa?"
"C-could you come and sleep with me? I need you, it feels a bit lonely without you." This was the side of Asa that she kept hidden from all except Rin and Ama, the side that was the little girl she had been twelve years ago, when she was constantly sick, and just needed to have someone who cared about her there with her, the one that wanted to be loved, the one that just needed a damn hug.
Rin pulled off his shirt and climbed into bed with her, then put his arms around her, whispering "I'm here for you, I always will be, my love."
Asa lay her head on Rin's chest, "Thank you Rin, I love you."
"And I love you too Asa, and only you, forever."
It was only midday, but the couple happily drifted off to sleep in each other's arms, and they did not need to worry about how they would not sleep that night: they would not be trying to anyway.
-----
A/N: Aw... I was going to drag this out a bit more, over two chapters, but I can't be mean to Asa, she's second on my list of green haired girls I wish really existed so that I could... ahem let's not go into that one.
Anyway, REVIEW PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That's about it...
Bis Bald
BW
