Disclaimer: Wish this is mine. But of course it can't be mine. How unfortunate.
CHAPTER FOUR. MUTE
"Aren't we going to talk to her?" Leorio asked after an hour of sitting idly in the sofa.
"Why bother, she won't answer." Killua said munching his nth chocolate bar. "Besides, Maria-san didn't require us to talk to her right?"
"But she did encourage us to do so." Senritsu interrupted. "Killua, aren't you eating a little too much chocolate already?"
"Don't mind his health, Senritsu." Basho said sarcastically. "The guy has an unbelievable stomach especially when it comes to sweets."
Senritsu sighed. "So no one's really going to talk to her?" She asked looking at her other companions. Basho just sat watching the television. Gon was sitting beside him. Kurapika was sitting on the other end of the room reading his book. Senritsu sighed again.
-Flashback: an hour ago-
"Everyone, this is our mistress, Mikuru Akai-sama." Maria introduced. In front of the new guards is the girl with the glass pod of scarlet eyes. Just as how they left awhile ago, her eyes were still blank.
Maria continued the introductions. "Mikuru-sama, these are your new bodyguards. The one on the leftmost is Basho-san. Beside him are Senritsu-san and Leorio-san. The blonde one is Kurapika-san. The two kids are also your bodyguards, Killua-san on the rightmost and Gon-san beside him." The girl nodded blankly.
"She doesn't seem interested in meeting us." Leorio whispered to Basho who in turn nodded.
"I heard that." Senritsu whispered. "Do not whisper in front of our new boss, okay?" She silently scolded them. The two just shrugged as they listened to Maria as she gave the last bits of instructions.
"Your room is to the left of this room. During your guarding hours, you are free to lounge here in Mikuru-sama's room. You may watch the television if you feel bored or eat if you're hungry. Oh by the way, the mini refrigerator over there is intended for the guards. You're allowed to eat anything in there. Tea, milk and coffee are also available on the table beside it." Maria pointed out looking around to see if she missed anything.
"Let's see. Did I miss out anything? None, I guess. So that's it." Maria said. "Do your best and good luck. If you need anything else, just ask Hatsumi and Izumi." Maria added as she introduced the two maids who brought them to their mistress' room from the main office. The two maids nodded in recognition. She was about to leave when she remembered something.
"Oh, I just remembered something. Well, it's not included with your job anyway. But could you talk with Mikuru-sama once in a while?" She requested with a smile. "She rarely talks to people and we're kind of worried with that. We want her to socialized a little even just to her bodyguards. I, personally, will appreciate it if you do." With that, she left.
-Back to the timeline-
"I guess I'll just go by myself." Senritsu let out another heavy sighed. Her companions were a little selfish and stubborn. She walked towards the window where the girl with the scarlet eyes sat quietly on her wheelchair. Her eyes were fixed outside.
"The weather's nice, isn't it?" Senritsu started as she tried to spark a conversation. The girl looked at her for a while and then nodded.
"Why don't we go outside for some sunshine?" She said with a smile. "I don't think Shiro-sama would mind. It would be good for your health too." The girl looked back to her again, and then shook her head.
"Why not?" The girl gave her another blank look. Senritsu tried thinking of something else she might be interested in.
"I told you it's useless. She won't answer." Killua mouthed from the corner of his lips. He knew Senritsu would hear him with her sharp hearing. Senritsu ignored Killua's comment and continued with her thoughts. She looked around to see some clues. Her gaze stopped at the huge object at the corner of the room.
"Mikuru-sama, you do like music, don't you?" The word 'music' seemed to trigger something for the girl's eyes suddenly left its blank look to give out a little sparkle. Senritsu knew she hit the correct topic. "Your eyes say you do." She said with a smile. The girl nodded looking at the piano at the corner of the room. "Would you like me to play something for you? I'm pretty good at it." The girl looked at Senritsu then to the piano then back to Senritsu before giving a short nod.
Senritsu wheeled the girl beside the piano, and then seated herself in front of it. She gave the girl another smile before pushing the keys of the piano. Soft music slowly flowed through the room. The other bodyguards looked at the little scene. Leorio motioned Basho to turn the television off. Gon and Killua sat with their chocolates as they listened. Even Kurapika put down his book to listen.
When the last note was gone, Senritsu opened her eyes to look at their mistress. She knew that the song calmed her in some way. The mistress' heartbeat seemed to relax. "Did you like it?" she asked the girl.
The girl didn't respond for awhile. She was just looking intently at the piano.
"Memory of Mother."
Everyone was astounded. A soft voice sounded beside Senritsu. Senritsu, in turn, felt relieve that the song made her talk even if it was just three words. "You know the song." The girl nodded.
"So she's not really mute?" Gon asked.
"Well, the answer would be no." Basho answered. "She's the one who talked right?"
"Yeah." Leorio nodded. "I don't think I am hearing things. She really did talk."
"Why are you all getting excited to this?" Killua snapped shoving another chocolate into his mouth. "It's just three words. You cannot even consider that talking."
"But still, she talked." Gon answered.
"Gon's right." Basho agreed. "Who knows she might say another set of words again. Maybe Senritsu could keep playing to her. It might increase our pay too, you know."
"Mou! That's not a good reason, Basho-san." Gon retorted. Basho just gave him a grin.
"Well, Gon's kind of right." Leorio said thoughtfully. "What do you think Kurapika?" The blonde merely shrugged as if he didn't really care if the girl talks or not.
"Can he at least participate in the conversation?" Leorio muttered.
"I told you." Killua said in an as-a-matter-of-fact tone. "It's not an interesting event. Even Kurapika finds it lame."
The others just ignored Killua's last statement and watched Senritsu as she tried to make their mistress talked more.
"It's a good song created to calm a baby's crying." Senritsu said to the girl beside. "I am quite amazed though that you know the song. It's kind of old already."
The girl looked blankly at the piano. She stared at it for quite some time. Senritsu looked at her and tried to figure out what she wanted to say.
"Would you like me to play it again?" She finally said. The girl nodded immediately. Senritsu played the same song, Memory of Mother, once more. She then looked at the girl as she played the tune. The girl's eyes were closed. She was listening carefully to Senritsu's playing. When the song ended, the girl opened her eyes and looked back to Senritsu.
"Arigatoo."
Senritsu smiled. "You're welcome." Then she remembered something. "I can play the piano for you once in a while if you'd like." The girl responded with another lively nod. Her responses seemed to be livelier unlike an hour ago, Senritsu noticed.
The events continued on like this for hours. Basho finally gave up watching. Killua and Gon seemed to have eaten all the chocolate in the fridge and started playing paper-rock-scissors. Leorio was watching them intently. Kurapika was still absorbed by his book. Senritsu looked at his companions and gave out another sigh.
"My, my." Senritsu shook her head. "They're completely ignoring Mikuru-sama. If it was Neon-sama, she would be crying loudly already." She walked beside their mistress who resumed to her position beside the window. The sun was setting already.
"Gomenasai Mikuru-sama." Senritsu started. "My comrades are just a little stubborn you see. But they can be good friends too." Senritsu looked at the clock. "It's almost dinner. I'll just call Maria-san so you can eat already."
The girl nodded and went back looking at the sky.
"Nee, Mikuru-sama."
It was Gon. After winning all his rock-paper-scissor matches with Killua, Gon felt bored and left the frustrated Killua to talk with their mistress. The girl in return nodded to recognize Gon's presence.
"Can I ask something?"
The girl gave another mute nod.
"Why do you collect the scarlet eyes of the Kuruta clan?"
The rest heard Gon's question. They all stopped whatever they were doing and listened to the conversation. The girl stared at Gon for a moment then turned to look at the pair of scarlet eyes in her lap.
"No one ask me that question before." The girl finally said.
Gon started to panic and said in a rush voice. "Of course you don't have to answer if you don't want Mikuru-sama! You see! I'm…I'm just a little curious! That's all!" He ended with a nervous laugh.
"What's up here?" Maria appeared in the doorway together with Senritsu.
"Nothing!" Gon said nervously. "Nothing really!" Senritsu eyed him suspiciously while Maria just looked at him.
"Well if you say so." Maria said. "Well then, it about time for dinner, Mikuru-sama. Shiro-sama is waiting for you in the dining room. As for you, the table for the bodyguards is already set as well. Hatsumi and Izumi will take you there." She finished her sentences and went to wheel her mistress' chair. The group followed the two maids.
"What happened, Gon?" Senritsu asked as they eat their evening meal. The dining table for the bodyguards was in a separate room from their boss. After serving the food, the maids left them allowing the group to have a private conversation. "Your heartbeat is in panic."
"He asked the stupid question again." Killua said shoving a spoonful of food in his mouth.
"Stupid?"
"He asked the mistress the reason why she's collecting the scarlet eyes." Leorio said.
"Again?"
"Eheh." Gon said sheepishly. "Maria-san did say we could ask her. So I tried."
"What did she say?" Senritsu asked. "Or should it be, did she say anything at all?"
"Well she did say something." Killua said.
"What is it?"
Basho answered. "She said that no one ask her that question before."
"As I expected." Kurapika said.
"What do you mean, Kurapika?"
"Extracting answers from her would be difficult." Kurapika explained. "She doesn't look like she wants to tell us the information we need in the first place."
"You got a point there." Leorio agreed. "Other than the fact that she rarely talks, she doesn't seem to directly answer questions. It much like she answers a question with another question."
The rest agreed.
"Maybe I can try again."
"Are you stupid Gon?" Killua snapped. "She already rejected answering your question."
"No she didn't" Gon insisted. "We didn't finish the conversation. Maria-san showed up that's why she stopped talking."
"Do what you want." Killua sighed forking another piece of chicken meat.
"I think Gon's idea is brilliant." Basho commented. "He's pretty good at things that involve persistence, right?"
"Well, that's kind of true." Leorio added. "Just remember how he acted way exaggeratedly just to convince Kurapika to let us in."
"What about you Kurapika? What do you think?" Senritsu inquired.
"I am not sure." Kurapika started. "Like I said, it seems that she doesn't want to give us details. I don't think Shiro-sama would give us anything as well." He let out a heavy sigh. "It would be quite difficult but she's the only option we have. I'll just have to trust you Gon with that."
"Of course!" Gon said proudly. "Just leave it to me!"
A/N: The piano piece "Memory of Mother" is a piece used in the anime Chicchana Yukitsukai Sugar (aka Tiny Snow Fairy Sugar). I suggest you download the piece while reading this. (Okay. It's exaggerated to do that. Never mind the suggestion. Scrap that.)
About Mikila94-san's question, yes she is.
Hmm…I won't bother to surprise you that my OC, Mikuru, is a Kuruta. I mean, how many KurapikaXOC fics have you read wherein the OC is not a Kuruta? I myself haven't read one. Besides, I never like stating the obvious. It'll just ruin the fun.