Miko: Sooo this is the fourth chapter... I don't know when I'll be able to post the next chapter. I have final exam next week but I'll free as a wild bird after that but I am a slow writer, as slow as a rheumatic turtle. Please be patient with me? Ehe. I'll try to write! Promise! I have the story all planned out! Thank you for those who has read this story, you guys make me happy! Thank you for the Paradise garden of Eden who has hit the favorite button (love you!).
Disclaimer: Look, I love Hunter X Hunter but nope, I don't own it. *sigh* Oh yeah! I also don't own Tears in Heaven (it is a good song! Go listen to it!)
Half-Winged Butterfly
IV
Kurapica stares down to her phone, Kuroro has been trying to contact her but she purposely ignores them. She doesn't want to talk to him right now. She is fed up with all the fights they have had for the last four months. She doesn't understand why Kuroro suddenly cares about her, didn't she has made it clear for him that she doesn't need his concern? He makes her angry, she doesn't want him to care about her. She is not a baby. He doesn't have the right to care about her, only Leorio has that right. Only him and nobody else. All Kuroro has to do is just stay by her side anad accepts her, the way she accept him. She never asks anything from Kuroro because she doesn't need anything beside Kuroro. Why can't he see it? Why can't he understand?
The short-haired blonde sighed again. Kuroro has stopped contacting her for ten minutes now, so she thinks it is okay to open her cell phone. It is not a surprise to find hundreds miss calls and messages from him. He always does that if they have a fight and Kurapica runs off to nowhere. Rolling her eyes, Kurapica opens the last message from Kuroro;
Kuroro
We need to talk. I'll be home around 9
She snorted. Talk? Yeah… why not? Let's talk and see if she will listen to whatever preaches he is going to give her.
~Half-Winged Butterfly~
11. Christmas
When he stopped his car at the bus stop to pick up the blonde girl, she was sitting on the bench and was talking flirtatiously with a rather handsome man and was giving him a lazy smile. The smile was that smile; dark, fake, unfocused smile she used to give him a few months ago. Her half-lidded eyes showed no interest to the man at all but yet the way she moved her slightly glossy, thin lips was really alluring. He could tell the poor man was drooling mentally. Kuroro wondered how much would the man gave to her just to have her for a night, for a really short pleasure. If the man was rich, it wasn't a problem. But if he just—
Kuroro snapped out of his thoughts when the man leaned dangerously close to her and she let him. The black haired man shouted; "Hey!" to her loudly and made them jumped out of their skin. Kurapica's head snapped to the car and she grinned. "You want to go with me or what?"
She rolled her eyes, turned to the guy beside her and walked toward Kuroro after said a farewell to her poor victim. "Jealous much?" She winked as she leaned to the driver's window. She dressed in black simple dress with an artificial white rose pinned to left chest, and thick, black stockings with matching black boots. She wore her usual fur-lined coat over the dress. "Seeing at how I dressed myself, I expect to go somewhere really nice, luxurious and have a five-ranked food that will make you broke for the rest of your life."
Kuroro rolled his eyes. "Can't you give me mercy?"
"Oh, well, how about broke for the rest of your holiday?"
They broke into a laugh together. Kurapica circled the car and got in to the front passenger seat beside her friend, and Kuroro started to drive his car. They chatted lightly about little things like food or traffic or snow or anything, sung along the radio, then fell to a comfortable silence.
Kurapica rolled down the window and Kuroro glanced at her quizzically. Wasn't it cold outside? His confused eyes soon turned into a scowl once the teen lit up her cigarette. He stopped at the red light and took the cigarette from the blonde.
"Hey!" She protested. Kuroro threw it out the window. "You have to pay for that."
"Okay." He fished out a lollipop from his coat pocket, opened the wrapper and held it for her. "Eat this."
"You think I'm a kid?" She huffed.
"Well, this candy is better than your cancer stick."
"And why this couldn't be a bad-for-your-teeth stick?"
"Because you'll live without your teeth."
Kurapica rolled her eyes because she knew she lost the battle and took the lollipop to her mouth. Kuroro smiled and muttered something about strawberry flavor and drove again as the green light shone happily. Kurapica moved the candy left and right, enjoyed the strawberry and milk flavored lollipop as she sug random Christmas songs.
They arrived at a restaurant. It was a nice one; not too luxurious but not cheap looking either. It was a nice ordinary restaurant. Kuroro parked his car and turned it off. He got out and intended to open the blonde's door but she opened it at the same time as him. It made him somehow disappointed. But maybe Kurapica just was not one of those girls who wanted to be treated like a queen.
Kuroro took the girl's hand and when she looked up with an annoyed expression, the man just grinned then dragged her to the restaurant.
Once they were inside, Kuroro took her coat off like a gentleman he was. Kurapica was too busy staring at the interior to protest Kuroro manner toward her. She looked awed with the vintage interior with some touch of gothic here and there. She silently checked out some paintings on the wall as Kuroro gently led her to a spot he had booked.
He pulled the chair for Kurapica but the girl, still staring at some other paintings, reached the chair at the other end of the table for herself then sat there with eyes wandering here and there brightly even though her expression remained blank. She was about to say something to Kuroro but frowned when she the man still stood behind the chair with an annoyed look.
"Uhh…" She raised an eyebrow. "You gonna sit there or what?" Kuroro rolled his eyes then sat there quietly. "This place is really good, especially the interior." The blonde commented. "But some paintings didn't suit this place, like that painting over there, I think—is there something wrong?" She snapped when she caught the man smirked at her.
"No." Kuroro said distractedly as a waiter handed two menus for them. "What do you want to eat?" His eyes scanned the black with golden edge menu.
Kurapica just glanced at it briefly before put it at the table again. "I'll get the same as you. I'm not picky." She smirked when Kuroro Frowned, thought about his choice then told the waiter what he wanted. "Are we going to drink wine?"
Kuroro stared at her. "You're underage." He handed the menu to the waiter, the blonde mimicked him.
"So?" Kurapica leaned in, rested her chin on the back of her palm elegantly.
"So no wine."
The blonde girl leaned back, crossed her hands, and her cocky smile widened. "It's not like I never do something against law."
Kuroro grimaced mentally at her words. Such a cruel world had stained her innocent in such a young age, he thought. "Well, I know you'll like this place."
Kurapica nodded. She didn't mind the sudden change of topic. "Yeah, this is a good place; comfy and nice."
"So, why is that painting isn't good for this place?" He pointed at the painting she had talked about before.
Kuroro smiled warmly when her eyes lit up and she began talked about paintings and colors, and other artistic things Kuroro didn't really understand, enthusiastically.
Kuroro listened to whatever she said interestedly, happy that he knew one thing the blonde really like. He input his thought very now and then. Asked about something he didn't understand and the blonde would answer him with long speech about arts, colours, beauty, and hidden meaning in artworks. She was talking about the beauty of a painting she saw in a exhibition two weeks ago when the waiter cam and put their food. She stopped her rant and smiled sheepishly at him, waited for the waiter to leave.
"I'm sorry..." She played with her fork. "Did I... bore you?"
Kuroro looked up and smiled. "No. It was really interesting."
She huffed. "You're lying."
"I'm not!" Kuroro looked genuinely offended which made the blonde averted her gaze to her food. "I mean, I never see arts through the surface. I always see it as it is. So, this is a really knowledge."
Kurapica kept her head down. She secretly let a smile adorned her face.
~xXxHalf-Winged ButterflyxXx~
Kuroro sits at his office room as he types the report his boss asked him distractedly. The man sucks a breath trough his teeth and deletes the last paragraph of his report, which he has been writing for the last two hours, angrily. He leans back to his chair, run his hand over his face. The black haired man lets out a heavy sigh as he closes his eyes, tried to clear his mind as he kneaded the bridge of his nose.
His mind wanders to Kurapica again, to the intoxicating blonde with captivating blue eyes. Kurapica was always a mystery to him and he like the challenge she gave. It was a blessing and a curse as well. Because living with Kurapica made his monochrome life became colorfull, technicolor, but it also frustated him to no end. She played with his feeling, forced him into countless ridiculous games again and again. And he hates the fact that he enjoys them sometimes.
But then, he grows tired of games and wants to step into a more serious step with Kurapica because he is so infantuated with the blonde and care about her much to her dismay. Kurapica hates it when Kuroro cares about her. But the black-haired man coudn't help it. He cares so fucking much it hurts to see her walks deeper into the lake of despair. And yet, Kurapica refuses to be saved for no reason, much to Kuroro's dismay.
They were fine before Kuroro tried to save her. They were fine with Kurapica destroyed herself and Kuroro did nothing about it. They were fine with Kuroro knew something was wrong but had no idea what it was. They were so fine with Kurapica's random mental break downs and kuroro's fail attempts to hold her because she would run into Leorio's hands. They were fine with her broken heart's pieces scattered on the floor and her silent scream to Kuroro, told him to stay away or he would get hurt.
They were fine. Really, really, fine. But, no! He had had enough. Enough with him sat around and prentend that everything was alright. Enough with all the ignorance toward all errors he knew was there. He will take a risk and save her. It doesn't matter if he gets hurt because it will be nothing compared to her pain.
That's why he crossed the line Kurapica has made. That's why he has been asking her to stop her games, to tell him what's wrong, beg her to let him help. That's why they have been fighting for the last four months; Kuroro confronted her, Kurapica told him to fuck off, and so on, so forth. Then, he noticed, it wasn't enough. The blonde would not let him in unless Kuroro break the door and reach her. That's why he screamed at her and slapped her this morning.
That's why he stepped in her room.
Kuroro licks his bottom lip and pull the drawer on his desk open and takes the envelopes he has took from Kurapica's box. He examines each envelope and sighs, and then mutters to himself;
"I think, stepped in her room resulted in more than knowing how she feels about me, Leorio."
~Half-Winged Butterfly~
12. Heaven
So the date was really good. Perfect, even, in Kuroro's opinion. Kurapica had enjoyed the food, espesially the dessert. She had asked about his family, had asked what kind of art they like. And the most treasured moment in that date was the smile. Before, she looked so beautiful in her old smiles; confident smiles, cocky smiles, elegant smiles, all of them make her looked like a celebrity; a person who is unreachable. But now, at that moment, her smile make her glowed, a really warm glow that make her looked so young and beautiful, like a real person.
Kuroro was on cloud nine, in a state of an intoxicating bliss, drunk of her smile. So Kuroro reached out his hand because he wanted to treat her like a princess and her princess shrugged and took his hand because she thought it was okay to let him treat her that way.
She let him help her put on her coat, let him held her hand as they walked out the restaurant and headed toward his car. She let him opened the door for her and closed it as well, when Kuroro finally sat beside her, she stared at his black eyes. She stared, and stared, and stared, and then decided that yes this moment was really nice. It was really nice and good and she knew she was happy because her stomach fluttered and her heart felt so much warmer. So when she noticed they were just staring at each other, with Kuroro's onyx eyes searched for something and his waiting smile, Kurapica breathed out a tiny laugh and smiled at him. She smiled that special, honest smile which reached her unnatural black eyes.
Kuroro was charmed by her smile. The sensation of wanting more rushed back to him. His fingertips tingled and twitched. He wanted to touch her cheeks, cup it in his hands, wanted to brush his fingertips on that inviting lips, to feel how soft they would be. He wanted to run his fingers upon the beautiful golden hairs, to bring those locks on to his nose and inhaled the addictive scent of honey and cigarettes. He wanted to laced his fingers with hers, wondered if it would fit perfectly.
Kuroro was in awe, amazed, infatuated. He knew the color of her eyes were not natural, but yet he could not help but felt electrocuted in low voltage which ran from his fingertips to his thundered heart. They hold on to each other gaze for another minute, before Kuroro had to fight down the urge to lean closer and close the distance. He was the first to break eye contact and break the spell.
Kuroro felt the gaze left him and secretly sighed in relief. His hand was shaking, and he missed three times to thrust the key in the ignition. He managed to stick the key after licked his lips and swallowed hard, after the shake was down. The black haired man sighed and twisted the key. His car hummed into life for a while and then decided that it liked its sleep and refused to be awakened.
Kuroro frowned in anger. "The fuck?" He hissed and tried again, but his car didn't budge. "Shit!"
When he was busying himself, Kurapica suddenly laughed out loud. She cackled like she had seen the most hilarious event in her life. Her face flushed and she held her stomach. Kuroro was taken a back at her laugh, he raised an eyebrow and asked; "What's so funny?"
Kurapica tried her best to calmed her laugh down to a giggle before she replied between her gasps of laugh; "Well- it just-" She turned her head to suppress another laugh, "You said to me to watch my words and behave, but now look at you!" Then she broke into another fit of laugh.
Kuroro blushed, embarassed. "Well, it's not funny..." He said lamely.
"Whatever..." Giggled, "Uh, the point is, your car is broke." Kuroro rolled his eyes and muttered something like: 'Yeah, thanks, Ms. Obvious.' but Kurapica didn't pay attention at that. "I know someone who is willing to come all the way here, fix this car, then you'll find your car at your garage, as good as new. For free."
The man five years her senior looked at her with narrowed eyes. "Really?" He was not amused.
"Well, free for me, though..." She shrugged.
Now, he was shocked. "Seriously?"
Kurapica wanted to laugh at his widened eyes and annoyed at his disbelief. She settled to roll her eyes and huff. "Look, just trut me. Okay?" She didn't wait for his reply and get out the car. When Kuroro followed her suit, approached her, and about to say something, Kurapica had her phone one her ear and raised index finger to shush him.
"Hey, it's me." She said to the phone. "I have a problem. Can you fix it?"
Uh-huh, Kuroro thought, that's really polite.
Kurapica laughed, mocking whoever she was talking with. "You owe me one, remember?" A brief pause, and then she smiled darkly. "Aw,don't be so rude. l covered your ass that day, right?" She giggled evily then beamed at him after pocketed her phone. "All's good!"
So they left the car because kurapica said the man will take care of it. Kuroro wanted to take a cab to drive her home but she rolled her eyes and punched him on the shoulder; "Oh, come on! Use your youth to enjoy this moment!" then she ran off.
At first, Kuroro thought she was having that beach episode. But when she turned a little to glance at him, gave him a challenging smile while walked backwards and twitched her index fingers, told him to come and get her, the man sighed a little then chuckled. He dashed toward her with a wide grin stretched from ear to ear.
They ran on the sidewalk, through the night, through the crowd of meaningless human, with the streetlights as their spotlights. Kurapica would laugh heartedly and hide behind the curtain of human for a while, and Kuroro would try to find her, peek through the monochrome bodies to catch the technicolor fairy. Their breath became hard and heavy, white smoke puffed out of their mouths and noses, but it was alright because the sensation that ran through his vein made him giddy, like he was five, like ten, like fifteen, when everyday was so bright and everything was so right.
He didn't know how Kurapica managed to dance through the crowd so gracefully, successfully avoided those bodies with light steps while he kept stumbled and bumped into them. He didn't know how long they had been running, but the people eventually thinned, and his feet grew tired. So he decided to use his last energy to run and catch her.
He draped an arm around her shoulders to prevent her from running away from him and Kurapica let out a yelp before laughed giddily. Kuroro waited until his breath calmed down, then laughed along with her. White smokes of laughter floated to the air, danced briefly before dispersed.
Kuroro held her hand and lead them to walk in comfortable slow pace. She didn't protest, didn't stiffened, didn't squirmed and try to get away. But she didn't hold his hand either, she just let him held hers, but it was okay, it was enough. After some miles, he wanted to lace their fingers together, to see if they would fit perfectly together, to see if she would snapped her hand back from him or she would let him or she would hold him back. But before he could do it, Kurapica suddenly looked up and said;
"Snow..."
Kuroro looked up as well and saw the white dots fell gracefully from heaven. "Yeah..." He said, becuse he was unsure of what to say and he knew she was waiting a reply from him. He turned his attention back to her again, to see her enjoying the white dots danced on the air. "It's beautiful."
Kurapica smilded warmly and Kuroro wondered if she knew what he meant. The girl stopped walking, she inhaled deeply then begun to sing an old song;
Would you know my name
If I saw you in heaven?
Would it be the same
If I saw you in heaven?
I must be strong
And carry on,
'Cause I know I don't belong
Here in heaven.
Her voice was so beautiful, like those people who sing in the church, clear and soft. Her eyes became dull again, became unfocused again. When she was like this, usually her expression was blank, but now, somehow, Kuroro could see a longing in her expression, like she was almost pleading. Kuroro watched her sing, heard her voice, stood beside her quietly. Like a statue, like a tree...
Would you hold my hand,
If I saw you in heaven?
Would you help me stand
If I saw you in heaven?
I'll find my way
Through night and day,
'Cause I know I just can't stay
Here in heaven.
She was about to continue-she had inhaled, had opened her mouth, but then... She slowly closed it again, swallowed once, swallowed back everything she had wanted to say, and just stared at the falling snow. Numb, and empty.
She put her free hand up, palm faced the sky, like she wanted to reach something, to touch something. "Heaven, huh?" She smiled, but it was forced, like she was laughing at herself, mocking at her own thoughts. Then she flinched, "Ouch!" She closed her eyes in pain, head snapped down, "Ow... There's something in my eye."
"You okay?" Kuroro was now in front of her, hands grabbed her shoulders.
Kurapica nodded her head, bangs covered her face. "Uh, yeah... Ah! My contact dropped!"
"You have problem seeing without your contact?"
"No, my eyesight is good. I just like the color. Man, it itches!"
Kurapica rubbed her eyes, but her company held her hands and lowered them, "Don't rub it!" Kuroro touched her cheek with one hand, lifted her face up, "Let me see."
She grunted in protest, but she opened her eyes slowly. Kuroro breath stopped when electric blue met deep black. Her left eye was now blue, deep blue. Like the sky, like sapphire, like his dream. It was so beautiful, perfect, fit her feature completely.
Her deep, deep, blue eye glowed dimly in the dark, like a shining jewel, drowned him in her depth. He exhaled softly after a while, after the blue was half-closed by an eyelid, shadowed by thick, dark eyelashes.
Kurapica held Kuroro's hand, tightened her hold softly as if to tell him to not let go. Before he knew it, he was leaning closer and closer to her, closing the distance between them, like he was pulled. Kurapica's head was tilted to the side slightly, her warm breath tickled his cheek. He could hear his heartbeats. They were slow but hammered against his ribcage painfully.
They were so close, the tip of their nose almost touched, but Kuroro stopped. He stopped and licked his lips. He let go of her-let go her cheek and her hand. He took a step backwards, hands fell to his sides.
He didn't dare to look at her, to see the electric blue, but he could feel her gaze, drilled a hole to his head.
"Why did you stop?" She asked, almost accusingly.
Kuroro lifted his head, once again locked his gaze on the electric blue. The deep, deep blue still glowed dimly, but now it was emotionless, cold and icy. "I—" he trailed off.
"Why did you stop?" She asked again. Voice low and stern. Demanded him to answer.
Again, Kuroro had no answers.
Kurapica broke the eye contact, turned on her heels then walked away through the falling snow.
Kuroro just stood on the spot, stared at her retreated back.
And stared...
And stared...
~Half-Winged Butterfly~
Kurapica opens Kuroro's apartment door in haste. She is in hurry because she forgot that she has a meeting with a children storybook writer named Neon at lunch. She remembered the promise ten minutes before her shift ended and remembered she had left her sketchbook in her room.
So here she is, running to her room, try to find her sketchbook in her messy room. When she opens her room, and sees how catastrophic it is, she curses her undying hate for neatness because now she really needs the sketchbook and she forgets where she placed it before. Kurapica doesn't like neatness, on the contrary, Kuroro is a neat freak; everything has a place and every place has a thing. She doesn't understand this but it is okay with her. This is his house, so she has to play with his rule. The only place that is messy in his house is her room which he had gave to her the day she moved in. Kuroro had given it to her, so the room is hers, she can do anything she like with her own room, right?
The blonde girl walks straight to her bed, thinking that maybe her sketchbook is there. She likes to sketch on her bed so she might throw it on the bed and now is covered with papers. She is rummaging through all the sketches on her bed when she suddenly notices that there is something off with the half-done painting on the easel next to her bed.
She stops rummaging and stares at the painting. She approaches it for further inspection. The painting is beautiful even though it is half-done and there is nothing wrong with it. But when you look closely and carefully, you will find that the blue colour on the corner is smudged. But Kurapica is not only sees the smudged colour, she sees a fingerprint printed on it also. Kurapica is a very careful artist, she would never let her fingerprint imprinted anywhere on her work so that is not belong to her.
Her blood turns cold. That's Kuroro's. How does she know? She just knows, and her intuition is never wrong.
She stares at the fingerprint emotionlessly. Her mind wanders to the conversation she had with Leorio. He had asked her; "If you don't want him to step in, then why don't you lock it?"
The answer is so easy. She likes games and this is one of the games. A test for Kuroro, how long will he be able to hold his curiosity. Just like when God told Adam and Eve not to eat from the tree of the knowledge. If He didn't want them to eat from the tree, then why He put it there? That meant He wanted to test them, right? He wanted to know how deep their loyalty to Him is. Kurapica is no god, but the idea is the same. She just wants to know, just curious, that's all. And to test, you need temptation, so the unlocked door and the prohibition are the temptation.
Kurapica Kuruta believes nothing ever build to last. She believes that everything will be broken eventually, no matter how good the thing is, no matter how nice and pure a person is. She knows this because Pairo, the purest person she ever known was broken in the end. She thought Pairo would survive, thought nothing would destroy his pureness, nothing would taint him, corrupt him. She had thought that Pairo would be pure forever, thought he was the strongest person in the world. But no, he was certainly not. Slowly, he was corrupted, tainted, broken, and then he was shattered and fell into darkness, left Kurapica alone in the monochrome world.
Even though she knows nothing ever built to last, deep down she wants to be wrong about it. To know whether you are right or wrong, you need to test, right? So she has been wandering, trying to find the right person. Why Kuroro? Why not Leorio? Because if she loses Leorio, she has nothing afterward, she will be completely alone. She can't destroy Leorio, she can't break him, not him, never Leorio. But Kuroro is perfect; he is kind, patient, and mature. He is pure and full of light, just like Pairo was once, a model of unbreakable person. If Kuroro is broken, she can run back to Leorio again.
The fingerprint is the enough proof that Kuroro is already tempted, tainted, corrupted. It is just a matter of time until he is completely broken.
Kurapica touches the fingerprint tenderly, while her eyes are cold and icy.
She feels betrayed by Kuroro. She has been pushing his button for two years, has been trying to see if he will finally tainted. But the man remains pure and full of light, even though Kurapica drives him mad every single time, he remains loyal to her, so faithful. She thought he would survive, but she was wrong and her hypothesis is right; nothing ever built to last.
With her fingertips still touch the fingerprint, her cold blue eyes wander to Pairo's painting, to the liar with holy light. She stares at the smudged background, at the purple, white, blue, and yellow colours. She couldn't decide the background, should it be purple for liar, white and blue for pure, or yellow for holy light? She didn't know, so the colours are smudged and ugly.
"Black..." She whispers absentmindedly as she lifts the painting off the easel. "Black eyes and smile... maybe purple for irises..." She glances to the wall full of Kuroro sketches, "Hmm... red, ugly red and black..." She throws the canvas to the wall produced an ugly 'CRACK' sound when it hit the wall and pathetic 'thud' when it falls on the floor. The painting is broken, bended. Somehow, she finds her sketchbook, the lovely thing is peeked out under the bed. The blonde grabs it and walks out her room, out the apartment, while mumbling about black, red, yellow, and purple to herself.
"Oh, yucky green for tongue..."
~Half-Winged Butterfly~
13. Why?
As romantic as it sounded, Kuroro would not walk back to his apartment. After Kurapica was no longer to be seen, the black haired man stopped a taxi and went home that way because his apartment was still too far not to mention the snow, so walking was a big no-no. In romantic novels, they would wrote that the man would walk and think about what he should do after that episode but it didn't go that way with Kuroro. He didn't think about what he should do, he thought about the answer to her question; why did he stop? He wanted to, then why he stopped?
The question of why lingered in his head. He thought about it in the taxi, after he paid, while he was in the elevator, while he opened his apartment door, while he washed his face, while he changed his clothes into a pyjama, while he laid on his bed, he even dreamt about him sitting on white space like in the painting of him from Kurapica, thinking of the question why.
He was rudely awoken by the sound of someone literally punching his innocent front door. He opened his eyes and the picture of Kurapica standing in the snow fall with electric blue eyes glowed dimly in the dark when asking him why disappeared like a poster was ripped off the wall right in front of your face. The knocking sounded like the person had an urgent business with him or needed him to save their soul. The man groaned at each bang because his head throbbed painfully in sync with it.
Kuroro pushed himself up off the bed and stomped toward the abused door. He opened it harshly, death glare on his face, and asked "What?" harshly.
The door bully was two young teenagers—probably around Kurapica's age—who were shocked to Kuroro's harsh voice.
"Whoa-ow~ chill, man." The white-haired teen—the one who abused the door—held his hands up in mock surrender. "We don't mean any harm."
The second teen, with messy reddish brown hair rolled his eyes. "Yeah, we really don't mean any harm even though you were banging on someone's door like you are a debt collector."
"Shuddup, Hiccup." The white haired teen spat, "Don't bitch at me about how I knock on someone's door."
"Said the guy who was bitching at me all night to hurry the fuck up while he didn't help me out at all." The teen named Hiccup almost screamed at him.
When the white haired teen was about to retort, Kuroro cut him off, "What do you want?"
Both of the teen froze, like they were just aware that Kuroro was there. The white teen huffed while the Hiccup looked sheepish. "Uuh... we just want you to know that your car is already safe in your garage." Hiccup said.
Kuroro frowned. Car? Oh, yeah, Kurapica had asked for her friends 'help' to fix his car. "Uhh... thanks?"
The white teen snorted. "Thanks? No shit, man. You made us up all night working on Christmas Eve and all you have to say is thanks?"
"Fuck, Jack." Hiccup groaned. "Do you have to antagonize everyone who interrupts your beauty sleep? And, oh, by the way, the one who is working is me."
"Stop." Kuroro said tiredly. "I don't need you guys bickering in front of my apartment's door on Christmas day. So just tell me what you want."
Both teen shared a look. Hiccup shrugged and shook his head so Jack rolled his eyes and faced Kuroro with annoyed expression plastered on his too pale face like Kuroro had insult him. "What did you do to her?"
Kuroro was taken aback. Excuse me, punk, who in the earth would understand your very vague question. "Who did what to whom?"
"She stopped by our spot yesterday. Her eyes are blue. Why?" Like that really elaborate anything. Kuroro had a sudden urge to smack the white haired punk's face to the wall repeatedly until his pale complexion adorned with blood.
Hiccup saw the distress on Kuroro's face and kindly explained. "She never took her contacts off in public, so why?"
The black-haired man head felt dizzy. The question of why haunting him again.
Why did you stop?
Why she had to ask?
Why did she wear contacts?
Why did she like the colour?
Why did you just stand there?
Why did she have to be mad?
Why did you stop?
Why didn't you go after her?
Why didn't you ask her cell number?
Why two punks had to bang crazily on his door in the morning?
WHY DID YOU STOP!?
He covered his face with his big palm. "I don't know." He sighed, "I don't even know she wear contacts in the first place." He knew the question why had deeper meaning and needed deeper answer, but he didn't know what to say for he was confused as well. He didn't know why Kurapica wore contacts, he didn't know why she liked the colour, he didn't know why her action of showing her electric blue eyes in public had deeper meaning.
Both teens exchanged looks again. Now, it was Hiccup turn to ask him first; "I've heard about you from Kurapica these days. I just want to know why are you still by her side?"
Kuroro's blood turned cold. His onyx eyes widened.
Why—?
~Half-Winged Butterfly~
The thoughts about black, purple, ugly red, blue, yellow, and yucky green had stopped the moment she stepped in the restaurant. Her mind and body is immediately set in an autopilot once the discussion between Neon and her starts. They talks about how this character should be portrayed, how that scene should be painted, what colours they should use, and many more. Kurapica even input her thoughts about the story line and the words she could use in her story.
Her autopilot mode is interrupted when her phone began to sing. She intends to ignore the call, Kurapica is a professional, a personal call is a no-no in work, but she cancel her intend when she look at the caller id.
"I'm sorry, Neon." She said to the pink haired writer, "This is important."
Neon nodded at her.
Kurapica answers the call, "Hello?" and then, a pause as she listens to the caller. Five minutes later, her blue eyes widened and the buzzing sound starts to have a concert in her ears again.
"Huh?"
~Half-Winged Butterfly~
14. Dearly Beloved
Six days had passed since their date on Christmas Eve. Today was New Year Eve.
In those six days, Kuroro had been asking why to himself and still found no answer. But those electric blue eyes which glowed dimly in the night of falling snow made his heart hammered against his ribcage so strongly. He couldn't find the answers to all the questions. The more he thought about it, the more his mind wandered to the moment when Kurapica had asked him why and the memory of electric blue made him dizzy, made his fingertips twitched, made his heart thundered in slow tempo, made him unsatisfied, made him wanted more.
He thought about it. Really, really thought about it. About why did he stop, about why he couldn't say anything to her that night, about why he still at her side even though he knew she was a bad news. But every time he tried to form an answer for each question, the picture of her stood on the sidewalk and the memory of electric blue rushed back to his mind.
Today was like before, like the last five days; woke up, set his body on autopilot mode so he would eat normally, mind thinking about the answers and he would go back to stand in front of blue eyed Kurapica asking him why. And before he knew it, it was already evening.
Kuroro stared outside the window, to see the starless sky that soon would be full of fireworks. He suddenly remembered the summer day when he and Kurapica lit the starless sky with fireworks and threw paper airplane to the ocean. The memory made him smile a little. He remembered the water reflected the colours of the fireworks that day, made the monochrome scenery became so technicolor.
His body was still in autopilot mode, so he didn't really know when he took a bath, when he donned the black shirt and jeans, when he put on his new coat, when he locked his door, when he walked out the building, everything was a blur. He didn't even know where his body took him. He didn't want to think, because if he did, his mind would wander about the question why again.
After walking for twenty minutes, his body suddenly decided to stop. Kuroro, didn't even realize he was looking down all the time, lifted his head and stared to the bus stop sign. Oh, so his body took him there, to the place where he and Kurapica first met, to the place which held so many memories of them together. He stared at the sign for two minutes before he finally noticed the girl who sat on her usual spot. It took him another three minutes to drink in the figure and acknowledge her as Kurapica. He stared at her for five minutes with blank mind before his autopilot mode body made him sat beside her like he used to do.
They sat like that for a while. Kurapica had her favourite staring contest with the starless night sky and Kuroro studied the not-so-interesting asphalt.
After ten minutes, Kurapica finally opened her mouth and said; "You know, I... I hate blue sky."
A pause, "So that's why you always stare at the black night sky?"
She nodded. "I like the colour." She said slowly. "It is black, deep black, like massive black canvas. And no matter how many buckets of colours you throw at the black canvas, the colour would never change, would never be tainted. It is stagnant, constant, unchangeable. I like that way."
Kuroro frowned, how come a girl who brought so many colours into his days loved monochrome world? "Isn't it more interesting if the world is colourful?"
"No." She shook her head. "Too many chaos."
"Oh."
Another silent. It was not bad, but wasn't good either. It felt like there was something unspoken, something they should talk about, but Kuroro didn't know what he wanted to say and he didn't know what the blonde would say.
Kurapica was now looked at him, Kuroro could feel her gaze on the edge of his eye, he knew he had to look at her eventually. He could feel that her gaze silently demanded him to see at her. But she didn't push him to do so. It was his decision. Kuroro suddenly wanted her to push him, to force him, so he didn't have a choice to decide. The black haired man licked his bottom lip, he sniffed once before looked at her. The moment his eyes landed on her eyes, she took every breath he breathed away.
Electric blue
"I'm sorry about Jack and Hiccup." She said. Kuroro just shrugged. "I crashed at their place that day and told them where to drive the car back to you. I don't know they would bother you."
"Are they close to you?"
"Not really. I just really like their place, is all."
"Why?"
She shrugged. "Leorio makes me feel like I am his adopted daughter. My boss makes me feel like I am the most dangerous girl in the town. The boys make me feel like I am the most gorgeous thing in the world. The night makes me feel invincible. You make me feel like I am special. Hiccup and Jack make me feel normal. That's why."
She made the answer to the question why sounded easy. But Kuroro still didn't have answer to Kurapica's question why or those punks'.
"Isn't feel special is good?"
Kurapica's cheek was dusted pink, and her smile was a sad one. "It makes me scared."
Kuroro wanted to hug her. "Why?" He whispered.
"Because, maybe I don't deserve to be special." She shook her head. "Because in this world, I am nothing, a nobody." Electric blue melted. Down to her cheeks, down to her chin, dropped to her chest.
Kuroro edged closer to her, wrapped her in his embrace and she put her head on the crook of his neck. "Then let's make another world," he said. "A new world where you can feel special, a world for the two of us. Come with me, Kurapica."
The blonde's hand wrapped around him too, fisted the shirt on his back tightly. "Can I?"
"Yeah..." He kissed her hair and inhaled the scent. She smelled like honey and cigarette.
She let out gasps of breathy laugh. "I'm still underage, you pervert."
"Well, this is our private world, the rules are ours to make."
Kuroro and Kurapica laughed together. It was perfect, it was brilliant. Wonderful.
Way up on the sky, thousand of fireworks burst brightly, coloured the black sky with their sparks before they dispersed.
~Half-Winged Butterfly~
Kurapica is in that place again. The place where everything is pure white and smells funny. No one talks in this place, the only sound could be heard is the soft footsteps, the brushes of clothes, the sound of breath, and the hum or beeping sound of machine. Kurapica doesn't really like this place. It is too bright, too pure, too white, like she is already in heaven, but it is fake because the atmosphere was so grim. But she has to come here once a month.
Today, she stood outside the curtain. She doesn't feel like step in and see the lady who lied there, lifeless, but in peace.
She didn't know how long she has been standing there. But her fingertips start to freeze and her legs hurt. She still stares at the white curtain when a nurse comes and pats her on the shoulder. "Hey, Kurapica! Visiting again?"
Kurapica nods to Bisuke, the nurse who claims herself as her friend. "How's she?"
The curly haired nurse crosses her arms. "Half-dead.: She said matter-of-factly, "Do you think this is the right time to sign the paper?"
Kurapica frowns in disgust. No, she won't sign. Never! She won't let her free. "No." She said in a low tone, "She doesn't deserve it."
With that, she turns on her heels and leave.
Miko: Soo~ I feel loved if you guys would kindly review this story and talk to me (pretty pleaase? With Cherries on top?). Thank you for reading!