Taking Your Picture
If you'd notice, we're just two in this world.
Gumi peered at the bubbling batter a little too keenly; makeshift piping bag half-forgotten in one hand, spatula just as forgotten in the other. Something was wrong with her roommate. He never seemed to be around at all; in fact, until recently he was doing a pretty good job living up to his word about hardly being home. So why was he now sitting at the breakfast bar so early in the morning? Was it his day off again? Was she intruding on his personal time? Why was he in the kitchen knowing full well that she was in it?
"Um, Kamui-san..."
"'Oniichan.'"
"...Kamui-oniichan."
"'Gakupo-niichan.'"
Gumi pursed her lips to avoid suffering a sigh. Instead she flipped the batter over on the frying pan. A cartoon frog smiled cutely up at her as its raw bottom sizzled softly. "...Kamui Gakupo-niichan-san-sama."
"Stop making things hard for yourself. What is it?"
"You seem to have a lot of free time lately."
"Mm, yes. And?"
"Does it bother you that I'm here?"
"Not at all since you're so kind to make breakfast for me."
The frog-faced pancake she was just about to lay gently on a plate fell flat on it. "Eh?"
"Pancakes, right?" he asked, coming around to lean a hip against the counter next to the stove. He leaned over the plate, taking in the shape of the cake, and was amused. "Frogs. You like frogs?"
"Yes," she said, setting down the spatula. Taking the piping bag in both her hands, she drew the outline of another frog on the pan. Setting it aside, she ladled batter into the outline, filling it in. Taking up the piping bag once more, she redrew the outline outside of the original. The process was calming, and the steps were predictable.
"Does my presence in my own apartment bother you?" he asked.
"A little," she admitted. Flip. Her frog smiled up at her, its cheeky wink making her smile in turn. "I've almost forgotten I have a roommate."
"Is this a cry for attention? The pastries, the food..."
"Please don't read into it with those kinds of thoughts," Gumi said dryly as she removed the winking pancake and set it next to the previous one on the plate. "The rent is so cheap that I felt I needed to make up for it by at least doing this."
"Ah."
"I'm not surprised my food has tempted you to suffer my company, though," the girl said pertly, drawing an extremely cheerful frog next.
"I'm just glad you understand your familial obligation," the man next to her said lightly as he crossed his arms over his chest. "It's good to have a devoted little sister."
Gumi's hand froze over the spatula as she turned to level him with a look. "Keep it up and I won't feed you, oniichan."
Gakupo merely graced her with a smirk as he pushed away from the counter and walked toward the fridge. After opening and closing it without taking anything out, he walked back to his stool at the breakfast bar.
Happy to be left alone, the girl continued with her work; soon finishing with six frogs bearing various expressions of frivolity. She filled the gaps on the plate with blueberry-maple syrup, and rosied the frogs' cheeks with slices of strawberry. She turned, plate in hand, and set it down in front of his waiting royal highness.
"Your pancakes," she said simply before turning to make tea on the prep counter behind the breakfast bar.
"Where are yours?" he asked, watching her.
"That was supposed to be mine, but someone invited himself to breakfast." Pouring hot water into a teapot, she added pungent peach black tea leaves and let it steep for a moment. She fetched milk from the fridge and poured a portion into two mugs. With nothing left to do, she finally met his curious stare. "What?"
"You take half," he said, offering her his fork. "I can't let you starve. Don't you have work in a few hours? Why are you up so early?"
"So nosy," she wrinkled her nose.
"It's the brother's duty to be nosy," he said imperiously. "Well? Why are you up?"
"I couldn't sleep anymore, so I thought I'd walk around the blocks after I eat."
"You won't be cute if you don't sleep, you know. Al will be heartbroken."
"He'll live," she laughed, fondly recalling the big man's manly flustering over her. She knew it was because of his job, of course; she also had a feeling that Leon might have said something. It seemed head waiters were possessive of their staff—not to mention violently critical of each other and their management methods.
"You say that now, but wait 'til he sees those eye bags."
Gumi's fingers self-consciously flew up to the slightly puffy areas under her eyes. "It's called seven-in-the-morning," she scowled at him, taking the fork he waved in front of her. "You're so mean, oniichan."
"Yes, yes. I'm mean," he said easily, reaching for another fork and mangling one frog.
Gumi set down a bowl of strawberries next to the plate of pancakes, resting her fork on the edge of it. After checking the tea, she poured it into the mugs of milk; watching the two liquids blooming and blending into each other. With the subtle and sweet scent of peaches filling the air, she said quietly, "Hey."
"Hm?"
She meant to tell him about the pictures; that someone saw them together and most likely followed them to the apartment building. But when she looked up from the warmed mugs, she saw that he seemed tired. In fact, he looked like he hadn't slept even though he was dressed in what she termed his house clothes. She frowned and asked instead, "When was the last time you slept?"
He waved her question away and forked a strawberry in his mouth. "Not important," he said after swallowing, and frowned when she persisted. "I'll sleep after breakfast."
Satisfied, Gumi nodded; and then wondered why she felt that way. As she served her roommate his tea and drank her own, she thought that maybe she was playing her role a little too well. Whatever the reason, she needed to tone it down if only to stop Gakupo from gloating about how pampered he was by her.
Her stomach gurgled audibly. It seemed the milk tea wasn't enough. Without a word, Gakupo pushed the plate of pancakes sideways to the empty spot next to him. Picking up his tea, he left the kitchen. Seconds later, sounds from the television drifted past the open doorway.
The pancakes were already cold by the time she ate them, but she saw that he left her with the happiest-looking frogs and the biggest strawberries. Gumi thought that it was a very brotherly thing to do. After she ate and cleaned up, she told him to let her know if he was going to eat breakfast so she could prepare enough for the two of them next time. Without waiting for his response, she continued into the bathroom for the rest of her morning ablutions.
There, she spent a considerable amount of time making sure that the puffiness around her eyes was indeed gone. It was only after she was assured of the fact that she finally left the bathroom.
...and bumped right into Gakupo.
Her hands shot out to grasp at him just as he held on to her shoulders to steady her. "Sorry," she said, wide eyes finding his mildly curious ones. His eyes always seemed to fascinate her as much as she had the impulse to immediately look away from them. Lighter than the deep purple of his hair, they suited him. He bore them well.
"I have to use the bathroom," he said simply. His hands were unnaturally warm on her shoulders, temperature seeping through even her clothing, making her realize she was just the slightest bit chilled. His forearms, too, were warm beneath her touch; whipcord muscles unhampered even by the soft barriers of cloth and flesh.
Blinking, Gumi immediately released his arms, and he likewise let go as she stepped aside. "All yours," she said a little too brightly, and fled to her room for her things.
Busily she flitted from one corner of her quarters to the next: taking her camera bag from the desk, her sling bag from the floor next to the bed, unplugging her phone from its charger on her dresser. Patting down pockets and zipping zippers for her keys, she surveyed her room one last time for anything she might have forgotten.
Almost mockingly, sunlight happily streamed in through her window, bathing her room in a soft yellow glow. Everywhere the light touched—her inherited furniture, the floor, the walls, and even herself—seemed to make everything warm and fuzzy. Halloween mornings were ever so deceiving. Gumi made herself smile. If she held on to it long enough, it would become real.
Camera, wallet, phone, keys...and jacket. She was set.
She left her room quietly—expecting Gakupo to have gone to bed—and made her way down the short hall. The television was still on in the living room, and the man she thought had gone to sleep was lounging on the couch. One arm was slung over the back of the furniture, fingers indulgently splayed. Gakupo fit right in with the furniture and the room, making it all the more like something out of a design magazine. She supposed he should, since it was his apartment.
Gumi continued to the foyer, stepping into her shoes.
"Have fun today," Gakupo called from the couch, and her hand stopped on the door handle.
It had been so long since someone sent her off, but she managed to say her thanks.
—
The dress was made to offset her small frame, the square neckline perfectly presenting her collar and chest. The slight puff in the shoulders and the wideness of her skirt gave her more presence than her normal clothes ever could. She twirled and the dress whispered; black silk ribbons fluttering with the peeking chiffon layer, trailing up the dove gray satin material of the dress in vertical stripes right up to the neckline. Gumi was enchanted.
Rin stood next to her, snapping on a pure white apron to the attached buttons at her front. Miku was adjusting the simple flat bonnet to accommodate her hair, letting the ribbons weave in and out the strands.
"Wow," Gumi whispered in awe of the finery they presented.
"You can say that again," her blonde friend grinned.
"Gumi-chan, where's your collar?" Miku asked, holding her hand out. "I can put it on for you if you like."
"The collar feels stuffy," the green-haired girl whined but complied, grudgingly turning around and fussing with her short gloves. It covered just the hand, leaving the wrist and the heel completely bare. It was open in an oval at the back of the hand, and was edged with very small ruffles.
A knock sounded at the door of their dressing room, and Leon's voice from behind it asked if they were ready. As one, the day shift waitresses filed out to stand at attention beside the door where Leon and Len stood waiting with Ann, both men looking like Old World butlers in their morning coats. Rin, upon seeing her brother looking even shorter than ever standing next to the older man, hid a snort behind her hand.
Tête-à-Tête's proprietor cleared her throat, eyeing her staff speculatively. Gumi tried not to squirm under the woman's stare; but the short frilled collar around her neck tickled with new sensation, and she couldn't avoid reaching up to rub away the tingling on her skin where the frills touched.
Ann looked at Gumi, blue eyes intense. "Does it itch?" she asked.
"I'm just not used to it, Oneesama," Gumi answered, looking down. Her hand fell away from her collar to lay against her skirt. "I'll be fine after a few hours."
"We don't have hours," the owner said, a silent command to get used to it immediately. "The others will handle the menu today. You lot will be taking pictures for the café. A magazine has approached us with an interest in our daytime and nighttime activities. They're waiting on the floor right now, and I expect you all to conduct yourselves as people befitting the pride of Tête-à-Tête."
"Yes!"
"Stop scratching," Rin hissed next to her as the waitstaff dispersed toward the main floor. "It's turning red. You don't want that to appear in the pictures, do you?"
Gumi kept her hands away from her neck, and miserably endured the unwelcome tickling every time the collar brushed against her skin. Entertaining the magazine people was even a welcome distraction as she managed to answer a question or two and pose for a picture with Leon. When they left, pleased as they got what they came for, she fled to the lockers to apply lotion around her neck and collar. It helped, even if just a little, and she was able to endure the first half of her Sunday shift.
Halloween was a celebrated day in the University district. It gave the young adults a chance to enjoy the last vestiges of childhood before shedding it completely to don the responsibilities of adulthood. For one day of the year, they were able to just be themselves and enjoy. The shops in Ensou encouraged their patrons to come fully dressed in costumes; the running tradition was that if they did, they got a discount or some other promotional trinket. Candy rewards in abundance were also without question.
Most of Tête-à-Tête's day visitors came dressed in the best of 1800s fashion, of whom sported the ever popular Gothic Lolita in a nod to the festive occasion. Bats, spiders, and mangled dolls were the preferred popular items to tote, draping over shoulders and hanging off hats. They were all elaborate, all beautiful, and yet the café and its staff held its ground in true Parisian grandeur when compared to its patrons.
The new uniforms were accepted with a zealousness that could only be compared to a store unveiling a new line of clothing. Many pictures were taken of the staff in their natural states, which pleased Ann to no end. It was Gumi's understanding that the owner always had an active part in the design of her shop's uniforms.
Leon granted her a proud smile as she came to rest her arms on the bar counter in front of him. "You did well," he praised. "I was worried the new dress would impede your movements."
"I've had training," the green-haired girl grinned widely. "The tables at night will be harder to move in, though. I think I might actually hit people with my skirt."
"I wouldn't worry about that," the older man chuckled, and turned around when he noticed Al come up behind him. "You, on the other hand... Why do you always leave your cigarette butts on the ground by the staff door? Is it not common courtesy to pick up after yourself?"
"Whoah, what?" the redhead backed up, his brows knit in confusion at the blond's sudden confrontation. "Where's this coming from? I only smoke at home."
"Do you really enjoy making me do unnecessary work every morning?"
"I'm tellin' you, you stinky old fart, it ain't me!"
Gumi quietly snuck away from the bickering men, deciding to hide out in the kitchen for the time being. Rin and the others had gone home to have dinner, making plans to come back later in the evening to celebrate the night. In the hallway, she ran into Ann who was just coming out of her office.
"What are you doing still dressed like that?" the buxom blonde asked, immediately herding Gumi into the women's changing rooms. "Hurry up and put on your night shift uniform."
"Eh?"
"Didn't I tell you last time? If you're going to be on night shift for the whole season, you may as well dress the part. Go on."
The door she opened revealed Meiko and Luka in various stages of dress. The brunette was strapping on an open bust velvet frock over a wide necked peasant blouse. The pink-haired woman was making sure the ruffly, open front skirt she wore covered the vertical-striped bloomers underneath. Even half-naked, they both looked so classy.
Both women looked up at her entrance, smiling at her before resuming their primping. "Check it out, Gumi-chan," Luka said excitedly, executing a twirl. Her rich chocolate skirt flew, revealing creamy thighs not even the three tiers could cover. "I can dance with you now!"
"Cute dress by the way," Meiko commented distractedly as she slipped into a pair of tight breeches.
"Oh yes," Luka agreed, rolling a thick, vertical-striped stocking up to her thigh. "Let me finish with these and I'll help you get out of it."
"I can manage," Gumi assured her, feeling relieved to remove the detachable collar from her neck. She eyed her other costume hanging by the door as she undressed. It was covered in clear plastic, and from what she could tell, she was going to be wearing high-waist jumper shorts and a vertical-striped, short-sleeved button-up.
The three of them exchanged light chatter as they dressed, and it wasn't until Gumi slid on the fingerless gloves that she realized what she looked like; what Meiko and Luka looked like. Thick vertical stripes, monochromic cream and rich chocolate, brass buckles and natural dark brown leather; it was Gumi's dream come true.
"I love Oneesama," Gumi breathed, eyeing the most beautiful pair of burnished brass goggles in her hands. Meiko and Luka were attaching the final touches of their costumes; the former clipping on a chained monocle, the latter slipping an old spyglass into the holder at her thick leather belt.
"You can move freely now," Meiko eyed her shorts approvingly. There was only a small hiccup of skin where her shorts ended and the thigh-highs began, and Gumi rubbed the inside of her socked knees against one another as she grinned at the older woman. She was eager to get back onto the floor now that she was in less-restrictive clothing. Following the women out, she was glad that she was in platform boots rather than the sloping heels her co-workers confidently strode in.
A whistle greeted them as they emerged from behind the bar. Al was dressed like a cavalier steam captain down to the rolled-up sleeves and the cravat at his neck. His hat laid at the bar at his elbow, insolently forgotten. Kiyoteru was already manning the bar, dressed like a first mate. Kaito, who looked like a boiler room engineer, was at the stage with his guitar.
"Looks like everyone's here," night shift's head waiter clapped his hands once, drawing their attention. "The Mistress just told me we're gonna be entertaining some magazine people. Since we're on a tight schedule, only a few of us will be talking to 'em."
"Like who?" Meiko asked speculatively as she adjusted the leather body harness wrapping tightly around her.
"Kamui's already in there," the big man replied. "Meiko-chan will go next, followed by Hiyama."
"Pass," the bartender said stoically.
"Oy, you..."
"They're not after the drinks I make," the bespectacled man said. "I'm not interested. Pass."
"You should go then, Al-san," Luka urged gently, smiling as she strode up to him and laid a hand on his arm. "You're our fearless leader after all."
Gumi wandered over to Kaito after doing a few runs between the tables, leaning against the wall as she watched everyone. The musician turned his head to look at her, his hand suspended over guitar strings. "Something the matter?" he asked.
"Hiding," she whispered at him, making him chuckle and return to his playing. The chord progression attracted Meiko, who sauntered over and started into a song extolling the spookier aspects of Halloween. The two went back and forth, singing lines at each other; their practice seemed to rouse the others into doing the same, and Gumi was compelled to dance another round among the tables.
—
"I know we've been meaning to drop in on you at work to see what the fuss was about," Rin was hollering in her ear above the blare of music and chattering people around them. "I thought you were exaggerating. I never thought Kamui-san could be that affectionate."
"I told you," Gumi hollered back, grinning fiercely. It was the last hour until closing time and the mood was infectious. Over the course of the night, more and more of the café's customers set aside their drinks and started dancing to the fast-paced numbers that the staff kept up. Now, her shift long over, she was standing with Rin by the wall as they watched the mass of bodies bobbing and weaving to Gakupo's hypnotic sound. "I'm used to it though," she said as the blonde asked her how she managed.
"Well, it's not like it's unwanted attention, eh?" her friend elbowed her side teasingly. "Does the boyfriend get jealous?"
"Where has Miku-san gone, I wonder?" Gumi said out loud, looking everywhere but in the blonde's direction.
"Aha! He does!" Rin laughed. "Oh, I feel so sorry for you. Are you guys still fighting? He knows it's just work, right? Hey, Gumi? Heeey."
"Oh, there she is," the green-haired girl said triumphantly, pointing out the light-haired woman standing among the other people closest to the stage. "It's almost time to close, isn't it?" she asked Rin, who was not amused with her obvious avoidance. At her friend's expression, her smile faltered and shrunk. "He broke up with me a few days ago," she said quietly at a coincidental lull in the music.
"Thank you very much for making this night come alive," Gakupo was saying on stage. "Please enjoy this last number."
"What do you mean he broke up with you?!" Rin yelled beside her. The pause in the music made her voice carry over the crowd, and the people closest to them turned their heads to look on curiously. Len, who had been walking toward them with drinks in hand, swiftly turned back around and returned to the bar.
Gumi's face warmed from the attention, yet instead of turning to hush her friend, her gaze drifted over the crowd to meet her roommate's. Even he was looking at her, infuriatingly so, with that same raised eyebrow she now knew to be his most annoying (expressive) facial feature. The look of him, like he was blaming her for the disturbance, finally made her turn away to placate the young woman beside her.
Rin was predictably complacent after Gumi took her outside and told her what happened a few days ago. She was instead upset that the breakup took place on the same day that they had dinner together.
"I should have known something was wrong," the blonde sighed. "You didn't even call or text that day. But I thought you two were all right. Didn't you guys make up that time? You had a really stupid grin going on when I left you."
"I wasn't completely honest with him," she admitted, "and I don't blame you. I wasn't really ready to talk about it, and I didn't want to ruin the food with awkward news."
"Speaking of food, I am going to take you on the biggest food binge until you feel better," Rin promised. "But to be honest, Gumi, I'm glad you two broke up. If he wasn't someone you could be open with, even for who you have as a roommate, you obviously weren't that comfortable around him."
"I could have been, though?" Gumi wondered wistfully, kicking a cigarette butt out of sight and deeper into the alley they stood in. "I know I blew it," she assured her friend, who looked about to remind her that she had fucked up astronomically in the eyes of Sui. She, of all people, was most aware of that particular fact. "But to say you're glad we broke up..."
"Of course I'm glad! I'm relieved! I never liked the way he treated you, anyway. You can definitely find someone better."
"But"—"And don't bother talking to me about what could have been between you two. We can definitely talk enough about that to fill a library and we still won't get anywhere."
"For closure?" Gumi dared a sideways glance at the blonde leaning against the wall next to her, and found her doing the same. "Fine," she heard her friend sigh, "go through the motions. The sooner you get it out, the sooner you can go back to enjoying your life."
She smiled, feeling grateful to have someone so pragmatic like Rin in her life. "True, I've been feeling like crap lately."
"And you wonder why I have no interest in relationships," Rin muttered, crossing her arms. "I have enough on my plate dealing with Len—and he with me I guess—to bother letting another person into my life like that."
They were both quiet for a while, contemplating the blonde's lack of romantic relationships.
"So you and Kamui-san, huh," Rin said. "Must be one hell of a roommate."
"He's hardly home."
"I still have a hard time believing it. You agreeing to room with him, I mean."
"He was very persuasive"—Gumi blushed at the leer her friend was giving her—"not like that! There wasn't anywhere else cheaper or closer enough to school!"
"Riiiight," Rin snickered, but quickly sobered, nodding. "I'm not saying I understand you completely, but whatever makes you feel safe and content makes me less worried about you too."
Gumi looked down at her shoes, feeling sufficiently awkward from the sensitive topic. "Yeah."
They both looked up when people started coming out of the café, carrying with them good cheer and loud chatter. "Guess it's over," Rin said for the sake of saying something, and checked the time on her phone. "We've got an hour 'til the trains stop. Do you want to hang around a bit? Maybe talk?"
"I'm all right," Gumi smiled. "But could I come over again this week?"
"Of course! I'll cook this time. Or help out. Or eat the ingredients. Whatever you need." The declaration made her laugh, and she would have come back with a brilliant rejoinder if Len didn't come out to interrupt them with a message from Al to help return the tables and chairs. Instead, Gumi sent them off while she returned to the café for her task.
"If you hadn't been dancing, the customers wouldn't have been tempted," Big Al grumbled, hauling tables by the stacks with both arms.
"If you guys hadn't been singing, I wouldn't have been tempted," Gumi returned cheekily, trailing after him with two chairs.
"Don't you be cute with me, missy," the man snarled halfheartedly, making her grin widely at his back. "Though it was easier to mop the floors with everything out of the way," he muttered almost quietly to himself.
"You're welcome."
"What did you say?"
"You're very welcome, Al-san," she said sweetly.
"I'm going to have words with your brother about your attitude," Al said disgustedly, looking for all the world like he had eaten something terrible. The expression looked childish on his strong-angled face. "The bastard has ruined you. You used to be so adorable."
"My ears are burning," Gakupo said dryly, appearing behind the bar dressed in his street clothes. Ignoring Al's death glares with a smoothness only someone as self-assured as he could manage, he turned to Gumi and asked, "Are you done? I'm tired."
"You can go ahead," she offered as she passed by the bar on the way to the back room. "Al-san can take me home, right, Al-san?"
"Sure," the man said absently as he returned with more tables. It was a testament to the head waiter's strength that he was able to haul around marble and iron with enviable ease.
Gakupo said nothing more, coming around instead to help her with the chairs. They finished up much quickly with his help, which prompted Al to make a jab at the purple-haired man's overprotective brotherly instincts. The man in turn took a stab at Al's creepy, pedophilic behavior toward his cute sister.
It was becoming increasingly usual for the two to exchange such barbs with each other whenever Gumi was around, and somehow she knew that they were both doing it for her amusement. So she giggled whenever they started, because it really was amusing to witness two grown men arguing like children.
"All right, I give up for now," Al conceded. "But only because it's getting late and Gumi-chan looks dead on her feet. You better get her home safely, you hear me?"
Gakupo didn't bother giving him a reply, leaving it to Gumi to say their goodbyes and quickly follow her roommate out to the streets. A few leaping steps later, she was on stride with his pace.
Ensou cleared pretty quickly for a Halloween night, although they passed stragglers here and there idling against walls or walking leisurely around the square. Most of them were dressed in costumes, and a few of them called out the usual scary epithets to get a rise out of the passersby. Gakupo was unfazed, though Gumi squeaked when a Jason leapt at her from a blind alley.
She chalked it up to fear for instinctively hiding behind him; the same way she chalked it up to his chivalric sense of duty for stepping in front of her. (He laughed afterward at her skittishness, however.)
Their journey home was unusually quiet, which bothered her because she was so used to their meaningless banter. She long since thought of it as part of their going-home ritual even though it had only been a few short weeks since they started going home together. Gumi didn't like this silence. It made her think of things she would rather not think about, and it made her anxious.
"You two should get along better," she scolded him lightly when the silence between them was getting unbearable.
"If you're talking about Al-san, he started it."
She couldn't refute him for that, and swallowed when she realized there was nothing else to talk about. Of course, there was one thing she had been putting off for a while; and loath as she was to bring it up, she needed to. Nervously, she licked her lips. "By the way..."
That infernal eyebrow started to rise.
"I have something I need to talk to you about. Will you come up for a bit when we get home?"
He looked at her from his seat across the cabin aisle; the silence between them punctuated only by the train speeding them back toward KKon. He did look tired, and seeing him made her wonder just what he did for a living that required him to work at the oddest hours.
"Is it something that can't be discussed here?" he asked. "Nobody else is around."
To emphasize his point, the cabin clanked audibly. Had it been filled with people, the noise wouldn't have been heard.
Gumi looked away first, her hands busying themselves with the zipper of her messenger bag. She didn't know why she carried it around with her, but it was a symbol—a reminder—of what happened between her and Sui. It was a little worn from lack of care, its corners and sides slightly frayed from being jostled unprotected in her bag; but the image of the two people still looked the same. She took the photo out, looking at it one last time, before standing up and handing it over to him.
The silence was thicker than ever in the train's cabin as Gakupo took the paper into his hand. She knew when he recognized the subjects in the photo: the eyebrow he so favored in raising went immediately down, and his expression closed off from mildly inquisitive to empty. If she hadn't been watching him, she wouldn't have noticed at all.
She remained standing, looking at him as she told him about how the photo got into her possession. Her grip on the pole supporting the seats was tight; she liked to believe she was holding on to keep her balance. She left out the more dramatic events, simply choosing to say that her boyfriend anonymously received a bunch of pictures that tracked both Gakupo and her all the way from the shop in Ensou, to the twins' apartment in KKon, and later to his.
She never saw his gaze waver from the photo in his hand. He seemed to stare at it intently as he listened to her; or at least she hoped he was listening.
"Sorry," she finished lamely.
His head snapped up, amethyst eyes finding her in a split second and rooting her to the spot. She fought the urge to shy behind the pole to which she anchored herself. "What for?" he asked.
"I'm bringing you trouble. Someone has figured out where you live." She finally directed her gaze away to the floor. "I won't be surprised if you ask me to move."
His sigh was audible in the silence that signaled their arrival at their stop. He led her out onto the deserted platform; and remained quiet until they were out of the station, well on their way back to the apartment. The streets were deserted; the buses had long since stopped running. They seemed to be the only two people on the block, surrounded as they were by dark buildings and deserted sidewalks.
"You should be worrying about yourself," Gakupo eventually murmured beside her. "You're the one affected."
"But you're getting dragged into it too."
"It's not a problem for me. We can talk to Al-san about it next time. You did say the photos were all of us heading home from the café right?"
Gumi frowned, but nodded, "Yeah."
"Then it's a good place to start. Whoever it is apparently followed us from there." He looked at her and gently laid his hand on her hair for a brief moment. "You were right to tell me, so don't worry," he said, pulling away.
"You're not angry?"
He looked at her oddly. "Of course not. If I were really someone who would get angry over something like this, I wouldn't have bothered having a roommate at all."
"Oh," was all Gumi could say to that.
"Is it because of me?"
"Eh?"
"That you broke up with your boyfriend," he flapped the photo between his fingers like it was something dangerous, his gaze solemn. "Is it because of me?"
She blinked. "So you did hear that," a surprised laugh slipped out of her. "Don't be silly!"
She smiled at him and turned away, looking ahead. A sadness was lodging itself in her throat, growing bigger by the second. He didn't have to ask that outright. The question made her think (yet again) of the argument that ended her relationship with Sui; and her recent relationship was the last thing she wanted to discuss with him. Unlike with Rin, Gumi would not ever be ready to open up to her roommate about that aspect of her life.
Kamui Gakupo was just her roommate after all.
It took her a few swallows to even attempt speaking; and when she did, her voice carried a fragile note as it hung in the air. "I hope you'll stay as my gay brother, Gakupo-niichan," she said quietly.
As much as she tried to leave him blameless, the non-answer only served to condemn him simply for his existence. But she couldn't take it back because in her deepest, angriest thoughts, she did blame him.
If he hadn't tried too hard to convince her to rent from him...
If he hadn't been the one at the other end of that email...
If he simply hadn't been a man...
She was stupid.
They reached their apartment building without incident; and before leaving her at their door, Gakupo asked her what breakfast was for tomorrow.
—
End Chapter 7: Ai think so,
Hang in there, Gakupo!
My sincerest thanks to you guys for hanging on as well, Beiowulf, MonoKuromu-chan96, cloudy eve, Laniessa, Ten-Faced (please spare me from spam, although I do like SPAM), Storm229, and to the silent ones out there! You keep me going. You make me melt. Most importantly, you make me think. Your feedback helps me!
Since I doubt I can post snippets or alternate points of view at the end of this story... Gumi was wrong at figuring out when she started dreaming in the previous chapter. Find the Gakupo insert!
Go nuts over the night shift's new uniforms at steampunkcouture dot com. I know I did. I apologize if the clothing descriptions made your brain fizz out.
Ai think so, is a song by Deco*27 for Miku and later Topi. Translation by Marble via AnimeLyrics.
(060613)