Managed to churn out another chapter during NaNoWriMo. ^-^ And it ends on another cliffhanger! Haha. The idea for this chapter came out of the fact that I really wanted to incorporate Archer's CCC outfit somehow.
"Hikaru, look out!"
Hikaru yelped and ducked before the stray volleyball could hit her in the face.
It was gym class and the game they were playing today was volleyball. Or attempting to play was a better description for what a lot of the girls in the class were doing.
"Sorry!" The girl who had thrown it, ran over and picked up the fallen volleyball. What was her name again? Something that began with an "N" right? Dang, this was sad. Hikaru did not know the name of a girl in her class. "I'm a klutz so this stuff kinda happens a lot but you are okay right? Your head not chopped off?"
"Oh, it's okay," replied Hikaru quickly. She waved the girl's concern away. "My head isn't chopped off so I'm fine-gah!" She fell over as the volleyball that Rin had just served smacked into the back of her head.
"I was unable to intercept it in time," stated Rani.
"Sorry Hikaru!" called Rin from the other side of the net.
"Don't worry! I have a hard head! I am a-okay!" She rubbed the back of her head as she spoke. At the same time she opened her magic circuits slightly so the throbbing in her head was not as painful as before.
"Your ability to get into danger holds no bounds," commented Rani. "I'm thinking that is a skill in and of itself."
"I really do not think so," replied Hikaru with a sigh. It was not a skill but a curse. That was all it was. Maybe that was it! It was a curse that had been placed on her. That's why she kept getting into trouble!
"Hikaru!"
Hikaru cried out as a volleyball smacked her directly in the face.
"Hikaru….what happened to your face?" asked Archer.
"Oh this?" Hikaru gingerly touched the bandage that covered her cheek. "Ummm…if I said a volleyball attacked me, would you believe me?"
Archer stared at her for a couple seconds and then sighed. "Why am I not surprised." He patted her on the head a few times. "We need to work on your dodging skills."
"Hey!" she protested a she puffed out her cheeks. It wasn't her fault that volleyballs were attracted to her! "It's not like I wanted it to attack me. Rin just put too much force behind the serve. The second time she served…."Hikaru added quietly.
"Now, I don't think we can blame Rin for your ability to attract danger." Archer rolled his eyes. He looked around uncomfortable as a group of girls passed by the school gate where he had been waiting for Hikaru to get out of school. The girls were giggling among themselves while giving Archer some sly glances. "You want to head home now?"
Hikaru didn't notice the girls' stares as she nodded. "Sure."
As soon as they were a good distance from the school and with no one from the school in sight that would pay attention to them, Hikaru put her hand over her cheek and opened her magic circuits to heal it. Once the cut under the Band-Aid was fully healed, she removed it. "Much better!" she said cheerfully. And what made it better was that she did not feel dizzy after doing it! "How is work by the way?" She grinned up at him. "Now that you have a full time job at that restaurant." She wiped a fake tear from her eye. "My boyfriend, now a chef at a restaurant."
"A sous chef," corrected Archer. "And it's going fine. I'm going to need to go back after I drop you off at home though."
Hikaru frowned. "You really don't need to walk me home every single day Archer. It's been two weeks since Leo told us and nothing has happened. Heck, unless you count Rin's volleyball skills a part of that assassin's plans I think I'm in the clear." She winced as Archer gave her a look that clearly meant that he did not believe a word she said.
"Hikaru. That assassin is not going to quit. She has a plan up her sleeve. She is waiting for us to lower our guard. Unless Leo can show us a body as proof, I am not risking your life."
"You're seriously going to escort me everywhere I go still?" For the past two weeks, anytime she wanted to go out somewhere and Archer was home he had insisted with coming with her. Otherwise she needed to call him before she went out and then (somehow) Rin or Rani would end up being free and able to go with Hikaru wherever she wanted to go. She had dealt with it the first week since Archer had been on edge and she did want to humor him but now this was getting ridiculous. Heck, both Rani and Rin had used spells on the house as a precaution too. She had no idea what either girl did but she did but it had something to do with attack magic or something of that nature.
"Archer, really now. I get it but still, nothing has happened. I can't be relying on you all the time. I can do stuff to you know! I have my bonds ability as well if things get really hairy!"
"That ability of yours is unreliable," Archer shot back. "Your reinforcement skills are subpar, your reflexes aren't great and healing is pretty useless if an assassin is on your tail."
Hikaru bit her lip and looked away. Yes, she knew she sucked but he didn't have to put it like that!
"Sorry," he mumbled as he reached out curled his fingers around her hand. "I'm just worried about you."
"I know," replied Hikaru. She looked up at him and gave him a small grin. "In case you forgot, I do have the memories of the Moon Cell me. You're always about tough love and all! You're just looking out for your silly girlfriend who doesn't know much of this kind of thing."
Archer stopped walking and his grip on her hand tightened so she could not keep walking on ahead. He removed his hand from hers and put both hands on her shoulders. "Hikaru, look at me. I'm sorry alright? That came out wrong."
"I said it was fine," Hikaru said quickly. She tried to move away but Archer just tightened his grip slightly on her shoulder.
"No, it's not fine," he insisted. "Hikaru, look at me. You are amazing alright? You have things that only you can do. It just came wrong, what I said." He released Hikaru. "Why don't' I get you a crepe to make for it?"
Hikaru forced herself to smile. "You don't have to but a crepe would be nice!"
Archer smiled back. "Somehow I figured that you would think a crepe was good." He reached out and Hikaru put her hand in his. They were about to walk on when Hikaru heard someone yelling her name.
They turned to the voice and Archer dropped Hikaru's hand. The girl that ran up to them wore the same uniform from Hikaru's school. Hang on! This was the same girl that threw a volleyball at her head the first time! Ack! What was her name? She knew it began with an "N"!
"I'm so happy I caught you!" she cried as she hunched over once she was in front of Hikaru and Archer. She was struggling to catch her breath.
"Umm can I help you?" Hikaru asked in confusion.
She stood and then bowed low. "Please let me borrow your boyfriend!"
Wait what? Hikaru glanced over at Archer who was just staring at the girl dumbstruck. Good, she didn't hear wrong.
"Don't worry, I'll give him back! I just need to borrow him for a while!" she insisted. She grabbed Hikaru's hands in her own. "Please! I just need to borrow him!"
Hikaru tilted back as the girl leaned in towards her. "Uh, what?" she asked.
"Nagisa!" Her friend(?) grabbed the collar of Nagisa's uniform and yanked her back. "Sorry for my friend," she said to Hikaru. "She doesn't know how to have a conversation like a normal person." She released her friend. "Hi, I'm Yomi and this is Nagisa."
"Oh come on, I was getting there Yomi!" whined Nagisa.
"You were scaring her," Yomi shot back. She gave Hikaru a small smile. "Sorry about Nagisa. She is very, very scatterbrained." She put her hand on Nagisa's head to make her friend bend low. "Now start from the beginning Nagisa."
"Okay, okay," said Nagisa as Yomi released her head. She rubbed the back of her head while frowning. She turned her attention back to Archer and Hikaru. "So, it all began a couple days ago-my sister is a model you see. Well, she was doing a shoot for a new outfit line and the male model that was working with her was injured in a freak accident. He's fine but he can't work for a while so they are panicking and trying to figure out which guy to use for the line since the guy was PERFECT and then my sister told me about it and I thought, 'hey! That girl Hikaru from my class has been picked up from school by a guy that could possibly be perfect for the shoot!' So I snuck a picture of him, sorry about that Hikaru-but I did and I showed it to my sister and she agreed with me! He could be perfect so what I wanted to ask was, can I borrow your boyfriend for a model shoot! It will only take one day to get everything done and it is nothing big. Wait. Maybe I should ask him huh?" She turned to Archer. "I'm sorry for asking so randomly but can you help out my sister with her shoot! You don't have to do much, just look all cool and stuff, they'll snap a few photos, that's it!" She bowed low again.
Archer looked at her in confusion and then at Hikaru and then back again. "Ummm," he began.
Nagisa's brown eyes widen as she gazed up at Archer. Hikaru wasn't sure but it looked like her eyes were sparkling! Archer backed up a step as Nagisa leaned in close to him.
"Nagisa," warned Yomi. She reached out and grabbed the collar of her friend's top again. "Anyway, you can think about her offer." She reached into Nagisa's bag and pulled out a business card. "Here is the card with the address. Hikaru can tell Nagisa at school tomorrow if you accept."
"Uh thank you," said Archer as he took the card.
"We'll be going now," said Yomi with a smile.
"Please do it! I know we haven't talked much in school Hikaru but you let me copy your homework that one time and I will be forever grateful to you and I know you are a good person and if you are a good person then your boyfriend is a good person too and I know you would want to help a friend out. Wait we aren't really friends…but we should be friends! Heck, I can see us being friends!"
Yomi rolled her eyes and began dragging Nagisa away. "It's your choice in the end," she said. "Don't let Nagisa pressure you into anything."
"Uh bye!" called Hikaru as she waved as Yomi dragged Nagisa away.
"What the heck was that about?" Archer turned to look at Hikaru. He stared down at the card in his hand and read it over.
"I think they were asking you to model," Hikaru said with a small laugh. At least that's what she thought from what Nagisa said. It was so hard to tell. She talked…a lot.
"You think?" wondered Archer. He looked down at the card and turned it over. "So umm…what should I do? Plus that girl was kinda…intense?"
"She is," replied Hikaru. Now she was thinking about it, she remembered Nagisa. She was one of the most active girls in the class. Very crazy.
"This seems very weird and random," continued Archer. "What should I do?"
Hikaru shrugged. "It's up to you. I mean, she did ask you in the end."
"She danced around it a bit but yes, she did," said Archer. "Do you really know her anyway?"
Hikaru thought about it for a moment. "We had a couple of conversations but that was it. She's a nice girl though." She thought about it a for a moment. "I think we are friends in another universe. I think I had a dream and she was in it as a friend." She thought about it for a moment. "I can't remember what else happened in that world though…I think it was one with a Grail War in it…" She shrugged. "Something like that. If we were friends then she can't be bad right? You want to check it out?"
"Do you want me to?"
Hikaru shrugged. "It's up to you. I mean I'm curious but you are the one who has to do it in the end."
He shrugged. "I guess I am curious a little about this."
"Great! Let's go then!"
Hikaru fidgeted in the small chair. Around her was the hustle and bustle of people doing various things in relation to a photoshoot. The cameraman was setting up the camera and talking to someone who was doing the lighting while a woman was putting makeup on a model. As soon as Hikaru and Archer had gotten to the studio, a couple of people had taken Archer away to do who knows what and they made Hikaru sit in a chair out of the way but still close enough that she could watch all of the action.
"I'm really thankful you agreed Hikaru! I didn't think you would, I mean, this was really sudden and all but you are a great person and we can be great friends I think!"
Hikaru smiled as she gazed at Nagisa who was sitting in the chair next to her. Heck, the better word would be bouncing. The girl was legit bouncing up and down on the chair to the point that Hikaru was worried there was a chance it was going to break with all of her jumping. "Which is your sister by the way?"
Naigsa stopped bouncing and pointed to a woman standing in front of the white screen that the photoshoot was happening. For props there were a couple of motorcycles. The woman was leaning against the motorcycle in a way that made Hikaru think would be impractical if one was going to use the thing. Plus those heels!
"She is pretty," said Hikaru.
"She is!" gushed Nagisa. "She started modeling when a guy came up to her on the street and told her she should and everything went from there! She is just great at this! Oh hey! There's your boyfriend! Archer right?"
Hikaru perked up at the mention of Archer. Her eyes widen as she stared at her boyfriend. Her mind was having a bit of trouble comprehending what he was wearing. He definitely fit the motorcycle biker look right now that the shoot seemed to be based on with his red leather jacket and boots. There was some things…off with the whole outfit though. She was trying to decide which was worse, the fact that he had a dog collar around his neck or the fact that he wasn't wearing a shirt under the open leather jacket.
"Ummmm so?" he asked as he walked over to her.
Hikaru opened her mouth and then shut it again. Her brain was not working correctly at all as she tried to comprehend on what the heck she could say at a time like this. So she did the only thing she could think of doing.
She reached out and poked his abs.
Dang. She had forgotten how fit Archer was. She poked him again a few more times. Sure she had seen him shirtless and stuff but this was new! He was wearing a leather jacket!
"Hikaru…what in the world are you doing?"
Hikaru looked up at Archer and blinked slowly. "Umm…poking?" She returned her hand to her lap. Was that weird to poke people? But he was right here in front of her and his abs were right there. Sheesh they looked nice. She just wanted to poke them again. "I think you look very nice," she grinned as she looked up at him.
She tilted her head to the side as Archer looked away from her and put a hand to cover his mouth. From experience, this was a clear sign he was blushing. She giggled. He could be so adorable.
"Someone told me a long time ago I don't fit the rocker look," he admitted. "Maybe I should wear this kind of clothing more often."
"You could," agreed Hikaru. She didn't know if her heart could handle this kind of clothing every day but she has not complaining if he was going to do it. It would be like the first day he walked around the house with no shirt on. It took her a while to get used to that! Heck, she still had problems when he did that.
She was about to make another comment when the photographer called for Archer to come over.
"Good luck!" she said cheerfully as she waved.
She got comfortable in the chair as she watched the shoot take place. It was fun to watch the cameraman controlled how the models should pose and how touchups happened and the like. The hustle and bustle was nice. There were a couple of other guys and girls that dropped in on photos as well but her focus was on Archer. She frowned as she watched as one of the models got a little too close to Archer for a shot. She was leaning so far over a motorcycle that it looked like her breasts were going to fall out of her shirt and into his hands. She kept her thoughts to herself though. What did she know about photoshoots?
After a ton of photos were taken, the broke for a small break.
"Well, I'm done." Nagisa jumped off her chair and stretched.
"Huh!?" Hikaru stared as Nagisa as she began packing up her stuff.
"I don't stay for the second half, it gets boring. You don't really need to stick around too Hikaru. They're going to take a bunch of more pics and then go out drinking together. Unless you were held back a few grades-which I don't think so, you won't be able to go anyway." She blinked. "Would your boyfriend even go to something like that?"
"Hey Hikaru," Archer said as he came over to her. "The shoot will be over soon and then we can go home."
"You can go if you want," Hikaru said quickly. "I'll head back with Nagisa."
"Eh?" Nagisa perked up at the mention of her name.
Archer looked down at her in surprise and then glanced over at Nagisa. "Hikaru," he began.
She shook her head. "No, it's fine really. I can head back with Nagisa. You go have fun with them being an adult and stuff." She did know that the guys from the restaurant he worked at did go out but Archer never went with them and she felt bad. Plus with the risk of Julius's apprentice recently, he had been with her almost all of the time she wasn't in school. He needed to relax without hanging around her.
"I'll be fine really. You go have some fun." Hikaru kept her arms crossed as she held her ground as Archer tried to fight her with his eyes. She was also ready to protect her forehead if need be. "Really Archer," she said quietly. "It's fine. Nothing bad is going to happen to me."
He was fighting back with his eyes, she knew. However she did not budge. She would not budge. He was going to go and that was final. After what felt like forever Archer's shoulders sagged. "Fine. If you say so Hikaru. If you get into any trouble though, call me okay?"
"You got it, although I doubt it." Hikaru hugged Archer tight and he kissed the top of her head.
"Don't do anything stupid okay?" He released her and headed back to the photoshoot.
"Your boyfriend is very protective," commented Nagisa.
"That's just the beginning of it," murmured Hikaru under her breath. Louder she said, "Let's go, shall we Naigsa?"
Hikaru never knew a girl like Naigsa. As soon as they had stepped outside of the building, Nagisa had took off in the direction of the nearest café. Hikaru had hurried after her and made it to the café door just as Nagisa was coming out with a coffee in hand.
"They always have a deal going on but it ends at four so I always rush to get it before four o'clock hits," explained Nagisa. "So what do you want to do Hikaru? I'm free for the rest of the day and we are here after all."
"We could hang out," agreed Hikaru. There was nothing else for her to do really. All she would be doing was going home to an empty house. Even though she didn't know Nagisa that well, she seemed like a good person.
"Yay great! There's a cool clothes store down the street here!"
Hikaru took off as Nagisa sprinted in the direction of the store. Oh boy. This girl was so excitable. As soon as they got to the store, the girls began browsing and trying on random clothes. Nagisa was right with it being cool. The clothing style looked like it came from all places around the world in a variety of styles.
As Hikaru tried on various clothing she had the feeling that she was being watched. A quick look around told her nothing. No one was watching or staring at her. You are just being paranoid because Archer isn't here or Rin or Rani, she chided herself.
"How about this Hikaru?" Nagisa held up a huge sun hat.
"I think that would work well with this dress." Hikaru pulled a floral dress out of the rack.
"You think?" Nagisa took the dress and ran towards the dressing room.
After trying on what had to be hundreds of clothes, Hikaru and Nagisa walked out of the store all tired out.
"Well that was fun," said Nagisa. She checked her watch. "Dang. It's already six? I'm going to need to head home Hikaru. It was fun hanging out with you though. We should do it again sometime!"
"We should!" agreed Hikaru. She waved goodbye as Nagisa raced away.
That girl was seriously a bundle of energy. Where did she get it all? However now that she was alone, the feeling of being watched hit her again in full force. She looked around but the crowds of people going about their daily lives told her nothing. None of them were paying her any mind.
"Paranoid. You are just so paranoid," she murmured to herself as she took off in the direction of home. The feeling of being watched never subsided. "I'm just taking a precaution," she told herself as she pulled out her phone. Rin was out of the country for the week on magus related business and Rani was having a meeting with her professor today so the only one she could call was Archer. She hoped he wasn't in the middle of a photo or something. Or did it go this late? Maybe he was already out drinking by now? Well anyway, she speed-dialed his number and held it up to her ear. After a couple of rings it went to voice mail. She frowned. That was odd. Usually Archer picked up when it was her. Maybe it was loud in the restaurant?
"Hey Archer." She paused in front of the window of a shop to look at the clothes on the display. "Not to alarm you or anything but I feel like I'm being watched. It's probably nothing…" She trailed off when she noticed someone duck behind a building behind her.
No way. No way. No way.
Her heart began to pound as she closed her phone and began walking again. No way, no way, no way. The one day she didn't walk around with Rin, Rani or Archer, this had to happen! You don't know that it is what is going on... she reminded herself.
What else could it be though!? Who else would be stalking her!? "The one time I wish it was a creepy guy from school…" she said to herself. She tried calling Archer again but got his voice mail. Dang it Archer! What was he doing with his phone!? What in the world was she going to do? Think. She had to just think.
The one thing she knew she had to do was stay on crowded, well-lit streets. That was fine by her but that meant she wouldn't be able to go home with all of the protection spells around it. There were way too many patches of dark streets to get there.
"It might be nothing," she reminded herself. She winced as she felt the stare on the back of her head get stronger. The hairs on the back of her head stood on end. She knew this kind of stare. It was just like Julius's from the War. "Damn it, damn it, damn it!" she murmured to herself as she called Archer again. Nothing.
"Do not panic Hikaru, do not panic." What else could she do though? What was there to do!? The malicious feeling was getting stronger and stronger. Damn it. Was the person approaching her? Hikaru called Archer again. Again it went to voice mail. "Archer. Ummm, you were right. She's here. And I know she is here right now and she is stalking me and it is freaking me out and she is staring at me like Julius used to and it is very freaky and bad and I'm not sure what to do-"
"Hang up the phone right now." A voice spoke next to her ear.
Hikaru froze and turned her head slightly. Right behind her was a young woman; she had to be in her early twenties with short cropped black hair. She wasn't holding anything in her hands but her brown eyes conveyed malice to unbearable levels. "Uh, hi," said Hikaru.
The woman did not say anything but take the phone out of Hikaru's hand and dropped it on the ground. "Let's go for a walk," she ordered quietly.
