A/N: Another chapter, please read and review. I hope you all enjoyed the last chapter. This chapter focuses more on David's interactions with Haji.
Bella Shia: Thank you!
The Hunted
Papers laid in disarranged piles everywhere on the floor of David's house, each containing different explanations and prices. Smears of ink crossed out over certain fabric types, idle images of gowns strewn under tables and chairs, the only depiction of tidiness offered to his poor house came in the shape of those samples Julia considered with resolute interest on his coffee table. He never knew how stressful planning a wedding could be until Julia dumped a multitude of magazines with wedding suits into his lap. Disarmed from the start, there hadn't even been a proposal, merely the assumption he'd devote the remainder of his days to her. He supposed it was the least he could do considering his child was growing in her womb, he was going to be a father. David grimaced at the start of a headache forming in the dead center of his forehead. The woman nearly drove him mad daily with the onset of her cravings and mood swings, this only after a month of being ill with morning sickness. David warily approached her in the mornings and afternoons, which classically, were before and after his heavy work day. Occasionally, her mood reflected a joyous session of relaxation between them, however more often than not, she resembled a sour lemon. Flipping another page in the magazine, though he suspected the choice of his suit didn't really rely on him so much as his bride, he contemplated how things would go from now on.
After hours of flipping, shuffling, scowling, and sighing over suits he managed to pick one slightly to his preference and showed it to Julia.
"That? You want to wear that?!"
David couldn't escape the room fast enough to avoid Julia's outbursts or the book he felt collide with his shoulder. As suspected, the decision of which suit he'd wear was not entirely up to him. Leaving with a parting glance over his shoulder, the normally stoic man mused if Julia's temper was always on the edge or if it was merely the baby throwing her off her typical emotions. Fingertips pressed to his forehead once more as he vacated the house and went to the shrine to enjoy the quiet testosterone filled atmosphere Haji provided.
He found the Chevalier absent by the time he arrived, eyes lingering on the jacket draped over Saya's cocoon. The Red Shield member settled down on the edge of the altar within the shrine, he'd wait for Haji to return while he enjoyed the silence.
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Haji briskly walked toward the shrine with a bundle of blue wrappings carried easily in one hand, the bandaged one tucked out of sight in his pocket. Today his jacket was missing leaving him in the slightly frilly white shirt and black dress pants. The women in the market nearly fainted at his approach, even the vendor couldn't resist teasing him more than normal before surrendering the rose in exchange for his card. Joel may have been amused with the timing of his purchases, but the women in the market were falling over themselves to catch a glimpse of him 'under dressed'. Black locks of shoulder length hair fluttered in his wake, teasing onlookers with their waving, promising a silky feeling to match their appearance. Lacking his jacket, Haji stood out worse than usual because he broke his typical aloof pattern of going in, purchasing the flower, and leaving. Minor mishaps continued to interrupt his schedules, delaying him from returning to the shrine. In a way, the fact he continued to find interruptions on his return home brought his lips into a faint frown.
"Mr. Handsome with a frown?" A feminine voice to his side called out, stepping into sight. "What would someone so handsome have a reason to frown over?"
Haji turned his azure gaze from the sky to the earth, focusing on the short girl with black hair tied at her waist with a red clasp. The frown on his face deepened when she matched his pace to stroll along side him. She continued to crane her neck out as she examined his conflicting facial display, "Either way, you're still handsome, even with a frown."
Pausing, the Chevalier paused to regard the tag along. "Who are you?"
"Well, you do have a lovely voice! Mitsuko was right!" Brown eyes sparkled with mischief up at him, her hands clasped behind her back as she gazed into his blue eyes. Haji felt scrutinized by those brown eyes, the amount of interest in them silently setting off every alarm in the back of his head about women. Stepping back twice, Haji bowed, "Excuse me," and tried to make his way from her as quickly as possible. The girl only side stepped to intercept him, "Now wait a moment."
The Chevalier paused again, washing all the emotion from his face in the act. The fact a girl other than Saya attempted to order him around was not boding well for him.
"You're the man who plays the cello at that music shop down a ways, aren't you?"
A nod was her only answer as he was not inclined to continue the conversation.
"You play so beautifully, who was your instructor?"
"A friend."
"Oh. Perhaps I know him! But, you're not from here are you?"
Haji merely shook his head, assuming a rather bored expression supposing her questioning could last for hours if he let it, "Excuse me, but I have an engagement." Once more he stepped around her without sparing another ounce of his time on her and continued down the path.
"Rude. Are you going to see your lady friend? Well, good bye Mr. Handsome!" The girl raised her hand and waved a farewell, but she didn't stop following him, Haji noted. He had a personal little stalker, while the girl was definitely human, he perceived her overly infatuated personality was a guise. The Chiropteran diverted his trail away from the shrine until his stalker had given up with the distance he covered without tiring. Routines were bad, especially when dedicated fans started to pay visits heedless of their object of infatuation's need for personal space. Azure eyes turned heavenward before he leaped into the trees, vanishing from the pathway. Over an hour wasted trying to dodge the girl, he brooded internally, drifting through the trees on a swift route back the way he came, the bundle held to his chest.
By the time he reached the shrine, David was asleep near Saya's cocoon though he jerked awake with a pistol pointed at the door frame by the time Haji placed a step into the chambers. "Haji," murmured David with relief, answered by his nod when he holstered the pistol.
"Aren't you behind schedule for her rose?" David gestured to the package, only earning a cold glance from Haji, "Something happen?"
"I was being followed," he spoke quietly, unwrapping the rose package with care, laying the blue scraps in a pile beside Saya. The rose was as beautiful as the rest, just as pink and large as its predecessors. "Here?" Again, another nod while he withdrew his jacket from the cocoon and replaced it with a rose. "I misled her by walking somewhere else for an hour. She relented her attention and left."
"Her?"
"A girl with black hair and brown eyes."
"Hm. Did you catch her name?"
"No. She wasn't forthcoming with her name."
Haji regarded the blond man with displeasure when he heard his laugh, "Well, what was she 'forthcoming' with then Haji?"
Stoically, gazing anywhere, but at the man, Haji muttered his distaste with a single word, "Herself."
David stepped out of reach with another chuckle, "Pretty blunt.
Julia conceded I was horrible at interpreting her hints and was
rather blunt in her own way as well." Haji tilted is head
with interest, "Oh?" Leaning against the dusty walls,
David folded his arms, "She wore a rather low cut revealing
dress in Vietnam to get my attention. When Lewis complimented
her first, instead of my noticing, she ended up throwing her medical
book at me the next day when I inquired twice about Saya's sleep
cycles. Apparently I wasn't paying attention to her answers
well enough. Her aim is better than most."
Cleverly, Haji peered at the member of Red Shield with a knowing
glance, "What did she throw today?"
"A wedding book," the man sighed, burying his face in his hands, "women are crazy Haji."
The Chevalier's only response was the slight curve of his lips at David's momentary misery.
