I'm not afraid of tomorrow; I'm only scared of myself. Seems like my insides are on fire, and I'm looking through the eyes of someone else. – Tomorrow by sr-71
Chapter 10: Apology
"Whoa there, sunshine, what's with the spaced out smirk?"
Kurapika snapped out of his trance-like state, turning back to the problem at hand. "Sorry."
Killua tapped the worksheet in front of them, chewing on the end of his pen and following the blond's earlier gaze to find their teacher sitting at his desk. With a smirk, he raised his hand. "Ojii-san, this blond thing keeps staring at you. And it can't keep itself from spacing out long enough to work on the worksheet."
Leorio didn't glance up from the paper he was writing on, didn't bat an eyelash.
The white-haired boy frowned, disappointed he didn't get an amusing reaction from the 'old man'. Kurapika shook his head, "Don't bother him."
"Had a fight? A rough night?" Killua inquired, hoping to amuse himself through the blond instead. But to no avail. The boy didn't bother to answer, simply went back into his spaced-out trance.
XXX
Kurapika sat quietly at the usual lunch table. The breeze played with his blond hair as he pointlessly awaited his teacher. He knew Leorio wasn't going to show up, knew that he was still mad.
His food lay untouched beside him; the blond didn't feel like eating. He watched the leaves of a nearby tree fall to the ground every now and then, racing across the school grounds.
"You'll get sick if you don't eat."
"…"
Gon took a seat across the table, revealing his own lunch and offering him a sandwich. "It's really good. Aunt Mito is a really good cook." He set down the food and took another out of his bag, eating it slowly.
"Hanashi-sensei seemed upset today, and so did you." The spiky-haired boy murmured quietly. But still he received no response.
"If you really wanna know someone, then you should try and understand what it is that makes them angry." Gon paused to take another bite of his sandwich, "That's what Mito-san told me, and I think it's true." Kurapika looked up to meet his gaze, "I don't want to know or understand Leorio-san."
"I didn't say I was talking about you and sensei." Gon grinned widely. "Yet you knew who I meant."
The September breeze picked up, sending a spiral of multicolored leaves across the table. Kurapika turned his head away from the boy's determined gaze, "You wouldn't understand, Gon. I can't. I just can't."
"Maybe I don't understand everything that's going on." Gon continued, "But I think I've started to get a good idea of what it is that makes you angry."
"Which is?"
"You're afraid." He finished his sandwich, "I don't know what you're afraid of yet. So if I figure that out, then I'd know what made you angry, and I think then I'd understand. Am I right?"
Kurapika didn't answer, only because he didn't know what to say as a response to that. Something that didn't happen often, until recently, for Leorio's 'human encyclopedia'. The blond quietly took the earlier offered sandwich and unwrapped it, cautiously taking a small bite. "It's good."
"Of course! I told you, Mito-san can cook really well!" Gon beamed, proudly taking out another sandwich. "I told her she should be a chef, but she said she'd rather just cook for her family."
Slowly, Kurapika ate the offered sandwich. Then why am I eating it, if it's for Gon's family? Taking another mouthful, he decided he didn't care.
XXX
"I'm sorry."
Leorio looked up from the paper on his desk, gaze landing on a blushing face. He frowned, eyebrows knitted together. "You just…a-apologized?" The teacher sputtered disbelievingly.
Kurapika, flushing a deep shade of red, was standing in front of the teacher's desk, arms tightly hugging his sides. The blond nodded, aquamarine eyes determinedly locking with Leorio's darker ones. "I'm truly, truly sorry."
Gaping, Leorio blinked rapidly, trying to form coherent words. "What?"
The blond's gaze wavered slightly, as he pouted absentmindedly. "Don't make me repeat myself, Hanashi-sensei. Please." The teacher leaned back in his seat, astonished at this new phenomenon. The proud Kurapika had just marched into the classroom, in the middle of class, and apologized to him of all people, in front of his entire 6th period class.
Leorio glanced back up at the blond, and found that he had scrunched his eyes up tight and was taking deep breaths. Kurapika opened his eyes to slits, "F-forgive me?"
"Oh." The teacher blinked. "Yeah, of course. Apology accepted."
He found it hard to describe the expression of relief that washed over the boy's face. He wanted to see more of that face, he was certain that he did. Leorio reached up and ruffled the blond's hair affectionately, "I wasn't actually mad, you know."
"You certainly seemed so." Kurapika leaned ever so slightly towards the warm hand, closing his eyes as he recalled the events that had taken place that very morning. His earlier arguments seemed pathetic now, and he wondered how they had ever made sense to him.
In short, Leorio had forgotten to set his alarm, therefore he had overslept. Kurapika had gone into his room, intending to wake him up, when he had stumbled across a box placed neatly on the nightstand. Curiosity getting the better of him, the blond had pulled out a picture frame. It was small and slightly withered with age. The photo was of two smiling little boys, one of which resembled Leorio in a younger fashion, along with a pretty little girl.
At that moment, the teacher had decided to wake up with a startled shout, causing Kurapika to drop the frame, shattering the glass and scratching up the picture it held beyond recognition.
After that, arguing about the invasion of privacy and other random, unassociated matters ensued.
Now, the fight seemed idiotic, whatever the logic they had had at that moment may have been.
Leorio pulled back his hand, and was surprised when the blond leaned forward, catching himself on the desk with a disappointed sigh. The teacher was brought back to reality by a cough. Kurapika stiffened impossibly straight, eyes staring straight ahead in embarrassment.
A girl with black hair and large red glasses cleared her throat again, holding a packet out to Leorio. "I'm finished, sensei."
"Uh, t-thank you, Shizuku-san." He took the small stack of papers and placed them on the growing pile. The girl, Shizuku, nodded and turned to leave. She cast a confused glance at Kurapika, as if she couldn't remember seeing him there before, and stepped around him to reach her desk.
"I-I s-should go." Kurapika stammered, mentally slapping himself for stuttering. Spinning on his heel, he quickly exited the room, shutting the door on the commotion that began as soon as he stepped out.
Hurrying down the hall, the blond caught a glimpse of his reflection through a window. Jaw falling slightly, he realized his face was as red as a tomato, the color only deepening at the fact. And glancing through the window to the clock in the classroom, he realized he was twenty minutes late for chemistry.
XXX
"What's up?" Yuei asked curiously, noting the crestfallen expression on her friend's face. Kurapika sighed deeply, "I don't seem to have very good relations with any of the teachers at this school. I think they liked it better when I was off in a silent corner like last year."
They were walking to their last class of the day – Creative Arts. An elective that had been chosen for the blond when he hadn't bothered to fill in the schedule card. On the other hand, Yuei had chosen the class willingly, and he couldn't begin to fathom why. It certainly didn't seem to match with the way she carried herself.
"I was late for class, and scolded, and now if I'm even one second late I'll be 'up to my ears in trouble'."
"You don't usually whine." She observed with a grin. "Well, at least to me you don't. Does this mean Pika-chan is opening up? I'm flattered."
"Pika-chan wants school to be over already." The blond muttered, not sure why he accepted the pet name so easily, as they reached their destination.
Taking a seat, Kurapika dropped his bag to the floor. "How did I survive last year?"
"Love hurts, Sugar-Bunny." Yuei sat down in front of him, leaning against his desk. "And, Bunny-Honey, you are certainly lovely." She snickered.
"Okay, I am thoroughly creeped out, thank you."
"And I was right!" Yuei beamed proudly. "You made up with Hanashi-sensei, didn't you?" She took a peek at his face and squealed excitedly. "I was right, I was right! You made up with a heart-warming moment, and realized that your fight was totally and completely stupid."
"…" Kurapika made a mental note to find out whether or not Yuei could either read minds or see the past. Or if she was stalking him. The third one seemed to make more sense, as strange as the concept was.
"That aside, that aside…you're 17, and Sensei is 25, so there's only…five…six…8 years between you guys!" She nodded enthusiastically. "And in one year, you'll be 18, and it won't be looked strangely upon."
Eight years… The blond thought. Putting things into that perspective…Leorio-san was in Elementary school when I was born…I was learning to breathe and he was learning how to tie his shoes. He sighed, somehow this fact disappointing him greatly.
"Why do you assume there's anything between us, anyways?" Kurapika murmured quietly. "Killua-san lives with Gon and his aunt, and you don't think anything is going on between him and Gon's aunt."
Yuei blinked rapidly. "Well, that's different. And how did you figure out where he lived before I did?"
"Gon told me."
"I should really start hanging out with that kid more…" She trailed off as the students quieted.
A girl stumbled into the room, mascara smeared across her face with tears. She ignored the stares and plopped into the last remaining seat, hiding her head with her hands.
As whispers and earlier conversations resumed, Yuei snorted softly. "Well, I'll be. Miss Popularity is a total wreck. Whaddya think happened?" She blinked violet eyes slowly, indicating she either didn't realize that the girl could clearly hear them or was refusing to lower her voice on purpose. Odds are, it was the latter.
"Yuei-san." Kurapika complained, too polite to take part in this gossip. She waved a hand dismissively, "Oh, who cares. Like she hasn't talking about everything and everyone in this school. Including you, Pika-chan, including me." Before he could stop her, Yuei turned towards the sobbing girl.
"Oi, you with the ego. What the hell happened to you?"
In situations such as this, Yuei truly had neither mercy nor any sympathy.
The girl looked up, great rivers of inked tears staining her face. "Shut up, Tsukikumo." She spat, annoyance and irritation clearly sent across with three words and a pitiful glare.
"Pampered poodle must've been disowned." Yuei shrugged, turning back to the blond. "Messed around with some guy, thought she was in love, then poof, she wakes up alone."
Said 'pampered poodle' stood with a huff, new tears rolling down her cheeks. "Yeah, so I messed around with someone. And it wasn't with some guy! It was…was that red-haired clown!" She angrily stormed away, kicking some poor guy out of his seat at the opposite end of the room.
"Red-haired clown, eh? Now who does that remind us of?" Yuei clucked her tongue in disapproval. Kurapika leaned the side of his face against his desk. He was positive he would never be able to fully understand the female vocabulary, let alone their mind.
A petite woman walked in, much calmer than the crying girl had earlier. She smiled, and stood in front of the classroom. Although she may not have been the most beautiful person in the world, Kurapika thought she seemed fairly kind and warm.
Senritsu, as she preferred to be called by first name, rather than last, clapped her hands once. "Good afternoon, everyone."
XXX
Leorio yawned, having to physically keep his eyes open to see the road in front of him. It was late, and he was tired. There had been a faculty meeting that had run longer than planned. After making sure Kurapika was okay with getting home on his own, the teacher had run off to chug a mug of coffee before making his way to the dreaded monthly meeting. Now it was over, and he just wanted to get home, crawl in bed, and have a good dream for once.
And maybe take a detour into Kurapika's room to say goodnight, somewhere in between getting home and crawling into bed.
He parked the car in the driveway, gathered his things, and drowsily dragged himself into the house. Kicking off his shoes, he realized that all the lights were off.
"I'm home." Leorio called, wandering through the silent hallways. Checking the kitchen and the blond's room, panic began to buzz loudly in his ears.
"Right, you still have to fill out the papers. And then you'll adopt me. And then I'll just disappear again."
I'll just disappear again.
Heart hammering in his chest, Leorio threw open the door to his own room. And he never knew that relief could hurt that bad.
The blond lay sprawled across his bed, dozing silently. Beside him, a small pile of glass along with a bag was dangerously close to his face.
As quietly as he could, the doctor quickly scooped up the glass – which had conveniently been wrapped in newspaper – and set it aside. Sitting on the edge of the bed, Leorio absentmindedly brushed golden locks from Kurapika's forehead, hand lingering longer than necessary on the soft stands.
"Leorio-san…?" Kurapika mumbled, slowly sitting up. The teacher's hand retreated back to his side. "Oh, you're awake?" The blond nodded, resisting the urge to yawn.
"Oh." He quickly sought out the bag and held it up to Leorio. "I, um…tried to fix it…"
Leorio gingerly took it, reaching in to take out a small frame. It wasn't the same frame he had kept before, and unlike the old one, this one seemed handmade.
"We…uh…made that…Yuei-san and I…" A blush found its way to the blond's face, and he momentarily wondered why this would cause such a reaction in the first place. "I would have bought a new one, but I don't have any money…"
The photo itself, under some form of modern magic, had been restored. Although not as clear as it had originally been, Leorio could at least distinguish what it was of. The edges had also been trimmed, adding to the 'neat' effect of the restoration.
Leorio looked up from the picture, realizing the blond had been waiting for him to say something. Knowing it had taken a big chunk of his pride to apologize, then make him an apology gift, the older man wasn't sure what he should say. He settled with, "Thank you, Yuukio-kun." He added, as an afterthought, "This side of you is much cuter than your usual stubborn character."
Kurapika whipped his head to the side as his face reddened, chin held up high, "Y-yeah, well…Don't get used to it."
"I wouldn't dream of it, high and mighty Yuukio Kurapika." Leorio did a quick mock bow.
"You are so difficult!" The blond huffed. "Why must you have fun at my expense?"
"Because you love me." He teased, hands placed above his heart. And laughed heartily at Kurapika's gaping, shocked expression.
"In your dreams, you…ugh!" With that, the blond stormed off to his own room, leaving Leorio to laugh himself to sleep.
TBC…
Yuuki: *proud* I~ have changed my usual "1500 words" limit to "2000 words"~ And for this chapter I got past 2600!
Killua: *yawn* I wasn't in this all that much…so I didn't bother to read it *walks away*
Yuuki: *ignores* And is it just me, or is the first half of this chapter really…
Killua: *yells from other room* boring?
Gon: different?
Kurapika: off topic?
Leorio: slow?
Yuuki: *sweat drop* I was gonna say awkwardly put together….
Everyone: Arigatou!