Chapter 9~ Flaw #9~ Lightning
Disclaimer! Author-san does not own Shugo Chara!
"Wow."
I stared in astonishment at the bathroom we got. It was HUGE, much larger than the one I had when I was alone. (Well, I guess it kind of made sense, since there were more of us.) There were stalls, so I guess it was a male + female bathroom. But there was also a hot tub, and several pristine marble sinks, and five showers. Towels were piled up in a corner, and bath stuff was all crowded on the vanity table. There was a white closet, but I didn't know what was inside. I was too busy examining the pillows in the bathtubs.
Yaya, after looking for five seconds, started freaking out. "OMIGOD! Amu-chi, Utau-chan, come look at what Yaya and Rima-tan found!" Well, we didn't really find it, but that was beside the point.
Amu popped her head in, Utau following. "What?"
Their eyes soon widened, taking in the scene before us. However, they had a totally different mindset than I did. I was basically thinking about how nice a bath here would be, while Amu and Utau rushed straight to the closet and charged in, squealing when they found swimsuits and makeup and…undergarments. Let's leave it at that.
"Let's go hot tubbing!" Utau said enthusiastically. I wrinkled my nose, frowning. While it sounded fun, were we just supposed to leave the guys out there while we had fun? But then again, if we all went hot tubbing together, things would be awkward. Was tubbing even a word?
Amu and Utau evidently didn't give a shit, because they screamed out the guys' names right after. They talked so fast all the names blended together.
"Kukairikutohmygodthere'sabikini! I call that one! OhandNagiandtadase~!"
The guys came rushing in, looking concerned.
"Utau? What's wrong?" Kukai asked worriedly, but coming to a halt and blushing as he caught sight of Utau holding up a light pink bikini. Utau turned around, grinning. "Hot tub!" She cackled gleefully, dropping the pink bikini and picking up a purple one that matched her eyes instead.
Even Yaya joined in, digging through the swimsuits with gusto. As she bent over, her hair ribbon fell out, and her auburn hair tumbled over her shoulders, cascading sleekly down her back.
I backed away slowly, feeling ashamed for my gender. Really, you would think that the girls would have more control.
The guys all looked flustered and awkward, except for Nagihiko. Oh, no, he was perfectly fine. Probably because he had a sister. But he, with no good intentions, shoved me into the pile of clothing, grinning wickedly.
"Rima, you should join them." He suggested innocently. I picked myself up and glared at him, trying to melt through that messed up mind of his.
"RIMAA!" Amu screeched, grabbing my arm and spinning me around. "Wear this! It'll look perfect on you!" I took one glance at the garment, and tried desperately to back away again. I was back to wearing my tube top and red skirt from the mall, but I would NEVER wear anything like what Amu was holding up.
She couldn't make me even if she offered to buy me a thousand gag mangas! She couldn't even if I was UNCONCIOUS! Actually, she would probably have to kill me in order to put that on me. She just couldn't!
Five minutes later, I was dressed in a halter-top bikini with navy striped print, and a bikini bottom to match.
Dang it!
I wrapped myself in a towel, refusing to let anyone see me in this abomination. But Nagi, being the evil and perverted jerk he was, cooed,
"Oh come on, Rima, there's nothing to be shy about. I'm sure you look perfectly delectable in that swimsuit."
"EW! HENTAI! GET AWAY FROM ME!" I shrieked, pummeling him with small fists as he yanked my towel away from me. Gosh, I sounded like Amu when she was talking to Ikuto. I swear, I will never make fun of her for that again.
Crap! Now my towel's gone!
Acting quickly I dove into the hot tub and cowered. There wasn't any water in it, but that changed as soon as Utau turned a knob and water came shooting out the jets, dousing me as I shrieked.
"Utau!" I screamed, or as close to a scream as it could be for me. She gave me an evil laugh again, making me wonder how she kept this side of her hidden all the time. Even the guys were having trouble not laughing, chuckles bursting out every now and then.
"Party!" Amu cheered, diving in the tub next to me. I couldn't even crouch into my ball position anymore since the water was more than halfway full and I would've drowned if I tried. Amu's entrance caused the water to slosh, wetting my precious hair (do you know how hard it is to wash hair as thick as mine? It takes work!)
I tucked my legs as close to me as possible without submerging as everyone else jumped in, having changed into swimsuits in the stalls. Nagihiko was the last one in, tying up his hair before he stepped gracefully into the water.
"I'm so glad we found-" Amu stopped abruptly midsentence, staring at Nagihiko. Her eyes were wide, expression disbelieving. Nagihiko noticed her gaze and blinked, confused, and then a look of horror dawned on his face.
"Nadeshiko?" Amu breathed, but obviously that wasn't possible, since Nagi was shirtless (oh my god, he has abs!) and he obviously wasn't a girl. Nagihiko laughed nervously, quickly taking his hair down.
"What, Amu-chan?" He asked pleasantly, but I could detect fear and doubt penetrating through the friendly demeanor. He was lying, and I could and should call him out for it, but I waited to see where this would lead.
Amu shook her head as if to clear it. "For a moment… you looked almost exactly like Nadeshiko. I think my eyes went a little weird, because I thought you were her."
Nagi chuckled again. "We are twins, Amu-chan. Maybe you're just tired."
She frowned. "Yeah, I guess. But you really did look a lot like her." She then laughed, scratching her head sheepishly. "Wouldn't it be funny if you were Nade-chan, and you were actually pretending to be a girl?"
"Ha, ha, ha!" Nagihiko forced out a choked laugh, awkwardly smiling and nodding. "That would be VERY funny!"
Ooooohkay. Something was wrong here. Nagihiko was lying, and he seemed to be really sensitive to the topic of Nadeshiko. Also, before, he hadn't been all awkward with the bikinis and stuff…
And Amu was right. When Nagi put up his hair, he looked exactly like the girl in the portrait.
Oh. My. God.
"Nagi, are you-" I started, but never got to finish because Tadase and Kukai simultaneously clapped their hands over my mouth, bursting out laughing for no apparent reason (nothing's funny! Stop, you idiots, in the name of comedy!) And started a random conversation about absolutely nothing. Nagihiko looked immensely relieved, only serving to confirm my suspicions. He shot me a look, one that said "Tell and die."
Hey, he copied that from me… I invented that look.
But whatever! That wasn't important right now, because Amu needed to know that Nagihiko was really actually-
"Rima! I forgot to get some towels from the closet in the room, so come with me to help carry them!" Nagihiko said cheerfully, grabbing my arm and hauling me out of the hot tub. I opened my mouth to protest, but Amu beat me to it.
"Wait, there are towels in that corner. And why Rima? She could probably carry the least." She asked, puzzled.
Utau waved a hand lazily. "Oh, let him be. He probably just wants to spend time alone with her while she's in a bikini because he's madly in love with her and lusts after her."
Yaya giggled.
Her comment caused my face to turn bright red, and Nagihiko stopped walking for a second.
"Yeah, that's totally it! Bye, guys! Be back in a few!" Nagihiko blurted out, dragging me out the door. I slapped his arm away as we entered the room again, glaring.
"I can walk on my own, Nagihiko!" I protested, crossing my arms as we stood in front of a mega closet in the room. He rolled his eyes.
"Whatever. Look, Rima, Amu can't know." He urged, eyes smoldering. Oh god. I was this close to agreeing. But hey, I'm Rima Mashiro. I don't give in that easily, even if it was Nagi I was up against.
"Amu can't know what?" I asked innocently, making my eyes go wide and emitting an aura of flowers and happiness that most people can't even begin to counter.
He glared. Wow, he has better defense mechanisms than I thought. "You know what I'm talking about." He hissed. I shrugged nonchalantly.
"Nope, I'm afraid I don't." I stated cheerfully, giving him a smile. He looked at me, awed at my stubbornness. Or maybe just pissed off. But who cared? I was going to make him say it.
"You do know. I'm not going to say it and risk her hearing, but it you care about Amu, you won't tell. She won't hear it from anyone but me. And if you do tell, you'll just be hurting her and it won't make anything tell her. So if you care, don't tell."
Damn, he had me there. If I told Amu Nagi's secret, she would definitely be hurt. And this would probably be a terrible time, what with us being kidnapped by a teenager and all that. Except it didn't really feel like we were prisoners. More like in a hotel.
But that wasn't the case, and I could easily break free of this illusion as I looked at the stone wall. We were prisoners, and who knew how this news might affect Amu on top of being kidnapped?
"Fine." I agreed quietly, sighing. "Now let's go back. I'm freezing." I stalked back to the bathroom, slipping into the tub next to Amu. I had to sit on the bench thing because I was so short.
"Oh, hey Rima!" Amu greeted me. "Where are Nagi and the towels?"
Well. He could deal with that one on his own.
Right on cue, he walked in with an armful of towels. "Here, Amu-chan. Turns out Rima wasn't much help."
I huffed, slouching down in the water and refusing to make eye contact. I enjoyed the warm feel of the water kissing my skin…
Before I knew it, I slipped into sleep, still lying in the water.
I vaguely remembered waking up a few hours later on my bunk, dressed in a nightgown. I assumed Amu or Utau had probably dressed me and put me in my bed. Actually, I was sure it was one of them because I was wearing a lacy garment that I would NEVER voluntarily put on, and the fabric was thin and revealing. It exposed my shoulders, some of my back, most of my legs, and dipped lower than I would've liked. How did they even get this thing on me, with all the ribbons and whatnot? Whatever. I could barely breathe, with all the strings tied tightly in a corset around my midriff.
The blankets were warm, though, so I just buried myself in them and went back to sleep.
Only to be woken by the sound of thunder.
I screamed into my pillow as lightning split the sky, crackling with electricity. I HATED THUNDERSTORMS. I wasn't actually afraid of the thunder, because I lived in a house where noise was a common thing. But the lightning scared me, creating shadows on the walls and tormenting me by making shapes that reminded me of terrible days.
Oh god, the first time I had been kidnapped, with the terrifying man in the black standing over me, caressing my cheek and grinning evilly…
The lightning danced, forming horrible monsters straight from my nightmares. I wrapped the blankets around me tighter, squeezing my eyes shut and trying to escape from the awful memories and the fear.
I trembled as more thunder shook the room, and lightning made its way past all my barriers. I gasped, feeling my heart racing and my breath becoming shallow and frantic. I whimpered as a jagged white-blue scar across the sky accompanied a particularly loud hit of thunder.
I couldn't be by myself. It was at times like these where I needed someone to hold me, comfort me, and assure me that I wasn't falling back in the abyss of despair.
Teeth chattering from fear and cold, I shakily got out of my bed, shivering as cold air hit my bare skin. I gulped as lightning and thunder continued to rocket around the room, creating vague shadows of horrific beasts.
Where was it coming from anyways? I didn't remember there being any windows. A look upwards answered that, though, because the entire ceiling was made of glass. There were lights attached to it, but evil Fuko had apparently turned them off, because the room was pitch black save for the occasional flashes of lightning.
Crap. Crap. Bad thoughts, bad memories, coming back to torture me. I needed someone, and I need them now.
Amu? No, she was sleeping and I didn't want to disturb her. Yaya? Ugh, she was on the top, and I couldn't climb a ladder in the darkness. That left out all the people on the top, which were Amu, Yaya, Utau, and Kairi. On the bottom, there was Tadase, who was probably just as scared. Then there was Kukai, but jumping into his bed wouldn't be right since he was dating Utau. And then there was Ikuto, who was just… no. Especially not while I was wearing something like this.
That left Nagihiko. He wouldn't care, right? He had always been a gentleman, which usually infuriated me, but I was glad for that now. Even if I was wearing something so indecent, he wouldn't judge and he wouldn't be awkward. Also, he had an uncanny ability to comfort people and make them feel safe. Plus, he had the single bed, so no ladders were involved.
I crept over to him, still shaking as I took small steps. I tugged fearfully on his blanket, shuddering as another wave of lightning burst into the room.
He shifted, blinking his ochre eyes. They opened sleepily, looking at me. I gasped, scared of the strange shapes the lightning made on his curled form under the blanket. He looked confused, though, and staring into his eyes, I knew that he was still Nagi, not to be made into something worse by the lightning.
"I-I'm scared." I whispered. I stumbled on, trying to explain. "It's just that I've always been afraid of l-lightning, because I-Ah!" I let out a yelp as lightning once again struck, involuntarily crouching over him and clutching his blanket.
I felt a warm hand on my back, as Nagi gently lifted me into his bed. "Shh." He soothed, running his hands through my hair as I clung to the fabric of his shirt, buried in his chest, shaking. "It's okay. It's going to be okay. I'm here."
He was warm, and his caresses were soothing. I relaxed into him, my tense muscles loosening as he hugged me, lying under the blankets. He continued to whisper encouragement, holding me close. I could hear his heart beating, and the steady drumbeat of his heart lulled me to sleep.
When the lightning hit again, I didn't even spare a gasp, feeling safe tucked in Nagi's arms.
And as I drifted off to sleep again, I knew that I wanted to stay there forever.
AWWWWWWWW. So much fluff and so cute xD Of course, I'm biased because I wrote it and all, but...ya know. This is one of the fluffier episodes/chapters, because I think it would be impractical to have them snuggling all the time. Gotta keep the logic! Plus, that way I get to tease you guys.
Also, in the chapter, I did kind of tease since Nagi almost dropped his secret more than once, and even though we all know what it is, he never got to SAY it. xD But just to clear up any confusion, Amu doesn't know his secret, but Kukai and Tadase do since Tsukasa told them in the anime. Also, Rima figured it out, but didn't get to say it either.
Anyways, hope you guys enjoyed and sorry for not updating for a few days. Happy Friday! From now on, I'll try to update every Friday or earlier.
~Sea-chan