ACT XI
Dim bespectacled violet orbs penetrated my soft aquamarine ones as we stood facing each other. He towered a few inches above me and his mere presence intimidated me. Flashes of our few encounters with each other appeared before my eyes and made me remember that I never liked Subaru Imai. I feared him for the reason that he is Imai's older brother which means he is much worse than his younger sister, and because he is a cold, cold man. Returning back in reality, I saw myself gaping my mouth in front of his presence, and his left cheek slightly twitched in obvious irritation.
"Nii-chan," Imai's shaking voice uttered. "I didn't know that you were coming this early. You told me in your letter you'll be visiting me this evening."
Then, avoiding my stare, he placed his dark eyes towards her sister who stood behind me. Even though I wasn't looking at her, I knew that she was nervous. Scared, to be exact. It has been five years since she hasn't seen her brother and he was never compassionate to her. So that means, she didn't have any good memories of him. Well, that's what I think.
"Okaa-san and Otou-san forced me to come here this early," he replied in a monotonous and emotionless tone. Just like his sister. "I had no choice but to obey them. Also, I don't want to stay long. I still have classes in the morning and I can't afford to stay here in the academy."
Subaru Imai is now currently taking medical courses in a prestigious university near their residence. It is very understandable why he is in a hurry since his course, medicine, requires a lot of his time. If he was permitted to, he didn't want to come back here. But, being known for being obedient to his parents, he wasn't able to resist them.
"But, you should have told me," she replied almost indignantly. "I wasn't able to prepare the room for your arrival."
"My promptness is not an excuse for your laziness," he said in a stern manner. He hit my shoulder as he passed by me to approach his sister. I just continue to stare at the fearsome individual in front of me, waiting to see what will happen next. "I trusted you to become responsible after I have freed you from my guidance when I graduated. But, what have you shown me? What have you proven to me? Nothing. I can't believe I can still call you my sister."
"I'm sorry I have disappointed you, Nii-chan," the raven-haired girl bowed her head in insincere apology. "But, I really was expecting you to come later since you yourself wrote that you will be coming in the evening."
"And you're blaming me?" He chuckled as he said those words. "You're blaming me for your incompetence?" He drew nearer to her, piercing his eyes into her frightened ones. "Our parents really have spoiled you, haven't they? Being able to live under their care for almost a decade, while I stayed here in this academy not knowing if I will be able to survive it alone or not."
"That's not true!" My heart almost exploded and my throat almost tore when I shouted. I found myself shaking, knowing that my action just now would result to complete chaos. However, I did not fear it. I really didn't. I turned my back, faced the towering figure in front of me, looked unto him without running away. Even though he is Imai's brother, I won't lose to him. I have always run away and escaped in my entire life, and it brought me the consequences I never desired to have. Now, I am here to protect Imai, and I'm never, ever going to escape.
"What did you say?" His deep ringing voice resounded in the room. His 12-inch feet trod on the wooden floor and each step synchronized with the slow beating of my heart. He continued walking towards me until he stopped a few inches in front of me. Silence dominated the small quarters but tension grew as each second ticked on Imai's clock. Subaru Imai-senpai fumed with anger as I continued to stare at him. However, I then remembered that I owed an answer for him. I gulped hard, thinking that this might be the last time something passed through my throat.
"All that the things that you have said to Imai-san," my voice shook as I articulated each word. "Are not true."
"Nogi," Imai's frail voice almost cracked saying my name. I looked at her, and she was trembling, obviously fearing the worst yet expected things that would happen. "Please stop."
"No, I won't stop!" I answered with a courage I never knew existed. I then looked at the also raven-haired man in front of me. I knew what I was going to say would never benefit me, and may also result to my immediate death. But, I would rather die than to see her get hurt. I would never want to see her get hurt.
"Senpai," I continued. "Even though you are Imai-san's brother, I will never accept you saying those kinds of things to her. She has been doing her best ever since she entered this academy. You just didn't see it because you refuse to. I know I may not have siblings of my own, but insulting her and making her feel like dirt is certainly not what a sibling must do. Especially an older brother."
He caught me by the collar and brought his face near mine. His grip was almost choking me, but I could feel him shaking. He tried to intimidate me by glaring his already fearsome eyes at me. However, I never faltered. I stared straight at him, letting him know that I will not fear him. What he did to Imai was unforgivable, and he should know that.
"Older brothers should take care of their younger sisters since they are the stronger ones," I almost shouted, my voice still shaking. "You are saying that your sister is incompetent, but the incompetent one I see here is you. You fail to see your sister as she is. You fail to love her as she is. I admire her for even though you have never truly acted as an older brother to her, she still wanted to give you a proper welcome for your arrival, to the point of risking her life on the process!"
"Shut up!" My back banged on the wooden wall and pain began to radiate throughout my back. I felt myself grimace, losing my eye contact with Subaru Imai. "Who are you to say that to me? Aren't you just Ruka Nogi? Am I right? The one with the Animal Pheromone Alice? How brave you are to say that to me despite your weak appearance. You remember what my alice is, right? But it seems you have forgotten. Why don't I let you remember? I had a patient suffering head pains just a while ago. Do you want to know painful his pain was?"
His eyes grew fiercer that I suddenly began to feel fear dominate my senses. He raised his left hand, nearing it on my forehead. My heart began to race in an unmeasurable pace. I closed my eyes, knowing that my end has finally come. It's just a pity that I have only lived for fifteen years and I never even got to tell Imai how I felt about her. Well, whatever.
"Stop!" I heard her shout with desperation. "Don't hurt him, Nii-chan!" I opened my eyes and saw her running towards me, pushing her brother aside and placing me in her arms. She embraced me with such tightness that I was unable to move. My head lay on her chest that I heard the sound of her heartbeat echoing in my ear. The warmth of my body somehow calmed me down and her hold on me grew tighter. My body suddenly started to feel weak like I was already in her spell. But, I did not hate it like I used to. I breathed slowly, her scent coming in and out my nostrils. I didn't want that moment to end. I felt that I belonged to her.
"Nii-chan, please," she said gasping small quantities of air. "You can hurt me all you want, but please don't hurt Nogi. He has nothing to do with this. That's why I didn't want you to come. Even though I have tried so hard to impress you, you would still ruin things after that, making me feel like I'm a total failure. If you really didn't want to visit me today, then let's just end this by letting you leave right now."
I opened my eyes, curious of what was about to happen. If Subaru Imai was really going to leave, or apologize to her. But, the latter choice was impossible to happen, and he did leave after a few moments of silence. His steps as he left, however, were heavy, like he hesitated leaving. I now found myself still in her arms, and I felt that she didn't plan to let go. I didn't want her to.
"You are such an idiot," I heard her say as she threw a light blow on my head with her bony fist. "Fighting my brother like that! You clearly know that you don't have a chance to win against him."
She then let me go from her hold, which disappointed me. I brought myself to sit next to her, feeling the cold autumn breeze enter from her open window. I wanted to go back into her arms and feel her warmth again, but thinking that made me sound like a pervert, so I diverted my thoughts back to reality. I looked at her who was deep in thought. I cleared my throat, knowing that she deserves an answer from me.
"I know that," I replied keeping my eyes on her. She didn't look at me, however. I sighed in disappointment. "But, I just couldn't stand there hearing him say bad things about you. That's just not right."
"You're really such an idiot, aren't you?" She said chuckling.
"Yes, I am," I said. An idiot who just cares a lot about you. I wanted to say that to her, but it would probably be best not to since it might complicate things. I brought my eyes onto her, and there were lavender ones looking straight at me, too. For a moment, my heart failed to function because I was startled. Then, it restarted, beating as fiercely as a horse running in a race. I felt my blood rush into the vessels of my head and my temperature started to go up. I wanted to look away, but I wasn't able to. Her eyes never left me, and her face started to grow redder by the second.
"Umm.. A-Are you hurt?" She said stuttering as she sat nearer to me. She brought her hand on my neck which somewhat felt sore. Her eyes shone with obvious pity for me, which I never seen her feel for me before. I touched her cold, shaking hand, moving my fingers along the contour of her knuckles and fingers. I saw her jerk in surprise, but her touch never left me. I drew my face closer to her, feeling our breaths collide with each other. I placed my hand on her trembling cheek, hoping to help her relax.
"I'm fine," I answered her. "You don't have to worry about me." I smiled at her, and her eyes grew large with surprise. I caressed her warm face, and cupped my hand on her cheek. The fact is: I did these things involuntarily. It seemed that my body had a mind of its own. My eyes kept looking onto her, until she finally was under my control. She started to grow weak, as if she was going to break into tiny little fragile pieces. Her lavender orbs were still attached to me, however. I pulled myself closer to her... Closer... Closer... Until the distance between us was almost to none. I'm going to kiss her here, aren't I? I opened my mouth slightly, to accommodate her thin lips onto mine.
"Nii-chan has not left the dormitory, yet," she said pulling herself away from my hold. "I can feel it."
Feeling disappointment and embarrassment at the same time, I sat farther away from her, trying to hide my comical facade to her. I really thought that she was going to give in. I'm a moron, thinking that she might at least give herself to me in just a few moments. She doesn't feel the same way about me, does she? I recomposed myself and looked at her as if nothing was wrong.
"So, you're thinking to bring him back?" I said trying to act calm.
"No," she answered. "He's too angry to come back. But, I really want to give him something since he hasn't visited me for the past five years. I also can't let him go home empty-handed and say to Okaa-san and Otou-san that we had a fight."
I noticed her face grow gentle as she said those words to me. I smiled thinking that she really loves her family despite how warped the personality of her brother is. I started to grow envious of her since my mom rarely talks to me. "So, what do you want to do?" I asked her.
"I made chocolates for them," she replied with an almost mute voice. It was obvious that she was hiding her embarrassment. "Actually, I made those especially for Nii-chan since he loves chocolates so much even if he doesn't show it." She smiled narrating about her beloved brother. Then, with my body acting on its own again, I stood up and walked into the ash-blanketed kitchen.
"You put the chocolates in the fridge, right?" I opened the ivory-colored door of the said appliance and scanned the contents of it. There were cans of crab brains on the top shelf, crab brains on the second shelf... And crab brains on the the third shelf of the refrigerator. I was amused of what I saw. I do remember that Imai loves to eat crab brains thinking that it might make her smart. I laughed silently while thinking that.
"What are you trying to do?" I heard her say as the sound of her footsteps grew louder as she entered the kitchen. "The chocolates are in the chiller since it is not occupied. It's okay, I'll just send the chocolates to them someday. I don't think it's a good idea if I give Nii-chan his chocolates right now, especially that he is in a bad mood."
I put my eyes in the drawer labeled "Chiller" and pulled a beautifully wrapped large box of chocolates from it. A smile crossed my face as I imagined Imai creating hand-made chocolates and wrapping the box with a red, glossy gift wrapper. I then saw her hand holding the box, preventing me to proceed out of the kitchen with the chocolates on hand.
"I said, it's okay," she reiterated with authority in her voice. "He might not even take it. He's angry at me and you know it. I'll just ask Iinchou to give it to them when he takes his privilege vacation again."
"Who said that you'll be the one who'll give the chocolates to him?" I said, pulling her hand away from the box. "I'll give him the chocolates."
She gasped hearing me say those words. Her eyes grew in surprise as I brought the box closer to my body indicating that I'm serious of what I had said. Not a word was heard from her, just complete and utter stuttering. She was immobile for a few moments and then she began to regain composure as she asked,
"But, Nii-chan tried to hurt you," she said trying to hide her worry from me. "If something happens to you, I'll be responsible of what is going to happen. Since he has already graduated from the academy, I'll be the one receiving punishment instead of him, do you understand?"
I laughed silently hearing her reason. She was again worrying about herself instead of other people. Instead of me. I felt pain strike through my chest for a second, and then it vanished. However, it made me realize that Imai really does not care about me as much as I do. My body started to grow weak, but I prevented her from noticing. I looked at her, with determination boiling inside me.
"Then, I'll just give him the chocolates from a far distance where he couldn't reach me," I said gripping the box in my hands. "In that way, he couldn't hurt me, right?"
"You'll just end up giving him the impression that you are a rude guy," she said hiding her face with her bangs.
"I already gave him that impression, didn't I?" I placed my right hand on her shoulder where she jumped with surprise. "Don't worry. I can handle this. You love your brother, don't you?"
Her eyes sparkled when she heard me speak. I smiled, assuring her that everything will be all right. I raised my right hand, transferring it on her head, giving her a few pats. She stayed silent, making me wonder what she was thinking about. However, I remembered that I still had something to do, so I held the box with both of my hands again, and started to create my leave from her room. And there I was, seeking a path into the eyes of death.
-0-
My vision started to grow distorted and vertigo overcame my senses from moving my head side to side hoping to see a man in his twenties standing along the hallways and staircases of the dormitory. I searched high and low, yet I wasn't able to find what I was looking for. Has he already left? I thought to myself as hope began to fade. But still, I didn't give up looking as the vision of a hopeful Imai entered my mind. I held the cold box tighter in my hands and continued my search for Subaru Imai.
I have finally reached the ground floor where only a few rooms and a narrow hallway were situated in that part of the building. I sighed, thinking that I was too late. However, as I was about to go up the stairs again, I saw the outline of someone's clothing showing through the door. It was already dark outside since dusk has arrived, yet I was still able to see a part of that person's silhouette. I swallowed hard, hoping that I my intuition was right – that Subaru Imai was there. I slowly lifted my right foot, initiating a slow walk approaching the door. The cold autumn wind blew onto my face and I shivered a little. I walked past the door and I looked at my right. There he was, Subaru Imai.
However, he was not able to sense my presence. His sad eyes, even though concealed by his eyeglasses, showed through. He was deep in thought and he wasn't aware of his environment. Through the dim light outside, I inspected this man called Subaru Imai. He had darker skin, unlike his sister who was pale. He had dark violet eyes, unlike his sister who had light, lavender ones. He had a large body, while sister had a small, frail one. Through these deductions, I have found myself to think that there is no way that these siblings are alike. But, thinking about the incident that had happened in Imai's room, their stubbornness is what qualifies them to be brother and sister. Both of them don't want to lose. And both of them don't know how to show their affection for each other.
"I'm incompetent, huh?" He said still looking further into the darkness. "You are right, Nogi-kun. I am an incompetent brother. But, I'm doing my best to be a good brother to her. I just don't know how."
I realized that he knew that I was there. Hearing his confession, I felt that he meant every word he said. I knew he loves her, but he just has a hard time expressing it. Just like his sister. I walked by him and stood at a vacant space beside him, still holding the box of chocolates in my hands. I brought my eyes onto him and his vision was still directed far into the vastness. I looked at the box in my hands, remembering Imai's words: "Actually, I made those especially for Nii-chan since he loves chocolates so much even if he doesn't show it."
"I don't know if you are going to take this the good way or the bad way," I started to speak, but with caution in every word. I saw him turn his attention on me. "But, you and your sister are similar in certain ways. Especially in expressing your affection to the people you care about."
"What makes you say that?" A smile crept in his lips while asking me that question.
"Do you know Sakura? I mean, Mikan Sakura-san?" I asked him.
"Of course, I know her," he answered while adjusting his eyeglasses to fit on the bridge of his nose. "She's the girl with the Nullifying Alice, right? And also with the Stealing Alice. She is the daughter of Yuka-senpai and Yukihira-sensei. There is no way I wouldn't know her."
"She is also the best friend of Imai-san," I continued while adding the prefix -san to me seem more respectful of her sister just this once.
"That, too," he laughed silently.
"When we were ten, I asked Sakura-san why she cares about Imai-san so much even though the latter calls the former an idiot, a moron, and other different insults," I stopped midway seeing him react in a disturbing way, so I just continued with the point. "She said, 'Hotaru was the best thing that happened to me. Even though she doesn't show it as much as I do, she does care for me. As long you know the person cares for you, it doesn't matter if she shows it or not, right?'"
He brought his dark eyes into the horizon again, and said, "So, Hotaru has friends like Sakura-san, huh?" A soft smile brightened his face and I decided to continue.
"You don't have to feel insecure about your feelings about your sister, Senpai. And how she feels about you. I know you love her, and she feels the same way about you. You just have to remember that. However, it would still be better if you stay out of your comfort zone and try to make her feel that once in a while." I said while wiping the vapor on the box with my arm.
I heard him laugh for a moment, and then he changed his appearance with a stern look. "I can't believe I am lectured by a fifteen-year-old kid like you." Seeing that, made me want to run away. However, something is telling me to stay. My feet refuse to move, moreover. "But, thank you for that."
Those five words surprised me. I never expected that he was going to thank me. I scratched my head in embarrassment and chortled to myself. Feeling the cold texture of the box in my hands, I remembered that I still had to give it to him. I cleared my throat, preparing to present Imai's hand-made chocolates to him.
"Umm... Senpai, Imai-san wanted you to have this," I told him as I offered the chocolates to him. He took it from my hands and examined its features. A grin appeared on his face and his violet eyes looked upon my aquamarine ones.
"I think I know what's inside," he laughed while shaking the box. "She really knows what I like. She really is my sister. It's too bad that I wasn't able to make my visit as pleasant as it should be."
"She would like it very much if you go back and talk to her," I said. "She was excited to give you the chocolates. She was also supposed to bake you a cake, but it didn't go out as successfully as she planned it to be."
His eyes delved into me, creating an amused look upon his face. For some reason, I started to feel nervous. Has he discovered something about me? Why is he looking at me like this? Is there something on my face? Does he know that Imai constantly blackmails me? I tried to read his thoughts, but I wasn't able to. He smiled at me, knowing that I was beginning to become conscious of myself. He sighed deeply and started to onto the cold, lonely road.
"It's good that Hotaru has someone who loves her like you," he said while walking, his back facing me. "Please take care of my sister for me."
My heart pumped at an imaginable speed, making blood rush into my neck, into my cheeks, into my temples. I wanted to hide myself that very second. He knows! I thought. I then saw him turn his head towards me, expecting an answer from me. I around me, inspecting if no one was around to see us. I inhaled deeply and said, "I will, Senpai." My voice was shaky when I said that. But, I meant it. As he turned to continue walking, until he finally disappeared into the night, the words that kept repeating in my head was, I will take care of her, Senpai. I will. You can count on me. I will.
At last! I have submitted the newest chapter! I'm sorry for the late update guys. School is sucking all my free time that I can't do my chapters early. It's a good thing that my two-week summer vacation has started already. That's right. Two weeks. Ugh! I'm in a hurry to graduate from college that's why I'm taking advanced summer education. Anyway, success!
I would like to thank all of my readers for patiently waiting for each update of my work. Because of you, I'm constantly thinking of you and how to make my story more interesting. Anyway, I'll proceed by thanking those who have reviewed the past chapter: iza, fearlessgurl101, nickanimega02, mHyne, KidTantei, Sakura Keiko, and muzikchic4eva. I really was inspired by your words. Thank you very much.
Please continue to support, read, and review An Unexpected Happy Ending, guys! Ja mata ne!