Chapter 14
(I couldn't understand what was happening. Everything stopped moving. What the hell just happened?) Ienzo thought to himself as he was left suspended in the air and holding Yukina in his arms. Remembering his actions throughout the day, he was reluctant to keep hanging on to her. And just when he made the decision of letting go, he felt his arms go numb.
If you let go of her, she'll certainly fall to her death once time returns to this world. A childish voice called out to Ienzo as the feeling in his arms was taken away. You should be happy I'm letting you take the time to evaluate the situation so carefully.
Ienzo looked around, and found an awfully familiar panda doll walking towards him. However, it wasn't the fact that it could walk or even walk upside-down that was so unnerving. It was that each of its stuffed limbs turned into slender human ones with each step the stuffed animal took. When the being became fully human, the only trace of his existence as a simple panda doll was that of a panda mask the teenager-sized figure used to conceal his face.
"I hate having to wear clothes. All I really had to wear as a panda doll was just a simple scarf. But I guess both forms have their downsides…" The teenager mused to himself as his gaze lingered in places where a confused expression could not be read.
"Anyone with common sense would see that it would be inappropriate to refer to you as 'Mr. Dan-Dan' anymore. Who the hell are you?" Ienzo asked while gazing past Yukina's still shoulder.
"I guess that name given to me by Demi-chan was cute, but I'm afraid I don't have a real name. Should the situation be different, I guess I would've asked you to name me." The figure shrugged. "However, I'm here for something else. Oh, and, feel free to move." The figure quickly snapped his fingers.
Suddenly, Ienzo felt himself drifting farther away from Yukina's body. He adjusted his position as he drifted farther away. Instead of being suspended, he was simply drifting weightlessly. He looked back at everything he didn't bother to give a second glance at. Glowing golden lights, the way it reflected on the lake, and even still fireworks in the sky. But he pondered about the pained and anguished expressions on each of his friends' faces.
"What is it that you want? Why are you here at all?" Ienzo asked the anonymous teenager. "Stopping time for something that would end up happening anyway is pointless, isn't it?"
"So is making wishes, but look at where we are now." He chuckled. After noticing Ienzo's shocked expression he continued. "That's right. I'm here to grant a wish that you have in your heart. I already know what it is, but I hoped that you would have second thoughts about making that choice."
"Why would I have second thoughts? I want Sakuya-san to live! Do you think that tempering around with whether or not someone lives or dies is an easy matter!?" Ienzo shouted. "If asking me about some crappy wish is all you wanted to do than stopping time was unnecessary!"
"I know you. I've watched you. I've made a wish for you once before. From the eyes of a helpless little doll, I know that you would never want to take back the choice of saving her."
Ienzo looked immediately to Yukina as soon as the figure exaggerated that last word. Her eyes were closed and she looked so peaceful as if she was sleeping, but her lips were curled up into a rather miniscule smile. Ienzo's eyes widened as he realized that time stopped as soon as he embraced her.
"Was she…willing to die?" Ienzo asked.
"I would have no idea. You should have to tell me." The figure walked over to Ienzo and gazed at the rest of the frozen amusement park. "At the very least, she was accepting the fact that she would end up—"
"She can't." Ienzo cut off. "She can't just accept that so easily! Everyone would eventually die, but…she just can't accept death so easily! She has her friends, a warm home…things I can't remember until she found me! Why would such a kind girl like her…even think such a thing?"
"It's because she acknowledges the fact that all things would come to an end." He answered. "She wants to spare herself the pain of having the bond with each of you severed. Whenever she would find herself in a situation such as this, she would consider this fact."
In the blink of an eye, Ienzo was brought to the position he found himself in as soon as the conversation started. "Why did you want me to reconsider my decision? And how do you know Sakuya-san?" Ienzo asked hesitantly.
"It was the price of the wish that I was worried about." The figure sighed, "I'm pretty sure you're okay with paying the price. And…to answer your last question…" He turned around, and took off the mask. He looked almost identical to Yukina save for a more masculine, but still somewhat feminine face and shoulder-length hair. "…I'm the brother that saved your life a few months back."
(I found my back pressed against the rock hard-cement and I had no idea of what just happened. I fell, but I can't remember being in the air. And…Ienzo-kun…)
"Yuki!" Yukina heard Larxene shout as she ran over to her side. "Talk to me kid! Are you alright!?" Larxene asked as she made Yukina sit up. "I really hope that lousy bookworm of a boyfriend didn't do anything stupid, did he!? If he did, you can count on me to give him a visible black eye!"
"N-No no, Onee-chan!" Yukina waved her arms around frantically. "I'm pretty sure Ienzo-kun was the one that saved me!" She stood up with weary legs and looked around. "Perhaps we should go look for him!"
"Good to see you're okay…" Larxene sighed as she turned around to see suspicious faces. "What the hell are you all looking at!?"
"We're just…weirded out." Marluxia awkwardly replied. "It's so odd too see you so caring. Whatever happened to the 'Savage Nymph'? And then there was that time—"
"It's impossible to not be concerned when you have an idiot like her around!" She pointed with an embarrassed look. "Oh look, I see the moronic bookworm!" Larxene shouted as she unsubtly changed the subject.
Ienzo was walking away from the scene and headed towards the park's entrance/exit. Yukina ran forward and caught his sleeve even with lack of sufficient air in her lungs. She smiled with unsteady breaths as Ienzo turned around. However, Ienzo shook her hand away and bowed.
"I have to apologize for having wasted your time. If it's okay, I'll just…cut off the date here and see you tomorrow." Then he proceeded to walk off towards the exit, with an apathetic look across his face, giving no indication that he was caught up in a life-or-death situation. Ienzo silently left, and when Larxene caught up to Yukina, the white-haired girl was standing there in pure shock of what just happened. Not being able to interact with others until a short time ago had a heavy price.
"Ienzo-kun…what happened when I fell?" Yukina asked in vain as she watched him leave. "But Ienzo-kun…! I have to ask you—" Suddenly, her legs became weak enough for them to give way right out from underneath from underneath her. As she collapsed, she had the strong urge to close her eyes. (But…I have to catch up…I have to tell him…)
"Yuki!?" Larxene shouted as Yukina fell victim to the sleep attack. "What the hell happened to you, kid!?"
(I'm not really sure what happened last night. I know I could remember some things, like how I left Ienzo-baka to take care of Yuki-chan, sure. But then I saw Yuki-chan fall, but she came out fine a few minutes later. Then Ienzo-baka went off and started acting like an emo again. It's really stupid…and frustrating.)
Demyx pondered over what could fill up that blank spot in his memory, as well as walk back and forth in the hall in front of Yukina's room. He alternated between walking, playing his sitar, and playing around with Kimaru. He was restless, as well as shiftless, which led him to believe that a few minutes without something happening was about an hour in his standards.
Then Ienzo walked by.
"Good morning, Demyx," Ienzo greeted half-heartedly. After seeing Demyx look in his direction he continued. "I take it that you're waiting for Sakuya-san to wake up." He received a silent and uneasy nod from the nocturne before leaning back against the wall. "Do you think that while changes are needed, they feel so drastic that it's frustrating?"
"Hell, I feel that way all the time." Demyx smirked. "But why are you asking that now? Wait a—Yuki-chan dumped you didn't she!? Great! Now she can be my girlfriend!" Demyx made excessive motions as he continued with his childish rants, but he did not receive the response from the bookworm that he wanted. "Aren't you going to say something smart and complicated that would make me pissed?"
"What's your point?" Ienzo scoffed as he ran a hand through his hair. "Look, I started up this conversation to ask you something that I desperately need the answer to." He looked down at Demyx, making sure that his attention was undivided. "What does Yukina Sakuya mean to you?"
"She's my 'soon-to-be-girlfriend!'" Demyx blurted out unintelligently. "You're asking me that just because you're upset, isn't it?"
"Talk like someone who knows what's going on for once," Ienzo retorted sternly. "If you want to go be an idiot, go play actor somewhere else. But if you want to actually stay in this conversation answer my damn question." Demyx saw something in Ienzo's eyes, as if ever since last night they had gained…
(…an almost 'nobody-like' feeling. Ienzo's always the first to know about something important; he did that for a long time. But now…it's as if he's seeing right through me! This is what his eyes were…before Yuki-chan came along. What's different about him?) "Wh-What are you talking about, Ienzo? It's…it's not as if m-my opinion's changed or…something." Demyx stuttered, unable to comprehend the sudden—almost drastic—change in Ienzo's persona. (M-Maybe if I just tell him, this uneasy feeling would go away…) Demyx did his best to regain his cheerful mien and tried to answer as he normally would. "W-Well, Yuki-chan is important to us. It's mostly because of her personality. She's nice, and she always does what she can for everyone, even if it isn't much."
"Maybe it's more than that," Ienzo added, easily understanding what Demyx had in his head. "You just said that she does what she can for everyone, but everyone doesn't swoon for her just because of her kindness. She's made a difference in our lives—that much is true, however, you do what you can to get her attention. Why is that so?"
"If you want the answer to that, then go ask yourself that," Demyx answered confidently.
"I'm not some immature 'Melodious Nocturne,'" Ienzo asked as he impatiently awaited Demyx's straightforward answer like a child waiting for his parents' answer to "impossible" questions. Ienzo suddenly heard a yelp from his left, and actually took a second thought for him to know if it was Demyx or Kimaru the chocobo. With a sigh, he looked over and saw that Demyx's death-like grip on the chocobo's neck baffled him. (Look's like it could be either of them, not that it matters much.)
"H-How...do you…" Demyx's disturbed look would almost lead one to believe as if he was watching a horror movie. (How the hell did Ienzo-baka know my title? Someone could have told him…but how would he know that we would have titles in the first place?! And, he's looking more and more like the nobody he was years ago…) This mental statement had caused Demyx to briefly remember what it was when he first met Zexion on the nocturne's own first day. Despite his short stature, his sapphire blue eyes remained cold and unfeeling, even more so than most nobodies, especially in Vexen's case. The tension was always thick around him, and now the tension was similar to this very moment as if the past had come back to haunt him out of punishment for his ignorance.
"Your possessed panda doll is the reason for all of this," Ienzo said to answer Demyx's incomplete question. "That accursed…thing opens all sorts of windows doesn't it?" Ienzo watched Kimaru as it ran over to his side and pecked at his bracelet; something that was there from the beginning. He bent down and stroked the top of his head while Kimaru cooed affectionately.
"I hate how your transitions between 'prying bastard' and 'natural idiot' always catches me off guard!" Demyx shouted in a frustration fashion as he stood up immediately. "And what does Mr. Dan-Dan have to do with this? I haven't seen him for like, seven chapters."
Ienzo was about to open his mouth to speak, however the door opened and revealed a newly awakened white haired maiden whose hair wasn't fixed in the slightest. What was originally the answer to Demyx's question was turned into the usual morning greeting of "Ohaiyo gozaimasu, Sakuya-san." After not seeing a visible reaction, his countenance slightly changed to reveal a rather miniscule measure of depression. "I'll be downstairs if you need me," he added curtly, giving the indication that he was hurt.
Yukina's eyes widened suddenly as she grabbed a hold of Kimaru and rushed up to Ienzo quickly to undo her mistake of ignoring him. She abruptly stopped in front of him, and Ienzo was stopped in his tracks, he was surprised of her reaction to his leave. "I'm really sorry for not greeting you back! I was just kind of sleepy! Hey, umm…I have to ask you something…during breakfast, so I just have to know if you have anything planned…today."
"I have to do something today," Ienzo answered briefly. He watched Yukina sink her head as she carried Kimaru away. "Hey, I meant that I was going to eat breakfast," Ienzo smirked as he walked past her.
"Oh, um…right!" Yukina speedily caught up and walked beside Ienzo, not paying attention to a discouraged Demyx.
"I love Yukina because she's unconditionally accepting. You're practically the opposite, so why does she pay so much attention to you?"
"Ohaiyo gozaimasu, everyone!" Yukina greeted everyone as they looked at her direction. She started wondering why everyone was staring at her with smirks and snickers. "Why is everyone acting like they're keeping a secret?"
"It's not so much of a secret…" Larxene pointed out as she stifled laughter. "Your hair looks like it lost the fight with your pillow. Your charm is degraded by your bed hair."
"Bed hair!?" After looking at a lock of her hair up-close, she did her best to smoothen out her hair with her hands, but to no avail. "D-Does anyone have a comb on hand?" She asked as she tried to solve the messy tangles in her hair. After she saw everyone go back to minding his or her own business, she sighed as she frantically rushed to the nearest bathroom.
"In a completely unrelated matter, I want everyone to wish me luck on my driving test today," Saix said as he stood up from his seat.
"Wait a—when the hell did you want to drive!?" Axel shouted angrily, still begrudged about Saix even after the dispute settled down.
"I've wanted to drive ever since these antic's of everyone were close to driving me insane. I would hope that by driving somewhere, I would have some time for myself." Saix's words fell on suspicious ears as Axel scowled his way. Then Saix sighed, "I'm also worried for Yukina; I don't really want her to be walking to her high school without someone watching her."
Axel smirked evilly, "You're either an overprotective father or an unsubtle stalker."
"You vulgar-minded red porcupine!"
"Those two bicker so much that it leaves me no time for conversation. I feel left out of the loop. I could at least mediate their arguments, yet they toss words back and forth like Larxene's knives…" Roxas mumbled continuously as he listened to pieces of the argument. Eyes drifting throughout the room, he spotted Yukina looking triumphant, as she now had perfectly straightened out hair. "I take it that your hair is easy to manage?" Roxas asked as she sat down.
"Sometimes yes, sometimes no…" Yukina looked over to a bored Ienzo. "Hey, I was wondering if you'd like to go somewhere with me and a few others today. Do you have anything planned?"
"Depends. Where are we going?" Roxas asked as he saw that Axel was currently struggling to get out of Saix's armlock.
"Well, I was thinking that we could all go flower viewing by a cherry blossom garden out of the city. Spring is the best time for such an event!" Yukina smiled warmly as she clasped her hands together. "We get to have a picnic under a large cherry blossom tree, and we could even take relaxing walks. If we're lucky, we might even be able to view some of them at night!"
(Her happiness…it's so unreal…that it's unnerving.) Roxas lightly blushed at her endearing smile, and wondered if that was how Ienzo felt when he's around her. "Well…I guess I could go."
Saix was now pulling on one of Axel's spikes and intended to keep it that way until Axel surrendered. He was listening in on Yukina's invitation, and decided to tag along when the time came.
"Okay! Okay! I give! I give!" Saix heard from on top of him, and was surprised to see that he was still holding on to Axel's hair. Reluctant to let his suffering stop, Saix sighed as he finally let go of the red porcupine's hair. "Damn…I could understand you having an 'iron grip' but literally? DAMN THAT HURT!"
"Axel, do us all a favor and shut the hell up," Marluxia spoke as he didn't mind Axel's further reactions. He strode over to Yukina's spot and held her hand gingerly. "Lady Yukina I would be honored to accompany you to your flower viewing in all of its splendor!" He half-expected everyone to stare at him, substituting the threats of burning down his garden flower by flower. Instead, they all continued normally.
"Oh…thank you, Marluxia-chan. I guess I have room for only one more person then, seeing as I have six tickets only." Yukina shrugged. But then the color was drained from her face as she realized something. "I'll go prepare the picnic basket! I forgot all about that! What's flower viewing without a picnic! And I even forgot the food itself!" Yukina frantically put on her shoes and rushed out the door without another word, something everyone saw at least twice while they were residents in the large building.
(Wait…I'm going later. Marluxia and Roxas said that they were accompanying Yukina as well. It's definite that Yukina would drag a possibly reluctant Ienzo, which makes five people. Supposing I'm that one last person, who is the one other that Yukina wanted to bring along?) Saix wondered as he eyed the group from his cup of coffee. What caught his eye was an apathetic Ienzo in the corner of the large room. (What changed in Ienzo since last night? He's more distant than usual, and he didn't bother to join in on the conversation. He's just staring out the window. Has he realized something we all kept away from him? Whatever it is, I just hope that it doesn't affect us too negatively.) He observed Yukina through the window and turned back to his cup when the last strand of gleaming white hair disappeared.
(I didn't think I was left off so easily.) Yukina thought to herself as she strolled along the sidewalk. (I already prepared the basket yesterday before I went off to kendo practice. I just have to tell that one nameless person where we're going and that'll be it. I'm pretty sure the others would be thrilled to meet someone new for a change!)
The nameless figure sat on the park bench same as he always did for the past few weeks. As far as knew, the people around him were aware of his presence and yet they avoided and passed by him; they obviously didn't care what happened to him. (That girl…thinks differently.) Almost as if on cue, Yukina ran in his direction waving to him with an absent-minded smile.
"Good morning!" Yukina energetically greeted him. "How are things so far?"
"What…'things?'" He asked irritably.
"Well…I was trying to see if your loneliness could possibly be connected to some problems you might have," Yukina explained, her eyes wandering in different directions while doing so. When she was met by a baffled look upon the anonymous man's face, she sat down beside him and began again. "Well, the general stuff is what I'm referring to. You know, if people treated you badly, if people don't like you for any apparent reason, something that happened years ago…stuff like that. I was hoping to see if things got better for you. If not, I still have to pray for you then."
"You're willing to pray for someone like me?" He asked. He closed his eyes and took out a cigarette while adding, "You must be one hell of an idiot. Praying doesn't do a single thing."
"Praying does a lot, actually." Yukina responded happily. "If you keep your hopes high, things will get better no matter what situation you're in. And…" Yukina was about to keep going until she saw that the man beside her had already started smoking the cigarette. She snatched the cigarette out of his hands and threw into the trashcan a few feet away. "Hey! Smoking's bad for you! You'll get a shorter life that way!"
His eyebrows were angled downwards, showing discontent at the act, but they eased up and his thin lips formed into a smirk. "Funny. No one has ever been concerned for my well-being in the slightest." He stared and looked at the white haired girl, whose countenance changed from being surprised to somewhat content with his choice of words. "You really must be either an idiot or unconditionally compassionate to everyone."
"Well…you haven't been meeting the right people," Yukina reasoned, face still beaming with cheerfulness from the inside and out. "I've been through my share of sadness and depression in my life. I know I can't possibly understand the sadness and depression of others, nor get rid of them when I want to, but I still want to do what I can to ease that pain." Yukina could almost feel tears swell at the corners of her eyes as she went on. This was something that the anonymous man noticed. "Despite the fact that a few years ago…no one has ever bothered to do the same for me, I still want the people I meet to be at ease with everything. I want to be there for whoever needs me."
"That's the reason why you wanted to help me," he stated as he finally sat upright and faced Yukina. With a smirk he added, "You do realize that any people you could help in the future probably won't thank you for it. I'm probably the same case."
"I know that," Yukina sighed as rubbed away would-be tears. "I got so off track. Other than talking to you again, I wanted to see if you could come with me and a few of my friends to go flower viewing out of the city. I made sure that we can go to a reserved spot, so we'll be having more fun!" The color drained away from her face, making her face almost as pale as her hair was white. "That is…unless…you're busy…"
"Can I avoid going with you, but still end up at the reserved site anyway?" the nameless man asked.
"O-Of course! You just need to have this ticket!" She frantically took one of the tickets out of her pocket and happily handed it over. "The charter bus would take you there and pick us up when we're all done. So…I'll be seeing you then, right?"
"I'll try my best to come along," He answered as he took the ticket. He noticed Yukina take her cyan cellphone out, and he asked, "I have a cellphone as well. Wouldn't it be easier to talk to me using those?"
Yukina stopped her call from proceeding, and closed the lid. She stared at it and then turned back to her friend. "If we did that, then our conversations wouldn't be as meaningful, now would they?" She was about to run off, but she turned around and took something out of her handbag. "Oh! Before I forget, here's a quick look at each of my friends. They may seem awkward, but they make anything interesting."
She held out a picture that the group all took at Christmas. Each of them was smiling, and the man simply scanned every little detail of the picture. "Do you…mind if I keep this?" he asked casually.
"Of course!" Yukina replied. "You know, all of my friends seem happy with the way they're living right now, and I am too."
"WHAAAAAAT!?" Axel roared in Saix's face. The idea of a possible chance to spy on Ienzo's and Yukina's possible 'couple moment' being thwarted away by a lack of tickets had ticked Axel off by all means. That, coupled along with the fact that Roxas had accepted the invitation without asking Axel to come with them had the weight of a boulder being thrown at him at high speeds. "GIVE ME YOUR STUPID TICKET!!"
"If you couldn't reclaim your hair, then you certainly can't claim this ticket from me," Saix smirked as he kept the ticket out of Axel's reach. "You're either hard of hearing or you have a hard head. Either way, it sucks to be you." Saix dodged Axel's attempts of punching him with great agility and was careful to not make Axel hit anything. (Maybe I should make him break something expensive or at least something that belongs to Larxene…)
As Yukina walked through the front doors of the lobby, she was confused as to what was going on. "Umm…the bus will be arriving in one hour…" she started tentatively as she twiddled around with her fingers. Then she summoned up the courage to ask everyone in the hall, "Are there any problems?"
"Problems…" Axel started off slowly. "DAMN RIGHT THERE ARE SOME PROBLEMS!!" Suddenly there was a blanket of flame engulfing Axel, and there would have been trouble containing it. However, the sprinklers were activated and the fire slowly died. "Dammit…"
"Sorry Axel-kun…" Yukina opened up an umbrella and made sure that it shielded Axel. "I apologize that there aren't any tickets left for you, but maybe you can come along next year!" She smiled, to which Axel growled.
"Just make sure you don't do anything of importance," Axel scowled. "How long will you be gone?"
"There's a relatively small hotel at the spot that I reserved for us, so we'll be staying there overnight. We'll get back here by tomorrow morning, maybe noon!" Yukina answered, oblivious to Axel's depression.
"There won't be anything entertaining around here for that long…" Axel sighed, discouraged by how long the group would be away. "There's hardly anything interesting on TV anymore…" He continued to mumble to himself while everyone except Yukina overlooked his distress.
"There's a nice little Shinto documentary that I wanted to record, so while it's recording you could watch it and see if you like it…" Yukina suggested nonchalantly while Axel was still clinging onto his brooding fit. "Poor Axel-kun…" When the sprinklers had stopped, Yukina closed the umbrella and stared at it for a few seconds, blinking. "OH NOOOOOOOO!!"
"What the hell's wrong!?" Ienzo shouted as he rushed into the room, still somewhat aloof concerned nonetheless. "I heard Yukina scream! Something's gotta be wrong if she can scream that high!" Ienzo scanned the room casually, returning to his detached air. Then his hand collided solidly with his forehead as he saw Yukina fretting over the umbrella. "What is it? The umbrella has a hole in it?"
"N-No…" Yukina hung her head over in depression as she realized her mistake. "It's several years of bad luck to open up an umbrella indoors…" Yukina then went into the same brooding air that Axel had assumed only moments ago. "I don't want to be cursed…"
Roxas brought down his things in a small bag and he looked over the highlights of the moment. However, there wasn't any as no one was talking, nor were they doing anything of any real importance. "Wow. There's so much emo in here, it's stifling."
"I prefer 'depressed antisocial', thank you very much, Chocobo-head," Ienzo replied, to Roxas' chagrin. "Saix always seems to accompany trouble, so he's coming with us. Chocobo-head has a bag, so he's accompanying us as well. Hanami is flower viewing, so of course Marluxia's coming along. To whom does the last ticket belong to?" Ienzo asked, switching his attention over to Yukina.
"A friend of mine will meet up with us over by the reserve, so I gave him the last ticket," Yukina explained. "At the very least, he's kind of shy, but I hope that we'll all have a great time at the reserve!" Yukina raised her hands up in the air cheerfully, celebrating the start of their adventure, or—at the very least—their picnic.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!" Larxene screamed piercingly throughout the room, much louder and more vociferously than what Yukina shouted minutes ago. She twitched involuntarily as she stared at the water coating the floor in front of her. "Who…the…hell…drenched…the…god...damn…floor?" Larxene asked in a surprisingly and eerily calm voice.
"Onee-chan!" Yukina exclaimed, concerned over Larxene's hydrophobia. "Just use these!" Yukina confidently held a pair of rubber boots in front of Larxene as the latter just stared. If you don't want your feet to get wet, these will surely protect you!"
Reluctantly, Larxene took them and put them on. She held a confident and triumphant face when she learned that the rubber boots had indeed protected her from shorting out. "Oh, by the way, Yuki, what are the tickets for?" Yukina explained gingerly, and the color from her face was drained away when she found out that she wasn't coming along. "This is a perfect opportunity to see how the relationship is coming along, and this chance is taken away. This sucks…a whole lot."
"And the emo count rises to four," Roxas reported shamelessly as four pairs of eyes drifted his way, only one of them not filled with the desire to hit Roxas with the nearest object.
"Someday I'll pluck out every single feather off that chocobo's little head…" Larxene chuckled to herself in a spine-chilling manner. "It's a shame I can't do it over the weekend…" Larxene went over the picnic-goers in her head and she realized something. "Hold the phone! Everyone coming along with Yuki is a guy! YOU VILE OGRES!!" Larxene shouted out loud for everyone to hear. "Saix! Give me your ticket!"
"Why should I?" Saix asked.
"I think the real question is 'why shouldn't you?'" Larxene grinned evilly, for unknown good intentions. "We are currently on a shortage of food in this building, and I think that the residents are sure to get animalistic if they don't get anything in their stomachs should we run out! Seeing as you're the only one who can drive, I'm pretty sure that the only one left to retrieve food items for us is you! So you shall not go flower viewing with us! And there's no way I'm leaving Yuki in the hands of incompetent men, especially the bookworm!"
"Larxene is right," Ienzo agreed plainly despite the unsubtle insult. "Saix shouldn't go with us."
"I guess you're right," Saix sighed.
"Do not fear our dear Saix~!" Marluxia cheered as he threw his arm over Saix's shoulder. "I shall bring a lovely invention called a video camera to record everything for posterity! You shan't miss a single second of our adventure! All is not lost for neglected souls such as yourself, for I, the wonderful, elegant, beautiful, and most of all graceful Marluxia will be there!"
"Say another word Marluxia and I will tell Ienzo and Yukina every little embarrassing thing you did ever since I met you," Saix threatened the flamboyant assassin.
Axel spat out a large handful of swear words, leading everyone to ignore him. Yukina felt a little embarrassed that everyone was making such a fuss about whether or not someone was going or not. Despite the constant clashing opinions, she was enjoying herself. However, her happiness was slowly chipped away as she saw Ienzo's detached look upon his face as he was continuously staring out the window. (I hope it's not anything from last night that upset him…)
"Is everyone ready?" Yukina asked as she looked over her accompaniments. Roxas didn't seem to be paying attention because he had headphones on and was making random hand motions to go along with the music. Marluxia had a rose in hand and was talking to Larxene, but she was trying to ignore him by reading over Ienzo's shoulder. Ienzo wasn't bothered and still kept his nose in the book he was quickly going through; every minute or so he would turn the page, leaving Larxene confused as to what happened before. "Oh well. I'll just take that as an 'OK.'"
Larxene got fed up with Ienzo's 'reading faster than a speeding bullet', and decided to go look for their charter bus. "Any idea what the bus looks like, Yuki?"
"My former adopted family had a very high social and political standing. We got to travel in luxurious charter buses all the time. I was traveling all over Tokyo and even the country for various reasons," Yukina explained, lacking detail, but making her point clear. "I'll be happy to tell you guys when the bus shows up, but we have to be patient nonetheless." Yukina entertained the thought for a few more moments, concluding with, "Come to think of it, I've only been to two flower viewings because most of the family thought that things like this were too trivial for my upbringing…"
"Cripes…kid, don't turn me into an emo," Larxene asked of Yukina as the former started shaking her head back and forth to shoo away the depressing thoughts in her head. "Listen, just tell me if you have any problems. You can tell me, but kept it as simple as possible."
"Onee-chan's always trying to help me out," Yukina started. "Thank you for being there for me." Yukina bowed, much to Larxene's annoyance.
"Stop making me feel like such an urchin you little idiot!" Larxene shouted angrily as grinded her fist against Yukina's head in an annoyed manner. "I don't need that formal fancy crap! Act like a normal little teenager for once!"
"I'm pretty sure we've established your being upset with her," Ienzo timely intervened. He knocked away Larxene's hand from further grinding away at Yukina's head. "Go harass someone your own size."
"If I ever did go by that rule, then I would never have the chance to pick on you," Larxene teased as she compared their heights. "Wait a—when the hell did you gain three inches!?" She shouted when she noticed the smaller height gap.
"from the beginning I have noticed that I was gruesomely under-height," Ienzo began. Then he continued with a devilish smirk across his face, "However, I take afternoon naps and drink six glasses of milk every day! My height shall soon skyrocket and I shall never be harassed by people that are currently taller than me! Take that, cruel world!" Ienzo shouted out.
"Onee-chan, did Ienzo-kun grab a hold of Xigbar-san's alcohol?"
"As far as we know, everyone's insane. It hardly makes a difference whether or not someone's drunk in this makeshift dysfunctional family."
"Holy woooooow~!" Roxas stated as soon as he saw the shadow of a vehicle pull up beside them. "This is a luxury charter bus! It's not bigger than all the buses I've seen but hell this thing must cost hell of a lot of money!"
"It seems that fate has delivered its fruit onto our dear white-haired maiden," Marluxia started ever-flamboyantly. He held Yukina's hand gingerly with two of his own, annoying everyone to a great extent. "Our poor neglected Yuki-chan has been through much, however, she shall reap the benefits of this world filled with paupers! There is only the best for our precious Yuki-chan~!"
"Keep going and all you'll be getting from me is the worst," Larxene threatened with a clenched fist.
"Hey, Yuki," Roxas cut in. "Is your adopted family seriously this fancy that you get to ride in these all the time? If so, then have them adopt me sometime soon," He smiled as he started in on a sea-salty ice cream bar.
They all loaded onto the bus, and at the same time they gawked at the inside of the private charter bus. Comfortable seating, large windows to gaze at the countryside views, and a small television for entertainment was what the charter bus contained. Indeed, "only the best" for Yukina. The white-haired girl was hoping to see a bigger reaction from Ienzo, but all she saw from him were barely widened eyes and a few solid blinks of the eyelids.
(I really hope that Ienzo-kun will at least enjoy himself. There's nothing much I can do to understand what he's feeling, but I want to at least help him out…)
As soon as the bus started moving Roxas eyed Yukina's awkward fidgeting when Ienzo sat down next to her. (If this were a soap opera, then this would take at least twenty episodes. I thought Ienzo started becoming less emo, but I guess all that progress was for nothing.) Quickly discarding the popsicle stick, he started reading a travel brochure out of boredom, seeing as Marluxia and Larxene were bound to argue over the television channel and he would, once again, have no say in the matter. His eyes drifted from sentence to sentence of travel discounts, but then something caught his eye. "Is it really true that there could be treasure buried underneath cherry blossom trees?"
"It's common belief actually," Yukina started to explain in detail. "It all started with the samurai in the Edo period. Cherry blossoms, known as sakura, were commonly associated with warriors known as samurai. Guess how they were originally connected," Yukina suggested. "Marluxia-chan, I'll give you a hint: samurai strongly respected nature."
"Perhaps these warriors were known for their skill and elegance of shedding blood on the battlefield!" Marluxia shouted as he made a star-struck pose. After receiving a few shaking heads from the others, including Yukina, he sat back down and twiddled around with his fingers. "I honestly have no idea. You tell me, Yuki-chan…"
"Because samurai had such strong ties with nature, the warriors were actually buried underneath cherry blossom trees when they were slain in battle by other samurai!" Yukina said cheerfully while she clapped her hands together, unaware of the foreboding effect the statement had on them. "Believe it or not, there are still some reports of people finding bones underneath some trees, even now!"
"It would've been interesting then," Roxas joined in, to everyone's surprise. "We should've brought shovels so that we could try to find or bury something. That definitely beats sitting around doing nothing."
"Chocobo-head, sitting around was what we were going to do in the first place. Why did you volunteer to come along anyway?" Larxene asked irritably.
"I had nothing else to do. If it was just left at that, then I wanted to at least die of boredom somewhere else," Roxas answered as curled up against one of the pillows.
"That's…reassuring?" Yukina replied. She suddenly spotted the pink-haired gardener slowly inching away into the corner of the vehicle. "Marluxia, I noticed that you brought along gardening tools. Did you bring along multiple shovels?"
"Err…yes…"
"Then we shall all look for buried treasure underneath the cherry blossoms as soon as we get there!" Yukina declared without voiced consent from the others.
((One question remains….WILL THEY SURVIVE THE EXPERIENCE!? Chances are, they wouldn't. Feh. Well, I decided that I'm going to continue writing anyway, even if my readers cease to review. At least I have the people that still have this story on their alert list. I still have to thank my readers anyway, even if some of them didn't stick around for very long. I apologize if my lack of skill as a writer has driven them away. Either way, thank you for reading, and for the rest of you, stick around for the next chapter! Arigato! Ja ne, minna!))