Chapter 20: Moments
Fifteen minutes to eight. I sighed, shifting my weight uneasily. Marui was late…
"Still not here?" Kiyou asked, with sympathy evident in his tone.
"Yeah. He said he might be late, but I didn't think it'd be this late," I muttered, watching as my brother shrugged into his jacket. We'd come early to help our father, who as usual was catering a large portion of the pastries and other sweetmeats for the school event.
Although the dance had been scheduled to start at half-past seven, the preparations had taken more time than expected. Even so, it was only recently that the huge event hall started to fill up.
"It's common courtesy to come on time," I grumbled, knowing I sounded whiny and not really caring.
"It's also common knowledge that big events never start on time," Kiyou countered smoothly. "Don't blame him. I'll be off to join my friends, then – if I see him, I'll tell him to come, okay?" With that, he sauntered out of the kitchens and to the dance floor.
I admired the striking figure he cut in his all-black outfit as he left. It made him seem even leaner, complimenting his dark hair and emphasizing his brilliant green eyes. The dark denim jeans made his legs seem to go on forever. My brother really deserved his fangirls, though I'd never tell him that to his face for fear of boosting his already overgrown ego.
Leaning back in my seat, I tried to recall exactly what had been said earlier in the day.
(Flashback)
"Marui?" I feigned surprise at seeing him, though Niou had informed me just moment ago of his impending arrival. "What – why –"
The tensai grinned. "Konnichiwa, Kita-ri-chan," he greeted. I nearly melted at how amazingly cute he made my name sound with that particular emphasis on certain syllables.
Recovering, I asked, "Why are you here? You can't have run out of sweets already; you stocked up on them yesterday!"
"Remember, Marui here has hell of a sweet tooth," Niou drawled. "Where sweets are concerned, there's a black hole where his stomach should be."
"And this coming from someone so greedy he'd eat the plate if he could," commented Marui. "You are shameless, Niou. Anyways, I just came to tell you I might be a tad late tonight, so…"
"It's fine; I'm going there early to help my dad with the food and stuff, so I can meet you there," I hurried to reassure him. "Just tell me when you come, ne?"
He looked rather taken aback. "Are you sure it's okay…?"
"Yes, yes," I repeated. "It's perfectly okay." Of course, it wasn't, but I still felt quite insecure where he was concerned, especially since this was all completely new to me.
Marui opened his mouth again, as if about to say something else, but then closed it again.
(End Flashback)
So he was supposed to meet me here. Then again, he didn't know where exactly I was… maybe he wanted to spring a surprise but couldn't find me? No, he wouldn't do that…
Attempting to contain my anxiety, I checked my appearance for what felt like the tenth time in fifteen minutes. The white dress put me on tenterhooks; I kept thinking I'd managed to get it dirty yet again within a couple of minutes each time I dusted it off. I was wearing black leggings, more for warmth than to make my already spindly pins look skinnier; my kitten heels were also black.
The mini-handbag I carried and scarf-like hair-band (the kind that holds your fringe back) I wore, all in verdant green, added some color to the otherwise monotonous outfit. My earrings, necklace and bracelet (all of which made up one of the two full sets of jewelry I possessed) were gold chain hung with green crystals.
To match all these, I had managed to successfully apply green eyeshadow, mascara and a little gold dust around the eyes. I had left my lips untouched but for some lip balm to prevent them from cracking in the frigid air.
I felt overdressed.
Going to such lengths to look good for Marui… it was rather unsettling, even overwhelming I'd never felt the need to pour time and effort into dressing up, probably because nobody ever bothered about what I looked like. Now, everyone was going to be staring at me, criticizing, questioning, more likely than not disapproving of this upstart who thought she was good enough to date the Marui Bunta.
Suddenly, my cell phone rang, startling me out of my feverish speculation. I glanced at the caller ID as I picked it up. "Marui?"
"Hey." I could detect no hint of anxiety in his voice. "Sorry I'm late. Where are you?"
"In the kitchens, but don't worry – I'm coming out now," I answered, ignoring the instant acceleration of my heartbeat as I ended the call, cutting off anything he might have said. No way was I going to meet him in the kitchens; I'd had more than enough embarrassing settings, thanks very much!
However, Kami-sama seemed to remember that she'd not been torturing me for a while… and she wasn't going to let me off that easily. I hurried out of the kitchens… only to skid on a banana peel, perform a few very fast and complicated ballet-like or gymnastic-like sequences, and hit the connecting door at full tilt.
The good thing was, I hit the door at an oblique angle, thus sparing myself some injury. The bad thing was, I hit the door handle – which caught the seam of my skirt and neatly ripped it apart.
Once I'd regained my breath, I swore fluently, putting all the dirty language I'd picked up from prolonged exposure to Niou and Kirihara to good effect and simultaneously taking inventory of the damage done. Apart from the skirt of my dress, which had ripped at the back (every cloud has a silver lining), a few minor bruises and a headache, I did not seem to have incurred very much injury.
"Kitari?! Are you okay?" I looked up; Marui had found me. His amethyst eyes were wide with worry and there was no sign of bubblegum.
"What do you think? I hit a door; would I be okay?" I retorted, not noticing the sudden lack of an honorific in my name.
The redhead only sighed and hauled me to my feet. I teetered, still rather unstable, and nearly fell again before he caught and steadied me. Enjoying his careful grip on my arms, I decided that being accident-prone could be a good thing. "Any bones broken?" he inquired, half-teasing but not entirely trivializing the situation.
"Nope, but my skirt split," I replied bluntly, guessing that he would be shocked or embarrassed by this revelation. How many guys could hear that their date's skirt had split without such a reaction?
Contrary to my expectations, though, Marui just stared at me for a second, then shed his coat. "Just tie it around your waist. It'll cover the tear."
I clutched at the item, not quite sure how to respond. It smelled of the cold outside air and apple bubblegum.
--
"What the hell… Marui-sama is her date?!"
"He deserves so much better…"
"Heck, she's got an aerodrome where she should have a mountain range."
"I heard she flashed her chest at the tennis regulars a couple of months ago. Might've taken off more if they didn't stop her."
"Seriously? Kami-sama, what a slut…"
I sipped at my drink, studiously ignoring the skeptical, critical whispers around and about me. Really, there was nothing too surprising so far in the gossip. The dirty looks and vengeful stares boring into my skin from every direction were also expected.
Marui shot me a meaningful look. "You know, I could tell them to shut up and go away…" He made as if to do what he'd suggested, but I quickly stopped him.
"Don't," I said. "It'd only make things worse – they'll hate me even more if you stand up for me."
He paused. "I meant what I said, about keeping you safe," he reminded me.
"That's not the point," I answered patiently. "You do realize that they could attack me in the girls' toilets and you wouldn't be able to do very much about it."
"So you want to let them say what they want?" Marui demanded. "You're no slut; why should you be called one?"
"Because life is easier that way." Niou flopped carelessly into one of the empty seats. "We can't control our fans as completely as we'd like to. Commanding them to shut up and leave your girlfriend alone would make them more jealous of her than if you hadn't."
Yagyuu pulled out the other chair, seating himself gracefully. "What Niou-kun says is true. I too found this out from my own experience."
"You had a girlfriend before?!" We stared at the supposedly studious gentleman in surprise.
"It was a relationship of convenience and an experiment of sorts on my part at least," he clarified. "It means nothing now."
I glanced from him to Niou and back again. "It had better be, or you'd be buried alive by this guy."
"I have a name, you know," grumbled the silver-haired boy.
"And a very nice name it is too," agreed Yagyuu placidly. Marui managed to not roll his eyes.
Realizing that I was parched, I announced, "I'm thirsty."
"Same here. Let's go get something to drink," suggested Niou, tugging me out of my seat towards the drink stand.
"Wait – but – " I protested, unable to free myself from his iron-like grip. Every single person on the tennis team had muscles like steel; I'd learnt long ago that when they wanted to drag you, it was best to simply let them drag you because no amount of resistance could prevent them from doing so.
He glanced back in the direction of our table and then up at the ceiling. "Mistletoe. You owe me a kiss, girl."
I glared at him, hoping that my embarrassment at the sudden demand did not show. "I have a name too, idiot. And I'm taken."
"What's a little kiss between friends?" Niou's eyes held a particularly evil glint. "Come on. I know it's not your first."
"That first was an accident," I argued, stalling. This would only gain me more enemies…
"Excuses, excuses." He tsked disapprovingly. "Well, then I'll just have to initiate it myself."
Shocked, I froze as he gripped my shoulders and pressed warm lips to mine, then drew back. "Niou…?"
He didn't seem to hear me. "Ah, they saw us. Perfect."
"Perfect?!" I exclaimed. "What the –"
"You'll see." The trickster winked and somehow managed to melt away into the dispersed crowd despite his distinctive appearance.
Apprehension gripped me. Marui had just witnessed a public kiss between his girlfriend and his best friend. That did not bode well at all, for our budding relationship or for my physical well-being. I now had twice the number of accusing, appalled stares fixed on my back – but I could do nothing but hold my head high and get the drink I needed before heading back.
Yagyuu had already left by the time I returned, presumably to seek out his doubles partner. Which meant that Marui and I were alone.
The redhead raised an eyebrow at me. "Let me guess. Mistletoe?"
"What – how did you guess?!" It was plain uncanny for anyone to hit the answer on the first try…
"There's no other reason Niou'd kiss you," explained the tensai. "Especially not in public."
"Are you trying to imply something I should be pissed about?" I inquired.
He chuckled. "Nope. He knows I'd not be exactly happy to see my girl and him, kissing."
My girl… It was the first time he'd referred to me as such. I just about shivered in delight.
--
A/N: So… here's the first chapter that's really about the party. There should be at least three chapters about it, since it's a pretty big key event in the plot.
Ahhhh, I love Marui! I've rekindled my love of all Rikkai! –fangirls- Forgive the randomness, but it is actually quite essential to my fic-writing ability, considering that all three of my unfinished fics are set in Rikkai!
Please review!