~…···¨···…~
Natsu no E ~
Picture of Summer.
~ Chapter 3. ~ Seven Seas
Shutting
the door violently, she let out a small frustrated groan; a second later,
her head had disappeared in a drawer of her wardrobe.
While
as Millerna had asked for a bathroom to change into her bikini, which she
carried in her car 'just in case', Merle and Van had also gone to their
respective rooms to get changed. The honey blonde sighed, recalling what
had happened earlier that morning; she was starting to regret her harsh
words, realising that she hadn't truly meant them. She had been angry and
had poured it all out on the first person she'd found, who'd happened to
be the raven-haired boy.
Maybe I should apologize…> she thought, biting her lower lip pensively. Okay, she could be angry with him, but now she recognized that she had taken things too far.
The intermittent red light that glowed on her cell phone reminded her that she had forgotten to take the device with her that morning, and that someone had been desperately trying to contact her.
Hitomi picked up the phone, checking the last call's number and gasped.
Ugh, I forgot to call mum!> she realised, suddenly remembering that she still hadn't talked with her mother about how things were going at The Sparrow. She quickly dialled the sequence and waited. She didn't have to wait for long, though.
"Hitomi!" Sachiko Kanzaki's voice was slightly irritated, and she bit her lip in anticipation of what was to come. "What were you thinking about?! I've been trying to speak with you the whole morning! I've called about a thousand times to the house, and another hundred to your cell phone, you had me worried!!" she yelled; then, as she noticed that several of her co-workers had left their tasks to openly stare at her, she sat down on her chair and picked up a pen from her desk, starting to make funny tapping noises on the wooden surface.
"I'm sorry mum, I just forgot to bring the mobile phone with me and I brought the Fanels down to the village," she explained, sitting on her bed.
Her mother drew out an exasperated sigh and then smiled, shaking her head. "You're hopeless, child," she chuckled while she crossed her legs and relaxed on her seat. "Okay darling, now tell me how are things going… everything all right?"
Hitomi arched her eyebrows, searching for the right word to describe the current situation and finally settling for a short summary. "Err… the couple's nice, cook nice crêpes. Girl quite spoiled but not really bad, seems nice too; elder guy, I haven't seen much of him, it's okay. Ahem, younger boy…" she trailed off, realising that her mum wouldn't like what she had to tell about Van. "… we are going to the beach now! Serena started a new diet-" she tried to change the subject, but Sachiko knew her daughter too well.
"Hitomii… what with the younger boy?" she pressed, and the blonde girl sighed in defeat.
"Let's say… let's say we have some differences… lots of 'em, rather," she gulped; she could perfectly picture her mother's face, eyebrow cocked up and with that look in her eyes in which she could read 'yes-dear-go-on-or-die'. The green-eyed girl gulped again. "I… I tried to hit him with a shoe. Oh, and with a stick and an ashtray later on," she smiled sheepishly, waiting for the storm to start, but there was none. Her mother was silent for a few seconds, and when Hitomi was starting to seriously consider if there was some kind of problem with the phone, Sachiko spoke again.
"… sorry dear, I think I did not catch the last words you said…" said the woman with a slightly mystified expression. "You did not just say that you threw a shoe at the boy, right?"
"Err… well technically yes but it did not hit him," the girl hurried to explain, crossing her fingers and praying for her mother to stay as calm as she was now.
Heh. Oh yes, dream on, Hitomi.
"WHAT?!" yelped Sachiko angrily. "… I guess you apologized and now are in good terms," she said, a dangerously threatening edge in her voice, and her daughter sniggered uneasily.
"Well… I sent him to hell last time we really talked…"
"HITOMI KANZAKI!! What the heck do you thing you are doing?! For heaven's sake, you are working for them and they are paying us, and you too!!" the blue-eyed woman stood up again, and this time she didn't even see the questioning and puzzled faces that gaped at her. "I'm not asking you to actually like the boy but I want this to be the last time I learn that you have insulted him of tried to hit him, understood?"
The honey blonde frowned pursing her lips. "Mum I was already going to apologize!" she complained furiously. "Would you please stop telling me what to do?! I KNOW all that, I swear I was going to fix things with the guy, if you just trusted me!!" she whined, scowling.
"Hitomi, everything okay? Are you ready?" Millerna's voice asked from the porch, and the green-eyed girl blushed crimson. OhmygoshifVanwasoutthereIwannadie…>
"Dear, I do trust you, it's that damn short temper of yours what I don't," Sachiko sighed.
"I promise I'll try to get a grip on myself, mum. Gotta go now, talk to you later okay?" and after that she hung up and left the cell phone again on the wooden desk.
Still gotta dress… or undress, actually.>
But as she had no real time to decide what to put on, she finally picked her dark blue swimming costume and slipped into it in no time; her feet searched for the flip-flops on the floor under her bed while she fumbled to put on a short mauve T-shirt.
"Ready in a sec!" she shouted, and exactly six seconds later she was out of her room, face flushed, hair dishevelled and half-losing a flip-flop off her left foot.
Millerna stood next to Merle with a small grin on her lips; the blonde was wearing a tiny bikini in red and black and a pair of expensive sandals on her feet. The younger Fanel was clad in a simple blue summer dress with thin straps, under which the swimming costume ones could be seen.
"Mm, where's Van?" the honey blonde asked, and the girl with mauve eyes gave her another one of her dashingly white smiles.
"Waiting for us in the car. We got towels for you three as you weren't coming to fetch them yourself," she explained, and Hitomi wanted to punch her. Oh, how she hated those ironic comments… and even more if the person to make them was as pretty as the blonde in front of her, and were said in a tone which wanted to sound innocent.
"Yeah, of course," she mumbled, rolling her eyes as she followed the two girls to the gates.
Yeepie,
beach day> the green-eyed girl groaned inwardly as they reached the vehicle
with Van inside [no girls, he has a T-shirt on yet ^^U… but not for much
longer, hehehe *cackles*].
~…···¨···…~
"You see this house here, Van? This is my summer… my summer residence," chatted Millerna as Van stared at the building the blonde was pointing at. It was huge. No, even bigger than that, he decided, his eyes wide and round as saucers.
They were walking down the concrete slope which connected the road with the sandy beach below, laughs and lively shouts filling their ears as they drew nearer and nearer the seashore.
Hitomi rolled her eyes, and tugged a few loose strands behind her ear, trying to ignore the other blonde's remarks about her impressive summer house. Well, nobody could ever deny that: the massive mansion which stood to their left, less than 20 meters away from the seashore, had been her golden dream when she was a kid. She would've given anything to have that house, but she was no different from the rest of teenagers in Fanelia, as they ALL wanted that house. So, "Big Mansion in the Yuri" was another item in the list "Why we can't stand Astons".
"Hey, Hitomi, I love your swimming costume," grinned the mauve-eyed girl, and the honey blonde smiled shyly, taken completely off-guard. A compliment from the prettiest girl in Fanelia was the last thing she had been expecting, but she blushed uncomfortably when she felt the raven haired boy's warm gaze on her. Why can't you look somewhere else?> she groaned inwardly, biting her lip. Oh, how she hated people staring at her! It made her nervous, feeling as if made of jelly, and if the observers were boys, the effects only seemed to double.
"… but I dare say that colour doesn't suit you much," went on Millerna frowning.
"What's wrong with dark blue?" asked the other girl with a slight note of annoyance in her voice. Hah, and she had been so innocent to actually believe that Millerna could sincerely praise her…
The pale blonde waved her hand as if trying to play her words down a bit. "Oh, no, nothing at all, but I think greens go better with your eyes," she declared, and the emerald eyed girl sighed in relief. Not so fast, dear... "I know, dark colours make you look thinner, ne? And it works wonders on you I must say, don't you think so, Van?"
Have you ever wanted to shake, punch and strangle someone to death? …face first paling to deadly white, then turning bright red, evolving towards a pretty strange purplish colour… Van let out a nervous snigger, his eyes on Millerna, then Hitomi and then the pale blonde again. "Emm… guess so," he murmured uneasily, unsure of what the looks in the girls' eyes meant. Okay, he could read the green ones: it plainly said there 'You are sooo DEAD'. "Oh, sister, are you never going to change?" asked in a shout a calm and soft voice from their right. The group had reached the sand at last: the beach was quite packed, full of straw sunshades and hammocks. There was also a volleyball net and a refreshment stand where you could buy ice-cream, water or fizzy drinks, with a few old wooden stools to sit down. In one of them Van could see a beautiful blond girl, herstraight hair even a paler shade than that of Millerna's, with stunning dark blue eyes and an amused smile on her full lips. She was wearing an elegant dark blue swimming suit with an horizontal wide cream stripe on it and a long mauve beach wrap. She was holding a glass full of coke, with some ice cubes and a slice of lemon in it.
"Eries!" smiled Hitomi, recognizing her voice as the one who had reprimanded Millerna.
"And who are you?" asked Merle suspiciously, grabbing her stepbrother's arm fiercely. What was this?! She had been glad to come to Fanelia, thinking that this way they could avoid the crazy stupid giggling girls who chased Van and Folken non-stop, but that was proving to be somewhat impossible. Were all girls here idiots or what?! There was no girl who could be worthy of her beloved brother, but she found it difficult to make them understand that.
The auburn eyed boy grinned, tousling his little sister's messy hair, and stooped a bit to whisper in her ear. "Hey, you don't need to scratch them, huh," he smiled mischievously.
The girl called Eries walked up to them, her movements graceful and elegant, and Hitomi couldn't help but stare at her in admiration; she had always liked the middle sister of the Aston family, always so calm and collected, and with that air around her that made her… special. The girl with dark cerulean eyes walked to Merle and extended her hand in a friendly manner.
"I'm Eries Aston, Millerna's sister," she smiled. "And you must be the Fanels, right? It's my pleasure to meet you." Then she turned to Hitomi with a broad grin. "I heard from Millerna that you'll be staying around for the whole summer with them," she commented, and the green-eyed girl nodded.
"Yeah, until cold September," she snorted, forcing a neutral expression to hide the pained one which had immediately appeared on her features when she thought of the meaning of her words: two whole months with the Fanels.
"Hey love, glad te have ye back!" said a boy with chestnut brown hair and deep green eyes wearing round glasses, a broad smile plastered on his face. He came out of the refreshment stand wiping his hands in a former white cloth and walked straight to where they were.
"Dryden!" laughed Hitomi while the boy delicately took and ceremoniously kissed the back of her hand. "It's good to see you!"
"I was serving Ice Princess here a choc ice and suddenly she was gone," he grinned, gesturing with his hands in a funny way which made the green-eyed girl and Merle laugh. "But I see you brought new clients to my stand! And who may this pretty miss here be?" he asked, smiling at the brunette little girl who giggled in return.
"I'm Merle Fanel, and this is my brother Van," she said, blushing a little when Dryden repeated what he had done with Hitomi's hand, this time with the small girl. "And you are a very funny guy."
Van smacked her sister lightly on the head, but the brown haired boy laughed heartily.
"My name is Dryden, sweetie, but you can call me Dry if you want to," he winked. Then he turned to Van and offered his hand to shake the newcomer's one. "Dryden Fassa at your service. This thing-sorta-refreshment stand ye see here is mine… ehmsortof," he smiled a crooked smile at Eries' mockingly warning look. The funny guy, as Merle had decided to call him, turned finally to Millerna, and grinned. "Hi, Milly. Long time no see, hon, ye gave them a ride in that pretty car of yours?" he asked, and the mauve eyed girl shifted uncomfortably, blushing a little.
"I'm old enough to do what I want," she attempted to say sounding serious, but suddenly her words sounded meek and shy. Eries let out a quiet laugh.
"Gods, Dry, we'll have to hire you at home! Dad's been going crazy to control this empty-head of a sister I have, and you can cool her down in a sentence," she joked, and Millerna blushed furiously and elbowed the taller girl in the ribs.
"Shut up!" she hissed angrily, but then a movement caught her eye; there were three people walking down the side stairs of the beach, carved in the rock, a group quite easy to notice, as it consisted of a dashing blond boy, a darker version of the first and a lively ash-blonde.
"Allen!" Millerna squealed in delight, failing to notice the shadow that crossed Dryden's face at that word. Hitomi sighed, shaking her head a little; she had been told she was good at reading the other people's hearts, but sometimes it pained her to see how unfair life was to some in love affairs.
Anyway, her sadness did not last long: after all, it truly was Allen coming, and she felt again the butterflies in the pit of her stomach as her ex walked down the stairs, just in a pair of navy blue trunks. She turned crimson involuntarily when her eyes took in his lean forms, smooth abdomen, his well-defined muscles waving under the golden sunrays as he moved and laughed with his twin and sister. She even thought she could catch the sparkling blue of his eyes, and there she stood, as if rooted to the floor, while Millerna scampered to meet them, her laughs ringing in Hitomi's ears.
A small push.
She awoke from her daydream and into Dryden's small concerned smile. "What're ye watin' for, love? Hurry!" he whispered, cocking his head to where the three Schezar siblings and Millerna were standing now, at the end of the stairs next to some huge rocks covered in white sand. The green eyed girl bit her lips and nodded, giving him a silent 'thank you' and finally walking to Allen, Amano and Serena.
Van frowned; he hadn't missed what had happened, and the later shrugs Eries and the bi-spectacled boy exchanged.
There is something going on with the Kanzaki girl and those people> he decided, watching her lean frame as she kissed the twins on both cheeks and hugged the girl with ash blond hair in a tight embrace.
But suddenly a sneering voice interrupted the perfect scene.
"Hey looook there! The ass has arrived!"
The owner of that voice was a boy with silver hair, abnormally pale skin and eyes as red as blood, standing next to one of the volley poles that held the net in place. He had a volleyball under his arm and a scornful smirk on his lips; in a matter of seconds other five boys surrounded the first one, all wearing the same mocking expressions on their faces.
"Hey S, how's your ankle, feelin' any better?" Dilandau laughed darkly, and Van arched an eyebrow, trying to get what was all that about. Dryden, Eries, Merle and him were just in the fair middle of the beach, and he felt like a spectator watching some kind of tennis match, incisive words yelled from one side of the beach to the opposite.
The brown haired boy with glasses chuckled and dropped his voice to a low whisper in both Fanel siblings' ears so that his words could not be heard by anybody else.
"'Ass' really means ASS," he explained with a snigger ", and it stands for Dilandau's nickname for the Schezars. Oh yes, hasn't Hitomi told you about them?" he asked, and Van gulped.
"Eerrr… we haven't been in… what you'd say friendly terms," he recognized, and Dryden let out a short laugh as Eries also joined their small whispering circle with a grin.
"So she beat you up, huh?" she smiled when he blushed, nodding in silence, and Dryden patted his shoulder sympathetically.
"Oh, yeah, she's a sweetheart but can be really… violent sometimes," he grinned sheepishly and then pointed at the group at their right side, where Hitomi was. "Well, then let me make the introductions… those are your neighbours, the twins Amano and Allen, and Serena. The later and 'Tomi have been best friends since they were kids. And…" then pointed at the group of guys next to the volleyball net. "Those are Dilandau Albatou and his gang. They call themselves the Slayers, short for Dragon Slayers actually. They' are also the Schezars' neighbours, and so yers too, but well… ye could say…"
"One could say that they declared an open war some time ago and that now are mortal enemies," helped Eries with a shrug.
"Ahhm," nodded both Merle and Van, watching the two groups bicker quite harshly.
"I never knew you had wits for plays on words, Dilandau," mocked Hitomi scornfully as Serena, flushed bright red, tried to calm her anger from rising and spilling out of her mouth in insults and swearing. She knew it wasn't right, but sometimes she couldn't help it, basically when her detested neighbour was around.
"Plays on words," Dryden explained in another whisper to Van. "She means the 'ass' thing. Ye see, it really stands for the siblings' names' initials: Allen, Susumu and Serena. He came up with that some time ago… pretty smart I must say," mused the boy, and Van chuckled a little. "Okay, now observe this closely… it's time for Dryden to take part in the play," he winked and strode off with a broad grin plastered on his face.
"Ice Princess there suggested us to organize a beach volley competition," his warm voice rang above the two combatant groups' yells and made them stop in a second. "Winner will get…" he mused for a second and improvised, saying the first thing that crossed his mind: "a whole hour surfing session on Milly's board and a extra-big ice," he announced while both Eries and Millerna gaped at him in astonishment.
But, as Van observed, it had worked. The shouts and yells had stopped, at least for a few seconds.
"Hey A, wanna try or are ya too scared of me, you pretty face?" Dilandau snarled at Allen, but he shrugged putting on an uninterested expression.
"Wasting time playing volley with you is not high in my priority list, Albatou," the blond boy spat, indifferently turning his back on the red-eyed teenager while his lips twitched in an amused smile as he watched the two Aston sisters angrily walking up to where Dryden was and dragging him to his refreshment stand.
"I did not say that!" protested Eries with a scowl.
"Why did you say they could get my surfing board, have you gone crazy?? You know it's my favourite!!" complained Millerna, hitting Dryden on his broad chest with her fists, but he simply chuckled taking her chin to make her look at him straight in the eye and then wink at the blond beauty.
"Aww, c'mon girls, don't ye see it worked? Anyway, Milly, yer dad can buy ye another board any time, ye've got lots of those, and I don't think they'll break it," he declared, and then he shot a mischievous smile at Van and Merle, who were looking at them smiling. "Ye know, anyone in this beach would kill to be in my place now, with the two most beautiful girls in town around me," he joked, and the Fanel siblings laughed at his words, which were accompanied by a soft punch in the stomach coming from a blushing Millerna, and a chuckle from Eries.
But Van's eyes were looking for another girl when he heard Dryden's words… someone who, oblivious to the auburn eyes set on her, was cheerfully talking to Amano while he made some funny comment on Allen's hair, earning a mock blow from his twin brother.
~…···¨···…~
~ Flying over seven seas looking
for your love
cross over the seven seas
Flying over seven seas looking
for your love
to an unknown paradise ~
Hitomi bit her lip, suppressing a sigh from coming out of her lips. How could a man be so… handsome? Although she didn't notice it, her face bore a dreamy expression, eyes involuntarily following Allen's silhouette among the sea waves.
At her side, Serena giggled while rolling her eyes. "Heck, 'Tomi, I can see you're still as head over heels for my brother as last summer," she poked her friend in the ribs, causing the green eyed girl to fly back from la-la-land to reality once again with a pretty blush adorning her cheeks.
The two girls were sitting on their towels, Serena lazily splashing sun cream over her pale skin while she spied on her friend, completely lost in her thoughts and with her eyes glued to the tall blond frame of Allen, who was getting out of the water with a wide grin plastered on his face.
"Hey, do you think I stand any chance to… well you know…" she dropped her voice to a murmur as Serena arched her eyebrows with a playful grin.
"No I don't know," the ash blonde smiled teasingly.
"… to go back with Allen, now that we are out of high school and all that," Hitomi murmured between clenched teeth. What a humourless joke fate kept playing with her… it had given her the boy of her dreams a year too soon. Next year would've been perfect, both of them attending the same college in Astria… Hitomi drifted back into her daydreams, picturing herself and Allen happily strolling from a building to another, then going out to one of the student bars to have lunch, kissing on the green lawns that surrounded the buildings…
She sighed again, completely blushed closing her eyes while Serena laughed at her friend's face and pinched her.
"Heelloo?? Are you there Hitomi?" the Schezar girl chuckled as the girl with honey blond hair flinched and let out a groan, rubbing the place her best friend had grasped.
"Could you stop doing that?" she muttered angrily.
Oh, yeah. Bitter reality. No Allen. He wasn't even interested in what happened to her…
Mm, she was forgetting something… but, what was that? The feeling was there, nagging her in the back of her mind… what was that…?
Right then, Serena's voice dropped to a whisper in her ear, her tone husky. "Ohhhhh gods, Hitomi, you sure have one HOT guy at home," she murmured biting her lip and her eyes turned into two big blue saucers.
"Huh?" the green eyed girl turned around to see what her friend was staring at, and she couldn't help it but to do exactly the same Serena was doing.
How couldn't she notice that before?? She wanted to smack herself for being so stupid.
There, laughing heartily with Dryden, Eries and Merle, stood Van Fanel. And, although he wasn't aware of it, half the feminine population of the beach was staring at him and drooling.
And, Hitomi thought while shaking her head in disbelief, I can perfectly understand them.
He had taken off his T-shirt and was standing in a pair of plain red trunks.
She heard giggles and slightly spicy comments aimed at him, but he was oblivious to all of them; suddenly the honey blonde let out a groan, burying her face in her hands.
No, no, no! Stop it! I'm not like those giggling idiots> she firmly told herself. I'm in love with Allen, and he's the most good-looking boy around, no way this Fanel guy… no way… no…>
Serena burst out into giggles when she saw Hitomi's face, punching her in the ribs."Heeey seems that you're soon gonna get over my brother," she laughed, and her friend blushed furiously, shaking her head like mad.
"Stop saying nonsense, you silly!!!" she growled.
"But you should've seen yourself! My kingdom for a mirror so that you could've see yourself 'Tomi, your jaw dropped to the ground!" mocked Serena, spilling some more sun blocker on her hands. She dipped her index finger in the cream to caress the green eyed girl's nose afterwards, leaving a white spot there which Hitomi rubbed angrily a second later.
It was not true!
Well… she had to admit that he was.. not ugly. So, what if she had been staring? There was nothing wrong in that… it was perfectly legal, but that didn't mean anything else. The way his unruly black strands fell over his eyes, that mischievous sparkle in their burgundy depths…his auburn tanned skin, smooth and shiny because of the sun oil he had put on… That was nothing to her. She did not like it. She did not like his broad shoulders, his muscular chest and the way his abs flickered with each wave of laughter taking over him at Dryden's jokes…. No way! She was not attracted to him, not a single bit. Oh, and of course she hadn't looked at his strong arms, making it evident that he trained some kind of sport quite often.
No, definitely not. There was nothing she could like in Van Fanel. He was an egotistical jerk that lived with her, and that was all.
"Hitomi, I think I can see a thread of drool coming out of your mouth," chanted Serena with a snicker; the green eyed girl shot him a threatening look and got up hastily.
"If you don't stop it right now I'm going to hit you," she warned angrily, "And you know it can hurt quite a lot."
"Okaaaay, oh girl what a temper," her friend laughed, her eyes crinkling at the corners. "Where are you goin' now?"
"I," she started with a menacing look in her emerald pools, "am going to do what I am supposed to do this summer. Take care of the Fanels."
The ash blond fell onto her towel, clutching her aching sides and trying to suppress the laughs that erupted from her lips. "Yeaaah suuure admit it you wanna walk to where that raven-haired god is and show all the other girls who is the lucky one here!"
"Don't be foolish I am going to take his sister Merle with us," she said.
"Uhuh, and then why are you as red as a cherry?" sniggered the blue-eyed girl, making Hitomi's blush deepen.
"Umm, am I red? the sun has got to me more than what I thought… I'll have to put on some more sun blocker," she murmured, praying to the gods for her smart-ass of a friend to shut up and leave her be. Not paying any more attention to Serena, she pivoted on her heel and walked to where the group was, failing to notice the volley competition that was taking place in the sand pitch a few meters from her.
She first glued her eyes to Merle, trying to focus, but she soon found herself looking at Van again. The way his lips twitched into a heartfelt smile, the cat-like way he moved, fluid and smooth…
For the first time, she seriously considered that, after all, her summer could be not as horrible as she had imagined…
Ahaaa! Maybe she could take some advantage of her position, living with the Fanels… maybe that plan of hers of making Allen jealous was not a bad idea, if she thought that the first time she had mentioned Van his ex hadn't known what the newcomer was like. Now, if the blue-eyed boy saw that the Fanel bloke was absolutely and undeniably hot, maybe…
Her trail of thoughts was interrupted when she reached their side, and she heard some rude comments coming from the girls who shot her envious looks.
"Hey beautiful!" greeted Dryden with a broad grin. "What have I done to deserve ye to come an' see me?" he smiled, comically bowing to the green eyed girl while she grinned back.
"It's because you are simply irresistible," she winked playfully. "Don't you see half the beach is staring at you?"
Dryden chuckled with a sigh, leaning on his chair. "I think it has more to do with Van than with me," he said good-naturedly as the raven haired boy blushed at his words and Merle bore an expression of exasperation mixed with pride.
"You bet, Funny Guy! It's always the same," she sighed dramatically twirling the straw in her shake, then blowing through the small tube to make bubbles come out of the liquid. Van smacked her softly, trying to look serious but a smile filling his auburn eyes.
"Merle!" he scowled but his half-sister merely giggled in return and shrugged.
"Don't tell mom," she asked with an impish grin; after that the brunette turned to Hitomi. "So, what's up?"
The green eyed girl grinned. "Ya wanna come with us over there? I'll introduce you to my best friend around, Serena, she's really nice," she said, feeling more and more nervous; she could sense Van's piercing auburn eyes on her, and she did not like the feeling it gave her.
Merle frowned for a second turning to her half-brother with a questioning look. "… Van?" she said, as if she were asking for his opinion. Hitomi saw the adoration that shone in the girl's eyes and sighed.
If Mamoru worshipped me like that I'd be in heaven,> she told herself with a snort, remembering the relationship with her smaller brother. At fourteen, the brat –as she liked to call him- was as bubbly and lively as she had been at that same age, but only interested in his basketball competitions and in going out with some girls. It's incredible… how can it be that he's had more than five girlfriends and I didn't go out with a guy until seventeen, and it only lasted for a few months!> she rolled her eyes, biting her lip. Allen… ugh, how stupid can I get? And not over him yet,> she sadly shook her head.
Dryden patted Merle's shoulder with a lopsided grin. "Hey little miss, ye sure need to meet new people! Don't worry, I'll watch over yer big brother," he winked at the brunette girl and she giggled.
"Yah, Merle, don't worry I'll be okay," assured Van trying to stifle the sniggers. His little sister sometimes could be so funny in her eagerness to protecting him…
"Okay…" she finally gave in with a shy grin, taking Hitomi's hand in hers and breaking into a run dragging the green eyed girl along. "C'mon what are we waiting for?! Hurry!" she laughed at the other girl's startled expression, taken by surprise by the younger Fanel's actions.
"Yeah, right," she smiled while they ran to where Serena was. The ash blonde was waiting for them lying on her towel, fanning herself with a magazine she had bought last month. When she saw them coming she sat up with a broad grin.
"Heey how are you?" she cheerfully asked Merle when they arrived at her side. "I though this empty head here would never introduce us!" she smiled, extending her hand to the brunette. "I'm Serena Schezar, and I've heard a whole lot about you."
Merle watched her for a second as if examining her to finally shake hands with her grinning. "Oh yeah? And what has Hitomi told you about us?" she inquired sitting at her side.
Serena sweat dropped, giggling a little, and Hitomi wanted to strangle her friend.
She just can't keep quiet," she groaned inwardly. Great. Simply great. Last thing she needed was the Fanels knowing what she had said about them!
"Oh, she said that you were a lovely family," Serena covered up smoothly without any problem. "Also that you and your brothers are really nice, but she hadn't told me anything about your wonderful suntan!! How do you do it??" she whined, and Hitomi had to marvel again at her friend's acting ability. "I've been eating carrots for a week now to see if I can get a little bit more of colour but it seems I can't!" the ash-blonde pouted.
"I don't know really…" grinned Merle sheepishly. "I guess it runs in the family, Van is also like this… oh, but Folken is pale like you," she explained shrugging. Then her eyes shone with suspicion. "Mmm… you don't like my brother, do you?" she questioned with a frown, facing both girls. Serena giggled uneasily and Hitomi put on an indifferent expression.
"Why do you ask such a thing?" inquired the sky-blue eyed girl innocently.
"Because I won't allow any girl to go near my brother, that's why," declared Merle heatedly while sending them warning glances: she had to make that point clear.
The brunette girl had been through that a hundred times… always the same, the girls who approached her because of her brothers and tried to be nice to her in order to get closer to Van or Folken, and she was fed up with it. She was not going to be used as a way to get to her brothers, not ever again. She had fallen for the trick once and it had ended up in Folken going out with a girl for a few months. Luckily he left her quite soon, and Merle vowed to herself that it was never going to happen such a thing again.
Serena smiled naturally. "Don't worry over that, Merle," she said ironically. "This silly girl next to me is helplessly in love with my brother, and I'm not interested in boys right now," she said, while Hitomi turned crimson at her words, then trying hard not to smile at her friend's last words -plain lies-.
Serena, not interested in boys? Hah! The world would fall upon their heads before she could see that statement come true!
But that seemed to calm the brunette, who dropped her battle stance and smiled brightly at them. Okay, if they were not interested in Van then things maybe could work between them…
"Anyway, you worry a whole lot about your brothers, don't you? I bet their girlfriends must be really nice if you are so protective over them," commented Serena winking at Hitomi; the green eyed girl giggled, shaking her head, but she had to admit that her friend's strategy to gather information worked pretty well. She sadly thought what a waste of talent it was, as Encia didn't allow her daughter to attend that Acting Academy where the younger Schezar wanted to go with all her heart. Merle shrugged and leaned closer to them.
"Even though Van gets tons of love-notes at school, he doesn't have a girlfriend," she informed them, puffing out her still quite flat chest proudly. "Folken's the same… girls don't deserve them."
Hitomi snorted as she rolled her eyes, until Merle turned sharply at her, making the honey-blond start coughing to cover up her sceptical expression.
"I bet your brothers love having a lil sister who cares so much about them," Serena smiled, ruffling the young girl's hair lightly. Amazing, thought Hitomi, how her friend could get away with doing that kind of thing and still be in good terms with Merle, when any other person would've been close to being bitten in the same situation. Well, except Merle's brothers, of course.
It was going to be quite hard, trying to be friends with the girl and suppress the urges to kick Van Fanel at the same time. Her face went red again when she remembered what Millerna had said about her swimming costume and looked at her navy blue attire. Well, why should she care about what that raven-haired boy thought of her? It wasn't as she was planning on going out with him… Oh Gods, Hitomi, just stop thinking,> she scolded herself, blushing again, and she forced herself to sneak a glance at Allen, who was trying to drown his twin in the water, laughing. Gosh, how she wanted to turn back time and live again last summer…
~…···¨···…~
Van saw it the very same moment it happened, but his lips couldn't shout the warning in time. The hard volleyball hit his sister's head and, just like dominoes toppling, her forehead connected with Hitomi's one, who in turn involuntarily hit the ash-blonde's.
"Hey you moron, watch where you aim that thing!" yelled the blue-eyed girl angrily, all three girls rubbing their heads and groaning.
The auburn-eyed boy saw how that guy with silver hair walked up to where his sister was with a smirk on his lips. When Hitomi's friend saw him, she jerked up instantly, her brows knotted in an irate frown.
"It just had to be you," she hissed. "You did it on purpose, didn't you?"
Dilandau's sardonic smirk grew wider. "Why should I do such a thing?" he said in a mocking tone, his eyes focused on Merle. "It's not my fault if this girl's head was in the way of my ball… you'd better watch what you do, twit."
"I AM NOT A TWIT!!" fumed the brunette immediately, getting up so quickly that she got one of her feet tangled in Hitomi's beach towel and consequently fell flat on the sandy ground. The read-eyed boy erupted in loud laughs, that were chorused by the rest of his gang, watching the scene from the volley pitch a few meters from there.
Enough was enough, thought Van angrily, storming where Merle was while he ordered himself to be calm and collected, or else he would explode and beat that jerk to a pulp. But, even before he could get there, the honey-blond girl helped the embarrassed brunette to get up from the floor and started yelling.
"What are you laughing at, Albatou?" she spat. "You're good enough to pick on with someone smaller than you, eh? That shows what kind of coward you are," her green eyes shone dangerously, forgetting that she was getting herself in quite a mess.
If things got nasty, she knew she was no match for Dilandau; heck, she wasn't one of those super-girls who could fight and actually win a guy… the first part, she could, yeah… fight. Hey sure thing, she had played Street Fighter with her brother a thousand times at home (and been beaten all thousand), but that was all she knew of fighting. Hah, victory was unknown dream, and even if she was foolish enough to spur the silver-haired boy's temper and get into a brawl, she couldn't fool herself to believe she stood any chances of winning.
Please, let him think that I'm not his size either, she crossed her fingers inwardly, even though her angered expression didn't flicker.
"Oh, and you live up to the challenge, Kanzaki?" Dilandau snarled, his head cocked to a side in an arrogant gesture. She wanted to kick him in his manly parts, but she was a sensible girl so she gulped and bit her lip, her eyes blazing in mute fury.
"Well, I think I do," said a calm voice next to her. Hitomi turned abruptly only to nearly crash into Van's chest. He had a serious expression, but a shadow of a smirk danced on his lips; he irradiated a calm self-confidence, his bright mahogany eyes flickering with a spark that, if provoked, would become a real fire.
The silver-haired boy arched an eyebrow, but his gaze turned cautious; he hadn't counted on him appearing to save the day…
"You should be wiser when choosing sides," Dilandau stared at Van's muscular frame, obviously a fair match for his own.
"What side I take is my business, not yours," calmly stated the raven-haired boy. "And, in case you didn't know, Merle is my sister," he declared, placing a protective hand on the brunette's shoulder.
"Well then, and you're gonna play big-brother and try to beat us for having laughed at your sister?" he smirked, all the slayers walking to his side to back him up in silence. Van snorted quietly.
"No, I'm just wondering if your aim is really that bad. You know, Merle's head is not exactly in the way of the volleyball…" he grinned cheekily, and the red-eyed boy growled.
"Do you really want to know how good I am?" he sneered, his lips curving slightly upwards; his head pointed at the volleyball net and smirked. "Up to it, pretty boy?"
"Of course he's up to it you pig-headed moron!" screeched Serena, making the auburn-eyed boy turn to stare at her. She blushed. "Err… you… are?"
He gave her a toothy smile. "Sure thing, Albatou. Let's get started."
Merle eagerly handed him the ball that had started all the conflict, and watched her brother in adoration as he strode confidently to the volleyball net.
"Ooohmygod, this is gettin' better and better," giggled Serena in her friend's ear, both girls openly staring at the raven-haired boy, a gesture that was being copied by all females in the beach.
They followed Van's movements to the opposite side of the net after having decided who was to play where, and who had the first service. Even though the auburn-eyed boy got the ball, Dilandau chose the best side of the sandy pitch, so that the sun partially blinded his rival.
Van merely placed his hand on his forehead to shade his eyes for a moment and grinned at Merle, but Hitomi also accused the effect of that smile. She felt her insides make a strange jolt, unconsciously biting her lip; the young brunette at her side saw her nervousness and grinned childishly.
"Don't worry, Hitomi, Van'll win," she stated in a way that clearly said that she believed in her brother with blind trust. Hitomi scoffed with a light blush.
"Who says I'm worried?" she muttered under her breath, unable to tear her gaze away from the Fanel's form. On the sandy pitch, the raven-haired boy grinned.
"Okay,
the game starts," he announced, tossing the ball up in the air.
~…···¨···…~
"Darling, could you pass me the salt, please?"
Jaira wiped her hands in the cloth hanging from the wooden shelf, and reached to get the small box where the required item was placed. She handed it to her husband, who was wearing a white apron and was busy stirring the contents of a casserole while he eyed the pieces of meat that were in the frying pan.
"That smells heavenly," she smiled, resting her chin on Goau's. He grinned back, turning his head to a side to brush lightly Jaira's lips with his own.
Outside, a thunderclap echoed in the distance; in no time, a light drizzle curtained the countryside in a monochrome layer of glistening grey, and the brunette hurried to close the window.
"Seems as we have a summer shower," Goau commented, eyeing the casserole critically as he measured the consistency of the stew he was cooking. He then picked up a wooden spoon and, taking a bit of stew in it, he sampled it after blowing on the food to cool it off. "Mmm…"
Jaira smiled, shaking her head. The Fanel males were some of the best cooks she'd ever come across, something that was quite useful if one considered that her cooking abilities were as nil as Merle's. She was a great kitchen-hand, but the chef was definitely her husband. And now Folken and Van were also taking after their father, so cooking was certainly not a problem for her anymore.
"Shouldn't the boys be back already?" she asked absently, cutting a lettuce into tiny bits to prepare a salad. "They'll get soaked if they don't come soon…"
The dark-haired man chuckled while he took a pair of mittens to take the stew to the dining room's table. "Don't worry, I'm sure they'll be here in a moment." Then he walked to the staircase, from where a piano song could be heard. "Folken, lunch is ready! Could you come and help us set the table?" he shouted. The music stopped at once, and an aqua-blue head popped out of the study with a casual grin.
"Sure, dad. Are Van and Merle already here?" he asked, walking down the stairs. He was dressed in a white shirt and a pair of faded blue jeans; he used to wear white quite a lot, basically because it was one of the few colours that made him look tanned… only that the illusion was always ruined if he was next to Van or Merle.
"No, not yet, but they will any moment," Goau walked back to the dining room and smiled when he heard the voices coming from outside. The creak of the gates faintly reached his ears, followed by idle footsteps approaching the house.
"I kneeeeeeew it!!" Merle's voice was purring. "You're the BEST!" One could perfectly imagine that right now she was hugging Van's arm with all her might.
"Well, he nearly had you there… did you play in a team or something?" the detached but nevertheless curious feminine voice was Hitomi's, Goau decided.
"Van was the best of his team!!" Merle screeched again. "Kicked his butt, yeah! He will never mess with me again!" she chanted happily.
"Couldn't resist but go and save the damsels in distress…" Hitomi mocked lightly. "A knight-in-shining-armor-complex, Fanel?"
"Oh, drop the sword, Kanzaki, it's not as if I didn't help you too back there, you know?" Van's firm voice said. His father stepped outside through the dining room door and greeted them with a smile as they calmly walked to the garage door. The three teenagers were covered in tiny droplets of water, and as Jaira has predicted, they were quite soaked.
"You arrive just in time," he grinned, "lunch is ready."
Merle giggled and ran to her stepfather's arms, who twirled her around like a little girl. "Hey dad, we had the most wonderful day at the beach," she explained excitedly. "We swam in the beach, and then Van beat some stupid guy, what was his name… Albatou, I think… at volleyball coz he'd laughed at me…"
"Uuuh, sounds impressive," Goau smiled and kissed her cheek. She sniffed the air and grinned kittenishly.
"You cooked my fav dish!" she beamed at the dark-haired man, who laughed.
"Some day I'll show your mum how to cook it," he promised, but the small brunette snorted in reply.
"Bwah, she can't cook, don't bother," she shook her head with a shrug, and Jaira's head appeared into view out of the kitchen window yielding a wooden spoon.
"I heard you, Merle!!" she said, feigning anger. "That's how much you trust your mother? Come here right away and' help us set the table."
Merle and Goau walked into the house to join Jaira and Folken in the kitchen, while Van and Hitomi stood in the rain, as if rooted to the ground.
The green-eyed girl bit her lip, knowing that she had to apologize, no matter how much she hated admitting that she wasn't right… well, Van's comments that morning hadn't helped much, not the fact that he'd smiled at every girl that had come after the volleyball match to swoon over him. Yuck, she thought in remembrance of it. I take that back, she immediately corrected herself with a light blush. I don't care if he smiles at other girls.
She turned her head a bit to see if he was looking at her, and she found a pair of brilliant burgundy depths looking right inside her. She blushed, not used to be stared at with such intensity, and hurried to the garage door. "Gonna get a shower. Stay away til I'm finished this time," she muttered under her breath before disappearing inside the house.
~…···¨···…~
Van got up from the chair he'd occupied for the past ten minutes when he heard the click of the door opening and Hitomi stepped out of the bathroom. She looked at him for a moment with a small frown creasing her forefront, and then hurried outside to get to the back porch and her bedroom.
"Hitomi!"
His call made her stop dead in the middle of the pebbled lawn in front of the house; she heard the creaking sound his footsteps made on the small stones when he approached her and lightly touched her shoulder, as if asking her to turn around and face him. The green-eyed girl sighed in defeat.
"Veeery well… I'm sorry," she grumbled as she looked at him. "I should've been much nicer to you, I'm sorry I nearly split your head open with the ashtray," Hitomi added. "I'm sorry I was so rude this morning… I wasn't in the best of moods, I guess," she mumbled.
His eyes shone in surprise, then crinkled at the sides when his lips curved upwards in a light smile. "Does that mean we are friends?" he grinned; the honey blonde looked at his extended hand for a few moments, a soft frown knotting her eyebrows. Then her scowl dissolved with a sigh and a nod of her head.
"… let's sign a temporary truce," agreed Hitomi, taking his hand to shake it. "Only if you never ever again spy on me in the bathroom," she concluded, and was tempted to add 'and never ever yell to the world that you don't like me and that I dress in blue 'cause I'm plump', but she restrained herself and bit her lips. After all, even though she'd wanted to pummel him then, when she looked back on what had happened she understood it wasn't that serious, and even less when it came from a guy whom she hadn't known for more than a day.
He took her hand and shook it steadily while the rain washed down on them, and Hitomi observed that his black T-shirt was sticking to his muscular body, outlining his well-defined pecs, shouting to the world 'Look at me and drool'. Heat incensed her pale cheeks when she thought of what the rain could be doing to her own clothing, and she immediately crossed her arms in front of her chest. When Van noticed her gesture he blushed a deep crimson and diverted his gaze to the ground.
"Well then… you might want to take a shower yourself," the honey-blonde said hastily, turning to go to her room, but the raven-haired boy gave her a sheepish look and handed her a frilled bra.
"Actually… I called you because you'd left this in the bathroom…"
If she had thought she couldn't blush harder, she was wrong; gods, how could she make a fool of herself so easily? Well done, Hitomi, just exhibit your collection of undergarments to the world, she bit her lip in total mortification and snatched the bra from Van's hands, muttering a growled 'Thanks', after what she nearly ran to her room, feeling a complete idiot.
Great way of starting a truce…
~…···¨···…~
Tbc~
~~~
THANK YOU
PPL!!! For reviewing this, thanks a million!!! You keep me going ^_________^
dawnsama:
*drools with you* aye, Van and Folken *sigh* and you liked the cistern
part?? Yay!! I had lots of fun when writing those scenes XD and aye, don't
worry there'll be lots of those moments, after all if one did not play
with the charas it wouldn't be half the fun it is!! And yeah, me too would
act like Merle ^^U… but if I were in Jaira's place I guess I would act
the same too [I want my kitchen alive and safe! And Merle too of course
^^U]… thanks for reviewing my stories girl!!! Ye make me happy ^__^
Rhapsody's song: *grins*
well, it will take time for them to get along indeed ^^UU… I promise they
eventually will, but, as I said *sighs* it will take its time ^.~ !
Avelyn Lauren:
aye, well Van isn't exactly trying to get her attention but does anyway
^^U but well, it was just a bad moment and, as Hitomi is a sensible girl
she will tone it down a little… she did here, didn't she?…
Cev: *grins from ear to ear* ayeee!!!! Me too think the same, stepsister's opinion is very important!! Lol, I promise Yukari will punch Allen's pretty face… eventually ;p but well, Van and Hitomi will take their time but they will improve ^^U yup yup I promise they will, but her outbursts sometimes get the best of her temper and things go wrong… Ohh *hugs* and ye gave me the idea of Allen reacting when his past relationship is brought up into conversation!! Thankiez!!! I will use that ^__^
AnimeAngel707: *blushes* sorry if it took a really looong time to update *falls on knees an' sobs*, I promise I'm doing my best!! Hope you like this one as well ^___^
snoopy: thank you!!!! Here is more ^___^
Fuzzie: *turns crimson and grins shyly* err… THANKIEZ!!! Well, they will be together, I promise, but not too soon ^_~ I like playing with them so it will take its time *cackles* they will be fighting each other quite a lot 'coz they both have a quick temper but they say that from hate to love the way's really short, don't they? ^.~ [ahem *sweatdrops* I dunno the saying in English… so I kinda adapted it from Spanish ^^U]
SabineballZ: ^^U yes, it was fairly bad… but you know, when something starts reeeally bad, it can't get much worse so form now on things are bound to improve ^_~ ayee, who wouldn't enjoy a day at the beach with Van _shirtless_ *faints* and Dilly in trunks too *sighs*
kcarrie: *grins* thank you tons!! Aye, I continue ^__^
Aya_chan: next chapter delivered!! Hope you like it too *smiles*
snow blossoms: hiya!! *blushes* I'm soo glad you like it!! And thanks for the "_ _ _" thing, I corrected it later on, oh and thankiez for reviewing my other story too!!! ^_________^ and you gave me more suggestions!!! I had thought about getting Serena and Dilly together so you approve of that? ^_^ and the kendo lesson is going to be there too, thanks so much!!! Your reviews are great they give me so many ideas!! And thanks a million for the piccies of Hitomi and Van!!!!! *dreamy sigh*
Amoloi: Oi, thanks!!! ^___^
Sakura-Angel-04: *blushes and grins* thank you lots!!! Aye, you guessed right ^.~ I think there is going to be a Hitomi-Merle friendship! ^.~
Infinitis: Heyyaaa!!!! *grins and hugs Infin-chan* I was so happy to get your review!!!!! ^___^ aye, me writing more!!! Hehe, and to tell the truth *whispers* I'm not sure as for how I got that many reviews ^^UUUU… I was surprised too!
Luli451: *blushes* thankiez!! I also love writin' romantic AUs, lol! I do keep it goin', even though it might 'ave seemed that I had forgotten this lil thing… ^^
Tenika Dargan: *grins like mad* it was me fav also, that scene ^__^ thanks so much for reviewin'!! It did make my day too *grins* I tried to add the tidbits te Esca, glad that someone noticed it!! Lol, Allen an' what he did also bugs me quite a lot, that's why I'll have justice's hand in soon [aka Yukari xD] ^^ aye aye!! At least they signed now the truce, they won't be yellin' at each other so much… but a bit o' yellin' is healthy… *sweatdrops* sorry it took so long te update, an' hope this chapter makes ye forgive me!
Dreamboat Annie:
Hey giiiiiiiirl!!!! *giggles* thanks gazillions, if ye hadn't stepped on
me toes I'd probably just left this on the back o' me mind, just cookin'…
I hope this makes up fer the waitin' *grins* really, now ye can't quite
complain 'bout me updates, ne? *chuckles* Merry Christmas!!! ^_________^
love ya girl! Thanks tons!
AN/ Oh well,
2'20 AM an' still up… must apologize yet again fer not 'avin' updated in
*counts* nearly 4 months… sorry sorry sorry!! Hope ye liked the chapter
though… I quite fought with some bits, I didn't like them that much an'
that's why I didn't continue on the story right away… well, all I can say
is that I love Dry, an' also love Van, but no one doubted o' that, ne?
^^U…
*wipes brow* megod! I reeeally
fought with the damn son' an' the freakin' title, so there *broods* in
the end I just got tired an' picked up a random song -_-… which is, btw,
Nanase Aikawa's "Seven Seas" ^^
I dunno when the next update
will come… I'm workin' on updatin' a new fic, Chéve~feuille, an'
then I think I must work on "Ashes" an' "Spell"… plus exams an' studyin'…
*is depressed* I 'ave no time!! all I can promise is that I'll try me best
te update as soon as possible this story, an' that I guess that, the more
reviews I get, the more motivated I'll be te keep on writin' it… so, ye
know what te do, ppl, click on that pretty button down there an' write
whatever ye thought o' this chapter ^^ Oh, an' even though I'll update
Chéve ere the year finished, just in case I'll say it here too...
have ye all a very Merry Christmas an' a Happy New Year! ^__^
Till next
time ppl, this time sooner than the last!!
Ryuu ^.^
PS: Was too tired te edit this an' was dyin' te post it, so if ye find any mistakes plz tell!