Muhahaha!! I'm alive! I'm ALIVE!! uhh.. yeah.. .;; I thought I had finished with this
fic four months ago, but then people encouraged me to write more... so... here it is!
Before you read on, its strongly encouraged that you read the previous chapters of Kill a
Tree, otherwise, this would make no sense. Actually, it would make sense, but... it'll take
some thinking. And that's always not good.
Warnings: Major OOC... general weirdness... etc.etc.etc.
Standard disclaimers apply.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kill Another Human
by Rubie
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"How about number eleven? The half pound steak?" a cheerful voice piped. "No.... wait.
Make that a double pound steak, number thirteen."
Van groaned audibly, having lost all past attempts at suppressing the silent screams of his
pocket book. After last week's little unhappy incident at the gas station, why did he even
consider putting himself through this? Perhaps it was to stuff a mouth with edibles and
get Hitomi off his back. Or perhaps he felt a bit obligated since his brother insisted.
/"Van, a girl in my class named Hitomi Kanzaki said that you promised her lunch a week
ago and never kept to your offer. That's not very nice, is it Van?"/
He scowled at the memory. Folken had no idea what happened, and had no right to
encourage him to take a trip to a torture chamber.
"This is lunch, Miss. We don't usually serve steak for lunch," the waiter mumbled, eyes
roaming around the room to pin-point possible generous tip-providers.
Van mentally deducted two dollars off his tip.
"I'm afraid you didn't understand me. I. Want. Double. Pound. Steak," her voice, laced
with a sickening coat of two-inch-thick molasses, inspired many customers to shoot
suspicious glances towards their table.
Van hid his face with his menu, concealing an embarrassed blush. He would never come
back to this restaruant again. And what would he say to his classmates if they see him
taking a girl out to lunch? They would tease him for days, no doubt. Then he would have
to explain how she worked at the gas station and happened to make a couple attempts on
his life. And then he would have to follow that explanation to how she forced his brother
to make him to take her out to lunch, and he wasn't even sure how that happened.
Wait. How did she ever convince him to take her out to the high-class, impossibly
expensive French restaurant?
He got cheated.
Damn.
"And you, sir? What do you want?"
Van snapped back into focus with a jerk. "Excuse me?"
"What is your order?" the waiter asked, his voice monotonous.
"Uhh...," Van took out his wallet and counted his bills, glaring at Hitomi when she
attempted to peek over his shoulder. "Water."
"Water?" the waiter looked appalled.
Van glared.
"Ehhh? No way!" Hitomi said in disbelief, "Have you seen his car? This kid is rich!"
The boy scowled when all eyes in the restaurant turned to fix on him. He slowly sank in
his chair, eyes accusing. "Shut up," he whispered.
"You are!"
She leaned over the table in an attempt to snatch away his wallet. Van avoided it, jumping
up from his seat completely and tipping his chair. It landed on the tile floors with a crash,
drawing a few more silent curses from the people around them. Van flushed in
embarrassment, scowling at Hitomi as he tried to shrink in size. She looked oblivious,
however, and was excitedly pointing at his life savings. "See that? Credit cards! This kid
here wants a double pound steak too."
"Okay, Two double pound steaks. Your order will be ready shortly." The waiter walked
away quickly, shooting uneasy glances over his shoulder.
Van swallowed, slightly horrified at how loud it sounded in his constricted throat. He had
half a mind to call the man back so he would at least have a witness in case something
unfortunate happened. Well, too late now.
"So...," Hitomi began, a wide grin spreading across her face. "I was quite surprised you
actually agreed to take me here. It was a joke, actually..."
Clang! went the chair as it met the floor.
***
The fork stabbed into the steak with a satisfying squish, and Van began sawing at the
meat with a vengeance. Now, if only these knives were slightly sharper, a bit longer...
Hitomi was thankfully silent for once, eating her lunch quite elegantly. They had been
quiet for the better part of the hour, with the waiter and customers sparing them uneasy
glances now and them. Van half expected her to sprout fangs and drink all the juices from
the poor dead cow part before she worked on digesting the guts, but of course, that's not
very logical.
She would drink juices from poor ugly LIVE cows.
"You're not angry, are you?" came a timid voice.
Van looked up in surprise, "What?"
Jade eyes observed him carefully, before offering him a small smile, "You look very
angry. Was it because of me?"
He paused, "Sort of," he finally blurted out. He looked away in embarrassment, cursing
his frustrating tendency to blush at the worst possible times.
"Then why did you agree to buy me lunch?" she asked, her voice sounding uncomfortably
calm and sympathetic.
"Because my brother told me to." Van regretted those words the moment they left his
mouth. They made him sound strangely childish, like some poor kid blindly following his
parents around. He glared at the mash potatoes
"Want me to make it up to you, then?"
He blinked in surprise, and couldn't help glancing at her. Hitomi looked oddly sincere, as
if her previous teasing was from a different person. "Umm.. if you want," was all he
could manage.
Her eyes brightened up immediately. "Okay! This meal is on me."
"Ehh? What? Do you have enough mon--" before Van could finish, a sharp, cold
sensation touched his ankle. In response, his body lurched forward, and his face would
have been speckled with leftover mashed potatoes and beans had not a hand caught his
head. He had a vague impression of the table titling precariously, then turning completely
to tear out from under him. His eyes blurred at the sudden change, and when they finally
focused again, he was surprised to discover that he was lying face down against cold tiles,
and a voice shouting in the background.
"Oh my god!!"
That was Hitomi.
"Van! Are you-- we were just talking-- he-- and then he just-- oh my god!!"
Footsteps. Van began to pull himself up, but hands forced his head back down again. He
struggled, but the force against his head only increased, and his nose was smashed against
the linoleum.
"He's going to vomit!!" Hitomi gasped. Her voice was thick with worry and fear. "I'll
take him outside."
The hands hauled him forcefully to his feet, and he stumbled past the small crowd that
began to gather around his table. Hitomi maneuvered him to a small back door and
dragged him out at breakneck pace. He stopped at the small strip of grass that surrounded
the restaurant, and paused to regain his balance.
"I'm fine, Hitomi," he said reassuringly as he turned to face her. "I'm fine--"
He halted when he faced her, the light brown bangs flowing like soft silk in the wind and
her jade eyes almost glowing. The smile on her face made him wish that he still had his
knife.
"I know," she piped. "But as I said, lunch is on me, and we were pretty much done eating,
right?"
Van stumbled.
"I dropped an ice cube on your leg," she continued, oblivious to his obvious distress.
"And then created a whole scene, and pretended you were sick. What do you think?"
The air was silent except for the sounds of deep breathing.
"Well, that was really fun! We ought to do that again. Since I took care of this meal,
you're paying for dinner tonight." Hitomi flashed a bright smile and watched him with an
air of obvious innocence.
Van caught himself before he could make a grab at her neck.
End
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Muhahaha... umm.. well... this is the final installment... I think. I really didn't intend to
continue Kill a Tree, but suddenly got inspired by some odd happenings... Comments,
questions, or concerns welcome!!
*sigh... only did 2 drafts of this. I usually go for at least 5 drafts, but I think I kinda hit a
rump after the 2nd one. It reads kinda funny...
fic four months ago, but then people encouraged me to write more... so... here it is!
Before you read on, its strongly encouraged that you read the previous chapters of Kill a
Tree, otherwise, this would make no sense. Actually, it would make sense, but... it'll take
some thinking. And that's always not good.
Warnings: Major OOC... general weirdness... etc.etc.etc.
Standard disclaimers apply.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kill Another Human
by Rubie
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"How about number eleven? The half pound steak?" a cheerful voice piped. "No.... wait.
Make that a double pound steak, number thirteen."
Van groaned audibly, having lost all past attempts at suppressing the silent screams of his
pocket book. After last week's little unhappy incident at the gas station, why did he even
consider putting himself through this? Perhaps it was to stuff a mouth with edibles and
get Hitomi off his back. Or perhaps he felt a bit obligated since his brother insisted.
/"Van, a girl in my class named Hitomi Kanzaki said that you promised her lunch a week
ago and never kept to your offer. That's not very nice, is it Van?"/
He scowled at the memory. Folken had no idea what happened, and had no right to
encourage him to take a trip to a torture chamber.
"This is lunch, Miss. We don't usually serve steak for lunch," the waiter mumbled, eyes
roaming around the room to pin-point possible generous tip-providers.
Van mentally deducted two dollars off his tip.
"I'm afraid you didn't understand me. I. Want. Double. Pound. Steak," her voice, laced
with a sickening coat of two-inch-thick molasses, inspired many customers to shoot
suspicious glances towards their table.
Van hid his face with his menu, concealing an embarrassed blush. He would never come
back to this restaruant again. And what would he say to his classmates if they see him
taking a girl out to lunch? They would tease him for days, no doubt. Then he would have
to explain how she worked at the gas station and happened to make a couple attempts on
his life. And then he would have to follow that explanation to how she forced his brother
to make him to take her out to lunch, and he wasn't even sure how that happened.
Wait. How did she ever convince him to take her out to the high-class, impossibly
expensive French restaurant?
He got cheated.
Damn.
"And you, sir? What do you want?"
Van snapped back into focus with a jerk. "Excuse me?"
"What is your order?" the waiter asked, his voice monotonous.
"Uhh...," Van took out his wallet and counted his bills, glaring at Hitomi when she
attempted to peek over his shoulder. "Water."
"Water?" the waiter looked appalled.
Van glared.
"Ehhh? No way!" Hitomi said in disbelief, "Have you seen his car? This kid is rich!"
The boy scowled when all eyes in the restaurant turned to fix on him. He slowly sank in
his chair, eyes accusing. "Shut up," he whispered.
"You are!"
She leaned over the table in an attempt to snatch away his wallet. Van avoided it, jumping
up from his seat completely and tipping his chair. It landed on the tile floors with a crash,
drawing a few more silent curses from the people around them. Van flushed in
embarrassment, scowling at Hitomi as he tried to shrink in size. She looked oblivious,
however, and was excitedly pointing at his life savings. "See that? Credit cards! This kid
here wants a double pound steak too."
"Okay, Two double pound steaks. Your order will be ready shortly." The waiter walked
away quickly, shooting uneasy glances over his shoulder.
Van swallowed, slightly horrified at how loud it sounded in his constricted throat. He had
half a mind to call the man back so he would at least have a witness in case something
unfortunate happened. Well, too late now.
"So...," Hitomi began, a wide grin spreading across her face. "I was quite surprised you
actually agreed to take me here. It was a joke, actually..."
Clang! went the chair as it met the floor.
***
The fork stabbed into the steak with a satisfying squish, and Van began sawing at the
meat with a vengeance. Now, if only these knives were slightly sharper, a bit longer...
Hitomi was thankfully silent for once, eating her lunch quite elegantly. They had been
quiet for the better part of the hour, with the waiter and customers sparing them uneasy
glances now and them. Van half expected her to sprout fangs and drink all the juices from
the poor dead cow part before she worked on digesting the guts, but of course, that's not
very logical.
She would drink juices from poor ugly LIVE cows.
"You're not angry, are you?" came a timid voice.
Van looked up in surprise, "What?"
Jade eyes observed him carefully, before offering him a small smile, "You look very
angry. Was it because of me?"
He paused, "Sort of," he finally blurted out. He looked away in embarrassment, cursing
his frustrating tendency to blush at the worst possible times.
"Then why did you agree to buy me lunch?" she asked, her voice sounding uncomfortably
calm and sympathetic.
"Because my brother told me to." Van regretted those words the moment they left his
mouth. They made him sound strangely childish, like some poor kid blindly following his
parents around. He glared at the mash potatoes
"Want me to make it up to you, then?"
He blinked in surprise, and couldn't help glancing at her. Hitomi looked oddly sincere, as
if her previous teasing was from a different person. "Umm.. if you want," was all he
could manage.
Her eyes brightened up immediately. "Okay! This meal is on me."
"Ehh? What? Do you have enough mon--" before Van could finish, a sharp, cold
sensation touched his ankle. In response, his body lurched forward, and his face would
have been speckled with leftover mashed potatoes and beans had not a hand caught his
head. He had a vague impression of the table titling precariously, then turning completely
to tear out from under him. His eyes blurred at the sudden change, and when they finally
focused again, he was surprised to discover that he was lying face down against cold tiles,
and a voice shouting in the background.
"Oh my god!!"
That was Hitomi.
"Van! Are you-- we were just talking-- he-- and then he just-- oh my god!!"
Footsteps. Van began to pull himself up, but hands forced his head back down again. He
struggled, but the force against his head only increased, and his nose was smashed against
the linoleum.
"He's going to vomit!!" Hitomi gasped. Her voice was thick with worry and fear. "I'll
take him outside."
The hands hauled him forcefully to his feet, and he stumbled past the small crowd that
began to gather around his table. Hitomi maneuvered him to a small back door and
dragged him out at breakneck pace. He stopped at the small strip of grass that surrounded
the restaurant, and paused to regain his balance.
"I'm fine, Hitomi," he said reassuringly as he turned to face her. "I'm fine--"
He halted when he faced her, the light brown bangs flowing like soft silk in the wind and
her jade eyes almost glowing. The smile on her face made him wish that he still had his
knife.
"I know," she piped. "But as I said, lunch is on me, and we were pretty much done eating,
right?"
Van stumbled.
"I dropped an ice cube on your leg," she continued, oblivious to his obvious distress.
"And then created a whole scene, and pretended you were sick. What do you think?"
The air was silent except for the sounds of deep breathing.
"Well, that was really fun! We ought to do that again. Since I took care of this meal,
you're paying for dinner tonight." Hitomi flashed a bright smile and watched him with an
air of obvious innocence.
Van caught himself before he could make a grab at her neck.
End
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Muhahaha... umm.. well... this is the final installment... I think. I really didn't intend to
continue Kill a Tree, but suddenly got inspired by some odd happenings... Comments,
questions, or concerns welcome!!
*sigh... only did 2 drafts of this. I usually go for at least 5 drafts, but I think I kinda hit a
rump after the 2nd one. It reads kinda funny...
