"Beachside" - continued from Part II

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Thud, thud, thud.

"Oi! Miaka!"

Thud-thud-thud, thud-thud-thud.

"Miaaaaaaaaka! Oi, get up! Time to go!"

Bleary-eyed and only half awake, Miaka stumbled from her bed, somehow managed to stagger to the door and tug it open. "Tamahome," she mumbled...but, it came out sounding more like, "Hama-ome..."

The teal-haired college student frowned. "Miaka?" Abruptly realizing just what she'd been doing, he pressed his hands irritably on his hips, scowled down at the brown-haired girl. "Miaka! You were sleeping, weren't you?"

Miaka shook her head sleepily, stumbling towards the kitchen with her arms stretched out before her. "Must...food...find food," she mumbled.

Tamahome followed, frowning slightly as the girl staggered into the kitchen, thudded along the edge of the counter, and somehow managed to drag the Frosted Cheerios from the cupboard without opening her eyes. Chiriko, who had been sitting quietly at the table munching on a piece of buttered toast and glancing over what appeared to be an Advanced Physics book, looked up as the two entered.

"Ohayoo gosaimasu, Miaka-san...Tamahome-san," he greeted cheerily. He paused, then, frowned slightly as the zombie-like girl attempted to pour the Cheerios into a bowl...and instead managed to pour them into the drain of the sink. "Tamahome-san," he began a bit nervously, "is Miaka-san all right?"

Tamahome nodded dully, casting Miaka a brief scowl. "Hai, Chiriko...she's all right." He stopped, glanced briefly around the kitchen. "Did Nuriko make coffee?"

The young high schooler shook his head. "Iie. Nuriko-san left early this morning, along with Hotohori-san."

This seemed to snap Miaka somewhat out of her daze, and she turned, a dry coating of Cheerios clinging stubbornly to the edges of her bottom lip. "Nani?" she asked, eyes suddenly widening to something near their normal size. "Nuriko and Hotohori both left?"

Chiriko nodded, still looking a bit uneasy...particularly as one of the Cheerios abruptly came unstuck from the girl's lip, tumbled dangerously near to his hand... "Uh...hai, Miaka-san."

Tamahome frowned. "Did they say where they were going?"

"No...but, it seemed as if Nuriko-san had some sort of appointment...and, Hotohori-san was just going along."

"Appointment?" Tamahome frowned, exchanging brief glances with a still-bleary-eyed Miaka. He let out an exasperated sigh, reached forward to brush the last of the Cheerio's from the girl's lips. "Miaka, can't you eat more neatly?"

Miaka, however, didn't seem to be listening. "I wonder where they went," she mused quietly, gazing blankly at the wall as she thought. A moment later, she shook her head, turned back to the counter...and frowned.

"Nani, Tamahome?" she exclaimed angrily. "Who dumped all the Cheerios down the sink?"

Tamahome sighed and sank into one of the hard-backed kitchen chairs, wondering--and not for the first time--why he couldn't just have a NORMAL girlfriend...

---

They rode in silence.

The radio was switched off, and neither had said a word since they pulled out of the parking lot ten minutes earlier, making the soft whoosh of passing air and landmarks the only sound to offer any kind of distraction...and whooshes, unfortunately, weren't much in the way of entertainment. A bit warily--and not for the first time--Hotohori glanced at the violet-haired man in the passenger's seat, studied his profile against the passing blur of the scenery. The last few times, he'd watched Nuriko for awhile, hoping the slightly-older man would say something, let him know just what was going on...but, Nuriko never said a word, and didn't even seem to notice that he was being watched.

//He must have a hell of a lot on his mind.\\

Finally, the silence started to get to him, and he let out a soft sigh, glanced at Nuriko before returning his gaze to the road. "Nuriko," he began.

"Please," Nuriko said, very quietly. "Please, Hotohori-sama...don't say anything."

The taller man sighed, returning his attention to the shifting road, the echoes of their earlier conversation still ringing in his ears...



[After what seemed like an eternity, the hot rush of the shower water flicked off, was replaced by the sound of wet, bare feet slapping lightly against the bathroom tiles, and the vague rustling of a towel being pressed against wet, sopping hair, the splatter of excess water hitting the floor... And then, finally, the lock to the bathroom clicked open...and, Nuriko emerged, a thick white towel wrapped tightly around his slim waist, his long violet hair hanging in loose, wet waves about his face and shoulders. Hotohori started for a moment, taken aback by the strange, uncertain paradox...the soft, feminine beauty of Nuriko's face and hair...the smooth, flat area of his chest...it was visually very confusing...and, more than a little disconcerting.

Nuriko stepped out into the hallway...and came to a sudden halt at the sight of the taller man, violet eyes going suddenly wide. "H...Hotohori-sama," he managed. Abruptly, he glanced down at himself, flushed a bright shade of crimson. "Uhh...gomen ne...I didn't know you were out here."

Hotohori sighed softly. "I was waiting for you, actually. I wanted to ask you..." He paused, trailed off and spent a long moment trying to figure out just how to phrase what he needed to say...then, finally sighed again, spoke whatever came to mind. "I wanted to ask you what was bothering you," he concluded quietly. "It's obviously something terrible, to--" He broke off, startled, as Nuriko abruptly pushed past him, strode almost angrily to his room.

"Nuriko?" he called after the retreating writer.

"I don't wanna talk about it," the other replied shortly.

"But, Nuriko--"

SLAM.

Hotohori sighed, leaning his back lightly against the wall. What was going on?? Nuriko was acting so completely out of character...he was moody, easily angered, spent most of the day sulking or sleeping...where was the cheerful, laughing, smiling Nuriko? The Nuriko who woke up before everyone else, had a meal on the table and coffee brewing in the corner...the Nuriko who laughed at the soap operas...the Nuriko who got that thin furrow in his brow as he typed up his latest writings...

Where was he?]



"Hotohori-sama."

He snapped from his thoughts, turned with wide, questioning eyes to Nuriko...and found him pointing to a sign just off the highway, his slim finger trembling just slightly against the window. "That way," he said. "You almost missed the turn-off."

"Oh." He turned the wheel, took them down a small, bumpy back road. "Gomen, Nuriko." He paused, debating...then sighed. "Demo...it might help me more if you told me just where we're going."

Nuriko was silent for a long moment. Then, finally, he let out his own soft sigh, hung his head slightly and pressed his forehead against the window. "We're going to a clinic, a little off the highway."

Hotohori frowned. "A clinic? What kind of clinic?"

Again, the long stretch of silence...again, the soft sigh. "It's an abortion clinic," Nuriko murmured.

---