Here's the sixth chapter!! Thank you for reviewing!
Silhouette Panther: Thanks! Hopefully, you're a Realist! ^_^ Plus, I love your characters. Have you updated The Bride yet???
Joy: You know, your little love story if getting juicier. Abandoning your lunch! Whoa! This is a SERIOUS case of CRUSH. Anyway, thank you for reviewing! (PS: He teaches your French??? Cool. I can never get the pronunciation right. My tongue gets twisted around my mouth)
Kka: Hullo back to you. Sugar rush, eh? The chapter's up! Hope you like it J
Tiran: Thanks. You're the sweetest. J (PS: There was mush in my fic? WHERE? WHEN? How come I didn't notice???)
Tensaispira: Hey, thank you for still reading! Heh heh. Yeah, Akima's not so shy – but only when she gets angry. When she's not, she still stutters! (Aack! I'm criticising my own original character! *whacks herself and quickly begs Akima for forgiveness*)
Nellie: Glad you're amused. I'd really like to slap someone too, but never got around to it. (No, wait, actually, I've slapped my friend once when she was distracting me in class by singing a totally unknown song LOUDLY – and IN MY EARS – but it was a joking slap) (she slapped me back!)
Leika: Hi! Thanks for reading my fic. J I hate stories where Ruk's destiny partner is all perfect and gorgeous too. It makes me think I'm not good enough for him (ke ke ke!). And yes, Fujima should NOT be gay! Nobody should MAKE him gay. Keep on reading! I hope you like this chapter.
Mistress of darkness: Actually, I didn't want to put a name to her. But then it kind of got hard to write when there are two girl characters talking. It's like: She said this to the other girl. The other girl said this to the previous girl. The girl who talked first snapped something back. The girl who was snapped at then threw a punch. You know what I mean? So I put a name. Took the one from Titan A.E. : P
Chapter 5
Going home that day was easier. The feeling of a stupendous accomplishment accompanied her down the roads and turns. That was the first time she had slapped anybody in public and she liked it. Might even consider doing it for a career.
Kaede Rukawa. He had been right now that she thought about it. She had been kind of cowardly and encouraging them to probe harder with her meekness. Grinning, she did a little skip. Look who's meek now.
She climbed up the steep stairs to her flat, whistling all the while. Twisting her house key in the lock, she pushed the door open and stepped in. Her mother was slumped over the tiny table in the tiny kitchen, staring at her cup of coffee.
"Hi, mom," she greeted cheerfully. "How was your day?"
The first sob erupted from her mother's thin-lipped frown.
She froze in the act of taking her shoes off. Her mother was crying. That never meant anything good. Her spirits dampening, she walked over with bare feet to the table. "What is it?" she asked reluctantly, not exactly excited to find out. "Is it the bills again? Mom, I swear I didn't use the water-heater at all this month, honest."
Her mother looked up, composed herself. "It's not that," she shook her head. "It's just…" her eyes watered all over again. "I – I lost my job."
Her daughter paled, turning frighteningly white and still.
"I don't know what happened!" she quickly said, reaching out to take the cold hand that lay on the table. "I was in the young mistress' room, cleaning. There was a ruby red necklace on the table. It –" she choked slightly. "It reminded me of the one I used to have. I just wanted to look at it. The young mistress came in and saw me holding it and accused me of stealing." Her tears flowed freely. "I'm sorry, Akima."
Young mistress… Ika, her brain told her darkly. She acts fast. Taking a deep breath, she lifted her eyes to her mother's. "What now?"
Her mother sighed, dropping her head on the table again. "I don't know. I just don't know."
Saying nothing, they lingered quietly at the table.
He had not seen her for a week. Not that he was worried, but it was slightly puzzling. Judging by her success over the group of bullies, he would've thought that she'd be more willing to come to see him practice. Now, she's not even coming to school.
And to make things even more confusing, her enemies were looking more and more self-satisfied. Did something happen outside his knowledge that turned the tables around?
He flipped the note that his parents had left him on the refrigerator. 'Kaede, your mother and I are at the premier of the new movie that we sponsored. Sorry that we didn't take you along. Your mother thought it was much too violent for you to watch. You would probably have noticed that there is no food in the house. We've left you some money so you can have dinner outside. Take care – Dad'
Too violent, he scoffed. If that movie were violent, then he wouldn't know the term for the fights that went around in school.
Crushing the paper money into his pocket, he headed for the nearest restaurant that served tofu. It was crowded and he was just in time to get a table for himself. "Hello, sir. What would you like to have?"
Recognising the voice, he lifted his head sharply. "Akima."
Her eyes widened and she nearly dropped the pad she held lightly in her palm. "You!" she sputtered, cheeks turning the colour of magenta. "What are you here for???"
Surprised at the shame that flashed all over her face, he answered, "Food. You?"
She was still struggling to recover. What was he doing here? Why did she come to this table? What would he think, seeing her like that? "I – I, uh, I work here." Again, her cheeks reddened and she shifted her gaze to the boring tablecloth. Clearing her throat, she quickly asked, "What food would you like?"
"Why are you working here?" he ignored her question. "It's night."
Her temper was already simmering. Just give me your bloody order and let me go. "Because I need to live." Shifting uncomfortably, she tapped her notepad. "Do you want to eat or not?"
"It's dangerous," he dismissed her murderous glare, and let his eyes wander over her. "Especially with you dressed like that."
She glanced consciously down at her waitress uniform. Gritting her teeth, she muttered, "You don't seem to mind other girls wearing the same thing."
"They're older girls," he told her. "They can take care of themselves."
"And I can't?" she demanded. He simply looked blankly at her. Sighing, she blew an impatient breath. "I don't want to fight with you. Do you want to eat or not?"
"Have you eaten?"
She'd been working from dawn. There was barely any time to eat. "No. If you don't order now, I'm going to go."
"All right." He skimmed the menu. "Two tofus. Large. Two ice lemon. Large too."
She jotted that down. "Starving, aren't you?" she murmured.
"One's for you."
Her eyes snapped to his, studied his face for any trace of sarcasm or sneer. She seemed to question his sincerity. Then – "I don't like tofu."
"Fine," he shrugged. "Get something else."
"I can't." she took the menu back from him. "Are you blind? I'm working."
"Do you want to eat or not?" his tone matched hers. He mildly stared back at her, feeling his own impatience bubbling up. The wary way she was looking at him rather annoyed him.
"Why are you doing this?" she asked in puzzlement. "Is this some kind of a trick to get me to owe you something?"
His eyes narrowed. "Do you want to eat or not?"
She considered him. It was quite unbelievable that he was asking her to eat with him, even though there was nothing romantic about it. She looked at the clock on the wall. Her shift was nearly over anyway, and besides, it's free. Still, she couldn't imagine how they'd manage to eat peacefully seeing he was prone to annoying her and vice versa tonight. "I'll go get your order for you."
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