14th chapter! I dunno why I keep announcing the number of the chapters – but never mind! As usual, enjoy this! : )
Mistress of darkness: Was it a cliff hanger? *ponders on it* BTW, Thanks a lot!
Zackire: Ha ha! You're right (Battle of the sexes). Thanks for reviewing. : )
Leika: Sorry! It seems that I can only update once a week. Plus, I'm having exams next next week and I honestly have not touched a single topic (except Archimedes' Theory). I like ur review! U sound really passionate! Ha ha!
Frack: Yeah, it is rather hard to imagine Rukawa being nice. I really regret the fact that Rukawa's like, really OOC by now, but I don't think there's anything I can do about it. Sorry. : )
Silhouette Panther: Hi. Just read your Domineering fic – liked it a lot. Didn't review though, cuz I wasn't signed in. But I will! BTW, what was Ayako doing with Ryota on that night N-way??? Thanks. I didn't notice Rukawa was OOC until several ppl started mentioning it! Sorry about that.
Nayomi-chan: u don't have to force urself to read my fic if you're sleepy, you know. Now I feel guilty for your lack of sleep! Yeah, when I made Akima up, I planned for her to be proud with an ego the size of the universe! *evil laugh* Heh heh. Maybe it's cuz I'm proud myself! I'm glad you can relate to her situation! : ) BTW, yeah, I'm not including any other SD characters. It's cuz I'm afraid the story will get much more complex and long that I'll never get around to finish it. Hope you understand. : )
Maemi: Yo back to you! Thanks for taking the trouble to review my fic. Let's see if you like this chapter. : )
Nellie: Yep, you're right! Pride and ego! Akima's loaded with that, isn't she?
Tensaispira: Why were u in the hospital??? You okay?? My trip was great – missed my foster family a LOT. : )
SLL: I dunno how to answer those questions. Maybe she's just blind? Read on!
Mimi: Hi! You're a new one. Yeah, I totally agree with you about annoying yaoi fics – but there ARE some that's good. Maybe you just haven't found one. Thanks for ur review. And if you don't mind me asking, what's Hana Yori Dango? Is it an anime?
Renei: What, you hate Rukawa or something?? Thanks for reviewing!
Naohmee: Thanks : ) *am hugely flattered but struggling to hide it* Ha ha! I wish I didn't make Rukawa change THAT drastically but *lifts her hands up and shrugs* What to do?? I didn't know my fic was suspenseful! Ha ha! Thanks for telling me!
Shadow of Solitude: hey, cool nickname. Sounds something like Rukawa would do! ;P Thanks for reviewing! Glad you like the story. No need to charm me with puppy dog eyes – I'm continuing. : )
Joy: I'm thinking maybe I should turn Rukawa back into the cold, icy guy that he was… Anyway, good luck for your finals! I'm having mine too!
Enjoy!
14th chapter
Akima was cursing ripely.
"Don't be silly," her mother sighed exasperatedly. "You're acting like a selfish three-year-old. Now stop saying all those foul words – God knows where you learnt them from – and ring the doorbell."
"No," she shook her head stubbornly. "Mom, there is no way I am going to even step a foot into –" Rubbing her wrinkling forehead and looking up at heaven, Mrs. Hanashi elbowed her daughter aside and pressed the doorbell – or to be precise, the gate bell – herself.
Shit, Akima cursed.
From inside the Rukawa residence, they could hear a woman clearly screaming at someone. "Kaede, stop shooting balls and see who's at the gate, will you??" rang out the annoyed order. "For all you know, it's your grandmother – and you know she hates to be kept waiting."
Akima turned visibly pale. Double shit.
Before she could think of jumping into the drain which happened to be the only hiding place at the moment, he emerged from the lawn all sweaty and damp with a controller in his hand and a ball in the other. His eyes grew slightly wide at the sight of her mother, and even wider at the sight of her.
Groaning inwardly, she could practically feel her ego being poked with a needle and reducing in size rapidly. Oh man, why, why, why? Why do these things happen to her??
"Hi there!" Oblivious that her daughter was shrinking in both embarrassment and mortification, Mrs. Hanashi waved her arm at the strikingly good-looking boy. "You must be Kaede. Hello! I'm Mrs. Hanashi, your soon-to-be maid. Your mother invited me over for a chat and a little get-to-know."
That's right, Akima thought sulkily, looking at her mother. Mrs. Rukawa invited YOU for a little chat. She wanted to get to know YOU. Why on earth was I dragged along???
Unable to come up with anything to say, he nodded in acknowledgement.
At that very moment, his mother came out, dressed in a huge apron with little bunnies on it. "Kaede, who is it?"
He looked back at his mother standing by the doorway. "Well, it's not grandma."
His mother rolled her eyes. "Can't you be more specific? Honestly, Kaede, if you think I can read people's mind, I –" she stopped, expression changing into what could be described as ecstatic. "Akiko!"
Mrs. Hanashi in return said: "Rikaru! Hi! We're here!"
Akima surmised that since their mothers were already calling each other by their first names, they must've been fast friends the moment they met. She wasn't sure if that was good or bad.
"Come in!" Mrs. Rukawa hurried out in apron and bunny-slippers. "What are you waiting outside for?"
Kaede pressed one of the buttons on the controller he was holding and the gate swung open. Both Hanashis walked in, although the younger one did so with great reluctance.
The moment they came close enough, the two women started chatting about everything, ranging from the weather to fish market as they walked into the house. Unable to penetrate through that conversation and feeling more than a little left out, Akima stayed outside with some wild ideas of climbing over the gate and running away.
He was looking at her, she could sense it. And just as acutely, she could sense his thoughts and amusement. Who wouldn't be amused? She had come spitting to him about not wanting his help, and yet here she was, in his lawn.
"I didn't come here willingly," she said with aplomb, daring herself to finally look up and challenge the stare he was giving her.
He snorted. "Hmm."
Her cheeks were burning at the mere humiliation of the situation. "It's my mother. She really wants this job, for reasons no decent human can think of."
"Hmm."
"She was stubborn. I couldn't persuade her to forget about it, hard as I try."
"Hmm."
"This doesn't mean I'm happy about it. As a matter of fact, I detest it."
"Hmm."
Irritated, she threw her hands in the air. "Can you stop 'hmm'ing and speak in a language that's understandable to mankind??" she demanded. "And take that superior look off your face. There's no need to bask in my humiliation just because I was dragged here out of my will."
The look he gave told her he was doing just that. Dismissing the issue, he turned. "Come in." Tossing the ball aside, he led her into the kitchen where their mothers were baking muffins together.
Mrs. Rukawa wiped the sweat from her forehead and smiled when they came in. "Ah, so this is Akima." She walked around the counter to give her a kiss on the cheek. "Nice to finally get to meet you. Kaede's talked a lot about you."
Miffed, he whipped his head up defensively. "I did not."
"Well, it was certainly more than two sentences."
Akima decided she wouldn't want to know exactly what Kaede said about her. She wouldn't be surprised if it leaned more towards the negative side. He wasn't exactly the complimenting type.
When the muffins were done, once again the two women flitted off to another section of the house. Taking one of the freshly baked muffins, he offered it to Akima. "Eat it," he said, at the same time, popping one into his mouth. "Unless you still insist on making your own bread and butter."
It seemed that her humiliation was not going to end. Struggling to keep herself from jumping up and taking one of the knives that stood gleaming on the kitchen counter and stab him, she said, "I'm not hungry."
He shrugged, almost sneered at her evasive answer. Finishing his third muffin, he straightened. "I'm going to practice. You can stay here or come with me." He waited.
From somewhere in the house, Akima could hear her mother laughing and praising something with enthusiasm. If she estimated it right, it would take her mother approximately an hour to finally remember she had a daughter waiting somewhere. She looked back at Kaede, and wondered how, even in the midst of her anger and annoyance for him, she still found him outrageously appealing. Then again, she'd always thought he was attractive. "I'll come with you."
Without a change of expression, he brought her outside where a basketball hoop stood a clear 8 feet off the ground. She had only taken three steps out when a sudden barking – loud and furious – exploded out of nowhere and jerked her senses. Looking around in alarm, she saw a dog the size of a bicycle running towards her, jaws wide open with saliva dripping from it.
Terror struck, and she was brought back to the time when she was four and an equally big hound had chased her down and bitten her leg.
She heard herself scream and the next thing she knew, she was running aimlessly.
Kaede watched in amazement as his dog, MJ (named after Michael Jordan) chased after Akima. MJ was just fooling around, he could tell, since he was the owner of the highly ferocious animal. But why on earth was Akima running as if Hell was after her?
Akima ran around the large lawn crazy with mad ideas of being eaten alive. She saw a tree up ahead, and did what she never did after she turned seven. She climbed up the tree.
MJ, thinking it was some sort of a game, circled the base of the tree, barking madly and jumping in a vain attempt to reach her. Shaking and shivering, Akima held fast to the tree and closed her eyes.
"Sit, MJ," came the almost lazy command. The dog whined, but sat on his hunches obediently. Looking up at the tree where Akima was steadfastly hugging the tree, Kaede called out to her. "What are you doing up there?"
She opened her eyes, forced herself to look down. "G-Get him away from me," she said in a pathetic voice, still struggling to calm herself. "Take him away."
"It's just a dog."
"I don't care! Get him away from me!"
In a rather barbarian way, he was enjoying it. Gone was the stubborn and proud I-don't-need-anyone side of her. Right this very minute, she was helpless and she clearly needed him. He liked it. "Why should I? I thought someone here said she didn't want to have anything to do with me."
"Take him away!" tears were crashing down her cheeks now. MJ, thinking she as calling him, leaped up and started barking all over again. She screamed and her grip on the tree trunk tightened till her nails were digging into it. "Take him away! Take him away!"
Shocked at the way she was shaking and the terror visible in her eyes, he grabbed hold of MJ's collar and gently kicked the dog out of the way. "Shoo, MJ! Bad dog! Go back to your kennel!" MJ barked on, but after another kick, he sulkily went away.
"You can come down now," he called out to her.
She stared at him with a tear-streaked face. "W-Where is he?" she asked uncertainly, sobbing, her heartbeats still a little faster than normal.
"Gone. Away. Now, come down."
She closed her eyes again, told herself over and over again that it was okay. Then, slowly, she climbed down. On the lowest branch, she looked around cautiously and carefully lowered herself to the ground. The dog was really gone.
"You okay?"
Rubbing her hands together to get rid of the wood debris stuck to her nails, she nodded awkwardly. Hastily, she removed the tearstains from her cheeks with the sleeves of her shirt. She was still shaking, but the fear was slowly fading. "I'll be okay. I'll be fine." She took a deep breath, and that's when embarrassment stepped in. "Sorry. I – I have a phobia against dogs. Big ones." Her hands were cold. "Thank you for chasing the beast away."
"That beast is MJ." Since she was still trembling, he placed a hand on her shoulder. "And he's not a beast. He's a canine dog."
"Right. Right." She murmured distractedly.
From his kennel at the far end of the lawn, MJ barked again. Jolted, Akima released a scream and without thinking, grabbed hold of Kaede and clung to him for dear life. "Get him away! Get him away!"
Her face was buried in his chest, making her head look smaller compared to his broad upper body. He found it strangely charming. "He's in his kennel."
Turning around, but still keeping a firm grip of his shirt in her hands, she surveyed the area. MJ was indeed safely in his kennel, barking just for the fun of it. You're too jumpy, she scolded herself. Relax, damn it.
She turned back to Kaede, thinking she'd say something apologetic for her behaviour when the way he was looking at her stopped her. "You need me," he murmured. "You're just too blind to see that."
Before she could say, "What??", he'd leaned down and captured her lips in his.
It lasted barely more than two seconds, but it seemed like a long time. When he pulled back, both were staring at each other in utter shock. Stuttering, she struggled to get words out. "What was that for?"