ST: Here we go! Chapter 2!!! I apologize for my misuse of the 'Henti' labeling….(My Japanese sucks!) (Grin)
So here we go……!
"Damn!" Yoji hissed in pain as Seraphine finished securing the wrap around his ribs. "You don't have to be so rough." He complained.
"They have to be tight to provide support." Seraphine said as she looked up at him sternly, "Be thankful that they're only cracked and not broken."
"Huh, guess that's something to be thankful for." He said as he looked down as Seraphine who had returned her attention to her task at hand. He leaned down a bit and breathed in her light sent of roses. The sent that always seemed to surround her no matter where she seemed to be. On missions, covered in blood, working in the shop….no matter where she was he always seemed to smell that sent on her. "You know, you smell like roses." He said absently.
"By product from working in a flower shop." Seraphine replied, "You'll end up smelling like flowers." She said as she finished his bindings and gathered the bandages and cleaned up, replacing the stuff in the first aid kit.
Yoji watched her carefully, her movements seemed so mechanical, yet there was a slight rush to them, and he saw the slight nervousness in her eyes, and in her actions, her slight hesitations here and there. That hurt, the obvious lack of trust. Oh, she trusted him on missions, in his abilities, but after that….
Before he knew what he was doing one of his hand snaked out and gently grasped her. She froze as she looked at his hand, "Seraphine, I said all we were going to do is talk." He half smiled, "I may be an drinker and womanizer, but believe it or not I am a man of my word."
"I…I know that." She whispered as she gently pulled away from him, returning the first aid kit under the skin of the bathroom.
He frowned a bit, "Why doesn't that sound convincing?"
He saw Seraphine freeze for a moment, and then slowly she straightened and returned into the room. Yoji sat on the bed looking at her, his shirt in his hands and confusion and hurt in his eyes.
"It's…not you, personally." She said as she turned away form him to walk over to the window. She stood there and looked out to the lights of Tokyo. "It's…. you're mannerism that…. unease me."
"My mannerism?" Yoji asked confused.
Seraphine closed her eyes as her heart began to pound. This was something she did not want to do. Confronting her fears, and her past…she did not want to do this. Not here, and not in front of him…. but there was no choice. Aya was right in that much, if the team was to be whole, Seraphine and Yoji were going to have to learn to get along otherwise; they would endanger their mission. She knew this had to be done…. but she wished to God that it could have been another way.
"You…" She took in a trembling breath, "The women…you are with…. isn't it possible that…. maybe…. one of them felt more for you and wanted more from you than just a one night thing."
"Wha….?" He asked confused.
Seraphine seemed to withdraw into herself, as her arms raised up to huge her shoulder, as she closed her eyes. "You…you remind me of someone I used…. to know." She whispered softly, the pain evident in her voice.
:Seraphine…: Yoji whispered in his mind. This was a side of her he had never seen before, never knew could exist in the Queen of Ice. He felt an ache in his chest, an ache that he though he could never feel for someone again.
"When I was younger," She continued, "There was a ….guy…" She half smiled, "Hard to believe that the Queen of Ice was involved with a guy, huh?" She half laughed but it was laced with bitterness and pain. Her smile faded as she continued, "I…I thought the world of him. He was the one every girl wanted…. and he choose me." She said as she opened her eyes lost in memory and pain. "I…. I loved him." She whispered as Yoji gasped, as she closed her eyes again tears knotting her throat. "I loved him…. with every part of my heart." She hugged herself tighter, "He…. was my first…" She stumbled, and drew in a ragged breath, "After, he never returned my calls and the only time I saw him was when I happened to catch him. Two months passed by, and I would only see him occasionally…" She looked out the window, "I collapsed at work one day, and was rushed to the emergency room, only to find out I was pregnant."
Yoji's breath caught in his throat, as he saw the tears in her eyes reflected in the window. "But, the embryo was attached to one of the fallopian tubes. It had ruptured the tube and I was literally bleeding to death and didn't even know it." She bowed her head, "The only way to save my life was to terminate the pregnancy, and remove it." She looked up again, "I had almost a quart of blood in my abdomen, and had they waited another day I would have been dead." She half smiled, "I was released the next day after the surgery and he called. When I told him what happened, all he could say was 'Oh.'" He saw her shoulders dip as her arms straightened and grasp onto the window ceil for support as she bower her head, "I never heard from him again. That's when I realized that I had been only the flavor of the week, and had bee used." Her voice shook, "That's when I learned how to hate, and hate passionately." She raised her head, "That was the moment, I learned to hate enough to kill."
"Seraphine…" Yoji whispered as she looked away from her reflection
"I look in the mirror and I hate myself. For being so stupid for not realizing what was happening, for being weak enough to believe his smooth lines and white lies…." She turned to look at him tears in her eyes. "I look at you, I see how you act…. and I don't see you…." She drew in a trembling breath as she hugged her shoulders again. "I see him, and I hate it!" A sob broke form her voice as covered her mouth, trying to stop the wave of emotion crashing into her.
Suddenly she felt arms around her as before she yelped out, Yoji whispered to her. "Let it go, Seraphine." He whispered as he held her gently, his heart aching for her. "None of what happened was your fault." He closed his eyes against the pain he felt, pain for her… "He wasn't a real man. He took an innocent girl, and blatantly took from her the one thing that is most precious…and for that, he can never be forgiven!"
"Y…Yoji…" Seraphine sobbed trying to get herself under control.
"It's okay…" He smiled as he stroked her hair, "It's okay to cry, Seraphine. You can cry all you want, I promise I will never hurt you."
Seraphine knew that he spoke the truth, as much as Yoji's habits unease her…. he had never lied to her, and he never betrayed her. Seraphine turned her face into his chest and the emotional wall broke open and for the first time in 3 years, she cried.
Yoji simply held her as her tears scalded down her face as he stroked her hair as she cried out all her pain and her fear. He held her as she cried until she had no more tears left, even then he still held her.
After she had finished he still held her and then smiled a little, "Feel better?" He asked.
"No, my head hurts now and I feel like I just finished a sparring session with Aya." She said softly, as he chuckled a little and led her over to the bed and sat her down and sat next to her as he tucked some of her hair behind her ear and handed her a handkerchief. She took the tissue and blew her nose as Yoji took in the rear site of Seraphine with blotchy red skin, and her face streaked with tears, with her walls completely down.
"You know, you're kind of cute when you cry." He said with a wry smile. Seraphine turned to him and rolled her eyes and made a face as he chuckled then looked at her seriously. "So, am I going to have to deal with the Ice Queen Act tomorrow?"
That took Seraphine back, as she looked over at him and then looked down. "It's a defense." She admitted softly. "I don't mean for it to happen, but it just…seems to."
Yoji stroked her hair again and smiled, "I know." He sighed, then chuckled "Acutely I'm glad that you don't really hate my guts." He cupped her chin and turned to look at him, "You're a really scary Lady when you're pissed."
That earned him a tiny chuckle, as he smiled at her. "You see, you can laugh when you want."
"Yea." She whispered as her smile faded, "When I want…" Her voice trailed off and Yoji saw her eyes lost in the painful memory. "Yoji….?"
"Yea?" He asked.
"Do you…would you…consider me…" She bowed her head, "worth keeping?"
Yoji blinked once in confusion, "I…don't think I quite understand what you mean."
Seraphine seemed to withdraw within her self again, "I mean…do you think, thank someone might find me….worth keeping?" She asked again, unsure really of why she would ask such a pointless question. Did it really matter weather or not someone found her worth something to want to keep around as something more than the flavor of the week?
Seeing Seraphine like this tore at Yoji's heart. Never in a million years would he have guess that beneath the ice, lay a delicate and fragile flower. She was very much like the red roses she so likes. The powerful image over ran the fragileness beneath.
Suddenly Yoji felt an unsettling pull toward the young woman, a wanting to take her into his arms and sooth away her fear, and kiss away her pain, more than anything he wanted to hold her, just as he had moments ago. This unsettled him to say the least, so he masked his unease as he chuckled.
"What kind of question is that?" He asked as Seraphine's eyes widened as she turned to look at him as he smiled. "Of course you're worth keeping! Anyone who doesn't see that is just plain nuts!" He frowned a little, "And the reason why that previous….person…in your life didn't want to keep you was because he's a short sighted, bastard who let a good thing get away!" He said, surprised by the venom in his voice.
Seraphine half smiled, "Reading my mind, Kudo?" She asked softly.
Yoji smiled, "No." He said as he pulled her hair a little, "I kinda thought you were headed in this direction."
"So I'm predictable?" She asked with a wry smile.
Yoji laughed, "Hell if I know!" He chuckled, "I'm lucky if I can predict what I'm doing!"
Seraphine chuckled again as Yoji joined her, after a moment she sobered, "So, will you some back to Weiss?" She looked up at him, concern in her eyes.
Yoji's smile faded as she looked over at Seraphine, and sighed shaking his head. "Yea. I'll come back." Then he cracked a wry smile, "Can't leave a lady defenseless against two hormone crazed young man, can I?"
Seraphine groaned as she rolled her eyes. "Kudo, you're hopeless."
Yoji smile, "Guess we have that much in common, Your Majesty." He said as he bowed a little as both of them laughed.