Loyalty
by Jennifer A. Wand
a Gravitation fan fiction
II. Glaring Dream
"There is surely nothing other than the single purpose of the present moment. A man's whole life is a succesion of moment after moment. If one fully understands the present moment, there will be nothing else to do, and nothing else to pursue. Live being true to the single purpose of the moment."
- from the pages of the HAGAKURE, the handbook of the samurai
Eiri swallowed.
He blinked.
He ruffled his fingers through his hair nervously - the only outward expression of uneasiness he'd allow, though his insides were churning. The face looking at him was one he'd seen before -- in a crowded street, in a moment when the world had isolated Eiri and thsi girl in a world all their own. It had seemed like a dream. And now here was that same face, a glaring dream in the doorway radiating the same anger and loveliness that struck him the first time they'd met. Eiri was dumbfounded. He hadn't been expecting to face anyone for another several hours. And now he was stuck, fixed in the exacting stare of the stranger, somehow even more ill at ease than he had been in Seguchi's court.
Hair began to bristle on Eiri's back. Why was he being glared at like this? It was his time to relax, to steal a few moments of privacy and quiet, and instead he found himself sized up and damned by a glare as powerful as any warrior's. The girl's eyes spit fire at him in little green sparks. Eiri's muscles tightened.
"And what's your problem?" he finally said, low and growling.
The answer to his deliberate, drawling words came out high-pitched and uneven. "I should be asking you that!" the girl burst out in that same false-sounding, thin soprano. "Do you have something against me?"
Eiri leaned back, willing his tensed muscles to relax, and took his bowl of rice in hand again. "Should I?" he said noncommitally.
"You don't remember!?" Her voice escalated in pitch.
"Is that the way you talk to someone you're serving?" Eiri raised an eyebrow. The tone of her voice and her increasingly pink face seemed comical. "You'd better learn some manners if you want Seguchi to even look at those poems of yours."
All color drained from the girl's cheeks in a flash. "You-- you said you didn't remember."
"I lied, stupid." Eiri munched on rice, waving an errant chopstick at her as he chided her. "How could I forget a terrible poem like that?"
"But that's just it!" Energy returned to the girl in another moment. Eiri felt his interest rise. This was one amusing maid -- even if her talent as an artist was spotty. And with such predictable reactions and volatile moods, she was fun. Eiri also found that he thought her attractive - while she was too gangly and unfeminine to be called beautiful, there was a healthy shine to her that enticed him. His own fatigue dropped away. ::If only..:: he thought suddenly, and suppressed the rest.
The girl had been scolding him. "If it was so bad, why didn't you just ignore it? You didn't have to say what you did!"
Eiri balked at this. She had a point. Stung and vulnerable, he coiled up like a cobra and struck. "And what about you? You must have pulled some strings to follow me all the way here... whoever you are."
"I have a name!" she insisted, her thin voice cracking conspicuously, "Yuki Eiri-sama." Her face contorted around the honorific.
Despite himself, Eiri chuckled. "No, that's MY name. You need one of your own."
She blushed at the sight of his momentary smile. "Shindou," she mumbled. "Shindou... Ichigo."
"Well, Miss Strawberry," Eiri taunted, "do you have some business with ME, to track me down this far? Or did you just fall in love with me at first sight?"
The retort building on Ichigo's face suddenly fell flat. Her head dropped and she seemed to tremble.
"Oh? You won't deny it?" Now Eiri's grin had settled in to stay. He liked this woman who looked like the fruit bearing her name. She was an easy target, and a way to release all his pent-up annoyance -- about the journey, about Seguchi, and now, about his growing attraction to her that just wouldn't fade.
"Who would fall in love with YOU?" Ichigo finally snapped. "I just want you to come to the performance tomorrow. You can see if my poems are really so weak!!" Cheeks flushed with color, she shook a fist at him, straightening up so that her kimono shifted to expose a slender neckline. Eiri's desire skyrocketed. She was a firecracker, this girl, and he felt ignited and dazzled all at once.
"You're annoying," he said, in an ominous voice, and she stared at him indignantly. Swifter than she could follow, he got up and began to stride toward her. She stood and tried to flee, but he was too quick, slamming the screen behind her and pinning her against it. The wooden frame bit into his hands and the pain felt good -- intense, like everything he was feeling right now. The intensity he thought he'd lost --
"You follow me all the way up here, interrupt my privacy, treat me too familiarly, and make demands of me. You're the one who has a thing for me, and you accuse me of the same!?" He lowered his head close to hers, and she lost the ability to breathe or swallow, just staring, big unblinking blue eyes plunging into his own.
Eiri's voice became scant more than a low rumble. "What do you want from me?" he demanded, all the while feeling the distance between their faces fade. He'd wanted to be in charge of this seduction, but something greater had taken over. Something he didn't have a name for, but seemed equal in power to the very force that kept mankind tied to the ground. He was falling toward Shindou Ichigo as though she was the earth.
"Tell me," he managed to say, and then his lips were on hers.
~~~~~~
Author's Notes
1) You may think that what I've done to Shuichi is unforgiveable. Give it one more chapter.
2) This chapter was mostly filler. The true storyline, the major themes, etc., begin next time. Expect the story to be slow-moving in terms of action, but full of introspection. This is a story about what goes on in Eiri's head.
I hope you enjoyed... this is a different sort of story than I'm used to writing, so if it's clumsy, I apologize. I know what I'm trying to get at... I hope I get at it and not something else...!
by Jennifer A. Wand
a Gravitation fan fiction
II. Glaring Dream
"There is surely nothing other than the single purpose of the present moment. A man's whole life is a succesion of moment after moment. If one fully understands the present moment, there will be nothing else to do, and nothing else to pursue. Live being true to the single purpose of the moment."
- from the pages of the HAGAKURE, the handbook of the samurai
Eiri swallowed.
He blinked.
He ruffled his fingers through his hair nervously - the only outward expression of uneasiness he'd allow, though his insides were churning. The face looking at him was one he'd seen before -- in a crowded street, in a moment when the world had isolated Eiri and thsi girl in a world all their own. It had seemed like a dream. And now here was that same face, a glaring dream in the doorway radiating the same anger and loveliness that struck him the first time they'd met. Eiri was dumbfounded. He hadn't been expecting to face anyone for another several hours. And now he was stuck, fixed in the exacting stare of the stranger, somehow even more ill at ease than he had been in Seguchi's court.
Hair began to bristle on Eiri's back. Why was he being glared at like this? It was his time to relax, to steal a few moments of privacy and quiet, and instead he found himself sized up and damned by a glare as powerful as any warrior's. The girl's eyes spit fire at him in little green sparks. Eiri's muscles tightened.
"And what's your problem?" he finally said, low and growling.
The answer to his deliberate, drawling words came out high-pitched and uneven. "I should be asking you that!" the girl burst out in that same false-sounding, thin soprano. "Do you have something against me?"
Eiri leaned back, willing his tensed muscles to relax, and took his bowl of rice in hand again. "Should I?" he said noncommitally.
"You don't remember!?" Her voice escalated in pitch.
"Is that the way you talk to someone you're serving?" Eiri raised an eyebrow. The tone of her voice and her increasingly pink face seemed comical. "You'd better learn some manners if you want Seguchi to even look at those poems of yours."
All color drained from the girl's cheeks in a flash. "You-- you said you didn't remember."
"I lied, stupid." Eiri munched on rice, waving an errant chopstick at her as he chided her. "How could I forget a terrible poem like that?"
"But that's just it!" Energy returned to the girl in another moment. Eiri felt his interest rise. This was one amusing maid -- even if her talent as an artist was spotty. And with such predictable reactions and volatile moods, she was fun. Eiri also found that he thought her attractive - while she was too gangly and unfeminine to be called beautiful, there was a healthy shine to her that enticed him. His own fatigue dropped away. ::If only..:: he thought suddenly, and suppressed the rest.
The girl had been scolding him. "If it was so bad, why didn't you just ignore it? You didn't have to say what you did!"
Eiri balked at this. She had a point. Stung and vulnerable, he coiled up like a cobra and struck. "And what about you? You must have pulled some strings to follow me all the way here... whoever you are."
"I have a name!" she insisted, her thin voice cracking conspicuously, "Yuki Eiri-sama." Her face contorted around the honorific.
Despite himself, Eiri chuckled. "No, that's MY name. You need one of your own."
She blushed at the sight of his momentary smile. "Shindou," she mumbled. "Shindou... Ichigo."
"Well, Miss Strawberry," Eiri taunted, "do you have some business with ME, to track me down this far? Or did you just fall in love with me at first sight?"
The retort building on Ichigo's face suddenly fell flat. Her head dropped and she seemed to tremble.
"Oh? You won't deny it?" Now Eiri's grin had settled in to stay. He liked this woman who looked like the fruit bearing her name. She was an easy target, and a way to release all his pent-up annoyance -- about the journey, about Seguchi, and now, about his growing attraction to her that just wouldn't fade.
"Who would fall in love with YOU?" Ichigo finally snapped. "I just want you to come to the performance tomorrow. You can see if my poems are really so weak!!" Cheeks flushed with color, she shook a fist at him, straightening up so that her kimono shifted to expose a slender neckline. Eiri's desire skyrocketed. She was a firecracker, this girl, and he felt ignited and dazzled all at once.
"You're annoying," he said, in an ominous voice, and she stared at him indignantly. Swifter than she could follow, he got up and began to stride toward her. She stood and tried to flee, but he was too quick, slamming the screen behind her and pinning her against it. The wooden frame bit into his hands and the pain felt good -- intense, like everything he was feeling right now. The intensity he thought he'd lost --
"You follow me all the way up here, interrupt my privacy, treat me too familiarly, and make demands of me. You're the one who has a thing for me, and you accuse me of the same!?" He lowered his head close to hers, and she lost the ability to breathe or swallow, just staring, big unblinking blue eyes plunging into his own.
Eiri's voice became scant more than a low rumble. "What do you want from me?" he demanded, all the while feeling the distance between their faces fade. He'd wanted to be in charge of this seduction, but something greater had taken over. Something he didn't have a name for, but seemed equal in power to the very force that kept mankind tied to the ground. He was falling toward Shindou Ichigo as though she was the earth.
"Tell me," he managed to say, and then his lips were on hers.
~~~~~~
Author's Notes
1) You may think that what I've done to Shuichi is unforgiveable. Give it one more chapter.
2) This chapter was mostly filler. The true storyline, the major themes, etc., begin next time. Expect the story to be slow-moving in terms of action, but full of introspection. This is a story about what goes on in Eiri's head.
I hope you enjoyed... this is a different sort of story than I'm used to writing, so if it's clumsy, I apologize. I know what I'm trying to get at... I hope I get at it and not something else...!