Title: Intruder Alert
Author: Haze
Disclaimer: I don't own Escaflowne so don't sue me…
Chapter Dedication: Candyfloss, esca chick, Divine Discontent, aoao ^_^, , Faraday, anime_luver, Princess Neptune, Kat-Tastrophe, Moon Smurf, amara2417, Rina, GldDragnSR, jess131346, pyro'sgirl, Eternal Senshi Alexiel, naria, Ledophole, khayee
Chapter 5: The Violent Girl and the Insane Boy
"What the---" A familiar voice of a boy mumbled.
Everyone including Hitomi and Dilandau looked at the living room's huge entrance and saw a boy of sixteen standing just in front of two pairs of parents.
"Dad? Mom?" Hitomi and Dilandau muttered at the same time.
"What is going on?" Mrs. Albatou demanded, looking pointedly at their very suggestive position.
Hitomi's eyes widened and it was only then that she noticed the position she and Dilandau were currently in. She was straddling his waist and he was holding her wrist that was so close to his face.
She looked back at their parents and tried to explain. "It's not—it's not what all of you think." Struggling, she pushed herself off Dilandau.
Their parents were still standing there waiting for a more elaborate explanation. I mean, what were they to think when they see them in such a compromising position? They couldn't assume that they were fighting since no one is even trying to stop them.
Hitomi looked at her parents desperately. They didn't budge. So she looked at Dilandau, who was now standing beside her like nothing happened. "Tell them."
"Tell them what?" Dilandau asked unworriedly.
"The truth!" Hitomi snapped. 'How could he look so damn calm when all this is happening to us?!' She thought angrily. 'Is this his way of getting back at me for attacking him?!'
Dilandau turned to their parents. "Hitomi pounced on me and we ended on the carpeted floor."
Their parents' eyes widened and they turned to Hitomi who gasped in horror. "It's not what you think!" She turned and glared at Dilandau.
"Hey, you told me to tell the truth. I just did." He shrugged.
"But it sounded twisted!" She hissed. "If it even succeeded in anything, it's in making matters worst!" She turned to the standing parents. "It's really not what it looks like. Ask them."
Dilandau's parents turned to Miguel.
"She did pounce on Dilandau," Miguel affirmed.
The rest nodded.
Hitomi seethed. So she did pounce on Dilandau. But it was not because she wanted to do something perverted. It was because she wanted to injure him the best she could.
"So I did pounce on him. But it wasn't for anything perverted!" Hitomi defensively interjected.
"So, what's it for then?" Her father asked.
"I was," Hitomi bit her lip. She had to choose on where she'll get in trouble for. Either she stands for the thought that she and Dilandau were doing something 'personal' or she stands for the fact that she wanted to disfigure him physically.
"Was what?" Her father once more asked.
Dilandau looked at her, trying to hide his amusement at his sweet revenge on Hitomi for being the first girl who dared glare and snap at him. She even made the things she did far worse by always doing them in the presence of others.
He wouldn't stand for that. He never would. Call it a big male ego but he didn't care.
Hitomi chewed on her lower lip for a time and stole a look at Dilandau. 'Damn! He's enjoying this!'
Smiling, Dilandau turned to the two pairs of parents. "Hitomi and I were having a little misunderstanding. So we," he trailed off and looked as if he was thinking of a less personal way of describing whatever he had to say.
"Decided to make out?" Hiko butted in, expression between enjoyment and disgust.
"I can't believe this!" Hitomi yelled at the person on cordless phone.
"Hitomi, calm down!" Millerna shouted. "You're making me ear hurt!"
"Look, just calm down," Yukari said in a normal voice.
Hitomi paced her room and continued speaking in a yelling voice. "How can I calm down?! My parents think that I'm fooling around with their friend's son and I can't do anything about it!"
"Does Allen know?"
"Of course not, Millerna! I called you two first, remember?!"
"So, what now?"
"How am I suppose to know?! That's why I called you and Millerna, Yukari. So you two can help me out!"
"I'm clueless on those things, Hitomi." Yukari shrugged on the other line. "I never did experience THAT predicament. By the way, is he cute?"
"Damn it! How can you ask that question when I'm in trouble?!"
"That was just a question," Yukari said defensively. "If he's cute, maybe we could try and help you draw the fire away."
"Like how?! One of you pretends to be HIS girlfriend or something?! It's not going to work! Both of you are way over on the other side of the globe!"
"Wait, maybe I could tell my dad to transfer me there," Millerna interrupted. "You know, like some foreign exchange student."
"But it's way past the normal transferring time!"
"Oh, yeah."
"Hitomi~" Hiko's voice echoed through the hallway.
"What am I going to do?!"
"Hitomi~"
"We'll think of something," Millerna said soothingly.
"Hitomi~"
"I think you're being called," Yukari informed.
"Hitomi~" Hiko called from the door.
"What?!" Hitomi snapped, turning sharply to the door and seeing his brother there, she glared at him.
Hiko smiled. "Just calling you coz your friend Celena is looking for you. Shall I send her here?"
Hitomi gritted her teeth. "Yeah, whatever!"
"Okay." Hiko turned to go but stopped and turned to her. "I think he is awesome. And yeah, I just remembered that he had red eyes. So now we know that there's someone with red eyes. Cool. He's even got silver hair."
"Out!" Hitomi screamed. "Get out!"
"I just said that your new guy is cool. And he's pretty good-looking, too. Aren't you glad that I actually approve?"
"Get the HELL out of here this INSTANT!!!!!!!"
Hiko rolled his eyeballs. "You are so irritable. I wonder how he can stand you. More like how ANYONE could stand you."
Hitomi grabbed the nearest thing in her room which happened to be a hand mirror. She threw it at Hiko but he managed to evade it, sending the glass shattering on the wall.
"You're going to have seven years bad luck, Tomi," Hiko's voice teased as it echoed away.
"I hate him!!!" Hitomi yelled on the phone.
"Your annoying brother, or your new guy problem?" Yukari asked.
"Both!" Hitomi hissed.
"Well, we did hear what your brother said. Red eyes? Silver hair? Oh, gosh, he's hot! And your brother even said that he's pretty good-looking!"
"Millerna!"
"We wouldn't blame you if you'd have a little fun with him."
"Yukari!"
"Hey, girl. It's normal. You're actually the only one straight enough not to juggle guys when you can have them," Yukari reasoned. "You know, if it were Sarah, she'd go for him."
"Sarah?"
"You know, the new girl before who made transition from a newbie to a popular girl. She's actually one of us now," Millerna explained. "Don't worry. If Allen can play a bit, why can't you?"
"Playing a bit?!"
"Relax, girl," Yukari soothed. "It's normal, right?"
"So, about the new guy, what's his name?"
"Millerna! How can you ask that when he had just ruined my life?!"
"I think he's better than your swimming pool-eyed boyfriend," Hiko's voice interrupted signaling his return.
Hitomi abruptly turned her look on the door and gave her brother a death glare. "Will you shut up?!"
"No way. Not when I get so much reaction from you." Hiko grinned. "By the way, you better have the mirror cleaned before Mom finds out. And just for a reminder, you're going to be unlucky for the next seven years."
"I have been UNLUCKY for the past years since you were born which was technically a year after I was born!"
"I think you're ignoring your friends on the phone."
"Don't change the subject!" Hitomi snapped, slamming the phone and effectively ending the phone call with Millerna and Yukari's ears ready for the hospital. "This is all your fault!"
"Now it's my fault?" Hiko teased. "I thought you were blaming it on your new catch."
Hitomi's fist clenched and she stalked off menacingly towards Hiko. Raising her arm, she was about to punch him senseless when a familiar voice interrupted.
"Hitomi, stop!" Celena exclaimed. "Don't do that."
Hitomi's head turned to Celena. "Why should I not kill this brat?"
"Because he's your brother."
"Yeah, Tomi, I'm your brother," Hiko said, grinning like a cheshire cat.
Hitomi glared and knowing that he can't afford to push the line more, Hiko left but was laughing like one crazy brat. She gritted her teeth and struggled to compose herself before turning to Celena and letting her in the room.
"I'm really so sorry about what happened," Celena apologized as she sat on the bed. "I don't know why my brother had started to provoke you."
"Sorry to say this, Celena, but I think he's nuts."
"Well, he's not a goody-two-shoes but he never did provoke anyone the way he provoked you. He does fool around with girls but not like what happened with you."
"I hate your brother," Hitomi said plainly, without a hint of anything but honesty. "I know you would side him, but I'm just being frank."
Celena smiled. "I know. I'm really sorry there wasn't anything we can do back then."
Hitomi sighed and leaned on the door, contemplating. "Well, even if you did explain that we weren't doing anything along the lines of couples reconciling after an argument, our parents are all too stubborn anyway."
"I know. When you reacted to your brother's question about the making out thing, you practically yelled 'no'. And we just stood there with our expressions supporting you. But they assumed that you were just denying and the rest of us were just siding you."
"Parents," sighed Hitomi. "What is wrong with your brother anyway? Why did he even have to smirk and just act mysterious when he was the one asked for confirmation on what I had yelled no to?"
Celena was quiet for a while, seriously thinking about the event. "Wait. You never did mention to me about your first day in school. I heard rumors---"
"Yes, I did have a brush off with your nutcase twin. And I've always had for the next two weeks until before we started hanging out with each other."
"He never did mention anything at all," Celena said thoughtfully. "By the way, why did you react when I was to introduce him to you?"
"Instincts of unsettled offense. He is the cause of my not-so-good state in school, after all."
"So, why is he in the mood of provoking you?"
"I thought you would know that. He's your twin. You should know his twisted mind better than me." Hitomi groaned slightly. "I really hate your brother, you know. Along with his damn groupies who seems to support him all the way with his craziness. They didn't even interfere when the nutcase was starting to irritate me."
At this, Celena laughed. "You know, Hitomi, they are loyal to Dilandau. Very loyal, I should say. But for whatever reasons, I don't even want to know."
"I hate them and your brother, end of discussion," Hitomi mumbled and walked towards her closet. "Hey, Celena, are you up for a swim? I think I need to cool down before I begin my screaming fit again."
Dilandau sat on his chair, mind zoning out of the class discussion to a certain point in time.
He thoroughly enjoyed annoying the hell out of Hitomi. That's what she gets for being such a rebellious girl. Injuring his ego is never a good thing to do. But considering things, Hitomi was lucky enough not to have him planning evil schemes against her.
But there's something else. Annoying Hitomi was as refreshing as it was fun. Call it a twisted mind but hey, taking sweet revenge is always the best way to have fun and get back at the same time.
Although he had settled scores with her in one single encounter, he couldn't seem to get her flustered image out of his mind. It was like he was addicted to annoying her at every given turn. He couldn't understand but there's no point in thinking about it right now.
Just giving in for this time being would be enough. More than enough actually.
Hitomi is in for a prolonged revenge. Well, maybe he could just say that this extension was because she even dared to attack him in the very place he lived. But whatever alibi there would be, one thing is still definite.
He's going to have fun and Hitomi is the perfect object to center it on.
Skipping dinner and breakfast sure had its drawbacks. To avoid any word from her parents and brother, Hitomi had pretended to be not hungry.
And now, she is engaging into an eating spree. Lunch wasn't enough so after dismissal in the afternoon, she had called home to say that she wouldn't be riding the car home. Who cares if she'll have to walk all the way from Tokyo to their house? At least by the time she gets home, she would have eventually burned all the calories she's been ingesting. Besides, it would provide a good reason for her to go straight to her room and sleep.
"Hitomi?"
"Oh, hi, Celena," Hitomi mumbled.
"I've been looking for you. Hiko told me you wouldn't be riding in the car. I thought you'd gone home by bus. It's a good thing I decided to have food outside school."
Hitomi just nodded and continued eating another submarine sandwich.
"Uh, Hitomi, did you skip food for a week or what?" Celena asked, looking at her friend.
"I didn't eat anything after you left the house yesterday. I skipped breakfast. Lunch was awful and I've burned them all up during kendo so I had to eat now before I faint."
"You know, for a thin figure like yours, I couldn't exactly imagine where all the food you've eaten are going to."
The green-eyed girl just shrugged and continued eating. Celena shook her head and ordered her food. Over food, they talked about anything.
"Surprise, surprise," the familiar drawl of Dilandau came before chairs were pulled towards their table.
The instant reaction of Hitomi was to choke on her food causing Miguel to laugh and Celena to frown.
"Careful, Hitomi," Dilandau cautioned with a hint of mockery. "I wouldn't want you to choke to death. Celena would get blamed since she's always around you."
Hitomi glared at Dilandau. "Go to hell," she hissed.
"In your dreams," he replied with his smirk plastered perfectly on his Adonis face.
Celena, wanting to prevent any outburst from occurring, decided to take matters into her hand. "Dilandau, could you just get another table and stay away from us?"
"Ouch," he said, shaking his head in mock hurt. "I was only trying to spend quality time with you and you drive me away because of my little firefly here."
"I am not YOUR FIREFLY!!" Hitomi exclaimed, eyes shooting daggers at Dilandau.
"Alright. Then maybe we could change that into ogre."
Without second thought, Hitomi dropped her submarine on her table and raised a hand to slap Dilandau. But of course he was quick enough to grip her wrist to a stop.
"You are so hazardous to my face," he said. "I bet your boyfriend is a battered one. And I bet even more that whoever becomes your husband is going to be pummeled to death. You're so barbaric."
Celena, although being Hitomi's friend, had to fight the strong urge to laugh. Dilandau's calm way of provoking Hitomi was just too effective that Hitomi was visibly red from trying to fight down her temper.
But the boys weren't obliged to hold their laughter. So they proceeded to display their amusement by laughing. Of course with exception to Chesta, who was trying to be polite.
"What's wrong, Hitomi? You're as red as a tomato. Did you just swallow one?"
Hitomi just glared at him, and even with Celena's urging for Dilandau to release her wrist, he wouldn't as if he did enjoy the glare he was receiving. After a while, when everyone had thought that Hitomi would not retort, she actually unclenched her jaw to say something.
"For a boy, you sure do need to shut up," she jeered. "Why don't you just go suck a doorknob?" Pulling her wrist forcefully, she stood up and gathered her things. "I'll just call you, Celena."
"Wait! You're brother said you don't have a ride home!" Celena called, standing up to follow Hitomi.
Dilandau stood up. "I'll handle that. See you at home." Turning to the rest, "One hair on Celena missing, I'll toast you all."
They nodded fearfully.
"I don't think it's a good idea for you to---" Celena reasoned.
"I'm not going to kill her. Chill out." Picking up his bag, he left without further ado.
Hitomi walked briskly. But he was still there with his flashy motorcycle.
"You know, it would save us a lot of time if you'd just let me give you a ride."
"Go suck a doorknob!" Hitomi yelled, still walking briskly and not even turning around to look at Dilandau, who had been following her since she started off for home.
'Damn cellphone!' She fumed. 'Why did it have to run out of battery now?! Damn wallet! Why did I have to forget it at home and just leave me with enough money to pay for my food?!'
Dilandau wasn't usually patient with anything. But not this time. He had been watching Hitomi discreetly during lunch, waiting for the proper time to annoy her. When the day's dismissal came, he had soccer practice while willing time to speed by. When soccer practice was finally through, Hitomi wasn't in kendo anymore. In fact, she was nowhere to be found.
Hungry, he and his friends trooped off to the nearest food place and to his amusement, Hitomi sat there talking to Celena, eating what looked like her third meal basing from the wrappings on the table.
He was just enjoying the repartee when Hitomi had actually stalked off. Of course, he wouldn't let the fun end there. So, until now, he was still following her and trying to get her into his motorcycle. At least when they're fast on the road, she'd have no escape from his mockery and pestering.
"Pretty soon, you're going to tire."
"Go to hell!"
"Well, I'm certainly not the one in hell here. You're the one getting tired."
"Drop dead!"
"Sorry, I couldn't just do that."
"Will you just leave?!" Hitomi snapped, whirling around and facing him.
His motorcycle stopped and he smirked at Hitomi, eyes shooting beyond her for a while. "Alright."
He sped away and stopped in a corner where Hitomi wouldn't see him. As for the green-eyed beauty, she spun around to proceed on her way home. However, two delinquent students were blocking her way.
"What have we here?" One asked haughtily.
"A pretty girl who's all alone," the other answered, leer spreading more.
Hitomi began to back away, planning to sprint away from them. But before she could, her arm was held tightly by the bigger boy.
"Let me go!" She yelled, eyes blazing with anger.
"Wha cha gonna do? Call your boyfriend?"
"My cellphone's dead, morons! And my boyfriend is in America!"
"So wha cha gonna do?"
Without saying a word, Hitomi sent the most forceful kick she can to the leg of the one holding her arm. He let go of her and clutched his leg, screaming as pain took its toll. Not wasting any moment, she spun around to run. But the other caught her by her bag.
She didn't want to leave her bag since it had her school books. So she engaged in a tug-of-war all the while trying to kick him hard enough. Unfortunately, the other one recovered.
"Damn!" She muttered. "I'm dead!"
But before anything else happened, one clenched fist made contact with one of her attackers' jaw sending him falling to the sidewalk pavement.
Hitomi felt herself being pushed to one side while one silver-haired protector finished the mess for her.
A time she hadn't counted passed, and her protector picked up her bag and walked towards her, leaving two delinquent students sprawled on the pavement struggling to control the pain their body was throbbing with.
He stopped in front of her, still holding her bag. "Now will you let me give you a ride?"
~tbc~
Author's Note: Time for my boring notes ^^. I think the title fits the chapter pretty well. I don't hate Dilandau to call him insane. It's just that his thoughts on Hitomi and fun are pretty insane. Anyhow, I hope this wasn't as boring as it is for me. And I certainly hope this is not very disappointing. About the characters, sorry if I messed them up in this one. It's an AU just for reminders.
Oh by the way, I think I'm going to take the suggestion of pyro's girl. I'm going to do a list of people to e-mail when I update. On the initial list are Moon Smurf, anime_luver, Eternal Senshi Alexiel, and pyro's girl since they asked me one time or another. If anyone wants to be e-mailed when I update, just tell me.
Before I end this rant, I would like to thank everybody who gave me reviews. ^^ You have no idea on how it made me jubilant. After all, who doesn't enjoy good feedbacks and praises? I was so happy and people around me found me weird when I was staring at the reviews so I can upload this. I was so happy. Thank you very much for the reviews. Do keep them coming. ^^ Thanks once more.
