Jellybean: yeah… thanks. See, I updated… though it took quite a long time. Hope you still like it!!
Unquestionable: Oi! TOLD YA NOT TO PEACE ME OUT!!! Hehehehehe….. btw, just after u told me about Soon Khie phoning, she phoned me lar…. And, anyway, Meia can't cool out… it's not part of the story yet!!!
Teh Tarik: Yeah, me too!!! The ones who would get in trouble… kekekekeke…. Okay….. anyway, yeah, it should have been Hatina… but I'm too lazy to redo it. thanks for telling me the mistake anyway.
Miracle: Uh… more Sendo? Well, there is certainly more of him in this chapter, though not the way you might want him to be…
Chapter 5-Friends?
'Meia! Come down for dinner!' Meia's mom's voice floated up the stairs, through the doors of Meia's bedroom, and into her ears… all for nothing, as Meia chose to ignore it. She had been slamming her fist into her pillow, and she didn't stop when she heard her mom's voice. Her frustration was getting the better of her, and no matter how much she tried to waste her energy away, it didn't seem to want to leave her. She was getting more hyper and anger by the second.
'And why are you so angry?' A small voice awoke in her.
What the hell are you talking about? Another part of Meia rebuked it, her hands still moving automatically.
'Do you even have the right to be angry?'
Yes I do! Meia grimly replied, without even thinking it through.
They're my friends… they shouldn't be talking about him…. It's my life, and he shouldn't be in it, damn it! But he keeps poking his porcupine head into my business without a care on what I feel.
'Varoa and Kenji share the same life, and Ra-nii is your brother, he has to be part of your life.
'Meia! Go down, now! Kaa-san is calling!' Sendo's voice was followed by a sharp rap on the door.
No he does not have to be a part of my life. Anyway, look at that! You're asking me to share a life with a brother that commands me around instead of talking to be nicely. A domineering brother! They're not the same… Kenji and Ra-nii aren't the same, don't you see? He's nice to her…
'It's just his tone… and you're only indignant… don't do what he says then… ask him to repeat it in a nicer tone. I'm sure Va-chan and Kenji fight at times… just tell him to be nice.'
I can't… he's my onii-san… I have to follow what he says….
'And who said so? You're just weak… and you're blaming others for it. You can't stand up for yourself, and you drag other people who never did anything wrong into it as well, trying to make it seem as if it's they're fault.
'MEIA! Kaa-san is calling! Open the door… NOW!' Almost automatically, Meia reached for the door, hoping unconsciously that her tear-stains couldn't be seen.
'Okay… I'm coming!'
'Come out earlier! We've been calling you for so long!' Sendo scolded her as soon as the door swung open. With as much dignity as she could muster, Meia ignored him, trying not to burst into tears… trying not the curse him with her colourful vocab.
'You're just too weak to stand up to…'
SHUT THE HELL UP!!
* * * * * * * *
'Hii-nii…'
'Yeah?' Koshino asked, straightening his position on the bed, looking up at Hatina, who was at his swirling chair, twirling her pen with one hand, and with the other, raking her hair black hair back. Both, as far and as well as Koshino knew her, were signs of nervousness. He smiled.
'Yeah?' he asked again, as the television blared on about what was happening in the world and how everyone wished for the world's peace.
'Er… you know… um… Sendo-san… err…' Hatina stuttered, immediately earning a bright mischievous look from her cousin.
Uh… oh… I'm so dead, Hatina mentally prophesied.
'Aha! I knew he would get to you sooner or later. What do you want to know about him? He doesn't have a girlfriend yet, he's too obsessed with basket…'
'BAKA!' Hatina threw a book at him, hitting him on his head.
'Itai! Cruel… I was just helping you…' Koshino whined.
'Doesn't anything else except BGR go through that brainless brain… err no…. if you're brainless you won't have a brain…. Err… brainless skull of yours?!'
'BGR?'
'Boy girl relationship… don't you know that?'
'No.'
'No as in you don't know that, or not as in nothing else goes through your head.'
'Both.'
'Damn, I knew it!'
'Okay, okay, don't need to get mad. What is it that you want to ask me?'
'Well… I was just wondering, what was Sendo's sister's name again?' Hatina asked, noticing acutely that Koshino's mischievous look had disappeared, and it was replaced by curiosity… and something Hatina couldn't really place… was it… apprehension?
'Meia,' he answered her, sounding a little reluctant.
'Meia?' Hatina stood up immediately, startling Koshino a little.
'Yeah, why?' Hatina didn't answer his question. Instead, she merely walked to where he was, and slumped down beside him.
'Ti-chan, why?'
'I'm sitting beside a girl named Meia Hitomi, and the resemblance between her and Sendo-san's picture is too close it to be a coincidence.
'Oh… and so?'
'She seems to hate him.'
'Yeah…?'
'Is that all you can say? Her name is Meia, she looks like Sendo-san's sister, but she uses a different surname, and she hates him,' Hatina fumed, glancing at her cousin… and at that moment, realized that he was just acting dumb. His face showed that he had already understood all that she meant, and that she had meant to tell him.
'I know… okay, I know…. Look, I'll ask you this, just promise me you won't be mad,' Koshino paused, and after earning a nod from Hatina continued.
'Why?'
'Huh?'
'Why are you interested?'
'Well… she's my friend, and I just want to know why she seems so bitter… and I think she would be far better off without all the bitterness in her… and anyway, Sendo-san seems very nice, it would be a waste for a sister to hate such a loving brother,' Hatina replied immediately.
'Err… right, fast thinking… and it makes sense too…. Well then, I guess she really is Meia Sendo, and I'm not all that surprised she hates him… or at least thinks that she does.'
'But why? Why the hell would she go through all the trouble to change her surname and pretend to be someone else? Why does she hate him that much? He seems nice…'
'Yeah, as a friend, not as a brother,' Koshino cut in without giving her a chance to finish.
'Why not? He seems to love her a lot.'
'Ti-chan, what is your first impression of Sendo?'
'Well… nice, fun, cool…'
'Yeah, but he is insecure too, on the inside. He's cool, self-collected… and God knows what else that makes all the girls swoon around him, but not many people knows what he really thinks, and how he really feels on the inside. He loves his sister very much, but doesn't know how to show it. He ends up commanding her around. You also have to remember, he is a star, but she is so… unknown… I'm practically the only friend who knows that they are related.'
'Well, he doesn't command you around… and he can mix very well… how can he not know how to treat his sister?'
'He's a little like Varoa. He has the ability to create relationships very easily, but he doesn't really like to do so, unlike Varoa. He's really like… loyal to the friends he has now. Once he has the friends, and once we really get close, well, we understand each other very well… but she doesn't understand him, and he has difficulty understanding her, and he can't treat the way he treats me. When he doesn't know what to do, he'd usually go, you know, crazy, crazy. But he can't be "crazy, crazy" all the time. And as I said, he has like practically everything, but she doesn't.' Koshino raked his hair back, at the same time, turning the television off.
'You mean she's just jealous?'
'In a way yes… and no. In a different sense, she's proud of him… get to know her better, you'll be a little surprised at the depth of her actual thoughts… she doesn't seem that… you know, mature as you hear what I tell you. I mean, yeah, sibling rivalry is pretty common, even among, actually, especially among teenagers. But there is something that makes her seem childish, something we can't place. Maybe as we compare her with Akira, she does seem so, but she is much deeper, she goes much deeper.' Koshino paused, then continued.
'I don't know her well… and I believe that she thinks I don't know she exists, but I do… and I think you sort of know why I actually pay some attention to her, without her knowledge. But Sendo has many friends, and most of them don't give her a second glance. No, no,' he continued quickly as he saw Hatina about to interrupt, 'there is nothing wrong with her. It's just that Akira is so… much more prominent compared to her. And, consciously or otherwise, she knows it, that's why she changed her surname, hoping that someone would not compare her with Sendo. Maybe she didn't know why she did it, but deep down, there is a small consciousness there of how Sendo has impact on others, and how she seems to be… always ignored. The word Sendo seemed to have a reputation, and she felt that she couldn't live up to it, and she didn't dare to…'
Hatina sighed softly, not really understanding why this was weighing so hard on her. Why she actually cared so much about Meia.
'She's and interesting girl… if she could only push her insecurities away, push her feelings of insignificance back, she would realize that she too has some potential, and they would make a great pair.' Koshino pulled his pillow to him, hugging it tightly, images floating across his mind. Unconsciously, he smiled. Smiled a sad smile.
Hatina looked up at the white ceiling in Koshino's bedroom, breathing the cool evening breeze that blew in through an open window. In her mind, she saw Meia walking across, right in front of her eyes… and with her, another girl… a long-haired familiar girl.
* * * * * * * *
How am I going to face Ti-chan today? Meia walked into Shoyo high, breathing in the fresh morning air, wishing that all the events yesterday hadn't happened at all.
'Ia-chan!'
Great… speak of the Devil, Meia sighed. If only she could have a wish, she would wish that a hole would open up and swallow her up. At least there she wouldn't have to face this…
'Konnichiwa Ia-chan,' Hatina greeted her cheerfully. For a moment, Meia froze, feeling different. The way Hatina was reacting… it was as if what happened yesterday never took place at all. That moment stretched out so long to Meia that she was, for once, afraid that a hole had really appeared to swallow her, and was now, doing so. An invisible hole. She had always wanted it to happen… but something in what she learnt… something that seemed to happen when she was with them… she didn't want to be swallowed.
Was it possible… would she actually be able to forget it, and not ask me questions? That thought was so… weird and new to Meia that it's reality couldn't really sink into Meia's mind. That moment passed, breaking her out of her freeze, and she raised a hand in greeting. She didn't dare to call out, just in case her voice would shake, and reveal her nervousness.
The whole day passed as if in a blur, a boring blur, that was. The basketball practice went as fine as far as Meia's view of fine could get. She could at least start interacting and opening up. Just before she left the gym to return home, Fujima called out to her.
'Hey, Ia-chan, want to walk home with us? Ti-chan said that your house is along the same route as ours… at least for a while.' Meia smiled unconsciously. She was actually quite shocked to actually be accepted into their "clique".
'Uh… sure…' she said before she could even think it through. And almost immediately, she regretted it. She was never good at interacting, and she was scared. Nervous… what if they ran out of things to say? What if Ti-chan suddenly brought out yesterday's events? What if they decided to only talk among themselves, leaving her out? What if? What if? She had always been scared, it was not that she didn't want to walk with them, she was too damn scared to want to. Yet, she did want to…
Surprisingly, to her at least, the walk back was pretty jolly and gay. Meia found herself able to talk pretty freely with them all. Her nervousness dissolved into laughter as she watched them all… and participated in their talk.
Meia was the first one to leave their group. She walked the rest of the way home alone, smiling a little. After their offer to walk Meia right all the way back was politely rejected, the two Fujimas left turned at another corner not far from where Meia branched out, and left Mintei, Hatina and Hanagata alone.
'Ne… Mi-chan, Ru-chan, if I were to tell you something, could you promise to not tell anyone else? Onegai?' Mintei stopped awhile, and Hanagata followed to suit.
'Sure,' Hanagata muttered. Mintei, however, was not exactly the type that was curious, and she was not sure she wanted to hear what Hatina had to say. She felt a sense of… foreboding overtaking her… engulfing her.
'Mi-chan, please…' and at that point, Mintei knew, as well as she knew that the girl in front of her was Hatina, she knew that it was her that Hatina wanted to talk to. Hanagata just happened to be there. And at the same time, she could see, printed on Hatina's forehead in bold red letters, "DANGER, NOT MEANT FOR YOU"
'What?' However, Mintei knew that Hatina wasn't going to tell her, not until she gave her word. And she was right. Hatina just continued looking at her stubbornly.
Darn… God I wish… Mintei sighed. Hatina was her friend, one of her closest at that…
'Okay, I promise.' Hatina stared at her a moment longer, then shifted her eyes to Hanagata, who looked at the two of them smiling.
'Ne… maybe I should leave you two. We're all going to split up at the next turning anyway, I don't mind.' Hatina looked at him, a little relieved, and more than a little grateful.
'Thanks,' she whispered. However, Mintei wasn't that pleased.
'Ja,' was all she said. Hanagata said his goodbye and left.
'Look, I'm only telling you this because I need your help,' Hatina said softly after Hanagata had gone.
'Help? On what?'
'No… it's not for me. I… maybe it's more like she needs your help.'
'Who?'
'Meia. Meia Sendo,' was Hatina's reply.
'Ti-chan, her name is Meia Hitomi… daijoubu?' It was not like Hatina to forget things that easily, and Mintei's sense of foreboding increased. The pale light of the moon fell on them, shrouding the things around them too. Hatina looked up, seeing the outlines of the mountains far away, noticing acutely how fast the daylight disappeared.
'Iie… her name is Meia Sendo.'
'As in Akira Sendo's imoto?' Hatina nodded mutely at Mintei's question.
'And… so, what can I do? Why do I need to help her?' Mintei asked, choosing her words carefully, glancing sharply at Hatina, who smiled a sad smile, as if knowing that something would happen. Something that she'd rather not, would happen.
'She hates him,' she muttered, not really daring to look into Mintei's eyes, but doing so anyway. And she flinched as she saw the reality sink into Mintei. She flinched as Mintei's eyes showed understanding… and the thing that Hatina didn't want to see. Hurt.
Mintei shook her head slowly, mouthing "no".
'Mi-chan…'
'No.'
'Mi…'
'No!'
'Look…'
'No, I can't help you!' Mintei said those words out softly and clearly. She spat them out with venom, clarity, and in her own way, anger. Her usually cool façade, her leveled tone of voice only showed Hatina how angry she was. How threatening she sounded. She walked off quickly, not giving Hatina a chance to defend herself. Not giving her a chance to say sorry or at least give an excuse. By the time she reached the security of her room, her tears were already uncontrollable. She sobbed into her hands, not caring about being strong anymore. Not caring about her promise to grow up, to not let the sadness gnaw at her.
Hatina was her close friend, and Mintei knew better than that to think that their relationship would break because of this. It was too strong, but… all she felt for Hatina now was contempt.
Contempt that she had the nerve to ask her.
Contempt at the fact that she opened the door separating herself from her old reality… from her past that they all had sworn together to help her forget.
Contempt at the mere fact that Hatina was one of her closest friend.
A/N: Hopefully you guys aren't mad about the way I portrayed Sendo. SO, what do you think about it. uh… I might not be able to update all that soon. Crap, May is coming, and all the Mid-term Exams are coming up. I'll try though.
