A/N: responses to reviews time! Actually, I'm debating about putting these at the end...what do you think? E-mail me or say something in a review HINTHINT haha, j/k. Well, here we go!
Steve Jester: Haha! Now that you mention it, yeah, Izzy does remind me of the one from Digimon! I never even noticed it! Be my guest-please, write a fic on it. I WANNA READ IT! Send it to me, kay? grin I can't wait!
Wolf Queen: Thanks! I'm not really a YAOI person unless it's Gundam Wing...3x4! ;;;
dennisud: what does "ya laid it on think man" mean? Sorry, I'm not too familiar with slang-I speak Cantonese at home and I don't really hear it at school because I'm in the IB program that steals people's souls with mass amounts of homework...yeah. OH! I forgot. That chapter was based on a fic my friend and I wrote together. I made up the spin the bottle and the I Never part and she did a truth or dare section, but it was hers so I didn't put it in (the fic was on Gundam Wing, so I took the basic idea of it). Anyway-pre-readers? Hmm...I'll hafta figure out how to get one (lol). I obviously need it...I couldn't find where you took my mistake from though...maybe it's just me-I'm blind. Lol. And thank you for your angst idea! It's either gonna be in this chapter or the next one. Think you can help me spin one after you read this one? I'm not too sure how to make Ikhny hate Hiead right now, and an idea would be helpful...I have an incredibly bad case of writer's block (main reason why this chapter took forever) so ideas are massively appreciated! (Is massively even a word? shrug Oh well. It is now!)
Erica: Yay! PICTURE! My artistic skills are crooked stick figures...sweatdrop Hehe...I make up random words and stick them in here, so if you have a question on something, don't hesitate to ask! Probably more of my random-ness and insanity...or it could be the poltergeist that hangs around my house...
IkhnyR87: blush thanks!
Skydancer:
Lalita (times two-lol!): yes, let's! UMBRIDGE MUST DIE! Bwahahahahaha! sends my poltergeist after her with a scythe Chop off her head! Chop off her head! I'm writing a fic on what really happened to Umbridge in the Forbidden Forest, and I plan to make it as painful as possible. Wanna help? I'm a D/G person (don't kill me), so DON'T BURN DRACO! Maybe he let Ginny curse him on purpose! frantic I hate the way J.K. Rowling depicts him though-everyone's gotta have a good side, just like Hiead! Haha, do you see the resemblance between Draco and Hiead and Ginny and Ikhny? That's why I love H/I so much! It's gotta be the bad boy and the good girl!
Ikhny Gnr: lol, thanks! About the diligent part...I'm not too sure, but I'm trying! Thanks for reviewing!
Kenji: Ack! Longer chapters! Are you crazy! J/k. That was actually one of the longest chapters ever, then again, I had that entire page and a half of replies...O.O. Sorry! I'll try harder this time! The thing is that it's such a simple plot that it's hard to write long chapters, you know what I mean? Some places are just the best places to stop! Thanks for your suggestion though-I promise that I will try, even if I kill myself doing it!
Maxine: Hehe...I have random moments of the day and I was drinking orange juice at the moment...well, there's nothing like inspiration from the present! sweatdrop Right. I nearly spilled some on the keyboard and when I looked up, tada! IDEA! Yes, I can get quite random...
Lynnie: Thanks!
Ice Princess: I've been lazy and doing summer school (no, I did not fail something-I need the extra class next year so I hafta take PE over the summer-BLAH) so it's taking a while. I've also got writer's block (growl) so it's gonna be I while. Just wait till you see who takes the picture...BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Jen wit 1 n: I have no clue how people can hate Hiead. Hiead is so un-hate-able! He is the COOLEST! Tell your friend to open up his mind-he's too centered on the whole "there must be a bad guy in every story and that bad guy will always and forever be evil" stereotype. Have you seen Jackie Chan adventures? Well, if you have, smack him over the head like Uncle and say: "One more thing! That was from all the Hiead fans in the world!"
Kiki: Thanks for the cookie! Munching on it as she types It's very good! Hehe...killing off character...you know, that's a really good idea! Hmmm...rubs hands evilly Who should go first-the evil Hiead-hater fans or the evil Hiead/Ikhny-hater fans...hmm...
Kelsey: Thanks! Hope you like this chapter!
Erica: You have no clue how badly I cracked up when I read your review. My friend and I had this whole pitchfork discussion and yeah...it sorta became his nickname...very long story, but it's funny! Thank you for your review!
Kappy Locks: We'll see...perhaps the next chapter shall be Mellie's nightmare...I never thought of that...Hmm...if I ever write it, it's dedicated to you!
Cacti-chan: was it in character? I hope so, really. This chapter's really OOC on Hiead's part, but I can't really think of any other way for it to work. I'll edit it soon when an idea pops into my head. Any suggestions?
Mya: Thank you! I hope you like this one! Have I converted you to be a Hiead/Ikhny person? They are way too cute together, you know...
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No, the disclaimer does not exist. Disclaimer does not exist. Disclaimer does not exist...sigh...I WISH!
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Chapter Four: Simon
Flash.
Click.
Crimson eyes opened to a bright light. Crimson eyes met amber eyes. Crimson eyes opened in shock. Crimson eyes located a camera in amber-eyes' hands. Crimson eyes saw amber eyes waving around a picture for the world to see. Crimson eyes glared at amber eyes.
"Who. Are. You." Crimson eyes demanded.
"Hahaha! I always knew my stories were true! Wait 'till Mellie hears this one!"
"Si?" came a small voice that was muffled by Hiead's shoulder. Melanie yawned and stretched her arms, accidently hitting Hiead's jaw.
"Sowwie, Daddy!" She made a puppy face at him. "Forgive me, pweeeeaaase?"
"MEL! WHAT THE HELL? YOU'RE SO...SMALL! YOU LOOK LIKE YOU'RE FIVE!"
The light lavender-haired girl turned and looked at her older brother, raising and eyebrow. "...I am five...why are you so OLD! Eesh, Simon, you really are old! Look! WHITE HAIR!"
"...very funny, Mel."
"Who are you?" asked Hiead (Crimson eyes, just in case you couldn't tell).
"Oh yeah. Right. We're in the past. Sorry, Dad! It's me, Simon! You know, your crazy son who just went to GOA and is currently...well, was currently, being tortured by that crazy Azuma guy? Yeah."
"Si, how OLD are you anyway? You're only supposed to be seven!"
"I'm fifteen, Mel, and stop stressing the word OLD. If I was old, then Mum and Da are old-ER! And YOU'RE the one who always used to say that they're YOUNG. So what am I? Anyway, just got to GOA a few weeks ago. Then that idiot Azuma started ranting on and on about black holes. He showed us one, ya know? I sorta...fell in."
"He takes after his mother, that klutz," thought Hiead as he glared at Simon. Simon looked exactly like Ikhny too with chocolate brown hair and amber eyes. Strangely, he also looked like his own brother, just like Melanie looked like his sister. It felt as if it was de ja vu all over again.
"Anyway, Da, are you ever gonna let go of Mum? I think she's waking up. Maybe my camera flash was too bright..."
Hiead looked over to where Ikhny was, leaning against his shoulder. He panicked when he saw his hand still entwined in her hair and immediately dropped it. Dark lashes fluttered as amber eyes opened only to meet another set of amber eyes.
"HOLY SHIT! THERE'S ANOTHER ONE!"
Simon covered his little sister's ears.
Ikhny was wide awake now, looking at what could have been the male form of herself. Her eyes were as huge as plate and her mouth was gaping open. She took a second glance at Simon, then looked at Hiead, then fainted into his arms. Hiead rolled his eyes as he picked her up, stood, and walked out the door. Simon snickered as Melanie giggled into Simon's leg, which she was hugging. "Si-mon! I think, like in your stories, that we gotta get Mommy and Daddy together! Don't you think so?"
Big, innocent, little chibi eyes stared up at him.
How could he resist?
"Of course, Mel. We just hafta do it as secretly as possible..."
"Everything set?"
"Yep!"
Melanie's pigtails bounced as she skipped down the immaculate halls of GOA, holding Simon's hand. A smile played on his face as his adorable little sister slid little note cards under the door for their mother and father. Well, future mother and father, anyway. It had been a long time since he had seen Melanie this little. They were only two years apart and best friends. They did everything together back then, but now...
In his real time, Melanie was never this happy and innocent. She never went outside anymore and her skin was so pale that she could give the moon a run for its money. Her usually bright crimson eyes were dull and her gorgeous light lavender hair hung limply on her head. Their mother and father had been assigned a special mission and traveled to some distant space colony and there was no news. VICTIM was no longer a threat-in fact-they learned about it in history class (most of which Simon slept through). What could it have possible been? It's been half a year since they left. Simon was at GOA. Melanie too, was at GOA and was strangely paired as his repairer. It hurt him to see his little sister going through such a state. She never told him what was wrong-he always assumed it was just PMS or she was missing their mother and father. But now, looking back at it and glancing at the bouncy five-year-old made him wonder about the real reason. There was something wrong with her. Something terribly wrong-
"SI-MON! Weren't you listening to me? I SAID that we're done. Now we just have to wait 'till midnight!"
Simon snapped out of his thoughts and smiled. "Great! Now comes the blackmail portion." He rubbed his hands together evilly and Melanie copied him after two seconds of observing him. He laughed again.
"Come on, Shorty, let's go blackmail Uncle Clay and Aunt Saki. They really need some help. I mean, really, who could love Uncle Clay with his finger-poking-glasses habit?"
Melanie looked at him strangely. "Aunt Saki does! She loves him for everything!"
Simon raised an eyebrow. "I'm sure, Mel, I'm sure. Now, what should we do to them? What would Izzy have done? Must think..."
It was Melanie's turn to raise an eyebrow. She crossed her arms against her chest and looked up. "Simon? Since when did you ever think?"
xxx
Ikhny wandered toward the room indicated on the little note card she had received earlier in the medical ward where Hiead had carried her, or so said Dr. Rill. She shivered. That doctor gave her the creeps! She hoped no one would see her-she was in her pyjamas, after all, it was around midnight anyway. She blushed as she remembered what happened last night. That kiss. That kiss that swept her off her feet and made her practically melt into a pile of goo. Hiead had total control over her. He was right. She was weak. She was weak because of him. Him and his damned attitude. Him and his damn eyes. Him and his damn body. Him and his damn kiss...
She sighed as she stood in front of the opened door. She looked to her left only to meet up with a pair of crimson eyes staring down at her. She turned to her right only to see Melanie smiling up innocently at her and Simon grinning.
"Sorry, Mum, it's for your own good."
The two of them shoved Hiead and Ikhny into the room, shut the door, and locked it.
"Oof."
Ikhny opened her eyes again only to see Hiead's silver hair.
"EEP! PERVERT!"
She immediately tried to shove him off her only to find that there was actually no room.
"Mommy, it's a closet! Simon said he kisses his girlfriend in here all the time so you guys should take his advice and snog! What does snog mean? Anyway, Si's not opening it 'till tomorrow, so you've got a while. Bye!"
Hiead finally got off Ikhny (to her relief) and leaned against the wall. Ikhny sat up and looked around, blushing like mad. It was an incredibly tiny closet-no more than five feet wide and five feet long. It must have been a broom closet at first, but obviously, it didn't turn out that way. Ikhny wondered where all the brooms could have gone. There weren't too many broom closets on GOA...there was something going on here.
The two sat in silence for a long time until Ikhny couldn't stand it anymore. She started fidgeting. First with her glasses, then her hair, then her clothes, and finally her hands. Suddenly, they were clamped down upon. Ikhny looked up.
"Stop. It."
Hiead's intense glare made her shrink back and hold still. She didn't quite notice that, due to the size of the closet, he was practically on top of her. His hands were still clamping down on her wrists but his eyes softened as he saw her frightened look.
"Damn. Not guilt AGAIN" he thought as he observed her.
He saw her figure curling into a ball, head bending down to her knees but hands still in Hiead's death grip. Her eyes were shut tight as if she were expecting him to hit her. Her glasses were sliding down her nose and her hair was in disarray and for some odd reason...
...Hiead had this strong urge to kiss her.
He released his grip and watched as her hands shot back and wrapped themselves around her knees, quivering in fear. Gingerly, he reached out with his hand and tentatively tucked a tendril of hair behind her ear. Her head rose slowly until she could see him through her bangs, tears in her eyes.
"I don't know what in the world I'm doing here. I'm not even supposed to be here! I'm supposed to be on my colony with my mum and dad being a respectable daughter, probably hitched and pregnant with someone's kid-God knows who's but that's what I'm supposed to be! I'm not supposed to be on GOA, dammit, I'm supposed to be home! I'm a complete failure, I can't do anything right, I can't-"
Ikhny's eyes opened wide as she felt a pair of warm, moist lips cover hers, cutting her off from her rambling. She felt herself respond to it, as much as she tried to resist. His tongue gently licked her lips, begging for entry, which she whole heartedly granted in an instant. She couldn't think at all-she was at his mercy. His tongue instantly explored her mouth, running over her teeth and finally meeting with her own tongue. She could feel the passion between them flowing, the urgent need, and the fervent forbidden love felt by both of them, well, at least she thought it was both of them. She never hated Hiead for what he did or what he does. Everyone's got a story. She just had yet to learn his.
His tongue left her mouth as did his lips, which had begun trailing along the side of her jaw bone with tiny butterfly kisses, making her go insane. She never noticed that he was completely on top of and she was on the ground, hair splaying around her head like a halo. Her ponytail must have come out when he pushed her to the ground.
Hiead's kisses began tailing down her neck, but went no lower than where her shirt began. Come to think of it, she couldn't feel him touching her at all except for his mouth and the few strands of hair that accidently brushed against her face.
Then it stopped.
His kisses, that is.
She opened her eyes, meeting Hiead's intense gaze.
"Obviously, you're not going to be pregnant with anyone else's kids, 'cuz you're going to be pregnant with mine."
"Hie-"
He kissed her again.
"Shut up, will you?"
xxx
ON THE OUTSIDE OF THE CLOSET
"Simon! I can't hear anything!"
Simon smirked. "Of course you can't, Mel, their probably kissing like the apocalypse is gonna come!"
The lavender-haired girl looked at him incredulously. "How would you know?"
"Hello? I'm a fifteen-year-old guy and even I have fantasies about girls. Dad's seventeen and I'm positive that there's no way on Zion he could resist a hot chic like Mum in a teeny tiny closet with nothing but a pair of pj's on."
xxx
"Hiead, look, honestly, if Mel and Simon were actually going to happen, I think we have to get to know each other first, I mean-"
Hiead got off of her and retreated to the other side of the closet.
"Hiead..."
He was quiet for a while before he spoke again, softly. "My sister and I used to play a game when I was upset. It was like truth or dare, only there was no dare. It was a game of truths. It was the only way she'd ever get anything out of me. We used to pretend we were complete strangers who met each other at a bar and started talking about what happened-"
"Hi, my name's Ikhny Allecto. Who're you?"
Crimson eyes widened in shock as she stood up and stuck out her hand, smiling. He took it and shook it. Both of them sat down facing each other.
"You never told me your name, you know. What am I supposed to call you, stranger?"
"Hiead. Hiead Gner."
All traces of tears seemed to have disappeared as Ikhny started talking. Her eyes sparkled and her lips turned upward as she spoke. Hiead watched with extreme fascination as her mouth moved to form words.
"Really? My friend has a friend who goes by that name-well, I think she said he's her friend anyway. She's always saying how awfully strange he is, you know? One second, he's hating you like there's no tomorrow and the next second he's kissing you like no tomorrow."
"Perhaps he doesn't know how to express his real feelings."
"Really, you think so? I don't know...she says he has these random spats of kindness that's just way out of character for him. She says he's cute really-no he's not-he's hot, or so says my other friend, Kizna. She said she'd like him a lot if he weren't so cold."
"Perhaps he's cold because he doesn't want to get hurt."
"Hurt? How? No one could hurt him, but he on the other hand, could hurt people quite easily. She's always laughing about how he and Kizna's boyfriend fight. It's rather amusing. She says that they're both so good!"
"Maybe he thinks that people will hurt him if they die."
"I never really thought of that, but what could possible hurt him? From what I've heard, he's practically invincible."
"Perhaps he is invincible because he doesn't love anything."
"Oh?"
"Perhaps he was left by himself a long time ago."
Hied drifted off into silence as Ikhny contemplated his responses. Perhaps he came from a bad family or had a horrible childhood. That could kill off someone's spirit. She decided not to press him. Having him admit that much was a miracle in itself.
"I see. That's rather interesting. My friend, the one I was talking about, has the opposite side of the story. Her family loved her so much that they wouldn't let her do anything risky or fun. They wanted her home all the time where they could make sure she was okay. She never did anything she liked. One day, she saw a flier that advertised a...a boarding school where they could learn mechanics. She wanted to go so badly but her parents refused. They said that it was stupid and that she should stay home and learn to be a good house wife rather than be a dirty mechanic doing low life work. When she was fourteen, she found out that her parents had arranged a marriage with someone she absolutely detested and she ran away to join that boarding school that she wanted to go to."
"Then she was very brave to do what she did. My friend, on the other hand, was a coward and refused to let anyone close. He established a reputation for it and was too lazy to break it."
"Really? I think he's breaking it right now. I mean, after all, he spoke more than a sentence. I do believe he graced us with a broken-up paragraph!"
It was them that they heard some giggling outside the hall. Ikhny eyed the door closely.
"I also believe, Mr. Gner, that there are some eavesdroppers who are being awful listeners to our conversation."
They heard a scream from Melanie and a maniac laugh from Simon. Seconds later, they head footsteps running down the hall and a door shut.
"I also believe, Hiead, that everyone's got a good side in them," Ikhny said, whispering as she inched closer to him. Hiead felt slim arms hold him in a hug and a voice that said, "I believe that you've got one too, no mater what everyone else says."
xxx
A/N: MASS FLUFF! I know Hiead was a little out of character...okay, VERY out of character, but he has to open up sometime, right? What better time to tell her while reminiscing an old game he played with his older sister a long time ago? grin There is angst in the next chapter, so dennisud, heads up! Hiead will be in character in the next chapter (you know, being cold and everything again, making Ikhny wonder whether or not the Hiead she talked to in the closet was the real Hiead). Do you guys think I should stick a little Saki/Clay interlude in here somewhere? The story's starting to draw to a close and yes, VICTIM will make an appearance sooner or later. I apologize greatly for delaying this chapter, but I have discovered that summer P.E. was the stupidest thing I've ever done in my entire life. It takes up so much time and energy! I sleep when I get home! I'm sorry! Again! This chapter was originally seven pages, then I decided it'd probably take forever to finish, so I cut off at a good spot (or at least, I thought it was) and am planning to finish the other chapter VERY soon. DON'T KILL ME, PLEASE! Do leave a review, okay? How did you guys like Simon? I based him off a bunch of people (more like my evil godbrother, my best guy friend, and my cousin)...I hope he lived up to your standards!