There were a lot of unread emails in his inbox, most of them from the detective agency he works for, asking him whether he would still reconsider mixing his work with his vacation. There was also a lot of household chores to be done, and he still had to pick up the laundry.
But for the life of him, Lyserg Diethyl couldn't understand why he, a perfectly rational figure by decent standards, would opt to silently watch the stranger before him munch on the doughnuts delicately. The three and a half pounds of cerebral muscles within him was definitely dysfunctional.
No, there was something about John that intrigues him so. He acts too refined, too poised. In fact, there was an unexplainable aura of elegance that surrounds him. Definitely, John was lying when he said he was a thief. But then, if he wasn't a crook, what was he?
He froze when he noticed the small sprinkles of sugar on the corner of his mouth. He expected him to rub it with the back of his hand, the way he sees other men do. To his shock though, John used a table napkin to wipe it primly.
More suspicion flooded into him. Maybe he wasn't going to abandon his detective work totally for his vacation…
Why won't Lyserg stop looking at me? wondered Jeanne as she finished her cup of coffee. She stole a quick look at her reflection on the glass window, and saw that her get-up was still alright.
"But then…" She frowned thoughtfully. Was he starting to doubt her identity?
She decided that she must go out and walk downtown. She needed another place to stay- she just couldn't risk revealing her identity after all the hard work she did in running away from Marco.
Lyserg watched as John stood up, not without his usual graceful way of rising from his seat, and started to clear the table. He then carried the plates and utensils towards the sink. The dowser then couldn't help but notice that beneath the shapeless outfit of John was an almost feminine-like body. Soft-looking, that was the adjective he was looking for. Not outrageously curvy, but certainly curvier than a typical male.
He frowned. There was something wrong in the scene, and slowly, he reached a hypothesis. Now all he had to do was to prove it.
Tamao marked a big X on the specific date of the current month's calendar. It was just a week before her thirteenth birthday…well, if you wouldn't count the two months to go before that actual week…and already she was looking forward to it. According to her board, she was going to meet her soulmate and man on that night, when the moon is full and stars are aplenty. She couldn't wait, for she herself was starting to have dreams about that special person. A silhouette, but somehow, it felt strangely familiar. Perhaps, because once upon a random lifetime, they had met already. She believed seriously in souls finding their matches in different lifetimes, that these souls are reborn over and over until one meets his or her destiny. And she, Tamamura Tamao, was determined to find her fate in this lifetime, no matter what.
She smiled. "Hai! And when I do find him, I will never ever let him go anymore." She sat down on one of the stools in the kitchen and tried to shut her eyes to imagine the mystery man in her usually prophetic dreams.
He was slightly taller than her, and he wasn't well-muscled. The shadow revealed the disarray of hair, almost reminding her of a certain person. No, scratch almost. It did remind her of HIM, but HE had NO right taking up space in her daydream. Anyway, she thought she could see the shy smile on the mystery guy's face.
She stood in front of the shadow as snowflakes softly showered them. It was almost surreal, that she could hardly feel the icy cold sensation of the soft snow.
Her heart skipped a beat as he slowly turned to face her. After all these months of dreaming of her soulmate, will she finally be able to see him already?
"Tamao!" Horo's grinning face broke her train of thoughts. He was peering at her face curiously. "Hey, who hypnotized you? Snap out of it!"
"You!!!" she shrieked, feeling the homicidal urge rush into her adrenalin. She was so close to knowing who her soulmate was…so very close.
Horo raised a brow. "Wow, you look so enthusiastic to see me. I didn't know you miss me that much."
Tamao shut her eyes and slowly counted to ten to calm herself. After all, she did care about his younger sister, and she didn't have the heart to deprive Pirika of a big brother so early in this stage of life. But it could still be plausible, depending on how Horo Horo handles her anger.
"I was thinking of my soulmate," she explained patiently, using the tone of voice she uses whenever he was begging to get the icing of the cake or have some of the batter for pancakes.
"Oh." Horo Horo was very much informed about his friend's fascination for that. "Oh, and so?"
"I was just starting to put together the image clues, and I can already see who is my soulmate! But then you came and RUINED my visualization!" she snapped.
"You can go and try to visualize him again. I'll be fine. The refrigerator will entertain me," said the Ainu, grinning.
"That's all you can say?!!" she cried. "I had been dreaming of being able to see my soul partner since ages ago and this was the first time that I was able to see him up close. But you had to go and ruin it by barging into the room without knocking!"
"So what's the big idea? You see a glimpse of your soulmate, and then what? Are you positive that he would make you happy?" Horo wanted to know. "What if this guy was a gay after all? Or a married person?"
The prophetess pouted. When soulmates were created, no one said anything about gender and civil status reliability. But of course, the ainu didn't need to know that. She stuck by her argument. "It won't dare go wrong with me," she said confidently. "I can feel it."
Horo still looked skeptical. "Oh, alright." He sauntered towards the refrigerator. "As for me, I'm contented with my beloved refrigerator. It responds to all my needs, and it doesn't talk too much. Ah, imagine life without a fully-stocked refrigerator. What a sad, sad existence."
Tamao sighed. "Your soulmate should be a cook. That's the only way for you to find a motivation to search for her."
He grinned. "I don't need a soulmate, nor do I desire to find her. Unlike you, I believe that if I am meant to be with one person, no matter how hard I try to run away from my destiny, the will of fate shall still prevail."
"A slacker's motto."
"Maybe, but an effective one, don't you agree?" He then brought out a shiny red fruit from his pocket and threw it at her. "Here. I was passing by a tree when I saw that, and I thought you might want it."
She had to smile. He may be not the most likable gentleman in the world, but he sure was very thoughtful, always bringing something for her when he comes here, flattering her at times when her morale needed it the most, and being sweet and caring, reminding him of a little boy basking in his mother's affection.
He gleefully took out the plate of leftover egg pie from the ref cheerfully. "Who needs a soulmate, when I've got you?"
Tamao laughed. "Thanks, Horo Horo."
Jeanne watched as Lyserg read what was written on her scribble pad.
"You're leaving?" he asked, frowning, as he put the pad back on the coffee table.
She nodded.
"Why, John?" he asked.
She picked the pad up and wrote something down quickly.
It's boring here.
She didn't know if that sounded authentic enough for a renegade, but that was the only excuse she could think of in leaving this place.
He looked reluctant, but he nodded. "Very well, John. Take care, and if you ever encounter another problem, you can always go back to my unit. You're welcome here."
She nodded, then went on her way. Wherever she would go next, she honestly had no idea.
"John!" Lyserg got up and placed his green coat on her suddenly. "It's cold at night, so I hope this will help." He picked up some bills and placed them on her hand. "And here. Use these for your food."
She couldn't believe this- the things that he was doing for her. His eyes showed sincerity for voicing out his concerns, as if they had already known each other for long already.
And before she could stop herself, a whisper released itself from her lips.
"Merci."
Ren was sweeping the yard grumpily as Pirika read some more of her books under the shade of the tree. He was busy devising plans of escaping so he could check already what happened to the Tao mansion. On his sister, for instance. Plus he had to let her know in some way that he was safe…well, marginally safe, considering the psychiatric threats to his sanity, courtesy of the blue-eyed ainu shrink.
The only good thing that his unplanned stay here brought about was that no one knew yet for sure whether he was alive or not, or where he was right now. He still had the advantage. And once he learns who that fool was who had orchestrated the assassination plot on him, he was going to take that person with him personally to inferno.
"But I'm too optimistic," he grumbled. No matter how he looked at it, that "advantage" weighs so little compared to the psychological torture he was undergoing.
His eyes went back to the girl, and noticed that she fell asleep, head resting on the bark of the tree, knees tucked under her chin, compressed between her folded lap and chest was a particularly thick Psychology book.
His mind cried in joy. Now was his chance to make his escape!
But before he could move, the girl toppled sideward and hit the ground. Amazingly, she was still asleep.
The next thing he knew, he was walking towards her quietly, careful not to wake her up. He gathered her in his arms and tried to lay her down in a more comfortable position, all the while muttering why he didn't take his chance awhile ago and flee.
No, I'll go after this. I mean, I can't just let her lie down like that in such a difficult position. She might wake up with a stiff neck or something.
She gave a little moan and slumped forward, directly on his chest. He stifled a gasp, then kicked himself. It was just a tiny body contact! No need to get all so flustered.
Finally, he was able to lay her comfortably back on the tree again. He smiled triumphantly, then prepared to leave.
He had just walked a few steps away from her when he instinctively turned around.
Pirika was still lying under the tree, fast asleep. Something gnawed his heart, and he went back to her side. He sat down beside her and groaned inaudibly.
Hey, I still have a conscience. What if a wild animal comes and chances upon her still sleeping? I don't want to carry that in my conscience, he rationalized. But if I can have things my way, I'll leave her. But I owe her my life and this is my way of repaying her good deed and…
Damn, why am I thinking about things like that anyway? A real fighter must not be a coward and run away. I will wait for her brother so I can be sure she won't be animal food, and that's when I'll leave.
He smiled. That was the plan. He rested on the grass, yawning. "Bason?"
Immediately, his power spirit appeared. "Master Ren?"
"I'm just going to nap. Look after the girl," he told his faithful power spirit.
"Yes, young master Ren."
So he lied down some feet away from her, and went to sleep.
tsuzuku