Chapter 1
~
The crisp white walls always seemed to somehow bear down on Ariadne's nerves. Her palms were cold and damp, and when she took in the severely medicinal scent of contained air, she paused to stifle a becoming cough. Her dark hair was fashioned into a simple ponytail and her simple clothes looked like high fashion when compared to the dreary uniforms of the workers here. As she made her progress, the only sounds were that off the faint squeaks of rubber dragging along the floor below and the incessant beeps of droning monitors.
Ariadne arrived in front of a door; its white sheen seemed as mocking as the new shoes she had gotten just yesterday from her father. This was it. Her hands slipped off the metal surface in her nervousness. She shook her head and quickly wiped her palms on the rough fabric of her jeans. But just before her shaking hands touched the knob, the door swung open to reveal a smiling nurse ready to greet her. The nurse steered Ariadne into the room and there, she found herself face to face with another one of those artificial smiles. She could almost see the barely concealed pity in the man's eyes in front of her. Her lips curled up into a forced smile. The man kept on smiling and nodded for the nurse to bring in her report.
"How are you feeling, Ariadne?" he asked as he flipped through my personal information with a quick flick of his wrists. The eyes turned keen on her. Ariadne folded her hands in her lap and didn't feel anything. Literally.
"I'm fine, Sir," she answered with a straight face, leveling him with a confident stare she hoped was reassuring.
"Yes, well then, I trust you're getting along well with your little friend there?" He asked cheerfully, as if Ariadne couldn't bear to call the metal contraption aiding her by its proper name.
"The wheelchair is … fine," she faltered when she saw that stupid, pitying glance cast to her by the nurse. Resent grew in her and she shifted in the wheelchair uncomfortably.
"Well, that's good…very good," he glanced at her over the wire-rimmed glasses he wore.
And this is what they call professional help? Ariadne scoffed and a scowl made itself at home over her features. Her family was paying for this shrink to make her actually get over the accident. Her lips curled in an unpleasant smile, barely noticing the doctor monitoring her facial expressions. It wasn't an accident, it was a tragedy. Her perfect life came falling down when she-
"Ariadne, is there anything…anything at all you want to share with me today?"
No. It was a flat no. Ariadne had let them poke and prod her legs and that was enough. She didn't need people cuckolding her mind with therapy bullshit. Ariadne stayed silent, leaving the awkward silence hang in execution.
A clear of the throat.
"Then, I trust everything is good and you are well on your way to recovery, I know there were hard times," his voice went on and on while Ariadne's mind drifted.
"Though there is one thing…" He sounded hesitant and this snapped Ariadne back to her senses.
"I'm worried about your lack of participation in the discussions, Ariadne, it seems that you're quite estranged from all the other patients. Let me remind you, communication is the key to recovery and if you're not-"
"Just because I'm quiet doesn't mean I'm unsociable!" Ariadne burst out, her face showing her disbelief at such incredulity.
"I'm not saying that you're unsociable but," he held up a hand when Ariadne tried to interrupt, "-but I'd like to request for you to stay for at least another week here."
"What!?!" She exclaimed in alarm, her eyes searching the doctor's face frantically for any sign that he was joking with her.
"I've already told your parents and they agreed but don't get me wrong, I'm doing this for your own well being, Ariadne, remember, Sunny Hills cares about you," he looked at her intently.
"But I'm fine, okay, well and just perfectly healthy!" She protested inching forward further until she heard her knees knock against the solid desk in front of her.
"We know that but I'm still worried about this," he tapped a finger against his head.
The man thought she was crazy! Just because she had shut up during stupid discussions about pathetic stuff like hobbies and favorite flowers.
"I'm not crazy and I'm very sociable," She was desperate and quickly shot a wobbly smile at the nurse. Her overly bright eyes glinted back, her smile still as megawatt as ever.
"Then show me in the next seven days," he gave her a somewhat crooked smile she had never seen from him.
Unconsciously, Ariadne slumped back into her wheelchair, suddenly defeated. "Alright, alright." Honestly, what was she agreeing to? It's already been decided anyway.
"Now, I've come up with a splendid idea for you," he sounded almost giddy. He took out another file from a drawer and quickly roved a pleasing eye over the papers. "I've decided to put you in a pair and I've got the perfect partner for you!"
Ariadne mumbled an incomprehensible answer. But she was met with silence and an accusing stare. Letting out a mental curse, she pasted on an overeager face and pretended to be interested, "Yes?"
It worked.
With an approving nod, he continued, "Hm, very nice specimen…I mean, patient, this one. He just came from Japan for therapy, yes, he will definitely do."
He handed her the file containing the person's information.
"You're supposed to socialize with him, try getting him comfortable with you but don't forget it's a joint effort. And don't worry, the pale skin came from his English heritage so there's no worry with any communication problems."
Ariadne eyed the picture with a critical eye. He was wearing a red uniform and was in the middle of doing a lay-up. The raven hair revealed clear blue eyes which looked sharp and alert. The athletic body seemed to strain against the picture and she found herself raising an acute eyebrow.
He looked mute however.
~
The warm, scent of leaves mingled in the air as the sun beat its rays onto the white-walled establishment. Quietly stepping out of the car, he nodded to the chauffeur and entered through the sleek sliding doors. The cool air permeated through the wide area, even though the sun shone through the glass windows high above. The worn old duffel bag lay by his side while he stood there. People were milling about, talking and smiling like old friends. He immediately hated it.
But a lone figure caught his eye however. It was a she and she was in a wheelchair, facing away from him. He felt pity for the girl; she looked so young and helpless. She couldn't walk. He thought about his injury for a second and shivered despite himself. He still remembered the doctor's words. He could make a complete recovery if he took a step at a time. No rush.
Then the girl turned around, inquisitive golden eyes to him, they looked puzzled at first and then slightly dismayed.
What's this?
She rolled over to him and stopped just when the soles of her tennis shoes were about to touch his legs. "Hello, I'm Ariadne Dixon, you're partner." She held out a hand.
"Kaede Rukawa." Rukawa grasped the smaller palm firmly in his.
"Right, umm…how about I show you to your room?" She started and began moving towards a hallway, leading them into an elevator to the left. When they entered another similar hallway, she said, "See now, here's where all the guys go. The girls' rooms are on the next floor."
She stopped in front of a door to her right, "Here we are, uh…room 201." She handed him a key with an unsure smile. Quickly taking it, Rukawa unlocked the door and entered with Ariadne behind him. He was about to give her some more room so she can move but her slightly more high-pitched voice prevented him. "You've got your own bathroom and everything, the cafeteria is on the ground floor, that's where I'm going to take you there next."
Rukawa nodded and placed his bag on the foot of his bed. He followed Ariadne out.
When they arrived at the cafeteria, he had to raise an inquisitive eyebrow. The cafeteria was as warm as cold prison could get. Everything was done shades of grey and white. It was disturbingly drab and clean. There was no sign of the legendary mean cafeteria lady or the usually-present bully who stole lunches.
"It is drab, I know," she interrupted his thoughts with a small rueful smile. "Let's go, I'm supposed to show you a couple more places and they're just as exciting as the cafeteria was just now." She led them to several more places, namely the fitness centre, the swimming pool, the park and the courts.
In the courts however, Ariadne stopped for a while to make small talk. Maybe, she knew that he wanted to see how the basketball court looked like. He wasn't going to play but it didn't hurt to look, right? "So, Kaede how long have you been playing basketball?"
He looked at her so sharply that she hastily added, "Well, I saw your files…"
Rukawa's eyes narrowed and his lips compressed into a straight line, "You saw through my files?" Unconsciously, he managed to look menacing towering over her scant wheelchair height.
"Uh, I was your partner so they let me, you know, to get more background information like that," answered Ariadne with an inaudible gulp. If only her legs could work now…
He blinked slowly and then moved away. "Since I started high school," he muttered quietly, looking ahead.
"Oh." That was breathless. Honestly, the guy could look menacing if he wanted to. With a nervous laugh, she shot a glance at her watch and realized that they had spent a whole afternoon touring. She was allowed the whole afternoon free on account of him and was secretly relieved that she didn't have to attend any of her therapy sessions. "Dinner will start at about 8.00 sharp, so how about we meet at the cafeteria entrance five minutes early?"
Rukawa nodded and began to follow her from behind.
"And, oh, you're required to talk about yourself in front of the group so speak up. We're a rather large crowd," she said while she turned around a corner. Rukawa didn't reply, so the rest of the way back to his room was made in silence.
Silently, he padded into the room. The room looked so clean and tidy that he had the insane urge to tip over his bag and just dump his junk everywhere. But he quickly abandoned idea when his eyes caught sight of the bed. It was a king-sized bed. It looked very comfortable and inviting after an exhausting flight. Traveling in luxury was nothing like a refreshing sleep, Rukawa thought just before sleep invaded him.
~
'Where is he?' Ariadne was nervous. She was so nervous that she kept looking at the elevator every five seconds, in the hopes that her partner would appear. He was five minutes late for dinner and people were starting to crowd into the entrance to the cafeteria.
"Hey, Ariadne," somebody called out from the crowd. Ariadne mumbled a 'Hi' distractedly while keeping an eye over the elevators.
"Hey!" A blond-haired guy managed to wriggle out of the mass of chattering bodies. "What are you doing here?" He bent down till they were practically face to face and grinned.
"I'm watching the elevators," she told him, irritated that he was blocking her view.
"Anything interesting you'd like to note about them?" He raised an eyebrow and gestured at her field of direction.
"Well, they're more interesting than you, Billy," she answered, shooting him a 'go-away' look.
He actually looked hurt for a second before he put in snidely, "You know what? You're such a bitch, no wonder nobody wanted to be your partner during the sessions. Honestly, I pity you…"
"Don't! Don't pity me!" Ariadne turned her loathing gaze to him for the first time, "Just because I can't walk doesn't mean people has to pity me! I'm sick of you guys shooting me those pitiful looks! 'Poor Ariadne! Poor little Ariadne! She can't play tennis anymore!'" By this time, her words carried clearly through the entire room and were heard only by a few people. The rest had already shuffled into the room, waiting for their dinners.
Billy stood stock still, shocked at what she had said to him. It was true. He had befriended her out of pity. Ariadne rigidly fell back against her seat and regarded Billy with a frustrated face. Then after a few minutes, she let out a sigh and looked up again. "Sorry. I've got to go fetch my partner," she muttered sulkily before practically punching the 'Up' button on the wall.
~
The hallway was brightly lit, not matching Ariadne's dark mood. If she was going to act like that every time she meets her so-called friends, then she could just say her goodbyes to getting out of Sunny Hills.
Her actions were not immune to her mood and the knock she gave Rukawa's door was violent and loud. If she was going to get out of here fast, then she'd have to be extra nice to this guy and make amends to Billy for her outburst. She scowled when there was no response. This was the right room. 201. What? Did he hang himself that soon?
Ariadne allowed an improper smile to graze her features. Then again, that wouldn't be so bad because then she would have to go home on the grounds of 'traumatic experience and grief'… but Rukawa's life for her comfort? Come on, she didn't even know the guy that well. With an impatient note to her voice, she called, "Kaede?" She pounded against the door.
She heard a rustle. Then a moan.
Bloody hell. Don't tell me he's scoring with the girls this early!
She pushed the door open and quickly entered, flipping the lights on. He was asleep, curled up on the left side of the bed. She rolled her eyes heavenwards and shook his shoulder lightly, "Hey, wake up."
She didn't receive a response.
"Wake up!" Her voice was louder, sharper this time. The boy slept like the dead.
After a few unsuccessful attempts in waking him up, she decided to cut the gentle crap short and opted for the more rough ones. Ariadne punched his shoulder. Unnecessarily hard.
His eyes snapped open and then he towered over Ariadne in a second, a frown on his face. "What?"
"What? WHAT?" Ariadne exclaimed, on the verge of hysterics. The past few days' events had finally taking their toll on her emotions. She was held back from going home when she was supposed to and then forced to 'be sociable' with her partner. She had to resolve in being too damned sweet and attentive, the epitome of socializing, before she could get her hands on her ticket back to home. She just had an encounter with Billy and discovered that her partner was just sleeping. And above all, she was hungry and it was dinner time, damn it!
"You…you…" she muttered darkly, if only she had full use of her legs, because right now, she would definitely aim a kick at him.
"You woke me up," his tone was disapproving.
Right. In. Between.
"WE WERE SUPPOSED TO MEET NEAR THE CAFETERIA!!!" she screeched.
"I was sleeping," he told her as she boiled.
"I know that! A log would have made more sense to wake up before then! We're ten minutes late! And you were supposed to introduce yourself five minutes ago!"
"Good."
Her eyes shot sparks at him. "Whatever." She moved out of the room with Rukawa close behind her. In the elevator, the 'gentle' side she had showed him before was completely ruled out with the sour face Ariadne was pulling. When they arrived at the entrance, they stopped there. Ariadne scowled in front of the doors.
They entered.
~
End of Chapter One.
Author's Note: This one has been sitting around in my pen drive for too long. I decided to post it up as a means to air it out for a while. I really hope you've enjoyed reading this and I'm looking forward to a review or two. =) Or a few dozens. But hey, I don't want to keep my hopes up that high.
Fehrocious