Disclaimer: See Chapter 1.
WARNING: THIS IS SLASH/SHOUNEN-AI. IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO READ IT, CLICK THE BACKWARDS ARROW ON THE TOP LEFT HAND CORNER. THIS IS THE LAST WARNING. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
Love or Hate: What is the Difference?
Chapter 2: A bed, a grandmother, and a group of mechanics
-by Firemoon
Raven opened his eyes sleepily. The sun was shining outside, and he thought that it was around 9 o¡¯clock. ¡®Strange, that, Ryss would have been shouting her lungs off by now, standing outside my bedroom.¡¯
But he buried his face into the soft pillow, and let out a contented sigh. He felt so sleepy.. just one more hour¡¦
He froze. Someone was sleeping beside him. He just heard an unintelligent mumble, coming from somewhere beside him. He turned around-
¡¦And came face to face with Van Flyheight.
At first, he did not say anything. The shock was too great.
Van Flyheight?
At that moment, Van¡¯s eyes opened. They just looked at each other for a full second before springing out of the bed to either side of it.
Raven opened his mouth to say something spiteful as usual, but gasped and dropped to the carpeted floor as the potion¡¯s effect again took over him. Van, at last remembering, came hurrying over the bed and automatically wrapped his arms around Raven until his breathing became easier.
¡°You OK?¡±
Raven took a deep, shuddering breath. And Van let go of him, suddenly aware of the arms that were cradling Raven. Fortunately, Raven had not noticed it, and was looking around, studying the room. Van called out to him, trying desperately to hide the red tint on his cheeks.
¡°C¡¯mon, I have to hurry.¡±
¡°Where?¡±
¡°What? To breakfast, of course. They are going to close it in..half an hour.¡±
Raven stood up, and immediately a suitcase – it was his – came into view.
¡°Shadow brought it this morning. Zeke said Shadow said Ryss was looking really pissed off, but otherwise very well.¡±
¡°Who cares about that psychotic bitch?¡±
Raven snorted as he opened the suitcase and Van decided to make a helpful—but also VERY dangerous—comment about his clothes.
¡°Don¡¯t you wear anything else other than black?¡±
¡°Look, these are MY clothes, not yours.¡±
Van flushed red, and hastily turned around as Raven started to get changed. He didn¡¯t seem to notice that Van was in the same room as him, or he didn¡¯t care. He turned around again as Raven¡¯s voice was heard.
¡°So, am I stuck here with you for the rest of my life?¡±
¡°I¡¯m not sure, though I sure hope that you are not. Dr. Di might tell us something over breakfast.¡±
¡°Then let¡¯s go. I don¡¯t want to spend any more time than necessary inside this pathetic base.¡±
----------
¡°WHAT?¡±
Raven shouted, and both Dr. Di and Van cringed. Raven pointed a seemingly accusing finger at the dark-haired boy, his other hand a quivering fist by his side.
¡°You mean I can¡¯t get away from this Baka for at least a month?¡±
¡°Or more, I should expect. I don¡¯t exactly know what Ryss has put in that thing, and the first thing I have to do is get a sample of your blood – ¡°
¡°¡¦¡¦¡¦¡±
Raven did not say anything, but closed his eyes for a few seconds, obviously trying to calm himself down. There was simply no point in making the situation worse by getting locked up in a call with Van, although it seemed an interesting idea at the breakfast. Imagine them locking their own man up in a cell.
¡°Okay, so all you need is a sample of my blood and time.¡±
¡°Yes. I must admit that we do not appreciate you gracing our base with your company either. So I¡¯ll try my best to figure out and make the counter-potion as soon as I can.¡±
¡°Good.¡±
Raven called out his shoulder, Van trailing behind him. Dr. Di sighed, shaking his head. The boy was, indeed, insufferable. No wonder Ryss thought of giving him the potion¡¦ but why that?
----------
Irvine made a face at Moonbei in the cockpit, reading a book and sometimes reading aloud to him – as Raven and Van entered the hangar. Van spotted him fixing – or, rather, trying to fix – his Lightning Saix and called out to him.
¡°Good morning Irvine! And Sobo-san, of course,¡±
Thomas had taken to call her Sobo-san since he once saw how she did not wore her hair in braids, saying that she looked just like his grandmother when she was young. It was meant as a joke, but it stuck and she became infuriated whenever she heard other soldiers greeting her in that, saying ¡°What? Don¡¯t call me ¡®Grandmother¡¯! I¡¯m not that old yet!¡±. ...Still, it was a good fun, bowing mockingly solemn as they said ¡®good morning¡¯ or ¡®good afternoon, Sobo-san¡¯.
As usual, Moonbei threw the book she was reading down at Van, aiming for his head, but he ducked, so it bounced up harmlessly on the ground. Irvine cringed. That was his favourite book and he hoped that the binding did not break.
¡°You little- Wait till I get my hands on you in dinnertime, Van!¡±
¡°Yeah, see you! There¡¯ll be some papaya salad for desert!¡±
¡°What? Unfair! Why do you pick on me anyway? There¡¯s Captain O¡¯Connell, Major Hermann, Thomas, Colonel Schubaltz¡¦¡±
¡°THAT IS NOT THE POINT!! This is it, you¡¯re going down!¡±
¡°EEK!! HELP ME SOMEONE!¡±
Raven was watching all this with his arms folded and a bored expression on his face. But as Moonbei stood up with a murderous expression – she probably had a bad morning start –, ready to strangle Van, he cleared his throat very loudly. At once they noticed the gray-haired pilot¡¯s presence, and Moonbei glared at him, her hands only inches from Van¡¯s neck.
¡°What¡¯s the matter, Raven? Your throat hurts? Shall I fetch you some water?¡±
¡°That would be very nice, thank you.¡±
Raven replied in return to Moonbei¡¯s sarcastic remark, and smirked. He was about to say something when Van¡¯s grateful expression caught his eyes, and he just sat down on the floor with a haughty ¡®hhmp¡¯.
¡°Go ahead and kill him, I don¡¯t mind. Although the fun would be a little spoiled without me taking part, but nevertheless it would be quite interesting to see the famous Van Flyheight getting killed by a mere girl with her bare hands. Besides,¡±
He added as an afterthought, seeing their, but especially Van¡¯s, expression.
¡°If he dies, then I might be able to get away from this place— go ahead, kill him.¡±
Irvine tried to hide the twitching in the corner of his mouth, watching the three¡¯s antics. Moonbei would surely be pleased to be addressed as a ¡®mere girl¡¯ after the months of the ¡®Grandmother¡¯ thing, and the look on Van¡¯s face was priceless.
And Raven...he hasn¡¯t changed much. He was still the old Raven, being his usual ¡®arrogant and sadistic bastard¡¯ self. But still, he and Van were barely nineteen. By now, Moonbei¡¯s anger had cooled down considerably, and she let go of Van. Raven mock-pouted.
¡°What? You¡¯re not going to kill him?¡±
¡°No, I¡¯m not.¡±
Raven suddenly jerked his head round, looking around the hangar. He seemed to be searching for something, or listening.
¡°What is it?¡±
¡°Where¡¯s my Genobreaker? Surely you didn¡¯t leave it out in the desert? ...Think before you answer, Flyheight. I am perfectly capable of killing you right here, right now.¡±
¡°Well...¡±
¡°It¡¯s in the special hangar. The far left.¡±
Irvine answered for Van, and Raven stood up. And without giving a glance to Moonbei or Irvine, walked towards the special hangar with Van trailing behind him. Irvine chuckled silently to himself, looking at the two boys as they walked away. Somehow, he didn¡¯t mind Raven staying with them at all.
----------
Shadow practically pounced on Raven as the gray-haired pilot entered the special hangar, and Raven, his lips secretly quirking up to a genuine smile, reached up to stroke the organoid¡¯s head while it happily nuzzled him, glad to be near its master again. Van stared, fascinated, at Raven and Shadow who seemed to be closer than Zeek and himself. Of course, you moron. They saved each other¡¯s necks for countless times. No wonder they¡¯re so close.
Then Raven finally noticed all the mechanics hovering around the Genobreaker. His Genobreaker.
For the moment, all he could see was red and the word ¡®kill¡¯. He quickly marched up to the nearest mechanic and practically threw him out of the hangar, snarling.
¡°Don¡¯t.go.near.my.Genobreaker.¡±
The mechanics fluttered nervously around, looking at Raven and Shadow with fearful gaze. Raven gestured towards the entrance.
¡°Go. But leave all the tools. I¡¯ll be fixing it.¡±
As the last of them ran out of the hangar, Raven smirked at Van.
¡°Stupid cowards.¡±
..Van somehow had the feeling that Raven also included him in that comment, but he soon forgot about it as Dr. Di, Thomas and Irvine appeared.
¡°What was that?..Oh, it¡¯s you.¡±
¡°Yes, Schubaltz, it¡¯s just little old me.¡±
¡°Raven, don¡¯t be such a sarcastic bastard. Why did you chase them out?¡±
¡°Isn¡¯t it obvious?¡±
Raven smirked, and continued with the smirk still on his face, but with much more serious and dangerous tone.
¡°It¡¯s my zoid, you understand? MY zoid, and although I have to stay here for god-knows-how-long, I don¡¯t trust you anymore than I do Ryss.¡±
He casually nodded to them, and snapped his fingers at both Shadow and Van.
¡°Come along, Shadow....and Flyheight. I think I¡¯ll just stroll around the base a bit. Oh,¡±
He suddenly stopped, and glanced back at the dumbstruck men behind him.
¡°Could you please not touch my Genobreaker? I don¡¯t want to amputate any of your limbs...it gets a little too messy.¡±
-----
Firemoon¡¯s notes:
Firemoon: Yay! Another chapter done!
Raven: Wow. Interesting. *bored expression*
Van: Unfair! Why do I have to follow Raven around like a dog?
Raven/Firemoon: *smirk smirk* because you are.
Van: *whimpers like a dog* So unfair...
Thanks to:
Sanity-Stealing-Garden-Gnome – Thanx really for the reviews you¡¯ve given me in the other stories too. It really helped me a lot, reading those reviews. *bows*
Luine – Ouch, sorry about that. *grimaces* Hope it¡¯s better now.. *thumbs up* I myself haven¡¯t had, er, the encounter with them before, so I, unfortunately, can¡¯t give anything to help you with it. Well, I accept flames because I don¡¯t mind them...?? Er, anyway, Thnx for the great review and compliment!
Naomi Hunter – Thnx too for the review. I think I¡¯m starting to ruin this fic though... 0_o;;
Gardenlaw – It doesn¡¯t work.. Sorry.. I¡¯ve tried everything within my power to get it right.. but it doesn¡¯t work. I¡¯m feeling so depressed now. *whimper* Thanks for the help and the review anyway.
HadOwCat – It¡¯s good to know that you liked it. Hope you will always like it in the chapters to come [although I¡¯m sure that it¡¯ll go so bad that nobody will ever want to read this]
Again SORRY FOR THE WEIRD FORMAT. I will take all the blame. FLAMES accepted, REVIEWS welcome.