I see most of you liked the clock. Ha ha ha!! Once I figure out how to make it, I'll distribute it.
^_^
Iluvenis Telperien:
Thank you! Me looking forward to
Zwey: Whoa! Were you swearing because it was
good, or because it sucked?
Tensaispira: Sorry, there aren't such
products on sale. BUT, my friend has this chicken alarm clock that clucks madly
that you throw it out the very next day after you bought it! Would you like
that one?? Ha ha!
Fiery-ice: Me not blushing today! He he!
December Morning Owl: Me neither. ^_^
Krappkarmin: Get ready, director, the curtain's about to go up.
Sen battousai:
Thank you!
Miracle: Thanks, miracle!
Yanagi_hanabishi: Thank you! Am glad you
like it!
Rapt142: Relax. You'll know what happens now.
Reika Zelon:
I am SO sure the clock will wake you up!
Kka: Ha ha! I've never
compared anyone to a mosquito before *tries it* Ahahahahaha!
Have fun with homework, if that's possible!
Unchained: Everyday?? Whoa, sorry but that is downright impossible!
Patty g: All suspense will be cleared if you scroll down and get to the
story. ^_^
Iori: Cry? Heh heh,
sorry, but I'm not much of a dramatist, but I'll see what I can do!
Frozenfemale: *parang
glints in the matahari* *nothingtodo
looks at the parang, and then at forzenfemale
and then at the parang again* Ookay….
*steps carefully out of reach* I'm doing pretty okay. I'm the one doing the
bullying, so I am very, very happy with that. Seremban? THAT is so far! Yep,
I'll be turning sixteen in may! PMR?
8 As. Not bad, eh? You?
Unquestionable: Enjoy the story!
"
Akima
was sprawled over Kaede's bed, looking up at the
ceiling hopelessly. She had just recovered from a rampage involving a lot of
crying, door thumping and cursing. Now she was exhausted.
"Five o'clock! Five
o'clock! FIVE O'CLOCK, YOU IDIOT!"
It was five forty-five
now, and the alarm clock was still yelling.
"
Akima
had heard a car speed away half-an-hour ago. Obviously, it was Mrs. Rukawa. She probably thought Akima
had gone off on her own, and had left for the Hanashi
residence as well. Akima was positive her yells could
have been heard over the other side of the moon, but for some reason, Mrs. Rukawa didn't hear her.
Resorting to logic, Akima had assured herself that once Mrs. Rukawa realised that she was not yet back home, Kaede's caring little mother would immediately rush back
here and save her.
The only thing is, it didn't seem to be happening.
"
Then, there was a
sound of a key turning in its lock. Akima shot up,
relieved. "Thank the God above," she quickly rushed to the door and yanked it
open. "Mrs. Rukawa, thank goodness, I thought –" Her voice died.
A very much younger Rukawa stared back at her, the key frozen in his hand.
Akima
gulped, instinctively taking a step back. Now that they were face-to-face, she
quite suddenly found herself incapable of speech.
"Sorry," Kaede started then, the surprised look gradually disappearing
to be replaced with an unreadable one. "Mrs. Rukawa
is unavailable at the moment. I'm her son. Would you like to leave a message?"
he asked. "Something like an explanation as to what the hell you're doing in my
room??"
At the moment, a
barking sound distracted Akima, and she took another
three steps back. As expected, MJ came running up the stairs, and as usual,
attempted to jump Akima and lick her. And as usual,
though unexpected, Kaede cursed slightly and
protectively shut the door in MJ's drooling face.
Alone now, they stared
at each other again, with MJ whimpering pleadingly outside.
"
"For
heaven's sake." He dropped the key onto his bed, walked past the
immobile Akima and took the alarm clock in his hand.
He pushed a button only known to him and immediately the machine shut up
obediently. Then – "
Kaede
pressed the button again.
"
"What on earth –" Kaede pressed the button for the
third time.
"
Akima
gave a weak whimper, almost matching MJ's. "I – I did
a couple of things to your alarm," she said in a small voice. "I was trying to shut
it up, and there were so many knobs, and I –"
He simply turned his
back to her, went to the window and threw the alarm out. It crashed on the
pavement downstairs, and went silent – forever.
Akima
stared wide-eyed. Retreat! Her brain screamed. He's in violent mode!
Retreat! Save own butt! Return to base camp to rearrange the Convince-Rukawa-of-Innocence strategy!
Then he looked at her with those sullen icy
eyes.
Aaaargh!
Too late!
"I was," she started
nervously, not knowing how to calm herself down under his intense gaze. "I was
on my way home."
"This is not your
home."
For some reason, that
statement hurt her a lot, even though it was obviously true. The inside
meaning, she decided. The message underneath that sentence.
You don't belong here. "I know," she said patiently, though there was a
growing edge to her tone. "I never thought of it as home anyway. I bumped into
your mother and she was supposed to give me a lift home, but she said she had
to get something and stopped by here."
"How original," he
muttered under his breath.
"And then your clock
started to ring and I came in to stop it. And then the door just… closed." She
realised how phony she sounded. "Locked."
He looked at her
steadily. "It's not now."
The dismissal rang in her
head like an annoying buzzing. Eyes wide, and heart dissolving into
nothingness, she nodded feebly. "I – I guess it isn't." Aware that another
weeping tirade was coming up, she turned and headed for the door.
Then, as if having second
thoughts, she abruptly turned back. Her eyes were blazing like atomic
explosions. "Actually, you know what?" she said heatedly. "I'm not going to
leave. Not until I get something through that stupid head of yours."
His eyebrows shot up
high as she stalked towards him. "Excuse me?"
"You're excused," the
unfairness getting to her, along with her infamous temper, Akima
grabbed him by the collar and hauled him to the bed. He dropped bum-first on
it, shocked. "I will NOT stand here and listen to you dismiss me like I'm some
kind of a tramp, you hear me?? It's damn unfair and I don't deserve it! I did
not do anything, and I will not tolerate you treating me as if I have!"
He gurgled as her hand
wrapped itself threateningly around his throat.
"Now you will listen
to me," she hissed viciously, "or you will die." She had a murder glint in her
eyes. Kaede didn't protest. "That guy you saw in the
tape is – or to be exact, was – my science-partner –"
"Rudi," he snarled.
"Good, you remember
him. He scored the lead role in the upcoming stage play. You can ask Akira for
further information. His friend is in it." When Kaede
didn't respond, she barrelled on. "He and I were just acting out a scene. I was
supposed to help him practice, which I stupidly agreed to. He's supposed to –"
"I'm not stupid, Akima," he muttered. "Even if I was blind, I'd know that
dork is half in love with you."
"Exactly,
HALF in love with me." She agreed. "But I'm not in love with him, am I,
half or not? I won't deny he did what he did on purpose, but I won't bow down
and say it was my fault either. It didn't mean anything, okay? You think I like
people coming around and kissing me like I'm a foldable plastic property?" He
opened his mouth, but she cut him off. "You think I enjoy it??"
"You –"
"It's totally unfair
that you believed everything that was presented to you without even the
slightest investigation," she went on angrily. "Didn't it ever occur to you
that it was set up? Everything was so DAMNED perfect and timed." She shook him.
"It was Ika. She did this. She even admitted it to me
in the face."
"It wasn't just the
tape," Kaede informed, even as his head bobbed at her
powerful shake. "I've been hearing a dozen things I didn't like."
"From
Ika." Akima said
firmly. She rattled his neck. "How dare you believe such a –"
"From
Ayako, from my classmates, from every busybody
prowling on the school corridor."
"And whom did they
hear it from?? Ika." She released a
frustrated hiss then. "I know it seems odd, with a hundred against me. And to
be fair, I admit that I'd have had some suspicions if I were in your shoes."
She glared at him then, slightly tearfully. "But what pissed me the most was
the fact that you didn't even give me the chance to defend myself." She shoved
him, causing him to drop onto his back on the sheets. "NOT ONE SINGLE CHANCE TO
SPEAK OR SAY SOMETHING!"
Lying on the bed, Kaede stared at the ceiling. "Your friend, Suki, paid me a visit a few days ago."
"Don't change the sub-" Akima's eyes snapped to his, the
rest of her speech wiped away.
"She explained
everything."
"She …" Akima trailed off. Then her face turned red again. "You
mean, you've known all along it was all a lie???"
"For
the past two days, yes."
"AND YOU KEPT ON BEING
A JERK AND MAKING ME TORTURE MYSELF TO DEATH???" She yelled. "WHY DIDN'T YOU
TELL ME? WHY DID YOU LET ME SCREAM AT YOU JUST NOW??"
"I know you, Akima," he shrugged. "If it was true that you had no
feelings for Rudi and was truly loyal to me, you'd have fought back for me
right down to the ground – which you did just now." He released a low satisfied
chuckle. "I didn't expect you to choke me though."
Akima
stiffly stared down at him with hot eyes, aware that she had just been
manipulated and used. "It's not funny," she said shakily, furious and upset
that he was taking it humorously and wiped a tear. "You caused me a lot of
damage."
He looked at her.
"Imagine how I felt."
Akima
looked down at the floor. "There were no substance to
the rumours," she murmured, using up the last of her fury in case she was
tempted to break down and blubber all over him. "I mean, how could you think I
would go for any other guy beside you??" An insulted look wavered on her face.
"Have you any idea just how much I care about you?"
"You worried me," he confessed
quietly. "You didn't react as I'd hoped you would when I confronted you. You
didn't yell, you didn't curse, you didn't do anything
to deny it. I was half convinced that you were indeed planning to elope with
Rudi."
"You came and went in
a second! You call that a confrontation?? I had no time to even say 'hello'! I
was shocked. You shocked me." She gave him an accusing look. "It's all your fault."
He offered a hand in a
piece offering.
She glared sulkily.
"No, don't touch me," she hissed. "If you think I'm going to jump right back
into your arms after you purposefully made a fool out of me just to soothe your
insecurities, you can stick that thought right up your nostrils." She sniffed.
"I hate you."
"That's too bad. I feel just the opposite for
you."
"You big, fat liar. If
you really did, you wouldn't have –"
"I'm a jealous sort of
person, Akima. I can only take in so much before I
crack."
"Next time, try taking
in FACTS instead of LIES," she snapped. "Then maybe you'll have more space for
SENSIBILITY." She scooted away when his hand reached for her again. "DON'T
touch me. And don't give me that stupid smile."
"You like my smile.
You told me so a couple of times."
"I lied." She looked
at the floor, so he couldn't see her softening. "What else?" she murmured
softly. "What else will be thrown in our way after this? I don't want this to
happen again. We haven't built a strong enough trust between us to tolerate
interferences from third parties. It's hard enough making it work just by the
two of us."
"One barrier overcame, one level stronger."
"I don't think I can handle
having to lose you again."
"You won't have to handle
it," he replied nonchalantly, confidence oozing subtly, pulling himself up into
a sitting position. "Because it won't happen again."
He raised an eyebrow. "Unless you still insist on sulking."
"I'm not sulking. And
I still hate you."
"I recall a certain someone
saying I matter a lot to her just a week ago." He reminded aloofly. "If she's
changed her mind, she should update Ayako about it."
Akima's eyes widened,
and then softened and mellowed. "You were there."
"I'm usually there, wherever
and whenever you need me."
Because it was true, she
couldn't help but admit defeat. Wordlessly, she went to him. He accepted her
weight on his lap easily and then started to use his mouth to apologise in a
rather effective way. Slightly breathless and once again blissfully happy by
the time he got his apology across, she rested her head against his right
shoulder blade.
"We have so much together,
don't we?" she muttered reflectively. "Everywhere I look, something reminds me
of you – particularly during the last few weeks. Even
something as insignificant as a toilet paper."
"Hmm." He understood
and shared the feeling, but dimly wondered what he and toilet paper had in
common.
"It made me think that
nobody could really snip off what connections we have with each other
successfully. There would be too much to cut." Her eyes hardened. "And to Hell
with those who try."
He nodded solemnly. "I
couldn't have said it any better."
Note: Will be uploading even more slowly from this point onward. School's bad enough, but now that I am handling FIVE societies and clubs in school, it's even worse. Have practically no time to write cuz am bombarded with homework every single day.
PS: Maki and Fujima aren't updated because I haven't even started with the next chap. V. sorry!