Chapter 7
"What are you laughing for?" Kurapika scowled, half angry, half embarrassed. Waking up beside Kuroro had got him into a state of panic, but that moment ended quickly. Suddenly being aware that he was still full clothed, he blushed.
Kuroro's eyes still hadn't leave him, the tenderness shown in them made him warm inside, yet at the same time cut into him like sharp razors. Kurapika looked down and bit his lips. How he wished Kuroro would looked at him with cold and indifferent eyes like before. He looked up, but the man had left the bed.
"I... yesterday..." Kurapika hesitated. He remembered fainting in the other's arms, but after that his memory was like a blank sheet. Kuroro had opened the window. The wind swirled in, carrying with its the smell of sea that had become familiar to Kurapika. Kuroro turned back and looked at him questioningly but words just couldn't leave his throat. Why on earth did he wake up beside the Genei Ryodan's leader?
It seemed that Kuroro had understood his silence and uneasiness, as the man smiled softly and returned to the bed.
"Last night? Don't you remember anything? You had come to me and showed me that you didn't want to be alone."
"That's not right! I..." Kurapika intended to say he would never do anything like that, but memories flooded back before he could finish his words.
No, they were not really memories. They were just fragments of emotions. It was the warmth of a hand on his cheek. It was the feeling of completion when the forbidden word "love" was finally confessed. And most of all, it was the searing pain when nightmare visited him in his sleep. The nightmare awakened in him memories of burn grass on the blood-soaked grasslands. The pain of helplessness blended with panic when from under the graves, passed away people woke up and turned their empty eye sockets to him, demanding revenge and throwing vituperative words at him for having walked on the wrong road.
Panic had swallowed every thought. Burning in him was only a desire to search for peacefulness. In his dream, he had run for so very long under a bloody sky. He had run to find the only one that could give him what he wanted most at that moment. He had come to Kuroro, how bitter, as...
"Kurapika, stop thinking so much." Suddenly the back of a hand touched his face, startling him.
Kuroro was smiling, but his eyes spoke only of sadness. "What happened had happened already. Spare your poor brain of unnecessary thoughts."
"..." Kurapika muttered some incoherent words, then fell silent.
"This lunch, what do you want to have?" Kuroro startled him once more time.
"What?"
"You don't intend to starve to death, do you?" Kuroro made a move of his head towards the clock on the wall. "At this time it's too late for breakfast, but too early for making lunch. So... oh well, do you want to go to the town near here with me? We may have lunch there if you want. You're still weak, but if you don't use nen, it won't be harmful. And open air might be good for you."
"There's a town near here?"
"If we go by car, we'll reach it in twenty minutes."
"I thought this building must be in the middle of no where, isolated from everything. What if people suspect?"
"What for? Everyone knows Kazuto, the owner of this house and this beach was a successful business man, but he doesn't like people and is very bad at communication with others."
"Oh..."
"So? Do you want to go?"
There was a conflict inside his mind. Kurapika knew he shouldn't do every thing Kuroro suggested. But Kuroro would never tell him where he was, so he might just seize this chance to find out.
"I'll go with you." Kurapika answered and left the bed. He staggered at first, then was steadied by Kuroro's hand of his left arm.
"Can you chance clothes alone?"
"I can." He scowled and pried Kuroro's hand off him.
"Fine, fine. Just don't push yourself too hard."
"I know." Kurapika scowled again. His logic told him that his blood should have been boiling by now, as he had shown his weak and vulnerable side to his foe. But right now, all what he felt was only embarrassment.
"You can change here. I'll go to your room." Kuroro handed him some clothes, took his own and then walked out.
Kurapika remained frozen in the room for some very long seconds, on his hands were Kuroro's clothes and on his mind was only the image of himself in Kuroro's ridiculous coat and with Kuroro's book in hand.
But then, it was really ridiculous. Kuroro gave him a tight shirt and leather trousers. Did the man really expect him to wear those things? And how the hell did this type of clothes get into the wardrobe of the infamous Genei Ryodan's leader?
On the clothes was lingering a faint smell. Kuroro pressed his face to the rough fabric and breathed in that familiar scent of the man he had...
He blushed and put the garments down. What was he thinking? It couldn't be more ridiculous. Suddenly afraid of his own thoughts and actions, Kurapika quickly dressed, trying his best not to think of Kuroro's scent enveloping him, and the image of himself in the tight clothes.
But in the end, the tight shirt wasn't really tight, and the leather trousers were a little too long for his liking.
Kurapika heard Kuroro's voice calling him downstairs. He left the room, annoyed a little as he could still feel his side throbbing dully. Outside, Kuroro was waiting for him beside a small, but expensive-looking car.
"So a date then?" Kuroro asked.
Kurapika didn't know how to answer. The guilt of going out with his enemy came back. But of course, he had a reason for doing that. He would never let anyone manipulate him. He must know where he was, or...
Kuroro opened the door and let Kurapika sit beside him on the front row. "I think you know this town."
"What?"
"You might have been there. This town was only some miles away from the town that the first round of the hunter exams last year took place."
"Ah..."
Or what?
***
They went along the seashore. From the car looking out, Kurapika could see the beach spreading out to the horizon and the frail line where the see met the sky. He brushed away a curl of hair from his eyes, and settled back to stare at the repeated and boring scene before them.
At his side, Kuroro didn't say anything. The man wasn't looking at him, only focus on the road, but for some reason, Kurapika couldn't stop himself from glancing at the man from time to time. It must have been only 10 minutes, but to him, it felt like they had gone through the time of many centuries. He didn't even know what he was feeling; this silence was both peaceful and uncomfortable.
The first house had come into sight; they had reached the outskirt of the town. Though the houses on two sides of the road were still few, the sight of them had made the outside scene become less dull.
"We have reached that town." Kuroro suddenly said. Kurapika startled, his elbow slid away from the glass of window and hit its frame hard.
"Chain boy, why are you so absent-minded this morning?" Kuroro couldn't help a smile, then he continued. "From this town if you go along the coast, you will reach the town where your Hunter exam took place, but if you go by sea, you will save much more time."
"Aren't you afraid that I might escape?" Kurapika asked quietly.
The car stopped. Kuroro turned to him, anger reflected in his eyes. "You think that I'm imprisoning you?" The man said harshly. "Who do you think you are?"
"An insect in the web of a spider?" Kurapika let out a humorless laugh.
Kuroro gripped the wheel so tight that his knuckles became almost white. Kurapika had thought the man would snap. Half of him hoped that Kuroro would kill him for making the man angry, half of him waited for Kuroro to tell him his thoughts were just irrational.
"Maybe you're right." Kuroro said.
It was definitely not what Kurapika had expected. He snapped his head up and stared at Kuroro. "What?"
"Be more careful. Put up your guard, watch your back, and stay alert. Don't let yourself be devoured by this spider."
The voice was cold and harsh, but blending into them was some kind of vague self-hatred. Kurapika felt shocked, and then guilty. His words had somehow hurt Kuroro. He looked down at his folded hands on his laps, feeling low and depressed. "Kuroro, I'm sorry."
Kuroro was silent, and then he sighed. "It's never been your fault. Maybe I shouldn't have said all of those things too." His hand left the wheel to place on Kurapika's. "I know you're still suspicious, but just look, today is a beautiful day. Forget everything and enjoy yourself, just for a day."
Kurapika hesitated, then looked up. Kuroro's hand had left his, and now the man was back to focusing only on the road again. Kuroro's hair was down, like this, the man was more like an angel than a messenger of death and destruction. The thought made him chuckled.
Kuroro glanced at him, surprised.
"Right now, you're not..." Kurapika whispered.
"What do you mean?"
"Kuroro, you're right. Today is a beautiful day. Such a beautiful day shouldn't be destroyed by anything, right?"
The feeling of peacefulness he had felt when being near Kuroro on the last few days returned. Kurapika still didn't know if that peacefulness was fake, but right now it was not important. Even if everything was a lie, in this moment, he didn't want to run away from the selfishness that would let him enjoy that sweet and beautiful lie.
To be continued...
A/N: Thanks so much for everyone for reading and reviewing this fic. You're all so wonderful
I'm really sorry for the slow update. I'm writing very slow _
Bleeding Heart12: I'm very happy to hear that someone really wants to post my story in their site ^_^
