Title: Intruder Alert 3: Transition
Author: Frostmourne
Disclaimer: I don't own Vision of Escaflowne so don't sue me…
Chapter Dedication: moon smurf, the original esca chick, windsoffortune, one_mean_rabbit, dilly-sammas luver, Blue Demon, My Silver Flame, Colerachel, Always Dreaming, fallen-dark-angel, MysticalDreamer32, Fictional-gal, Kat-Tastrophe, Fuzzie, Magicman/Smokegirl, naria4, Izzy, who cares4, Aaridys, TiarellaCordifolia, Night of the Raven, DillyChic16, Xen003, Wendera Jade, Princess Neptune, SabrinaYutsuki, Catelina, blue ice 2, Koriina, Kendra and AFCAMistress
Summary: Hitomi Kanzaki and Dilandau Albatou were forced on a roller coaster ride of bad impressions, an unwanted engagement, and a weird friendship others do not take too kindly on. When they stepped out of the ride and went back to how they originally wanted everything – having nothing to do with each other – they're up for another roller coaster ride. This time, it's a ride they both need to decide the right way to pursue.
Chapter 5: Spending time and growing suspicions
"You're staying here and that's final. I'm not going to make you drive all the way to your place at this hour."
Chesta glanced briefly at Dilandau who was leaning on the car, mind obviously wandering. "Hitomi, I'd be alright and---"
"It's not like there'd be classes tomorrow," Hitomi interrupted. "So come on."
He was about to argue with the girls again when Dilandau spoke up. "Just stay for the night. They don't bite."
Hitomi smiled at Dilandau and then looked at Chesta triumphantly before she and Millerna walked inside the house followed by a very strange Dilandau, who looked as if he was steeling himself for some verbal blows from Hitomi.
"I didn't mean to---"
"It's about time anyway," Dilandau interrupted what he was saying. "She knows something. At least I'd get to tell her the whole story."
Chesta was left there standing outside the house beside his car. Dilandau was really changing. The guy practically hated to talk about his past and normally Dilandau would just backhand him till he's unconscious for doing something that would ruin his relationship with Hitomi, whatever it was. But he seemed to just surrender to the mess and he looked ready to just take on whatever hurt Hitomi would give him.
"I'm sorry. I just hope it turns out well," Chesta said almost quietly before he entered the house.
To say that Mr. Kanzaki was confused was an understatement. A few days ago, Hitomi's engagement to Dilandau was broken off and the two were obviously just itching to get away from each other. But now, Dilandau was in their house and Hitomi was asking for his permission about a sleep-over.
"Is it okay, dad?"
His musings had to be cut short and he turned to his wife who was smiling at him, before turning to Hiko who obviously wanted Dilandau around more than Allen.
"Dad?"
He turned to Hitomi and nodded. "Yes, I suppose. Do their parents know?"
Hitomi nodded. "We called them. They said yes."
Mr. Kanzaki looked at Dilandau who was sitting beside Hiko in a tense manner. "Are you sure, Tomi?"
"I am."
"Dilandau and his friend don't seem comfortable in my opinion."
He watched as his daughter turned to Dilandau who looked at her with a resigned look. He couldn't understand the children. They act as enemies and yet, there is something off, something was wrong with the picture.
"Dilandau just has problems with what I'm planning," Hitomi explained, eyes still on Dilandau.
"Dear, whatever you're planning, if Dilandau is not comfortable with it," Mrs. Kanzaki began.
"They'll talk," Hiko suddenly said, obviously exasperated now. "In case it's confusing everyone, they don't hate each other. They are just being some immature people who can't figure out what's what."
Millerna raised a brow at Hiko's explanation. It seemed to her that Hiko knew something more than what they all can see and it was making her uneasy. She looked at Chesta who seemed tensed about something. She didn't understand what was going on but she'd get to the bottom of it before their vacation ends.
"Well, Tomi?" Mrs. Kanzaki asked. "Is Hiko right?"
"Yes. Except for the last part," Hitomi said defensively. "Dilandau's immature but I'm definitely not!"
Dilandau's lips quirked up slightly at Hitomi's defense and Mr. Kanzaki took notice of that.
"What are you so tense about?" Hiko asked with irritation as he flipped through channels with an amazing speed.
Chesta looked at him with apprehension. "I reminded Hitomi of something and Dilandau's going to blow up on me if Hitomi…"
"They'd solve that," Hiko said with assurance. "Whatever their problem is that you reminded my sister about." He snorted. "Honestly, those two are just plain stupid."
"Hey!" Millerna interjected from her seat. "How dare you say that!"
Hiko gave Millerna a look of both irritation and surprise. She was sure loyal to Hitomi that it was both annoying and respect-garnering. He turned back to the still apprehensive Chesta. "If you're just going to worry all night, maybe I should just have you in your room now. You're distracting me from looking for a good show."
The blonde boy gave Hiko an incredulous look. "Now *I'm* distracting you? You're just flipping though channels with lightening speed. Do you even see what's in a channel before changing it?"
"That's how I look for a good show. But with you radiating your mood," Hiko trailed off and rolled his eyes. "It's almost like it's the end of the world. Relax. They'll solve whatever it is that's freaking you out."
"You think so?" Chesta asked uncertainly.
"What are they going to solve?" Millerna interrupted.
"Ask Chesta."
Millerna raised a brow at Chesta. "Well?"
He looked away and stood up. "Hiko, I think I'd go to sleep now."
"Finally!" Hiko exclaimed. "I thought I'd have to baby sit you and Millerna for the rest of the night while those two blind and not to mention stubborn youngsters handle things."
"Baby sit?" Millerna asked in disbelief. "Youngsters? Why do you say those things like you're so much older than us?"
"Because, Millerna, I am more mature than you all could ever be at this moment. I mean, gee," he said sarcastically. "Does brooding ever solve anything at all? And does minding other people's business ever---"
"We get the point," Chesta interrupted, noticing that Millerna's mood wasn't really THAT good anymore. "Now can we just go?"
Hiko nodded and left without any word to the scowling Millerna. From what Chesta could see, Hiko wasn't particularly fond of Hitomi's friend.
Dilandau would've fidgeted under Hitomi's stare if he had been any other guy. But of course, he didn't. He was Albatou Dilandau and he would never fidget. However, the way she was looking at him was giving him a clue that the talk would be full of shouting and so much verbal blows.
Hitomi rolled her eyes and left her post by her bedroom door to slump on her bed. "Start talking, old man."
He frowned from his position across from her bed. "Why don't you ask the question so I know what *you* want to focus on." 'Could she get more bossy or what?'
She stared at him and motioned for him to pull the chair near her bed. He rolled his eyes in exasperation but did what she motioned for anyway, silently berating himself for letting her boss him around. She looked at him for a while before finally saying anything.
"Why did you become one of the bad crowds?"
He looked at her, slight surprise in his red eyes gleaming for a second. He was expecting her to ask something else or even start accusing him of something.
"Why?" She repeated.
Leaning on the chair, he stared at the ceiling and took his time before answering her question. He never wanted to talk about what he regretted in his life. It brought him so much sense of loss of what he could've been now. But somehow, being in her room and talking to her was giving him some sort of anesthetics. He couldn't feel anything bad as if they were just going to talk about something normal.
"You do know how power works, don't you? I just wanted to know how it would be if I could hold so much power in my hand."
"That doesn't seem such a good reason to me."
"You don't understand. It's addicting. It feels so great that you'd lose yourself before you know it. And it was so much freedom, something I didn't have here then."
"You were a kid, Dilandau. You can't expect you parents to allow you to go driving a car and go home in the morning. Really, it's weird for you to just have that reason."
He exhaled sharply. "My father can be suffocating. When I found out I can have the power over others that he's using on me, it was exhilarating. Just seeing others fear me and do what I want them to do gives me the feeling of being in control of my life and everybody else's."
"In short," she said, amusement strangely lacing her voice. "You were doing what you hated about your father."
"Something like that," he said, finding it weird that the talk wasn't how he envisioned it to be. "This isn't so bad."
"Talking?"
"Yeah."
"To the right person, it isn't."
He grinned. "So you're implying you're the right person to talk to?"
A pillow hit him square on the face before he could react. "Just go suck a doorknob."
He mock glared at her. He couldn't get why he enjoyed being around her so much. From way before when he was annoying her and up to now where light banters where the only thing keeping him amused, he just seemed to be happier. It was both good news and bad news. He had obviously found someone who he could most likely trust with everything. But then, trusting so much could mean so much more exposure to the risks of getting hurt.
"What was the mall fight all about anyway?"
"Some unfinished business from the past."
"What about the time before we got engaged?"
"What part of that? We had plenty of time annoying each other."
"Hey," she said defensively. "You were the only one annoying me! But going back to what I was saying, you know, the time when I walked off towards a back building or something while my mind was elsewhere."
A frown surfaced on his features for a moment.
"Don't even think about lying. We're supposed to be talking HONESTLY here."
He gave an exasperated sigh. "Drugs."
She frowned. "What about drugs?"
He glared at her. "You know what it's about. Now another question."
"Oh no you don't. You're not going to just change the topic. What about drugs?"
Silence.
Then realization hit her. "You were still having drugs then? You mean I just let some drug addict… Dilandau! How can you be so… never mind. With your way of thinking, I'm not even supposed to ask." She then glared. "Are you still---"
"Of course not! That was the last time."
"Hey, people who're hooked don't just stop with a snap."
"I stopped long before that. I got sent off for some treatment."
"So what was that all about then?"
"I just settled some business and it so happened there were stuff that---"
"Okay, but about the treatment."
"Make up your mind, woman. You're getting exasperating."
She giggled suddenly. "Woman? Since when do you use that term as an insult?"
"Since you drove me crazy. Now stop being so inconsistent and let's just finish this interview."
"Touchy, touchy. I think I'm treading on some stuff here."
"Actually, I just discovered that it's not as bad to talk about the past when it comes to pain and guilt. But it's bad to talk about it because you make fun of it."
She laughed. "You're acting like some embarrassed kid. Let me guess. You were sent to some treatment in a mental hospital?" She burst out laughing. "I could just imagine you there. You must have driven everyone there crazier than ever. And maybe you got into a fight with one of the mental patients there because he was watching news and you told him it was a replayed episode and you changed the channel!"
He rolled his eyes. "Stop laughing and just ask some questions so I can go kill you then."
Her laughing increased and he was getting annoyed at being the center of her amusement. At the moment, he didn't know which he would've preferred for the talk, a very serious and dramatic one or a light but annoying one.
After a long time of Hitomi continuously making fun of him, she finally asked another question.
"What about those guys when you were following me around your motorcycle? You didn't hire them, did you?"
"No," he said flatly. "Why would I waste my time so I can play hero for you?"
"Because you're crazy and you enjoy annoying me at every given turn."
He rolled his eyes. "As if you're not crazy yourself."
She just shrugged. "So, Viole mentioned about bed stuff."
He raised a brow. "What about them?"
"Tell me about those stuff."
A smirk slowly came to his red lips. "Why Hitomi, I never knew you had a streak for hearing sensual things."
She threw another pillow at him. "Hey! I was just asking for something like why you did those stuff and all. I wasn't asking for details like what you really do when you take someone to bed!"
"Well how should I know?" He asked with mock innocence as he threw one pillow back at Hitomi.
"Oh please," she said sarcastically but then she smiled softly. "You know what? I'm glad that you don't seem like a hormone-driven teenager. Even when you are so insulting, I like you."
He smiled back. "Well even when you're an ogre… I do respect you."
"You really are growing soft on me, Dilandau."
He threw the other pillow back at Hitomi. "What's the deal about Allen?"
She looked at him strangely. "What about Allen?"
"Hiko hates him."
"Oh that," she said distastefully. "He's been a playboy and Hiko thinks he's just going to hurt me."
"And your friends?"
"I'm sure you've heard so much from Hiko about them."
"Yeah, but aren't you going to say anything else? You know, deny or something?"
"No. Hiko's not lying." She sat up and sighed. "They act, I mean, we act like we own the world. Stuck-up bunch of popular people who think of nothing but our own fun… it doesn't bother me before. But it does now especially since I know how it feels to be the target of bad attention."
Guilt knocked on him and he vacated his chair to sit beside her on her bed. "I could do something."
She smiled. "Reputation, remember? So let's just drop that. I'm not going to hear you suggesting something that would ruin you."
"It's my fault."
"It's mine, too. But I guess this is retribution for me being such a stuck-up missy before."
"It's too much."
"It's just a year more."
They fell silent.
It was surprising how things could blow like the wind between them. The talk was changing its mood constantly and it was queer how it could change from so unrelated emotions to another.
"Do you still want to eat?" He asked, trying to change the mood.
She smiled. "That reminds me…"
"What did I do now?"
"Nothing. But Viole mentioned some things during our talk."
"And what's that aside from me being a bad a**?"
Hitomi giggled. "He said that you care for me."
"And that's supposed to be funny?" He asked with irritation.
She looked incredulous. "Of course it is! I mean he said that in a way that he makes it look as if you care in a boyfriend sort of way. I mean he even said that you're better the way you are when you're with me."
"Did he now?" He asked cautiously, trying to sound amused but failing miserably. Viole was really going to get it. 'What the hell was he thinking when he let his mouth run away like that?!'
"When I said that you didn't trust me, he said that you were trying to keep me. Does that sound hilarious or what? I mean, what? It's not like I'm your girlfriend. I mean, we're just two people forced to be with each other which is technically not anymore since the engagement is off."
"I know," he muttered darkly.
She didn't notice though as she continued laughing. "I wonder how they'd react if we tell them the stuff about the engagement? That reminds me, he even said that you sure are taking your guardian duties to another level. Can I say funny or what?" She stood up and walked towards the door, grinning delightedly. "Let's talk later. I'm hungry. Cook for me?"
He nodded and she didn't wait for him. She bounced away like a kid excited about something.
"Maybe I am," he said quietly. "But it's not like you'd care… Allen is here."
At six in the morning, Millerna decided to leave her room. She couldn't sleep anymore and she was wondering what had happened to Hitomi and Dilandau the previous night. Deciding to drink a glass of water, she walked towards the kitchen and to her surprise, saw Hitomi eating a plate of spaghetti by the kitchen counter.
"Good morning," Hitomi greeted with a smile.
"Good morning," she greeted back, walking towards the refrigerator to get her self a glass of water. "You're up so early. Didn't you stay up late?"
"Oh I did."
"Alone?"
"No. I was talking to Dilandau all night. Technically, I just had four hours of sleep."
Millerna frowned. 'They talked THAT long? ALONE?' "So, why are you up so early?"
"I was dreaming of spaghetti and I decided to not wait till everyone's up."
"YOU prepared spaghetti for yourself?" The blonde girl asked in disbelief. "Since when did you learn how to cook?"
"Oh I didn't make this," Hitomi said in a highly amused voice. "I dragged Dilandau off from dreamland and had him make this for me."
The blonde's frown deepened. "He didn't sleep in your room, did he?" She drank her water but watched her friend from the corner of her eyes.
"Of course not! He'd hog the bed to himself if he was there."
Millerna chocked. "WHAT?!"
"I said he'd hog the bed to himself if he was there."
Her coughing fit increased and when she finally had a hold on herself, she looked at her green-eyed friend as if she was somebody from outer space. "He slept in your bed once then?"
Hitomi swallowed and took another forkful before shrugging and eating it. "So many times."
Blue eyes widened. "WHAT?!"
"He sleeps on my bed when he hangs around and waits up for me to finish my assignments. When I have to force him to do his assignments he gets too tired to haul himself somewhere else to sleep so he sleeps in my bed. When---"
"Okay, I don't care for the list of reasons. But the fact that you let HIM sleep on your bed---"
"He sleeps there alone and during daylight. And if ever we're on the same bed at the same time, it's when I'm waking him up but he doesn't like to wake up so I'm trying to suffocate him with a pillow." Hitomi grinned then, a happy twinkle reflecting on her emerald orbs.
Millerna couldn't say anything. She was really having a very bad feeling about Hitomi and Dilandau's *friendship*. The two could pass for two people who are in love with each other but couldn't really notice it for themselves. Either that or they're both denying what they obviously feel for each other.
"Hey, want some? It's really good. I can't even understand how he can cook up a rumble-causing meal. I mean when you smell what's cooking, full or not, I'm sure your stomach would rumble. And all I can cook up is a storm. You know, with every ingredient spilled or all over the place. And then my dish would actually be similar to that of a poison with no presentation at all!"
She didn't comment on what Hitomi was saying. She merely listened. And after a long time of Hitomi giving good comments on Dilandau, the green-eyed girl finally noticed her silence and her unmoving state.
"Are you alright? Did I say something?"
She remained quiet for a few seconds before muttering in a very soft voice that it was not perceptible enough for Hitomi to hear. "You like him, don't you?"
Green eyes full of questions fixed on the blonde girl as she stood rigidly near the refrigerator. "What? I couldn't hear you."
Millerna was saved from repeating what she said by Hiko, who came inside the kitchen at that precise moment.
"Just as I suspected," he said, walking towards the kitchen counter and getting Hitomi's fork before eating a mouthful of spaghetti. "You made Dilandau cook for you. He was grumbling when I came across him in the hallway mere seconds ago. He was just leaving the guest room and he was saying something about not being able to go back to sleep anymore."
"Yeah, and it's your sister's fault," Dilandau's voice declared as he walked in the kitchen, scowling. "You can be such a pain, Hitomi. Why couldn't you just try cooking for yourself?"
Hiko laughed. "You had my sister accustomed to YOU cooking for her. Whenever she'd start, you come in and do it for her. And when you let her and she ends up slicing her skin or something, you always berate her and just do the rest."
"I do NOT."
Hitomi rolled her eyes and grabbed her fork away from Hiko. "I was eating this. Get yourself another serving." She turned towards Millerna's direction. "Try this out. Even when Dilandau's annoying me this early, he can really cook something."
"Who annoyed who first?" Dilandau shot back.
The green-eyed ogre ignored the angry old man and the laughing hyena of a brother and continued to eat her food.
Hiko continued to laugh making Dilandau turn to him with an increased irritation. "What's so funny?"
"When a person is interrupted from sleep and he couldn't go back to dreamland, he sure can get grouchy."
"Grouchy? Well, blame your sister for that," he said in annoyance as he slumped on the chair near the kitchen counter and continued to scowl.
"Blame me?!" Hitomi exclaimed, dropping the fork on the plate.
The grin on Hiko's face widened. It never ceased to amuse him how Dilandau and Hitomi can both bring the bad temper out of each other. "Before you two fight it out, where's my breakfast?"
Dilandau glared at him. "Go suck a doorknob!"
Hiko laughed like crazy. Dilandau was becoming much like Hitomi.
Millerna watched closely, the scene before her conveying so much more than she wanted to see and realize.
~tbc~
Author's Note: Excuse me for the result. Exams and all is here and well, I don't have much time to write and check if it's alright. Anyway, I really need to go to school now so, I leave with a thanks to all those who are still here and supporting the story. Thank you and may you have a nice day. I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Till next time…
To one_mean_rabbit, glad you read the one-shot one and actually liked it. I don't think I can do another one like that. I'm not good especially at one-shots.
To Blue Demon, sorry to disappoint you. No indepth background of Dilandau in this chapter. I was hurrying so much.
To Colerachel, lol. Can't. I almost didn't make this update on time and it's a weekly one. What more with everyday updates. I could give a sentence or two maybe.
To MysticalDreamer32, sorry for the mixed up tenses. I don't have time to check on what I write and yeah I know it's my responsibility but it's kind of hard when you have a lot to do.
To Aaridys, what can I say? I'm flattered. A whole sunday just for this is something. The mistakes. Sorry. I don't have time to check on what I write so you know, just excuse me for that. But your review did assure me that I'm not rushing the character change too much.
To TiarellaCordifolia, thanks for reviewing the other two long-done Intruder Alerts.
To Wendera Jade, Allen? Sailor Senshi? Lol. I could almost imagine it.