Author's Notes: Updates on a regular basis now. The plot thickens. Whoo! I'm getting fanfiction ideas by the bloody second. Some are in progress, but for now, I want to finish this and Guardian Angel first. They are, in a way, companion fics, exploring unorthodox "pairings—if you can call them that. Standard disclaimers apply.
The writing quality of this chapter is a tad less poetic than others. Don't worry; this is just pushing past writer's block… And yes, I know you all must be shocked and appalled that Sora "kills" Subaru. No offense to Subaru fans—none intended at all. Just a means of plot advancement. Now, when I kill Terajima… Heheh… Err, oops.
Your skinOh yeah, your skin and your bones
Turn into something beautiful
D'you know for you, I bleed myself dry
For you I bleed myself dry
Coldplay – Yellow
Smile and nod gently. Pretend you're listening.
Subaru was, after all, a very nice girl when Mimiru set aside her infatuation with the faithless Wavemaster. As mentioned over and over, Subaru had an intangibly cherubic disposition; she was soft-spoken and subdued, and her pretense hid unwavering resolution. And really, who was Mimiru to refuse if given the opportunity to go a-dungeon raiding with the former co-founder of the Scarlet Knights? She certainly didn't want to appear rude, but some darker part of her wished Tsukasa would notice how welcoming and inviting she was to his beloved Subaru. Maybe Subaru would put a good word in.
As if.
It was one of those dungeons; the ones that resembled some beluga whale's stomach lining, and where characters are afraid to step too heavily because of the grotesque squishing sound (followed by the suspicious pool of plasma or saliva that would gather at their heels. Twin Blades and Wavemasters, with their pansy shoes, best not enter.)
"Mimiru-san? Are you listening…?" came the tentative voice from somewhere behind. Mimiru shot up from her reverie—and luckily avoided running into the fleshy pink wall.
"Huh?" she said rather lamely. "Oops. Heh. Guess I kind of…um…" The Heavy Blade fumbled about in her mental list of excuses. Yet she was secretly grateful when the Heavy Axewoman simply smiled—not the widest of grins, mind you, but a knowing smile nonetheless. "Sorry," she said sheepishly.
"No, no, it's alright." Subaru nodded and turned the corner, slowing her pace so as to let Mimiru catch up. "I understand if you're upset," the Axewoman said quietly.
"Upset? Me? Over what, and why?" I hate you. "I'm never upset," Mimiru stated indignantly. "Nope; I'm just—"
Subaru smiled again—the same dratted, all-knowing smile. And a pained look flashed in her brownish eyes, but she simply promenaded along, the little wings plastered above her shoulders twitching every now and then, netting dust particles and other things. Mimiru frowned as she was left to follow Miss Holier-Than-Thou, propping her sword on her shoulder and huffing quietly.
"Mimiru-san, how much do you like Tsukasa-chan?" Subaru asked, soft voice resonating throughout the dungeon hall. It shouldn't have, considering the sordid structure of the walls—Mimiru was going to comment until the question made its impact. She spluttered and sputtered in her defense, trying her very best to act shocked and appalled—the former was simple to accomplish, but she couldn't fight the flush that came onto her face. The Heavy Axewoman didn't look. "It's alright," she murmured, glancing around for Magic Portals.
"I don't like Tsukasa!" Mimiru exclaimed, flinging her arms in the air. "He's been nothing b-but a jerk to me ever since I met him!" She paused. "Her."
"You don't like Tsukasa," the girl with her sheet-white skin said evenly.
"I don't like Tsukasa," Mimiru said firmly.
Subaru's head craned about. Her gentle expression faded, and was replaced with something less communicative. Mimiru blanched—it was hard not to. Among the kindest, most mild-mannered players of The World was nearly leering at her. Anyone would be disturbed. "You don't have to lie to me." It was an almost accusing tone. Mimiru opened her mouth, aiming to protest that she spoke the truth and nothing more; the Axewoman shook her head slowly, walking through yet another door.
"Why do you ask?"
Subaru paused, ensuring that Mimiru would be unable to discern any emotion from her posture. "Because…" She trailed off; probably hoping the answer would appear as an epiphany, but the Heavy Blade made a sound in her throat that prompted the Heavy Axewoman to continue. "You're her best friend," she said slowly. "And…"
There was a short fluttering in Mimiru's heart, accompanied by a sinking sensation. "So just 'cause I'm her friend means I like her."
"…No. No, not—"
"Just because I was the first one to even try and help," she said, fighting to keep the shakiness out of her voice. "Just because I gave a damn, and…and just because I did everything I could… Just because I would've given anything for Tsukasa to actually care about someone other than herself…and you—so that means I like her, huh?
"Fine. Fine. Whatever definition of 'like' or 'love' you're going by… Not my problem."
Mimiru closed her eyes and tilted her head backwards as she walked. And then she opened them again, their usual silvery warmth gone and replaced by a steely flicker.
"Not my problem."
"Do you like him?" Subaru persisted. Annoying. But then again, facing off against threats outside of her precious Knights and without the protection of Krim had undoubtedly made her bolder.
Mimiru was defeated, and lost her resolution as quickly as it had come.
"I like him."
No one spoke for the next few minutes. The area seemed fairly threadbare of portals; meaning that the next floor would be packed or they were nearing the statue…or…eh. Maybe Subaru didn't know what to say, either. All Mimiru knew was that she was between a rock and a hard place, and she'd give anything to be audacious enough to use the Sprite Ocarina dangling from her neck.
She quickly learned that she wouldn't have to.
A faint humming noise drifted within earshot. It was almost tuneless, usually reverting to a higher or lower note sporadically and then returning to its monotonous state. It was hard to describe such a thing: it displayed little, if any emotion. But the subtle feel of it all gave it away immediately, and Mimiru scolded herself for feeling grateful as none other than friendly neighborhood Sora turned the corner and entered the duo's line of vision, hands folded behind his head and a cocky smile gracing his tapered face.
Mimiru summoned her acting skills and forced a disgusted look, edging away from his predicted path. "Subaru, watch out," she called to the rigid back of the Axewoman, addled with two miniature wings. Although her back was to Mimiru, the Heavy Blade could sense Subaru's gaze following Sora as he went on his merry way.
Mimiru flashed Sora a wink and a secret (but nonetheless weary) smile. He quirked a brow and began scrutinizing her carefully, before shrugging dismissively and walking past her altogether. She blinked, sending him a warning glare—why aren't you helping me!? She tried to "telepathically" relay to him how much torture this was. It didn't seem to work—the Player Killer simply meandered by…
"Is that it?" she spluttered, attempting to trigger a confrontation of sorts. That got Sora to stop in his tracks and glance nonchalantly over his shoulder. He didn't speak. Mimiru smirked. This was too perfectly planned-out.
Well, no. It wasn't thought out much at all. No realization dawned on his face. "You're just gonna walk away, huh?" Mimiru said with a harrumph. "I thought so," she snorted, propping her sword on her shoulder. "Did you already take the treasure? When? If it doesn't respawn when I—"
Sora strode up to her, conduct unreadable and pace brisk; his arms were limp at his sides, and the blades had been retracted. It was then Mimiru realized how much he towered over her, despite his childish mannerisms; his dark hair drooped loosely over his face, shielding parts of his disconcerting eyes and giving the impression that he was tired and his head was wilting faintly. It was probably because Mimiru was at least a head shorter, though.
The proximity was making Mimiru nervous. Subaru swiveled around, clutch tightening on the Fate Encounter [1] and fear now apparent; Sora eyed the tanned girl critically, tight-lipped and not a happy camper.
One blade shot out from the brace on his left hand, and Mimiru "eep"ed.
But, in an instant, the Twin Blade was behind Subaru and the left-hand Last Betrayal was wedged in the small space between the Axewoman's mini wings. Before she fell, Mimiru hastily disbanded her party and was spared a bewildered, almost betrayed glance from Subaru before she vanished. Mimiru gulped—this would take some explaining…
The Heavy Blade mustered some more courage and tapped Sora on the shoulder. "Was it really necessary to kill her? …I mean, we could've just made up some bull about how…I dunno, but…" She fidgeted, and suddenly felt very small when Sora did not respond for several seconds. "Eh, Sora? You alright?"
(He wasn't all right, thank you very much!)
"Uh…thanks, I guess," she said at last, unsure. She peered at him for a bit more before twisting around him and fingering the Ocarina around her neck. "Thanks…" Mimiru repeated, eyes downcast. "I guess I'll see you around…?"
A gloved hand clamped hard around her wrist, forcefully relinquishing her grip on the device. Mimiru gulped. Oh shit.
"That's it?" Sora inquired innocently.
Mimiru resisted the instinct to pull her arm away. "What's it?" she responded, raising an eyebrow.
As soon as the Heavy Blade received a party invitation from Subaru, her first instinct was to log off. Her second was to ask whether or not Tsukasa was going to be there. She asked, and Subaru responded with a firm no—that it would be just them, "getting to know one another". The keywords were sent, and it didn't look like Mimiru was going to find a way out of this particular arrangement. She was fairly certain that she had no intention of "getting to know" Subaru…
She had scanned her member address list frantically before reluctantly consulting Sora for help. Her message was simple: Cut this rendezvous short. There were also bunches of pleads and apologies for former mix-ups tacked onto the end of the Flash Mail, but that was beside the point.
How dumb she was, not to expect that Sora would want something in return.
"Ah…uh…you want payment? Did you already collect that stuff from the Gott Statue?" Mimiru chuckled nervously, finally managing to wrench herself out and away. "Uh…I'll get some rare things delivered to you later…" She bit her lip—now she sounded positively preposterous. Like a usually candid person purchasing wares for a much cheaper price than their original worth, and knowing it. She apologized hastily and patted the Twin Blade on the shoulder, serenely unaware of the thoughts running through that head of his, and curled her fingers around the ocarina again.
Sora folded his arms and began tapping his foot, leer still terribly acidic. Apparently, he didn't understand the effects of "eye contact"—or he knew them perfectly and was exploiting them. He did flaunt his cunning at times, but this was ridiculous, and she lost her patience. "Okay, okay," she said at last, flailing her arms in a sign of defeat. "What do you want? Tell me…I'll get it to you tomorrow…"
Still no response.
Mimiru frowned slightly, and shrugged. (Not her loss.) "Well, as soon as you figure out what you want in return, e-mail me or something, okay? I…I gotta go. Thanks…thanks. I just…" And with a low, morose tune from the Sprite Ocarina, she disappeared in a flurry of rings.
Tsukasa entered the corridor, stunned and looking as if he had been punched in the gut.
"So…" the pale Wavemaster stuttered, dust-colored robes sweeping across the pulsating floor. "This is what you brought me here to see?" Sora turned around, slowly and deliberately, allowing the information to sink in. He glared at Tsukasa, too. "This is what…" Tsukasa swallowed, his grip on the stem of the Ludicrous trembling slightly. The Twin Blade had, after receiving Mimiru's cry for help, consulted Tsukasa. Why? Sora was…cunning. That was it.
(The look on Mimiru's face during their past two meetings… Sickening. Absolutely.)
Sora folded his arms again, watching the Wavemaster lower his head, shoulders quivering slightly. Maybe he was crying. But he couldn't give less of a damn. As Mimiru would say, serves him right…
Mimiru.
Sora thrust out his left hand, and in it materialized a Sprite Ocarina of his own. A flat tone, and he left, leaving Tsukasa to dwell on the pain he had triggered—through naïve acts. Pain is pain. Presumably, he was going to find Mimiru—but what then? He had no comfort to offer, and Sora was definitely not the type who handed out shoulders to cry on. But maybe he could still utilize some of his older tactics. The ones that used to make BT, at the very least, smirk in mild amusement.
To make Mimiru smile, at least.
to be continued
[1] The weapon names are taken from QUARANTINE—the weapons Subaru, Tsukasa, and Sora have when they join your party.
This chapter is the only one with a TBC tacked on. The other chapters I write can probably stand alone.