Disclaimer: I don't own Lain. Not really sure who does. ; But I do own this story. :P
Warnings: Some language. Lol
Not quite sure why I wrote this, I was in the mall yesterday and was inspired by a red make up box. It's how I view Lain's and Mika's family relationship in the anime. Knowledge based on the first dvd and stuff I read off the internet. ;
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Grown Up
By Pixie Ayanami
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"Why don't you just grow up?!" Mika yelled as she ran out of the room, slamming the door behind her. Lain held no regard for the matter. Mika hardly cared about anything her sister did, whether it be school work, organizing her bear collection, or playing with her NAVI Unit. Actually, ever since she got her NAVI Unit, Mika has acted… differently towards the younger sibling.
It didn't matter to Lain. The said girl went back to tinkering with a few things on her NAVI. This wire had to go into this plug…. And the blue one….
Lain rubbed her eyes. It felt like something was caught in them.
It didn't matter, Mika would be over the little fight in a day. She'd probably forget about it. Lain nodded at this thought and went back to finishing her NAVI. Only a few more finishing touches and she'd be done for the night.
'Why don't you just grow up?!'
Lain held her head with her free hand. This had to stop. After a few moments, the NAVI was finished. Lain latched the case on the computer frame and put her teddy bear pajamas on like usual. Taking a seat in her chair, she turned the NAVI on and waited for it to load, which didn't take very long, considering the adjustments she made before hand.
"NAVI, do I have mail?" she asked it.
"Lain has no mail," it replied in a digitized voice. Lain sighed. Well that was that. Time to pack in for the night….
But Lain didn't move from her seat. Instead she stared at the screen with a frown on her face. Something was bugging her… something that made her heart beat a little faster and her neck tighten with alarm. The little girl logged into the Wired.
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"Lain, you haven't been yourself today, are you feeling alright?" Arisu asked her friend in a worried state. Lain didn't know what she was talking about. At the confused look on Lain's face, Arisu smiled apologetically, saying, "What I mean is that you were doing so good at being,… well, happy lately. Today you're acting like you used to."
"Yeah," came the voice of Jury, "You were starting to act normal."
"Nah, this is normal for Lain," Reika said sarcastically, swinging her hair back with a hand. Arisu shot her an angry glare.
"Honestly, Reika, cut that out!" she said, pulling up Lain from her seat. "Lain, we can go talk somewhere privately, if you want." Lain didn't respond, but was dragged somewhere else anyways, leaving Jury and Reika behind.
Once they were alone, Arisu looked back to Lain. "So, are you going to tell me what's wrong?"
Lain didn't respond. Instead she asked, "Arisu… what does it mean to… grow up?"
Arisu smiled. "It means to act mature, silly! That's what we were trying to tell you when you went to Cyberia for the first time. Why?"
Lain looked up, a bit startled, and blinked a few times before answering. "Oh… n-nothing."
"Is that was this is all about?" Arisu asked, some what relieved, "You wanna be grown up? I can take you shopping later in the week, if you want. Besides, it'll get you away from that computer of yours."
"Um… thanks…" Lain said slowly, although not really wanting to go with Arisu.
'Why don't you just grow up?!'
Lain held the back of her neck. It was still tensed and hurting.
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The Wired gave Lain plenty of information of what it meant to be 'grow up.' Wearing grown up clothes, doing grown up things, not doing what she did and lounging in bear pajamas all day. Also, a thing called 'make up.' Countless times she saw Mika and her mother apply this stuff to their faces. Did that make them grown up?
After school Lain went home, and like usual, was the first one home. Usual she'd throw her stuff down at her wall, undress, and go play with her NAVI. But she didn't feel like doing it today. Actually, she stopped at her sister's room. Why she didn't know.
Slowly, Lain opened the door. She hadn't been in her sister's room for a long time, since Mika grown out of plying with stuffed animals. Lain wondered if it changed much. There was only one way to find out.
Surprisingly, the room looked pretty plain and normal. There were no toys. There was only a bed, dresser, vanity and desk. No NAVI Unit. Like Lain suspected, Mika didn't really care for them.
There was a red case sitting on Mika's vanity. Lain walked over to it and opened it up. Inside were some small brushes, different cases of powder, little containers and tubes filled with different colors. This must be the 'make up.' Is it make up like the make up of a computer? Does it enhance anything, make things faster or some how empowered?
Hearing someone come home, Lain quickly closed the case and brought it out of the room with her. She closed the door and went a little ways down the hall to hers, and hid the red case behind her computer. She then turned on her NAVI Unit to make things sound like they're normal.
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Lain ate her dinner fast that evening. It surprised the whole family. She used the excuse of wanting to play on her computer, but the real reason is that so she could go look at that make up.
So when she was done, Lain excused herself from the table and walked down to her room. For a while, she did tinker with her computer, taking off her clothes and everything. After her father checked up on her, Lain slipped out the red case from behind the desk, opening it up and looking at it. On the inside of the cover was a little mirror. Her reflection was somewhat blue from the screens of the computers around her. Picking up a tube, she opened it to find some sort of colored stick. Lain remembered her mother putting this sort of thing on her lips.
So that's exactly what Lain did. She put the stick to her lips, moving it fully around so that the colored material covered it all, but only her lips. She moved her lips together, smoothing it out. Whatever it was, it was sticky, and didn't feel too nice on her. It tasted bad, and looking in the mirror, she found that the red color stood out way too much. Lain took a napkin and wiped the stuff off. Disgusting, grown ups wore this stuff? She glared at the mirror and closed the box.
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"Alright, I'm done," Mika announced, walking away from the dinner table. She was in a pissy mood all day, mostly from her fight with Lain the night before. Lain was already thirteen, and she was soon to be fourteen. Why couldn't that brat just go out and do what normal young teens do? Bad enough she sneaks out at night. Yes, Mika knew. She stayed awake and watched her. But it wasn't any of her business to know what's been going on. Must have been something bad by the way those suits always hung out by her house; Lain probably got herself into hacking trouble…
Upon entering her room, she noticed that something was amiss. Her make up case was gone. Where could it have gone off too? Nobody would take it right? She needed that so that she'd look good tomorrow night for her date. Yes, she started dating.
Mika left for the living room. "Hey, Mom, have you seen my make up case?" she asked. Her mother shook her head. Mika pouted and walked away to look for it.
"Lain, what are you doing in here?" Mika asked. No response. Mika crossed her arms. "Well?"
"Please don't bother me, I'm working on my NAVI," Lain replied as if it was programmed into her. Mika sighed in annoyance.
"You're ALWAYS working on your NAVI. Why can't you go and do what normal kids do? It's not healthy to stay in here."
No response.
Mika growled softly at the back of her throat as a scowl appeared on her face. "Honestly, Lain."
"….Please don't bother me, I'm working on my NAVI."
"Lain! I'm serious, stop acting so childishly! Dad should have never got that thing for you."
Lain stopped working and looked at Mika. "…Is it because you want one yourself and jealous?"
Mika was taken aback. Clenching her fists, she stared at her little sister, fires of anger burning in her eyes. "Why don't you just grow up?!" she yelled, turning and slamming Lain's door behind her.
"What a brat," Mika thought aloud, walking into her bedroom after searching for an hour. She collapsed on her bed and stared up at her ceiling. In truth, she was really worried about Lain. That NAVI was no good for her. It should be… thrown out. In her opinion, those distracting things were of no use.
Something caught her out of the corner of her eye. Looking over, she saw something in her trash near the vanity. It was red and shiny…. Mika stood up and walked over to the trash, to obtain a better view.
Her make up case was thrown away.
'I don't want to grow up like you.'
Fin