A/N I'm back! Sorry for the delay, school happened. I hate high school. So, here's the next chapter. This is my apology to Dilandau fans for making him seem like the bad guy. I like this chapter actually, hope you do too!
Disclaimer: I don't own Escaflowne. Motorcycles of Escaflowne
Chapter 7
It was a simple plan, excruciatingly simple in Dilandau's opinion but that was because he enjoyed degrading any idea that happened to be thought up by Allen, but it was simple never the less, possibly even cliché.
The idea was for Dilandau to get his revenge from Hitomi and for Van to be publicly humiliated. All needed to do was for Dilandau to exercise his violent energy upon Hitomi, who would most certainly be "rescued" by Van, but too bad for him because Dilandau was absolutely certain he could squash Van into a pulp as he was not on his favorite list as well. When he was finished with Fanel, Dilandau could finally satisfy himself and proceed to bruising Hitomi a bit. But then lo and behold, Allen would come in and "save" Hitomi. If all went well, Hitomi would despise Van for not rescuing her and embrace her new hero, Allen.
The results would be good. Dilandau would see Hitomi getting what she deserved and Allen would see Van with a sufficiently lowered ego and would conveniently have a new girlfriend.
"Agreed?" asked Allen.
Dilandau narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "You don't really love Hitomi, do you?" he asked.
Allen blinked in surprise at the sudden uncharacteristic depth of Dilandau's question. "Excuse me?"
"There's a catch isn't there?" Dilandau said, easily leaning on the crumpled locker. "Come on, barbie, admit it. You're screwing with me. I know how you think. Once you 'save' Hitomi you're gonna start on me, as if you could beat in a fight. Besides, if you really loved the bitch that much you wouldn't want her to get hurt." His lighter suddenly flared up again.
Allen gaped at Dilandau. What right did that bastard have to accuse him of such a thing? Why would he think such a thing? Dilandau was the last person in the world who would know anything about love.
"You're a dumbass, Dilly," Allen said, mischievously using Celena's pet name for her brother. "And besides, what do you know about love?"
Dilandau flicked his burnt cigarette to the ground and took out another one. "You should be asking yourself the same question," he shot back, voice unusually serious.
"What the fuck are you talking about, Dilly? Oh never mind, I can't believe I'm having a conversation about love with you all of people," Allen muttered.
Dilandau took a long, slow drag out of the smoke. He suddenly looked solemn, almost sad, in an eerily calm way. "The truth is, Schezar, you've never really loved someone before. Just look at your dating life, you can't keep a girl for more than three months without feeling up some other slut. You don't really love Hitomi, if you did you'd protect her from me, not that I would mind going along with this plan, but you're perfectly willing for her to get hurt. Admit it, Barbie, you just like the bitch for her reputation and her ass."
Allen bristled in a mixture of anger and disbelief. He opened his mouth to protest and declare his love for Hitomi but Dilandau spoke first.
"Now me, there are only two people I've ever loved and one of them is dead," Dilandau remarked, breathing out smoke, making the air foggy.
"You? Love? Right, sure. And who are they?" Allen asked sarcastically.
"Jajuka, my late father, killed in a gunfight, and Celena, my sister, now living in that shit hole of a house you Schezars have," Dilandau answered.
"Hey! You can't-" Allen protested. But he stopped at the look of pure hatred that Dilandau gave him.
"If anything ever happened to Celena, I'd kill whoever ruined her life with my own bare hands. I'm only sorry that I couldn't save her from living with the likes of you," he told him coldly.
Allen almost started laughing at the sudden seriousness in Dilandau's voice. "My god, Dilly boy, I could have sworn you were acting normal," Allen sneered.
Dilandau eyed him with the same eerie calm. "If you ever cared for anyone besides yourself you would understand," he said quietly.
Allen laughed. "Are you mocking me, Dilandau? You mocking me? Oh this is precious! Somebody as low as you dissing me?" He guffawed loudly at the scenario, glancing at Dilandau for his reaction.
Dilandau unusually kept his calm, face bland. He merely tossed the cigarette down, making an effort to land the smoking stick on Allen's shoe.
Allen yelped. His shoe had caught on fire.
Dilandau cackled unsympathetically at Allen's efforts to put out the flame. He gave a last bang on the locker beside him and grinned manically as it crumpled to the floor. Pushing himself off the wall, Dilandau flicked open his lighter and brought the flame close to Allen's face warningly.
Allen swallowed and held as still as possible, eyes locked onto Dilandau's face. "Whoa, whoa, what's with you," he demanded.
"I don't need anyone to help me get revenge, especially not from a Barbie like you, Allen Schezar. If I want revenge, I'm getting it my way," Dilandau snarled in a low, dangerous tone. "Just because Celena is your sister too doesn't mean you can order me around. Nobody, you hear that? nobody tells me what to do. Keeps this in mind: the only reason I haven't knocked out your insides is because it would depress Celena. But even that might not save your guts if I'm pissed enough."
Dilandau brought the flame within a dangerous inch of Allen's nose. Allen froze completely, trying not to look at the flame as it waved this way and that.
"So don't push your luck," he snarled. Dilandau put out the flame with a click. With a last smirk, Dilandau turned around and walked away.
"You bastard, just trying to help," Allen called after him.
Dilandau responded by sticking up his middle finger up in the air.
Sighing in exasperation, Allen shook his head. Oh well. Dilandau was just a stupid bastard. He didn't know what he was turning down.
And what was that shit about love? What the hell did Dilandau, of all people, know about love? How dare he accuse Allen! Of course Allen loved Hitomi! He just didn't mind doing whatever it took to get what he wanted.
The bell rang and Allen walked off, winking or smiling to girls around him.
Hitomi shifted uncomfortably on her desk. There was a substitute teacher but apparently the sub had no idea whatsoever what they were supposed to do. So the 5th period was declared a study hall. Hitomi didn't mind that at all so she had settled down with a book about motorcycles that Van had lent her. But no matter how absorbed she was in the book, it was still extremely difficult to ignore the stares coming her way.
Finally, Hitomi glanced up. In the desks in front of her, a group of assorted girls glared at her.
"Um…hi?" she said awkwardly.
The brunette girl sitting in the desk directly in front of her smirked at her uncertainty and leaned over, propping an elbow on Hitomi's desk.
"Kanzaki," she said, "how are you?"
"Fine…"
"And how's Van?"
Hitomi frowned at this abrupt question. Her eyes flicked around at the other girls, who were now either sneering or glaring at her. They began to prick on her nerves.
She shrugged. "What about Van, Ellyn? Last I saw he was perfectly fine too," Hitomi replied dryly.
"Oh I'm sure you found him fine, very fine indeed," Ellyn said sarcastically.
"Oh please." A redhead girl named Kelly next to Ellyn leaned over to Hitomi. "Let's not beat around the bust, shall we Hitomi? Are you and Van a couple or not?" she spat.
Hitomi raised an eyebrow. "I suppose we are," she answered placidly, successfully keeping her annoyance out of her voice.
"Since when?" Kelly challenged.
"Why does it matter to you?" Hitomi asked coldly. "It's none of your business."
"Oh, well." Kelly smirked. "We just want to know the welfare of our fellow student-"
" 'Fellow student' my ass," Hitomi snapped coldly. "I haven't spoken to any of you in my life. What's the real reason?"
Ellyn narrowed her eyes. She opened her mouth to snarl but Kelly stopped her.
"Oh, Hitomi," Kelly sighed wistfully. "You've changed so much this past week but you're still as naïve as ever. Here's the bottom line, Kanzaki: stay away from Van Fanel."
Hitomi almost laughed out loud. "So that's it?" she asked incredulously. She stared at Kelly, the ringleader, with a look of disbelief. It was such a simple, no that wasn't the word, petty, it was so petty a reason to get worked up on! "I'm really amazed," she remarked. "You're ganging up on me over a guy?"
Ellyn snarled and leaned forward. "You really don't know anything, bitch," she hissed.
"A little mouse like you doesn't deserve Van," Kelly spat. "None of us," she gave a toss toward the rest of the group, "could ever even make him glance our way-"
"-And we're supposed to believe that Van fell for little, squeaky Hitomi Kanzaki," Kelly finished. "Wouldn't you find that hard to accept?"
"What did you do, slut?" another girl hissed.
"Did you let him feel you up?" said a girl to the side.
"Went down his pants?"
"Sucked his cock?"
Hitomi slammed her fist down with a loud smack. "I don't believe this shit," she said voice a deadly calm, face dark. "Do your really think that? Do you?" she barked.
The girls flinched, briefly taken back for a moment. Hitomi cut in before they could talk.
"If you really think I would act like a whore, well, it takes one to know one right?" she snapped, eyeing Kelly and Ellyn. "But I didn't, and I know you'll believe that, because I'm not like that."
"Well nobody knows the truth about Hitomi Kanzaki anymore, do they?" Ellyn challenged. "One day she's a little mouse and then next she hacks her hair off."
Hitomi snorted at this comment. "What?" she asked innocently. "Am I not allowed to cut my hair if I want to? And really," she added. "Do you honestly think Van is the kind of guy who would fall for cleavage? Are you telling me that you really think I had to flash him or something in order to get him to notice me?"
She paused to give the girls a long, cynical stare and smirked as they wiggled under her gaze.
"What right do you bitches have to order me to stay away from Van? I should be the one telling you to keep away, I'm his girlfriend, but I won't because I am really too polite for my own good sometimes. And on top of that, you accuse me of being a slut and at the same time you imply that Van would fall for it." Hitomi lounged back in her chair and sighed.
"I don't really care what you call me, but don't you ever dare degrade Van, not in front of me. And what's even more amazing is that you're complaining that Van will never look at you and that I don't deserve him. What do you know? You don't know Van at all. None of you deserve half the guy Van is!"
Hitomi stopped to take a breath but paused. She turned her head slightly to the side.
The whole classroom had gone quiet, all suddenly frozen midway in their actions. Even the substitute teacher had frozen holding a pen, poised above the paper. You couldn't really blame them. It was a real sight to Hitomi Kanzaki speaking two whole sentences, let alone a whole rant. Most of the class now had their mouths hanging open with a small gap. But they cringed when Hitomi opened her mouth in a brief snarl.
"What are you looking at?" Hitomi snarled in a low voice.
There was a brief sequence of shuffling and twitching and suddenly the class was absorbed in completely different activities.
Hitomi returned her gaze to the offending girls, who had shocked, embarrassed looks on their faces. Kelly's eyes were widened in surprise and Ellyn's bottom lip quivered nervously. Hitomi's mouth twitched in amusement, she had never expected herself to ever come off as intimidating.
With a sigh, Hitomi flipped open her book again and relaxed. She placed a finger on her place and her eyes flicked up again. She made a point to catch the gaze of each and every one of the offending girls.
"What? Do you still have a problem?" she snapped.
They all quickly twirled around and rearranged themselves into their own separate group, away from Hitomi. Ellyn trembled, nervous at sitting in the desk directly in front of Hitomi's. Hitomi glared at Ellyn's back for a moment then turned back to her book, reading as though she weren't interrupted.
Hitomi felt extremely satisfied by the end of the period. She had reached the halfway point of the book. She also felt a proud swelling of accomplishment. It had felt good ranting at those girls. To Hitomi's shock, she had liked it. No surprise there. She had rarely ever been given the chance to let it all out before. Their accusations had just grinded on her nerves until she exploded.
She smiled cheerfully at the sight of Van leaning against the row of lockers outside her classroom. Hitomi repressed the urge to smirk pointedly toward Kelly and her gang and sauntered up to him. Van grinned lazily back and kissed her on the cheek before sliding an arm around her waist.
"You look happy," he remarked.
"Do I?" asked Hitomi, grinning widely. "I didn't notice."
A/N So, what do you think? I admit, Hitomi may have been a little OOC but I couldn't resist a small rant. Please Review!