Spiked Punch:
Chapter 8-Madougu
She dropped herself into the seat her date had pulled up for her, feeling a little deflated. The whole thing had seemed fresh out of a dream she once had before. The expensive restaurant with good food, the love of her life as her date and the romantic atmosphere…It was all going perfectly well until they reached the grand entrance of the Compass Rose...
There standing behind the intricately carved podium stood their waiter, all ready to serve them, dressed in a pair of black shoes and pants, an ironed white starched long-sleeved shirt topped with a black bowtie, … and a baseball cap.
Fuuko nearly shrieked when she saw him flash her a fanged-grin, she couldn't tell reached his eyes.
"Welcome to the Compass Rose. A table for two?" he asked in a thick Kansai accent. Between shock and disgust, Fuuko managed to grind out through her teeth,
" Joker! What are you doing here?!"
" Maa maa…Kurei-kun just wants to know what happens…Rai-san being his right-hand man and all." At this he shot Raiha a pointed look. In response, a small smile spread across Raiha's face, then following up with a question of his own,
"What did he say exactly?"
" Well, I asked if he wanted me to keep an eye on you, and he said 'Raiha's the only one who has fully mastered the Raijin, do what needs to be done.'"
"AND what exactly is that supposed to mean?!" Fuuko cut in rather testily, not liking being left in the dark. Her gaze shifted from the 'waiter' to her 'date'. She was not the only one exchanging glances though, she saw a fine thread of understanding pass between Raiha and Joker before they finally broke eye-contact.
"That's for me to know and for you to puzzle over," came the thick accented reply, " now, table for two?" he asked once more, easily slipping back into the role of a waiter from that of an Uruha member. Raiha nodded in response, but a small frown flit across his face, the cryptic message had served its unsaid purpose. Needless to say, none of this passed unnoticed by Fuuko. It was obvious that some kind of order or warning had been issued, but what? Did it have something to do with their weapons? Raijin…Fuujin…
These thoughts continued to murmur at the back of her mind only because she thought better of silencing them completely. The rest of her focused on the date itself. Joker walked before them, leading them to a quaintly set up table for two. The white tablecloth glowed in the incandescence of the blood red candles held stiffly in the cold silver candelabra. Raiha played the role of the perfect gentleman, pulling up her seat for her, ordering for her and complimenting her. The play was faultless, almost like it came out of a guidebook and was rehearsed to perfection. Her responses were not so perfect, but her candidness still could not add enough life to the deadened stage on which she was but wooden chess piece. Indeed, as joker had said, she began to puzzle over the jigsaw that was set before her, she knew all the pieces were in front of her now it was getting them to fit into the right place.
Her thoughts were rudely broken when their orders arrived. She stared almost blankly as a very familiar hand that possessed the grace of a melody and faint scars of battle, laid her dish before her. Her eyes traced the hand to its owner's face. Lavender eyes peering through orangey-red hair stared back down at her.
"Neon-han! There you are! Now, now, you know it's impolite to stare at the customers. Go on back to the kitchen, go…" Joker hurriedly ushered her along to the double doors of the kitchen. But Fuuko would not forget, the eyes, they were not full of contempt like they usually were, but with pity.
"Wait! Why do you look at me like that?" she called out to Neon before she disappeared into the kitchen. The other women paused on the threshold of the adjacent room just long enough to reply, " because you chase something that's not there." And then she was gone.
Slowly, Fuuko turned round in her seat, even slower she raised her eyes to meet his. Then with an unexpected determination she spoke,
" You know what's going on. Tell me." Seeing that he was not going to give her an answer, she continued, " first Recca shows up with Kurei and they're not fighting, then I go on a pre-planned date with you. God knows what other weird things are happening right now but you better start spilling." Raiha smiled at her, it was not patronizing but it did not answer her question either. Finally, he decided an explanation would not satisfy her curiosity, instead, he proposed,
" Bear with me a little while. Pretend what has happened before didn't, and that this is nothing more than a proper date as it was meant to be. And in return I promise you, you'll understand what's been happening before you swallow your last morsel tonight."
She bit her lip as her face scrunched up in concentration. After a while she spoke again,
"I'll go through with what you suggest, but on one condition, [here he nodded in response] you will answer all my questions after dinner without any of your riddles."
He stared at her for a moment, stormy gray meeting emerald green eyes, the corner of his mouth lifted in a half smile and he was the first to break the eye-contact,
"Sure."
~*~
The dishes arrived in a slow but steady pattern, allowing for enough time for conversation to brew between each course. The appetizers quelled the rising tension with it's coolness of taste, the main course was fuel for the delicious building of emotions. Not to mention the red wine that caused blushes as red as it to colour flushed cheeks. And dessert was as sweet as the answers it provided.
Fuuko smiled at him, and watched as he picked up his wine glass once again to taste the bittersweet tang of its contents.
His eyes were on her too, watching her every move with what he hoped was discreet interest. It was not interest in her per say, but her reaction to all this.
She knew he was watching her, but it did not feel like the way a man looks at a women when they are in love…there was something darker to it.
Well it's time for the last act of the play. The audience will soon find out what is missing in this mystery…
Their table had been cleared of dishes, leaving only the silver candelabra with its blood red candles and flickering flames between them. How fitting, dancing fire with melting blood, to remind him of his relation to Kurei and the purpose of the dinner. One hand twirled her glass absently while the other lay lazily beside the warm metal of the candle-holder. Her eyes were half closed and her mind nearly hypnotized by the swirling red liquid in her crystal glass when she felt a smooth warmness slide over her hand. It was not obtrusive or rude, but the presence felt like a faux pas, comfortable but mistaken. A frown creased her brow as she slid her hand from under his palm.
Her attention snapped back to him when she heard him chuckle. Retrieving his own hand, he placed it over his smiling lips as he gave a polite cough to cover up for his laughing at her reaction. His amusement danced in his stormy blue eyes, it was like he knew some secret she had no access to. Smilingly, he asked her,
"Why do you think you did that?"
When she could not provide him the answer, he decided to relieve her of the agony of not knowing by offering his long, drawn-out explanation.
" Think of it this way, your psychic device is called God of Wind and mine is God of Thunder. Together, they make two-thirds the storm. These are the two forces that lend a storm its terrifying nature while the rain washes the land clean. It is the self-same fury of the storm that lends us, the modougu's users, the same passion that burns in us when we do things. Naturally, for each other as well… As for tonight, in the absence of our weapons, I guess you could say the magic does not work." He flashed her a sad smile as he gave her time to accept this.
Sadly, while we stay close as friends, there will come a time, we will stay closer still as enemies…you and I. …sigh.
" Do you understand what I'm saying. Fuuko? We are attracted to each other not in the same way normal men and women are, it is our weapons that bring us together. Without them, we are just two wandering souls in this wide world that may never have laid eyes on each other."
Somehow, as she sat there in her pretty evening dress relishing her last sips in this elegant restaurant, his explanation seemed to flow over her like water. It was not like she did not believe him because deep in her heart she knew it to be true, it was the big picture she would have arrived at when all the jigsaw pieces fell into place, but yet, him sitting there across from her in his black tuxedo with scarcely a wrinkle seemed so surreal. It was like a mist clouded her mind and she let the words slip from her mouth, " And yet one day we will be closer bound still as enemies…you and I." His eyes seemed to widen slightly in shock but he kept his emotions in check as he gazed at her half-lid eyes.
Suddenly, the trance was broken when Fuuko looked away to put her glass down. Then without looking up she said softly, "It's late and I'm tired. I want to go home."
Neither spoke another word as Raiha rose from his seat and helped her out of hers. It was a long quiet walk they shared, back to her place. The silence was a source of comfort to both of them and neither had the courage to break it. The play finished in silence as Fuuko tip-toed to kiss him lightly on the cheek before walking back into her apartment. Raiha merely smiled in acceptance and bowed as she took her leave of him. The Play had come to an end.
Author's Ramblings:
Hey people! I'm really sorry that this took like forever but like I said I'm struggling with my school work, school life, promotional exams and depression all at the same time. So cut me some slack when it comes to frequency of posting ok? Same as usual, tell me everything you like everything you hate and just anything at all you want to say regarding this piece of junk I update from time to time. Flames [should you feel I deserve them] are accepted as well…I guess…though I really don't know what I'm encouraging here….anyway thanx for taking the time to read this!!!
Luv,
Knanaki