Can't vouch for this being a long chapter. Give me a break, though. It took an hour to write at two in the morning. That, and I don't feel well. Enough excuses.
I'm excited about this fic, though I'm upset that I may not have the opportunity to update in a while. Family things and all. Oh well, maybe I'll have to learn to write fictions on paper, and give them to someone else to type. Whatever it takes, ne?
Sorry for the slow updates. Life likes to hit me with stuff all at once. I've been exhausted as of late.
Happy holidays, though I'm late, and happy '05. Got a lot of stuff planned for the new year, writing wise. If all goes well, I'll be very pleased.
Thanks to the huge amount of input I got for the prologue. Twenty reviews! Wow. Hopefully I can follow the trend.
You Don't Know My Name -- Chapter One -- Encounter
"I'm insane."
The two words seemed to echo throughout the small room, in both their minds, and even outside, into the wind, where it was carried over seas, and eventually, across the world.
If Kaoru wanted to remember this first encounter with him, years later, when things had changed, she would have used the same words. It went to prove to her, though, that things weren't always as they seemed...and that perhaps her heart was just a little bit crazy, off the mark.
"Insanity prevails in the game of love, darling. Who would want a relationship where all is so boring?"
His voice reached out to her in the form of a slight, fast moving snake, and bit her right in the ears, it seemed. "You have some kind of ego," She said, immediately angered, wondering how he had the audacity to just spout that out of his mouth, when they had met a mere...what was it? Thirty seconds ago?
"Oh, and I'm not your darling, either." This seemed to be added, by Kaoru, as an afterthought.
"Mm. Well then, beautiful, you've not left me much to work with, I'm afraid."
"Could you talk to me without cute names? Really, I am not six years old. You don't have to try to impress me. Actually..." Now that she thought of it, and a few forms of rational thought returned to her. "Would you mind explaining to me how exactly you made it through the gate and into my room? It'd be rather helpful, you see."
Her previously awed and impressed tone had now turned slightly cynical and sarcastic, a porcupine like front to use while she tried to organize her feelings.
He just stared at her, into her ocean blue orbs. If he seemed to take in nothing else, he did take in one of her first comments. "I call you beautiful...because you are."
His tones sounded wild, before, raspy and cocky, as if they belonged to the heart of a warrior. When he said that, though, her breath hitched in her throat, making her lose her ability to breathe momentarily, as they just watched each other. It wasn't the words, so much...anyone could say those words without feeling, but it was just the way his tone seemed to reach into her and warm her soul. It was not only less harsh, but it seemed to hold more depth, more feeling. More of his own soul.
As egotistical as he was, she hadn't the heart to see him leave, not just yet. And though he had snuck into her room without her knowledge, was convinced he could have her all to himself, and could admonish her by these sickeningly sweet names, she thought maybe there was her last hope. Had she not just thought earlier, how lonely it was to be alone?
She wondered vaguely if it was a sign from above telling her she needed someone. The thought flitted from her mind in seconds, too deep a topic than she was willing to dwell upon at the moment.
"I don't know what to do..." She whispered, looking to the stranger himself for advice.
"I'll leave, if that's really what you want." She could tell in his eyes, though, there was a war waging in his mind. One side telling him to do whatever the girls wishes were, the other telling him to stay with her no matter what the cost was.
Her mind was first to jump with, 'Yes! Get the strange man out of your dojo!'
But, her heart won the bout. "No. Please...please, don't leave. I don't really want you to go..."
'Not yet.' Her mind argued, irritated.
"Then I won't leave." The more dominant of his sides won, as well, the raspy tone returning.
"I have more matters I'd like to discuss with you, sir." She named him this for lack of a better thing to call him. They had not exchanged names, and she was afraid to ask first, as if somehow implying by that some kind of connection she was not sure she wanted to make with him.
"Oh?" He replied simply, a pair of cold eyes fixing their stare on her.
She shook slightly, out of the pure eeriness of that look. "But, we'll leave it for the morning." She paused, and his mouth opened slightly. Before he could ask any question, she rambled in again. "I have spare rooms. You will stay in one, tonight."
There was no, 'if you wish'. He was staying in one of those rooms, if he wanted to stay in the dojo at all. She was trusting, but not that trusting as to let a strange, two personality (by her looks of it) man into her room for the night. Especially not after he called her "darling" and "beautiful".
As lovely as it sounded, rolling off his lips.
She shook her head quickly. 'I can't let myself fall for this, not right now.'
"All right." And although her tone was demanding, and ordinarily something he would make a standoff about just for arguments sake, he let it go. "Where can I find all of these things you speak of, though?"
"I'll get them from you. Follow me."
She slowly stood up, gracefully. Probably from some kind of training, as he noted it was a dojo, had she learned the grace and agility she seemed to move with, her legs shaped beautifully.
She had her back to him, readjusting her yukata tie. Satisfied after a few moments, she turned back to him, nearly making him fall flat on his face.
No, she hadn't even bumped into him. Her features, though...
He wondered why he hadn't seen them earlier, but he hadn't. He was almost pleased by that, because it gave him a greater show now. The door to her room was left open, from when he walked in, moonlight pouring into the otherwise dark room.
Her hair was wavy, and tumbled like waves down her back and sides. Extra waves induced, he figured, by having it held together in a braid...
He had no idea how he fathomed that. He hadn't really known, except from what he had heard about women, and the hair tie that lay next to the futon in careless abandon, as if it had fallen out instead of being placed there.
Long, ebony tresses he just wanted to run his fingers through, just to say he had touched an angel's hair.
But if her hair was the waves, her eyes were the ocean.
Moonlight reflected in her eyes, they reflected all sorts of aquatic blue hues, ranging from the darkest navy to the brightest teal.
Like a gem in the sun, were her eyes in the moonlight.
And then her whole form...was gorgeous. Fit legs, flawless, porcelain, complexion, and what appeared to be a rather delicate waist. The yukata fit her perfectly, tied just enough so he could see her, but lose enough to leave some things purely to his imagination.
He wondered how long he had just been taking in her body, because her tone seemed annoyed when it floated into his ears.
"Hello? Are you even listening?"
"Hm? Sorry, beautiful."
She said nothing, just seemed to give him what appeared to be an eye roll, and left the room, leaving him behind in her room to take a second to compose himself.
"I am not about to fall surrender for her...not just yet," He told himself softly. "I can't."
He then followed her onto the porch, and into a closet, where blankets and an extra futon were kept.
She closed the door effortlessly, and carried the items to the guest room without a fuss.
"...Need any help?" He was afraid to say that, afraid he'd damage her pride again, and he'd get yelled at. He mentally braced himself for a verbal assault.
"No, thank you." She was pleasant enough, it seemed. "But you're, in a roundabout way, a guest...I want to make sure you're comfortable."
She smiled so easily, it seemed, and he was happy. Her pouting and indignance was cute, but her smile was beautiful.
"Anyways, this is the guest room..." She slid the door open to reveal a perfectly immaculate room, set the futon down, and prepared the sheets.
"It's...nice." He didn't smile, but he didn't look angry, either. Extremely neutral, he kept himself, she noted. 'Great.'
"Thank you.." She smiled again for him, in attempts to make him smile for her. It helped constrict his heart a bit, but it had not shown on his face.
"No, thank you. It's...been a long time." He stopped himself short, she realized, but he had no intention of starting up again.
"I suppose I'll see you in the morning, then?"
He nodded curtly.
"All…all right, then." She stumbled over her words. "See you in a few hours, then, ne?" She laughed slightly, but all he did was nod.
"Oyasumi nasai.."
"Oyasumi."
"See you in the morning," She repeated, sliding the door closed politely as she stepped out. Walking a few feet towards her room, she sighed, leaning on a porch support beam.
"Oyasumi.....whoever you are."
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End Chapter One