Much apologies to anyone who read the forbidden Akito spoiler without being forewarned. GOMEN NASSAAAAAIIII! I will immediately add in the description that I have thrown in spoilers! I'm so, sooo sorry. I didn't think. Please don't kill me! Gomen nasai!Also, some of you might notice that a couple of reviews are coming from someone named 'Fennec'. This is purely coincidental. No, I didn't name my Cinderella after the famous fanfic author Fennec. Nope. whistles Okay, so I did. For giggles. But please don't mistaken the writer for being the identity of our Cinderella! Speaking of Fennec.. I threw Meiko in there for you. Happy? ;)
And last but not least, who do you guys think Cinderella is now? I'm curious! I've heard what some people think, but I really, really wanna know now! So if you review, please include in your review if you think she's an original character or not, or if you think she's not an original character, who do you think she is?
Ja ne for now! I look forward to talking to you all again… when the end is here! Muhahah!
Disclaimer: After four chapters, I still am not Natsuki Takaya. Woe is me.
A Mabudachi Story:
Chapter Four
By Ayame Kazeai
It didn't surprise him a bit that the girl standing in the doorway attracted so much attention. She really was a vision of beauty. Platinum hair laid in long, tousled ringlets around her form, topped with a small tiara. Her body was clad in a strapless white gown with piles and piles of lacy fabric making up the flowing skirt, and a white feathered mask covered her face almost completely, leaving only her chin and crimson painted lips exposed. There's no way… he thought to himself as he watched her glide into the room, looking around for something -or someone- in particular. But out of morbid curiosity and hope, he made his way to the center of the floor.
For a moment, it seemed liked the entire room was watching him. His exact spot, his exact position on the floor. They were all staring right at him. In any other situation, it would have made him dreadfully nervous, to the point that he wouldn't have been able to stand it. The room almost started to spin. This would be it. The exact moment he had been waiting for. He just knew it. She was there for him. And as a hand gently tapped on his shoulder, Hatori took a deep breath and turned around to face the person who could forever change his life…
"Breath, Hatori, breath." Shigure said slowly.
Hatori's face fell. "Shigure. Why are you tapping on my shoulder?" he replied with a notable level of anger coating his tone. He had been so sure that it would have been her…
"Because…" Shigure explained slowly, "…I didn't want you to be completely breathless when you looked beside you."
Slowly, his brow raised in response, and he glanced over to his side. There she was- his Cinderella. He looked back to Shigure, only to find that he had already made his way off, schmoozing with the fellow students, a leggy girl with curly blonde hair in particular.
"LawoftheDragon?" a quiet voice asked.
He nodded. "Yes. And you must be Fennec, am I correct?"
"Yes." she replied nervously. "Um… would you like to dance or something?"
"I'd be delighted."
Hatori took her by the hand and led her to a secluded area of the dance floor. It was like something out of a movie- everything was as perfect as it could be. She spoke with such an intelligence… in a voice that was rather dry and scratchy, perhaps from a spring cold… but the content of what she said was so covered in everything that ever interested Hatori that he couldn't help but give her 150 of his attention. Even harder was fighting the urge to hold her near…to bring his lips to her cheek, to run a hand through her hair, and to hold her in his arms while they talked about boring stuff like Plato or Aristotle. It was weird- they had just met, but he felt like he had known her forever. There was just this pull. This irresistible urge to be her everything. He couldn't help but shake it off, though. There was no way that he could be in love with some girl that he had just met, better yet some girl who's face he hadn't even seen yet. She could be missing a nose for all he knew, and here he was, thinking she was the best that ever there was. Silly, he thought to himself, Silly, but so nice…
"Were you able to talk your Mom into letting you stay a bit late?" he asked quietly as a hand slipped over her thin shoulder.
Behind the mask, brows furrowed. "..No.. no, I couldn't. We have this thing tomorrow morning…and I have to be well rested for it. Or I'll get in trouble. I'm so sorry." she replied quickly.
"If you don't want to, that's okay too…"
"…it's not that I don't want to, I just.."
"Let's go outside."
"Okay."
Hatori slipped a hand over her lithe fingers and pulled her across the floor and outside of the doors leading to the garden, not even realizing that the whole time he was under the close surveillance of Shigure, who danced nearby with their classmate Meiko while not letting them out of his sight. They sat down on a nearby bench just outside of the view from the inside. Immediately, a hand went up to his neck and he let out a great sigh.
"It's so…loud in there. I thought this would be best, so that we could talk."
She coughed nervously. "Sorry if I sound so horrible.. I have this throat thing, and it makes me sound like an old lady…"
"Don't worry about it. I don't care how your voice sounds. We're together now…"
"But not for long."
"All the time in the world or not enough time at all, it doesn't matter. Time is time. I'll love every minute of it either way."
They smiled at one another for a moment, then both let out a sigh at the exact same time, causing a giggle to come from both.
"Were you waiting for me for long?" she asked quietly as a hand settled in his.
"Nn, not too long. I had to come a little bit early since my cousin Ayame is running the show. But in all actuality, I think you might have come a bit early as well!"
"Heh, well…I was nervous. I wanted to make sure that you'd actually be here. That, and I was afraid that if I was late, you'd leave, and this would never happen. I was so nervous." she replied with, unsurprisingly, a nervous laugh.
He laughed in return. "You know, now that we're outside and no one is watching, we could take our masks off…"
She immediately shook her head. "No, what if we get caught? Won't we get in trouble."
"I doubt it."
"Are you sure? Isn't your cousin running it? I bet he'd be mad."
"Well, he'd be upset that things didn't go exactly how he had planned." he replied thoughtfully. "But I doubt he'd exactly kill us. But it's okay. Please just let me see you. Please."
His hand reached up to remove her mask, regardless of if he had her permission or not. But immediately, her hand followed suite and rested on his in an attempted to stop his movement. She gave his a slight squeeze as she shook her head again. "No… not now…"
Their hands locked against her silky skin. He couldn't explain it. There was just… something… something that made him love her immediately. This kind, caring, beautiful aura of a friend for years surrounded her. He just couldn't shake it. His other hand rose to press a thumb against her lips. He moved his gaze down to them. There it was again- that calling, telling him to just take the plunge. Boyhood hormones were a bitch.
"I want to kiss you." he mumbled softly as his face neared hers.
Immediately, her forehead moved to rest against his, and she whispered "You can't."
"I can."
"I can't let you."
"Why not?" he replied in an exasperated whisper.
"You'll regret it."
"That's my decision to make, Fennec."
Without even thinking a second longer, he slipped his hand from her lips to the back of her head, and pulled her in for a kiss-
"What are you doing?" a stern voice called out from the doorway, causing Hatori to stop before his lips could even reach hers. He looked up, almost panicked and expecting to see an older teacher there to chew them out, but saw Shigure instead. A devious grin was across the dog's face as he leaned against the door frame.
"Shigure…" he almost growled.
"You better get inside. Ayame is about to hit the stage to announce the de-masking, and you know he'll be just heartbroken if you miss his shining moment. He's been working behind the scenes this whole time, you know…"
Hatori's eyes widened and immediately he looked down at his watch. Damnit he thought to himself as he brought a hand up to his forehead. It's almost midnight…that means…
Before the thought could even be processed, Fennec started to rise from her seat. "That's right", she replied, "I'm gonna have to go. Mom will be here any minute now."
"No, don't go, not now." Hatori pleaded as he stood up and grabbed her by the shoulders.
"No, I can't! I have to go or I'll get in trouble, and I won't be able to see you again!" she replied in a panicked tone.
He sighed. "I'll take the blame. I'll meet her, and apologize. She'll be able to forgive you! I promise!"
"No, I can't. I'm so sorry." she replied as she started to step away.
Impulsively, and in a last ditch effort to have her stay, he grabbed her by the arm, pulled her back to him, and pressed his lips to hers hungrily. They connected. One could say that fireworks went off, or they felt that warm, tingly feeling. One could also say that hormones were raging for the first time ever as well. Either way, something happened. Hatori's hands ran along her shoulders, holding her near (though not too near) as the kiss became deeper and more passionate. Lips parted and fires burned. And then she pulled away.
"Hatori…" she whispered in a desperate tone.
Slowly, his eyes opened in shock to see her running away from him. He took off after her, determined to not lose her now. But by the time he rounded the corner, she was all but completely gone. That is… except for an item lying on the ground. Slowly, he made his way to it. It was a shoe. A simple diamond incrusted shoe. Surely she'll be back for this… he thought for a moment as he picked it up and held it in his hand.
Somewhere in the distance, Ayame was on the loud speaker, announcing that it was midnight and time to de-mask. Hatori stared off into the distance as the cool breeze swept his hair off of his face, and a forlorn expression took over as he wished that the moment had come a little bit sooner…