Aargh! Gomen nasai! *bows* Gomen nasai! *bows* I know I said start of Feb, and this is more like *end* of Feb, but it's been hard to get back into the writing mood again. It's not like getting back on a bike, cuz I'm in a different mind set now that I'm back, and back into the dull routine. Argh. This chapter also probably bites the big one, but I've re-written it several times, and given the fact that the thing on my mind right now is when I'll get back to playing NWN (NeverWinter Nights – best game ever, play it). But I'm not giving up, not this century. Once again, gomen nasai na no da!
"Do you think they respect me?"
Shimo blinks slowly, uncomprehendingly at me with his amber eyes. "You mean the Elementals?"
"No, our next-door neighbours, of course I meant the Elementals." I snap in one breath.
"Angry, are we?"
I don't know if Yuki's starting to sounds like Shimo or if it's the other way around, but either way it's kind of creepy.
They're starting to look more alike as well. Their eyes match perfectly apart from colouring, and they have the exact same blasé expressions.
There are some differences between them in personality, like Yuki's sense of humour is better, but Shimo knows me inside and out. The only thing that annoys me is that Yuki's getting taller, and his shoulders are getting wider, a closer match to Shimo's physique. I think I've stopped growing (goddamnit), as Yuki, who used to be about a centimetre taller than me is now a couple of inches taller.
He hasn't mentioned it, but the way he smirks is just too much of a give-away to the fact that he's noticed this.
"I'm not angry. You're just stating the obvious. That annoys me."
"We know. I was just clarifying things. Sometimes, you're a bit too vague."
"I'm vague? At least I don't think smiling mysteriously is an answer to a question,"
"At least I smile at all."
Oooh, burn.
"That doesn't stop you from being aggravating."
K'so shimo. K'so nezumi.
He's become just as snarky as Yuki as well.
Shimo stares at me blandly until I talk again.
"Look, we're getting off topic. Do you think that my Elementals respect me?"
"Do you respect them?"
I resist the urge to growl, but allow myself a frown.
"Do you think they'll listen to me?"
"Depends what you ask them. What do you wish to ask of them?"
I have to phrase this question well. Put it in the best possible light. So I wont get chewed out by the same person twice. Well, not as much. "I was wondering if I could trust a few of the… least dangerous Elementals to… um run around the forest alone for a while? You know, give me some down-time?"
"Kyo, would you be so kind as to tell me you're kidding now?"
"Well, you see the thing is…"
"Oh dear, you aren't kidding, are you?"
"Well, it's a little weird sharing my body with… too damn many other creatures! It's not like they just sit there, they move, and they talk to each other… and to me…."
Shimo's face is still impassive.
"Okay, you know how you have Yuki in there, and he usually aware?"
"If I allow him to be, he is aware."
My mind shudders away from that thought, and then gathers up the things that I want to hear, 'he is aware.'
"Well, imagine having twelve Yuki's in your head at all times. All doing whatever the hell they feel like at all hours of the day. I point at my nose. "These things don't sleep, Shimo. They're just there, all the time. I feel stretched at the edges. I just want some downtime."
"… Which do you intend to temporarily free?"
I scratch at the beads around my wrist, waiting for Haru to just leave. Its not like I hate him that much, and really really want him to leave, its more that he's taking his damn time about it. He keeps talking to Shigure and Tohru while Yuki and I stand in the background looking bored. I bet that any second now, Yuki will leave to finish the extra-assignment he has due in a week's time. Seriously. There's prepared, then there's Yuki. Super-organised boy. That and he's surprisingly anti-social at times. Well, quite a lot, unless one of the family or Tohru manage to drag him out and force fun down his throat. We try… well, they try, but sometimes (I get the same treatment, but that's besides the point) it just seems like a lost cause.
With one last nod, Haru saunters out the front door, his duffel bag slung casually over one shoulder. He sets off down the path, and I resign myself to spending half the day shadowing him to make sure the baka doesn't get lost. Don't ever say that I don't care. I just have strange ways of showing it.
Yuki's footsteps retreat upstairs as I head to the shoe rack and retrieve my pair of sturdy boots. Shigure tells Tohru he has something to 'show' her (mental note: stomp on his head), and they disappear the other way.
I pull on my boots as my cousin disappears out of sight, then trudge outside into the crisp afternoon air. I stuff my hands into my pockets, and sigh, watching my breath drift around me as a milky mist, before resignedly crossing into the forest. I dodge past a bush, and sigh again. The cool air is quite refreshing, waking me up entirely for the first time today as I, with a strange sense of resigned determination, begin to trail the cow as he fumbles his way home.
Hatsuharu manages the driveway (I'd certainly hope so, it's a fucking straight road), then consults his map, before resolutely turning and walking in the opposite direction. Oh dear. This looks to be along day.
By around three, he's about a third of the way there, and I approximate by the time he actually reaches the main complex, it should be just after dark. I'll be back home myself around quarter to nine. Great. Too late for dinner, to early to simply go to bed.
As my current, self-imposed job is a bit of a no-brainer, I start compiling a list of possible things to do with my time. What I come up with: compiling a list of things to do with my time.
My imagination really needs a pep-talk.
I end up thinking again about Yuki. He says normal people like touching when they kiss; I know this also, I haven't spent the entirety of puberty sitting under a rock on mars with my fingers in my ears humming songs from The Sound of Music. Give me some credit.
I just have something against people touching me like that. I've been brought up with my family telling me 'Don't touch people! You'll turn into the cat, they'll scream and think you're a freak, then Akito will find out, and you slide slowly into a pit of horror and doom, from which there IS NO RETURN.'
Well, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration, but that was generally what was implied, so I just find it a little hard to bypass my programming. I'll have to work on that. I mean, I consciously know that Yuki is a male, so there will be no transforming involved unless I happen to freak out, but subconsciously, my brain thinks that a person is a person, and therefore all should be avoided.
I sigh. There's not much time left in my holidays, and I haven't done any of the work that has been assigned. I'll need to get around to that. For the second time in as many weeks, I spot a familiar head in the crowd, and this one is not decorated with white-and-black fuzz.
The familiar face smiles, and falls into step next to me.
"Hello, Kyo-san,"
One note for the start of the chapter, when pointing at oneself, Japanese people don't point at their chests, they point at their noses. Don't ask my why, I didn't make up the culture. It just occurred to me as I re-read this that it might sound a little strange if I didn't explain it.
*Sigh* I'm so predictable. Try and guess who came in at the end of this chapter.
I once again apologise for the late-ness and shitty-ness of this latest chapter.
I'll get another one out soon. I feel the creative vibes returning. Reviews would help, though *poke poke* ^-^
