Impersonator Waltz

Chapter Four

Purple Hyacinth's Mockery

'Well, the party's over, kiddies. Go back to your homework.' Pretty voice. A dismissive flap of a long hand. Already simmering batter of thoughts thickening up.

Yuki's hair, like shaped lavender dust, still obscured his eyes, peculiar shadows causing an eerie effect. It was the slight curling at the corner of his lips, however, which gave away his thoughts. It was like watching a painter slash black across a renaissance beauty, helpless to stop the cold hand.

'It's Saturday, Shigure.'

'Over-the-weekend homework, then. Extra credit. Suck-up things. Whatever. Move along.' Unperturbed. Still dismissive. Almost impatient.

'It's holiday break, you moron,' Kyo drawled out, rolling those infamous eyes of his. With an impatient, superior grunt, he turned on his heel and marched out of the room. They listened to his foot stomps irritate the floorboards, creak creak crunch. Up the stairs he went. The sound of the door slamming rang in Yuki's ears, head still against the doorframe.

Shigure did not so much as bat an eyelid. It wasn't his concern, the mood swings of his little relatives. He wouldn't worry himself sick because of it. Right now, petty teenage tantrums were at the bottom of his worry list.

Besides, he didn't have any current business with his younger cousins. He didn't have to care.

With a cheery chuckle and a ruffle of Yuki's locks, he made his way back to his Study, an extra spring in his step. His traditional garbs floated around his feet with renewed regality, as though they were made of a kind of silk which did not burn in fires of Hell. He was happy about something. Something … different.

'It's Ayame's fault, isn't it? The way things are between you and Hatori.'

Shigure steps slowed but he didn't stop or turn around. His smile wavered, just a little.

'He was stupid, and you know it. He lets himself go too many times, not caring of the consequences.' He raised a long finger, resting it on the part of the doorframe near his haunting eyes. 'It's happened before, right? It's happened before.' He began scratching at the wood, ears deaf to the mute screams of the splintering bark. 'Yet you're all ready to put the blame on Hatori.'

That smile of Yuki's tingled a little, climbing up his face, like a cut-in-half maggot.

'I used to hide behind things, too, Shigure. I was about eleven or twelve then. I still do sometimes, but …' – a wry smile – 'I can be excused.' His fingers began tracing the doorframe, a hypnotic dance filled with sinful sensuality. His voice took on an awkward tone, an odd tone, as though a silk blanket of schizophrenia covered him. '"Age holds hands with wisdom, wisdom with will, and will with righteousness."'

Shigure halted by the door of his Study, hair covering what could be subtle interest within those glimmering eyes. Something oddly slimy crawled up his back, causing all sorts of sensations within him. Thoughts trickled through his mind like rotten milk on the gutter, slowly but surely forming a distorted reflection of the world.

Yuki needn't raise his voice – it rang clear in the corridor, the carried message from a stained dove. Hot air floated between them. It was the truth verses truth. The words he heard snatched up a string of opinion in his mind, and bent it viciously.

'Do you remember that, Shigure? You said that when I moved in with you, warning me about making decisions with so little experience in my tiny little mind. About rash actions, and how I'll be the only one left at the end of it to deal with everything I've caused.'

Shigure allowed himself a thin smile. Warmth crept in his cheeks, spindly fingers of the devil.

Yuki must have seen this. He made a sound of disapproval.

'You're pathetic.'

Yuki left, the sound of his footsteps stolen by a phantom.

Shigure remained where he was, fingers drumming a slow beat on his Study doorframe. One intense thought after the other convulsed in his mind; from memory, from what-could-be, to what-should-be. He, too, made a sound of disapproval. He walked inside the Study room, gently dismissing Tohru, who obliged instantly.

Shigure walked to Ayame, but stopped a meter away to look. He didn't stare. He didn't glare. He didn't contemplatively squint. He just looked. No emotion, no thought, no humanity. And when Ayame turned to smile at him, he felt suddenly dirty, as though he had raped someone not once, but twice over.

'My God, Kyo –'

'I know I am.'

'– you're as stupid as you look, aren't you?' Yuki stacked the many books scattered around the room in a pathetic pile on the table. He didn't care where they went – they just had to be off the floor before Tohru came to check on them.

'And you're as girly as you really look!' shot back the Cat, pelting a good-sized novel at the Rat's head. The glare on his face was so intense that Yuki did all he could to stifle his laughter. He didn't like being seen laughing by that stupid cousin of his, anyway.

'Oh, original,' Yuki drawled, moving his head an inch to the right. The book sailed cleanly by him. Kyo muttered a creative expletive and marched to the other side of the room. He crossed his arms tightly and kicked the table for emphasis. He didn't see the little piece of paper that floated down.

Yuki did, though.

'You dropped your homework, idiot.'

'What!' Kyo snapped, hands instantly in fists. 'I didn't bring my homework in here, you insane faggot. Are you and that stupid dog fucking twins or something?' He threw himself this way and that, arms flailing wildly. 'It's the holidays! No homework! No writing! No nothing!'

Yuki raised an eyebrow.

'Then what's that by your ugly foot?'

Kyo looked down sharply, grinding his teeth. He saw the innocent thing, lying there prettily folded. He could see an 'e' written in practiced calligraphy. The folding of it was complex. Kyo could see it was part of a word.

'It's a piece of paper, you dumbass,' he shot at Yuki sarcastically, who sat there, hands folded in his lap. 'Can't you bloody tell by – what the fuck is this?'

Yes, by now he'd opened it.

Yuki rolled his eyes and stood up, dusting himself off. He half-hoped Shigure was back with Ayame from their little 'walk' soon.

'It's a piece of paper, you dumb – Oh, this is ridiculous. I'm wasting my time having this childish conversation with you. I'm going to tell Tohru you threw another fit and turned the room into a pigsty again after we just cleaned it. I have better things to –'

Kyo was across the room in an instant. Yuki dodged the punch the Cat threw and caught him in a headlock.

'Will you stop resorting to violence every time –'

'Will you shut up and look at this!'

Yuki's eyes crossed as Kyo shoved the paper into his face. He read:

Ayame.

Deepest apologies from my regretful heart. My schedule pressed me and I could not see your face. I beg forgiveness, if this amendment pleases you. I wish another meeting. Noon, at the same place.

Hatori.

.end goes chappie four.

-

HI. I'm back from my hole. I appreciate people looking into things and telling me so in their review. Makes me all aflutter-y to have such smart cookies reading this circus of mine. I just want to say: thank you, and for not calling me a lazy bugger concerning updates. Also, that your queries will be answered (I hope) in due time. (HAH. x.X)