A/N: ...am strange. Well, at least I've got TWO weird pairings in here! XD BU-YA! MihaeruxMariam and HitoxMatilda, with a side implication of MihaeruxMatilda... muahahahaa...
(cough) Anyway, in this Matilda is around 22 years old. You guys can go ahead and do the rest. Prolly OOC as well.
Right. Well, when writing this, I started to lose steam at the end, so the ending, um, sucks. It's rather sudden, don't you agree? Wait, you haven't read it yet. (duh!) Well, fair warning. Also, I tried to keep all the past-tense stuff out of it (ie, 'walks' instead of 'walked,' 'says' instead of 'said,' etc.) but it turned out to be a horrifying struggle. So if you have a perfectionist beitchy side like me, please, ciriticise.
...spelled that wrong...
DISCLAIMER: ...no own
SUMMARY: HitoxMatilda. It's maybe just an eensy bit vague, but it's there, trust me.
I need to stop writing these one-shots and update my other stories...
"Deserted"
&
Mihaeru and I had a promise. We never spoke about it; rarely even hinted at it; but it was there. It was a promise. And Mihaeru never broke promises. Neither did I.
It was a special thing, that nobody but us knew about. I loved thinking about it at night--our promise. It made me smile when there was nothing left to smile at.
Mihaeru broke it.
Seven years and three weeks to the day ago--I have been counting--we made that silent promise during a Beyblading Tournament. Maybe it's strange that I thought it would last until the end. Or maybe I was wrong, and there was no promise at all. Even so.
It started raining earlier this morning, and hasn't let up since. I came to Tokyo to--you guessed it--visit Mihaeru. He'd sent me a letter that sounded rather urgent, and I dropped everything to fly over here. Well, it turns out he's made another promise - he's engaged. And not only is he engaged, but he's getting married--this very week.
Tomorrow.
And what about our promise?
He's so happy, now. And she's a nice young lady. Another Tournament blader--Mariam, or something like that. They want me to be the bridesmaid--they only want one. Why only one? They were going to have a small wedding. Said they were thrilled to see me so willing and enthusiastic to come out on such short notice.
And what about that day, seven years ago--Mihaeru?
Maybe he's just fickle. They say some men are like that. But back to this afternoon--
I smiled. I hugged Mariam. I shook hands with Mihaeru, and he kissed my forehead, just absolutely beaming when I accepted. How could I not? They said to be back at their home around seven this evening, to get ready...
But the moment their door closed behind me I ran. Right out into the rain. It's very misty, and I can't see very far. But maybe that's due to the tears in my eyes.
And right now, I'm standing in the middle of this bridge, soaking hair only slightly ruffled by a bitter wind, crying over the water.
Why did you brake our promise?
I feel forgotten. Empty. Deserted. He deserted me--and Mariam is so pretty. They'll probably be very happy. I know they will. They also mentioned my being the godmother of their children. Sure, I said, why not? I love kids.
The feeling of the cold rain drops on my head remind me of that day when we made our promise. It was raining much like this, then, too--I had been enjoying the rain at the time, though. It rarely rains in Mexico.
I... love... you... Mihaeru!
I want to scream. I want to brake something, shatter it and desert it, so my heart isn't alone in its new cold place...
Abruptly the rain drops stop pounding my head and instead the sound of water on canvas reaches my ears--somebody is holding an umbrella over my head.
"You know, it isn't healthy to stand out in the cold in a pair of shorts and a tank top."
I turn slowly at the voice, only vaguely noting the color of his umbrella--black. He looks familiar, standing there in a black coat, white dress shirt and long khakis. I know I've looked into those eyes before...?
"You--Kinomiya, Takao, right?" I asked. He quirks his eyesbrows slightly and looks me over before grinning.
"Nope," he says. "But close. I'm his brother."
Takao had a brother? I remember Takao--the young world champion. I remember training with his team, although, it was so long ago...
Oh, yes. He did have a brother, I can recall now. That was the reason why we had been training. Or something similar. Now, if I can only remember his name...?
I can't. But I do grin up at him and say, "Yes, you're ringing a bell. I don't believe that we actually ever met, though?"
"No, we haven't," he responds easily. I think I'm starting to remember now.
"It's... Hi... Hiro... Iie, Hire... Hiro... Hi... Hito--Hitoshi. Hitoshi!" I snap my fingers and flash him one of my nicer smiles. "Hitoshi, isn't it?"
"Yeah, grand prize. And you're Mathilda. Barthez Battallion, if I'm not mistaken..."
Oh, it was so long ago. "Close enough." I like the way he pronounces my name--Mathilda... there's an 'h' in there somewhere...
"Actually, I only just recall you on my own. Mihaeru and Mariam showed me your picture--looks like we'll be the lucky godparents of their children. I thought I wouldn't get to properly meet you until the wedding, but obviously fate has other plans."
Fate? Heh. Funny guy.
"So who all is going to the wedding?" I ask. Then I wince, suddenly reminding myself of just how deserted I am...
Hitoshi's eyes flicker over my form, and he frowns slightly.
"I'll fill you in after you're properly dry somewhere," he says, and hands me his umbrella. I wonder why for a moment, and then blush when he takes off his coat and drapes it around my shoulders before taking his umbrella back.
"I don't live far from here," he says, putting an arm around my shoulders. "Let's run. Ne?"
And we do. We run across streets, down sidewalks, through yards, over bridges, and even hop a few fences before arriving at a vaguely familiar house with a dojo built next to it. I'm close to laughing for some reason--I haven't done anything that playful since...
Mihaeru left for Japan...
My smile fades as Hitoshi opens the door and urges me inside, shaking out his umbrella and hair. It's long, and goes everywhere--kind of...
Mihaeru...
I can't stop thinking about him! Tears fill my eyes again, once more mingling with the water droplets already sliding down my cheeks and hair. I shed Hitoshi's coat slowly, staring open-eyed at my muddy shoes. I should take them off...
"I think smiles suit you better than tears," Hitoshi's voice brakes in. He lifts my chin and wipes the water off my face, tears and rain altogether. "You were crying out at that bridge, weren't you?" His eyes are depthless, kind. They remind me of something--not Mihaeru or his broken promise--but something else, something that I can't quite place my finger on...
"He made me a promise," I whisper, voice cracking. Hitoshi doesn't reply--just looks down at me with those dark brown eyes. More tears make themselves known, and Hitoshi's face blurs with the rest of my vision. "He-- he and I, we had a promise... Hitoshi-kun, and he broke it. He broke it."
Oh, Mihaeru, why? Why? Why?
Hitoshi's facial expression doesn't change for a while. Eventually, though, he removes his hand from my chin and bends down to finish taking off his shoes.
"C'mon," he says. "You can tell me all about it over some hot chocolate."
I watch him remove his socks--also wet--and then roll up the muddy part of his pants. He's still dripping slightly as he exits the front doorway and moves down the hall into another door, most likely a kitchen. I listen to various things being moved around, and then wipe my nose and also take off my shoes and socks. I'm only wearing a tank top and shorts--truthfully, I hadn't thought about weather. I had assumed it would be the same in Japan as it is in Mexico.
I wring out my shortish hair and then follow him.
"Does anybody else live here?" I asked, looking around and seating myself at the table.
"Nope," Hitoshi responds from behind a large cupboard door. "Just me. And Jin, too--she's my cat."
I grin for some reason.
"My family has actually occupied this house since before the Meiji government," Hitoshi continues, now messing around in a different cupboard. "But my old man's always out traveling--I can never keep track. Sometimes I go with him, but right now, I just want to settle down. You know? My grandfather lived here, too, until he kicked the bucket. My little brother--Takao, you probably remember him--has been living with his fiancee for almost four years. He still hasn't proposed. It's driving me nuts." Hitoshi turns away from the stove and comes to lean against a counter, fairly close to where I'm sitting at the table.
"Down the hallway to your right, the second door. Pull a few towels out and dry yourself--can't afford you getting sick, can we?" Hitoshi grins before turning away once more. I blink, bite my lip, then eventually do as he said, wrapping a large, fluffy pink towel around myself and throwing another, smaller, blue towel over my head and around my hair. I bring a couple for Hitoshi, too, and start drying off my legs in the dining room, again seated at the table.
Hitoshi sits on one of his towels--next to me--and ruffles his hair with the other before setting a couple of steaming mugs on the table and joining me.
"So," he says, leaning back. "Tell me about this promise of yours."
I wrap my cold fingers around my mug and gaze into the warm liquid. Abruptly I smile. I remember where I've seen Hitoshi's eyes before, now.
Somehow encouraged, I begin, "It was during my first--and last, mind you--beyblade tournament. Between battles one day, Mihaeru and I got to go visit our hometown in Mexico. While we were there, it rained. It's rare that it rains in Mexico, so I was outside enjoying it... then Mihaeru joined me, and it was like... I guess... I dunno, we promised each other something. I didn't know what, I'll admit that, but now I know he's broken it, and I know what our promise was..." I hesistate, then continue.
"We never actually said 'I promise to love you forever' or anything like that. We never even dated. Never spoke about it. But it was there--I know it was there. And so did he." At least, I thought he had...
"Anyway. I got a letter from him that said he needed me urgently. So I flew over here, and find out he's already got a promise with somebody else. And she's such a nice person. They deserve each other." Again, I pause--I had thought that telling a story like this would take longer, hurt more, be broken by random bouts of crying. But as I sit here talking quietly, staring into a mug of hot chocolate the same color as a man's eyes, I just feel numb. Even if I do cry, I won't feel it.
"But he still broke our promise. Nothing can change that." I finish by throwing my head back and swallowing all of the contents of my mug, and then throw my head foreward, bringing one hand up, coughing.
It burns...!
Hitoshi chuckles. "I laced it with some vodka. Help warm you up. Here," he adds, and reaches over to push the towel and my hair out of my face. "Calm yourself down, kid."
Several minutes pass before I am able to compose myself and have the decency to blush. Well. That had certainly been an adventure.
"If I may be so bold," Hitoshi grinned slightly, taking a measured sip of his own drink, "Mihaeru didn't brake your promise. He never made the promise in the first place. How could he brake it?"
I blink owlishly at him, taking in his slightly smug features.
"Thanks for your help," I say suddenly, standing up. "I feel better. See you tomorrow at the wedding." I start to walk away, but Hitoshi is quick to grasp my left wrist.
"No, wait," he says. "Stay?"
I hesistate. I don't need his criticism. Not now.
But I don't have a place to stay, either. I bought the first ticket to Japan and left, almost forgetting my passport. I hadn't packed anything. Had nothing planned. Had no money. In fact, I wouldn't even be able to speak Japanese if I hadn't been studying it the very week Mihaeru called me.
I turn back to Hitoshi slowly. He looks apologetic.
"I'm sorry," he says. "my opinion was biased. I'm probably missing something. I'm not trying to judge you."
I look down. "No," I say softly. "I want to blame somebody other than Mihaeru. You've been really nice to me, Hitoshi-kun. I'm sorry."
"Don't be," he responds, standing up. "I know what a broken heart feels like. So you're still going to the wedding, huh? And being the only bridesmaid to boot. What a load. How do you have only /one/ bridesmaid?" He blinked, then shook his head, releasing my wrist.
"You should take a shower or bath" he utters over his shoulder. "I'll wash your clothes."
I follow him, eyes twitching as I fight tears again.
"Thank you," I whisper. "Thank you so much..."
"No problem. Oh, do you have a place to stay?"
"Ah..."
"Stay here, please. This house has been way too empty since I moved in, if that makes sense. If anything, I could use the company."
I can't stand it any longer as we stop at the door to the bathroom. Bursting into tears, I throw my arms around his neck.
"Thank you!" I bawl, "thank you so, so much, Hitoshi-kun! You don't know what this means to me! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"
"A- alright, you're welcome..." he stutters, unsure if he should pat my back or push me away or what. I can sense his awkwardness, and it only makes me cry harder. What a sweetheart...
"J-just... take a bath, okay? You'll feel better after, promise," he managed, finally deciding to just lay his palms over my shoulderblades. I nod and, still crying, retire to the bathroom.
Running water into the tub, I sniffle and recall Mihaeru and my promise.
I thought...
But obviously I had thought wrong.
I'm glad Hitoshi-kun found me when he did. I may have done something drastic.
"Mathilda?" His voice is muffled through the door.
"Yeah?" I call back.
"Hey, whenever your ready, shout, and I'll grab your clothes, alright?"
"Alright! Thanks again!"
He mumbles something else and then apparently walks away.
I smile at the bath water.
Suddenly..
I know this feeling...
It feels as if...
I've been familiar with it for quite a while, now...
I've been made another promise...
And I don't mind... I don't mind it in the least...
And I don't feel so deserted anymore.