Do not own SC characters. I've decided that this fic will be more of an episodic storyline than anything else. So these chapters will show what happens bit by bit. I hope you like it : )
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Chapter 2: Moving in…? Part 1 Complications
Sophitia kept running her fingers through her bangs in both aggravation and slight anticipation for what she would be expecting at the 'University Exchange' meeting at the library. The last bell of the day made her heart pound as she and the rest of the student body made their way to their lockers.
She took her time as she placed her books within her narrow locker. Red-brown hair caught her eye; she looked over to find Mina leaning against a locker that was two lockers away from her own. Sophitia became suspicious as she noticed Mina's grin on her face.
"Is there a reason why you're here with that grin on your face?" She raised an eyebrow as she noticed that Mina already had her backpack firmly hooked onto her shoulder.
"I'm here to make sure that you'll go to the library because I know you'll back out." Mina continued to grin knowingly. Sophitia sighed, even more aggravated.
"I won't, I promise!" She shoved the last of her books in and gathered her bag. "Even though she most likely won't come anyway." Sophitia noted in a stubborn tone.
Mina rolled her eyes at this. "You don't know that. Like I said to you on the phone, what if she wants to stay with youdespite what happened between you two?" Mina raised an eyebrow, as if waiting for a possible come-back reply from her friend. Sophitia paused, then sighed as she threw her bag over her shoulder.
"I can't believe you made me do this in the first place." She stated as she shut her locker. Mina put a hand on her shoulder.
"Hey, it helps you with your sociable-self, your confidence and the possibility of making up with her." Mina statedpointedly as if they're simple facts. Sophitia paused as she walked to the school doors that had students waiting and nudging to get through.
"I suppose. But do you really have to come?" Sophitia had a hopeful look on her face as she turned to Mina. The two finally made their way out of the doorway as the sun's reflection off of the skyscrapers came into their eyes.
"You know it." Mina grinned mischievously as if she knew this would be embarrassing torture for Sophitia in the respect that she was being watched over by a sophomore. "I'll make you a deal though." She proposed as she saw Sophitia's displeasured gaze that slowly swept onto her own. "How 'bout I stay with you only until you actually see and say "hi" to her. Then I'll leave you to sort out the desired situation with her. Workable?" Mina raised an eyebrow as if say 'c'mon, that's gotta be fair enough!'.
Sophitia sighed as they came to the stairs of the subway station. She took a long look at Mina to see if there were any hints of her hiding something, but her face seemed blank apart from her raised eyebrow and grin of anticipation.
"Fine, fair enough." Sophitia dropped a coin into the toll to let her pass into the station with Mina doing the same and following her to the train. "Gods know I may need somebody to hold me back if she throws an insult at me." She noted as she brushed her hair back behind her ear.
"You'll be fine." Mina encouraged with a pat on Sophitia's back as they came close to the train that had its passengers flooding into it as the doors opened.
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Taki took her time as she made her way to the university library. She decided not to take her motorcycle because of the possibility of having another argument with her to-be roommate. Of course, not having her toy with her made her even more miserable through the day, although the library wasn't really that far from where her school was anyway. The only good thing was that Mitsurugi wasn't as blunt as he was with her the day she met her in the library
Walking through the automatic glass double-doors of the library, she was surprised to see so many people there. Sheeasily figuredthat some were just the normal visitors and others were the people who signed up in the 'University Exchange'.
The Japanese athlete cleared her throat as she adjusted her backpack and headed over towards a long empty table at the side of the room. She leaned against the table and crossed her arms over her chest as she eyed the room for a blonde girl slightly shorter than herself.
To double check with possible arrangements, she went to the main desk where the organizers of the exchange stood. After waiting in a slightly long line of people who confirmed their placements in the exchange, she came up to the neatly dressed and combed male organizer who seemed in his mid-forties and waited for his hazel eyes behind his glasses to meet her brown eyes.
"Is there anyway to change a placement?" Taki asked as patiently as she could even though she was quite eager for a good answer. He raised his eyebrows as if he was intrigued then turned to a list of names attached to a clipboard and flipped through the sheets oflists underneath. He pressed his lips together and finally shook his head as he looked back up at her.
"There doesn't seem to be any extras that we weren't able to pair up with someone else, luckily." Taki inwardly rolled her eyes at his note of 'luckily', thinking that she was the only unlucky one. "If you're unhappy with the person you're with, then you can either discontinue your claim of joining the exchange, or you can just try to live with the person nonetheless." He informed in a very fact-like manner.
'I've come too far to stop here just because of her.' Taki sighed as she thought. She thanked him and walked back to her lone backpack with her hands in her pockets. 'I'll figure out some way to live with her, even if I may not like it at all. I want to do this; I want to see what university-life is like over at the NYU.' Taki concluded to herself confidently as she once again leaned against her table, waiting for her roommate.
The girl with her blonde hair didn't take long to come through the doors being guided by the arm by someone who Taki assumed was her friend. Sophitia showing up at all surprised her slightly, although it was the aggravated look on her face of how she really felt that gave her away.
Taki waited for them to snap eyes upon her but they seemed to be having trouble seeing her through the crowds of people. She smirked as she knew the perfect word to address her to-be roommate by; "Hi, my bookworm roommate!" She called while still holding her smirk which turned into a grin as Sophitia's eyes immediately snapped to her own. Both their eyes narrowed as they looked at each other.
Sophitia turned and grabbed Mina, who didn't seem to notice what just happened, and pulled her towards Taki's direction.
"Hello sport-fan." Sophitia replied skeptically as she came closer to Taki, who waited for her to stop right in front of her. The two said nothing for a few seconds in which Mina was already becoming nervous at the silence until Sophitia spoke up again as Taki put her arm through the strap of her backpack. "So… do you want to save ourselves more arguments and just get out of the exchange? Make it easier on the both of us?" Sophitia didn't want to wait around for her answer, thinking she knew what it was, but didn't turn around to leave because she knew Mina would most likely pull her back.
"No." Taki answered in a deep and sincere voice that made Sophitia's eyebrows rise in surprise, especially when Taki refused to leave eye contact with her. "I want to keep going with this even if the both of us may not like it. I want to get into the NYU." Taki stated in a proclaiming, serious voice.
Sophitia just looked at her, surprised and intrigued because of the fact that a girl that she started a fight with was still willing to live with her because of her own academic desires. "Then… you're truly serious with this? You're willing to stay with me?" Sophitia's tone portrayed her surprised confusion at the same time.
Taki simply nodded slowly. Mina smiled at how well this was going and she was lucky that they didn't pay much attention to her because then one of the two of them would be focusing on her if this meeting hadn't gone well. Taki swung her backpack onto her shoulder. "I have to get my stuff from my place." Taki informed simply.
Sophitia shrugged. "Fine, I'll write down where I live and you can come over with your stuff." She suggested.
Taki shook her head. "I can't; I own a motorcycle." She stated.
Sophitia pulled back in surprise and slight fright. 'Oh great, she's a Harley rider too? Why me of all people…?' Sophitia stopped as she closed her eyes and casually ran a hand through her hair. Mina noticed this and almost burst out into laughter; she remembered how much Sophitia hated motorcycles, she'd even turn down cute guys just for that.
"How 'bout we just take the subway to your place and maybe you can drive me over to my house and we can load it. And before you ask, no; we can't go separate ways and I meet you over to your house because my family won't let me use our only car and I can't give you the address of where I live because you'll never find it." Taki explained with a raised eyebrow. Sophitiablinked and stared at her blankly, tno expecting Taki's thoroughness.
"Sure, alright. Taking the subway to my place then?" Sophitia just wanted to confirm what they were doing after she had been given all the alternatives. Taki nodded and walked toward the entrance with Sophitia at her side.
"Well I'm surprised to see that this went well. Call me and tell me how it goes." Mina stated as she patted her friend on the back and with her sly smile left the two to be in 'peace'.
8
The two made it onto the subway train speechlessly even though it was surprisingly packed with people; they had no choice but to go near a seat-less wall with the both of them hanging onto one swinging handle that hung from the train's ceiling. They felt the small jerk at the train began to move.
Sophitia really didn't like the awkward silence the two of them had so she had no choice but to break it. "S-so you ride a motorcycle?" She raised her eyebrows as she spoke as if to act intrigued. Taki slowly turned to her with a suspicious eye.
"Yeah, what about it? Surprised?" Taki raised an eyebrow, as if she new something was about to start.
"Not really, I mean I can see why a sport-lover and such a masculine woman like you would like a Harley in her garage." Sophitia stated as she shrugged and looked out the window behind Taki, who had her back to their wall that they were closest to, and watched as the station's iron beams flew by.
"A Harley?" Taki bent down to her slightly and looked at her in surprise. "I don't own a Harley, I have a Kawasaki Ninja! Harley's are too 'biker-gang' for me." Taki informed, trying to state her point the best that she could using her tone.
"Do you go to biker bars after your wrestling meets?" Sophitia narrowed her eyes at Taki, who looked like she was about to explode with anger.
"No I don't and don't start with me like you did last time! And by the way, I don't do wrestling for your information." Taki stated rather loudly as she leaned towards her. "And what about you? Do you go to a bar that is also considered a 'nerdry' with your fellow bookworms and your calculators?" Taki asked harshly with a twitching eye. Sophitia now looked like she was about ready to wrap her hands around the Asian's throat.
"I told you not to call me a bookworm and I certainly rather have you not call me a 'nerd' you jock!" Sophitia retorted loudly as she kept leaning her head closer to Taki with narrowed eyes. They didn't really notice that they were now gather attention from nearly everyone else in the train car as they continued to buck heads against each other.
Taki fumed. "I would if you stop calling me a jock!"
"Why? It's the truth!" Sophitia shouted as both their teeth was now grinding together. Taki was about to open her mouth to speak until the conductor of the subway train spoke through the speaker above them.
"Err-Emergency stop! All passengers please hang on!"
In a blink the train made a powerful jerk and Taki heard Sophitia yelp and suddenly crushed against her. Taki only went backward but didn't fall as she was held onto the metal handle as the jerk occurred.
"What are you doing?" Taki asked loudly over the screeching brakes that didn't seem to stop. She became nervous as she could feel her thigh in between Sophitia's legs as the blonde still seemed to be crushed against her from the force. Taki could feel Sophitia's warm breath on her collarbone, making her face feel warm from nervousness.
"It's not my fault! It's the train and it's too crowded!" Sophitia retorted. She could feel her heart beating faster as she could feel her chest pressing against Taki at the ribs (because of the fact that Taki was taller than her) and her masculine frame. Her hand had also landed on Taki's rather taut stomach. She raised an eyebrow in intrigue as she could feel the muscles' slight bulge and outline beneath her fingertips although tried not to move them so that Taki wouldn't get the wrong idea. 'I wonder what they'd really look like if she wasn't covering them…' Sophitia thought with curiosity. Her eyes widened and mentally kicked herself. 'What in the gods' name am I thinking?' She felt like she would smack her hand on her face for even thinking that, but of course she was having enough trouble in trying to back away from Taki as it was.
The two tried to regain their composure as they tried to push away from each other. Sophitia turned away from Taki to face the door ahead of them even though there were still people in front of them. Of course the real reason Sophitia had turned around to have her back to Taki was so that she wouldn't see her slightly pink-colored face.
Unfortunately, they felt another force from the train as it tried to stop again and Sophitia, who wasn't holding onto anything, fell against Taki once again. The two yelped in surprise as they felt themselves crush against each other once again.
Both their mouths dropped open in shock at the feeling. Sophitia's posterior was leaning high into Taki's lap and Sophitia could feel Taki's strong yet well-developed torso pressing into her back.
'Oh…Kami...!' Taki thought in a deep inner voice as she felt Sophitia leaning hard into her lap, her eyes wide and her blush growing at the odd feeling of her thigh still in between Sophitia's legs. She was too timid at the point to place her hands on the curve of Sophitia's hips to nudge her away, mostly because of what Sophitia might think of her if she did that and what other thoughts her impulsive mind would think of she did place her hands on her curvy sides. It would also look quite odd to an observer's eye.
To the two's relief the train finally stopped in front of the underground station. They wanted to get off as quickly as possible so that they could try and forget the embarrassing memory of nearly falling on top of each other, but there were so many people on board the train that they were never given a chance. Sophitia was finally able to get off first with Taki at her heels.
Today would definitely be considered an unfortunate dayfor Sophitia asshe hurried through the tolls and up the cement stairwell to get to her car and in her rush her toe hit the edge of a stair. She flinched slightly and threw her hands out to catch herself on the stairs but soon felt something quickly wrap around her abdomen and pull her back up to her feet. She whipped around to look in back of her and saw Taki looking at her with a raised eyebrow.
Taki cocked her head to one side slightly. "You're not very nimble are you?" She asked withsarcasm in her voice. Sophitia narrowed her eyebrows at her question and pulled off Taki's arm that still was wrapped around her. She turned to head up the stairs at a slower pace but looked back at Taki for a single second.
"I'm as nimble as I need to be, thank you!" Sophitia retorted as she walked back up the steps with her hands in her jean pockets. Taki couldn't help but smirk at Sophitia's return as she followed, adjusting her backpack on her shoulder.
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Taki didn't have time to see her roommate's apartment which wasn't far from the subway station; only maybe six blocks Taki figured. The apartment house appeared to be possibly ten to twelve floors and the exterior of the complex didn't look too shabby or old to Taki's eyes, it was certainly in better shape than her own apartment complex was.
Sophitia got into her dark blue Trailblazer from the complex's small underground garage to drive to Taki's home. Sophitia just wanted to get it over with and Taki felt the same way anyway. Taki let Sophitia drive as she told her the way street by street.
The sky was just beginning to turn amber since it was late in the afternoon. Taki's eyes just swept from each skyscraper's reflection of the afternoon sun in their windows. Being into sports Taki had what she considered a third eye or a sixth sense of direction so at some point she would tell Sophitia where to turn without even looking.
Sophitia raised an eyebrow; Taki was right, she'd never find her way to wherever she lived. By the many specific skyscrapers that she had seen before, she figured Taki lived further south of NYC than she did. Sophitia peered over to Taki, who sat next to her with a dull expression on her face as she looked forward as if she was in a bit of a daze. "Just how much do you need to get?" Sophitia looked at her suspiciously as if she was hoping that loading up her car wouldn't take long.
"Not much, just the rest of my books, my suitcases whichare half-packed because I wasn't sure if I'd actually see you today." Taki openly stated but didn't turn to Sophitia when she spoke; shewasn't curious enough to wantto see Sophitia's possible facial expressions. "And I'm sure I'll need my kotatsu." Taki noted as she leaned onto her fist, leaning her elbow in the space in front of the window that she gazed out of.
Sophitia looked over at her with a look of confusion. "A… what?" She was somewhat afraid to find out what a 'kotatsu' was since Taki's persona was a masculine one. She was somewhat afraid that it might be a dagger of some sort.
Taki looked at her for a split second then back to the main road that was somewhat full with cars. "You'll see. It's difficult to explain if you don't see what it looks like." She stated simply and rather dully. Sophitia looked at her strangely then inwardly shrugged as she turned back to the road.
Sophitia was relieved when Taki told her to turn into the complex driveway of a maybe eight-story brick-made structure. She heard Taki sigh as they came out of her car.
"You don't have to come if you don't want." Taki noted as she got the feeling that Sophitia might not think too well of how and where her family lived even though it suited her just fine.
Sophitia looked at her for a moment, no hint of emotion in her eyes as if she was thinking or debating what she should do. Of course Taki didn't wait since she wanted to get this over with and just listened if Sophitia should ever answer her.
"I… I don't mind. Do you think I might have a problem with where you live?" Sophitia didn't sound sarcastic or any way of that sort, just curious, which surprised Taki slightly by her honesty. She looked at Sophitia then shook her head.
"I just don't want you to think that you're wasting your time with my family when I get my things." She stated as she opened the glass door to the inside of the complex while having the patience of letting Sophitia go in first.
"I don't think that'll happen." Sophitia spoke with a nod as a 'thank you' when she obliged to Taki's kindness of letting her through the door. Taki followed behind her to the narrow staircases that led to the floors above. "Besides, meeting a sport-fanatic's family might be quite interesting." She noted with a smirk.
"Well then, be on your guard because my brothers and sister are a little different from me in their own special ways." Taki stated with her own smirk as she ran ahead of Sophitia to lead her to her apartment floor.
Sophitia jumped as she felt Taki grab her arm but held it gently. Her gaze swept up and eyed the back of Taki's head as she kept her in tow. "Just what do you think you're doing?" She raised an eyebrow.
Taki turned and tried to hide her smirk the best that she could. "Neither you nor I would want your incredible grace to suddenly fail on these steps, now would we?" Sophitia narrowed her eyes, as she could tell she was referring to what happened on the steps of the subway station.
"Oh be quiet." Sophitia took her arm back from Taki's grasp as she spoke and continued up the steps.
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"Hey guys!" Taki called as she opened up the cherry-oak door of her family's apartment with Sophitia at her heels. Sophitia peered through the door to catch an early glimpse of the Asian family's home: it was a little bigger than her own apartment but it was understandable from the size of Taki's family. The family room, which was at the opposite side of the room, had just amedium-sized TV set with a few Lazy-boy chairs and a dark green couch which was being occupied by who Sophitia guessed was Taki's two brothers. The small white and tan-colored kitchen where a middle-aged man stood and watched the teenagers play their video games was adjacent to the doorway.
"Hey Taki, glad you're here; what's the code for unlimited health for the GTA: Vice City game?" Taki's brother that looked much more sophisticated than her other curvy yet spiky-haired brother shouted to her rather loudly as his eyes kept locked upon the screen.
Taki stuffed her keys back into her pocket. "R1, L1, R1, R2, up, down, left, right and repeat it twice." Taki answered simply as she shut the door behind them. Her brother answered with a simple nod and a "right."
"Who's this Taki?" The man in the kitchen asked as he came forward with raised eyebrows as if he was intrigued.
"This is that girl I told you about; my new roommate." Taki answered but didn't look at him as she spoke. She made Sophitia follow her to her room just to hurry up the process of gathering her things as if she was afraid that something embarrassing would happen at some point.
"Ohhh?" Sophitia turned as she heard a teenaged girl's voice, even more surprised to see her extreme purple streaks in her hair. "So this is the bookworm? She doesn't really look like one; she isn't wearing those thick glasses." Taki's sister openly noted, making her older sister turn to her abruptly only to run into Sophitia's gaze of strong aggravation.
Taki's eyes darted nervously as she tried to search for a way out of this. "Compliment!" She declared loudly with a finger pointed towards the ceiling as if the light bulb in her head just went off. "Youdon't wear the glasses so think of it as a compliment!" Taki covered herself in a rather proud manner. She grabbed Sophitia's hand and dragged her to her room, ignoring her deep growl of annoyance.
Like a flash, Taki grabbed the remainder of her clothes and tossed them into her opened suitcase. Sophitia just looked around as she did so. She asked as her gaze swept about the rectangular-shaped room with weaved grass-paper wallpaper. The back wall had two windows with dark green blinds and was adjacent to the cherry-oak dresser, paper-covered desk complete with a laptop and the double bed that was opposite the two. It looked out above most of the other complexes and the deserted ally below that led to the parking area. She nearly yelped as she carelessly but at least almost silently hit her toe against a square table placed in the center-right section of the room that was the size of a coffee table and had some sort of blanket hanging around the edges underneath it. "What sort of thing is this?" She asked with a raised eyebrow as she rubbed her toe.
"It's a 'Kotatsu'." Taki answered, only glancing at Sophitia as she spoke and continued to pack what she needed. "It's like a table with an electric blanket underneath to keep you warm when you work on it. I use it for homework and studying mostly. I'll need your help getting it downstairs just by holding open the doors for me." Taki explained as she threw her books from her cedar bookcase into her suitcase and zipping it up.
"I see." Sophitia eyed it, impressed with what the table could do, then let her gaze drift to the bed where three magazines laid carelessly upon its ruffled sheets. Out of curiosity, she came closer to sneak a peek. 'Heh. Surely sports almanacs or video game strategy guides.' She guessed in her head with a knowing smirk that soon changed into a surprised scowl as she discovered that they were some form of Playboy magazines with half-naked women on the covers. With a raised eyebrow she hesitantly took the magazines and lifted them towards Taki, who was too busy with her packing to really notice what happened. "So uh… you're into this stuff?" Sophitia asked in a low voice and watched as Taki turned to her with an expression saying "Hm?".
At the sight of the magazines her eyes went so wide that anyone would think that they would fall out of their sockets and she gasped so deeply and loudly that she sounded as if she just broke hastily through a watery surface. "Those aren't mine, I swear!" Taki waved her hands in front of her frantically as she tried to explain herself to the jade eyes that looked at her strangely.
As if on queue, Taki's spiky-haired brother walked in with a simple wave in a 'Hi'. "Hey, don't mind me; just getting your strategy guide for 'Vice City'. Arcade master: Keichii can't seem to figure out how to kill the seven Haitian drug lords." Haitani explained as he strode over to her bookshelves to look through her stack of video game guides. He wasn't even a foot away from her shelves when a pair of hands lashed out at him and grabbed the collar of his gray-black fleece shirt. "Hey, Hey! What's your problem?" He struggled against his elder sister's strong grip as she spoke.
"You're my problem!" Taki retorted with grit teeth as she forcefully turned his head towards the magazines that Sophitia still held. "You picked a fine time to throw those on my bed, 'brother-dearest'!" She continued with frustrated rage although Sophitia could see from the shade of color Taki held on her face that she was still embarrassed.
Haitani looked at the magazines with only a semi-worried expression. Sophitia noticed that his dark hazelnut eyes slowly began to travel down her body with interest, making her scowl slightly but didn't say anything as he turned to his angered sister. "Well you told me to leave them in your room so that Father wouldn't see them." He defended as he struggled enough to make his sister's hands finally let go of him.
"Yes, but not actually on by bed for other people to see! At least hide them underneath it!" Taki yelled as her brother slowly backed away towards the door.
"Alright! Jeez! You really have to work on that temperament problem of yours." He stated as stood in the doorframe. "Strategy guide please?" He pointed at the stack of guides.
Taki reluctantly walked over and pulled out the guide. "Why don't you make up your mistake by carrying my kotatsu down to her car? It should be unlocked if I remember correctly." Taki's question didn't really sound like one; more like a demand. Haitani blinked at her then looked over to Sophitia briefly then back to his sister with a small grin that made her nervous.
"Sh'yeah right I will." He didn't really sound interested in Taki's suggestion but then pointed in Sophitia's direction. "Maybe only if you give me one day or maybe even anight with that kitsune of a roommate of yours." He spoke with a suggestively raised eyebrow that made Sophitia pull back and scowled at even though she had no idea what he just called her in his Japanese language.
Taki looked at him blankly with a blink then looked down with a face saying 'you asked for this…'. She rolled up the video game guide tightly in her hand, walked up to him and smacked the back of his head hard with it. She couldn't help but smirk at his rather high-pitched yelp as he bent over slightly with his hand on his head. "The next time I have to teach you a lesson, it'll be with a phonebook! So save yourself the pain and make yourself useful by carrying down my kotatsu to her blue Trailblazer." She threatened as he slowly stood straight as he rubbed the back of his head, wincing inpain.
He quickly stole the guide out of her grasp. "Okay I got the idea! Kami..." He complained as he headed out the door. "Just take a chill pill and I'll take it out in a sec." He added stubbornly as he headed back to his older brother.
Taki rolled her eyes as she restated his words mockingly to herself as she continued her task after tossing the dirty magazines under her bed. Sophitia was quite speechless as she watched Taki continue although she couldn't help but smirk at the 'loving' relationship she appeared to have with her siblings.
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Sophitia followed Taki who took her motorcycle and swerved between the cars and beat yellow lights back to her own apartment since she wasn't as familiar with this part of this city as Taki was. She kept eyeing the Asian's motorcycle whenever she could see it clearly; it wasn't as bad as she thought although she still wasn't willing to sit on it and the dragons on each side, which Taki had proudly informed her that she did them herself, she raised an eyebrow at.
When they came back to her apartment, Sophitia opened her trunk so that Taki could take the suitcases and kotatsu. Sophitia had only one thing to say after following Taki on the busy streets: "Does the rules of the road especially in cities mean nothing to you?" She yelled, feeling as if she was scolding her.
Taki just shrugged as she took the suitcases out. "I just thinkthat the'caution', 'stop' and 'yield' signsare more like suggestions really." She stated as she headed up to the elevator, which she was thankful for. Sophitia just rolled her eyes and shook her head at Taki's reply.
Sophitia came up with her and waited for her to come up from her second trip to get the kotatsu. She had offered to help but Taki just said that she was strong enough to take it, which Sophitia expected she would say so she just moved the coffee table out of the way for the kotatsu. She sat in the middle of the rather spacey living room on the floor where her coffee table used to be.
Taki and she had already lit up the kitchen and living room to drown out the darkness of the coming night. She scratched the back of her head slightly and leaned on the heels of her palms as she crossed one straight leg over the other. 'I have to ask Taki what her brother called me; it's beginning to bother me.' She thought as she rolled her neck only to hear a few cracks as she did so.
She jumpedat the 'bang!'as Taki suddenly burst through the door infront of her that she left ajar for her. Taki heaved and was hunched over slightly as she lugged in the table that was just a little shorter than the length of Taki's arms. After leaning on the door to gather her strength for a few more seconds, the strong college student staggered in over to Sophitia, who remained in her spot below her as the taller woman tried to slowly lower it so that Sophitia would be sitting underneath it.
Taki was glad she was going slowly so that she wouldn't possibly hurt the younger girl with it if she dropped it, but that thought soon left as she felt something furry brush around and in between her calves. She jumped at the feeling making her accidentally drop the wooden table when it was almost two feet from the ground. Sophitia yelped slightly as she quickly laid herself completely on the burgundy-colored carpet floor so that the table would land on its legs but not on her.
Taki quickly looked down to see a tan to brown-colored cat with amber-hazelnut eyes and a strange, squiggly dark brown marking on its forehead. The nearly skinny cat that was wrapping itself around her calves looked up at her with its big eyes with a pleading expression complete with a high but short 'meow' as if it was asking who this intruder was. Taki didn't move apart from raising her eyebrow at it. "What the hell?"
"What's the matter? Never seen a cat before?" Sophitia lifted herself into a sitting position again and asked as if she was amused by Taki's confused expression. Taki looked at her without moving her position as if she was afraid that one small move from her would make the cat hiss at her.
"I've seen them once and a while; we're not allowed to have pets in our building." Taki stated as she took another look at it and slowly lowered her finger towards its curious face to pet its nose and between its ears.
Sophitia cocked her head to one side, smiling as her cat eagerly rubbed its nose against the tip of Taki's middle finger. "We're not allowed to either, but I've been living here alone for so long that the manager snuck one in for me so thatit could keep me company." She explained as she watched Taki finally relax herself and kneel next to the cat so that she could hear the dull purr it let out as it began to nuzzle her palm.
"That was nice of him." She noted as she kept a plain expression as she watched the sand-colored cat as suddenly decided to go to its owner, leaving Taki to look at her from across the table.
"It was." Sophitia nodded as she let her pet rub itself around her sides and her back continuously. "Although I think you're the first visitor besides my own family that it really gets along with." She noted as she seemed to stare at a corner of the kotatsu then seemed to chuckle. "It was mostly guys that I brought in that it hardly ever got along with." She paused and narrowed her gaze as if she was trying to remember something. "Except Rothion… maybe. I don't think Ember scratched him as much as she did to the others." She noted as Ember rubbed herself against Sophitia's arms.
"Who?" Taki asked curiously as she grabbed her backpack which she laid next to the couch to her left of the balcony door.
"He was a… a friend." She stated simply although Taki noticed she was a little shifty in her seat as she said it. "But he's back in Greece so I really don't have to worry about him." Taki could tell that her attention seemed to change as she spoke but she didn't say anything about it.
"So… you're from Greece as well eh? I should've guessed by your slightly muddled accent and the way you decorate." Taki explained as she let her gaze drift across the room to some of the white figurines of Greek goddesses that were placed around the living room and kitchen. Taki guessed there were possibly five figurines. She turned back as Sophitia seemed to chuckle.
"I mostly have them to make my father happy since he's so devoted to our Greek heritage. But I like most of them so I let them sit around and don't stuff them in the closet with the rest of the Greek gods." Sophitia explained then slowly stood herself up and pointed towards the hallway behind Taki and in front of the kitchen. "I'll let you stay in the second room to the right and you can unpack however you want." She stated as she headed for the hallway to settle in her own room which was the very last room in the hallway. "I wake up at about six a.m. just to let you know, so if you hear rustling it's just me." She noted as she turned the corner with Taki following her with her own things.
"I'll make sure to keep that in mind and try not to attack you during the night. And thanks for giving me a room; I thought I'd be lucky if you were going to make me sleep on the floor of your living room after the last time we met." Taki noted with a smirk that couldn't be helped.
Sophitia turned to her with narrowed eyes as she stood within her own doorframe. "I'm not that cruel." She stated with a shake of her head.
Taki smirked as she opened her door while being surprised to see that her room was rather respectable and roomy. "Oh ho, we shall see. Won't we?" She joked with a raised eyebrow and a grin that Sophitia just made a mocking laugh at before she closed her door behind her.
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Went well enough I hope. The next one will be just as funny if not better : ) Sophie and Taki may seem to be getting along now, but for them to get closer more unfortunate incidents like what happened in the subway must happen, so it'll be funny : ) What Haitani meant by 'kitsune' will be revealed in the next chapter.
To Witch-Hunter 51: Two stories in a row will be difficult like last time, but these two are actually keeping me organized in writing pages for each chapter of each fic. I'm glad you like it, this will kind of become more and more perverse with unfortunate incidents so it'll be quite funny : )
To Serge-kun: I hope you liked this one in that it was more comical for you : )
To reika45: The coping with each other as you can see is working out well at first but of course the more incidents that happen the harder they find it to deal with each other but their relationship grows underneath, so this should be an interesting fic ;)
To Dramon: Yeah, I thought that Taki being a sports-fan and Sophie being an all-around smart girl would make the relationship cuter yet more diverse in certain aspects. So the incidents will be hilarious as the fic goes on.
To Lokiador: Glad you liked it! Hope you liked this one as well : )
To animereader1: I hope you were able to wait this long since I had to delay until Tuesday the 28th. I glad you liked the last chapter : )
To cococachu: I'm quite glad that you went to this one, I figured you'd like it. I wanted to make a real comedy one with modern characteristics matching their… um, characters. I really didn't mean for Sophitia to be bitchy, just independent mostly, I wanted her to be really independent and strong while Taki was masculine, willing to be smart and willing to protect if needed, so basically all the things that most jocks are, lol. I could actually fit Yunsung in somewhere as an annoying, smart-mouthed cousin of Mina, so thanks, I can try and find a place : )