Tempus Fugit …
XO'MagickMoon'OX
Chapter 8: Taking A Break
We hobble up the driveway as we reach the Yamamoto house, and then up the front porch. Kazahaya leans back against a post while I unlock the door. It opens with a click, and I stow my key back away in my pocket. I turn to Kazahaya.
"You don't look too good," I note.
"Yeah, well after all I've been through today, I wouldn't expect myself to," he snaps.
I'm taken aback at his brusqueness. "Sorry for caring," I growl, an agitated frown plastered on my face. I huff and turn to the door to open it.
"Hello?" I call as I help Kazahaya through the doorway. "Mr. Yamamoto, Mrs. Yamamoto!"
We reach the living room and Kazahaya sits down on the couch, his features contorted with pain. I bend down to inspect his ankle as Mrs. Yamamoto answers my call.
"Yes, Himura-kun?" She smiles pleasantly. "How did the job go?"
I help Kazahaya take off his shoe and sock so I can better examine his injury. My fingertips ghost over his skin, his ankle swollen and red, and he shudders involuntarily. I look up, and from his expression, I get the idea it wasn't pain that made him shudder. His cheeks tint with soft pink. He's focusing on the wall to the side of him, an irritated scowl on his face.
Whatever.
"Well … the job was … not as successful as we would've liked," I reply to Mrs. Yamamoto's question.
"Oh? What happened?"
"Well, we found the necklace, –" and I'm not about to specify where "– but we didn't get it yet. And … eh … Kazahaya fell off the roof and twisted his ankle. Do you know how to take care of it?"
I glance at Mrs. Yamamoto. Her jovial face has paled considerably. "Kudo-kun … fell off the roof? Of that four-story house?"
I nod brusquely. "Do you know how to tend to a twisted ankle?" I ask again, a bit more forcibly.
"Oh! Yes, yes, of course!" She rushes over, and I stand up.
"I'm going to go take a shower," I announce before leaving the living room.
"Eh, Himura-kun, I'm afraid the water heater's broken," Mrs. Yamamoto informs me.
I stop in the doorway, glancing over my shoulder. "That's okay. I don't mind a cold shower." Especially after everything that happened today.
Mrs. Yamamoto says, "Ah, yes, the heat is just awful, isn't it?"
I can't help by smile dryly. "Yeah. The heat."
---
I step out of the shower and dry off, wrapping the towel around my waist. The cold shower wasn't all that bad … and I really did kind of need it. What with all the mental images Kazahaya spurred by sitting on that bed … and then cuddling against me … sitting in my lap? How the hell did I live through all that torture?
I walk out into the bedroom to get my clothes … but freeze in the doorway.
It's Kazahaya … and he's … sleeping? Yes, he's sleeping. Laying on his side, facing the bathroom, but eyes closed nonetheless. There's an ice pack resting on his bandaged ankle. I turn to the dresser standing against the wall next to the bathroom and rummage through the drawer. There's a half-length mirror atop the dresser, and I can see both of our beds in its reflection. Mine's closest to the bathroom, and then there's a nightstand, and then Kazahaya's bed is next to the wall on the other side of the nightstand. Across from the foot of Kazahaya's bed is the door leading out into the hallway.
My eyes flick up to the mirror to check on my sleeping coworker, and I freeze, my hands resting over a pair of shorts.
He's no longer sleeping, but watching me. Ah, hell … he was never really sleeping in the first place … just resting his eyes.
He doesn't seem to realize I know he's watching me, because he doesn't look away. His eyes rove all over from my head – where my soaked, dark hair is clinging to my neck – to my legs. Why the hell is he looking at me like that? It's … nice and awkward at the same time. I feel a familiar flush creep beneath my skin.
Despite myself, I smirk. "Can I help you?"
Kazahaya jumps, and his eyes meet mine in the mirror. He blushes, but tries to hide it by burying his face in his pillow.
Oh, this is going to be fun.
"Was someone checking me out?"
"No!" comes the muffled response.
"Then why were you gaping at me?"
Kazahaya removes his face from his pillow, his hair mussed, and sits up, glaring at me. "I WAS NOT GAPING!" he shouts.
"Then why are you being so defensive? Only someone guilty of the aforementioned 'gaping' would be shouting like you are." I cock my head, smirking all the while. "And why are you blushing?"
He doesn't answer; his blush just deepens, gracing his features with an irresistible adorability.
"If you wanted me, all you had to do was say so," I mutter, returning to my clothes. I pull out a pair of shorts, still watching him through the mirror.
Kazahaya gasps, staring incredulously at me as if I had just announced that Kakei was a transsexual (which actually wouldn't surprise me in the least, were it true). "WANT YOU!" he cries. "Who would ever want an arrogant bastard like you?"
I huff. "You don't find me attractive, Kazahaya?" I inquire, pouting half-heartedly. This is just too easy.
"Wha –?" He stares blankly at me for a moment before his eyes flash. "Well … of co – I mean … no! Eh … rather … you're not ugly … you're attractive … I guess, but that doesn't mean I'm attracted to you!" he musters awkwardly, caught off guard by my question. His blush, if at all possible, deepens.
I roll my eyes. "That's what you say … but how do you really feel, Kazahaya?" He does not knowhow easy it is to mess with his mind … or how adorable he is when he's flustered.
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?" he shouts.
"Stop screaming," I command calmly. He pouts. "I'm just asking a simply question … if it's really that hard to answer –"
"How do I really feel? I can't stand you!" he snaps, before laying back down and rolling over so that he's facing the wall, his back to me.
Heh. It was worth it, just to see him all worked up. I pull out the rest of my clothes and disappear back into the bathroom to change. My mind is slowly shifting back from playful and excited to serious and thoughtful. I return to the room after running a comb through my damp mess of hair and lay down on my bed, staring at the ceiling. It's only six o'clock … but I just need a break. Apparently Kazahaya feels the same, as he appears to be sleeping – really, this time.
I close my eyes and begin to think.
We found the necklace. But Marianna's well-planned little stunt landed the accessory right back in her phantom hand before it could fall into the clutches of the ocean, like Kazahaya did. Why did she do that, anyway? Why did she push him over the railing?
And why did I feel like she was testing us? And testing us for what?
Well, she said that she can't move on until John gives her the engagement ring, after which they can live happily ever after with their spectral selves in the afterlife. But, apparently that can't happen because John's soul is M.I.A, and without physical bodies, he can't physically slip the ring on her finger.
"You really do love him, don't you?"
What did she mean by that? More to the point, how did she know that? Are ghosts capable of reading people's hearts or minds or souls or whatever? Obviously so, because she made it very clear the message she was trying to send to me about time and love.
Maybe … Maybe did she push Kazahaya over to see if I would jump after him? Obviously she didn't want either of us to die, as she went out of her way to save us before we drowned. Was she testing my love for him? But why would she do that? What use would that knowledge be to her?
Rrrrgh … so many questions! I need answers, dammit. But the only one with the answers is back at that creepy house … a place I don't plan on revisiting until tomorrow.
Not that I want to.