Shadow of the Hazy Moon
By Warm-Ice
Disclaimer: I don't own anything except the OCs.
Summary: Why can't the Clamp School Detectives catch this thief? Not a trace, not a clue. All Nokoru could see were the eyes of the shadow of the hazy moon.
Short Author's note: The songs from the earlier chapter are originally mine and uhm…What else was I gonna say? Uhm…this chapter is dedicated to psychoanalyst. For her support and worry about pressuring me. Hehehe… don't worry, I was planning on updating even if you didn't review. But I;m still very glad you did. THANK YOU!
Chapter 3: Envy
Walking down the dimly lit hallway, into a vast and beautifully designed living room, a shadowy figure could be seen lounging on the striped red and black leather couch, watching an enormous television screen that showed the latest news.
The tv was the only source of light in the room, casting shadows at her bare feet.
"Kuya…" she called meekly.
The shadowy figure on the couch turned back to her, revealing empty brown eyes. He waited for her to speak but she did not. "Yes?" he asked instead.
Heaven looked down at her feet, a bit uncertain, looking for the words to start with.
Seeing his sister's hesitation, Stefan sighed and turned back to the tv, patting the space beside him loudly. Obediently, Heaven sat beside him and looked down at the hands she laid on her lap, still silent as her older brother reached over to the desk in front of him to take a black remote. He turned off the tv and pointed the remote to the ceiling, pushing one of the buttons to turn on the lights.
With that over with, he looked down at his sister critically. She was now wearing her white satin night gown, her wavy black hair was held in a half pony so that some of her locks cascaded down her back and shoulders, complimenting her fair skin tone. He watched her gaze at her hands with a blank expression similar to his own.
"Did you…" she finally spoke, "Did you see my performance?"
"Yes."
"How was I?"
Stefan stared at her for a moment before closing his eyes and leaning back onto the couch. "You were…wonderful."
Heaven looked up at him, seeing his eyes closed with a relaxed expression on his face. She smiled softly, glad that he liked it. "Buti naman…" she muttered.
A frown marred Stefan's features and he looked down at her with slight annoyance in his voice. "What did I tell you about speaking in Tagalog?"
Heaven bit her lower lip and looked down with dejection. "Gomen…it escaped me…"
Stefan shook his head and looked out to the gardens through the glass panel. Silence ruled for a few moments before Stefan spoke again, staring deeply out at the beautiful greenery. "Heaven."
"Po?"
"That Nokoru boy."
"Yes…?"
"Don't hang around with him, alright?"
"Po? Pero—" she stopped herself short and corrected herself. "But why?"
He didn't answer for a long while and she looked up at him, only to see him staring out at the garden with displeasure. He was always like that whenever he didn't like to continue a subject, so she took it upon herself to change it.
"Kuya?"
He turned his eyes to her and she continued to ask.
"When is that girl coming back here?"
His eyebrows furrowed, "What girl?"
"The pretty girl you took home a few nights ago. I wanted to apologize to her but I never got the chance."
"Apologize for what?"
She blushed lightly and said, "For walking in on the two of you. I should have knocked before—"
"Don't be ridiculous. There's no need to apologize to her. She isn't coming back."
Now it was her turn to look confused, "But…I thought—"
"She's just an acquaintance. Nothing more." He looked at her when he didn't hear her reply. She was looking down again but now with a twinge of sadness in her eyes. "Why is it so important to you anyway?"
"She was very beautiful." She said softly. "I thought that…she would be the one who deserved you…"
Stefan took a moment to recall the last he'd seen of the girl in question. As he recalled she had long straight black hair (she was originally a brunette but she dyed her hair black when she heard that he liked women with black hair) and dark brown eyes. Her body was curvaceous and her face was gorgeous. She recalled that she was wearing a royal red dress and her black eyeliner stained her cheeks as she cried miserably, begging him to take her back.
But he would not. He remembered distinctly the words she uttered when Heaven had accidentally walked in on them. Just thinking of it again made his blood boil. He would never forgive anyone who spoke of his sister that way. Never.
Mentally shaking off the thoughts, he returned his sight to his sister, the frail little thing sitting beside him, looking beautiful bathed under the moonlight.
Reaching over, he cupped her cheek in his hand and brought her to face him. He leaned forward so that he could more closely see the eyes that always brought him comfort, always cared, always loved.
"You should know by now that you're the only beautiful woman in my eyes. And you're the only one who deserves me." She smiled softly at that, a light blush appearing on her cheeks.
Wrapping his arms around her form, he pushed her back so that he would lay on top of her, burying his nose in her hair and breathing in her soft scent. Lightly, she brought her hands to rest on his back, feeling the soft silk of his black pajamas, as she closed her eyes and nuzzled his neck lovingly. "Kuya…" she whispered softly.
Slowly her eyes fluttered open as a thought crossed her mind. "Kuya…I need to check up on the pigeons."
"Mmmm, not yet." He muttered to her hair, his body refusing to move from its comfortable place. She was just about to protest when she suddenly felt a soft vibration on her hip, tickling her.
She squealed helplessly and Stefan groaned in frustration. He propped himself up with one hand and used the other to reach his pants pocket where his celphone rang. Taking the opportunity to escape, she sat up and started to get to her feet.
"Talk." He grabbed her wrist gently before she could get away. She looked back at him with a small smile, bending over to kiss his forehead lightly. "Yes, that's right." He said to the phone as he closed his eyes momentarily before letting her wrist go. He opened his eyes to watch her leave, returning his face to its normal blank expression. "No, I have it…it's with me."
Heaven watched from the shadows of the hall as her brother proceeded to speak with whomever it was that called; though she had a good guess of who it would be. In the darkness, her eyes glimmered of sadness. So much longing and wishing, never spoken and never heard. With one graceful spin on her heels, she left.
Nokoru smiled brightly as Akira came inside the room, bringing a tray of orange juice in one hand. "Good morning, everyone!" He greeted cheerfully but then faltered, looking at Suoh who was leaning forward on Nokoru's desk.
"Good morning, Akira! Is it time for lunch already?" Nokoru asked happily.
"CHAIRMAN!" Suoh yelled, glaring daggers at his superior. "You are not going to escape doing your paper work today!"
"Oh, come on, Suoh. Lighten up." Nokoru gently chided, flipping his fan open where it wrote, 'Relaxation is fun!'
"Chairman, you are two days behind!" Suoh argued.
"I can do them all later…after lunch…"
"No! Chairman, you need to be more responsible!"
Akira smiled and set the tea tray down on the desk to the corner of the room. "Oh, Chairman, that reminds me." He said, gaining both men's attention. "Chouoogata-san gave me this letter earlier this morning. She told me to give it to you."
"Really? For me?" Nokoru asked, taking the letter from Akira's hand. Opening it, he read quietly as Suoh and Akira waited. A small smile appeared on his lips as he finished and he closed the letter, putting it into one of the drawers of his desk.
"Well?" Suoh asked with curiosity.
Nokoru smiled, "She just wanted to thank me for walking her home last night. She said she had fun."
"It seems that she really mustered up all her courage to give that letter to you, Chairman." Akira added.
"Yes, and I'm quite flattered. I'm glad she's no longer so shy." Just then, a soft sound caught his attention and Nokoru quickly turned around to his window, looking for its source. He looked out to the tree near them and saw that it was a little white pigeon. His eyebrows furrowed. The pigeon was alone and flapping its wings even though it would not fly.
Something clicked in his mind.
Quickly he stood up, startling his friends, and walked out of the room. "Ah—Chairman!" Suoh tried to call but Nokoru was already out the door. Akira blinked out of his stupor.
"What was that all about?" Akira asked though was unanswered. The action was just too strange, even for Nokoru.
Nokoru reached out for the pigeon, holding onto the tree branch for his life. Upon closer inspection he could see that the pigeon had yellow hairs sticking out of its head and vaguely remembered that it was a sign that the pigeon was still young.
"Come now, Pigeon-san…" he muttered, trying to coax it to come to him instead of him going farther up the branch. "I won't hurt you…" he added with a reassuring smile.
The pigeon looked at him warily, backing away every few minutes and Nokoru found that if he didn't grab it soon, it probably would fly away. And so, positioning himself to straddle the branch in between his legs, he tested its sturdiness by sitting up. He didn't fall. That was a good thing.
Reaching over to the still untrusting pigeon, he readied his hands around the body. And with one fell swoop, he grabbed the pigeon and pulled into to his arms, trying to stop its incessant and troublesome lashing. Finally, he managed to hold its wings down with two hands and smiled triumphantly. "There we have it. That wasn't so bad, now was it?" he asked the pigeon pleasantly.
But then he looked down and found himself in a doozey. "Hmmm…It seems I didn't think this far ahead." Obviously, he could not get down without either letting go of the pigeon or falling off. "What an interesting dilemma." He said to himself.
There was a loud whistle that made the pigeon lash violently again and Nokoru had to hold it closer to keep the pigeon in place. He looked to the source and found that it was…
"Oh…Hikiageru-san." He blinked again as she spotted him sitting at an odd place. Her eyebrows furrowed as she walked up to the tree bark looking up at him. He smiled brightly, "Good day, Hikiageru-san! How do you do?"
She broke out into a small smile and shook her head at his silly antics. Putting the small whistle she held in her hand to her lips, she blew again and the pigeon lashed violently once more. This time Nokoru let it go and it flew down to her open arms.
Hikiageru smiled down at it and she adjusted the pigeon so that she could get a good hold of it with one hand. Thankful for the liberation of his hands, Nokoru smiled and climbed down the tree with precaution.
"Thank you for finding him, Imonoyama-san." She said, bowing politely.
"Please, call me Nokoru. And it's no problem, really. I had a suspicion it would be yours, seeing as you were the one that set them free last night. I take it all your pigeons got home safe?"
Her eyebrows rose in surprise then she smiled to him. "Yes, except for him. I guess it's my fault. I didn't realize that I had brought him into the cage with the adults. He's still young, you see…"
"Yes, that's why he has those yellow hairs, right?"
"Yes, that's right."
"I hope you don't mind me asking but, how do you do that?"
"Do what?"
"Hold him with one hand."
"Oh, you just take his feet with your index and middle finger like this…"
"Oh, I see…"
"Then use the rest of your fingers to hold his wings down like this."
"But won't he poop on you?"
She giggled lightly with a spark of amusement in her eyes. "Don't worry; he only does that after he's eaten. Besides, even if he does…poop…on you, it won't be dirty. These birds only eat grains so their feces are nothing to be disgusted of."
"I see. You've got a point there." He said matter-of-factly.
"Would you like to hold him?" she offered; a tone of gentleness in her voice he hadn't heard before.
"May I? Thank you." He smiled, carefully slipping his hand over hers. Hikiageru ignored the thought of how smooth his soft hand was, perhaps the result of being so wealthy since birth. "Do I hold him like this?"
"Yes, just like that." She smiled at him, glad to see Nokoru pet the animal gently, a youthful air about him, a gentle smile on his face. He was so…carefree. Her smile slowly melted back into its blank expression as she thought more of this. He was so happy and…she discovered that she…was a bit envious of Nokoru. She bit her lower lip as melancholy thoughts entered her mind before pushing them away. She put up a smile on her face as if nothing had happened.
Nokoru looked at her with questioning thoughts running through his head. He had noticed a sudden change in her facial expression and it had worried the young blonde. But her smile returned just as quickly as it had vanished and she looked just as radiant as before. Anyone who knew Nokoru knew that he was always concerned whenever it regarded a woman's happiness.
The very reason he organized the Clamp School Detectives was to make women happy. And seeing that look in her eyes, even if only for a flash, made him wonder why, when, where, who and how.
He had always wondered why her eyes were so blank and expressionless the first time he had seen her. She seemed so detached…so uncaring. Surely a girl as gifted and beautiful as her could not be so…emotionless.
The pigeon flapped its wings free and Nokoru was snatched away from his train of thoughts as he felt the pigeon trying to fly away. Quickly, Hikiageru held the pigeon's wings down and gently slid her fingers down to take hold of its feet, successfully taking it out of Nokoru's grasp.
Nokoru smiled again and said, "Thank you again for letting me hold him."
"No, it's my pleasure."
"Chairman!" Nokoru turned to see Suoh and Akira at the doorway, panting heavily. Akira looked worried while Suoh looked…uhm…displeased?
"Suoh, Akira!" Nokoru acknowledged, waving to them, ignoring the angry look Suoh was giving him.
"So there you are! We've been looking all over for you, Chairman!" Suoh said, stomping over to them.
But Akira was the one to notice that Nokoru had company. "D-Dannen Hikiageru-san!" he said incredulously.
"Akira, Suoh, meet my new friend, Dannen Hikiageru-san. Hikiageru-san, these are my friends, Takamura Suoh and Ijuiin Akira."
Hikiageru bowed politely, "It's a pleasure to meet you."
The two boys bowed again, a bit disconcerted at seeing the woman so close. It was like talking to a celebrity, uncomfortable and weird.
"Ah—you were great at the concert last night." Suoh complimented, not really knowing what to say.
She smiled charmingly, "Thank you very much, Takamura-san."
"Oh, that reminds me about Azuya-san!" Nokoru declared happily.
Suoh quickly fidgeted and reacted violently, "And why do you remember her now?"
"I seem to remember her whenever I look at you, Suoh." Nokoru smiled mischievously, flipping his fan open where it read, 'Love! Love! Love!'
Suoh blushed furiously and yelled at him, "STOP THAT RIGHT NOW, CHAIRMAN!"
Hikiageru watched on as Akira smiled innocently, joining in as Nokoru teased Suoh wittily. Again she felt something she didn't normally feel. Now it was official that she envied Imonoyama Nokoru. She wanted…what he was…