I do not own Princess Mononoke
Chapter 6 – Run, Don't Walk
The morning San started getting ready for school, only Taka and Kai were left. She couldn't help but take a peek in his room, even if he wasn't there. Something inside kept believing he would still be sleeping under the covers, but he wasn't. He was in a car, on his way to the airport to drop off Kaya, and then drive down to the hotel. She grabbed a hold of the sheets, and pulled them closer. A long time ago, Moro used to tell her that every one had a scent- you just had to stop to remember it. Engrave the smell into your memory. Many strangers smell the same at first, but if you stay with someone long enough, you'll grow accustomed to their scent, and vice versa. When she was little, she didn't believe her mother, but now that his scent was all around her- she finally realized that she was telling the truth.
"You smell nice" San remembered what he had said that night. The night he laughed at her, the night he fell asleep on her lap. The night he proved to her that he was human. He probably knew about the truth of a human scent as well. He had already proven to her that he was more than what he put up to be. He was just full of surprises.
A phone rang from a near distance. It was muffled, but it sounded like a close muffle. She slid off the bed, and listened to the ring. It wasn't the apartment phone, this ring was distinct as a tune. She re-entered her room, and lifted her pillow up. There, she found a brand new cell phone. It looked exactly like her old one- but it was updated. It kept ringing until she finally flipped it open.
"San? Are you alright?" His voice asked calmly. It's not like she was in the hospital or anything. He made it sound like she missed him, like some kind of child mopping around for her parent to come home from a business trip.
"What? Of course I'm alright. Why wouldn't I be?" She demanded, though it was nice to hear his voice.
"I'm sorry." He ignored her last comment. Or was he apologizing for that very reason? "I didn't say 'good-bye' when I left, so I decided to leave your cell phone with you until I thought you would get up." He was starting to sound like a parent now.
"Don't be stupid, wait… 'my cell phone'?" She repeated.
"Yeah. Last night, the phone company called for you, but you stepped out to get dinner. They told me they were sorry for the delay in the delivery of your phone, and they already shipped it to your house. So I went down to your house and picked it up for you instead. I was going to give it to you last night, but I forgot." He explained. Last night. She didn't even want to think about last night again. It was like an annoying nightmare.
"It's okay. Thanks, Ashitaka." She smiled, even though he didn't see it. Instead of saying something like 'you're welcome' or 'no problem' he had to say that.
"It's nice when you smile. I like it." He commented her non-visual smile from the phone. San blushed madly, and covered it with anger. Was he back to normal yet? She couldn't tell over the phone. He had such a brick wall face, nobody would ever know what he thinks at the exact moment. San, on the other hand, was different. Whenever she disapproved of something, Moro would always pat her head and give her a lecture of 'life sucks, so deal with it' speech. If that still didn't break San, she'd go on about 'There are people living in this world who are so much more unfortunate than you are', and that usually got her.
"I-I wasn't smiling! I was just thanking you, that's all!" San yelled into the receiver. He chuckled again from the other side.
"Okay. Just tell your brother's I said 'bye'. I'll be home after the concert ends." He settled down from his laughing.
"Yeah bye." She hung up, and then stared at the screen of the phone. Her lips automatically curved up, and her hand slipped it into her school bag. As Taka and Kai leaned against the elevator walls from lack of sleep, San pressed the 'down' button. She then whacked both of them on the head to wake up. When the doors opened; she wished the elevator had shut down around the third floor.
He was standing in their path. In her path.
"Mornin'." He greeted with a mischievous smirk. He had a school uniform on, but it wasn't from San's school. It was from the other district next to San's.
"Shinji?" Taka rubbed his eyes.
"What are you doin' here?" Kai finished Taka's question.
"Isn't it obvious? I'm going to start escorting your sister to school. Now…" He was going to turn his undivided attention towards San, but she had long gone. Instead of going through him, she went and avoided him by going out the back way.
'What the hell? How did he find out where I live?' San was running for her life as she hurried (for once) to school. For the first time, she wished Ashitaka was present so she could use him as a repellent to that guy. She felt safe once she entered the school grounds and passed the gate.
"You run pretty fast. That's athletic quality, ya know." His voice praised her from behind. She prickled with shock and annoyance. How did he catch up with her so fast?
"Stop bugging me!" She started to bolt for her first period.
"Stop runnin'!" He shouted back at her. She ran behind a corner to throw him off, and to take a break. There's no way he was that fast. She peaked behind the corner, and looked around to see if he was near or not. The coast looked clear enough, but just when she was about to step away from her hiding place…"Damnit, you've gotta slow down." He wheezed as he approached her from behind again.
"Get away!" She started to freak out.
"Don't be like that!" He replied, as if they were a quarreling couple…which they weren't. She opened the door to her classroom, and entered. "Hey, at least say 'good-bye'." He panted right before she stepped into the class. Without looking back, she shut the door on him. If getting to school was a struggle for freedom, getting home would be war.
"Omigod, was that Shinji Nakahara? He's such a hottie!" A girl from a distant corner squealed.
"I know, he may be a bad boy, but he's so cool!" Another cooed. As the entire girl-population of the classroom swooned over San's alleged stalker, she had to take a seat before passing out. A bird was tapping on the window, so San didn't bother paying attention to anything so insignificant. But her seat was pretty close to the window anyways, so she slightly nudged her head. Her whole body stiffened as the tapping came from that guy waving to her from the other side of the window.
"Hey, hey, wave back to me!" His muffled voice called out. Giggles and ooglie eyes washed over San like a wave. She turned her head the other way to see bunches of little girl groups waving back at him. San stood up and pulled the blinds down.
When the bell rang, everyone noticed that Ashitaka wasn't present. But then everyone realized his new concert is coming around the corner. His Christmas and New Year's concert. What a mess that's going to be.
'Oh god, I don't even want to think about it.' Groupies, rabid fans, the possible horrors are close to endless. She was unusually unfocused than usual today. All day she just sat, half-listening, half-away in her own world. Even when running home to get away from that guy she was still thinking. Every time she tried picking up her pencil for homework, it was just tapped consistently against the blank paper to have the lead either broken off or dulled. She would sharpen it, blow the shavings off, and continue tapping. Was it bad that she couldn't get herself into gear? She noticed that all the questions on the paper seemed to be in a different language all together whenever she got that little ounce of strength to look at them.
Maybe a bath was the best thing for her right now. Just a nice, long, hot soak. She set her pencil down, grabbed her PJ's, and walked down the hall to the bath. As she ran the shower water to heat up, she sat on the floor behind the door, and remembered the day when she had to run all the way back to her room and he caught her still changing. She smirked and continued to relive that day. His heavy head resting on her stomach, the way he just fell asleep. Her hands covered her face and she buried herself within them, trying to just go back. What did she want? What was she waiting for?
The bathroom got steamy from the hot water, it was a signal telling San that she should take her shower already. The rain of hot water beating against her back felt good, but her mind was off somewhere else.
She walked passed his bedroom. His scent was disappearing. It was getting barren without the slightest hint of him anywhere. Not even Kaya. It was just Okina. She couldn't finish her homework, so she just turned the news on and started to make dinner; instant noodles.
For some reason, instant noodles just wasn't instant enough for her. The package said three minutes, but she had to wait five, sometimes even ten.
Her cell phone rang from her room so she quickly made her way to her desk where she kept her phone recharged overnight. She quickly flipped the phone open and pressed it against her ear.
"San? Did I wake you up?" He asked with a sluggish tone.
"No. It's fine." She sounded absent-minded, but she was glad he called.
"That's good. I'm sorry I haven't called you in a while. It's been a little hectic over here. They're working me really hard." He told her as he collapsed on some sort of mattress. He was probably done with his rehearsals for the day, and decided to call her out of boredom.
"It's alright. You must be tired from today." She felt a little ache in her stomach slowly work its way up through her chest and up her throat. She swallowed it, but it came back up. What did she want to tell him so badly her body would turn against her?
"You sound occupied, am I bothering you?" He questioned as he listened carefully to her words. San looked over to the pot filled with lukewarm water,the package of instant noodle, and then looked at the clock.
"No, not really." There it goes again. That almost acid taste churning upwards as she spoke.
"I see. In that case, I can ask you something, right?"
"Yeah, sure." She replied while staring at the pot of water, trying to make it boil faster. Maybe occupying herself with something else would make it go away somehow. There was a slight pause before anything was said. She could hear his light breath on the receiver, the rustling of his body against sheets, and even the phone fidgeting around his ear. No use, it came back now trying to force her lips open as the silence continued.
"Will you come to my concert?" This was the first sign that he seemed as if he regarded San as a 'friend'. Inviting her to a concert was a friendly way to tell her that he thought about her some. Completely casual. Nothing huge. So why…why did her face feel weird? Why did her body shift uncomfortable when she was happily nested on a sofa? This feeling acting as an extra push to whatever was forcing its way out of San's mouth. It was just too strong for her will to handle. She had to say it someway.
"Ashitaka, I…" She got through a part of it, but her body cut it off. She shut her eyes closed tightly. She was short of breath, if she drew in a wisp of air, it would explode out as something she could regret for a very long time. She paused, trying to find a different set of words. Desperately searching, but her mind was off somewhere, no one was there, not even the brats.
The water started to release steam, boiling, with bubbles rising and popping at the surface level. She considered herself saved by a pot of water.
"Ashitaka, I need to eat dinner now, bye!" She hurriedly hung up the phone, and buried it within the sofa pillows. She covered it with another pillow, and stared at the pillow. Her heart was still racing. It was still pounding, beating as if it formed a clone of itself to keep up with the beats. Her hands were damp and clammy, her face was warm and her legs were like jelly.
'So what if he invited me? Its not like I'm the only one going. There'll be his fans at his beck and call no matter what. He won't even see me in the crowd.' She built up enough strength to go and dump the noodles into the water. As the steam brushed her face, she kept here eyes on the noodles. 'He's a pop star in Japan, living with a rich girl. Any fan of his would trade places with me any day. I'd probably go through with it too if opportunity allowed me.' Her brown stubby locks shifted as she tilted her head down. 'I'm so weak. I can't even tell him…' The steam was making her hot. 'No…I can never tell him. I'm not allowed to.' She was starting to perspire from the extended time emerged it hot steam. She stirred the noodles until they broke off from each other, but still entangled within the confinement of the pot. She then poured the packet of powdered broth into the pot. Along with a drop of salty water. 'That's right, I can't ever tell him. We're too different.' Another drop.
Drip…Drip
'But at least…we're near, even when we're not.'
Tonight's dinner was going to be extra salty.
A/N: Writer's Block's suck. It seemed like I was typing a word a day ever since the last update. Much apologies.