2. The second time
The second time Claudine sees her, the ash-blonde feels as if the same story was almost repeating itself again.
A month and a half had passed since Claudine saw the mysterious brunette sat on a pool of blood hidden in the dark alley behind her apartment complex in a late evening of an autumn day.
A whole month and a half since she had helped the woman by healing her wound and taking care of her, making sure she was okay just to wake up the next morning to find no signs of the brunette anywhere in her apartment. Maya just vanished without saying goodbye or even leaving a thank you note. It was as if it never happened at all.
And during all that time, Claudine tried hard to forget about that night and about the mysterious brunette, immersing herself into her practices and rehearsals. Deluding herself into thinking she actually achieved it, but the truth was that as much as she tried and pretended that she actually could forget about it and about Maya, she didn't.
It's in one of those usual late evenings in which Claudine ends another exhausting day of rehearsals and waves goodbye to the pair of castmates that stayed behind to help her practice her lines and dance routine before she has to go back to her apartment, when all those thoughts about the mysterious brunette come back to her.
Claudine is wandering in a quick pace through the gloomy and quiet streets of Tokyo before it gets darker, almost reaching the gates of the apartment complex when, as per usual, she turns her gaze to the corner of the building.
She bites her lip, shaking her head to keep walking through the little garden of the complex when she hears some light and piteous whimpers coming out from around the corner of the building.
It almost feels like a déjà vu.
She sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose and starts to walk slowly towards the dark alley.
- Please, let it be from a wounded animal this time – she murmurs to herself as she lets her feet carry her towards the source of the whimpering.
Claudine goes into the darkness of the alley, slowly peeking out her head from behind the bricks' wall to find the same brunette woman than the previous time, sat almost on the same spot as the previous time hidden in the shadows.
This time, she sees her clutching her shoulder tightly, her face twisted in pain and her hand, again, covered in blood, making the ash-blonde groan in desperation and approach to her in a bad mood.
Seriously, what is with this infuriating woman and always finding her hurt and bleeding in the alley behind the building?
As soon as the brunette hears steps, she snaps her head up, ready to glare at the intruder but ends up meeting Claudine's magenta eyes instead, and immediately a stupid grin appears on her face despite being in pain.
Such an infuriating woman!
Claudine thinks to herself angrily as she sees Maya grinning, wanting nothing more than to wipe that stupid grin from the other woman's face.
- So? What happened this time? – she asks her sternly, with a scowl on her face and her hands placed on her waist.
- Nothing – Maya mumbles briefly, averting her eyes still grinning stupidly before her grin turns into a grimace due to the pain.
Serves you right!
Claudine thinks again after seeing the grimace, then shakes her head.
- I don't know why I even asked you, of course you aren't going to tell me – Claudine mumbles under her breath and Maya feels a bad for having to hide the truth from her when she's just trying to help her.
Claudine looks at her then sighs heavily at the brunette's stubbornness, kneeling besides her to take a proper look at the bleeding wound on her shoulder, examining it closely.
She notices how this time the brunette is more amenable to let her help her. She also notices how this time the wound also doesn't seem to be too deep and doesn't require taking her to the hospital, not that Maya would agree to go or that Claudine would take her there anyway. Claudine is pretty sure that Maya wouldn't even let her fish her phone out of her bag to call an ambulance, but at least this time, Claudine has the thought that it won't be as hard to treat it like the previous wound on her leg.
- Do you think you can stand up and walk by yourself?
- Maybe – Maya answers slyly.
Claudine snorts at her answer before glaring at her.
- Well, if you can answer me like that, I'm sure you can stand up and follow me as well and I'll even be acquiescent enough to heal you at home.
This only makes Maya chuckle amused.
- Well, if you put it like that then I'm sure I can, but maybe it'd be better if you help me. I'm sure you don't want anything to happen to me – Maya retorts cheekily.
- Méchante va! You're so infuriating! – Claudine half yells frustrated at the brunette while Maya just laughs, amused to rile Claudine up so easily.
Claudine glares at her once again, grunting and pinching the bridge of her nose to calm herself down before passing an arm around Maya's waist to help the brunette to stand up.
The fact that even though she gets mad at her, she's still willing to help her, elicits another big grin on Maya's face.
- Okay, now let's treat your wound at home before you pass out here. I don't want to be charged with it. If you need to stop, just, I don't know… grunt at me or something.
Maya grunts playfully at her, making Claudine roll her eyes with a soft smile on her face before the brunette slowly stands up, clutching onto the ash-blonde the entire time before they start to walk together towards the main gates and Claudine's apartment in complete silence and at slow pace.
Claudine glances at Maya from time to time during their walk to make sure she isn't bleeding harder than before due to the movement, noticing the way the lights reflect on her hair and eyes, making them shine brightly under them, obliging her to avert her eyes to fight the blush creeping up to her cheeks after realizing how truly beautiful Maya is.
She tries to brush it off and keep walking and just like the previous time, once they enter the building and by some strange miracle, they don't come across any neighbor or the doorman of the complex. Claudine can't help but sigh relieved, grateful for it as they keep advancing together to the elevator, and as soon as they reach and enter her apartment, the ash-blonde stops supporting Maya at the entrance.
- You know where the couch is, don't you?– she says, gaining a playful grunt as an answer, making her roll her eyes once again before she goes directly to get her first-aid kit without any other word said. Then she stops briefly over her bedroom to retrieve the same blanket she lent Maya the previous time and ends passing through the kitchen to get the brunette a glass of water and some medicine.
Maya chuckles amused at Claudine's manners and goes diligently to the couch as if she was in her own home, sitting comfortably on it while waiting patiently for the ash-blonde to come back.
Once again, her gaze gets lost inspecting Claudine's living room, noticing the collection of DVDs and books the other woman owns and has next to the television. Maya squints her eyes realizing that most of them are musicals or theatre plays.
Interesting...
She thinks to herself while at the same time Claudine walks around the apartment gathering everything she may need, thinking about how this might be the second time they encounter under the same circumstances but ironically feels like it just turned into a routine, one she doesn't like in the slightest. One that makes her stomach churn with a bad feeling.
Maya watches with a big grin on her face how Claudine comes back to the living room, but upon seeing her packed with several items in her arms, she starts to feel self-conscious about everything the other woman is doing for her and decides to help her by making it a little bit easier for her to heal her.
She sits better on the couch and pushes her own blood torn upper clothes aside, enough to let Claudine examine the wound, allowing her to decide what would be the best way to treat it and work on it.
Maya observes closely how the ash-blonde cleans it and disinfects it thoroughly, a serious expression on her face the entire time.
Then she observes how the other woman grins mischievously every time she presses the cotton harder than she needs on her wound, making her ends up yelling out of pain or just bite her lip to contain her tears of pain and not beg her to stop.
Something tells her that Claudine enjoys making her suffer but she doesn't care about it in the slightest, she somehow enjoys being able to witness that little mischievous grin on the other woman's face.
Lastly, Claudine applies some antiseptic over the wound, making sure it stopped bleeding completely before she covers it with some gauzes and wraps a bandage around the wound and Maya's shoulder and torso the best she can.
- Do I even want to know what the hell happened to you this time that got you this hurt? – Claudine asks her severely, handling Maya the glass of water and the medicine.
- It's better if you don't – Maya says cheekily, infuriating Claudine even more than she already was.
- Why can't you just go to a hospital like a normal person instead of having to come back here every single time? Is this going to become something habitual from now on? – Claudine asks her again, gathering the things she used to throw them into the kitchen's trash and leave the first-aid kit back in its place.
- Why? Does it bother you that I keep coming back here?
Claudine hears Maya saying in the distance, a light trace of sadness laced in her tone enough to make her sigh.
- Maybe, but I guess I prefer you coming back here and let me heal you than you're bleeding out in the middle of somewhere.
Claudine says honestly, returning to the living room to see Maya grinning widely at her words, making her roll her eyes.
She truly is an infuriating woman!
Before Maya could even think about retorting with a sassy comeback, Claudine helps her to get comfortable on the couch, fitting the pillows and placing her legs up on the couch, making sure she's comfortable enough before she covers her with the same blanket she used the previous time, tucking her in to make sure she's okay and warm.
Then she quickly turns on her heels and heads to her own bedroom to rest.
- Stay here and rest. I mean it – she commands Maya from the living room's door, glaring at her before disappearing through the hallways of her apartment.
- Good night, Claudine – Maya whispers softly, smiling even though Claudine can't see or hear her any longer.
Maya lies more comfortably on the couch, quickly falling asleep soundly for another night, enjoying the warmth and soothing scent of the blanket that Claudine lent her.
When morning comes, Claudine finds the couch empty again and the blanket she lent the brunette the previous night resting neatly folded in the middle of it, just like the previous time.
She sighs heavily and dejectedly approaches to grab the blanket to wash it in the washing machine. Upon doing that, she notices a note lying on the table next to the glass of water she left for Maya the previous night.
"Thank you"
The note recites in a very elegant handwriting.
- Méchante va – Claudine mumbles as a soft smile spread across her face.
Even though part of her is disappointed because she woke up to find her couch empty again and with no signs of Maya anywhere in her apartment, at least this time the brunette had the decency to leave a thank you note.
Claudine shakes her head and folds the note, going to her bedroom to keep it in the drawer of her nightstand. She doesn't even think about why she decides to keep it, she just does.
Then, she goes to the kitchen to start preparing her breakfast to face another long day of rehearsals with energy.
That day, and the following ones, she can't help but let her mind wonder back to the brunette, wondering if she's okay, if she's healing properly and about her whereabouts.
Every time she passes by a brunette with purple eyes in the street on her way to the theater or going back home, she can't help but turn around and stare at them, trying to see if they're Maya.
She can't help but go back to the corner of her apartment complex every time she comes back home after rehearsals, go back to the place where she saw her for the first time to see if the brunette is sat there wounded.
Once she makes sure Maya isn't there bleeding out to death, she lets a relieved sigh escape her lips and enters the building, yet she can't help but keep worrying in case the brunette is hurt in any other dark alley, too ashamed or proud to go to their spot and let Claudine heal her.
Claudine can't stop thinking about how even though the brunette is really infuriating and seems to bring some danger with her, she's completely drawn by their playful banter and grunting, her mesmerizing amethyst eyes looking into hers and her stupid smug grin to the point of obviate everything.
But especially, she can't stop thinking about her wounds, wondering how the hell she got them.
Is she some kind of delinquent? Is she into dark and dangerous things or something worst? Or maybe somebody is hurting her for rejecting to doing things she doesn't want to do?
Claudine can't help the hundred questions swirling inside her head, each one of them leading to a darker path than the previous one, making her stomach churn at it.
She doesn't know what is going on, what kind of problems Maya has or may be facing, but even if the brunette infuriates her and can possibly get her in troubles and ruin her life, she still wants to help her. She still wants to make sure she's okay and take care of her.
She doesn't even know why she cares so much for her but she really did mean what she said about preferring the brunette to go back to the alley behind her building and letting her be the one healing her wounds than anything happening to her that could left her bleeding out to death god knows where.
Claudine sighs, shaking her head to push all those dark thoughts away from her mind, thinking about how stupid she is by thinking about Maya to start with, even more about wondering if she'd see her again. Wondering about if Maya would come back or if she'd even let her help her in anything she needs.
Claudine sighs again and tries to stop thinking about Maya at all, focusing in giving the best of her in rehearsals and practices, getting enough rest and eating properly.
She realizes there's no point in keeping on thinking or worrying about Maya when the chances of seeing the other woman are so low.
Claudine doesn't know how wrong she could be...