écriture fatale
by crisis rain
Disclaimer: Kaichou wa Maid-sama!/Maid-sama! belongs to Fujiwara Hiro. Fiction plot & originals belong to crisis rain. No infringement intended.
It was early morning at the Kogarashi residence.
A figure sat up in bed, blinking tiredly at her alarm clock which read '5:59AM'. It was still dark out – it was autumn, after all – and she sat there in a dazed state for a little while longer until her clock blared to life, signaling the arrival of a new hour. Yawning loudly, she slapped it shut, placed it back on top of her bedside table and threw the covers off. It was time to get ready for another day.
Glancing at the mirror, her regular, tired face was reflected before her. The events of last Saturday and her unfortunate run-in with Igarashi Tora had left her inexplicably fatigued for some reason. Massaging her shoulder, she yanked a towel from her closet rack and trotted off to the washroom.
Downstairs in the kitchen, Kogarashi Sayaka glanced up worriedly at the pair of stairs that led upstairs. "Hisui, you better hurry! Don't forget about Gouki-kun!"
"Oh for Christ's sake, he's old enough to get up on his own now!" Her protesting reply came back.
"You know how tardy he likes to be, honestly!" Her mother chided, and with a pair of chopsticks she delicately picking up a piece of shrimp wet with tempura batter and dropped it upon the frying wok. It sizzled loudly when it made contact with the hot oil, and a fragrant aroma of tempura wafted in the air.
Squeezing the tap shut, Hisui quickly dried her face and brushed her teeth before scooting back over to her room. Her school uniform hung by her bedroom door – a black pleated skirt, a white shirt, a cream-coloured woolen-knit jacket and her uniform blazer with her school's crest over the left breast pocket, all hung upon one hanger. She promptly began to dress for school, this same old routine she has been following for so many years now.
Tightening her red tie and making sure it wasn't crooked, Hisui slipped her arms into her woolen cardigan, and stretched her limbs. Walking over towards the balcony window, she tugged it open, feeling the blast of November air rush inside. "Alright, time to wake up Goucchan!" She smiled slightly, climbing on top of the metal and stone railing. With her neighbour's balcony extension bordering so close to her house, it was quite simple for one to clamber on top and jump over to the other side without trouble.
Hopping over to the Aratake residence's balcony, Hisui curled her fingers around the metal handle and pulled the sliding glass door open. She stepped inside, knee-sock-clothed legs gently pattering upon the floorboards. Things of all sorts lay strewn about this messy room – books, magazine, test papers, a basketball, clothes…
"You forgot to the lock the door again, didn't you Goucchan…?" She muttered as she bent down and picked up a few articles of clothes – jackets, shirts, jeans – and threw them over to his laundry bag. Walking over to his bedside window, she threw the shades open, letting the sunlight pour into the dim room. A huddled heap on top of a bed, and a half-asleep teenager lay still, unmoving. Hisui sighed impatiently, fingers combing through her shoulder-length hair before reaching for the bed covers and ripped them off.
"Ahhhh!" She nearly shrieked in anger, staring incredulously down at her childhood friend. "Aratake Gouki, what's with that indecent piercing?" She pointed accusingly at the cartilage piercing above on his left ear. "First you bleached your hair, now a piercing? You're going to make your mother cry!"
The bleach-haired boy opened one eye tiredly, staring up at the angry face of Kogarashi Hisui. "…Sui?" He mumbled out sleepily, before rolling over to his side, falling back asleep. "Oh, no you don't," Hisui seethed, rolling her sleeves up and grabbed his shoulder, shaking him awake. "Get up, it's almost seven!"
No answer came from him. Hisui sighed heavily.
"Alright, a big fat kiss for our Sleeping Beauty to wake her, coming right up." A hand pressed on the pillow beside his head, and she climbed over on top of him, leaning down slowly…
Aratake Gouki opened his eyes tiredly, but before he could take in what was going on, he caught sight of her face; eyes closed, lashes fanned temptingly, the smell of apples, and her lips just mere centimeters away from his…
"Y-Y-You idiot!" He screamed, pushing her off and sitting upright immediately, face flushing. She laughed, watching him trying to cover his steaming face with his hands. "Good morning, Goucchan. It's seven o'clock, and you have school today." She brightly reminded him, lowering her head to peer at his still-blushing face.
"…et off." He muttered, looking away from her. Hisui tilted her head. "What's wrong?"
"I said, get off!" Gouki sharply raised his voice, and she quickly scampered off, sliding her legs off his bed and quickly dashing to a corner. "Geez, Goucchan you should be thanking me for waking you up in time for school!" She protested, but the golden-haired boy didn't listen as he rubbed his eyes tiredly, giving her an apathetic glare before getting up out of bed.
His bedroom door opened, revealing a middle-aged woman barging in rather angrily, her hair still curled with rollers. "Gouki! What time do you think it is – ara? Hisui-chan?" Her harsh expression softened when she spotted the familiar girl, who quickly smiled back. "Good morning, oba-chan!"
"My, oh my; are you here to wake up Gouki?" She chuckled warmly, to which Hisui saluted comically back. "Of course!"
"Ara, Gouki you better hurry then! Hisui-chan's waiting for you to go to school!"
Gouki shook angrily as he watched the two women continue to converse light-heartedly.
"How will I ever get to school on time if you two are going to stay chatting in my room?"
And so, she was promptly kicked out of his room, sent back out to the cold as the balcony door slammed shut behind her. Hisui turned around with a pout, watching Gouki behind the wall of glass glaring back at her before closing the curtain shades hastily.
"…Tch, so mean."
He locked the door behind him, and let out a heavy sigh, his back sliding against the door. A hand covered his eyes as he waited for the painful throbbing of his heart pass away.
"Fuck, Sui… you're too noisy in the morning…"
The sound of the front door opening caught her attention. Hisui straightened up from leaning against the front gates of the Aratake residence, her hands plugged firmly in her coat pockets and her chin buried deep within the folds of her scarf. The tall, lanky frame of her childhood friend came stalking out, one hand in a pocket, school bag dangling carelessly from the other, over his shoulder. His eyes are partially obscured by that flap of white bandanna wrapped around his forehead, giving an edge to his intimidating appearance.
"Goucchan, you shouldn't leave a girl waiting out in the cold, you know." She scolded lightly, giving him a light pat of encouragement on his back. He ignored her, and continued to walk down the street. Hisui sighed, quickly scampering to catch up with him.
"Did you eat breakfast properly? Your brain won't be able to function to its fullest without proper nutrients." She lectured, her steps finally falling in pace with his. "You're already in your last year of middle school; you need to take care of yourself more."
He took in a deep breath, quickening his pace. "You're so annoying, Sui. Stop getting all over my back about useless things, would ya?" Hisui froze for a moment, before her face contorted into a look of irritation. Swinging her school bag's strap over her shoulder a little more securely, she began to unzip her bag, rummaging through the contents.
"Ahhh~ you're so mean now. I remember how much cuter you were as a kid back then." She retorted flatly, wringing a nice flustered look out of his face. "Okay you big crybaby, here's lunch for today." She tapped his forehead lightly with a wrapped bento, and shoved it into his hands. Gouki didn't seem to say anything, but to accept the home-made lunch without another word, clearly looking rather embarrassed to receive such a thing from her. "And don't tell me you won't eat it because it's not cool for a yankee to eat homemade lunches."
He shoved it deep into his school bag, making sure it was out of sight. "Dammit, you're always doing what you want!" He seethed angrily, watching her smile back pleasantly at him. Hisui closed her bag, before stopping at the intersection. "If I don't, who else will look after you?"
Gouki couldn't find it in him to smile – but rather, feeling this rash irritation at her words that produced a frown coupled with a heavy-set fluster despite the early morning cold. It was a frustration over his dependency, as a man, towards her – a woman. Surely his enemies will laugh in his face if they ever found out about the nature if their relationship.
"Have a good day at school now," Hisui waved goodbye once the pedestrian light turned green. "And don't cause too much trouble again!"
He watched her dash off towards the general direction of Oukashou High. Grimacing once more, he turned right, down the separate road towards his own school.
Two years – that was the gap between them. It wasn't much; their proximity in age ensured them to be good friends ever since kindergarten. Their mothers who happened to be acquaintances in the same company office they were working at that time, had often dropped their children off to school together, and picked them up together as well. Sometimes they took turns taking care of the both of them. As a result, spending his time at her house afterschool was a common part of his everyday routine back in elementary school.
Crybaby Gouki – that was the nickname he had earned since his early youth, he reminisced. Always acting so cowardly and abrasive when things didn't go his way, he often resorted to tears when the going got bad. And then she'd come running over from across the playground, away from the group of female girls in her class, scaring away the junior classmen with her incredible height (it seems Hisui had an early growth spurt, but that didn't last too long).
"Did they hurt you?" She would ask. For each injury he sustained, she would play doctor and stick a band-aid over each little bruise and cut. As for injuries to the heart, she would pat his head, comforting him until he stopped crying.
That was all in the past – but even now, despite the fact that he'd grown into a sturdy man, this age difference of two years… Gouki couldn't help but feel that she was still standing in a much higher place than he was. Hisui – an honour student in her year, who receives exemplary grades; who is also part of the Oukashou Student Council as the Health Representative; an outstanding person, in his eyes. As expected of his childhood friend with a passionate dream – to become a nurse, she says.
He chuckled mirthlessly. A guy like him, who knew nothing but how to fight, simply beating down his enemies, and using sheer strength to solve his problems. He had no dream. He was already Seisen Middle's top delinquent – the strongest in the school. He had his crew – and as inseparable as they were, there will be the time when they will eventually graduate, and head off on their own separate ways.
So which path was he headed towards…?
The soft scribbling of a pencil was the only sound inside the silent nurse's office. Working laboriously on the health committee stock lists, Hisui paused for a moment, eyes glancing up to the medicine shelf while mentally counting how many boxes of headache and painkiller medicine the school had left. This month's costs to purchase new equipment, supplies and drugs were going to barely meet the budget limit, once again thanks to the season. With late November, many students were beginning to catch colds, and flu masks had to be replenished on a weekly basis.
Letting out a long sigh, she finished writing in the totals before shuffling her papers together. The sun was already setting, and classes were finished a long time ago. She had better hurry back before it gets too dark. Making sure she placed her charts in a folder, she pocketed it back inside her school bag, zipped it up and threw her scarf over her shoulders, wrapping it quickly around her neck. It was finally time to go home.
She walked out through the empty school grounds and glanced upwards at the sky. It was a nice shade of red, the horizon slowly settling into the evening blue, making a few stars still slightly noticeable despite how bright the world remained. She drew in a deep breath, taking in the cold air before letting out a puff of moist breath, watching it mist upwards towards the sky; contrails fading away.
Hisui focused her eyes back forwards now, spotting an off-black figure in the distance. Continuing to walk forwards, she blinked away the sharpness of the sun's rays, before catching sight of a familiar head full of bleached hair, ruffling slightly in the wind. "Goucchan…" She began in pleasant surprise, breaking out into a short dash towards her friend. He was leaning by the school gates, looking rather forlorn with a stiff expression planted upon his face.
"…the old hag told me to invite you over for dinner tonight." He mumbled, sticking his hands into his coat pockets. Hisui smiled faintly, glancing at him quietly for a short moment. The corner of his mouth was red – a cut on his bottom lip, and his uniform looked slightly ragged and dirtier than they were this morning. She sighed heavily, fingers reaching out for his buried fist and tugging it out of his coat pockets, examining them carefully.
"Wha…" He snapped and whipped his arm back, freeing his hand from her grasp. She glanced back firmly at him, her lips pursed together as if she could see what he had been doing the entire day during her absence.
"You got into another fight again." She scolded, grabbing his hand once more. Her fingers pinched down between his knuckles and he clenched his jaw tightly, face twisted in pain. "Goodness, what did you do to your hands? It looked like you were punching metal." She was quick to reprimand, but quick to forgive – for her eyes softened when they gazed at the tender tissue and the broken skin, and let his hand go.
Letting out another sigh, she massaged her shoulder tiredly. Gouki hesitantly watched her as he jammed his raw fists back into his coat pockets. "So what's for dinner tonight?" Hisui asked brightly, and Gouki shifted uncomfortably, walking silently alongside her. "…'kaa-chan won't be home tonight. She's playing mahjong over at a friend's place."
"Then I'll cook in her place." She responded matter-of-factly. "The best I can make though is curry, if you don't mind." She smiled when he looked away at the mention of his favourite dish – it was unfair how she always manage to dredge up old memories like this, unknowingly and irresponsibly dragging him through her wild antics. Gouki covered his mouth with his knuckles, quietly observing her.
Hisui stretched out her right wrist, flexing her fingers. The muscles felt strained – no doubt the result of the tyrant heir's work last Saturday night when he had gripped her wrist so tightly. Recalling that moment, she couldn't help but to shiver in slight anxiety; she remembered the wild look in his eyes, the silent fury in his voice...
Gouki stared at her, watching her turning her hand over stiffly. Alertness washed over his eyes when she began to painfully press down on her palm, rubbing the soles gently. "What's wrong? Did you hurt your hand?" His usual rough front fell down to a level of concern. Hisui shook her head, but there was something on her mind; that much, he could tell.
"Goucchan... what would you do if I transferred to Miyabigaoka?" Her sudden whisper pierced the silence, almost inaudible to his ears. But it reached him; pausing to a stop, the pair halted in the middle of the sparse sidewalk. Gouki stared down at his childhood friend with disbelief; brows wringing upwards as if he couldn't comprehend what she had just uttered.
"What… what on earth are you talking about?"
She chuckled aloud, the change of mood and pace too sudden and too fast – glancing over him, she shook her head as if she was laughing to a joke only she knew about, looking somewhat baffled herself at the incredulous question she had poised. "I'm just joking, of course. That school is just too much of a fairytale-like place for me." Hisui let out the last of her giggles, wiping away a tear of mirth. "And besides – Goucchan's taking the entrance exam for Oukashou, aren't you?"
"H-How…?" He gawked awkwardly back at her, mouth gaping wide. "W-Who told you that I was…?"
A knowing look crept into Hisui's eyes as she gazed back mockingly at her friend. "Oh, well a certain oba-san told me about her idiot son suddenly staying up late studying for no apparent reason…"
"That old hag…" Cursing under his breath, Gouki gritted his teeth, feeling the sore need to kick down a tree to vent out his embarrassment. Unfortunately, he'd never hear the end of it from Hisui, let alone with all the frightened stares he was receiving from pedestrians passing by. He had to admit – after all those years of toughing it out and fighting tooth and nail out in the streets, he'd developed quite the mean eye.
"There you go off again, scaring the neighbours with that look of yours." Hisui sighed, before reaching up in tiptoes and patted a hand on top of his head. "Now, now, behave yourself until we get back home, alright?"
Dammit, he thought as he slammed a hand into his face; the flush turning his ears bright red. It was too hard not to forgive her – it was humiliating, yes. No one from Seisen would even dream of petting the top fighter Aratake like this.
But he'll let her have her way – just for today.
"Cut it out already," He finally snapped, slapping her hand away. "You need to go to the convenience store right? Quit idling around and get your ass moving." He hurried on ahead, catching a glimpse of the brightly lit store by the corner of the street. Hisui cracked a smile, quickly running after him.
Just for today, he'll let her have her way.
The fragrant aroma of currye quietly cooking in the silent household of Aratake seeped through the hallways. Poking a head out of his bedroom door, Aratake Gouki sniffed the air before instinctively following the scent towards the kitchen, towel hanging around his shoulders. Making his way downstairs, he spotted an apron-clad Hisui scooping up a ladle full of steaming curry, pouring it carefully over a plate of rice.
He had pause to stare at her choice of apron – a tacky green plastic frog design served as the chest piece while the rest of the body accompanied the waistline. Thin, green arms were wrapped around in a bow – essentially, the arms wound around her neck, like some poor creature strung up in a show of diabolical torture while smiling happily. Thankfully she had changed into a casual cherry one-piece with a long-sleeved hooded jacket – otherwise, the serious image of Oukashou's health representative armed in full school uniform gear while wearing that tacky apron would have been too much for him to handle.
"Oh, you came out of the bath just in time," Hisui piped up, gently nudging the plate of curry rice over towards his direction, sliding it over the counter. "The curry is just about done."
"More importantly," Gouki grabbed a spoon, clenching it between his teeth as he carried his dinner over to the dining table, "why are you wearing such an embarrassing piece of clothing?"
She glanced down at her apron. "I don't see anything wrong with it?"
He grunted in response, scooping a spoonful of curry-toppled rice into his mouth. The familiar sensation of the sweetness in the curry occupied his mind for a short moment before his spoon dove for more. Watching him wolf down his dinner, Hisui pulled back a chair opposite of Gouki and sat down with her own plate, observing him in amusement. "I take it that my curry passed the Aratake Gouki field test."
Gouki scoffed. "So I'm your lab rat now?"
A tight smile formed over her lips, and Hisui leaned forwards, dangling her spoon in her fingers. "I'll be sure to feed you every creation I make then."
He briefly remembered her charred attempts at baking before shrinking back to his own plate.
"Ah, by the way," She paused in-between bites, glancing back at the kitchen counter. "I made enough for tomorrow, so be sure to finish it or it'll go bad."
"You didn't have to." He protested slightly, finishing the last bite of his dinner before pushing the empty plate forwards. "Seconds, please."
Hisui let out a sigh. She picked up his plate, bringing it back towards the rice cooker and opened the lid. "And yet you're asking for seconds. How hypocritical of you, Goucchan." Patting a new mound of white rice upon his place, she pressed it firmly into a mound, before poking gently at the centre of the rice, making a soft crater.
With the finishing touch, she poured a ladle of hot curry, chopped carrots and stewed beef over the rice until it overflowed and began to spill down the mound of rice.
"Sorry for the wait; here's your curry!" Teasingly setting down the plate before the delinquent, Hisui closed with the rice cooker with a small laugh. Gouki stared down at his plate with unblinking eyes.
"…What is this supposed to be?"
"A curry volcano."
A hand washed over his face, massaging his forehead for a while. "…Seriously, Sui? Curry volcanoes? This isn't elementary school anymore."
"You don't have to eat it if you don't want to." She snapped back.
The sound of the front door being unlocked, and then swung open followed their light-hearted conversation shortly afterwards. Hisui peered over at the main hallway, spotting Gouki's mother clamber in hastily and kicked off her heels, hands full of grocery bags. "Oh my, oh my; Hisui-chan!" She beamed brightly. "Have the two of you eaten dinner yet?"
"We just about finished. What about oba-chan? There's some more curry if you haven't eaten yet." Hisui quickly got up from her seat and rushed over to Mrs. Aratake, helping hold some of the grocery bags back into the kitchen. "My, thank you but I've eaten already. Where's that lazy son of mine? Gouki!" She beckoned, stumbling into the kitchen before dumping the plastic bags onto the floor. "Gouki, stop eating and help your poor mother put away the groceries!"
"I-It's okay, I've got it!" Hisui's voice faintly echoed from the hallway. She bent down to pick up a crate of oranges, and with a huff of effort, heaved it into her arms and slowly made her way back towards the kitchen. "I've got the oranges, where do you want me to put – ah!"
The cardboard bottom was beginning to slip from her fingers, and the whole box would have crashed back onto the floor if it weren't for a steady hand catching the bottom and holding it up before the oranges fell to their pulpy death. Gouki steadily held the box with one hand, before taking it away from her without another word.
"Ah… thanks Goucchan." She stared at him putting it on top of the fridge without difficulty.
"That's the only thing he's good for, honestly." His mother complained, rummaging through the bags and storing the vegetables away into the crisper. "If you need any heavy-lifting done, just holler over our way and we'll send our Gouki for you!"
Hisui chuckled warmly. "I'll keep that in mind." Gouki looked away.
"Well, I should be heading back before it gets too late. Thank you for having me over, oba-chan!" Hisui bowed quickly before taking off the apron, hanging it back on its original place by the hanger pinned beside the kitchen entrance. "Thank you Hisui-chan, for making dinner for Gouki. Come over again soon!" She smiled back, before placing her hands on her hips and glancing warily at her son. "Now, now, Gouki; what are you standing there for? Go see Hisui-chan back home."
"She lives right next door, if you've forgotten." He sarcastically pointed out. A slap on the head quickly followed afterwards, leaving him cringing at the pain while clutching his crown. A drop of sweat ran down Hisui's head as she watched the mother-son pair bicker for a short while.
"Dammit. No choice, I guess." He growled, and gave her a light push towards the door. "C'mon, go home already."
She stepped into her open-heeled white loafers, and opened the door. Gouki followed after her closely, helping her push the screen door open and walked out of the house, unlocking the front gates. It was dark out – and the neighbourhood street was dotted with yellow pools of overhanging street lamps that towered above. It was also cold – with the sun long set, the entire city was cooling down in the late autumn evening hour.
"Oi…" Gouki paused for a moment, staring down the street. Hisui glanced at him curiously. "What's the matter?"
He pointed at the entrance of her house. "Is that a limousine parked in front of your house?"
Hisui's head snapped towards the direction of her house, and true enough, a shiny, black limousine was parked neatly in front of the gates of her home, standing out and looking awfully conspicuous for a modest residential street she lived in. "Y-You're right…" She trailed off, before dashing towards her house. Gouki followed after her, and they both rounded around the expensive-looking automobile. Hisui unlatched the lock, swinging the gates open and quickly dashed towards the front door.
Opening the door open, she peeked inside. A pair of shoes she didn't recognize was sitting plainly in sight, right in front of the door mat. Down the hallway, she spotted her mother's head peek out from the living room, looking rather excited. "Oh Hisui; you're home! Come in quickly, we have a guest!"
Guest? Question marks shone in her eyes. "What's going on?" She demanded, stepping inside before hastily taking her shoes off. "Just come," Her mother beckoned her over. "We don't want to keep Igarashi-kun waiting now, do we?
She froze.
"Ah, it's quite alright. I should get going anyway. Thank you for the tea." A familiar voice replied back, and a shuffle of movement. "What's happening now?" Gouki whispered, stepping inside after Hisui. He stared at her face as it stiffened into a deep-rooted frown; and he glanced up warily to see who this particular 'guest' was.
A tall, unfamiliar male he had never seen before, came striding out from the living room, adorned in a light school uniform. They both briefly exchanged stares; before the guest smiled pleasantly back at Hisui's scowling face. "Good evening, Hisui-san. It's a shame you weren't here earlier, I was just talking to your – "
She raised a hand, stopping him in mid-sentence. Hisui took in a deep breath, before gazing coldly at the tyrant heir. "A word outside with me please, Igarashi-kun." Tora chuckled, before shrugging and stepped into his shoes, and followed her out the door. Gouki turned around to protest, but his words fell back when Hisui refused to look at him, her face twisted with distraught.
The door closed upon him heavily.
"Oh dear, you were here, Gouki-kun?" Hisui's mother, Sayaka came trotting over, looking slightly surprised. He hastily bowed his head in greetings. "I came to drop her off…" He started, but wasn't sure what to say next. Sayaka sighed, placing a hand on her cheek worriedly.
"I wonder if that was Hisui's boyfriend just now…?" She curiously murmured aloud. Gouki's eyes snapped open.
"W-What?" He burst out, and Sayaka chuckled at his response. "At first I thought he came here to talk about his father's condition, since Igarashi-san is my husband's patient. But dear me, he came here to talk about Hisui!" Sayaka giggled, watching Gouki squirm in partial anticipation and partial discomfort. "What a charming young man in this day and age! Ara, Gouki-kun; what's wrong?"
Gouki bit his lip. "It's nothing."
Outside of the Kogarashi residence, Igarashi Tora was feeling pretty good as he watched her walk down the front steps silently. She was obviously looking rather baffled and angry at his sudden intrusion, much to his delight. His invasion plan in winning over Mama and eventually, Papa Kogarashi was a huge success so far. "C'mon now, you called me out for a chat and now you're not saying anything at all." He smirked, watching her hunch her shoulders up in response. Hisui turned around, all traces of any smiles and self-restraint politeness gone completely from her face.
"What did you do?" She asked quietly. "Why are you here?"
He smiled. "Your mother enjoyed the baked sweets from Maki Dining quite a lot."
"Get to the point." Hisui growled.
Walking down the steps slowly, Tora slipped his hands into his pockets and halted to a stop before her. He leaned down to whisper in her ear. "She seems delighted to know that I'm willing to pay your tuition at Miyabigaoka."
Hisui backed away from him in a flash, her eyes frozen in shock. "Don't tell me you've already…?"
"Have your transfer completed at Miyabigaoka? No. Not yet, at least." Tora toothily grinned back. "It's not impossible for me to do it right now. But I'd rather sweeten you up before I do so, to ensure a complete and perfect victory."
"I'm never leaving Oukashou," Hisui spat back. "And that's final!"
Tora scoffed in amusement, chuckling to himself for a moment. She was a riot, alright. She really made his days quite interesting so far. "Hey…" Advancing another step forwards, he closed the space between the both of them again, staring down at her bold eyes with a crooked smile. Hisui stood her ground. She wasn't afraid of him.
"Who was that earlier? That rough-looking street urchin?" Calmly, he would slither his words towards her ear; his breath hot on her neck. "Your boyfriend?"
"It's none of your business." She flatly responded. Her sight was buried with the fabric of his uniform. He was too close – her heart was pounding in fear, as if this development might turn out to be something unwanted. But she was stubborn – she won't back away and let him win this match. So what if he was half a head taller than her? Gouki was taller! But this… this was –
"If he was, he would have chased after you." Tora drawled. "Or perhaps he's too much of a coward to?" A hand reached down to touch her chin.
And she slapped his hand away. She was reaching her limit very soon. "Go home, Igarashi. You're causing a ruckus in front of the neighbours." Hisui fiercely replied. "I don't have time to play with you."
There was glint of surprise in his eyes, before they smoldered down to a cold, hard edge. "You're pushing my buttons again, Hisui-chan. Didn't I tell you before? You don't want to anger me." This time his grip was true – he grabbed her chin roughly, jerking it upwards towards his smirking face. "Now then, how I should I give you your punishment?"
Silver eyes glowered back in silent protest.
The front door slammed open. "Tch…" He let go of her, turning his head around and spotted the delinquent with the bleached hair walking quickly towards them. "Sui," Gouki began angrily, grabbing her hand and pulling her back towards the front door. "You're going to catch a cold if you're outside any longer…"
He faltered when she didn't say anything, but looked thoroughly flushed and stood silently beside him, her back turned towards the Igarashi heir. Gouki clenched his jaw and glared back at the stranger, who smirked back in response.
"Go home. You're disturbing all the neighbours."
"Oh, such a scary face." Tora shrugged, walking back towards his limousine. Hanagata immediately got out of the driver's seat, and opened the door for the heir, who clambered into the backseat without a word. The tinted window scrolled down, as he leaned out for his parting words.
"Kogarashi Hisui – please consider my proposal seriously. I'll expect your answer this Saturday when we see each other again."
Hanagata bowed wordlessly before the two, and got back into the car and drove off; red taillights flashing in the darkness. A strained look came over Gouki's features, as he narrowed his eyes at the fading image of the limousine. "What the hell…" His grip tightened in anger, but his thoughts were momentarily halted when a cold hand wrapped around his wrist.
"Goucchan, you're hurting me." Her voice came tiredly; her downcast eyes devoid of energy. He let go immediately.
"S-Sorry…"
The both of them stood in the nighttime silence; until she let out a long sigh and leaned her head against his chest, as if to rest for a moment. "S-Sui…?" His face flared up again, at the proximity of how close she was, how the neighbours were going to whisper rumours again once morning comes –
"I'm not going to Miyabigaoka." She fiercely whispered – as if she was making a statement to herself, to strengthen whatever shaking resolution she had buried inside. Gouki looked down worriedly at her. "I'm definitely never going to go."
Gouki had never seen her vulnerable before – it was often the other way around. And so, he hesitantly placed a hand on her head – a gesture that was often reserved for him, but with the situation reversed now, he couldn't help himself. The most he could do, he realized, was to let her have her way for now.
Just for now.
"Yeah…"
A/n: I would have written this chapter up much sooner, but due to taking over for a co-worker and her full-time shifts for the next two weeks, this may be a bit difficult to achieve. I actually have up to Chapter 4 outlined already and a gist of the overall storyline structure, so worry not!
Thank you Marshmellowtime for your kind review. I'm glad you enjoy my story so far!