Write date: 04-29; 06-18
So, firstly I'd want to apologise to all the people, that I kept waiting for an update, silently disappearing. Gomen... I'm really sorry.
I'll leave the personal reasons aside and just say that, even if I wasn't posting, I was still writing... Slowly writing... Because, well, Messy bookshelf beta'ed my upcoming plot and found some plot holes. So for now I'm taking a different route to this. And because of this, updates will probably have no schedule for now, till I figure out the ending.
Well since I cleared that up, this chapter's start shows the last scene of chapter 16, when Utura Hisho got interrupted from his recording, from a different perspective. Just for clearance. /( ch6) - means the scene was used in that chapter.
( And I hold no rights to that saying that's featured here)
Anyway, it feels so good posting again, hope you will enjoy.
-X-X-X-
"Hisho?" Nagisa knocked on the door."Are you in here?" No answer, although a loud rummaging evoke instead. That meant - he was in his office. She smiled overhearing it, then swung the door wide open.
"Hisho?"
"Ah... Y-yes..." He seemed lost suddenly, a little anxious as well. "Come in Nagisa... Ritsu's here too?... Perfect just in time..."
He soon layed some papers, that concealed the recorder in the drawer.
"You called, we came... So what's the problem?" Ritsu stood by the door frame, scrutinizing Hisho's rapid movements.
In the meantime the brunette finally whirled around in his chair, finishing the stacking of work in his bottom drawer, that now housed the still working player, in which he recorded his personal thoughts and assumptions about Ritsu, before the man was interrupted. He'll need to delete the last part.
"Ah... That's right, I need your help. There is a guest, who just informed me of coming. He's waiting in the garden and I would like you to escort him."
"What? Why are we suppose to do it? If you know this guest, shouldn't you great him instead, Hisho?"
"I would, Nagisa..." The brown-haired psychologist nodded, sighing. Then the man everted his eyes between the two figures."But there's a lot of work this evening, I can't leave it like this."
"So you thought, that we're free?" Ritsu tilted an eyebrow, closing the door behind himself and leaning at it. "Can't you get some teachers or students to do it instead?"
"Ritsu, you know everyone's busy for the upcoming ball. (Ch 6) So I thought you'd have a spare minute..."
Nagisa rolled her eyes, tapping her fingers on her crossed elbows in annoyance.
"Please..."
"Fine..." Ritsu exhaled, then turned to leave, while the female scientist blew a fuse.
"What's fine?... Fine?!"
"I think you'd better catch up to him. You know how he is, when he wants things done..." Hisho waved to her, holding a warm smile."Off you go now, Nagisa."
"You'll so owe me for this one..." The woman grunted threateningly, slamming the door behind her. Hisho thought, that he saw ceilling crippling.
"Temper, temper..."
Just like in the old times. The brown-haired psychologist smiled. This was yet another attempt to lure Ritsu into liking someone. Maybe even fall in love. Hisho couldn't help it, he just loved playing the cupid. Even if his previous attempts failed, as the silverette was still a loner, Hisho harboured hope. Atleast for Nagisa's sake. It was painfully obvious, that she had a crush on him... So why not give them some bonding time, so those two could speak freely not in the working environment? Nagisa this is your big chance.
The blue-haired woman tapped to the outside pedestal, which held a large part of the second floor in place. The construction had become a little rusty over the decade, because nobody made any renovations and Ritsu probably won't do anything either until a real problem comes up... He said, they were low on budget this year.
After a while her eyes met the path, decorated with pebbles and borded by bushes, occasional flower beds. She walked down the walkway toward the fountain, accompanied by weird mermaid statues, that circled around it. Nagisa never understood, what in the world had they ment... Or did the previous Septimal Moon sniffed some bad stuff before planning these mermaids.
Suddenly she spotted Ritsu near the biggest sculpture. What cought her interest however was his stillness. No, the female narrowed her eyes to see his form more clearly, he was fixated on the bushes in the far corner.
"What's interesting there?" She pryed in, walking toward him, while periodically darting at the mysterious shrub.
There was no resounding wind that evening, regardless the plant continued to shiver. Nagisa threw Ritsu a glance.
"You think someone's hiding in there?"
"Might be..." He droned out tiredly, before pinching the bridge of his nose."You do the honor."
Nagisa pouted, looking quite irritated by the command. But for some reason the bluenette didn't complain. Something in Ritsu's eyes made her cut the boiling comments short. A hardly hearable snort left her lips still, as she went closer to the bush.
Though before the blue-haired woman could check on the intruder, a grey striped cat jumped out and Nagisa fell backwards in response.
"Aii! What is that?!"
"A cat most obviously." The silverette chuckled at her, while the small creature padded near the fountain. The animal began to lick it's paws, intending to clean itself. And after a moment Nagisa stood up, dusting her dress. However a thought made her pause.
"Wait a minute, Ritsu. Could this be the guest, that Hisho told us about?"
"Are you crazy?" Ritsu crossed his hands." So what are we suppose to do? Escort this cat back to Hisho's office?" He sighed, seeing the grey creature begin to scratch itself. "What if it has flees? I don't want this thing anywhere near the school. Hisho can bring it home to his wife."
"Mh... I think she hates cats..." Nagisa responded, walking closer to their new companion and it released a warm meow as a response.
"She'll deal with it... Or dump Hisho faster, tired of his constant crap."
The blue-haired female snickered at that, while the striped cat began to spin circles around the woman's legs, nearly making her fall.
"Hey, fellow, stop that!" She remarked, steadying herself, as she gripped the fountain's railling. "Can't you go annoy Ritsu instead?"
The cat just gave the man an uncaring glare for a second, before continuing to purr loudly, gliding it's tail through Nagisa's knee. She shivered from the feather like fur tickling her legs. Whilst Ritsu just watched from the side, gently leaning at the statue again.
"I think you should feed it, Nagisa."
"What? It's hungry?" The bluenette cocked an eyebrow, crouching down to peer at the little creature, that meowed rather loudly at her face. And suddenly it decided to do another tail brush, Nagisa scarcely avoided that by falling backwards.
"Ouch... How can you tell?" She wailed, while rubbing her aching head, as the cat sniffed her hair.
"Firstly, I think it's homeless and that is seriously a pleading... Besides Sanae used to love cats, remember? So I grew a liking to them as well."
"Sanae..." Nagisa recounted, caressing the grey animal's head, while it cried out. She closed her eyes, laying on the cement tiles. The fur felt so warm under her fingers. However soon a shadow, hid her face, releasing a familiar ridiculing comment.
"If you plan to sleep like this, then maybe I should bring you a pillow?"
" ..." The woman blushed, getting up suddenly and changed the subject."So how should we feed it? Do you think the kids meal from the cafeteria would be enough?"
"For one go? More than enough."
The female saw him nod once, before his eyes slowly landed on the water.
"Say, Nagisa," Ritsu began, startling the bluenette, who was watching his movements a little bit too obviously: with glued eyes and still posture.
"Y. Yes? I-I... Ah the water's beautiful this evening. " The blue-haired scientist stammered, timidly hiding a loose strand of hair behind her ear. She gave a peek to his side, as their eyes met for a short instance. So her mind celebrated this little victory with a party for the butterflies.
"As I was saying, do you perchance have Sanae's old notesheets?" Ritsu inquired after a short pause. His sudden voice woke Nagisa up from her thoughts, when she turned her prying eyes from him again.
"Notesheets?"
"Yes. Piano pieces. She used to be a great pianist, so I figured she should have had some. If you could find some, I'd be grateful."
"I guess... I could search for them..." The woman murmured unsure of her words, twirling a starnd of gair between her fingera. In the meantime the silver-haired man began striding back to the academy." Ah... But wait, why do you need notesheets?"
She looked up at him, waiting for an answer only to notice Ritsu a few good meters away.
'Wov...What's burning, Ritsu?' Her thoughts mocked, but Nagisa emitted only a sigh, seeing her colleague disappear after a corner. Instead she decided to give the attention to her new friend.
"Well, guess it's just you and me now, Grey-san. Who cares about that mean Ritsu anyway. Hmph... "
She lectured, keeping her hands on her hips, but soon ceased. Her mood dropped likewise, when she glanced around and didn't spotted atleast a hair of the cat.
"Ah. Grey-san, where are you? What am I suppose to do with you anyway..." She began to worry, glancing at every corner of the horribly shaped statue, then hurriedly walking around the fountain.
"Wait a minute..." The woman haulted, as a shine of realisation hit her, while she tapped the mermaid's tail, cleaning the one hundred year old dust with it...
Nobody actually came close to these mermaids anymore, moreover touch them. The new teachers believed them to be even cursed, because of the corroding nature, which made them look even less welcoming. Actually this belief was created by the children, who passed it out to other generations. And with every year the terrifying tales increased. One of the most popular examples would be the story, that the mermaids eat children, who misbehave. Yes... Rocks can get hungry too.
The authority knew better of the mermaid history. But sadly they made no plans of demolishing the creepy, mood breaking pieces of stone. Even painted smiles on their faces wouldn't improve the haunting atmosphere, that the sculptures provided.
"Wait a minute..." Nagisa restated yet again, linking the many thoughts in her head." If that cat was actually the guest... Doesn't it mean it's Hisho's?!" She slapped her cheeks, as her eyes flared up with determination.
"I'm getting a box for Grey-san, I won't let him escape!"
X X X
In the meantime Utura Hisho leisurely walked back to his office, holding papers tugged under his arm. He couldn't wait to get ready to pack his things and leave... It was already past his work hours. And the sun was begining to set, throwing warm colored rays through the tall windows.
'Hm.. Should I stop at the market and get some apples? Airi always loves them... I wonder did Sanou fixed his grades from math? I wouldn't want his semester to fall...'
Hisho's mind continued to ramble with family worries, nevertheless he seemed to enjoy it, as the man began to hum softly. Until Hisho heared someone talking from his office, when he was a few inches away.
The brunette paused, listening in. Was someone having a discussion in there? No... He frowned, moving closer to the partially opened door. It was a monologue, only one voice was present.
'What in the world?...' The brown-haired man cursed, clenching the handle, but afraid to take a step in.
Finally Hisho took a deep breath, sliding the door to make an entrance for himself... His eyes widened with fear, but he could not let a gasp escape second. Instead Hisho stood frozen in the doorway, watching the event.
Ritsu sat behind the table, in the psychologist's former chair, while leaning his head on his prompted arm. The silverette's expression was a mixture of displeasure and curiosity. As the headmaster was listening to one of Hisho's tapes. The old recorder was placed on the side of the desk, near his fingers, that tapped the wooden surface, no doubt in annoyance.
Hisho wanted to shudder, just from hearing his own voice. The familiar sound echoed with faint background noises through out the whole room.
'But now that I have clear evidence how badly he treated Agatsuma Soubi, I came to doubt it was just irrationality. Or in Agatsuma-san's case- just a method of teaching. I think Ritsu enjoyes making others suffer.'
At those words the psychologist noticed the silverette bit his lips. That was an attempt to block the ridiculing smirk, that threatened to creep out ... The headmaster was not pleased.
"R-ritsu... " Hisho finally found his voice. Though his mind already proclaimed, that he was probably losing the brunette couldn't afford it, he was the breadwinner of the family. So he stammered further.
"I- I can explain..."
"Oh..." Ritsu gave his companion a glare, straightening his posture as if he just noticed Hisho in the room. The silver-haired man sneered, while turning the volume up." How nice of you to join me. Care to listen?"
"Please stop this..." Hisho narrowed his eyes. He abruptly rose his arm to cover his ears from the horrid sound. It was no doubt perfectly clear in the hallway now. The brunette was getting desperate, as his fears grew. " I understand... I-I... I'll delete this."
"No."
"What?" The psychologist's eyebrows twitched from the surprise. Atleast he was thankful, that Ritsu shut off the player.
"As I said... Do I need to spell?" Ritsu drew himself up from the seat, while giving his former friend a burning glower."I get this isn't the first one."
Hisho parted his mouth to apologise, but was quickly cut off by the silverette.
"You know, I don't actually care. I want all of them in my office by the morning. I'll destroy these properly... " Ritsu paused, tapping the recorder with his finger."After giving an ear to them of cource."
The headmaster smirked again, notting how Hisho's cheeks flared up from shame or anger, Ritsu could only guess. He came toward his companion, hearing Hisho's frail voice.
"I... I can do it myself..."
"I said, I want them specifically in my office... I don't trust your... Capabilities anymore..." The silverette hissed, landing his hand on the doorknob. Before he turned once more to his shaking friend.
"Well, goodnight, Utura-san. We'll see each other tomorrow."
Although that was a nice gesture, and af cource that probably ment that he won't fire Hisho, the psychologist still felt the cold words in his head as if it turned into a wrenching headache... The man still heard the tone and the emphasis of Ritsu's voice, when he said: 'Utura-san'.
That was seemingly the last straw of their already breaking friendship. The man palmed his face slowly. There was a saying, he recalled. Curiosity killed the cat.
Just in this case, his prying killed his and Ritsu's bonds.
Right at those thoughts, Hisho heared a knock on his door. He grimaced in shame again... Please don't let it be, that Ritsu forgot something here. The brunette couldn't stand to hear that mocking tone of his... It gave Utura the creeps.
Though luckily, it was just Nagisa, holding an opened paper box in front of her.
"Ah.. Are you feeling alright? Don't you have a fever?" She looked concerned, but Hisho simply shook his head in disaproval, while he avoided any kind of eye contact. In all honesty, he didn't want to talk anymore.
"Anyway, I'm glad I found you at this hour. Here, I brought you your cat."
Cat? Hisho couldn't even force his lips to smile at her punctuality. Just when he thought of that popular saying, puff, you have yourself a cat!
"It's not mine. I thought you would need it's company. Keep it." He murmured with an uncontrolable irritation spilling out if his lips. Why? He didn't knew himself, it wasn't Nagisa's fault, that this happened.
The man suddenly slammed the door a few inches away from the blue-haired female's face.
Guess Hisho's family will have to wait...He wasn't intending to come home soon. He simply didn't had the strength...
Instead a new feeling evoke. The brunette felt like he had lost someone close.