Log Horizon and all it's characters belong to Touno Mamare, who is clearly not me.
R+R please!
*Yeah, OOC warning*
Chapter 3: Apparently the 'M' in Marielle also stand for 'Matchmaker'
The hanami was now fast approaching.
All of the areas around Akiba were being covered in lanterns; the grounds in picnic blankets and low chairs; the trees themselves in full, fragrant bloom.
"Tomorrow!" sang Marielle, dancing around in gleeful circles with Serara, who seemed to be struggling with extreme dizziness.
"Marielle!" cried Henrietta, "You don't have time to be jumping about!" She shifted her glasses, grabbed her friend by her upper arm and began to drag her out.
"You have to finalise sweets and the tea! See to decorations and the schedule-!" Henrietta continued to berate her 'captive' over loud declarations of "glasses are evil!" until both of their voices faded into the general bustle of the guild hall.
Everyone inside the Alliance's room sighed. They loved their guild master dearly; it was just that she had a propensity to act like a spoiled child at times. This often led to tantrums, which were usually rewarded with the opposing party simply giving in to her demands. But it was because of this, the inhabitants of Akiba, both Adventurer and People of the Land, had been able to enjoy many more festivals, events and holidays than any other area; and for this they were truly grateful. They just wished it didn't involve as many shouting matches as it seemed to require.
With Marielle's forced departure, the remaining members returned to their work, now able to focus in the moment's peace.
All except one; the turmoil inside Minori's head had been much more distracting than Marielle's joyous dancing and exclamations had been.
After witnessing all that she had, and thinking about it all too much, she had made a conscious decision to ask Shiroe directly about everything that bothered her. She had no doubt of Akatsuki's heart; so now it was time to know his and find out once and for all if she had any chance.
Minori squinted her eyes, as the last thought she had brought on a bought of tears. As she turned her focus to stop them giving her away, she consequently jabbed herself with the sewing needle she was using to sew napkins. Marielle had claimed that all of the napkins in Akiba wouldn't do for her hanami, so she scoured the area and bought several meters of an extraordinarily expensive material, which had nearly blown her budget. So now the napkins had to be made by hand, which is what Minori and several others were currently doing.
Minori herself sighed and rubbed her slightly bleeding thumb.
It hurt, but not as much as what was going on inside her head and heart.
Serara, noticing her friend's distracted demeanor, suggested that she could finish the remaining napkins herself, and that Minori should get some fresh air.
Minori was glad for it, and quietly slipped out of the guild room.
It was a glorious spring day and the air was heavy with anticipation and the sweet scent of the blossoms.
People, Adventurer and People of the Land alike, bustled here and there making last minute preparations for the ceremony.
Minori didn't feel that helping out would be a good idea in her distracted state; she'd already stabbed herself with a sewing needle, and didn't want to be responsible for sending someone to the Cathedral. So she made her way slowly back home.
Shiroe was in trouble.
His feelings and recent actions were causing him great concern.
He was standing on the roof of his guild, seemingly surveying the world spreading before him; however, Shiroe did not see a thing.
He had escaped the world many times by coming up here to stare at the sky and feel the refreshing wind in his hair, but today it wasn't working.
His battle was raging on the inside, not outside, and he was losing.
So absorbed was Shiroe in his thoughts, he failed to register the sound of Naotsugu's footsteps coming up behind him.
Noticing his friend's unresponsiveness, Naotsugu decided to announce his presence with a hearty punch to Shiroe's arm.
This got Shiroe's attention.
"Ow! Naotsugu, what was that for?" He exclaimed, rubbing the spot that had been impacted by Naotsugu's fist.
"I was going to say 'penny for your thoughts' but punching you seemed a quicker and more effective option." Naotsugu replied.
"Perhaps next time, announce yourself with words… I think there might be a bruise forming."
"… So what's eating you?" Naotsugu interrupted.
Shiroe hesitated and turned back to the view. He stayed silent for a few moments, trying to pick his words carefully.
"There is something… 'eating me', as you've put it. But I'm not sure what to do about it."
"Want to talk about it?"
"… not particularly"
Naotsugu watched his friend's back closely for a reaction.
"What have you done with the midget this time?"
The effect was immediate.
Shiroe, who had indeed been mulling over recent events with the aforementioned 'midget', swung around to face Naotsugu so quickly; so violently, that his glasses nearly flew clean off his nose.
"Well," laughed Naotsugu, "that said a lot."
Shiroe's face burned. He opened his mouth to retort, when Naotsugu placed his hand heavily on Shiroe's shoulder.
"And don't even try to deny it." He added with a grin.
Shiroe, replacing his glasses back to their proper position, simply sighed; he knew he was beaten.
Naotsugu let go of Shiroe's shoulder and leaned against the banister, looking out to the world.
"Start talking…" he urged.
Shiroe was silent. Start talking? He didn't know where to begin. But doing his utmost to push his awkwardness aside, he rested his forearms on the same banister as Naotsugu; faced all of Akiba, and began;
"Do you remember a few days after the Apocalypse? When we first met… her? Back then, she was stuck in a male avatar, and she used my potion… she then reappeared before us as a girl… and I thought-! My first thought was-!"
Shiroe paused and took in a deep breath. It was time to be completely honest.
"My first thought was; 'Ah, she's beautiful'… ever since then… she has stayed by my side; she calls me her 'lord'!"
Shiroe was starting to become quite agitated; Naotsugu had never seen his friend act this way before.
"… The day I told her to stay behind; I can clearly remember the expression she gave me. All the time I was away; wondering how she was doing. Hearing about an enemy in Akiba…"
Shiroe had been grasping the banister quite tightly, but suddenly relaxed his grip.
"… when I died during the raid, I saw a dream. I was walking along a glistening shoreline, footprints trailing behind me in the sand. Then suddenly she was there. Running up to me, laughing, playing in the shallows; she was there. She told me that she too had died, and she promised to become stronger… she had grasped my jacket as she disappeared before me.
And recently…" Shiroe turned his gaze to the sky. The sun was beginning to lower.
".. I'm not myself, I can't concentrate, I've only done half of what I need to, work is piling up, I can barely look her in the eye…"
Shiroe turned to his friend in earnest and noticed Naotsugu wore a kind of wistful smile on his face.
"… and who is 'she'?" he asked.
Shiroe hesitated in spite of himself.
"'She' is…. A-Akatsuki." Shiroe mumbled. He felt hot and embarrassed; his heart was pounding. He could not feel at ease.
Naotsugu wore the same grin from before; he certainly seemed to not be helping.
"So how'd you feel?" Naotsugu questioned.
"…Embarrassed…"
Naotsugu shook his head, "How did you feel when you said the midget's name?"
Shiroe considered for a second, "Still embarrassed, but-"
Naotsugu raised his eyebrows and gestured at Shiroe to keep talking.
Shiroe started again. "Embarrassed, but… happy; really happy. And," Shiroe's face was dyed newly red, "my heart skipped a beat." He said under his breath, almost completely inaudible.
Naotsugu smiled and gleefully whacked his friend on the back a couple of times with pride.
"Again, with the hitting-!" Shiroe cried.
Naotsugu took no notice and merrily put an arm around Shiroe's shoulders making Shiroe stagger.
"It's like I said last night! You've just got to 'learn to accept it'"
"Accept what? I have no clue as to what you're talking about."
Naotsugu's jaw dropped and he released his grip on Shiroe.
"You still don't get it?!"
"Get what?"
Naotsugu paused to compose himself.
"I almost feel sorry for the midget."
"Naotsugu…"
"I meant," Naotsugu began, taking a few steps towards the door, "That only when you learn to accept your feelings do you start to understand what's going on."
Seeing the confused look on Shiroe's face, Naotsugu sighed and decided to put him out of his misery.
"That's love for you."
He then turned, chuckling to himself. The stunned look Shiroe wore on his face was absolutely hilarious.
"No going back now, Strategist." He mused to himself.
Shiroe was stunned.
The thoughts and emotions that flooded him were strange and unaccustomed.
He was in… love?! And with-! His heart leapt and heat rose to his face.
He sighed heavily and turned to face the vista below once more. The sun still burned brightly in the late afternoon, but again he did not register it.
I'm in trouble, he thought.
Minori had heard everything.
Having returned here to confront her feelings; she had sought Shiroe and found him upon the rooftop, deep in conversation with Naotsugu.
So she hid. She began to wish that she had quietly crept away instead; it would have saved her the pain she was now experiencing.
Naotsugu left the rooftop laughing to himself, having just made a declaration that had shocked everyone, both visible and hidden. So now it was just herself and Shiroe. She watched his expression turn to one of deep thought as he turned away from her.
It was obvious that he was thinking about Akatsuki.
It was clear that he was trying to figure out his feelings for her.
And it was unmistakable that he holds no special regard for me, Minori thought; tears clouding her sight. She rubbed her eyes vigorously and quietly snuck away.
"Tomorrow is it! Tomorrow is my hanami!" sang Marielle.
"What do you mean your hanami?" snapped Henrietta.
The pair were hanging the last of the paper lanterns in amongst the fragrant cherry trees, but after this there was still much to do and time was running out.
"Where is Shiroe-sama?" cried Henrietta exasperatedly, "he should be here double-checking everything!"
"Shiroe-san has a lot on his mind." Interrupted a quiet voice from below.
Henrietta peered down through her glasses.
"Minori-chan!"
Minori looked at both of them; her eyes glassy from holding back tears, but they held a sense of determination.
"Marielle-san, Henrietta-san; I need your help."
Henrietta alighted from her ladder.
"Whatever can we do for you?"
Minori hesitated. She was going to have to tell them everything; the complete truth. No matter how much it hurt.
"It's about Shiroe-san and…" she paused, "and… A-Akatsuki-san."
"Wha-Whoa!" Marielle screamed as she fell from her ladder; unfortunately still holding onto the string of lanterns. She fell to the ground with a thump, still grasping the lantern string; damaging several of them and causing a cascade of blossom petals to fall gracefully around Minori.
"Now look at what you've done!" cried Henrietta.
"Ow! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"
The sound of a sniff stopped Henrietta from throttling Marielle. They turned to see Minori, who had not moved since she had arrived, standing on a carpet of petals with thick tears falling from her eyes.
"Oh Minori-chan!" cried Marielle, staggering to her feet and pulling the girl into a great hug.
"Go on. Tell us all about it." Henrietta whispered, patting Minori on the head.
Minori nodded, and launched into everything that she had seen and felt over the past few days.
Akatsuki was in hiding.
It was an easy task for one such as herself, however, she didn't even feel up to leaving her room; she didn't want to risk anyone seeing her.
She lay on her futon, not only trying to figure out a way to get out of attending tomorrow's hanami ceremony, but thinking of how to get out of Akiba completely.
She'd failed.
She'd failed in her mission to protect her lord; a true ninja would not allow such weakness in oneself. She could barely look him in the eye; she would become so flustered and embarrassed around him that even the mere mention of his name was enough to make her face flush. Some asked if she was ill; she would answer with a quiet 'no' followed by in even quieter, 'I'm nothing but a coward'.
She knew what these feelings were, but she would never admit them to anyone.
She decided to bury them deep in her heart, so that she might be able to face the world again.
Suddenly there was a quiet knock at her door.
Akatsuki started, and despite the resolution she'd just decided on, she didn't feel adequate to seeing anyone quite yet; she remained silent.
Whoever it was didn't announce themselves; they simply knocked softly again, seemingly waiting for her to open up.
Akatsuki approached the door, but couldn't bring herself to even touch the handle.
A hushed ruffling noise could be heard on the opposite side, and then footsteps made their way back down the hall.
Akatsuki waited until she could hear them no longer, and then opened her door.
Sitting at her feet lay her new kimono; still in its brown paper wrappings with a note attached to it.
It had been Shiroe who had knocked on her door.
It had taken more courage than he'd ever needed before; more than facing off against the nobles of the People of the Land, creating the Round Table and his most recent raid combined, for Shiroe to make his way down that hallway.
The package had sat in his office all day, and ever since he'd returned there from the rooftop, it had bugged him. Every time he looked up from his work; there it was, begging to be brought back to its owner.
And the note, which was first intended to be a letter, took him much longer than it should have.
It simply read:
You left this in my office this morning.
I apologise for not bringing it to you sooner.
I hope to see you tomorrow at the ceremony.
I'm looking forward to it.
-Shiroe
The fact that it took the best part of an hour to compose, one might believe that it would be longer, or at least better written. But that was all that Shiroe could write while being sure that he wasn't 'giving anything away'.
Shiroe reentered his office. It was bathed orange with the beginnings of sunset.
Tomorrow, huh, he mused.
He was still looking forward to it.
"… and that's why I need your help." Minori finished, wiping her eyes. It had been emotionally draining to open up all of her feelings and thoughts to someone else, but it needed to be done; and she felt better for doing it. The three were sitting on a bench close to where everyone was to gather for the hanami within a matter of hours.
Marielle was close to tears and dragged the girl into another hug.
"Oh you are the sweetest thing!" she cried.
Henrietta was deeply moved, but was just able to keep her composure.
"You ask this of us, in return for what?" she asked with concern, "If we succeed, then your feelings would go unrequited."
Minori struggled out of Marielle's grip to look Henrietta in the eye.
"It already is completely one-sided," she said quietly, "I just want Shiroe-san to be happy."
This was too much for Henrietta. Casting aside her cool persona, she held Minori close exclaiming;
"You are the cutest, most wonderful girl in the world!"
Marielle wiped her eyes and wore a look of determination on her face. She stood, surprising Minori and Henrietta.
"Minori-chan, we shall help you make your wish come true! We will see to it that our dear villain and Akatsuki-chan get the happiness they deserve! Besides," she said triumphantly, "I'm the best matchmaker out there!"
Minori smiled at first to acknowledge Marielle's declaration, then tears of unrequited love began to fall thick and fast. The two women did not mention the following day's plans again, and spent the rest of the night comforting a girl in her anguish.
I apologise for the wait. I wasn't completely happy with this chapter for ages, and I was finally able to produce something that I'm kinda happy with... yeah...
Anyway, onto the next, possibly last, chapter!