Shards of a Broken Mirror.
A/N: Sorry for last chapter's cliff hanger. Looks like it's not getting cleared up either but... It will in the future. :) Sorry I'm slow at updating this but I'm taking care of two higher priority stories. One in which I just published called Under a Virtual Sky Online. It's a game AU, OC-Centric. Features most of KHR characters and a lot of OCs. Also I'm taking up OC submissions for it so if you're interested in being part of my world, come join! :) It's inspired by Sword Art Online's concept, a bit Fairy Tail's guilds, and the League of Legends' tier system. Genres are fantasy, adventure, romance, friendship, family, slight angst, slight tragedy.
CHAPTER 3
He groaned. There was an aching pain in his head. What a way to wake up.
"Kyoya? You're awake?" a familiar voice spoke up. He slowly opened his eyes and blinked out the dreariness. Nagi was sitting on a chair beside his bed. Why?
"What do you mean?"
'You've been asleep for almost a whole day," she mumbled. "You just passed out the other day…" she blushed. He glanced away when he remembered the events that lead up to that. Hibari turned around and pulled the blanket up higher, over his shoulder. "It was exhaustion."
"The doctor said so too."
"Doctor?" he grumbled with a frown.
"I called one in when you wouldn't wake up. I was so worried," she muttered. "He didn't find anything wrong with you so he wrote it off as just you overworking yourself."
"I see." Her voice sounded weak so he turned his head to look at her. He really didn't like a worried expression on her. Or any negative expressions for that matter. "Come here," he commanded. He turned around towards her, scooted over, and lifted up the blanket. A few pink shades decorated her face to the invitation. "You haven't rested, huh?"
She pursed her lips but slowly got up, complying. It wasn't like this was their first timing sharing the bed together. They slept side by side quite often. Sure, their relationship hasn't progressed over that. Something in him kept reminding him that she was innocent. That she shouldn't be tainted. A bunch of bullshit probably. But what else could be stopping him?
She was… attractive. He found her the most appealing person out of all the rest; they were all distasteful herbivores aside from her. But he… It wasn't like he didn't want it. He just… He felt like it wasn't time. But maybe if he didn't knock out the other day, perhaps they would've done something more… He pushed the thought away.
Hibari brushed her hair idly with his fingers. She smiled as she snuggled closer to him. He placed an arm around her, hugging her closer. This was enough. If there were to be more, that'd be great. But as of this moment, this was all he needed.
Frustrated. He was frustrated at these visions, whatever they were. And more importantly, he was frustrated at himself. Why was he letting this affect him, he doesn't know. But then again, how could he not? It appeared everyday, every moment it correlated to something he did. But what is it? Why couldn't he remember or see something that was important, something that could give him a clue as to what it meant.
He started reading books that could have given him a hint. But the more he delved into it, the more ridiculous he felt. Why was he trying to figure out information on parallel worlds or visions of a past life? Chrome had started questioning him earlier this week and he could understand why, he was starting to act strange.
But he was him nonetheless. And Hibari Kyoya does not know how to give up until he succeeded. He will find the root of this problem and he will fix it. The dreams were annoying and they messed with his head on a daily basis.
Nowadays when he went out, his eyes seemed to be restlessly scanning. He felt ridiculous when he would catch a glimpse of pink hair but it was never the right shade. Plus it wasn't a little girl. Plus, when the person would turn around, it'd be completely wrong. Not like he could fully see the face of the little girl anyways. It would always be a bit blurry. But he could tell it wasn't right, aside from the age and the height.
He was walking a hand on his pocket down the streets. It was less crowded at night but there was still people nonetheless. The shops were still lit because it was almost time for Christmas, a herbivorous holiday. There was nothing Hibari Kyoya found great about Christmas but he was sure Nagi thought otherwise. It was their first Christmas together and he figured it'd be a good idea to get her a gift. No matter how herbivorous that was. But he wasn't young and immature anymore. He had the decency to at least show his lover that he appreciated her. But what should he get her?
He scanned the contents of the windows. He wondered if she would rather have a scarf, or maybe gloves, or jewelry. He tried to imagine her in something he would think she should like. He supposed the safest thing would be jewelry for women but he didn't know how to pick it anyways. He was about to enter in one of the shops when his attention caught onto something.
Light pink hair.
But she wasn't a little girl.
Wrong. It was all wrong. But..
Average height for a girl but skinnier, long straight hair. She had bangs in the middle of her face while the side of her hair curled into her face. She was wearing a thin short black dress with laced thin sleeves, despite the weather, along with tall dark brown leather boots. Her white scarf covered half her face and cascaded down her back along with her pink hair as she gripped at it with her black silk gloves.
She was staggering. She placed a hand onto the window of the shop he was in front of. She seemed to be panting. He wouldn't be surprised if she was sick with what she was wearing. He scanned quickly around and no one seemed to have bothered to pay any attention. But of course not, he would've been like them too if he hasn't been overly attentive to the color pink.
That height, the hair. Then he recalled the night during the summer festival. There wasn't many people with pink hair and he supposed this might just be the same girl. If so, she had a lot of nerves to walk away without an apology.
He took a few steps closer casually. He noticed that her eyes were half lidded. Light brown. Light brown? It was like the little girl's, he took note of. But the chances of light brown eyes aren't rare around here. He was just being paranoid. This girl shouldn't matter.
But it didn't change the fact that she just tried to walk and ended up slumping against the wall, closing her eyes as she panted. He supposed he ought to do something. He wasn't a kind person or charitable, don't get him wrong. But if something were to happen to her, if someone tried to do something to her, it would only cause more problems and work for him later on. He sighed frustratingly and walked up to her.
"Oy, are you okay?" he grumbled.
She looked up half-liddedly, barely mumbling something breathlessly. She didn't even seem to be looking at him. She was shuddering as she tried steadying herself without much avail. He sighed again and shrugged off his black trench coat, holding it out to her.
She merely looked at it, mumbling more inaudibility. He was getting impatient. How would he even help this girl anyways? "Do you need an ambulance?" he asked. That seemed like something herbivores would need in situations like this.
"N-No," he managed to hear. Hibari was about to walk away. This girl was nothing to him but a waste of time. That was when he noticed a few snickers and disgusting looks from the corner of his eye.
He groaned and draped his trenchcoat over the front of her. Well if she somehow ends up keeping this, he wouldn't care much. Even though maybe it was his favorite.
She gripped it shakily and then her light brown eyes shot open which startled even him. She looked completely shocked as she looked from the coat up to his face. The girl pushed him away and backed up quickly.
Now he was annoyed. He was actually trying to help her and she was probably thinking of something dumb that only herbivores can come up with. Aside from that, she had his trench coat. These herbivores are so irritating to deal with, he remarked.
Slowly, she seemed to have calmed down. Her expression went from surprise to something he didn't quite understand. The girl pulled the trenchcoat from behind her and held it up to him. "It's okay, you'll be cold," she spoke with a stronger voice for once, a voice full of chimes.
He was sure he wouldn't be the cold one, he thought with a frown as he looked over her outfit again. But whatever, it wasn't any his business. He didn't even know the girl and didn't really intend to. "Thank you though, you're very kind," she smiled now that her scarf had fallen to her neck. He scoffed at her compliment. Kind, she said.
Now that he had a view of her full face, he could tell that the girl was probably younger than him only by a few years though. Probably still in her twenties nonetheless. But what would he know? Women's ages were deceiving.
She gave him a nod and turned around to walk away, her light pink hair trailing behind her. And he didn't know what came over him but he uttered the word, "Wait."
She stopped stiffly. Ever so slowly, she turned halfway, revealing one light brown eye filled with some sort of sorrow.
He wasn't even sure what to say, what he unconsciously wanted. He wanted answers. But this seemingly look alike girl, aged by twenty years wasn't going to help him. But what if she had a little sister?
He was going crazy, he was being unreasonable. And he hated the way he was.
"Know anything about jewelry?"
Her eyes widened as she turned around. "What?" she asked. But she heard him. This was annoying. Why did he even say that? He had always been a taciturn man. But deep down, he knew what he felt. His instincts felt that this girl had something to her, some key. Perhaps he was just crazy, but he knew his instincts never failed him.
"I need help picking out something," he glanced over at the window. Perhaps she would just refuse and he'd be okay with that. A part of him already regretted speaking to her, feeling his pride dwindle down. She probably thought he had something for her, wanted to flirt with her like those herbivores.
"Sure," he heard surprisingly. He turned around to see a gentle grin on her face. He suppose she was better because she wasn't swaying so much anymore but she did take slow and careful steps. They entered the jewelry shop together and was greeted by the women behind the glass cases of sparkling accessories.
"Welcome, you two," an older women greeted as the two of them walked closer. "What are you looking for?" She asked and the girl turned to look at him as well, waiting for an answer.
"Not sure," he grumbled. "Just looking."
The lady nodded slowly at his short reply. She shouldn't take it the wrong way, if he was rude, he was rude to everyone. He had always been brusque. Instead of talking to him, the lady turned to the girl. "Your boyfriend?" she asked with a smile.
He saw the girl tense up, her pale cheeks colored in a light pink. But as quickly as she blushed, she also readjusted. Her eyes went from embarrassed to some form of sadness. "No, that's not it," she smiled softly but it didn't reach her eyes.
From inside the bright light of the shop, Hibari could tell that this girl was pale, a bit too pale. She probably really was sick. He almost thought of offering her the trench coat again but as quickly as the thought surfaced, it vanquished.
Then again, why was he even in here with this girl? He knew nothing about her but he talked too much already, too unnecessarily. He wasn't going to tank his pride anymore. Instead, he just looked around the place.
He supposed a ring would be nice, or a necklace. He looked over at the girl who was sitting on the stool. She wasn't even helping him. But then again, he didn't tell her what he wanted.
"Ring or necklace?" he mumbled beside her.
She glanced up at him in shock, her lips parted. "Um. For who? Age?"
He glanced away, feeling embarrassed as he spoke. "Girlfriend, 24."
The girl nodded slowly, looking away just as slowly. "Dresses up a lot, not often, or never?" This girl was acting like a worker, why did he even need her here? But he knew why.
"Sometimes."
She nodded again and hopped off the stool, strolling around. "How about necklace?" She skimmed her finger down a row of cases, walking as she hummed. "Something small but not too plain? Maybe something significant? Like a locket," she rested her finger onto an oval one with an etching of an owl. It was a silver necklace. "Oh but the price-"
"It doesn't matter," he stated plainly. He didn't mean to sound like a rich person but he did work for quite a high price after all. "As long as the quality is good," he glanced up at the lady who hurriedly strolled over to give him information on the necklace. But he didn't care, it seemed good enough.
"You're taking it?" she asked, surprised that he listened to her suggestion.
"Hn," was the only noise he made before he turned back to the worker. "I'll take that then," he pointed. She opened the glass case and pulled out the necklace, wrapping it up nicely. Then she proceeded over to the cash register.
He turned to the younger girl who was staring down at a necklace pretty intently. "Want something?" he bothered to ask. What was he doing? Too much charity today.
Her eyes widened in shocked. "Oh. No, no it's okay. You already.." He raised an eyebrow. She waved her hands in front of her in denial, something gleamed against the bright store's light. "You already bought for your..uh, girlfriend. And you don't even know me. But thank you... so much," she grinned as she hopped off the chair.
He only watched her for a moment before walking up to the register, paying twenty thousand yen for the locket. These small little things could be so expensive and he couldn't see the beauty in them.
She waited for him at the door and walked out first when he got closer. She stared out into the streets before turning back to him. He didn't know what to say, if there was a need to say anything.
They were just two strangers.
Two strangers basked in the street light under an open night sky, twinkling with better jewels than any shop could provide.
"You're fine?" he didn't like to thank people so that came out instead. His breath came out in white puffs.
She nodded with a smile. "Thank you." She lingered, still watching the streets.
Hibari, in one of those rare moments, actually noticed the tension of awkwardness. He remained impassive and she was the same.
They were two strangers, standing outside the shop, watching the streets in silence. Perhaps one of them should go now. Then again he didn't even know her name, but he was not one to ask. And maybe she didn't care, since she didn't ask either. He reminded himself that he was the person that needed- no, expected something out of her. And she probably didn't know it either.
What was this unspoken agreement to remain comfortably silent? He decided that he should leave. Nagi would be alone.
Nagi.
He looked at her and with a shift of his head, she noticed and returned his gaze. "Leaving?" she asked.
"Hn," was the only noise he made but she seemed to have understood, giving him a nod, then tucking a strand of pink hair behind her ear. He turned around and started to walk away before he could think of any reason that he could squeeze out information from her.
Cherry blossom watch.
His footsteps were audible against the streets that became more and more peaceful. The night sky was a shade of navy blue, speckled with glittering stars but what stood out the most the bright golden moon. Perhaps he should be enjoying that scenery but all he could see was the annoying shade of pink, wondering.
Just who was that girl?