Episode 41: Emotional Conflict
Kurapica was starting to get bored with Leiko's mindless chatter. He had tried countless of times to force himself to be interested with what she was talking about but found that in the end, he had to pretend to be fascinated in order to disguise his deep boredom. After all, he was a gentleman. He would not be rude to any females…well, except for Hikari, of course. She was different, if you ask him. Mostly, all Leiko could ever brag about was her affluence, which was not one of his most favourite topics of conversation.
Are all women the same…?
Vain and proud…?
Hikari's obviously the exact opposite…
Kurapica found himself smiling at the thought of the sixteen-year-old fussing over her face while staring intensely into the mirror.
Not that her face was freckled or anything…
He knew that he was being biased but he could not help it. Hikari was just being Hikari. She was fine just the way she is.
" What are you smiling about? " Leiko demanded, noticing his blatant
amusement. " Obviously, I must have said something humorous, no? "
The girl was being sarcastic, not that the boy really cared though.
Almost instantly, he stopped smiling and sobered up.
" I'm sorry, Leiko-san, " he apologised deferentially.
Leiko smiled at him in approval and shook her head.
" It's alright, Kurapica-kun. "
Then, she launched herself into another conversation which was again one-sided since the boy clearly refused to participate but instead chose to nod his head at all the right places to show that he was listening to her.
Soon, he found himself zoning out yet again as his eyes wandered past Leiko's shoulder and landed directly on Hikari's own.
So…
She really was watching us…
Just as quickly as he caught her staring, Hikari broke eye-contact and looked away.
Kurapica continued to watch her from out of the corner of his eye.
Her cheeks had turned an adorable shade of bright red as she blushed. Her eyes were directed downwards, stubbornly staring at the floor as her lips tightened in concentration with the effort.
He chuckled softly all the while being careful to not let Leiko hear him. Once was more than enough.
Then, he saw Hikari saying something to Senritsu before she walked away, only to be lost in the now growing crowd of passengers who were taking the blimp to York Shin City as well.
He sighed inwardly, as his eyes did a quick scanning of the whole place to look for her. Kurapica could not help but feel slightly worried as soon as Hikari was out of his sight. The boy was very much aware that he was being overly protective of her but he had a good reason for that. She was always so naïve and vulnerable, believing everyone she talks to and for that, he had to protect her before she hurts herself unknowingly.
" Senritsu, I'm going to take a look around for awhile, " I told the woman.
" But, we have not even booked our rooms yet, Hikari! " Senritsu exclaimed. " You can't go wandering around at times like this. Besides, Kurapica will be back here in a minute's time. "
I risked another glance back at the two of them, for the umpteenth time, vigilant not to get caught by Kurapica.
He seems occupied…
I turned my attention back to her before Kurapica noticed me.
" It's only for a little while, " I whined. " Please? Please? Please? "
I went for the puppy-eyed look which it appears to be working very well. Senritsu's heart was wavering. I could see that very clearly.
" Pretty please, Senritsu? It's only for a little while. I promise that I'll come back. "
The woman sighed and nodded.
" Ok, but only just for a few minutes, understood? "
Apparently, the puppy-eye look did not work to my advantage, at least not that much anyway but at the very least I got the chance to go do some serious exploring on my own!
With a keyed up smile, I set off on my own 'journey' with an aim. An aim to explore the whole of the airship or blimp or…whatever.
Everywhere I looked, people were standing around, chatting to one another like old friends. I found it really hard to move around as freely as when I came in earlier before. Again, I bumped into some random person who shoved his way, past me.
I nearly fell flat on my face. I inched my way slowly past to avoid getting slammed into.
" Uh, I'm so sorry, " I kept repeating as I made my way towards the other side of the lobby.
Boy, was the lobby a really gigantic place. I felt small in this vast space, yet big because of the many passengers squeezed inside it. It was such a conflicting emotion but that was I felt at that time before I saw something which made my heart freeze.
My eyes were zeroed in on one person and one person alone. The rest of them did not matter to me. It was him. That man whom I met and saved me countless times. Although, I knew I owed my life to him, I still felt that unsettling feeling of terror whenever I saw him. My brain was screaming at me to turn and start running away, as far away from him as possible but I could not. I was in too much shock to even move a muscle as I just stood there and stared at him blankly.
Only his words were running through my mind now as he made his way slowly towards me, gliding past all those people whom I had difficulty in passing by.
" Let's just say that I won't allow anyone else to harm you… "
" I'll let you off for now, Hikari. But, there will not be a next time… "
No…!
Stay away…!
Don't come any closer to me…!
Slowly, he approached me like a lion intimidating its prey before killing it. He grew taller and more visible as he continued to come closer and closer.
The only thing I could do was to squeeze my eyes tightly shut and brace myself for anything that he might do to me.
I felt his presence. The disgusting heat that was radiating from his body and infiltrating into the pores of my skin. My hair stood on ends. He stopped just beside me and leaned down to whisper something into my ear which made my blood run cold as a shiver ran down my spine.
" I'll be watching you, Hikari… "
Note from 'moi': A trip?? That's awesome! Tell me about it sometime?? Be waiting if you do! XDD Btw, Leiko is just some random female that I added in to make Hikari understand her own feelings towards Kurapica. Honestly, sometimes it's just sooo hard to write her point of view…do you, readers, think so?? fumes and bangs head on the keyboard of laptop