"Fine Line"
"Life isnt rocket science....Or is it?"
Chapter 23: Rocket Science Two
~***~
Just how long is it that she will be with us anyway?
I walked beside Shiraishi, watching Marui walk up ahead with Ruriko attached to him like a leech.
I thought that she'd leave, when we left the food court. But nooo, she had to stick around.
I frowned and looked away, unable to keep my eyes ahead any longer. I failed to notice Shiraishi glance at me, blinking before turning his attention back to Kintarou, bouncing up and down giddily beside him.
Gakuto and Oshitari Yuushi had returned, with Kenya tagging along with his cousin. With the presence of Ruriko now, Oshitari was kind of switching back and forth between us, though I'd much prefer it if he paid attention to Ruriko instead, and possibly distract her away from Marui…
Gah! What am I thinking?! I don't like Marui like that!
I could careless whether the two of them kissed right in front of me right now!
"Hmph."
"?" Shiraishi and Gakuto blinked curiously at me and I blushed. "Uhh…nothing." I must have accidentally let out my displeasure.
I walked straight into something suddenly, and my head jolted up to look. I turned red. "S-sorry, Marui-sa—"
"Eeeeh-! Did you forget?" He wagged a finger as he turned around to face me.
"……..?"
"It's –kun!"
….Oh yea…I sighed and reluctantly grounded out. "Sorry, Marui…-kun."
When I looked beside me, I barely caught Ruriko wiping off the angry pout she had on her face.
…the hell?
"Come on, Marui-kun! Let's go and find you a new shirt, ne~?" She cheered happily, clasping her hands behind her.
The redhead turned to look at her, blinking cluelessly for a few moments before nodding. "Sure."
…Why is he so different with her, compared to me?
Why is he such a gentleman with her, but an arrogant kid with me?
Why is that so?
~***~
When I heard the soft voice call my name, I looked up from the dress I was browsing. Ruriko stood there, rolling back and forth on her heels, and despite the smile on my face, I didn't feel any genuine gladness from seeing her.
"What is it, Ishikawa-san?"
She blinked up at me and looked away again. "Please, just call me Ruriko-chan, Ishimaru-san."
Why do you want me to call you Ruriko-chan, when you continue to call me by my family name?
"O-okay…" A little part of me wished that I had the guts to tell her no.
She walked up to me and picked up the dress I was looking at. I looked behind us to see that the guys were at the other side of this fairly large shop. The males and females section were divided, and we're on the female side.
I didn't want her to stick around me long, but I could find no way to tell her to go away, nor did I just want to walk off and come off as a mean prick.
"Ne, Ishimaru-san…" She started and I peeked at her. "Hm?"
"Marui-kun is a really great person, isn't he?!" She gushed at me, pink flushing her face.
……what?
"I always wondered if his eyes are naturally like that…he never does tell me whether he wears contacts or not! And I cant tell either, since they look so natural!!"
Did she want to talk to me….just to fangirl about him?
I could only stare at her silently as she went on and on about how amazing Marui is and just how much she admired and adored him for reasons that escapes me. She spoke as if she knew him very well, and I bit my lip at this.
At the end of her long soliloquy, I could only smile and say, "I-I see…" and turn my head away to hide whatever emotion that resided on my face.
'Does she really like him that much…? Is he even that great?'
~***~
My face scrunched up in disgust before I threw the shirt back to where I picked it up, leaving it a messy lump for the shop assistants to clean up.
I turned to complain about the lack of choices in this choice to Shiraishi to see him smirking amusedly which made me lift a curious eyebrow at him. "What is it?"
He ran a hand through his hair and turned his eyes on me, that same smirk still plastered on his face. "Ishikawa-san really loves you doesn't she?"
I rolled my eyes at his loose usage of the word 'love'. "It's like, not love. Don't mix them up around!" I paused in between my sentence to blow my bubblegum out of habit before continuing. "Besides, what makes you say that?"
"It's hard to miss her recent words of reverence that she was telling to Ishimaru-san." He said with a laugh. "I think you're the only who missed it, Marui. Ironic that it's about you too." Shiraishi nodded to Kintarou who was at the moment hiding amongst a rack of skirts and just looking like a little kid trying to pickpocket the ladies he was eavesdropping on.
I leaned my body to the side to see Ruriko with Kumiko not too far away at the ladies section of the shop, noting the heavy red on Ruriko's skin and the blank look of Kumiko's. 'As expected of Kumiko-chan~' I thought with a half-hearted laugh at the look on her face. She usually always have this wiped out stare at things that did not pertain to her.
I closed my eyes and shrugged, not feeling anything regarding this in the least. "Mah, I know I'm adored~"
"Egoistic much, Marui?" Shiraishi asked sarcastically with a roll of his eyes.
"It's all natural Shiraishi."
Talking to Shiraishi is fun and weird at the same time. This guy is too good for his own good. Hell, he doesn't even try and he'll excel at everything he does!
Makes me kinda mad sometimes, but I'm not jealous! Nooo…of course not! I'm a natural pure genius~ I can do things just as well as he can.
"You done?"
With a grunt, I hung the shirt back into its place. "Yea. Let's go pay for Kintarou's stuffs….well, you're paying of course."
"Naturally." Shiraishi sighed forlornly.
I pity the guy. Even years after school, that Kintarou kid is still sticking to him like a leech and mooching off him. Heaven knows why Kintarou does that, when he earns more than what we earn doing his job as a tennis pro. Perhaps it was just out of habit. Bad habits were indeed hard to break, I told myself, and stared cross-eyed at the green bubble that emerged from my mouth.
Mum isn't too please that I still chew gum and candy on a daily basis after all these years. She thought I'd stop after middle school. Well…guess not.
The two girls were still inside with Kintarou when we were done paying, so we decided to wait by the shop exit for them. Gakuto is with Yuushi and Kenya at the sports store across from this shop, and we were supposed to head there to meet up with them after we're done here.
Shiraishi stood with the bag of clothes Kintarou wanted by his feet and arms crossed, looking around the store aimlessly. I leaned against the glass window with my hands stuffed into my pockets, fingering the bubblegum wraps inside them.
"Ishikawa-san and Ishimaru-san…are really similar, aren't they?" Shiraishi spoke up suddenly, eyes blinking slowly as he watched the figures of the two girls with a look that he would probably get if Kintarou or Kenya suddenly told him they were gay.
I snorted and followed his line of gaze. "…I guess."
"It's kinda unsettling." He said with a laugh, and a little part of me agreed. Similar in many ways, and different in little. But the little and subtle differences were great and contrasting, that it overshadows whatever similarity they may have.
One main factor would be that Ruriko doesn't mind going to host clubs. Kumiko wouldn't be found drop dead at one, which if it was real, she'd be dead several times over now. I mused over this ironic turn out with slight amusement.
"Who do you think is better?" Shiraishi asked, and that question threw me off guard causing my position to slacken in bafflement.
"U-h…err…" I totally did not expect a guy like Shiraishi to ask such a question to be honest. "Well…they each have their own qualities…"
Shiraishi seemed to have expected this answer from me, for he casted me a very amused look, one that said, "Uh-huh. Right, I believe you." Or something to that extent.
"Why are you asking me that anyway?!" I asked with a huff, trying to drive the topic away and pounce it back onto him, to get back at him for that small jab at my pride. "We're hosts you know-" He finished my sentence for me.
"And we don't discriminate between women." He said with a smile and I nodded. "But that doesn't mean we aren't allowed to have our own gossip forever and ever, right?" He asked me then with a conniving grin.
…this guy was a real sneaky fox in sheep's clothing. I'll have to bust him out one day.
"W-well, yea but…" I really didn't know what to say. It was grounded into our heads when we first got the job what we are allowed to do, what we cant do, and what we have to do.
We weren't allowed to compare the customers that's for sure; it wasn't a nice thing to do especially since sometimes they are pretty emotionally wrecked. Neither do we gossip, since it might effect our service qualities if we had weird, funny, unpleasant and bad thoughts about them, which can really throw our charm down a notch or two. This has been scientifically proven….by Atobe's private scientists. Whether it is reliable or not, it has yet to be known.
But of course, we still do it once in awhile, but it's only once in a blue moon. When this occurs, it usually revolves around customers that are either really 'way out there', or a potential mass murderer.
I don't think Kumiko was either of these two. And neither is Ruriko.
"I don't know…honestly. I mean like I said, they each have their own qualities." And that's the truth. Both are nice girls and special in their own way. Ruriko had a very sharp and calculative mind, and Kumiko was very creative.
Shiraishi gave a low hum as he blinked at me contemplatively. Then I frowned at him, propping my arms on my sides. "You ask me, what about you?!"
He opened his mouth to speak but it was at that moment that the two girls with Kintarou trudged towards us, Kumiko looking drop-dead tired for some reason, and Ruriko still bright and smiling. Kintarou…was being Kintarou.
"Nothing you guys want?" Shiraishi asked them conversationally.
"If I had the money…" My sharp ears picked out Kumiko muttering, and apparently did Shiraishi's for he laughed at her. "I'll buy it for you."
She shook her head at him. "Nah. Waste of money."
"That's right…I saw this really nice dress, but then its way overpriced for what it's actually made out of!" Ruriko huffed with a flip of her hair.
By this time, we were already heading over to the other side where Gakuto and the rest are. We arrived to find Oshitari, the one who works with us and not Club Sacred, on the phone.
"Who is it?" I asked the two hosts with him.
Kenya shrugged and Gakuto answered. "Atobe."
I mouth made an 'O' and I snickered when I saw Oshitari pushing his glasses up in frustration and muttering something into his handphone before shutting it.
"What did Atobe want?" Gakuto immediately questioned when Oshitari walked back towards us.
The man pushed his faux glasses up- its not like he needs them. It was just for show.
"He wants us over at his place tonight…so that he can show off his new surround sound system to us." Oshitari said with a small smirk of annoyance.
Gakuto deadpanned and so did I.
I know we should be used to it by now but jeez, must he rub it in our faces everytime he gets a brand new blow-a-hole-in-our-pockets item into his house?
Yukimura says that Atobe is being generous and even allowing us to use those expensive items of his, but I disagree. He's just flaunting it, being Atobe and all.
What's worse is that he's the boss (sort of) so we can't really say no unless we have a darn good excuse for it. Then again, most people won't deny a chance to visit the Atobe household which can be listed as a world wonder if he tried to. Or at least, get on the listing for the world's top ten most expensive houses or something.
I don't like listening to him jabber on about his greatness and whatnot, but I will admit that the guy has good tastes, and so does his chefs. Their strawberry fondues are to kill for!
"I told him that we're out right now with them, but he says to bring them along." Oshitari nodded his head at Shiraishi and the rest.
Gakuto swiftly whipped around to face them. "You guys are coming right? It'll allow for a distraction for us to get away from Atobe and his speech once we're there."
Kenya's eyebrow twitched at Gakuto's comment but said, "Wont give up the chance to see Atobe's mansion again for the world. You going Shiraishi?"
"Hmmm~" He rubbed his chin in thought.
"Atobe will let you go through his garden." Oshitari convinced.
"Ecstasy~ I'll go then." He agreed then.
"If Shiraishi is going, I'm going!" Kintarou piped up loudly and I looked at him. "I don't think you're included." I honestly don't think he is. I mean…Atobe usually only allow us hosts, who work with him, and the occasional other hosts to come over just to 'admire his new home technology.' Kintarou wasn't a host.
"I don't think Atobe would care if Kintarou came with us." Oshitari said, and Kenya agreed.
Two against one, guess I'm beat. I looked at the two girls questioningly. "What about them?"
"Atobe said it was fine."
"So, you two coming, Ishimaru-san, Ishikawa-san?" Shiraishi asked the two.
"Eh? Is it fine?" Ruriko asked hesitatingly and I scratched my head. "If Atobe said it is, I guess it is."
"Really?! I'll go too then!" Ruriko had no qualms about going. This must be a once in a lifetime chance for her.
I looked at Kumiko who was shifting her right foot around in doubt. "You going to come Kumiko-chan?"
She looked up at me, startled, then quickly looked away again. "I…I don't know…"
"It'll be fun." Shiraishi said with a shrug of his shoulders, smiling at her.
Kumiko raised her brown eyes to look up at Shiraishi beside her and she was silent for a moment before nodding her head. "Okay."
I don't know why, but for some reason, I frowned when I saw her agreeing when Shiraishi asked her to come along, but she wasn't sure when I asked her just now.
It was a hard stab to my pride. One that I couldn't really explain.
"Are we going to go now, Marui-kun?" Ruriko asked from my left and I nodded unsurely at her, feeling a little out of it. "Yea.."
"Shouldn't we find Shishido-san and Ootori-san first…?" Kumiko questioned quietly and then only did I remember those two were still out there somewhere.
"Y-yea…we should." I answered and out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ruriko pout.
Xp there is a bit of a…hidden message around the end of this one ;D lets see if you can…annotate/analyze it haha. I wont tell you guys xD*has been doing too much literature annotations lately*
But omg!
Thanks for all the reviews guys =] I do appreciate it. I have reached the 100 reviews mark and more, and I just can't believe I did that lol I always imagined I would only get there after 50 chapters of this lump of mess, but to get there in 22 chapters, I never thought of that xp Let's help me get to 150 now, shall we? =D I think I'm probably going to set the record for longest Marui Bunta story ever at this rate haha
Oh yes. Check out this site I made: http:// potsecrets. webs. com/
Without any of the spacings of course =D
Its a sort of a Tenipuri Secret Santa thing, only we don't stay in the realms of Christmas only =] Our first even is a Secret Santa though. So if you're a fanfiction writer, or an artist, feel free to join~! We need more participants for the SS anyways XD
Ami H- =D thank you~ I'm glad you enjoy them!
Marui Fan- xD thank you~ =]
Lollipop- xD look forward no more haha
Lady Ladington- yes, it is a milestone xD I didn't think I'd even get here haha. I must thank both you and PhoenixRage92 especially, since if it weren't for you guys, this story would have ended right at chapter 4=0 but your encouraging and inspiring reviews made me continue up till now xp I still remember you jumping back to older chapters just to pester me haha
PhoenixRage92- yes, Kin-chan in there, cause I was at a loss of what to write and I was like "Bah, lets put in Kin-chan for the heck of it!!" XD well, remember this is Kumiko we're talking about! She probably might find a small puppy baring its teeth scary lol and to her, Yuushi can be a lion haha or even a rabid rabbit xD