Perhaps he'd tell her.
Or maybe…perhaps not.
He laughed bitterly at himself. What a fool you are, he told himself mentally. Imagine what Mother and the Elders would say if they saw you like this, a sentimental doddering old fool [XDD I can't help it, I love this phrase! worrying not about his future and the Clan's future, but about whether or not he should tell her what he feels!
In truth, that particular stretch of green embroidered carpet might have just disintegrated under his feet, had the phone not rung with an astonishingly shocking vibrancy. Nearly tripping over his own two feet in a hasty bid to get to the phone, he picked it up. "Hello?"
"This is Daidouji." He groaned mentally and whacked himself on the forehead.
"What exactly do you want now?" He could almost hear her smug grin through the phone line.
"You lied to her, didn't you? Telling her that I wanted to speak to her." The tinny voice was dripping with laughter and smugness.
He groaned again, and whacked himself harder on the forehead. What exactly had he been thinking back then? "I wasn't thinking too clearly back then, okay? Blame the coffee!"
Laughter filled the speakers. "Liar. I must admit that she is particularly slow for someone her age, but even she was able to figure out why exactly you sent her over to my house. You're pretty obvious."
Mental note to self: NEVER EVER EVER EVER send her to Daidouji's house without clearing it with Daidouji first. Or else I would end up with a singularly unattractive red forehead again. "I know." Daidouji was laughing again. He growled, wishing that Wei would just hurry up and come home so that he could get off the phone with this mad woman!
And then, she sobered up. His ears, particularly grateful for the lack of clear ringing laughter, picked up on it immediately. "What's this now?"
"You'd better tell her soon."
If he'd placed a mirror directly opposite the telephone, he would have seen that his jaw had dropped way past its usual place. "What?"
"You heard me." Her tone was somber, and very direct.
There was an uncomfortable pause, as he struggled to come up with a comeback, but had to settle for a feeble "You're joking, right?"
"I'm not." He frowned slightly. Her tone was part warning, part yearning and part sorrow. "She's suffering a little, guilt overload and all. To fall for someone almost directly after you've been rejected…she's having a hard time accepting it."
His brows furrowed deeper. "Where's she now?"
"Her usual place. The park."
"Swings?"
"Yeah." There was a brief pause. "Don't break her heart."
"Don't worry, I won't."
She hesitated slightly, then said, "Thanks." A brief rush of static indicated a slight intake of breath, and she smiled weakly. It must be hard for him to accept the fact that she, queen of ice and his beloved's best friend and part-caretaker, part-guardian, was actually thanking him for that assurance.
She's actually worried that she can't help heal her heart, he realized, and his lips curved into the first grin he'd worn for days.
"I hear that Hiiragizawa's gonna come back soon." His grin morphed into a full blown smirk. It was obvious to all who were listening that the queen was blushing.
"I-I- So what? I-I don't care what he's doing!" She blushed even harder when she heard his whoop of laughter coming over the phone. Ohh, he was so gonna get it when they met again!
Author's Note: this was seriously very very very random! Constructive criticism please, and I'd like to hear your views on how the story should continue!