GENDER CONFUSED?! (oh no…)
Your reviews made my day. Thanks everyone. I'm a day late, but at least it's not another week, right?
Disclaimer: I would still have to steal to own something. How can I steal an anime?
Plus, I like it better when it's owned by Higuchi Tachibana….
CHAPTER 9. Red Distraction of a Blush
He, Ruka Nogi, 16 years of age, was a man.
He wouldn't be defeated by this wisp of a girl named Hotaru Imai. It was just that she was a she and ladies always come first, ne? So he refuses to go inside that hell she calls a laboratory before she does.
Afraid she'll push you in and then you'll end up somewhere you didn't want to in the first place?
Hell, no, this isn't Hansel and Gretel.
Then what? Why aren't you running after her as you always did before?
I dunno. And you don't care.
Which brings him back to the question. What should he do now?
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXFor some strange reason that she thinks he had come up with, he wouldn't go inside.
Does he think that she'll somehow push him and he'll end up somewhere he didn't want to? Baka. Just like Mikan. No wonder he fell for that idiot when they were still kids.
Pouting now, she did what she could. She half-dragged a struggling Ruka inside her laboratory. The moment they stepped in her place, the lights flickered on and the door closed.
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Her place was clean, he thought as he straightened his collar, but it didn't come as a surprise for him. Hotaru had always been a neat girl except when Mikan arrives and stirs things up. Maybe it was even a little too neat.
He had never gone inside this place since he had known that Hotaru was getting her own techno lab when they were ten. Somehow, he had always thought that it would have big robots, metal plates, and other such things stacked on the walls. It was neat. Not at all what he expected.
His eyes scanned the whole room, which was big, and ended staring at Hotaru who was digging at some technical designs in a cabinet marked, 'confidential, only the really important'. He could hear her mumble occasionally to herself;
"No, not this." The file flew back in its place.
She found another file, he was too far away to read the labels, (or maybe the labels' font was just too small).
"No, not this…", and in went the file.
Itching to know why he was here and quite forgotten too for that matter, which irked him,
But he was af---…ah….unsure if he should remind her he was here. Distraction, that's what he needed. But how…?
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXGood, she finally found her evidence. If Ruka answers no at all her questions, then she could let him listen to this tape and she could actually imagine him turn white when he hears the contents of this evidence.
Smiling evilly in her mind, she placed the evidence inside her pocket and got ready to face her quarry. Without taking her eyes from his face, she calmly explained the mechanics of her game.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXWHAT?!
How can she…?!
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN…?!"
He couldn't stop himself. Hotaru thinks that? Arrrgh, how could she? He wanted to tear his hair out by the roots, and hers too.
"Come on now, Ruka. It was simple enough. You didn't have to shout."
"I DIDN'T SHOUT."
"Yes, in fact, you did not. You're as calm as a rotten log." She sneered sarcastically.
Maybe his face was as red as a tomato right now, but God, his mind was whirling with what she just said.
Her stance was unwavering. Something he associates with her you're-in-for-a-treat mood. It depends on her definition of the word 'treat' in connection to him. But she can't be that bad, right? Oh, God, please no….
"Ruka, are you wondering why you're here?"
"Ah…yes, I am."
"It's quite simple. You're here because of my curiosity."
What does she mean by that? He felt rather relieved that it didn't sound as ominous as what he first thought she'd ask him to do.
"Curiosity. About what?"
"I like to find out about your preferences."
"…my what?"
"Are you gay?"
He wasn't angry. He wasn't mad either. (okey, maybe those two words are the same, but—argh, she's so---) I don't even know what word best describes her.
He took a deep breath. And held it.
"I'm not."
Hotaru looked at him questioningly, and felt his face go hotter.
"Really…"
"I'm not, ok? Whatever made you think that?"
"Well…"
"That's like at the other end of the universe."
He scowled. But he knew he looked funny. Who wouldn't if your face was red and you're trying to form a scowl?
"Are you sure?"
"What do you want to hear? Me say the word yes?!"
He was feeling so uneasy. If he knew Hotaru better, the way she was conducting this interview was going to end up with so much more.
"Actually…not really, but you see…it's so much more complicated."
"Complicated? How so?"
He fought the urge to swallow the lump in his throat.
"You say you're not interested in guys…"
"I'm not, okay."
"But I have evidence that says the contrary."
"…Evidence? Hotaru…what do you mean?"
Now, he was deeply troubled. Evidence? What evidence? He can't remember doing anything that's out of the bounds of friendship with a guy since he was a baby.
Why would she think of such a thing and how did she come up with that idea?
His inclinations were totally to girls.
Oh damn. If he keeps on thinking like this, he'd really turn gay.
He mentally slapped himself.
"Evidence. Would you say the truth after you've known what it is?"
He felt hesitant to say yes. After all, the way that the question was stated and asked, it sounded so very much like a trap.
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He hesitates to say yes. If he had no qualms about this, then he should have said yes immediately because he knows that he could easily say no when her evidence is made known.
Does he know that I spied on him quite a few times?
She thought about it.
The first evening I spied on him…?
Nothing happened, except I saw him almost na----, next spying time.
The morning after that…?
I'm sure the squirrel would not have said anything to Ruka. They know me by association.
The evening after…?
The following evening…not much trouble with those birds he sent out to guard his room. Luckily, I found them before they found me.
The next evening…and the other evenings thereafter until last night….
Nothing. I know how to spy on someone without getting caught, having done the craft for almost six years now.
He's got no idea. She was sure of it. But why is he acting as if he knows…?
"A-all aright."
He agreed. Isn't that a good thing?
For once, she didn't know hat to say. She was quite speechless.
"You agreed."
H nodded his head slowly. She cleared his throat.
She can't ask him if he was sure, right? Plus, why would the known-for-being-ruthless Imai suddenly hesitate? It was so troubling.
No choices left. She had been worked up in this for too long (and in the profits she could gain) that she had to finish it.
She took two chairs and had Ruka sit across from her. Glancing at her panda bag at the corner, she relished the thought of finally hearing the answer. But what if the answer she's trying to find is actually yes…? What would she do then?
Make mind-reversing machines. It should sell for a lot.
Yes, that's it.
Prying a tiny player she made when she was nine (it was in the form of a chicken), she faced Ruka who looked a little bit downcast and felt something tug at the sides of her heart. She ignored that, anyways, it was probably pity.
Intent on the task she set before herself, she took the tape out of her secret pocket and placed the tiny tape into the chicken-shaped player. Placing a long, slender finger on the button, she met Ruka's sky blue eyes and saw---wait, she's not supposed to think of things not connected to what she was doing or else she'll be distracted and sidetracked.
"Ready, Ruka?"
He nodded his head just before it fell.
----the tape is played and-----
Ruka's blonde head snapped up at the sound of the voice coming forth from her evidence. Red slowly creeping up his neck----again.
"Do you know you're pretty, Ruka?"
A voice crooned, it was not his, but he knew who owned it.
"uhhhh…", he groaned.
He remembered this conversation, he was not particularly listening to what it was saying because at that time, he was studying.
"No wonder many girls like to run after you. Thank God, I didn't have to."
Oh, damn, from an outsider's view of course, it would sound especially shocking. The voice was manly of course, even though it wasn't his own.
"Do you know they snuck in letters from under your door? That cleaning robot just throws them in the trash, though."
"Uh-huh…", he sounded very uninterested.
He looked at Hotaru's face. She heard this? No wonder she thinks what she thinks about him. Ah, so now he has to explain things from the start, eh?
"Hey, listen to me, pretty boy or I'll tell everyone what you just brought inside your room!"
"Oh, shut up, even Natsume doesn't know and don't threaten me like that, we both know you can't do it."
"You're right, my dear, I can't do it. But I just wanted your attention for a while!"
"Why ever did I let you in, by the way?"
It must sound very…uh, weird to hear especially if you didn't know the whole story.
"Because..didn't you like---"
"Eh? Don't say it."
"But I want to remind you why, and you asked me."
"Shut up!"
Oh no…if he remembered the answer correctly, he'd never be able to face Hotaru again.
Distraction. He needed to do something right now. As in, right now, before the mirror answers.
"But wasn't..."
What? What kind of Distraction?
"…it to…"
He needed to do something and quick.
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Cliffy!!!!! Longest chapter I ever made, I think.
What do you guys think? Huh? What was that? You were saying something? Dedicated to sachiko-chan who always reminds me of my purpose in life. :P
Everyone who reviewed the last chapter, thanks guys. I'll all give you a special page after the story ends. Which is near by the way. Remember my author's notes in the first chapter?
Don't forget to review! Thanks.