A/N: Lol sorry. High school is fun, but time consuming. (No. I just procrastinate and I'm lazy. But, nonetheless, I kicked myself and updated!)
lol this one is pretty short. sorry.
Pairing: hinting at GwenAnissina
Disclaimer: All the characters belong to their rightful owners (aka, miss takabayashi). I only wrote it. :c
Notes: Nothing gay, for once. -runs- Also, anything in italics is happening in her mind, and not happening outside her head.
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Cynosure (n): The center of attention.
"Anissina!"
"Lady von Karbelnikoff!"
"Miss Anissina, don't...!"
However she was called, she would always bask in both negative and positive syllables of her name. The female inventor knew that the more times people said her name, the more times an image of her would be etched into their minds.
And that was Anissina's top goal; to become well-known through infamous or famous means of her inventions (though, preferably, through positive awareness).
Something inside her made her crave to be the cynosure of all things resulting in chaos, so that in the end, when everyone looked back on it, a certain sanguine, redheaded lady with the most spellbinding blue eyes would be in that scratchy sepia picture, a Machiavellian grin playing her lips.
Anissina was at the peak of reaching that point, about to clear the first mountain of her soon-to-be legend, hands about to push her up from that rocky wall and on to the top of the mountain, before deciding to take a step forward and scale over the next one.
As of so far, her name had become almost as feared as Soushu's… but the fine lady had no idea why she was feared. Why couldn't people see how they should be honored at the simple thought of becoming guinea pigs for her next genius experiment? Oh well. It was their lost spot on her podium in history.
But of course, Anissina would have accomplished these things a lot sooner, had it not been for failures here and there. Failures were caused by missing or wrong tools, or incorrect timing. She could accept mistakes in her inventions… but when it came to her personal life, she disliked the fact of being wrong and loosing her position of attention.
And as of quite recently, something had been very troubling for said lady.
Maybe it was a faulty variable, or something that triggered a bad atmosphere?
Anissina could not place her finger on it, but she would constantly run simulations in her head as to figure out why things would end of the way it would. For example,
…The kingdom was chanting a name over and over again. A word that was familiar to the inventor, as it was her own name. It resounded along the cobblestone walls of Shin Makoku's village and into Blood Pledge Castle. Anissina stood on a balcony, shouts of adorations and thanks blessing her ears.
The redhead inventor, after days of toiling and effort in her lab with time not in her favor, had managed to complete a creation of a lifetime, her masterpiece. But time had been running out, and there was a looming, tense mood the Mazoku of their town due to a threat of civil war over two controversy views. The aristocrats in Blood Pledge Castle had been trying to solve it with treaties between the different sides, while even His Majesty could not alleviate the people's itching to attack each other over verbal opinions.
And Anissina had found a way in her head, which left her working until she had completed said masterwork, and put it to its full power when the pent-up antagonism was on the verge of being released…
…and then the two sides had come to an agreement, and everyone was looking at the cynosure, Anissina, amazed at what she had done. And then there were apologies and things were being resolved, and everything would soon dissolve into how it was before…
At this point in time, the dream would be running smoothly inside the inventor's head, as she tilted her face up a little, leaning back against the head of her bed, a smile ghosting over her glossy lips.
But her smile vanished, because she knew that the conclusion of her simulation would end up becoming something of suspicion to her. Everything about it made her feel something inside, something that was akin to the accomplishment of a successful invention, yet it burned much harsher, scorching her inside.
…While separate congratulations were given to Lady von Karbelnikoff, someone had approached her, and in a voice that made all her lightheadedness disappear, said,
"…Anissina. Good work."
Anisinna's eyes snapped open again, and she mentally scowled at herself for letting her fantasy liquefy at one thought that had her heart drumming against her chest.
Surely she would not feel that way if Gwendal had really said it to her face, and not in some dream? Why would she be so flustered over this proud person who was her childhood friend?
The inventor pondered awhile on this, as she did almost daily. Why, why, why, why, why?
Since Gwendal had said it, would it mean… Did it mean she had really accomplished her striving goal, and she was fearful of having nothing to chase after? Was it making her annoyed because she felt Gwendal had said it with sarcasm, and that she had not done well enough? Or was it just because those were the words she needed to hear most from the person she needed to hear it from the most?
Anissina, being the proud women she was, could not accept the fact that one person's words, a man at that, could make her come to a conclusion about herself. Shouldn't it be herself that was telling her she did a good job, and she should just accept it?
Even if you did do a good job and you continue to tell yourself that, you still want confirmation, right?
I'm always absolute in my decisions. I don't need his or the whole kingdom's opinion; I only need their attention and adoration to make my mark in history.
How selfish of you… don't you want a partner to scale the mountains of fame with you? Isn't in a bit hard going alone?
No.
Aren't guinea pigs like partners, though?
They're only stepping stones.
That's cold... but being the selfish person that you are, wouldn't it be nice to have someone to be just a bit dependant of?
Anissina faltered in the conversation between herself, in which her conscience was winning.
I see how it is… you don't want him to join your quest of conquering your dreams, because it would all be meaningless in the end. And it's because you're doing this all for him, and you know it. If he were to help you, there would be a sense of incompletion. It would be as if you only did half your work, and unfulfilled your wish of making him see you through impressed eyes.
Those statements could not have been truer.
But why couldn't Anissina accept it? It continually bothered her that, in the end, even though she was kicking and screaming and trying to stay away from the generic girl's dreamy crush, she had fallen victim to it.
The next day, Anissina confronted Gwendal in his office.
Two pairs of blue eyes were locked together; one brilliant pair was a reflective pool of emotions, while the other one was clouded in distrust with brows furrowed in annoyance.
Anissina spoke first.
"Gwendal, I have come to a conclusion."
"You'll stop with your silly inventions and save us money on medical treatment for those injured by your experiments, as well as making repairs to the castle?"
She sighed, and with a smile, continued. "No, you won't get rid of my useful inventions yet. But I want it to be clear," In this break of words, Gwendal mouthed the word 'useful' with a questioning face, but it went unnoticed. "That when I finally become an accomplished inventor, I want to stay by your side."
Sir von Voltaire stared at the confident inventor of the Karbelnikoff family, speechless. Anissina cocked her head to the side, and inquired with finality, "Well, Gwendal? Is that fine with you?"
Gwendal had always liked cute things, and in secret, he had always thought of Anissina's determination cute in a way, as well as striking. And through everything they had been through as childhood friends and now, he was attached to the fiery girl, nonetheless.
So knowing that Anissina would not take no for an answer, and that she was putting her full seriousness into this declaration, Gwendal covered half of his face with his hand, and with a fierce blush, agreed to her proposal.
A swelling of accomplishment filled the lady.
She knew that, as of now, she had become the cynosure of Gwendal's thoughts to come. What she was not sure of (or rather, hoped for) was that she could remain the cynosure in Gwendal's life for spells of time to come.
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A/N: Okay, so I lied. I'm gonna reply to reviewers next time around! So, leave a review for this chapter, and I'll respond to it the next one!
Good news, too! I wrote up to chapter F. I just need to type them up~ Sorry for the wait, though. I really am! -bows-
Hopefully chapter D will be up tomorrow.
By the way, care to guess the word? It's two words... sorta
