(A/N: Hey, since when does Carmen Takoshi update so fast? Anyway, here's the fifth chapter of the much-acclaimed Faith! I'm dreaming to write something "much-acclaimed for" someday. Yeah, so, guess what? Review replies!
EvilTwinKae: Is it normal that your screenname makes me think of Twinkies? You know, the little cake things, filled with cream? lol Anyway...I'm glad you like it. Thank the various anime music I listen to. Music is what gives me inspiration. -sings to .hack/sign music-
Moon Phases: Yesh, didn't we all? I really wanted Kana to seem like the adorable little girl in all of us (all us girls, anyway). I think it makes the story more believable. Oh well, that's teh readers' opinion, I guess.
Lunar Fire: Hello! -waves- Thanks for reading! Is it really creepy? Yeah, I know I write weird things. It's my literary style, I guess. Here's the Update of Doom!
crimson gates of paradise: OH MY GOD, THE GUINEA PIGS! Oo The poor creatures didn't deserve such a fate! -mourns the guinea pigs- Yeah, well, you know, Esther, I don't mind reading Jessica's life story that much. It just makes it so much more fun to get reviews. I'm so glad you like the story. My own parents have no clue how good (heh heh) I am, and yet, here you all are, complete strangers, enjoying my writing! Then again, that does give me a more objective comment on the stuff I write...hmm... -could ramble on for days- p.s. yesh, Jessica, people ask me for synonyms of my speech. It's very funny to see their expressions when they do.
Smoke-Angel: Is Kana really an InuYasha chara? I didn't know, or maybe I just don't remember. Probably the latter. Anyway, I decided to call her Kana one day, because I had just finished watching Hamtaro, and you know, Laura's best friend's name is Kana, and I thought it was a cute name, so it stuck. Yeah, the significance of the other names in this fic are much mroe profound. There are two more today! Woot!
random British accent- I say, old chaps, happy readings to you all! -drinks tea, then slaps self for the British parody-
Chapter Five: Weary
"Hey, Lord of the Sulks, that was the lunch bell."
Kai growled, startled from the reverie that had haunted him since the morning, and looked up at the smirking boy above him with an utterly peeved expression on his delicately wrought face.
"You could've left me alone for a change, Tala," he snapped half-heartedly, getting slowly to a standing position from the school desk and stretching lazily, "I was thinking…"
"So you claim," Tala returned, starting to walk from the nearly empty classroom, "and just what were you contemplating with those pretty eyes of yours, Sir Damn-You-All Hiwatari?"
The two exited the class, emerging into the main hall, where more students were spilling in from every direction.
"I was said I was thinking, not virtually skirt-chasing."
"Aw, but Kai, you haven't had a veritable girlfriend in over a year! Don't tell me those wonderful thoughts of survival of the species aren't churning around in your head?"
"No," said Kai in a bored, we've been through this before voice, "I'm perfectly fine being single, thank you very much."
He halted in front of the row of lockers closest to the outside doors, automatically reaching out to twirl the dial of his lock. Tala followed suit with the adjacent locker, still eyeing his friend with jocular doubt.
Out of all of Kai's friends, Tala was by far the most trusted, despite his habit to go after short-skirted girls at a moment's notice. Always with a cocky grin on his lips and a playful insult rolling off his tongue, he had proven himself, nevertheless, an invaluable ally and friend. It was also true that he had never had trouble finding a date for the next random, upcoming dance, nor was he known for allowing that same girl to remain latched to him for any prolonged amount of time. Although it usually seemed that fidelity was not his strongpoint, the red-haired, aquiline featured boy remained forever loyal towards his close friends…
..well, towards Kai, at any rate.
(A/N: Tala is always like this in my fics. I wonder why? -is confused- )
"Hey, you guys. Took you a while."
"The dreamer here held us both up in class…"
"Really. Must be one hell of a girl."
"I was not thinking about a girl!"
The newcomer threw his head back and laughed, a high, but not over-effeminate sort of laugh. This boy seemed the total opposite of Tala, with a slender body and soft, undeniably elegant facial features. His jet-black hair was long and tied in a simple wrap, cascading down his back until it reached his ankles.
His eyes, also, were quite unlike Tala's. Whereas the redhead had eyes the color of shining, sparkling blue ice, slick and clear, the other's gaze was almost amber-hued. Kai had once compared the shade to gold, and everyone else had agreed, even the subject, who had simply nodded, his smile more apparent in his strange eyes than on his lips.
"So, what were you thinking about, Kai?" asked the sulfur-eyed boy, sitting himself back down on the cafeteria table.
By now, said cafeteria was teeming with students, scrambling to find places alongside their groups of friends. Kai's entourage, however, always seemed to find room. Perhaps the fact that they were all seniors influenced this.
The blue-haired youth shrugged unconcernedly, trying to push the thoughts of his deceased parents from his mind.
"Nothing important. Not to you guys anyway…"
The raven-haired one raised a brow, and Kai shot him a playful glare.
"Really, Rei, it wasn't of any concern. And it nothing to do with sex, either," he added quickly, more on Tala's behalf than anyone else's.
The redhead simply snorted in blatant disbelief and seated himself as well, so that Kai was the only one left standing. The boy named Rei just smiled, a faint, enigmatic and almost understanding smile, and turned into order to pursue his earlier chat with another student.
Finally, Kai chose to pull up a chair and throw himself into it, allowing his legs to sprawl out lazily, slumping back and casting his ruby gaze about the large, noisy room. The outside humidity affected the inside air very directly, the result being an extremely stuffy cafeteria, filled with hordes upon hordes of famished students.
Kai sighed from the sudden feeling of imprisonment that washed over him.
"Are you sure you're okay?"
It was Rei's voice again, not piercing the stifling racket of countless conversations, but floating just under it, so that the only one who heard was the addressed. Kai nodded vigorously, frowning at the persistence of his friend.
"I'm fine, Rei."
"Just making sure. You look…downtrodden."
"It's the rain," the crimson-eyed boy insisted, looking towards a nearby window to emphasize his own words, "it's just…the rain…that's all…"
It was Rei's turn to shrug, although it was more out of worry than anything else, and Kai just had to smile.
"You care too much," he remarked lightly, sitting straighter.
At this, Rei laughed again, looking thoughtfully to the ceiling.
"Maybe I do," he admitted with a rueful sigh, "but God knows that you guys could use it every once in a while. I mean, if I'm not the one to look after all of you, who will?"
"Well, let me see…" someone else put in, rubbing his chin in mock-thought, "oh, how about our moms?"
The company chuckled, and Rei only smiled, propping his elbows on the wooden table and leaning his chin in the curved palm of his hand. Seeing the mellow gaze wander, Kai decided to leave him alone as his own thoughts traveled to the rain outside.
The water was falling in rivulets down the side of the school building, flattening the grass that dusted the grounds a reluctant shade of green. It was cold, so cold that the few trees decorating the area felt their spindly branches growing stiff from the frigidness. For a moment, it almost seemed as if the taste of snow was in the air, faint and shy as the first whiff of spring, but then the wind changed suddenly, veering from its usual course to collide with the brick surface of the private academy with an agonizing, silent crash. Immediately, the air warmed, a flash of heat as ephemeral as the sun peeking through overhead.
The humid grass folded over itself, as though a slight body had slowly spread over it, and steam from evaporating raindrops rose languidly in the air, forming patterns that spoke of nothing to human eyes. An invisible hand traced itself through the insubstantial design, caressing the air with a tenderness not known in the heart of mankind.
I told you that she would cause you grief, my love…
…and yet, you chose not to heed my words?
Why are you so stubborn, Tarian?
The rain gave no answer to the saddened words, and the heat dissolved once more until wetness bathed the grass once more.
Only the soft imprint of a female body on the green betrayed her presence, but then the sky's tears flowed into the ditch, and even that was lost.
"Yo, Star Gazer! Get your damn head out of the clouds!"
"You're so crude, Tala."
"Says you, pretty boy."
"Hey!"
Feeling a hand on his shoulder, Kai looked up so quickly that his neck cracked, and he winced, uttering an audible curse. Tala grinned and laughed. He, Rei and Tala were the only ones left in the cafeteria. It seemed so much more quiet when there was no one around, although his thoughts churned worse than ever.
Tala shook his shoulder again, this time jerking his body to and fro. The blue-haired youth swatted at the redhead, standing up brusquely.
"Quit that!"
"Sorry," Tala muttered, not seeming sorry in the least, "but you know that our lives are in serious peril if we don't get to class right away, ya know…"
Still annoyed, Kai walked past his friends without a word, his step so quick that it took them until the main hall to catch up with him.
Kai could not help but admire the way that Rei strode leisurely alongside him, as though they had all of the time in the world. Tala was trotting by the rows of lockers, saying things to himself under his breath and whipping his vibrant red bangs from his face at every few steps.
"No matter what you say, you can't fool us."
It was not Tala's voice. He was still busy talking to himself. No, it was Rei, still seeming to glide over the floor rather than walk across it. He was looking straight ahead of himself, his abundant hair flowing behind him from within the restraining wrap. Kai frowned.
"What do you…"
"You're thinking of something that's higher than any of us…" Rei replied, although he could very well have been talking to the lockers, "I don't blame you. We all do it, sometimes. But you're…different. You've always been different."
To Kai, Rei seemed to be doing nothing but chattering away like some schoolgirl, but the light in his amber eyes spoke of something much more profound.
"No…you're different, Kai," he repeated, and his dark brows seemed to knit slightly, as though hearing something that denoted concern, "and you don't even seem to realize it…"
At this, the crimson-eyed youth started, turning towards Rei with something close to ferocity.
"What the hell are you talking about? I was just thinking about my parents, okay?" he all but yelled.
A few latecomers in the halls jumped at the sound, then scurried off to their classes, as though the one-sided conflict referred to them. Tala stopped his muttering to look towards the other two. Rei did not seem to have heard, but then, his lips parted to offer a few, final words.
"She's looking for you…"
Then, he stopped, reaching towards his locker, and Kai had no choice but to continue walking.
"Jesus, I always thought Rei was weird, but this tops it…"
"I don't know…"
"What don't you know?" Tala asked swiftly, looking obliquely towards Kai as he pulled his locker door open, "don't tell me that you never thought him a bit strange, Kai…"
The other shrugged, feigning indifference, but his hands would not spin the lock. He bit his lip.
"I trust him. He wouldn't say anything like that without a reason. I know he wouldn't."
The red head gave a snort, drawing books from within the recesses of the compartment, although more fell, with an irritating bump, to fill the gaps left in the messy rows.
"You think too much, Kai."
"Maybe."
No matter how slowly he walked, he always seemed to make it to class at just the right moment. Of course, the boys would stare, forever perplexed by the golden eyes of their quiet schoolmate, but he never truly cared.
Just like today. He stepped into the classroom with that impossibly silent stride of his, and people looked up as his presence swept demurely past the rows of wooden desks.
"Glad you could make it in time, Mr. Kon," the professor was saying, and Rei gave but a very courteous dip of his elegant head before seating himself, placing his books in front of himself with that same, mysterious tranquility.
That was foolish of you, Rei.
I know.
Then why?
Because, Aria…
…Ceridwen is growing weary.
A soft, knowing smile crossed his features, and he picked up his pen without another word.
(A/N: My God, short chapter again! All of my chapters for this fic seem to be short. Anyway...Rei is gorgeous. I love him.
Aria: Teutonic (German) name, meaning "intelligence of an eagle".
Ceridwen: Welsh name, meaning "beautiful enough to be written about in a poem".
While browsing that trusty name significance site that I discovered a while back, I realized that Tarian is a girl's name. Oops. -ahem- Just ignore that piece of information. It sounds like a guy name anyway. -sweatdrops-
Carmen - video game obsessed (couldn't think of any other titles...sorry)
runs off to rent Baten Kaitos-