Disclaimer: See Chapter 1
Escaflowne: All you need is Love, Isn't it?
Chapter 84
Club Twilight in Shabuya
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"Oh my, it's so dark in here," Hitomi commented as the six girls walked into the below-ground nightclub.
"Of course it's dark, it's a nightclub," Yuri replied as she walked past the young track star.
"Oh." The shorthaired teen's face turned red with embarrassment, not that anyone could tell.
"Don't worry about it," Megumi said as she came up behind her. "I was surprised as well the first time I came here."
Hitomi smiled up at her team captain, "Thanks," as they walked further in.
With Merle at his side, Van gestured to the musicians who were playing a light, happy tune. They immediately stopped and began playing a song more suitable for dancing. Then the young King turned to face his childhood friend and bowed. Giggling slightly, the catgirl cupped her hands over her mouth, but quickly straightened up and curtsied. Taking the young feline into his arms but still maintaining a respectable distance between them, Van began to lead Merle around the dance floor.
The young feline smiled joyfully at the memories of her and Van practicing together under Queen Vari's watchful eye. Back then Van used to complain about having to learn how to dance and always made faces when his mother made him practice with Merle. But once he got over his initial discomfort over having her as his partner, the two would glide about together as if they were made for each other. It was during one of these lessons that Merle first became aware of her deeper feelings for her longtime friend and monarch, and each subsequent lesson just served to solidify those feelings.
It had been many years since they had danced together, not since before the Queen's disappearance. But now, as they made their way about the dance floor, Merle was once again filled with the feeling that first took root so many years ago. Looking up into his deep, dark eyes, she sighed happily, and though she knew his thoughts were a world away, she allowed herself the fantasy of believing it was her he loved, if only for the length of that one dance.
It only took them ten minutes to find a table, but it was another fifteen minutes before a waitress made her way towards them.
"It's about time," Reiko murmured as the waitress approached.
But instead of taking their orders, she set six glasses of virgin daiquiris on the table and pointed to the group of boys sitting at the table across the way. "These are from them."
"Cool!" Yuri reached for one of the frosty glasses.
Reiko grabbed her friend's hand before she could reach it. "We can't accept these," Reiko insisted.
"Why not?" Yuri asked innocently.
"What are you, totally naive?" Akane asked sarcastically. "If we accept these then it's like an invitation to those boys to come over here."
"And this is a problem because…?" Yuri shook her head slightly, still not grasping the full implication of the situation.
"Well, you might not mind being picked up by some strange guys, but Yukari and I already have boyfriends, right, Yukari?" the older team member added.
"R-right," the nervous redhead agreed emphatically.
"Well, Reiko and Hitomi don't mind having some male companionship tonight, isn't that right?" She turned to Hitomi.
"Wha?" The shorthaired girl broke into a cold sweat and her eyes went wide.
"Yeah, Hitomi, if you have one, so will I," Reiko smiled.
"Uh…" Panic stricken, the young track star didn't know how to respond.
Fortunately, she didn't have to. "Please take these back to those boys with our apologies and bring us six ginger ales," Megumi informed the waitress.
With a look of mild surprise, the waitress placed the glasses back on her serving platter and walked away.
"Megumi!" Yuri whined, "Why'd you do that?"
"Because we're here to have fun together, not to flirt with a bunch of hormonal boys," the team captain replied. "Besides, did you want to get Akane and Yukari in trouble with their boyfriends?"
"Nooo, I guess not." Yuri lowered her head slightly.
Turning towards Hitomi, Megumi smiled and threw her a wink before letting her gaze travel around the club.
Hitomi smiled back, grateful that the older, more mature girl had intervened in the situation.
In a few minutes their drinks arrived and they settled back, enjoying the music and atmosphere of the club, talking and taking turns ordering the next round.
"Your Majesty is such a wonderful dancer," the petite young girl with long flowing black hair and countless freckles observed softly.
"Why, thank you… Camille, isn't it?" Van replied.
"I'm so flattered that your Majesty has already memorized my name," the fourteen year old girl from the western region giggled.
Cracking a half smile, the king replied, "Yes well," while inwardly he groaned, 'Please, by the gods, someone just slay me now.'
As the song came to an end, the daughter of Fanelia's second largest cattleman pouted. "Oh! Is the song finished already? And I was enjoying myself so very much, weren't you, your Majesty?" She smiled hopefully.
"Huh? Oh umm, yes, yes of course." Prying himself from her small but powerful grasp, he bowed his head politely. "Well, it was certainly a… pleasure, Lady Camille."
"Oh," the girl curtseyed as low as she could, "the pleasure was entirely mine, your Majesty." Straightening back up, she leaned towards him slightly and whispered, "Perhaps your Majesty can reserve another dance for me later and we can continue to enjoy each other's company?" She smiled as she spoke in a pleading tone.
"Umm…" the young king smiled nervously. "Well, my obligations during this festival may make that… difficult," he offered an apologetic smile, "but I'll shall see what I can do."
"Thank you, Lord Van." She curtseyed once again, bowing her head down low.
Smiling nervously, he began to back away until he bumped into something very soft.
"Oh!" a gentle voice gasped.
Turning, he found himself staring eye-level at the ample bosoms of the seventeen-year old daughter of the Steward of the City of Irini.
"Oh, Lord Van!" The shy but comely girl who stood a whole head above her king blushed.
Looking up at the tall girl, he couldn't help but blush slightly, knowing what he had done. "No apologies required. It's I who should be seeking your forgiveness." He bowed his head.
As the music started up again, the shy girl somehow found the courage to say, "Shall we dance, my Lord?" as she curtseyed low but kept her head up, as her governess instructed her to do.
The low-scooped dress she was wearing offered the young king an eyeful of the young woman's breasts. Blushing again, Van turned his head away. This in turn caused the longhaired girl to rise up quickly, also blushing deeply. Overwhelmed with embarrassment, she started to turn in order to make a hasty retreat, but her king reached out and took her hand.
"We are going to dance, aren't we?" He smiled kindly, having recovered from his earlier discomposure.
"Aah, y-yes, my Lord." She placed her hand on his shoulder as he took her right hand into his left and placed his right hand on her slim waist.
As they made their way about the dance floor, the young woman observed sadly, "I'm sorry, my Lord. I'm not really much of a dancer." Just then Van's eyes flashed wide and he sucked in air quickly, gritting his teeth.
"Oh my God, I'm so sorry, my Lord." She winced and quickly lifted her foot off his.
But Van recovered quickly and smiled. "Trust me, I've suffered much worse. You're doing fine."
"Thank you, my Lord," she smiled back. "Your Majesty is far too kind."
"Not at all," Van reassured her, then asked, "You are Steward Gensha's daughter, are you not?"
"Yes, my Lord. My name is Clarissa," she responded happily, overjoyed that her king knew who she was. But her joy quickly turned to mortification when she stepped on him yet again. "Oh, I'm so very, very sorry, my Lord," she quivered, nearly in tears.
Van offered a warm smile, but internally he moaned, 'why are you crying? I'm the one with the broken foot.'
Hitomi and Yukari laughed hysterically as they made their way from the dance floor, following Megumi and Akane. When they reached their table, a less then pleased Akane turned to them and said sternly, "I really don't see what's so funny."
The two younger girls forced themselves to stop laughing long enough to nod in agreement, only to look over at each other and burst into laughter once again.
"Oh, you two," the youngest of the three Tendo sisters huffed and sat down, "you're both so immature."
"We're sorry Akane-sempai, really," Hitomi apologized. "It's just …" She started laughing again.
"Just what?" the dark haired eighteen-year old senior fumed.
"You hit the wrong guy!" Yukari blurted out as she and Hitomi burst into another uncontrollable fit of laughter.
"What? No way!" she gasped in utter shock.
"It's true," Megumi said calmly. "The one that groped you was a greasy looking boy with short hair and red-rimmed glasses.
"You're joking, oh God, please tell me you're joking?" She stared at Megumi, hoping for the absolution that did not come. Instead, her friend cracked a smile, which quickly turned into a chuckle that eventually changed into full-blown laughter. But unlike the others, Megumi managed to compose herself once again and replied, "Sorry, Akane-chan, I'm afraid it's true."
"Oh my God. I should go apologize to that poor guy." Akane stood up and started looking around the club.
"Too late," Hitomi squeaked out.
"They're carrying him out right now." Yukari pointed to the exit where two bouncers were dragging a barely conscious boy out of the club.
"Oh my." Akane turned bright red, but this time from embarrassment rather than from anger.
After a few moments everyone calmed down and were sitting quietly around the table, enjoying their drinks, until Hitomi asked, "Akane, what are you looking for?" having noticed that the older girl had been glancing around the nightclub for the past few minutes.
"I'm just trying to see if I can find the jerk who grabbed me," she replied.
With that, all three girls started laughing again.
"Now what?"
"That's what we were laughing about in the first place," Hitomi replied between fits of laughter.
"That boy shot out of here so fast it wasn't funny," Yukari added.
"Oh, yes, it was," Megumi commented, causing the other two to laugh even louder. "He must have knocked over a half a dozen people trying to get out of here before you noticed that he was the one."
"And you knocked him into next week," Yukari threw in, causing Hitomi and Megumi to laugh even louder.
Looking from one girl to the next, Akane huffed, "You…" she gritted her teeth in frustration. But after a few seconds her expression softened and she too began to laugh.
"Say, where are Reiko and Yuri?" Megumi asked as she scanned the club.
Hitomi did the same, eventually spotting the two girls sitting at another table with four boys. "There they are." Hitomi gestured with her eyes.
Megumi turned and spotted the two of them talking and laughing with the four boys at the table. Turning back, she shook her head and said, "They just better not bring those boys over here."
Hitomi glanced up in their direction once again, only to have Yuri spot her. The blonde girl whose hair was even shorter then Hitomi's began to wave and gesture for her to come over.
"Oh my God." Hitomi lowered her head.
"What is it, Hitomi?" Yukari asked.
"Yuri saw me, she wants us to go over there," the young track star said with her head still down.
"Wha—" Megumi looked up from her drink and back over her shoulder again to see Yuri, and now Reiko, both waving and gesturing for them to come over. And when the boys saw Megumi look over, they started waving for her to come over too. Sighing in disgust, she turned to her long time friend and said, "Come on, Akane," then she got up and headed back to the dance floor. Shaking her head, the team's senior member got up and followed her friend.
Yukari turned to Hitomi and said, "It seems like the dance floor is probably the safest place for us right now."
Hitomi nodded as she sipped on her straw. Pausing from her drink for a moment, she said, "Sure, go on ahead, I'll catch up in a second. I just want to finish this. I'm really thirsty." She grinned, giving a small giggle as she went back to her soda.
"Okay," the redhead replied, then got up and headed for the dance floor.
Just as she was finishing her drink, Hitomi became acutely aware of someone's presence next to her. Turning, she found herself staring at a very tall and lanky boy with short but messy hair, bad teeth, and an even worse complexion. Her heart began to race at the horrifying thought of what this boy was about to ask.
"Hi there, you want to dance?" he grinned.
"Umm, well, you see, I'm already dancing with my friend," she said as she stood up. "In fact, she's already waiting for me." She pointed in the direction of the dance floor.
"But she's a girl," the awkward boy said, standing up and towering over the young sprinter.
Taken aback by the boy's overwhelming height, she recovered quickly enough when what he said finally registered. "So what if she's a girl?"
"Well, you're not a lesbian are you?"
"WHAT!" Hitomi was instantly flushed from equal measures of anger and embarrassment. "No, I'm not a lesbian. Not that it's any business of yours." She turned to walk away, but stopped abruptly and turned back to face the unsightly boy. "There's nothing wrong with friends dancing together. Of course, someone like you wouldn't understand that." Then she stormed off.
"What a bitch," the boy said as he turned around. "Huh?" was all he had a chance to say before he buckled over in pain and hit the floor, felled by a ferocious kick to the abdomen from an enraged Akane Tendo.
"It's men like you that give your sex a bad name," she said, leaving the boy sprawled out on the floor.
AN: Well, that's about the longest chapter I've written in quite some time. I didn't plan on it going for so long, but I guess that's how it works out sometimes. This was obviously quite different from anything I've written so far for this story, but I hope you enjoyed it. If it feels like Hitomi took a back seat to her friends, you're right, she did. Being the youngest of the group and, next to Yukari, the most inexperienced in this type of setting, it seemed only natural that Megumi and Akane would take more of a lead in this setting. But things will return to normal in the next chapter.
I'd really like to thank everyone who reviewed my last chapter. I was so very surprised to see so many reviews of it, and so very happy. I really appreciate all your comments. Thank you all so very much.
And thanks to my awesome beta-reader, Janice. You're the best.
A. Amishi