A/n: Yes, another one up. More teenage Oriya and Muraki stuff. Enjoy!
Ghost
Chapter Four
"Oriya!" A voice called to me outside the school. I had barely heard it as I was considering where I should go for the rest of the day before curfew and where I could be after. Maybe Tasku would take me for the night. I barely ever was home. Why should I? I hated it there anyways. I hated him after all...
I turned and saw Muraki coming towards, his bag in his hand and that smile on his face. He stopped in front of me and panting slightly. He made an effort to catch up with me.
"Are you alright? I called to you a couple of times." He spoke to me and we moved in unison, I spun back the other way and he moved ahead and next to me. I looked over at him and sighed. It was then I noticed he was shorter than I was by a couple of inches.
"Fine, just tired." I said, shrugging. He didn't need to know. If Tasku didn't know about my home life, why should this kid, who I barely know?
"Are you going home now?" He asked me and I shook my head. "Well, do you want to continue our project? We got nothing done in class."
"Why? Why would you want to hang around me outside class?" I then found myself ask and it made Muraki stop. I looked back at him and I regretted my words in that instant. On his face was a look of hurt confusion.
"Look, we're partners on a project. That's it. I don't need you pitying me by forcing yourself into a relationship with me. Making me into one of your friends could hurt your perfect school boy reputation, so why?" I went on, as if trying to excuse my previous words with some twisted logic.
Muraki was quiet for a moment before he looked at me and smiled that one smile he gave me. "Because, I believe you're worth being friends with." He then said and he moved to my side again, grabbed onto my arm and tugged.
"Come on! We'll do some research at the library." He then said before dragging me along, dumbfounded and little embarrassed.
It had been that day that I had become his friend. Muraki was normal but weird, wanting an outcast like me for a friend.
At school, he would join me on the roof where I skipped classes, he himself skipping classes as well, but they excused the class president for obvious reasons. He would share his lunch with me, even when I had eaten. He was always trying to convert me to better eating habits.
"That is really bad for you, Oriya!" He would often scold me for my unhealthy snacks and carbonated drinks.
"I don't care!" I found myself saying quite often to Muraki.
He's always been weird about my health. Still is...
Yes, that's right. I'm not a kid anymore.
I'm an adult.
Yes, I remember now.
It all faded, the laughter, that smile and that innocence. Before my eyes, the white beast came forth and...it scared my younger self.
I stood behind that younger self, that version of me and I couldn't help but bring my arms around his shoulders. The other me stopped shaking, something settling into his chest, the feeling was exactly what I felt though he began to cry.
I felt such guilt. We felt guilty. Why should we? No I…why should I feel guilty? It was his choice to be this man! Why should I...
My eyes cracked open to only more darkness, my vision blurred by sleep.
Moving, I rolled onto my side and found my room as it has been, messy but empty. No Muraki. Maybe he went to see Ukyou... My body was still weak but I managed to get up and out of bed. Ugh... So hot... my sheets were covered in sweat, they clung to me even after I was up and moving.
Somehow, I managed to get into the bathroom and start the shower. It was slow moving for me but I managed to get naked, the effort of bending over to get my boxers off me nearly made me topple over. Out of the corner of my eye, the blur of a human form caught me. A person in here? Instinct made me move and I found a man staring at me.
Pale and tired, he stared back at me. A mass of dark hair framed his thinning long face, stubble made him look unkempt and manly despite his long brown hair. It took a moment for me to realize: This was me. My reflection was not becoming at all.
I looked at me in the mirror and found I looked like a corpse: Deathly pale, messy hair, dark circles and dead eyes. Was I alive? Could I be some walking corpse now? Did I die in my sleep and was I brought back to life?
No. That wasn't it. My hand had moved to my throat and a found a pulse, the rhythm quick and frantic. I had either scared myself or just my sickness was creating this quickened heart rate. I like believing in the latter better.
The hot water of the shower felt good against my skin, both hot and cold at the same time. A low groan escaped me as water landed and ran down my body. For a while, I just stood in the jet of water, head tilted up at the shower head. The warmth seemed to ease my weakened form, helping to mend my unused muscles and heal my shattered limps.
The time I stood like that is a mystery to me but after a while, I moved and now aimed to get myself clean. First the hair, which felt so heavy with oil and sweat, I was disgusted with myself. Next, my body, which I scrubbed as if to scrub this illness away and I then enjoyed the remained hot water, moving in the water's path and making sure I'm totally clean.
My fuzzy robe, black and simple, met my tired body when I got out. As I moved, I rubbed my head roughly with a towel to dry it.
Reentering my room, I soon realized that something was amiss. My light was on. I pulled the towel off my head and found the room empty though my sheets were gone. I felt a vein twitch in my temple. Damn my girls, they know I hate having others in my room, let alone disturbing my things.
Bah...I had no energy to say angry. I plopped down on the bed and rubbed my wet hair. I was tired but refreshed. Showers have such a power to them, making every worry wash away, every care goes down the drain and it allows you to be purely selfish for just a little while.
My bedroom door opened behind me and I didn't look at the person entering. My girls announce their presence before entering. Muraki did no such thing.
"You actually managed a shower without help. Ever the strong one, Oriya. You continue to amaze me." Muraki's voice came from the door and he moved to stand next to the bed. Out of the corner of my eye I saw, in his arm, he held a stack of sheets.
"Don't do my house work for me." I snapped at him, though my words held very little heat.
Muraki was smiling at me. I could feel it mocking me in its own way, saying things like 'Simple Oriya, always so stubborn. You're so adorable...'
Bah, it annoyed me.
"Stop it." I said then and I looked up at him. Yes, there it was. The mocking smile.
"Stop what?" He played coy with me, a surprised look on his face, blinking innocently. Bastard! He was toying with me now because I was a bit more healthy.
God, he was freaking infuriating! Though… I had no energy for this man. Not now. I barely had any to begin with!
"Forget it..." I muttered to him, scratching my head. I stood, pulling my robe closer to me. I definitely felt better after my shower but still...
A hand came to the side of my head and his fingers went up into my hair. I caught his gaze for a moment before he pulled me over and his lips met my forehead. Man, I had not expected that at all. Damn, I hated being sick, it makes the senses slower and reaction time delayed.
I blinked, staring at his gray tie and white shirt with surprised. Drops of water left my hair and felt onto his white jacket, leaving faint little water marks that would soon vanish.
"Wha-" I started before he let my head go and I was able to stand straight again.
"You're fever is gone. That's good." Muraki stated before moved a shoulder to me. Setting the sheets down, he moved to remake my bed, pulling the sheets over the mattress.
"What...are you doing?" I started, staring at his back. "I could have one of my girls do that." This was odd, even for Muraki. He has he own house full of freaking servants as well as I do. It's shocking he actually knows how to do make a bed.
"They were busy with customers. Their master is ill and they are tending to your usual rounds." Muraki spoke as he moved the linen over the mattress, his hands swift and skilled as they remade my bed.
"You could've found someone..." I went on, feeling hopeless and guilty. Just a burden for my friend...The shame of it all…
"I decided to do it myself to make sure it gets done." Muraki soon straightened up and looked over at me with that calm expression. Damn, again I can't read his face. Most people were easy to read but Muraki? Forget it! He was too good as controlling his expressions
"Thanks." I found myself say but the expression on Muraki's face soon changed and it made me really want to not be naked and wet right now. Okay, now I knew of one thought that might be in that crazy silver head.
Was he really going to test his luck by trying something on a weak old (well maybe not physically old but mentally I'm like a freaking old man) man? Man, he has a pair alright…
Ignoring him, I moved past him and to my dresser and pulled out underwear. No sex, no more sleep, no more bedroom! I need to be out there. I can't stay in bed all day! I will not allow it! I'll go mad if I stay in this room any longer!
"Oriya, you should get back in bed." Muraki's voice came from behind me. I ignored him. Moving, I pushed the door of my closet open and started searched for a kimono I wanted to wear. I was in a mood so I wanted on of my darker colored kimonos. When I found one, I laid one hand on it and a felt two hands encircle my waist.
"I have a business to run. I have to be out there." I said to Muraki, not even bothering to look back at him. A part of me wanted those arms to force me down and let me sleep some more. Another part wanted others things to happen when said arms would get me down to the bed.
But, for the most part, I, me, Mibu Oriya, wanted to be the businessman that pleases other businessmen. I wanted to work. I needed to for my own sanity.
Against my neck, I felt his lips against my skin. It sent chills through me...
"I am going out there." I said to him firmly, eyes shut, face closed. I needed to be a business man right now, not my friends fuck buddy.
"They do not need you, Oriya. They survived without you one night. They can miss you a second night." His voice was soft in my ear, breath hot to my skin.
Fuck, I hate that he knows my spots. My neck is one of them and its one of his favorites. Surprise, surprise…
"I am going to work. Release me." I said sternly once again to him and I heard him groan.
"So stubborn, Oriya." His body moved and his hands left me. I choked down a sigh.
"Not stubborn, just devoted to my business. If this business was a woman, I would already be married to her and have seven children." I said, moving to push him farther from me. Okay, that might not be entirely true but whatever, it sounded good to me.
The mention of marriage made my friend stiffen, if only for a second. Muraki had a future wife in his life. He loves her enough not to marry her. He knows that, in her weak condition, that if she ever found out that he was a murderer, it would kill her.
Muraki then left me alone in my room to get dressed in peace. Though, it must have more to it. It probably was, most likely, to scope out my clientele, make 'new friends'.
Yes, Muraki had a charisma to him that allowed almost anyone to trust and admire him. I bet that guy he had brought here that one time felt it too before he learned just was Muraki really was. I wonder what he first thought of Muraki. "My, what a swell guy! Golly gee!"
I had to laugh at myself as I tightened my obi around me and lifted a brush into my hand.
Blowing drying my hair was never something I did, even when guests were in the restaurant. It allows them to see that this is me in my home. It's a welcoming sight for them, them and their money.
I moved to the door and stepped out into the bright hall, the sounds of hurried steps and customers already being 'tended' to hit me and a dull pulsing came to irritate my brain and skull. The smell of alcohol and food being prepared nearly made me sick but I swallowed hard.
Yes, I was going to be host tonight. I am, after all, the man of this house.