Posted: 11/03/2006
一
Stain
Thanks to Astarael00 for beta-ing.
Chapter 3
一
back then, when we met,
it was all awkward.
we went the long way, didn't we?
we got hurt, didn't we?
- "Dearest," Ayumi Hamasaki
一
She's a beautiful but a weird girl.
That was my first thought when I first met Shizuru.
I already knew who she was,
Because she was famous throughout the school.
So at first, I didn't really understand...
Why does Shizuru bother to hang around me?
She seems careless, but she's an extremely sharp individual.
Occasionally she even tells indecent jokes to embarass me.
It bothered me so much that I asked her,
"Why do you bother to hang around me?"
Shizuru simply smiled at me and said,
"It's because I like you, we are friends, aren't we?"
Friends...
After my mother died, I lived on alone and said to myself,
"I will never trust anyone again."
But...
Shizuru...I never intended to ever tell you at that time,
But I was very surprised by your carefree and compassionate words to me.
I was...very happy that you cared.
一
There was an intense pain she felt deep in her chest, and she felt sick.
It was wrong.
This was wrong.
They parted, briefly.
Her ruby eyes met stormy grey orbs.
His gaze reflected her own.
So wrong.
Shizuru smiled; a politician's smile, calm as a still lake, unreadable...unreadable, as always.
He had a similar expression on his face.
It was so similar that it could be said their expressions were exactly the same.
The chatter around them gradually disappeared, and respiration ceased for both of them, again.
Until the sound of plates dropping and breaking snapped Shizuru and Reito out of it.
As one, both turned to the source of the noise.
Shizuru froze. Her eyes widened in surprise, mask of calmness breaking into astonishment, and countless emotions almost, almost, flashed on her face. Shizuru could tell; she could always tell, it was her, after all.
Reito squeezed her shoulder gently.
Momentarily, Shizuru stopped breathing. She glanced up at Reito, face falling back fluidly into a mask of calmness, before gazing at the source of noise again.
This time, with only a mildly surprised look.
Shizuru stood. "Natsuki?"
Her younger friend was in a gown, and it looked beautiful on her.
Shizuru did not, even once, look into those green orbs.
Her gaze trailed to Takeda, who was dressed smartly.
Despite the air-headed atmosphere that seemed to surround her all the time, Shizuru was actually a sharp individual. It took only a brief moment before she understood what was happening. But...what she didn't know was that she was wrong.
So very wrong.
The pain in her chest earlier returned in full force, it not tenfold.
An easy smile formed on her face, and she walked towards them. Reito was by her side, and she hooked her arm through his elbow.
"Shizuru..."
There was a certain melodic tune to her own name when Natsuki said it. Shizuru liked it, very much.
"What a surprise, Natsuki." The smile was still there, and it turned teasing. "Whatever happened to the Natsuki who said she had no time for dating?" She glanced at Takeda, who scratched his head and blushed.
"Shizuru," the voice was a mix of indignation and pain.
And a certain, strange, seriousness.
Shizuru blinked. "Natsuki?"
"Since when were you with Kanzaki?" That tone was most certainly not accusing or threatening, but somehow, Shizuru could hear the accusation in it. For not telling her. For betraying her.
Betraying?
No. No, of course not. What was she thinking? Natsuki never...
"Shizuru?"
She looked up, and gazed into aqua green eyes, which were full of questions. Full of...emotions...
Shizuru smiled, breaking the eye contact, and glanced at Reito.
"Hmm. For a while now, I suppose?"
Reito returned her smile.
"You suppose?" Natsuki muttered under her breath.
But Shizuru heard her, anway.
It was that tone again.
Before Shizuru could reply, or begin to think of how to reply, her significant other stepped in.
"So curious, Kuga-san. How about you and Takeda-kun?"
She wached Natsuki redden, and the blue-haired girl stepped forward indignantly.
"We did not - "
Crunch.
For a brief moment, Shizuru could only stare in wonder. Since when did Natsuki wear high heels?
Then the blue haired girl slipped on broken glass, smeared mayonnaise, and greasy food.
What happened after that was lost in a blur of panic. Shizuru couldn't recall moving from where she was. She only remembered, vaguely, glancing at those sharp, broken pieces of ceramic, and noticing that Natsuki was going to fall right on them. She suddenly found herself by Natsuki's side, sliding downwards to the ground with Natsuki as her hand shot out...
You are my precious person, Natsuki.
That's why...that's why I will protect you. Always.
Silent. The restaurant was suddenly dreadfully silent, and all idle chatter from patrons ceased, until a scream pierced through the restaurant.
"SHIZURU!"
一
He ran as fast as his legs could carry him.
"I'm sorry," whispered Shizuru.
Natsuki and Takeda were not far behind him. At one point, Natsuki had unceremoniously kicked her high heels away to keep up with Reito.
He glanced at Shizuru who was - surprisingly light - in his arms.
Her ruby eyes were closed, eyebrows slightly knitted, and sweat rolled down her face.
Any other time, Reito would have marveled at Shizuru's ability to look so calm, to even be able to think of others, even when she was in pain.
In very serious pain.
"I have..."
He shushed her. "Don't speak."
Pain could only be controlled so much. With every step he took, with every movement he made, it was a jarring impact on her wounds.
He knew.
Reito tried to be as careful as he could, but he was running, and it was ineviatable.
He ignored the feel of a certain warm liquid trickling down the hand situated on her back.
She smiled, and burgundy eyes opened, just a little. Shizuru shook her head.
"I'm sorry," she said again, resting her brunette head against his chest. Her voice was so soft that only Reito heard her. Her eyes closed again, and every emotion Shizuru could have shown was hidden once more.
And though Kanzaki Reito was never one for violence, he visibly resisted the urge to smack Shizuru on the head.
"How many times have you said that now, Shizuru-san?" He murmured wryly.
She chuckled softly.
"But I have been causing you trouble," she said quietly. "So much..." Reito felt her breathe in sharply. "T-trouble."
Her breathing, Reito noticed, was beginning to quicken. More sweat trickled down her face, and her features were paling.
He took it as a bad sign.
"We are reaching the hospital, Shizuru-san," he murmured. "Just a little more."
Behind him, Natsuki was watching.
She saw how his arms tightened around Shizuru protectively, his grey eyes determined and concerned all the same.
Natsuki wasn't sure of what to think of that.
The kiss between Shizuru and Reito flashed in her mind.
The vague statements Shizuru made.
The unreadable look Shizuru had on her face.
The teasing smile Shizuru wore.
The...
Natsuki glanced at her own arm. It was a little blue and black, and the red imprints of a grip were apparent.
The result of the strong, hard grasp of Shizuru as she pulled Natsuki over herself roughly, just before they touched the ground.
Natsuki was never really aware of how strong physically Shizuru really was. She knew, of course, that the brunette was powerful and skilled in martial arts...the Hime festival had proven that.
But she never imagined...
In front of her, Reito took a sharp turn around a corner, and rushed into the hospital.
She stopped abruptly, just a step before entering the hospital.
"Kuga-san?" Takeda stopped, as well. "Aren't you going to enter?"
A realization suddenly struck her.
Why hadn't she noticed it before?
Why hadn't...
Did she really know who Fujino Shizuru was?
Did she?
Somehow, just somehow, the answer that she found...
Natsuki faltered.
How...
It can't be. It just can't.
That...that wasn't the answer she had been expecting...
Her memory went on playback. From the first time she met Shizuru, to the end of the Hime festival. That smile. That calm, unreadable smile that almost never seemed to leave her features. Burgundy eyes that seemed to say nothing and everything at the same time; sometimes they were so deep they looked like twin orbs filled with blood. Another thought occured to Natsuki, and she almost visibly lost the will to enter the hospital.
The answer that she had found...
Natsuki took a shaky step back.
...was a no.
End chapter 3. :D
If you can guess where the first scenario, Natsuki's thoughts, came about, you get an e-cookie.
Overall, this is pretty much just a slow and a transition chapter - plenty of interactions and things to fix up settings for future happenings. Yes, I know, you can literally see the word 'evil' on top of my head, but this scene is neccesary to build up character. Next chapter will be worse, but I will hold my tongue on that. 8D
For the record - I have revised chapter one and two. And though you are not obligated to, I would encourage you to read through both of them, again. Mostly because I changed a few lines here and there, and chapter 2, particularly, has some major changes. There is two, three new chunks of paragraph in there.
I even bolded the words to get your attention. I hope it did.
So do me a favor and read them again, yes? XP
While on that, I have decided that suffixes on names would be a good idea. So don't be surprised if you see a -san, -kun, -chan popping out of nowhere.
On other news, I would like to extend my thanks to Lone Wolf Biker, Anonymous, Asakura89 and Kohei no Kimi for taking the time to answer my question regarding the age of the characters and the sort.
Another thanks, to Astarael00 for volunteering to be the beta of this fic.
And, no, I have yet to find the Mai Hime series...it is rather elusive, for some reason. Although I did get around to watching the last (extended) episode 26. Here, I give credits to Lone Wolf Biker again...he had kindly notified me that such thing existed. XD
Right. That's that. Stay tuned for the next chapter, people.
- Eagle