Posted: 02/07/2006
一
Stain
Thanks to Astarael00 for beta-ing.
Chapter 7
一
Adrenaline.
Pure, instinctual movements.
Vaguely, she could remember how her muscles had tensed with anticipation, how her fingers had reflexively curled into a fist.
A cold hard rage had clouded her mind.
A shiver of excitement had run down her spine, electrifying, shocking.
Blinding.
It was blinding.
She never thought rage could be so controlling, so possessive.
She had not even realized when she had moved.
He hurt her.
She had not -
He hurt HER.
- The wall cracked from her punch.
He evaded the first punch, head craned to the side by reflex.
But he did not, could not, evade the rest that followed.
She remembered hearing someone, some female voice, calling her name, almost frantically.
But she missed the pain, the pain, the anguish that would have wrenched her soul, in that voice.
Her fingers, curled in such a tight fist it almost drew blood, were growing numb.
But she did not care.
Days. Weeks. Months. Months. Months months months months months mo-
A snarl, maybe, or a growl, vibrated from her throat.
HE HAD BEEN HURTING HER FOR MONTHS!
Had she stopped to think, she would have felt that the sound she emitted was almost animalistic.
Blood trickled down her arm and dripped to the floor.
Her hand throbbed painfully.
Not all of the blood, she instinctively knew, was his.
Was this what true anger was like?
Was this...
There was a sharp pain at the back of her neck, and sanity returned to her mind, however briefly.
...how Shizuru felt, during the carnival?
Darkness invaded her.
一
Burgundy eyes stared.
"It's you..." she whispered, unaccustomed astonishment marking her tone.
The person in question brought the unconscious girl to the floor gently next to a grunting Reito, before bowing to the brunette.
Shizuru moved to sit up, trying for the fourth or fifth time to do so without provoking the injury on her back. Predictably, with little success - until help came from the unnamed person.
"My apologies, Fujino-sama, for my tardiness." He - no, she - said, softly, hands leaving the injured brunette once certain that Shizuru could hold her posture. "Had I arrived earlier..."
"Fujino-sama?" asked Shizuru faintly, crimson eyes appraising a set of eyes similar to hers; a darker shade of red, almost brown.
"Hai. We are under your command and his, after all." she said, apparently understanding the other's reaction.
Realization flickered in those burgundy eyes, and with the understanding, sadness came, again. It was odd, thought Shizuru vaguely, how this feeling was no longer foreign to her.
"I will have to apologize to you, then." Shizuru said quietly.
The other shook her head, even as she helped Reito back into the chair. "There is nothing to apologize for, Fujino-sama."
"Are you under direct orders from your family?" asked Shizuru, a little bluntly, knowingly.
Hands that moved to inspect Reito's injuries paused, and hesitation showed in that young voice.
"Yes."
Shizuru let out a tired sigh.
"How is he?" she ventured, changing the topic.
"Somewhere between the realm of consciousness and unconsciousness. He is going to be black and blue for the next week or two, Fujino-sama," was the methodical answer, though it sounded a little impressed. "Kuga-san can really punch, it seems."
Shizuru smiled, a little wryly. "Yes, she can. Please check carefully," requested the injured brunette, eyes trailing to Natsuki's half-curled fist, which was reddened and caked with dried blood - something wrenched deep in her chest - before moving to the cracked wall. "I'm afraid he might have a fractured bone somewhere..."
"Hai, Fujino-sama," the reply came. "I can use some of my family's traditional balm for his bruises...it will heal more quickly."
"Please," nodded Shizuru, and she watched in silence as her...servant? protector? guardian? ...checked Reito more carefully.
"Mi - "
"Kanzaki." Shizuru cut in, abruptly.
A pause.
"...Kanzaki-sama is free from any fractured bones, I believe." The younger girl said, cautiously. "But a doctor could always be approached to make certain of this."
Moments stretched with silence, then;
"That is not necessary," Shizuru said finally. "I believe you are honest with me."
Shizuru watched a pair of dark eyes grow wide with surprise and appreciation.
The other bowed her head. "Thank you, Fujino-sama, for your trust."
A smile graced Shizuru's features, before she spoke again.
"I would prefer it if news of this is not leaked out," she said, a hint of command in her tone, "and asking a doctor to perform a body check will make way for rumors."
Another pause.
"I understand, Fujino-sama. I will keep silent about this."
"Not even to your family," continued the brunette.
At that, the girl blinked.
"I'm sure you realize what reporting this incident could mean to Natsuki," Shizuru said softly, and burgundy eyes glanced at an unconscious blue-haired girl on the floor.
"I..." Hesitation was clear in that voice.
"Reito-san, I'm sure, would not want attention brought to Natsuki." Her gaze moved back to the dark-haired man slumped on the chair.
"You understand, don't you? If Natsuki is brought into this, then many others may be brought into this too." Shizuru's tone grew softer with each word, until it was a bare whisper, with a hint of bitterness and steel.
Burgundy eyes closed.
"...As you command," the reply came after a moment, the tone unusually subdued.
Shizuru smiled again, tiredly, genuinely.
"Ookini, Okuzaki-san."
一
A slender hand lifted to her temples, and she sighed.
She could feel something - a certain pressure - on her throat; her body felt heavy, tired, and Shizuru would do anything to just sleep right now.
Deep red eyes peered down at a blue-haired girl, whose eyes were closed, as she dozed. The younger girl now occupied the chair Reito once had, and her long, silky hair was splayed on the bed. Shizuru watched, her gaze trailing to the other's bandaged hand for a brief moment, and her eyes darkened.
Her keen ears heard the deep breathing of the sleeping girl, a hypnotic, rhythmic balance in the inhaling and exhaling of air, and she turned back to study Natsuki's face. Shizuru's features remained impassive, until they suddenly turned rigid.
The expression on Natsuki's face was so peaceful, so relaxed…
And so vulnerable.
Shizuru turned away.
Her head hurt, and her back was beginning to throb dully.
A wave of dizziness overtook her.
She tried to fight it, the demonic sleep spell, but her exhausted mind and body would not allow it.
Natsuki, she was certain, would not wake up any time soon.
Just...for a little while...
Her eyes closed of their own accord.
一
Natsuki blinked a few times, shaking her head slightly as she tried to stomp down the ebbing remains of sleep.
What...
Her vision was foggy, but someone - some girl with long brown hair - was in front of her, on the bed, eyes closed.
Then, as abruptly as realization hit her, she stood up; nearly knocking down the chair in the process. It teetered precariously.
Shizuru!
A sharp pain went up her hand.
She grunted, more in surprise than pain, and glanced at her bandaged arm - cloth extended from the tips of her fingers all the way down to her wrist.
Again, she blinked. What the hell? She had been injured?
She tried flexing her fingers, and found that her fingers worked perfectly - except they were slightly numb from exertion, and they hurt. When did she fall asleep? And when did Reito leave the -
Reito.
The memories, all at once, came crashing down on her.
Her blood begun to boil once more, and her hands shook.
That bastard. He had...he had...!
A soft gasp snapped her back to reality, and her eyes darted to the sleeping figure on the bed.
Shizuru.
With her eyebrows furrowed slightly, Shizuru did not look like the epitome of calmness and elegance which defined her.
Dreaming, Natsuki thought. Shizuru was...dreaming.
At that moment, a few things struck Natsuki; and not all of them made sense.
What was the relationship between Shizuru and Reito?
Did Reito force her into this?
Why didn't Shizuru resist Reito, then?
Why did she accept him?
Why did...
A surge of anger ran through her blood.
Why did she allow Reito to harm her?
Why this, why that, why this, why that...
Was there some circumstances behind it?
When did all this start?
When did Reito injure Shizuru on the back?
So many questions, so few answers.
One in particular stuck out like a sore thumb.
Why didn't she, of all people, realize something had been wrong from the beginning?
Her fingers curled into a tight fist.
"Damn it," she whispered without realizing it, cursing her own stupidity, her own naivety.
Of course something was wrong. Shizuru...Shizuru was never clumsy. Shizuru was not like Natsuki, who got injured on an almost periodical basis. Shizuru was most definitely not careless, Shizuru was intelligent, graceful, elegant, efficient, and...and...
She gritted her teeth.
...and Shizuru had the best poker face in the world.
The same, thought Natsuki bitterly, glaring daggers at the sleeping girl on the bed.
Always the same, Shizuru. Why can't you just...be honest with me, for once? Why can't...
Shizuru's eyebrows furrowed further, and her head turned slowly.
Coincidentally, she now faced Natsuki.
For some reason, the blue-haired girl was suddenly taken aback, and could only stare at Shizuru's delicate features.
A slender face with high cheekbones - had Shizuru gotten thinner? - and a softly pointed chin regarded her. The baby fat was long gone, although there had been very little from the beginning when she had met Shizuru for the first time; and the face in front of her was clearly a matured woman's face. Hazel locks shaded her sculpted eyebrows, and almost unconsciously, Natsuki's hand lifted, to brush away the brown bangs that covered Shizuru's eyes, for some reason that...Natsuki could not comprehend.
Shizuru.
It was strange. There were so many things she wanted to ask Shizuru right now, she wanted to rant and rave at the sleeping girl, she wanted to shake her awake and force some answers out of her, and yet...
...and yet...
Green eyes softened.
...and yet she couldn't bring herself to wake the other up.
It occurred to her, suddenly, randomly, that Shizuru's hair was soft and smooth to the touch, as she rolled the long, silky strands of brown hair between her fingers.
Then Natsuki paused.
The tips of her fingers were slightly wet, and cold.
Cold sweat that she did not notice earlier trickled down Shizuru's forehead.
Green eyes narrowed, half-curious, half-concerned. Her anger was forgotten suddenly, as was Reito.
A nightmare.
Shizuru was having a nightmare.
Natsuki hesitated.
Shizuru's eyebrows furrowed further, as if she was experiencing something far worse than before.
The younger girl bit her lip.
Slowly, uncertainly, wordlessly, Natsuki brought the chair closer to the bed, and she sat next to Shizuru.
Her hand grabbed a tissue from the box on the table, and she wiped away the sweat on Shizuru's face, dabbing at the skin gently.
All this while, Shizuru had supported her, unfailingly, endlessly.
This time...
The free, bandaged hand reached for Shizuru's, grasping it with silent support and encouragement.
...this time, it was her turn...
For the first time since the night Shizuru dreamt, the shackles that barred her from retreating to sanity disappeared, and the dreams, the dreams of blood, agony and pain...they disappeared, all at once.
My turn to watch over you, Shizuru.
A/N. No, contrary to popular belief, I'm not dead yet. This chapter was...well, actually, it was more or less done in April. It's just that a series of events occured to both my beta and me - so you can consider it a series of bad luck which ultimately delayed the release of this chapter. The latest vendetta was her laptop going whacky, and the beta-ed chapter was in that laptop, which, again, delayed the chapter. But of course, one of the events/reasons include laziness, and I will spare the bunch of you the torture of finding out what other things happened to us.
In anycase though..there's a bunch of new fics out as I have noticed recently, not to mention some updates on the very good fics. That should sate some of your hunger, at least. XD In fact, there's one particular new fic that's really worth mentioning, I would say...props to Entropy Empathy, for creating the fic "If There Be Thorns".
As far as this chapter is concerned... -skims through the chapter again- ... well, I can't say it's one of my best work. There was a lot of errors to begin with, and something just seemed entirely off when I had first written it. Which was also one of the contributing factors to why I refused to post it unless I see a red-painted screen. I think I made my beta suffer when she edited this chapter. -coughs-
I will spare you from further ramblings. My thanks for the reviews, and the repeated poking for updates, Nocturne, especially - it does show that there are people reading this piece of writing, and I do appreciate it. On the other hand, I will apologize for the late update. Hopefully next chapter wouldn't be delayed like this chapter was. XD
Hopefully everyone's enjoyed this chapter - I'm moving a little slow in this chapter, more to accomodate Natsuki and of how to get her to realize her feelings, but next chapter is going to be a little more...fast-paced, if you get what I mean. Remember I'm a big fan of cliff-hangers. A really big fan of it. And an evil author to boot.
Stay tuned,
Eagle.
Heheheh. -coughs-