Posted: 19/05/2007
Okayu: porridge
一
Stain
Thanks to Astarael00 for beta-ing.
Chapter 9
一
The clock ticked.
Of course, thought Mai, Takeda was not the type who could do unspeakable, degrading things; and Natsuki certainly could take care of herself. So there really wasn't any cause for worry.
...but the blue-haired girl was late. Very much so.
The date was supposed to end late in the evening.
It was four in the morning.
Natsuki returning late was nothing strange in itself - but at the very least, she would have told Mai (or Mikoto, if Mai was nowhere to be found) about it. Mai had made sure of that, of course, it was her numerous complaints about Natsuki coming back at the oddest hours and waking her up which made the blue haired girl relent.
And luckily, Mai thought airily, it was a Sunday, and there was no school. Otherwise...
Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
Mai glanced down at her phone, which lay still on the table as she rested her chin on her palm.
Natsuki...where did you go?
She sighed.
The supper on the table had long grown cold. Originally, Mai had made it to escape whatever wrath Natsuki may have wanted to impose; and Mikoto...
She almost laughed. Bribing Mikoto with a double portion of ramen for tomorrow's dinner had been enough to stop the younger girl from stealing food from the table. It was strange, thought Mai randomly, how Natsuki came to live with them for over five months, and how they managed without strangling each other to death. Well, almost, but no one died. Mai had gone to Natsuki's apartment only once after the festival, to pick up whatever necessities the biker may need, and it was such a mess.
Her hands itched.
She remembered cleaning that apartment for a full five hours, and it was still a damned big mess. With Natsuki (very reluctantly) and Mikoto (with bribes) taking orders from her, of course. There was only so much that could be done then...The massive destruction proved to be the main obstacle from sweeping the apartment clean. Renovations had started almost immediately, but when it was near completion...
Mai stifled a snigger.
Oh, Mikoto, the havoc you can create for chasing a mouse...
Her gaze wondered back to the silent phone, as if expecting it to ring anytime.
Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
Click.
Tick.
Wait, wait. Click?
The orange-haired student snapped her head up in reflex.
"Natsuki!"
The door was shut with a loud slam.
Mai winced. "Did you have to do that, Natsuki?"
Green eyes leveled a hard, cold gaze at her.
"Shut up."
It wasn't even a shout.
Mai stared back, startled but unafraid.
Natsuki broke away, turning to the cupboard.
The orange-haired girl hesitated, suddenly noticing the torn clothes. Natsuki was already taking out her biker suit, and moving to the bathroom.
"Nat - "
Slam!
A flicker of doubt entered her. Takeda didn't do anything, did he?
The bathroom door rolled open, and Natsuki flicked her hair back, dressed in blue and red. She tossed the gown to Mai. "I'm going out." the flat words came.
No, thought Mai, studying the other's actions. Takeda didn't do anything.
It probably didn't have anything to do with Takeda at all.
"Natsuki!"
"What?"
A moment passed, before she spoke.
"...Be careful."
There was a pause.
Then the door was shut.
Decidedly gentler, without a slam that made her wince.
Mai sighed. She was definitely going to have trouble sleeping. She lifted the torn garment, studying it.
What in the world happened to her?
All of a sudden, although she thought it was just a harmless effort to get Natsuki to loosen up and relax, the idea of setting Natsuki on a blind date didn't seem like a nice one at all - if what happened was Natsuki returning with a torn dress, a bandaged hand and a dark expression.
She paused.
Wait a minute. A bandaged hand?
一
The sunlight peeked through the small parting of the dark curtains, reflecting off his bruised face.
Weary from interrupted sleep, his eyes squinted, half from the glare of the light, and half from the pain that suddenly throbbed from the head to the abdomen.
Reito grimaced slightly, moving to sit up, and suddenly a slender hand was on his shoulder; pushing him back down.
"You shouldn't try to get up, Minagi-sama."
Reito knew that voice; he glanced at her, despite the soreness of his muscles.
"...Akira-kun?"
"Yes," affirmed the ninja girl.
A pause.
"Oh..."
He studied her for a few brief moments, where she fought from fidgeting under his piercing stare.
"...I see." Another pause. "So what does the Okuzaki clan wish to say?"
He was being unusually direct, and she was caught off guard.
"..er?" she blurted out before she could stop herself.
He almost smiled. Instead, an eyebrow rose. "Surely, Akira-kun, your presence in front of me means there is something your clan wishes to express?"
"A-ah, yes," came the flustered reply, before she bit her lip; cursing her lack of tact.
He nodded, gesturing for her to continue.
She cleared her throat, "For centuries, we, the Okuzaki clan, had been under the command of the Minagi family, we were their sworn protectors, their warriors, their blades, their shields." A noticeable pause. "Despite the failure of the carnival," her voice dropped slightly, "I represent my clan to reassure the Minagi...that we are still your blades and shields. We were, still are, and will be your warriors in time of need."
Something flickered in his dark eyes, but it was gone before she noticed.
"However," she continued, kneeling down now with a fist pressed to the floor, "I have failed in my duty as a protector. You were harmed by Kuga Natsuki, and had I arrived earlier..." She hesitated, closing her eyes as her eyebrows knitted. "For that, Minagi-sama, I await my punishment."
There was a long silence where Reito did not speak.
"Please stand, Akira-kun." he intoned mildly, at last.
"But..."
He waved her gesture away. "You did protect me, despite what you said," he smiled. "I imagine my situation would have been far more severe if you had not stepped in." He paused for a moment, before glancing at the clock.
It was close to noon.
He moved to get up, hiding a grimace as he did - and she had stood up immediately, going to his side.
"Mi - "
He waved her off, grunting.
"I'm afraid there's an occasion I will need to attend, Akira-kun, and clearly, there is no time to rest." His words were wry.
She hesitated.
"In fact, they are on the way - "
"Ani-ue!" The shout, muffled by the thick walls but clearly still a loud shout, almost made Akira jump.
"...ah...well, I stand corrected," he shrugged with a wry grin.
She cursed under her breath. "But your appearance right now, milord, is..." She stopped, unsure of how to continue.
"Black and blue, I am certain," Reito continued for her pleasantly. "Nonetheless, my guests shouldn't be kept waiting."
Always the gentleman.
At that, she fell silent.
"Ani-!"
一
Mai winced. Her ears were ringing.
"Mikoto!" she chastitized - although half heartedly. Her mind was, if not the whole of it, mostly occupied by Natsuki's condition.
The younger girl was swallowing a huge gulp of air again, ready to shout once more.
Somehow, Mai just knew this one was not going to just make her ears ring. The plastic bag bulging with items slid down to her elbow, and she hastily clamped her hands over Mikoto's mouth.
"An - mmphrrhh!"
"Mikoto! Stop!"
At that moment, the door opened, and her violet eyes moved automatically to the door.
And her mind went blank, jaw almost hanging. Mai was frozen to her spot.
"Good afternoon, ladies," the wry voice said.
"R-Reito-san?"
A smile quirked on his lips, and he gestured. "Please, come in."
一
"We will go out another time, alright?"
"But..."
Mai bopped Mikoto on the head lightly. "Your ani-ue needs to rest, Mikoto."
The black haired girl's shoulders drooped.
Her two older companions glanced at each other. They both saw it coming, and Reito could only shrug with an apologetic smile.
The redhead sighed.
"Oh, well. Do you mind if I use your kitchen, Reito-san?" She glanced sideways at Mikoto, who had perked up at those words.
"Ramen!"
An entirely predictable reaction they were both expecting.
Reito chuckled. "Please, be my guest."
Mai studied Reito for a moment. "Those are some nasty bruises on your face, Reito-san. I will make you some okayu if you like? Seeing as I'm already making food..."
"I'm grateful."
"So," Mai strode to the kitchen, mentally cataloguing the ingredients for ramen and okayu. "What in the world happened to you?"
"Hmm." He lifted a hand to his chin thoughtfully. "I suppose you can say I got attacked by a rabid dog."
"A dog?" She paused, and glanced at him with a look of disbelief.
"Maa. I made the mistake of stepping on its tail, after all."
一
Somewhere on the road, a motorcyclist sneezed.
一
Akira peeked inside again from the slit of the curtains, watching as Reito entertained his sister, even as pots and pans clinked in the kitchen.
"Seriously, Reito-san. A dog?"
A shrug, "It got angry at me."
"Bite marks I believe you. But bruises?"
"Maa.."
The ninja turned away.
Oh, she wanted so much, so much, to hate that man in there. Her fists clenched.
But she couldn't. Not when she knew that he wanted none of this, either, and that he had no choice.
Not when Shizuru told her so much and so little all the same, with her calm, weary gaze.
Akira's maroon eyes narrowed, and she shook her head, half in disgust, half in resignation.
"Tch."
She disappeared into thin air.
A/N
Thanks for the reviews. I got a little thrown off when a few of you said you literally cried at the chapter, to be honest. -wipes rotten tomatoes from face with hankerchief-
The next chapter should be considerably faster - I hope it will be considerably faster. Because the next chapter is what links to a few other scenes that is already written, and things might progress much quickly after that, since I wrote them in huge chunks, and some of them are chapters by itself, too. So I suppose you can say I've gotten a little impatient myself.
I hope this chapter's been enjoyable, people. Tate-Mai-Reito is a side I have not really explored yet, and I don't really know if I will venture into them with a side plot yet. Maybe yes, maybe no.
Keep a lookout for the next chapter.
Of course...you all know reviews is food for writers, yes? So you will move your mouse over the "Go" button and click it, yes? And you will drop in a few words for me, yes? Yes.