Lenz's Law
by
LicketySplat
Chapter 3: Vestiges
"Reeeeiiii!!"
Her eye gave an involuntary twitch at the unnatural lengthening of her single-syllabled name, though its extension wasn't what annoyed her the most. It was the gratingly, whiny pitch at which her name had been made to carry that unsettled her usually composed self and made it a necessity that she counted to ten before looking up at the very person who had brutally mutilated her simple name. The glare she threw at Minako would've been more than capable of punching holes through a concrete wall, but the frowning blonde before her remained unfazed. "When are you ever going to finish reading that thing?" she asked as she carefully stepped over an exposed root.
For one, Rei was thankful that her adventures with Ulysses was far from completed, as it gave her an even better reason to ignore the blonde who had unrelentingly pestered her for more than two weeks now. Wherever she went and whenever she thought she had successfully thrown Minako off her tail, the girl would pop up out of nowhere – like a deranged weasel! – to force Rei's attention away from her book with her unending whines and prodding questions. Come to think of it, the infuriating blonde just might have been the trigger for the migraine Rei had recently developed.
"Do you ever stop to ask yourself that maybe the reason why 'Reeeii'has yet to finish her book, is because of your incessant blather?" The amount of acid her words carried should have given any other person a bad case of rash. If it was possible, her words only seemed to harmlessly bounce off the blonde like wads of paper. Who knows? Maybe if Rei kept it up long enough, Minako might just drown in a torrent of paper balls. If my sanity lasts that long that is. She closed her eyes and massaged her temples with tips of her fingers, feeling her head start throbbing once more.
"Don't blame me if you read real slowly," Minako grinned and plopped down beside her, her sudden descent sending a couple of leaves up into the air.
Unbelievable.
Rei ceased her ministrations to her temples and let her eyes remain closed while she leaned her head back onto the sturdy Elm trunk behind her. That girl just wouldn't leave her alone. She took deep breaths to soothe the flame of anger that threatened to erupt from within her at such an absurd claim. What she would give just to wipe that unnerving smile off Minako's face!
"That's ridiculous. Leave me alone." Rei growled, a final warning to let her read in peace. And just like all previous warnings she had dished out, this one was no different in the way Minako brushed it off. At this rate, she would take another month to finish reading The Odyssey. Her progress had never been slower, with the interruption of every paragraph by a pointless question that should she choose to ignore, another would follow up closely laced with Minako's high-pitched whine. She could still hear her elongated name reverberating and ricocheting off the walls of her ears before making a pit stop at her ear drum with an almost resounding 'thwack'.
To a certain extent, Rei supposed that her current misery was brought upon her by herself. After all, she never failed to sit down under the shade of the same Elm at every class break. It was unquestionable then, how Minako could have found her every day even if they had different classes before that. So why do I still sit here, inviting the physical manifestation of Evil? Rei supposed it was because she loved the scenery here and that she had a limited number of days to spend her reading time out here as winter would be upon them in a few weeks. Although something else told her that wasn't even half of the truth as she had liked to believe.
Rei opened her right eye a crack and saw the blonde looking off in another direction. She then opened both eyes to glare at the back of Minako's head heatedly, willing those fine strands of blonde hair to spontaneously combust, and to torch that scarlet hair tie while at it. Urg. Why can't she just leave me alone like any other normal human being? Minako seemed to have felt the heat in Rei's stare and she whipped her head around in a flash . . . and the end of her ponytail smacked Rei's face in all its blonde might.
"Wha-?!" Rei gave a sharp start the moment her face got swathed in blonde tresses and wildly batted at them with her hands while sputtering and spitting out strands that had entered her mouth when she had opened it to exclaim in shock. The scent of Minako's fragrant shampoo invaded her nostrils as she blinked rapidly and swiped at her face as though the blonde hairs could transmit all degrees of idiocy - the last thing she needed was to begin exhibiting air-headed traits. Finally assuring herself that all traces of blonde hair had left her face, she turned to glower at Minako who was rolling on the ground and clutching her belly in laughter, tears trickling out of eyes that were squeezed shut in pure mirth. Rei's face grew warm at having been caught in such an awkward and embarrassing situation. The girl's hair had succeeded in startling Rei and reducing her into a flailing fool for crying out loud! One look at the bookworm's reddened face and the blonde burst out in a new wave of laughter, pounding her fist onto the leaves littering the soil.
"Sh-Shut up," Rei managed to stutter in a weak attempt to save what was left of her own pride, but the sight of a flustered Rei only fueled Minako's amusement as she broke out in hysterics. Rei harrumphed, snatched up a handful of leaves and hurled them feebly at the source of her shattered dignity.
"Hehehe . . ." Minako's giggles trailed off as she sat up and patted off some of the leaves Rei tossed at her. "Oh Rei, you're priceless!"
She looked at the sulking raven-haired girl and smiled as she shook her head lightly, thoroughly entertained. The blonde crawled back to Rei's side and tried to capture the attention of those stunning violet eyes which were currently smoking holes into a pile of dead leaves.
"What, those leaves more attractive than I am?"
Blood rushed to her face at the low purr that sounded beside her ear and she tried suppressing the heat, failing terribly.
She had scathing words all lined up in single file, eager to be deployed, but when she glanced up irately at the blonde hovering above her, they vanished. Her breath caught.
The other girl's sun kissed face was still flushed from the vigorous laughter that had wrecked her body an instant ago. But it wasn't the soft smile that was gracing her lips or the faint tinge of pink that lingered on her cheeks that made Rei halt the verbal barbs that she wanted so desperately to deliver. Oddly enough, it was her cerulean eyes, sparkling with unshed tears of mirth, that spoke volumes of how much she had enjoyed Rei's little blunder and of how genuinely delighted she was, that abated Rei's temper. Just a moment ago, she had wanted vehemently to grab the blonde by the scruff of her neck and haul her into the lake head first. But now she wasn't so sure.
Rei tore her eyes away from Minako quickly and the golden-haired girl settled on her belly on the flame-coloured ground, propped her head up on her interlaced fingers and stared up at her. I wish she would stop doing that. What am I, an exhibit? Rei couldn't remember when the blonde had started that irritating habit, all she knew was that it perturbed her. She had swiftly filed Minako's fascination for her under the already bulky file of "Blonde Idiosyncrasies", and if things carried on the way they were going, she might need to get a new mental file. The blonde seemed to be scrutinizing her with those large blue eyes, trying to peer into her thoughts. If that was her intention, then she would be sorely disappointed, for Rei had never allowed anyone, not even Grandfather, access.
"Rei, can I ask you a question?"
"Mmph."
"Why do you like reading so much?"
Rei gave her a pointed look before sighing. When she moved to nudge her maroon spectacles, Minako was already there and gently pushed it up with the tips of her fore and middle fingers. Once done, she chuckled and lightly tapped Rei's nose. The girl went crossed-eyed and swatted at Minako's hand. Her throat felt more than a little tight when she answered the girl. "I don't know how to answer that. I've loved reading ever since I picked up one of . . . my mom's cookbooks when I was four." Hopefully the other girl hadn't noticed the tiny quiver in her voice.
"Seriously, a cookbook?"
Rei gave the blonde her trademark 'Withering' when an amused grin bloomed on Minako's face, before answering, "Yes." And as expected, the blonde burst out laughing again. Perhaps she should have lied.
"Ugh. I don't even know why I tell you these things knowing the outcome."
"Okay, okay. I'm sorry, really," sincerity rang pure and true in Minako's voice. Rei sighed. "And stop sighing. Breathing ventilates the air just fine you know."
Rei ignored her comment and gazed out at the gleaming lake. It was hard to believe that in a few weeks time, the endless span of blue, coruscating in the brilliant sunlight would be nothing but a flat plain of icy grey. Winter was monotonous and apathetically frigid, in Rei's opinion anyway.
"So, I hope I'm making a safe assumption here that since your love for reading started with cookbooks," Minako paused to smile at Rei's warning glare, "You cook rather well?"
"I . . . No, actually. I can't tell a frying pan from a soup pot and . . . - stop laughing!"
"Rei, you're hopeless! So what do you learn from them anyway?"
"I . . . don't know. The names of ingredients I suppose."
It was so strange how one moment Rei could be ready to maul Minako with her tome and the next chatting with her, though it was much less than cordial. It puzzled Rei to no end. How was it that around the blonde, her emotions kept fluctuating between the extremes and never stayed in one place long enough for her to decipher them? Maybe it was because the girl had no sense of one's personal boundaries at all. Throughout the previous weeks, Minako had played with her bangs, made Rei chase her after she had snatched her book away, and even stuck numerous hair clips all over her raven mane. What was more brain addling, was that she had barely put up any resistance to all that intrusion. Initially she threw violent objections, but lately . . . Rei sighed.
"What did I tell you about sighing? Hm?" Minako poked Rei's cheek with a slender finger. There, another encroachment on her privacy.
"Stop that!" Rei snapped. If anything, her unwanted companion took her hostility as an encouragement and proceeded to lay a few more pokes in rapid succession on her cheek. Rei scowled and aimed spears at the chortling blonde with a prickly glare.
"Do you like books?" she found herself asking Minako in passing.
"Oh yes!" the other girl replied her energetically even before she had finished uttering the last word of her question. Minako's eyes twinkled in mischief. "I like books. You just have to teach me how to get past the introduction."
Rei stared at Minako in disbelief as the latter jumped to her feet right after finishing her sentence, gave her a dazzling smile and skipped off. That girl would prove quite a handful, Rei thought as she watched the other girl run down toward the leveled plot of land a few metres from the water's edge, hair glistening in waves of gold as rays of sunlight kissed her honey locks. There she spread out her arms and spun in slow, lazy circles amidst the falling leaves that the wind had delivered, gleefully tilting her face toward the heavens as she indulged in nature's beauty. Her book long forgotten, Rei saw Minako flop onto the lush blades of grass as dizziness from her twirling swept over her. She heard a faint "Whee!" as the blonde lay still in a sea of emerald while fiery leaves rained down on her, and wasn't surprised when she turned on her side to give Rei a lopsided grin.
How could anyone be so carefree? Rei wondered, and shocked every fiber of her being when she returned the blonde an equally wry smile.
--
Minako sat on the high wooden stool and fidgeted anxiously, her eyes darting back and forth between menacing tubes of glass and bottles of nauseatingly coloured liquids. A flame was shooting up steadily to her left in a vertical line of luminous blue and its wavering heat did nothing to ease her hysteria. She was hyperventilating, her hands were clammy. Her breathing quickened, perspiration beaded the sides of her face and tendrils of fear snaked around her and smothered all sense and security while she grappled to cling onto the last few traces of sanity. This was too much to bear. Her vision began to blur as her brain became deprived of blessed oxygen. For all she knew, she might not make it through this day alive. She could see St. Peter and the pearly gates of heaven.
This was it. Her sad, premature end. Her early passing. Her untimely de-…
"Oi, Minako. You might want to grab a pair of those safety goggles at the front of the lab after you're done swooning over the chemicals, as fascinating as they are," Rei's impassive contralto jolted her out of her daze. "And for goodness sakes, switch off your gas tap you idiot!" The dark-haired girl spared Minako a look of disdain before deftly plucking her lighter out from the drawer to light her Bunsen burner. It lit with a whoosh.
"Eh?" she looked around blurrily and located the knob of her gas tap which she had accidentally bumped against previously. The flame was extinguished immediately and oxygen suddenly wasn't an issue any longer. Relieved, she then shuffled to the front of the Chemistry lab to pick up a pair of yellow thick-rimmed goggles and resumed her apprehensive stance upon returning to her seat. She would much rather sit in an utterly dry lesson of Chemistry than to be here carrying out experiments next to an open flame. Granted she could cook rather well, but if given the chance, she would choose throwing frozen pizzas into the oven over frying onions any day. Further more, she just didn't trust herself around chemicals, especially acids. Though she knew they couldn't possibly corrode her flesh, being weak acids, she still wanted to avoid them at all costs. Something about the word 'acid' just puts her off. To put it simply, she was utterly terrified of lab sessions.
Minako put on the oversized goggles and peered through their scratched plastic lenses at Rei who had so grouchily agreed to be her lab partner. The bookworm had already started her experiment, swiftly pouring measured volumes of chemicals into a lone test tube and successfully turning its contents a clear blue. Minako sighed a hopeless sigh. Now she wished she had paid attention in yesterday's class. She had tried her very best in going with the flow of the Chemistry river but had crashed abysmally into the Rei outcrop. The stand-offish girl intrigued her, distracted her to no bounds! Every graceful movement she had made seemed to ensnare Minako in all their elegance, virtually rendering her Chemistry struggles useless. What is this feeling??
Minako sighed once more.
"Breathing ventilates the air just fine you know," Rei drawled sarcastically.
"I know. I'm just speeding up the process," Minako bit back. The raven-haired girl had only recently brought her counterattacks up a notch, retaliating with an equal fervor. What was that Physics Law? An object that you push, might come and push you back? Something like that. Well, it held fast to its truth in Rei's case. She sure was shoving back with all her might.
"By the way," Rei carried on without a beat, derision literally dripping from every word uttered, "in order to proceed with an experiment, you'll need to first pick up a test tube, pour some chemicals in, and observe. Go on, try it!"
Oh how she wanted to squirt distilled water in Rei's face! Her really pretty face. Beautiful actually… Ok Aino. Stop it. The sodium hydroxide's calling your name. With that, she gingerly picked up the bottle of clear liquid and tilted its mouth toward the test tube she held in her other hand. Suddenly her grip on the bottle slipped a little, and the strong alkali sloshed all over her hand, not a single drop entering the test tube. Shit. It's soapy! It's SOAPY! She quickly placed the bottle down with a loud bang on the bench top and hurried to the sink. Mid-step, the test tube slid out of her slick hand. Her eyes widened and time seemed to slow in motion as she watched it become airborne, flipping a couple of times . . . only to crash land in the sink with a sickening crunch. Damn.
"Please be careful, Ms Aino," the teacher stressed from somewhere in the laboratory, "You'll need to pay for that later."
A soft chuckle to her right told her that Rei had enjoyed her little slip-up. Scowling, Minako washed off the soapy residue of the solution from her hands and flicked a wrist in Rei's general direction, smirking in triumph as cold droplets of water hit their intended target, eliciting a cry of outrage from the ebony-haired girl. "That's such a low blow!"
Minako gave a casual shrug, selected a new test tube from her rack of six, and was about to shoot off a wisecrack till she realized Rei had done her hair up in a loose bun again, just like how she had when they first met on the train. She watched as Rei's elegantly tapered fingers manipulated two test tubes at a time, swirling the contents of one gently while pouring the murky brown mixture of another into a beaker, her eyes focused unwaveringly on the task she was undertaking. In Minako's opinion, mixing chemicals shouldn't look so . . . arousing. Dazed, she let her gaze wander up and down Rei's slim side profile, from her shapely calves to her flat abdomen to the gentle swells of her br-
"Honestly Minako, haven't you memorized every physical aspect of me by now? You've been staring at me every second for the past week and a half and I'll be damned if you don't know what cup size I wear," Rei said dryly, canting her head to the side to fix her piercing gaze onto the blonde a couple of metres away from her. Minako hadn't noticed till then that her mouth had been hanging open while she was ogling the girl and she shut it with an audible click, flashing a megawatt smile to cover up her embarrassment. "Well I do need a closer look . . ." she wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.
Rei rolled her eyes and turned back to her work.
As much as Minako would like to attribute her fascination to the 'unexplored territory' syndrome, try as she might, it wasn't remotely possible to ignore the fact that Rei was simply gorgeous. Or maybe I just have no sense of danger whatsoever. There was something about Rei's mannerisms and the air in which she carried herself that just screamed come-hither-and-I-shall inflict-a-motherload-of-agony-on-your-otherwise-meaningless-existence, to which Minako had thrown all caution to the wind. She knew very well that she had been pushing her limits. But what baffled her was that she knew equally well that Rei was more than aware of the escalation in insensitivity of her proddings, yet never truly expressed any form of animosity like how others would. Annoyance yes, but never animosity. She should watch her step nonetheless. She was treading on thin ice, one wrong move or word could send her plunging into a sub-zero abyss of self-condemnation. After all, she had seen how Rei decimated a poor chap's pride within seconds of him courageously approaching the perimeter of her smoldering aura to meekly ask for her number. He'd scuttled away, tail between his legs. Why Rei still allowed her to even walk by her shadow was beyond Minako.
Just like how Chemistry is beyond me.
She took a furtive glance at her lab partner, hoping to pick up hints on how else to proceed. Mimicking Rei's movements, she cautiously turned the gas tap, bit by bit till she clearly heard a firm hissing originating from the mouth of her Bunsen burner. Squeezing her eyes shut in trepidation, she positioned the snout of her lighter above the burner, and gingerly pulled the trigger. Click. Nothing. She looked at the lighter in confusion. Clickclickclickclick WHOOSH!
"Eeek!" Minako shrieked and leapt backwards, plastering herself against the bench behind. She eyed the dancing flame like how a field mouse would a circling hawk.
With a disapproving sigh, Rei gracefully reached over and reduced the gas input.
"My hero," Minako fluttered her eyelashes as she adopted a cringe worthy bimbotic tone.
Rei scowled. "Spare me blondie."
Minako gave a hearty laugh and teasingly smacked Rei's arm. "You're so easy to make fun of, Rei."
She smiled softly to herself when the other girl just huffed in displeasure. Just like a kid who can't get their way. It was adorable really. To Minako at least. She barely resisted the urge to playfully tweak the other girl's fair cheeks, changing the course of her hand at the last moment to rest on the worksheet the teacher had given out earlier. Her eyes flickered to the lighted burner and then back to the instructions in the worksheet.
Step 3: Pour a small portion of solution A into another test tube. Heat strongly. You should test any gas evolved.
"Shouldn't be too hard," Minako muttered under her breath and gently tipped some of the solution into her test tube. Carefully gripping the holder, she positioned the test tube above the flame and braced herself. When nothing phenomenal happened, she relaxed.
Hmm…heat strongly…I'll give it another minute or so, Minako decided, noticing that the contents in her test tube were still a light brown in comparison to Rei's black. She watched as Rei swiftly balanced twin strips of coloured paper on the mouth of her test tube and nodding lightly at her results.
Litmus strips. Yes, she would need to use them.
So intent on observing Rei was she that she failed to notice the vigorous bubbling occurring within her test tube, and by the time she did, it was too late. The tube trembled with the force of the bubbling and sent vibrations up her hand. Liquid churned and seethed about in its glass confines, begging for an escape from its boiling state and finally spurted out.
"What the-!" Rei almost screamed when something splashed mere centimeters from her hand, sizzling menacingly against the cool table top, "Minako!"
"Oh shit! I'm sorry Rei!"
She pointed a shaking finger at the steaming pool of liquid. "That could've been my hand! My hand! What the hell were you doing?!"
"Erm . . . heating it strongly?" she squeaked lamely at the sight of Rei's blazing violet eyes. Her accusatory glare almost incinerated Minako inside out, and she decided that an angry Rei was by far the scariest living soul she had ever crossed paths with. She wanted to dart behind the safety of her lab bench, but even so, she had the inkling that it would be but a flimsy barrier separating her from the infuriated girl. Surely the bench would liquefy under the intensity of her blistering stare.
"Please settle your domestic affairs outside of the lab if you will, ladies. Time's ticking," the teacher intoned disinterestedly while passing by them. Reluctantly, Rei resumed her experiment, but not before throwing Minako a scalding look that promised her nothing short of the merciless fires of hell.
Hastily - while reminding herself that she had a scant five minutes left - Minako reached for the strips of litmus papers next to the sink and inserted them into the mouth of the test tube. Oh crap. It fell in! She shook the tube violently with her grip on the holder and stuck a finger inside in a desperate attempt to rescue the fast drowning strip. It was a terrible mistake and she paid the price. Hissing in pain as Minako's skin touched the hot glass, she jerked her hand back instantly and she bit her lower lip to prevent herself from crying out. The tip of her index finger turned an angry red and had started swelling.
Note to self: Hot glass looks exactly like cold glass.
She was such a failure. How on earth was she supposed to test for anything now? The strip bopping up and down in the glass tube forlornly only seemed to mock her. Urg. I'm so stupid!
This was ridiculous. What now? Come on. Think think think!!
Smell. That was it! She'd seen Rei holding her test tube a good distance from her face and fanning the air above it toward her nose. She imitated the other girl, eagerly sweeping the air back and forth, and frowned when her nose detected nothing. This was highly unusual. Determined for her test to yield results, she brought the glass tube right under her nose and inhaled deeply . . .
Her respiratory tract seemed to erupt in a blazing trial of fire as the offensive gas made its way into her lungs. Her nose burned with the ferocious onslaught of the stench as electric blue stars exploded in a sick blend of chaos behind her eyes. Her vision swam madly as she lost control of her fingers, letting the tube fall to the table with a clatter, and there was only one word was that registered in her fogged up head before she willingly surrendered to the darkness: Ammonia.
--
She awoke to a stiff mattress and a royal headache. It was as though a herd of elephants were tap dancing in the tiny confines of her skull, stampeding and pounding like there was no tomorrow. She felt it could easily register an eight on the Richter scale. Her eyelids felt leaden and it was exhausting work to try to force them open. When she breathed in, it felt as though her nostrils had been coated with a stinking layer of muck that made her head swim once again. She wanted to rip her nose off her face, shove it into a tightly sealed capsule and blast it off into space. It was that disgusting.
Through the thick veil of haze in her sub-consciousness state, she vaguely made out a truncated conversation, and a dulcet voice that sounded more than exasperated.
". . . can't go home on her own."
"She's a strong girl . . ."
"Miss Hino, will your conscience sit well . . . something happened to her?"
"Oh it would sit very well . . ."
"What was that?"
"Er . . . it would give me hell."
". . . trust that you will accompany her home . . ."
". . . really, nurse. I have full faith in Minako's capabilities . . . make it home in one piece."
Minako groaned in agony as bright light filtered in through the slits of her eyelids that she had managed to open.
"Ah . . . awake . . . I'll go ask her what she wants."
"It's really not necessary . . . I'm gonna . . . go."
"How are you feeling dear?" a gentle voice asked her, motherly. Minako scrunched up her face in pain as she struggled to open her eyes all the way. With the aid of strong arms, she managed to sit up.
"Rei . . .?" she inquired weakly. Her hopeful tone didn't go unnoticed by the occupants in the room.
A warm chuckle greeted her.
"No dear. It's Nurse Rika," the middle-aged woman warmly introduced herself, her round face bore a comforting smile. "But if you want Rei, she's sitting down back there and – Miss Hino! What are you doing with the door?!"
Her ears ringing with the sudden shout, Minako heard a faint curse as a door grudgingly slid closed and footfalls growing louder as someone despondently padded to her side. Through her blurry vision, she saw violet eyes. A set of extremely annoyed violet eyes set in elegant features that were framed in curtains of black. Her heart skipped a beat.
"See nurse? She looks perfectly fine to me. A little doped but fine," Rei diagnosed grumpily and hastily whirled around to head for the door.
"Not so fast young lady," Nurse Rika warned and the retreating girl halted in her steps.
The plump nurse then faced Minako, her stern expression softening. "Are you able to walk home on your own Miss Aino?"
She could practically see Rei waiting on bated breath for her reply, looking as though the blonde's very answer could either sentence her to a tormented march to the gallows or to blissful freedom. It was plain as day that Rei couldn't wait to be rid of Minako and she told herself that it was a good sign – she was beginning to have an even bigger effect on the girl. She began calculating and working out the consequences of whatever answer she could possibly give, swiftly coming to a decision. It was funny how her brain wouldn't cooperate with her during math, but would gladly do so now. At long last, drama class in Primary school would serve her well. To the gallows it is my dear Rei.
"I-I . . . Oooh my head . . . !" Minako placed the back of a hand against her forehead and started swaying dizzily, reaching out blindly with her other hand as if struggling to remain above overwhelming waters. She heard a gasp from Nurse Rika as her motherly arms quickly wrapped around her to keep her from toppling off the bed. She's buying it. Hehe.
But the most important question was whether Rei did.
"Miss Hino! Help me keep her upright while I get the wash cloth!" the nurse said urgently.
"Why don't you prop her up against the headboard-"
"Just hold her!"
With her eyes still closed in feigned agony, she felt the sturdy arms of the nurse unwind from her and were quickly replaced with ones that were slim, yet firm. Rei's arms . . . She truly felt dizzy now. Among the unforeseen circumstances that she might have encountered upon faking her wooziness, the chances of this occurring was probably slim to none, and the fact that it was indeed happening, almost made her pass out again.
She nervously opened her eyes a crack and saw the raven-haired girl scowling to herself while deliberately looking off at the wall to her right, as if fiercely denying that she was indeed holding the blonde. The hold she had around Minako was loose, flaccid, keeping the blonde away from bodily contact in as much distance as her arms would allow, which obviously resulted in their positioning being awkward, with Minako's upper body weighing on Rei's stiffly outstretched arms, creating an unstable equilibrium. Minako could feel the bookworm's lithe arms start to tremble as they strained to keep her upright, and at the same time, to prevent their owner from falling flat onto the blonde. Which would be disastrous, Minako reminded herself firmly, heavily beating down the urge to pull Rei on top of her. I'm supposed to be fervently wishing that her arms hold up. Yes, that's right.
Then realizing that she was a little too stiff for someone who was light-headed, she instantly relaxed, faking a groan of pain as her head began to loll back, unsupported. As expected, the arm that was reinforcing the gradually weakening one around her upper back quickly darted out, over and around, to catch Minako's head just before it reached its nadir, just in time to prevent further injury that would've been caused by a neck sprain. Of course, Minako was ready to halt her head's descent in case she had to, but the other girl's hand was already under it, hesitatingly cupping its base. Slender fingers tangled themselves unintentionally among her blonde tresses as Rei held Minako's head up, and she had to swallow a sigh of contentment that rose in her throat. It wasn't long before she realized that the ebondy-haired girl's arms were shaking more violently and in order for her head to remain safely cradled in the other girl's hand, Rei had to move in closer.
Minako held her breath as the other girl tentatively inched nearer, her body warmth washing over the blonde and blanketing all rational thoughts.
Rei cleared her throat in what Minako thought was embarrassment. She opened her eyes weakly, reminding herself to keep them unfocused for at least a few seconds so that her dizzy spell would seem genuine.
Her heart skipped a beat.
A faint dusting of pink coloured Rei's fair cheeks delicately, betraying the embarrassment that she so ardently tried to conceal with an expression of indifference. The girl's full lips twitched in one corner, clearly portraying her uneasiness. It was . . . endearing. She doubted that she would see another blush like that from the bookworm any time soon, so she strove to imprint it in her mind.
Minako's eyes flickered to Rei's violet ones which were burning with a simmering intensity as the arms around her tensed. Before she could ponder on the flashes of lightning emotions that streaked across fields of violet, there was a sudden transition in those deep eyes as they blinked vacant and Rei's mind took off into her own mysterious dimension. Why was the other girl showing such strong emotions just holding her? What was she thinking of? Perhaps it had to do with the immense pride only Minako's astute observations picked up. She'd concluded, after analyzing the other girl's mannerisms from the instant she held Minako in her arms, that it wasn't the kind of pride that led to one's fall. Rather, it was the kind that was painstakingly built, when under pressure by oneself, or by external sources, to become or remain independent - the kind so commonly seen in successful people who had spent their childhood in the incarcerating cages of society's ills, like poverty or disharmony and discords of all possible fashions.
A survivor's pride.
What had Rei been through? And was holding someone a hurt to one's pride? She supposed that it was, to some extent, but surely it couldn't affect Rei this much. There must be something else. Something that Rei probably wouldn't tell her, ever.
Curiosity, blended with a dash of uncertainty, crashed around within her. She wanted to know Rei. Yet, the level of damage she saw in those violet gems seemed to be warning her against taking another step into the unknown. She didn't know if it was possible, but the bottomless depth to Rei just got deeper with the sight of indiscernible emotions she saw swimming within her eyes. They were so . . . raw. She knew though, that they wouldn't be exposed for all to see if the dark-haired girl had known she was being watched by the supposedly unwell blonde. Which came the question: How much of the real Rei had she been introduced to? She recalled that there was a slight inflection in Rei's voice when she had been talking about cookbooks back at the lake. Well, she knew it wasn't the cookbooks per se, but the mention her mother that had caused it. Minako was attentive that way. And the fact that Rei had tried to mask the quiver in her voice told Minako plenty of how the topic of her mother wasn't opened for discussion. There were innumerable questions that Minako wanted to be answered, yet, how was she to go about it?
How far should I tread? I . . . don't want to risk our . . . friendship. If that's what you could call it. I don't even know what kind of relationship we have now. It's impersonally cold one moment, genially lukewarm in another, then provokingly scalding the next. As though we're strangers, friends and enemies all at once. Things like that shouldn't be possible right? It's nonsensical!
Her thoughts were interrupted by the light scratching of fingers against her scalp as Rei shifted to whip her head around impatiently to look over her shoulder, presumably to search for the nurse who was taking longer than usual to get a washcloth. As Rei turned, strands of her glorious raven hair fell onto Minako's face, coming to rest on her cheeks, nose, and forehead like silken threads, caressing her skin. Just as Minako was reveling in the sheer softness of it all, her nose picked up a peculiar smell which immediately snapped her out of her reverie. It was fragrant and weighty, sharp and sweet. It smelled familiar, but she couldn't place a finger on what it was exactly. She was sure it wasn't a type of perfume or shampoo as it carried a particular quality to it. It just wasn't . . . marketable. It was too exotic. She'd caught a whiff of this same scent just last week. It was strongest on Monday, and by Wednesday, it had faded. Today being a Monday, meant it was more than noticeable. Her observation had instantly ruled out any sort of bathroom product, unless Rei washed her hair only on Mondays and not on any other day after, which was impossible because then, her hair wouldn't be able to maintain its luster and health. Plus, Rei smells nice every day. Alright, I'm starting to get biased. Very bad.
Then, as if deciding for her that this was all the swooning for one day, a single strand of Rei's hair began tickling her nose.
It itched. She tried holding it back in but failed.
Her loud and unglamorous sneeze rocked her body and brought the bookworm's attention back to Minako in less than a heartbeat. Mortified, Minako stared innocently up Rei.
"Your hair tickled me," she explained quickly at the amused look on the ebony-haired girl's face.
Rei emitted a bark of laughter. "And I suppose they'll start slithering about my head, hissing and gnashing their venomous fangs while they turn you into stone with their red, beady eyes?"
"Don't feel so full of yourself, Medusa. You might wake up tomorrow looking like Homer Simpson, I can assure you," Minako shot back, though inwardly she chuckled as she knew very well that she would rather inhale another tube of ammonia than damage a single strand of hair from Rei's beautiful mane.
When Rei gave her a confused look, it was her turn to laugh. "It's pop culture reference, you hermit! Don't you ever watch television?"
"And waste my time with that stupid box while I could be reading a book?"
"Nerd."
"Name calling now eh Barbie?"
"Why yes, Ken!"
"I bear absolutely no resemblance to him."
"I'm sorry, you're right. Now that I have a closer look, I'm pretty sure he doesn't have C cups . . . Oooh, scary glare. Does that mean I'm right?"
"St-stop staring you pervert!"
"Well, you're not denying, so I suppose I've hit the mark- Hey hey, don't hide them! Millions of women would kill to be able to flaunt those!"
"And I know millions more who would aid me in the hiding of your paltry body. I have yet to get back at you for the near death experience back at the lab."
"Tsk tsk. Such violence. Do you need a therapist?"
Rei's eyes narrowed dangerously at the aggravating blonde. "You know, I could just remove my arms now and you'll float away by the weightlessness of your head alone."
"Then I'll just hold on to you," she said softly, then gave a visible start at realizing what had poured out of her mouth, unbidden. The crystal sincerity in her lowered voice stunned both herself and the girl holding her, bringing their childish banter to an abrupt close. She released a nervous giggle in an attempt to defuse the awkward atmosphere that she had created, hoping that Rei would take it as a joke. The other girl's mouth opened and closed, trying to form words but not quite succeeding, as if she was having an inner turmoil whether to perceive Minako's line as one of jest or not.
Footsteps against the infirmary's floor sounded behind both of them. "Sorry I took so long ladies. Couldn't remember where I put it."
Rei extricated herself from the blonde quickly and stood aside while Nurse Rika moved in to place the wet washcloth on Minako's forehead and gently laid her down on the bed. She felt a chill hit her skin when Rei moved away, and she found herself yearning for that contact once again, even if it was for another second. The mattress she lay on felt like concrete in comparison to Rei's arms, as stiff as they had been.
Still berating herself for so pathetic a slip-up, she watched as the bookworm hurriedly went to lean her back against a wall and fold her arms broodingly.
"Have a good night's rest tonight dear, you'll feel all better tomorrow. Oh, and you might experience more dizzy spells now and then. Which reminds me . . ." Nurse Rika craned her neck to look levelly at the obstinate bookworm and met her defiant look with one of utmost authority. "You will walk Miss Aino home."
To Minako's evident surprise and delight, Rei visibly deflated.
--
Rei huffed and puffed her way up the stairs to the walkway leading to the train station. She grumbled under her breath as she lugged two laptop cases and her hefty book up the first flight of steps, while convincing herself that the next five flights would be over in a blink of an eye. Before this, she'd never realized how cumbersome her book was, and regretted not leaving it behind in her locker back at school. Her skin started tingling at the first layer of perspiration that had begun forming and her legs had started protesting against such abuse. So where was Minako all this time while she was suffering?
She was at the top.
That blasted blonde had moaned and groaned about how her head still hurt and how she felt too weak to walk, let alone carry her laptop case. And Rei, seeing the other girl teetering and tottering on her unsteady feet, had so kindly agreed to help her carry it. To say that Minako's grin after handing it over would do the Cheshire cat proud, would be a sorry understatement.
The scheming ingrate had swiftly fastened Rei's bangs to her head with another of her seemingly endless red hairclips, spun around, and with a flash of her scarlet ribbon, skipped up all six flights of stairs, laughter petering off the further she went. Had her hands not been occupied then, she would've smacked the golden-haired minx upside her head without hesitation.
She should have known! Now, her lungs were burning and her legs had started rejecting any more torture by slowing down. The animatedly cheering blonde at the top of all six flights of stairs did nothing to ease her tiring muscles, and the growing storm clouds assembling themselves above her head were charging up to deliver the deadliest lightning ever. She briefly weighed between the prime choices of rare and medium-rare.
"Give me an 'R', 'R'! Give me an 'E', 'E'! Give me an 'I', 'I'! What does it speeeeelll?? Rei! I can't hear you . . . Rei! One more time! REI!!"
I'm definitely going for rare.
She clenched her teeth in a furious effort to ignore the burning sensation that was wrapping her legs. The agony of it all. She really had to give it to those Aztecs and their temples.
"North, South, East and West! Rei, Rei, is the best! North, South, East and West! Rei, Rei, is the best!"
That. Was. It. When, and if, she made it to the top, she was going to wring Minako's neck with her bare hands till she turned blue. Wait, why stop there? Purple's a lovely colour.
Halfway up the third flight of steps, the blonde began to add more flavour to her cheers, waving and jumping about wildly like some rabid primate on crack. As if things couldn't get any worse, her spectacles started slipping on the skin of her nose bridge, made slick by her trickling perspiration. She tried to nudge it up with her shoulder and only made it slip even more. With her vision blurring and her limbs feeling like they would detach any moment, Rei braced herself and increased her pace.
"Go Rei!! Clapclapclap. Go Rei!! Clapclapclap. Go Rei!! Clapclapclap."
I'm going to kill her. No. Skin her alive then toss her into a vat of the purest Black Sea salt.
Breaths coming out in laboured pants, she heaved herself upwards with all the strength she had left and staggered up the final step. Minako squealed in excitement.
Stumbling to the side of the walkway, she dropped her load and doubled over to place her hands on her knees to catch her fast disappearing breath.
"Yay! Rei is sooo strong, and sooo cute, and-" Minako skipped towards her and halted in her next few words as she received a particularly murderous death glare from the now ruddy-faced girl, "Soooo scary."
Rei panted and maintained her glare's steady heat. "You know . . . I could . . . be . . . in the library . . . reading . . . peacefully. But what am I . . . doing here . . . now?"
It was a rhetorical question, but Minako felt like answering it anyway. "Well, with your scowl . . ." she contemplated for a while, "Protecting me from lecherous old men, swindling shopkeepers and batty old women with umbrellas."
"All the while being your camel?" Rei spat furiously, "And I do not scowl!"
Minako pretended to search around in her pockets. "Where's my mirror when you need it?"
"Minako!"
"All right, all right. I'm sorry."
Rei would have accepted the apology if not for the giggle at the end of that sentence. "Uh huh. Yeah right."
"Have it your way Miss Sarcasm," the blonde gave a casual shrug and grinned, thoughtfully fishing out something from her pocket.
Unaware of the blonde's movements, Rei straightened up and was about to resume justifying her case of unfair treatment and the cruelty of slavery when something white and soft touched her face. It traveled from her forehead to her chin, assiduously dabbing away the beads of sweat and their salty trails slowly, delicately. Her face feeling moist and cool, she watched in stunned silence as Minako trotted over to a nearby dustbin to throw the damp sheet of tissue away.
Rei lifted a hand to touch her face absentmindedly, her eyes still widened in surprise.
There, that girl had done it again - extinguished Rei's blazing temper effortlessly, as though snuffing out a candle flame with a light puff. That wasn't supposed to happen. It wasn't supposed to be possible. When Rei was angry, she stayed angry. It was like a routine, a habit, that had been ingrained into her by none other than herself since God knows when.
At the tender age of four, her temper had been legendary in school. She had flung wooden building blocks across the classroom when she was told that her father wouldn't be able to fetch her home due to an extended meeting. She had screamed and shrieked at the teacher when she had confiscated her story book. She had gone after some insolent boy with a plastic spade with reckless abandon when he had pushed her out of the sandbox.
Right now, she was supposed to be verbally bashing up the impertinent girl before her.
But was she doing so? No.
She was standing rooted to the spot in utter and complete astonishment all because of a single piece of tissue paper. How pathetic. This was the second time in a day that Minako had stunned her into speechlessness and it was decidedly worrying. She hoped it wouldn't become a trend.
Vexed at having been taken off her guard, she pushed up her spectacles sourly.
A melodious voice near her ear jolted her out of her thoughts. "Have you ever thought of wearing contacts?"
"What?" Rei asked a little too harshly, startled at Minako's proximity to her and the randomness of that question.
"Contact lenses. Those thin films that take over the job of spectacles," the blonde explained slowly and unaffectedly, leaning in to peer at Rei's eyes through her maroon frames.
Rei waved her away, but not before taking note of what good facial features the other girl had. "I don't like sticking things into my eyes."
The bubbly girl laughed. "But it'll enhance your pretty eyes. Why don't you give it a try? Hmm?"
"Like how you tried sticking a tube full of ammonia up your nose, only to realize what a bad decision that was?" Rei snorted.
Touché. Minako chuckled.
Rei bent down to retrieve her book and laptop case. "No thanks, I won't take my chances. I learn from the mistakes of others," she held the eye contact of the blonde to ensure her message got through clearly and started walking.
"But think of the advantages! The freedom! Hindrances in your reading pleasure will be a thing of the past, yesterday's issue!" Minako called out to the girl who was now a good distance away.
Rei stopped in her tracks. Now that is a valid argument.
There was a pattering of running footsteps before the golden-haired girl appeared beside her, an expectant look in her sparkling cerulean orbs. She must have sensed that she was winning this debate.
Rei looked at her from the corner of her eye. "Just how long have you been practicing that sales pitch of yours?" she narrowed her eyes questioningly at the bubbly girl, "What do you have to gain from this anyway?"
A closer look at your beautiful eyes. "Absolutely nothing!" Minako spread her arms and declared proudly.
When Rei scoffed and resumed heading toward the station, the golden-haired girl added, "I just have your best interests at heart. You should be flattered!"
"I'll think about it."
Rei wondered if it was too late to take that back. She winced when a particularly loud squeal burst forth beside her. A warm hand wrapped around her own and before she knew it, she was being dragged at an unholy speed by the skipping blonde in front of her.
The tinkling of Minako's airy laughter floated over her like a breezy reprieve on a sweltering day.
--
Rei stood awkwardly in the middle of the doorway as she entertained an inner turmoil on whether to turn around to make her way home, or to step forward onto strange terrain.
"Are you going to stand there all day?" Minako asked nonchalantly as she sat comfortably on the armrest of a large L-shaped sofa that lined a corner of the living room, attention diverted toward a couple of letters in her hands that she had collected from her mailbox.
Rei was so preoccupied with her own thoughts that she missed the question. She shuffled uneasily into the threshold of Minako's home, slowly taking in her surroundings and the lush furniture that was placed strategically to allow maximum movement and minimum waste of space. Her eyes flickered here and there to take in as much of her new environment as possible. The sofas were snow white while a selected other furniture were of darker colours to provide a contrast. The coffee table that Minako had dumped her laptop case on for example, was a deep chocolate, and the fluffy rug beneath it was a wine-red with cream coloured swirls. A 42-inch plasma television was set into the wall on a rotating base directly opposite the sofa such that it could be spun around to face the dining room on the other side.
Minako never struck her as the wealthy sort.
She took a hesitant step forward and stopped, unsure of the customs of Minako's home. The blonde's shoe-clad feet were dangling in mid-air as she flipped open the contents of one letter, and Rei wondered if she should take off her own shoes or leave them on. As much as she wanted to test her limits around Minako, she figured that messing up her house would be way past any lines drawn. After all, she firmly believed that a home should always be respected. So without further thought, she bent down to remove her shoes and placed them quietly beside the still open door which she shut softly before turning back around to face the other girl.
Rei still felt tense. She didn't deal well with new places. In fact, she really wanted to go home though it wasn't a particularly pleasant place to be in. There was a good reason why she had been remaining in the school library till late every day just so she could return home the latest that she could.
Minako turned to look at Rei curiously when she gave no reply to her earlier question. "You all right?"
"Why wouldn't I be?" She gripped the handle of her laptop case tighter.
"You've been rooted to that same spot for five minutes already. Just so you know, I have to clean the house on my own and the last thing I need is to scrub off Rei-sized footprints off the marble."
Rei grumbled under her breath and walked forward onto the rug. It felt awkward to be in a foreign house.
Then something the blonde said before registered in her mind. "You clean the house on your own?" Rei asked quizzically.
"Yes. My parents will be away for most of this entire year so I basically have to do everything on my own." Rei picked up the dejected note that was woven in with the golden-haired girl's explanation and cocked her head to one side in surprise. Of all the times that Minako had stuck to her, Rei had never once heard the blithe girl speak so . . . sadly. She didn't think that the blonde could possibly be capable of being remotely unhappy.
"So anyway," Minako added quickly to fill in for the awkwardness and gestured toward the sofa with a sweep of her arm, "Have a seat, I'll make you some coffee."
"I hate coffee."
"Me too. It's the gesture that counts." She tossed that opinion over her shoulder with a laugh as she slid off the arm rest and headed toward the kitchen.
Rei sat down ramrod straight on the soft cushioning of the long sofa, stiffly placing both her book and laptop case on the coffee table, unable to relax. She hated it when she had absolutely no idea how she should behave in another person's home. They always told her to make herself at home. She had a feeling though, that if they knew how she was in her own, they would take that offer back in an instant. Not many people would love her combing the house in search of books and heaping them into her arms so that she may spread them out later in a mess to excitedly flip through them.
She lowered her head and shut her eyes tiredly. Security was essential for her. The familiarity of things soothed her. And Minako's home was far from familiar.
Rei knew though, that her unfamiliar surroundings had only a small part to do with her lousy mood. She sighed and slumped back into the cushions when she was sure that the blonde would be busy for quite a while. She needed to sort herself out and it had been ages ago since it was a necessity. She felt exhausted, as though her emotions were given a run on a high speed treadmill and the only way to stop was to crash into one another.
She . . . needed time away from everything to sift out her thoughts. She needed space. It felt as though an avalanche of alien emotions had mercilessly crashed down upon her in so short a time span. Everything was too overwhelming and difficult to understand, though she had more than her fair share of suspicions where they all stemmed from.
She unfolded her arms and looked down at their pale skin. They had held the blonde just hours ago.
She placed her palm to a cool cheek. They had been wiped by the blonde's efforts about an hour ago.
Rei lowered her head and squeezed her eyes shut in frustration, bangs hanging loosely now that they were free. There were too many things that were being mixed and meshed together in her addled mind that her body felt the burnout as well. She couldn't wait to get home to a cold shower as much as she disliked the cold. She felt it would do her a world of good. Her world which currently felt as though it had been thrown off its axis.
Rei plucked her spectacles off and pinched the bridge of her nose. This was . . . confusing. Her head hurt. She felt disorientated.
When Minako had lain in her arms, the feel of another's body felt so foreign yet seemed to beckon her to tighten her hold on the other girl. Her emotions had warred with each other and had conjured up a maelstrom of memories that had inundated her and left her weakened and exposed. Then her pride had stepped in and saved both itself and her by barring her from irreversible actions. Minako could pry and shove her way towards her, but Rei would never allow herself to encourage the blonde by pulling her closer, literally and metaphorically. She simply wouldn't be able to live with herself should she willingly let the blonde in another step where all others had failed.
She is in no way any more special than all the rest, Rei had to remind herself firmly. And she shall be treated as such.
Her mind then flashed back to her unaided hike up Mount Fuji – No, her excruciating walk up the flights of steps. Minako had done yet another mind-boggling, shell-shocking thing.
Why does she keep catching me off guard? I hate it when that happens.
Rei groaned out loud as confusion dominated the rest of her muddled feelings.
"Hey grumpy! What's bitten your lumpy?" Minako yelled from the kitchen. She must've heard her.
The hell? Startled from her deep thoughts, Rei jerked upright, her sudden action sending her spectacles tumbling from her lap to the floor with a clack. Ignoring the jovial laughter echoing from the kitchen, she bent down to retrieve them but froze when she heard frightful skittering noises. Her blood ran cold.
"Misty come back here!"
Oh no…Oh nonononono!!
"Yeeaaarrughh!"
With a cry of utter terror, Rei sprang up onto the couch, spectacles forgotten, as a grey blur zipped out from around a corner and toward her at an incredible velocity. It skidded on the smooth marble, picked itself up and hurtled forward with renewed vigor. With a squeak, she scrambled along the length of the sofa, her feet sinking into the velvety cushioning as she attempted to evade it. She plastered herself against the wall behind her as she stood on the sofa, praying that the ball of fur would be dumb enough to not know how to leap onto it.
It did.
"Ahhhh!"
When Minako flew out of the kitchen at Rei's commotion, she would never have expected the adorable scene before her. Here was the aloof girl, hugging the wall as if her very life depended on it as she squeezed her eyes shut, face a portrait of fright as she fixed herself stiffly like a block of wood to the sofa while Misty pranced around her feet. Minako giggled softly. She was supposed to be rushing to carry her puppy away from the other girl, but she couldn't help but stare.
Then Minako spotted the raven-haired girl's spectacles lying in a maroon tangle on the rug. That explained why the bookworm was glancing around in panic. The girl couldn't see clearly. She was about to stoop down to pick them up for the petrified girl but one look into her eyes stopped all movement.
As Rei's eyes scanned the room quickly, her violet gaze landed on Minako, unfocused, and they glittered like freshly watered violets as they fixed imploringly on her to do something, anything. The blonde was used to looking at them through maroon frames. But now that they were uncovered, unshielded, they seemed larger than she thought they were. Like the final stroke of a masterpiece, silken raven strands fell messily into her eyes and thick, curled lashes kept her bangs from harming those precious gems.
Those fathomless almond eyes. Gods she's beautiful.
And for a moment, all Minako could do was stare in wonder.
"Minako get it away!" Rei's now shrill voice snapped her back into action and she swiftly gathered Misty into her arms and held the puppy tightly as she squirmed in her hold, eager to inspect the stranger.
Quickly, Rei clambered down from the sofa and in no time at all, had her spectacles back on and was eyeing the puppy apprehensively.
Disappointment washed over Minako as she watched the ebony-haired girl fit on her maroon frames once again.
"You never told me you had a dog!" Rei snapped at the girl before her and almost regretted it when Minako gave a little jump at the hostility swimming in her voice.
"I didn't think it was important," came her soft reply, "I'm sorry."
What harsh words that strained to burst from Rei's mouth dissipated entirely and she mellowed out, much to her own confusion. The blaze died down to flickering embers.
"I'll go keep her in my room," Minako decided with a slightly downcast expression and started towards the corridor on her left.
A cheerless Minako just didn't sit right with her. "It's . . . I- Wait!" she called out before she could stop herself.
The girl with the puppy in her arms turned questioningly.
"You . . . don't have to. Just make sure you hold it tight," Rei said awkwardly.
And in the span of time taken to snap one's fingers, a radiant smile blossomed on Minako's attractive face. Before Rei could say another word, the blonde had skipped off to the kitchen and returned with a mug of tea dangerously clasped in one hand as she cradled the puppy with both arms. Foreseeing an accident in the immediate future, Rei hurried to her and relieved her of the steaming mug.
"I have to go soon," Rei said as she settled on the sofa tensely, cupping the mug with both hands. I have things to sort out.
Minako gave a little nod and sat down beside Rei, Misty held safely in her arms. "I'll see you on the train tomorrow then. Hm . . . you've never told me where you live. I always see you by the time I get on," she tapped her bottom lip thoughtfully and took a wild guess, "Shimbashi?"
"Mm," Rei nodded, "Three stops before yours."
"Am I smart or what?" the blonde pumped a fist into the air.
The bookworm snorted. "Watch out, your head's inflating."
Minako slapped Rei on the arm. "Drink your tea." Misty yelped in what seemed like agreement at her owner's reprimanding action and struggled to pounce on Rei.
"Hey hey!" the raven-haired girl flung an arm out to in case she needed to defend herself and inched away from Minako and her puppy. She briefly pinpointed the position of her weighty book on the coffee table and shifted closer to it. Shield? Bat? Pile driver? All of a sudden it looked very versatile.
"Oh come on," Minako rolled her eyes, "She's harmless!"
"Well, nice to meet you Harmless. But I think I'll keep my distance all the same," Rei shimmied a tad more to her left for emphasis. Settling down, she sipped her tea and inhaled its rich, leafy scent, allowing it to soothe and assuage the lingering effects of the pooch's terrifying assault. She gazed down into the deep green of her tea and found the reflection of her own eyes, made a dark brown by the liquid, staring up at her. They looked weary, and Rei, not wanting to dwell on unpleasant issues in the current moment, puffed into her tea, and the ripples quickly distorted the image in it.
"So . . . you don't like dogs?" came the question that Rei had been expecting.
She nodded in affirmation and proceeded to explain, "I got bitten by one when I was young."
This perked Minako's interest. "What happened?"
"Nothing much," Rei waved a hand dismissively but markedly refused to meet Minako's eyes, "Just got bitten by a stray and had to go for stitches."
Minako caught that. The girl was probably only telling half the truth, but Minako decided to let it slip for now.
Sympathy shone on the blonde's face but was quickly replaced by protectiveness. "But Misty's not a stray. Besides, she's just a puppy with wee little baby jaws, right cutie pie?" the blonde cooed as she held the dog up to her face and nuzzled her nose against its wet one. It yipped in agreement and Minako chuckled. "See? She wants to get to know you!" Not as much as I do.
"All that matters to me is that she has teeth. They aren't called chompers for nothing," Rei pointed out, "Anyway, I'm not going anywhere near Pissy."
"It's Misty!"
"Whatever." There seemed to be an undertone of amusement in Rei's brusque reply and it eased the occupants of the room into a comfortable silence.
It lasted for a few minutes before it was broken. "Rei?"
"Hm?"
"Are you doing anything this weekend?" The blonde waited patiently for the bookworm's reply.
She took a long, contemplative sip of her tea. "I'm busy. I'm busy every weekend," Rei said simply without elaborating.
Minako was unsatisfied. "Oh . . . with?"
She watched as Rei stiffened and seemed to be unable to decide what to say. When she did speak, Minako found herself thoroughly surprised. "Shrine work." Rei tilted her head back and finished off her tea.
"Shrine work?" Minako echoed, her eyes wide.
"Yes shrine work."
She'd expected the dark-haired girl to say something along the lines of 'holing up in the public library' or maybe even 'prepping for the next month's tests', but this clearly beat everything. Minako vaguely wondered if she was lying just to avoid spending more time with her.
"You . . . work at a shrine? How much do you get paid?"
"Nothing."
"Ehh??"
Rei wasn't telling her everything and she wasn't expecting her to. But it left Minako on the lurch, each of Rei's curt answers fed the growing doubt of their credibility. Doing shrine chores on weekends and earning nothing out of it? What sane teenager would willingly do that? As preposterous as that notion was, it would certainly explain the exotic scent that Minako caught whiff of every now and then. Incense, she thought and smiled at her clever deduction. Strongest on Monday and fades by Wednesday. It makes perfect sense now. Maybe she isn't lying after all.
Looking at the flabbergasted blonde, Rei sighed and decided to reveal more than she had initially wanted. She was probably going to regret this. "I go back to help Grandpa with the shrine chores."
Grandpa? That's interesting. The ebony-haired girl's answer cleared up some fuzz, but it wasn't enough. "You 'go back'?"
"I used to live there." Rei's reply was terse and clearly hinted at how she wanted the interrogation to end here and now. Hell, why was she even contributing to it?
Predictably, Minako paid no mind to the warnings. "So how come you don't live there anymore?"
Face a stony mask, Rei rose rigidly and placed her now empty cup firmly on the polished top of the table. "I have to be going." This was enough. Any more and the blonde would know too much for comfort. She was drawing the line here, in permanent ink this time compared to the chalked, easily obscured one before.
Before Minako could blink, the dark-haired beauty had swept up her belongings and was striding purposefully across the gleaming marble toward the door. Everything was happening so abruptly and fast that the retreating girl's name was all she could stutter out. "R-Rei!"
The bookworm's pace slowed and she eventually stopped with her back still facing the stunned blonde. "I'll see you when I see you," she said briskly.
Fingers wrapped around the door handle delicately and with a swish of her raven mane, she was gone, door clicking closed with a tone of finality.
Me thinks I screwed up.
Author's Notes : It's been, what, a month? And I have a perfectly good excuse for that. One word: School.
Now I've pretty much shocked myself with the length of this chapter. I can still remember the time when I was struggling to make 1000 words. The story writes itself ne? Well, I had a sudden burst of inspiration, and I couldn't bear to chop up this chapter into two separate ones. I figured the emotional impact would've been lost.
Well, this being an extremely long chapter even for me, there are sure to be some errors here and there though I've practically dissected the entire chapter to scour for loose ends. So read and review please. It's always nice to know what my readers think. Makes my day really.
mantikora: Whoa . . . haha. Impatient huh. Well I must thank you for waiting a month for this update then. o.O That is if you're still around reading this. I had to brush a few cobwebs off this fic. XD
LunarMiko07: Minako's getting attached to Rei. But will the opposite happen as well? Heh. I'm not saying anything. And Kannazuki no Miko! Gosh it's like the best shoujoai anime I've watched. Though I thought they could really do away with the mechas. Oh and Souma as well. Really got on my nerves. "I'll protect you Himeko! I promise!" . . . honestly, they should have a sequel without Souma. Well, in my opinion anyway. XP
0xnaomix0: Don't put yourself down like that. Practice makes perfect. Everyone needs to start somewhere yea? So here you go, another chapter. A really long one at that. Hope it satisfies you. :)
clover: Yes I've finally updated. And oh maybe you're regretting telling me to write more. Heh. I've gotta congratulate you if you made it through this chapter. I myself ended up looking like this O.O after I was done editing.
trusuprise: Mm. Thank you for the advice really. I still have a bit of problem juggling dialogue, character development and plot development all at once. Phew. But hey I'm getting better at this. Oh and I appreciate it a lot that you've bothered to give me long replies on your secret to updating and writing. (Big, wide smile) Once again, thanks for the constructive critism. It helped muchos. :)
secretedreamer: I'll hold you to your promise. Muahahaha. Regretting already? XD Have you figured out what Minako's "Only one way to solve that" is? Oh and yes KnM so rocks. The art is so beautiful! You can practically see Chikane's emotions swimming about her eyes. She reminds me a little of Rei. Out of curiosity, did you burst out in tears at the last episode? I did. Hm . . . have you watched Strawberry Panic:)
Noah-13: I'm glad you like it all so far. Well, I've taken plenty of time, so here's a particularly long chapter for you. XD
TweekinTinkaToy: Yes I agree that books would naturally be Ami's forte. But Rei easily struck me as the hard working type. Plus, I thought Rei being a bookworm would prove to be quite an interesting aspect to write on. Well, I think it's adorable that she loves books so much. And about the dexterous fingers part . . . (mysterious smile) . . . all in due time my friend. All in due time. XP
balticbard: I didn't exactly get the part where you said I was in college. And uh . . . I'm not American. I'm not even caucasian for that matter. And of course I will finish this fic . . . it's been such fun to write it. :)