沈黙の音
Sounds of Silence
IMPORTANT! Read this! DL, DR!
Pairings: NaruMai. My one and only Ghost Hunt OTP. And a dash of one-sided!GeneMai.
Genres: Drama & Romance
Disclaimer: I will never own Ghost Hunt, 'kay? All rights reserved by all concerned parties.
Second Entry
In Which Oliver Davis Gets a Not-so-New Nickname
The alarm rang again. In my sleep-hazed mind, I had to reach out half-blind and grope the table for the alarm clock to turn it off. When I managed to shut the annoying thing up, I turned to look at my twin and sighed. Gene was sleeping on the bed next to mine, his jet-black hair neatly splayed on his pillow. It had come as no surprise for me that Gene was always the one that most people always prefer to talk to. Sure, what was quiet, studious Oliver to bright, talkative Gene? And why did we have to be twins, for Pete's sake? And who is Pete anyway? Oh… I'm not even in school yet and already I was a blank mess.
I sighed with contempt at his soundness in sleeping and went to accomplish my morning shower.
"Noll?"—in a form of a sleepy groan.
I stepped out of the shower in a lightheaded stupor with steam curling around my ankles like sneaky kittens, a towel firmly wrapped around my waist as I stumbled back to my room. Gene was finally up, rubbing his eyes into alertness and rumpling his hair out of shape with a vengeance as he arched his stiff neck.
Good morning, sleepyhead, I thought sarcastically. He caught it and grinned blearily at me.
"G'morning," he replied out loud, and jumped out of his bed to jump me. I winced at his weight, quickly shook his face off my hair, and began dressing quickly, while he sighed in defeat and walked off into the bathroom, almost knocking the cross that hung on the door off its hook on the way out.
I sighed, and straightened the wooden crucifix apologetically.
Sorry for asking, but why do I have to get stuck being the twin of the loudest psychic klutz in the whole history of parapsychology? I thought, and crossed myself mentally. I don't take too much stock in religion nowadays, but I think a little prayer (if that little question counts) won't hurt. I… guess?
"—No~ll, I forgot my—"
In my frustration, I almost groaned out loud. I always knew you'd forget your towel again. Stupid.
"See you in a few, then?" Gene threw me a worried look as we parted for lunch. He had said something about "chatting up" someone somewhere… I didn't remember the details because I was busy doing my essay about bodily systems at the time, but I hoped that whoever Gene's new conquest was, she still has the heart to go home all by herself without taking out a leash and tagging him along as a pet. Or something. We were rather conflicted on the social issue of girlfriends because Gene has had too many and I too few… What's that? Is there such a thing as "too few" when it comes to girlfriends? And did my pet rock (It was a limestone brought by Martin from Egypt. Are you perhaps thinking that it was something that I just picked up off from the mud?) count as a girlfriend? Was it even a girl?
God, I am going crazy because I can't find anyone to talk to. And not because they were unwilling to talk to me too. It's because I'm unable to answer back at them. I'm just one of those Billy no-mates that soon go bonkers either from sheer genius or sheer idiocy, not that I want to find out which one'll fit me sooner than was healthy for me.
Without no one else to talk to (not that I really could…), I find myself walking up to the rooftop to eat my lunch peacefully. Which was the most cliché thing that has ever happened to me, by the way.
Then I realized that someone had already occupied what would otherwise be the silent emptiness of the place that I would have dearly liked. So much for my idea then. I had turned to go back and resign myself to the dullness of the ordinary student body downstairs, but before I can proceed, a voice called me right back.
"Davis-senpai?"
Er, was that the girl from three days ago? Taniyama… Mai? Right? No way, now that Gene's not here, she'll certainly mistake me for—
"Um… what are you doing here? I don't think you're in any way a rooftop person… I meant…"
I thought so. I have to get away before I get a confession or something!
"Uh…!"
I steeled myself and turned to look back at the girl that I haven't noticed before, sitting on the ground with her back on the chicken-wire fence that separated the suicidal from the forty-eight-foot drop below. She was staring at me with a slight smile, her vibrant brown eyes wide.
I opened my mouth from sheer force of habit, then closed it again. She looked puzzled at my apparent hesitancy to speak, or some such notion. Well, I hadn't brought anything to write on…
"Ah," she finally said, "Are you the other one? Oliver-san, I mean?"
I nodded wryly, and crossed my arms. She frowned at me.
"Why won't you answer me properly, though?"
I smiled sarcastically at her. She sighed.
"Twins really are that polar opposite when they're compared with one another in terms of personality, huh… Davis-senpai—I mean, Gene-senpai—" She stared at me sullenly, and I scowled back, since clearly, this was distaste at first sight. "—was so talkative when he walked me to the library yesterday at dismissal…"
Oh. So that was why I ended up going home all by myself yesterday. He was with a girl. I should've figured.
And I've always known that Gene makes enough noise for the two of us. That's what I call putting his voice into good use since mine doesn't want to work. Maybe that's the reason why God made me go mute? Nah, that's just my sense of humor, which completely sucks, and I'm not even a native of the British Isles. Ah…
Sorry.
"—Maybe the idiom 'seven persons, seven colors' holds true for you two—"
She's still talking, and I think she meant "ten persons, ten colors"… Hm, curiously, a certain Japanese is certainly getting her Japanese idioms wrong… and was getting corrected by a foreigner… What was wrong with the world today…? First, no Gene (although it was certainly a breather after listening to him sing "Hey Jude" nonstop earlier while we were on the way to school), and now this annoying girl… Tch.
"Ne…" she said with an annoyed town. "Can't you just talk to me? Do you even dislike me that much?"
I stuck out the four fingers of my right hand and patted my cheek, then made a closed fist and bumped it against my left palm. She looked confused.
I had just signed the word "mute" out, but I don't think she has studied SL, though. Hindsight overtaking me again.
"Er, wait… You can't—?"
I nodded tersely, then put my hands in my pockets as we stared at each other. I just noticed how windswept her hair was. Just how long exactly has she been out here?
I wasn't self-conscious at all as we continued our staring fest, and a few more minutes later, voila, she had torn her eyes away. Score one for Oliver Davis.
I'm such an introvert.
And Gene is such an extrovert. Figures.
"Well, if that's the case…" Taniyama Mai finally said, her face red, "um, I'm… sorry?"
I put on my why-the-question-mark face. In other words, I raised my eyebrows slightly.
She blushed even more. "I mean— it's easy to make a mistake because all the other kids here aren't like you, right?" She peered into my face as if checking if she had offended me, but my expression was still as blank as a new slate. "I'm sorry if I was insensitive…"
I just stood there like a forgotten statue, and with an indistinguishable shudder, turned and began heading towards the door.
"Hey! Naru-chan!"
Naru-chan? What? Can't even pronounce my nickname properly! And why the hell do I get stuck with a girl's honorific…
"Can we be at least friends?"
I turned to her, and made another sign that had her confused once more.
Stupid. I just told you "whatever", but I guess I can't blame you for not understanding. I then remember what my twin usually tells me.
"You're nothing but an idiot scientist, Noll."
I am. I still am, Gene.
"Enjoyed school, boys?" Luella asked us as she put a plate of broiled fish on the dining table later at dinner. We were having rice that night, so Gene and I held up our soup spoons. Gene even clattered his on the plate, making Luella glare at him pointedly. (He was hungry. And not afraid to show it.) That's because we were still not used to chopsticks. Luella and Martin weren't as deficient, so they used the traditional chopsticks and bowl.
"School was awesome," Gene declared. Luella looked expectantly at me with a smile, so I opened my mouth to speak. At least just one word, dammit.
However, why let their hopes up when they were meant to crash down?
So I closed my mouth and shook my head primly, my face going even paler with disappointment. Luella was starting to speak reproachfully at my apparent lack of motivation to try my shaky speaking ability, but Gene came to my rescue.
"Drop it, Mum. He can't. At least, not for the time being." He gave me a reassuring look, and I instantly relaxed, even though I was still rather upset by it all. Of course I wasn't showing anything. I'm not sone sort of wally who'll show anyone how upset they made me. It's just not in my book to be too vulnerable.
I finished my curry first.
Evening, I thought out loud, and departed from the table with a confusing mix of ten percent teenage angst and ninety percent disdain for nobody in particular. Don't worry, I'm still perfectly sound in the head. I'm just like that.
Ugh, this is a sucky day, so I'll leave it at that.
A/N: Sorry for the SUPER LATE UPDATE. I had been busy with my other Ghost Hunt fanfic. :( I hope you're all still out there? I promise more frequent updates from now on! Anyways, this'll be my primary work after the conclusion of 'A Tale of Two Brothers'. Hope you can read it and review if you can. It makes me happy. Really happy.