Chapter XI – Yet Another Pathetic Try

People say that after a good night's sleep, you would always feel refreshed and ready for a new day. It is obvious that the people who say such idiotic things are NOT teenagers. Even more, they most likely are old pensioners who have nothing more to do then, well, sleep all fucking day long. Things are so much more different when you are a 16 year old, which had just come back from a club where she almost got raped and received a fist in the face. Plus, add, on top of all of it, the fact that her sleep did not last more then… 7 hours from which 3 werent even in night time.

Nicole grunted deeply as she rolled from a side to the other for the…tenth time in the last quarter of hour. Well, insomnia wasn't anything new for the girl, but still, that did not made it enjoyable. Not even bearable at least. Insomnia was a bitch… but so was she. It was quite rude of her to blame the sheets or the pillow, so she tried to blame the great headache she had woken with and she had carried inside of her skull all night long. After all, it was the first fact which kept her from having a decent sleep. Nicky didn't even remember dreaming anything! That was odd, usually she remembered every single thing she dreamt, but now…her head was blank. Maybe she didn't had the patience or the time to drift in her REM sleep…

But enough with that. Was there any use to torture herself with the thoughts that she might, just might end up sleeping? At this hour? Nicole shook her head as she rose. No way…No dammed way.

There she was, the oh-so-fake one rubbing the sleep away from her eyes and grunting annoyed her nerves. The morning was soon to end, since the clock showed it was almost 10;20 am and there were signs which showed a perfect day was to come. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, the wind blew softly and…Nicole was swearing. Apparently, the water wasn't the warmest and her daily shower announced itself a little too refreshing then usually…

Nicole stepped outside her room shyly. She peeked her head to inspect the area. 'clear…' she thought as she dared an exit, closing the door behind then slowly making herself way down, in the kitchen to grab a sandwich and maybe a coffee. Much to her surprise… the house was dead of people. No sign of a human whatsoever. As she descended on the stairs, the girl built a little amount of courage inside her and began to yell after people. "Mister Gray?" she called as she came in the lobby. The only thing she received was an echo. "Monique, Javier, are you two around?" she asked again as she made herself way towards the kitchen. Inwardly, she painted inside her head a little symmetry. The way she wondered around at that moment resembled so much the first time she came to the orphanage, but this time the emotion was building up in her throat. Making herself way shyly towards the kitchen, where she firstly met the company, Nicky dared and called the grumpy red head, even if it was a lot slower.

"Kai?..." she asked sheepishly as she pushed the door open. The girl had to admit, she was expecting everyone to burst out from inside the kitchen and act as if nothing was happening. Much to her disappointment… she was alone. Only the wind made the back door hit against the wall several times. Defeated, she sighed deeply and put her hands on her hips. Well, she was totally going to deny the theory in which she just woken up in a parallel universe, which was filled with zombies and where she had to save the last remained humans from a certain death. Well, it did made her chuckle a bit, mostly because she imagined an undead version of Hagi. She could picture him so well; wearing his black coat, with greenish skin and maybe one eye out exposing brain-consuming bugs crawling out of the eye socket and maybe a part of his cheek missing showing his jaw and-

No, this had to stop. It was getting stupid. Even more, why was she thinking of that guy in first place? Well, maybe because he shut up for her? Just maybe? Nah, of course not. Mostly because in just a flash of a second everything which had happened last night ran through her head, making her slap herself across the face again. This time she let out a small 'ouch..' Apparently she had forgotten that she had a bruise on her face. Eh, who cares? Zombies are cool enough…

Slapping her face she made herself way towards the fridge, opened it and helped herself with a nice jar of jam and the bottle of fresh orange juice. What if there was no one around the place? Did that not allowed her to feed herself? Food first, then go search for the others. What, was she really all alone in that cottage? Quicker then ever, Nicole was soon enough with a couple of strawberry jammed sandwiches on a plate, and greedy chewing on one of it. She didn't even bothered to take herself a glass for the orange juice; it was good enough she decided to drop the coffee for something natural. Why care if she drank right from the bottle? Eh, and they call her irresponsible…

Soon enough, one sandwich was gone and the second one followed it close by. The bottle ended up half emptied and the plate had been thrown carelessly in the sink. She was to let the blond take care of that. Nicole was about to get her butt around and search for the others, but as soon as she felt the kitchen she felt a wave of laziness devour her thin and bony body. Well, she might as well, catch a few more hours of sleep, right? After all, she was still a kid. Well a 16-year old one, but still a kid. And she needed sleep to grow up. Yes sir…

As she made herself way upstairs, the brown haired girl busted inside and landed on the bed, face up and limbs spread pretty much everywhere on the unmade bed. But she didn't care about that. What she did are about was the thick stink around her room. Well, the clothes she wore on her last…trip did not end up in the washing machine, or not even in the laundry basket, instead, they were on the desk of her room and on the chair from the desk, and those ones were the true source of the stink. Full of cig smoke, alcohol and hell knew what 'aromas' they perfumed the whole room that way. Nicole made a face as she got up and opened the window widely. How the heck didn't she came to notice that before? But, than again, she didn't noticed the sound either…

Only a second after she opened her window, her ears had been filled with a faint tune. It was barely audible, but it was so different from the bird's songs, it made itself well heard. Nicole's forehead frowned as she tried to concentrate to defy the sound better. It was a grave sound, rhythmic and full of sadness, as if ten soprano women were crying in union. But there was something which made the brown haired girl's skin crawl. The fact that she believed the tune was actually beautiful. Nicky's hands dropped by her sides and then she hugged herself tight. The wind rushed inside her small room, carrying with it more of the song's notes. Under the refreshing breeze, her brown eyes closed as her head tiled to one side. Where had she heard this before? It was so different of what she usually listened, but yet, it sounded so familiar. Slightly narrowed her eyes, she made the connection. It resembled the sound she heard before she felt asleep on the couch, a few days ago, when she arrived. The sound of a cello… Nicole's eyes opened themselves when yet another connection was made. The other day, saya told her something about Hagi and him playing the cello… How awkward it was, but the girl felt the sudden rush to run outside, and see Hagi as he played the instrument. That if, it was him who played. It made sense, right? Who else could ever be other then him? Talking about automatic moves; Nicole spun on her heels and went outside in a blink of an eyes, not before she grabbed her black and silver pocket knife and shove it down in her back pocket.

They say music holds the power to tame even the wildest beasts, but they always say, it may rule over the darkest hearts and leave the wisest ones without words. And they were so right…

It was as if a spell had been cast over her. After several minutes from which her run turned into a calm and steady walk through the garden, Nicole found the source of the music. It was no wonder to find him, playing his instrument as if he was all alone in the world, and time itself never existed. The girl stopped herself about 10 meters away from him and stood there watching closely.

Hagi stood with his back at her, sitting on a small wooden chair, his legs bent and between them a large cello was place. He held it with his left hand while the other one held the bow and ran it smoothly over the strings. Only his hands moved, the rest of his body was solemn and motionless. What the girl noticed was that his hair was no longer held in his usual pony tail. Now it was left to fall freely over the back of his neck and shoulders. Oh, his hair, Nicole spent several minutes staring at his black wavy hair. She had such a great urge to step before and run her fingers through it, convincing herself of its silkiness, but she didn't. the brown haired girl stood in place as her body allowed itself to relax. For a few seconds she truly believed that she had fallen asleep on her own two legs, but then the bow ran over a string and made a higher note, making her snap back to reality. The reality in which he played his cello. And it was beautiful…How in the world she forgot about…about all of this? The streets, the dances... nothing compared with this. And she didn't referred to the music only. This man was so dedicated to this instrument, his moves were perfect and every single note truly felt as if it were part of a whole, it didn't only fascinated the girl; it sent shivers on the back of her neck as well. Hagi seemed… perfect. Perfect beyond reality. Beyond humanity. Nicole started to breathe hard as she felt her vision becoming slightly blurry. In a flash of a second she recalled what happened in her room last night. She recalled his face to be more certain. That pale face and that pair of blue hypnotizing eyes. The symmetry of his features… It was as if this man, this talented musician had been created by the most perfectionist mathematician out there… Even the way he talked and moved made Nicole think he was out of this world.

But then it happened. The cruel reality, the real reality had spoken, and dragged the girl out of the world of her own mind violently, as the song ended abrupt. Nicole snapped her eyes quickly and blinked them a couple of times. Yes, the trees, the sun, the cello, was all there. But most importantly…

"Nicole?.."

…him. He was there too.

The girl took a step backwards at the sound of his voice. It pierced her ears more violently then the sound of loud rock music in the noisiest of the clubs. After a fanatic look around, she gasped slightly as her eyes met the man's, in a collision so strong it made her widen her own. Her voice was lost for a few seconds, but luckily, she learnt by now this man was patient. Still she decided it wouldn't be a good idea to push her luck. She gasped and then lowered her eyes, timid and nervous. Why to say to him? Apologize, thank him, compliment him, or ask for info? As she thought about what her reply would be Nicole kicked the dirt with her foot. Seconds later, the child of her mind was born and freed from her lips in such a short and dry manor, she left like slapping herself right after she said it.

"Hi…"

Too late. Her evident stupidity and idiotic self couldn't help but grunt annoyed at her own response as she still avoided his gaze. Damn his blue eyes. Still, she consoled herself that maybe, just maybe he was wearing contacts… Even if he wasn't the type of person who would fake anything about himself.

But then she heard him rose and carry the instrument towards its case. When the clicks had been heard, Nicole remembered something and out of a sudden ran towards him. "wait!" she told the man as the cello was placed in its box. Hagi did nothing but shot her a neutral stare from over his shoulder, before turning around to face her. The cello was already in its case, but it was opened. Nicole couldn't help but peek her eyes to a side trying to see it. The man before her rose an eyebrow at her actions.

"What is it?" he asked solemn as always. His voice made the girl snap back once again to reality and acknowledge the actual reason why she came here. So, why not simply said it out and loud? Who cared it wasn't the response Hagi expected from her? In a blink of an eyes, Nicky took a step towards the tall man and rose her head, eyeing him once more.

"You play well." She said quickly before her eyes ran again at the cello. Hagi's eyes also moved towards the instrument for a second only before he eyed the girl before him.

"Thank you." He replied short. It was yet another argument for Nicky to believe that he was a man of few words. Maybe too few. Maybe almost no words. Maybe she had to snap back to reality…

"No really!" the girl almost protested as her hands rose before her in an attempt to touch his torso, but she quickly realized her action and withdrew her arms. "That is…sick."

Sick…?

SICK?

Well, the Nicole had nothing more to say to this great cello player other then what he done was sick. There were so many words out there, other complicated words which she could have used to give this man a good impression, but no. she just went back to the good old street and complimented Hagi by saying his talent was sick. At that moment, Nicky truly expected a disgusted reaction from him, an insult or why not a slap across the face. Much to her wonder, he done something else.

"Is that a good thing, in your view?" Hagi asked with his eyebrows slightly rose, making Nicole rise her own lowered head and give him an odd look. From what century was this guy again…? Anyways, maybe this was her salvation…

"It's a good thing…fabulous thing!" she said as she faked a chuckle and threw her hands by her sides. Fabulous; well, it sounded more…decent then 'sick', right? But it was clearly not her style. She even had problems pronouncing it. Still, Hagi was patient and willingly enough to understand another grudge girl , right? Right?

Apparently, he did. The man actually saw her struggle and said nothing more but another small 'thank you', before he spun around and closed his cello case. He then threw the huge coffin-like case over his shoulder and grabbed the small chair as well. All was set for him to head inside, when the girl before him spoke again, right when he was about to pass besides her.

"Wait! Where are the others?"

Oh yes. She slept until now, haven't she? Well, it was no wonder that she was a little freaked out of finding herself all alone in the large mansion at almost noon. Hagi turned around on his heels and faced her once more. After all, his inner gentleman did not allowed him to talk with anyone without his whole body facing them.

"They left in the morning for London to do some shopping." Hagi watched Nicole close and by the look on her face, he replied before she had the chance to ask. "I was left behind because you were still sleeping. You coulnt have been left alone."

Oblivious…Just oblivious.

Nicole simply stared at the man before her as he spoke. Why did he said 'was left behind'? Well, it was evident that he did not wished to be there with her, right? After all, what did he said last night again? Oh, yes; he thought of her as if she was his responsibility, didn't he? The girl's eyebrows frowned at the thought. Wait a moment. What the hell happened, last night again? 'HOLY SHI-!'

Out of a sudden, her hand rose and slapped her forehead as her eyes grew slightly wider and pinned on his own, half opened ones. Her hand descended slowly, with a false dramatic touch as she remember something. He promised! He promised that thing! Would it be ok if she asked him again about that? Well, why not, since he already said it would be ok if he would keep her small secret? Then again, maybe he would be pissed if he would be reminded. Well, the last option would be to simply try and make the subject clear indirectly. With the risk of sounding like a total idiot, of course…. Reaching her slap hand and rubbing the back of her neck nervously, Nicole decided it would be time to speak, ofter almost two full minutes of complete silence.

"Hey…Hagi?" she rose her eyes to pin them to his. She began to bite her bottom lip. "Errr….Hey, about last night." This time, his eyebrows knitted together. "Ummm….did you- I mean, does Gray-"

"I haven't told them."

Good then. That was good. Nicky lowered her head and nodded stupidly as she kicked the dirt with her foot once more. Damn, it was so hard to try and say something to this man…it made her feel dumb. After the last words had been said, the two of them done nothing but stand and stare. He stared at her, with the same emotionless and cold look he always had, she stared at her feet with an ashamed and dumb look in her eyes. The situation was really, really….annoying. and it lasted until Nicole finally came to realize that Hagi had already passed her and was walking back to the cottage. Grunting and rolling her eyes she rushed at his side.

"Hey! Why you drifting off like that?" she asked him as she made sure to keep distance. Hagi didn't even bothered to exchange a glance with her.

"I have told you I was heading back."

"no you didn't!" she snapped back. The man turned his head and stopped from his rhythmical walk, making the girl stop as well, but only after she took a couple of steps more. Gosh, this was annoying….Shooting him a 'what the hell?' look, she placed her hands on her hips and left her mouth hang slightly open. Nicole swore they were just like brother and sister. A priest brother and a stupid sister that is… She swore, she was going to kill something once she would get back at the cottage. Her anger became frustration and annoyance for good… For Hagi, the situation was as stupid and annoying as it was for Nicole; only that he wasn't showing it out as evident as the human did. He waited for a few minutes to pass by on purpose. Maybe, just maybe this girl would remember his words from when she was staring at her feet. Apparently, she wasn't really paying attention and she haven't heard him. But that didn't meant he haven't told her anything.

"Yes, I have told you."

SAY WHAT!

Watching him as he passed her once again, made the girl jump at him and slap this guy hard. Had she just lost it and jumped in some kind of parallel dimension? Back in NY, this king of satiation would have been avoid so simply, with a tongue out face and maybe some superficial curses. But noooo…he just had to act like that and make her feel dumb. Rolling her eyes once more, the girl spun around and caught up with his again. So hard to believe that a person who played such a passionate and pure music could be…such an elegant jerk.

"Whatever! See if I care!" she commented as she crossed her arms pissed. For a second, the man besides her thought it would be better to remind her that she actually cared, but yet again, why bother with such a childish girl? Such a childish and annoying girl, but still with such weird conceptions about life…? Hagi shook the thought away. It was not the time to think of that. Not now. He just let the silence around them to guide them as they approached calm, slow and steady Gray's house once more. And they would have reached it the same way, if Nicole wouldn't have spoke again.

"So… You gonna show me your hand?"

No. this was Not going to happen. Yet it happened… Hagi frowned, barely noticeable and stopped. He almost forgot about that. Almost. Yet, his small stop made the girl spot as well. Yet, she wasn't so affected by her own question like the chiropteran was. Walking around him in a bored manor, the teenager stopped when she reached his right side.

"Really, how the hell have you burned yourself?" she questioned once more as her own hand reached for his, but the chevalier quickly withdraw it and spun around to face the girl. Her eyes widened and rose, to meet his own. Really, what was so dramatic about a burned hand? As she stared at the man, Nicole couldn't help but guess what was the other emotion he tried to hide and was faintly written on his face. Tilting her head to her right, she lowered her gaze again. Hagi stepped back and began to walk once more. Just ignore her.

"Dude, what's up?"

As if ignoring her would be possible….

"Let us go back. The other must have returned by now."

Nicole's eyebrow rose even more in confusion. Well, she watched once a documentary about how people with handicaps do not like to be remembered that all the time and stuff. Maybe Hagi had a handicap at his hand? Well, yeah, maybe, maybe not. But then again why would he react like that if he didn't? Nicky gulped the knot in her throat away; maybe she acted a bit rude with him. She though that she should be doing something nice instead, right? Heh, like that would happen. The girl didn't even knew how to be nice with someone like this guy in first place! Damn, it was so frustrating… Well, why not wonder in silence and hope that in the near future Hagi would simply unmask himself? Nicole chocked a laugh.

'Maybe it's a mutation…like, a crab claw?'

Ah, the innocence.

As the many thought of Nicole ruled over her already cluttered mind, the teen didn't even noticed she was left alone; Hagi already made himself way towards the cottage, and she spot him as he entered the back door. The same door she entered herself. Minutes later, the door was slammed open and then shut by the normal pissed-off attitude of the imaginative orphan, as she made herself way towards the living room. Judging by the many voice which came from that direction, Nicole assumed that Gray, Monique, Kai and Saya came back. Oh, and that girl Javier, too. Out of a sudden another wave of annoyance took over her guts, as the girl realized that she needed to pass the living room in order to get to the stairs and into her room. Well, gray was either a bad designer, either too careless to have a living-room door as well…..

As she made herself way through the corridor with her characteristic boyish and very ungraceful walk, Nicole almost reached the stairs and was more then ready to start her climb at the first floor, but Gray's grampa-like voice filled her ears.

"Well, look who is up."

'Damn…'

The girl turned her head slowly and noticed each one's figure one by one. A rather forced and bored smile curved her lips. No need to be a bitch with them, too, right? She simply nodded her head only once.

"Hey Gray, girls…" she addressed to the four persons she actually didn't minded to salute. But then the narrowed figure of Kai came into view and thus her smile disappeared into a frown. "…Asshole." The teen managed to finished under her breath before making another attempt at climbing towards her room. But Monique cut in.

"We were gone shopping. Hope you didn't freaked out or anything when you woke up alone." She said as she began to carry a few bags towards the kitchen. Nicole followed her figure with her half closed and disinterested eyes.

"What happened to your forehead?" the old man asked as he shot her a quick look before heading outside. Shit, she had almost forgotten about that.

"Not really…" Nicole stated. "I found Hagi in the back of the house actually. Oh, and this?" she asked as she inwardly rose her hand and touched lightly her bruised temple. Well, hopefully there was still some make-up on her face and it wasnt showing up that nasty. "I just fell off my bed last night."

"Are you feeling well?" Gray asked again as he came back, carrying a rather big box, but judging from the way the man handled it, the teen was almost sure it wasn't that heavy. Still, she couldn't help but notice the other two boxes which were already resting on the living room's floor, and shared the same packing style. She rose an eyebrow but said nothing, nodded her head 'yes' and decided that it was time to drift off for good. As soon as she rose her foot to climb up, she was stopped again. This was getting really damn annoying.

"Wait a minute Nicole!" Gray's voice called as she turned around again. "these three pieces are for you."

"Errr…excuse me?"

"We took them from the central post office in London! And boy we had a time carrying them to the car, but I helped too!"

Of course that perky voice came from the little throat of Javier. Nicole didn't really had anything against her, she was just a kid after all, but still. Her attitude made the girl slightly tired in her own skin. Well, Nicole was a huge critic to anyone and everyone. Including herself. That is why she hated mirrors.

"Really?" she asked with a slight mock, but the child did not caught her intentions.

"Yes! Kai told me its from New York! Just imagined how much it traveled to get here!"

The second part of Javier's words did not reached Nicole's ears after all. She froze when she heard the two magical words. New York. What exactly did she meant by that? The girl grew slightly uncomfortable in her own skin for a few seconds, and inwardly she wanted to ignore everything and get her ass back in her room. Fact which didn't happened at all. Damn her curiosity. Kai's bored and uncaring words were the ones which really confirmed all her suspicions. As he sat down on the couch and placed both his hands at the back of his neck, he spoke, eyes closed.

"Yeah…That Cornelius guy sent you a package."

TO BE CONTINUED…

A/N: This is late and i know it pretty well... sorry for this late update, and for that matter i dont really have an excuse. Its pretty much the fact that i discovered that i had a life outsiode my room too and well, i also got accepted in a dance crew c:

Anyway, the credit for this chappie belongs to Aldredon, hopefully she is still reading .

Review please!