Chapter XV – Mutual Language

Couldn't she just bring herself to reality for a little change? Couldn't she leave for just a few moments all her stubbornness and rage and try to understand things? In fewer words, couldn't she be reasonable? Somehow, the chevalier thanked god Saya was the only female he had accompanied all these years. Saya was much more serious, dedicated and she was honorable and Hagi never regretted a second while he was in her duty. But Nicole was her total opposite. She was short-tempered, she had no goals and she was a walking disaster. The 16 year old smoked. And not even one second she understood how toxic and harmful it was for her. Her excuse was that she did not smoked everyday, which wasn't an excuse at all. She was a lost cause and nothing more in his eyes.

Yet, somehow he felt the need to know her safe.

Maybe it was because of all these flaws of hers. Yet, if you come to think more deeply about them, maybe they weren't flaws all the time. Maybe she actually enjoyed being the way she was, thus she did not want to change herself or accept new principles. Nicole wasn't truly a girl, she was a young woman, or so she considered herself, and she manifested a rejection for the protection, idea or anything else which came from a male. Maybe this did not made her stubborn and short-tempered. Maybe it made her a strong person.

Still, there was much more which she hid behind a mask of anger and sometimes superficiality and all this thinking only made the chevalier want to uncover more. Nicole was the first female who stood up so proud to the point where she became annoying before rules and laws. Hagi almost had an attempt to chuckle when he remembered the few times when Mao tried something similar, but it was incomparable with the current situation.

The pale man stood at the window with his eyes averted somewhere outside. Only two hours parted him from the midnight and a warm summer rain dropped gently on the ground. Hagi was in deep thought, and the smooth sound of the rain only helped him think better. He was thinking about her, when he knew that she might as well only curse him in her mind before throwing the same words in his face as well. Still, he wasn't offended by such words; they only made him rather curious. Despite the nasty words she said to him, the chevalier had only one mild interest in what that middle finger meant, but he shook it away quickly. Knowing the orphan it might have meant something equally gross as what she threw in his face.

So the man simply emptied his mind and closed his eyes, enjoying the sound of the rain. Somehow, he needed a little relaxation, even if he never felt tired or sleepy. And this was the perfect way to gain it. As he sat in his chair right besides the window, he let his forehead rest against the cool glass and reopened his eyes slowly to witness the small mark his breath left on it's surface. He rose a bandaged hand and wiped it clean before closing his eyes once more. Small things, which meant so much, in his view. After all, in the last week or so, there was no chiropteran activity around, yet only Saya was granted with rest, sleeping as much as she was able to and eating nutritious food, while he stood tall and tense as always, his guard up and ready to strike whenever there was the need to. He had been like this for so long, Hagi almost forgot how it felt to simply let your mind drift away from all problems. He felt his body soften and his chiropteran hand fell into his lap, the sound of the rain still filling his eras.

But then he heard something else. Another soft and calm tune which seemed so far away, as if he was only dreaming it. But that was impossible; even like this, in his relaxed state, falling asleep was impossible for a chevalier. Still, Hagi found himself enjoying the soft and short sounds. It seemed as if it belonged to an instrument with strings, but one which was played without a bow. His closed eyes slightly narrowed when the sounds intensified before finally fluttering open. He blinked a couple of times as his gaze met the view outside, along with a pale hint of his own reflection in the glass. The man withdraw his forehead from the cold window and stared around in his dark, barely lit room. Saya was still sleeping and the sounds he thought he heard stopped.

Was it truly a dream? No, he was sure about it; he was conscious and he heard it for real. Yet, now the room was mute and everything indicated him that the music he heard never existed.

Hagi parted his lips and allowed a small sigh to escape between them before he rose his head and continued his previous actions; gazing outside. He admired the pale moon which, even if it was raining, it still showed up between the clouds. A pale and shiny crescent moon, perfect in any way and beautiful as ever. It was one of the few things which was to hang there, in the sky for the rest of time, just like him and his queen.

The chevalier slowly found himself tilting his head forward again, until his forehead touched the glass again. His eyelids were heavy and they threatened to close until between the drops of the rain the music made itself heard once more. His eyes snapped open; this time he was sure that he heard it. The tune was faint enough not to wake anyone up, yet this time it was more energetic, but with gaps between the notes every now and then, as if the one who played it was unsure. Turning his head around, Hagi faced the wall behind him and concentrated. His sharp senses identified the source of the music somewhere behind that wall, where Nicole's room was located.

The irony… Hagi truly didn't knew what to do.

Somehow, he was curious to see her play, but then again, she threw him out last time. Her conversation with Saya from a few days ago replayed in his mind. The orphan mentioned something about attending an art school back in her home town as well as studying the guitar. He never had the chance to play such an instrument, yet it's sounds were distinct and clear; it was an acoustic guitar.

Maybe he was curious, maybe he had the want, the need to reproach Nicole that her playing at that hour might awoken everyone up; he didn't knew exactly, but Hagi rose from his seat and soundlessly traveled the room, exited it and went in front of Nicole's. His hand rose and he had an attempt to knock, but he was afraid that if he done so, she would stop playing and he would miss the chance of seeing her play. So the man done something rather rude; he opened the door with less sound as possible and peaked his head inside, resting his eyes on the orphan's figure.

The room was barely lit by the lamp on the small drawer besides her bed, but he was able to see her figure sitting on the chair of her own desk, though her feet were on the desk as well. She seemed pretty comfortable with the light brown guitar in her lap and Hagi spotted before the guitar a piece of paper of well which had written with a terrible hand writing several words. The chevalier entered her room and closed the door behind with the same silence before getting closer and closer to the girl. He made sure that he remained in a point her his shadow was not in her path but he still had a good view upon the girl, which was too absorbed by her actions to notice him. Still, this proved to be false when he picked up the slight buzzing of music in the headphones digged in her ears. Tilting his head to a side, he picked up several things written on the paper.

"Why was I one of the chosen ones?

Until the fight I could not see?

The magic and the strength of my power

Was beyond my wildest dreams

Dark wings, they are descending!

See shadows gathering around,

One by one, by are falling

Every time they just strike us down~

Don't you die on me,

You haven't made your peace~

You little life

Breathe, breathe!

Don't you die on me,

-"

The rest of the text was unreadable because of the messy mass of hair which was sticking out of Nicole's head and blocked Hagi's view. Still, when he saw her head rocking back and forth along with her right foot on the rhythm of the music which came from her hands tweaking the strings, he made all the connections. Nicole was trying to play the same song she had playing in her headphones on the guitar only. The lyrics were her 'landmarks' and the many pauses she made indicated that she was having trouble with finding what beat of the actual sound to follow. Yet, she managed to create a nice tune, even if it wasn't 'flowing' the way it should. Still, as Hagi withdrew his body, he grew a small amount of admiration for her effort. It is pretty hard for someone to learn to play a song after another one, the way she done it. The girl simply listened and then transformed in a matter of milliseconds the tune she heard in a tune she played herself. The man was unable to see her face as well so he had no idea if she had trouble with playing it or not.

Still, she was talented. Talented enough not to be bothered by matters as small as his curiosity. So Hagi spun on his heels and went without hesitation towards the door. Now, that he knew she was listening to music in her headphone, there was no need to struggle not to make that much sound. Not to mention, the man was quite by his own nature.

As he grabbed the door handle, he opened the door. In that instant the buzzing stopped. His heart skipped a beat when he heard the creaking sound of the old wood. A sound too loud not to be noticed, even with headphones on. Damn.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

Isnt that something you will not see everyday? The mighty and solemn chevalier had been caught in flagrant, and honestly he didn't knew if he had an explication from practically sneaking up in her room without her knowledge. Hagi found himself gulping before he slowly turned around to face Nicole. He was expecting a dark, twisted and very pissed off face from the girl, yet she seemed to be rather bored, or maybe even tired. Still, annoyance was still planted in her half opened eyes. Turning around completely, Hagi tried to stay calm, which unsurprisingly he succeeded. Now, the question was, should he tell her the naked truth?

"I knocked a couple of times, but you didn't respond so I took myself the right to enter. I was leaving now."

Somehow, it wasn't a true lie; even if he knocked Hagi was sure that she wouldn't have heard with the music in her eras. Nicole rose an eyebrow and tilted his head forwards a bit.

"you did?" she asked somehow surprised. Hagi only nodded, being stoic as ever. He had just been saved.

Nicole rose the hand who's finger's ran over the strings and rubbed her face with a long sigh. She was definitely tired, every move betrayed her of that aspect. Placing his feet down n the floor, the girl grabbed the paper, crumble it and threw it on the desk, while placing with great care the guitar on the floor. Hagi had the chance to see it better now, and noticed how old it seemed.

"What do you want?" she asked while pinning her chin on the palm on her head, her elbow on her knee. She was definitely pissed about this, but she was too tired to make a scene again, or so concluded the man. Well, he could say a low 'nothing important' and then turn to leave, yet that would be another lie, which Hagi wasn't sure he could say. After all, she did believed him about the knocking thing and it would be shameless to lie again.

"I heard music coming from your room." He stated after a few moments of silence. He never dared to try and take a step towards her, remaining unmoved in front of the now closed door. "I thought it threatened to wake the other up so I came to ask you to stop. Yet, I realized it half way that-"

"Whoa, wait a minute" she cut him off. "You say that, you heard me?"

Well, this was the part which she thought it was most important? Hagi nodded at her question, and the girl grunted under her breath a few curses.

"Damn, next time, make sure to knock louder!" She did not like it when people heard her play. This was the exact reason why she played at late hours. But creatures such as Hagi, who never slept were her audience. Still, he did not understood why she seemed to be so reserved with this topic. Her eyes averted from his figure and he managed to take a couple of steps towards her.

"are you embarrassed by this topic?" he asked monotone after several seconds of silence. Nicole rolled her eyes and he never received an answer. Still, he was going to insist.

"You play well." He stated in his smooth voice. Voice which made her look up to him. "It was sick."

Say….what?

"You play well." She said quickly before her eyes ran again at the cello.

"Thank you."

"No really! That was…sick."

Nicole's eyes slightly widened when she heard him say that. The girl to admit, she didn't knew what surprised her more; the fact that Hagi remembered what 'sick' meant in her own vocabulary or that he actually used the word. Having a man like him say something so out of style was at least weird, but, even in her tired state the teen managed to read between the lines. So, instead of an sarcastic, ironic insult she parted her lips and replied almost politely.

"Thank you…"

"You don't need to. It is true." Hagi told her back as he took another step. At this point, Nicole had to keep her head up as if looking at the sky, to manage and stare at his figure. Damn those perfect blue orbs of his… for a second she almost thought she felt tired no more while she stared at him and he stared back. Still, the moment was too short for her to think anything else, because the man before her blinked, fact which made her blink and avert her eyes from him as well.

"you are tired, I can tell. You would better rest."

Nicole ran a hand through her hair.

"I aint that tired." She mumbled, but just then a long and deep yawn escaped her lips. She stopped mid way thought, and cursed between her teeth. "Ok, maybe I am a bit tired." She mused as she rubbed her upper arms.

"Then I shall leave you sleep."

Before the girl had a chance to rise her eyes, Hagi was already at the opened door. Her lips parted to protest, but she was cut off by his words.

"good night Nicole." The girl hesitated but then gesticulated carelessly with one hand.

"Yeah..'night."

And then he was gone, leaving behind only the small noise the door made when it closed. Nicole stared for several seconds at the doorway, before allowing herself to strength her arms above her head. He was right, she was tired. And she hated when he was right. But what was she to do? Today's dancing proved to be more exhausting then she expected. Well, she was also a bit out of her shape ever since she had been kicked out. Still, the thought of going to sleep before 11;00pm made her somehow pissed. When was the last time she slept before midnight? Well, she couldn't remember, but it was truly a long time ago. Yet, she couldn't feel her legs. This was a bad sign. She hated it, she really did, but he was right; she needed her rest.

Carefully stepping over the guitar, the girl collapsed on her cool bed without even bothering to change her attire. In her view, changing her clothes was nothing more but another waste of energy, energy which she couldn't really afford to loose right now. So she simply closed her eyes and it wasn't long enough until sleep claimed her body. But her mind remained sober for several minutes after this happened. And even if she wouldn't really remember it in the morning, Nicole thought about the man who played the cello in the garden a little while ago, until her mind shut itself up as well.

Inside his room, Hagi was staring out the window once more. His thoughts flew a few days ago as well at the memory of him playing the cello and her sneaking up to him. The man couldn't help but find the many similarities between that moment and the one which just ended. Maybe, just maybe they weren't as different as the eye let them see; just then he realized that in a way or another they spoke the same language, even if it was a different dialect.

Allowing his eyes to close again, Hagi listened to the sound of the still dripping rain but inside his mind the tune Nicole created played over and over again.

TO BE CONTINUED…

A/N: Well, this came out pretty fast o.o Even if it wasnt quite what i expected it to be, i just had to write it! Hope i caught Hagi there pretty in character . I became paranoiac with not making him ooc... Anyway, consider this chapter the one thing to balance all the roughness the next one will come up with(is it even right to say it like this? o.o) Anyway, while i was writing this, it was night time and outside was raining, so i guess i felt a little poetic too :3

Please comment, and if you have any suggestion, dont be afraid to spil them out ^^ I will try to post the other chapters as quick as i did with this one.