Chapter 55: "10,800 Seconds of Eternity"
"Akiha-sama! Toast!" Hisui calls out as I race down the hallway to the lobby, still stuffing the top of my uniform into the hem of its skirt.
I race over to the dining room towards her, to find her holding it in a small paper bag. She stands her ground, even as the white-and-blue demon races towards her with an intent fire in her eyes.
Hisui was smart. She had a feeling that I would be taking a quick shower at best, so she prepared something quick for breakfast. Admittedly, toast is not very much of a breakfast, but it is quickly and easily prepared, and it will feed me until I can have a more substantial lunch...
...With Seo Akira.
"Thank you, Hisui!" I grab the small bag of toast from her, as well as my lunch. It was not wrapped very much - she and I both know I will eat it in the limousine on a day like this. "Forgive me for being rude!" I rush to the lobby.
"It is okay, Akiha-sama. And good luck!"
I quickly step into my shoes, and run out the door towards where Ishizaki is waiting in the limousine. The passenger door is open, and he is nowhere to be seen... meaning he is waiting in the front seat.
As I quickly get into the car, I see him looking my direction. As soon as he visually recognizes me, he hits the gas pedal. The limousine begins to zip off before I shut the door... or, for that matter, before my other foot even fully leaves the ground.
...The realization of what she just said only really comes to me after I sit in the limousine and it has pulled away from the mansion, as I am biting into my first piece of toast.
"…...Good luck?"
...She could not have possibly known... could she? No, there is no way.
Hisui is surely just assuming that due to my late waking, that I must be in a rush, and I suppose this would normally be true. Usually, I am awake without a need for Hisui to awaken me, but of course, she will check regardless, as is her job.
So, to find Tohno Akiha sleeping deeply, as she had this morning, is fairly unusual. Admittedly, it is not the first occurrence of something like this, but it is also not very common.
It does not take too long to make such a breakfast, either, I muse over as I look at my toast. Lightly browned, and buttered. The butter may be a tad bit unhealthy, but then again, everything that tastes good is bad for you, and everything that tastes bad will make you live until you are a hundred and twenty.
But no... Hisui should not have assumed anything. That... that is just my imagination going wild, and making me jump to conclusions, and obviously imagine things that are ridiculously baseless in reality.
...Maybe she sensed that I was in a rush due to it being a general, important event.
Yes. That must be it. Of course that is it. She could tell by my actions and quick shower that I have something important to do, so she wished me good luck as she would be apt to do, really. She has no knowledge of what I need this luck for.
...Perhaps it is good if she did not. I still do not if she would approve of me having Seo as a girlfriend, personally...
The only person who should really know my feelings for Seo are myself and Sion, because Sion entered my mind.
...Unless Sion...
…...No, that is silly. Sion would only tell something like THAT if she absolutely had to. After all, unless she finds some other, external means of curing herself, I essentially hold her in the palm of my hand while our branches are working on developing the cure. Though it is likely that she may find it herself without my intervention, having the help of the Tohno is certainly a boon to one such as herself, for we can move where she cannot, connect with people she cannot, and obtain various materials that she cannot.
...Could Yumizuka-san have told her? It is possible, but... unlikely. Yumizuka-san would not want to start such a rift in our household. If anything, she wants to spend time with Nii-san...
Even though a part of me, for some reason, says "If Yumizuka-san came to me with those sorts of needs, I would be more than happy to soothe them..."
I shake my head. Really... when did I begin to turn into such a... perverted freak? I went from knowing only textbook definitions of sex, to dreaming of girls in my sleep, to masturbating in the shower, fantasizing over Seo...
…...And that is not even counting what happened with Souka, and what may have happened with Nii-san and Yumizuka-san.
Sex is a dangerous, powerful thing. It is simultaneously something of pleasure, and of pain; disgusting, and yet beautiful; the ruiner of lives and the creator of them. No more potent weapon is known to man.
...And yet, it is something that, ultimately, we all want and desire. We are genetically predisposed to it. Continuation of the human species is a necessity, and so, we are all compelled to seek out a mate, to breed, and programmed to step aside when our more useful, youthful, mating years are then behind us.
The process, of course, is aging, and the end result is death.
Upon birth, we each owe a death. There is no getting around this. Even those who would be "immortal" eventually will cease someday.
"…...Why am I thinking such things?"
No... this is not the time to be thinking these. I... I should be thinking about happier things.
...Such as lunch.
Today, I shall talk to Seo Akira again.
And hopefully... find a way to bring this up.
"Thank you, Ishizaki!" It is all I can do to shout as he pulls in, with me opening the door even before the limousine stops. I practically leap out of the door, and as soon as I gain my footing and my balance, I begin to run towards the school building, holding my bag against my body with one had as I glance nervously at the watch on my left wrist.
8:57 AM, it says.
Three minutes to run perhaps 250 yards, up four flights of stairs, and then another 100 or so yards to my classroom...
…...I can do it.
These shoes are not made for running, but that is just what they are doing. I have no choice. Walking would get me there at 9:05 AM or so and that would lead to a berating, and probably having to do something over the lunch period, and the LAST place I want to be during lunch, today, of all days, is where Seo Akira is not.
"...Hah... hah... hah..."
I check the watch again as I reach the doorway of the building. 8:58 AM. I turn the corner to the stairwell in record time, taking them twice at a time, thankful that my dancing lessons have both kept my body limber and flexible, and that it has granted me an acute awareness of proprioception.
I pant laboriously, my lungs demanding that I stop and gulp air hungrily, and my legs scream for me to ease up a bit. Even though I am fit, even lightly athletic, I am seriously straining my body in order to make it on time. That body is unused to such a sudden effort, without mental preparation or digging into my darker half, at any rate.
But I cannot. Anything slower than the fastest I can go will make me late...
Up the flights of stairs. Start to run down the hallway. 8:59 AM.
My heart is knocking inside of my breast. It feels like it wants to burst from my chest.
The chimes begin sounding as I am six doors down from my classroom. My eyes widen and I redouble my efforts, gritting my teeth and even narrowing my eyes as I make the final strides in six steps, as I enter the classroom before the second set of chimes begin.
"I'M HERE, PLEASE DON'T MARK ME LATE!" exclaims the panting, slightly sweaty form of Tohno Akiha.
Everyone in the classroom, Minowa-sensei included, look at me as I stand in the doorway, completely out of breath and exhausted. Several pairs of eyes blink.
"...Even though you still have five minutes, with the way you came in like that, considering how hard you had to have pushed yourself to do it, I'll give you a break, Tohno-san." She blinks.
...Oh. That's right. Students have five minutes to get to class when they hear the chimes, if it is the start of the day or lunchtime...
…...Tohno Akiha, you idiot.
Sheepishly, the best I can manage to do is bow slightly, move my bangs that have spilled into my face, and sit in my seat, attempting to keep a thimbleful of dignity.
I can feel my tongue rubbing my upper lip ever so slightly as I work out this math problem. Math is probably my worst subject of all, although that is not saying very much. I am well-versed in it, after all; I have to be in order to keep the family's pocketbooks in order.
However, the difficulty is even higher because my mind is not fully focused on this problem.
I am thinking about where I will be going, very shortly. To a place I want to be, in comparison to this stuffy, cramped classroom, which is honestly the last place that I want to be right now.
No, I want to sit outside, under the shade of a tree with falling leaves, and enjoy the cool breezes that will be among the last that will be enjoyable for some months ahead.
And I want to enjoy them with Seo Akira.
I glance up at the clock. 11:52 AM.
…...That's all...? Only 11:52?
...Time is not supposed to move that slowly...
Eight minutes. Eight minutes until I can grab my bag and run for that tree. The tree in the central compound where I will meet Seo.
...Because I have something important to tell her today. I do not know if she will accept it, but that is not my choice. That is hers, and hers alone, but I still want to make my feelings known.
...I am getting nervous. A quick glance at my hair shows the very tips are starting to get red. I breathe deeply and sharply once to try to clear my head of my thought for now, and focus on the problem.
After I think it over for a few minutes, I put it my pencil down with a sigh. It should be correct... I think...? My work looks correct, even though it takes up about half of the page.
I check the time again. My old enemy tells me that it is 11:56.
Hurry up! Those bells cannot ring soon enough... I look impatiently out the window, turning back to the clock after what feels like a year later.
11:57. "Three minutes left, everyone." The voice of Minowa-sensei. I walk to the front and hand it in.
I glare at the clock. It is my most hated enemy right now, and there is not a thing I can do to hurry it along. Each second somehow seems to take days to pass.
Tick.
Tock.
Tick.
Tock.
Tick.
Tock.
Tick.
Tock.
Hurry up! Can't you see I have someone waiting on you advancing!
...11:58. Argh...!
"Minowa-sensei, can I please be excused a few minutes early so I can use the bathroom?" I fidget in my seat as if I had to go very badly.
Minowa-sensei simply shrugs. "You handed in your work, Tohno-san. I have no reason to–"
I leap to my feet and run out the door.
"—keep you..."
"...Hah... hah... hah..."
I am panting hard as I race for the courtyard. I already know I will want to spend every second that I can with Seo normally... especially since I am going to confess my feelings.
Feelings that, until I really sat down and analyzed them, I did not even know that I had, to be honest.
The actual truth is... that there was a reason that I seemed to enjoy torturing her. Certainly, part of it was due to that... other side... but there was more to it than that.
It seemed to be almost... affectionate. The sort of teasing that one does to someone whom they have actual feelings for. And I did state she was, more often than not, my favorite person to pick on, if only because it was fairly easy to do.
And yet, despite that... the girl did look up to me. Admire me. While others, such as Shijyou Tsukasa, seem to view me with derision and hatred, Seo Akira seemed almost... pleased to be working with me on projects, or even in my presence.
Though, admittedly, that got much deeper after Nii-san had rescued her from that fraud. After that, it was "Shiki-san" this and "Shiki-san" that, and constantly asking me to send him messages – a request I was, admittedly, sure to grant if I had my fun torturing her for that day.
After all, I never would deliver the prattle of a schoolgirl without some kind of payment, would I?
And so, for a few months, I became essentially the middlewoman between her and Nii-san. It was an innocent correspondence, really, and I had to admit that the fact that he saved her life would definitely explain the admiration for him.
...Then, the accident happened.
And Seo Akira was one of the first ones to visit.
Normally, it is easy to tease the girl because of her ever-pleasant demeanor, her admittedly cute pouting, and her reactions to small indignities.
That day, I took one look at the girl who entered Nii-san's hospital room, and my heart immediately wrenched in my chest, as if something had grabbed my heart and squeezed. The look of sadness, of depression, on her face was so obvious that I felt bad for doing my usual routine, to the point that I actually stopped it for a short while – leading her to a not-quite-inaccurate diagnosis that I, too, was depressed.
Things slowly recovered, and so did our relationship. Seo Akira matured a fair bit over the summer break, and she had even grown slightly. But she was, to me, still a child in a lot of ways.
…...Then I called her out on her doujinshi, and received an absolutely scourging riposte. One that Otou-sama would have been proud of... had I delivered it.
The problem is, I had not. It had been a fifteen year old girl, who had cowed me into complete and utter submission to her incredible force of will.
Otou-sama would have certainly yelled at me for several days over showing a sign of weakness like that. The Tohno are supposed to be superior in almost every way, especially to someone who is but a human.
The thing is... I do not think like that. I cannot be a demon in a human's skin, unlike Otou-sama. He may have been a pure-bred Tohno, born of two full demons…...
…...But I am not. And thus, I could not help but be awed by the sudden transformation that Seo Akira underwent.
In retrospect, it was the day I stopped looking at – and treating – Seo Akira like a child, and began to respect her as someone who could stand on her own two feet.
…...It was the day that I began to fall in love with her, I would guess.
I feel almost stupid for not realizing it really. My mind... it wanted the others because they had other appealing qualities.
Hanei... her beauty. Hanei is a very physically attractive woman; anyone who saw her would not deny that, and although she is not quite as mentally bright as some, Misawa Hanei is far from an idiot, and certainly is not a fool. She would be, however, easily be duped into doing things, or forceful personalities, as the girl simply cannot bring it on herself to refuse someone's request... unless it is from her parents, whom she avoids as if they were the plague for reasons I have never gotten her to explain.
Souka... her ambition. A neo-bohemian, of sorts. A woman of high social standing whom, despite what her parents tried to instill in her, actively rejects that sort of lifestyle and believes fully in living by her own rules. While I could not bring myself to eat something disgusting, such as prepackaged ramen, Tsukihime Souka will – and I have seen her doing so on more than one occasion, always amused when I ask how she can eat it. The answer is simple: For her, she is simply happy as long as she has her choices and her freedom; she is just as happy eating an expensive meal as much as a mere hamburger.
Yumizuka-san... her actions. Despite her disease, a disease so horrible that it would drive most insane with grief, she refused to give in and believe she was a monster. She wanted to be human so badly that, by sheer force of will, she actually kept her humanity, and she wanted all of the simplest things – food, shelter, and safety – and I was able to provide her with all three. Thus, I have earned her loyalty very fast, especially since I have allowed her access to Nii-san – and when one has everything they want, you are sure to get maximum performance and loyalty from them.
But Seo... Seo was different.
Seo was the girl who grew from a child to a young woman before my eyes, allowing me the privilege of watching her blossom. The girl who, a year ago, cared for little other than drawing and sweets, has become a young woman who is proud of her talents, and is more studious and serious, thinking on adult terms, and able to decide for herself what she would and would not stand for.
So when she put her foot down, I knew the days of Seo Akira being a mere child were over, even if I could not consciously realize the fact due to my mind reeling from what she had said.
Even my dream about her... no raw sexual energy to it, unlike those. The closest it got were a few kisses and me glancing at her rear... hardly overtly sexual. No dragging me off to bedrooms. No having me grope her.
Just... a highly intimate kiss right at the end. The sort of kiss that one would give to a true lover, to someone whom was important...
…...And an equal.
I swallow hard to clear my dry throat, and interrupt my thoughts to look at my watch. 12:02. Damn it! Can't my legs move any fas—
"KUHHHHHHHH!"
"OOOOFFFFFF!"
I am sent sprawling when something runs hard into me. My shoulder takes the brunt of my impact as I land and skid a short distance, and I get up once I realize I'm flat on my back. My shoulder hurts a bit now, but that's nothing compared to how bad this person is about to hurt if they're not already injured...
"...HEY, WHY DON'T YOU WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING!" I storm over to the girl who ran into me, my fists clenched as I almost stomp over to her. I'm sure to lose a few more minutes berating this idiot who somehow couldn't even see or hear me running, but this is a lesson that—
…...…...Purple hair.
…...No. No, no, no, no, no.
My throat suddenly becomes very dry. I swallow hard, and flip her over. Don't be who I think this is. Be Shijyou. Be anybody but her.
...A blankly-staring, stunned kouhai I know quite well by now.
…...Fuck.
"Damn it... hey, come on, snap out of it Seo!" I give her a good hard shake and a light slap or two to her cheeks to snap her out of her daze. After the cheek slaps, her head shudders slightly and her eyes begin to focus in my direction.
I hold up three fingers with my left hand. "How many fingers am I holding up, Seo?ǃ"
"...Mmmmmmmmmm…... eight...?" She blinks. Her green irises are narrow rims surrounding the wide, black pupils.
I look at my hand. It definitely is not eight. It is three.
...Terrific. I've given my kouhai a concussion. Just fucking great!
I kick myself mentally. This was NOT my idea of a proper greeting.
"…...So much for our lunch plans this week..." I mutter bitterly to myself as I sigh and look at what has happened from our collision. My bag has flung a bit far, near where I landed. Hers is, likewise, near us, where she landed. Some papers are scattered to and fro, and the distinct packaging of a bento box shows that she was all but ready to meet with me... although this is not the way either of us had planned.
I say things that would make Kohaku's skin crawl to myself, mentally, as I begin to carefully pick up Seo's papers before placing them inside of her bag, putting them inside the first folder that I can find. I pick up our bags with one arm, and hoist her over my shoulder with the other.
This would normally be a difficult weight for someone my size... I only weigh about four kilograms more than Seo, so I am essentially doubling my weight to carry her to the Nurse's office, and indeed, I have to carry two bags in one hand as well as use both arms to support her on my shoulder - one that is wrapping around her back, and the one that carries the bags a bit above her knees, on the backs of her thighs.
At this point however, I have angered myself enough that the adrenaline surging through me gives me an extra bit of strength to tap into. With this strength, and me holding onto her carefully, I am able to walk with Seo over my shoulder.
I blush as I realize just how close my hand is to my rear, but I force the thoughts from my head and just focus on bringing us to the nurse's office.
Every step along the way, I curse myself, using words that I would never permit out of my mouth in normal circumstances... or, for that matter, in abnormal ones.
I was in so much of a rush to talk to her... and apparently she was in such a rush to do the same, that we never even saw the other, colliding like two cars. Or more accurately, like a car and a tractor-trailer.
If only I would have watched where I were going, I would not be walking into the room labeled "Nurse's Office." How could I be that blind...?ǃ
"...Where we goin'...?" Seo Akira groggily asks.
"…...The nurse's office," I tell her. "Just stay there and do not move your head very much."
I get no response, but I feel her somewhat grab onto me a little tighter.
I cannot help but note with dark irony that just 24 hours ago I was leaving this very same office from almost the same thing...
...And that I have been in this office near lunchtime three times in the last three days.
Not a record to be proud of, to be sure...
...Idiot. Blind, stupid idiot!
How the hell are you going to ask her about this now?ǃ
You'll be lucky if she doesn't just punch you for this!
Next Week (6/26/11) – Chapter 56: "Cordis Confessione"