Erm, h-hi? /dives into a hole/ It's been a long while hasn't it? I actually started this ages ago after I posted the last chapter, but never got to finishing it until...now. Had a bit of planning problems, along with life situations. I clearly can't keep promises, /sobsforever;; However, I apologize deeply for those who looked forward to the updates of this fanfiction so much. ; A ; Since many of you lovely people wanted updates, I got the inspiration to finish it, although I didn't have time to re-read it for mistakes, so excuse the typos.;;
By the way, I referenced from the scene to where Oz and Gil sees Zai again from the anime/manga in this chapter, so if you're wondering to why it seems so familiar, that's why! xD
Anyway, lame excuses aside, I hope you enjoy this!
Disclaimer: I do not own Pandora Hearts or any of the characters. It solely belongs to Mochizuki Jun!
True My Heart
neyuchi
Chapter 7:
One Problem After Another
The sounds of someone's footsteps resounded throughout the quiet library as each step neared the librarian's desk, where a man with short beige hair stood, completely immersed in the piles of books stacked almost five feet tall all around him on the floor. He, however, didn't notice the approaching person for he wasn't visible behind the books that blocked his view. Well, that was, until that person slammed a thick book onto the librarian's desk, making a loud 'boom' to resound throughout the library.
The librarian jumped as a yell of surprise slipped from his mouth, his blue eyes widening in alarm behind his spectacles that were barely on the bridge of his nose. "W-who's there?!" he demanded in anger, becoming furious at the fact that he was frightened for a moment, as embarrassing as that was.
At that question/demand, a pair of gloved hands slipped between the cracks of the stacked books and pushed them aside, allowing the librarian to see who it was. "It's me, Elliot," a raven-haired man said, his eyebrows raising in amusement. With a smirk on his lips, he eyed his younger brother, "... Oh no, did I scare you?"
"G-Gilbert!" Elliot exclaimed in surprise at seeing his brother's face. Coming back to what Gilbert had just said, he immediately scowled and turned away, pretending to flip through the books that were piled around. "Tch, like I'd be scared of a little bit of noise," he grumbled, his face tinting red from embarrassment.
"Pfft." Chuckling at his little brother's flustered appearance, he leaned slightly on the edge of the desk in a relaxed way, continuing to poke fun at his embarrassed brother, all the while his golden eyes curiously observing what was going on behind the desk. "How's everything going?"
"Oh, things are really wonderful, brother," he replied, his words dripping with sarcasm, "All of these damn books are going to be a pain in the ass to arrange back in the library." He put together a stack of books that were organized by their genres and names of the same kind before dropping it on a rolling cart that were already full of other books about who-knows-what. "How was yours?"
Gilbert groaned in agony as he buried his face in his hands, his black hair splaying over his gloved fingers. "... Don't even mention it."
Elliot couldn't help but poke fun at the devastated teacher this time. "Oh? Were girls chasing after your wagging tail again, Gilbert?" he teased, using a finger pointer that was in the pencil holder on his desk to poke his brother's cheek.
The raven swatted it away immediately in annoyance, picking his head up and giving the beige-haired man a sharp glare. "Shut up, Elliot," he grumbled. "I can barely breathe for one second without having raging students screaming and stalking me all over campus."
"And whose fault is that, Mr. So-Called-Handsome?" Elliot chuckled, placing the finger pointer back on the desk before turning back to his assigned work. He was answered with a sharp jab in the side from the toy he had just previously put down, causing him to whip back around to yell at the older man—only to be cut off by a girl's soft, yet clear warning.
"W-Watch out, Mr. Nightray!"
"Huh?" The two brothers were confused by who the girl's warning was actually for—with having three Nightray's in the school building, no wonder—and turned their direction towards where the voice came from.
Just then, two pairs of dull claws latched onto Gilbert's head tightly, almost piercing holes in his scalp if not for the cut-down nails. It followed with a light weight being landed onto the man's head, a fluffy tail flicking and brushing against his nose. He was about to grab the thing that was latched onto his head—annoyed at the fact that it was scrunching up and messing up his seaweed-styled hair—before he heard it omit a sound.
"Meow!"
It took barely one second for the man to realize what exactly was latching onto his head. His scream pierced through the quiet atmosphere of the library, causing Elliot to scream too in alarm, who was a second too late in realizing what had just happened.
"G-Get this thing off of me!" Gilbert's frightened yells filled the big room as he scampered around aimlessly, attempting to pull the kitten off his head, only to scream again when it dug its claws deeper into his scalp. Another shriek came from the man as he tried to turn away in the opposite direction when another kitten walked in front of his path lightly as if it didn't know what was going on. Completely pale and fear-stricken, he almost broke down in tears right then and there. "S-SOMEONE, PLEASE HELP ME...!"
Elliot, who saw how the man was knocking over the wooden chairs and tables, was enraged. "Oi, watch where you're running into, Gilbert! If you keep on doing that, I'm not gonna save your damn ass!" he yelled, a vein beginning to appear in his forehead.
He was about to run after the screaming man and chuck a really thick book at that seaweed head when he noticed two people running closer to the scene in the corner of his eye, causing him to pause and look at who was coming. A scowl immediately appeared on his face when he saw who it was—what's her face—oh, that Vessalius girl, and his other non-blood brother, Vincent Nightray.
"I-I'm so sorry, Mr. Nightray, for causing such a disruption in the library!" The Vessalius girl immediately apologized when she reached the librarian, bowing sincerely. "I-I'll just help Mr. Nightray and leave quickly!"
Even though he saw how flustered and sincere she was, Elliot—who always had a hate for the Vessalius'—couldn't help but just frown. "If that's so, hurry up with your business and get out of my library, Vessalius," he snarled coldly, averting his blue eyes towards the other person approaching them.
Ada winced at his harsh tone, her hands unconsciously clutched together in front of her chest tightly. But without giving it another thought, she quickly bowed her head respectfully and tended to the scene in the library. Immediately rushing to the still-screaming Gilbert, who was currently being chased by kittens, she was able to pull her kitten off of Gilbert's head without any severe injuries before gathering her other remaining kittens.
Meanwhile, Vincent strolled towards the librarian leisurely—who was still frowning—as his gloved hand flicked his blond hair over his shoulder, causing the beige-haired man's eye to twitch in irritation at his flamboyant entrance behind his spectacles. "Hey there, Elliot. Nice to see you still alive and moody as usual," he greeted, waving his hand.
Although Elliot was always peculiar about Vincent and his obsession of cutting up stuffed bunnies with scissors, he and Vincent had always been on normal terms. "Nice seeing you alive and...happy as usual, too, Vincent," he replied, a bit careful about what he just said. "What were you doing with that Vessalius girl earlier, by the way?"
Vincent smiled gleefully as he twirled the scissor around on his finger. "Oh, nothing really. Just merely killing time during her search of her kittens. It's amusing to see her running all over the place like a frightened, lost puppy."
Elliot couldn't help but sweat-drop. '...You make her sound so pitiful.' He brushed all of his thoughts aside when he saw Ada and Gilbert walk back to the two, her helping the math teacher to walk straight.
"Had fun, Gilbert?" Elliot asked, a smirk lifting his lips at the shaken man, "That sure was some racket you made." 'Not to mention the more work I have to do now because of him.' He was only answered with a weak glare, before Gil collapsed onto a nearby chair, completely drained from life and energy.
Seeing his brother whom he 'loves so much,' Vincent gasped and rushed to Gil's side, causing a dramatic scene to occur between the two. That left Ada and Elliot standing off to the side by themselves awkwardly, neither of them saying a word.
After a couple of minutes that passed, Elliot, not wanting the Vessalius girl in his presence any longer, turned away from her before walking behind his desk, again pretending as if he was working. "... What are you doing, still standing there? Didn't I tell you to get out of my sight earlier, Vessalius?" he said in irritation, noticing how she was still in the same place, unmoving.
The girl shifted her feet and bit her lip awkwardly before she averted her emerald eyes towards his turned back. "... I-I apologize again for the commotion, Mr. Nightray. If you'll excuse me, I'll be leaving now." Giving him and the other two a polite bow in farewell, she cradled one of her kittens in her arms before calling out to the others to follow her as she turned her back and left the library.
The librarian didn't even dare to look back at her...and neither did she.
.:truemyheart:.
White flecks of snow drifted through the chilly air softly, casting a blanket of white all over the town as it thickened within every passing hour. A little boy dressed in a formal outfit ran and hopped into the snow on the ground, his laughter filling the empty air as the white tufts of snow splayed all over his boots.
"Come on, Gil! The snow's really thick!" he called out, waving his hand towards his friend excitedly, who, in turn, shook his head in disagreement.
"Y-Young Master, I can't! You're not supposed to be out here, you know!" Gil cried out, remaining planted on the side-walk that was covered in a thin layer of snow.
The young master just laughed and brushed it away. "Aw, come on, Gil—Can't we have some fun on this beautiful white day?" he said, spreading his arms wide apart before he stepped forward and grabbed Gilbert's small arm, who continued to protest. Being suddenly pulled in, Gilbert lost his balance and fell into the field of snow, his face pressing into the soft, white snow. Feeling the stinging coldness of the cold ground, he shrieked and immediately pushed himself off of the freezing ground before brushing the remaining snow on his face. At seeing his reddened face, Oz giggled and threw a few snow balls at the boy, causing him to yell in protest once again.
Just then, Oz saw something black move in the corners of his eyes, causing him to turn and look, Gilbert doing so also. "M-Master..!" the servant exclaimed in surprise at seeing who it was, his eyes widening.
Zai Vessalius stood in front of them, followed with a couple of other men dressed in the same attire as him behind. His eyes were hidden from the hat was wearing, but the two kids could feel his sight focused only on them. Oz's face brightened at the sight of him, beginning to walk up to him. Gilbert, however, was bewildered. Why was the Master who was never around, here at this time?
"Fathe—!" Oz reached out his hand to the unmoving man as he neared him, only to be taken aback when his father's slapped his hand away harshly from him.
"Don't touch me, you piece of filth."
.:truemyheart:.
Oz's eyes snapped open as his body lurched forward, and a short yell slipped from his mouth, his hand grasping his loose dress shirt tightly as he found himself struggling to breath properly. Realizing how his body was slightly shaking violently as he was covered in cold sweat from head-to-toe, he groaned, knowing that he just had a bad dream.
'"Don't touch me, you piece of filth."'
His father's voice echoed in head, sending an ominous shiver throughout his body. Drawing in a shaky breath, he let out a sigh before burying his face in his hands, his golden hairs askew and disheveled over and down his face and hands. Wanting to escape from the dead echoes of those pain-staking words repeating over one another in his head, he squeezed his eyes closed, attempting to banish his voice from his mind.
"Damn it..." he muttered, his fingers grabbing a bit of his hair in between, as he gritted his teeth.
Seconds passed as he sat there on his messy bed, his breathing and heartbeat beginning to calm down with each passing moment. From across the house, footsteps pounded loudly on the ground with haste before the slamming of his opened door followed, causing him to shoot his face up to see who it was, not to mention the skipping of a heart-beat by the sudden intrusion. "Oz?!"
"A-Alice...?" Oz breathed out in surprise, his emerald eyes focused on the disheveled girl standing in front of his doorway with heavy breaths as her lavender eyes searched around the room for any sign of danger that could have possibly endangered the boy.
The brunette immediately rushed to his side at seeing the man on his bed, all the while her eyes frantically checking him up and down for any injuries. "Are you okay, Oz?!" she asked in alarm, her hand automatically cupping his cheek as she scanned his appearance once again.
Oz realized that she must have heard his yell before rushing to his room, despite her injuries from the previous day since he could see the gauzes, that used to be wrapped firmly around her legs and arms, completely dangling and astray in the air. "O-Oh... Yeah..." he said absentmindedly, his stunned emerald eyes meeting her worried ones.
Urked by his short answer, she felt the urge to shake him senseless, but nonetheless, she felt a huge wave of relief wash over her at seeing how he was all right and okay. Just to relieve all of her pent-up tension inside of her in those past few minutes, she raised her hand and gave Oz's forehead a harsh flick. He, in return, flinched at the surprise flick and whined before rubbing the now-throbbing pain on his forehead.
"Sheesh, you scared me for a moment there, you know! I thought someone had kidnapped you or something!" Crossing her arms, she huffed and turned away from the man, an expression of anger clearly shown on her face. "The next time you scare me to death over nothing again, it'll be a fist to your face, boy!"
Oz couldn't help but force a small laugh out of his mouth. "Ahaha~ What are you talking about? Surely that's a lie, right, Alice?" He tried to brush it off, but when she didn't say anything and he stopped laughing, a tense silence ensued between them. "... Uhm, right...?"
The ominous cracking of her knuckles and that evil glint in her lavender eyes proved him wrong.
.:truemyheart:.
After the commotion of Alice threatening to snap Oz's neck off when he commented on how much a brutal girl she was, they sat on his bed in an awkward silence, not knowing what to say next. Alice, beginning to feel a bit choked from the tension, jumped off of the bed and onto her feet lightly. Oz looked at her, wondering what the girl was up to.
"I'm gonna head home," she informed him as she walked over to his bedroom door. "I need to check if it's still...in one piece." Oz noticed how she grimaced at that word as if it was a word of taboo, before she turned away. 'Since I'm pretty sure that those thugs smashed everything in sight. And not to mention that the landlady is going to give me hell for it.'
Before she could even take a step out of his door, his hand grabbed her arm in an attempt to stop her. Unfortunately for Alice, her wounds were still sensitive, causing a painful sting to practically zap her arm. "Ouch, watch it, you damn idiot!" she hissed, yanking her arm out of his grip as she gave him a sharp glare. "What do you want now?"
"Oops," he muttered, before holding up his hands apologetically and taking a step back from her. "I-I just wanted to check your wounds." She looked at him weirdly, as if she was indicating his grabbing of her arm just earlier. "...It seems like the bandages are coming loose."
Quickly glancing down at her self, she realized that he was right. The gauzes were practically dangling from her arms and legs, revealing the scratches she couldn't help but cringe at. "Just great," she grumbled.
"I'll help you," he offered.
She smiled at him sweetly. "No thank you," she cheerfully replied back before frowning and stalking off. Too bad she didn't make it that far, because right when she had taken another step, her foot got caught in one of her gauzes and she fell face-down on the wooden floor with a loud thump.
"... Ow."
.:truemyheart:.
"—Damn it, Oz!" Alice hissed sharply, her breath getting caught in her throat when she felt a particular substance being sprayed on her wounds. "Can you stop spraying so much of that crap on me? It hurts like hell, you know!"
Oz just chuckled, shaking his head at her in amusement. "Stop being such a wuss, Alice—"
"Would you like another punch to the face this time, boy?" she growled in a malice tone, turning her head away from the man in an attempt to hide her embarrassed face. Unknown to her, he noticed it, and much to his amusement, he couldn't help the smirk that appeared on his joyful face. When she looked back at him, he immediately wiped the smile off of his face and acted as if he was busy tending her wounds.
After a (very unneeded) amount of time, he finally finished, patting her hand lightly as an indication that he was done. Seeing how he had once again done a decent job at being her (personal) doctor, she stood up before beginning to walk off towards the room.
"Hey."
His voice stopped her in her steps, causing her to take a brief look back at him. "What?"
With a half-smile, he crossed his arms across his chest as if he was waiting for something. "Shouldn't I get something in return?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.
'Huh? Something, he says?' Without a sound from the girl, she stared at him for a while, all the while racking her brain for that 'something.' 'What the heck does he want? … Meat? Candy? Cigarettes—No scratch that, he'd never smoke that disgusting crap.' She shook her head to get rid of those thoughts and think of something more...logical. 'Of course, it should be something physical, since he did help me with my injuries and practically my ass.' Just then, something brilliant appeared in her head when she remembered what Sharon had once shown her before. 'That's it!'
The blonde sweat-dropped when he noticed how a minute had passed ever since he had first asked her. Did it really, really take this long to say something so simple, or was Alice just dense? He opened his mouth and was about to tell her to just forget it when suddenly she boldly walked up to him quickly, an expression of determination on her face. "What are you—?"
Soft, warm lips. That was all he felt in just a split second that had ended too soon. When her lips pressed against his cheek, he could have sworn that his heart had skipped a beat and that his entire body had frozen up. His mouth just hung open, the words that he was about to say already dying on his tongue.
"... T-Thank you, Oz."
Before the blonde boy could even recover from his shocked state and give her a reply, the brunette had already bolted out of the room, her long, brown locks swaying in the air behind her. "... Y-You're...welcome..." was all he could say lamely, only to have the silence air answer him in return.
.:truemyheart:.
"Home, sweet home."
Alice nimbly hopped over the broken, wooden piece of wood that used to be her front door, her shoes stepping onto her dusted carpet that a cloud of dust burst out from. She fanned her hand in front of her in an attempt to disperse the dust around her before continuing to observe what was left of her apartment.
"Uwah... So this is your...home, huh?" The sound of creaking wood being stepped on came from the doorway. "Couldn't expect anything worse than what those thugs did here." Oz's voice came from behind her as he entered the small place, being careful to not stop on anything sharp or that was of Alice's possession.
"Gee, thanks," she muttered. "Lovely sight, isn't it?" She chuckled in a grim tone as she picked up the broken pieces of ceramic dishes from the floor. "This is the first time I invite you over and there's barely anything here that's in one piece, save for the walls and refrigerator. Not so inviting, is it?"
Oz didn't know what to say to that, knowing that he would only add onto her despair if he agreed to what she thought. Without a word, he walked over to the apron that was still hanging on the tack on the wall in the kitchen before grabbing it. Quickly tying it on and rolling up the sleeves of his shirt, he picked up the fallen broom and dust pan before beginning to sweep the dust, dirt, and broken objects into the pan.
Alice, who had been watching him, was a bit flabbergasted at his actions. "What the hell are you doing?" she blatantly asked him.
"Cleaning up, what else?" he answered as he carefully picked up the glass pieces of what had used to be cup and dropped them onto the dust pan.
"I can see that, but—why? This is my house, you know. Just let me clean it up by myself," she retorted, stepping closer and taking the cleaning tools away from his grasp.
He gave out a sigh and looked at her, his emerald eyes staring into her amethyst ones. "Can't a friend help his buddy?" Reaching out, he took hold of the broom that was still in Alice's grip. "Besides, I'm going to be your personal manservant just for today, anyway," he said with a smirk. "Let me help you out."
Alice couldn't help the smile that lifted her lips at the word 'manservant.' "Geez, fine then! Since you're offering to be a helping hand..." She scratched her head meekly, looking off to the distance at the new-found feeling of being helped so earnestly. "I guess it wouldn't hurt to have another person to help too."
With a grin, the blonde grinned. "All right then! Let's fix this place up quickly!" he said with a cheerful voice. He was about to continue picking up the glass shards on the floor with his bare hands once again, but Alice stopped him with a tap on the shoulder. Looking up, he saw how she was holding oven mittens that she had somehow snagged from the counter without him noticing, although he wasn't even sure if he could pick up small shards with them. Oh well, at least he knew that he wouldn't be slicing his fingers on accident now. "Thanks."
"D-Don't even mention it, you manservant," she briskly murmured before she stalked off to the living room to tidy up the ransacked place. He couldn't help but chuckle at her embarrassment. Alice, on the other hand, was mentally beating herself up as an attempt to pull herself together.
'…Seriously, what's up with me today?'
Shaking her head, she attempted to push away her own delusional thoughts and focused more on getting her apartment room back to how it used to as much as they possibly could. Not a single word was said from the two teens as the hours passed by. It didn't mean that they were thinking to themselves though.
"...Alice."
She froze uncharacteristically at the calling of her name, unfamiliar with the tone he spoke with: stern, along with a feeling of concern as if he was going to confront her. "Yeah?" she replied, getting a hint about what he was going to talk about.
"Is...Is there anything you want to tell me?"
With a sigh, she closed her eyes. She knew he was going to ask that sooner of later. "There's nothing," she said, secretly hoping that he would let the subject drop.
He didn't. "Look, Alice. I know that there's something wrong."
'Damn him.'"Look, Oz," she mocked him in the same tone he was using. "There's nothing that you need to know." And she turned her back to him, acting as if there really wasn't anything that was bothering her. Just when the blonde was going to protest, she quickly cut in. "But—But if I do, I'll tell you, all right?"
A short moment of silence ensued them, and Alice couldn't help but swallow the tension down. To what seemed like an eternity, Oz finally spoke.
"I'll be here whenever you need me," he said, secretly hiding the disappointment that was threatening to appear on his face and voice.
A pang of guilt shot through her at that. Immediately wanting to escape the serious atmosphere, Alice just plastered a half smirk on her face. "Even when you're in the middle of molesting your students?" she joked, raising an eyebrow at him when she turned to face him.
"Of course," he said in a heartbeat.
She couldn't stop the surprised look she threw at him. It didn't even take him a second to think about what she had said. "...Seriously?"
Now it was his turn to smirk at the brunette. "Who said that I wasn't a player?"
She casted him a half-hearted glare. "You dirty child molester."
"Thanks, beautiful."
A shoe came flying straight at him.
.:truemyheart:.
The warm sunlight shimmered over the building slowly as the sun began to set. In the distance, soft, melodic notes resounded gently throughout the entire school, given for how empty and quiet the atmosphere was. The familiar tune of a particular song was strung together, changing the empty air into a soothing one. A young, beige-haired man sat there in front of the piano, his long fingers smoothly pressing the keys accurately as if they knew the song by instinct. For a few short, yet long minutes, all that could be heard was the song that was being played by him, the tune sounding as if it was luring you into a sweet dream.
That is, until his fingers paused mid-air when he heard the slight sound of something—no, someone. 'Was it just my imagination?' He glanced over at Leo, who was sitting in a chair next to him with a book in his hand. The assistant looked back at him with a knowing look, obviously showing that he heard the sound too.
Shrugging to himself, he decided to continue playing, seeing if whoever was making noises was going to continue. Sure enough after a minute, he could slightly decipher the voice of a female softly following the tune of the piano. He gave Leo a look, cocking his head towards the door, which was where the source of the voice was coming from.
With a sigh, Leo closed his book and walked over to the door, all the while being quiet or else he'd get his ass kicked by the pianist for scaring away whoever it was.
The pianist expected the raven-haired guy to slowly creep against the door and peek out, although that would totally make Leo look like a stalker. But he didn't. Instead, he walked straight to the door and went out, looking for the person who was making noises.
What he saw completely made him do a double take.
The Prefect stood there frozen in place, the only sound disturbing them is the sound of her kittens mewling in her arms. Fumbling thoughts were swirling in her head, trying to figure out an excuse to why she was just standing there in front of the music room. Strenuous seconds passed by, not a word being said between the two. That is, until a certain beige-haired man came stomping towards to the door, annoyed by how Leo was just standing there.
"Leo!" he shouted, walking up to the other man. "What the hell is taking you—"
The words died on his tongue when he saw the girl he detested so much once again that day.
That's all for now! I'll try to update monthly from now on, although I can't be sure since school's throwing more work at me lately.;; Anyway, I'm still not sure as to where I'm taking this, but suggestions are welcome, along with reviews! Thank you everybody, and I love you all! (By the way, as an extra note, I'm also in the middle of re-writing the earlier chapters and working on another fan-art that'll come with a speed-paint for Pandora Hearts! I'm planning on using it for the cover of this fan-fic. /Oz and Alice are on it, ohoho/ I'll update you guys later if you want to see the finished product!)
Until next time~