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Author Topic: Nocturne [13/02 - Epilogue (END)]  (Read 111893 times)

Offline Maimi_Yajima

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Re: Nocturne [File #26]
« Reply #360 on: January 26, 2010, 07:40:28 AM »



This has been a pleasing chapter…
Sorry to start reading from this chapter…
But... curiosity won me…
Um…
You are intense in your writing, has an overwhelming detail that captivate…
Your complexity in the writing is so wonderful…
I can see to you love writing and enjoy doing that…
I suppose to in that moment when you take your pen with your hand, in that moment you
Becomes Estrea a writer who radiates a magnificent detail in your history
Um… As I advanced in reading, every word and action I can image in my mind.
Thank you for allowing me to delight your writing…
And enjoy a moment funny and nice.
And thank you for transport me to the dimension of a good history…
I don’t usually read stories of a ReinaxAi.
So I feel privileged of enjoy this history.
The characters are intense, full of feeling…
I see to you love your characters ^^
By the way … What’s mean Estrea?
Estrea is like Star (“Estrella” in Spanish)… XD
But.. Estrea is without “ll” (double L)
:P


where can enjoy the inspiration and travel to the world of the imagination…
that’s so funny and kind sometimes, right?
sometimes we can be so disappointed or sad and we try to escape of the  confusion and the sorrow…
but … you know?
you make happy and have fun to so much people with all your awesome stories…
giving us an awesome reading
keep going ahead, with your great spirit and smile in your life, don't matter how dark look  the way you go …
always exist light in the dark .


See you later ^^
" a look can say more than words" and " a look can even denude the heart"

Offline ayase909

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Re: Nocturne [File #26]
« Reply #361 on: January 26, 2010, 08:07:15 AM »
yay! its been a while since i last posted a comment here!  :err: :err: :err:
i really like this fic, Ai-chan the deadly vixen strikes again.......Reina is the target now right? of her flirtings?  :hehehe: :hehehe: :hehehe:
but im wondering what happen to Eri  :dunno: she's investigating Ai-chan right?  :ding: :ding: :ding:
and also Risa and Sayu.... :glasses: i hope u will include the chapter u said to me....remember?  :hee: the one that makes Ai-chan jealous cos Gaki has someone of the sort......hahaha  :wahaha: :wahaha: :wahaha:

anyways, im rambling! update soon!  :kneelbow: :kneelbow: :kneelbow:




Offline Sukoshi

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Re: Nocturne [File #26]
« Reply #362 on: January 28, 2010, 10:27:56 AM »
Yay update-to~!   :mon inluv:

Ah...I was just thinking about this recently...and then you happen to update.  Hehe I should think about this more often  :mon star:  or maybe I should comment sooner  :ph43r: ....erm but anywho~

let's see...this chapter has me hating on old man Takahashi big time.  Why having an ex-spy or a mobster for a dad doesn't seem as bad anymore XD 

lol I think it will be pretty funny when the brothers find out that Reina got the girl instead XD  well...if that ever happens though.  Maybe Risa will pull herself together and crawl out of the woodwork!   :mon scare:

now that Ai has almost every girl on the block after her....I wonder who I should support.
Risa?  No...I don't think they can ever be happy with each other after what happened last time
Eri? No...they are both so scary  :shifty:
Down to either Sayu or Reina...probably Reina since she will probably understand Ai's world the best but she also seems to be very innocent (aside from the booze and wishing to have people killed)   :sweat:
as for Sayu...I just want her to get together with someone safer.  I think Ai chan would end up getting her killed.

hmm...that seemed to be too easy....
Risa, Sayu and Eri seem to be a distant memory XD  I need for them to come back sometime so I can be all indecisive again :mon whimper:



Offline Aisacchan

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Re: Nocturne [File #26]
« Reply #363 on: April 09, 2010, 07:44:04 AM »
I think I already bumped with this story long time ago in ff.net (that Estrea is you, right? :?)

So actually Nocturne was the first H!P fanfic that I ever read though only few chapter  :P
I only knew MM little bit and couldn't tell who is who at that time. I even didn't knew which the heck was Takahashi Ai  XD
But I enjoyed read your work nonetheless. Dunno why. Maybe your writing style that I like. It's so detail.

After become H!P fan, I reread this fic here and I like it more and more  :heart:

I love Aichan's character here. It's so badass but kinda lonely inside  :(
Aichan pimp everyone in GoRokkies  :wub:

I really love this story. Estrea, do you mind to update?
~ jurina & mayuyu oshi
~ wmatsui, jurimayu, mayuki

Offline Kitami

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Re: Nocturne [File #26]
« Reply #364 on: April 12, 2010, 11:30:47 PM »
I'm glad I randomly decided to go looking through this again. I can't believe i missed an update :( Probably since it was around midterms.

I still love it~! And I wish for you to update it more~ <3

Offline gracula

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Re: Nocturne [File #26]
« Reply #365 on: December 22, 2010, 04:02:48 PM »
Just for academic discussion, why is Reina hating on Ai like dat? Please explain her (mis)behaviour and (over)reaction in five sentences or less.

reeeeet-coooon..... :on hypto:
(oh look, they *do* have a smiley for that. there really is a smiley for everything. my life is complete.)

"I'm still blaming Sayu for my lolicon tendencies now." ~Essy

Offline kjpop

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Re: Nocturne [File #26]
« Reply #366 on: October 30, 2011, 07:12:34 PM »
I was blatantly ignoring my life duties and read this instead (it's amazing what a few beers can make me want to look up at night haha). It's practically been a year, so it's a stretch and i doubt you'll update it, but it was definitely quite a ride for 26 files-worth ahha

Offline Estrea

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Re: Nocturne [File #26]
« Reply #367 on: May 10, 2012, 09:12:20 PM »
Hi everyone! I'm too lazy to comment reply! But kjpop, you don't have to turn any purpler! :D

Yes, it is update timeeeeee!!!


=============================================================


File #27


School was a chore.

Tanaka Reina could not help but think this again as she made her mandatory appearance with a sulky face. Bad enough that she had to be held back a year. Even worse was how she basically had to keep a near perfect attendance starting now. Otherwise expulsion was a very real possibility.

"You have to understand, Tanaka-san, that if you demonstrate no wish to be educated here, we will be forced to...take steps."

Reina mentally cursed that damn principal again. If her father hadn't been such a traditionalist, she would have asked him to back her up. Unfortunately, he would not pull his not-inconsiderable weight even for such a matter. He had bigger fish to fry, so to speak.

Besides, she didn't really want her father to know that she had been skipping school with impunity. Granted, he might already know, but it was something she rather not discuss with him. Reina was a great believer in avoiding argument unless they were inevitable. She just couldn't be bothered to get into one.

So when the bell rang, the yankii-looking girl was practically the first out of the door and winging it like a bat out of hell. She hated to be forced into anything. 

Reina's a free spirit, and NO ONE can stop me...

That thought lasted as far as the school gates. There was a crowd of chittering girls clustered around the main gate, making it difficult even for someone of Reina's small stature to squirm through. She did manage it though, eventually.

She would wish she had taken the back exit instead.

It evidently wasn't enough for that woman to keep dogging her steps even at home. Over the past few weeks, for some unfathomable reason, a certain Takahashi Ai had been an on and off guest at the family estate. Her father seemed to have taken a shine to the charming young woman. Not in the same lovesick way her brothers did, thank goodness, but her father seemed equally taken in by the wellspoken rogue, as did any number of the family servants. Those traitors!

Granted, that Takahashi woman generally left her alone, but she also demonstrated an uncanny sense to show up in places where Reina least expected her to. Like the roof, her favorite thinking/napping spot. Or the lounge. The music room even. Reina almost exploded that one time when she found flowers on her dresser, scented with that annoying bitch's perfume.

Not that she knew what the woman smelled like. She did not have a scent fetish, goddamnit.

Now that same woman was here, probably determined to ruin her social life as well. Not that Reina had much of one, but really. She did have some kind of reputation in school.

Ai was leaning casually against the door of her fancy sports car. It was a different car from the last one Reina saw her driving...she did not notice these little details on purpose, it was just that they were so OBNOXIOUSLY in her face that she couldn't help but notice them!

Deep down, Reina had to admit that Ai wasn't really a bad person despite that incorrigible behavior and all that innuendo in her voice whenever they spoke. It just made her so...mad...that Ai could read her so easily. And get under her skin so, so...blatantly.

Reina refused to be just another plaything. She would not stand for it. She wouldn't let this annoying woman get the better of her, if it was the last thing she ever did.

It also didn't help that what little information she managed to squeeze out of her brothers regarding the Takahashi family was distressingly vague. They were linked by "business", so to speak. Which didn't say much. The Tanaka-gumi had connections both legal and otherwise. It proved nothing.

She did hear more about Bakahashi's older twin brother though. Apparently quite the lady-killer, to hear her brother tell it. The sister was just as bad, if Reina had anything to say about it. It disgusted her, this whole...gay thing.

Then again, even if this Takahashi Ai had been a boy and had done all those things to her, she would still have slapped her without hesitation for daring to assume that she was an easy mark. Reina wouldn't be owned so easily, not by anyone.

So it was in a spectacularly foul mood when she emerged from the crowd to see her idiot schoolmates swarming around the luxury car, with a bold few actually speaking to the cool girl in shades. Ai had a winning smile on her lips, her posture relaxed as she laughed and joked with her adoring crowd.

As if drawn by some sadistic instinct, the woman seemed to notice the scowling Reina immediately, waving at her and beaming like the sun on a summer day. That got everyone's instant attention. The chatter intensified with Reina's deepening scowl, but she refused to show anything as she walked casually, if a little stiffly, to the smugly grinning woman.

"What are you doing here?"

Ai took off her shades, revealing warm chocolate orbs. If Reina didn't know better, she would have thought the woman sincere. But having been the recipient of her tricks that first time, the kitten would not trust Ai as far as she could throw her. Which to wit, wasn't very far, if at all.

"It's a Friday, so I thought you'd like to go out for a change..."

Such an innocuous invite. If it had been anyone else, Reina would have jumped at the chance, no matter how short her time would have been. Her father would probably send his henchmen to bring her back if he found out, or surround her with the most obvious bodyguards ever if she even wanted to take a jaunt through Shinjuku. Things seemed to be heating up on the business side of things, though her family tended not to discuss them around her. But Reina didn't grow up in a mob family without picking up a few things. When the guard around the estate tripled the frequency of their patrols, not to mention her escort to school starting to pack some real heat, Reina knew that things were bad.

It was tempting to just go somewhere though. Her father kept her out of family matters, and she was largely unknown except to the most trusted inner circles of the organization. Anyone outside didn't even know Tanaka Takeshi had a daughter. The best defense, as always, was secrecy. It had enabled Reina to lead a semi-normal life, which was why her father was reluctant to get personally involved in something as trivial as Reina's school issues. If he made any large moves, their rivals would notice, and it would only be a matter of time before someone realized that she was a daughter of the Tanaka family.

Her mother had been killed in such a gangland dispute. It was one of the reasons for her father's general paranoia when it came to her. She was his last child, the only daughter. He would never risk her, not for anything. Reina knew it, loved him and respected him more than anything, but it could get fucking annoying to be coddled and protected every second of her life.

She would have said "yes" to anyone else in a heartbeat, if only for a chance to have some time for herself. But this was Ai. That impudent woman who had made mock of her virtue. It was unforgivable. Reina was not a forgiving person. However, she was also a rebel by nature.

"In that thing?" Reina lifted her nose dismissively. A Lamborghini? As if that was going to impress her like the rest of her idiot schoolmates. Ai blinked briefly, probably unused to anyone dissing her sweet ride, but that moment passed quickly.

Recovering instantly, she put on the best face she could, bowing extravagantly like a prince, her ponytailed hair sweeping elegantly over one shoulder.

"It would do me great honor for the great Tanaka-sama to grace me with the pleasure of her company." Ai announced, as much for Reina's benefit as it was for the girls surrounding them. There were actually squeals among the watching girls. Reina rolled her eyes heavenward. People actually fell for those?

Good thing that Takahashi's frequent appearances around her home was starting to help her build some immunity to that roguish grin and irreverent charm. But her inner girl couldn't help but be flattered by the extravagant compliment, no matter how much bullshit she knew it to be.

Reina feigned a sigh, also playing to the crowd. Two can play at this game. Reina hated losing, so she was going to fight back in every way she knew how.

"I suppose I could make do just this once. You may chauffeur me."

Besides, Reina thought, the fact that you're here and that my guards are nowhere in sight, not even behind the nearest bush, means that Father sent you. Reina was not one to look a gift horse in the mouth. It was a rare chance to go out and have fun after surveillance on her had gone up to intolerable levels. Reina was a watchful person, and she hated having eyes on her. She seemed to have a sixth sense regarding that. None of her bodyguards, not one, could escape her notice eventually.

She chalked it up to hereditary paranoia. A healthy sense of watchfulness coupled with caution led to a long and healthy life. Reina was a little short on the latter, but she was young. These things came in time.

Besides, with the kind of business her family was involved in, Reina decided that caution or no, trouble would still find its way onto her doorstep eventually. Best to just seize life as it came, even if it meant having to put up with Takahashi's presence for a while.

"Tense, aren't you?" Ai murmured as she guided Reina to the passenger side, one hand on the yankii's slender waist. Reina scowled briefly, barely moving her lips as she hissed a reply, restraining her temper as best as she could.

"Don't think you can catch me off guard. I'm not one of your toys." Reina lifted her chin proudly, climbing into the leather seat as Ai held the door open.

"Of course you aren't. That'd be no fun." Ai whispered, mostly to herself, even as she swung the door shut. She smiled charmingly at the adoring crowd (such adorable girls!), gracing them with a jaunty wave that had more than one confused girl sighing in pleasure.

"Where to, ojou-sama?"

There was just the barest hint of mockery in Ai's tone as she slid smoothly into the driver's seat. Reina considered it, then shrugged almost imperceptibly. Best to just make the most out of the trip, since the Bakahashi was decidedly more tolerable today.

"Harajuku first. Did Daddy say when we had to be back?"

"Nope!" Ai was cheerful as she shifted gears, lurching from a dead standstill to a speed that left the surrounding scenery a blur. Reina turned pale as they accelerated. She always did fear rollercoasters...

Two minutes later, Reina decided that she hated Takahashi after all. She was going to kill that woman, if it was the last thing she ever did.

Just, not now. No, right now, she had to focus on not losing her lunch all over her own lap even as her life flashed before her eyes.

Later. If there was a later. Reina paled even more and let out a tiny squeak as they took a hair-raising turn at F1 speeds, Ai laughing maniacally all the way.

It didn't take much longer before Reina actually screamed. Well, Ai did promise to make her do so some time. Reina just never thought it would be like this.

Revenge. This. Needed. Revenge.

Once she made it through this hellish ride in one piece, there would be HELL to pay. Tanaka Reina was a woman of her word. The Bakahashi wouldn't even know what hit her. Reina nodded to herself, then turned a distressing shade of green as they very nearly sideswiped another car.

She might have started crying somewhere in between, but she would never have admitted it. When they reached their destination, Reina seized the pro-offered handkerchief that Ai wordlessly held up to her and dabbed fiercely at her eyes. Her hands were still shaking. Takahashi didn't say anything for once, a surprising turn of events. Reina blew her nose noisily into the kerchief, then tossed it back defiantly back into Ai's lap.

"I hate you." Reina said without inflection, managing to climb out without betraying her frazzled nerves. Ai shrugged, an ironic smile twisted around her lips. She'd expected...more. Such a non-reaction was almost a disappointment. She shrugged again. You win some, you lose some.

Tanaka Reina. Feisty, easily flustered, yet capable of pre-possessing self control when required. Ai chuckled lightly again as she exited her prize vehicle as well, locking it remotely before trailing after the reckless kitten.

This was going to be such a fun assignment.

===========================================================


Lalalala~

 :ph43r: away~

永遠に咲き続ける花なんていない、すべてはいずれ枯れて朽ち果てしまう。

Currently writing:
- Lilium-related things. God save my soul.

On Hold:
- Everything Else. Too many to list.

I'm also on AO3!
http://archiveofourown.org/users/Estrea

Offline astro18

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Re: Nocturne [11/5 - File #27]
« Reply #368 on: May 10, 2012, 09:48:00 PM »
Bakahashi.... bahahaha

What kind of game are you playing at?? Coming out of nowhere and updating one fic at a time :bleed eyes: (I'm glad you are though)

I'm gonna reread all the chapters now :)

Offline rndmnwierd

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Re: Nocturne [11/5 - File #27]
« Reply #369 on: May 10, 2012, 10:32:34 PM »
Yeah, I have completely forgotten what this story was about... Something something, Ai's an assassin. Something something, Reina's a mob boss's daughter. Something happened.... Something...

Glad to see you update though! :cathappy:

Offline kjpop

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Re: Nocturne [11/5 - File #27]
« Reply #370 on: May 10, 2012, 11:46:26 PM »
I LITERALLY JUST CHOKED ON AIR AND IM NOT EVEN CRYING ABOUT THAT. OH MY GOD. OH MY GOD. IF YOU COULD ONLY SEE MY TEARS!!!! OF PURE AND UTTER JOY TT____TT




BRB WHILE I READ EVERYTHING AGAIN <3333 OH  YOU GORGEOUS PERSON YOU <3333


Edit: from what I recall, this arc was a lot more on the fun side than the others ;D wont stop me from re-reading when i have the time, though. But man, Reina <3 she's great in this! I needed a smile on my face!! can't wait to see how Ai screws around with her some more xD
« Last Edit: May 11, 2012, 12:08:23 AM by kjpop »

Offline gracula

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Re: Nocturne [11/5 - File #27]
« Reply #371 on: May 11, 2012, 12:01:36 AM »
What's with everyone's return with vengeance? Not complaining here though.

You fleshed Reina out here really well. I hafta admit, she was a tad unlikable when I first met her in previous chapters, but in here- you got it all down pat. I look forward to the breaking of the ojousama as much as Ai does.

Quote
Reina was a little short on the latter, but she was young.
I lol'ed here. Poor Reina.

Good update! It was such a fun read.

"I'm still blaming Sayu for my lolicon tendencies now." ~Essy

Offline Estrea

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Re: Nocturne [11/5 - File #27]
« Reply #372 on: May 11, 2012, 05:14:13 AM »
Hi guys! Writing Nocturne is so easy once I regained my inspiration ahahaha. So I'm back again with a chapter done in less than 2 hours! Teehee! :D


astro: I like Bakahashi too. :D I must say, the reason why I made a return is because I suddenly regained my writing energy. I was pretty burned out for a while, but now I've recovered! Yay!

rndy: I knew you would have. Sorryyyyyyyyyyyy~ But yeah, you kinda got most of that right. XD

kjpop: I should stop making you cry. But I like making you cry. Hmm, this a problem. XD; And you are most welcome, Reina's arc is meant to be a lot more fun. XD I like having Ai screw around with her too! :D

grac: I can't speak for the others, but I kinda came back to life because I was feeling inspired lately. I was pretty burned out writing all the time, and it became less fun. But now it's fun again! Yay! So I'm back! The last few chapters were the product of my burned-outness, and frankly I hated them with a vengeance. I might have to rewrite those chapters sigh. I finally got back in the groove, so to speak, so this is what it's supposed to be like! And I knew you would catch the short joke. :P You of all people wouldn't miss it lol. XD Thanks, I had fun writing it too!


Ok time to edit and post. :D

永遠に咲き続ける花なんていない、すべてはいずれ枯れて朽ち果てしまう。

Currently writing:
- Lilium-related things. God save my soul.

On Hold:
- Everything Else. Too many to list.

I'm also on AO3!
http://archiveofourown.org/users/Estrea

Offline Estrea

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Re: Nocturne [11/5 - File #27]
« Reply #373 on: May 11, 2012, 05:18:04 AM »
File #28


Takahashi Ai had almost forgotten how much fun it was to simply spend a day out shopping.

How could she have forgotten? Well, work was one thing, and also, her only other shopping alternative was with Sayu, and the shopping hadn't been so much about getting new clothes than it was about getting the bunny new clothes to peel her out of later.

It did tend to have rather interesting effects on the process, admittedly. Changing rooms, for example, were a great deal more entertaining when not used solely for their original purpose.

Sort of a pity that a certain Tanaka Reina would never let her get away with that. However, since the suave approach was proving to be the wrong move with the girl, Ai was swiftly adjusting gears. It helped that Reina was almost off-limits on this case. Emphasis on the 'almost'. Seducing the kitten wasn't really the point, of course, but Ai enjoyed flirting with the girl just solely for the reaction.

It was almost too easy to fall back on just being an ordinary 21 year old girl out shopping with a little sister. Not as little as Yuukarin of course, since in that case her baby sister was pretty much her own personal Barbie doll to dress up as she wished. Reina had a very specific style, and while Ai had her own, the two eventually discovered that they did have something in common: fashion.

Which was why two hours into the shopping, they were arguing over the relative merits of matching shoes and accessories with one's outfit, all while debating what any article of clothing could or could not go with something else. It was all very relaxing and almost disgustingly normal, but Ai found that she could get used to that.

It was refreshing not to have any expectations resting on her. Reina certainly seemed to be treating her like an insect smeared on her boot -- the girl had swiftly changed out of her school uniform the moment they hit Harajuku -- but that was only right at first. Once Ai started commenting about her fashion choices, the kitten started biting back with some ferocity. That was just the beginning of their fashion exchange. In one store and out of another, they argued endlessly over the most minor things, which started degrading to the level of comparing opinions on other people's coordinate as well as various items on sale.

Ai was starting to enjoy herself, and if Reina was honest with herself, she was too. Having grown up in an almost exclusively all-male environment, and having few friends in school, Reina didn't have many female friends, save for the exception of Ume-chan at school. While both girls enjoyed shopping, they never did have the opportunity to go together. The timings just didn't match, and with her ever-present escort, Reina did not want to advertise that fact to anyone.

It was universally known that shopping and bitching about other people was the best bonding activity between females, and so about 3 hours later, the two girls were lounging at Starbucks with their shopping bags around their feet, most of their animosity (mostly coming from Reina) gone. They couldn't be called "friends" in any stretch of the term, but there was significantly less hostility on Reina's part. For Ai's part, she was behaving herself, and when she put her mind to it she could be very likable, as Reina was fast finding out.

"Ne, see that guy over there?" Reina whispered, hunching over her frappe. Ai, in the process of lifting her soy caramel latte to her lips, let her eyes swivel discreetly to where Reina was indicating.

"I like his shoes." Ai started simply. "...but those pants need to burned. Right now."

Reina snickered. "And that shirt...he doesn't have the body to wear it. But you're right about the shoes, I didn't notice that."

They chatted amiably for several more minutes, Reina either forgetting that she hated Ai or simply just putting it aside for the moment, and Ai simply revelling in just being a girl. Not an assassin, not a femme fatale, not anyone's anything. Just being herself.

Even if she did kind of have a purpose being here with Reina at all. But that didn't subtract from her enjoyment of the moment.

Reina made Ai carry everything. Cheap shot, but since Bakahashi started the whole ojou-sama game, Reina figured she might as well just run with it. Plus, ordering the woman around gave Reina a pleasant, if somewhat cheap, thrill.

They dropped off the bags in the car, Ai being the sensible one of the two. She did need her hands free, and for more than one purpose. Next stop: Shinjuku. Despite Reina's protests, Ai managed to shove the indignant girl into the car, lock the doors and drive there.

Admittedly, there was a great deal of fun manhandling the kitten. Less fun though, when upon arrival, said kitten launched herself at her and proceeded to start choking her. Ai spluttered and managed to pry the furious girl off her after a spell, but Reina wasn't done. The older woman winced when the kitten ground her booted heel onto Ai's toes, before turning and stomping off in a huff.

Grinning wryly, Ai followed again, her eyes ever alert. As guest of the Tanaka-gumi, she had taken it onto herself to keep an eye out on Reina. Granted, the Tanaka patriarch had hinted it to her in not a few words, but had not come out to formally ask her anything. This was not how things were done in these circles.

Formal requests required other formalities. Ai could deal with the subtle hints, even if they were never blatantly stated. Tanaka Takeshi wanted his daughter protected, but her hissy fits and tendency to try and ditch her bodyguards gave him a headache. If Ai could but teach her some manners during her stay, it would be most appreciated.

Obvious enough for someone of Ai's training. Look after my daughter. Screw up...

The rest was unnecessary. Ai had spotted more than a few thugs with their little fingers missing lurking around the estate. She knew the stakes. And this being the ojou-sama of the family...

Ai shrugged. It was rare to be on the protection side of things. She knew perfectly well how to kill people. Trying to keep someone from getting killed just entailed approaching the problem from a different angle. She simply had to consider how it could be done, and how best to hinder it.

It also helped to know your enemies, and Ai was pretty sure they had picked up a tail not 20 minutes into stepping into Shinjuku. In between bantering with Reina, Ai made sure that any potential assassin or two-bit thug could not get anywhere near the bratty kitten. It was a delicate balancing act requiring all her attention, and if Reina noticed that Ai was less involved in their banter, she didn't show it.

There was a close call though. A youth with a buzz cut and piercings, just like any of the more punk looking boys on the street, had managed to come just a bit too close. Ai only suspected something was off when she spotted an unobtrusive tattoo on one arm, barely hidden by his sleeve. That, and the hand in his jacket triggered every single warning alarm she had.

In a crowd like that at Shinjuku during the evening, it would be a simple business to stab a person several times in the kidneys if you were fast enough about it, and then disappear into the crowd before your victim collapses and dies of blood loss.

Ai had used a similar move before in her early days. It was a time-honored tactic any aspiring killer knew to take advantage of. No self-respecting assassin would make it so public and so messy, of course, but hired thugs who thought themselves killers always used the simplest methods. It was cheap, fast, and the perp had a good chance of making an escape if they knew what they were doing.

Not if Ai had anything to do about it though. When the man came close, she shifted positions to Reina's other side, intercepting his arm even as he was about to pull the short, wide blade out of his jacket. Sliding a hand down to his wrist, she twisted his hand brutally and pinched a nerve at the same time, forcing him to drop the weapon. Then she broke the small bones in his hand for good measure. It was over in seconds, and Ai allowed the crowd to sweep both her and Reina away, leaving the crippled thug behind them, moaning in pain.

It was time to bring the spoiled kitten back home. There was only so much Ai could do alone in such an open space. They had had their fun, and Ai wasn't going to take any more risks as night fell. It cut visibility for one thing, and even Ai was not superhuman. There was never only one thug, after all.

Not only just one watcher either, as she would soon find out.

~*~*~

"We've found her."

Assorted pictures scattered across a table. Ai smiling, Ai laughing, Ai having fun.

Ai with some other girl, goofing around. Playing like an overgrown child.

That picture was soon crushed in a tight fist, a moment of self control slipping. Cold eyes were cold, reflected in the black screen of the monitor.

The speakerphone was silent. Idly, a slim hand picked up a lighter, flicking the wheel to produce spurts of flame. On, off, on, off.

"Your orders?"

The flame burned steadily. Touched to the crumpled edge of the photo, it caught brillantly, searing and curling away into a blackened mess. Ai's smiling face vanished into ashes.

"Bring her to me."

The photograph continued burning, until nothing was left.



========================================================


Daa daa doo dee da~

 :ph43r: away~

永遠に咲き続ける花なんていない、すべてはいずれ枯れて朽ち果てしまう。

Currently writing:
- Lilium-related things. God save my soul.

On Hold:
- Everything Else. Too many to list.

I'm also on AO3!
http://archiveofourown.org/users/Estrea

Offline kjpop

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Re: Nocturne [11/5 - File #27 & #28]
« Reply #374 on: May 11, 2012, 05:26:58 AM »
ok lol this is wonderful. im just gonna keep crying and dehydrate myself LOL <333 *throws love and chocolate around you~*




WILL READ SOON <33333


EDIT: OH SWEET JESUS WHO IS LOOKING FOR AI!?!?!


btw, you make RenAi appeal to me in so many ways, it's crazy. I didn't even like the idea of those two together until you came along  :love:
« Last Edit: May 26, 2012, 02:11:02 AM by kjpop »

Offline rndmnwierd

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Re: Nocturne [11/5 - File #27 & #28]
« Reply #375 on: May 11, 2012, 05:56:44 AM »
Oh yeah, Sayu was there too! Hmm, and it's seems as though, now this is just a hunch, someone is looking for Ai! Am I right? Am I? Noo, couldn't be... :lol:

Offline Estrea

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Re: Nocturne [11/5 - File #27 & #28]
« Reply #376 on: August 25, 2012, 09:39:03 PM »
I'm in a weird mood.


==========================================================

File #29


The last thing Tanaka Reina ever imagined herself doing was crying over someone she didn't even really care about.

"Oi! Baka! You aren't allowed to die on me! Get up! Annoy me like you always do! WAKE UP!"

Her hands were already red with blood. The underground garage was both claustrophobically small and loomingly oppressive. Ai's head lolled to one side in her lap, and Reina was shaking the woman desperately in a frantic attempt to garner a response.

Her cellphone beeped faintly a few feet away from her, finally getting a weak signal. Reina's hands were slick and shaky as she scrambled over to pick it up, her touchscreen stained with bloody fingerprints as she slipped all over it trying to dial home.

"Papa..."

This was officially the worst day of her life.

~*~*~

When one of her brothers came back home in a body bag one day, Reina knew things had finally gone from bad to Officially Fucked. It was amazing something like that hadn't happened any sooner, but Reina should have expected something like it given her family business.

Years of seeing her older brothers coming back wounded but alive had bred a sense of hope regarding their invincibility. They always made it back in one piece. Always.

Seeing family die was always ultimately personal. There would be retribution. Vengeance. The entire clan was out for blood. Reina was left alone to mourn while the men went out to exact a blood price for the life of one of her brothers. The only one to grieve.

Ai never left her side in those days. The older girl never said a word. No annoying comments, no saucy come ons, not even a single gesture of pity. She simply hovered in the background unobtrusively, never intruding on Reina's personal space and appearing like little more than a shadow. Whenever Reina found herself needing something, she had only turn around and everything was basically laid out for her. Reina would have thanked her, except thanks weren't in her nature, not right now. She was all cried out after days of mourning her brother.

She couldn't avoid school forever, even with excuses of family tragedy. The territory war had escalated, though it was still fought in shadows. Night raids on the enemy's income sources. Assassinations of top brass, staged as accidents. Sabotaging their legitimate links. An average citizen could crack open the papers and not see what was going on behind the scenes. Such was the nature of the conflict.

Reina went back to school. Amazingly, her only bodyguard was still Ai, which made the kitten more than a little suspicious. She had already suspected that Ai was basically her new bodyguard after the following weeks where she was basically guard-less whenever Ai happened to be around. But given how big the conflict had become, Reina would have expected her paranoid father to double or even triple guard duty around her. It was somewhat shocking that her father entrusted her to someone as flippantly unreliable as one Takahashi Ai, unless the woman was more than she seemed.

They moved off the family estate into one of the other safe houses, an apartment in an unobtrusive neighborhood. Reina would be safely anonymous that way. It was better than risking her identity being made common knowledge by staying at the family estate.

Naturally, Ai came with her. In fact, she introduced her little sister Yuukarin to Reina, who found herself liking the affable girl a lot more than the obnoxious older sibling. Even though Ai had been a little less annoying of late. If anything, the woman seemed to be more distracted than usual whenever they were safely at home. She stopped teasing Reina entirely the moment they stepped back into safety, though the light-hearted image she presented was firmly in place whenever they were out. It was as if Ai switched personas with the ease of an actor switching masks, and Reina was almost annoyed by how the older girl seemed to be on edge while making numerous phone calls whenever they were at home.

Reina found herself letting her guard down around the formerly annoying girl. Irritation had melted down into detached indifference, even a calm acceptance of Ai's presence in her life. It was a steady reassurance to have the beautiful young woman shadow her steps without making her feel stalked. Reina felt a little creeped out by that sometimes though. It was as if she were alone in the room sometimes, until she turned around and saw Ai sitting quietly in a corner, staring out of the window through a crack in the curtains.

It was frustrating. She was completely cut off from home, only surmising the progress of the subterranean war through the vague reports in the papers. Ai helped her a little in that, pointing out details she might have otherwise missed. Reina gained a new respect for the older girl, though there still remained a niggling suspicion on how Ai came by all this information. What was Ai? Not just a mere bodyguard. Bodyguards didn't assume and drop personas at the drop of a hat. Bodyguards didn't feel like they didn't exist at all -- not even the best guards that Reina had ever had managed to completely erase their sense of presence the way Ai did on a regular basis. It was unnerving, even creepy.

But for all that shadowy business, Reina was observant enough to pick up on the tiny hints of Ai's discomfort, even distress, underneath that cool mask. It was in the vaguely distracted flick of a glance, barely noticeable in the subtly tense motions as she stalked from one end of the room to another. No, Reina did not spend too much time watching Ai. It was just that...living together with little other entertainment did that to you.

Reina had gotten so used to Ai being in her life that when their next bust-up happened, she never even saw it coming. They had just been watching TV, chatting idly (to think a civil conversation at length was possible between them) until an innocuous comment made by a fictional character on the talking box set them off.

"That's stupid. No one should have to live for anyone else."
"Really? Reina thought it was really romantic! Must be nice to have someone who can't live without you..."
"Someone who can't live without you doesn't deserve to live at all."

It got worse from there. Such a trivial comment from a made-up story, and they took it all out of proportion. Reina was certain it had somehow gotten personal halfway through the discussion-turned-argument, but couldn't figure out what exactly made Ai so adamant on her position. The woman refused to budge on the issue, and that just fired Reina up to argue the point. Before they knew it, they were both on their feet, and if they weren't exactly shouting at each other, there was a lot of repressed rage in the room.

And then Ai suddenly kissed her, the first time this had happened since Hawaii, and Reina was so shocked by the action that she allowed it for a while, before snapping back to her senses and pushing the infuriating woman away from her.

There was no remorse in those fathomless eyes. Just a calculative coldness, and a hint of smug triumph at the scandalized expression on the kitten's face. Reina, already angry, felt her temper go through the roof. It didn't even mean anything to this, this bitch. Like it was all just fun and games for her. As if Reina did not matter, and to her own surprise, that hurt.

But Reina would not give her the satisfaction of seeing that. She slapped Ai, of course, but that was par for course. Her turning on her heel and marching straight out of the apartment in the dead of the night without a word might have been reckless and impulsive, but Reina didn't care. She couldn't stand being in the same room with that heartless witch. She had gotten too comfortable around her, and she hated it.

That led to her current predicament. Walking into an ambush was all well and good. Walking into an ambush not even meant for you, as she figured out about 10 or 15 minutes into the ordeal, was just lame as hell. Finding out that the ambush was going to be modified with you as bait was even worse. Especially since it was for someone you didn't even really like.

Perhaps the more important question would be why that woman had people after her in the first place. Then again, she had been sent to stay with the Tanaka household for her own protection, but Reina couldn't figure out what for. What could possibly be so bad for someone to think that sanctuary in a yakuza household in the middle of a turf war would be a good idea?

That mattered little when people started dying around her. Reina had always been far removed from the worst acts of violence. Oh sure, she saw a couple of beatings and a maiming once. She had felt slightly squeamish but been otherwise fine. Not for nothing a daughter of the yakuza, she was.

She hadn't even been aware that people were dying. This was supposed to be an ambush; the ambushers were all hidden and spread out. So when they started dropping like flies to walking death in the shadows, there was little indication until a sick crack dropped her nearest captor to the floor, his head at an unnatural angle. Next to him stood a darkly amused Ai, who didn't look like she had just ninja-killed her way through half a dozen people -- not that Reina was fully aware of what the girl did.

"You're a handful, you know that?" Was all Ai said to her, loosing the hastily tied knots around her limbs. That look on her face wasn't quite a smile, but her eyes were feral and alive, in a way. The eyes of a predator. No longer just a shadow, but death in the dark.

In a moment, Reina saw Ai for what she was. Just that moment, almost too brief to grasp.

"You killed them." Statement of fact, hardly accusatory. Ai was once again guarded as Reina rubbed awkwardly at the rope burns. The older girl smiled suddenly, disconcertingly.

"I might not live for anyone else, but I can kill for them."

Always the last word. Reina licked her parched lips, trying to find the right emotion to summon in such a situation. She settled for irritation. It came the fastest, in any case.

"I don't like you."

Ai smiled grimly.

"You don't have to. I might not live for you, but I do need you alive." And I will kill anyone who gets in the way of that. It wasn't said, but it was understood. Reina closed her eyes. Her headache was growing. She opened her mouth to say something, when a familiar sensation of being watched crawled down her spine. Ai was no stranger to it either, seeing how she ducked low and grabbed Reina's wrist, pulling the kitten along with her as they scuttled for cover.

It was then that Reina remembered something important. The ambush hadn't been for her. So it follows naturally that...no. But yes, it had to be. Ai was a killer. It made sense.

"They're not here for me." Reina whispered breathlessly. Even with the cold mask on, Reina felt Ai grimace, muscles tightening subtly.

"Already?" She set her shoulders, head lowered in a thoughtful pose. It lasted maybe a second or two, before the old devil-may-care confidence found its way to the fore again.

"I'll manage somehow. Can't do much with you around though..." If that stung, Reina did not let it show. Truth be told, the girl was frightened. It was as if part of herself had stepped back into herself when that dead body fell next to her earlier. Reina had found herself one foot in the darkness, and discovered that she didn't like it at all.

Reina also discovered soon enough that people could die all too easily. Life was precious? She couldn't see it in the hurried moments between one refuge and the next, only saw how a life could end between breaths. The erasure of that spark in a pair of human eyes. And above it all, the coldly efficient killer Ai had become, as if Reina did not exist. But the same pair of hands that snuffed their watchers also held hers in an unrelenting grip, firm without paining her. Ai hauled them out of an impossible situation, and landed them squarely in Hell, it seemed. Was there no end to the numbers? Where did all these people come from?

Cornered in an underground parking lot, things were grim. Ai assessed things with cool clarity, but the pressure of her fingers on Reina's wrist betrayed the hidden anxiety. Her breaths were shorter already, her body tense and taut for battle. Reina was just numb. The past half hour (was it shorter?) had felt longer than a lifetime. She was exhausted. She wanted to cry. She wanted to hide from the world and pretend that bad things didn't happen in the night. She did none of those things. Instead, she laid a hand on Ai's shoulder. That shoulder wavered briefly, then hardened once more. Reina said nothing. There was nothing to be said.

"Stay here." Ai ordered. Reina stared blankly at her, and Ai stared back, as if expecting a refusal. But nothing. The kitten lowered her head. Ai shook hers, letting Reina's hand slip from hers. A flick of the wrist and a knife slid into her fingers. She would fight.

The last thing an assassin should ever do. The attackers' blood was up. Too many had died. There would be a price. Never mind what they had been hired to do. They wanted blood.

And there was a lot of it. Reina felt worse than useless, huddled in the shadow of a monster SUV. Her hands were shaking. She bit hard into her lip when Ai was knocked back against a wall. 3 to 1 odds were bad, especially when any one of the 3 were easily double the size and weight class of Ai. She did manage to hamstring one though, which just made them mad.

Ai never seemed smaller under the assault. She acquitted herself well though. One of her knives was lodged in the throat of Scar-Face, and she had opened a second grin in the neck of Muscle-Bound. She limped though, and one of her arms was held awkwardly. Her grin was a feral red, and the open gash above her right brow probably impeded her sight in that eye, judging from the blood staining her iris an eerie scarlet.

She lost her knife. Tall-and-Wiry had her in a chokehold, and he seemed particularly livid as Ai sputtered in his grasp, her struggles growing weaker as her airways drew closer to strangulation. Not that it was enough for the man. His knuckles found the side of the tiny woman's head over and over, his rage and knuckle dusters beating a bloody pattern.

He was so focused on the battered woman in his hands that he was surprised by a sharp pain in his kidneys. Several sharp pains. It was debiliating. He was dead within minutes. He did also manage to let go of Ai before that, saving her from choking to death, though bleeding out and/or a concussion still seemed a possible reality.

Reina cried. The knife fell from her hands. The same knife Ai had lost, that fell in front of her like a whispered message. The knife's master would have died, the Knife did not want that. Reina, to her own surprise, did not want that either. Before she even knew herself capable of such an act, she was up and swinging. Good thing she was short. The blade went exactly where it should have gone for fatal damage. She had killed, and she didn't even know how she managed it.

On her knees, Reina scrambled for the only thing that made sense. Even if the only thing that made sense was currently bloody, unconscious, and had always been the only reliable source of irritation she could ever count on. It was easy to push aside the horror of what she had done, if she just pushed it all onto her.

All your fault. Don't die. I hate you. Wake up.

Things unravelled around them, as they have a tendency of doing. Reina held herself together, even managed to call for help. She clung to the rag doll lying limp on her lap, heedless of the blood, heedless of the dread that clung to her as the body seemed to get progressively cooler.

Ai would not die. She would not. Reina gritted her teeth, her eyes red-rimmed but no longer wet with tears. She was all cried out.

"I killed for you, you idiot. You owe me." Anger was a safe emotion. It was what was choking her up. Yes. Nothing else. Ai lay soundlessly in a puddle of blood, not a trace of her usually infuriating smirk on her face. This only maddened the irrational kitten further.

Reina would never admit what happened next. She would not voluntarily kiss the woman. No, not in this life or the next. It was not a kiss. It was a debt she intended to collect in full. That was all.

I might not live for you, but I have killed for you, and your life is mine.

And that was all there was to it.


==============================================================


I have too much darkness in my heart, I think. Just a fraction and things go all to hell.

Yeah. Whatever. Like anyone cares.
« Last Edit: August 26, 2012, 05:14:17 AM by Estrea »

永遠に咲き続ける花なんていない、すべてはいずれ枯れて朽ち果てしまう。

Currently writing:
- Lilium-related things. God save my soul.

On Hold:
- Everything Else. Too many to list.

I'm also on AO3!
http://archiveofourown.org/users/Estrea

Offline Koei

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Re: Nocturne [26/8 - File #29]
« Reply #377 on: August 26, 2012, 02:57:42 AM »
*Makes brian shattering squeal*

Finnally!!!!! This is one that has me on my toes !!! What is going to happen!!! Estrea-sama!!!  :bow: :bow: :bow:
I can so picture everything happening IRL It's quite astounding!

*Will properly re-read once again lol to properly comment later XD*


Offline Estrea

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Re: Nocturne [26/8 - File #29]
« Reply #378 on: August 26, 2012, 07:27:50 AM »
File #30


This was not a hospital. It just looked, felt and smelled like one.

This was most definitely not a morgue. A corpse wouldn't need IV drips and the bed would not be padded otherwise. Cold steel might have given that impression, along with the puke-green tile and dim lighting. Cold, too.

They were in a basement somewhere. Reina wasn't sure if that quack was even properly licensed. He didn't look it, for sure. But he did seem to know what he was doing, and anyone would look raggedly unprofessional from being rousted out of bed in the middle of the night, driven to a secure location blindfolded, and then ordered to fix up a broken and bleeding young woman with equipment bordering on medieval. The only anaesthetic was morphine, if you could believe that, and it was fortunate that the patient was unconscious, so the man could do the worst of the work without having to worry about administering the drug. He didn't like using morphine unless the circumstances were really dire. Side effects, you see.

Reina was simply diagnosed as having a mild case of shock. The only prescription was chocolate and hot tea. She had added the chocolate in peremptorily, and brooked no argument on that case. Her eyes were slightly crossed, but trained fully on the unmoving person on that slab that doubled as a bed. She hadn't said a word since describing the exact particulars of the attack. No desperate pleas to make sure the injured girl would be alright. No tantrums to demonstrate her frustration at the vague reasons leading up to the attack.

She. Just. Sat.

And watched. She did not remove herself from the room as the doctor tut-tutted while cleaning the area of the head wound. From Reina's description the doctor knew that the girl he was patching up had been lucky. The fact that her assailant had been holding her in the air with one hand while pounding at her head with the other meant that it cut down the maximum force applicable. It looked bad, for sure. Head wounds were always tricky, and all that blood was certainly unnerving. The woman might be slightly concussed, but as far as he could tell nothing seemed broken apart from skin, and any other side effects would only be apparent after she woke up. He didn't have any scanning equipment, so he could only hope there weren't any blood clots beneath the skull. He was optimistic though, but still checked her eyeballs for swelling. There was none, so there was a good chance that there was no internal bleeding. Unlucky to be injured, this girl, but fortunate enough that the worst had been avoided.

He had popped the shoulder back in, treated the open gashes, and cleaned what he could using what little he had. Street doctoring required guts and a lot of creativity. Certainly, he could be killed by his patrons if they thought he wasn't doing a good job, so he had to have good nerves too, to work under pressure. Then again, what doctor didn't work under pressure? He was paid well in his time, in cash, and it went undeclared. He would say nothing and be sent back home with no knowledge of where he had been or the identity of who he had been treating. That was the way things were.

Reina did not comment. She seemed to have taken a lesson or two from Ai in the art of erasing her presence. Not quite as well, perhaps, but most people didn't have the heightened sense of paranoia that she or Ai had. Her hands were clean, but she had ceased munching on the chocolate ages ago. The bar lay forgotten on the side table next to her. She did not put her hands anywhere near her face. It might have been a hallucination, but she felt as if she could still smell the blood on them. Could you even hallucinate scent?

Reina discovered one thing though. Fresh blood didn't really smell of anything. The smell only started a little later, when it was no longer slick on her hands, when it started to get thick and parts of it flaked off her fingertips. She had spent some time scrubbing under her nails. With hot water. It washed away all too easily, but memory would not be so denied.

Her tea was getting cold. It seemed red under the single bulb hanging above her, and after the first few gulps she had put it down and not touched it since. The basement was silent since the doctor had left. The sound of breathing was faint, ragged but present. Her own was quiet, shallow. She was tired, but something kept her awake. Her neck ached, but she continued staring forward, fixed in that hunched position.

She must have fallen asleep at some point though, because one of her brothers was with her and a blanket thrown around her shoulders when she opened eyes she did not remember closing. Big brother Musashi had a grim look on his face, and bandages were around his right hand, but he seemed otherwise fine. He spoke to her, and Reina found herself answering mechanically. When he attempted to remove her from the basement, she resisted, her eyes flaring with emotion for the first time since he entered and laid eyes on her. It didn't stop him for long, and she did not speak to him in the entire ride back. His injured hand throbbed painfully where little Reina had clawed at him. His baby sister had grown some claws.

Reina was cold inside. Something had changed, and she no longer felt like the naive girl she had once been. All the difference from a knife and some blood. So that was how it felt like to kill. How it felt like to take a life. She had thought there would be more blood, maybe. Perhaps stab wounds simply made less mess. She would have to ask Ai. Ai would know. Ai was not with her. She wanted to slap that woman awake already. Wake up, damn you, you owe me answers and a life.

Life had suddenly gotten more complicated. But events moved on. Reina went from standoffish to genuinely cold at school. The difference was subtle and most people wouldn't notice either way, but Reina felt that they couldn't help but know. That she was different. That she no longer walked among them as an equal. She was a separate existence that had hunted forbidden game. They should know. How could they not? How could everyone be so blind?

She was being watched by incompetent bodyguards again. There was a difference she could obviously sense. They were about as subtle as a mallet to the head. They tried though. They were just doing their job. She couldn't blame them for that. Just as she couldn't blame Ai for doing hers. Why fight?

Questions and answers. Reina actually applied herself to school for once, and while she was never a top student, she at least made the average and a little better on certain subjects. Life was bland, tasteless. She couldn't go anywhere, she had no one to talk to.

Two weeks of boring monotony. Reina was almost getting used to it. Almost. She still dreamed of blood sometimes. Held a pen and remembered the heft of a knife. Recalled the helplessness of being a burden. The fierce rage, satisfaction at a job done. Horror factored in somewhere, or she assumed it had to.

And she remembered feral eyes, not one that took joy in killing, but it was a thrill Reina found herself groping blindly to grasp. There was a satisfaction in meeting and winning, of mastering your situation, of not being powerless. She had held that sensation for a moment, but it slipped through her fingers like sand. Hard to hold on to.

The words stayed on the tip of her tongue. Words that begged to be asked, whenever she spoke to her father on the phone. She did not let them slip, but waited. For...something? Reina wasn't sure. There was a certainty she wasn't sure how she came by.

You owe me. She had not known why she felt that way. Did not know why she expected it to be honored. If nothing else, Ai had never shown herself to be a person of honor. At least, never seemed to. She couldn't tell. Ai was a shadow, the knife in the dark. Assassins didn't last long. Reina knew that much.

So when she jerked awake again for the nth time in a night as she always did, she was not entirely surprised to see her window open and someone sitting on the sill. There was a strong stench of antiseptic, and in the moonlight, the assassin at the window looked pale and gaunt as death. She was smiling, in that way that wasn't a smile, the kind that hid a stab when you least expected it.

Reina found herself matching it. She shifted in bed, her eyes never leaving the dark pools trained on her. Ai padded over, after a moment of silence. She did not sit down, not immediately. They did not touch.

Then Ai settled in, and they lay side by side, shoulders brushing, not saying a word. The ceiling held their gazes. Their breathing was even, so much so that for the longest moment, it was as if both of them had fallen asleep, until Reina broke the silence.

"Would you kill me?"

"Yes."

The reply came without pause. Ai did not elaborate. She didn't have to. Reina knew she was an assassin. A killer for hire. There wasn't much to explain. She wasn't a psycho serial killer than slaughtered for jollies. If there was a contract on Reina and it was accepted, Ai would receive and execute. That was her life.

"Would you kill for me then?"

"..."

Stupid question, really. Ai had already done so. Reina exhaled. She thought she could see, but there was so many layers in the enigma next to her that she couldn't really be sure. Did she understand? Could she understand? Did she want to?

"Would you kill me if I asked you to?"

"...you wouldn't be around to pay me, would you?"

Reina barked a laugh, suddenly and unexpectedly. She could almost feel Ai smiling. Or was that another illusion? Reina sobered quickly.

"You're mine."

"For now." Ai agreed noncommitally. A hired blade belonged to the master. That was all. Reina closed her eyes, exhaling softly.

"Good."

Ai didn't respond, simply waiting until Reina's breathing went back to long, smooth patterns. She sat up then, retreating to a safe distance. Her eyes were dark and deep.

She stayed in that corner until dawn. Reina did not wake again until then, and when she did, she was alone in the room. Alone, but for the knife on the pillow next to her. It was simple, unadorned, and the weight was familiar.

Unable to help herself, Reina laughed. Held the...gift? Warning? Joke? Whatever it was, and laughed, until tears came to her eyes and she quieted. She looked at the knife, then put it away. She went nowhere without it.

She never saw Ai again.


=============================================================


Nocturne never takes that long to write when I put my mind to it. This took what, 2 hours? That's fast by my standards. Heh.

Keep going, keep going. Almost to the end. Doesn't matter what is said. I simply have to finish. Right? Right?

永遠に咲き続ける花なんていない、すべてはいずれ枯れて朽ち果てしまう。

Currently writing:
- Lilium-related things. God save my soul.

On Hold:
- Everything Else. Too many to list.

I'm also on AO3!
http://archiveofourown.org/users/Estrea

Offline kjpop

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Re: Nocturne [26/8 - File #29 & #30]
« Reply #379 on: August 27, 2012, 10:19:00 PM »
SO MUCH GROSS SOBBING I WILL BE BACK OMFGSDJFSDGFKSDGHFJKSDGHFKJSDGHFDF


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