edited: proof-read and beta-ed by love-wars-elizabeth
MASK
Chapter 4
*Shibuya`s POV
Yuko-san was right. Life is too short. Yuko-san’s hospitalized because of her illness now. And I’m not a chicken. I have to talk to her. And the timing’s perfect too, since both of us are not in school. I get off from my bed, grab my jacket (my white trainer jacket, not my Rappapa jacket) and head to her room.
I knock the door twice. I hear a soft “come in”. And come face to face with…
Kokabuki.
She looked surprised; a little scared, even. Hum… it seemed like I still have my reputation as a Queen of Rappapa. She didn’t look like she’ll move soon, or even let me in. My trade-mark smirk came back to my face. “Where’s your aneki?” I asked her.
She is still too stunned to say anything. I am about to push her off to the side and walk myself in when a gentle voice came from the room. “Kokabuki, who is that?” This put her out of her stupor and opened the door wider for her Aneki to see. She’s shocked seeing me outside their room. But I don’t know why. Is it because a Queen visiting her or because it is me.
Since the door has been opened for me, I walk inside the room, my eyes only on her and sitting in one of the chair beside her bed. She was sitting on her bed, wrapped with bandages on her head and on her arms. I know there are more bandages on her but it was covered by her clothes and blanket. “You alright?” I asked her. She doesn’t look as bad as I thought she would, but seeing her like this pains me.
Instead of her, Kokabuki answers me back. “What do you think? Your friend beat us to a pulp yesterday!” She feels threatened by a Queen’s presence in the same room with her; I can see that in her stance, and yet she’s able to hold herself and speak back at me. With biting words, even. I smirk at Kokabuki while thinking to myself, ‘Nice sister you’ve got here. She has some guts.’
My smirk seems to irritate her more. “What do you want? Do you want to finish what your friend has done? I may be weaker than you but I won’t let you harm Aneki.”
“Bring it, Kokabuki. I’ll show you why you should never mess around with a Rappapa`s Queen.” I stand up and prepare myself for the fight. ‘And I really want to kick you out for being with her all the time, when I can’t even talk to her.’ I added in my head. And why the hell does she seems better than her Aneki? She can walk around and has fewer bandages on. I have come here with the intention to talk to her. But this sister of hers really irritates me.
“Stop it, you two! We’re in the hospital!” Ookabuki words end our fight before it has even began.
Kokabuki turns to her. “But, Aneki…”
“Can you leave us for a moment, Kokabuki? I want to talk to her alone.” Her request shocks me and Kokabuki.
They have a moment of silent communication, which I don’t like, and then Kokabuki said, “Alright, I’ll be waiting outside.” She then walks out to the door.
Ookabuki’s voice then stops her. “Kokabuki,” she turned to face her Aneki, “please don’t say anything to anyone about her ever being here.” She gestures towards me; Kokabuki replies with a nod and walks out of the room.
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Does she actually remember me? Is what Yuko-san said actually right? I try to look at her, but I was too afraid to do so. Nah, it’s impossible. There’s lot of other reasons for her to make her want to talk to me alone. My insecurities were grabbing ahold of me again.
“Tomo…”
Her voice pulls me out from my mind. And when I look at her she gave me this million watt smile that I so fondly remembered. Wait- she called me Tomo, and her smile… My heart pounding like crazy inside my ribcage and my head spinning, I put my left hand in front of my heart and my right one massaging my head. Hemm… strange… maybe I did get brain damage from the head-butt that damn Maeda gave me.
She laughs. The sound of her laugh sounds so good. It’s like music to my ears. And then I realized she was laughing at me. It occurs to me that my pose surely looks weird. I sit back and put my hand on my lap. God… I want to bury myself. Or… perhaps it’ll be better if the floor opened and the earth swallowed me. Less dirt I had to face. Wait, what the hell am I thinking about? I mentally face-palmed inside my mind for letting my thoughts wander while I’m with other people.
She’s still laughing. At me. I try my best not to blush from embarrassment and suppress my rage from being laughed at. I don’t know which is worse, too be laughed at or to snap at her.
“Don’t you have something to say? You’re visiting me after all.” She said with a smile. Without her Kabuki makeup, she looks cuter, if that’s even possible. My heart’s pounding faster inside my ribcage. I hope I won’t get a heart attack after this.
Her smile widens upon seeing me still unable to speak. “And to answer your question, I am alright.”
I can’t stop myself from giving a stupid response. “Huh?”
She laughs at me again. I can’t even get angry at her for laughing at me this time. I’m acting like a total idiot. People wouldn’t believe that I am Shibuya of the Rappapa when they see me like this. I am so embarrassed with myself right now.
“Earlier you asked me if I’m alright. Remember?” Thankfully, she stopped laughing at me. “I was surprised to see you here though, Tomo.” She locks her gaze at me while she said that.
She called me Tomo. No one called me that now. So that meant… “What did you call me?” I have to make myself sure; she looks disappointed and turns her gaze towards the window. And for a moment, a heavy, silent atmosphere filled the room. It made me frown. ‘Did I say the wrong thing?’ Remembering my words, I really want to slap myself. ‘Baka, if she really remembers me, she must have thought I don’t remember her because of the way my question sounded.’
“Nothing. I guess I’m not as fine as I think I am. Can you leave now, Shibuya-san? I need to rest.” She said in a hushed voice.
Her words pain my heart. I actually want to leave. But I brace myself. I can’t leave. Not now when we’re finally alone. I have to clear out the misunderstanding between us. And it looks like she actually knows me. The real me. Not just as Shibuya. Only members of the Rappapa know my real name. And the Headmaster of course. So for her to call me Tomo, it’s only means one thing. She must have remembered me.
“Do you remember me?” I still have to make sure of it and to clear up the misunderstanding, so I asked her. “Tomo?” We used to call each other that. Tomo. Our names are the same; only the Kanji are different. It was confusing to others but we liked it that way.
She keeps silent and sits still; like she was in a daze or something. Oh, God. Is she alright? I stand up and shake her a bit. “Tomo? Oy, are you alright? Answer me.” Gently, I shake her a bit more. She’s injured after all, and I don’t want to hurt her.
She smiles at me and pulls me close, giving me a tight hug. “I was always hoping you’d remember me.” Her voice is a bit muffled since it’s buried in my shoulder. “I even dreamed about it.”
I smile at that, and hug her back carefully. I don’t want to injure her more than she already was. “I do too. But, lately I’ve been trying not to hope for it.”
She pushes me back and frowns at me as a response, waiting for me to explain it. She looks really cute, “Brfftt…. Ahahaha…” Seeing her face makes me laugh and I have to put my hand to my mouth to stop it.
Her frown turns into a glare and a pout. “Nice, really nice. So you’re here only to laugh at me, huh?” She’s glaring and pouting at me at the same time, trying to threaten me, only to fail at it. This makes me laugh even harder. Even the bed started to shake because of it.
“I need to know something. Do you use that expression you have now to threaten your opponents? Because it doesn’t look deathly. At all. If else it makes you look even cuter.” I can’t help but tease her.
She looks surprised because of what I said, but then she smiled mischievously at me. “Oh, I didn’t know you think I’m cute.”
Her words give me the shock. Oh, crap, what the hell did I do? Why I let my feeling out in the open like that. She was my friend back then. But, now she’s a stranger. I just barely talked to her again. People change. What if she wasn’t the same person as she was back then? She doesn’t look different much, but what if I’m wrong? What if she’s using it to pin me down? And she’s on Maeda`s side after all. Damn… I was careless. I have to go before I dig myself a deeper hole. I try my best to compose myself and stand up. The sudden change in me seems to confuse her.
“Sorry, but I have to go now.”
“Oh, okay. You shouldn’t be out of your room for too long, anyway.” She said to me. How does she know I’m being hospitalized here too? “Can you visit me again tomorrow?” She smiled at me; I can see the gleam of hope in her eyes. “Since, well, you know I’m still glued to the bed, literally. I can’t go to your room for now.”
For some unknown reason, my temper rising. “I don’t know. We’ll see about that.” I said in a cold tone of voice and walk out of the room. Before I was out I can hear her calling me with a pained voice.
“Tomo…”
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@blackstar: No, she doesn't forget. She just pretend that she was.
@XxRoByNxX78 : Glad you like it. Hemmm... I don't know yet. Should I put another pairing?
@sakura_drop_ : good for you... I haven't eat homemade food for quite a while now
yeah... somehow I have this perception of Yuko in MG, a kind yet strict leader
@kahem: ah... kahem-san... thanks for coming here. Your fic is actually one of the fics that pulled me here
wtomo needs more love here
So, that's was chapter 4. Comments and reviews are highly appreciated. I want to know what you think, guys.