^ <333
It's been a while since I updated. Oh well. I don't hear anyone gripin' about it.
-shrugs-
Enjoy.
[Chapter Thirty-Five -- Koi no Vacance, Part IIThe tension building up in the rundown alleyway was… powerful, to say the least. It was enough to keep everyone present quiet, waiting with baited breath to see what their respective leaders would do.
On the one side stood Koharu, a faintly amused expression on her face, while Airi stood close behind, taking on a much more stoic appearance. Opposite of the two of them was a group of about five girls, all looking as though they were ready for a fight. The tallest of this group was out in front, and though she was perhaps the calmest next to the other females behind her, her eyes carried a dangerous warning that something would happen if the pair decided to get any closer.
“I don’t see why you have to be so hostile about this, Maimi… I would have assumed that you would have wanted to be the first to help me out…”
“Maybe in the past, Miracle… but… what you pulled last time was crazy. Not only that, but I hear that the cops are on your tail this time. You can’t outrun them forever, no matter how good you are… We… no…
I don’t want to have anything to do with you anymore.”
Koharu laughed quietly to herself, shrugging in a nonchalant sort of way. Her cold eyes were not carefree, however, and the leader of the big group—the girl called Maimi—had to surpress a shiver when those black orbs darted in her direction again… piercing, evil, murderous things…
“How… unfortunate… I would have liked to have included you in this… but I guess that’s not going to happen… It’s too bad I have to dispose of all of you now, too… It’d be too risky if you were to let what transpired here leak out to the wrong people…”
“Dispose of…?”
Maimi’s eyes immediately shot to Airi, who had moved out from behind Koharu and was slowly closing the gap between herself and the group. The younger female was pulling something out from beneath the folds of her clothing, and the tell-tale glint of metal told Maimi that it wasn’t nice and cuddly…
“Don’t take too long, Airin… we’ve got other things to take care of, you know…”
And as soon as Koharu disappeared around the corner, the pawn dove into the group of girls without warning, brandishing a pair of deadly, six-inch knives. Though she caught the small gang by surprise, she was horribly outnumbered, and the fight would be in their favor… at least, that’s what Maimi thought at first. Airi wasn’t the only one who had been concealing a weapon.
Things moved quickly, and two of the females had managed to back Airi up into a corner of the alleyway. She was breathing heavily, but to Maimi’s surprise, the girl didn’t have a scratch on her. There was this horrible glint in the pawn’s eyes… similar to the look she had gotten from Koharu. Almost like she was consumed and controlled by some sort of powerful bloodlust…
The two girls that had her cornered seemed to notice the dangerous look as well, and they were frightened by it, attempting to take a few steps backwards as if they wanted to put distance between themselves and this little demon.
…They barely had enough time to scream before their lives were ripped from them by the blades of the knives.
Maimi had even less time to mourn their deaths, for Airi targeted her next, and she thanked instinct and reflexes for saving her life, because without them, she’d have never gotten her arms up in time to block the attack. The force of it surprised her, coming from someone smaller than herself, and when she felt her back connect with the ground below she couldn’t help but let out a startled yelp. She was pretty sure her arms had been sliced during the collision, too, but the pain wouldn’t hit her until she had a moment to think about it.
The little demon was on top of her in an instant, and she felt her brain shift into autopilot, relying on the instinct of self-preservation to keep alive. Somehow she managed to avoid getting stabbed by those gleaming knives, and used all her force to kick Airi in the ribcage, this sickening, cracking sort of noise following to tell her that she had aimed well.
Maimi scrambled to her feet as the other girl staggered backwards, and looked around, dismayed to find that her two still-living companions had fled, leaving her to fend for herself. Then again… she couldn’t really blame them. She could feel her anger flaring up as she glanced over the fallen, lifeless forms on the ground not too far away, and before her good judgment could stop her, she flew at Airi, ignoring the shockwaves of pain that traveled up her wounded arm when she punched the other girl in the face.
Without even skipping a beat, she drew her other fist back and was ready to deliver an equally powerful blow, but this time it didn’t connect, because Airi had recovered, and was much faster than the taller female. So fast in fact, that not only had she dodged Maimi, she had retreated, completely disappearing from sight.
Not so tough… when you decided to come after me, huh…The gang leader clenched her hands into tight fists at her sides, only vaguely aware of the blood dripping down from the wounds made by the knives.
The next time you show your face, Miracle… there will be hell to pay… Make no doubt about that…------------
“Ugh…”
“An… amusement park? Aren’t we a little old for this? I was expecting to do something more along the lines of… well, shopping, or something like that.”
“Aw, hush, Erika-chan. It’ll be fun. You’re
never too old for a roller coaster.”
“Well, actually…”
“No more discussion! We’re here now, and we’re gonna have fun, and you guys are gonna like it! If you want to leave, that’s fine with me, but I’m the one with the car, remember?”
Erika and Risako shared a dismayed, reluctant sort of look before turning back to gaze at the sight before them. Twisting steel tracks and other large metallic structures that no doubt held some of the more terrifying attractions jutted up from the earth, looming over them in an ominous fashion. The cars rolled by on the tracks with impressive speed, carrying with them the excited and frightened screams of those riding. Miyabi didn’t seem to be intimidated by the sight of it at all, and if Saki was afraid… she wasn’t showing it.
The other two members of the group were both obviously not too keen on the idea of entering the park, but Miyabi had a point… so there wasn’t really much they could do about it. They were much too far away from their respective homes at this point to even think about walking…
Erika sighed as she watched Saki and Miyabi wander off by themselves, realizing that she was stuck with having to watch out for Risako until the others saw fit to leave… She was already in a crappy mood because Yurina hadn’t come along, but… to have to keep an eye on the accident-prone, life-endangering youngest member of the troupe was bound to wear on her nerves.
It wasn’t that she didn’t like Risako… she just wasn’t all too close to the other girl.
“…So what do you want to do now?”
“I don’t know. I don’t really care.”
It seemed that her companion was in a similar sort of mood. The girl had been distracted ever since the day before, and she looked upset when she told the others that Momoko had decided not to come with them, either.
This is gonna be so much fun…“Come on, then… Let’s find something that won’t make us throw up or dislocate some body parts… Eh, Risako?”
As soon as Erika turned back to face the younger female, she noticed that the girl was gone, and a jolt of fear shot up her spine. She was beyond dead if anything happened to Risako…
beyond dead.
“Rii-chan!”
She called out, looking around frantically in a futile attempt to catch a glimpse of the other girl… but Risako had obviously taken the opportunity to get away from her as far as possible as quickly as possible, and was nowhere in sight. It was easy to hide in a huge amusement park like this, especially since it was crowded with people…
…Why me?-------------
“Samidare Koi Uta…”“A love song?”
“Mm… Yurina is a bit of a romantic, I suppose…”
I scanned over the music sheet Momoko was holding, never moving my head from her shoulder. I had been told to behave… and so I would for now… but most people considered me to be a rebel, and those aren’t really known for…
behaving. It didn’t help that I was still completely fascinated with her and the things that she did, either.
But I wasn’t Maiha… and so I could hold out… for a little while longer, anyway.
“Will you sing it for me?”
She shifted against me, turning her head to look at me with those brilliant eyes of hers, the faintest shade of crimson coloring her cheeks in a light blush. It was almost too adorable to handle, really… how it was possible for someone to be so cute, I’ll never understand.
“A-ah, well…”
“Oh, come on… don’t tell me you’re nervous about singing in front of
me. You’re a performer, you’re not supposed to have stage fright around anyone.”
“It’s not that… it’s just… this song is meant to be a duet. It wouldn’t sound like it’s supposed to if I sang it by myself.”
“I’ll sing with you, then.”
Momoko gave me a curious look, as if she was trying to figure out whether or not I was lying to her. Maiha had taken on a similar expression the first time I told
her I could sing, but at least Momoko looked like she could believe it somewhat. Maiha just laughed at me. It was getting really annoying to elicit that same reaction out of people every time, though… maybe I should have just stopped telling them about it.
“Saki did teach me a few things back when she used to perform, you know… I just don’t make it a point to broadcast what I can do. I’m not
that untalented…”
“Oh, you know I wasn’t thinking like that. Isn’t it fair for me to be surprised, considering I’ve only known you for about five days now?”
Alright, touché. There were still a lot of things that we didn’t know about each other.
“Do you want me to sing with you or not?”
“You’re the one who wants to hear the song…”
I let out an exasperated groan, swiping the music out of her hands with ease and earning a mischievous giggle as my reward. I suppose she hadn’t gotten tired of trying to get under my skin like that, being smart and all. I didn’t mind so much anymore, though… it was much more playful than annoying now.
My eyes wandered over the pages that I had apprehended, following the notes on the staff and the words beneath, trying to decipher what part I would have to sing. It seemed like I would have to stick with the lower, main part, because my vocal range would definitely not be able to handle the other.
I became aware of Momoko’s eyes on me at that point, and I looked up from the page to meet her gaze. She was staring at me curiously again… but this time it was almost like she was somewhat impressed about something.
“You can read the music, too…?”
“Yeah… it was one of the things Saki taught me how to do. But… it wasn’t ever really like she gave me
lessons on it… it was more like, whenever we hung out and were bored she’d show me something new. I never forgot any of it…”
She didn’t say anything at that, and she was still staring as if she was looking for something else… My ears were growing hot under all of the scrutiny, and so I had to look away before I blushed like she had a little while ago. I was not small and cute, and therefore would have appeared stupid rather than adorable.
“Let’s just… sing now.”
“…Alright.”
Momoko slid out of my arms and stood up, leaving a cold and empty space where she had been, but I resisted the urge to tell her to come back, because that would have sounded strange… She walked over to a bag that was sitting on the table near the window, digging through it for a moment before she pulled out a CD, which she took over to a… well, the nice words for the player would have been “well used”… and slid it into the machine, waiting for it to load.
Funny… I hadn’t even noticed the thing when I had been over at the apartment the first time. Then again, it wasn’t Momoko’s apartment, and other than Momoko herself, I really could have cared less about what was in it. Maiha would have been interested, but that was a completely different story.
And something told me that she wasn’t going to be setting foot in there anytime soon.
“We’ve been recording all of Yurina’s piano tracks with some of the equipment in the theatre… It’s not like… amazing quality or anything, and it definitely doesn’t measure up to hearing her play live, but it helps when practicing…”
Almost as soon as she finished speaking the sounds of the piano filtered out of the stereo, sounding much clearer than I would have expected it to, all things considered. I honestly didn’t know what she was talking about when she said the quality of the recording wasn’t good… but judging by just how amazing that piano sounded… I assumed she was right when she said that it couldn’t compare to hearing the music live.
As the song started, she walked back over and sat down in my lap again (much to my relief… I was getting lonely) and I handed her the music so that I could look over her shoulder and we could both read it.
She didn’t even have to tell me when to start, because somehow… I just knew.
*“♪Koi makura, koizakura
koi no hana ga chiru (aa aa yurara)♪”
I was surprised at how well our voices blended and merged together, and I think she was thinking somewhere along the same lines, because she turned to look at me, amazement reflected in her eyes. I smiled, and we continued to sing:
“♪Koi no iro, koi no ame
samidare uta…♪”
“♪Yatto wasure kaketeta…♪”
I've finally made myself forget… “♪(Mae no shitsuren…)♪”
(My last broken heart…) “♪Koi no kizuato…♪”
The scars of love… “♪Kioku ga modoru…♪”
Make my memories return…Suddenly I felt a pain jolt at my heart, because the words… they were hitting very near to home… I kept on singing, not wanting to think about it.
“♪Kokoro midare (midare)
hitori yurare (yurarete)
kaeru densha no naka made♪”
My heart is restless (restless)
I tremble alone (I tremble)
Even in the train going home“♪Ah, samidare (midare)
ah, nagasareteku (nagarete)
namida, namida, furitsuzuku wa…♪”
Ah, early summer rain (disturbs)
Ah, it flows away (flows away)
My tears, my tears continue to rain down…I couldn’t sing anymore after that… Even though the track continued to play, we sat there quietly, as Momoko had picked up on the sudden change in my mood, and was now looking at me, concerned. I could feel her delicate fingers brush across my cheek, and I closed my eyes, trying to block it out.
“…And… you know what happens when people get in my way …don’t you, Maasa.”
“If you care about her at all… which… I think you do from what I’ve seen…”
“…Well, I’d be planting certain ideas in her head to get her to stop… you know… just in case something terrible were to happen…”“…Maasa?”
I opened my eyes again, her quiet voice pushing that terrible, painful other one out of my head. She was still watching me with a troubled expression, and I cursed myself inwardly for allowing myself to make her worry…
“It’s nothing… Just, a beautiful song, that’s all…”
She didn’t believe me, I could see that in her eyes, but for some reason… she didn’t push it. She let it go, and for that I was grateful, but… Why hadn’t I just told her the truth right there…? What was I afraid of?
Losing her…“Mm… well… I’m glad you like it. I’ll be sure to tell Yurina that it’ll be good for the performance, then.”
It was awkward between us at that moment, and I could feel her stiffen against me, as if she didn’t really want to be that close but wouldn’t move away in order to keep from hurting my feelings or something. It wasn’t like Momoko expected anything from me, but… She could tell I had lied to her, and I suppose in that way I had told her that I didn’t trust her.
It’s not that… I just want to keep you safe. I want you to be able to leave this city in the end…I sighed, laying my head forward on her shoulder again. I needed to think more before I did things… Still, she seemed to relax at that, and I saw her smile a bit out of the corner of my eye as she turned her head to kiss me on the cheek.
“Come with me…”
“Where?”
She stood up, grabbing my hand as I got up along with her. I didn’t really care where we were going, but the question was asked more out of reflex than actual concern. But she didn’t answer at first, merely smiling as she led me out of the apartment.
“I have something to show you…”
*I don't own this song, I didn't write it, blahblahblah, don't sue me and all that jazz. XDD