Posting from school...
Random idea I had after rewatching the Sexy 8 Beat concert. Mhm.
Oh and on the subject of school, I got an A for my first Chinese assignment. Woot!
XDDD
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Mephisto"Happy birthday, Takahashi."A familiar voice. The words themselves were spoken in an almost lazy manner, not quite a drawl, but getting there. It was a voice that one Takahashi Ai had not quite expected to hear, not right now, after a whole day that which had been her birthday. She thought that the voice on the other side of the phone would have called earlier if she had remembered to, and had pretty much resigned herself to the fact that this person wasn't going to be congratulating her for her 21st birthday.
"Oy Takahashi, you still there? I can't see you right now, but I'm sure you have your '...' expression on now. Aren't you?"Ai laughed on reflex, a short bark that almost sounded like a cross behind a gasp and a choke. To call it a laugh was being generous. The other person on the phone thought so too.
"That sounds gross." A pause, then in a sly tone.
"Am I interrupting something?""I have no idea what you mean." Ai replied primly in her best girl-scout tone, designed primarily to lull others into believing her relative gullibility. Remarkably effective, that.
But the intended target this time was not a member of the gullible masses, and was already wise to the whole charade.
"Oh I'm sure." A short snicker.
"Nevertheless, did I make it in time to congratulate you?"One eye flicked over to the neon display clock on the top of the bedside drawer. The red roman numerals blinked innocently, telling the time and shaping Ai's answer.
"You didn't now, but you did when you did at first, but now you didn't because you asked about the now where you didn't instead of the then when you did, but since you did it when you did, even if you asked if you did at a time when you didn't, I'm going to be nice and say that you did anyway."
A long silence ensued. Ai cracked a small smile at the overly long pause.
"...Takahashi, speak standard Japanese."Ai bit her lip before replying in her most folksy, imbecilic tone, maintaining a straight face throughout.
"But I
am."
Another pause. Then a derisive laugh.
"Same old Takahashi, incapable of lying." A pregnant pause.
"Or should I say, you can't lie about lying since you're already lying all the time. Isn't that so, my lovely Ai-chan?"A reflective silence ensued, Ai thinking of god knows what, and her mysterious caller clearly awaiting an answer that would never come. Finally, impatience broke the impasse.
"Takahashi, there's no one else around, so stop pretending. I know that you know that I know, and you know that I know that you know. You aren't accomplishing a single thing by not being yourself right now."Ai affected a bemused expression that showed clearly in her voice at this statement. "And you accuse
me of playing with semantics."
A genuine laugh was evoked this time, prompting a gentle smile in return from a silent Ai, who merely sat there, phone in one hand, the other resting on the pages of an open book in her lap. One finger was playing idly with the edges of the paper, feeling the sharpness of the fresh corner and unconsciously wearing down on it with each stroke over that fine edge.
"I don't know what you mean; I haven't hidden anything about myself, within reason of course." This was said without preamble, or even a hint of dishonesty present in the tone. However, the other person wasn't buying that for a moment at all.
"Takahashi, you are the singularly most dishonest person I've ever been well-acquainted with in the industry. You don't lie with your words; you lie with your whole person. You make it seem like the light in your eyes is coming from the sun streaming in from through the back of your skull, pretending to be a dumb airhead when you're really not. That's the most disciplined expression of organized deception I've ever seen in my life, but you were always known for your discipline in all things, weren't you?"Ai's expression didn't budge in the slightest at the accusation. Indeed, her only visible reaction was that her fingers had ceased its quest to wear down the edges of each page of the book, instead moving to tap restlessly on the margins of the page. Her voice was taut and level when she did respond.
"Fujimoto, are you calling to wish me well, or are you trying to needle me?"
The other person, now identified as one Fujimoto Miki, chuckled.
"Ah, sorry, got a little carried away. I was bored since Aya-chan's busy." As if saying that would justify her outburst. If Ai were any less composed, she would be banging her head against the headboard of her bed by now. As it was though, Ai knew how Miki was like, and simply let out a small sigh.
"If Matsuura-san was busy the whole day, why did you remember to call me only now?"
Or at all, for that matter, Ai did not add. Miki snorted dismissively, and Ai could almost see her waving one hand in the air in the same gesture.
"I was watching documentaries on television and then one on howler monkeys came up, and I suddenly remembered your birthday. So I called to congratulate my former sub-leader. Anything wrong with that?"One could almost see the indolent smile on that devil's face, and Ai couldn't help but find her voice raising a notch, the tapping of her fingers having ceased and were now pressing into the page tightly.
"You remembered me only because of a bunch of monkeys on TV?"
"Don't worry, I don't grope monkeys." If one could see Miki now, one would undoubtedly be taken aback by the evil glee in that grin on her face.
"I'm touched." Ai replied a little sarcastically, having been somewhat offended by the comparison. She could almost picture the lazy smirk on Miki's face now.
"Of course you are. I heard you've been an interesting leader. How has the job been so far?""If you had bothered to stay longer than 3 weeks in the position, you wouldn't have to ask me now." Ai replied just a little bitterly.
Surprisingly, there was a sigh from the other end of the line.
"You know why I couldn't stay very much longer, don't you?"Ai did. She did only too well.
"Still, you could have given me a little more warning than just mailing 'Watch out for the news tomorrow~' the night before the whole situation exploded." Ai sounded justifiably exasperated. Miki snickered in response.
"Well, gotta keep up the Fujimoto image. Going out with a bang and all that. First they stuck me into the group abruptly, so I have every right to leave it just as abruptly."Fujimoto-logic at its best. Ai couldn't help but smile a little at the petulance present in Miki's tone though.
"But you're bored now, aren't you?"
"Is it that obvious?" The voice was heavy with sarcasm. Then another poignant pause.
"You sound snappier than usual today. What, bad day?"Again with the intuition. Ai didn't know whether she was glad or irritated that someone had managed to see through her facade, if only marginally. On one hand, it was refreshing to have someone who
did understand; on the other hand, she had spent so much time in her own little world that unexpected intrusions felt extremely unwanted and irksome. It was a dilemma, really. Seeking to be found, but yet avoiding contact at all costs. Ai wondered how much that contradiction could, and already had, cost her.
"Just a very long one." Her reply was typically diplomatic, and not completely untrue. It had been a long day, after all.
"No, really. Do you think I'm stupid?" Back to big bad Fujimoto. Ai resisted the urge to roll her eyes and reply in the affirmative. She was too polite for that.
"I'm just tired, really." Another obfuscation. Ai knew that Miki wouldn't be put off so easily, but she couldn't be bothered to think of something better. Or even just hanging up on the other woman. She could do that, of course, but it wasn't
nice.
Sometimes Ai wondered why she even bothered to be the 'goody two shoes' all the time.
"Takahashi, are you still there?" Ai blinked, realizing that she had just drifted off into her thoughts again. She made a small sound in affirmation.
"Try not to drift off so much. How are you going to lead the rest with your head in the clouds?"Now, if someone like Yossi had said that to her, it would have been more meaningful to her. However, this was Miki. The one with the shortest ever term as leader. The wild child of the group, in a sense. It was singularly odd to hear that coming from her, of all people.
"I'll be fine." It was easier to just agree sometimes, than come up with long arguments or explanations for or against the statement made. Besides, Ai really wasn't feeling up to an argument of any kind now.
"Is this about the brat?" Yet another sharply intuitive question. Ai didn't even realize her instinctive intake of breath when the words wormed their way into her ear.
"Heh, guess I was right.""What are you talking about?" Ai asked guardedly, suddenly feeling a lot more awake, and infinitely more defensive.
"Only a few people have ever been able to bother you, even just slightly. I just picked the first name I remembered." There was a distinctly smug tone to Miki's voice.
"What is it this time, she ditch you for your party?""No, actually, everyone was there." Ai paused. "Except Mittsi, I think. She left a bit early."
"Mittsi? Who?"Ai cracked a small smile. "You know, 8th gen member. Clung to Yoshizawa a lot."
"Oh, THAT one. Forgot for a moment. Can't keep track of all them newbies anyway.""You should at least try." Ai chided gently. The only response she got was a dismissive 'pfft'.
"Anyway, I think we were talking about YOU. So, something happened eh? Did the brat find a boyfriend? Hope she hid it well if she did.""No, she didn't." She said sharply, snapping the book in her lap shut. The thought of Risa having a boyfriend was somehow disturbing. Almost as an afterthought she added. "And stop calling Gaki-san a brat."
"Tch. She doesn't mind. And aren't you doing the exact same thing?"Ai opened her mouth to retort, but clamped it shut before any sound came out. Miki was right. She didn't have any right to correct the devil since she was equally guilty.
"Heh, poor little Gaki-san. You hardly ever listen to her, do you? That's why she went to Kamei-chan instead. Someone who actually bothered to pay attention."Ai winced sharply. That hit a little too close to home. Risa did tell her, long ago, that she never listened to what the younger had to say. But Ai always retorted that Risa never listened to her either, or rather, no one had ever understood what she was getting at. After a while, she just gave up. If nobody could get what she was saying, she would just keep her opinions to herself rather than confuse the heck out of everyone.
"Poor little Ai-chan, all alone at the top with no one to cry out to." Taunting, almost singsong in nature.
"No one listens, no one understands." Ai's hand fisted up, balled up on the cover of the book.
Miki's voice was silky, like a panther hunting prey.
"It's painful, isn't it? And you can't even cry for yourself anymore." Nails dug into the soft leather cover, her lips taut and pale. She looked as if she would cry, but nothing came out. Nothing at all.
Her voice, when it finally returned, was like a low growl.
"Why are you doing this?"
A soft laugh, almost gentle. Indifferently, even.
"Because, dear heart, I was so very bored." Miki's voice shifted slightly then, a peculiar mix of cruelty and kindness both.
"That and, you needed this. Come out to play, Ai-chan. Don't hide in there anymore...""Shut up." Ai's voice was soft, but the determination was unmistakable. Miki smirked, and it showed in her tone.
"Make me."~*~*~
Dial tone.
Fujimoto Miki stared at her cell phone unblinkingly for a moment, mildly astonished that the goody two shoes had hung up on her. The fact dawned on her almost slowly, and when it did, she began to laugh. Softly at first, then louder, with a hint of approval on her face.
Maybe there was hope for the girl after all. The groping demon wondered for a moment if she had been too hard on the young leader.
"Nah, she's tougher than that." Miki smirked, reaching for the remote control.
This ought to be fun to watch.~*~*~
In her mind, she pictured herself throwing her cell phone across the room and seeing it smash into little bits against the wall. In reality, she switched it off and shoved it into an open drawer, slamming it shut. Out of sight, out of mind.
That had been...unexpected. Ai didn't know if she felt angry, sad, or whatever. There had been an unmistakable heat broiling within her towards the end of the conversation, but the flames had died almost as soon as she had killed the conversation. She barely knew how she really felt about anything anymore.
Closing her eyes, she laid back down on her bed, trying to relax, banish all extraneous thoughts from her mind. Calming herself, disciplining her emotions, was like second nature to her. As quick to irritation she might have been, she calmed down just as quickly. To the point where she wondered if she had even really been upset in the first place.
She didn't know. She knew so very little about herself.
"I don't want to deal with this..." She muttered half to herself. She didn't want to think about it at all. Was it too much to ask for a placid existence?
But no, Takahashi Ai knew that she would probably extinguish herself in that case. As Miki said, life was boring. Ai thrived on a certain kind of madness, living in the moment for the moment. And yet, she needed a kind of tranquility for that to function.
The story of her life was one big contradiction. Ai resolutely turned onto her side and buried her face into her pillow.
I'll deal with this...eventually.Right now, all she wanted to do was sleep.
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Lol, I wonder if I made Miki a bit too evil, but eh.
Anyone guess why I titled it like this?
-wanders off randomly-