Just when I made the archive too... >_>; -shrugs-
Chapter 42: A Demon with Angel Wings
In order to gain something or to know something, one may have to sacrifice something, or hurt somebody else in order to do so. Even though, under no circumstances should one feel obligated to do such a thing.
She knew this rule especially well, yet she was always oblivious to that statement when she believed herself to be casual at that point of time.
Why can’t I be like her?
How Miki ended up wandering in the streets at night, she had no idea. Perhaps the brats back at the apartment were beginning to annoy her, forcing her to make the decision to leave the building as to escape the bothersome people in search of peace and quietness. Perhaps she only wanted to get fresh air. She, along with the others, had been very busy the past week, most particularly, her. After all, there’s always Gatas practices and games, radio shows, concerts, some work for GAM, and Hello!Morning to do, almost every day.
It’s a miracle she has not chosen to graduate yet.
Miki shivered a bit. Wearing just a t-shirt, a pullover, a thick padded vest, and tight jeans did not do enough to warm her up. She wanted to mentally slap herself for dressing so lightly on this rather windy day, for if the winds became too strong or if there were sudden chills, she might have transformed.
She hugged herself, well, more like her arms, as she walked down the paths of the empty park in hopes of keeping herself from getting cold, let alone turning into a snake. She mumbled inaudibly as her eyes wandered about the area she traversed. However, her mumbles stopped when she saw someone sitting on the bench.
It was a woman. A particularly familiar woman. She was leaning against the bench at a side angle, and her arm was resting at the top part of the bench with her head against it. If Miki hadn’t known better, she would have believed that this woman was actually dozing off while sitting on the bench. Like a ninja, Miki quickly and quietly walked towards the bench, and sat on it while looking at the woman’s face.
She really was sleeping. That, or she was in deep reminiscence about something. Miki had to absolutely test her hypothesis to see if the woman in front of her was awake or simply spacing out. However, the groping demon was debating on what to do: annoy the woman? Mortify the woman? In other words, grope the woman’s lovely assets, or kiss the woman to see what reaction she would have. Why limit herself to two choices, though?
Miki smacked the person repeatedly in a cartoon fashion, watching amusedly as the other’s face went with the flow of her stinging hand.
“What the hell?!” Maki grabbed her reddening cheek with her hand, glaring at the fifth head.
“So were you sleeping? Or thinking?” Miki said, completely disregarding the pain she had caused to the other.
“I was thinking deeply until you slapped me,” Maki sat with her back against the bench, hissing at Miki in the meanwhile.
“So what were you thinking of?” Miki also sat with her back against the bench, crossing her left leg over her right.
“You think I would tell someone like you?” Maki mumbled nearly inaudibly. As soon as she said that, she felt a sharp pain from a certain foreign object smacking her breast. With a grunt, she immediately crossed her arms to protect her precious objects. “Why are you so curious?!”
“You are getting pretty obvious lately,” Miki stood up and stretched, not being able to handle sitting on something as uncomfortable as a hard wooden bench. Then she walked a bit, stopping as if waiting for Maki to come with her.
“Wait… What do you mean?” Maki understood what the older had wanted to do, and walked with her.
“I don’t know, it’s just…What is your relationship with Reina?”
Maki remained silent.
“Because I thought that it might be a pretty painful for you two if you had been in a relationship, you know? Since well... It looks like you two aren’t really… like the brat and Ai. They just seem… happier than you two,” Miki said casually.
Maki stopped walking, baffling Miki as she too, stopped and turned around to look at the seventh head. They happened to stop in front of a small garden-like area, with certain plants lined up in rows according to the architecture of the park.
“Are you saying that I’m ‘unhappy’…? Do you enjoy doing that?” Maki glared, “saying that this one is happy, or that one is miserable. Putting people on a scale and then comparing them… And then deciding their worth of happiness according to your standards… Do you find pleasure in such things?!”
That sort of thing certainly isn’t pleasing to me. Judging myself by other people’s ideals of happiness… Playing that sort of role…
It doesn’t make me happy at all.
Miki clearly looked aggravated, although her looks suggest slight annoyance by the way she glared at Maki with a small frown. Then she kicked the dirt in front of her, destroying some of the neatly arranged plants in the process of doing so. “You’re beginning to piss me off. What are you losing your temper about? It’s so mundane.”
“Who’s the one losing her temper…” Maki growled in reply, “Taking it on the community plants…”
“I haven’t lost it. I’m just pissed at your oh so superior lecture.”
“That’s the definition of losing it, practically!” Maki grabbed the collar of the fifth head.
“Piss off! What are you, my mother?!” Miki grabbed the collar of the seventh head.
“Who are you calling a mother?! Don’t make me hurl!”
“I’m the one feeling sick, you bitch!”
“You know nothing!”
“It’s a hell of a lot better than acting like a know-it-all!”
“I am that kind of person! That’s right, just now you’re the one who preached to me! My apologies!” Maki yelled for the final time before releasing her grip on the older girl’s collar. “Ugh… You’re right. I’m the one who lost it… Sorry.”
Maki then kneeled over, brushing the excess dirt off of the flowers Miki had kicked, and then straightened the bent flowers so that they would appear neat like the others. The other watched Maki do so, the anger and annoyance she felt before dissipated into nothing. Then, Miki kneeled over and helped Maki fix the community flowers, much to the surprise of the other.
“So… Where should I stand so I can see everything equally? If I could see the side of things from another view, maybe I could be less of an ignorant person and actually understand instead of obliviously hurting people…”
Maki looked at Miki.
“I was surprised, really. Because you said the same thing as someone else did to me. So I ended up being angry… It must be nice though…” Miki crossed her arms amidst squatting, and placing her head on them, “It must be nice to be able to understand other people.”
What the…Maki thought, This woman kneeling next to me… Before, she might have stomped off without saying anything… But here she is… Apologizing to me? Maki could not help but smile from the thought.
“What are you smiling about?” Miki grumbled as she was fixing the last flower she nearly ruined.
“You’ve become nicer,” Maki chuckled, watching Miki look in the opposite direction with a small scoff. Speaking of which, Miki did happen to say that someone had told her the same thing Maki did… “So who was it that told you about the same thing I had said before?”
“It was Aya. At that time, I thought that your best friend would have thought the same as you, but I guess I was wrong, and was confused when she got angry at me for thinking such things…”
“Erm, don’t mind me asking, but many people have been asking lately, and I’ve grown curious… I know you two are best friends, but I want to confirm it… What is your relationship with her?”
“We’re dating.”
Maki raised a brow, before smiling, “Is that so?” then she chuckled.
“What’s so funny about that?” Miki looked at Maki, still bearing a pretty annoyed face.
“No it’s just… I’m wondering how the hell Aya could put up with you at times, haha.”
“Yeah, I’ve been wondering that myself, but what’s done is done, and now she’s my girlfriend,” Miki smiled slightly, making Maki also smile. “But I have to say, let the others speculate our relationship. You’re really the only one who knows along with Ai. And I’d hate for the truth to come out and receive Ojou-sama’s wrath in return…”
“Don’t worry. My lips are sealed,” Maki said as she stood up. “I’m going home now, and you?”
“I think I’m going to wander a bit more,” Miki said as she also stood up. “Well then, see you whenever…” Miki said as she started to walk in a direction away from the apartments. However, just before she walked further, she turned her head slightly, “Oh and Maki?”
“Yeah?” Maki turned her head as well.
“Reina deserves to know what happened,” Miki said in a serious voice, “I can’t really force you to tell her straight out, but she needs to know the truth about your father. How he really died…”
Maki remained silent.
The door…
Seeing how Miki was already disappearing from her sights, Maki turned her back to her and walked towards the general direction of the apartments.
Truthfully, the soloist was really thinking about that sort of thing. Her manager was correct in believing that she was thinking about many things… Whether to tell Reina or not… They are at a point where secrets could be told to each other without regrets or fears… Maki felt extremely hesitant to say anything though…The one major reason was due to a simple reaction. Will Reina be able to view her the same way? Will Reina forgive her? Will Reina despise her?
Maki shut the door on those thoughts and hoped to lock them away, intending to bring them out for later thinking. She needed to clear her head for awhile. Thus, she finally made it into the apartment, and up her room. Noticing that she had left the shades of her balcony door open, she immediately closed them. Afterwards, she prepared for sleep, awaiting the sun’s rays to inherit the skies yet again.
Shall the door be opened?
Reina opened the refrigerator and scanned the contents with her eyes, hoping to find something lovely to eat. Unfortunately, her hopes were shot down in vain, as the vessel of food did not have anything suitable for Reina’s hunger. With a sigh, she shut the refrigerator door and walked out of the kitchen.
“So much for trying to find lunch…” Reina mumbled as she walked with her hands behind her head. Reina nearly went further down the hallway to greet Maki, but then she remembered that the seventh head was at a rehearsal, and afterwards, filming a few songs for Uta!Doki!, meaning she will not be at the apartments until late in the day.
Instead, Reina walked into the lobby, where she found the other lead singer of Morning Musume.
Ai seemed to be very focused on something. A little too focused to be considered normal for her tastes. Reina quietly pranced upon the floor, hoping to not attract attention from the older. The wonky-eyed teen bent over the couch carefully, watching what Ai was focusing on. The 20-year-old seemed to be writing something in a notebook. Reina smirked.
“The older girl felt flushed at the other’s compliment, in fact, she could feel her heart pounding very har—”
Ai slammed the notebook shut, nearly stabbing herself with her pen as she did so. She looked behind her shoulder at the laughing yankii with a menacing glare, “Don’t sneak up on me like that!”
“My gahh Ai! I never knew you liked writing sappy romance novels!” Reina held the back of the sofa for support in her laughter. “Maybe those RPGs are getting to your head? Oh I know! It has to be all those Takarazuka productions!”
“Stop laughing!” Ai dropped the notebook and proceeded to try strangling Reina from her position in the couch.
After a few minutes of attempting murder, Ai and Reina decided to act civilized and sat on the couch. Though, Ai was sitting on the couch she was on when Reina came in, while the other sat on the opposite couch, with the low table separating them.
“So what are you here for?” Ai asked as she leaned against the arm of the couch, resting her head on her hand.
Outside of the lobby, Miki happened to pass by nonchalantly, but the two in the lobby caught her attention. She stood near the door frame and listened carefully.
“Nothing in particular really…” Reina crossed her arms, “Hmm.. Oh yeah… that other day…” Reina recalled, remembering weeks ago where she had left the lobby crying, and having to listen to that cruel woman afterwards. “We had parted rather awkwardly and it’s been a while…”
“That doesn’t matter to me…” Ai moved her hand backwards so that she leaned on the flesh that lingered between her wrist and elbow. “But… Why did you say Maki that time?”
Reina stared in a different direction with a slight frown. It was an utter silence.
“Do you pity her? Is that why you are trying to break the curse?” Ai asked.
Hmm? Reina wants to know how as well? I was already surprised enough when Aya said that Ai was trying to break our curse to the brat with the soy-sauce mouth…Miki thought to herself as she continued to listen in.
“Such a cruel and selfish feeling… I wonder if it could be called ‘pitying’ when you have such a large amount of it… It really hurts me that much… I want to help the Orochi… I want to free them as much as you do…”
Ai listened further.
“All of those feelings were false,” Reina turned to look at Ai again. “They… They are just a wall to guard what I really feel. I’m only saying those kinds of things… Because I don’t want anything to take Maki away from me. Be it Rika, the curse, or anything. I can’t stop that sort of feeling… but it’s beginning to grow painful.”
Miki was clenching her fists, listening to Reina speak as if she was about to cry. In fact, she was now predicting what she was about to say next, and prepared for it…
“Because… I love her… I love Maki very dearly…”
BAM!
Ai sat up immediately at the event that unfolded before her.
“Such a thing…” Miki panted, “Should only be said to the person herself!” the sub-leader said as she rubbed her fist.
Reina definitely did not expect the demon to be eavesdropping, let alone punch her right in the face. After the hit connected, the yankii staggered backwards by the force of the hit. Her cheek began to throb painfully as she placed her hand on it. “What the hell?! Don’t force your reasoning on me!”
“Why the hell not?! It’s called ‘morals’, you idiot!” Miki replied in the same tone of voice as the younger.
“Don’t think that you’re so superior, you fool!” Reina glared at the older.
“You’re the foolish one! Making a sappy love confession at the wrong moment! You should be saying that sort of thing to Maki! Your insecurities do not matter at this point! Confess now or regret not doing so if she ends up dating someone else, you wuss!”
Reina felt her expression soften. In a sense, Miki really was saying the truth… In the past, such as the time where she had fallen into Maki’s arms when she was fixing her balcony door… such as the time where she had run into Maki’s arms after hearing Yossie’s story… She had been testing Maki. She was testing to see if Maki was able to bear Reina’s weaknesses. If Maki did not accept them, she might have closed everything behind the door, pretending that she would forget it all. Finding a way to escape that imagined torment of rejection…
She was a coward.
“Did my words reach you?”
Reina snapped out of her thoughts. “Er… Yeah…” Reina mumbled.
BAM!
“What the hell was that for?! I said that you did reach me!” Reina rubbed her cheek again, cursing Miki for punching the same place twice.
“Just wanted to make sure,” Miki smirked.
“…You’ve gotten nicer?” Ai raised a brow.
“You too? What’s with everyone saying that lately?” Miki scratched the back of her neck. “It doesn’t matter to me, opinions and whatnot. I just want to make sure all of you are at least civilized for as long as I’m around you.”
“What a cool sub-leader,” Reina smirked.
“Feh.”
Little by Little… One might be able to realize their worth… And no longer needs a rival to compare against…
Surprisingly, Maki did not feel exhausted today. She did not feel extremely energetic either, though. She simply felt like nothing has been achieved throughout this day, just like her day-offs…
However, thoughts of revealing her past to Reina have plagued her ever since Miki brought it up the night before. The reason was still the same: she was very afraid of what Reina would think. She really should tell her just to get the burden over with…
But was it worth telling if she had done something so horrible—so immorally wrong?
But Maki will have none of that. Not anymore.
And so… The door opens…
Er, yeah, those who commented back at the backup forum should comment again here xD And please, nice lovely comments, not any halfassed single-sentence ones. A good comment tries to predict what happens, analyzes character feelings, witnesses character growth, or tries to find hidden meanings strewn across the chapters or something xD And is usually at least 5 or more sentences xD... I'm sorry about this, I'm really finicky about my comments, because I like to put hidden things EVERYWHERE and want to know if people could find them xD.
NOTES:
-The Takarazuka Revue is an all-female troupe specializing theatre and musicals. Ai Takahashi is REALLY obsessed with them, and even tries to convert other members by letting (or rather, forcing) them borrow the productions from her xD (Radioshows/Heyx3 shuffles 2003/interviews)
-Ai Takahashi happens to like RPGs as well. (Dokyu)
-The fact that Ai writes novels is still a mystery to me xD It's not confirmed whether she does, but I figured since she likes plays and stuff... xD
<3
Topic: Our Cursed Gift [Chapter 47: Our Final Promise][COMPLETE] (Read 158587 times)