Well, for everyone's enjoyment, here's yet another installment of my little story. ^^;; Don't expect it to keep up like this though... I definitely have to start getting busy again on Monday. Well, for the meantime, enjoy. 
Chapter 21 – Flight for a FightLooking down at her hand as she wrapped it carefully in a large bandage, Reina winced at the neat slice she saw across it. She hoped it wouldn’t leave a scar, but realized that was likely wishful thinking. The cut was deeper than it looked when the
Chairman held his sword in front of her. At just the memory of him her mouth twisted in a growl and she tugged the bandage hard.
“Itai…” she groaned before she could help herself.
At her cry, she felt Ai behind her leaning over her shoulder as if to see what was the matter. “Having problems?” the girl asked playfully.
Reina turned to her and grimaced. “No,” she replied. Before she could catch herself, her eyes fell down to Ai’s still-gloved hand.
“Did you never notice I’ve been wearing gloves lately?” the girl asked. Reina blinked and looked up at her. “When we train or are in rehearsal or performing I wear both gloves, which isn’t anything out of the ordinary. When I take them off you’ve likely never noticed.” She tugged at the fingers of her gloved hand and pulled it slowly off, afterwards raising her palm to Reina. There was a light scar slanted across the middle, very similar to Reina’s.
“I stood in that room the same way you did,” she explained, soft eyes looking into Reina’s before becoming distant after a moment. “Except I was alone, so some things were much more difficult…” Her eyes adopted a look of sadness and even slight distress, making Reina restrain herself from patting the girl’s arm. Quickly though, Ai blinked and her gaze returned to focus on Reina. “No need to look so concerned,” she said with a small smile, patting
Reina on the shoulder. “I’m still standing here in front of you, after all.” Reina gave her a skeptical look. Yes, she was standing in front of her, but she wondered how much of the girl she used to be was left. She thought she saw some of it tonight, though it reeked of ambition. Then again, according to her when Reina visited her apartment what seemed so long ago, her ambition was apparently always there, just now directed at something different. Reina wondered what that might be.
“So I guess we share more than just the skills you’ve taught me now, huh?” Reina asked, lifting her bandaged hand.
Ai smiled in return. “More than you know.” She turned and walked over to the window, looking out into the city. “I started wearing these gloves shortly after Miki’s accident,” she continued, and Reina silently watched her. Despite all her promises when she blackmailed Reina into joining her, she rarely even mentioned the incident. “I suppose you could say Miki to me was kind of like Ayaya to you. Though, you’re smarter than me, aren’t you?” She turned back around, tilting her head while looking again at Reina. Reina kept her face as blank as she could. “I mean, that and whatever you did at the Council was all you needed to get Initiated. And my request, of course.”
She smiled. “The mark for Ayaya was given to me, do you know? You showed so much promise though, I thought I’d pass it on to you as a bit of a test to see what you would do. If you managed it, I thought that might be evidence enough to help you advance to where you at least wouldn’t be at the mercy of the beck and call of any low level management and so we might be able to work together instead of me having to lead you around. But of course, you surprised me again, didn’t you?” Her smile widened. “I always knew from the first there was something special about you.”
Beginning to feel uncomfortable, Reina made sure her bandage was secure and began to pack her things. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said, not looking at the girl she was addressing. “It seems I haven’t done a single thing I’ve wanted to since your Miki
assignment.” Eri stared at her within her head, but she brushed it off.
And look how that turned out… she thought.
There was a pause for a moment until Reina gave a glance to the girl standing by the window. She still smiled, but her look was full of sadness. “Another thing we share in common,” she said quietly.
Stuffing a last skirt into her bag, Reina rose and gave Ai a hard look. “You keep talking about Miki and how her accident was a
task assigned to you. Now you say it’s the same as Ayaya and me.” She shook her head. “It’s not, though. I knew what they had against Ayaya. I still think it’s ridiculous, but she was the reason I was blackmailed to join you since it seemed she was getting too close to something Yamagata and whoever wanted to hide. Why Miki, though? What does she have to do with any of this?”
Ai looked at her for a short time before walking back around near her and sitting down on the bed. She motioned for her to sit beside her, and Reina reluctantly complied. It was still a moment before Ai began though, as she leaned forward looking at the floor apparently searching for the words. “Do you remember those two men who approached you in the alley when you left the club after our… dance contest?” she asked finally. Reina nodded, unsure of the girl’s point. “Do you have any idea what they wanted with you?”
Reina tried to remember back to that time, but it was mostly foggy since it was something she would rather not dwell on. The main impression she was left with was Ai’s knife whizzing between them before becoming stuck to the wall through a torn tie. Thinking harder, she grimaced, a sick feeling overcoming her.
“It appears you do,” Ai said, studying Reina’s face closely. Reina nodded. Ai’s words now were all the confirmation she needed. Still, it would have been her choice, right? Thinking of how flirtatious she was though, she really wasn’t too sure what her choice would have been had she been pressed. Morning Musume sure didn’t seem to be going anywhere too fast.
“Is that how they pick up girls? In the dark of some alley somewhere?”
Ai nodded. “The alley you found them in is one of the most common. They have a good eye for idols or other celebrities that might be interested in something a little bit extra on the side, or instead.” Reina still felt slightly sick. Her experiences since then, and especially with Yamagata, had changed her opinions on some things. Ai reached up and stroked her hair softly. “Anyway, Miki was apparently also one of those girls.” Reina’s eyes now glistened with sadness. She was afraid of that. “Except, she approached them about it, and they did her certain… favors… in return for her consideration. Unfortunately, she must not have realized what kinds of strings were attached to those favors since she changed her mind and wanted out. She had even been invited to the chambers you and I just came from.” Reina couldn’t tell whether Ai was regretful or spiteful while describing the dead girl’s actions. Feeling her hands tender on her hair, she decided on regretful. “So of course, as I’m sure you know by now, they couldn’t let her just go, and she had no intention of continuing. So, they decided to stage a little
accident. The one I was involved with was only the second actually. The first one was a failure…” She trailed off after that, and Reina looked to her for further explanation, but was interrupted by a sound coming from the door.
The handle turned and the door swung open, revealing two girls silhouetted in the hall’s lighting. They walked in and Reina cursed beneath her breath. She felt Ai’s hand leave her hair and trace down her arm.
“Reina-chan,” one called out. “We talked it over and thought we should come and have a talk with you.”
She now could make out the form of Eri walking into the low lamplight within the room, trailed by Risa not far behind. The two girls stopped after just a few meters though as they saw the two girls on the bed.
“Oh,” Eri continued. “You’re not alone.”
Risa walked up beside her and looked carefully at Ai. “Hi Ai-chan,” she said. Both girls adopted odd looks when they studied Ai’s outfit.
“Hello Gaki-san,” Ai said. Reina realized the girl was now holding her hand. “Eririn.”
Eri now looked between Ai and Reina, obviously noting how close they were, and on Reina’s bed. Risa still had eyes only for Ai. “I’m sorry if we’re… interrupting?” Eri said in a confused and slightly exasperated manner.
“No, you’re no-“ Reina began, and started to stand before she felt herself held to the bed. She looked down to see Ai’s gloved arm snaked around her waist.
“I was actually just leaving. Reina-chan and I were just about to run off together, as a matter of fact. We hoped to do it in secret, but that obviously didn’t work,” she said with a grin and shrug as if she’d just been unfortunately found out. She turned to Reina, and Reina faced her, mouth hanging slightly open. Of course she wouldn’t know what was going on with Eri – the girl no longer kept a close watch on her since she had her in the palm of her hand since she began training – but where did that come from?
She raised her hand along with Reina’s between them and squeezed it slightly, saying, “Reina sweetheart, I’ll meet you in the lobby in a half hour. Don’t be late. We don’t want to miss the last train back to Tokyo.” Then, before Reina could react, she leaned in and kissed Reina on the lips, a strong kiss made deeper by the fact that Reina’s mouth was already open. Reina’s body seemed to turn to jelly, making her unable to tell how long it lasted, but the next thing she knew Ai was standing in front of her and releasing her hand. As she turned away, she was giving her a not unkind
“You know this is for your own good” look. She then brushed smoothly past a very still pair of girls and passed out the door. Reina stared after, licking her now moistened lips she had pressed tightly together and her hand still half-raised before her.
After a short moment, she managed to catch Risa nudging Eri, who seemed to shake out of a trance and look back with wide eyes. After just that glance, both girls turned to face Reina, Eri’s eyes wide in a face drawn with emotion and Risa giving her a low-browed glare.
“What in the world is she talking about?” Eri asked finally in a weak and obviously skeptical voice. “You two are running away together to Tokyo?” Reina thought the girl was about to burst out laughing. “We still have two more nights of concerts left here first.”
“
Obviously they are not running away to Tokyo,” Risa growled with absolute certainty. “I
would like to know what they
are doing, however.” She gave Reina a very level look, puckering her lips and tapping her foot slightly with crossed arms as if expecting explanation. Every few seconds her eyes flickered over to Reina’s packed suitcase.
Still staring as if stunned, Reina tried to speak, but nothing but air came out. She cleared her throat. “Actually…” she said in as strong a voice as she could muster, though to her it still sounded all too breathless. “…We are running off to Tokyo tonight. We… um…” She looked at Eri, who was gazing very earnestly back at her. For her own good, huh? “She’s right…” she said, lowering her eyes and face. “We’re running off together. We know Tsunku and the public would never accept us, so we’re going into hiding. Don’t bother trying to find us. If things change, maybe… maybe we’ll come back out eventually.” She watched as she played with her fingers in her lap, waiting for the explosion or sound of a door slamming she knew was going to come.
Instead…
“That…” Risa sounded as if she spit that out, “is the most
ridiculous thing I have ever heard! There is no way you and Ai-chan…” She paused for a moment as if just realizing once again that she just
saw her and Ai-chan. “It’s just ridiculous!”
Reina chanced a look up and saw Risa’s face filled with disbelief and Eri’s, surprisingly, with expectation. “You two are just joking around, right?” she asked eagerly, apparently wanting Reina to drop it and admit it already. “You’ve confided in her about it… for some reason…” she said in a voice that stumbled along, very conscious of Ai’s ex-best friend beside her, “And when you two saw us walk in, you did that to get back at us, right?” Again with the eagerness.
“Some joke, with her tongue halfway down your throat…” Risa grumbled, almost as if to herself. Eri ignored her.
Beginning to get frustrated, and a little bit distraught, Reina quickly stood. ‘No,” she said, and turned around to zip her bag. “Like I said, we’re running off to Tokyo.” She picked it up, and pointedly avoiding looking at the two girls, shuffled past them, snatched her coat from the closet handle, and put her hand to the door. However, she paused before opening it. “I thank both of you for… for being there for me, and for your trust,” she said, head bowed slightly toward the floor and eyes down facing the door away from the girls. “I’ll hopefully see you again some day.” Then, without waiting for any response, she quickly pulled the door open and dashed out, nearly running down the hall to the stairs. Once she reached the stairwell and heard no sound behind her, she stopped and leaned back against the door.
“Thank you…” she said again under her breath, and began her way down.
In the lobby she met up with Ai, who had somehow already changed and was now in just a normal pink blouse and long pleated skirt with designs embroidered all over it. “I hope you didn’t let them down too hard,” she said cheerily.
Reina glared at her. “That was not fair, you know.”
Ai just kept smiling and shrugged. “It worked, didn’t it? You got away from them and I don’t see them hunting you down for their
talk.”
Reina forcefully kept her arms at her sides. They wanted to reach up and strangle the girl. Or else hug her. She wasn’t sure which. “Well you got your wish. I’m alone again. Or at least, you have me to yourself.” She tilted her head to study Ai. “I wonder how you’re going to treat me.”
“Oh,” Ai said, waving her hand dismissively. “The days of me dominating you
in every way are over now. After tonight, you have equal authority as me. I think the question is really… How will
you treat it?” She peered at Reina, and her expression seemed to soften. “I’m hoping we can at least be friends,” she said mysteriously. “That way, you wouldn’t really be alone.”
Reina licked her lips and swallowed unconsciously. “I suppose that depends on if you keep that distant attitude and keep trying to murder my other friends…” she responded.
Ai suddenly became serious, and she spoke with seeming honesty, “I haven’t forgotten who I was,” she began, and her eyes rose as if she could see something through the ceiling. “I didn’t choose this, but I’ve made the best of it, the same as you have. If you and I can make what I hope true, some day things might get back to ‘normal’.” She looked back down to Reina. “And hopefully in some ways better off than we were before.” Reina felt like swallowing again. “Come on, we have to head to the station if we’re going to make the train on time.” She reached for Reina’s wrist, and Reina let her pull her gently along.
Once outside, Reina tightened her coat to the moderate cold. After a moment when Reina thought about some things, she spoke, “You say that we’re
equal now, and that you won’t be ordering me around.” She glanced over at Ai, who was looking ahead along their way. “So why am I running off to Tokyo right now, when it’s obviously not what I want to do?”
“Isn’t it?” Ai asked. “I haven’t forced you into anything. You made no complaints about coming along.” Reina stayed silent, not wanting to think of the reasons she might want to stay with Ai right now. “In any case,” Ai continued. “I do have a request to make of you, which I think after tonight you will… probably agree to do.” The girl, still clutching Reina’s wrist, pulled her closer so their faces were only centimeters apart as they walked. She then explained, in a soft voice, “You’ve seen the harm the Chairman and his misuse of power can do. The Council are really nothing more than business people, with at least as much power as those from Toyota or NTT. True, they make most of their money in business that skirts the law, if not does away with it entirely - we do physical training for more of a purpose than tradition, of course – but Yamagata takes it to the extreme. As you know, he orders people killed if they’ve done no more than slighted him, and the way he treats many of the girls he brings in…”
Reina felt her shiver slightly and hesitate for a moment. She tugged her arm slightly from Ai’s grip and instead took the girl’s hand in her own. She felt Ai squeeze it softly before continuing, “They all brought me in against my will, but I’m of no illusion who was always behind it all. I worked and fought my way up as hard as I could, but when I arrived here I realized I needed help. I never did want you to get involved, but you insisted on being involved, so… I thought I’d try to fulfill an old dream I had, one that you so far have fulfilled perfectly.”
They now neared the train station, so Ai continued in a quicker voice, “I’m sure you saw how the Council aside from Yamagata looked at us earlier. You can’t think your approval came as a random twist of fate. They see something in us, and though I don’t fully understand why, I think it’s up to us to rise to it. They’ve sat in those chairs for so long under Yamagata that they couldn’t lift a hand without him matching it, but you and I are new. We’re unpredictable elements. We’re already so out of the ordinary, almost nothing else would make things more unusual.”
Arriving at the stairs up to the station, she stopped and turned to Reina, taking both of her hands. Reina looked into her face, and she did look like the Ai from a year ago again. “Please, Reina,” she asked in a voice that did sound like a sincere plea, “Help me bring the Chairman down.”
Topic: A Young Girl's Odyssey [Epilogue ~COMPLETE~] (Read 72989 times)