Angel Sanctuary Fan Fiction ❯ Angel Dust ❯ Thank You ( Chapter 5 )

Disclaimer: Hmm, so, today I ate an apple, a crapload of `Cajun trail mix', some chocolate, and four cups of coffee with cinnamon and cocoa mix in them... That could explain a lot O.o

 

AN: You see, my eating habits are, well... no comment? Wait, I can't say I `ate' coffee, can I? But in any case, I'm sorry it took so long to get this chapter out! I meant to post it on Tuesday, but I kept forgetting about it... until just as I was falling asleep every night, heh... Forgive me? Also, Daniel Powder's song `Bad Day' is now officially the theme song for this story. Why, you ask? Because I like it :) Anyhow, enjoy the chapter, informally known as The Fluff Chapter.

 

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Chapter Five: Thank You

 

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Monday afternoon, Alexiel eyed Kurai warily from across the sea of newly freed students. She seemed to be fairly safe at the moment... she was talking cheerfully with Sara and Setsuna... she was... glancing her way...

 

The black-haired girl ducked down below the level of everybody else's heads, and made a crouching sort of dash forward. Logically, Kurai would start searching where she'd last seen her, right? By the time she got through the crowd to that spot, she'd be long gone...

 

“Whumph! Jesus-” Alexiel looked up into Kurai's face, and smiled nervously.

 

“And now you're avoiding me?” the platinum-haired girl griped. “There's definitely something wrong with you.”

 

Alexiel groaned. “I already told you - Kira and I had a fight, and that's all! I'm fine! I'm `avoiding you' because you keep nagging me about it.”

 

Kurai put her fists on her hips. “I'd stop nagging if you'd just tell me what's wrong,” she said logically. Alexiel moaned.

 

“What do you even want to know so bad?” Alexiel complained as they resumed walking. “We kind of just met, you know?”

 

Kurai shrugged. “Yeah, but... you really pounded some sense into me, that one day. It helped, a lot...” She smiled shyly. “I owe you.”

 

Alexiel seemed to consider this seriously. “So... I'm like a sensei to you now?”

 

Kurai laughed. “Yeah, I guess.”

 

She beamed. “Then... will you do my homework?”

 

Kurai sweatdropped. “Uh... that... wasn't exactly what I had in mind.”

 

“Aw, come on,” Alexiel insisted, smirking wickedly. “You do want to pay me back, right?”

 

Kurai eyed her shrewdly. “What if I'm a worse student than you?”

 

“You're not,” she said smoothly.

 

Kurai sighed in defeat. “Damn it... One time!” Alexiel laughed.

 

“Aw, you're sweet. Obviously I would never make you do that.” Kurai boggled at her; she continued calmly. “But would you... like to come over? My place's gonna be really quiet until Kira cools off a little.”

 

Kurai glanced at her out of the corner of her eye. She said it casually enough, but... “I'd love to,” she said honestly.

 

They had to take the subway to get to Alexiel's home. The usual afternoon congestion forced them to press close together, and Kurai noted with lazy annoyance that Alexiel had a much more womanly figure then her... Typical, she mused sourly. It wasn't like she could hold it against her, though. After they got to their stop, it was only a couple more blocks. Alexiel's apartment was in a somewhat shoddy-looking building, but the neighborhood looked decent - more or less like where Kurai lived, in other words. She felt at home the moment Alexiel unlocked her door and they stepped inside, because the place was a lot like her room - kind of small and kind of a mess, but not to the point of looking like a garbage heap. The overall effect was quite cozy, she decided.

 

All this she found rather surprising, because she'd been expecting her `sensei' to have a more, well, personable place somehow. She took pains not to let it show, however.

 

Alexiel made popcorn, and then they settled down around the kitchen table to do their homework together. They discovered that they were both fairly bright students, and working together caused them to finish up early. Largely due to Alexiel's cajoling, they wound up using the spare time to watch a movie, sitting at opposite ends of the small couch but sharing an afghan to ward off the evening chill.

 

After the show was over, Alexiel glanced at the clock and winced. “Damn... Nine thirty already. I guess you better get home...”

 

Kurai nodded, standing, stretching, and walking slowly to the door. Alexiel followed. “Yeah... Thanks for having me.”

 

She smiled. “No. Thank you for coming out. I had fun...” She winked. “It helped, a lot.”

 

Kurai gawped at her. “Y-you never told me what was wrong with you!” she blurted.

 

Alexiel sniggered, but weakly. Then she combed her fingers through her hair, and sighed. “Well, since you've been so nice... Kira and I did have a fight. But it's also about my brother. He...” She gave a pained grimace. Even if Kurai did seem to be opening up to the idea of that sort of relationship, she supposed she ought to play it safe. “He did something to really screw our friendship up,” she said cryptically. “I'm pretty sure he's upset with me, though.”

 

Kurai's eyes widened in realization. “Oh, yeah! I noticed that he seemed really weird in first period...” She frowned. “But that's not fair! If it's not your fault...”

 

On a whim, Alexiel reach out and ruffled the shorter girl's hair. “I know,” she said gently. “And, thanks. Now get.”

 

Kurai found that the odd show of kindness from the tough girl made it rather difficult to meet her eyes. She smiled, and looked down hurriedly. To say an awkward, hesitating goodnight at the doorway... how... strange... “Okay,” she said lightly. “See you tomorrow?”

 

Alexiel nodded, and waved to her until she disappeared from sight down the hall.

 

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Katan drug his feet a step or two behind Rosiel as they went home - to Rosiel's home, that was - after school. Rosiel seemed to be more or less back to his version of normal again, but he tended to stutter and squinted even though it was overcast and winced at loud noises. He wouldn't have come to school at all if Katan hadn't shown up first thing in the morning to coax him out of bed. They had both knew that Rosiel could have ignored him if he'd really wanted to, but it had seemed like too much effort at the time.

 

“Pick up your feet,” Rosiel snapped, raising a hand to his temple for emphasis. Katan sighed softly, but obeyed.

 

Neither of them had mentioned the `discomfort' Rosiel had caused Katan the day before when he'd had rather a little too much. Katan supposed there was a chance he didn't even remember, but he thought it was probably more likely that, to Rosiel, it just didn't matter.

 

Once they got inside, Rosiel immediately sprawled out on the bed. Katan frowned at him. “Aren't you going to do your homework?”

 

Rosiel closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I feel ill,” he said, gesturing idly with his spare hand. “And I'm tired. I went in; isn't that enough for you? If you're so concerned about my homework, do it yourself.”

 

Katan sighed again, and sat down at the desk with his own homework, but he fully intended to do Rosiel's too if he finished and the other still hadn't started. It was, well, just something he did. Kind of like coming over as usual even after something like yesterday - even after seeing him lose what little mind he had under various influences countless times...

 

“Oh, forget the homework,” Rosiel groaned. “Go fix us something to eat.”

 

Katan stood without a word and walked out to the kitchen. Rosiel drifted out after him, and watched him intently from the kitchen table while he worked. Katan set a plate down in front of him, still silent, before sitting down with his own.

 

“Water,” Rosiel muttered vaguely. And, like magic, there was water...

 

Katan finished first, and went back to the bedroom. Rosiel came in sometime a little later, and lay down and pulled a pillow over his face. “Load the dishwasher,” he commanded, somewhat muffled. Katan did, and came back, without a word of protest or otherwise.

 

“Maybe you had the right idea after all,” Rosiel consented. “I feel like such shit...” He noted the way Katan visibly tensed, and smirked, but he didn't pursue the subject.

 

And, later, when Rosiel had to go be sick, Katan held his beautiful long hair out of the way and averted his eyes - not because he found it unbearably disgusting, but because he knew Rosiel couldn't bear to be seen in any kind of position that compromised his dignity...

 

In the end, Katan had to half-carry the other man back to his bed. He pulled the covers over him as best he could, and then knelt on the floor next to him. “I'm sorry,” he said quietly. “If I hadn't asked you to go in today-”

 

Rosiel waved a limp hand. “Hush,” he said tiredly. “Would have happened anyway... I always take too much...” Katan acknowledged this statement with an empty stare, though it was something that always secretly worried him. Rosiel turned his head to the side, and touched Katan's face with his trembling hand, and Katan experience a painful moment of déjà vu... “Stay here tonight,” he said. He looked almost puzzled as he added, “And... thank you...”

 

Katan continued to stare at him blankly, but inside he suddenly felt full to bursting with something he had no idea how to express... So he didn't express it, but merely stood and walked off towards the couch in the living room. Rosiel watched him go.

 

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Katan's dreams were a disturbing muddle of sight and sound that passed almost too quickly to be understood and were destined to be utterly lost - except for the sense of danger and melancholy they invoked - the moment he woke. It was a disorienting feeling, and it took him a moment to realize that it was still the middle of the night, and Rosiel was standing over him.

 

“I feel,” he choked hoarsely, and couldn't seemed to get any more else out. Katan was shocked to see that he was crying. He let Rosiel crawl onto the couch next to him - half on top of him really - and wrapped his arms around him, and let him muffle his sobs of agony into his chest. Katan could have sworn he heard `Alexiel' in there, but that didn't matter. He petted his hair until the sobs ceased and the breathing became slow and rhythmic, and eventually he fell asleep himself, breathing in the scent of that hair.

 

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Earlier that same evening, Setsuna lay on the roof of his house, and watched the sun set for a second night in a row. It was another stunning one, rosy and rich, but his eyebrows were furrowed and he seemed to look through it...

 

He was so deep in thought that he jumped and sat bolt upright when he head footfalls on the roof. A feminine laugh reached his ears. “You missed dinner, silly.”

 

He looked over his shoulder, to find Sara making her way carefully down the steep shingled surface from the attic window above. The sunset light lit her up dazzlingly, so that he couldn't quite think of anything to say. She leaned her head to the side quizzically, and smiled.

 

“What were you thinking about, anyway? From what I could see, you looked kind of sad...”

 

She sat down next to him, and he reflexively wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “It's nothing,” he grumbled.

 

She punched him in the stomach very lightly, but he let it push him back onto the roof, throwing his hands dramatically into the air and making her giggle. “Don't look so sad about nothing, then,” she said, trying to sound stern around her giggles.

 

He just smiled at her, so after a moment she lay down with him, snuggling up against his broad chest. For a moment he just lay there, but then he wrapped his arms around her. And to think, just seconds ago he'd been thinking that he... really needed to stop indulging like that... The problem, he was sure, was that she was just so warm. And soft, and fit so neatly under the crook of his neck, and smelled like spring, and...

 

She picked at the buttons of his shirt, and he played with her hair. A gentle evening breeze blew over them, and he tightened his arms around her fractionally to protect her from the chill. There was a long, long, quiet moment, and Setsuna allowed his eyes to drift shut. A few minutes ago, his minds had been spinning around and around itself, but her mere presence... he could just fall asleep right here...

 

“I love you,” he muttered, as his fingertips brushed across her cheek to touch her lips.

 

He only fully realized that he'd actually said it when, after a moment of stiff shock, she jerked back to stare at him. He stared back in horror, which multiplied a hundred times when he saw the tears welling up in her eyes...

 

“W-What?” he asked, grinning like mad even when he scrambled out from under her, up the roof, holding his hands up in a helpless gesture. “I-I mean, you know, you're my s-sister, of course I mean-”

 

“No you don't,” she said, with her hand over her mouth.

 

His face crumpled. “B-But-” He'd never seen her eyes so wide... Abruptly he turned and struggled to his feet in one awkward movement, and scrambled mindlessly up toward the window, towards escape...

 

She caught him around the waist, sobbing into his back. “O-Oh, God! I love you!”

 

Eventually he turned around and gathered her up in his arms again. They stood like that for a very long time, peacefully, as the stars came out.

 

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AN: (teary-eyed) Review If You Love Fluff!