Groove Adventure Rave Fan Fiction ❯ Living A Normal Life ❯ A Choice To Make ( Chapter 12 )

A/N: Sorry for the hiatus. There was something wrong with our PC and it took me a while before we had it fixed, plus all the works in school. But thanks for all the feedback I received.^_^ Anyway, this is the 12th chapter, enjoy!


Living A Normal Life

Chapter 12: A Choice to Make


Haru pulled the poor fellow from the wooden wall and stared at Lucia in annoyance.

"Why are you so hot-headed?! Have I done anything wrong to you lately?!" he blurted out.

"Have you done anything wrong? Hah!" Lucia mockingly replied. "Your presence here is completely wrong! I'm having a peaceful moment here when that pet of yours suddenly jumps in on my head!"

"But you didn't have to act so violently! Plue's not evil, you know!"

"I wouldn’t be surprised if he acts that way. After all, his master is a pervert!"

"P-pervert?! How can I be a pervert?!"

"Have you already forgotten about what happened this morning? You suddenly glomped at the lady manager! And what's worse, Elie saw everything!" Lucia was fuming with anger.

Haru slightly blushed upon being reminded of that incident. But he still had his defense.

"But I didn't do that in purpose! It was you who tricked me that time!" he cried out.

"But being a pervert isn't so bad. It's actually exciting."

Lucia's eyes widened. "I knew it, Glory! You enjoy being one!"

"What?! I didn't say that!"

"P-p-p-puuuun....," Plue barged in with his nose pointing at the wall behind Haru.
- - - - - -
Silence.
- - - - - -
Moments later, they heard the girls' voices getting nearer and nearer to the opposite side of the hot spring.

Lucia and Haru gazed at the wooden wall which divides the spring for the men and the women. They still fell silent.

"Aah...such a wonderful sight!"

"Glory! What are you saying?!" Lucia cried out softly.

But Haru only shook his head in denial. He then turned around only to see the small silhouette standing in front of the divider.

The thick mist thinned a bit, but that gave the two boys a chance to know who the other voice was. They carefully came closer to the wall and saw...something?

A blue jelly-like creature was happily peeking at the other end of the springs through the hole Plue's nose created.

"The mist is thick this time," it mumbled. "I should've brought my binoculars...huh?" As it looked up, it saw two gigantic persons standing with their hands on their waists.

As if pretending everything's going well, the blue creature smiled and said, "Hello there. Would you like to have your turn here after me?"

Haru and Lucia's eyes were blazing with anger. And without wasting any moment, the two rivals agreed to give a monstrous punch on the perverted little fellow.

It hit a part of the wooden wall as the creature flew away in the sky after receiving a fearsome blow.

The wooden divider then started to shake, and gradually fell down and dropped at the springs.

And eventually revealed the women's hot springs.

The boys were stunned as shocked expressions from the bathing ladies greeted them.
And without wasting any moment too, the girls prepared their lungs and fists for an attack against those...

"HEEEEEENTAAAAAAIIIIIIII!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

The next scene depicted a rain of missiles made of soaps, scrubs, and buckets pouring over the two poor and lifeless-like men.

"Puuuun...," Plue whispered in terror.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"I'm deeply sorry for the grave conduct of my students. As the head teacher, I take full responsibility for the consequences of their action," Sieghart said, shortly before bowing in front of the manager.
Seria slightly smiled and replied, "You don't have to be too serious about this, Mr. Sieghart.
It really wasn't their fault. Everything was just an accident."

"Even so, I would like to help fix the damage."

"Alright then. I guess they could help putting the divider back to its position," she decided.

Sieghart nodded in response.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Ouch! Hey, slow it down a bit!"

"Just be quiet and keep still!" Melodia then taped a band aid on Haru's temple.

Musica let out a sarcastic laugh. "So Haru, was the scenery beautiful?"

The ash-haired boy pouted as he flushed. "Shut up!"

"Good thing we got out of the hot springs right away. Or else we'd be victims too!" Melodia joshed as she giggled upon looking at Haru's damaged face.

"I even look more like a victim...," he murmured.

"We all know what Elie can do when she's angry!" Melodia added.

Haru averted his eyes upon hearing her name. He then looked up at the sky from the balcony they were staying at. The moon was still brightly hanging in the night sky, and the beauty was even more emphasized by the glittering stars around it.

Glittering... Something suddenly struck his mind.

He quickly put his hand in his robe's pocket in search of something. But his expression seemed to say that he failed to find it.

"I forgot!" Haru abruptly stood up and raced towards the door.

"Hey, where are you going?" Musica asked but only a slam of the door answered back.

Melodia just shrugged her shoulders.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

The boy rushed back to the hot springs and observed the whole place. Aside from the fallen divider, everything else seemed to look the same. There was no sign of the thing he was looking for.
It was then that his heart beat a little faster. Though he didn't want to believe it, it might turn out to be really true...

That the necklace was lost.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Melodia was heading back to their room when she saw Elie yawning and sitting on the porch of the inn. She seemed to be thinking about something--her eyes were calm and broody.

"Elie, you're still awake?"

Elie looked up and grinned. "I was playing cards with the others just a while ago. We just finished so I thought that I'd just wait for you."

"Gambling again? You shouldn't get too addicted to that!"

The brown-haired girl stood up and grabbed her friend's hand.

"You're too serious, Melodia! Maybe you should try it some time too!"

"Hey--!" But Elie pulled her hand as they headed to the girls' room.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Haru breathed out a long sigh as he stood in front of the door. It was already past midnight and everyone in their room seemed to be in dream land, but sleep was not visiting him at the moment.

Haru flipped a page in the calendar, revealing the date of the new day--the twenty-fourth day of December.

He had plans for that day. But things might all go wrong. A loss of a petty necklace could make a big difference for the troubled young man.

The ash-haired boy laid down on the sleeping mat and slowly closed his eyes. Although his day turned out to be pretty crazy, there came one thought in his mind:

"Everything will be fine. Surely."

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Dawn came. The Christmas sun was back once more to greet another great day.

Seria was in the kitchen helping the other cooks make their breakfast. She was chopping some carrots when someone suddenly tapped her legs.

The surprised girl cried out in shock.

"Umm...I'm sorry, Seria-san. Could you take that away, please?" The blue jelly creature said as he looked at the knife pointed at him.

"Griff?! Stop doing that okay?!" Seria scolded him as she placed the knife on the table.

"I'm sorry, Seria-san. But since I'm done with the cooking, I thought that I could help you in some way," Griff kindly replied.

"Thanks but I'm almost finished here too. Maybe you can just call our lodgers to eat breakfast."

"Alright. I'm off!"

So the weird creature brushed its small tentacles on the floor and headed to the rooms.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

Lucia had just finished putting some ointment on his scratches when he heard a knock at the door.

Rich as he is, he was the only one who afforded to have his own private room. Though his room looked like a dressing room, there were lots of shirts, pants--and even a tux-- hanging on the wall.

He slid the door and uttered a greeting.

"Good morning! May I--huh?"

But no one was there.

"Hey, I'm right here."

He looked down and saw the same blue creature who was peeking at the girls in the hot springs and who was the cause of the trouble they went through...

The enraged lad grabbed the small fellow and threw him an intense stare.

"So you're the despicable pervert who brought me all those trouble last night! And now you still have the guts to face me?!"

"Calm down, mister...err, what's your name?"
Lucia tightened his grip more.

"You don't know me?! I'm Lucia Rareglove!"

"Well then, Mr. Rareglove, you don't have to call me a despicable pervert. My name is Griffon Kato. Griff, for short."

"I don't care about that! I just want you to do some compensation for what you did to me!"

Griff fidgeted against his hold and eventually slid his way out of his hand.

"Then...I have something for you." He then took out a silver necklace that came from no where.

The blond boy gazed at the sparkling object.

"Where did you get that?" he asked.

"I found it in the hot springs last night. This looks really expensive so I thought that this might be yours."

Lucia examined the necklace before taking it. It was definitely not his, so could that mean that this is Glory's? It's impossible for him to own a lady's necklace like this! Unless he was planning to give it to somebody...

"Well...thank you for finding this. You may go now," Lucia suddenly said in a gentle tone.
Griff sweatdropped as he cautiously left the room. It was quite a surprise for the arrogant customer to just let him go like that. Before closing the door, Griff glanced at the blond teen who was still staring at the necklace.

"What has gotten into him?"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

*Yawn*

Musica stretched his arms up in the air as he inhaled the fresh morning air. He opened his eyes and welcomed the smile of the warm sun.

It was around seven in the morning, and he noticed that almost everybody in their room had gone out for breakfast. Maybe he should have wakened up earlier if only he did not sleep late. Just like Haru who was the only one left asleep among them.

"Haru, wake up!" Musica said as he patted his friend's face several times. But it didn't work.
The spiky-haired lad stood out and sighed. And with a slight lifting of his leg, he strongly pushed his foot forward on Haru's stomach.

"Ooouuuuch!!!!!!!" Haru suddenly stood up and held Musica's collar.

"What the heck is your problem?!"

Musica smirked at the angered boy. "Good morning!"

"Huh?" Haru looked at the balcony and realized that the sun was already up in the sky.

"Take it easy, man. You must be dreaming too much," Musica said as he put down Haru's fist.

"It's breakfast time. Let's go down."

"Um...okay," Haru replied, his eyes nailed on the floor.

"Oh yeah, I know some good resto near this resort," Musica added to catch Haru's attention.

"And guess what, Melodia and I are going out tonight! It's Christmas Eve so it'll be really nice to have dinner with somebody. Don't you think that's a nice idea?"

Haru smiled. "Yeah. It is..."

"Then you better get moving now! C'mon!" Musica then slid the door open and stepped out.

Haru thought about what he said for a while. This must be a good chance for him, and he wouldn't let this opportunity slip away. And with a brighter look on his face, he went out of the room and headed for breakfast.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Musica pushed the door of the canteen open and entered. With him was Haru who had Plue resting on his head as usual.

"Hey, Musica! Haru! Why don't you join us?" Melodia called out from the table she and Elie were.

"Their other girl friends are not around. Come on, Haru!" Musica said as he neared Melodia's table.

Haru paused for a while before staggering toward them.

Elie was munching her sandwich, but when she noticed that Haru was looking at her, she stopped and wore a sweet smile.

Haru felt a little livelier, and so he smiled back.

There were four chairs around the wooden square table and two were already occupied by
Elie and Melodia oppositely. Musica sat next to Melodia, which left the ash-haired boy with no choice but to sit beside the girl who smiled at him.

"I heard that Ms. Reina is planning to hold a small party before midnight," Melodia said, bringing up a topic. "So we better be back at the resort at that time."

Elie started to mix her hot chocolate and gazed at her reflection on its umber surface.

"Seems like many are going out for dinner tonight," Elie said.

Haru then softly choked while eating his bread.

"Since you two are going out as well, I'm wondering what to do later on..."

Haru then cleared his throat. Elie turned to the person beside her.

Haru's hands were beginning to perspire, but as much as he can, he tried to look as calm as possible.

"Um...," he stammered. "If you don't have something to do later...then..."

"Hello people!"

"Puun!"

"Oh, hello, Seria!" Elie greeted. Seria cheerfully smiled at her.

"I'm hoping you'll all enjoy the little something our management and your faculty members have prepared for Christmas Eve," the cerulean-haired girl said.

"Sounds fun! If you need some help then you can just call us," Musica replied as he looked at Haru's dark face.

"Hey, Haru."

"Huh?" the boy slowly turned his head to her.

"Cheer up! This day's going to be really fun!"

Haru, forcing a smile, just agreed. "Y-yeah."
"See you guys later then!" And with that, Seria left.

Musica then cleared his throat as he slightly nudged at Melodia.

"Excuse us, we're just going to get some cake," the brunette told her friend. They both stood up and hurriedly left the table.

Haru breathed deeply before turning to Elie once more.

His face was serious, but she still seemed clueless of what he was planning to say.

"Well then, what was it you were going to say?" she asked.

Haru knew he must not mess up now. Just tell it to her straight. It's now or never.

"Tonight, would you like to...go out..."

Elie somewhat blushed.

Suddenly,

"Elie!"

...a blond boy came rushing from the entrance door and to their table. Holding a bouquet of roses, he stood in front of the table where Elie was.

Haru and Lucia's eyes met and tension was beginning to build up between the two again.

Haru knew what he was going to say, so he had to move first before he does.

"Elie."

She nervously looked at him as Haru abruptly stood up.

"Will you go out with me?"

Haru and Lucia both said.

- - - -

People around them who got curious of the commotion began to stare at their table.

Elie was so embarrassed and baffled at the same time that she grabbed Haru and Lucia's arms and pulled them outside.

Plue then jumped off Haru's head and innocently waved its paws goodbye.

"Let's fix this outside!" Elie furiously exclaimed as she kicked the canteen's doors open.

Haru was a bit tensed, but Lucia seemed to be happy since Elie was holding his hand.

- - - -

Meanwhile, Musica and Melodia went back to their controversial table and sat on their chairs in silence.

Prodding a fork on his cake, Musica peeked at the window beside them and glanced at the beautiful winter mountains.

"Nice day, ne?"

Melodia was on the verge of giggling when she replied, "You said it."

"Puuun!" Plue replied too as it dug its sharp nose in the cake.

- - - - - - - - - -

Elie quickly let go of them and then placed her hands on her waist.

"Are you guys crazy?! What is it with the two of you?!"

But before either of the boys got a chance to complain, the frivolous Lucia handed the bouquet to her.

With a glimmering smile his lips showed, he sweetly said, "Before anything else, this is for you."

Feeling a bit irritated at his action, Elie abruptly grabbed the flowers and replied in a monotonous voice, "Thank you. But this still doesn't better the situation."

"Elie."

She faced the ash-haired boy who calmly uttered her name.

"I'm sorry if you felt bad about what we did but really..." His eyes came across her gaze.

"I just want to be with you for some time."

Elie's heart throbbed louder. She couldn't believe Haru was saying those things to her. She never expected that he would somehow appreciate what she felt for him, but this seemed to be more than enough for her.

All that she needed to do was to say yes. But then, it wouldn't be fair. She does like Haru, but it's not only Haru who asked her. She couldn't follow she wanted, because she didn't want to be selfish to Lucia.

She had not yet made up her mind, but a decision should be done. So if the choice couldn't be entirely up to her, then they had to do their part too.

Elie lazily sighed. She raised her arm, shoved her sleeve, and revealed her watch.

It was seventeen minutes after eight.

"Okay. I'm going out for dinner," she finally said, making Haru and Lucia's eyes glitter in hope.

"Why don't we just all have dinner together?"

"No way!" The boys both said before glaring intensely at each other once more.

"Fine...then I guess it's all up to you to decide," Elie continued.

"What do you mean 'we should decide?' Shouldn't it be your choice?" Lucia barged in.

"I'll be waiting at the porch this afternoon at 5:30. Okay, I know this idea is really lame but I don't know how to deal with the two of you regarding this matter. So whoever comes to me first shall be my date for tonight. Alright?"

"Eh?" Haru mumbled.

"No problem, Elie!" Lucia hollered. "See you at five thirty then!"

The cocky Rareglove heir threw an evil glimpse on his rival before marching away happily. He was really confident he'd win over Glory this time. He never would want to lose to him again.

Haru's eyes were glued to his foe until he was out of sight. He thought that, maybe, he just needed a little bit more push to overcome his unusual timidity. As what they said, grab the opportunity when you have the chance.

Just then, he felt a weak tap on his shoulder. He turned back and saw Elie smiling shyly to him.

"Sorry I shouted at you guys."

"Um, no! That's nothing! We're okay!" Haru blurted out, rubbing his head.

"Then," Elie looked at his perplexed face. "I'll be waiting for you. Jaa!"
He idly waved his hand as he watched her run away. Her last words rang in his ears. She would be waiting for him.

His lips then formed a pleased curve.

- - - - - - - -

"How do I look?"

Julius upped his head and observed the blond boy's fashion. Lucia donned in a formal black tuxedo with a golden necktie and a rose stuck on his left chest's pocket.

Julius' eyes were glittering with awe. "Beautiful, Lucia-san! Girls will surely swoon upon your presence!"

Veins popped from Lucia's bangs-covered forehead. "Do I need to tell you again that I don't want you calling me 'Lucia-san'?!"

"P-pardon me, er, Lucia...," the other apologized. "But don't you think it's still too early? We still have an hour before 5:30."

"It's better than being late! Besides, I need to come there before Glory." With a tightly clenched fist and a flame sparkling in his eyes, he continued, "I don't want to be humiliated by him anymore!"

- - -

Meanwhile, Haru was hanging out with Musica and the other boys under a huge pine tree near the inn.

The cinder-haired boy was glimpsing at his watch once in while, and this time, it showed him that it was already fifty-five minutes past four.

"Hey Haru, what's up with your watch? Are you gonna meet someone?" one of the guys spoke.

"The lucky guy's finally goin' out with Elie!" Musica jabbered.

"Ooooh..." the boys teased.

"Cut it out! It's no big deal!" Haru cried out, his face starting to turn red. "Anyways I'm going!"

"Make sure you don't mess things tonight!" another one joshed shortly before the boys broke out in laughter.

"'ttaku mo...," Haru muttered as he walked away from them.

- - - - -

Haru slid the door of the entrance and walked right in. He was about to go back to his room when he noticed the manager carrying a pile of books.

He rushed to her and offered his help.

"That's nice of you, but I think I can do this myself," Seria kindly refused.

"Oh, I see." Haru then smiled. "By the way, I'm looking forward to tonight's party. See you later then!"

"Um, Haru!"

He turned back and faced her. "What is it?"

"Can I just ask...," she nervously said as she felt her cheeks becoming warm. "...if you have something else to do tonight?"

"Huh?" He was startled at first but he eventually answered. "Well, I'm going out for dinner..."

"Is that so?" Seria softly replied, her eyes looking down on the floor. Then she smiled.

"I was hoping you could taste some of the cookies I made. But anyway, I'll just give you some during the party."

"Sure. Later then!" Haru finally turned and walked away.

Seria took one last glance on him before continuing what she was doing. She sighed, and smiled at herself.

She knew that as a manager, she couldn't build strong bonds with their customers and lodgers since her work is the priority. But that boy, she was getting more and more fond of him.

But all her thoughts suddenly disappeared when she felt a slimy thing grab her leg.

"Aaah!"

/BLAG!/

- - - -

Having heard a brief scream and a crashing sound, Haru supposed it came from the books Seria was carrying. He quickly raced back and saw the unlikely accident.

"Seria! What happened?!" He assisted the blue-haired girl who had just fallen on the floor with all the books scattered around.

"You should've let me help you with this," Haru said.

"But something touched my leg and that really shocked me!" she explained.

Just then, one of the books on the floor shook. And beneath it stood the blue jelly creature that had caused another accident.

"You?!" Haru's eyes widened in surprised.

"Oh hello there," it greeted.

"Griff?! Stop causing trouble now!" Seria scolded.

But Haru suddenly grabbed the creature and lifted it off the floor.

"You're the pervert who ruined the wall in the hot springs last night!" Haru raged while shaking it non-stop.

"P-please calm down! Ai-I'm just heeere tooo tell Seriia-saaan that the stooove in the-a-a kitchen iiis on fiiire!"

"What?" Haru stopped.

"This is bad!" Seria uttered as she tried to stand up. "Ouch!"

But she got off-balanced and ended up with Haru catching her.

"You okay?" He asked but then noticed that her foot was beginning to swell.

"Hey, Seria, your foot--!"

Seria looked at it as well. "So that's why it was hurting so much. But the kitchen--"

"No need to worry," the boy said as he assisted her to sit on the floor. "Just stay here while this creature and I go fix the problem."

"It's Griff, sir."

"Okay, Griff, whatever. Anyway, after that I'm gonna help you treat that, alright?"

"A-alright," she nervously replied.

Haru left her with a smile of guarantee before he and Griff head off.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Elie looked up at the tangerine sky. The sun was almost hiding behind the mountains, and the moon was beginning to reappear in the twilight heavens. It was getting a little bit colder too. Well, it was the Christmas season, the only thing missing was for snow to fall.

She glanced at her watch--5:20pm, it said.

Maybe she was a bit early there in the porch, and it seemed pretty awkward for a girl to be waiting for the boy. But she didn't care. And even though she said she would go with the person who comes first, she was only waiting for one person.

She was waiting for Haru.

- - - - - - - -

Seria was staring at her foot that was being bandaged by Haru.

"There you go," Haru said after tying the last edges of the bandage together.

They were in her room and Seria was sitting at the end of her bed. Haru was fixing the first aid stuff he put out and returned them inside the drawer of her table.

“Good thing the fire didn’t get any bigger. Or else we would’ve had a harder time exterminating it,” he added.

"Thanks for your help, Haru."

"That's nothing. You should be more careful next time. Especially when that Griff is around!"

Seria just giggled. "Yeah, I think so. Griff is always like that. But he's really helpful in the kitchen."

"A hentai chef?! How absurd,” Haru thought as he had a sweat drop on his head.

She shifted her eyes to the window and noticed the varying colors of the sky.

"It's just now that I noticed the beauty of the sunset in the mountains."

Haru glanced the window too. "...Sunset?! Oh no!"

Haru suddenly wore a panicking face as he shoved his sleeve and looked at the time.

"Is something the matter?" she asked.

"Sorry, Seria! I have to go now! Jaa!" Haru quickly got his jacket and rushed outside.

- - - - - - - - - -

Once again, Elie glanced at her watch. This time, it was exactly five-thirty. The race would start from there.

"Puun!"

"Huh?"

Plue cutely ran to her. She caught it and cradled it in her arms as she always does.

"What's up, Plue?" she smiled at its innocently cute and cuddly face.

Just then, she heard footsteps from behind her. Seeing Plue, her suspicion must be correct.

She turned back to greet the person she waiting for.

"Haru!"

- - - - - -
Comments, criticisms, and all you want to say are welcome. Kindly review please!
micchan_18@yahoo.com




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