Suikoden Fan Fiction ❯ Love's Just a Form of Insanity ❯ Chapter 12 ( Chapter 12 )

Chapter 12

Pairings: Watari/Fred, LilyxOC.

Watari had kept running, unable to control himself. When he’d seen that Mike had arrived at the castle, he had been able to control himself. The worse Mike could do was kill him. But… Roan du Lac? This was a far worse situation. It was obvious that Roan didn’t know what had happened, what Watari had done; otherwise he’d have never greeted him in such a friendly manner. But, he’d find out, just like the others had and it’d be all over. He’d have shamed himself in front of another person, another old comrade…

Of course, Watari got shaken out of his reverie when he realized that he wasn’t running any more. Something seemed to have caught onto his shoulder and was holding the fabric quite firmly within its grasp. When the ninja saw what it was he was caught on, he tried to untangled with all his might. But, it seemed that Fred’s hand was insisting on maintaining its rather firm grip. “At last, I found you!” Watari stopped running and gripped Fred’s hand tightly, trying to get free of the man’s grip. “And this time you’re not getting away.”

“…” Watari’s gaze was venomous. He didn’t want to deal with this buffoon right now, no matter what his feelings were towards him. He had more important matters to attend to.

“I’m sorry if you were in a hurry, but this really can’t wait.” Before Watari could protest, he found himself being dragged by Fred into one of the nearby rooms, an empty room. The moment the door was slammed, Fred crossed his arms and glared at him. Watari glared back, getting more and more annoyed by the moment.

The knight then sighed, looking, perhaps, nervous? “Listen, about you liking me or whatever… Understand that I have nothing against men who love other men.” Watari blinked for a moment, but said nothing as Fred continued. “But, I do resent two timers who flirt with one person when they have already made amorous overtures towards another.” Now Watari was even more confused, which Fred seemed to notice. “I saw you with Lily Pendragon. Intimately.”

Watari had actually forgotten that he had dragged Lily off in an attempt to make Fred jealous and now that he remembered, he nearly laughed. Fortunately, he still had some restraint and managed to hold back. “I wasn’t being intimate with her.”

“I am not stupid! I saw you two… You were very, very close. You are not the sort of person to stand close to someone and Lily Pendragon would kill any man who dared to act so familiar with her under normal circumstances.” Now Watari was impressed. Fred could on occasion be bright and observant.

“That was not what you thought it was.” The ninja didn’t know why, but he didn’t like the idea of making Fred jealous anymore. Not if it meant him hating him. The thought wasn’t as pleasant now.

“Don’t lie to me. You were just fooling around with me, because you think that I am an idiot.”

Well, Watari did think he was an idiot, so that part wasn’t exactly a lie. “I wasn’t lying when I said I had feelings for you.”

“I saw you with Lily.”

“I was doing a favor for her. I am a ninja. I get asked to do all sorts of odd jobs for people all the time. Jobs I can’t tell people about.”

Fred looked at him long and hard as if trying to determine whether or not he was lying. “Don’t you ask a heavy price for you jobs normally? I wouldn’t think that someone like Lily, even with all her money, would pay you for something so small as an odd job.” Definitely not as stupid a man as he first appeared, Watari thought.

How to explain without spilling Lily’s secret and without admitting that he had purposely made the situation look like it was something more than it was? “You will have to take my word for it. Is there anything else you want?”

“Yes, actually there is.” The knight was now embarrassed and looking down at his feet nervously. “I wanted to apologize for what happened that night. It was rude of me.”

/ He’s apologizing, to me? /

Watari was taken aback by this turn of events. He hadn’t expected an apology and now his mind was a complete blank. “I accept.” He decided it was best not to make a big deal of it.

The knight seemed relieved now and relaxed his posture. “Thank the runes…” He was now smiling, which in Watari’s mind suited his face far better. “Well now that that’s settled, I’ll be off.” The knight strode past him, about to leave when Watari found himself grabbing onto his arm, despite his better judgment. “Uh, what?”

“…” Watari just held on tighter. He knew it was hopeless, that no matter what, nothing was going to come of his feelings, but he couldn’t let go of them either. Plus, the last thing he wanted to do was go out there and risk running into more unwanted memories.

“Is something wrong? Did I offend you somehow? Was my apology not enough?” The knight was confused, though he should have realized by now that Watari was unpredictable. The ninja said nothing and only gripped his arm tighter. “Uh… Let go… Please?”

“So, is there any possibility of you liking me?”

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Lily’s mood had changed into something kind of light and bubbly. Maximillian had amused her greatly. The man was very simple and not a very good liar. Lily had seen right through him in a heartbeat. She supposed she should have expected him to have a desire for men. Everyone knew that men who went out of their way to act tough were often putting on a front to hide qualities they felt were unmanly. Plus, he was a soldier of sorts, and everyone KNEW what men left alone with other men did.

Of course, she supposed Watari was a bit of a surprise, though it made sense. The man hadn’t been able to appreciate her feminine form at all during the dancing lessons. Any normal man should have been stuttering and blushing more instead of acting so cold and aloof. Still it was probably better than making a joke of her like Roan did.

Why her father had insisted that he’d be a good match for her, she’d never know. Just because his father was some big shot in Highland didn’t mean he was good husband material, let alone leadership material. He was still an overly tall, gangly fool with poor taste in amusements.

/ Just be calm Lily. All you really have to worry about is that stupid ball in Zexen. After that, you should be able to avoid him for most of the war. Let Samus and Reed handle everything else. You won’t see him again until the wedding date. /

Of course, part of the reason she had always resented the engagement was because Roan didn’t respect her. He particularly didn’t respect her as a woman. He had always seen her as more of a boy than a girl, even when she had been dressed in perfectly feminine clothes. Even now that she wore more masculine dress, she still thought that it was impossible for anyone to mistake her for a boy.

It had always been her mannerisms that got her in trouble. Lily had always been a direct and aggressive individual, too clumsy for the female arts. And it was a known fact that she was no good in the ballroom, having the terrible habit of stepping on the toes of others and trying to dominate the dance. Chris would have been able to tell anyone that. Of course, Chris was one of the few people who could have forgiven Lily for such a slight.

Roan though, would laugh at her. And just once, she’d have liked to have proven him wrong about something. Even if it was just a stupid dance. “Hey, Lily!” And speak of the scrawny, overly tall devil…

“And here I was hoping that I wouldn’t have to see you for the rest of the day… Or rather the rest of the year even.”

“As lovely as ever, aren’t you? Say, you don’t happen to know a ninja called Watari, do you?”

“Yes, why?”

“What can you tell me about him?”

She shrugged. “He’s an odd sort, always skulking about, never saying anything unless it suits him. And when he does speak, it’s always terribly dull and not very exciting at all. Once again, why do you want to know?”

“Oh… No reason. Bye.” He waved as he walked off.

“Why is everyone so odd around here?”

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To Be Continued…

I just realized that this story has some truly corny moments in it…

Folks, never, ever let a fanfic get away from you, no matter how tempting.