Vision Of Escaflowne Fan Fiction ❯ Mystic Wings ❯ The Lover ( Chapter 17 )

Chapter Seventeen

The Lover

 

Hitomi stood at her locker, cramming her luggage that didn't fit at all into it, and scanning the halls for Yukari. The sooner she talked to her about staying at her house, the better, but Hitomi didn't see her anywhere. However, Hitomi had come early to avoid seeing her family, so she thought that if she prowled the halls long enough, Yukari would definitely turn up.

 

Instead, she saw Amano approaching her. He was definitely at school early.

 

“Hi,” Hitomi said.

 

Amano stepped up to her. He had a curious expression on his face. It was one Hitomi could only describe as regretful. “Hi,” he said back to her.

 

“Are you okay?” Hitomi asked.

 

“Yeah,” he said, putting his hand in his pocket and leaning against the lockers. “I just came to talk to you about a little … problem.”

 

“What is it?”

 

“Yukari said she lent you her keys so that you could come to school to work out in the morning.”

 

Hitomi's heart fell in her chest. She hadn't given them back!

 

“And she needed them to let the team into the gym for track practice after school,” he continued.

 

“Did she get in trouble with the team?”

 

He nodded, looking bad. “She also got in trouble with the faculty for lending you her keys. Apparently, that's really against school rules.”

 

Hitomi bit her lip anxiously. “Did she get detention?”

 

“It's worse than that,” he admitted hesitantly.

 

“Worse?”

 

“The gym coach had her removed as the team's manager. She said that if Yukari was going to behave as irresponsibly as you, then she'd better get out.”

 

Hitomi felt sick. This was all her fault. Yukari was her friend. “How's Yukari taking it?”

 

“Bad. She asked me to get the keys from you and to return them to the office for her. She's not even coming to school today.”

 

“I'm really sorry …” Hitomi started, finding the keys in her coat pocket and giving them to Amano.

 

“Yeah. I'd tell you to tell her yourself, but she also told me to tell you not to talk to her for a while. She probably just needs time,” he said, taking the keys from Hitomi. “I gotta go.”

 

“Yeah,” Hitomi said, watching Amano make his way towards the office.

 

Hitomi banged her forehead against the lockers. She was the worst!

 

***

 

Even without the injury Hitomi had done Yukari, she felt like garbage that day. The whole day seemed to pass like a nightmare. She tried to focus on her schoolwork, but once again it was all information she'd already been taught, so she had a lot of time to think about everything that was bothering her.

 

Her father and sister hated her. It didn't seem to sweeten the deal at all that Hitomi knew that her mother was not angry with her. Instead, it only seemed to make it worse. The one person that Hitomi wanted to go to, in the absence of Van, was unavailable.

 

She had told Allen off, and the rest of the Abaharaki wouldn't speak to her on Van's orders. Not that she particularly cared what Allen thought anymore. He was an ass for getting involved with Marlene. She had told him to stay away and he ignored her, which made her want to become bitter against him - like Eries. Oh, she would have liked to talk to Eries again. She would be the perfect person to have a rant over Allen with, but she wasn't speaking to Hitomi.

 

Then Hitomi thought about Millerna. She knew that at a moment like this, when she was feeling so vulnerable that it would be in her nature to exaggerate the friendship she had had with Millerna. Yeah, Millerna had been great.

 

So, who was left for her to turn to? She didn't feel like she could deal with all of this alone, and for the first time in her life was considering calling a help line or something. Maybe a counselor, but she bit her tongue on the thought. It just reminded her of Folken's invitation. He said that anytime they were together from then on, he would be thinking about her like `that'. What exactly did `that' entail? Hitomi didn't want to know, and besides all that she still hadn't made up her mind as to what she was going to do with him. It was Tuesday. She only had three days left with which to make up her mind, and the ticking of the clock on the wall was making her mad. She wanted to leave class, but the more seconds that passed, were seconds lost on not figuring out what to do with him.

 

Then, at the end of the school day, Hitomi stood by her locker, looking down the hallway at the entrance of the school to see the snow falling steadily. That should have comforted her considering how much the snowfall should have reminded her of who she truly was, but instead it only served to remind her that it was cold outside … and she had no where to go.

 

At this extremely opportune moment, a young man came up behind Hitomi and said to her quietly.

 

“You look terrible, Kanzaki. So, do you wanna come over to my house?”

 

It was Dryden.

 

Leave it to him to ask at the only moment when she would have considered accepting. “Sure,” she mumbled, “but if you lay one finger on me, you'll lose that finger.”

 

“Naturally,” he said smoothly, adjusting the glasses he wore that should have looked dorky, but didn't.

 

“And you'll have to carry my bags,” she said, elaborating.

 

He laughed. “Sure, I'm a nice guy. Give me your backpack and I'll carry it.”

 

Hitomi opened her locker with a crank to reveal three over-the-shoulder carrying bags crammed into the small space that was her locker. “I said `bags', not `bag' - plural.”

 

Dryden's mouth dropped as he saw into her locker. “What the …”

 

“Yeah,” she said, clicking her tongue on her teeth. “My parents threw me out last night, so I have to carry my house with me wherever I go from now on, but I'm already tired of carrying it, so come on and help me.”

 

Hitomi took one strap in her hands and practically had to brace both legs on either side of the door in order to pull the first one out. The rest came out easier. Then, she carefully draped the straps over Dryden's shoulders and locked her locker contentedly. Then she headed towards the parking lot without carrying one of them.

 

“You know, Kanzaki, if I didn't really want to talk to you, there's no way I'd put up with this. Why on earth are you prancing?”

 

“I'm not prancing!” she denied emphatically, while walking a little daintier then before.

 

“Right.”

 

Dryden took her out to his sports car. She didn't want to compare it with Van's convertible, but she couldn't help it. This car was something else. Van's car was cool, but it looked like Dryden's was from … Italy. It hardly had a trunk and what was back there was the disc changer. Hitomi had to carry one of her bags on her lap since there was no backseat, and the truck filled up quickly. It was silver and sexy all the way.

 

“I had no idea teenagers drove things like this,” Hitomi said when Dryden got into the seat beside her.

 

“Well, I'm not your average teenager. Besides, this is a pretty ritzy school. Lots of the kids have impressive cars. I won't be driving this tomorrow, though. I don't like driving this car in the snow.”

 

“What'll you be driving instead?” Hitomi asked curiously.

 

“Oh, I don't know. Something with four wheel drive,” he said, pulling out of his parking stall and moving the car onto the street.

 

“You sound like you've got a choice,” she commented.

 

“Well, I have seen your dad pick you up, and I've seen you take the bus. Don't get the wrong idea, but I've often wondered why you decided to come to this school. Why?”

 

“My dad thought that it was the only way to make sure I'd be safe at school,” Hitomi admitted, too tired to question the uniqueness of his inquiry.

 

“Do you want to spend the night with me?” he asked abruptly.

 

Hitomi bolted upright in her seat while he laughed at her mercilessly.

 

“I said I wouldn't touch you! I was just wondering if you needed a place to stay tonight since your parents kicked you out,” he smiled, seeming happy to get a reaction out of her.

 

Hitomi leaned back more comfortably. He'd definitely regret it if he tried to attack her, so she decided to relax. “You wouldn't be worried that I'd turn into a freeloader?”

 

“I'd love it if you became my freeloader. I can see you in my mind very easily, walking across the front hall in your modest little pajamas with a toothbrush sticking out of your mouth. If one of my woman friends happened to see you I would love to see her writhe in discomfort while I explain quite honestly that there is no relationship whatever between the two of us, but that you live with me. She wouldn't believe me, and become jealous - thus becoming more attractive to me - and you wouldn't have to do a thing. Sounds marvy, doesn't it?”

 

“Jealous women attract you?” she asked, thinking that he said `woman friends'. He definitely did not sound like a teenager. His speech patterns were all wrong. This wasn't the first time she'd considered that Dryden might not be a teenager after all, but just now she was so tired and forlorn that she almost didn't care what he was. Almost.

 

“It's not that I particularly like the emotion of jealousy. Usually, it turns a beautiful woman into a demon, but then she'll pout her lips and I have to go through the effort of convincing her that she is the only woman I see. I think I must get a kick out of restoring a woman's confidence.”

 

“Hm … interesting turn on.”

 

“Oh, did you want a list? I like women who …”

 

“Please DON'T finish that sentence,” Hitomi interrupted hastily. “I'm much too innocent to hear it.”

 

Dryden didn't continue at first, and when he did, his voice had lost all traces of amusement. Instead, he said wryly, “You shouldn't say such things about the men in your life. You wouldn't want it to get around that they didn't treat you right.”

 

“Huh?”

 

“I wouldn't want a girl I had loved to say she was still innocent. I wouldn't like the sound of it one bit.”

 

“Why?”

 

“I think it makes it sound like I didn't do a good job … if you catch my meaning. And who ever he was, he probably tried hard to please you. So, don't say you're innocent, say you're satisfied.”

 

Hitomi flushed. Naturally, she hadn't even thought of that angle. It had been months since she had been with Van and she was still trying to play a high school student. It was a moment before she got her act together enough to say, “I wasn't trying to insult him. I just didn't want to hear your list, and I don't think that my love life is any of your business.”

 

“That's better.”

 

“Besides, why do you have to be so vulgar all the time? Don't you think about anything else besides your sex life?”

 

“Sure I do! I think about … I think about … I'm sure I think about something else.”

 

“Like what?”

 

“Something,” he answered vaguely. “I'll have to think about it and get back to you.”

 

Hitomi shook her head and rolled her eyes. She should have known!

 

Dryden's house was not a house, but a mansion of incredible beauty and intricate design. He had to talk on an intercom with a security guard at the gate and a valet came to park the car when they pulled up to the main entrance. Dryden gave instructions as to what was to be done with Hitomi's bags and led her into a polished great hall. They were greeted by a maid who took Hitomi's hat and coat. Dryden asked the maid to serve drinks in the conservatory and led Hitomi up the stairs and into a humid and extremely tropical green space. There were glass panels for a ceiling and he sat her down at a little table by a window. When Hitomi sat down, she saw that the window overlooked another part of the house - the swimming pool.

 

There was a woman on the diving board. Hitomi looked and then she stared. She had never seen someone like that before in real life. The girl had the body of a supermodel, but when she leapt off the board, it was clear that she was better than that - an excellent athlete. As she disappeared into the water, Hitomi regretted that she was at such a distance. Hitomi couldn't see her well, and the girl was wearing a cap over her hair, anyway.

 

Hitomi was about to ask Dryden about her when he started talking, “I think about love.”

 

At first, Hitomi didn't know what he was talking about, and then she suddenly realized that he was picking up their conversation from in the car. “Oh?” she said.

 

“I don't think I can help it,” he continued.

 

“Okay then, what sort of love?”

 

“Well, you may not believe me, but I'm pretty bored with flirting. Of course, flirting is great in its own way, but I'm slowly becoming jaded, and I'm starting to question when the real fulfillment in a relationship is going to come. In other words, maybe the best thing isn't just to jump from woman to woman to woman.”

 

“You sound like you're thinking of settling down, but isn't it a little early for that sort of thing? You're only eighteen, right?” Before she had even finished speaking, it hit her like a ton of bricks. Not only was Dryden not a teenager, but this conversation seemed to be going down the same lines as her conversation with Folken. What was with these friggin' men? “You're not a teenager, are you?”

 

“No,” he admitted. “I'm twenty-five.”

 

“You're not going to ask me to be `that' person you're talking about, are you? The person you want to settle down with? `Cause if that's the way this is going, then you'd better save it.”

 

Dryden laughed. “No, Kanzaki, that's not what I was looking for. I was only trying to explain myself a little. Anyway, I'm digressing. I invited you here because I wanted to talk to you about something specific, and here I am going completely off track.”

 

“What did you want to talk about?” Hitomi asked, totally relieved that she wasn't having yet another impossible guy confess to her.

 

“I just wanted to ask you about your tattoo.”

 

“You've got to be kidding me! What is so significant about a stupid tattoo?” Everyone had been asking her about this, everyone had an opinion on it, everyone thought that she wanted to talk about it twenty four/seven with them, and she was getting pretty cross about the whole subject.

 

“I just wondered if you wanted to see mine?”

 

“Thank you, no,” Hitomi said, sticking her nose in the air and looking again at the girl in the swimming pool. She didn't exactly think he was the ultimate man-whore anymore, but she still didn't want to chance seeing his tattoo. Who knew what it might be of, or where it might be!

 

“Fine then,” Dryden said, not looking annoyed himself, but seeming to understand that Hitomi was just about at her limit. “Can I take you to see my portrait gallery? I could have our drinks taken there, instead.”

 

“Whatever,” Hitomi said. Then she thought about how rude she had sounded, so she amended her statement, “Sorry, Dryden, I don't want to take it out on you. I've had a supremely crappy couple of months and I'm just here looking for a way to relax.”

 

“I understand. Come on, I think you'll like my gallery. It is quite lovely.” He got up and pulled her chair away from the table for her.

 

“Oooo, such a gentleman!” Hitomi commented, following him out of the conservatory.

 

“Only when I don't have to pretend that I'm an ignorant kid.”

 

Hitomi was still suspicious. If he was twenty-five, why was he pretending to be a teenager, anyway? “I'm just waiting for the other shoe to drop,” she said.

 

Dryden led her through several long corridors before he finally came to a set of double doors, which required a pin number as well as a thumb print scan. What was he going to show her?

 

He opened the doors and revealed a long gallery lined with many, many pictures.

 

“Let me show you the first one,” he said, drawing her close to the canvas.

 

It was a picture of a crescent moon on a chain of stars. The painting, itself, was on navy velvet and the moon was painted hard white. Underneath the picture were the words `The Moon' and underneath that it said `Goddess of the Moon'. But who was the artist? It didn't say.

 

“Isn't it a beauty?” Dryden was saying. “Let me show you the next one.”

 

The next portrait was one of a dragon. The dragon was silver and surrounded by people, all kinds of people, and all of them were bowing to it. The words that labeled the picture read, `The Dragon', and then under that were the words `Ace of Serpents'.

 

What was going on? This was exactly like her and Van!

 

“This one was difficult to get,” Dryden said wistfully. “Those of us who saw it only saw it for a split second.”

 

Hitomi moved on ahead of him to look at the next picture. It was of a massive black bird flying into the afternoon sky. The background was perfect blue. The first line read, `The Crow', and the second line read, `The Sorcerer'.

 

These were her, Van's and Folken's symbols. What did they have to do with Dryden and what did these other titles mean? She gave Dryden a quick glance before she moved onto the next one. He was looking at her intently, obviously gauging her reaction.

 

The fourth painting was of a splendid red rose dripping with dew. `The Red Rose' followed by `The Lover'.

 

She turned to look at Dryden.

 

He took her hand in his and kissed it. “Nice to meet you Goddess, as you can see, I'm The Lover.”