Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction ❯ kira.kira ❯ chapter five ( Chapter 5 )

.∙-*| kira kira : a Japanese onomatopoeia used to describe the twinkling of the stars |*-∙.

Thanks to: Exileian, Lady-Lucifiel, Makoto Kudou, Picaro, Pyrochan, Ami-chan, and Strawberryfansz for reviewing the last chapter. X3 Ami-chan for being my evil fiend. >:) And FS for being FS. ;P

A/N: at bottom

Warnings/Disclaimer: see prologue

-thoughts-

kira.kira

by Koyuki Aode

Chapter 5

It was after the second rehearsal of the third day that I received Crawford's affection once more. 'Kaasan brought the bouquet to me proudly when I was alone backstage.

The blossoms that time reminded me of full, round plums in season, dressed with small white clouds. I memorized the texture of the buds with my fingers as I closed my eyes, dreaming of plum wine ice cream and white Mikawaya mochi I had tasted in another life. These were constellations of a sky I would never again see with my eyes.

"Did he send you those flowers?"

'Tousan's sudden presence behind me weighed me to solid ground. I had anticipated that my brothers would ambush me, but 'Tousan's stern tone collided with those expectations. "Ah… I…"

"Do you still think about him?!"

Tissue paper crinkled beneath my fingers, the flowers beneath beginning to choke, and I forced myself to relax as I turned to face him. "This is only the second bouquet. It means nothing, really-"

"Don't be foolish!" 'Tousan's face slipped suddenly with anger, like a mask cracked in two, and he raised his hand.

The sting of my cheek registered only when I acknowledged that I was now facing the wall.

"'Tousan…" I held my hand to my face, thinking that Haru had struck the same place just a day before. "…Gomen…"

'Tousan and 'Kaasan, and even Aunt Fuyu, had been so kind to me despite the pain I experienced at the hands of my brothers. Now I did not know what to think.

My loyalty to the Fujihara family suffered greatly at that moment, an irreconcilable turn in my life.

"Nagi… I…" He looked disappointed, perhaps in himself. Nervously he picked the bouquet up off the floor and shoved it back into my hands. "I may have a solution to our problem," he said without looking into my eyes.

"… Really?..."

"Please go back to my office and stay there until I return."

"Why?-"

"Just please wait there. I've left tea for you if you are thirsty. I won't be long."

*

As soon as I poured myself a cup of tea, 'Tousan's telephone rang. Not knowing what else to do, I answered.

"'Moshi moshi?" [1] I whispered as strongly as I could. I cleared my throat. "This is Fujihara Yuich--"

"Nagi." The syllables, like dice, tumbled through me, giving birth to a butterfly in my chest. It fought to be released, fluttering straight into my throat. "Nagi, this is Crawford," the voice over the line said curtly. "Are you all right?"

The phone was a brick in my hand. "H-How...?"

"You sound terrible."

"How do you..." I couldn't finish my thoughts. My voice melted with my resolve. I felt very small and pathetic as I hugged my knees and sobbed into the receiver. He sounded uncomfortable as he tried to placate me, offering poetic murmuring until he was only left with apologies. "I hate this, and I'm so scared… What if it doesn't work…"

"It will be all right. Just relax a bit," Crawford said stiffly, when I had been reduced to sniffles. It seemed the static of the line blurred his shining image.

I sipped the tea and took a deep breath. "It's fine of you to say these things when you hardly sound like you mean them."

"I try," he replied dryly.

"Haven't you taken care of someone before?"

He seemed to hesitate before replying. "There's only been myself."

"What about those other men? The men who work with you."

"I don't take care of them. I work with them."

"So you live alone? No pets or plants?"

"I live with the others."

"They don't mean more to you?"

"… No."

"How lonely," I was tempted to say. But I held the thought back, my lips acting on another question. "Will you come to tonight's play?"

"That wouldn't be my reason for coming."

No, I remembered, it wouldn't. This was 'Tousan's last chance. A small question rose between my eyes, and I looked around at his belongings, wondering where he was.

"I believe Takaguchi suspects something. He's acting strangely and refuses my requests to travel with him tonight."

The room seemed to shake, though I felt nothing. I lay in the chair haphazardly now, vaguely aware of my limbs. "Mm," I murmured without realizing it. A warm calm had washed over me. "I have your flowers here. My brothers didn't notice them, even though 'Tousan did. Now I'm trapped in this boring room."

"Your father's merely trying to protect you."

"I do not want this life anymore."

"Don't speak like that unless you mean it."

I closed my eyes and rubbed my wrist over them. "Say more things," I whispered, "Your voice makes me warm."

"It's important that you watch yourself tonight," he insisted.

"Mm hm..." His voice sounded so far away, I thought he was speaking from the sky, warming me with his brother the Sun.

"Nagi?"

The world was eclipsed then, and sleep took hold of me and would not let me go, even when the phone and the cup fell to the floor.

*

The world was still shaking when I opened my eyes again. It was a less violent movement, and bright lights would flash briefly before whizzing away in a horizontal meteor shower. The fog in my eyes cleared a little after a few slow blinks.

My mouth and throat were dry, and I gasped at how cold the air was to my skin. Beneath me was softness. I pushed against it and forced myself to sit up, though my limbs were all still numb.

"Un?" My mind questioned what my eyes told it. Then my forehead fell against the car window with a soft thump, and I closed my eyes again, dizzied at the sight of the world passing by.

"Are you all right, Nagi-kun?" Masaru asked from the driver's seat.

Still leaning against the window, I opened my eyes to another fog, caused by the quick breaths pushing past my lips. My skin complained about my lingering makeup, and my costume's obi had introduced a subtle ache in my ribs. "What... happened?..." I managed to gasp out.

"Your father came to me a few minutes ago and said you weren't feeling well. I'm taking you to a doctor."

I absorbed the information slowly, my head shooting up at a sudden thought. 'Tousan… The tea. "No!" The streetlights continued flashing with urgency.

"What's wrong?" Masaru said calmly.

"Stop the car," I said suddenly.

Masaru shook his head, glancing at me in the rear-view mirror. "Your welfare is in my hands, I must get you to the doctor."

"Stop the car," my heart began to tremble in my chest, watching helplessly as the road continued to move, "Stop the car now."

"I'm sorry, I cannot do it."

"Please!" I gasped, wishing the road would freeze. "Please stop the car!" Then I was suddenly thrown from the seat, closing my eyes before I hit a soft cushion. Brakes screeched and horns blared around us.

More of those funny, un-monklike words sprang from Masaru's mouth. "Nagi?! Daijoubu ka?!"

I wasted no time answering as I pushed the door open and tumbled into the street. Immediately I recognized that we were not far, and I began to run - despite my costume's restrictions - back to the theater. Masaru's voice called to me, but I ignored it, reaching into my right sleeve for Crawford's card. I had not yet opened it.

I tore the envelope with my teeth as I ran, and fumbled with the small stiff paper until I was at the edge of the theater parking lot. Feeling safer, I walked briskly through the lights, reading the first lines in Crawford's handwriting.

-Be careful.-

Suddenly, circumstance got the better of me, and I tumbled forward, letting out a sharp cry as my palms hit the ground. My strength had left me, and all I could do was stare up at the rows of parked cars. "'Tousan, please be all right..."

My chest clenched as I read Crawford's last line, and a tall shadow eclipsed the light. Two hands gripped my waist, quickly pulling me to my feet.

-He will come for you.-

"Hello. Are you all right?" Takaguchi asked, looking very worried as he bent his head to my level. "You're shaking terribly."

He would not release me, even as I tried to pull away, prying numbly at his hands. It felt different from the times Crawford had done the same. "I--Please--"

"Sh..." He pulled me closer, rubbing his cheek against mine so that I could feel his breath against my neck. "It's all right now," he whispered, stroking my back, "Your father said that you were gone, and I was worried. But now that I've found you, your 'Tousan will be all right."

"Takaguch-"

"Hm, your voice is delightful," he whispered, tracing his fingers over my lips. I felt his smile against my skin. "I would be lonely if you hadn't returned."

His words made my adrenaline surge; in the moment he relaxed, I tore away from him. "'NO!!" Takaguchi caught me easily, wrapping one arm around my waist and lifting me up so that my feet did not reach the ground. "Let me-Mfph!" I struggled with all my might against Takaguchi as he toted me toward a waiting limousine.

Then I heard something that normally made my blood run cold. Haruki's voice.

"Y-You…"

As hope leaked out of me, I watched my ever-abusive sibling undergo a change I had never before had the luxury of witnessing.

He became afraid.

Takaguchi dropped me; but before I could leap away, another hand grabbed my hair. "Don't run away just yet…" The familiar nasal voice oozed into my ear. I gasped as Crawford's redhead companion jabbed something hard and cold into my ribs. "He would just hate it if I shot you."

Somehow, I knew he did not mean Takaguchi.

"Haruki …"

"Don't touch me!!"

Haruki by now was caught in Takaguchi's grip, trembling as Takaguchi reached to touch his hair. My brother's lips moved slightly, in the shape of words, but no sound escaped. In that moment of Takaguchi's hushed whispers and his examination of Haruki's bleached locks, I realized why the secret was to be only mine with my 'Tousan's.

Haruki had a secret of his own.

"Takaguchi!" Natsumare suddenly appeared, looking tired and disheveled from the day's work. In seconds, he pushed the businessman away from Haruki, fluidly wedging himself between their small distance. "... Stay away from my brother…" his voice teetered on his usual calm, and his eyes burst with the angry energy of a nova.

Takaguchi straightened his suit, stepping backwards to regain his ground. "Why, Natsumare-kun, I would. But there are so many brothers to choose from." He smirked as Natsumare clenched his fists. "… Choose one."

Natsumare's skin ran pale, and he quickly glanced at me. I felt an instant of sympathy, of sorrow, of something that had existed that I was not aware of.

-You will never know...-

"Do you-" the Fujihara heir closed his eyes for a moment, "-Do you swear to leave us alone after this?"

Takaguchi said yes.

"Good riddance," Natsumare whispered, turning to comfort Haruki. Then the Fujiharas were gone from my life, like shooting stars that left such deep impressions in my soul.

After Takaguchi pulled me with him into the back of his limousine, he sat next to me and stroked my hair. "Say good-bye to this place," he murmured gravely.

I only sobbed into his shoulder as he pulled me into his lap.

[tbc]

[1] "moshi moshi" = "hello" on the telephone

A/N: Heh. Well THAT took a while. No, actually I've had this part done for a while, since way back when the fic was still eating me alive, but I kept on changing it and forgetting to read it over and post it. And I also sort of pulled out of my old college. Sort of. Had some problems, and stuff. Nothing you all'd be interested in. Anyway, I just finally decided to post it (and a certain Sable threatened to hurt me in so many subtle ways XP). There's one more part left to this. And I may write a sequel, I may not. I've got a plan for what happens to Nagi at Rosenkreuz but… que-ever, it's not really up to me. X_X I can't believe it's almost over. I can't believe I'm so mean to Nagi!... I can't believe this fic will be done before I finish the next part of PYG. ....