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Title: Jellyfish Love [Chapter Sixteen]
Author: Matrim Email: matrim _ no _ aijin @ yahoo . com Chapter Sixteen: Empty Spaces ++ The house is empty and silent. And the house should be dark because the mood suits her but it isn't. It's bright, cheery and warm and it should be wonderful but it's not because Shinya isn't home. BoA stares at the cold food in front of her and looks at the clock. He told her where he'd be and when she didn't approve, he did it anyway. He was probably dead by now. She hoped not. She had spent the first few hours, crying and worrying about Shinya. Then she had some brandy to calm her down. Now she was angry. Thankfully, Kuroneko wasn't working today. BoA didn't think she could take sharing the house with that woman for another moment. She thought that the woman got the point after the incident with the wheelchair. Shinya had cared for her all week even though she had nothing more serious than few cuts and bruises. She sets down her glass of brandy and wheels away from the chair and into the bedroom. How dare he leave her here—alone and waiting?! Not knowing if he were dying?! How could he do that when she knew how much she needed him? BoA slams the door behind her and tries to get ready for bed. But she can't do it without Shinya. In her frustration, she knocks the things off of her vanity dresser and watches them crash onto the floor. It only makes her feel marginally better. He'd better be home by tomorrow. She has physical therapy tomorrow. ++ By contrast, Ai spends her dinner with Kyo. They are at their favorite restaurant and they're allowed a tiny little booth off to the side with privacy. The lights are dim and low. They eat expensive stuff like steak with wine but Kyo doesn't drink the wine. He just has a simple glass of water and a soft drink. They talk quietly to each other and not many people see it, but Kyo can be romantic. Ai thinks that any time that Kyo spends with her is a bit of romance. He sits across from her and there's no one to interrupt them. No family, no strange men—no one but them and the waiters. He never discusses business with her unless something may harm her. She's okay with that. But lately, Kyo's been including Nene's girlfriend in the business and Kyo hasn't known her as long as he's known Ai. She tries to forget it. Ai wants to bring it up again but she can't. Something, physically stops her from saying it and she doesn't know what it is. She places her knife down on the plate and her little fingers tap impatiently against the table top but Kyo isn't paying attention. She should ask. She should put her fears to rest. Ai opens her mouth to say something but the phone rings and interrupts her. "Hello?" Kyo flashes her an apologetic smile. Ai nods and places her fork down too. Kyo's quiet for a few moments and then he sighs. "Are you sure? Where is he now? I see." He reaches for his sunglasses that he set down on the table and puts them on. Ai frowns because she knows that this is not a good sign. "Well, how sweet of them. No. No. We'll wait. Yes, do that. Call them." Ai takes a sip of water and finds her hand suddenly seized by Kyo's. "I can't do that. Do you really need me?" Another sigh and Kyo only sighs this much when he's talking to Atsushi. "I understand, Father. Alright. Yes, I'll be there." He hangs up the phone and glances to Ai. "We have to leave." "But…I wanted to stay…" "It's not safe for you out here." "Then stay with me." "You know I can't do that." His voice isn't quite desperate. He never speaks to her like that but she can tell he doesn't want to argue about this. Ai's lower lip begins to stick out despite her effort not to pout. "Ai, come on…don't do this." "I want to stay here." She tells him even as Kyo stands. He hasn't let go of her hand. "I'll bring dessert home for you or something. We can finish at home." And she knows it's impossible because he's going to be up all night with Atsushi and the others and he won't sleep until morning. But she has…hope. "I'll stay here. You can send Tetsu for me." "Tetsu'll bring Gara." Kyo warns. He knows how much Gara scares her even if he treats her with nothing but politeness. But it is only because Kyo is her husband. "I'll stay here." She says adamantly and Kyo can only sigh. He gives her a kiss on the cheek and just like that, he's gone. He pays the waiter for them so she won't have to worry and he's just…he's just gone. Ai stares at her food morosely then at the place that is now empty across her. It's just not the same anymore. ++ Sometimes, people wonder how much the stage mimics real life. Up until now, the stage was doing a damn good job of pretending to be real life. For instance, Dada was portrayed as evil and as forbidden fruit onstage and he was in real life—only because he didn't always let people through. Mana was seen as the innocent, the untouchable doll and it was because he was the same way except less caustic about it like Dada was. Yura was seen as the prettiest but only because he advertised himself as so. Die was the dumb one who thought it'd be great to put on flyers. Aya, because of his pink hair, was said to be not of this world and magical. Something cute and approachable unlike Mana's cute creepy demeanor. When they did a stage show together—and not just their individual acts—Dada would pretend to seduce Mana and Aya would try to get Yura's attention. It never worked. But something had changed. Mana would very reluctantly try not to respond to Dada and Aya wouldn't put much effort into his acting. Even now, as they take their places next to each other backstage before sweeping back on and bowing to the people—there is a definite change in the air. Yura and Aya stand behind Mana as they always do, but Yura watches the two men in front of them carefully. Usually, Dada has to fight to get Mana to even hold his hand properly so they can bow together. This time, however, Mana takes Dada's hand willingly—even before Dada's even offered it. Mimicking Mana but not intentionally, Yura takes Aya's hand gently. He swallows and looks over to his friend. He tries not to feel as if he's looking out over a great distance. Aya's here but his mind isn't. He's thinking about something else. He's barely home. He doesn't want to do anything with Yura. Yura swallows hard. Amends his words. Aya doesn't want anything to do with Yura. Amazing how changing a sequence of words can hurt. But he's Yura-sama. Nothing hurts him, right? "Aya?" Yura asks quietly. When Aya doesn't answer, Yura calls his name a few more times despite the fact that he might get a scolding from Mana or Dada. "You'd tell me, right? You'd tell me if you were seeing anyone, right? You'd let me meet him?" Let me kick the shit out of him? Let me blame him for letting you get away? "Of course, Yura." And Aya smiles at him. He nods. Why does it feel as if you're lying to me? They step out into the bright lights and they bow. Once, twice…three times. And Yura isn't crying. Even if he recognizes the strange man that Aya's with, he's not crying. Yura doesn't cry. It's sweat, not tears. ++ "Poor little birdie." Nene laments and reaches over to touch Toshiya's cold lips with a white gloved hand. She gives him a brief hug and steps back to cuddle into Luci'fer's arm. Zero's place resembles the inside of a small abandoned hospital as opposed to the Vampires' lair. Some of the rooms are dirty and forgotten, with useless medical equipment rusting itself into oblivion. But the rooms that Zero inhabits are as clean as possible. The rooms that he uses to care for the dead are immaculate. "Still so pretty." Zero is smoking a cigarette and listening to Kyo and Atsushi. Nene tilts her head back and forth as conversations about funerals fly around the room. Zero is the best. He doesn't want to burn the body after he's made him so beautiful. He claims he can hear the dead speak. Nene never believed him until after the…incident. But she can't hear Toshiya now. She thinks it's because Luci'fer's too close. She pushes away from the woman and heads toward the window. They're on the second floor and it overlooks a tiny parking lot. The lines can barely be seen on the pavement and the asphalt is starting to break apart into chunks and tiny pebbles. On one side of the parking lot, there's a chain link with a rusting sign on it. And there's the car that Tatsurou drove them over in… …and there's another car driving in. And a blonde man steps out of the car. He pauses and then speaks to someone in there before he nods. Then he proceeds to head toward the building. "Someone's coming," She tells her younger brother and Tatsurou frowns. He tells Zero, who suddenly has a look of alarm on his face. It takes longer than they expect but eventually the visitor shows up in the room. He has long blonde hair and sad brown eyes. They're pink from crying. He looks lost and reminds Nene of a time not too long ago. She doesn't move though. No one in the room moves except for Zero and Luci'fer. "Kamijo?" Luci'fer says, quietly, as if not wanting to startle the blonde man. He jumps anyway and he looks at her with something like relief and recognition. "Luci? Oh, Luci…there you are. Where have you been?" "Nevermind—what are you doing here?" "You didn't know? No, you weren't around, so you wouldn't know." Kamijo gives a watery smile and looks to Zero. The zombie nods and Kamijo goes to the body as if it's simply sleeping and not dead. He strokes back Toshiya's black hair. "Machi came and killed my Toshiya." Nene looks over to Kyo and Atsushi who are exchanging looks. No one stops Kamijo, though. "He's outside." Kamijo says absently. Luci'fer turns around and is out of the door. She doesn't look for approval from anyone and Nene frowns at her. She thinks she's growling, too, but she doesn't care. Why would she care where the other woman went? She was only a pet. A hand on her shoulder makes her hiss. "Follow her, Nene." Kyo tells her and Nene glares at him. She doesn't have to follow her! But Kyo is giving her one of his looks and Atsushi is giving her one of his looks, too. Fine. Nene would stomp down the stairs but she doesn't want to make the place look even worse. The plaster was peeling off of the walls and the tile was a bit broken in places. It's a good thing she's wearing a simple red dress and boots instead of her princess dresses. She stops at the front door and watches Luci'fer head to the car and bow low in front of the car door. Luci'fer opens the door and a taller man steps out. He's thin and he has golden brown hair. He's wearing sunglasses and they do boring things like talk. After a while, the man reaches out and touches Luci'fer's hair and Nene glares at him. As if sensing this, he glances toward her and smiles. Luci'fer does so too. She bows to him again and Luci'fer goes back into the building. Nene and Luci stare at each other for a moment. "He's not Daddy." Nene tells her. "He'll never be Daddy." Luci'fer tilts her head and then suddenly smiles. "You're jealous." Nene growls again, like Kyo does when he's fighting with Tatsurou or Atsushi. Luci's smile widens and she reaches out for Nene's hand. Nene doesn't pull away like Ai does when she's angry at Kyo. Instead, she just eyes Luci'fer as if she's the insane one. Nene glances back outside. The man, Shinya—she knows it's him, she won't lie to herself—is still out there. He's looking up at the building, probably waiting for that Kamijo person. She drags Luci'fer back upstairs. It's hard because Luci'fer's stronger than her and is putting in a bit of resistance as she goes. Luci probably thinks it's all amusing. "I won't have your head full of him!" "I thought you said you weren't going to become attached to me?" "I'm not." Nene tells her and Luci'fer only answers her denial with a grin. ++ To Chapter Seventeen Jelly Home Fics Home |