Chapter
Nine:
A/N: I know
I know, AN’s just kill the fic, but I have to do this. Thanks all, for reviewing and encouraging
me to continue writing, it really made me happy! Thanks for the site, Earth Rincar, I love it! I try to not ditch any fic, Dark Thought, but its
just hard sometimes to keep writing when nobody is reading, thanks for the
review so much, and yes, I do like the guy to be prick and cold! ^_~
And now, on
with the fic~
~~~~~~~~~
#Millia:
I woke up
the other morning feeling like death warmed over.
My head
felt like it was resting on a rock for the past hours, and my arm was practically
pulsing. I think it swelled up after being exposed last night. Or maybe its just my imagination…
Strangely,
my left leg felt just normal. Groggily, I pushed the blanket just enough to
see, it was wrapped in fresh white gauze that had just started to harden.
“Don’t move
much.” I was startled to hear his voice, I thought
he was angry at me! I rolled my head and looked at the man leaning on the
door frame with the usual cigarette in his mouth.
“Sol, I-”
“Be quiet.”
my jaws shut with a click, he’s still angry. He walked over and knocked
gently on the hard cover on my arm. “Don’t move much, either.”
I sighed
and leaned back on the uncomfortable pillow.
Its not my fault my best friend came to kill me…
Silence
stretched for a long moment before he asked, “Who?”
I never
thought it would be her… “She used to be a friend of mine.”
“She?”
“Yeah,
remember last night when I wanted to talk to you about a friend,” I glanced at
him, “And you shut me up?”
“Hm.” He narrowed his eyes.
“Yeah,
well, it was her.” Only angrier. I pulled the
blanket over to my chin.
He rolled
his eyes and took the cigarette out of his mouth. “I thought you knew how to
take care of yourself.”
“I thought
I did.” I sighed. He probably wants to know the whole story. I want to tell it,
too. “after you left, there was a knock on the door, I
knew I shouldn’t open, but then she spoke and I recognized her voice. She told
me that she ran away from the guild, and that she was looking for
The man
standing next to the bed snorted, “That qualifies her to be a friend?”
I frowned,
“Then what is a friend, Badguy?”
“There
aren’t any left.” He got up to stand at the window, “Anyway, go on.”
I took a
deep breath and decided I should finish the story before I threw the lamp on his
head. “Well, she talked for a while, about what happened to her. Then before I
knew it she was strangling me and dragging me throughout the apartment until
she found the bathroom.”
“Your hair
didn’t do anything?” he corked a brow, the headband on his head crawling up.
“No, Sol,
when you play with your friend’s dog for 25 years, there is no way it would
bite you even if you strangle it’s master.”
“Side note,
but that’ll wait.” He nodded. “Go on.”
I narrowed
my eyes. “That’s it, what is the side note?”
He smirked
evilly, “How old are you?”
… “Thirty.”
“No,
really, I’m not kidding.” He leaned over the window, my cheeks burned.
“Thirty, Sol.”
When he stood there perplexed, I decided to keep talking. “Why, how old are
you?”
He frowned,
“Twenty Eight.”
Thank God,
he’s not too young. “Cute.” You push my buttons, I push yours.
“Shaddap.” He stubbed the cigarette on the wall and
crossed the room. Was he blushing? “Get your ass out of bed already, you’re soaking up the whole bed sheet.”
I looked
down at my left leg. “You changed the cast?”
He held my
arm and pulled gently, probably hurrying me out of bed. “Yeah.”
“Have you
done that before? It seemed yesterday that you knew what you were doing.” he
didn’t meet my gaze.
“Don’t
mention it.” he guided me to the living room and sat me on the couch. “I mean
it.”
He threw a
bag in my lap before he dug into another one. “Take your shirt off or you’re
gonna catch something.”
WHAT? “What?
Here?”
He gave me
a bored look. “Just get dressed.”
“No.” I
crossed my arms, or attempted to, anyway.
“Rage.” He stood up with his hands on his hips in
displeasure, a white shirt hanging from one of his fists. “Just take the damn
shirt off.”
“I don’t
think so.” Hell if I lose this one, Sol. Push my buttons one more time and
I’ll give you a much worse headache than the one I have.
He pushed
the head band over to the top of his head and rubbed his forehead. “Why?”
My cheek
twitched, “I don’t give free shows.” Not that I give shows anyway.
He looked
at me dumbfounded before his eyes narrowed into slits, “You think too much.” He
stepped over to me and held the shirt in front of me. “Besides, even if you
decided to strip dance right in front of me I’ll just ignore you.” He smirked,
shaking the shirt for emphasis. “I’m a big boy, Rage, I
know how to behave myself.”
I looked up
at him, he did sound honest.
He did
technically kiss me last night, too.
WHAT am I
thinking!!
“Fine, I’d
better not catch you looking!” I glared and pulled my wrinkled shirt off, I bet the people who live downstairs could see me glow.
I forcefully grabbed the shirt but heard him grunt.
“Take
everything off.” He looked serious, his gaze never straying from mine.
I felt like
the tiny muscle between my brows would snap any minute. “Hell. No.”
“Don’t let
me dress you myself.” He warned.
I grumbled.
“Why don’t I just do it myself. Alone.
In the bedroom?” one minute he was frowning at me, the other he was walking off
with the shirt in my lap.
“Fine.” He was walking quietly towards the door.
“Sol! Where
are you going?”
“Make up
your mind, woman! You wanna be alone or what?” he glared, his hand on the
doorknob.
I want to
dress alone, I just don’t want to be alone. “Just…
don’t leave me alone for too long.” I said weakly, holding the new shirt over
my chest with one hand.
The steel
cold of his eyes softened. “You’re scared?”
Heat of
humiliation spread in my cheeks. “No…”
…
“Yeah.” I sighed. I was looking at the floor when his shoes
came into view.
“I wont be watching.” He stated before he went into the
kitchen. “Get dressed, I’ll fix up something to eat.”
I took a
deep breath and looked down at the small bag he had thrown at me earlier. it had a few colored pieces of cloth, I only realized they
were underwear when I pulled up a black lacy bra.
“Sol?”
“Yeah?”
At least
now I know he isn’t peeping. “You bought these?”
There was a
pause.
“What?”
“The underwear.” I kept talking as I quickly struggled with the snap
at the back. I have to do this quickly.
“The woman
at the shop did.” There was sizzling in the kitchen. “She asked for your
measures, so I just gave her random numbers…”
I blushed
hard when I realized that the new bra had a frontal clasp. Which
is almost impossible to do with one hand.
Maybe I
should just go off without it. no, the pervert would
definitely notice, and with the cold around its not going to be pretty…
I struggled
with the clasp, and just decided to put on a shirt and try to do it later.
Sol stepped
into the living room two minutes later, and found me struggling to push my arm
into the strap of a tank top.
“Why didn’t
you get me anything easy to wear?” I kept my head down. And
pulled out a jacket.
“You don’t
like the bra?” he glanced quickly at me before serving two plates of… Something on the coffee table. He put his hands on
his hips and exhaled some smoke from his cigarette.
I tried so
hard to keep the blush away. “I’m fine.”
“That hard,
huh?” he stepped into the kitchen again. “What about the uhrm…”
he mumbled the last word I couldn’t exactly make it out…
“The what?”
why is he mumbling?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
#Sol:
The underwear, dammit. I scratched my head and tossed the butt
of the cigarette into the sink, along with the other three that I never
bothered to pick up.
Damn, she
probably thinks I’m a pervert now. I poured hot water over the instant
coffee in my mug before I poured some into hers.
So we’re
two now… mine and hers… ours?
Damn…
I placed
the cup on the coffee table and dug into a bag for the skirt the sails’ lady
nagged to me about. I placed the denim skirt next to her thigh, “Wear this.”
“A skirt?”
she made a face. “I hate skirts.”
“Too bad.” The coffee scalded my throat, “Either you wear it
before, or after cutting off the pants.”
She thought
for a moment before she placed her cup down and slid her feet into the skirt,
she paused for a moment.
I sighed
silently and pulled her up in my arms, enough for her to pull the skirt up her
legs. damn, she smells of fear. Her
cheeks reddened when she struggled. “Don’t pressure your leg.”
After a
quiet moment she shifted and finally got the damn thing on.
Next time
I’m getting her one of those with a zipper.
Next time?
Che…
I put her
down and grabbed a pair of scissors from the bag. “I wont
cut your skin if you don’t move.”
“Wait.” She
placed a hand on her thigh, as if stopping me from doing anything.
“What now?”
Listen, lady, I hate to do this, too. Don’t make it harder for me than it
already is.
“Why are
you doing this?” she whispered.
Because you
can't do this alone, because the doctor in me is starting to wake, because I
want to do it, because you might catch a cold if you stay wet for longer than
you already did.
Because I want to feel your legs…
Damn…
“Because I damn well want to.” I frowned and cut a small piece of the
cuff of her pants before I caught the two tips and ripped the thing apart.
She gasped
and touched her hip. “Uhh…”
I fought a
smirk when I traced my hand up the soft cast on her leg and found the ripped
end of the other leg of her pants.
“I better
not catch you grinning.” She warned.
Hurt her,
you have to come on top. “Over an eyesore like you?”
Another ripping sound recorded in my memory before I sat next to her and calmly
sipped my coffee.
“You just
wanted to feel up my leg.” She accused quietly before she threw the wrinkled,
torn pants on the floor.
“Think what
you want.” I placed the empty mug on the table and started to dig into the
omelet out of sheer boredom.
For a long
while, she sipped her coffee and watched the blank TV screen.
Badguy,
you’re loosing it… why the hell are you bothering yourself over a woman? Che, I’ve been lonely for almost too long, its starting to
get to me.
Either that
or the feel file group was corrupted.
I glanced
at her, she had a forlorn look on her face.
She’s
really thirty? She’s too pretty to be thirty… her eyes say she’s a
hundred-something, though…
“Your
friend, how’d she look like?”
She turned
her head slowly to look at me with those tired, empty blue eyes. “Black hair,
dark lips, heavy smoker.”
“Tan, hates being ignored?” I guessed.
“Yeah.” Her eyes shone.
“Damn.”
I could’ve
given the woman some time, could’ve talked to her more and maybe took her out
somewhere to keep her from doing her mission.
Dammit…
There was
no way I could’ve known, how could I have known? She was just some woman
standing at the door hoping for a guy to pick her up… or was she?
“She likes
babies.” The Russian lady whispered. “But she isn’t allowed to get married.”
I narrowed
my eyes.
“The guild
doesn’t allow any females to get pregnant. They gave us a shot every few
months.” She shifted uncomfortably.
“I don’t
want to hear about it.” be quiet, your talk makes you
radiate uncomfortable waves.
“You keep
shutting me up!” she exploded, almost surprising me, almost. “Well I’m tired of
shutting up! I hate the silence!” she placed the plate on the table a little
too roughly, “I’d rather hear Jam’s ranting.”
“Go to her,
then.” I scoffed and lit a cigarette. “At least she’d help you with the bra.”
If you thought I haven’t noticed the sagging outline of the thing, your dead wrong.
That shut
her up.
I sighed
and leaned back on the soft sponge, “Wanna elope?”
I expected
a screech, a shout, a punch, a loud ‘WHAT?’, what
happened next surprised me.
“Why not.”
I looked at
her, and she looked at me.
“Just like that?”
She shrugged,
“I’m dead anyway, the guild wouldn’t leave me alone.”
I snorted,
“Sounds to me like your desperate.”
“I am.” She
burrowed into the couch. “I need to change my name anyway.” Millia Badguy..
I need to
change my name myself.
“I bet you don’t
mind what comes with the package either, do you.” She watched me from the
corner of her eye.
I need a
new place anyway, I’ve been living in this one for too
long.
Bounties been far away, too.
Wait a
minute…
“Package?”
She
narrowed her eyes, “Are you always this dense?”
Package…
Package? Coffee package? Cigarette package? Something that comes
with marriage?
From the start…
Thesaurus.exe
Lets see, marry, elope, banns, honeymoon, premarital se-
“Oh..”
“Yeah right.” She sneered.
“Never crossed my mind.” I got up and stretched, gathered the
plates and dumped them in the sink.
Why would I
get married to her?
She’ll only
die of old age and leave after all…
It’ll
legalize the feelings you have.
Shut up, I
don’t feel anything towards her.
Come on,
she cried on your shoulder last night.
So?
You know
how much you like crying women.
Damn you.
Okay maybe its not just that, she needs you.
she doesn’t need anybody, she can make it all on her own.
She
couldn’t even breathe on her own last night, Sol.
Stop trying
to make me feel guilty! She’s fine on her own!
“Sol?”
See, your
glee.feel.exe just activated.
Damn you.
You make me
feel weird, Rage. “What?” I stood at the doorway and scowled.
“Were you
serious?” she was looking at me, with a knife at her throat. A masked man stood
behind her, my door was completely ruined.
Such a
bothersome assassin…
I sighed
and shifted my weight. “What do you want?”
The man
snorted, “Nothing, just pretend like she never existed.”
I calmly made
my way to the door, “Who existed?”
“Sol!” the
woman twitched.
Warning,
female is bleeding.
I stole a
quick glance and noticed a thin line at her throat, damn, this guy is
serious.
In an
inhuman motion, I dived away from the door, grabbed Fuuenken from the far-left
wall and threw it towards him in one swift movement.
“Gah!” was the only sound that occurred before the man’s
mask splashed in red and he fell to the floor.
“Damn.” I
pulled my sword out of the twitching body and pulled Rage off the floor with
her arm. “Get up, we’re leaving now!” I don’t need all this.
“Sol…” she
limped behind me. I shoved her crutch –which was leaned next to Fuuenken on the
wall- into her hand and descended the stairs, dragging her behind me.
A man was
sitting on the stairs in front of the building, I
kicked him in the head and watched as he flew all the way into the middle of
the street, causing chaos all around.
“Sol, I
know this man… he’s from the Guild.”
“You’re a brag.” She had a shocked look on her face, heh, damn interesting.. I pulled
her up on my shoulder like a sack of potatoes and stood in the middle of the
street, forcing a car to stop, and pulling out it’s
driver.
I always
wanted to drive what was this year’s…
Speeding
out of town, like a devil, I opened the window and acted like nothing out of
the ordinary happened.
“Sol, I’m
bleeding.” She touched her throat.
“Suits you right.” It wasn’t that deep, the blade barely broke the skin,
it’ll close in 23 seconds. I fixed the rear-view
mirror and leaned down towards her. I almost fell into her lap when I was searching
inside the drawer. Hmm, nothing but ID cards…
What’s this…
“Rage, your
company used to faking ID’s?” I straightened up with a card in my hand.
She
twitched, “Yeah.”
I glared at
the mirror, a car was following us. “You remember any of the names you had?”
“Why?”
“You damn
remember them or not?”
She
silenced for a short moment. “MRS Gray.”
Damn. “Something with a friggin’ first name.”
“Ahh… Serei Luna.” She said in a
Russian accent.
I kept an eye
on the black car that was following us, the driver had sunglasses on. I pushed
the pad harder and took a sharp turn. “What the hell does that mean?”
“Slow
down!”
“You wanna
get killed or not? Shut the hell up.” The rest of the drive out of town was a
blur, I don’t know how many red lights I’ve ignored, or how many cars I almost
hit, we were out of there, and the black car wasn’t following us.
It was all
that mattered, right?
We passed
familiar signs and I took familiar turns, and stopped suddenly in front of a
familiar, small, one-story building. “Wait here, I’ll be right back.” I said to
her and took one of the ID cards with me.
I knocked
on the door impatiently. “Open up Low.”
There were
voices inside before the blond English man opened the door, in nothing but his
boxers. “What's up, chief?”
I frowned,
“I need you to fake this.” I flashed the ID card. “The picture wouldn’t
matter.”
He scratched his head, “Uh, sure, are you sure you don’t want the picture?”
“I’m in a hurry, get your English ass working already.” I leaned on the doorframe and glanced back at the woman fidgeting in her seat. “The name is Seri Luna.”
Blue eyes shone at me with a dopy smile. “I need more, chief.”
“Russian, 5’
something, blond, blue eyes, use the shit written on
the ID, dammit!”
“Yessir.” He left the door open and hauled ass
inside. I lit up a smoke and walked over to the car. I just noticed it was a
light blue dodge-viper with two white stripes.
Aw man, I’m
in deep crap…
There is no
way you’d miss such a thing, its actually very rare, especially this century,
if you know what I mean…
Boy-scout
would be crawling up my ass in no time…
You ztole eet! Vat do you say for
yourself?
I needed to
save the woman?
Nah, too
sappy…
Sol! How
would you justivy yourself?
Screw off…
Nah, that’d
just put me straight in Undersn’s custody, I’d be
pampered to death…
You ztole an expenzive carr! I can't let you go just like
zat…
Damn, no
scenario is good enough…
I leaned
over the window and puffed smoke in the woman’s face. “You
alive in there?”
She
twitched, “Where are we going?”
It depends, “You still
wanna get married?”
She
frowned, “Can't I change my name some other way?”
Sure you
can, but it’ll be too tiresome, and we’d need your real ID card, which would be
too bothersome to do, so getting married with fake ID’s would be much easier. “Why don’t
we do it in less complications?”
She
shifted, “Why are you answering my questions with other questions?”
“Why are
you doing that yourself?”
There was a
pause, a small smile tugged at her lips but she turned her face away before I
actually got to photograph it in my memory.
Damn…
“Hey, Chief!” Axl called from his door, wearing a blue bathrobe and
waving his hand.
I snatched
the card from him and smirked, “You know a good car around?”
End of
chapter nine.