Let's Fly as the Birds Do...
chapter 4
by Hikari
“Let’s Fly as the Birds Do…” Chapter Four
4/14/01
By: Hikari
E-mail: elvina99@hotmail.com
Site:
www.geocitites.com/hikari_nanase/
Notes: I’m going to be offensive in this fic. I will accept no flames because
I have a purpose for everything I try to do.
Music theme to chapter: “Three Libras” by: A Perfect Circle.
~*~*~*~
“I don’t… understand what I’m
doing… I can’t help touching you…”
“…You’re kissing me…”
“Why… are you letting me do
that?”
“Because… I feel the same
way…”
~*~*~*~
‘I’m not much for pictures…’
he once said. Certainly, he had stated this only out of polite modesty- his
number one habit and rule. He looked stunning in pictures, and he knew it. The
way his hair would swirl and drape over his shoulders- the lighting adding a
surreal gloss to every curl and strand. His eyes seemed to light up before even
the flash. Unfathomable green eyes momentarily mixed, and later absorbed by gold
and amber. In the next second, the change would be gone, and the irises had
reverted back to thick evergreen forests once more. Humorous, really. Seeing the
photographers strain their focus lens, wondering why they had seen a
transformation in his eye color. It brought a slight mischievous grin to lip.
Then again, he preferred taking the photos rather than being in them. It was a
lot more pleasurable to be the one in control of the shutter. ‘Almost like
playing God’, he mused, ‘only in a more unassuming form…’
With that in mind, fifth period always seemed to go by fast. Kurama often
watched the clock pull its so-called extremities around its face, until it
finally stopped and ring the cursed bell. This was the only class he sincerely
enjoyed- besides biology, at least. It gave him a good excuse to go out and
enjoy nature… what ever left there of in Tokyo. At any rate, he sat there
again, at his table and fingering his camera.
Shutter open? Check. Clean lens? Check. Film? Film… The redhead left his seat
and opened one of the drawers from behind the classroom. His hands rummaged
around until he finally came to an occupied film tube. Smiling, Kurama opened
the slip from behind his camera, inserted the roll, and shut the slip again with
a hard ‘click’.
From across the room, Haruhiko watched him busy himself with all the simple
‘knicks and knacks’. Brushing back his hair, which was impossible since his
hair was perpetually shaved, Haru thought him to be stupid. Photography 1A.
It’s supposed to be a whiz coarse, not something for personal enjoyment.
‘Stupid.’ The word rang again in his mind. The only people who ever truly
enjoyed photography- as far as he was concerned- were girls, the Paparazzi,
entrepreneurs, and gays. Since Shuiichi was none of the first three, he
immediately assumed the last to be his category. For one thing, the hair. It was
long. Not masculine long, but effeminate. Secondly, Shuiichi appreciated the
arts, on a far more profound level than other guys. Last of all, he was good at
everything. Plausibly, Haru’s state of mentality was simply inclined to
following jealousy’s stroke to his unending ego… or maybe he just hated him.
Again, their class went out. The air outside was fresh, but pleasantly warm. The
sun was already passing over the roof of the school, creating a sheet of white
light that darted out from the edges of the edifice. Kurama stepped back, knelt
on one knee, and took the picture. He thought it would be nice- the sun coming
close to its descend from behind the building made a good contrast between light
and dark. When the film would be developed, he at once decided to keep the
entire picture in black and white, except for the sun. That would get his
emphasis across…
Walking around, he headed for the arboretum, taking the trail made of tender
wood chucks- scented of American cedar and moss. Spying a tall maple tree,
Kurama stood from under it, positioning his camera up for the perfect angle…
It WAS perfect. From where he was, the tree seemed to stretch up toward the
heavens, soft luminosity pouring through the breakage in thin foliage.
“Beautiful…” He murmured, snapping his shutter, when he felt something
soft and moist push against his lips.
Lowering the camera, with its strap swung loosely around his neck, he blinked at
meeting Hiei- eye to eye, albeit upside-down. For a time, he was too surprised
to say anything, until finally the smaller flipped from the tree he was hanging
from with his legs.
Landing on the ground, several wood chips went flying from beneath his pressing
feet. Hiei turned, face unsurprisingly solemn. That didn’t last long, a
charming, but small smile pulled across his features.
Another flash.
“That one… is for me.”
He closed his eyes. “Hn. Sentimental.”
“Oh?” Kurama asked on a rising note. “And who was it that was waiting for
me in that tree?”
The youkai stared at the thin plant Kurama was standing under. “What tree?”
A frown was the response. A half-frown, the other half was a suppressed laugh.
“THIS one.” Kurama batted the pale bark.
“That’s a twig, Kurama.”
His friend raised his finger, mouth gaping to say something, but he stopped.
Better to make a sweet comeback than a sorry scold. “Well, if you were hanging
from it, Hiei, you must weigh less than a twig then…”
Ouch.
Unfortunately, with the smaller’s pride, the rare smile faded. “You
win…” He said evenly. “That means I have to kiss you again. My
reprimand…”
Striding to Kurama with ease, he looked up to him to touch his lips. The camera
at the redhead’s hands slipped, the weight of it pulling him deeper into the
kiss. In that second, both of their eyes widened in shock. After a while,
though, Kurama let go of his laugh- tickling Hiei in the nose with his breath.
A whistle sounded, causing them to straighten and look in the same direction.
“I’ve got to go… My class is heading back inside…”
Nodding, the youkai released his hold from around his friend’s waist and
beneath the great mass of scarlet hair. Kurama walked off, for a short distance
of four and a half meters, then turned back.
“It’s Friday today!” He yelled. “Do you want to do something
tomorrow?”
Subsequently, Hiei turned on his heel. “Saa na…”
The redhead brightened, interpreting the reply as a ‘yes’, rather than what
it really meant. Not that it mattered, one way or another he could always get
the fire youkai to do something out of the question or league. That was some
power, it was tempting to just test Hiei’s loyalty- but it wasn’t worth
risking the opulent friendship they already had.
Traveling up the trail again, the surface began to rise a little once reaching
the base of the hill leading out of the arboretum. Kurama checked the counter on
his camera. Thirteen. He still had fourteen shots to spare; maybe he could ask
Hiei to do some glamour shots. Now wouldn’t that be great? Having the
disgruntled little guy walk down a platform, its floor covered with lights. He
would turn his waist toward the crowd- that being Kurama- flash a sexy pose,
possibly leaving his thin white shirt open, and look drastically away to some
far off distance. His red eyes would be vacant, but deep. Two fans were to be
situated at his side- blowing air that made the material of his attire go flying
with the wind… Calvin Klein, eat your heart out…
The more Kurama thought about it, the more fun it sounded. What clothes would he
have him wear? First, a nice tank top- to show off Hiei’s perfect skin, not to
mention his muscles. It would be ash gray, made of soft cotton and would come
down to Hiei’s lower abdomen. For pants, black beach shorts. Then, to
accentuate some sexual flavor, a thin silver chain with a plain ring on it-
hanging off of his friend’s slender neck. Shoes? Why not barefoot? The scenery
could be at the beach during sunset.
What about the next style? A turtleneck. Yes, a turtleneck- mahogany in color,
with a navy blue wool scarf flapping over his shoulder. The lower part of his
body should be covered in matching blue slacks- shoes being quarter boots, black
and shiny. That was classy…
Finally, just for fun, the third set would be completely composed of gothic/punker
wear. A torn up shirt… No. No. A black FISHNET shirt, with silver chains and
thin bondage straps hanging from the long sleeves. The pants will also be black,
regular bondage straps crossing all around his legs. Black nail polish, that
can’t be forgotten… Black lipstick- with eyeliner… Tall boots coming up to
the knee- plenty of silver buckles on them… Facial henna? No, Hiei already had
the dragon on his arm. An ear pierce! Of course! A silver hoop ring! On the
earlobe? Or on the top?
Not paying attention to his
surroundings any more, Kurama practically walked blindly into another person. He
blinked a few times, coming out of his playful daze, when he recognized the
student he stumbled into…
“Watch it, Shuiichi…”
“Gomen nasai! I didn’t see you,
Haru.”
“Chikuso...” He wiped the lens of
his camera, making sure nothing was ruined. “How could you not see me? I was
coming up the other path! No one is down here except for the two of us!”
The redhead smiled quite guiltily. It
was an accident, but it wasn’t such a big deal. A simple run-in, that was all.
Still, Haruhiko’s hostility to him was always one of question. His silver eyes
would glare, almost like steel. His frown, he did it so much that there appeared
to be permanent creases on his forehead. From the way Haru looked, he could
easily be mistaken for a graduate of military school. If Kurama hadn’t had the
upper hand in combat ability, he probably would have been a little intimidated
by the guy.
“I’m sorry.” He repeated.
“Whatever, common’ let’s get back in.”
“Mm… Right.”
Going further into the campus, Haru made sure to keep at least five paces away
from Kurama and ten paces AHEAD of him. In a minute, he could hear a few of the
female students run-up towards the redhead- they giggling and babbling like a
bunch of sightless fools. He glanced back. Well, they WERE fairly pretty. It
annoyed him, however, that all the girls on the planet would pause just to smile
at Shuiichi; while for him, on the other hand, they were afraid of him. ‘Never
mind the girls.’ He thought. ‘Making money is the higher priority as
compared to love...’
*****
The students filed into the classroom, whispering a little over their findings
outside. One of the students caught a dragonfly whizzing by, just at the right
moment. Its wings were captured by the light, giving them a multihued
appearance. Another found a hare darting across the football field. It was the
typical brown kind, but its eyes were big and sad. The remainder of the class
was still in the dark room, having their pictures developed.
Haru fumbled to pull the chain of the light switch. After he got it on, the
little room was lit with an eerie tone of crimson red. Taking the film, he
placed it into the developing pan- dipping and lifting as needed. When he was
done, he pinned the photos onto a string for them to dry out. As they did, he
examined each of them carefully- to make sure none of his shots were exposed.
His photos were irrefutably dull. No emotions of any sort were focused into his
work. What he cared about was getting an easy A, and going on with his life. The
first ten developments were all of trees, but at very monotonous positionings
and angles. The next eight were nothing, but birds perched on a cable line.
Actually, he kind of liked it- the way the crows stalked down from their roosts.
Nonetheless, one could only make out the birds by the shape of their shadow. The
rest of the photo was blank, not even the sky had that extra vibrance of a
swirling cloud or a falling leaf. It probably would look better if he reversed
the colors… Hm…
Pulling at the photos with his tweezers, Haru was pleased to find that most of
them had already dried. Taking them down, he pressed another light switch to
change the lighting from red to white. He sat on a stool situated there, and
began shuffling through the collection. Nothing grasped his own interest, save
for the picture of the birds, until he reached the twentieth or so shot. It was
from behind the school, where the plants and rocks were more varied… He
noticed there was a distinct patch of red coming through a maple tree. No doubt
it probably was Shuiichi’s head full of hair…
“Damn it…” Haru groaned. “Even in my own work you piss me off…”
He squinted a bit. “Wait a minute…” He looked closer and found that the
redhead seemed to be leaning over and… kissing a tree?! Now that was funny.
REALLY funny. The student couldn’t help, but choke down some horribly
restrained laughter. A snort inevitably tumbled out of his breath. Imagine
that… Shuiichi, an arboreal sexualite. Oh, he could only wish. The exploits!
The very idea made him shiver with excitement.
There was a magnifying glass on the counter top, and he hastily reached for it.
His hands were shaking, becoming sweaty even. Haru licked his lips from corner
to corner. Shuiichi was obviously kissing something, but it wasn’t a plant.
For a moment, he leaned back. There was the possibility that he could have been
secretly making out with another girl. But how? There wasn’t anyone following
‘Mr. Perfect’ from behind when they were called back… A girl from another
school then?
Standing, he stormed out of the dark room, nearly slamming the door behind him
when he incidentally bumped into someone.
“Sorry, I was about to knock, but…”
Haru didn’t hear him, in fact he didn’t even swear. He emphatically left the
classroom, and headed straight for the library. Showing the librarian his I.D.
card, he logged into a computer and prepared the scanner.
Open Kodak program. Click on scan. His mouse moved about the screen, flying
around from button to button with speed and much fortitude. The sound of the
apparatus functioning ensued, bright rays from the scanner sliding smoothly from
bottom to top. Slowly, the photo appeared on the computer, fraction by fraction.
Again, he moved his mouse, positioning the arrow on ‘resize image.’ He
clicked. Multiply two- hundred percent of current image. Haruhiko scowled
impatiently. It still wasn’t clear. Fine then, multiply image three hundred
percent. A smirk. Still not completely clear, but getting closer. Opening the
‘resize image’ box once more, he typed in the next measure: five hundred
percent.
“Shit… There’re some branches in the way… I’ll have to transfer this
onto another program…”
Clicking on a different icon, he saved the image under a Jpeg file and opened
Photoshop Pro. Using the magic wand tool, he separated the overhanging branches
from the shorter figure to the left. When this was done, Haru specified
corrections onto the file to make-out who was it Shuiichi was with- magnifying,
pasting, and cutting all along the way. Scrolling to full-screen display, he
clicked on the menu and saw what he so worked hard for…
“It’s… a guy…”
A guy. He was short, but had a good build. His hair was black, dark black- the
shine of it giving a highlight of blue. Both of them, the shorter and taller,
were lip-locked- their eyes gently shut, with their arms somewhat roaming and
embracing.
“I need to save this…” Haru minimized the window and looked around.
“Naru! I need you for a moment!”
The library aid, far on the other end of the room, set the books at hand in a
cart and walked to the table he was at. Haruhiko tried not to look at the number
two pencils stuck in her hair. She would have been cute if it weren’t for
that… and, well, her overalls and high-tops. The black glasses were a perfect
touch- if she were sixty years older and had gray or white hair- anyone would
call her Obaasan.
“Please don’t yell in the library.”
Typical.
“Sorry.” He mocked whispered. “Do you have a blank disc I can use?”
“Sure…” Her thin hands fingered around the front pocket of her outfit.
“Here.”
“Wow… Just like a carpenter… Only…”
“Only not.” She said a little stiffly, but then grinned. “Anything else
you need?”
Haru looked to the computer. The glow of it washed over his features, almost
giving this sick look off brainwash over his eyes. “Yes… I want to use the
net…”
“Really?” Naru spoke suspiciously. “What for?”
“A report… on… uh…” He searched for something to inspire him.
Anything. Anything at all. Normally, he was good at making lies, but the
all-knowingness this senior student next to him had given him a feeling of
stupidity. Without thinking, he accidentally knocked the pictures off of the
table. The photos rained down to the carpeting, flapping audibly in the quiet
building.
Naru bent down to pick them up. Kindly, she arranged them into a neat pile, and
handed it to him. Looking at the top picture, Haruhiko got it.
“A report on birds…”
Fine and smooth strands of beige hair slipped from her clip and fell over her
hazel eyes. One of her thin eyebrows went up, lower lip pointing downward a bit
in disbelief.
“All right then…” She shrugged. “Just sign on the clipboard on your way
out, that tells us you used the modem…”
“Thanks…”
“Uh-huh.” Naru strolled away, grinning goofily to herself.
The student paid no heed to this, and quickly opened his e-mail account the
moment the net was connected.
Subject: Shuiichi’s Love
To: …
He typed in all the possible e-mail addresses he could think of. If he could
leak even at least one chain letter into the cyber world, that little drop of
ink will touch ends with everyone… From here, to the ends of the earth. It was
a perfect example of diffusion. Word spreads fast, especially via electricity.
The second the letter makes it into an in-box, the person who receives it would
surely forward it to everyone else he or she knows. Given that Kurama was such a
popular student, the scandal would be enormous!
Attaching the image onto the letter, the last thing to do was to write
‘from’. From who? Anonymous? Boring… How about…
From: Bird Watcher
Perfect. Haruhiko tilted back on his chair, until only two of its legs rested on
the floor. He pulled his arms behind his head and watched as the letter was
sent.
A gray box appeared, the blue bars loaded from end to end, until finally a
separate box popped in, reading:
Mail sent. Job completed.
With that, Haru shut down the computer, and went on his way.