Let's Fly as the Birds Do...
chapter 15 - touch
by Hikari
“Let’s Fly as the Birds Do…” Touch
7/24/01
By: Hikari
E-mail to: elvina99@hotmail.com
Site:
www.oocities.org/hikari_nanase/
Notes: ‘Touch’ replaces chapter 15
Music theme to chapter: “Touch My Hand” By: Dido.
~*~*~*~
“…We make the memories…”
~*~*~*~
She didn’t love me… Not in the
way I loved her, at least… Arisu… For once there’s this ache from within
me that I cannot comprehend… I had been infatuated with her for over a
month… Infatuated by her beauty, her smile, her wit, kindness, and
intelligence, but no- she liked my friend, Shidou, not me…
I wasn’t crying, but I was aware
that I was truly hurting from the inside- out. Grabbing onto my pillow tightly
as I lay on my side in bed, my eyes gaze blankly through the window. How dark it
was outside… I could barely see the silhouette of my giant tree…
Ridiculous. So she didn’t have the
same affection for me, as I had her. It’s not horrible- I’ve had worse… If
that’s the case, then… why did my head feel like bursting? Stupid! It’s
just adolescent hormones! Nothing more than that! Yet… I still like her up to
now… Why?
I tossed away from the windowpane, my
vision then focusing on a blank wall. I didn’t expect to fall in ‘love’
with her- or to put it insensitively, take an interest in her personality…
Though, the way she said she ‘couldn’t possibly love me’, among her
friends was excruciating to my ears… What she said wasn’t harsh… But I
didn’t like the sound of it… She thought of me to be like her ‘big
brother’ and never anything more than that… It was also then, that she told
her friends that Okono, Shidou was her crush…
In the end, I gave Arisu up. I had
to. My friend loved her as much as I did- I couldn’t deprive him of his chance
out of bitterness… That would have been deceitful…
Suddenly, I heard the window slide
open. I didn’t bother greeting my visitor.
I had been half-expecting Hiei to
remark my rudeness derisively, but he didn’t. Instead, I sensed his weight
press on the mattress from behind me- directly behind my head, in fact… I also
felt his eyes, roaming about the back of my form- stare indubitably intense.
He didn’t say anything… Nor did
I…
Without warning, something very cold- very icy- touches my face… It felt
good… like cool water against my hot cheek… skin…
It was his hand…
“You feel sorry for me…?” I asked quietly.
“…No…” My friend replies evenly.
“Then why are you touching me like this? It’s not like you to-”
“Kurama…”
Hiei spoke my name in a manner so compassionate, that I was taken far aback. He
doesn’t do this often, but whenever he does, I realize it is only when I am in
need of counseling… or maybe a willing ear. I close my eyelids and let his
thumb stroke from under my eyes to the bottom of my chin. If this isn’t
pity… how should I define his motives?
“…I know… what happened…” He said finally, in that deep tone that can
only be his. “It’s not worth slaughtering yourself over…”
To say the least, what he told me caused astonishment to douse my very
perceptions. Since when did he take the extra time he had to research my private
relations? Let alone, be deeply a part of them…
“Yes… But… I wish she could have been mine- even for just a little
while…”
Some subtle chuckling escapes Hiei’s lips, and a dire grimace was set upon my
expression out of impulse.
“To think you are the charmer of charmers…” The little demon mused. “I
presume it makes sense for you to desire the impossible…”
That was almost like a slap on the face.
“You’re right…” I muttered. “You have no sympathy.”
“Hn. That’s because you don’t need it- am I right?”
“Well…”
“Of course,” he proceeded. “That doesn’t mean you don’t WANT it-
correct?”
Sighing, I adjust my head to see the almost infallible demon. What was I lying
on…? It wasn’t a pillow… it was… his lap. How on earth did this happen?
Forgetting about that fortuitous subject, Hiei’s small face hangs over mine- a
genuine smirk decorated on his fair complexion. His palm shifts to the side of
my face, while his other hand moves to caress my opposite side. Come to think of
it… I don’t think even his palms were stroking my skin… It was only his
fingers. Curious… it almost tickles.
“…She’s lovely… and she can make equally delightful music…” I
somehow decided to go on with my gushing- it never struck me then, that Hiei
never complained about it; he merely allowed me to ramble on selfishly. “Arisu
and her violin… I invited her over, one day, for a study session… I noticed
she had her violin case with her, and, out of the blue, we began making music
together. She played the strings with her slender bow, and I took advantage of
my mom’s piano… I’m sure we made breathtaking music that day… of course,
since we were the composers, neither of us were ever really able to appreciate
it… Heh’… what’s a song without a listener…?”
“I take it you mean to say that there was no mutual complimenting…”
“I suppose.” I admit, perhaps everything I had for Arisu was nothing more
than pubescent fixation. Looking it over, I realize that I hardly knew the girl
at all. She had a foster family; a younger brother who passed away from cancer,
and that was basically all I could gather. One month, and this was all I knew. I
was about to laugh at myself for grieving over my ‘loss’- when Hiei cut in.
“It’s absurd for you to waste your time fraternizing…”
Now THAT was bitter.
“You think so?” I inquired him on a rising note- to some extent teasing
Hiei’s philosophy.
“I know so.”
“Then what are you doing NOW?”
As swift as lighting, his fingers broke off from their fondling… I didn’t
know why, but I was saddened when that had occurred. Nevertheless, I force a sly
grin to my lips. Oh, how I enjoyed being right… Conversely, I would- without
hesitation- trade in all my pride to feel him touch me like that for a second
time…
“Hn.”
“No answer?”
“Not one I’d like to give… I must go now.”
I wondered what he meant by that… He then stands; the result of his action
being the backside of my cranium hitting the mattress with a visible bounce.
Clumsily, which is out of the ordinary for myself, I flip to lie on my stomach.
“ Matte… Where are you going?”
Did I sound desperate? Lonely? My friend actually turned around to see me when I
asked…
“Not far. I might just be outside… walking on the rooftops.”
“May I come with you?”
“No. You will sleep.”
He reaches for beneath the lampshade
and switches the light off. The glow of my bedroom soon fades- colors of
midnight blue and black blanketing the walls and every furnishing from within.
Hiei’s eyes shimmer as a cat’s would- only his eyes are stained with red
rather than green or yellow. He’s responsive to the detail that my head was
still sustained upwards. Therefore, he stretches one arm out, and forces my head
down to make contact with my feathery pillows.
“You’re exceedingly
stubborn…” He said. “I suppose this means you’ve been spending too much
time around me…”
“Or vice versa.” I fought back in an amused whisper.
“Hn. I shall return shortly.”
I smiled.“…I know…”
<< Chapter
14
Chapter 16 >>