It was Halloween night. had to take her little brother trick-or-treating. She hadn't volunteered initially to take her brother out, but she decided she'd rather watch over him than give candy to hundreds of little kids. At least with her brother, the Halloween phrase of "trick or treat" was a little faded. She wouldn't have minded it so much if it didn't have the word 'trick' in it. It reminded her too much of…
"-san!"
She flinched. Soon after, she heard a snicker.
"I see I still have an effect on you." Forcing herself to turn around, she was greeted by a scary face. She inhaled sharply and jumped. The familiar snicker sounded again. She frowned. Beside the monster was a smaller, identical monster, his younger brother.
"Expecting to see my handsome face instead?"
"I think the mask is an improvement, Niou."
"Ouch. Your words still hurt."
"They wouldn't if you hadn't hurt me first."
"You were the one who broke it off."
"And to this day you still act like you don't know why."
"Because I don't."
"Can we stop? I don't like where this conversation is headed."
"Fine."
The silence wasn't what she would have liked it to be. She thought she would have liked it if he stopped talking, but it seemed the fact that he was lingering there had erased any kind of relief she could have felt.
"-chan?" Knowing that the voice was much too underdeveloped to be the older brother, lowered her gaze to the little monster beside him.
"Hm?" she replied.
"Can you come trick-or-treating with us?"
'Oh great,' thought to herself, knowing very well that she couldn't deny him. The younger Niou was extremely adorable, and just could never bring herself to say no to him. That, and the fact that both their brothers were best friends. With a face showing evidence that she simply could not deny him, she nodded her head.
"Sure," said, hating the fact that Niou's face was hidden underneath a hideous mask. "We'll go trick-or-treating with you."
"Sugoi!" both ototous exclaimed, giving each other a high five and walking ahead of their elder siblings, their conversation fading as they walked further away.
"I see my younger brother has more charm than I do," Niou said.
"He does," replied, putting on her façade.
"You keep burning me, , and I don't know what I did to deserve it." didn't respond. Instead, she focused on trying to open an individually wrapped candy. She didn't notice the disappointed look on Niou's face.
The rest of the way around the city was similar. Niou would start up conversation, and would shoot him down every time with a witty comment. But it seemed that everytime she did, Niou would only get more aggressive. The night was getting late, and Niou's little brother was getting tired.
"Niou-onii, let's go home now, I want to eat my candy to reenergize," said the younger one.
"Sure," Niou replied, patting his little brother through the mask.
"Will you come, -chan?" the little boy asked innocently. Hearing her brother snickering from behind him, he knew they were both up to something, but once again, she couldn't bring herself to say no to them, now that they had teamed up.
"Sure we will," replied, smiling down at him.
"Yay!" he said, throwing his arms up in the air. With that, the little brothers took off running.
"So much for no-more-energy…" said, sweatdropping as she watched them run into the Niou household.
"Shall we?" Niou said, holding his hand out, a notion for to go in first. She said nothing as she walked up the walkway into the house. A familiar scent reached her nose as she stepped inside. The many times she had visited because he was sick, or when she had only stopped by to say hello, all rushed through her head. She couldn't stop the faint smile from forming on her lips.
"Miss, you're blocking the door way," Niou said, standing behind her, peering at her shorter figure from above. Completely taken by surprise, she quickly moved out of the way, hoping she had given herself enough time for her blush to fade. Snickering, Niou removed the mask. could have sworn the next few seconds were suited for the movies.
As Niou removed his mask, his braid fell neatly onto the nape of his neck. His usually tousled hair looked more so than usual, and the sweat glistened as it either dropped to the floor, or remained on his face. His green eyes opened to catch in her daze. He smirked and was brought back to reality. Expecting a snarky remark, prepared a battle of wits, but instead of that, Niou offered her a drink.
"You must be thirsty, right?" Niou told her, throwing the mask onto the nearby couch. "I'll go get something for us to drink. Niou went into the kitchen as their little brothers followed so they could examine their candy.
That made Niou: One. : Zero.
sighed deeply as she allowed herself to fall onto the couch. She was losing it. Maybe Niou did have an effect on her? She laughed at herself. Of course he didn't. She wouldn't allow him to. So then what was she doing, of all places, in his house? With his parents no where in sight? let out another huge sigh, covering her face with a pillow, only to have it lifted again a few seconds later.
"Lemonade? Five cubes of ice?"
"What?" snapped. She didn't mean for it to come out so rude. The anger was more directed at herself than at Niou. "I mean…yeah. Yeah." sat upright, taking the cool glass from Niou's hands. "Thanks." sipped her drink, letting the cool liquid run down her throat, the coldness of the drink cooling her flustered face. Taking one more sigh, she placed the half empty glass onto the centerpiece nearby.
"So what have you been up to lately, ?" Niou asked, placing his empty cup next to hers, lounging in the couch. How could he act so casual with her, when she broke his heart only a few days earlier? It angered her, but for what reason, she did not know.
"Nothing much," replied nonchalantly, staring at her hands, clasped on her thighs. "Just…practicing tennis." And trying to forget about you… Niou could tell she wanted to say more.
", if there's something you have to say…" Niou began.
"No, leave it alone," interrupted, not even glancing up. Niou's not acting like himself at all…could it be…that I really did break his heart? now looked up, only to find that Niou was no longer sitting next to her. It was all too familiar.
"I can't believe he stood you up."
"I'm sure there's a good reason."
"Or he's been playing you all along. Get it through your head, ! Niou's not known as a player for no reason!"
"But…he's really my type of person. And I…"
"Don't tell me you love him."
"I won't. But that doesn't mean it's not true."
"Ai, ! You're being so naïve! Fine. You stay and wait for him; alone. I'm going to actually enjoy myself."
"Fine! You go do that!"
She should have listened. The next day, Niou apologized like no tomorrow, but he didn't provide her with a single valid argument. Was he out with someone else? Or was he just grounded for pulling another stupid prank? Her imagination ran wild, but she was sure of one thing. She wasn't about to be stood up again. Not by Niou. Not by anyone.
And here she was, sitting all alone, trying to forget that she ever had a past with Niou Masaharu.
She wasn't lying when she said she loved him. But she was lying now, pretending like she harbored no feelings for the Trickster of Rikkai.
"Niou…" whispered. For that split second, her entire façade had completely faded, and she was vulnerable.
"You called?" Niou asked, staring down at her from behind the couch. And just like that, the moment was gone. whirled around, and stood up, angered at herself for being vulnerable like that, but it looked like she was angry with Niou.
"I'm going to go home," told him bluntly. She picked up her flashlight and headed for the door.
"Whoa," Niou said, stepping in front of her before she could reach for the doorknob. "Without your brother?" opened her mouth to call for him, but she was stopped by the familiar feeling of Niou's lips on hers. Although wanting to pull away, she found she could not. Niou finally broke the kiss, and left standing there, breathless.
"Niou…" whispered, and then snapped back to reality. "Niou! You jerk!" She shoved Niou away, who laughed. "What are you laughing at!"
"I was just reminded of all the times we spent together. You'd always push me away when I kissed you like that in public," Niou replied, a coy smirk plastered on his cunning face. Despite herself, smiled. "So you remember too." She couldn't bring herself to stop smiling. Those were great memories. "So what's the rush in going home?" Slowly, but surely, Niou was reeling her back in. And slowly, but surely, she began to stop caring. Niou took a stop closer, his body against hers, hand at the nape of her neck, and as he spoke, his breath tickled her ear.
"So, why don't you stay the night?"
"Niou!" She shoved him away, but it was too late. Her voices showed how much that had affected her. "I'm really going home now!" Once again, she tried to call out to her brother, but Niou placed his hand on her mouth ever so gently. His green eyes stared into her own eyes, and she became lost.
"Don't be like that," Niou whispered. "It's way too cold outside, and you don't know who's crazy, because it's Halloween." He lowered his hand, and could only stare at him. He smirked again. "Just…let me rock you until the morning…"
could not think of anything to say anymore.
And that made Niou: Two. : Zero. And she liked it that way. For now.
"Niou Masaharu…you really are a handful…" sighed, making her way back to the couch.
"So you'll stay?" Niou asked, following her.
"For now," replied, smiling to herself. "But only if you'll tell me one thing. Why did you stand me up the night we were supposed to go to the carnival?"
"What? The harvest one? I don't remember you ever telling me that we were actually going to go," Niou replied, sitting next to on the couch.
"What? But I told Bunta…" stopped her sentence. That must have been it. Bunta must have forgotten to tell him.
"You told him what?" Niou asked.
"No," said, shaking her head, laughing. "Never mind. I'm sorry, Niou."
"Sorry?" Niou asked, getting more confused each second.
"Yes, but don't mind," responded. I didn't mean to break your heart. I'll fix it. I promise. "I'll stay the night."
"What?" Niou asked, surprised. It was the last thing he thought he'd hear. Not that he wasn't happy about it.
"But you have to make sure I don't regret it," smiled cunningly, and loomed over Niou, placing a long overdue kiss on his awaiting lips.
Niou: Two. : One.
She was going to make sure the score would be even.
fin
soh
31.October.2005