Fuuko wasn't feeling too great. "Why in the
world did I actually agree to come here?" she mumbled to herself. All
around her, happy people were laughing, joking, and altogether being very
annoying. Perhaps I should get Mi-chan to dance with me. She thought. Nah,
who am I kidding? He'll probably turn me down. Sighing, she decided to walk
out to the balcony for some fresh air.
"Oops, I'm sorry, I didn't know there was
someone here already." Fuuko said, startled at the sight of a shadowy
figure at the railing. He turned his head to shoot her a glance, but turned back
to the view of the garden. "I don't mind," he said blandly.
Fuuko advanced and placed her hands on the
railing. "Excuse me," she apologised. "But I thought I would be
the only one not dancing with anybody."
He shrugged. "Yeah. I thought so too. I
don't like functions."
"Then why ARE you here?"
"I have a few friends who are gifted in the
power of persuasion. And you?"
"Well, I didn't think that nobody would
dance with me..."
The man laughed shortly. "You sure have a
high opinion of yourself."
Fuuko felt mildly insulted. "Of course I do.
Who doesn't?"
The man didn't answer.
A soft breeze blew, bringing with it the scent of
the blooming roses beneath them.
Kurei didn't like functions, full stop. He would have gone home, if not for the
view of the garden and the roses. It brought back memories of Kurenai, the way
the mask did. "Fleetingness of life..." he mumbled under his breath
again. He was feeling morose and was ready to spend the entire night just
staring at the roses, but someone intruded upon his solitude.
"I'm sorry." Fuuko said immediately, contrite. Heck, someone she could
talk to and she was going to freak him out by being rude to him.
He shook his head. "I'm fine."
"Excuse me for asking, but if you're so
bored just being here, why don't you just go on home?"
He shrugged. "I promised to leave with my
friends, and well... I like the roses."
He turned his attention back to the view, and they spent a few minutes in
silence, with the background noise washing over them.
Fuuko couldn't take it after a while. "Don't you like the stars
today?" She said suddenly, jarring her companion out of his perusal of the
garden.
He glanced up. "Hn." he muttered, not willing to say anything more.
"I like stars. I like the way they glitter and twinkle, and the fact that
every few seconds, there's a new star being born and a star disappearing. Rather
like us, don't you think? Fleetingness of life."
He started. "What was that?"
"Fleetingness of life. I'm sorry. Did I say something wrong?"
"No... it's just that someone said that about my ex-girlfriend not too long
back."
"Oh." Silence reigned for a while. "I'm sorry. May I ask what
happened to her?"
"She was killed." His fingers clenched the railing, obviously not
wanting to say anything more, yet almost happy that it was finally out of his
mouth.
I can't believe I just said that. Kurei shook himself mentally. I
actually told someone about Kurenai! He watched the girl out of the corner
of his eye. Ah heck. What were the chances of him actually meeting her again
anyhow? He gave up, and decided that if he was going to be here, he might as
well make the most of it. He turned his back to the garden. "Well
now," he said as emotionlessly as he could, "Would you like to dance
with me?"
She smiled and acceded to the request. "Gladly." She stretched out her
hand, and he took it gently. Together, they reentered the party hall.
The hall was a symphony of colours. The chandeliers cast a shade of gold over
the scene as ladies swirled by, dressed in every shade and hue of the spectrum.
The men were dressed in dapper suits, with the occasional misfit here and there.
Fuuko winced with distaste at Domon's emerald green shirt matched with the red
coat. Looks like Alanna couldn't do much...
They waited politely for a break in the music where they could join the crowd on
the dance floor. And pretty soon, it came.
"Alrighty, this is a request from a certain Joker to a certain Rinoa, hey,
don't you guys know you aren't supposed to reveal yourself yet? Anyway, this is
'Eyes on Me'! Oh yeah!" The irritating DJ said into the microphone. In the
live band, two friends eyed each other and mouthed curses. "Tell me again,
why did I agree to this?" Spleena hissed. "We needed the money,
REMEMBER?" Alanna hissed back. Reluctantly, Spleena turned her attention to
the keyboard and Alanna picked up the drumsticks, all the while muttering darkly
about lousy DJs.
Kurei and his companion waltzed around the room. He hadn't... couldn't have
taken a good look at her, not in the shadows of the balcony. His eyes ran over
the gentle curves of her body, the slight smile on her lips as he twirled her
around the room. Her radiance was overwhelming. In spite of himself, he had to
smile too. He longed for the time when he could remove the creamy mask that
covered her face. But he wondered about her reaction to him. It's me. Kurei.
Big bad guy. A muscle in his jaw twitched.
"Tell me, sir knight..."
"Sir knight?"
"Well, what else should I call you?"
He hesitated. "Sir knight is fine."
"Okay, why don't you have another girlfriend yet if you're so
charming?"
Fuuko watched the startled eyes stare back at her. Gee, I really threw him
off track that time... He missed his footing, but managed to keep in time.
How she longed to take off the red mask, to untie the black ribbons holding it
up! She DID think that he was charming, even though he had spoken all of 10
sentences to her. Tall, gallant... hey, he even liked roses! Talk about a SNAG!
She waited patiently for an answer. But it didn't come.
The song ended and he let go of her abruptly. "Okay. Fine. I'm going
now."
"Where to?"
"The garden."
He strolled along the pathways, admiring the roses, thinking about Kurenai and
her love for the flowers. Didn't he tell her before that he didn't like flowers?
What was it... because they died too easily. Fleetingness of life. He hated that
sentence now. Everything he thought of brought that phrase back to his mind...
and how Kurenai died, and how he didn't prevent it. He picked a rose and started
to shred it. He would have continued dancing, but the last question hurt. He
didn't want to betray Kurenai's memory, and it didn't help that he was thinking
about his companion THAT way.
"Sir knight... don't be so cruel to the rose, it didn't do anything to
you."
"It's you again." Kurei said a little exasperatedly. "What do you
want? Can you quit following me?" He tried shooting her a glare that would
usually send anyone else scuttling away. But not Fuuko Kirisawa.
"Come on, sir knight. I thought we were having fun. Why did you just leave
me high and dry on the dance floor? Was it something I said?"
"Are you just here to get an answer to your question? Fine, I'll give it to
you.
