Her Mysterious Smile

[Nayt]

"Yeah," she nodded, "Nothin' special's happened to me, either."

Which was a shame. She was kind of hoping for something. Akizets frowned some. Sadly, coming up here didn't really do too well for her-- at least in terms of escaping her problems, that is.

"Reru has a couple of his friends over," she shrugged her shoulders, "An' Tou has Maya over."

Akizetsumei sighed. This whole thing sucked. She just felt like one big mope ever since Eld was tugged away from her. She went home after and found her siblings all busy with friends they had over, and then she wound up just sitting in her room alone with not a thing to do.

"And I was just feeling all mopey. I dunno. I just--no one ever comes to my house and hangs out with me. So I get all jealous sometimes, I guess," she sulked her shoulders, "It's stupid."

[Zach Kaiser]

Maya again? He recalled that the day he and Akizetsumei met Remmy, Toushikyo had been going to meet Maya. There wasn't anything wrong with it, but as far as he knew they didn't usually hang out unless the whole group was meeting. In fact, ever since their...falling out...the only person Maya ever really spent time with alone was Sarah.

Of course, that was all kind of beside the point. "It's not stupid," he assured her. "But, you know, it's going to be hard to make friends if you spend all your free time in the woods." Not that there was anything wrong with liking the outdoors, but she did kind of lead a bit of a reclusive life.

Still, he was only saying that because it seemed like Akizetsumei had a fairly simple solution in hand already. "So...why haven't you invited me over?" he asked. Certainly, he was her friend--if she wanted someone to come over and hang out, she could invite him any time.

[Nayt]

Akizets laughed nervously when Eld talked about her being in the woods all the time. There was a funny story about that. Well. Not really funny. Actually, it might be considered sad? She went out there all the time because, well-- oh, nevermind. Akizets didn't want to think about that stuff right now, anyways. Especially in light of a recent development.

"I-- I'd . . ." Akizets trailed off. She felt a lump in her throat, but it all cleared up when she made eye contact with Eld. Akizetumei smiled at last. "I'd love that."

Which might have been kind of a strong word to use, in hindsight, and Akizets felt a little awkward rather suddenly. She looked away from Eld quickly, but was still smiling brightly.

"I-- I mean, um, y-you're welcome at my house any time," Akizetsumei declared cheerily.

She was really bad with invites. Inviting Eld to go to her house right now, for example: she wanted to do it, but it felt awkward to try. She just hoped that he'd come around every so often on his own or something like that!

[Zach Kaiser]

If Eld noticed anything odd about her word choice, he didn't show it.

"Thanks," he said, regarding being welcome at his house, "but it's sort of ingrained into me that it's rude to just drop by announced." The only place he'd do that was the Vaerbond ranch, but that's because he'd been a family friend for many years. A good rule of thumb, he figured, was that if he knew everyone in a family well enough to converse with them even if they were the only person around, it was okay to simply stop by whenever you felt like it.

The Vaerbonds were the only family he could say he knew that well, alas.

"But I'm willing to come over whenever you invite me." He'd invited her inside a few times, but they hadn't spent much time in his house either. Of course, he had a fair reason for it: there simply wasn't much to do there if reading wasn't a big hobby of the guests. Fortunately, the only one of his friends (other than Akizetsumei) who didn't like to read much was Sarah, and they'd...otherwise occupied themselves on occasions they were alone in his room.

[Nayt]

That certainly made things harder for her! Rather than hoping Eld would just come around to hang out every so often, she'd have to actually invite him over-- and she was really bad at that. It already took guts for her to do something as simple as invite him out to go to lunch or go swimming with her or something like that, but something so personal as spending time with her at her house? You really have to like someone to want to go do that! That's why she went over to Eld's place a lot, after all.

"Well, um, would you like to come over to my house?" she asked, "Um-- for the evening?"

Naturally, she asked this before she could have a chance to second guess herself. She then proceeded to second guess herself, and quickly realized that Eld might want something to eat pretty soon. So maybe he wouldn't want to go to her place, after all.

"I'll find you something for dinner," she added as an afterthought, "I promise I will."

[Zach Kaiser]

"Sure. That sounds great." Eld was probably kicked out of his room for the rest of the evening anyway, and his parents hadn't seemed to need help (they spent enough time talking to him and Etsu that it was pretty clear it was a slow night), so he had precious little he could do. And spending time with Akizetsumei always cheered him up.

Of course, he didn't know late he'd stay, so he figured he'd better make sure the futon was ready for Etsu before hand. "I just need to go take care of something at home first; I'll meet you there."

He stood up and started to make his way down the hill.

[Nayt]

Really? He'd come over today? That made her day just thinking about it! Just what would they do over there, though? Akizets had to think. She had to get back home and think about it. She might have games to play or something. Yes. She definitely had some games they could play together.

"Okay! Sounds great," Akizets cheered as she stood up quickly.

She walked down the hill by Eld's side. There was no reason not to. They both pretty much had to walk the same route to get to their respective homes, after all! So she decided she was going to walk with him until it came time to split ways. That was what she wanted to do earlier, before Etsu broke them up.

Except she walked fairly close by Eld's side. A lot closer than normal. And she didn't seem to notice it, really. She was blissfully unaware of how their arms had next to no space between them. Of how their knuckles brushed against each other when they walked. She didn't notice how close they were at all, or how close they'd gradually become over the last couple of months-- only that she was by his side, and she was happy there.

[Zach Kaiser]

As they got near the bottom of the hill, Eld stumbled slightly. Though he caught himself before he fell, he instinctively grabbed Akizetsumei's hand as he regained his balance. And forgot to let go, at least until they had to part ways and he returned to his house.

His parents were still busy, so he went into their room and grabbed the spare futon from their closet. He wanted to make sure Etsu had a place to sleep, just in case he lost track of time and didn't get back until late--besides, he was used to staying up late, but for all he knew she'd want to sleep early.

Leaning it against the door frame, he wrapped lightly on the door.

[Nayt]

It was standard procedure. Well, sort of. When someone about fell and they could hold onto another person's hand to keep from falling, they just did it and that was that, right? Akizets held tightly on his hand when he grabbed hers and braced herself to better help him steady himself. She was just happy that she could help!

Akizets practically didn't notice that Eld hadn't let go of her hand. She also hadn't noticed that she had interlaced her fingers with his. In fact, it was only when they departed from one another that she noticed how her heart had been beating awful fast, and how her hand felt empty.

Later on, when Eld knocked on his own door, he'd receive absolutely no response at first. And then five seconds later, still nothing. Ten. Fifteen. Twenty. He could knock again and he'd receive no response.

The reason for this-- he'd find if he were to open his door --would be that Etsu had found a place to sleep already. She was curled up in his bed, still in her school uniform, under his covers, and laying on her left side. She was comfortable and warm and waking her up right now would be . . . impractical, at least. She probably wouldn't be very happy if Eld tried to wake her up right now.

[Zach Kaiser]

Eld had avoided knocking very hard specifically for this reason. When after a few seconds he didn't receive a reply, he gently nudged the door open and peeked inside. It wasn't a surprise that, with all that was going on, Etsu was already asleep. I wonder if she cried herself to sleep, he thought gloomily.

Sleeping, she was peaceful, if nothing else. It was hard to remember that she held a fierce grudge against him looking at her now. Maybe she would never like him, but he hoped soon she would realize he didn't want to bother her, and it was only her own misconceptions about him that were preventing her from being at least neutral to him.

As quietly as he could, he brought in and set down the futon; he supposed he'd be sleeping on it himself tonight, but that was fine, though he wondered if Etsu would claim his bed and relegate him to the futon from now on. Once it was in place he left the room making as little noise as he'd made entering.

And soon he was over at the residence of the Terra clan, knocking on their door, and hoping this time he got an answer.

[Nayt]

The second Eld shut the door behind him, Etsu perked her head up and lifted her shoulders. She breathed a sigh of relief and finally let herself relax again.

At the residence of the Terra clan, a voice called to Eld from the other side of the door. "One minute." It was a male voice. Easily Toushikyo's. He opened the door and looked, if only briefly, surprised to see Eld at the door. Toushikyo's looks of surprise seemed to only range from a furrowed brow to a tilt of his head, though, and barely anything beyond this. Also, they generally lasted for a fraction of a second, before he returned to the stone-faced stoicism that he was so familiar with. Today was no different.

"Tsukimono," he said, "What are you doing here?"

There was another voice behind him, this one also familiar. "Ts-Tsukimono-san?"

Were Eld to look past Toushikyo, he'd see Maya sitting on the couch at the far end of the main room. She looked more surprised than Toushikyo. Maya seemed to be wearing a tank top and a skirt-- loose fitting and comfortable clothes for the warm weather, whilst Toushikyo still wore a heavy jacket, even when inside the house. It was the only way he could stay comfortable sometimes.

[Zach Kaiser]

As always, Eld winced a little inwardly when Maya addressed him, but as always he didn't show it. "Hi," he replied, leaning around Toushikyo to wave slightly at Maya. "Uh, your sister invited me over for a bit. I, uh, hope you don't mind. It's sort of uncomfortable for me at my place at the moment."

Not that he needed an excuse to hang out with Akizetsumei, but today especially he really didn't want to be turned away because Toushikyo was overly suspicious.

He was tempted to ask if he was intruding, but the idea seemed so far-fetched that he didn't bring it up. Plus he didn't need to give Kyo a reason to slam the door in his face.

[Nayt]

"I see," Toushikyo shrugged his shoulders and stepped back to let Eld in.

In all honesty, Eld was (begrudgingly) one of Toushikyo's friends. He had no reason to just turn him away at the door. In fact, Eld was pretty much allowed to come by whenever he wanted. Toushikyo just liked to know why people were visiting when they did, that was all.

Toushikyo called upstairs, "Akizetsumei, you have company."

It barely took a second for Akizetsumei to burst out of her room like a whirlwind. She approached the railing and leaned over to see who it was, and the second she saw that Eld was coming to pay her a visit, Akizetsumei practically squealed in overflowing joy.

"Eeee!" she exclaimed happily, whilst waving to him . . . dangerously, to boot; she was still leaning over the railing and all. "Eldridge! Hey!"

She rushed down the stairs quickly and met him in the main room as quickly as she could. Akizets had become the physical personification of joy and sunshine, and all it took was for Eld to come to her house with intent of spending time with her.

[Zach Kaiser]

If he were to turn back to him, Toushikyo would see the flash of nervousness that crossed Eld's face when Akizetsumei leaned over the rail. He was rather afraid that she'd fall over it, or tumble down the stairs when she came down in such a hurry.

"H-Hi," Eld responded as he stepped inside. While he was aware that to her it was big deal to have invited a friend over, he still couldn't help but think she was awfully overjoyed considering it'd only been fifteen minutes or so since they parted.

"Huh, I think this is the busiest I've ever seen your place," he joked. Coming from a household where people tended to be busy from the moment they woke up to the moment they slept, coming over here was kind of refreshing. It was a shame Toushikyo hadn't invited him over much.

[Nayt]

Maya watched Eld for a moment, but soon returned to looking at Toushikyo, who had recently rejoined her on the couch. They contented themselves in quiet discussion--probably the most Eld would ever see Toushikyo talk (and so willingly, to boot), though he'd have to be closer to hear what they were talking about. Maya seemed pretty happy, too.

There was a loud thud upstairs, near the middle room, followed in short by a childish laugh-- and then another. Akizetsumei winced, but still kept smiling-- albeit somewhat nervously, now. She'd already asked Oboreru to quiet down once before, but he was a stubborn kid, and he only listened to his sister (and never listened to his brother) when it was most beneficial for him to. Right now it was not. But still, it would've been nice. Oboreru had a friend over and they were playing as young boys had a tendency to do, but they didn't need to roughhouse like that! It barely had to do with Eld being there, too. Maya was here with Toushikyo and they seemed the type to enjoy a quiet place to read and chat, and Akizets really didn't want to have that spoiled for them!

"Ummmm, sorry," Akizetsumei apologized wholeheartedly. She did not seem to get that Eld was joking just now. "It's not usually this busy."

There was another thud and another laugh.

"Reru just has a friend over," she explained, "They're super loud."