Quote:It's always nice to be appreciated. Un!
I'd say 'our work here is done' then, but I'd be lying ^_^.
"Boy, things sure aren't looking good for you, are they?"
I'll feel you burn!
Tokiha Mai dropped several feet before she could recover control through her surprise and look at the... boy... who'd seemingly popped out of thin air beside her, several hundred feet above the grounds of Fuuka Academy's campus. The distraction cost her badly, and she didn't really regain full conciousness until several moments later, lying on hard, rocky ground, in the dark. Far above, she could see the sky, and then a face leaned into view, peering down at her.
She'd never seen him before, but Yuuichi and Natsuki's descriptions had been clear enough, and the ache throughout her body and the gnawing worry at the back of her mind made it all too easy to go farther than she usually would have dreamed. "I wonder why?" she snarled, lunging up and wrapping one hand into his lapels.
He laughed and raised his hands. "Hey, hey! I had nothing to do with this! It belongs at the end of the dance, not the beginning." She glared at him for a moment, then blinked as his expression changed completely and his eyes became deadly serious. "But this is the time to commit yourself, Mai-hime. Are you ready for your role? Are you willing to risk that which is most precious to you?"
You've been living like a little girl,
in the middle of your little world.
'Ne, Oneechan,' Takumi had asked her once, when both of them were younger. 'What would you do, if you were a superhero?'
She had laughed. 'I'd beat up the bad guys! I'd save the world! I'd dump garbage in Yamashita-sensei's rose bushes!'
Yamashita Kaori hadn't actually been that horrible, at least to Mai, but that was only because of the measure of protection she won from the 'pitiful story' of her family. Everyone else in that homeroom who hadn't sucked up for all they were worth had paid the penalty and more than.
'I'd meet the Emperor! I'd walk on the moon! I'd...' she had paused, then grinned wickedly and launched herself over the couch's back towards her brother. 'Tickle an annoying little brother until he promised to do the dishes!'
And your mind, your tiny mind,
you know you've really been so blind.
'Don't worry about me, 'Neechan. With this body of mine, I might not be able to help holding you back... but I'd never forgive myself if that made you become less than you are. Even without all the rest of it, and with everything depending on you HiME, I'd take that risk in a heartbeat... to help you shine a little brighter. You've done so much for me, and never asked for anything. I can't do any less than as much as I can. If I'm at risk because of what you have to do... that's my choice, and I'd make it in a heartbeat.'
Watching his face as he said that, as she realized that her baby brother had changed for the better while she wasn't looking, realized she should be proud to call this man family... She'd never been happier - or hurt more.
Now 's your time burn your mind,
you're falling far too far behind.
"Hai."
Sometimes, you can feel really good about what you've just written. It makes all the rest worth it.
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"Puripuri puripuri... Bang!"