Ink Stained

49: smile and lie*

We are sorry for you.

She looked up from staring blankly at her book, at a grain of her still untouched rice. She frowned in bewilderment as Natsume and Shuusei lobbed insults back and forth, while Aoi gushed about Shin as their new teacher and Shiori tried not to cringe at every word.

Why would you be?

You missed out. They have fun. You didn't get that. Not enough. Not as much as it should have been.

What are you talking about?

It would be telling if we told you.

She fought against the natural instinct to roll her eyes at Kuniumi's reasoning. Even as she did, she knew that Kuniumi wouldn't tell her what she meant by her foxing, roundabout words. All she could do was throw guesses at her, and Kuniumi would simply bounce them off.

It was what she been doing for the last three days since she'd unconsciously tried to kill Shin. It was all she really could do. All Kuniumi did was throw riddles right back at her, or cackle madly before disappearing. When she ran out of ideas about possible reasons for why she'd attacked Shin, she started coming up with theories about who Kuniumi was, and why only Pai could hear her – and see her reflection in windows and mirrors.

At each and every turn, Kuniumi either deflected her guesses, or ignored them like they were pesky bugs. She didn't say yes. She didn't say no. Kuniumi didn't even confirm anything with a 'maybe'.

Fwip, fwip, whoosh, whoosh, his bullets always find their mark.

Her frown deepened. A hint, a clue about what Kuniumi was talking about. It was familiar, yet at the same time she remained stumbling in the dark, looking for the hole to put the key into and unlock the door. There was a name behind that clue, one she shouldn't have forgotten – but it eluded her.

He was there for you. Only you. His loyalty will always be yours.

"I'm done, I'm done, I'm finally done!" Natsume suddenly exclaimed, her chair skidding back over the floor as she shot out of it. "I'm finally done with this! Sensei Fujimoto thought I wouldn't finish this? Well, take that!" she punched the air in front of her in triumph.

"Your Maths homework?" she asked, wondering why she would be so ecstatic about such an ordinary thing.

Natsume pouted. "You have no idea how much I suck at Maths, Pai-chan. It's going to be the death of me."

"You're exaggerating." Shuusei deadpanned.

Natsume narrowed her eyes at him. "I don't want to hear that from you, Mr. My Dear Beloved Sister Please You Have To Help Me With Japanese Literature Or I will Actually Die."

Aoi giggled, hiding the laugh behind her hand when Shuusei glared at her. "When did that happen?"

Shuusei slowly started to rise from his seat. "Stop talking."

"You can't tell me what to do," Natsume shot back. She was already backing away with her Maths exercise book held out protectively in front of her, a flimsy paper shield to protect her against Shuusei's deep-seated scowl. "I'm the older one."

"Just shut up, Natsume."

She smirked. "He said that just yesterday, Aoi-chan. Remember that Classical Literature homework Watanabe gave us?"

Natsume yelped when Shuusei darted around the tables the four had pushed together for lunch. Quick as a bolt of lightning, she twisted around and ran straight for the door, laughing and singing, "Mr. My Beloved Sister Help Me Please," all the while as Shuusei yelled at her to shut up. They rounded the class doors and disappeared down the corridor. Everyone in the classroom laughed at the twins' rowdy behaviour. It was something they were all used to – eve the teachers.