OPTIONAL MOOD MUSIC - Steady, As She Goes by The Raconteurs
Hiya everyone, its your least favourite writerr who sucks at being consistent and actually uploadinggggg
back at it again with number 10
Reminder to anyone that doesn't remember/know what the bubble tag minigame is, it's like the game 'Sardines'
Also I'm sorry that the last chapter was in present tense, and then this one past tense. I gravitate naturally towards past tense and only realised like halfway through this one that I'd done that :///////////////////////////////
Nana had just got to the Ro'Meave house (small mansion?) and she was already regretting coming. When Aphmau had called, looking for another person to play a game with her and Garroth, Nana had accepted immediately. She welcomed the distraction from her fraying friendship with Zane. Too late she asked where they were playing.
Don't worry Kawaii~Chan she reassured herself, tugging at the end of her pleated skirt.
you don't even know if he's home! And he definitely wouldn't want to play with Garroth and Aphmau. If he's home, he's probably hiding out in his room. And on the off chance you see him; he doesn't know that you're Nana.
Conscious sufficiently eased, she ran her hands through her pink wavy hair and thought about letting it grow out from it's shoulder length as she listened to the sound of someone rushing to the door.
It swung open and Aphmau, wearing a lilac off-the-shoulder sweater dress over light denim shorts and knee-high grey boots, appeared, beaming at her
"Kawaii~Chan! Thank you so much for coming! Now we can play our game" Aphmau ushered her in and Nana took a tentative few steps inside.
"So, who else is playing with us Aphmau~Senpai" she simpered in her best 'Kawaii~Chan' voice in hopes of covering up her unease. "Garroth~Kun... anyone else?"
"Well I'm not sure if-" Aphmau's amber eyes flicked towards the upstairs where Garroth, wearing a tight-fitted baseball shirt with dark blue sleeves and straight-legged jeans, was padding down the stairs, looking somewhat unsettled. When he spotted Kawaii~Chan, he corrected his features and gave her a charming smile.
"Nice to see you could make it KC" he offered her a fist bump which Nana accepted, giggling "Zane will be down in 5, surprisingly, he agreed to play"
Immediately, Nana felt herself go pale, but determined not to seem phased, she continued to smile.
"That's great, what should we play?" she asked
"Guess who!" Aphmau exclaimed at the exact time Garroth said "Hide and Seek!"
The resulting death stare shared between the two was enough to make Kawaii~Chan giggle despite herself.
"We play hide and seek aaaall the time Garroth!" Aphmau argued, hands on hips, standing on her tippy-toes in a failed attempt to appear more intimidating.
"Yeah, because it's great!" Garroth retaliated with his arms crossed, pouting.
"We're playing bubble tag" someone interrupted from the top of the stairs.
Kawaii~Chan's ear twitched at the sound of Zane's voice and she hoped dearly that he didn't notice. He ascended the stairs slowly, giving Aphmau and Garroth a peculiar look, as if challenging them, before resting his eyes on Kawaii~Chan.
She had to supress a shiver, he didn't look at her with blatant annoyance as he once had, but instead with interest.
The joking nature of their conversation immediately died.
Aphmau and Garroth shared a knowing glance.
"Why not" Garroth shrugged "good choice Zane"
"I'll pull a randomizer up on my phone to choose who'll go first" Aphmau said. After a moment she declared she herself would go.
They played numerous rounds, which all went fine. Whenever Zane was the hider, she always waited until she knew either Garroth or Aphmau had found him already before seriously playing. And every time it was her own turn to hide, she would hope to Irene that he wouldn't find her first. It tore her up to be avoiding him in such a way, but she was so scared that the avoiding was almost subconscious.
Eventually, round by round her guard was let down and she felt her stress slowly diminish as she escaped one-on-one contact with Zane.
But eventually, because Karma's a b*tch, when it was her turn to hide she was found almost immediately by Zane. Cramped in the dark of a small closet, she winced as the door opened and his pale face appeared. He swiftly stepped in and closed the door, settling in next to her.
"This is going to get really crowded if even one of them find us" he said light-heartedly. The 'if' made her want to shiver, the idea that they might not be found.
After a few minutes in which they could hear both Aphmau and Garroth walk past the closet, apparently not noticing it, Zane pulled out his phone and started typing. Trying not to be too obvious about it, KC reached to put her own phone on silent but just as her hand touched it, her text tone went off and it took every ounce of her self-control not to screw her whole face up in one big cringe.
She looked at Zane and saw, in the light of his phone screen, as his eyes slowly looked towards her.
A beat.
"sorry about that" she whispered, putting on an act of being apologetic "probably my mum" she pulled out her phone, making a big show of putting it on silent. The thing about being 'Kawaii~Chan' is that she got pretty good at acting as though everything was fine and dandy.
To be safe, she pulled open a text conversation with her mum and typed a whole message out and pretended to send it.
-----------
It was infuriating, not knowing if she was acting or not. He'd sent that text ("boo") to figure it out finally. Her phone had even rang at the right moment. But talking about it being her mum? He could even see her send a text and wait for a response, but no new text on his own phone. Absolutely maddening.
It struck him, with surprising violence, that maybe he was hoping Kawaii~Chan was Nana.
No, I just want this mystery to be over he reassured himself, it's got nothing to do with her kind face and pretty pink hair-
He blushed furiously and hoped dearly that KC hadn't noticed...
{December 19th 6:10pm} PM between Zane and Nana (KC??)
boo
its nearly christmas dummy
y u tryin to be spooky
get with teh times old man
Zane's eyes widened and he looked over at Kawaii~Chan. She was looking down at her phone calmly, no hint of humour on her face.
Have you seen me? I'm scary all year round.
festive spooks? Oo new nickname.
Festive tears
Emo
His heart ached for this girl. Who was she?!? He wanted to know so badly. Maybe if he apologised again, he could ask and she'd finally tell him.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw KC type again, just as the 'typing' bubble appeared at the bottom of his screen.
It had to be her. None of the other girls who it could possibly be had come as close to being proven as the mystery girl as Kawaii~Chan had.
They lapsed into silence once again, Aphmau and Garroth seemingly searching the opposite end of the house now, before he started half-mumbling/half-singing a song.
"sometimes you gotta bleed to know" he rested his head against the wall "that you're alive and have a soul"
In the semi-darkness, he could see her perk up as she recognised the words
"but it takes someone to come around" she sang softly, sweetly "to show you how"
"you like twenty one pilots?" he whispered, trying to seem vaguely interested. Nana likes twenty one pilots
He didn't miss her hesitation before she replied "I-I know a few of their songs"
He searched her face, desperate for a sign, but her face was a carefully composed mask.
He hung his head, sighing before making up his mind.
Looking her directly in the eyes, he asked:
"I'm sick of this. Are you or are you not, Nana"
He'd never said her name out loud before and it felt soft on his lips.
He saw her raise her eyebrows and widen her eyes in surprise before he was blinded by light as Garroth pulled open the closet door.
"HA!! I FOUND YOU NEERRRRDS" he said in a very goofy voice that was completely unwelcomed by Zane.
"come ON, I was SO CLOSE!! My legs are smaller so it's unfair" came Aphmau's voice from behind him.
Kawaii~Chan stood up, giggling. Her expression a perfect expression of surprise and joy (fake or real?).
"took you guys long enough! I can't believe you didn't figure it out sooner" she simpered.
Aphmau glanced at the clock.
"oh yikes, it really did take a while huh? I need to get home soon or else..." she shivered "The Chancla"
"oh me too!" KC said "got to go babysit half the population... aka my younger siblings" she rolled her eyes and Aphmau and Garroth giggled knowingly.
Before he could say a single thing, the two of them were heading out the door, saying their goodbyes to Garroth, himself and each other and walking home.
He walked upstairs, unable to think or to see past the swirl of emotions clouding his brain. He was filled with a cruel mix of anger, desperate sadness and pure self-hatred.
This was all his fault. Yet he was mad at her too.
Was he? He just wanted her back, even just as a friend.
How dare she. How dare he, IT WAS ALL HIS FAULT.