83Disclaimer: I own none of these character except for good 'ole Alyce. Yaaaaay.
Chapter 13
The two young men stood there in a tense, stifling silence.
Mariya didn't know what to think. There was Alyce-sweet, considerate, feminine Alyce-standing in front of him, shirtless, and definitely missing a key body part that females tend to have on the upper torso area. Alyce herself-himself-appeared to be just as startled and confused. His hand was frozen, pinning a shirt against his collarbone to cover himself. Then the door swung shut behind Mariya was a quiet shfwam, and the air stirred as Alyce quickly put his undershirt on and groaned.
"Man," he muttered, his voice an octave or two lower than it was previously, "Not even a week in and I already screwed up..." Suddenly he took a few long strides and was in front of Mariya. He grabbed him by the shoulders. "You can't tell anyone, please, Shidou-san."
Mariya winced at the tight grip of the older boy. "Stop it!" He protested in his high school girl voice and backed away from Alyce. He never really noticed it before, but Alyce was only slightly shorter than he himself was, and Alyce seemed to be fairly strong, as Mariya judged from his lean muscles and sure grip. Mariya was used to archery, so he also had developed his muscles quite a bit, but Alyce had a more defined strength. If push came to shove, Mariya couldn't bet his life that he'd win in a fight against Alyce. Those odds against him were slight, but Mariya still despised them.
Alyce raised his hands in the air, palms out, and took a step back and to the side. Mariya noticed that Alyce angled his body so as to sufficently block the door leading out of the room. Mariya set his jaw.
"What are you doing?" Mariya asked, crossing his arms over his chest. "A man infiltrating an all-girls' school like this is enough to warrant an arrest." Mariya knew this better than anyone.
"I know," Alyce pleaded softly, reaching a hand out, "can you just listen to me, please?" He was looking at Mariya as if he were some trembling flower. Mariya then remembered his part, and chose to lay it on thick.
His lower lip trembled slightly and his eyes grew watery. "What do you want with me?" Shaking slightly, he shrunk away from Alyce's outstretched hand.
Alyce immediately drew in his hand. "I won't touch you, I promise. Calm down, Shidou-san."
Mariya's stomach did a flip in disgust at himself and at Alyce. He forced himself to take a deep breath. "You pervert," he accused with a menacing fear.
Alyce's eyes widened. "No, it isn't like that, I swear! It's a long story, but I can explain, please!" He ran a hand through his hair. Mariya couldn't help but notice that his hand was shaking as he did so. It didn't look like Alyce was lying; Mariya could hear it in his voice, too. So then...
The door handle jiggled behind Alyce. In response, Alyce jumped a foot in the air and ran over to Mariya's old bed where he pulled out the top of his school uniform and quickly pulled it on. Mariya, on the other hand, was too startled to do anything except stare at the door as the undeniable sound of a key turning in the lock filled the stale air of the suffocating door room. A moment later the door opened and who else could possibly step in except for a certain delusional highschool girl whose head always seemed to be in the gutter?
"Kanako..." Mariya mumbled her name unconsciously as his stomach did another flip, this time followed by a sickening twist that almost made him want to throw up.
Kanako was living together with Alyce.
Kanako was living together with a man she couldn't defend herself against.
Kanako was living together with a man that wasn't Mariya.
Mariya's horror must have shown on his face, as Alyce quickly strode over and placed himself in between Kanako and Mariya.
"Miyamae-san!" Alyce said with surprising calmness. "It's good to see that you're feeling better!"
Kanako nodded tiredly. Clearly her nosebleed had taken its toll on her. "Haha, thanks... I haven't had a nosebleed that big for a long time now..." She blinked when she finally noticed Mariya. Light flickered across her eyes, then was cast aside as her most recent memories returned. "Ah, Mariya. You're here to get your clothes, of course." She shuffled feet awkwardly, looking at Mariya while really not looking at him at all.
Mariya stepped around Alyce. "Kanako-"
Before Mariya could say anything more, Alyce covered Mariya's mouth with his own hand and grabbed one of Maryia's arms. Alyce forced a smile. "I have to talk with Shidou-san for a minute," Alyce informed the confused Kanako easily. "You should get some rest. Good night!"
Before either Mariya or Kanako could protest, Alyce yanked Mariya behind him as he slid past Kanako and out the still-open door. Mariya's fingers brushed against Kanako's on the way out.
"Hey!" Mariya managed to call out that one word as he was dragged through the halls of the girls' dormitory by his senpai. Anything else he had to say was erased by the beating of his panicking heart and the confusion in his racing thoughts. Everything was happening so fast and all at once. He didn't have time to try to think through things rationally, if there was even a way to think about this bizarre situation rationally. There was one thing he knew for certain, however: He wouldn't stay on the defensive anymore. Time to step up his game and go on the offensive.
Finally, Alyce brought them both to a hault in a quiet corner of the almost-empty lounge. There was a large plant next to them, which all but completely blocked them from view.
"There," Alyce panted, letting go of Mariya's arm reverting to his real voice-a privliage Mariya was now beginning to envy, "If I do anything you don't like, you can scream for help and blow my cover."
"And why shouldn't I do that now?" Mariya asked warily, rubbing at the faint red mark now blossoming on his arm where Alyce had grabbed him.
Alyce smiled crookedly. "Because you haven't yet, for some strange reason."
This cocky piece of... "And what is your strange reason for being here?" Mariya asked through gritted teeth. After a deliberate pause, he cocked his own twisted grin. "Bet you're just some pervert who can't get his own girlfriend, so you snuck in here, hoping to sneak a peek into a bath or two."
Alyce's smile instantly vanished. "No, that's not it! I swear! I even tried to get a single room, but that fell through!"
The room... A shadow fell across Mariya's face and he glared down at Alyce. "If you touch so much as one hair on Kanako's head..."
Alyce froze. "I-I won't," he stuttered. "I won't, I swear, really. I wouldn't ever dream of coming here at all if not for-"
Mariya silenced Alyce with a flick to the head. "I don't care about why you're here," he growled, struggling to hold onto even a wisp of his feminine voice. "I believe you that you're not here for some perverted reason, so you must be here for some sappy reason. I don't want to hear any of that and end up pitying you."
"Then... What..."
Mariya's grin was pitch black. "I can have you expelled at any time. Arrested, even."
Alyce nodded without hesitation. "I know that. I knew the risks."
"Courageous. How irritating. However, I think I'll let you stay for now."
Alyce blinked, sensing the undertone in Mariya's words. "What do you mean?"
"Well," Mariya flipped a lock of golden hair over his shoulder sweetly, "simply that I could use you. You've no place to object, afterall." Alyce could act as a horrible roommate to little Kanako-chan. Then she'd come crawling back to Mariya, and, naturally, he'd be very gracious and help her out, under the conditions of her groveling before him, of course. Mariya smirked at the idea. "I could even use you to torment my beloved senpai."
At this, Alyce tensed up. He narrowed his dark eyes and rolled his shoulders back slightly. "Ah, that won't do at all," he responded calmly. "There isn't any point to my being here if all I'm going to do is hurt someone else." He stepped past Mariya, deliberatly brushing his shoulder against the blonde's.
Mariya turned towards him. "You don't have a choice."
"You can rat me out to the school, to the cops, to God, even. But I refuse to have a hand in any dealings that could ever bring harm to someone else. I'd never be forgiven for it." He glanced back at Mariya over his shoulder and smiled. "Of course, if you ever genuinely need any help, I'd be more than happy to lend you a hand, Shidou-san!"
And with that, Alyce walked away, and Mariya knew that there was nothing he could say to stop him.
Back at laaaaaaaaast! SCHOOL IS OVER! *falls to knees weeping* Sorry it took so long, but man... School was just like, "oh, so you think you have enough time to write fanfictions again now, eh? AHAHAHAHA! HAVE TWO ESSAYS, A PRESENTATION, AND A SCHOOL TRIP DUE ALL IN ONE WEEK (along with the usual daily math and such, of course), WITH FINAL EXAMS ALL THROUGHOUT NEXT WEEK! HAAHHAHAHAHA, YOU FOOLISH GIRL."
Needless to say, these last few weeks were not very fun.
Anyways! Summah be here now, and I be having more free time! I'm hoping to get back on track with the 'chapter once very other week' at the very least, maybe more (no promises :P).
And now you can tell your parents-for those of you who have parents who say things like 'y u be reading such useless garbage, o child of mine?! Go do something with yo life!'-that you are reading a story that has a deep, meaningful moral to it:
"Females who have a 'y' in their names where an 'i' is usually placed in the more common spelling of the names are almost definately males crossdressing as females."
*-* Behold the words of wisdom. Truly, they shall help guide you on your journey through life.
See ya in two weeks or soooo~~~~!
(She said in a pleading, apologetic manner. ;-;)
MERRY SUMMAH!