Gravitation Fan Fiction ❯ Bundle of Dreams ❯ I Am NOT A Hussy ( Chapter 4 )

TITLE: Bundle of Dreams

AUTHOR: WolfPuck

FEEDBACK: Any reviews and/or feedback can be sent to Kuma and company at ba88_osapup@hotmail.com.

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing remotely related to the Gravitation manga, anime series, or creator Maki Murakami. I own the storyline and the character of Arina, both of which were summoned from the darkest pits of my imagination. Eiri Yuki is currently locked in my closet, but he may get time off for good behavior.

RATING: PG-13 for language, as well as some sensual imagery.

 

This fiction is based off the anime series, not the manga. The events take place at an undisclosed time after Yuki's return from New York at the end of the series.

 

 

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Chapter 4

 

“Would you mind my asking what happened last night?” Arina looked up in surprise at the abrupt question on the part of Mister K. “When Ryuichi hugged you,” K clarified, “You froze like a puddle. Why? Did he hurt you?”

 

Arina didn't reply. Instead, she got up from her seat on Mika's pristine white couch and made her way across the hardwood floor in the direction of the staircase.

 

“Oh, no you don't,” K informed Arina, grabbing the girl's arm as she passed by him. Arina froze. “This,” K said pointedly. “This is what I'm talking about. I'm not hurting you, and you act like I'm beating you up… And now you're shaking.” Upon realizing this last tidbit, K immediately released Arina, backing up a step or two to give the young woman her space. The pair stood in silence for a moment, K not daring to speak, and Arina seemingly unwilling to do so.

 

“Arina!” Hearing Mika's call, K too froze. The situation definitely did not look good: the two of them alone, Arina looking too terrified to move…

 

“Coming, Mika!” Arina called weakly, forcing herself to calm down so that she could face her sister-in-law. Taking a deep breath, Arina began to walk toward the sound of Mika's voice.

 

“Arina?” The girl stopped, turning painfully slowly to look at the man next to her. “I'm sorry,” K apologized, pure concern showing in his piercingly blue eyes as he looked at Arina. “I didn't mean to scare you like that. I didn't realize what it would do to you.”

 

“It's all right, Mister K,” Arina informed the American. “You didn't know. Please, don't worry about it.” Arina moved past him, meandering her way down the hall in search of Mika. K watched her leave, deciding that he would have to find out what was going on with this girl—one way or another.

 

****

 

“What was that all about?” Mika asked, not even waiting for Arina to fully enter her sister-in-law's bedroom.

 

“What was what all about?” Arina countered, looking at Mika confusedly.

 

“K,” Mika replied simply. Arina froze, only just clamping down on the gasp that threatened to escape her throat. The older woman was unusually perceptive when she wanted to be. “That's what I thought,” Mika muttered. Arina chose not to comment, the ensuing silence only spurring Mika on to fill the void.

 

“Look,” Mika began, “Arina, I don't know that you should be getting so…involved with K.” For this pronouncement, Mika earned a blank stare. The blonde was unaware that she was even involved with the American in the first place. “K is just getting over a nasty divorce, and so he's a bit more vulnerable now than he usually is. Give it another few months and he'll be back to normal. But until then,” Mika looked up intently at her younger sister-in-law, “you need to stay away from him.”

 

“Who are you to tell me who I can and can't talk to?” Arina fumed, only just keeping her volume low enough that the American she had left pacing downstairs couldn't hear the outburst. “I didn't ask him to come here, nor did I ask him to grab my arm! He did all that himself, so don't go jumping to conclusions so quickly, Mika.”

 

“We'll see what Touma has to say,” Mika intoned, more than a hint of a threat clear in her tone.”

 

“Fantastic,” Arina ground out, growling quickly out of the room.

 

****

 

“What do you mean it's already been arranged?!” Yuki roared into the phone. Shuichi cowered on the sofa, only just now wondering if maybe this might not be the best place for him to take cover.

 

“Just try it!” Yuki spat, pressing END and throwing the phone as far away from himself as he could manage in his rage. The cordless only just missed the wide glass window, something for which the author would be grateful when he returned to his normal state of mind. Silence reigned for a good few moments before…

 

“Yuki?” Shuichi asked timidly, still fearful of incurring whatever wrath his lover still had pent up.

 

“What?” Yuki snapped, glaring at the younger man. Shuichi's mouth immediately snapped shut, his head dropping as its owner suddenly found the floorboards extremely interesting.

 

“Sorry,” Yuki muttered, coming to sit next to his pink-haired lover. He took Shuichi's head into his lap, stroking the cascade of hair that settled there.

 

“What did Missus Mika say, Yuki?” Shuichi asked, concern for his love outweighing all else at the moment.

 

“Apparently that girl you met today—Arina…”

 

“Yeah?”

 

Yuki growled, still trying to stifle the anger that burned in his chest.

 

“Apparently she's my new betrothed,” Yuki forced out, tempted to spit on the final word, his disdain for the entire affair radiating throughout the apartment.

 

“What?!” Shuichi yelled, sitting up so fast he nearly collided with the writer's forehead. “Touma never said anything! She's his sister! Why didn't he say anything!!” Yuki waited for his tornado of a lover to subside, before pulling the young man down onto the couch beside him.

 

“I don't know,” Yuki lied. He knew exactly why Touma hadn't said anything. The shock of realizing that someone you had already learned to like was about to make your life a living hell was something he knew Touma relished. Sick bastard. “But I'm not about to put up with it. Touma can shove it if he thinks I'm going be remotely decent to this brat, even if she is my sister-in-law.”

 

“That's just weird,” Shuichi announced. Yuki looked at him oddly. What about this whole thing wasn't completely weird and messed up? “He wants you to marry your sister-in-law. What, does he want to make sure you're a part of his family forever or something?” Yuki contemplated the idea for a moment. He doubted Shuichi was far off the mark.

 

****

 

“Not a fucking chance, Touma!” Arina yelled, stomping furiously from one corner of the spacious drawing room to the other. “What do you think I am, some kind of shameless hussy?! First of all, I wasn't the one who came to this house looking for or putting out booty! Second, I didn't even know he just divorced his wife—or that he even had one, for that matter. Third…” Apparently Touma didn't feel like hearing what came third on his younger sister's list of grievances.

 

“Silence!” Touma bellowed, his characteristic smile forgotten as he raged at his sibling. The girl flattened herself against the wall, urgently willing herself to become invisible. It didn't happen. “You will stay away from Mister K, and you will come to meet your brother-in-law, Eiri, and you will be polite and courteous to him.” Arina scowled to herself, but otherwise made no indication as to her preferences. “Besides,” Touma added, herding both his sister and his wife toward their respective bedrooms, “Mister Shindo will be there as well. He and Eiri are friends.”

 

At this pronouncement, Arina perked up. If Shuichi was going to be there, then she would at least have someone to talk to should this Eiri guy turn out to be boring as all hell. Very well, she would put on a face Touma would be proud of—just this once.

 

****

 

“Do you really think Arina will go along with this, Touma?” Mika asked. She and her husband were finally safe behind the locked doors of their bedroom, the younger girl having finally retreated to her own bedroom sanctuary.

 

“Not without a fight,” Touma admitted, leaning back against the headboard of the comfortable bed and closing his eyes. Mika sighed; it was as she suspected. Arina was like her older brother in all the ways Mika liked least—stubborn nature, absolute resistance to the will of others…and a tendency to analyze every facet of a situation before Mika knew what was happening. There was little doubt in Mika's mind that her younger sister-in-law would figure out what was going on sooner rather than later.

 

“Maybe Eiri will be enough of a distraction…” Mika wondered, not realizing she had spoken out loud until her husband opened liquid green eyes and stared at her questioningly. “What I mean is,” Mika clarified, pulling her thoughts together, “If Eiri manages to piss Arina off badly enough—something he is generally quite good at—then perhaps she will be too busy fighting with him to pay attention to us?”

 

“Hm,” Touma pondered, closing his eyes once more in a very characteristic gesture of thought. A smile crept slowly across his lips, a sure sign that he too was calculating the possible outcomes. “I agree,” he finally replied, opening his eyes to gaze lovingly at his wife. “If Eiri is as angry at this forced pairing as I believe he is, it will take very little for him to anger Arina as well. My sister does not have the coolest of heads.

 

“Until tomorrow, then.”