The Assassin and the ESPer
Part 04
By Amidala
Good God it's been a while since I worked on *this* one! Sorry about that,
folks. Well,
inspiration hit me a few nights ago, so I have produced ... the last chapter!
Enjoy!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Nagi chuckled for a few minutes after Schuldich left, and even Makoto seemed
to be in a better
mood, judging from her grin. He turned to her and motioned to the food that
had been untouched.
"You should eat, then I'll give you a tour of the place, okay?"
Makoto nodded and ate gratefully. She was poised even after being
interrogated, he noted
absently, and ate with a decided air of ... he tried to think of a word and
could only come up
with grace. When she was finished, he held out his hand to her.
"Ready?"
"Aa," she replied, clasping his hand.
He helped her out of bed.
"Well, we can start here. This is my room. Right next to us on the left
is Schuldich's
room and the bathroom is to the right," Nagi continued to speak,
motioning to the doors as they
walked through the halls, "Down the hall is Brad's room, Farfello is
behind the kitchen,
downstairs."
If Makoto found anything strange about Farfello being behind the kitchen, she
said nothing,
instead paying rapt attention to the different doors and marking where
everything was in her
mind. Every once in a while, as he talked, she would nod, but for the most
part she looked
around in awe of her surroundings. Nagi grinned to himself. From her
experiances, she was by no
means innocent, but she was innocent compaired to the rest of them. He found
it was rather
refreshing to watch her.
"Where did you guys get all this art? It's amazing! I've never seen any
of these pieces
outside of museams," Makoto asked, stopping in front of an ancient
wood-block print.
Nagi cringed behind her back. The very question he had hoped ferverently that
she would not ask,
had been asked. Money. What was he going to say now?
Oh, we're assassins. You know, we kill for money. The job has it downs, of
course, but the pay is
wonderful.
//Yeah, that would go over really well.// he snorted mentally.
//She asked about our money, didn't she?// Asked Schuldich from far away.
//Yep.//
//SchiBe ... tell her that Bradley inherited most of it.//
Luckily for Nagi, Makoto was too busy examining the painting to pay much
attention to Nagi's
silence, quick though it had been.
"It came with the house, as far as I know," he now replied,
"Crawford inherited a lot of
money, and the house."
She nodded absently, brushing her fingers lightly over some of the
inscription. Nagi watched her
face, fascinated, as a blank look came over her. She seemed to be remembering
something
connected to the writing, which was an ancient script that not even he could
read.
" 'And the Moon Princess fell in love with the Earth Prince, a love that
could never
happen.' " she murmured softly, " 'Star crossed lovers, destined to
one day die at the hands of a
great evil, but to always find each other.' "
"You ... you can read that?" Nagi asked, stunned.
There was no answer. Suddenly Makoto shook her head and stumbled back a
little. Nagi quickly
moved to catch her.
"Thanks ... " she muttered, "I feel like such an idiot. I don't
normally do that."
"It's quite all right," he assured her with a smile, "I don't
mind."
They looked at each other, taking in their close proximity to each other, and
quickly separated,
blushing lightly. After an awkward silence that seemed to stretch into
eternity, Nagi cleared
his throat and made as if to walk away, but he stopped and held his hand out
to Makoto.
"Shall we continue?"
"Aa -- hai!" she replied, still embarrassed.
They continued down the halls of the mansion until Makoto was sure she knew
the entire layout by
heart. At last they came to a door that she knew they had not passed before.
"Where does this lead?" she asked.
"Outside."
Makoto rolled her eyes playfully.
"I gathered that. What's outside?"
"You'll see."
And with that, they proceeded through the door and found themselves in a
comfortable looking, and
rather large, backyard of sorts. There was a series of small birdbaths
throughout the pathway,
on either side, and the path led to a large bodega. Wood beams carved into
patterns of crawling
vines held up the roof made of imported cedar and lined with marble. The path
continued around
the bodega and on into a small, friendly looking forest.
"This place is amazing ... " Nagi heard Makoto mutter.
He grinned.
"You haven't seen anything until you've seen the gardens."
"I'm sure."
They continued walking, neither feeling any need to speak, but the silence
around them was highly
comfortable. Finally they came to the garden in the back. Makoto was struck
speechless, though
she opened her mouth to say something repeatedly.
"Cat got your tongue?" Nagi asked, teasingly.
Makoto looked at him, wonder shining in her eyes.
"It's amazing! Marvelous! Wonderful! I've never seen anything like this
but in picture
books and fairy tales!" she finally whispered shyly.
There were walls surrounding the garden, but they were covered in crawling
vines that bloomed
Morning Glory's and ivy leaves. The dirt path continued and became many paths,
leading out from
a large fountain that bore the statue of Amaratsu and was filled with gold Koi
fish. The flowers
bloomed, sometimes hydrenga, sometimes lilies, sometimes ayame, depending upon
where you looked.
"We also have lotus, wisteria and peonies, depending on the seasons. We
even have plants
that bloom in the winter, though they are few," Nagi announced.
Makoto nodded, reaching out to gently brush the petals of a lily in full
bloom. Nagi looked at
her in wonder. He had never seen anyone this interested in plants before, nor
one who treated
them with such respect and delicacy. For a long time she did not speak, and
Nagi did not
pressure her to.
"This ... this is beautiful ... " she finally repeated,
"Arigatou gozaimasu, shugotenshi.
You've given me something special just now, whether you know it or not."
Nagi blushed hotly this time, and took her hand on impulse.
"Come. We should head back."
Nodding slowly, and at a loath to leave, Makoto turned with him and they left.
Neither removed
their hand from the others'.
~Owari~
So? What d'ya think? Crappy? Sappy? Good? Bad? Think it's a bad place for me
to end? Let
me know!
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