4/14/2005
10:40 PM
Logfile from Chase.
The Berkley Apartments - 302
Sparse living at its finest, or worse. The wood flooring
actually as something of a luster to it through the careful maintenance of
leaser's past. Walls are a rather neutral beige with something of a wood border
about a third of the way up to add some character, as sparse as it is though.
There is a threadbare couch, simple table and chairs, a tiny kitchen and an
even tinier bathroom. A pair of doors seem to oppose one another down the small
hall to the bathroom, each one leading to a different bedroom. But it is the
additions that seem to give this places its character: like the expensive
stereo system just over there flanked by a couple of towers of CDs or the
dreamcatcher by the window that overlooks the fire escape and the street below.
Sayuri, Takiko, and Uruki are here.
Obvious exits:
Exit
Chase is apparently on cleanup duty from the other day.
Joy. He dumps crumpled cans into a wide plastic bag, picking them up from the floor,
coffee table, couch... He steps over his forgotten calculus homework on the way
to the kitchen to toss the bag into a corner.
There's no warning really, the the schnick of a key in a
lock and then Sayuri's letting herself into the apartment. School's over, but she hasn't been home yet
to change out of her uniform. Pocketing
the key that dates back to the period when she was in a more intimate
relationship with the Genbu, she studies the mess with a distinct look of
distaste. Not the most romantic locale,
but she's a girl on a mission and she's not going to let a little mess get in
her way. "Chase-kun," she
calls sweetly, which should be an instant sign to the seishi that she's up to
something, "Are you here?"
Okay, what is with the girls that continuously try to
break into his place? Chase frowns from the vicinity of the kitchen, leans to
the side to spot Sayuri entering... Sayuri? He blinks a few times, and then a
few more and then wanders his way out of that room and into the living area.
"Sayuri?" You could say he is just a little surprised. "Well, I
can easily say you haven't forgotten how to pick a lock..."
Cocking a hip out, Sayuri flashes a smug grin at the
Genbu. "You doubted my
skills?" Tossing a stray strand of
hair over her shoulder, she studies the seishi for a moment before challenging,
"What about you? I bet you're
rusty. In fact, you're looking awfully
soft to me. Perhaps coming here was a
bad idea, I think Hideki would be a better choice." Hideki, the nerd. Hideki that can't walk down the hallway
without startling at a locker slam.
Hideki who couldn't take care of himself, much less do her a little
favor. "Nice to see you, Chase-kun,
I'll just be letting myself out now."
Chase smirks in response, shaking his head from side to
side. "Not your skills so much as practicing them once more on my
door." He leans against the doorway, looking rather wry at her with dark
eyebrows uplifted in question. "So you came all this way just to unlock my
door and let yourself out again? Kind of a waste of a fare, don't you
think?"
"Well, I was going to ask a little bitty favor from
you, but now that I'm here..."
Sayuri shrugs and looks contrite.
"Well, it was a bit presumptious of me, ne? I just thought that you'd... enjoy
it." Taking a deep breath, she
glances up at the seishi from under her lashes, trying to see if she's caught
his interest or if she's just wasting her breath. In truth, her little game is more of a
defense, a way of measuring his openness to her. "We're friends, ne? I was hoping we could do something fun, just
like old times."
Think it'd be impossible for his eyebrows to go any
higher? They just did. Chase peers at Sayuri for the longest moment before
approaching her with quite the wide grin on his face. He draws closer, looking
most amused and a little incredulous -oh yeah, and curious as all hell too.
"Like old times?... Sayu, whatever do you having going on?"
"Well," Sayuri drawls, pulling forward a soft
strand of hair to play with as she peeks coquettishly up at the Genbu. "It seems that there's these pictures of
me... doing something... and I'd really like to get them back. If father ever sees them..." She trails off, looking somewhat
helpless. "I'd have to go home to
Japan. And I've found that I'm quite
fond of New York. It holds special
memories. So," and here she drops
the ingenue act and becomes all business, "All we need to do is break into
one little office and find them. Easy,
ne? Think you're up to the challenge, or
have you gone soft in my absence?"
See that? Now that would be disbelief. Whenever Sayuri
does that sort of play-act, Chase knows full well that she wants something. So,
he crosses his arms over his chest, leaning all of his weight onto one foot
while listening to her. "Uh-huh..." But all is revealed, and this
provokes another grin. "What sort of pictures?" Trust him to get to
the important part.
"Nothing naughty, so you can give that smug look off
your face," Sayuri huffs with a hair flip.
"It happens to be a picture of me and some of my girls... defending
our... what is it you Americans call it... surf... no... turf. Defending our turf." Sticking out her chin mulishly, she adds, "People
think just because we're girls, we're pushovers. So we had to prove a couple of them
wrong." Sighing heavily, she
shrugs. "It seems that there was
this pesky private eye that father hired.
I need to get to the pictures before he can give them to father and
replace them with ones of me with schoolmates at the mall. And well, when it comes to break-ins, you're
not half bad, Chase-kun."
Chase looks mildly disappointed. "Damn." He was
rather hoping for the other kind. He scowls glancing away, "Turf, yes...
what, you have your own little gang now?" He looks back to her, smile
showing once again, "So this is what you have been busy doing since last
fall? Why am I not surprised?" Well, at least she kept active? "How
do you know he took the pictures? And hasn't given them to your father
yet?"
"A girl's got to have her hobbies, ne?" Sayuri hides behind nonchalance, though her
keen, dark gaze watches Chase carefully.
She senses his disapproval, and her chin lifts a notch in hurt
defensiveness. "We don't hurt
anyone who doesn't hurt us first. And
after we're done with them, they'll think again about who's the weaker
sex." Looking to the side, she
frowns and shudders slightly. "It
seems that the man father hired has a dirty side. He's trying to blackmail me. Seems he likes schoolgirls." Unable to look the seishi in the eyes, she adds,
"I told him that I'd meet him at midnight tonight in a hotel off of the
docks. So that's why I need you. I'll keep him busy, and you... you find the
negatives."
Chase smirks, "Sayu... your hobbies..." He
shakes his head slightly from side to side as if in disbelief. "You really
gotta find some better friends." His arms uncross though as he listens
further. "What?! He likes..." Glare. "Pervert," he growls,
looking most dark. "That's just... sick. How the hell do you get into
these messes?" One would swear the girl was a miko, really. "Think
you can get him to take out the pictures?"
"My friends are fine. After all, you're my friend, ne?" Sayuri shrugs her shoulders and spreads her
hands open wide. "My father got me
into this mess. And no, he'll bring the
pictures to the hotel, but not the negatives.
I don't trust him. He's already
proven that he's not a loyal man. If he
was, he'd just give the photos to my father and be done with it. So that's why you're going to break into his
office and steal the negatives. It's
this seedy little office in Chinatown, right above a souvenir shop on Mott
Street."
4/19/2005
03:11 PM
Logfile from Chase.
Chase watches her skeptically for a long moment, heaves a
huge and dramatic sigh, and then finally nods his head to her. "Alright.
Alright. But just this once." Yep, one finger brandished to the young
woman (no, not the middle one even if he was sorely tempted) to further cement
his words. "So you wanna try to break into his place to do this?"
Grinning smugly at Chase, Sayuri pokes a finger at the
Genbu. "Baka, you're going to break
in... you still have that present I got you, ne?" You know, the lockpick kit... "I'm going
to be distracting Mr. Robinson, remember.
That way I know he's well and fully occupied." The girl says the latter sentence with a
grimace before tossing her head.
"It's less risky that way. I
don't think he has a security system set up, so you should be fine once you get
in." Looking serious, she gives the
seishi the address and the possible location of the negatives. In a safe.
Behind a picture of dogs playing poker.
How unoriginal.
Chase continues to look dubious. He flickers a glance
back to her, and mutters, "I can't believe I'm agreeing to do this."
He drags his fingers through his hair, replaces the ball cap atop his head, and
then shrugs his shoulders. "Sure. What the hell. That works. Might as well
give it a try..." He crosses his arms over his chest before continuing,
"If... if it gets too rough for you, then get away from him,
alright?"
Sayuri shoots the seishi a cocky look, her lips curving
up in a teasing smile. "Hai,
aniki." Hopefully he doesn't know
that she's calling him her big brother.
"Demo, I can take care of myself.
You know that. You don't need to
worry." An impish light dances in
her mahogany gaze, as she reaches out to pat his cheek. "Though you do look cute when you
worry." Cocking her head to the
left, she grins even wider, "Maybe I should make you worry more..."
Chase sticks his tongue out her, knowing exactly what she
is talking about. "At least you didn't call me Dad." Which is
probably just as bad. Frown. "I'm not /cute/." Girls are cute. He
isn't. He sighs slightly, "So, do you need to call him to set this up or
what? Got the number handy?"
Whipping out her cellphone, Sayuri nods. The phone beeps a couple of times as she
scrolls down her phone list. Pressing
the connect button, she twirls a strand of hair between her fingers as she
waits for an answer. "Hello Mr.
Robinson," she speaks breathlessly into the phone, trying to sound as
helpless as possible without overdoing it.
"Yes, yes..." She
hesitates slightly and nods. "To...
tonight," she asks on a shaky breath, arching her brows over at the seishi
in a silent question. Hopefully he
doesn't have pressing plans. "I...
I understand," she replies to the unheard threat. "Te-ten o'clock," she looks to
Chase for confirmation of the date and time as she attempts to stall the man at
the other end.
Chase moves closer, bending down some to try to listen to
the phone as well. He quirks an eyebrow at her before nodding in the
affirmative. If Chase were going to go out at night, it'd probably be to do
something no good... so supposedly it is nice to get him involved in some 'no good'
that is actually somewhat productive. It's all how you look at it.
"Okay," Sayuri's voice trembles as she agrees
with marked trepedation. "Yes,
I'll... I'll see you tonight."
Making a disgusted face, Sayuri snaps her phone shut and fumes. "See, what a terrible man! He's absolutely.... ecchi." The English word just doesn't contain the
right amount of social criticism in her opinion. Shuddering again, she tosses her head as if
to shake off something unpleasant and distracts herself with the seishi
again. "You know, there's nothing
wrong with being cute... girls in Japan try so hard to be called
kawaii." Slipping her cellphone
into her bag, she adds, "You're not old enough to be my otousan, though
sometimes you act like an ojiisan."
Peeking from underneath her lashes, she waits to see just how much
Japanese the Genbu knows. And how he'll
take to being called an old man.
Chase doesn't much like being called anything, so she is
gonna get another stuck-out tongue. "And I'm not some girl in Japan. You
might try your best to be like that, and that's fine with me, but I can do
without, thank you very much." He reaches over as if to flick her hair in
teasing before stepping away. "Yeah, you dad hired a real winner
there." He frowns in consideration for a moment, "You know, how about
I get out my camera and take some... innocent pictures of you, outside? Replace
the other ones. How's that? He might never look, and hand those to Pop
instead."
See, this is why Sayuri adores Chase. He comes up with the bestest ideas. But first, she's going to look mulish and
toss her head with the retort, "I'm not like those girls. I dress cute only because it's an end to a
means. Everyone underestimates a cute
girl." Smirking, she pokes the
seishi in the chest. "Even
you." As the seishi steps away, she
considers him for a moment, something unidentifiable lurking beneath her
teasing gaze. Nodding her head, she
smiles at his suggestion, eyes shining with admiration. "I knew I liked you for a reason,
ojiisan. You're not just a pretty face
after all."
Chase scowls to try to look his most meanest and ugly.
You know, just because -and to try to prove her wrong. "You are... a
brat." He rolls his eyes after the tease and then moves off towards his
bedroom, his voice floating out, "We'll go to the zoo or something. You
can play with bunnies and coo over monkeys." He returns a moment later
with the camera, strap looped around his neck. "Well, lets get going,
baba." Grin.
5/18/2005
11:33 PM
Logfile from Chase.
The Berkley Apartments - 302
Sparse living at its finest, or worse. The wood flooring
actually as something of a luster to it through the careful maintenance of
leaser's past. Walls are a rather neutral beige with something of a wood border
about a third of the way up to add some character, as sparse as it is though.
There is a threadbare couch, simple table and chairs, a tiny kitchen and an
even tinier bathroom. A pair of doors seem to oppose one another down the small
hall to the bathroom, each one leading to a different bedroom. But it is the
additions that seem to give this places its character: like the expensive
stereo system just over there flanked by a couple of towers of CDs or the
dreamcatcher by the window that overlooks the fire escape and the street below.
Obvious exits:
Exit
Sayuri doesn't always have to break into Chase's
apartment. She doesn't have to, but she
likes to. There's a schnick of the lock
and then she's pushing open the door slowly, peeking into the darkened room
from her kneeling position. It's after
midnight and she's come to check in with Chase.
She doesn't worry on whether or not he got the pictures, after all she
knows that he's more than capable of breaking into the private eye's
office. She just wants to see him
again. "Chase-kun," she
whispers, letting her eyes adjust to the lack of the light. "Are you here? Are you awake?"
Chase emerges from the bedroom, padding down the hall,
and heads for the kitchen, hardly giving Sayuri a glance. But he does give her
one before simply continuing on. There is an awfully bright flash of light as
the refrigerator is opened, the young man standing there rubbing thoughtfully
at the back of his head. "Well, come right on in, make yourself at
home."
Sticking her tongue out at the seishi, Sayuri rises and
lets herself into the apartment. Leaning
back on the door as it closes, she studies the Genbu thoughtfully. "Thank you, I will," she replies
distractedly, taking the opportunity to study Chase without his knowledge. There's a puzzled look on her features that
she quickly wipes clean as she saunters over towards the older boy. "Eto.... how did it go, Chase-kun?"
Chase decides upon some leftover or another, plucking it
from the confines of the fridge. He turns a little to glance back at her.
"How did what go? Finals? Not so bad. That Calc one though was a killer,
but I think I did alright. Now maybe I'll be done with all the requireds and
get into more interesting stuff." He turns back to his 'midnight' snacking.
Blink. Sayuri's
floored for a split second before her puzzled frown returns. "Chase-kun," she begins with a
warning tone. "Tell me you didn't
forget about our plans tonight?"
Sauntering closer to the fridge, she leans on the counter just to the
left, crossing her arms. "Because
otherwise I may have to punish you, and you what that means." Staring at the seishi head-on, she attempts
to look fierce, but there's a wicked twinkle that shines in her eyes.
Chase stares back at Sayuri for a long moment, a very,
very, very long moment with the most dead-pan face ever. "Ohhhhhhhhhh,
that's tonight? This night?" He points a finger downwards as he says it.
Dramatically bewildered now turns abruptly into a very wry smirk as he shuts
the fridge door. "What're you gonna do? Poke me in the nose? Come on, I
know."
"Poke you in the nose," Sayuri returns Chase's
smirk with one of her own. "Would I
ever do something so tame?"
Growling low, she slinks up to the seishi, traps him back against the
fridge, both hands resting on either side of him as she rises on her tiptoes
and moving her face mere millimeters from his.
"After all, I know your weakness," she taunts on a husky
breath before moving her hands inwards towards his sides, fingers curling
wickedly as she begins to tickle him ruthlessly. "Now admit that you didn't forget, baka
Chase-kun."
Chase's rather amused smirking suddenly turns into
something a bit more wary as he is cornered. Ack! Previously half-closed eyes
blink open wide as he stares at Sayuri. "Second thought... maybe you'd do
something else." He tenses the moment before he is tickled, only to let
out a squeak before wriggling away. A single finger is waggled in her
direction. "Ahhhhhh, behave, girl."
Laughing defiantly, Sayuri tosses her head and leans back
against the fridge as the seishi dances away.
"When have I ever behaved, Chase-kun?" She pauses slightly, cocking her head as she
notes softly, "For a moment there, you looked rather panicked. What did you think I was going to do to
you?" Eyes widening, she flushes
slightly and turns away, she hadn't meant to add the question, it just slipped
out. "Never mind, Chase-kun, don't
answer that." Taking a deep breath,
she takes a moment before she turns back towards the seishi, asking yet again,
"You... didn't forget, ne?"
She's sounding less certain now.
Chase smirks. "Exactly what you just did... evil
girl with evil fingers." Yes, he says this and is still waggling that
finger at her. He pops open the food container, and plucks out a cold chicken
nugget, popping it into his mouth to eat. Nice snack. "I told you I didn't
forget. Sheesh, just hold your horses. Don't rush me." Pluck. Pop. Chew.
"Big baby," Sayuri mutters under her breath,
but still loud enough for the seishi to hear.
"Can't take his punishment like a man." But then the Genbu's deliberately provoking
her. Eyes narrowing as she watches him
slowly chew, one can almost see the vein popping on her forehead. "I have no horses to hold, nor would I
want to hold them even if I had them.
They'd be heavy. American idioms
make no sense, sometimes," she adds with another frown. Stalking him again, she threatens another
tickle with a finger wiggle. "You
can eat later Chase-kun. Pictures. Now."
Chase barks with laughter as he watches her. He nods his
head though in understanding, but not before popping the rest of the nuggets in
his mouth to chew. He starts away, mumbling around a mouthfull of food,
"Yes, ma'am. Whatever you say, ma'am." He patters away, bare feet on
the ground.
6/11/2005
02:09 AM
Logfile from Chase.
Chase wanders into his bedroom, tossing off his shirt and
making a basket with it in his clothes hamper. He opens up a drawer and begins
rummaging around for his 'sneaky' attire. "Just lemme get dressed, grab a
couple of things, then we can head out. D'ya have the pictures on you?"
"Pictures?"
Sayuri's brain isn't functioning too well at moment... it ceased working
properly when Chase shed his shirt.
Blinking and trying to look composed as her libido fervently hopes that
the Genbu loses a few more articles of clothing, she arches a brow and affects
a nonchalant pose. "And here I
thought you didn't like me anymore, Chase-kun," she drawls. "If you wanted sex, all you had to do
was ask..." Smirking slightly, she
pulls out a manila folder from her bookbag and waves it at the seishi. "These pictures?"
Chase looks over his shoudler at her, peering for a
moment before finally deciding that a good smirk is in order. "Don't even
go there..." He drags out a sweatshirt and then pushes in the drawer by
leaning against it. "Yes, those..." he drawls, reaching over to try
to snap them out of her grasp.
Doing a rather good job of keeping her disappointment
from showing, Sayuri sidesteps the Genbu and tsks. "Now why would you want to look at these
boring old things... after all, you've got the negatives, ne? You've probably already peeked." Waving the folder enticingly before the
Genbu, she arches a brow as asks, "What did you think of them... though
you probably couldn't see all the details, it must have been enough for you to
wonder about the dirty old man, ne?"
Chase probably wouldn't have looked at them. In fact, he
really wasn't planning on it, but when she starts avoiding him, now he wants
to. Funny how that works, eh? "I try not to wonder much about the old guy,
other than he is dirty..." He flickers a glance from the folder to her.
"Awh, come on."
"And why would I want to show you my dirty little
secrets, Tomi-chan," Sayuri coos at the Genbu while her glance flickers
across the room. One could very easily
guess that she's looking for where the Genbu would have placed the
negatives. Sauntering over towards his
dresser, she runs a finger along the top as she ponders his bookbag. "After all, you don't like the dark side
of my life. And you definitely wouldn't
like the turn that I've taken since you've been gone." It's almost as if she's warning him to stay
away... or trying to lure him closer by piquing his curiosity.
Chase smirks, watching her and turning to keep an eye on
the young woman. "Well, now you got me all curious and all. You have only
yourself to blame, brat," he drawls, closing in on her with a dropped
chin. "Just a peek? Please?"
Dancing away, Sayuri lifts a brow... "And what would
I get in return, Tomi-chan? There's got
to be an equal exchange to make it fair... so what would you give me for a peek
into my lurid past?" She pauses a
moment as something clicks and frowns.
"I am not a brat," she adds defensively, sticking out her
tongue and pulling down the lower lid of her eye.
Chase smirks once more. "I'm pretty sure there is a
picture of me floating around in a certain schoolgirl uniform, so I think this
more than makes up for it, hrm?" Look at him. Standing all sedate and
negligent and amused and... Shazam! In the next blink, he is lunging forward to
try to grab that folder from her grip.
Sayuri can't help the squeak of shock as she's caught
off-guard. She makes an attempt to move
the folder out of the seishi's reach, but she's a fraction of a second too
slow. "Tomi-chan," she wails
as his hand makes contact with the folder, "You really don't want to see
this." She sounds almost panicked
by the prospect of the seishi learning her dark and dirty secrets all of the
sudden. "I... I don't think I could
bear it if you didn't like me anymore," she admits with a little hiccup as
her big, doe eyes begin to tear up.
Chase cries out in triumph as he snag it, beaming rather
mightily. He moves to flip it open, only to blink and peer at her. Oh crap, not
that... He frowns, and then glances away in annoyance as if to try to avoid
that look. She truly is evil. "I think we are past that now," he
huffs rather patheticly.
"Past that now," Sayuri repeats with a hitch in
her voice, the question obvious. What
does Chase mean by that. "You-you
already hate me," she determines, her voice trembling as her tongue
stumbles over the words. Suddenly the
tears aren't so fake anymore and she makes a grab for the folder, her face pale
as she realizes that her gamble might just not pay off the way that she thought
it would.
Chase sighs heavily, looking back to her with more of a
frown. "Dammit, Sayu, I don't hate you. It is just..." He hesitates,
not that sure on how to proceed. "I don't hate you. Okay?" He does
give in though, willingly relinquishing the folder over. But, you know how
things are, especially when the folder tends to get caught on the sweatshirt he
hasn't put on yet, 'causing it to open up and pictures to spill out.
Sayuri gasps as the pictures tumble to the ground. They seem to be falling in achingly slow
motion, flipping end over end. They're
not revealing pictures of sordid deeds that she supposedly did while separated
from the Genbu. Instead, they're
pictures of them together in happier times.
There's even a shot of the seishi in her school fuku, embarrassed and
looking far too cute for words. Falling
to her knees to pick up the glossy 8x10 photographs, she lets her loose hair
fall forward, hiding her features as she starts to slowly gather up her
memories of their relationship.
"Please don't say anything," she pleads softly, her voice
breaking slightly. "I don't think I
could handle your rejection... not right now... I don't know why I thought that
these would make a difference... why I thought that... nevermind," she
cuts herself short, shaking her head as she hugs the pictures close to her
chest. "Please leave me a little
pride," she begs on a whisper, unable to look at the Genbu.
Chase's eyes are immediately drawn down to the pictures
as they fall open, looking a little confused at what they are. "Are you
sure that those are..." He frowns though, in even more confusion. "I
don't understand." He looks down at her, swallows, and then falls back so
that he is sitting on the bed. "Sayuri, I don't understand this. What is
going on? We're you mistaken? Why did you...?"
"Because I still love you," Sayuri admits
hoarsely. "I knew that you... I
knew that you didn't really feel the same, deep down. I tried to forget you, tried to move on, but
things never felt right. Because
something important was missing in my life... you," she adds, looking up
at the seishi before looking away again.
"But I... I didn't know how to tell you. So I thought that I'd show you... I know you
like danger, and you can't say no to a girl in trouble, even if you don't like
her anymore... so I paid a private investigator to help me... I wanted you to
remember what it was like, the adrenaline rush that we used to give each other. I-I wanted you to miss me too." She pauses before shaking her head and
admitting on a heartbroken whisper, "But I was wrong, because I thought
that you would still care for me. But
you... I... I'm sorry, Tomi-chan. I
understand now and I... I won't bother you anymore."
Chase simply stares at her now, not really sure what to
think. He closes his eyes, dropping his head down. "So, you're saying this
was all some kind of joke? A hoax?" He frowns, glancing back up to look
through the fringe of his hair at her. "Oh damn, Sayuri... I mean, what
the hell...? All of this shit, just because..." Yep, seems pretty unable
to form a complete sentence. "Sayu, I just can't. I'm so damn tired of it.
Okay? I'm just... I can't do this anymore. You just, took a lot out of me. I can't
do it again. I'm so tired of trying to work so damn hard and just... no more,
okay?"
Sayuri visibly flinches at the seishi's words, each one
piercing her heart a little more until she's sure that it will never
recover. But instead of letting Chase
see how much he's hurt her, she puts on a brave face and finally looks up at
the Genbu. She forces an empty smile
that she's learned to use at an early age, one that's used for strangers she
meets on the street, polite yet distant.
"I understand," she repeats softly, rising with the pictures
still cradled close. "I'll show
myself out." Padding silently for
the door, she pauses, her hand on the knob as she adds, "Gomen nasai,
Tomi-chan... sayonara."
Chase was feeling a little guilty about saying all of
this stuff to her, but when he looks at the young woman and sees that face, he
suddenly gets rather angry. Well, not just a little, actually a lot.
"Goddamit, Sayuri! What in the hell more do you expect from me? Huh?! I've
bent over backwards to try to do things your way, and then you come to me with
some kind of story for the gods know what reason... and then you just..."
He sighs, throwing his arms up in the air. "I don't know what else to do,
okay? I give up. I fucking give up. I can't do this anymore. All of these songs
and dances that you seem to insist on, when I never quite know what the rules
are. Once more, I'm supposed to behave a certain way, and clearly this isn't
the one you wanted. I just can't do it anymore. I. Give. Up."
Sayuri flinches and starts out the door silently, but
then pauses, and turns around to face the seishi. "You want to know the reason? It's because I love you and I want to be with
you and I don't know how to anymore. And
it's my fault... because I'm the one who chose not to stay by your side when
you needed me most. And I know that we
can never go back to the way things were, and it kills me. I'm sorry, I'm sorry that I guilted you into
helping me, I'm sorry that I created this whole stupid idea... I never wanted
you to have to sing and dance for me.
This wasn't some joke to me, this wasn't some form of amusement where I
laughed at you to see how far you would go... this was... I was...
desperate." She walks into the room
again, just far enough to place the pictures on the dresser. "You give up? Then there's no hope, ne? I won't bother you anymore."
Chase drops his head into his hands, simply staying like
that for a long moment to try to sort himself out before yelling any more.
"I'm sorry I yelled at you, but, dammit, you made me so mad." He
drops his hand down, looking rather weary. "Why in the hell couldn't you
have just said something instead of... all of this. And this is exactly what I
mean, things like this which just... end up complicating things. It's all of
this extra stuff that confuses the hell out of me, and I really don't have it
in me any more to deal with." He sighs, watching her, "You make
things so difficult. And I really don't think I can survive you again, Sayu. I
really don't." He sighs and then flops back on the bed to stare at the
ceiling most pitifully.
Padding softly towards the bed, Sayuri reaches out to
touch Chase's head, to brush a stray strand of hair away in a gentle and
bittersweet gesture. "I don't know
why you think I'm strong, Tomi-chan," she admits softly. "I'm not, I'm not strong at all. I think I knew that we could never go back to
the way things were, and I just didn't want to admit it. Making things complicated meant that I didn't
really have to tell you how I feel... that I didn't have to open myself up to
true rejection." She gives the
seishi a wry grimace. "Knowing
someone that you love doesn't love you back hurts like hell. I don't like it, I don't like it at all. If this is how you felt, then I'm so sorry I
made you feel this way. Because it feels
like shit. It feels as if my heart is
shattering into a million pieces and yet I love you so much that even though I
want to run away, I'm standing here explaining myself to you and letting you
hurt me more. I'm an idiot," she
admits with a wondering shake of her head.
"A sad, hopeless idiot."
Chase turns his head to look at her. "Why can't you
be like this all the time? Why can't you just... forget the tough girl,
take-no-prisoners, kiss my ass facade and just be like this more often?"
He looks almost sad as well as he watches her. "I know you've had it rough
at times, it's just... I like this 'you' so much more. It's a hell of a lot
more simple, and much more..." He sighs, gathering himself together again.
"I don't mean to hurt you or anything. You just... made me so mad and
tired and aggravated and frustrated and..." *sigh* "If you are an
idiot, I'm probably an ass for doing this to you."
"Why not?
Because this hurts like hell.
Behind the facade, no one can touch me... no one can hurt me. No one but you, Tomi-chan. Somehow you slipped through and got to me
when I wasn't looking." Biting her
lower lip, Sayuri studies the seishi... "I don't know if I can
change," she admits on a trembling voice.
"I don't know if I can really be me... but if you're willing to be
patient, I can try." Is Chase
asking the spoilt princess to grow up and act like a responsible adult? Imagine that.
"If you'll still be my friend, Tomi-chan, I'll try."
Chase still looks weary, although he watches her
steadily. "I can't make any promises, okay? Friends, I can do. Anything
more than that, I know I can't give." He moves to sit up a little, looking
somewhat resolved as to the situation. "We can try that at least. And it
might just be for the best, thank you."