Merry-Go-Round Second Draft: Chapter Five

Chapter Five – Two

“Hey, Yukishi, where’s your house? I’ll walk you there.” Deshael said.

“Far.” Yukishi replied, quietly.

“Don’t worry! I’ll walk you home.”

“Why?”

“No reason. I’m bored, and thought that it wouldn’t be good for a lady to walk alone.” Deshael grinned.

“She can take of herself, you know.” Sieural said to his good friend. “Actually… she’d be better at protecting herself than you.”

“What does that mean?”

“Exactly what you think it means.”

“Yukishi, what rank—,”

“Fifth.”

“…” Deshael’s jaw dropped.

“See?”

“Wow. What the heck? That certainly came as a surprise.” Deshael grinned. “Someone as small and as cute as you—,”

Yukishi immediately blushed.

“Sorry. Came out on instinct.”

The small and cute girl shook her head, as if to mean, ‘I don’t mind.’

“Hah. Great job, Deshael.” Sieural laughed.

“Shut up, Sayu.”

Even Yukishi giggled some upon hearing that.

“I’ll kill you!” Sieural yelled, swinging his sword at Deshael.

Deshael blocked the sword, and said, grinning, “Haven’t we settled this today?”

Sieural sighed. “Whatever.”

“Either way, I’m sore. That fireball to the face hurt.” Deshael laughed.

“I seem to remember someone among us three that was hurt more.” Sieural shrugged.

“Oh! Sorry, Yukishi. That must have hurt too… especially since it got you in the back of the head.”

Yukishi nodded. “I’m okay.”

“I’ve been wondering, how did she manage to do that, anyway?” Deshael continued.

“No clue. She was complaining about how Ariana and Soriana were so much better than her, though. Guess that point’s invalid now.”

“Which reminds me. Yuki, do you have any siblings?” Deshael asked.

“Older brother.”

“Oh, yeah. Didn’t you mistake me for your older brother when we first met?”

Yukishi blushed and nodded.

“I’m guessing he looked like me?” Deshael asked.

“Identical.”

“Wow. Where is he?”

“Not here. Away.”

“So, you don’t know?” He continued to interrogate.

Yukishi shook her head.

“You don’t talk much, do you.” Sieural sighed.

“Hey, don’t be mean to Yukishi!”

Yukishi blushed. “It’s okay.”

“No, it’s not!” Deshael, said. “You should stand up for yourself. You really might get taken advantage of… Anyway, Sieural, you shut up.”

At that moment, they passed by Soriana’s house. Sieural sighed, and said, “Well, since it doesn’t seem like I’m wanted here, I’ll head in.”

“See ya tomorrow, Sayu.” Deshael laughed.

Sieural sighed. “Shut up, Deshael. Bye, Yukishi.”

Yukishi waved slightly, and continued walking.

“Anyway, really. Where do you live? I’ll walk you there.”

Yukishi shook her head. “No need.”

“Hey, enough of this ‘no need’ crap. I’ll walk you home, okay?”

Yukishi did not reply.

“Hey. Sorry.”

“For what reason?”

“Huh?”

“You have no reason to be sorry.”

Deshael scratched his head, perplexed. “Come to think of it, I don’t know. I just can’t get it through my head that you’re actually better at fighting than me. You’re so… well…”

Yukishi blushed again.

“Nowhere.”

“What?”

“I don’t live anywhere.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I don’t live anywhere.”

“Um… What do you mean by that?”

“I don’t live anywhere… but I live everywhere.”

“You’re like… God or something?”

Yukishi giggled.

“I really don’t get what you mean by ‘you live nowhere and everywhere’. Say it in a way that an idiot like me would get it.”

“I don’t have a home.”

“… Okay, I got it.”

Yukishi nodded.

“Doesn’t it bother you?”

“No.”

“I think you’re a good match for Sieural.”

“What does that mean?” Yukishi asked with a small scowl on her face.

“He’s the same way. He wouldn’t care if he had nowhere to live.”

“Oh.” Yukishi let out a small sigh.

“Anyway, why don’t you have a home?”

Yukishi did not reply.

“Oh, sorry. That probably seemed… really… ineffectual.”

Yukishi shook her head.

“My brother provided for me. I had nowhere to live after he left.”

“What kind of brother would do that to his younger sister? What the heck is that?” Deshael frowned.

“Don’t say that…”

“Oh, sorry. But, still. What reason would there be for him to leave you?”

Yukishi shook her head.

“Well, then, I’ve decided.”

“Yes?”

“You’ll be my younger sister.”

Yukishi did not reply.

“Come on, say something.”

“I… can’t.”

“Like hell. Of course you can. It’s a favor from me.” Deshael grinned.

“But…”

“You’ll be my younger sister. Okay?”

“I…” Yukishi blushed.

“No complaining!” Deshael exclaimed, picking up her new younger sister and carrying her like a princess.

He continued along the dirt path toward his house, not noticing Yukishi’s extreme embarrassment.

“Deshael?” Yukishi asked, blushing furiously.

“Yeah, little sister?”

“I am 16… Even if I am your little sister, this is rather inappropriate.”

“Oh.”

Deshael immediately put Yukishi down.

“Sorry.”

“It’s okay.”

“I’ve always wanted a cute little sister. One that would cling to my arm… like, when she was scared, or something.”

Yukishi blushed, unable to reply.

“I’m really getting into my fantasies here, aren’t I.”

The sky-blue haired girl nodded.

“Sorry about that. But, hey, I feel pretty good now. I finally have a little sister!”

As they continued toward Deshael’s house, Yukishi then grabbed Deshael’s arm.

“It’s okay, Yuki. If you don’t want to, you don’t have to force yourself to fulfill my fantasy.”

Yukishi shook her head, blushing.

In response, Deshael grinned. “Thanks, Yuki.”

“I should thank you… I will be living with you, after all.”

“There’s only one problem. We don’t have an open room… or an open bed for that matter. We’ll have to share a bed.” Deshael laughed.

“…” Yukishi immediately let go of Deshael’s arm.

“I’m joking. I wouldn’t even think of that. Like you said, you are an adult, after all. There’s an empty room.”

“Bed?”

“I’ll have to think of something.” Deshael shrugged.

“I see.”

The two new siblings reached their house.

“Hey, mom! You have a new daughter!” Deshael yelled as soon as they entered.

“You proposed to somebody?!!!” a woman, apparently Deshael’s mother, exclaimed.

“No way!” Deshael replied to his mom.

As the woman walked to the two, Yukishi bowed.

“I’m sorry for being a burden.”

Deshael relayed the story of Yukishi to his mother, who understood immediately.

“Oh, you poor child. That is perfectly fine if you stay here with us. We’ll take care of you!”

“So, it’s fine! We have an empty room!” Deshael smiled brightly. “Here, I’ll show you to your new room.”

He walked through the room that they had first entered the house from, and continued to a small hallway with three rooms.

Walking into one of the doors, he said, “Here.”

The room already had furnishings, including a bed and a desk. A few clothes laid on the ground.

“This is someone’s room… there are clothes here.” Yukishi replied.

“I know. It’s mine. There’s a bed here. You can have this room, since the bed is too heavy to move.”

“But…”

“Don’t worry. You haven’t had a bed to sleep in for a while, am I right?”

Yukishi simply nodded.

“So, you need the bed more than I do.” Deshael grinned.

“I can’t do that to you.” Yukishi said, frowning.

“Yes, you can. I’ll be fine!”

“Now, you’re being like Sieural too.” Yukishi smiled.

“You manipulative…” Deshael grinned. “Fine. What do you want to do? I’m not letting you sleep on the ground.”

Yukishi blushed.

“Well, this is your fault after all.” Deshael exclaimed, anticipating Yukishi’s thoughts.

When Yukishi still did not reply, he continued, “Well? What do we do?”

“I’ll…”

“Yeah?” Deshael asked, curious to hear her answer.

“We’ll share beds.” Yukishi answered, still blushing, but without a significant change to her expression.

“… Only you could say that with a face like that.” Deshael laughed.

Yukishi’s face changed from a content half-smile to a confused scowl.

“Really, now. Is that your decision?”

Yukishi simply nodded.

“… I’m an adult too, you know. I might not be able to control myself if I slept in the same bed as you.” Deshael laughed.

As if she did not understand, Yukishi nodded.

“You’re weird, you know?”

Again, Yukishi nodded.

“At least you know.” Deshael shrugged. “You take the bed. I’ll sleep on the floor in the other room.”

“No… That…” Yukishi replied, grabbing Deshael’s arm as he turned to leave.”

“Sheesh. Come on. I said already that I wouldn’t sleep on the same bed as you.”

“But…”

“It’s fine. Now let go.” Deshael said, pulling his hand toward him.

Yukishi, sitting on the bed, refused to let go, and as a result, got pulled to the ground. She fell into the back of Deshael’s leg, causing him to fall forward onto the dark wooden floor.

“Ow.” Deshael said, lying face first.

“Sorry.” Yukishi replied, who ended up sitting on Deshael’s back.

“Ya wanna get off?”

“No.” Yukishi said, as if she meant it.

“Hey, I said, get off!” Deshael said playfully, attempting to stand with Yukishi still sitting on his back.

Deshael managed to get to his knees, at which point, Yukishi fell off, and landed hard on the wooden floor.

“Eh, you okay?” Deshael asked, jumping to his feet.

Yukishi nodded, and sat up.

“Hey, get up. We’ll decide this at dinner. At the moment, I’m starving. That fight with Sieural sure took a heck of a lot out of me.”

Yukishi shook her head.

“Hm? What’s wrong?”

Yukishi pointed to her foot, wincing in pain. It was quite a shade redder than the rest of her fair skin.

“Your foot hurts? I thought you said you were fine.”

“It wasn’t a direct result of falling.”

“Then when?”

“Shiriana.”

“Oh. You seemed fine until now.”

“Just aggravated it.”

“Sorry… I didn’t notice it. Do you think it’s serious?”

She shook her head slightly. “Not severe.”

“Can you walk?”

“Maybe.”

“Maybe? So, you don’t know?”

Yukishi, with her same normal quietness, answered “No.”

Just then, a white-haired girl walked up from behind, and said, “How long have you been her translator?”

“What do you want?” Deshael scowled.

“Is that really the way to talk to your honorable older sister?”

“I don’t care. What do you want?”

“Dinner’s ready.” The girl said, leaving her younger brother’s room.

“Sheesh, talk about unpleasant.” She continued, walking down the hall.

“Forget her, Yuki. She bothers me to no damn end. I swear, I’d be better off without her.” Deshael said, sighing.

“I…” Yukishi began, but stopped.

Deshael seemed to be able to know what she was thinking.

“Oh, I forgot. Sorry… You really adore your brother, don’t you.”

Yukishi nodded.

“Anyway, since dinner is ready… let’s go eat.” Deshael said, grinning.

He lifted Yukishi and her injured foot off the ground, and said, “So, you don’t mind if I carry you to the table?”

Yukishi blushed, but shook her head.

Deshael nodded, and placed the petite girl onto his back.

“I’ve always wanted to ask, but… why exactly are you so quiet?” Deshael questioned, with a puzzled look on his face. “I mean… If I had to guess, I’d say you were a pretty nice person.”

Yukishi immediately blushed at that statement.

“So, it wouldn’t be hard for you to get along with Sieural, Soriana, and Oaklyn…”

Yukishi did not answer, but with an apprehensive look on her face, shook her head.

“Can’t you just try? I…” Deshael sighed. “Never mind. If you have problems with it, then I guess I shouldn’t butt in. I’m just such a talkative person… as you can see.”

Deshael walked to the dinner table, and set Yukishi at her seat. This action was met with mischievous eyes from his older sister, Kaeshiel.

“Before you say anything, she hurt her foot. I don’t want it to get worse.” Deshael growled at his older sister.

“Since when were you that considerate? Why does that girl get special treatment?”

“You shut it, Kashie.” Deshael yelled.

As the two siblings argued, Deshael’s mother walked to Yukishi and asked, “May I take a look at it?”

Yukishi nodded, and Deshael’s mother lifted her foot and examined it.

Meanwhile, the two siblings continued fighting.

“Anyway, the only time you show compassion to people is when you like them! I mean, it was the same as when you still liked Oaklyn—,”

“What the hell, Kashie! That was years ago!”

“What about Hoshii? Same then.”

“That was still—,”

“Lana?”

“…”

“Florenza?”

“Just shut up!” Deshael yelled.

“I’m sorry you’re such a FAILURE at getting girls! It’s probably because-,”

“Anyway, what about you? It’s not like you have a boyfriend.”

“… I just hope you don’t add this innocent looking girl to your list.” Kaeshiel laughed.

“You…” Deshael stood up, fist hitting the table, causing a cup to top over.

“Yeah, Dashy?” Kaeshiel also stood up. Her hip hit the table, causing another cup to tip over.

“Both of you… Quiet!” Their mother yelled, double-casting a fireball that collided with Kaeshiel and Deshael. “I’m examining Yukishi’s foot, here. So quiet down.”

Yukishi giggled quietly.

“Sorry, miss…”

“It’s Yukishi.” Deshael said, lying face first on the floor.

“I was asking her, Deshael.”

“She doesn’t talk much.”

“Not when you don’t let her, idiot.” Kaeshiel growled.

Yukishi then nodded, and said, quietly, “I’m Yukishi… Nice to meet you. Deshael is right… I don’t talk much… I can’t help it… I’m sorry…”

Deshael, rising to his feet, laughed, and said, “That’s the longest sentence I’ve heard you say.”