Bittersweet Forever • View topic

Yue · **Joined:** Fri Oct 02, 2009 3:33 pm **Posts:** 227

Rin smiled in delight as she headed on over back to the Palace. She promised Yan-sensei that she'd be helping out with the dinner and everything... except maybe the fireworks.

Sure, they were pretty up in the sky, looking like elegant splashes of colors in the sky. Rin wasn't very good with the color wheel, she just basically threw stuff together without knowing if they blended nicely or not--which was why she appreciated the fireworks.

But down on the ground, fireworks were weapons of death.

And involuntary shudder ran through her and she rubbed her arms, pouting a little and taking slower steps towards the Palace. She had ever touched a sparkler in her entire life so far... Well, except maybe that one time back when they were younger...

It was during one of those festivals back home in Japan, around a year or so before he left. Shin had been trying to convince her to take the pretty sparkler, and she downright refused, shaking her head indignantly and stamping her foot. She wanted to punch Shin but couldn't, because he was holding the sparkler in both hands.

Distraught and depressed, Shin had called for Jin to help out. Rin hadn't agreed to do so immediately, as was per usual when Jin asked her to try stuff out. But he took his time, coaxing her with his gentle, soothing voice, while gripping her firmly--but gently--by the wrist.

Slowly, reluctantly, she began to give in, and Jin placed the pretty sparkler in her hand. Rin had her arm outstretched--to the furthest point from her body as possible. Jin hovered behind her, holding her amr steady, while his other hand held her close. Shin had taken a picture.

Rin reddened slightly, smiling a bit as she took a shortcut that led immediately to the kitchen, grinning wider as she detected Jin's scent. That, and Shin's, too.

And Fan's?

They were talking in hushed tones...

Two black eyebrows scrunched together in confusion as she steadily made her way towards the bend, her boots making no noise against the cobbled pavement. A deep, ominous feeling rose in her chest, and she suddenly found her heartbeat speed up.

Noiselessly, she leaned against the wall, clutching her hand to her chest.

"No, don't tell me how it happened." Came Shin's voice. He sounded... angry. He never sounded angry.

"It's none of our faults." Fan hissed now, and Rin could practically see her glaring at Shin. "I may not be Rin's best friend... well, I used to be, but..." A sigh. "I didn't know, Shin..." she almost pleaded. "And it's not like I did this on purpose!" she said angrily, regaining a little of her old bitchiness.

"Tell me, don't you think she would've agreed I've done the right thing? I saved Jin's life!" she whispered frantically. "Do you think I would give him my blood if I knew hers was available? If taking her blood wouldn't cause her to die?"

"Shin," Jin's voice floated quietly, and Rin felt her breath catch. "What has happened has happened. None of us wanted it to be this way." his voice was heavy, like he was tired of talking... like he wanted to drop the subject.

"Imprints happen." he said flatly. "Rin will understand."

"Understanding something," Shin said quietly, his voice dripping with frustration "Doesn't make the situation less painful." His voice was tight. He knew Rin's feelings for Jin better than anyone else, because they were emotionally attached. Every skip of her heartbeat, every feeling of dread, he knew it all.

"If anything, it makes it all the more painful," he continued. "Because she understands, she knows she cannot get angry. She has no right to, doesn't she? There is no way for her to vent out properly."

Silence.

"She was going to confess to you tonight."

Rin stood still in the forest, her hand resting on a tree trunk, trying to catch her breath. She had been running, it seemed, although she didn't realize it until she felt that she couldn't breathe properly.

She couldn't recall passing through the throng of people at the streets--had she taken another short cut? She closed her eyes, trying to remember, but all that she could was the conversation she had eavesdropped on earlier.

How long had Jin imprinted on Fan? Had she not been able to eavesdrop, when would she have been able to know about it? Was he even planning to tell her to begin with?

A sigh escaped her lips and she leaned her head back tiredly on the tree trunk, her arms clinging to the tree behind her in a backward hug of sorts. In a way it soothed her, at least she knew she wasn't alone. She never liked being alone. In fact, she was so freaking scared of being alone. She just dealt with it, because, honestly, what else could she do? Nobody wanted to be with her.

Nobody would stay.

She looked up just as the first few fireworks exploded in the sky, and she watched them idly. In a way, they were pretty similar to whatever it was she and Jin...had.

Fireworks were beautiful, and magical, and so wonderfully exciting when you watched them. Then in the blink of an eye, they would die out, get burnt out. They lasted two seconds. Then, the only way you could see them again would be in your memory. Or if you bought another set of fireworks. But then it would never be the same, wouldn't it? Because it would be a different firework.

Rin turned around and faced the tree, before wrapping her arms around the trunk the best she could, rubbing her cheek against the rough bark. She felt stupid, and knew that if she could just look at herself, she would laugh and feel a little better for looking so ridiculous. But right now, she didn't mind being ridiculous. After what happened, after finding out that her little confession tonight wasn't going to do anything after all, 'ridiculous' was actually a very fitting adjective for her right now.

"It hurts, tree..." she mumbled finally, pressing her lips tight. "It hurts a lot."

The wind blew and a couple of leaves fell down, brushing softly against her petite frame as if hugging back, and she managed to smile.

"Thanks, tree..." she whispered, watching the last of the fireworks die down.