Another Place to Rest [Sharaku]

"Well, no one's forcing you, hehe." Mae chuckled cheerfully. Whatever it was... it should be fun to see. Maybe Sharaku was secretly a marathon runner? Or maybe he played basket ball or something? His height could be pretty useful there... But on the other hand, did he didn't exactly strike Mae as a sports guy. "Hehe, I guess so... I can deal with Hyde pretty well. I've grown up with Ayane, so I guess I know how to deal with those sort of people... or maybe I've just grown used to it, I dunno... Although, he did sort of rub me the wrong way a couple of weeks ago... He acted somewhat inappropriately, and I ended up slapping him out of pure reflex. He was just teasing me a little bit, but back then, I didn't know he was prone to that sort of stuff. I thought he was actually serious." Mae smiled sheepishly. She still felt bad for slapping Hyde right across the cheek like that, but what's past is past. At least they moved on from that slight mishap pretty well.

"Yeah... Didn't we talk about this earlier? Like, how teens are more prone to awakening than adults?" If she recalled correctly, they did indeed talk about this at the radio tower sometime around march-april... It was a while back, and Mae had just awoken to her powers... Luckily, no strange kidnappings had happened as of late. Hopefully no new names would pop up on the list anytime soon... That would be dreadful. "Oh, sorry... I guess I just dropped that out of the blue huh? Am I getting ahead of myself?" Mae smiled at him apologetically. He seemed to be rather... confused. Which was rather cute in it's own way, but she didn't want to make him feel uncomfortable about things either...

"Oh? How so? Purple Wallpapers?" She'd guess with a light chuckle. She didn't exactly mind purple as a color in and of itself. With the right shade and complementary colors, it could be quite pleasant to look at. And if his entire apartment was colored purple, Mae wouldn't mind it. Sure, it did sound a little strange, but she could live with it. After all, it was better than what the refugee center was like with the bleach white walls everywhere. Seriously, it was boring to look at. "Reading, huh? I take it you've been to the big library in San Malarus then? I haven't been there myself yet, but I'm probably going to need to go there eventually once school kicks in again... if it ever does recover..." Mae shrugged lightly. Sharaku did seem like someone who would enjoy a nice book every now and again... "You've ever listened to Audio books before? Sorry if it's sort of random..." Indeed, it was rather random to ask that so suddenly, but it did have at least some connection to the subject at hand... "Ah I see..." Hm... No hobbies, eh? Maybe he just hadn't found his thing yet. With him moving around so much in his past, getting a steady hobby to do on your spare time... wasn't exactly a thing you did when you were on the run.

"Perhaps. I guess you have a bit more experience with him than what I do..." Those two had known eachother for quite some time now, if Mae remembered correctly. "How are you two getting along? Is he still the same as usual?" Hopefully they got along better now... but Mae wouldn't bet on it. Hyde was stubborn... He wouldn't change that quickly. Not necessarily saying that a quick change is healthy for anyone. Gradual change was better both in regards to the person, and the people around him or her... "He... didn't say anything that offended you, did he?" Mae asked carefully, with concerned expression on her face... This was sensitive stuff. Hopefully he wouldn't get mad at her for asking...

"It's just what?" Mae asked curiously. If he didn't want to tell her, then that was fine, she did respect his privacy... But it was almost as if he wanted to tell her something... But he stopped himself. Why? Mae would carefully hold his hand, in a reasurring way. No matter what it was he had on his mind... Was related to her... somehow, directly or indirectly.

"Hehe, alright. I won't have any problems with it." She wasn't lying either. Purple was a color she could definetely live with. Had it been something like... Neon green or something, then yeah, without a good complementary color, that would become an eye-sore quickly. "Hehe, alright. I can't really read for long periods of time either... But for the opposite reason. Instead of me getting distracted, I get tired and fall asleep..." Maybe that was an endearing character trait of hers? Well, of course there were exceptions. If the book was really good, she could stay up, reading it for hours and hours on end. Sometimes a book really grabs hold of you... "Ah. I suppose so... I'm one of those who can listen to an audiobook and do work at the same time... As long as the work doesn't involve writing in any way... Because if it does, I'll just end up writing what the narrator is reading, Hehehe..." Mae smiled sheepishly. That had happened on multiple occasions for her. Not so much lately, due to the fact that she kind of avoided listening to an audio book while writing like the plague...

"Oh? Great!" Mae smiled warmly at Sharaku. She was almost there now. Her new home... again. Let's hope she can stay here for a while, no? "Thanks again for letting me stay at your place, Sharaku..."

"I suppose so... I hope you two can work it out somehow..." Mae said with a light smile. Honestly, she really wanted them to work things out... But if they couldn't, well, there wasn't much she could do about that, now was there? Mae wasn't one to butt into people's buissness without a good reason to do so... "Alright. That's fine if you don't wanna talk about it. I understand." She smiled at him, trying to cheer him up a little bit. After this, she wouldn't bring up Hyde again... She realised talking to Sharaku about Hyde only ended up hurting him, and she did not want that...

"If you say so..." Mae looked up at him with a worried expression. Her grip around his hand tightened somewhat, as if she was afraid he was going to run away from her or something... After what happened with Charles... She couldn't take that risk, no matter what happened... "Just know that if it is indeed something that's bothering you, I'm willing to listen... I care about you... a lot, Sharaku..." Mae said with a sheepish smile on her face, cheeks turning somewhat pink, but not too noticable, unless he really took a good look at her.

"Well, depends on what I'm sitting in or on. I used to spend a long time reading on my trips to my grand parents. Takes a good 6 hours by car almost, so you have to keep yourself occupied. I suppose if I was tired enough, I could fall asleep just about anywhere..." Mae chuckled somewhat awkwardly at that last statement of hers. She had fallen asleep on the floor once back at the dorms... When she came home from awakening to Qilin... She had just collapsed on the floor after closing the door to her room... Not the best place to sleep, but it wasn't like she could do much about it at the time. Oh Joy...

"Hehe, I guess. Everyone's different after all." Her multitasking skills were okay, but writing as she was listening to someone talking made her automatically write down what was being said... A useful skill in school, but everywhere else... ugh... Mae only managed to smile warmly at him. She wanted to do more... but it just didn't feel right at the moment... Perhaps at a better time... "Teehee... Thanks." Mae said, blushing lightly as she walked in. "Oooh, so this is where you live? Nice. I'm gonna feel just like home here." Mae said, taking off her shoes. She would then pull in her Trunk, waiting for Sharaku to come in and close the door. "So, mind giving me the tour around? Hehe."

"You sure...?" Mae looked at him with a raised eyebrow. She could feel something was bothering him about all this with Hyde... Not that it personally affected her in any way, but she couldn't help but worry a bit... After all, she knew them both, so how could she not be worried? "I just want the best for the both of you, that's all..." Perhaps she was sticking her nose somewhere it didn't belong, but as long as Sharaku was happy in the end, that's all that mattered to her in the end anyway...

"I know I shouldn't worry... But..." Mae fell silent for a moment, trying to find the best way to formulate her next set of words... "I care about you... I can't just shrug this off as simply nothing... Not as a girlfriend... Your girlfriend." She would eventually let go of the subject though. She would find out eventually, no? And she did still respect his decision of keeping it a secret. "Well, I can't exactly keep being with him like nothing happened... Not when I have you. So I'm going to have to confront him... I just wish I didn't need to..." Mae looked at him, looking for once quite vulnerable, her normally confident and happy exterior was completely gone.


She really looked troubled about all this. Despite the fact that she knew that Sharaku would come with her, a part of her was still scared... At it was showing itself clearly now. Only Ayane had seen this side of Mae before.

"It's a blessing and a curse... Useful when you want it to be, but sometimes it's a big liability when you actually wanna get some reading done." Mae chuckled cheerfully. Indeed, it was a little bit of both in Mae's case.

"Hehe, and leave you alone for anyone else? Not a chance!" Mae would say jokingly. But in all seriousness, why would she leave him over something trivial like that? Besides, anything was better than sleeping on the pavement. In a way, Sharaku's home was the best place Mae could've ended up in. "I guess I should start packing up my things. After that... I dunno." Well, there was probably something they could do... Unless Sharaku had plans, of course...

There was a bit of hesitation in Sharaku's voice... It was almost as if he didn't want Mae to get involved in whatever mess he and Hyde was in... "Alright... If you say so." Mae would answer with a thin smile. He was just looking out for her... Like a boyfriend should. He didn't want her do end up getting hurt over something that was originally between Hyde and himself, and Mae respected that. Hopefully she didn't end up getting involved in that, unless she had to...

And that's when it hit her... He LIKED her... a lot, from what it would seem... She looked at him with a tender smile. "Sharaku..." She would start, having trouble to find the right words... "I'll try to stop worrying so much... For your sake..." It wasn't going to be easy, but she could probably manage it... Hopefully. As soon as Sharaku finished talking, without a word or warning... She embraced him tightly, remaining silent. She was at a loss for words, really. "I'll try..." The girl eventually said, her voice being somewhat muffled. What happened next was up to Sharaku. He didn't need to do much in paticular. If he chose to do nothing, Mae would eventually move away from him... What he did on his end shouldn't matter much, unless he pushed her away...

"Hehe, I suppose that's one way of looking at it." Mae said with a light chuckle. Although, sleeping with a book on your face wasn't exactly the best thing either. But it would have to do. You reap what you sow, no? "Yes. Yes you are." Mae replied, pouting slightly. She wasn't completely serious, but at the same time... what if that other guy showed up? Mae wasn't prepared to deal with Jealous Exes just yet... Sheesh. "I guess I'll just take some time for myself... I need to get accustomed to all this... Today has been a rather... stressful day. You can do what you want. As long as you're not out there getting yourself into trouble." She would say with a tired laugh. Looking at her now, Sharaku could clearly see that her day had taken a big toll on her. She wasn't the usual bright, cheery girl he used to know. The Mae in front of him look tired and frail... But her bright smile remained. What a day... What. A. Day...

Sharaku could feel Mae was starting to relax a bit as he embraced her back... This was... nice... "Sharaku... I..." He probably had no idea what kind of effect this would have on her... but he couldn't have done anything better. Mae felt at peace in his warm embrace. All of her worries seemed to wash away as if they had never been there to begin with. "Thanks... It really means a lot to me, you know..." What else was there to say...? He could've done nothing, and yet...

"Hehe, you're not for sale, honey." Mae chuckled. What kind of question was that? Regardless, the two were at least having a good time, and that's what counted. "I'll be waiting for you then." Mae said with a wide smile as the door closed behind him. She would then drag her trunk over to the living room, and started the long process of unpacking... After finishing, she was so tired after today's ordeals that she fell asleep right there, on the couch, still wearing her clothes... Hopefully that was okay. Right now, she needed sleep.

Another 3 rank ups, so 4 points go ~

Mae:

Sharaku: