A Firefly's Glow

Chapter Fourteen: Part One

“Are you alright, Hanabusa-sama?”

Megane inched his head in between the double doors that were cracked open ajar. A small ray of the hallway’s fluorescents entered the room. Their orange glow formed a thin line on the spotless carpet of the room.

Besides the fluorescent’s small, thin array of light, the room was completely dark. The curtains were sprawled over the windows. Inside the room, nothing dared to stir. All Megane saw was a shadow that sat upon the edges of the large bed several feet away from the door.

When nothing responded to Megane’s question, Megane nervously whispered, “Hanabusa-sama, are you awake?”

“I’m sleeping,” a low, mellow voice responded.

Megane shifted in place. He was aware that Keitaru Hanabusa wasn’t sleeping. It wasn’t normal for someone to fall asleep while sitting up.

It also wasn’t normal for a sleeping person to respond to a question.

“Sir, I would like to know what happened at dinner tonight.”

After a short moment of silence, the boy’s voice answered Megane with an expression that Megane could not read.

“A glass of water spilt on me and it got me wet.”

“So, you did not leak in your pants, sir?”

Keitaru, sitting as still as he could, narrowed his eyes. “No.” he sharply replied.

“Sir, some of the maids and chauffeurs were saying Hotaru-sama tilted the glass over. Is this true?”

Keitaru paused. He wasn’t paying attention to that girl’s actions. What he was paying attention to was the situation they were speaking of.

He was close to thanking the girl for her actions, and as emotionless as he present himself to be, thanking that girl for what she did was fairly difficult.

There was something about that girl that made him feel nauseous, and he tried his best to conceal it. It seemed that so far, he was doing a very good job of hiding his expressions.

He knew exactly why that girl made him nauseous. She was a reminder of something to him.

But he refused to mention it. He refused to even think about it. But, the fact that this girl was living in the exact same house as he was living in made this fact harder to forget.

He admitted that he had not seen what the girl was doing while he was pondering about what to say that moment. But this was only spilt water. He didn’t find it worth fussing over.

He murmured in a cool, calm voice.

“I don’t know.”

Megane tilted his head in concern. Placing his hands together, he formally pronounced, “Sir, I know Hotaru-sama has only been in this house for less than a week, but I am assured that she would never do such a thing.”

Keitaru turned his head towards the double doors that were slightly opened. He saw Megane’s silhouette though the crack of the door and his expressionless face returned.

“She’s a lot like her, isn’t she?” Keitaru murmured in such a faint whisper that his mouth hardly moved as he spoke. But Megane heard what he murmured, and he knew what he was speaking of.

Megane sympathetically nodded. “Yes, she reminds me of her as well. But you’re not going to feel the same way about Hotaru-sama because Hotaru-sama is a reminder of her?”

This question was simple for Keitaru to answer to, and he was determined to keep this statement true.

“Of course not.”

Megane nodded in understanding. “I understand, sir.”

Keitaru turned away from the door and focused his gaze on the small alarm clock that sat upon his desk. He read the small, red numbers and he recognized the clock’s statement that it was far too late at night for anyone to still be awake.

Or at least anyone that wished and planned to wake up on time for school the next morning.

“It’s becoming late,” Keitaru calmly informed. “I’m going to sleep. It would be highly awkward to have someone watching me.”

“R-Right, Hanabusa-sama,” Megane nervously twitched in attention. “Good night, sir.”

And within the next second, Megane briefly closed the doors together. Keitaru confirmed with the doors’ slight click and the vanished light that he was once again alone.

He closed his eyes in thought. He planned that this issue would probably be solved tomorrow. This was just water, after all. It was no big deal. (Except for the fact that Megane had mistaken this accident as a “leak in pants” accident.)

He thought about what he had promised just seconds ago. He was sure that he was going to keep his word.

He was never going to fall for that girl.