No Words Needed

Chapter Two: Shocking Revelations

Author's Note

Huh. I finished this at ten-forty at night, the night of the same day I finished the first chapter.

Oh, and GOD DAMN IT! I wanted a lighthearted story, and my muse forced me to kick up the drama without even realizing it until I was done with the chapter! What the hell, muse?!

Well, that's what I get for letting the story write itself out. I strayed a bit from my original plan, and I developed an entirely different plotline, which sort of kept the core ideas for the story, but gave them a sad, dramatic undertone. At the very least, however, I was able to flesh out the events of each chapter up until the end. Thus, I can now say with confidence that, including the epilogue, this story will end with six chapters.

Well, that's enough of my rambling. See y'all at the bottom!

Once the initial shock and embarrassment faded, all that was left for me to feel was a slight anger. I briskly walked over to her, pulling on her ear again.

"You can't wear that, it's not clean!" I scolded, releasing my hold on her ear after a few moments. She folded her arms over her chest defensively, looking like she would fight to the death just to keep it on. "Seriously, you can't wear that."

Then came the pleading look. Despite the fact that she was a neko girl, she had perfected the 'puppy dog eyes' attack with such effectiveness that it left me completely powerless to say no to her in the end. Still, I fought a valiant battle, trying my very hardest to keep my resolve strong.

I could already feel my determination fading fast, and it was only a few more seconds before I found myself caving. "All right, you win. You can wear it," I conceded her victory, before quickly adding, "But if you get sick because of it, it'll be your fault, not mine."

Even though the main house would probably blame me anyway… I sullenly admitted in my head.

The look of pure delight that immediately took its hold on her features made losing the battle feel less disheartening. She lunged at me, embracing me so fiercely that I almost fell to the ground. I kept my balance nonetheless, returning the hug in earnest.

Such is the average morning for me in the Kirigaya family compound.

I silently watched Kimiko lay in the inner garden of her personal residence within the compound, fast asleep with a relaxed smile on her face. A number of fluffy wild animals native to the garden were curled up next to her, attracted to her loving and carefree personality even as she slept. I wonder what she's dreaming about, I pondered, closing my own eyes for a moment to think of some possibilities.

I heard the sound of footsteps traversing the wooden deck, and I opened my eyes just in time to see a pinkette dressed in a French maid outfit sit down next to me. Her uniform was in no way enforced by the main house; the maids and personal attendants could wear whatever they pleased due to the lax nature of the majority of the Kirigaya family. Which is exactly why it was odd for this girl to be wearing an actual maid outfit, and a foreign one at that.

"Hey there," she said laxly, flashing me a peace sign. Despite her formal attire, she had quite the relaxed and carefree personality. Sometimes, she seemed an awful like a hippie to me. "I see you're staring at the mistress again. What kind of perverted thoughts did I interrupt?"

Her head gained a bruise in no time at all due to my automatic reflex. However, I didn't bother with a flustered denial of her playful accusation; I had long-since learned that such a reaction would only get her more fired up. "Just wondering what she was dreaming about. She looks so peaceful."

"Yeah, she has the amazing ability to be at peace and happy in any situation, doesn't she?" there was something peculiar in the pinkette's voice, a tone that she very seldom used. It took me a second to identify it, and when I did, I immediately turned to her to search her face for confirmation.

"Rika…" I whispered, looking on with awe as I saw a rare look of longing on her face. "You…"

When she noticed me staring, she quickly changed her expression to yet another one I rarely saw on her: one of nervousness. "I-it's nothing…" she denied, waving her hands in front of her face frantically.

"Do you…" I trailed off, unable to finish my sentence for fear of her answer. "As well?"

She looked down, her face sporting a third rare look for her. She looked a bit sad, making me myself feel a little bad. When she looked back up, she had a forced smile on. "Don't worry!" she assured me, though I didn't know what of. "I won't steal her from you."

So she does, then… "It's not like she's mine, you know," I countered weakly. "Besides, you've known her way longer than I have. You have a better shot than I do."

She put on a look of mild agitation, making me shiver. I knew that she could be quite frightening when mad. "It's true that I've known her since we were real little," she acknowledged, before giving me a reassuring smile. "But you know what? That has nothing to do with it. In the span of a year and a half, she's become more attached to you than her own family. She's practically attached to you at the hip!"

After a moment of two, I smiled in turn, pulling the pinkette next to me in for a hug. "Thanks, Rika. I mean it."

"You kidding me?" she said cheerily from within my embrace. "This house was falling apart before you got here! After the mistress's mother died, the whole family was in shambles, and Kimiko-sama was as good as gone. But then, when you got here, everything started moving forward and repairing itself. Your joy and kindness saved this place.

"If anyone should be thankful, it's me," she finished, pulling away and wiping a solitary tear from her eye. Then, the usual teasing Rika returned. "Although, I might be just a tad jealous of you, too."

I giggled fondly at my coworker and friend's kindness. Before long, we had both burst out laughing. It took us a full thirty seconds to calm down enough to speak again.

It was then that something she said came back to the forefront of my mind. "Hey, Rika?"

"Hmm?" she hummed, looking over at me curiously. "What's up?"

"I never felt comfortable asking this before," I started, turning to Kimiko with a soft, yet slightly nervous, look. "But after what you said, I decided that I need to know.

"What was Kimiko's mother like?"

The question hung in the air for a full ten seconds. When I looked back to Rika, she had a dark expression on her face, as if it pained her to think about it.

"Sorry…" I backpedaled quickly, rubbing the back of my neck with a nervous laugh. "I guess it's a bit too soon to be asking stuff like that, huh?"

"No, that's not it," my pink-haired friend insisted, changing her expression once she realized how dark it had been. "And you're right, you need and deserve to know."

I waited patiently for her to speak, knowing that she would start when she was ready. At last, she began talking, with a reverence that I had never heard in her before.

"She was… amazing," was the first way she described the woman I had never met. "She was kind and caring, very sweet, and was a neko woman, just like her daughter. She had a soft spot for Kimiko-sama, just like you do. Whenever she flashed that pleading look you dubbed the 'puppy dog eyes', the woman of the house would cave almost immediately. She just couldn't say, 'no' to her beloved kitty daughter.

"Honestly, it's uncanny how similar she was to you," Rika laughed a bit at this, though it didn't seem funny at all to me. "Other than the obvious differences between neko and human, there was just one personality trait that she had over you."

"What's that?" I asked after a few seconds of silence. As if she were snapped out of some sort of trance, Rika suddenly opened her eyes wide before resuming her description of the old head of the house.

"She was almost scarily good at reading people like their minds were open books," came the slightly unnerved response from Rika. "And when she got angry, she didn't hesitate to use this to her advantage. Although, I had only seen her get angry three times, and I was born here, so I knew her all my life. My parents were maids to this house, actually."

"Wow…" I whispered, shocked by this information.

Rika decided to conclude her description there. "In summary, she was basically you, just a lot less dense."

Normally, I would have snapped back at that last comment with something like, 'what's that supposed to mean?' This time, however, my mind was occupied with darker, more depressing thoughts.

So then… the reason Kimiko is so close with me isn't because she likes me for me, huh? I mused, looking over to the neko girl in question.

I noticed her stir, waking the small animals around her as well. In a moment, she stretched out with a large yawn, blearily opening her eyes.

"Get on over there," I heard Rika whisper from beside me. She got up from her spot next to me, beginning to walk back into the house. "Anyway, I'll get started on dinner."

I got up as well, stretching my own legs out before jumping off the deck and into the grassy garden below. I slowly approached my mistress, watching as she slowly looked over to my approaching form.

She quickly stood up, running over to me as fast as she could before jumping into my arms. I reflexively opened them up to catch her, almost falling over from the impact. I smiled as she buried her head into my neck, though it held no happiness.

I was glad she couldn't see my face like this, because a single tear ran down my cheek. I knew all along that it wasn't possible, but hearing it like this only made things worse.

It's because I'm just like her mother. Well, at least that answers one question.

I raised one hand to wipe off my cheek before Kimiko could look up and see the tear that was still sliding down.

I never had a shot at being her lover to begin with.

In spite of myself, I found myself hugging Kimiko just a little tighter than usual. She looked up at this, tilting her head to the side cutely in her mild confusion. I merely smiled in response, beginning to walk back to the deck to get her ready for dinner.

Well, I guess I can live with that. If I can't be her lover, then I'll just have to settle for being her mother.

Somehow, even though I had stopped crying, Kimiko had apparently noticed my sorrow. She began to nuzzle her face against mine as I held her, her ears tickling my forehead as she performed this action that she knew would cheer me up.

To her credit, my mistress was remarkably perceptive. Maybe she inherited some of her mother's ability to read other people like open books.

I giggled lightly, nuzzling her right back. "Don't worry, Kimiko," I said, patting her on the head before setting her down on the deck so that I could climb up myself. When I did, I took the neko girl by the hand, leading her back into the house.

"I'll be all right."

Author's Note

For the sake of quick release, I have not subjected this chapter to any sort of grammar check. As such, I must apologize for the inevitable few mistakes you will find if you look close enough.

Next chapter will have a bit more action (obviously, I do not mean physical fighting, but still…). Shit's gonna go down and hit the fan. That's all I have to say on the matter.

As per the usual, I'd love to hear a constructive review if you have the time! As I said before, however, one-liners akin to, "Good chapter, please update soon" are highly discouraged. Please… don't.

I've kept you long enough, I suppose. I guess I'll get to work on chapter three, then!

See you all next chapter!