-Chapter Thirty Nine-

-Pawns-

The sun was beginning to set over the horizon, its thinning rays spreading deep crimson red across the sky in a weak attempt to ward off the night. Eventually that crimson turned to purple and as the last rays of the sun dipped beneath the earth a deep black took the sky and small pinpoints of light began to appear more and more as the seconds went by. Lyra watched with distracted eyes, hardly seeing the beauty that God had set out before her as her thoughts were dragged around abusively in their usual morbid directions.

She drummed her slender fingers on the counter, the sound of popping popcorn reaching her ears only distantly and hardly registering in her own mind. She tapped her foot impatiently, as if that would make the time go faster but the motion only seemed to make everything move distressingly slow as time slipped by like honey dripping from a honey jar. It never went fast enough...

She wanted them out. She wanted every one of them out except for the new girl who had recently been introduced to the group. Them and their squabbling squeals, shouts, and stupid, stupid questions were now dragging on her nerves so badly she thought she might leap for their throats the next time they asked her what she thought of the concert. She had told them all millions of times already but still they squealed and giggled over it, falling all over each other in giddy excitement.

The timer on the microwave began to beep but so irritated and distracted were her thoughts that she didn't hear it. She continued gazing out at the sky, empty eyes watching the stars spreading out before her as the moon rose higher and higher in the darkness. She didn't want to pull out the popcorn and return to the other room where she would be once again bombarded with same stupid questions that had already been asked a million times that night. She didn't want to listen to their screams and stupid giggles.

So this is how Maiyu feels every day of her life, she thought, and for a moment a cruel and satisfied smirk came to her face. It faded quickly enough though as she glanced back at the door where she could clearly hear the doorbell ring and a scrambling of feet as everyone rushed to answer it. She heaved a sigh, pulling the popcorn out of the microwave, tearing it open, and pouring it into the bowl set out next to her. She picked the bowl up and moved over to the door, pushing it open with her hip and stepping into the living room.

"Kyra! What are you doing here?" she heard one of the girls exclaim. Her frown deepened as she set the popcorn bowl down on the table and moved tot eh hallway towards the front door. The crowd of girls were standing around the now open doorway, huddling around the figure of a young man who was laughing and scratching the back of his head sheepishly.

"I see you all still haven't left," he was saying in a half amiable, half embarrassed manner. "You realize that you've been here since last night, all through today, and I'm guessing going on for tonight too. You're going to give her parents such a headache they won't be able to get up for the next week!"

"My parents aren't here," Lyra remarked irritably, leaning against the wall and peering in a rather disdainful manner at the group of them. The group turned to peer at her curiously, arching their brows in a somewhat worried manner at her tone of voice and suddenly irritable expression.

"In that case you'll be giving Lyra a headache, as you can already see," Kyra remarked cheerily, though he looked twice as nervous now that Lyra was glowering at him.

"Maybe it's time to go," twittered Miriko nervously, fingering a strand of her hair and glancing between the two of them nervously, obviously not sure what was going on. Lyra figured that she was probably worried that Kyra and she had gotten in a fight at some point and now the two were facing off. She nudged the girl nearest to her and after a bit of quiet whispering they moved out of the hallway and towards the stairs.

"We'll just be getting our stuff," Miriko murmured, glancing back at the two of them. Lyra did nothing but shift her glower to her, watching the group hurry up the stairs in search of their various belongs. She was surprised to see the young girl named V hang back, glancing around in a somewhat confused manner. After a moment she pulled a cell phone out of her pocket and jumped up the stairs, typing in a number and then holding it to her ear. Lyra didn't get a chance to find out whom she was calling because the girl slipped around the corner, out of sight, and then Kyra proceeded to wave at her to get her attention.

"Hey...you alright?" he asked, frowning slightly. Lyra turned her gaze to him, a grimace crossing her expression.

"I'm just tired of listening to scream about the same thing over and over and over again. It's like they're too dimwitted to think of anything new!" she cried in an exasperated manner. "I can't stand listening to their idiocy for such long periods of time. I'm tired and need to sleep."

"Now you see how Maiyu feels," he said, chuckling softly and entering the hallway, closing the door behind him. "Must be rather stressful. Sometimes I'm thankful I'm not a girl. I would hate to have to put up with the things she's forced to put up with."

"What do you think of her?" Kyra blinked, startled by the sudden and very unexpected question. Lyra's eyes were focused so solidly on him that he couldn't have turned his own eyes away even if he had wanted to.

"What do you mean by that?" he asked, shifting his weight from one foot to the other in a rather nervous manner. They were interrupted by the return of the young girl V. She darted down the stairs, the other girls calling after them, with the cell phone still pressed to her ear.

"I'll be right down! Meet me there!" she was saying as she ran past both Lyra and Kyra, yanking the door open so furiously that Lyra was surprised it didn't come off its hinges. She darted out into the darkness without even closing the door behind her or offering a single goodbye. Lyra watched her go with wide eyes and Kyra was leaning out the door, calling out after her. She didn't reply and soon the darkness swallowed her down the street. The other girls were now filing down the stairs, talking to each other in half worried, half excited whispers. They stopped in front of Lyra, glancing out the door and then around the room.

"I wonder what happened to her! She was on the phone with somebody, sitting on the bed when all the sudden she jumped up and started talking hurriedly with this weird expression on her face. She looked rather ashen really and then she just ran off without a word!" Lyra's glare silenced them before they said more and for a moment they hovered around hesitantly before nodding to her, saying their goodbyes, and moving out the now open door. Kyra watched them go with raised brows, obviously at a loss for words.

After they were all gone he closed the door behind them and turned back to Lyra, rubbing his forehead and glancing around.

"Should I head off as well?" he asked hesitantly, hovering near the door as if not sure what to do with himself. The gaze that Lyra turned on him was ice and he literally shivered as it dropped on him.

"You haven't answered my question yet," she remarked slowly. Kyra opened his mouth, obviously about to ask 'what question?' but closed it again before doing so.

"I...I don't know what you mean," he murmured after shifting around a couple times for what seemed like an eternity.

"I think you know full well what I mean. What do you think of Maiyu?" she asked again, her voice lowering dangerously. Kyra scratched the back of his head, glancing away anxiously.

"What brings this up all the sudden?"

"Just answer the question."

"I don't...I don't..." he fumbled for words, opening and closing his mouth like some sort of suffocating fish. "She's just my...she's a...she's a friend," he managed at last.

"Just a friend?"

"...yeah..."

Lyra whirled on her heel, moving out of the hallway, into the living room, and collapsing on the couch tiredly. She had to do something about all of this. Everything was slipping out of her control, slipping away from her. She didn't like the feeling in the least. She had always had everything within her reach, had always known just how to handle things to get what she wanted. She was at a loss now. That blasted romance writer had ripped Maiyu from her hands and then the introduction of the singer had only served to make matters worse. She wasn't sure if she could use Kyra as a pawn or not, and even if she could, she wasn't sure how. Whether him not having feelings for her was a good thing or not she could not fathom at the moment but she felt, somewhere in her core, that it was an important matter.

An image of the singer rose into her mind. She heard vaguely Kyra saying goodbye and the door closing as he left but she paid it no mind. She focused on the image, traveling back into her memories. He was a passionate person and certainly not as intelligent and in control as the writer was. She could use him. It was obvious he had feelings for Maiyu and just as obvious that he was terribly jealous of Yura. If she could simply find a way to twist these two facts against him and her she was sure she could make Maiyu miserable again.

There was another pawn available to her as well, she couldn't forget that. The young V was probably the most valuable person she knew at the moment. She was the only person who was truly connected to Maiyu, who truly knew anything of real importance about her. Everything was made easier by the fact that the girl was desperate to make friends and be popular, scrabbling to fit in as best she could. She wasn't as stupid and dimwitted as most of the other girls Lyra knew but she would crumble to peer pressure in an instant. She was the type of person where if you told her 'It's cool to jump off bridges. Everyone's doing it' she would find the nearest bridge and leap off of it without a second thought. She was clearly in Lyra's clutches and now the only thing she had left to do was figure out what to do with the kid.

So now she had to important puzzle pieces at her disposal. The fiery Ryaru and the foolish V. Ryaru would be harder to handle then V would, seeing as he already knew what she had tried to do to Maiyu from before and clearly hated her. Still, if she could use his own passionate feelings against him everything might turn out well. For the time being she simply needed to figure out just how far V would go to fit in. If she was willing to betray Maiyu to make friends then everything would be simple and quick. If she was clever enough to realize she was being manipulated on the other hand things might become difficult once again. She had her puzzle pieces...she just needed to figure out how to fit them together.

There was always Kyra as well. She still had no idea how he fit into anything but she had an irritating feeling gnawing at the back of her mind that told her he was or would become important.

"I'll figure it out eventually," she murmured to herself, tiredly resting her head against the couch and closing her eyes. She needed sleep. Her mind wasn't working as quickly and clearly as it usually did and her body was aching. It only took her a moment to drift off into sleep and return to the dark dreams that possessed her mind every night.

--

Alright, I hope that was a little more interesting. Nothing really happened in that chapter but I'm kinda in a slow part of the story so I'm doing the best I can. TRUST ME THOUGH! You will all die when you read the ending. You will all die. It will be so splendidly amazing that even I'm desperately looking froward to writing it and then reading it afterwards. You will die. At least I certainly hope so. I know I would if I were a reader of this story and not the writer. Butcha! Look forward to it! You'll love/hate it. XD