Paradoxical Composition

By: irish d' salmon luver

Author's Ramble: Aww yeaaaah! Finally I made a cover for this story! Even though it's just a quick and simple artwork, but I love every essence of it XD

Aaaaand Happy Merry Christmas guys! I present this story in the spirit of Christmas, and I thank Winter Coma for the idea! I'm sorry I only established your idea by now, even though I already developed the plot months ago… I kept thinking what the most appropriate timeline for this chapter was, and then suddenly Christmas is around. Oh well… by the way I don't really bother to check my grammar, so I'm sorry if there were few mistakes and typos here.

Disclaimer: I own my fanart, not the series :3

XXX

Chapter 09: Of Stuffed Doll and Weapons

Julie was nervous.

She rarely got nervous.

She checked the mirror for the 36th times and the clock for 73rd times of the day. She had changed her attire for 7th times and she still hadn't satisfied yet. She had hanged out with her guy friends so many times, she had dated with many boys before, and she never, ever, so worried of her appearance. She wouldn't be so distressed if it wasn't because of that e-mail she received a week ago.

"Meet me at the park this Saturday. 10 a.m.

Regards,

K.S."

She remembered how her head seemed like to explode when she read that e-mail. Her brain stopped loading and she hyperventilated for a minute before she could finally registered each words and highlighted the important points, which are almost every words. Meet. Park. Saturday. 10 a.m. K.S.

And now it was Saturday. It was 9 a.m. The park wasn't quite far from her place, but she didn't want to get late. She sometimes came late to her appointment, but not this time. This one, she didn't want to get late. Or rather, she didn't dare to get late. She might not live to see tomorrow's sunshine if she came late for even 10 seconds.

"I should go now…" Julie muttered as she checked the mirror for (she hoped) the last time. She decided to just let her hair down, without any accessories attached on her silver tresses. Unlike her usual outing or date appearance, this time she didn't put on much make-up. Only compact powder and nude lip gloss. As for her outfit, she picked a light blue one piece dress with soft purple long cardigan, accompanied by white knee socks, completed with matching blue flat shoes. A white muffler adorned her slender neck to protect her from the winter air. It was against her pink policy, but she tried her best not to assault her companion's eyes. She was also kind of tired of hearing him always sarcastically complimented her pink obsession. It was the first very first time of him inviting her, so she might better be toning down a bit.

XXX

When he arrived at the park, Shun couldn't hide his surprise when he saw a panicked silver haired girl with violet eyes fidgeting near the fountain. He approached the girl quietly from her behind and stopped just a mere foot away from her back. He suddenly got this urge to startle the girl and so he blew her ear softly.

Her reaction couldn't be better.

With shrieking voice like Bruce Lee, she turned around as she jumped backwards; a kick was sent flying to his direction which he could barely dodge due to short distance. Shun threw the bag he brought with him as he prepared for some punches that were thrown away at, which could do some serious damages if it met its prey. The next minute passed as the young ninja skillfully dodges another kick and punch from the girl, and the battle only stopped as Shun managed to catch Julie's leg as she attempted another kick to his head, rendered her to move no further.

Silence were hung low in the air, only the sound of Julie's heavy breathing were heard. After a minute, a little boy's voice cracked the tension.

"Mom, that girl wears pink lacy panties."

As the said mom hushed her little boy and quickly scurried away from the pair, Julie hurriedly lowered her leg and pulled down her dress; her face became red and she bowed her head to hide her embarrassment. Shun coughed groggily, his hand covered his face as he felt his blood ran to his cheeks. Now they just stood there, in silence again, but this time it was an awkward silence.

"Umm…" finally the girl found her voice again, "FYI, I tried my best not to wear anything pink for the sake of your eyes, but panties don't count because you're not supposed to see it."

Shun glanced at Julie, his hand still covered his face since the picture of "pink lacy panties" still fresh in his mind and that annoying pink tints still adorned his pale cheeks. Julie fidgeted nervously, her hands were now crossed behind her back and she drew some invisible circle on the ground with her right foot. The ninja boy finally calmed down and found his voice again.

"Sorry to startle you."

Julie glanced sideway, still refused to look him at the eyes. Her pouted lips and puffed cheeks just made her looked like a cute little hamster eating sunflower seed.

"I was panicked and you decided to give me a little surprise. Veeeeery charming, Shun."

"Why were you so panicked anyway? Did you forget something? Your make-up case, perhaps?" asked the boy nonchalantly.

The girl stomped her foot, "I was worried I came late since you weren't here and you decided to leave me here alone! But nooo, you decided to hide and surprised me instead! And then made me embarrass myself in front of these people!" she swung her hands like maniac.

Now Shun was flabbergasted, "I just arrived here, Julie, and yes, it was 15 minutes before our designated time, but you arrived here earlier than me, and you were afraid you were late? When did you arrive?"

Julie stopped her whining abruptly and looked at him with wide eyes, and then checked her watch, and finally she smiled sheepishly, "Umm… well, 30 minutes ago?"

The older boy sighed and rubbed his eyebrows. He just met her for less than 10 minutes and he already felt upcoming headaches. Maybe it was a wrong decision to meet her up like this; he could just send the thing he wanted to give her via mail. Speaking of the "thing"…

"Ummm… Shun, why do you want to meet up with me? It's… unusual for you to initiating a meet up with me, because, like, from what I know, you… don't really like my 'bubbly' self," said Julie as her hands gestured a quotation mark over the word 'bubbly'.

Shun held out his hand in front of him, "Wait. I never really said I don't like your bubbly self. I just can't stand it."

The girl tilted her head, "Doesn't that mean the same thing?"

"A bit different. It's not that I hate you or anything, but too much of your existence is bad for my health."

"… Sometimes I just can't get what you are thinking, Shun…"

"… Me neither. Okay, back to business…" Shun walked over his forsaken bag and took out some kind of big sized box wrapped in colorful paper with pictures of Christmas trees and reindeers and Santa Clauses…

"Oh wait, it's a Christmas present… right?" Julie asked to no one in particular.

"No, it's a bomb," the boy replied as he shoved the box to the girl. One silver eyebrow arched as she kept looking at the box as if it would really explode. After she was sure that the box wouldn't set into fire in any moment, she took the box slowly from his hand. When the box was transferred successfully, Julie brought it closer to her ear and shook it slowly as she tried to hear any suspicious sound from inside.

"It might really explode if you keep shaking it, you know."

"… Shun, did you just being serious jerk like usual or try to crack a joke?"

He smirked.

"What's your guess?"

Julie starred at the boy in front of her and back to the box, and then slowly, oh so slowly brought the box as far as her hands permitted it. Shun swore the look on Julie's face was the look of upmost terror he had ever seen.

"Seeing how you never considered to give any present for your friends, and then you suddenly give a present to me out of the blue, it's safe to assume that this box is indeed containing a bomb."

"Nice deduction," he shrugged, "Try to open it, if you dare."

Again, Julie gave him a stern look before she walked away, Shun in tow; she found an empty bench and sat, the boy followed suit. After some self-debating, she finally got the courage to unwrap the box. She did it slowly and cautiously, while the boy beside her just watched her with a transparent smirk on his thin lips.

Finally the girl finished unwrap the box and after taking some breath, she opened the lid as she closed her eyes in anticipation of explosion. After she made sure that her head was still intact, she opened her eyes slowly and peeked inside the box.

Shun's smirk went wider as he heard a surprised gasp escaped from her lips.

Inside the box, there was a blue stuffed penguin doll. Julie stared at the doll with wide eyes, and two black beady eyes stared back at her. She picked up the moderate sized doll, feeling that it weighted more than she thought. Now she just hoped that the penguin doll wouldn't come to life and then started stalking her, or spraying bugs around, or knitting some sweaters, or harassing girls like in an anime she just recently watched.

"Shun, is this…" she was lost at words. Never in her wildest imagination would the solemn, cool, and aloof boy give something so… cute to her. A stuffed doll was totally not in the list of items-that-he-would-give-to-people.

"Yeah, it's for you," the boy said as he looked away from her, "I thought that I should start to appreciate my friendship more, and you would be the best one to be the first person I should give Christmas present because you are the person that I like the least from my friend list. If I can give you something that you like, it would be a piece of cake to give presents to the others."

She didn't sure whether she should feel happy or insulted.

"Ummm… well… thanks, I guess?"

"You're welcome," Shun nodded to the girl.

After some awkward moment passed between these two youths, they spent the rest of the day walking around the city. For some reason, they didn't want to go to the arcade and went window-shopping at the shopping district instead, commenting how could the shops displayed some inappropriate outfits of Santa Girl at the front, or laughing at the not-so-fat-and-somber-looking Santa giving pamphlets to passers-by. Well, mostly it was Julie who was commenting or laughing, while Shun was listening quietly and offering a smirk at her ridiculous comments.

And finally it was time for them to go home. They were sitting at the bus top, waiting for the next bus which would come in another 30 minutes. Shun decided to buy some hot drinks for both of them while Julie would just sit down quietly, feeling tired after such a long day together with the ninja boy. And she still wanted to check out something. As soon as Shun disappeared, she took out her new stuffed doll from the box and scrutinized it. She wanted to make sure what the source of the abnormal weight of the doll was.

It was already dark outside, and the only light source was the street lamp near the bus stop. There was no other person in proximity. Julie narrowed her eyes, tried to find some unusual stich or maybe hidden string; she didn't realize four men approached her. She was too preoccupied of finding the secret of her stuffed penguin that she ignored the men who started talking to her. As she traced the back of the doll, she could feel something hard and long stitched along the back.

She smirked. 'A zipper,' she thought.

She just pulled the zipper down as one of the men grabbed her arm and shouted, "Hey! Did you hear us or you'll just going to ignore us?!"

Julie's head snapped at the man who just yelled at her, her eyes wide and her mouth gaped with pure surprise. She really didn't realize she got some companies and it seemed that they weren't pleased being ignored by her. She grimaced, thinking how tired she was and she didn't feel like throwing punches to those troublesome flirts. Just as she lost hope and prayed for Shun to arrive quickly, something glistened from inside the doll.

Something like metals got reflected by light.

Julie trembled slightly. The man who held her arm smirked smugly, clearly thinking that the girl was afraid of them. But his smirk vanished as he realized that she wasn't shaken by fear; she was holding a laugh. The young men just stared at the girl who began to laugh hysterically with confusion on their faces.

"Oh my—" she tried to speak between her laughs, "I expect no less from a ninja. You really know how to give a surprise, Shun!"

And then, in a flash, Julie pulled something from inside her stuffed dolls—three shuriken—and throw them to the ground; just missed an inch from the shoes of the three men who surrounded her. Next she took two kunai from the doll and armed herself with the weapon. The man who grabbed her arms released his hold; fear stroke his feature as he stumbled backwards, alongside his friends. The four men stared with pure terror at the silver haired devil in front of them; a sadistic smile graced her beautiful face.

"Run away while you can," she whispered softly.

XXX

Shun walked back to the bus stop in haste steps. He took too much time when he was in line of order, deciding which kind of drink Julie wanted; he regretted why he didn't ask her first when he left. After some recommendation from the barista (who kept smiling because she was glad this young, handsome man took so much time to order so she could glee on his face) Shun finally decided to buy himself a hot café au lait and hot chocolate praline for Julie.

As he neared the bus stop, four men ran to his direction and almost bumped into him, and thanks to his quick reflexes he could dodge all of them and kept the drinks safe. He eyed the scurried figures, silently asked why those guys seemed… afraid of something. His question was answered as he reached the bus stops.

Julie was standing there, all high and mighty, kunai in both hands and her stuffed doll was neglected at the ground; the back was opened and revealed some more shuriken and kunai inside.

Shun smirked and offered her the drink, "I see you finally found the real usage of this stuffed doll."

Julie swayed his head to the boy and just stared at his face for a moment; unreadable expression crossed her face. After a while, she finally threw the kunai to the ground and took the drink from his hand.

"I knew something was off when you gave me such a cute present. And even though it is indeed useful for self-defense, it's kind of waste to stuff some weapon inside such cute penguin doll," she sighed heavily and drank her hot chocolate praline; her fingers raked her silver tresses. Shun snorted at her casual remark; at least those six hours he spent for stuffing the doll and stitching it back didn't go to waste.

"I'm glad you enjoyed your present already," he smiled coyly, this time he didn't bother to hide his smile.

Julie eyed him again with judging look on her eyes.

"Shun, next time you decide to act friendly with me, I prefer a treat to high class restaurant rather than receiving anything from you again."

XXX

A/R: Holy Viking cow, again, I wrote this chapter longer than I had in my mind… I kept saying to myself, "Don't let this be more than 5 pages of Words," and voilà, it already 8 pages. I just couldn't help but exaggerating some parts of my story.

For those who are wondering, why Julie said "Ummm…" too much, just like I stated at the very beginning of the chapter, she was nervous. And I thought a nervous Julie would probably said "Ummm…" so much.

And if you still can't figure out what anime Julie mentioned before, about stalking penguins etc. etc., it's Mawaru Penguindrum ;)

And for the last ramble (of this chapter), just like what I asked for from previous chapters, please give me some random stuffs for the next chapters' inspiration at the review. I might progress slowly with this story as I start working again, but I try my best to write little by little, whenever I have some free time and have some motivation to write.

I wish you guys Happy Holidays and let's meet again in year 2015! :D