A/N: Just in case you were worried, no, I'm not dead! Yaaay! (Is nobody celebrating?) I can't believe how bad I've been with this fic. It's been a love-hate relationship for me. On one hand, I like the potential of it, because I can include a lot, and on the other hand, I despise the corniness, and juvenile elements I put in earlier on. I've been cruel to you all for that matter, if anybody at all is following this story. I'm a procrastinator of the worst kind, and my attentions have been drifting away from Escaflowne and all related fandom. Furthermore, I've been losing faith in this story, not to mention that I've almost completely forgotten where the heck I'm going with this anyway.

If you can still stand to stay with this one, I will try to make it a pleasant experience for both of us. In the mean time, I'm off to bed, because it is ever so late. (Mutters) Drama... homework... green tea... jell-o... zzzz....

Shut Your Mouth

By: Toby Chan

Chapter four

A little sun spilled through the window of Hitomi's room, unto the lumpy pile of twisted sheets and pillows upon her bed, that only if one looked hard enough, could they tell it was a sleeping human. She squirmed a little, and repositioned, in her comfy makeshift little cocoon of blankets.

That cursed alarm had to ruin it all. It began with a beep, which made her groan and roll to turn it off. Just as she moved toward it, her cell phone also began to ring, which she also mentally cursed, and casually compared the combination to 'A perfect storm of annoying devices'.

"Moshi Moshi." She grumbled, after clicking the button on her phone to answer.

"Hitomi. Are you still sleeping?" Allen's voice came through the other end.

"I might be. What of it?"

"Only that interview you have today. Did you forget?"

Hitomi glanced up at her calendar, and then back at the clock before replying, "... No."

"Well then, what are you doing asleep? Your interview with PachiPachi magazine is in an hour!"

"Allen, I've done last minute preparations before. I'll be fine." She muttered, while picking up her hand mirror to admire the lovely bags under her eyes and disheveled hair. She was a mess.

"You'd better make it there on time. You've hardly done anything in the past few weeks."

"And yet my cds are still selling, so what do you care about it?" Apparently she still wasn't too tired for a little sarcasm.

"You'll make it there on time, right?"

"Hai hai."

No sooner had she clicked off her cell, as it rang again. She rolled her eyes, and answered.

"Moshi moshi?"

"Hitomi. It's Van."

She immediately perked up and sat up a little more.

"Van! Hi! How have you been? It's been a while since we've talked."

"Sorry. I've been so busy lately, I've even cancelled band practice for a while. It's been really hectic, taking care of Merle, and trying to find a new school to enroll her in."

"Yeah? How is she doing lately?" Hitomi asked a little reluctantly. She didn't want to admit to herself that she was a little jealous of Merle, having spent most of the past month with Van. Of course, she didn't want to keep him away from his sister, but she still missed spending time with him. Surely it wasn't selfish... was it?

"Merle's doing well. She's adjusting well to living in a crummy apartment, and she's making some friends around here."

"That's good." Hitomi said.

"And on the good end for me," Van joked, "I get to eat something other than instant ramen once in a while."

"Well I guess that means she can bring you something I can't," Hitomi replied with a jesting tone. She couldn't cook worth anything, and she knew it."

"Now, don't be that hard on yourself," Van tried to cover for her. But they both knew it was true. She'd come over to try to make dinner for Van and Merle and ended up with something more charcoal-resemblant than she'd intended.

After an akward silence, Van spoke again with an obvious attempt at a subject change.

"So... have you had any major plans lately?"

"Not many. I have an interview for PachiPachi in about..." She paused to look at her clock, "Fifty minutes."

"Then what are you doing on the phone? You certainly can't be that close to your interview?"

"Hey, you're the one who called me. Besides, in spite of all appearances, I'm the queen of procrastination."

"Don't procrastinate yourself into a hole, there."

"Don't worry about it. I'll be all ready soon enough."

"Well, I won't bother you any longer, then."

"Don't be ridiculous. Your calls couldn't possibly be a bother. Call again, if you can, please."

"Sure thing. Love you, bye."

Click.

Hitomi found herself blushing a little, as she held the cell phone away from her ear.

"Did he just say 'love you'?" She asked herself, quietly. A small fuzzy grin grew on her face, as she reveled in the giddyness of hearing those simple words.

Lights flashed by out the subway windows, like little christmas lights. Hitomi lazily gripped her handle as more passengers boarded the stuffed car. A quick dash of foundation had done the trick to make her appear slightly less undead, while sunglasses kept her incognito. Though very few passers by might have payed attention to the sloppy train-rider anyhow, she preferred to play it safe, since she still wasn't completely recovered from the trauma of a fangirl rush several months back.

Whoosh. The doors slid open, while the intercom played it's tune, and the pre-recorded voice announced that her stop had come. She'd heard that voice so many times, and wondered for a moment how long that recording had been in use. How often do you suppose they changed it up with a new announcer, cheerily announcing the various thousands stops in the track.

'Her voice must get tired recording all those,' she mused briefly, and snapped herself out of the odd chain of thoughts, before she may end up drifting further, and being ridden all the way to Hokkaido.

She slid her ticket through the machine and exited the open air station, past various gift shops and news stands. She briefly stopped by a quick stop stand and got herself a pack of gum. Relaxed with minty freshness, she was able to pleasantly stroll the few blocks to the correct office building. She entered the clean smelling lobby, where a receptionist whose smile could have put the chesire cat out of business directed her to the elevator and told her the penultimate cliche, 'Two doors to the left'.

She opened the door to find herself in a smaller lobby, where another kind receptionist told her to wait in one of the seats, and the interviewer would be there shortly.

There was a brief silence, when Hitomi impulsively commented,

"It hurts to smile like that dosen't it?"

The receptionist attempted to hide her shock at the unexpected comment.

"You know, smiling, really big and pretty all the time, so everyone thinks you're cute and agreeable."

"Well, that is-"

"I know how you feel."

At this moment, Allen entered the room, with a cup of coffee, relieved to see Hitomi present and in one piece.

"Excellent. You made it." He said, sitting in a chair beside her.

"When is the interviewer going to be ready?" She asked, circling her toe on the carpet unconsiously.

"Your interview is scheduled for 10:30."

"I thought you said 10:15." Hitomi declared, tilting her head a little.

"I did. Because I wanted to be sure you made it on time." Hitomi pursed her lip.

"Honestly. You treat me like such a child." She threw her head back and swung her legs a little, which only served to further support her manager's beliefs.

Another brief silence swung through the air. Hitomi suddenly donned a mildly devious grin as she plotted to fill the silence.

Pop.

The sudden sound startled Allen a bit, but he sighed and chose to ignore the solitary gum bubble. No big deal.

Pop.

Another gooey orb snapped.

An irritated vein on Allen's forehead grew. This was getting fun.

Pop.

A few nearby office workers turned their heads from their desks.

Pop.

"Cut that out already!" Allen growled, shedding his typically proffessional exterior to reach over and squeeze her cheeks with one hand like a parent making their child spit out an inedible object they'd swallowed. "Spit it out, now."

At that moment, the reporter entered the lobby, to find them in that lord-knows-what-they're-doing-best-to-ignore-it position, and paused in shock for a moment, but shook it off with a remembrance of manners. Hitomi swallowed her gum, and Allen bashfully let go and tried to look casual.

Wasn't it seven years that gum was rumored to remain in your stomach? It was worth it to see the mortified look on Allen's face.

"Kanzaki San!" The woman in a mauve suit and skirt greeted cheerily, brushing off the incident of the previous second, "How do you do? Yoroshiku. Please treat me well in the future."

"The same goes here. Yoroshiku onegai shimasu." Hitomi bowed and greeted her politely.

"Please, do come into my office." The woman said.

Her office was small, but nice. There were various framed posters from the magazine on the wall, a proffesional looking desk, and a set of blue chairs, which looked like the only things in the room designed for comfort and not appearances.

"Thank you." Hitomi said, as she was offered to sit.

The interview went surprisingly well. It mostly consisted of the same annoying questions, but they were simple, superficial and easy to answer.

Favorite color?

Pink.

Favorite musician?

Alanis Morissette.

Any pets?

A goldfish named Alice. She was a 'feeder' fish at the pet shop, so I bought her out of pity. She ended up growing into a near carp.

How about a boyfriend?

Dosen't that count under pets?

(Laughter)

She was glad she'd answered that way, so as to avoid having to really answer that. She didn't want Van involved in all the stupid publicity and tabloid fodder.

"Wow. It's been so interesting talking to you."

'Sure it has.' (Smile)

"You seem to be an ambitious young woman. It seems as though you could have any career you want. If you weren't a musician, what career would you want to have."

"Well, I certainly wouldn't want to be whoever they hire to record the subway stops. So many places to say, and you'd only be needed every few years."

(Long pause...)

"Well, I guess that wraps it up then."

"I guess it does."

"Thank you for coming."

"It was my pleasure."