Good Enough
Another average day in the life of the 10th grade girl, Ichigo Momomiya was just beginning. Our story begins with her getting ready for school after a fun weekend spent at her best friend, Sarah's house. Needless to say, she wasn't too happy about it.
"Damn shoe!" She yelled while trying to adjust her black and white-checkered slip-on on her right foot.
"Ichigo!! What have I told you about cursing incessantly? I ought to.." Her mom, Sakura questioned, but was cut short by her daughter.
"Mom, I'm sorry.. Truly am. Please don't ground me!" She whimpered. "I haven't gotten to go out with Masaya in a week because he's been home sick and I'm really hoping to.."
"OK, fine, I know already what's on your mind. Run along now dear, wouldn't want to be late."
"Yeah, yeah." Ichi then finished getting the troubling shoe on, grabbed her backpack, notebook, and cell phone, and flew out the door.
Wouldn't you know who was waiting for her outside, perched on her neighbor's roof as usual, none other than the pesky, 16-year-old cyniclon, Kisshu.
"Hello Kitty! Actually on time today I see?" He asked.
"Kish, if you know what's best for you, you would go away and go bug someone else."
"And why would I want to do that?"
"Because I said so."
"Coming from you, that would be a good reason, but nah.. I'd rather sit here and be content with watching you."
"Pervert.." Ichi muttered under her breath as she turned away from him and began to traverse the short distance from her house to Tokyo High, Kish quietly following her as he always does.
Upon arriving, she could have sworn she saw Masaya.. Holding another girl's hand. She shook her head at the idea. It couldn't be him.. He couldn't have met someone when he was sick, right? And.. he liked her, right? And why would he suddenly change his mind.. After all the months they spent together? She just couldn't possibly imagine anything bad that had happened between her and him, so she dismissed the thought and headed to her first period, which was English.
On the way there, she spied a small notice on the bulletin board about the upcoming school play, a modernized version of Romeo and Juliet. She looked at the names on the paper to see if she had gotten the most coveted part of all, the role of Juliet. Peering closer, she found her name.. And to her surprise, she had gotten the role! She guessed it was because of how hard she had worked to recite the lines. Nodding in satisfaction, she scrolled down the list to see whom she would get to kiss in the play, whomever Romeo was, all the while praying that Masaya would get the part. After all, she had made him audition. Not that he didn't want to.. He was the most popular guy in school, so she was almost sure that he would get it.
Finally locating his name, she saw that he had indeed won the role. Her heart skipped a beat and she smiled before continuing on her merry way, failing to notice the person in front of her before colliding with him.
"Oof!" He exclaimed as he was knocked forwards, quickly picking himself back up.
The collision brought Ichigo's mind back to reality and she just realized whom it was that she had bumped into. "Masaya!"
"Oh, it's you" He said, dusting himself off.
"I'm sorry! I was you know.. umm.. Yeah, not.."
"I know. Ichigo, there's something I have to tell you."
"I'm all ears."
"Well, you see.. I think we should.. Break up, because.."
Ichigo didn't need to hear the rest, she had never thought that it would come to this. Everything had been so perfect up till now.. Why? She kept repeating the same word over and over in her head while quietly sobbing in a bathroom stall. She'd run away as soon as Masaya had said what he did, she didn't care about skipping class. She didn't care about anything anymore, but she knew her mom would get herself into a hissy fit if she found out, so she quickly dried her tears, fixed her makeup, and left the restroom to finish the school day.. in solitude. She didn't want to talk to her friends right now.
The rest of the day was a blur, she completely avoided Masaya and ran if he ever came too close. Her friends kept trying to help her and get her to explain what had happened, but her mind was somewhere else, so they gave up altogether.
On returning home, she saw a silent shadow perched on her roof. She knew it was Kish, out to bug her again like the lame, pathetic being he is.
"Hello again Kitty. How was your day?" He inquired.
"LEAVE ME ALONE YOU BAKA! I'm so sick of you confessing your undying love for me every night! Don't you understand why you don't have a girlfriend?"
"Because I only like you, Kitten."
"No, it's because you're butt ugly! Your hair looks like it came out of our garden, your clothes look like they came out of a dumpster, and.. and I don't know what else, but you really need to change you.. you freak!" This said, Ichi stomped inside her house and slammed the door.
Kish was really hurt by this. He could tell that something had happened to his toy because she had never been that mean to him before.. And she usually came home all cheery and bouncy. He could have sworn her eyes looked close to spilling a few minutes before.. and the way her voice cracked betrayed the sadness inside her. She just didn't think he was good for anything, but he would change that. He would be good enough, make her his. With these thoughts, he vanished.
As soon as Ichigo had gotten home she'd run upstairs to her room, locked the door, and buried her face in the comfort of her pillows. Strangely, no tears fell, she figured it was because she'd pretty much emptied herself of them hours before. Now she was just a shell of herself and wanted to rest.. She had to as well because her school was rehearsing for the play tomorrow. Though she wasn't looking forward to it anymore.. It would be awkward to kiss Masaya when he didn't like her anymore.
But.. Maybe, just maybe she could win him back somehow? Maybe she could give him the kiss of his life, revive his feelings for her? She hoped so.. Maybe all was not lost.
She sighed, rolled unto her back and soon fell asleep. Her mom wouldn't be home from her new job for another hour, so there was no reason to get started on her homework now.
The next day found Ichigo stressing over what she should wear to the recital. She wanted to look good for Masaya to try her luck with winning him back. She would never give up on him.. ever. Deciding on a pink sweater over a strawberry-print white tank top and a miniskirt, she ran downstairs, shoveled down breakfast, and darted outside, glancing at the surrounding houses suspiciously. Were her eyes deceiving her or was Kish not there today? "Oh well." She thought, "all the better for me."
Nothing interesting happened to her throughout the day. She never saw so much as a glimpse of Masaya between classes. But that didn't matter to her, because it was time to prove herself at the recital. He would have to be there, right? He had the most important role and the play was the next day, so he couldn't skip out.. Finally locating the double doors leading into the auditorium, she walked in and took a seat in the middle row facing the small stage. She had the whole row to herself, perfect.
She pulled out her notebook and began to go over her lines, being so immersed in her concentration, she failed to notice a person quietly seat themself beside her. After a while, she could sense a presence next to her. Turning to see whom it was, she was shocked to come face-to-face with the bright, topaz eyes she'd grown to despise staring back at her.
"Kish?!" She exclaimed.
"Wow, you're good." He replied, smirking.
He looked so much different. She couldn't believe this handsome youth (though she didn't like to admit it), was the same Kisshu that had previously looked like a complete nerd. His hair was now black, styled with long bangs covering half of his left eye, and shorter ones in random positions across his forehead; basically what one would call an 'emo' cut. He had on a black Saosin T-shirt, faded, ripped-up jeans, and strangest of all, he'd somehow converted his normally pointy ears into a humans.
After a short, uncomfortable silence, Ichigo found her voice again.
"What exactly.. happened to you?"
"I changed, just like you told me to."
"But.. that was just a statement!" She exclaimed, flustered by his closeness.
He chose not to reply and instead gave her one if his trademark winks before focusing his attention on the stage, where Mrs. Nichols, the drama teacher, was clearing her throat to speak.
"Ahem! All present?" She questioned her pupils.
"Yes Mrs. Nichols!" They answered.
"Good! We'll get straight to rehearsing, but first, I have one quick announcement to make. Masaya will not be playing Romeo anymore, he dropped out last night, but don't worry! The show will go on! This young man here, Kish.."
allowing time for him to stand up, she continued with her speech, "had all of Aoyama's lines memorized word perfect and called me last night to ask for the part; I obliged.
So, Ichigo, why don't you two get to know eachother a bit before you rehearse? I'm sure that would make it much more comfortable.."
Ichigo looked at her feet uncomfortably while Kish just smirked.
"Well, class, lets get started!"
After a full week of rehearsing, dealing with Kish's ceaseless flirting, and never ending schoolwork, Ichigo was totally exhausted.
Tomorrow was the big day; the play she'd spent a whole three weeks working on. He whole family and all her friends would be there.. to see her kiss Kish. Needless to say, she wasn't looking forward to it at all. It was embarrassing enough to have to kiss him in front of her small theater group, but in front of hundreds of people? She didn't think she could handle it.
Crawling into bed and pulling her covers up to her neck, she made a vow that after this play, she would never let that freak's lips touch hers ever again. Even if it meant taking drastic measures, like clawing his eyes out.
The next day brought a fresh wave of anxiety to Ichigo's already troubled mind.
She was backstage, awaiting the cue for her to come out and stand behind the large curtain with everyone else. This came faster than she expected. She swallowed the growing knot in her throat and prayed a silent prayer that everything would go well.
"I love you Juliet."
With this, Kish gently pushed Ichigo's crimson hair behind her ears and continued,
"I'm all yours."
He then cupped her face in his hand, leaned forward, and kissed her.
His instincts told him to go further and he would have gladly done so, but he chose to respect her character at least once. Though he had to clench his fist to the point of his nails breaking the skin to restrain himself.
Pulling away, Ichigo put on her best fake smile and said "I love you too, my Romeo."
That same night, Ichigo went to the park to cool her head. She couldn't sleep, her thoughts were a jumbled mess and each and every one seemed to involve her arch nemesis, Kish.
Did she really like him? Or was it just his new look that was giving her these clouded ideas? She wasn't too sure.
"Gosh, my life is so confusing." She muttered under her breath.
"And why is that pretty kitty?"
Obvious who the other voice belonged to. None other than the hopeless romantic, Kisshu.
"None of your business, ok? Can I ever get a break?" She exclaimed.
"Look, Ichigo, I've gone out of my way and respected you many a-"
"Are you kidding? When have you respected me?"
"Why, just a few hours ago actually. I could have really embarrassed you but I chose not to, and if I really wanted to have my way, well.. I could have done far more explicit things when you're parents weren't around. That's the truth."
Ichigo just stood there, staring at him; unchanged.
"I love you Ichigo.. what do I have to do to be good enough?" He said sadly.
His vision started to blur and he realized that he might cry, so he bit his tongue to avoid doing so.
That was when he noticed the chimera anima positioned a few feet away.. ready to fire straight through Ichigo's heart. He knew.. it wouldn't miss.
Without a second thought to his decision, he leaped.. in the nick of time, and the spear went straight through his brittle heart.
Collapsing on the ground, Ichigo screamed and ran to his side
Looking up into her watery eyes, he weakly grabbed her hand for one last time and said,
"Was this good enough?"
Before he breathed his last and went cold in her arms.
Looking down at his lifeless body, Ichigo realized that he really did love her.. and now, he was gone.
"Yes.. it was most definitely good enough.. my Romeo.."
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Let me know what ya think! decemberxvixen
