I have been dying to write something like this, so here it is! My first AyuHiyo!

Oh! SPOILER ALERT!!! If you have not read up to chapter 68 and do not like spoilers, I suggest that you do not read this. Sooo, everything that I state is from the book. I might add my own words to it… because it sometimes doesn't make sense, so don't start suing me. Do remember, this is fiction – my story. The whole entire thing isn't true. Sure, a little from the past, but towards the ending is… my ending so don't think it's from the book.

Disclaimer – Me no own Spiral – although I wish I did.

Ch.1 - Memories

They were two normal people in the world. It was hard to tell, actually. It depended on everybody's points of view. Some could – or would – say he was weird, a nobody; an outcast or delinquent who was in the midst of dangerous activities. Others could say he was a slacker, never paying attention in class. Then there were the people who didn't know he even existed. If you ever asked them where he was, they might have answered, "Who's Narumi Ayumu?"

But she was different. Everybody knew Yuizaki Hiyono, the newspaper club's president and only member. She was the freak, the one who knew everything. It made people feel like a stalker was on their back when her articles appeared in the newspaper the next morning with secrets that they had never exposed to anybody before. She was scary that way. They said that no one could stop her from going to drastic measures to obtain the information that she wanted. Not that anyone cared about them. They were just two people with no social lives.

But then they became acquaintances. Him, being the accused perpetrator, and her, being the only interviewer up for the job. That's how it all started, as two people who came to know each other with one deadly link – a murder.

---

The sound of the piano went on carelessly, but the feeling of anger filled the air. No doubt about it, either. The piano brought unwanted memories back to Ayumu. His fingers stopped abruptly, sensing someone standing at the door. Hastily, he stood up and took a cautious glance at the young 2nd year student standing at the doorway.

"Oh?" she asked, tilting her head. She wanted to hear more of that melodic melody that filled her ears. It was soothing, and she liked it. "You're not going to play anymore! Since you started already, why don't you finish it off?"

He glanced at the older girl, annoyed. Why was she in here, he wanted to know. He hated when others heard him play the piano. He already hated himself when he started to. "Who are you?" he asked, ignoring her question. He didn't want to play anymore, especially now that there was someone else in the room with him.

She giggled nonchalantly. "Oh, I forgot to introduce myself! Silly me. I'm Yuizaki Hiyono, the president of the newspaper club!" She lightly bounced off of the steps towards him. She pressed a microphone to his face, exclaiming, "Let me ask you, what are your feelings about killing someone?" Silence answered her, so she added softly, "Please give me some input."

He shrugged helplessly and answered, "I didn't kill anyone."

She looked at him, surprised. "What?"

He was annoyed, now. Clearing his throat, he paused in between every word so she could hear him better. "I. Didn't. Kill. Anyone." Looking at her baffled face, he heaved another annoyed sigh, turning around to leave. "This is pointless."

"B-But," she stammered, fumbling with the microphone, "everyone's saying that first-year Narumi Ayumu did it."

He turned to gaze at her. His façade was that of irritation and shock. "What? How did that spread so quickly?"

"Because someone is spreading it!"

"Is it Nohara Mizue?"

"Well, she is a good friend of Munemiya Kana, so…hey! Where are you going?"

"Isn't it obvious? To go see Nohara Mizue."

---

Ever since then, Hiyono followed him everywhere. She was his information source. She knew he depended on her. She was the one that kept him in line. Who knows when they became friends? She had always stuck by his side, never lacking faith in him, always encouraging him. He was her best friend, and she was his although he never stated it. Even though he stated so many times that he didn't care for her, and he didn't need her around, they both knew he was lying.

However, Hiyono never expected her feelings to arouse so suddenly. She didn't know what was hitting her when it happened. But before she knew it, jealousy was in the air, just like that.

---

Her breath came out in short pants. Her heart, beating fast. Her feet trampled across the yellowish grass as she continued to run as fast as she could. She was never a fast runner. She was usually sitting in front of the computer all day, typing away. No one told her that running would become handy in the future.

Her thoughts kept drifting to Ayumu. She wondered how he was doing. Was he worried about her? Was he pondering if she had gotten off the train safely? She also wanted to know if he was doing okay himself. Sure, she had seen him grab the key with her own two eyes, but did he deactivate the bomb before time ran out?

Kousuke ran behind her, asking her to wait a little bit. Wasn't he the enemy? What made him think for even a second that she would wait for him?

But the sight before eyes was definitely something that she didn't want to see. She didn't know why, but she felt her chest tighten when she saw Rio's head resting on his chest. She bit her lip. Why did this feeling always provoke her when he was with other girls that weren't, well, her?

She tried to keep her composure, trying to act like her normal self. She hollered, filling the gap that was between them, "Wha- Wha- What is that, Narumi-san?! I thought you were worried about me! And then I find you here flirting like that!? That's so dirty! You're the worst, Narumi-san!"

He looked at her, stunned but then his face was clouded with exasperation. He shouted, with more power than meaning to, "Baka! Don't misunderstand!"

"What am I misunderstanding here!? You're disgusting!"

He grunted and looked at the boy standing next to her. "Asadzuki! Call an ambulance quickly. Her wound has fully re-opened!"

She felt a twinge of jealousy within her. Why? She didn't know. She was sure he'd be concerned for her if she were in that state, too. So why was this feeling aggravating her so much?

---

When she figured out that she loved him more than a friend, nothing changed much. She was afraid to tell him even though she knew that he already knew. He would reject her, that was for sure. He never showed any emotion towards her. He kept it all inside. She knew that cared about her, even only as a friend, though he never showed it.

She continuously repeated in her head that love is something that didn't need anything in return. And although he had told her that she could wish for anything in his possibility, she knew that she only wanted one thing, but she knew that she would never ask for something like that. She didn't want to make him love her back, but for him to love her back with his heart. She knew in her heart what she stated was true, and that just being by his side was enough. It was enough to make her happy in the meanwhile, at least.

But then Hizumi came along. Everything changed. It was like she was invisible now. Like ever since this "devil" came, she wasn't even in his presence. He had changed. He actually socialized in classes. Girls were asking him out, though he was rejecting every one of them. She couldn't believe she had been pushed out of his life just like that. Sure, he still ate lunch with her everyday, and he walked to and from school with her, but he didn't really talk to her – unless she was bugging him.

Maybe she really wasn't his type after all, like Hizumi said.

---

Hizumi popped his head inside the newspaper club's room. "Ara? Ayumu… He's not in here?"

Hiyono continued to stare at her computer screen intently. "He didn't come," she stated flatly. "I thought that he'd definitely be with you."

Hizumi shook his head, inviting himself into the room. "He said he had to take care of something after class. I thought for sure that he'd happily come to get you, Braided Girl."

She glanced at her notebook. Scowling, she replied, "He's not the type of person to come to get me this late so cheerfully."

"Hmm, that's right. You're not his type, are you?" He shrugged. "His type is more of an older woman who is cool on the outside but actually cute on the inside, like his onee-san. You're older than him, but you're cute on the outside but manly on the inside. So… don't count on him liking you back."

She frowned, eyebrows furrowing. She threw a rice cookie at his head and retorted bitterly, "You're terrible! And I don't like that word. Manly. It makes me sound even uncuter. You could've used the word masculine… Anyways, I'm giving you that rice cookie so evaporate, horrible person!"

"Okay, but just telling you now, involving yourself in the situation between me and Ayumu… you might be put in grave danger."

She let his words soak into her brain before answering, "Thanks for your concern, but if I wasn't there in the past, Narumi-san would've ran before crying. He's grown now, and this time, I won't be there for him. I know that he can grow stronger because… Narumi-san is useless without me."

---

He had probably shown his affection once. That one time he had hugged her – even if he said that it was only for warmth, she knew there was something wrong. The distance grew as they grew older. Things changed – a lot. Hizumi had left for some reason that was left unanswered. Maybe Ayumu figured a way to solve fate, but then, maybe he didn't.

Ayumu wasn't himself, or so Hiyono thought. He wasn't the one that she fell in love with. Sure, he was stronger – and she wanted that. But what she didn't want was for him to see her as an invisible person. A person who was present but at the same time, a person who didn't even exist.

She had taught herself that he didn't need her in his life. She had educated herself that she was just a bother – just like he said.

Afterwards, he had tried to talk to her, and she had tried her best to ignore him. She was older, more mature. She was going to move to a university soon. She couldn't hold on to this love anymore. She just had to let it go… like letting a butterfly loose. Everything… was supposed to be normal – back to how it was before all this mumbo jumbo happened – but it didn't feel like it. Maybe Ayumu didn't change. Maybe she was the only who was altered.

Without consulting him, she said goodbye to her one true love that day she boarded the plane.

-X-

Hiyono exhaled a sigh. Twirling her long, curly locks with her finger, she listened as Rio continued to babble on about random things. Rio glared at her, seeing her do this.

Rio sighed irritatingly. "Stop doing that!" she scolded her. "You're ruining your hair!"

"I'm sorry," she apologized. She dropped her hand to her lap. Hiyono bit her lips nervously. Butterflies, at that very moment, were fluttering in her stomach to no end. "Am I doing the right thing?"

"Of course you are." Rio waved her hand at her to indicate that she was being silly again. "Kyo-chan loves you!"

"Demo…" Her thoughts drifted off to her first love, Ayumu. She had tried her best to forget about him, but somehow, he always seemed to fill up the empty space in her mind.

"You're thinking about him again." Rio continued to play with Hiyono's hair. She murmured, "What kind of hair style suits you best…?"

"I need an expert in here," Hiyono sighed, fiddling with her fingers now.

"I'm an expert at hair!" Rio complained. She gestured to her own hair, which was beautifully twisted into a French twist. "I did this myself, and I will do yours beautifully."

"It's not that, Rio-chan. I need an expert on the life of marriage. Are you sure these feelings in my stomach aren't because I'm dreading that vow so much?" she inquired as she gazed at herself in the mirror. And then she saw Ayumu staring back at her again. She shook her head, trying to get him out of her mind.

"Don't worry. Everyone feels that way before they get married. They just can't help feeling awkward when they think about how they will spend the rest of their lives with that one matrimonial person. To be married forever. It's a long time, you know? To think that this will be it. No turning back." Rio paused. "So… Yeah. Don't worry. After the wedding, you'll be in happily-ever-after land!"

"That," Hiyono uttered, "did not help at all."

"Woops," Rio giggled. "I didn't mean to make it seem like an eternal bondage."

"You did anyways," she growled, glaring at her in the mirror.

"So," Rio began as she pinned some bobby pins into her hair, "did you invite him?"

"Who?" Hiyono asked in surprise. "Did I miss somebody?"

"Oh, God, help her. You know exactly who I'm talking about." She added, "Did you invite Otouto-san?"

"Even after all these years, you still call him that?"

"Yes, you know I still talk to him. But… You're avoiding my question," she pointed out, pinning another curl to fit her bun.

"I almost had you there." She sighed. "No."

"Why not?"

"I don't know where he lives now."

"Hmph. That's not an answer. You know everyone else knows where he is. Besides, it's not like he moved. And if not, you have his phone number. He hasn't changed it."

Hiyono shifted nervously in her seat. Finally, she sighed. "I… I just think it'll feel so awkward. I did… I did leave my best friend hanging like that after all."

"He confessed to you."

"He did?" she asked, stiffening in her seat, stunned. "When?"

"You know when. Didn't you hear his last comment before he went off out of his apartment complex?"

"You mean…" she gulped, "you mean when he said that he was only confirming what was important to him?"

"Sure. Close enough." Rio paused hesitantly. "I think that's what he told me at least."

"What kind of confession was that?" Hiyono pouted. "I've always dreamed that the person who confesses to me would have thought of something better."

"You know how Otouto-san is. Don't blame him." Rio pinned the last bobby pin in and stepped back in fascination. "Ah, I'm done! Doesn't that look gorgeous?"

"Yeah… I do know how he is… Is he still like that?" She paused to look at herself in the mirror. To say she was beautiful at that moment would be an understatement. Her veil was placed like a crown, firmly on her head. Her bare neck was decorated with a delicate string of pearls. Her dress, adorned with pearls and flowers. Her make-up was applied to make her look like she was glowing with pride. But for some reason, it didn't feel right.

"Nope."

Hiyono's eyes widened in surprise. "Really? So he's a whole lot sociable now? Is he happy? Wow, that must've meant my leaving was good thing huh…" She tried not to tear up. She was, after all, "masculine". "I'm… really happy…" Her voice starts to crack. "For…"

Rio cut her off. "He's worse."

I'm sorry! I know that that's a really bad spot to end it at. Anywhere else, though, and it wouldn't have made sense soo... sorry. I had meant for this to be a one-shot, but then it became way too long. So… I'll upload the other half tomorrow – if I have time!

Xoxo MimiMichie