Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own Fushigi Yuugi. But I do own Akai! So there!
He spotted her halfway down the hall, standing beside a set of lockers; their normal meeting spot. He took a deep breath. This would be the hardest thing he'd ever have to do. He loved her more than anything in the world… but he couldn't even take the chance that something would happen to her. He had to end it... and that killed him.
Spotting him, Akai ran up to him and threw her arms around him. "Hey you," she murmured in his ear.
Chichiri sighed, figuring he might as well make this last. He wrapped his arms tightly around her, breathing in her scent, as if for the last time.
When she tried to pull away, he wouldn't let her go. She could sense something was wrong, and she hugged him tighter. "What's wrong, Chichiri?"
He took in another deep breath, reluctantly letting go of her. "Akai, I…" He stopped. The look in her eyes was full of worry. She loved him so much. This was killing him. "Akai, we've got to end this…" He spit it out rather fast, thinking it might hurt him less, but it didn't. It only made him feel even worse.
He couldn't face her. He knew that if he did, she'd be crying, and he couldn't handle it. He'd always sworn he'd never hurt her, but he was doing just that, right now.
Akai bit her lip as tears filled her eyes. She could tell he wasn't just joking around about it from the look on his face. But there was something else; something he wasn't telling her.
She forced him to look at her. "But… why?"
He closed his eyes painfully. He was starting to ache all over… but the most pain was in his heart. He loved her so much. How could he hurt her like this? It wasn't fair to her. If she only knew…
He shook his head, his own eyes starting to fill with tears. "I'm sorry…" was all he could say before turning around and running in the opposite direction. He couldn't stand to see her so upset; he couldn't stay.
Akai sunk to her knees, her face in her hands, bawling. She just didn't know why. Why couldn't he just tell her? Was it something she did? How could he just end it so suddenly, and not tell her why? They'd been through so much together; having been reborn together just to live another life with each other, because their love was just that strong.
She ran. Stumbling down the hallway, seeing as her vision was blurry from all her tears, she ran for the exit. But on the way there, she saw them. And she saw what was probably the reason Chichiri had just left her. It was a girl. A very pretty girl at that. The girl was standing there, her arms wrapped around Chichiri's mid-section. Her Chichiri. Oh... now I get it… She shook her head, and kept on running, slamming through the front door and heading in the direction of the parking lot.
Chichiri looked up as he heard the door slam open, and just managed to see a glimpse of bright red hair before it was gone. She had seen him. But she didn't understand. It wasn't the way it looked. He didn't love this girl who was hanging all over him. Hell, he didn't even know her. But she had threatened to kill the one person he cared most for in the world. Perhaps… perhaps it was better this way. She could find someone better than him, and be happy. And then… then he'd be happy, because she'd be happy.
No. No, it wasn't right. There was only one way he could ever be truly happy, and that was to be with her. As selfish as it may be, he wanted her all to himself. No one else was worthy of her beauty. No one else was worthy of her smile, her gentle kindness, those special looks of love that he saw whenever she looked at him. No one else was worthy of her. Even he, himself wasn't worthy. But he knew she loved him, and that he could make her happier than anyone else ever could. Just being apart from her was killing him.
Arisa looked up at Chichiri and smiled her devilish smile. "Heh… I see you broke up with her. Good job. It'll be… better off that way. Don't you agree, Chiri, dear?"
He slowly nodded his head, gritting his teeth together as his fists clenched. He wanted nothing more than to knock this girl, whoever she was, away from him, run after Akai, and tell her how much he loved her. But he couldn't. Because then this girl would hurt her. And he couldn't have that.
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Three days later…
Akai walked down the hall quietly, holding her book-bag on her back; holding her tears in.
There they were… again. The girl, whom she'd learned was named Arisa, had her arms around Chichiri again. Her Chichiri. He stood there, an arm lying awkwardly across her shoulders.
She bit her lip. I'm not gonna cry, I'm not gonna cry, I'm not gonna cry... She kept her eyes ahead of her, not wanting to meet Chichiri's as she made her way down the hall.
Chichiri watched her, a look of longing obvious upon his features. How he wanted to take her into his arms and kiss her until she was breathless. He longed for her. But more importantly, he needed her. He couldn't function properly without her.
She couldn't help it. She looked over at him, and immediately regretted it. He was looking straight at her; as if trying to convey a message to her with his eyes. Why was he looking at her like that? Did he just want to hurt her more than he already had? Did he want to rub it in her face that he'd found someone new, and that she was left all alone? What did he want from her?
She couldn't take it, and she took off down the hall, tears streaming down her face.
Chichiri clenched his fists. He was sick of hurting her; he just couldn't do it anymore, and he tore away from Arisa, taking off down the hallway after his real love.
Arisa made a disgusted face. "Chichiri, get BACK here! You know what'll happen if you don't!"
He stopped and faced her, shaking his head. "You won't really do it, no da. You're too afraid of what would happen if you did, because you KNOW I'd kill you. If you even tried to hurt her, I'd kill you, no doubt about it. I've hurt her enough because of you, and I'm sick of it. I love her. And I'm not gonna hurt her anymore, no da!" With that, he was gone.
"Ugh!" She crossed her arms. "Hmph." She knew he was right. He was more right than she could even say. She thought her ploy was fool-proof, but obviously… she, herself was the fool. "FINE!" She stormed off in the direction of her homeroom.
Chichiri ran down the hallways, frantically looking for which way she'd gone. He stopped when he reached one of the exits. Hmm… maybe she went this way, no da.
He opened the doors and walked outside. Then he stopped. He should've known she'd be here.
He found Akai sitting under the large tree in the front of the school. It was the place they'd always meet when school ended. They'd shared many a kiss, as well as some fond memories under that tree. It meant a lot… to both of them.
He walked slowly towards her. As he got closer, he started to hear her slightly muffled sobs, and he felt as if his heart was in a vice. He had been the one to make her cry. He was the one responsible for putting her though all of this pain. It was his fault that she hurt.
Akai sat there, her back against the tree, and her head in her hands as she sobbed.
"I-I'm sorry, no da," he murmured as he took a seat next to her.
She jumped slightly as she recognized the voice instantly. "Chichiri?" She turned away. "What do you want?"
He flinched. Her voice was so icy; so cold towards him. He'd never heard her speak like that to anyone; especially to him.
He sighed. "I don't blame you if you hate me, no da."
She scoffed, her head still turned away. "I could never hate you, Chichiri! And that's what kills me! I wanna hate you so bad. I wanna hate you for hurting me. I wanna scream at you, I wanna hit you, but I can't! I can't because I love you!"
He couldn't help but smile. "That's good to hear, no da."
She stood up, about to leave. "Maybe you should get back to Arisa. I'm sure she's wondering where you are."
He shook his head and pulled her down to him, and into his lap, wrapping his arms tightly around her. He breathed in her scent and smiled. "At least let me explain."
He told her of Arisa's deception, and about how badly he didn't want to hurt her, but he figured that he had to, to save her from being hurt further in the future.
As he finished, he noticed she'd relaxed somewhat in his arms, and was no longer struggling to get away.
Tears still ran down her face. "Why didn't you just tell me?"
He smirked, reaching his hands up to wipe away her tears. "Would you have let me go if I had?"
She couldn't help but grin. "No, I definitely wouldn't have."
He turned her so that she was facing him. "I want you to know something, Akai."
She nodded as he wiped away some more of her tears.
"I love you. I love you more than anything in this world, and I'd do absolutely anything for you. We were reborn together for a reason; and that reason is that we have a love so strong that it can last forever. Literally. I told you I'd never hurt you, and then I did. And I'll never forgive myself for that. But from here on out, for the rest of our many lives together, I swear to never hurt you again. I love you so much, Akai." He hugged her tightly, his arms firmly around her waist.
Tears streamed down her face yet again as she hugged him back. "I love you too, Chichiri. I love you so much."
He smiled and pulled away a bit to look into her eyes. "Well, it's settled then, no da."
She tilted her head. "What's settled?"
"We both love each other, so I get to do this." Grinning, he leaned in and captured her mouth in a passionate kiss.
She smiled into the kiss as she kissed him back, wrapping her arms tighter around his neck.
He pulled away about a centimeter. "I love you, Akai. And I'll never hurt you again."
She grinned, her mouth inching back towards his. "I love you too, Chichiri. And you better not."
Smiling, he pulled her closer and kissed her again.
And there they stayed. Two lovers reunited, back in each others' arms… where they belonged.
Author's Notes: I know, I know. It's so horribly, horribly sappy. I wrote this for myself, really; just to get out an idea. But I figured I might as well post it. So, you all know the drill. Read and review for me!