Kawashima Ami sat on the hallway floor in her yellow tracksuit, her legs drawn up under her chin. It was getting chilly, but she couldn't bring herself to move.
So much had happened lately…
Those two idiots had finally come to terms with their feelings and told each other the truth. Taiga and Ryuuji were now a couple. She had seen it coming from the start – she was an excellent observer, after all.
A part of her felt a little empty. There was a weak, yet stinging pain in her chest. Was it because she had loved Ryuuji, too?
There was no denying that she had felt something for the boy with the scary face. He was different from the rest. In his eyes, she hadn't been Kawashima Ami, the model. He hadn't put her on a pedestal, like all those other boys. All those fanboys who adored her for her beauty and the persona she showed them.
Sweet, airheaded Ami-chan… What a laugh.
No, Takasu had just seen her for who she was; an arrogant bitch. Yet, he hadn't abandoned her. He knew her true self, but he still saw something good in her. What exactly he had seen, she didn't know, but she was happy that someone liked her despite her true self.
Even so, it hadn't hurt as much as she thought it would have when she forced Ryuuji to admit his feelings for Taiga earlier that day. She had wanted him to say it, both so that he himself would be certain of it, and so that she and Minori could finally let go of him.
However, she hadn't felt like she had lost anything in that moment. She hadn't lost Ryuuji.
Why was that? She knew there was no hope of them getting together after this, but that didn't make her all too sad.
Could it be she had already given up on him a long time ago?
Sure, he was an idiot, but that didn't mean that she hated him. At least, she didn't think so.
Maybe it was because she had always known, deep down, that his heart belonged to Taiga? That being said, there was a time when she thought he might choose Minori, but it didn't turn out that way, mostly thanks to Minori herself.
Yet, she had always known that Takasu wouldn't choose her. She was never an option in his eyes, even though they might have been a better match than him and Minori, or even him and Taiga.
Maybe that's why she gave up on him without even realizing it herself.
It was fine, though. It was for the best.
Without any lingering feelings, she would be able to remain friends with Taiga and Ryuuji.
That was good, wasn't it? It was, so why did she still feel sad?
A picture of a certain redhead popped up in her mind.
She might be over Ryuuji, but Minori wasn't. Minori had lost the boy she loved to her best friend, and she had lost her best friend to the boy she loved.
She must have felt so lonely.
Heck, Ami knew she was lonely. Hadn't Minori come to her earlier? Hadn't Minori broken down and cried in front of her? After all those mean things Ami had done to her, Minori must have been pretty lonely to come to her, of all people, for comfort.
Ami's heart broke a little for Minori.
She didn't know why exactly, but she had come to care for that dumb musclehead.
Maybe it was because they were in the same boat? Or was there another reason?
It didn't really matter right now.
She had tried to protect Minori, though. She had attempted to talk some sense into Ryuuji; tried to force him to make a choice, but in the end, the one she had tried to protect still got hurt.
Why did it have to be her? She deserved better than that. She deserved better than Taiga. She deserved better than Ryuuji!
Until now, Ami hadn't noticed how her hands had curled into fists, clenched together so tightly that her knuckles had turned white.
Unclenching them, she picked up a shoe from the floor and threw it roughly against the front door.
"Stupid Takasu-kun!" she growled under her breath.
Why did he and Taiga get to be so happy when Minori was so miserable?
Why was she the one who had to end up heartbroken?
She had spent a lot of time pushing the girl, in hopes of getting her to open up to her. She could never see past Minori's mask, and that pissed her off.
Yet, when Minori had opened up to her tonight, she had hated it. She hated seeing her friend cry. She hated seeing her suffer, and all she had been able to come up with were some lame insults and some crap about how life goes on.
She had wanted to do more. Much more. But what could she have done to help Minori? There was nothing she could say in that moment that would have healed Minori's broken heart. And even if there was, did Ami have the right to say it?
She had never been nice to the girl. Insulting her… Pushing her…
She could have at least tried to reach out sooner. She could have stopped it before it got to this point. She knew the path they were walking down, but she hadn't said a thing.
Ami was just an observer. She only gave curt advice every now and then, in an attempt to guide them towards the right path. She should have known they were all too stupid to figure it out on their own. If she had put in more of an effort to help them, maybe Minori wouldn't be suffering so much now.
Even so, it was too late to change what happened in the past. She could still regret it, and she probably would, but Ami knew she had to focus on the future.
She had said it herself:
"From now on, for ten years, for twenty years, for sixty years, life will go on."
She knew they had to heal eventually. All of them. She would heal, and so would Taiga, and Ryuuji, and even Minori.
All she could do, for now, was to help her…
Hi!
This story picks up after the events of episode 24 and will be following Minori and Ami, as well as their relationship.
Hope you enjoy this chapter, and as always, reviews are much appreciated :)