Now, I, Tokiya Mikagami was proud to say that I had a friend.
A real, genuine friend. Not the type that only hung-out with me because of some sick, pathetic and perverted motive.
And it all came in the form of one Fuuko Kirisawa.
Who knew, right? But it's true. We would go out to the park, hangout and watch those bad B movies, you know to criticize and mock it's tackiness.
Hell, we even would laugh together sometimes.
And it all started in this festival one night, a fireworks festival, I think. And to think that I didn't even want to go in the first place . . .
Anyways, this is the story about when I first saw her differently.
As I was saying, I wouldn't have gone to that festival if it weren't for Kogenai. Damn him and his puppy dog eyes!
"Come on, Tokiya," he pleaded, following my every movement. "Please? It'll be fun!"
I let out a long, suffering sigh. The little kid's been bugging me about this case the whole day now.
"I do not want to spend the rest of my evening, babysitting a bunch of monkeys," I said curtly, trying to concentrate on my Algebra homework. "Even you know that."
"But it's gonna be great!" Kogenai persisted. "You won't have to baby sit them cause you wouldn't be held liable for whatever chaos and destruction they might cause."
"Right, like I haven't heard that one before," I replied, swinging my chair so that my back would be turned towards him. Flashes of me talking to a couple of amazed, not to mention annoyed, cops outside a ruined house entered my mind.
I shuddered involuntarily.
Kogenai sweat dropped. "Well, um . . .not this time anyway! Besides, Yanagi-nee-chan's gonna be there!"
I took a pause from my reading and swung my chair back and turned towards him again. "So?"
He gulped at my expression and gave me an extremely nervous smile. "Well, I just thought that you know . . ."
"For your information, I do not see Yanagi that way," I cut off his babbling.
And the kid had the audacity to scoff. I raised a thin eyebrow.
He gulped once again.
And that was when he unleashed it.
Honestly, that boy's been hanging our far, far too much with Yanagi.
The next thing I knew was that I was standing between Domon and Kogenai, with Recca and Yanagi in front of me, watching the [overly noisy] colorful explosions contrast with the ebony sky.
The words surrounded, trapped and cornered entered my mind. Well, there went Plan B.
I heaved a sigh.
"Hey guys!" shouted one voice that hadn't been there before. "Look at that large one!"
"Fuuko!" a clash of voices shouted together. Laughter followed.
"I thought you weren't coming," said Yanagi, moving away from Recca.
"Yeah, well, I escaped my aunt and her inhumane chores,"
I looked at the direction where Fuuko's voice was coming from, half-expecting her to be wearing something what I was wearing, a tube tank top and all that.
Well . . .to say that I was shocked was an exaggerated understatement.
There she was the tomboyish Fuujin-wielder . . . in a kimono! I felt my mouth gape wide open. Never in my wildest dreams did I even think that there would be a day when Fuuko-- Fuuko! -- would ever wear a dress, and a kimono nonetheless!
She smiled. You know, at me.
Funnily enough, I looked away and felt the heat rise up to my cheeks.
No way! Was . . .I . . .blushing?
When I looked back again at her, she was already being led by Yanagi and was pestered about how pretty she looked.
Well, she was.
I stopped walking to ponder over that. Just where exactly did it come from? Well, okay. So I'm a teenager. And so was Fuuko. Hormones, you know, I do have them, contrary to popular belief. It's a normal teenage reaction.
Right, like you're normal.
I didn't get the chance to answer back my subconscious-self because the others were already far ahead of me and I needed to catch up.
Not that I needed their company or anything.
"Wow Fuuko," Domon started, already pushing his limits with her. I rolled my eyes at the predictability of the oaf. "You really look pretty! Now don't 'ya think that I deserve a kiss?"
A kick in the head reached Domon.
Surprisingly enough, it wasn't from Fuuko.
"Thanks Kogenai," Fuuko said, obviously relieved. "It's so much harder to move in this thing than it looks."
Domon whimpered and looked for comfort in Yanagi.
"Hey, why don't we go to the area where the games are placed?" said Recca enthusiastically, no doubt itching for a chance to impress his Hime.
"Okay!" replied all of them unanimously.
"Race you all there then! The last one there gets to pay for the first round of games!" Shouted Recca, already grabbing Yanagi and had started running.
Cheater.
As soon as I had even thought of it, almost all of them had run off.
All except one.
"So, why aren't you off?" I asked.
"Are you crazy?" Fuuko replied. "I'd break both of my ankles if I tried running in these things. I really don't know how Yanagi moves in these." she held up the hem of her kimono to show me her wooden slippers.
Ah.
We started walking in silence, following the track where the rest of the group had gone.
To my left, two kids barely eleven, I suppose, were playing tag. And to my right, were a group of adults, all clad for the occasion.
Boy, were they noisy.
"You can go now," Fuuko suddenly said, breaking the silence.
I looked at her, knowing that curiosity and confusion were painted on my face.
"You can go now," she repeated. "I mean, what are you hanging around me for?"
I smirked and turned away from her face. "Do you really want me to go?"
"Well . . .no, it's just that I find it weird that you'd stay here," she said. "Obviously, somebody forced you to come here, so why aren't you sneaking deviously away? I won't tell."
"You're underestimating me too much, Kirisawa," I said, coldness in my voice. "I'll have you know that this night is he closest thing that I have ever had to a vacation in years. I am not gonna blow it off because you don't feel like having a walk partner this night."
Liar.
Shut up.
"Whatever," she started, but she was cut off because the two kids that I saw earlier encircled us and bumped into us, into Fuuko actually, causing her to loose her balance and topple over.
My reflexes kicked in way before I had even considered thinking about what I was doing. My arms reached out to catch her body and steady her. Her face was scrunched up and her eyes were closed in expectation for the fall that never came.
She looked up to me and opened her eyes slowly.
The two children continued on playing, bumping into other people along the way.
"Gee," she started. "Thanks, Mi-chan."
She looked downwards causing her hair to be the center of my sight. How long was it since I last held another person? Months? Years?
"Um . . ." she started again. "You can let go now . . .Ice Boy."
My brain digested her words and I realized that she was still very close to me. And she was in that position because my hands were holding her waist firmly there.
I instantly let go of her and jumped at least three feet away, as if she was something vile.
"Gee, thanks," she said sarcastically. "You know that I think of you the very same way, Mi-chan."
The cat seemed to have gotten a fierce grip on my tongue cause I couldn't say a thing.
She started walking ahead, leaving me frozen to the spot. I took me a few moments longer to follow her, for some unknown reason. I jogged up until I was beside her again, walking in her pace.
"Doesn't it hurt you?" she asked.
"Hmm?"
"You know, the fact that Recca's with Yanagi right now. Is it okay with you?"
I risked cracking a smile. "I don't look at Yanagi that way, Fuuko. That's gross, incest-ual, even."
"I see,"
Pause.
"Well, does it hurt you?"
"What?"
"Come on, I see it in your eyes that you see Recca much, much more than as a friend."
She contorted her face into a grin. "What are you talking about?"
"Fuuko Kirisawa, the world's greatest masked magician! She can keep her feelings at bay by wearing a grin!" I said, feigning an overly excited announcer voice. Then I turned serious. "Too bad I don't buy it though."
She let go of the [somewhat] painful grin and heaved sigh. "Recca doesn't see me that way," she started, looking at he ground. "Besides, they look so happy when they're together that any fool could see that it's right. They're right."
Whoa. I never actually thought that she'd give in to my prodding. "Well, what about you? What about your happiness?"
Foot, meet mouth.
How do you do?
"I don't care what happens to me" she stated, taking no notice whatsoever of my berating against myself for poking my nose in other people's business. The next words she said only in a whisper. "Why should I? Nobody does anyway."
My head snapped towards her and I stopped walking once again. When she realized that I lagged off, she stopped talking and turned around to face me.
It was as if the whole thing was in slow motion. Her hair rippled in he wind, as she turned to me. What I saw was he real image of Fuuko. Not that fearless warrior, not the strong and dependable friend, but Fuuko. And right then and there, she looked as innocent and helpless, not to mention unhappy, as a child.
That image, I know, will be printed on my mind forever. And it's all because of the simple fact that something in me snapped at her helplessness. Something in me actually wanted to be friends with her. It only seemed fitting to be her friend. Somehow, it just felt . . .
Right.
She walked back towards me and looked at my eyes curiously. I smiled, a real genuine smile at her.
"Let's look for them now," I suggested.
She smiled back, and this time, I actually reached her eyes. I linked her arm with mine and that's when I knew . . .things would be different.
Fin
AUTHOR'S NOTES
Err . . .. Don't ask where exactly that mush came from. All I know is that I was sitting on my bed one evening and then this picture caught my eye and voila! This fic was born!
Literally, I mean my hand just started writing.
Oh, by the way, I don't own any of the characters.