Just Wanna Help

"If just one wish could come true," Kaiya probed gently. "Then…?"

"Then…" she mused over it for a few moments. If one wish of hers could come true… what would it be? Anything in the world could be hers… but what? "… sorry, I still haven't thought of it."

Kaiya glanced away briefly. "I see."

Tugging his arm, she asked, "What about you, Kaiya? Have you thought about what you would want to do?"

"No," he replied almost instantaneously. He smiled sheepishly. "I haven't thought of anything."

"Thought so," she replied triumphantly.

"But…" this caught her attention. She looked at him curiously, and he smiled back. "I just decided what I need to do."

She blinked. "Huh? What's going on? You're acting weird today, Kaiya."

"Ain't I, though?" he agreed in a strange voice. He stood up, turning to walk away. "I think so too."

She watched him go, left all alone on the park bench, wondering over their odd conversation. "Kaiya…"

"Hey, Vice-President!"

Kotori started at the sudden voice, before realizing she recognized it and slumping back down. With a half-hearted glare, she mumbled at the grinning boy, "What do you want, Hinode?"

"Ah, nothing much," he easily slid next to her on the bench, leaning back carefully so as not to crush the sleeping cat on his head. "I just saw you looking all sad and stuff and wondered what was up. Is that bad of me?"

"Yes, because I somehow doubt that was the reason," Kotori muttered with a small smile.

Tsukasa put a hand over his chest with a hurt look on his face. "You wound me, Vice-President. What, I can't be compassionate to my fellow club members?"

"Someone like you?" she looked at him teasingly. "Not at all."

The pout on his face quickly disappeared as he let out a light laugh, waving a hand dismissively. "You think so poorly of me, I wonder if I should be insulted."

Kotori didn't reply. Weird that when her childhood friend walked away the most perverted guy in the school would come. Childhood friend… Kaiya really had been acting strangely earlier. Was there something wrong with him? He'd regarded her concerns coolly, which was odd because he usually exaggerated them, and had been asking her the strangest questions. Then again, it could just be her imagination. After all, what could've happened that would make Kaiya different?

"Vice-President?" a hand waved in front of her face, breaking her out of her thoughts. "You okay?"

Glancing over, she saw that Tsukasa had a slightly concerned look on his face. "Your eyes were all clouded and unfocused," he said, widening his eyes in an attempt to imitate it. "I thought you were gonna faint or something."

Kotori ignored his words, instead leaning back against the bench and folding her arms against her chest as she spoke firmly. "Seriously, Hinode. What do you want?"

"I told you," Tsukasa blinked in surprise at her sudden hard tone. "I just wanted to make sure you were alright."

"Oh, really?" she arched an eyebrow half-mockingly. "Come on, Hinode. Since when have you ever cared about how I feel? All you ever do is grope me and say all these perverted things. Why would you all of a sudden act like you're worried?"

"Is it about Yamamoto?"

This caught her off guard. "Wait, what? D-don't try to change the subject."

"Well, you're acting pretty harsh today," Tsukasa shrugged, obviously ignoring her latter statement. "I just thought maybe it had to do with him. You know, since you two were childhood friends and all. Is there something wrong with him?"

For a few seconds, Kotori found herself struggling to reply. Of course he would pick now to act serious for once in his life! "I… well… I—why would you want to know, anyway?"

"I thought he was acting a bit funny. All throughout the day whenever I tried to talk to him he always gave me this creepy smile and said he would get back to me later. You know, kinda like this," Tsukasa narrowed his eyes as a long fox-like grin spread across his face.

Kotori bit back a laugh at the ridiculous expression, trying to keep a straight face as she replied, "Kaiya might've been acting differently today, but it's not as though I'm worried about him. I mean, he's strong enough to take care of himself, plus he's got Hissui. I doubt something bad could've happened to him, if anything at all."

Tsukasa's grin disappeared, replaced by a mildly confused look. "Really…?"

She nodded firmly.

"Okay then," he returned his gaze to the park in front of him, one hand reaching up and absently stroking Raimu's fur.

For a brief moment, Kotori wished that Musashimaru was with her, just so she could have something to do with her hands as well. Then again, now that his questions were answered, Tsukasa would probably leave and then Kotori could forget that the conversation ever happened.

Inevitably, he didn't leave.

"Hey, Vice-President?"

Kotori resisted a sigh. Apparently, he still had some more awkward questions that she'd have to stumble through. "Yeah?"

"We're friends, aren't we?"

There it was, another completely random question that threw her off. She looked at him, blinking in surprise. An incredibly rare serious yet somewhat worried look was on his face as he stared back at her.

"What? Of course we're friends, Hinode." Even if we don't treat each other as such. "Why would you think otherwise?"

"Well, friends tell each other stuff, don't they?"

She didn't like where this was going. "It's not like you've exactly told me your innermost thoughts," she immediately snapped defensively.

Tsukasa looked at her curiously. "Do you want me to?"

Another response she hadn't been expecting. "Wait… ah, you don't have to…"

"If it'll make you less snappy, I think it's worth it," Tsukasa replied cheerfully. "Besides, it's not like you'll tell anyone else, right?"

Kotori hesitated. "I… guess not." She settled back against the bench, shifting into a more comfortable position. "Alright then, go for it."

"Vice-President's a really nice girl," he said easily. "And she's pretty, and smart, too. Plus, her chest goes boing-boing! I like that about her."

Flattery will get you nowhere.

"But sometimes I think she might be a little insecure," Tsukasa continued, returning his gaze to the darkened sky. "Sometimes she doesn't really know what to do, and she starts second-guessing herself on whether what she did do was right. And then, even when her friends want to help, she'll start pushing them away, 'cause she thinks she has to do everything by herself. I like Vice-President 'cause of how strong-willed and independent she is, but she also needs to learn that sometimes some people just want to help. You know?"

Kotori hesitated, staring at the ground. So he really was worried. Was she really like that, though? Pushing away people who only wanted to help her? He said I was nice… and smart… Those were probably just words, of course. Lines that Tsukasa most likely rehearsed every night to use to flirt with girls the next day. But they still made her feel good.

"If you're worried about Yamamoto, just say so. Tell him, or tell the others," Tsukasa stood up, stretching his arms out with a satisfied sound. "I mean, keeping things to yourself, especially important things, is no good."

"Y-yeah…" she managed back.

Tsukasa grinned, and turned around, heading back to his dorm. "I thought that was a nice chat. We should do it again sometime. Good night, Vice-President!"

She smiled softly. Who would've thought that Tsukasa, of all people, would be the one to ease her worries?

"Good night, Tsukasa."

"Tsukasa-kun!" she threw open the door, eyes wide with panic. "Tsukasa-kun, are you all…" her voice trailed away at the sight of the room. "Huh?"

Raimu was perched casually on the windowsill, an almost mischievous smile on his normally innocent face, and Aoki was sitting on a chair by the bed, a strange troubled look on her face. Kotori blinked in confusion. Where was Tsukasa?

And as if on cue…

"Of course I'm all right!" he laughed cheerfully as his hands reached around to her chest. "Vice-President! Actually, as long as I have your ripe fruit with me, I'm more than all right-."

Next thing he knew, he was lying dazedly against the bed, his head throbbing painfully from the punch he'd received.

"I see," Kotori grumbled. "I'm glad you're feeling better."

"Heh-heh!" Tsukasa grinned shamelessly, rubbing the part of his head that was beginning to swell.

Kotori resisted a smile. Apparently, not even getting stabbed in the heart and being inches away from death was enough to stop his perverted tendencies.

Geez, don't scare me like that again, Tsukasa-kun! But… I am glad you're feeling better. Just don't be so reckless next time.

Dunno... I like Cat Paradise, however unknown it is compared to most other manga. Plus I like these two characters.

Yeah... hope you enjoyed it, anyway.