A sad little Izumi x Meroko one-shot. There are slight spoilers for a manga event from Volume Seven.
When Meroko first meets her new partner, Izumi, she knows immediately that she likes him. He's mysterious and beautiful in his own way, and somewhere behind his cold façade she can see some of her own pain, hidden deep within his sharp amber eyes.
She tells him that she likes him. Later, when her feelings grow beyond what she thought possible, she tells him that she loves him. Sometimes softly, sometimes loudly, always with the same unmistakable sincerity.
Every time, he ignores her, pushes past her, walks right by as if she isn't even there. Sometimes she hurries in front of him to get his attention and he seems to look right through her, as if she's nothing but empty air.
She wonders if her words truly make an impact on him, if he really hears them. Once, she asked herself if he even remembered her name.
Oh, well. One day, she always tells herself, brushing away her negative thoughts. One day. One day, surely he'll hear her words, maybe even like what he hears. One day.
On a day when the clouds are gray and the rain pours from the sky like fountains, he breaks her heart. Rips it from its cage and tears it to pieces, then throws the bleeding pieces on the ground and walks away from them without even looking back.
That's how she pictures it when he says the words that shatter her.
In reality, it's still raining, but she's the one running away while he stands still.
Ironic, she thinks once, surprisingly clear despite the choked sobs rising in her throat.
Later, after a fated kiss in an alley, Izumi does the unthinkable. Something that Meroko had always dreamed of, but never really thought would happen.
He begins to pursue her.
He follows her, whispers her name, tells her that he loves her. The little things that Meroko had always done to his back, repeated in reverse roles.
She was always in the background of his life, calling out to him with words he never seemed to hear. And now he's the one chasing after her and she's the one turning away with a cold look and a few scornful words.
She's always wanted him to remember her, and now he finally does. But it's taken her pain, all the scars slashed across her heart, to make it so.
Despite her shattered heart, Meroko wants to laugh at the irony of the whole thing.
Well, it is kind of ironic, isn't it?
RRE.