"Hands touch, eyes meet
Sudden silence, sudden heat…"
-I'm Not That Girl from the musical Wicked

Motoko walked through the quiet halls of school. Classes had ended a little over an hour ago, but the Prince Yuki Fan Club had a meeting, and so she had stayed after. It was a relatively short meeting for they were able to stay mostly focused for once(most meetings ended up being drawn out for several hours, as most of the time was spent accidentally day-dreaming about Prince Yuki Sohma).

Motoko smiled, stretching her arms over her head. So far, the club had been successful this year; no romance had bloomed between Prince Yuki and that witch, Tohru Honda, or with anyone, for that matter. That, of course, was what the club was out to do: keep Prince Yuki pure. It wasn't fair for only one girl to have him, not when the rest of the school wanted him, was it? And so, it was their duty to keep Prince Yuki untouched, so that every girl was able to have the same thing: mere day-dreams of him. Anyway, if anyone was to be with Prince Yuki, it wouldn't be someone as undeserving as that Tohru Honda.

A lower classman walked by her, grumbling under his breath about idiotic vice presidents. It took Motoko a moment to realize who he was; it was Naohito, the class secretary! If he was here, it meant that there had been a meeting, and that Prince Yuki would be there. And, if Naohito was leaving, that would mean that the meeting was over, and that Yuki was also leaving! Perhaps, she mused, Prince Yuki might offer to walk her home…. Motoko quickened her pace ever so slightly, with the hopes of running into Yuki.

She rounded the corner, and stopped dead, her heart fluttering. There he was, standing just a few yards away, looking as beautiful as ever. He hadn't seen her yet; he was busy talking to someone else- who was it? Oh, it was just the class treasurer, Machi.

Motoko was about to call out a greeting to Yuki, but suddenly stopped. There was something strange about how the two of them were standing; they were close, very, very close to each other, closer than Motoko felt comfortable with. Prince Yuki kept moving his hand towards Machi's, but he seemed to get cold feet just as his finger's almost brushed against hers, and he'd drop his hand back go his side again. And, there was something about how softly they were talking; she couldn't even make out what they were saying.

And then, it hit her: while she and the rest of the club and foolishly focused on keeping Tohru Honda from getting too close to Yuki, this girl had moved in and had selfishly stolen the prince's heart! How could she- and the club- be so stupid? It was all making sense now; Tohru was too awkward, too flustered to end up with Yuki. But Machi- oh she was a devil! She was always there, always quiet and in the background, but always there, with Yuki! The club had ignored her, because, well, why had there been a reason to notice her? She had been too strange to even believe that Yuki would be interested in her; what a fatal mistake it had been to ignore her! Somewhere, sometime, she and Yuki had grown close, and now, if she didn't act quickly, all the work the club had done since it's formation would be for nothing!

But, she found herself unsure if she should act. Part of her wanted to- needed to- call out his name, to stop him. But, another part of her didn't want to…. Yuki was happy right now, it was so easy to see; the small smile he had, how he finally was holding Machi's hands. Even from where she was standing, she could see the joy and the love in his eyes, and…didn't the club also strive to keep Prince Yuki happy?

In her moment of indecision, Motoko had looked down, trying to figure out what to do, without being distracted by the two in front of her. When she looked up again, she gasped, bringing a hand up to her heart. She hated when people did that in movies, placing the hand over one's heart; it was so cliché and so annoying. But now, she understood why it was done. For her heart, right now, felt as though it was splintering into hundreds of pieces.

In that one moment she had looked away, Yuki – or was it Machi? She couldn't be sure- had moved closer, and initiated a kiss, a kiss she was now watching. Oh, it was almost too painful to watch; Yuki, her darling Prince Yuki, was being kissed by another woman! But, she couldn't look away, not now. The kiss deepened; Yuki took a half a step closer to Machi, so that their bodies were nearly pressed up against each other.

This was terrible, horrifying! Everything the club had done since Yuki had come into the high school, all the intense and stressful work…was worth nothing now. Yuki was with someone now (or at least Motoko hoped he was. How terrible it would be if Machi merely wanted to hook-up, and the poor prince was left heartbroken!) and…he was happy. That, Motoko had to remind herself over and over, was the bottom line, no matter how much she hated to see him with Machi like this.

Yuki's hand left Machi's, and he started to raise it up. For a split second, Motoko found herself hoping he would do something truly raunchy, like grabbing Machi's breast or the like, just so she could find a way to hate him. But, instead, he gently touched Machi's cheek (and what a lucky cheek it was, to be caressed by such a lovely hand), and cradled it.

Motoko had to get away then; she turned, and ran back around the corner she had come past only moments before. It was too painful now, for now it was so obvious that Yuki had finally found someone for him, despite all the work done to keep him pure. And, he was happy, happy with this Machi.

And then, just several yards from Yuki and Machi, Motoko leaned against a locker, and cried.

I love writing from Motoko's POV. So much fun….. It makes me wonder what it would be like to try a story from Aya's POV….

I hope you enjoyed it! (Oh, and a note to Geoduck: your story is in the works, I promise!)

Please leave some constructive criticisms.