It wasn't like she was jealous or anything.

No, she wasn't jealous at all. She had known Narumi Ayumu-san the longest, well… okay, maybe not the longest. But she'd known him. She had talked to him and gotten to know him, and he's even made her a bentou once before. (Okay, so maybe the only reason that she had gotten a bentou from him was because he had made a bentou for Hizumi-san, and there had been left-over ingredients, so he had made her one as well. But the point is that he had made her one.)

Certainly she knew him better than all the girls--there were three of them today, just since lunch began and it's not even half way through!--who were confessing their love to him (and getting turned down with kind words, and a soft voice, and oh, how she almost wanted to be them).

She knew about his brother, about his sister--his first love who had been stolen away by that dastardly Kiyotaka-niisan--and also about his fear of hornets--the only person, one of three, actually, if you remember that Kousuke had discovered it from Kiyotaka, the only one who Narumi-san had willingly told, and how many of the other Blade Children knew?--who knew it. None of them girls did.

It made her wonder. Does Hizumi-san know?

Mizushiro Hizumi-san, the "Little Brother of the Devil," Narumi-san's Antithesis, his enemy, the person he was fated to kill. The person who now lives with Narumi-san and Madoka-san, the boy with the mint-green hair and the child's smile, and the Devilish gold eyes. The boy who was laughing, smiling at Narumi-san, leaning onto his desk, a long arm draped over Narumi-san's shoulder like it was nothing.

Does Hizumi-san know?

She suspects he might. After all, if Narumi-san is to know everything about Hizumi-san, then Hizumi-san must know everything about Narumi-san.

And Narumi-san's words echo in her head, and the look on his face is so serious, and the look in his eyes is unreadable, but his voice is nearly as unreadable, but she can hear a bit of apprehension in it. "He's my fate," he had said, and her heart nearly stopped beating. Because, though she knew it was true, if Narumi-san was the "God of Salvation" and Hizumi-san was the "Devil" then they truly were the "Adam" and the "Eve," their Fates must intertwine.

Hizumi-san must know everything about Narumi-san, everything that she took such a long time to find out on her own, everything that Narumi-san had kept hidden from her, all his hopes, all his dreams, his feelings, fears, worries, everything and anything he was. It couldn't be hidden from him, even though it was so easily hidden from her.

And she was not the slightest bit jealous. (No, you're not, you're not, stop thinking about it. It's nothing. So what if Hizumi-san is closer to Narumi-san than you will ever be? Stop looking at them, Hiyono! You're not jealous, not jealous, not…)

And then the bell rang, so it was time to get back to work, and she turned away from Hizumi-san (who still had his arm draped around Narumi-san) and Narumi-san (and did he just lean in? No, it's your imagination, focus Hiyono.) and went back to her schoolwork. Which Narumi-san and Hizumi-san are ignoring, being able to understand so quickly, while I have to study so very hard in order to hope to match their intelligence even on the worst of days.)

------

She glares at Hizumi-san when they are walking back to Narumi-san (and did he tell Hizumi-san to get groceries before they go "home"?) and now Hizumi-san's house ("home") when she thinks that he isn't looking. Though, when he glances at her out of the corner of his eyes, just for a second, she knows that he saw it, that he felt it.

And he runs to catch up to Narumi-san, slings an arm around his shoulder and speaks to him in that bubbly voice of his, smiling happily as Narumi-san adjusts his pace to match his slower one, so they don't lose each other.

Hiyono bites the inside of her cheek and tries to pretend that she didn't see.

But it doesn't stop the thoughts from flooding her head. (He never does that for me!) (Not jealous NOT jealous!!)

She quietly turns into another store, not saying anything to the boys, and she doesn't know if she's relieved or upset that Narumi-san doesn't seem to notice her absence.

----

The next day, when she rings the doorbell for Narumi-san's (and Hizumi-san's as well) house ("home") and Hizumi-san answers, she receives a fierce grin.

"What are you, jealous?"

She thinks to answer (Not jealous, not Jealous!!) but he's already gone, and by the time she manages to get the lost look off her face, Narumi-san is already there, next to her. But it's only a glance in her direction and then he stops just before walking out of the door.

"Hizumi! We can't be late, hurry up!"

And it makes her heart hurt that he hadn't ever waited for her like that, but had kept on going even when she was dragging along. (Although, you were the one who had gone along, and you had offered him help, and forced your way the entire time. He never said that he needed you. He often said that he didn'tneed you.)

I'm not jealous. She told herself.

Hizumi-san jogged out to meet them, sending a wide smirk her way before bounding up ahead to "bother" Narumi-san.

She pretended that it didn't bother her, but she still glared at Hizumi-san's back the entire way to school.

-----

They were alone. She didn't know where Narumi-san had went, but he had left shortly after school. She had assumed that he was with Hizumi-san. Guess she was wrong.

She was in the Newspaper Club room, working on the computer, eating some rice cakes. She was researching. Anything that can help Narumi-san. Hizumi-san came in, and they exchanged fairly civil greetings, bordering on friendly. ("Hey, Ayumu isn't here?" "No, he didn't come. I thought he'd be with you.")

Even though they were insulting each other, they were still being civil. Nothing had gone wrong. (yet.) And he even seemed to be warning her. Concerned about her.

"If you're gonna keep getting involved with us, Braided girl, you'll definitely get hurt."

Warning… or threat? It doesn't matter which. They both mean the same thing. Stay away from Ayumu.

She warned him about Narumi-san, hoped that he would get the picture, but he didn't. Instead, he closed the door and turned to her, his eyes the deepest gold that she had seen so far, and there was something nearly unreadable in them depths, other than anger.

"You should give up. You're not fooling anyone, Braided girl. You're jealous." and he smirked widely, thinking that he had won whatever it was he was playing at.

She feigned ignorance. "I don't know what you're talking about."

And it seemed to work well. Hizumi-san rolled his eyes and sniffed before turning and leaving the room. He left the door open.

Liar. A voice inside her hissed.

She ignored it. She already knew she was a liar.

----

"Hey."

She smiled at him. "Hi, Narumi-san!" Her entire being radiated joy. Finally, finally they were alone together. There was no Mizushiro Hizumi-san between them anymore, no more of his threatening presence. She could finally talk to him without feeling… I'm not jealous.

And she sat down next to the piano and listened as Narumi-san played the "Benediction de Dieu dans la Solitude." He didn't' play for her often, if ever at all, and this time she hadn't needed to ask. He looks so… peaceful when he plays the piano. She hadn't seen him look this way since… well, she can't remember. Perhaps it was… never. She had never seen him look this peaceful. Even when he slept he was tense, always planning, always waiting, always protecting something.

This look on his face was the same, but it seemed as if he was no longer afraid of the piano. No longer afraid that he wouldn't be noticed, that he would be doomed forever to stay in the shadow of Narumi Kiyotaka-niisan.

"Hey," she looked up, seeing his dark eyes staring at her, even as his hands moved over the ivory keys, "what's wrong with you lately?"

Hiyono jumped slightly. Then she smiled, "Just… a little uneasy, I guess…" best to tell half-truths.

Narumi-san nodded thoughtfully. "It's no wonder… With Hizumi around…" He suddenly stood up, resting his hands on the edges of the piano and not looking at her, although she could hear the difference in his tone when he next spoke. "That's right, what happened with Hizumi?" Her heart leapt to her throat, and she felt that feeling (not jealous, not jealous) tearing at her insides again. "I haven't seen him since the lesson ended--"

--------

Hiyono walked home alone that night, not wanting to spend any more time with Hizumi-san than she had to. She knew he was bad, that was certain. But he had threatened her, she knew it, and she had not told Narumi-san about it, and Narumi-san would definitely notice something was wrong if she was to act strangely around Hizumi-san. Stranger than normal, at least.

She walked inside her house and set her bag down, ready for a nap right then and there. But her phone rang and she picked it up, wondering who was on the other line.

"Hello, Hiyono speaking!" she giggled lightly, keeping her tone light and bubbly and happy, hoping that she didn't sound too forced.

There was breathing on the other end, right into the receiver, before the person spoke. "You should really work on your act, pigtailed girl." And his voice was darker than she remembered it, but she reminded herself that this was the Devil's little brother, this was the boy who would become the Devil and awaken the blood of all the Blade Children, who would soon cause the extinction of the current Human race.

"Hizumi-san." Her voice could be cold, too, when she dropped the pretenses and lowered her voice to a normal volume. When she wasn't talking to people who knew her at school, or who looked only at her outward appearance, and when she was talking to anybody other than Narumi-san, when she was not around Narumi-san. When it didn't have anything to do with Narumi-san (oh, but it does, you know that, don't you? It's always about Narumi-san, and with him, you know what Hizumi-san is calling about, don't you?).

A humorless laugh on his end, "That's right! I knew you were smart!" mocking tone with false enthusiasm. "Now maybe you can guess why I'm calling..?" She could imagine the smirk on his lips.

She exhaled. "And maybe you could tell my how you have gotten my number, and how you are using Narumi-san's phone?" Stupid, stupid girl! She already knew the answers to those questions. Narumi-san would let Hizumi-san do nearly anything, he spoiled the Devil, and she had been the one to write her phone number (In your favorite pink notebook with the pink paper and the glittery purple pen) down and leave it next to his phone, where she knew that he would not touch it, and she knew that he would not call, but she left it there anyway.

"You already know that answer, Pigtailed Girl." and the dark tone of his voice told her that, yes, he was looking down on her, and that she was not viewed as worthwhile. Not worth him wasting his time on. "You were the one who had left your phone number next to the phone, with your name on it. It's a pity, isn't it, that Ayumu doesn't know what your name is, even though it's written on a piece of pink paper pinned on the wall in his house?"

She flinched. She knew that he never called her by name, and that there must have been a reason for it. She knew that she was not special, not to him, nothing more than a way to get information that not even the police knew, nothing more than the stupid girl who he would get along better without. Though she knew that she was not special enough, she felt a pain deep in her heart to hear that she was not special enough for him to remember her name.

She kept silent.

"Maybe you should just give it up, Hiyono-san." he sneered her name, making it sound dirty and wrong, and like it was something he should have avoided by crossing to the other side of the road and changing paths from that day onward, in hope of never meeting it again. "Hope is a nasty little thing." he paused, letting out a small laugh, before expanding upon his statement. "Hope," he repeated, his voice with a thoughtful undertone, "if you take out the thought behind it, you'll just be killed and eaten by that creature in the end."

"It would do you good to remember that, Pigtailed girl." She didn't say anything, and he made a sound that seemed like he had just remembered something. "And it's best if you just admitted that you were jealous, even though it won't do you any good. He's mine, after all."

And he hung up.

I'm not jealous. She repeated to herself.

A voice inside her laughed. Sure you're not.

She hung up the phone.

---END---

My first step into the Spiral fandom. I hope that I did good... I'm hoping that there will be a better fic than this to come from me, sometime soon. Maybe a continuation...? But I've got a lot of ideas for Spiral fanfictions, and all of them are Hizumi/Ayumu, though a lot of them have more to do with those two than Hiyono, thankfully.

Please leave a comment and tell me what you think! And constructive criticizm is always appreciated.