TODOKANU OMOI-MY FRIEND'S LOVE
Part 1
The stars twinkled in the evening sky, as though inviting the half moon to play as it moved slowly across. "This is a romantic night, isn't it?" Ami asked her tall companion as they walked down the street.
Taiki shrugged. "I suppose so," he answered, seeing nothing more than the stars and a half moon. He saw her shining eyes, then tried once again to see the night sky as she would; as something other than the darkness of physical space blurred by an Earthly atmosphere. He silently shook his head. /Where does she come up with such illogical notions?/ he thought as they walked into the courtyard of his home. Stars were stars, moons were moons, that was all there was to it. Taiki had seen many in his travels throughout the universe, none had left that sort of impression on him. "Want to come in for tea or something?" he asked, politely opening the door for her.
She stepped inside, reluctant to leave the pleasant night air tinged with the soft scent of cherry blossoms. It was a night for wishes to come true, for dreams, for lovers. Ami blushed at that thought, wondering if Taiki felt the same. She glanced at him as they removed their shoes, hoping for a knowing smile. As usual, his face was like granite: frozen and utterly unreadable.
"Did you want to see Professor Yamamoto's book on matrix equations?" he asked her, eyes alight with interest. Before she could answer, he told her, "Wait here. I'll go get it."
Ami hugged herself silently, crossing the hall to wait for Taiki in the living room. She tried to will away the disappointment that was creeping into her heart. When Taiki had asked her out earlier that evening, she had had different expectations. Stargazing, perhaps, just sitting near Juuban Lake, curled up in the moment of just being together. Instead, they went to a lecture, something which did interest her, but not for a date.
Ami sighed, dwelling upon her relationship with Taiki. She had often wished he would look at her in the same way he looked at a textbook; eyes alight with interest, glowing with desire. She knew it was unrealistic to think of him quoting love verses from Shakespeare, whispering soft nothings into her ear. However, whenever they were alone together, he was still stiff, so mechanical. /Maybe we just need time. After all, love is different for different people. I can't expect him to be like Mamoru./
She shook her head, clearing her mind from such depressing thoughts, and entered the living room. She noticed a familiar white-haired figure curled up on the couch. She stood over him, smiling to herself. /Too tired for bed, Yaten?/ He rolled over at that moment, and she saw he was clutching an open book called 'Basic Principles of Thermodynamics' to his chest.
Moments later, he yawned, blinking his eyes open and smiled dreamily at her, something that had recently made her heart pound. "Isn't that a little out of your league?" she asked, trying to calm down her nervousness.
"Nope," he grinned, letting go of the book. Suddenly realizing what she was talking about, he shot up, frowning slightly. It passed just as quickly as it came, and replacing it with an honest grin, he motioned for her to sit on the couch. "How'd the date go?" he asked.
"The usual," she answered blandly. "Professor Hashigawa's lecture on the principles of econometrics was quite fascinating."
Yaten stared at her, and she wondered if he had caught the notion that that wasn't the whole truth. Finally, he blurted out, "You went to a *lecture* for a *date*?!"
Ami laughed with relief. "What's wrong with that?"
"No dinner? No dancing? No movie?" He shook his head disapprovingly. "That Taiki!"
"Well, what about you?" Ami teased. "All alone on a Saturday night? Too much fan mail to answer?"
"Fans!" Yaten snorted, scowling as if he had eaten something sour. "What do they know about..." his eyes suddenly took a more serious gleam. "Ami, you became friends with us because we were popular, right?"
"Well... yes, I guess I did like you because you were famous before. But, now that I know you, I like you even more."
"You're serious about that?"
"Yes." She smiled at him, almost glowing. "You are very special to me."
Yaten knew she meant all three of them, still he clung to the thread of hope rising in his heart that it meant something more. "You mean that?" he asked again, staring directly into the blue pools of her eyes, searching for that one thing to cling to.
Ami found she could not pull away from his eyes, caught like a deer in headlights. He was searching for something from her, looking deep within her heart, almost to her soul. And she couldn't stop him. Nor did she want to.
He inched closer, drawing her into his own gold-green eyes with a need she couldn't explain with words. She felt his breath mingle with her own, reminding her intimately of a kiss. Ami's heart raced at the idea, both dreading and wanting it at the same time. "Yaten, are you up?" Taiki's voice interrupted them, tinged with annoyance. They jerked back from each other, both conscious of the intimate position they had been in.
"Uh, yeah, I'm up," Yaten made a big deal of yawning and stretching. "Heard you had an *interesting* date."
"It was." The coldness of the words chilled the previous mood, swallowing it whole.
Yaten shrugged, tossing the book from his lap onto the floor. "Yeah, sure. I'm going to bed. Good night."
"Yaten!" Ami picked up the forgotten book with shaking hands. "What about...?"
"You keep it," he waved back at her. "You'd understand it better than me anyway."
Ami stared after him as he left, her usually candid face unreadable. Taiki looked back and forth from both of them, his stone face masking the conflicting emotions within.
*****
Seiya heard the door to Yaten's room slam shut. He looked at it a moment, caught in indecision, then knocked on the door. "Yaten?"
"Go away," came the response.
Seiya opened the door. "Yaten, are you okay?"
"What part of 'go away' don't you understand?" Yaten grumbled at him from his bed, staring sullenly at the ceiling.
/He's got it bad./ "Do you want to go out and shoot some hoops?" Yaten gave him a look that clearly said *No*. "Anything I can help you with?" When he received silence, Seiya noticed the half-finished painting in the corner. "What's this?" he asked, walking towards it for a better inspection.
"'s a present for Taiki's birthday."
"Hmmm, Ami looks beautiful. You've captured her well. But, how come Taiki's not finished?"
Yaten flipped onto his stomach, looking away from Seiya.
/Now I see./ "You know, Yaten, there are a lot of other girls dying to go out with you."
"That's cause I'm the best-looking one."
Seiya raised an eyebrow in response. "Oh, really?" he teased. "Who told you that?"
"Look, is there something you want from me?"
Seiya sat down on the bed, understanding in his voice. "Yaten, really, why don't you go and talk to her? Maybe her mind isn't set on Taiki after all."
"What do *you* know about this stuff? The one girl *you* fell in love with *dumped* you for someone else!"
Slowly, calmly restraining his anger, Seiya rose from the bed. "You know, I take it back. I think she's better off with Taiki anyway." He forcefully slammed the door shut behind him, stalking off to his room. /See if I ever help you again, you ungrateful jerk./
Seiya stormed into his room, not caring if they heard him downstairs. He slumped down in the chair at his desk, banging the drawers shut. A picture frame toppled to the floor,
and as he picked it up, he realized it was the one picture he had of Usagi, the only picture he would ever get of her.
Heartache swept over him as he passed his fingers over her sunny face, marking the one moment in time he could ever have her. /I have to let go sometime,/ he chided himself, clenching his jaw. /Maybe I better just forget her./
He made as if to throw the picture out the window, then stopped, replacing it gently from where it fell. /I can't. I can't just forget her. That's why I came back in the first place: to be near her again. I didn't know it would hurt so much to see her smiling at *him*, to see her loving *him*./ Her picture blurred as tears welled up in his eyes. /You told yourself you didn't care. You lied, Seiya./ He rubbed his eyes, willing the tears away. /I think I
need to go shoot some hoops anyway./