My World

Summary: Brooklyn's been chasing after his crush, who's been chasing after his rival...what happens when they finally get together and Brooklyn's moping?

It's official. I need to stop listening to music, period. This fic was inspired by the song that it's name is from: My World by: SR-71

"Talking"
'Thinking'
-x-x-x-x- Beginning/End
0x0x0x0 Scene split, nyaha

-x-x-x-x-

I sighed quietly as I watched her grin at him. It was a special grin, one reserved just for him. Her entire face lit up, her ruby colored orbs nearly glowed with happiness and a light flush graced her cheeks. His reply wasn't verbal; in fact, it was barely even visible. His purple-grey eyes would soften for a moment, and the barest hint of a smile would tug at the corners of his lips, which would only cause her flush to deepen.

Another small sigh escaped me as I watched the perfect couple continue their walk through the park. The two were so absorbed in each other that they had failed to notice me, despite the fact that I failed to blend in with my surroundings...and was sitting on a park bench in plain view. My observations may come off as stalker-ish, but I actually had no idea they were coming here on their latest little 'date'. I slouched against the bench, scowling. In truth, I had come to the park to escape them and their happiness; I needed a chance to unwind before I snapped.

It's not that I wasn't GLAD for her; no, I was sincerely happy that she had found and was with one who could make that special smile find it's way to her face. I just wished that I had been that someone...

In the beginning it had hurt a lot more, seeing her chase after my rival and ignore me and my attempts. Mind you, this ignorance was simply that, not a cruel rejection or machination on her part. She was simply too focused on Kai to realize that I was after her. Still, I had told myself that I some hope, as the oblivious Russian ice cube was unlikely to notice her feelings ...or reciprocate them. When they finally announced that they had been dating to the world on national t.v...well, I couldn't have been more crushed, though I counted myself lucky to have been at home alone, and not at the blading ceremony. (I had been forced not to go by the combination of a cold and Garland.)

"Brooklyn?"

I jumped, startled, and glanced around warily to find my rival's cousin standing in front of me.

"...are you okay?" She questioned hesitantly after a few moments.

I frowned, wondering why she was so reserved all of a sudden. "I'm fine."

I got a raised eyebrow. "If you say so..." She shook her head at me.

I glared. "If you're just here to bug me, then go."

Her own gaze hardened into a glare. "Fine." She turned and began to walk off. "I won't tell you that Tyson sent me to get you for dinner. You can face said homicidal dragon-wielder when he finds out you have no excuse for skipping "family time"." There was a sharpness, a bitterness, to her tone that surprised me. While I didn't make any attempt to spend time with Kira, she was generally polite and nice to me. Frowning, I stood and followed; I wasn't in the mood to annoy Tyson. The girl up ahead of me sighed and eyed the ground; the expression on her face was a familiar one. My own had been wearing it for a while...ever since I found out that Hilary was dating Kai.

Thinking I finally had pinned the reason, I caught up with her. "Yanno, liking your cousin is a bit...odd. Well, liking him isn't...but like that..." My tone was teasing, and I was only half-serious, but when I saw the look on her face, I knew both things had gone right over her head.

"I don't, thank you very much." She bit out, her tone flat and expression sour; her pace then increased.

I calmly sped up and was beside her again; she turned her head away from me, as though determined not to even look at me. I grabbed her arm and made her stop. "Kira, what the hell?"

I was shook off. "Don't "what the hell" me, Brooklyn. I'm just..." She stopped, biting her lip, before looking down and away. "I'm not in the mood, okay?" With that, she turned and kept walking. I, meanwhile, was rooted to the spot. She, cousin of Kai Hiwatari and almost-always-smiling, happy or optimistic, sounded like she was about to cry.

Intrigued now, I caught her for the third time. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

I ran a hand through my hair, contemplating. "Look, if I tell you what's bothering me, will you tell me what's bothering you?" Her eyes flickered to me, a sign that she was listening at least. I sighed again and rubbed my temple. "You won't laugh, right?"

That got me a flat look. "Have I ever laughed at you except when you were trying to be funny?"

Ouch. She's in a worse mood than I thought. "Well...to be honest, I've liked Hilary for a while now. I've been trying to show her I like her and would like to date her, but she was too busy chasing your cousin to notice me."

"I know how that feels." Came the muttered reply.

I stared for a moment. "You do?" That got me a nod. "Well, why not tell the guy you like to get his head out of his ass? I'll even come with you." I might not be able to fix my situation, but I could help her fix hers...probably.

Instead of cheering her, my remark only seemed to make it worse. "Thanks but no thanks. I think I'm just gonna give up on him." I frowned and stared ahead, trying not to berate her. Giving up won't help her get him was what I wanted to say but then I saw her rub her eyes out of the corner of mine. My frown deepened, though I'll admit she's good at attempting to be discreet.

"Don't cry." I told her. "Whoever he is, he's not worth it." I turned to face her only to find myself staring into over bright grey eyes. When she looked away, I noted that her lip quivered, which signaled that she was probably about to cry for real. I looked away, sensing that she was only feeling worse with me watching. The two of us walked towards the dojo silently; my mind had almost returned to my attempts to tell Hilary without sounding jealous when I realized that I was walking towards the dojo...with a crying Kira. Not only would I be questioned and most likely yelled at, but she wouldn't get any peace either. "C'mon." I told her, grabbing her hand; she gaped at me. "If we go back right now, neither of us will get any peace." I promptly dragged her off to a nearby cafe. "We can eat here and when Tyson asks, we can tell him we were trying to spy on your cousin and Hilary."

"If you say so." She murmured; she had regained her composure, but I could tell that she was still upset. Our meal was silent, though she sighed quietly from time to time. When it was done, we split the bill and tip before beginning the short walk back to the dojo. As we neared the gate, I realized that despite our lack of chatter, I hadn't thought about Hilary or her lack of single status once.

"Hey, Kira?"

She paused and turned to face me obligingly.

"Do you want to do this again some time?" I got the "I think I forgot to clean out my ears. Did you actually just say what I think you said?!" look. "Well, to be honest, it was kind of fun...and I didn't think about Hilary or Kai the entire time, so..."

"I guess." She mumbled before continuing on.

"Thanks." I gave her a grin and followed. "Can you not tell your cousin? It sounds like we're dating and I have the sneaking suspicion that he'd kill me...painfully."

"Sure." Her reply was in the same calm but flat tone she had adopted after her short bout of tears. It was then I decided that, as repayment for coming with me and helping me kill time, I was going to find this guy, whoever he was, and help him get his head out of his ass.

As the weeks wore on, I found that once I could get Kira to open up, she was, honestly, fun to be around. She was nice, had witty comebacks and kept me on my toes...though any attempts I made to broach the subject of her idiotic crush caused a complete shut out. After the first few outings, I learned to either not bring it up, or wait until we were walking home, or I'd spend the entire time talking to a silent, possibly glaring companion. Either way, I was officially enjoying myself ...and considering asking her out for real, never mind how painfully Kai would kill me.

She was no Hilary, but...she had something special about her. Maybe it was the fact that we were both in similar situations that I was becoming increasingly determined to cheer her up; to be honest, I didn't know why I even bothered. Some times it would work...others it would fail spectacularly. Four months after our outings began, I finally pulled her aside at the dojo. By this point, I was determined to make her forget whoever the jackass was and get her to fall for me. I did still have some lingering feelings for Hilary, but I was confident that they would fade as I got to know Kira more.

"Hey." I greeted...not exactly the best conversation starter.

"Hi?" She was a combination of startled and "wtf"-ish.

"Would you like to go to the cafe with me this Saturday?" I questioned, mentally yelling at myself. If I so much as blushed...

"...aren't we going already?" Now she was confused. Great.

I cleared my throat. "Well...this time, I want--"

"KIRA, YOU OWE ME A REMATCH!" Tyson hollered from the living room. I was going to assume it had to do with video games, as Kira didn't blade.

"Gimme a minute!" She threw back at him. "Sorry. He's been after me to have a Super Smash Brothers Melee contest since...oh, I don't even know when!"

"Ah..." I muttered. Smooth. Real smooth. "Anyway, this time, I want...I want you to consider it a real date." I managed out, somehow mastering my embarrassment and not blushing. Her mouth dropped open and she gaped at me; so much for not blushing. "Well, if you don't want to, that's okay." I muttered, turning away. My retreat was stopped by her grabbing the back of my sleeve.

"Hang on there, Speedy."

I turned to face her, glaring slightly; she KNEW I hated to be compared to that guy.

"You can't just drop that on me all of a sudden and not expect me to be taken aback, for one thing. For another, the answer is yes...but do I have to wear a skirt or something?"

I smothered a laugh at the disgruntled look on her face. "No, no. We're just going to the same place."

She relaxed. "Good. I don't own any skirts."

I stared. "No skirts...?"

That got me a grin. "Yes, no skirts. You can't run in those things!"

I arched an eyebrow. "And why would you need to run in one?"

She smirked. "After I do things like this!" Said crazy girl then messed up my hair and took off. I froze for a moment, then gave chase. She knew that NO ONE touched my hair and got away with it!

Later that night when I was sitting on the window seat, sketching the tree outside, Hilary approached me. "Hey, Brooklyn."

"Hello." I greeted, flashing her a quick grin before placing my pencil down.

"Would you like to come with everyone else to the water park this Saturday?"

I almost froze. Why had Kira agreed to go on a date with me if she was going somewhere with the others...? I turned my gaze to her to find her looking at the floor sadly. What the...?

"Oh, well, almost everyone." The ruby eyed girl quickly amended. "Kira says she's doing something."

At that, I smirked. Silly girl must have thought I'd jump at the chance to go to the water park and see Hilary in a swimsuit. "I'd love to...but I have a date." That got me a pillow in the face, courtesy of said date. I smirked again and lobbed it back. "What? Like you don't tease me?" I almost cracked up when the rest of those gathered in the living room openly stared at the two of us. "Oh, come on. Don't tell me you honestly thought we weren't running around together."

"...we did think you were..." Tyson mumbled.

"We just didn't think you'd admit it." Max muttered.

"Admit what?" Kai questioned as he entered the room.

"That he's dating your cousin." Everyone save Kira, Hilary and myself stated.

To my surprise, HE was the next one nailed with the pillow.

"Don't you EVEN say it!" Kira told him; she was then attacked by the feather-stuffed projectile.

"About time." He stated before heading to the porch; said projectile connected with the door right where the back of his head had been a moment before.

0x0x0x0

After our date at the "usual" place, we headed to the park to wander around, as both of us liked nature. Ironically enough, we sat down on the park bench she had found me on four months before to watch the sunset. As I sat there, I frowned; something had been bugging me ever since Kai had said "about time"...I froze when realization hit me.

"I'm the jackass who's oblivious to your feelings, aren't I?"

She smiled. "Not anymore."

-x-x-x-x-

Like I said in the upper authoress note...I need to stop listening to music.

Oyvey. The words just weren't flowing right for TIP 9, so I put on my favorite, writing-inspiring song...and it inspired me to write...just not the right story. -.-;; Hehe...whoops.

Oh well...enjoy the stupid fluffiness that is this written-in-about-an-hour fic.

Emma