Authoress: OfficiallyObsessedwithPyro
Inspiration: uh...reading? ... I think it was somewhere in Daffodil... No, wait... maybe it was one of my many muses...but they're so lazy, so I don't know...
DC: HEY! I am not LAZY!
Niile: Neither am I!
Nothing: Nor I!
Pyro: All of you shut up. I don't have time for this.
Summary (or, in other words: "What the hell is this about, anyway?"): A little thing on Tanpopo's friends back in Hokkaido. Right... Also some references to other people and some random pairings as I'm reeeally high on sugar right now...a whole bag of cookies, soda and skittles will do that to a girl... A friend on friend battle...thing...
Rating: On the citrus scale this would probably be orange juice...as nothing much happens, only a little drama and...well, I can't tell you at the beginning, now can I?
And for all those people who have NO idea what I'm talking about, here it is:
Orange juice: PG-ish (made by Quickening ...I love those stories. Oh, and I'm only using this rating scale cuz it's interesting...note that I didn't make this up.)
Limeade: PG13
Sprite: R
Lemonade: stuff banned from
Imadoki: Don't Cry
Chapter One...ish...
By OfficiallyObsessedwithPyro
The jar fell to the ground and shattered, pieces of glass flew everywhere.
Tanpopo's eyes were wide, unseeing as she had lowered her gaze from the TV screen. Covering her mouth with her hand, she began to shake with feeling.
Confusion.
Anger.
Then finally, loss.
Yoji looked to the younger girl with a sympathetic look on his face. What could he say? His younger brother had just kissed a girl on live TV! And his brother didn't even like that girl!
Tanpopo stared at the ground for a moment, and then walked slowly towards the closet next to the cabinet. Pulling out a broom and dustpan, she began to pick up the pieces of glass. She disposed of those in the trash can and with one last glance at the rose petals, dumped them in as well.
With a sigh, she turned to Yoji with a sad smile.
"I'm going home."
The older Kugyo boy nodded solemnly and let her pass to the door.
The door opened, the girl did not look back, and said, "Don't tell him." With that, she walked out of the room, leaving Yoji alone.
I ran.
With all my heart, I ran from that terrible place and ended up running to somewhere worse.
There!
There, in that place I vowed never to go to again.
The ground is damp beneath my feet. My shoes are soaked and probably ruined from all of the mud and dirt.
I groan as I find that I've practically lost one shoe in a large amount of mud. Forget the shoe, I think. I'll just buy a new pair later when I can pay for them.
My new plight seems to have erased the old one from my mind.
Fresh tears fall down my face.
Koki, why? Why would you kiss her? You told me you didn't care for her that way!
LIAR!
I'm such an idiot.
I should have seen it coming, right?
I have never felt so lost in my entire life. Large, bleak clouds are rolling in alarmingly fast and...although I was practically lost, I did have some clue to where I was. Getting to my feet, I was immediately met with a biting gust of wind that chilled me to the bone. Whose bright idea was it to run out into a storm without a jacket? Shaking off all my negative thoughts, I started off once more – only one shoe this time.
Had I been so naive? Had I actually thought I could compare to her – Erika Yanahara, future wife of Koki Kugyo? They're engaged for goodness sakes. Couldn't I have just kept to myself, like I always do? Why did I have to go and fall for a guy who I certainly can't have? Why do I do this to myself?
Maybe I am an idiot, I thought with a frown.
Making my way up the concrete path, I watched as cars zoomed by me on my right.
That's good, I told myself. That's good. You know where you are. Only a little further.
My, I must look so dreadful by now. My hair is matted and wet; my clothes are probably not repariable, and my shoes? Oh, my shoes are no longer "shoes," as now they are only, "shoe."
I definitely have some strange thoughts when I'm miserable.
Closing my arms farther around myself, I walked as swiftly as I could to seek refuge under some large awnings.
I'm almost there, I chided myself. Just a little more. Just don't cry. Don't cry. DAMMIT, DON'T CRY!
And there it was.
I sank to my knees and cried.
It wasn't like crying when I first found out that Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny weren't real, or when my parents' death finally hit me.
It was like crying because I knew everything was over.
Everything.
"Tanny-chan?" I hear a voice call from above me.
Shifting my gaze up, I notice a young girl – about nine or so – with blonde hair and pale blue eyes. So familiar...
"Satsuki?" I wonder aloud, confused.
The little girl smiles and shakes her head. "Nuh-uh. Satsuki is Mama." With a little smile, she offers me a hand.
"Sharon, then." I say, and she smiles. "Yes, yes!"
A young woman in a raincoat comes running up to us. "Sharon! Oh, my baby!" She came and picked up the child right off the ground.
"Mama," Sharon said with a smile, "I was just talking to Tanny-chan!"
Satsuki gave her daughter a glare and said in a stern voice, "Sharon! You know you dare not speak of her!"
"Suki-chan." I said, reaching out to the woman. "It's me. Tanpopo."
Satsuki looked at the high school girl blankly. "I'm sorry. I do not know you."
"Suki, don't be like that, please!" I cried, grabbing Satsuki's arm. "You remember me, don't you? I worked in your father's building. You'd have me watch Sharon while you studied. Momo-chan would always be around and we'd watch her and her brother too, while we worked. We were friends, good friends, and-!"
Satsuki shook off my hand and said stiffly, "I'm sorry, but you must be mistaken. I do not know anyone by that name."
Shrugging off the last of my attempts at catching her attention, Satsuki carried Sharon off in the opposite direction I had been heading in.
Letting my shoulders slump, I fell to my knees once more. "Satsu-chan didn't even recognize me. What will happen when I get to their house?"
With another sad sigh, I resumed walking to my destination.
Don't think. I told myself. Just don't think.
DING DONG!
DING DONG!
DING DONG!
"Oh, don't everyone jump to get the door at once," I grumble as I head down the stairs. Honestly, sometimes I don't know why we pay the servants around here. They don't really do anything.
Opening the door, I'm surprised at who is standing there.
In my doorway - my doorway - is Tanpopo Yamazaki.
"Tanpopo Yamazaki?!" I ask confused. She's not supposed to be here, is she? What's going on? Why is she here? Did something happen to-
Oh, she's talking.
"Hi, Yama-kun." She says quietly.
Well, that's a good sign. At least she's not calling me Yama-sama...I always hated that...oh, talking again.
"I'm sorry to trouble you with this," She blushes prettily. "But I don't have anywhere else to go...I don't really need to stay long. I just have to use your phone." In an afterthought, she adds, "If you'd allow me to, I'd appreciate it. Um, please?"
I blink, and then pause.
She's squirming under my gaze.
Ha, I've always loved to make her squirm.
OW! I just hit myself on the head. What kind of dufus am I?
She giggles.
"Come on in," I tell her. She smiles slightly and walks in.
"Tan-ga, you are soaking wet. I'll find you something to wear." I say, using her old nickname. She glares half-heartedly, and I wonder what happened to her.
"The phone's over there," I say, pointing to where the phone sits on the side table. Walking off towards the stairs to my room, I begin to ponder why Tan-ga came to me in the first place...
Wasn't it – Didn't she – Last time...
Last time I saw her...
Didn't she hate me?
Dial the number, Tanpopo. I tell myself. Just dial the number. It's not hard. You know it by heart. He'll figure it out. He always does. Just pick up the phone and dial the number.
Taking a deep breath, I slowly pick up the phone and command my finger to press the first number.
Closing my eyes, I take one more deep breath, and when I open them again, I find that the line is already connecting.
"Hello?" The voice on the other side greets.
"Kazutaka-kun." I say with relief.
...if his sister had answered the phone...
...or worse, his mother...
"Tan-chan? Is that you? What's going on? It's the middle of the night," He goes on worriedly. "Did something happen? Are you hurt? Are you bleeding? Are you in the hospital? Are they doing tests? What happened? Are you okay?"
Kazutaka can always make me feel better.
"Kazu-kun, stop, I'm fine. I'm okay...I think." I try to assure him, but once he gets going on one of his rants, it's better to just let him go to it.
"But why are you calling in the middle of the night? Not that I mind that much, but I was having a particularly good dream, and not that I mind coming back to this reality, but it was a pretty darn good dream, and – never mind that, are you okay? Are you bleeding? Is there any lightheadedness? Any other symptoms? How many fingers am I holding up? Wait, don't answer that. Um, answer this, what's my name? Oh, that's not good, we've already assessed the matter of my name when we said hello, didn't we? Oh, and where are you now? Don't tell me you're at some Martian space-bus stop and you want me to come pick you up? Because I can't and my car doesn't get that kind of mileage. Oh, and another thing – if someone hurt you I'm gonna punch their lights out. Just point them out to me, Tan-chan. And you know I'd do it, too!"
Before he gets too wrapped up in the whole "I'm gonna get to kill someone" thing, I think it's better to get some things straight. "Kazu-kun, it's okay, really. I'm alive and healthy. Maybe a little wet, and a bit worse for wear, but I'll survive. And I'm sorry I had to call so late...I must have lost track of the time...it must've taken an hour for me to get the courage to call..."
"Tan-chan, what's wrong? You sound like you've been crying." He says, concerned.
I sniffle a bit and smile sadly. "It's nothing really...This afternoon I had my heart smashed into a zillion microscopic pieces that were cleaned up and threw into a trashcan."
I can hear him holding his breath. I'm sure by now he wants to become a hit-man and try to solve all of my problems, but before he continues to rant, I continue.
"Today was the rose exchange. You give a red rose to the person you love. They have to give you a reply with a white rose that means "I love you too," or a yellow rose, which means, "No thank you." Today was the last day of the festival...And I know it was stupid, but I made this bet with this girl that this guy would choose me over her. But then, you see, my friend, she's pregnant and she wanted to tell the father of the baby how much she loves him...so I gave her the last red rose." I took a breath. "Erika had already given her rose to Koki...And despite that, and with everything I knew, I still gave Arisa that last red rose to give to Ogata...and I didn't want to, part of me wanted to be selfish, and not quit planting committee or never see Koki again, but I just couldn't let Arisa be so disappointed if she didn't get to give Ogata that rose...I realized that I could tell him another time, so I was okay with loosing the bet. But then...I still wanted Koki to know how I feel, so when his brother, Yoji, offered to let me have his, I was so happy. But it fell apart, so he brought me to the infirmary and he found this jar, and told me to put the petals in it, and that it was only the thought that counts..." I was crying freely now. "And when we were leaving, and the TVs were on, because our friend, Aoi, was doing all these interviews for the whole event...and God, I must sound so stupid now..." Without a pause, I said quickly, "They kissed. Right on the television. I could see them...it was horrible, Kazutaka, just plain horrible. It was like everything, every word that Koki said to me about not caring for Erika that way...it just went away." Tears slid down my cheeks. "Everything was so twisted and wrong and I just couldn't take it anymore. The jar broke, so I cleaned that up so that Yoji wouldn't get into any trouble. And then I ran. My God, Kazu-kun, I ran. I ran so far, and then I was so tired and confused. I saw Satsuki and Sharon. Oh, Kazu, Suki pretended I didn't even exist! It was horrible. But then I came here, and Yama-kun opened the door, and he let me in, and it was okay. But I didn't want to call in the middle of the night, really, I just didn't know who else to call...you have classes in the morning, and I understand that, but I was just hoping that you'd listen for a little while, so..." I began to hiccup. I must sound so terrible. "I didn't know what to do, and everything just seemed to be thrown out of whack and I was so confused and I – I...I just needed to call you. I just needed to let someone know. I needed to let you know, that's all..." I pause. "Kazu? Oh, Kazu, you won't hate me for being selfish, will you?"
I can hear him breathing on the other side.
Is he sleeping or something?
"Tan-chan..." He starts. "I'm glad you called me. And it's okay, really. Remember not to run down Yama's phone bill, though, okay?" He pauses uncertainly. "I know it doesn't help much...but I'm sorry about that Koki guy."
I chuckle through my tears. "Thanks, Kazu. You always know the right thing to say."
"Not really..." He says, "I want you to know that I do care what's going on in your life, even if you're moving on from Hokkaido to such bigger, better things..."
"They're not better!" I protest. "Hokkaido is my home, and I love it more than a thousand Tokyo's."
He laughed. "Tan-chan, that doesn't even make any sense."
I blush. "Right."
Yama-kun has come and set down some dry clothes for me. He sits down next to me on the couch.
"Sorry," Kazutaka says. "I just wanted to let you know, that I want you to be comfortable talking to me like this. I'll always be here. I might not have all the answers, you know, but I'll try my best to help. How's that?"
"It's a deal." I say with a smile. "But..." my smile instantly disappears. "What am I going to do about Koki...I can't avoid him all year. We're in the same class..."
Kazutaka thinks for a moment. "In my opinion, he's not worth your time, Tan-chan. You could do sooo much better than him."
"He's a good guy," I protest haughtily. "He's one of the only real people in that dreadful school!"
"Hey," he says, and I can hear a catch in his voice... "Put Yama on the phone. I gotta talk to him real quick."
I think for a minute, then hand the phone over to Yama-kun. "It's Kazutaka," I explain. "He says he wants to talk to you."
Yama-kun nods and takes the phone. After a few minutes of, "yes," "that's right," "okay," and some such things, Yama-kun finally hands the phone back to me.
"Kazu, what are you planning?" I ask the moment I get the phone back. "What is it?"
I can hear him try to sound innocent. "Why, Tan-chan, what ever do you mean?"
"What is it, Kazu?" I repeat, a bit louder this time, and he caves.
"Fine, fine. Since you believe that he's the "only" real one in that "dreadful school" I've decided to let Yamato go to school with you."
"What?!" I cry in confusion. "Kazu, don't joke!" I turn to Yama-kun. "Yama! You can't be serious!"
"Serious we are. I know you don't like the idea right now," Kazutaka tells me, "But it's going to be okay, really. I promise."
I frown and say unsurely, "Alright."
Kazutaka pauses. "I'm going to attend school with you guys also – when I can get out of here. I've never broken a promise to you, and I've never lied to you before, Tan-chan, so trust me now, okay?"
I smile and chuckle. "Okay, Kazu. When do you suppose you can come?"
"A while from now – a week or two, maybe a month. But I'll be there soon, I mean it." Kazutaka...he's smiling on the other end. I can just tell. "Be careful, and take care of yourself. I mean it, if anyone hassles you..." He let the threat hang.
"Take care of yourself, and have fun babysitting Yama! I'll talk to you later." Kazutaka said in that carefree way of his. "Bye, Tan-chan. See you soon!" And he hung up.
I stared at the phone for a moment before placing it back on its cradle. Turning to Yama-kun, I say quietly, "Would you mind very much if I...err..." I blush.
He nods in understanding. "Come on, you can have my room, and I'll take a guest room."
I tilt my head confusedly as he leads me up the stairs.
"The guest rooms are all pretty much bare," He explains. "I think it would be easier for you to sleep in my room...I mean..." He looks absolutely flustered. "I don't think it would be nice staying in a room that looks like it could be in a psycho ward."
I nod and he shows me to his room. Before I enter, I notice that there is a large sign on the door that proclaims, "No Trespassers. Violators will be shot. Survivors will be shot ...again." Then there are some other small post-its and such things stuck to the wooden door.
He opens it for me, and I notice that his room is much neater than I would have expected. The walls are a murky gray color, yes, but it has a rebellious charm to it. There's a small desk in the corner, covered in papers and magazines and books. On the right of the desk is a pile of papers and things, a red electric guitar set on top of them. Next to that in the corner was a small dark wood dresser with some magazines on top. Behind the desk was a futon that was propped up about six inches with a light gray comforter, and near that was a window with dark blue curtains. The wall on my left was covered with magazine cut-outs and posters surrounding a small closet. All of the walls were covered, in fact. Above the desk was an enormous logo of a 2 surrounded by a dragon in silver, blue, green, black, and red for the dragon's eyes.
"Wow." I breathed. Yama-kun sure knows how to decorate!
"I know it's messy," Yama-kun said airily, "But I never have the time to clean it. My parents are always sending me more work to do."
"No, no, I mean, I like it!" I say with a smile. "It's amazing!"
He chuckles. "Took me hours just to cut out those pictures. It amazes me I finished this place in less than a week."
"Wow." I repeat. "But...why do you say it's messy? It's so clean!"
He frowned. "I used to stay in this house a lot, but now I stay in a walk-in closet over in my aunt's house. She doesn't seem to mind as long as I'm civil to her and her daughters. Frankly, it's just a place to crash when I don't feel like facing my parents."
"So you go there a lot? To that other house?" I asked.
"Yeah, I guess. I stay weekends and holidays over there because it's so gloomy and lonely here." He paused and looked at me thoughtfully. "But I guess it won't be so lonely for a while, eh?"
"I don't want to impose," I say, staring at the floor. "But I do like it here. I could move into a guest room...or..." I try to think of another alternative.
"No, it's okay. You stay in this room. You seem to like it enough." He smiles and his gray eyes hold mischief. "I think I'll go 'decorate' all the other rooms. I wonder what my parents would say to that..."
"I'll help you!" I exclaim, grabbing his hand. "You can't do all of that work by yourself!"
He grinned at me in that boyish way that he always had. "It's a deal."
And that's all for today. I'm off to work on homework and stuff.
Bye.
Pyro
November 17, 2004