In Denial

It had been three days after the festival.

Mostly, everyone had been better.

Although, most high-schoolers seemed to be shaken by this sudden event. They all seemed to look at each other differently than before; especially Izumiko and Miyuki.

They both acted quite awkward around each other – on both ends; Izumiko blushed every time Miyuki said something to her, and the man in question was even quieter than usual.

Most prominently around her.

This strange energy between them wasn't going unnoticed, however.

Manatsu was beginning to get sick of hearing Mayura rant about how the two were acting – when not around them, of course – and how she, more than anything, wanted the two of them to hook up.

It was actually so much boasting that he was becoming somewhat nervous for how she would handle this information of hers.

If you knew Mayura well, you would agree.

Manatsu was, honestly, used to his triplet's sneaky ways of getting what she wanted; with any means possible.

But when she brought their friends into it – and especially with cases like this – he never knew what she was capable of.

Of course, one day, that question was answered.

The usual awkward silence was swallowing the group of four whole, all because three out of four of them had to make it weird.

They were in the cafeteria, but none of them seemed focused on eating their lunch.

From far away, they looked like the meet-up of quiet students who didn't seem to feel comfortable whatsoever around one another.

Or it seemed to be a pair of utterly distinct twins with another random pair of people, and the female sibling was attempting to either be the third wheel of the two or was trying to get them to play smoochy-smoochy.

Obviously in secrecy.

Manatsu would, at times – metaphorically speaking – open a door for them to escape from Mayura's constant teasing, which normally made Izumiko and Miyuki want to sit a ten-thousand-mile radius away from her.

Yes, that's only the radius. If they sat the diameter away then that would be even better.

He could tell by the unnatural blush on their faces.

To him, Miyuki's expression actually seemed more, 'You're gonna die tonight' than embarrassed; and Izumiko seemed to be the opposite.

"Manatsu and I both saw you guys on the bench together at the end of the festival," Mayura remarked, clearly enjoying their self-consciousness. "So . . . when are you guys going to start dating?"

At that last word, all of them besides Mayura – even Manatsu – seemed to want to blow up.

"U-uh . . ." Izumiko was the first to manage out. "W-well, Sagara-kun and I weren't r-really thinking about that-"

"Mayura," Manatsu started slightly firmly, "I think you're taking it too far. You're causing too much mental strain; for all of us."

Mayura allowed a grin to line her lips.

"Sorry! You two are just so-"

Manatsu immediately placed a palm upon her lips before she could finish her statement, causing the rest of her words to come out as gibberish.

"Save it."

At that point, even he was cringing at what had just occurred before him.

And Izumiko just wanted to activate turtle mode and crawl into a dark corner when thinking about how embarrassed Miyuki must've felt through all of this.

He was the one who caused them to do practically everything they did near the end of the festival, after all.

Following that cringe-worthy performance was Izumiko hurriedly picking up her tray of food and jumping to a stand.

"I-I've got to meet a teacher!"

And with that, she was gone darting out the double-doors in the amount of time it took a person to blink.

Miyuki was utterly shocked.

Why did she have to leave me like this . . . ? he thought in slight irritation.

"Um . . . I just remembered something very important that I forgot to do yesterday and won't be able to do tomorrow. So . . . um . . . I really should do it now . . ."

Then, without thinking or listening to their reply, he subconsciously walked into a direction that he didn't know; but found himself in the hall outside the cafeteria.

He sighed in relief.

Well, that was one way to deal with it.

Miyuki squinted to see if he could find long, brown braids in the small crowd, but when he saw that the female he was searching for wasn't there anymore, he stopped and went back to a normal standing position.

I probably won't catch up to Suzuhara anytime soon.

Upon realizing this fact, he simply shrugged it off and walked towards his next class.

From inside the large room, to Manatsu's horror, Mayura suddenly began plotting again.

"That didn't work as planned. Maybe if I think of something else . . ."

Manatsu sighed, somewhat muttering under his breath.

Mayura's face unexpectedly brightened in fiendish delight.

"Oh! I just thought of the perfect plan . . ."

Another sigh.

"Oh, brother."

Pastel pink walls built a barrier to keep away the noise of nearby dorms and the outside world's sound.

The two female teens had a single closet, and that one construction in the wall was enough for one of Mayura's simple plans.

Do you understand her plan?

Well, salutations to you.

Now stop reading for a moment to squeal.

Manatsu had warned her; over and over, actually.

But she didn't listen.

Nothing was going to stop her from making her – now deadly – desire come true.

Mayura had decided to check everything a final time before a knock emitted.

Right when she heard it, she practically jumped to her own dresser (the two of them had separate ones), pretending to look through her clothes.

As a figure appeared in the doorway after a few seconds, they weren't surprised to see Mayura digging through her clothes; she usually planned an outfit for the weekend on a five-day notice.

The female with short brown hair raised her gaze to see Izumiko there and put up a perfect act.

No one would be able to tell she was up to anything.

"Oh, hey, Izumiko," she mused with a small grin.

"Hi, Souda-chan."

After a quick glance around the dorm-room, Izumiko turned her eyes back to Mayura.

"Have you seen my jacket?"

Mayura tried hard not to flinch.

"Oh, I thought I last saw it in the closet . . ." she remarked, slightly trailing off to glance at the extra door in their room.

"Thanks, Mayura!"

With the two of them sharing smiles, Izumiko walked forward to the closet; just to have Mayura slowly and silently creep up behind her.

Push.

Izumiko practically fell face-first into one of the walls inside the closet.

The other female responsible closed the door without hesitation and forcefully leaned against it, therefore leaving the other trapped in.

"Mayura! What are you doing?" Izumiko felt like she said that too loudly.

"Oh, nothing," Mayura said, sounding as if nothing was happening. "You just sit tight for a while."

After ten seconds of suspenseful silence, she added,

"Didn't you send me a message before you came that Sagara was near the dorms?"

"Y-yeah," Izumiko clarified, making it sound more like a question than a statement. "Why?"

More silence.

"Mayura . . . ?"

"What? Oh. No reason in particular."

Phase one complete, Mayura silently said. Now for phase two . . .

There was a sudden movement of something that Izumiko heard from behind the wooden door.

"What is that?" she asked in slight shock.

Whatever it was unexpectedly thumped against the closet door, part of it resting near the handle.

"I'll be right back, Izumiko!"

The figure with braided hair raised an eyebrow in confusion, which soon was replaced with wide eyes in realization to what she's doing.

"Oh no, Mayura . . ."

At that moment, our hero was darting around the dorms, in search of Miyuki.

When she finally saw him, she gasped in slight excitement, running towards him.

Miyuki, luckily for her, had his back towards her, so he didn't see her pause, take a deep breath, and change her tone to sound panicked.

But he did hear something behind him and was prepared for anything. Right when he was about to turn around . . .

"Hey, Sagara!" she started.

He was half-way turned by the time Mayura first spoke, and his guard went down when he saw it was just her.

"You need to come quick! It's Izumiko! She . . . She's in trouble!"

His guard rose back up again.

He seemed to have trouble with keeping his poker face; eyes widening and filling with fear.

"What?"

By the time they neared the two girls' dorm, Miyuki had his exorcism staff in hand, and Mayura was internally freaking out about how well this was going.

"The spirit's in the closet! I saw it!" she claimed, still keeping her flawless act from when she tricked Izumiko.

Of course, against his logical thinking, he didn't even consider how this could all be fake – until right then. It was weird to him that he never thought about it, including the fact that he was used to Yukimasa tricking him. That bitch.

He stopped dead in his tracks, and, when noticing, Mayura came to a stop, too.

"Wait," he prompted, sounding his usual collected self again. "Is this all one of your pranks?"

That caught Mayura off guard. Then she figured that she had just jinxed herself.

"No; why would I joke around about stuff like this?"

A+ for acting.

Extra five points for the reasonable lie.

"Now come on!"

Miyuki didn't have time to contemplate it; if he was right and it was a trick, then it would be good that he caught it. But if it was real and he decided to turn back and Izumiko got hurt, he wouldn't be able to live with himself. The only thing he could do was go in and hope it wasn't any of her trickery.

When Mayura practically slammed the door open to their dorm, it was bitter silence. She immediately darted to the closet door – and while he wasn't looking, quickly moved the chair back that she had placed there earlier – reaching for the doorknob.

"It's in here!"

From inside the small room, Izumiko silenced herself, as if being told to, squeezing as far as she could into the corner.

As soon as the wooden barrier opened, light somewhat rained into the room, causing a shadow effect.

Izumiko could've sworn she stopped breathing when she saw, as she expected, Miyuki at the now-clear opening. She severely hoped that he didn't see her; barely anyone seemed to notice her.

At least, when she wanted them to.

People always saw her when she was attempting to be invisible. It's just how it's been.

"I don't see it . . ." Miyuki prompted, regret leaking into his tone.

Shovedy-shoo.

To be honest, it took Mayura more strength than she thought she contained to actually move him from that spot.

Not as fumblingly as Izumiko, however, he managed to get pushed forward into the closet.

Upon having fast reflexes, he was able to stop himself from falling forward any more than he already had; but not soon enough.

Mayura had already locked the door. And placed the chair back against the handle.

Great.

It took a few moments for Miyuki's eyes to adjust to the darkness of the closet before he noticed a string hanging from the ceiling. He mentally followed it and ended up having his gaze on a light-bulb.

Izumiko, who was there all that time and saw the whole thing, had eyes wide as his hand reached for the thread. As the light burned both their eyes at the first second, Miyuki felt, even more, shock – and even panic – when he saw a braided figure there with him.

"Izumiko?!"

His slight shout caused her to flinch.

To turtle mode she should return.

"What are you doing here?"

"Mayura tricked us . . ." she replied, her voice meek.

Miyuki's eyebrow raised.

"But why?"

Then their question was answered. Mayura's voice traveled through the door separating them.

"If you want to be let out, you must do what I wish," she mused.

A frustrated sigh.

"And what would that be?"

A laugh.

"For you two to confess to each other how you really feel."

Just with that sentence, they were back with that unbearable awkwardness again.

Except this time there was nowhere for them to escape.

"I know you both have been hiding something . . . especially you, Sagara."

Izumiko didn't dare turn her gaze to look at the male next to her.

She could already see a hint of red in the corner of her vision. And that alone wasn't even common.

"I'm not letting you out until you do what I'm telling you to."

Both of them silently sighed, seeing this was the only way out to their freedom; and that Mayura really wasn't going to let them escape until they did that.

Hooray . . . Award goes to Mayura for the best way to get two people to hook up.

The two were staring away from each other, not talking for a while; until Miyuki finally spoke.

"Do you mind leaving us alone to talk?"

Izumiko placed her hand on her heart, realizing he was actually going to confess.

Part of her was excited, and the other part was nervous because she knew that it was going to be her turn eventually.

Not to mention that she still had doubt about whether he actually did have feelings for her.

He had to . . . Why else would he have stayed even when Yukimasa gave him the option to leave?

What would be the explanation for him risking his own life to save her, even when she may have been gone for good?

But then again, it continued to confuse her.

How could he love someone so weak and helpless . . . when he's so strong, both emotionally and physically?

"Oh, sure. I'll be in the bathroom. But no lying when I get back."

When they heard her footsteps gradually disappear into the air around them, he turned his gaze back to Izumiko.

"Okay, well . . ."

He exhaled heavily once more.

"You first."

Izumiko's face internally sank.

Of course he would still be stubborn about his feelings.

He must have noticed the doubt on her face.

". . . Or I could go first?"

She tried to nod.

She really did.

But her body wouldn't obey.

So instead she ended up standing there motionlessly.

Honestly, Miyuki looked the same; not being able to move nor talk.

"Um . . ."

He had to look away; he couldn't stand looking at her tense ash-brown eyes.

"Ever since a bit after you first transformed into the Himegami . . . I haven't had full control over all my feelings. Sometimes I don't even feel like I'm in my body anymore. What happened after the festival . . . I wish it could've lasted forever – besides the part with you running away."

Izumiko couldn't believe it. She was more speechless than before.

"And all those times that I hurt your feelings in the past year, don't believe any of it. If you do believe anything I say, it's that I'll always be there for you. If someone tells you otherwise, they're not right. I . . ."

He hesitated for one of the first few times during his whole speech.

". . . I haven't felt like this for anyone except you . . . Izumiko. It's the best feeling I've had all my life. I feel like I actually have a purpose. If I never had met you, with all that I would have to deal with in my life – especially Yukimasa – I probably would've killed myself."

Izumiko didn't know what to say or do.

She didn't even know if she would be able to share her thoughts on him.

There sure were a lot . . .

But only one prevailed through all of them.

"Your turn."

She gulped.

"Well, I . . ." she started nervously.

Izumiko wished she didn't have to say anything. She wished that they could both just leave it at that and pretend nothing happened.

They always did . . . didn't they?

"The truth is . . ." She paused to clench her fingers around one of her braids. "I've always liked you, Sagara-kun. It isn't that obvious most of the time because I act nervous around everyone. I could tell that you liked me, too . . . but I could never confess . . . I guess we both have that in common . . ."

They could both feel their cheeks flushing by then.

Miyuki tore his gaze from her once more.

There wasn't even a five-percent-chance that he was going to let her see him blushing that easily.

"To be honest," Izumiko continued, "I feel jealous whenever I see you with other girls, and I don't like when you talk about them, either. But . . ."

Miyuki sensed her hesitation.

After that, neither of them could control themselves anymore.

Izumiko could subconsciously feel herself closing the distance between them as Miyuki did the same.

Her sentences began to get suffocated on their way out.

"Sagara, I . . ."

By the time she could hear his breathing, her words were lost. She fully lost control over her body.

The moment their lips connected, the walls seemed to fade.

Izumiko was caught off guard at first, but she soon fell into it.

Nothing existed besides them and the other.

Quite a few seconds passed by before they slowly broke apart, but it seemed like an eternity.

The female brunette gradually opened her eyes, just to see brown orbs staring back at her.

It was all she could see.

All she wanted to see.

Little did she know that the *Scorpio across from her was having a minor mental breakdown.

Something had suddenly snapped in his brain, questioning why he had let his subconsciousness take over without a fight.

But, somehow, he didn't regret it, like he usually did with his decisions.

One of them would've ran – depending on who would have been able to escape first – if it weren't for the small room they were trapped in.

Mayura must have contemplated that, too. Gosh darn it.

Izumiko's automatic reaction was to quickly turn her gaze away, unable to meet his eyes for another second. It was a force of habit at that point.

Miyuki was still somehow internally irritated with himself.

"I-I'm sorry, I d-didn't mean to-" he said, avoiding the female's eyes.

"N-no . . ." Izumiko stuttered back, unable to find her words. If only she had a mental Google inside her head. "It was . . . nice . . ." She shyly smiled as she said the last word, an awkward blush painted on her cheeks as she turned back to face him.

She inched closer to him, causing him to instinctively back up without realizing it. She rested her right cheek by his collar bone, bringing him into a hug.

"Stop punishing yourself for everything. It is one reason people get depressed, you know," she said softly. Her arms tightened around him. "And if you were depressed, then I would be, too. I can't stand seeing you sad."

She felt him hesitantly return the embrace, burying his head into her neck.

"Okay . . ."

They remained like that for a little while longer, and, for a split second, Izumiko wished the moment didn't have to end.

"So, how are we going to get out of here, again?"

Miyuki looked at Izumiko with a plain expression, one eyebrow raised.

Izumiko entwined her fingers around one of her thigh-length braids.

"I don't actually know . . ."

Said male continued staring blankly at her.

"I could kick it down," he elaborated simply.

"If you want to pay a fine for damaging school property."

"That's better than being locked in here."

". . . Eh."

"So we're going with the kicking option?"

"You could."

"All right."

Izumiko immediately stepped back to the wall facing the door, attempting not to get in his way.

After the second kick against the wooden barrier, the third kick resulted in the door slamming open without resistance.

A silence blew between them as Miyuki fully opened the door – not that it already was – offering her to walk out first.

"Well . . . that went better than expected," Izumiko mused, stepping out.

Sagara trailed behind her, and they were relieved to see the outside through the windows once more.

"Let's never let that happen to us again," he quickly prompted.

"I agree."

Then she turned her gaze towards him to see happiness fill his brown eyes.

And it caused her to smile back.

"When I first met you, I honestly didn't know you were gonna be this important to me."

- *Unknown

*1 = I know Miyuki isn't technically a Scorpio; there's no proof in the anime. However, the Wiki states that his birthday is November 12th, in the range of a Scorpio. Also, if you look up Scorpio facts or read websites on them, he seems to contain multiple traits of one.

*2 = I searched and searched but I could not find the creator of the quote at the very end. If you know who said it, then feel free to leave it in a review or private message.

My attempt at humor FanFictions are not going to be the greatest, but I look deep down in my mind where nothing makes sense to write humor. So if you don't understand something, then please consider that I am a very weird person .-.

Nonetheless, I hope you enjoyed

Credits:

Noriko Ogiwara |

I do not own Red Data Girl or the cover image. All rights go to their original owners.