Disclaimer: I do not own anything.

Hearing footsteps, Ami looked up from her spot between the vending machines to see Ryuuji standing in front of her.

She turned away from him.

"What do you want. I already told you to stay away from me."

After a few moments of silence, she looked up again. This time, she noticed that there was an unusually serious expression on his face. There was a look in his eyes that seemed to signal that he had arrived at some form of resolution.

She stood up. "I can't stand you. I'm leaving."

Slowly pushing past him, Ami wished for him to say something, anything, to stop her from leaving. His demeanor told her that things were about to change, and if he didn't stop her now, that would mean that she wasn't going to be part of his plans.

For some reason, she felt like crying. She wanted to run away from him.

Right before she was about to bolt, he grabbed her hand.

"Listen. I understand what you mean when you say that Taiga and I are playing house."

She didn't turn back to face him.

"But that doesn't mean that I'm free to do anything now that she isn't here."

He put a hand on her shoulder and forced her to turn around to face him.

"My commitment to her is such that I will always have to take care of her regardless."

Was this a rejection? Had he finally wised up her feelings and decided to end things before they became too complicated, much like what Minori had chosen to do on Christmas eve?

Tears leaked down the sides of her face. She struggled against his grip, but it was stong enough such that she wasn't able to break free.

"Shut... shut up! I don't want to hear any more of this!"

"Listen! My relationship with Taiga is something platonic, and it is something that I know will never become anything more than that!"

She stopped struggling. "Why are you telling me this?"

He blushed. "I... I don't really know. I just felt like clearing things up after what you said this morning... hey wait, why are you crying!?" He released his grip on her hand.

She wiped away her tears and smiled at him. "I suppose some things will never change..."

She turned and walked away from him. "You''l find out next time... probably."

As she turned around the corner, she left behind an anxious Ryuuji wondering if he had hurt somebody again.

A/N: Okay, I wrote this after episode 22.