Strangers on the Bus

- Following the Heart -

By: Lil' Amethyst Angel

Warnings: Swearing, slight violence, AU, and possible OOC.

Pairings: Yuzuriha/Kusanagi, Yuuto/Satsuki, Karen/??

Early Thursday morning Kamui left the house before the others were even awake. He wanted to avoid them this time. Kamui decided to take the long route to school, as he had time to spare.

After walking for a while he got an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. Turning around to look behind him, he found only an empty street. He continued walking when the feeling returned. Kamui spotted an alleyway a little ways ahead. He turned into the alley when he came to it and waited for whoever was following him to enter it as well. Sure enough, a moment later a tall man dressed in dark clothing came around the corner. He looked started to find Kamui standing there, in fighting stance, face angered. The man soon regained his composure and smirked.

"Who are you and why the fuck are you following me?" Kamui demanded.

"Tsk tsk. Such colorful words for such a young boy. Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?" The man leered. Kamui stiffened at the comment about his mother.

"No, actually I don't, seeing as how she's dead." With that Kamui threw a powerful punch at the unknown man. The man ducked and punched Kamui in the cheek, causing him to hit the bricks and scrape his forehead against the wall on the way down. However, the raven-haired boy quickly recovered and kicked the man's feet out from under him. At times like this he was glad that Uncle Monou, as he affectionately referred to Kotori and Fuuma's father, taught him how to fight as a child.

"You work for Nezumi, right? Why won't you guys just leave me alone?" Kamui then brought his foot down on the floored attacker's stomach, eliciting a loud cry of pain. Kamui felt the crunch of bone under his foot and was pretty sure he broke some of his ribs. "I'm warning you, back the fuck off."

Blood trickled out of the side of the man's mouth. Seeing the red of the blood brought horrible images of his mother's suicide unbidden to Kamui's mind. He left abruptly, trying to banish the memories from his head. His mother's untimely death was still an open wound. Kamui couldn't help blaming himself for it partly. He thought of how much of a burden he must have been for her. Even he admitted he was a bit of a trouble maker. Kamui cursed himself for not seeing her suffering sooner. How could he have not noticed that his mother was slipping so far into depression?

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Kamui reached the school soon after the little incident in the alleyway. After going to the infirmary to clean off the dribble of crimson that had made its way down the side of his face from his forehead, Kamui went to the school library. He picked a random book off the shelf and took a seat at a table.

A few moments later Kamui was surprised by a hand resting on his shoulder. His head snapped up, half expecting to see some thug ready to shoot his head off. Instead there stood a beautiful girl with flowing gold hair cascading down her shoulders.

"Good morning, Shirou-kun." She said sweetly.

"Kot-eh-Monou." Kamui stuttered, remembering to address his long-time friend by her last name.

"My, you're here very early." She took a seat next to him, placing her books on the table.

"So are you. But you always were a morning person." He said quietly. Kotori was surprised by the statement. She smiled. Kamui did remember her after all.

"Yes, that's true." She peeked at the book in his hands. "What are you reading?"

"Dante's Inferno." Kamui answered.

"I've never read that book. Is it any good?" She asked, trying to make conversation.

"I like it." He looked at the books Kotori had placed on the table. "I see you are still interested in fairytales."

"Yes. It may seem immature, but I've never stopped enjoying them. I still prefer the ones with happy endings." Kamui smiled at that.

"It suits you." Kamui said. "But they're very unrealistic. True love and evil villains."

"Oh, I don't know. What's unrealistic about that?" Kotori asked. Kamui didn't answer.

"Why do you avoid Fuuma and me?" Kotori asked, after a while. Kamui was caught off guard by the question.

After recovering, her replies, "Because we are no longer friends."

"But I still want to be your friend, Kamui." Kotori whispered sincerely. Kamui looked into her eyes full of emotion. He could never resist when she held that pleading look. Kamui caught himself before he slipped and got any closer to her. He immediately got up and left, leaving a confused Kotori behind.

Kotori failed to hear the quiet "I'm sorry" as he walked through the library doors.

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"So, x equals negative three?"

"Very good, missy." Mr. Kusanagi praised his student. Her warm smile melted his heart.

"I finally get it! Thank you, Mr. Kusanagi, for the extra help. I swear algebra is evil." The bright-eyed girl made a face, which her teacher laughed at.

Kusanagi watched as she tucked a stray piece of dark hair behind her ear. She was very pretty, he admitted to himself. He mentally scolded himself the second after he had the thought.

"Umm, Mr. Kusanagi, I wanted to t-tell you something. You see, umm," Yuzuriha stumbled around the words. She wanted to tell Mr. Kusanagi how she felt, but couldn't find the right words. Kusanagi watched as she fidgeted nervously in her seat. "The thing is, I think you're a really nice person. A-and I really like y-" Yuzuriha was stopped by Mr. Kusanagi pushing back his chair and standing up.

"I just remember I have a meeting right now. I think you got this stuff down, but if you're still having trouble, you can come in again after school tomorrow." He said briskly. Yuzuriha took the hint and packed up her things. Kusanagi didn't miss the look of hurt on her face as she left.

He sat down at his desk and started rubbing his temples.

"She's a very sweet girl." The voice of his college startled Kusanagi.

"Yes, she is." He agreed. Yuuto sauntered into the room and leaned against the wall, near his desk.

"Why did you push her away like that?" He asked lightly.

"I was getting too close to a student." Kusanagi replies after a while. Yuuto gave him a look that obviously said 'so?'.

"I have morals, unlike some people." Kusanagi growled. Yuuto ignored the insult.

"I never dated Satsuki when she was my student." Yuuto said easily. Kusanagi rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, but you were her teacher at one point. And you're dating her now, even though you're much older." He pointed out. Yuuto just shrugged.

"Only a fool lets such a rare and wonderful thing slip away." Yuuto said as he left Kusanagi to his thoughts.

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Elsewhere, Kamui Shirou was sitting on the same bus as he had the days before. He noted the alluring man from yesterday was riding the bus once again.

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Swoosh! A basketball glides through the air and into the net. Fuuma goes to retrieve his ball, wiping a bead of sweat off his forehead. He takes the ball, shooting automatically, and gets it in once again, though he doesn't notice. His thoughts were on a certain small, dark-haired boy. An appreciative whistle is heard behind him.

"Nice shot, Mr. Team Captain." Fuuma turned to see another member of the basketball team.

"Hey, Sorata." Sorata picked up the ball that ad come to rest before him. He spun it on his finger.

"What were you worrying about?"

"What?" Fuuma asked confused.

"Dude, you were on total autopilot. You're mind was obviously elsewhere. What were you thinking about?" He clarified.

"Oh, I was just thinking about an old friend of mine. He's changed and I'm worried about him."

"You don't have to worry about Kamui, you know." Sorata said while he started bouncing the ball.

"What do you mean?" Fuuma asked, surprised that Sorata knew Kamui was the one on his thoughts. Fuuma knew Kamui had moved into the house Sorata was living in, but Kamui really didn't seem like the type to open up to people he just met. So, Fuuma doubted Sorata found out about their past friendship from him.

"That's the friend you were thinking about right?" Sorata cut into his thoughts.

"How did you know?"

"I saw a picture of you and your lovely sister with Kamui. He had it in his room. Let me guess, he is being all cold to you?" Fuuma nodded.

"Yeah, he's like that at the house, too. The kid seems pretty tense and is on constant guard. But he still cares about you. He wouldn't have kept that picture if he didn't." Sorata stopped dribbling the ball around and took a shot. He turned and left, waving goodbye to Fuuma.

"Kamui kept a picture of the three of us? Maybe Kotori was right after all." Fuuma smiled softly.

-------------------

Yuzuriha tossed the covers off herself. She scowled at the flashing red number on the clock. It was 1:30 a.m. and she couldn't fall asleep. Sighing, she stood up and padded out of her room and down the stairs. She entered the kitchen and got a glass of water. Yuzuriha took a seat at the table and stared into her cup, frowning.

"What's wrong?" Karen's smooth voice asked from the doorway. Yuzuriha's eyes widened in shock.

"Oh, Miss Karen, you surprised me." Karen pulled out the chair across from her.

"Problems of the heart?" Karen guessed. Yuzuriha sighed and nodded. She had come to think of Karen as a big sister and confided in her often.

"I like someone I shouldn't." Yuzuriha admits. A pained smile crossed Karen's face. She nodded, understanding Yuzuriha's pain all too well.

"There are no boundaries in love. The heart is not bound by logic or rules." Karen said wisely.

"What should I do?" Yuzuriha asked finally. Karen patted her hand.

"Follow your heart."

To Be Continued

Author's Note: Thanks for all the reviews, please continue to tell me what you think! I promise to write more about Subaru in the next chapter.