Thousand Things I Hate About You

Chapter 3

Author's Note: Wow, it's been about three months since the last update... I'm so sorry that it took me so long to finish this chapter, but now it's finally done! And again it's longer than the first one! I hope you like it! But first, I'd like to thank you for all those nice reviews! Every single one made me very happy! Writing this story is so much fun knowing that there are people out there who like it! So thanks again! For those who don't know me yet: Probably slight OOC-ness ;-)

Disclaimer: The characters in this story of course belong to CLAMP.


"I must admit, you were completely right, Kamui-san. He IS a very nice person. I enjoyed being with him a lot." Yuzuriha smiled. She and Kamui were on their way home from school.

Kamui looked away. "Is that so." The boy was hardly content with the situation. Somehow, he had archived quite the contrary of his original intensions. Instead of spending a beautiful dream-like afternoon with Subaru and perhaps eventually confessing his love to him, he disgraced himself beyond imagination and on top of that, it was also his fault that Yuzuriha had developed a sudden sympathy for the Sakurazukamori.

"Yeah! He is such a friendly and cheerful person. You know…" She lowered her voice and leaned to him obscurely. "He even told me, that he and Subaru-san apparently used to be friends in the past! Isn't that just awesome?! I could have never imagined! Think of it: If they were to become friends again… That would be so incredible! You know, Seishiro-san seems to be so sad about what their friendship had turned into… I feel sorry for him."

Kamui spit on the street scornfully. 'Hypocrite.'

Yuzuriha, however, clenched her fist. "You know, I just decided. I'm gonna bring those two together again!!" Determined, she paused. "What about it, Kamui-san? Do you wanna help?"

Kamui stumbled. "Wah!"

"Are you okay, Kamui-san? Did you hurt yourself?!" Yuzuriha frowned worriedly.

'This must be a nightmare.' Kamui closed his eyes. "No, don't worry. I just…"

"Hey, look over there! Isn't that Subaru-san?! What a coincidence! Hello! Subaru-san!!" The next moment, Yuzuriha rushed across the street, Inuki following.

Kamui froze. It really was Subaru! Instantly, he blushed as the embarrassing events of the last night crossed his mind again. He wanted to run away, before Subaru could see him, but it was too late.

"Kamui-san!!! Come on!! What are you waiting for?", Yuzuriha waved at him across the street.

Discouraged, he came towards them.

Yuzuriha's attention went back to the onmyouji. "What a coincidence to meet you, Subaru-san!", she said happily. "What are you doing around here?"

Subaru looked back at the girl. "I had to do a job here this morning", he explained politely, while Kamui let his gaze wander around the neighbourhood, so that he didn't have to face the other man.

"Really?" Yuzuriha sounded interested. "What was it about?"

"Well, that's quite a long story. I don't want to bore you with the details." Subaru turned his head to Kamui. "So the two of you are on your way home from school?"

"Yes!" It was again Yuzuriha who drew Subaru's attention to herself. "Our afternoon classes got cancelled today. Obviously, all of Tokyo is scared because of the many earthquakes that occur lately."

"So it's safer to send their students home?" Subaru frowned.

"I don't mind as long as I have the afternoon off. What about you, Kamui-san?"

Kamui swallowed. "S-Sure…"

"You see?" Yuzuriha turned her head around and took a quick glance at her watch. "So, Subaru-san, does that mean you have the rest of the day off as well?"

"Hm?" Subaru looked at the girl, surprised. "Y-Yeah, I guess…"

"Great!" Yuzuriha clenched her fist enthusiastically. "What about we spend the afternoon together and have some fun! Let's go… hm… Let's go ice-skating! We could invite Seishiro-san as well!"

"Y-Yuzuriha…" Kamui didn't know how to react. 'It has to be a nightmare!! That girl… I wish I'd never involved her in all this!!'

Subaru blinked. "You mean Aoki Seiichiro-san?"

"No, I mean Seishiro-san. The Sakurazukamori." Yuzuriha replied calmly. "I thought you knew each other."

"Uhm, we do, but how come YOU know the same Seishiro-san I know?", Subaru asked confusedly.

Yuzuriha smiled. "I spend the day together with him, yesterday. We walked around a bit and dropped by the ice-cream parlor! Come to think about it, I still owe him the money for my sundae. It would just be fair, if I invited him today."

Subaru shook his head. "Wait a second, please. You spent the day with the Sakurazukamori??"

Yuzuriha nodded. "Yeah. It was Kamui-san's idea. He told me to keep Seishiro-san a little company, because obviously you didn't have time for him yesterday. Kamui-san is such a kind person, don't you think?"

Kamui shuddered. 'It will all leak out now… I'm bloody dead!!'

Subaru's gaze came to rest on the dark-haired boy. "You… You thought of that?"

Kamui looked up, startled. He met Subaru's beautiful eyes, one emerald-green, the other one a snowy white. His heart started to race again. "Subaru, I'm…"

"Thank you, Kamui." Subaru lowered his head. "But it was not right. After all, I was the one who saved him. I shouldn't just leave and have you take care of him."

"You can take care of him today, Subaru-san!" Yuzuriha objected.

"Yeah! Let's go all together to the ice-rink today!" Kamui suddenly shouted enthusiastically, but inside, he felt bitter. 'I'd rather go there with everyone, than having you being alone with him…'


"Whose idea was this anyway…?" Seishiro looked down at the girl walking next to him, who was smirking back at him.

"It's gonna be fun, believe me! Kamui-san and Subaru-san never tried ice-skating before, so at least the two of us will have a lot to laugh."

Kamui, who was walking between Yuzuriha and Subaru, grumbled. 'I really can't think of any reasonable reason for me to be here. I certainly didn't come here to be laughed at by that bastard or to make a fool of myself in front of Subaru.'

"There we are!" Yuzuriha stopped in front of the ice-rink. "I'm sorry, Inuki, but you'll have to wait outside." Gently, she petted the dog next to her feet, who was leaning in to the girl's touch. Then, she turned around to face the others. "You can sit down here and wait, while I go and get our skates."

"Okay." Subaru sat down on one of the benches in front of the ice-rink, as Yuzuriha vanished inside the large building.

Kamui und Seishiro spotted the one free seat next to Subaru at the same time, but Seishiro was closer.

Disappointed, Kamui turned around and sat down on the bench opposite to Subaru, while the Sakurazukamori threw a superior glance at him.

Angrily he stared back, but changed his expression immediately, as Subaru started talking to him. "So, this is your first time at the ice-rink, Kamui?", he asked and gave the boy a warm smile.

Kamui looked back at him, dreamingly. "Hmh…"

"Don't worry. I've never done it before either, so we can try it together, okay?"

At once, Kamui blushed at the suggestiveness his mind interpreted into Subaru's sentence, which Subaru, of course, would have never thought of.

Seishiro observed the boy intensely. Of course he knew what Kamui was thinking as he blushed, and it annoyed him. 'Bloody little brat. But I swear, ice-skating will be the only 'first time' you get with Subaru-kun. You better enjoy it.'

Eventually, Yuzuriha returned with the ice-skates. "Here they are!" She smiled. "Alright, let's hurry, everyone!"


Kamui sure head his problems to be able to walk with those skates under his feet, but the real problems only started, when he set one of the skates on the ice for the first time. Just like stepping on a piece of soap, Kamui's leg slid away which resulted in the first contact between his pretty face and the cold ice.

"Kamui, watch out!" Subaru's warning came too late. But once he tried to help the boy getting back on his feet again, he feared to lose his balance as well. Intuitively, he grabbed the handrail and tried to be able to stand properly again.

"Oh wow, Kamui-san, you're faster than I thought!!" It was Yuzuriha's voice. She and the Sakurazukamori were the last ones to follow onto the ice.

Kamui could see their grinning faces as they passed him, although he didn't look up to them. He felt challenged. Jerkily, he tried a second time to get up, but ended up on the ice once again.

Content, Seishiro took his eyes off the clumsy-looking boy and took hold of the handrail next to Subaru. "Doesn't look too bad, Subaru-kun", he commented with a short unconvinced glance at Subaru, who actually didn't do anything, except of holding on to the handrail.

"Well…", Subaru replied. "I'll try my best."

"Don't worry." Seishiro turned his head back to Kamui. "You can't possibly do any worse than him."

"Oh…" Helplessly, Yuzuriha was standing next to Kamui. "I guess someone needs to pick him up again! I don't think he can do it by himself anymore!"

'Shut up. Just shut up.' Kamui frowned. He had feared that he would make a complete fool out of himself right at the beginning, and now his worst nightmare had come true! Again, such a disgrace in front of Subaru. He gave up.

Seishiro chuckled and turned his head to Subaru again. "Do you wanna give it a try?"

Subaru looked at him for a while, then his right hand left the handrail. "Shouldn't we go and help Kamui?"
"Ah, come on, he can do it himself. Besides, Yuzuriha-chan is with him, isn't she?"

Subaru sighed. "You're right. Okay, I'll try." Hesitatingly, he set one foot next to the other, carefully. One step. And another step.

Seishiro, standing next to him, grinned. "Not bad. You're still learning fast."

Subaru, who didn't know what to respond, tried to concentrate on his balance. "I didn't know that you could ice-skate."

"I guess there are lots of aspects we don't know about each other, Subaru-kun."

Subaru wasn't able to read the expression on Seishiro's face. "Probably", he answered, trying to look as casual as possible.

Seishiro lifted one of his eyebrows and bent a bit closer to the Sumeragi. "I'm already looking forward to seeing some different aspects of you, believe me…"

Meanwhile, Kamui was still lying on the ice, unable to stand up. Helplessly, he had to watch how the Sakurazukamori was leading his Subaru away from him. They seemed to be talking about something… But Kamui couldn't hear their words anymore. The distance between him and Subaru was too far right now, and was growing farther and farther with every second that passed.

After a little while, he almost thought to see a little smile running across Subaru's face…

Immediately, Kamui was standing on his feet again, ignoring Yuzuriha's surprised expression. His heart was racing, his face glowing of anger. 'I will never, never, never let you have him!!' Using powers, he himself didn't know of, Kamui started to skate, furiously, faster and faster towards Subaru. His speed increased beyond imagination, his skates were on fire, his body became a rocket… "YOU CAN'T HAVE HIM!!"

Subaru, unaware of the hustle behind his back, slowly turned his head…

But it was too late.

He hardly recognized the shadow that rushed past Seishiro and him. A faint "Can't stop!! Help!!" reached his ears, and the next moment the hall was filled with the noise and smoke of a brutal impact.

"What was that?!" Seishiro narrowed his eyes, but the smoke was too thick at first. Eventually, the outline of a boy became visible, who was lying somewhere between the remains of the boards.

"Kamui!!!" Shocked, Subaru stumbled towards the dazed boy. "Are you alright?!"

Kamui opened his eyes weakly. "Subaru…" He gasped. "I'm glad…"

"Kamui-san!!" Yuzuriha arrived next to them. "Oh my god, what happened?! I was so scared, I thought you'd gonna to die!!"

Seishiro shook his head. 'What kind of psycho is that?!' "Maybe we should take a break from ice-skating and try again later, when Shiro-kun feels better."

"Yeah, that's a good idea. Over there is a small cafeteria." Yuzuriha bent down. "Give me your hand, Kamui-san, I'll help you."


Kamui, Seishiro and Subaru were sitting at one of the small round tables, when Yuzuriha returned with four cones of French fries and four cups of coke. "Sorry", she smiled. "That's about all you can get here."

"Don't worry, Nekoi-san." Subaru still had that worried expression on his face as he looked at Kamui. "Are you already feeling better?"

"I'm alright, really. It was nothing." Kamui took one of the cones and started eating. "I'm…" He lowered his head shyly. "I'm glad that you are worried about me…"

Hearing those words, Seishiro felt sick immediately. 'You little…' His gaze fell on the small packets of ketchup, Yuzuriha had brought with her. Quickly, he grabbed one of them and pretended to open it. In fact, however, he aimed with it directly at Kamui's face. As soon as he clenched his fist, the packet burst and Kamui's face, especially his nose, was red.

"Oops." Seishiro grinned at him evilly. "I'm sorry, Shiro-kun."

The ketchup, which made Kamui look like a clown, even made Yuzuriha and Subaru chuckle.

Kamui grumbled. "Don't worry about it", he almost spit out and looked for something to clean his face again.

"Wait!" Subaru took out a white handkerchief with the initials of the Sumeragi-Clan on it. "You can take that. It's unused."

Kamui blushed and looked disbelievingly at Subaru. "I can… I can really have this?"

"Sure."

The boy smiled gratefully and seemed to enjoy the touch of the handkerchief against his skin.

Seishiro, on the other hand, was hardly amused. Because of him, that brat now owned one of Subaru's handkerchiefs. 'Great.'

But Kamui did not intend to let the Sakurazukamori get away with this. Quickly, he ate all his French fries, until the cone was empty. Except for the salt on the bottom. He smirked. "Hey, look! Aren't there Sorata and Arashi on the ice!?"

"Huh?" Everyone turned around. "Where?"

Kamui leaned on the table and dropped all the salt from his cone into the Sakurazukamori's coke.

"I can't see them anywhere!" Yuzuriha looked back at him.

"Yeah, sorry, I guess it was just my imagination. Anyway, let's drink up quickly, so that we can try ice-skating again!"

"You're right." Subaru nodded. "But still, your vision with Kishu-san and Arisugawa-kun worries me. I hope this was not the work of the Dragons of Earth."

"It wasn't really a 'vision', Subaru…!" Kamui tired to reassure him. "I was just seeing things."

"No doubt about that." Eventually, the Sakurazukamori took his cup again in order to drink up.

Kamui held his breath. He watched his every movement. 'Come on, spit out everything!!', he thought maliciously and grinned.

But the Sakurazukamori showed no reaction. Casually, he put the cup back on the table. A quick glance at Kamui. "It tastes awful", he finally claimed.

"Why is that?" Yuzuriha looked at him.

"I don't know. Maybe something has fallen into the cup."

"Oh…" Subaru pushed his cup towards Seishiro. "Are you still thirsty? You can have some of mine, if you don't mind."

Seishiro's eyes flickered. "Really? Thanks."

Again, he threw a glance at Kamui, who was staring unbelievingly back at him, while he touched Subaru's cup with his lips and grinned gloatingly at the boy.

"That's enough!", Kamui stood up. "Let's go ice-skating again."


"Wait, Kamui-san!" Yuzuriha grabbed the boy's hand, before he could walk onto the ice again. She smiled. "This time, I'll give you my hand! You'll see, it'll work much better this way!"

"Uhm…" But before Kamui could say anything, he and Yuzuriha were already standing on the smooth ice again.

"Okay. Just keep your balance and don't rush. See? That looks already very good, Kamui-san!"

Subaru was the next one to step onto the ice.

Seishiro followed him. He smirked. "Shall I give you my hand as well?", he asked and offered his hand to Subaru.

But Subaru only lowered his head. "Sorry… but I don't…"

"Hm." Inside, Seishiro frowned. 'What is this. Me being turned down by Subaru-kun?! I guess there is still quite a long way to go.' He sighed, but pretended to smile. "It was just a joke, anyway."

Subaru didn't answer, but slowly tried to follow Kamui und Yuzuriha, who were quite far ahead of them.

"Maybe you should just try to let go off the handrail, Subaru-kun", Seishiro suggested after a while.

"Hm…" Hesitatingly, Subaru tried to keep his balance. But suddenly his skates slid away on the smooth surface. Unconsciously, he grabbed Seishiro's sleeve, but instead of being stabilized, Seishiro, being caught off guard, lost his balance as well, and they both fell over onto the ice.

"S-Sorry…!" Subaru stammered. Eventually, he realized the situation, they had gotten into. Subaru had fallen on top of Seishiro. He blushed at the sudden closeness, while trying to get up again as fast as possible.

But Seishiro grabbed his arm. "Why so hectic?", he whispered to Subaru's ear, only causing his blush to deepen.

Shuddering, Subaru turned around, so that Seishiro wasn't able to see his face anymore and stood up.

Seishiro grinned. 'Reminds me of old times. Maybe you haven't really changed as much as you think.' He stood up as well.

"Sorry again", Subaru murmured.

But Seishiro only crossed the distance between them. "You really think, it wouldn't be better, if I gave you my hand?"

Subaru turned around to face him again, then he lowered his head. "No", he said eventually with a shy smile and their hands touched.

Seishiro smiled as their eyes met as well. "Subaru-kun, you know…"

"KAMUI-SAN!!" Yuzuriha's voice resounded throughout the hall.

Immediately, Subaru and Seishiro turned around, only in time to jump out of the way, as a rocket-like shadow came rushing directly towards them, passed them, and, seconds later, crashed into the board next to them with one dangerous impact.

"Oh my god, Kamui!!" Subaru kneeled next to the boy, shocked. "What was that again!? Are you hurt?!"

Kamui opened his eyes weakly. "Subaru…", he murmured. "I'm glad…"

Seishiro couldn't stop shaking his head again. 'Psycho.'


It was already dark, as the four were on their way home. The moon vanished behind the dark clouds from time to time and their shadows grew longer each time they stepped out from underneath a street light into the darkness again.

"So, Subaru-kun…" Seishiro waited for Yuzuriha and Kamui to be a few steps ahead. "Do you… already have plans for tonight?"

Subaru turned around. "Tonight?"

"Yes. We could go somewhere together. Have dinner or so…"

Subaru hesitated. "I…" He lowered his head. "…Okay." Finally, Subaru nodded. It would be their first time alone together since…

::You have a kind heart Subaru-kun. And… you know, I… love you…::

"Great. I'm happy." Seishiro tried to smile. He knew what their conversation would be like. It would all be about the same topic, thousands of words trying to clear up what went through each other's minds all that nine endlessly long years. He could see in Subaru's eyes that he knew the same. But still. If it meant to become able to be with him again…

"I guess it's time to say good-bye." Seishiro suddenly stopped.

Kamui and Yuzuriha turned around and looked at him with puzzled expressions.

"Why is that? Aren't you going to return to the Campus with us?", Yuzuriha asked curiously.

"I'm afraid, but Subaru-kun and I…"

"We'll accompany you of course!" Kamui smiled with an evil glance at Seishiro. "Right, Yuzuriha?"

"Oh, that would be great!", Seishiro replied, returning the same friendly-evil glance to Kamui. "But unfortunately, the two of you have to go to school tomorrow again. You should go to bed soon."

Kamui clenched his fist. "You…"

"Alright, so we'll meet again tomorrow." Seishiro took Subaru's arm and gently pushed him away. "Good night, Yuzuriha-chan. And good night to you as well, Shiro-kun. Sleep well. We'll certainly do."

"Good night!" Yuzuriha waved. "And enjoy yourselves!"

Kamui stared unbelievingly at the two silhouettes vanishing in the moonlight. His anger was raging so badly, he fought his tears to stay back.

Suddenly he turned around to face Yuzuriha and smiled. "You go on ahead. I forgot my jacket at the ice-rink."

"Hm?" Yuzuriha looked at the boy, but Kamui was already running away, until he, as well, vanished into the darkness. "But Kamui-san! You didn't have a jacket with you in the first place!!"