"Telepathically Connected"
by: S. Schumaker

Disclaimer: I do not own Marmalade Boy or any of the characters.

(AN: Alteration here, alteration there...nothing drastic! Enjoy this chapter! Thanks!)


Chapter Three

Soon after their escape to Yuu's bedroom, they began to test their new powers. Yuu positioned Miki just outside of his room, door open. They thought and thought but couldn't get a thing out of the other. "Well, that's a relief. Now we won't have to hear thoughts from people in other rooms." Miki said, flopping back down on his bed. The two of them had been steadily learning to keep their private thoughts at bay until the other was gone, but what Yuu did next caught Miki by surprise.

He shut his bedroom door and walked over to his closet, lifting his t-shirt over his head on his way. Miki's eye's glazed over as they drifted over his muscled skin, his broad shoulders, and his smooth back. (Oh God…) She thought to herself, her body shaking slightly. She tried to make her eyes look away, but it was so difficult. Before she had time to even realize what was happening, Yuu slide a new shirt in its place, breaking Miki's gaze on his six-pack.

"Sorry, weren't you finished?" Yuu laughed, walking toward her slowly.

(You'll never know.) Miki thought before she realized her mistake. "Oops…maybe you will. I gotta go." Miki rushed out of his room, racing to her own before Yuu could straighten his own thoughts.

Once Miki was safely in her domain, she began cursing her new telepathic abilities. She had to be extra careful from now on. While she was trying to come up with a way to hide her emotions from her close stepbrother, the telephone rang. She walked toward it and lifted it to her ear. "Moshi-moshi?" She asked into it.

"Miki-chan!" A voice replied.

"Oh, hi Meiko-chan! What's going on?" Miki said to her best friend. The two of them had been close for years!

"I was just wondering if you and Matsuura-kun would want to go see a movie with me tomorrow." She offered.

"Wow! That sounds great! Hold on a sec, I'll go ask Yuu if he wants to go too!" Miki said, placing the phone on her desk and rushing off to Yuu's room. "Yuu!" She called through his door. Before long, Yuu's face appeared before her.

"Yes, Miki."

"Would you like to go to a movie with Meiko and I tomorrow?" Miki asked him, silently pleading that he would.

"Well, since you want me to so badly, I guess I will." Yuu smiled, shutting himself back into his room. (Oh no! He wasn't in his room when I thought all that stuff. Stupid. Stupid!) She thought to herself as she returned to her room and Meiko's phone call.

"All right Meiko, we're in! How about we meet you at the theatre around four?"

"All right, sounds great! We can decide what to see when we get there!" Meiko said, "Talk to you soon!"

After Miki relayed the plans to Yuu, she slipped into her pajamas and hopped into her bed. She had one stressful day and she was just exhausted. She nearly fell into a deep, dreamless sleep once her head hit the pillow.

The next day, Miki and Yuu met in the hallway on their way to the breakfast table. Miki had to suppress a giggle when she saw Yuu's morning hair. (He looks just like a little boy in the mornings…) She thought, self-consciously checking on her own hair.

"Yes, I know I'm just adorable, but we already established that when I caught you staring at my half-naked body last night…" Yuu laughed, bounding out of reach from Miki's raging fists.

"I was not staring!" (Jeez…) She replied stomping down the stairs.

(Miki! I was only teasing you…) Yuu said to her telepathically as he dropped his hands on her shoulders behind her. (Forgive me?) His baby pout made her smile as she forgot it all. They continued on to the kitchen walking in on something they wished they hadn't…

(I can't believe he'd say something like that about her!) Yuu's mother thought.

(What a jerk!) Miki's mother thought afterwards.

Both of the teens stopped in their tracks as they entered the living room. What had happened in here? They could not only feel the tension between their parents, but hear it as well.

"What's going on?" Miki asked tentatively. She glanced at each one of her four parents in turn, concentrating on their faces trying to read something, anything, from their expressions.

"Nothing, honey. Why don't you two go out for breakfast?" Her father gave her a small, unconvincing smile, handing them a couple bucks as he walked past. "Enjoy yourself." He continued, shutting the door to his bedroom.

Soon afterwards, the remaining three walked past, each going their separate ways, leaving Miki and Yuu completely stumped. (Yuu, I don't like this…) Miki's hands were trembling and her head was pounding with confusion.

(Don't worry; I'm sure it was just a lover's spat. They'll make up. Why don't we go get ready for the school and leave a little early to get some breakfast?) Yuu said, leading Miki back to the stairs.

Miki had decided that Yuu was right. Her parent's had had arguments before; this was probably just the same thing. She put it out of her mind and concentrated on her open closet before her, trying to find her school uniform buried inside it. She didn't really understand why, but she spent more time on her looks that day, adding a light gloss to her lips and some mascara to her eyes. She glanced herself over and wondered if she would look good in her stepbrother's eyes.

As if he was cued, Yuu knocked on Miki's door just as she finished getting ready. "Are you all set to go?" Yuu called to her. Miki smiled to herself in the mirror before heading out to meet her brother.

"Yup, I'm ready! Now, let's go eat!" Miki said, grabbing Yuu's arm and leading them down the stairs and out the door.

An hour later Miki and Yuu arrived at school. Just having finished a light breakfast at a small café down the block. They went through their classes pretty safely that day. Hearing the thoughts of all the students in the classroom was causing a headache to form between the two, but once the last bell rang and they were free, it started to fade quickly.

Soon afterwards found Miki and Yuu standing outside the movie theatre waiting for Meiko to arrive. Both of them suddenly grasped their heads in pain when a group of young girls walked by them…all thinking different things:

(I hope I don't look fat in my new outfit…)

(Man, I wish that they hadn't dragged me out today, I have a ton of stuff that I SHOULD be doing…)

(Why did we have to bring Sakura?)

(I can't wait to see Alan tonight…I wonder if he'll kiss me…)

Miki was practically crying from the immense pain she felt with so many voices in her head. It was as if they were all screaming it right in her ear, instead of only thinking it. She wondered why it hadn't been this bad at school that morning. Why hadn't the kids in her class caused this much pain upon her?

Yuu began slowly drifting to the ground, holding his head trying to shield all the voices he heard. He couldn't quite make out all the different thoughts, just heard a huge amount of noise. He grabbed onto Miki, hoping that she could help him. But before either of them could do a thing about their pain, it was gone. The group of girls had disappeared into a nearby store, taking their thoughts with them.

"Miki-chan! Matsuura-san!" The two flicked their, still pounding, heads toward the familiar voice. They both saw their dear friend racing toward them, she waved at them to be sure to have their attention. "Gomen nasai, minna-chan. I can't go to the movies today...I've got to finish my paper for the Literature Club. I'm so sorry, guys. It's just that I really need to get this done."

"Don't worry about it Meiko-chan. We understand." Miki said, smiling brightly at her.

(I'm such a horrible person. I can't believe I'm lying to my best friend like this.) Meiko thought. Miki's forehead scrunched in confusion.

(Lying? Yuu, how is she lying to us?) Yuu simply looked at her, thinking he knew what it was she was hiding.

"Well, I better get going. I'll make this up to you both!" Meiko said. (Now, off to meet Na-chan!) She thought, racing away from them both. Missing Miki's fallen jaw.

"Yuu?" Miki's voice was shaking, her hands were trembling. "What's going on?"

(I'm so sorry, Miki. We never wanted you to find out this way.) Yuu said to her, taking her hands in his and rubbing them with his thumbs.

"What?" Miki barely whispered. Her eyes were foggy, her head was pounding. She didn't understand.

(Meiko has been secretly dating Na-chan for years now. I found them together once in the library at school, but swore my secrecy to her. I'm so sorry.)

"You knew?" Miki pulled her hands from his roughly. "How could you two be hiding something like this from me? And for so long! I just can't believe it." Miki began to storm off before Yuu grabbed her shoulders from behind.

(Wait. Please don't be mad.)

"Don't touch me!" Miki screamed at him, twirling around to glare daggers at him. "I just can't look at you right now. You betrayed me." Yuu noticed tears glistening in her eyes and immediately wanted to grab her and hold her to him tightly, but before he had the chance, Miki took off. He let her go. He simply watched her run from him, her thoughts echoing through his mind as she screamed at herself, screamed at everyone she held close to her, screamed silently, only the two of them would ever be able to hear it…

To Be Continued!


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