Sorry about the lack of updates. It's a combination of schoolwork, love problems, and a recent obsession with Naruto. Shikamaru x Temari, in particular. But you probably don't want to hear about that. So, without further ado, here's another lovely little piece for you.
This has a reference to an event from Volume Seven of the manga, and it takes place after Negi Ramen was formed, but before Negi Ramen met Mitsuki. Theme: Secret
Pairing: Takuto x Meroko x Izumi
It wasn't as if he didn't notice her. He did.
It wasn't as if he hated her, like she seemed to think. That wasn't true.
It wasn't as if everything about her—her smile, her laugh, the heartfelt words she said—didn't reach into him and stroke his heart with a gentle touch. They did.
But no matter how much he noticed her, no matter how much she touched his heart, no matter how much she said she loved him, he knew that they would never be together.
Takuto knew that Meroko was carrying a secret—a hidden truth that forever destroyed any chances of love between the two of them.
She couldn't forget about Izumi.
Meroko never said this out loud, and yet Takuto could see it, plain as day.
He saw it in the brief moment of sadness that flicked through her eyes whenever Izumi was near—a moment of sorrow and pain that was so quick, you could glance upon it and think that it never happened. He saw it in the way she carefully avoided talking about anything that might remind her of Izumi. And, most of all, he saw it in a darkened alley, with him pressing his lips against hers, and her backed against the wall, pinned in place, hovering with indecision that masked a passionate desire deep inside.
Knowing this, Takuto knew that Meroko would never love him, no matter what she said. She could say it a million times if she wanted, but it would never be true.
And so he pushed her away, pretending to think that she was annoying and stupid and an incompetent klutz, while all the time he held his own secrets—that she was the only one he ever thought about, that he hated Izumi just for being there, and that he was secretly dying, weighted down by burning love.
Sorry if it sucks. Tanemura-sensei says that Takuto would have gone out with Meroko if Mitsuki hadn't shown up. I built on that a little.
RRE.