Yay! My favorite chapter even though you and I don't even know what's going to be put in yet! HURRAH!
I'm sorry I made minna in the previous chapter OOC. I will not worsen it the next time it happens.
Originally, this was going to be the second Chappie, but then I wondered, 'Why let them know so quickly? That's not fun.'
And so it has been set back by five more chappies as a result. :D
But it was worth it!
Disclaimer: Wait...does that mean I could borrow Kazemaru, Kidou, Hiroto, Dylan, Mark, Tobitaka, Fudou, Genda, Sakuma, Kyousuke, Yuuichi and Taiyou? *puppy eyes*
7: Kyousuke's Realization
And the 'most beautiful thing of all' that strikes everyone happens to this guy.
Remember that pain in Kyousuke's (A/N: BUFF.) chest? Well it's a bit healed now (A/N: Thanks to your reviews. :P), but the sensation comes back again- and even more painful- whenever Taiyou's around or when he even thinks of Gami, which was…almost…all the time…they were best friends, after all.
…Right?
"No, something's definitely not right," Gami furrowed her eyebrows behind a hasty Kyousuke who simply brushed past her the morning after and didn't even acknowledge her existence. "Suke-chan…"
"Don't worry, Gami-chan," Okinaru assured her pocky-loving friend, "He'll come to his senses soon enough." When students could have loitered here and there, Okinaru had chosen a tranquil and serene spot away from the crowds where she thought her kouhai would be able to have some peace.
It's not Kyousuke's fault that he intuitively decided to shun Gami for the rest of the day; he hated to admit it, but this problem of his could only be solved with the help of his older brother, who could only console Kyousuke in the late afternoon, after soccer practice. So of course he thought if he avoided Taiyou- which was easy as the orangehead was forever chained to the hospital- and Gami, the problem wouldn't worsen.
Hopefully.
(A/N: Right. This part is confusing, so lemme help you. :B This is the longer version of the summarized version, which was the first few suspenseful paragraphs that you read; from 'Remember' right until 'Hopefully'. Any more questions?)
As he walked past Gami that morning, Okinaru gave him a weird look: Why are you avoiding her? He glared at her as a cold reply: None of your business, seaweed eyes. With that, the older girl scowled at him, and dragged a worried Gami to Raimon territory. "Don't worry, Gami-chan," She said, trying to sound convincing. "He'll come to his senses soon enough." Even Okinaru couldn't help wishing that would really happen. Gami gave a small nod in response; the senpai studied her kouhai's expression. 'Have they been fighting? That's really unusual.' Behind them, someone cleared their throat. Okinaru spun around as Gami stared at the dew on the grass with interest.
"I noticed something was wrong," Shindou scratched the back of his head as Kirino patted Gami's back. "Have you two been fighting?" Kirino asked cautiously; everyone in the soccer club knew about Kyousuke and Gami's relationship (A/N: As in friendship, okay? I don't want the Kyousuke fans rejoicing and Taiyou fans sending me hate mail...). The sad girl shook her head slowly. "Perhaps an unintended insult or comment?" Shindou suggested.
She shook her head again, more negative energy radiating from her.
"What about a long-held grudge?" Okinaru still remembered Tsurugi threatening to Death Drop her in the face for forcing him to play as Jafar during the cultural festival (A/N: For any brow-raisers, PM me and blame Jer-bear. :)) ), so obviously, that was a possibility.
Gami shook her head for the third time.
"It's almost time, you two," Kirino may have said it gently, but he deathglared Okinaru (A/N: For yaoi-induced reasons.) as he and Shindou prepared to leave. The two girls stood up as well, but before anyone could say any more, She-Who-Radiated-Negativity gasped out a word.
"…Kyousuke…?"
It had been ages since Gami last called him that; she only did that whenever it was something serious (A/N: But then again, if you check Chappie 4, third to the last paragraph, an uninterrupted sentence…) and she being serious was indeed as rare as watching a James Cameron movie on HBO. The figure behind a nearby tree flinched at the sound of a pained tone, but as quickly as Gami gasped, the figure walked away. And surprisingly, oh, so surprisingly, she clenched her fists and held her breath.
She was trying her best not to cry.
That afternoon, as the Raimon soccer club players steadily got out of their respective changing rooms, Shindou and Kirino devised a plan. It wouldn't be too revealing, but if all goes well, then hopefully Gami, the soccer club's most hyperactive angel, would revert back to her happy self and of course, make up with her childhood friend.
All that was missing now was hope.
"Right," Shindou shouted to get everyone's attention (A/N: Meh. You got your fangirls' attention the moment you were born. Right, Jer-bear? *shoots a dirty look*). "We're going to practice in pairs; I want to see how well you can work together with your teammates." Shindou and Kirino glanced pleadingly at Endou, who didn't suspect a thing, and were overflowing with gratitude as the headband-wearing coach nodded in approval.
Kyousuke didn't.
(A/N: See what I did there? I'll explain later. My Kami, I'm clever. :P)
"Minna, switch partners with the one to your right!" Shindou yelled as his then partner, Kurumada, was now a pumped up Ichino. To his far left, former partners Kirino and Okinaru looked as if they were at a mine field; the two were dirty, bruised, but still had unfinished business. To his farther right, a certain orangehead was stiff as a blue-haired boy refused to be the orange-haired girl's partner. Shindou assigned Ichino to Shinsuke as he walked towards the two.
"Why not?" He immediately demanded; he may have asked why Kyousuke didn't want to partner up with Gami, but in his mind he wondered: Why does he know? Why does Tsurugi know about what we're doing?
The captain demanded again with more pronounced feelings. Scowling, Kyousuke grabbed for a face towel and water bottle before walking to the changing rooms.
Gami couldn't take it anymore.
She slammed him up the wall as everyone watched in horror. "What is wrong with you?" He remained silent; he himself didn't really know nor understand what was happening to him. "Kyousuke!" Her voice croaked, trying to stop herself from crying because she knew she was hitting her teammate…No. Not her teammate, her best friend- she was hurting her best friend. "Please say something. Even if it's a lie. Say something." She pressed on, not willing to go any further, but if it meant getting him to talk, then so be it (A/N: Jer-bear, I did not plan for this to actually be part of the story. I'm so good! :D). Quickly and coldly, he shook her off and left once more, this time, the pain in his chest becoming so unbearable he instinctively clutched the area around it.
Tears fell and so did an angel.
There was no more happiness left nor was there any shard of hope remaining.
(A/N: I'm such an unforgivable sadist…)
"So you came," Yuuichi regarded his younger brother with a sad look. "I…I need your help," Kyousuke pleaded, wishing his brother actually had the cure for this pain that he was feeling.
It hurt a lot more after what happened that afternoon.
"Kyousuke, Tenshi-chan's upset. I have never heard nor seen her that depressed. What did you do?" Bearing a short temper and desperate to solve his problem, the younger Tsurugi held back tears. "What did I do? I let her visit a 'random' patient, that's what I did!" He punched the wall as Yuuichi tried to find the connection to Gami's depression and Kyousuke's unfinished explanation.
"If I hadn't let her go, she never would've met that annoying sun-headed flirt in this stupid hospital!" He punched the wall again, regardless of the blood he was losing and the bones he was breaking.
Despite such anger and negativity around him, Yuuichi might as well look like a sadist for smiling.
"So this is what you're so angry about?" He laughed, much to the tantrum-thrower's shock. "Kyousuke, had you told me that this was what caused Tenshi-chan's depression and your anger, I could've already-" He slapped his forehead as self-punishment. "I should've seen this coming!" (A/N: Yeah, Yuuichi! You should've read Chappie 3 again!). Yuuichi laughed again. "I'm so sorry, Kyousuke," He wiped the tears from his eyes; Kyousuke was pretty sure his brother wasn't apologizing for laughing. "I really should've seen this coming. It was so obvious, but I continued to ignore it."
"Oh, if only I was keener, if I could have just talked to Taiyou-kun too…All of this would have really been unnecessary."
Kyousuke didn't understand anything his nii-san was ranting about. "W-what?" Yuuichi looked at him, still wiping the tears and still laughing. "Alright, I'll tell you, but first," Yuuichi signaled Kyousuke for his phone; the younger boy tossed it to him.
"I just don't understand what's going on with him, O-chan," Gami said as she headbutted the soccer ball back to her practice partner. "I didn't upset him, did I? I don't want him to be mad again…" Her voice trailed off; she was afraid she was going to start crying again, and she had had enough of pointless weeping. Okinaru gave her a concerned look. "Everything's going to be alright, Gami-chan, Tsurugi-kun's just probably having problems of his own-"
"Then I can help him!" She cried out, desperate to be with her best friend.
"And maybe he doesn't want you to be affected-"
"Well, I am! Very much!"
"-Or to interfere for some reason," Okinaru regarded the younger girl's outbursts with anxiety as she kicked the ball back to her. "W-Why not?" Gami's blue orbs demanded for an answer. "Tsurugi-kun has his reasons," Okinaru waved her hand dismissively. "Boys will be boys."
The loud and upbeat singing of Tacica was heard a few feet away from the two girls. With a glint in Okinaru's eyes that Gami sensed as they stared at each other, both raced toward the small, white electronic gadget.
"Moshi moshi," Okinaru breathed on the phone with Gami yelling at her to give her phone back.
"Moshi moshi,"
"That's weird. This isn't Tenshi-chan?" Kyousuke glared at his phone to cover his surprise.
"This isn't Tsurugi-kun?" From a distance, Yuuichi could hear a faint voice pleading for her phone back.
"Well, no…I mean yes. I mean, this is the older Tsurugi-kun."
"Good enough. Here's your phone, Gami-chan!" There was a whirring sound, then a thud! and the static sound of someone putting the phone to their ear. "Ichi-chan?"
"Where are you, dear?"
"The riverbank."
"You mind coming over to the hospital?"
"But he's there."
"Pft. No he's not." He heard a sigh.
"You're using his phone, Ichi-chan." (A/N: Lawl, Punctilious Orangehead strikes again!) Yuuichi racked his brains for an answer as Kyousuke sat and watched TV.
"…He left it."
"You…want me to return it to him, don't you?"
"That depends on you. I just want to talk, Tenshi-chan."
"O-okay, I'm coming. Ja."
Yuuichi tossed back the phone to its owner. "Thank you, Kyousuke." As the boy in violet kept his phone, he asked, "Nii-san, what did you want to tell me again?" Yuuichi stared blankly at him. "Oh, what? Wait, oh, yes. Later. I need you to do something first."
The door slid open as a newly arrived Gami greeted the hospital patient, whom she thought was the only one inside, occupying the room when she felt a light pressure squishing her.
"K-K-Kyou-Kyou-Kyous-" Gami hiccupped, scared for her life. "I'm sorry I was avoiding you today," Kyousuke brushed his fingers down the sobbing girl's hair softly. "I didn't mean that. I just needed time to think, and I guess it was wrong of me not to tell you."
"If you had told me sooner," Gami pouted, still a bit mad, but nevertheless forgave her best friend. She ruffled his hair and pinched his cheeks hard as punishment before leaving again. (A/N: Kyousuke shooed her away as gently as possible. :P)
Kyousuke slid the door closed, irked at his nii-san. "Well? What were you going to tell me? I already did what you asked: make up with Tenshi-chan."
Yuuichi cleared his throat and began his explanation.
"You know in those teleseries we used to watch where the guy gets jealous of the other guy because he's with the girl they both like?" Yuuichi started; Kyousuke nodded slowly, trying to find the relevance of old TV shows to his current situation. "Kyousuke, why did you start feeling a pain around your chest?" The younger Tsurugi hesitantly answered, a light pink blush spreading on his face.
"Amemiya confessed he likes Tenshi-chan."
Yuuichi nodded slowly, still looking at his brother in the eyes. "Exactly. Now why do you feel the exact same pain often?" Kyousuke gulped nervously, but still answered his brother. "Because…because…" Yuuichi motioned for him to say whatever it was. "Because of the thought of Amemiya saying he likes Tenshi-chan…and…and the thought of Tenshi-chan herself." Yuuichi nodded again. "Now do you understand?"
Kyousuke's continuous blank blinking meant he didn't get it.
Yuuichi sighed. "You're seriously thick, aren't you?" Kyousuke gave a somehow cute but serious pout. "Can't you just give it to me straight?" Yuuichi groaned. "Patience, Kyousuke. And besides, this will help you; if you got the connection, you might be able to put some of that knowledge to good use." He added with a playful wink. Kyousuke asked for an hour to come up with an answer. Yuuichi chuckled encouragingly.
"Think."
So Kyousuke thought and thought and thought, and even though his head was starting to hurt, he kept thinking. 'The protagonist is first faced with the problem that his leading lady is with the antagonist,' Kyousuke should have stopped right then and there if he knew he made the connection already. 'He battles out whatever challenge the antagonist throws at him, and when he is close to getting the girl, she supposedly betrays him, but only because it was to protect him or whatever,' Apparently, he's getting off-topic. 'When the protagonist finds this out while the antagonist discovers the girl's betrayed him, simultaneously, the protagonist gets the girl, and the antagonist throws a bunch of obstacles at them both to overcome at the end, and-' Kyousuke went blank-faced for a moment before smacking himself in the face hard.
Yuuichi laughed at the face Kyousuke made when he half-slid, half-slammed the hospital door open. "So now you get it? It actually took you an extra twenty minutes, by the way." Kyousuke looked baffled, nevertheless. "Nii-san," His warning tone took form of a panicked one.
"It's impossible! Unthinkable! Ludicrous!"
"It's love," Yuuichi smiled.
And I say it's finished! :D Sorry I took so long. There was mi Intramurals, and I live so far from school that when we arrive late in the evening I only have time for personal hygiene (and FOOD) and my studies (haven't really improved much on that either hihi); also, being in the honors' class equals to 20 projects a day (just exaggerating, jeez, I'm not Superman), so I had to do those too if I want a gold medal; lastly, the INTERNET HATES ME! It's been avoiding me since my nee-san's birthday, so I couldn't update, but shey, man! I wanted to update so badly! Review, okay? I miss all o' ya! :3
-AniMa
