Chapter 6: Apologies Chapter 6: Apologies

Yes, I did have moments when I really wished Kiyou didn't tease and torture and generally yank my tail, but every time, before I actually killed him, he would do something that reminded me of why I put up with him in spite of his playboy character.

Perhaps it was just as well that the next day was a Saturday. Gossip networks were usually only at full capacity and top speed during the school week, and this meant that news of my little incident wasn't going to get out so fast. In any case, as Kiyou had mentioned, neither Marui nor Yagyuu were really the type to gossip.

Whatever the case, I, as always, told Akiko. It wasn't as if it was a romantic tidbit – she knew, or at least I was sure she would, that he was just a pretentious idiot and I'd never think of him otherwise.

Good Kami-sama, I was still pissed at him. Why had I absolutely had to bang into him of all people; not only bang into him, but also – ahem – accidentally brush lips with him?! Fate was truly cruel!!

The first thing Akiko said after listening patiently to my angry tirade over the phone was, "I told you so."

I took a few deep breaths in a vain effort to calm down. "I do not like him!! Drill that into your thick head!! How would you like it if you happened to slip and fall and kiss Ukita Sano?!" Ukita Sano was probably the biggest jerk in the level – not only did his face make your eyes burn; he also had an equally ugly attitude. Even his grades weren't anywhere near the best.

"That," she said with great seriousness, "would be probably the worst thing that could ever happen to anyone."

"Exactly!! That's how I felt when – it happened!!" I exclaimed, tugging at my hair in frustration. "Can you imagine the humiliation?! Yagyuu-kun saw it; Kiyou saw it!! And they were both laughing!!"

"How did Marui-kun react?" she asked, sounding curious.

"Eh? Marui-kun? I… don't remember…" I racked my brains; nothing came up. I really couldn't remember.

Now her tone had become slightly impatient. "How can you not remember? It's as simple as remembering if he kissed you back or not!"

"Wait a second; why are you so curious?" I asked suspiciously. "It's not at all like you."

There was a short pause, then Akiko sighed. "I'm coming over. Talk later." She hung up, and I listened to the hollow beeping for a few seconds, surprised at her abrupt departure.

Kami-sama really hated me. Why did it have to be when I was alone in the shop that the three fangirls came for a little visit? Father had gone to the grocer's; Kiyou apparently had a tryst of some sort; Akiko still hadn't arrived. In other words, I was alone.

"We have heard a rumor," said Reia, leaning in menacingly, "that you forced yourself on Marui-sama."

Aiko looked as pissed as her buchou. "Is it true?" she demanded.

Cursing Kami-sama for the nth time that day, I held my head high. "I did not force myself on Marui-kun, Aiko-san. Where did you hear it from?"

Shuuei smiled, and somehow it was even more deadly that the death glares the other two girls were shooting at me. "Why do you deny it, Kitari-chan?" The caress in her voice was enough to make my hackles rise. "And as to where we heard it from, well, let's just say that we have diverse sources…"

"It is the truth, Shuuei-san," I replied, hanging on to my composure.

"You know, Kitari-chan, we'd really like to believe you," began Reia, looking almost sorrowful. "Unfortunately, your past record does not do anything to persuade us."

Mystified, I ventured, "My past record?"

"Don't you remember the little canteen incident?" Aiko reminded, her voice stinging. "When you made Marui-sama dirty his beautiful hands to get rid of a lizard for you?"

Let a customer come in; perhaps then they'd back off. Better yet, let a male customer come in – what if the newcomer was also a fangirl? My chances of survival would decrease even further, and now it was already in decimals. I pressed a little harder against the counter, feeling it dig into my back. "I… I –"

"We still haven't punished her for that, you know," said Shuuei conversationally. "Thanks for reminding us, Aiko."

"So now she needs quadruple punishment, ne?" asked Aiko, watching me with fiendish glee.

"Quintuple," corrected Reia. "She violated Marui-sama – "

The door chimes tinkled, interrupting her. "Reia?! What on earth – "

All of us turned to look at the speaker. In the doorway stood a girl, whose features and voice were strongly reminiscent of Reia's – though, if I were to say, this person was more attractive. Her eyes were wide in surprise.

"Ne, Reiko, you're blocking the door," came another, rather amused, male voice. "Even if you're slim, you still fill up quite a bit of space."

The girl immediately moved to one side, laughing rather affectedly. "I'm sorry, Kiyou-kun."

"N-nee-san?!" breathed Reia, looking quite shocked. "What –"

Kiyou, who had just stepped in, glanced first at me, then at the three fangirls. "What happened, Kitari?"

Before I could answer, though, Reiko grabbed her younger sister's arm and dragged her out of the door. The other two followed as well. When Kiyou raised his eyebrows at me, I shrugged to show I had no idea what was going on, and we both sneaked over to the window, where we could hear what was being said relatively well.

" – doing?!"

"She violated our idol, we were about to punish her –"

"Don't you dare do anything of that sort. You'll –"

"But if we don't punish her, she'll continue doing it and we'll lose face! Come on, Nee-san, you know –"

"If you do anything to his sister, Kiyou-kun would definitely have nothing to do with me!! I'll lose face –"

"How was I supposed to know that that hot guy you were dating was her brother?! She doesn't look at all like him –"

"That's besides the point!! Kiyou-kun is, like, the most wanted guy in our level; even some of the sempais have crushes on him! He could have his pick from any girl in our year, and maybe even some of the guys! The fact that he's dating me is a huge proof of my popularity; if he dumps me then my social status will also drop –"

"But –"

"No buts! In fact, I think you've already gone too far. If I'd known that that girl who you're always complaining about was his sister, I'd have put a stop to this long ago! Now get back in and apologize!"

They did apologize, and profusely. Though the falseness was so obvious that a three-year-old kid could have seen it. I tried not to gloat, because who knew, they might still come after me in school. After they'd gone, I turned to Kiyou for an explanation. "Well?"

He grinned sheepishly, running a hand through his already-mussed hair. Abstractedly, I realized that Marui also had this habit in similar situations; maybe that was why it looked so familiar on him – and perhaps even a bit endearing. "You mean Reiko?"

I rolled my eyes. "D'oy."

"See, I do date a lot of girls, and it so happens that she's been with me on and off for quite a while," he explained. "Since the start of this year, anyway."

"Considering that it's you, that really is a long time," I commented sarcastically.

He laughed. "Well, yeah. She's very clingy, let me tell you that. I did know that she had a sister the same age as you – heck, I met that Reia before – but I didn't really notice her, you know?"

"Even when I told you who it was who always beat me up?" I raised an eyebrow skeptically.

"Reia's a pretty common name!" he defended. "In any case, aren't you in the least grateful that I got rid of her?"

I sighed in defeat. "Yes; now I think I'm more or less safe from her… that is, until you break up with her sister." Glaring at him, I added, "You'd better not break up with her till I'm in high school."

He held up his hands in surrender. "Yes, ma'am. I'll take care of the shop now; you can go back upstairs."

As I did just that, I glanced at the clock in the stairwell. It was almost half an hour since Akiko had said she was coming over, and she still wasn't here – even though the journey from her house to mine usually took less than ten minutes.

Just as I was contemplating calling her and demanding to know the reason for her tardiness, my cell phone rang.

A/N: Once again, a crappy chapter. I seem to have a very bad habit of doing timeskips… :-X I totally feel like I'm rushing my ass off, somehow…

It's great that so many people actually DO read my weird author's notes! XD hello everyone!! (as is obvious, I'm kind of hyper right now…)

I love Kiyou. He's really a great help in my fic's mission to torture Kitari. LOL.

Sorry for the cliffie… REVIEW PLEASE!!

PS. "D'oy" is actually sfetz's word/phrase. It's like a less bimbotic way of saying "D'uh". I know she's not even reading this, but yeah, I promised to credit her if I ever used it… O.o