Jeez, it's been a while! Unfortunately, I don't really have a good excuse this time for taking so long. School? Band? ...Trying to figure out where exactly I want this story to go? xD Well anyway, sorry for the delay (I hope I haven't lost anyone along the ride) and here is chapter 8! It's the longest one so far, and hopefully a great one!


CHAPTER 8: THE DESCENDING

First thing Friday morning I am swarmed by teenage girls.
"How did he ask you?" "Where are you going?" "Did he kiss you?" "Why you?" "Why him?"
The group is mostly composed of my friends- Miku, Teto, Lily,etc. But others are there too, like Meiko, Aoki, and some of their posse. Rin stands with them as well, but does not ask questions; I assume her brother told her everything.
I look Aoki in the eyes and say firmly, "No comment. Back off."
Maybe its Len who's given me this newfound confidence. I smile a bit. He'll be good for me. He's changing me already.
"No he's not, idiot." A voice says in my ear. "I am."
I whip around. The only person behind me is Teto, who's putting up her pigtails. "What did you say?" I demand. She frowns. "What? I didn't say anything."

At lunch, there is a different feeling in the air. Len sits next to me, only closer, it seems. Our hands almost touch. Miku and Rin keep looking at us, but I keep my eyes downward. Five minutes into lunch, Kaito comes and takes the empty seat to my right, the one I always save for Other Gumi. Oh no. I turn to him, about to ask him to move, but then I catch the look in Miku's eyes. I know she's been in love with him since 6th grade. To send him away would make me seem pretty bitchy. I just go back to eating my sandwich.
"Hey, you're eating." Len says quietly, smiling. I look down at the sandwich, not believing it myself.
"I am." I smile back.
"Feeling better?"
"Well, yesterday helped." I say, before I can stop myself. Then I blush and cast my eyes downward again. Len blushes as well and we are silent for the next few minutes.
Lunch continues smoothly, until I catch movement in the corner of my right eye, and turn my head slightly. Other Gumi stands directly behind Kaito, fuming. If looks could kill, Kaito would be chopped into pieces, resurrected, and then throttled to death.
"Um…Kaito, could you maybe go share a seat with Miku? I'm…sick, and I don't want to ruin your good health." I say hastily. He looks at me with a raised eyebrow, but shrugs and moves to Miku's side of the table. I see her blush as he asks to share a seat with her. She shoots me a look of pure gratitude, and at the same time, Other Gumi whispers, "That's my girl."

Other Gumi will not leave my side for the rest of the day. This is especially bad because on the way to Earth Sciences, Len casually holds out his hand. An invitation. I reach out to grasp it, but Other Gumi is faster. She slams her ghostly fist into Len's hand, and he jumps, startled. We both stare at his hand.
"What's wrong?" I ask innocently, staring at him worriedly. Did he really feel it? How is that possible?
"Call me crazy," Len says, "But I swear something just hit my hand. See?" He holds out his palm, and upon further inspection, I see a small red mark in the center of it. It's slowly fading, but its there.

I wake up at 8:00 in the morning on Saturday, only to remember that there's no school today, and that my date with Len isn't for another 11 hours. I fail in all attempts to go back to sleep, so I crawl out of bed and sneak downstairs. Maybe I can catch a rerun of Bakuman that I missed yesterday.
Other Gumi is already reclining on the leather couch when I reach the living room. She nods at me and then goes back to surfing channels.
"How can you do that?" I ask, shaking my head as she presses the buttons on the remote with ease. "I thought you weren't a solid form."
"I'm not." She says, smirking. "I borrowed some of your energy. You were sleeping, so you didn't need it."
"You…you borrowed…" I blink. I don't know what she's talking about, but I don't like it. "Well…don't do it again." Glaring, I plop down next to her. When I glance at the TV, it's as if she read my mind- the opening to Bakuman 2 blasts through the speakers.

"So…..date tonight, huh?" Other Gumi asks quietly when it cuts to a commercial.
"Um…yeah." I say awkwardly. She's silent for a few minutes, and then says, "What should I do while you're gone?" I shrug.
"Just sit in your room and wait patiently?" I can hear the venom in her voice.
"You can…read my manga." I suggest.
"Fun." She says sarcastically, cranking up the volume with angry fingers as the show returns. I don't know what her problem is, but I can guess.
"You don't want me to leave?" I say quietly. She looks at me sideways, her expression dangerous. "Psh. Like I need you. Go have fun, whatever. What movie are you going to see?"
"I don't know. He's buying our tickets."
"How chivalrous." She sneers. Then, glancing behind her shoulder, and all around the living room, she says, "Hey, where's mom?"
A shiver runs through me. At first, I don't know why, and then I realize…
She called her "mom".
"Uh…my mom is out with her friends." I put a big emphasis on the word "my".
"Oh, cool. So we can just watch anime all day. No chores."
"I never do chores anyway."
"Why not?"
"Mom's mildly OCD. She likes to do everything herself or it isn't perfect."
"That's…weird." Other Gumi raises an eyebrow and turns back to Bakuman. "Go make some lunch or something, Gumi, I'm starving."
Glaring malevolently at the back of Other Gumi's head, I move to the kitchen. Starting the rice cooker, I can't help but stare hopefully out the window. Maybe Len will come early and take me away from the thing on the living room couch.

At 1:00 Gakupo comes downstairs. He's always been an expert at sleeping in, and it doesn't surprise me when he asks what's for breakfast.
"Shut up and sit down. You missed breakfast and lunch, and I'm not cooking anything else." I say, turning up the volume on what is now Guilty Crown. Gakupo moves to sit right on top of Other Gumi, but I quickly cry, "No! The other side!"
Frowning at me, he obeys. Other Gumi shrugs. "I wouldn't have minded." She whispers, "He's hot."
Trying not to barf, I recline on the couch; sandwiched in between two people I've known my whole life.

An hour before Len is due to arrive, I dig through my closet to find something to wear. Eventually, with no help from the snide Other Gumi, I come across a decent blue top and slimming jeans. I slip them on and stare at myself in the mirror mounted on the wall.

It's the first time I've really looked at myself for a while. Now I see what everyone else sees. My extremely skinny body scares me. I can see my ribs when I lift up the blue shirt. My chest used to be normal sized, but now it looks flatter somehow.
"Stress burns calories." Other Gumi says from behind my shoulder. I turn around, frowning. "Stress?"
"You just need to chill. Oh, and also, eat more."
I look at my stomach again. I try to gather a handful of fat like I used to be able to do, but I can't. I suppose that's a good thing.I've been wanting to slim down.
"How do I look?" I ask tentatively, doing a little girly turn. Other Gumi inspects me carefully.
"Here." She steps forward and paints some dark mascara on my eyelashes. "Sexy."
Now I look more like her. "Thanks, I guess."
"No problem. If only you had a yellow top, and black pants..." She trails off, gesturing to her own outfit. I roll my eyes, about to reply, when the doorbell echoes throughout the house.
"Oh, damn. He's here." I say nervously, patting down my hair. "You're sure I look okay?"
Other Gumi looks thoroughly annoyed now. "Just get the hell out of here. You look perfect, as always. Go meet your prince." She flops on my bed, opening a novel of manga.
I frown at her, shrug, and head downstairs.

He stands on the porch, looking as nervous as I do, holding a single yellow rose.
"Hi." I say, smiling awkwardly. He smiles back. "Hey. I got you, um...yeah." He holds out the rose.
When I see its bright yellow petals, I hesitate a bit. "What made you pick yellow?" I say, kind of frantically.
"Um...I don't know. I just like yellow, so I thought..." He blushes, looking at his shoes, and I want to slap myself. Of course he wasn't thinking of Other Gumi.
"Well, ready to go? My parents have to give us a ride, because I failed my driving test." He chuckles, and I grin. "Really? Careful, cautious Len failed his driving test?"
"I wanted to turn on the radio, and the instructor said no, but I did it anyway." He shrugs. I laugh. He's so adorable.
He hooks his arm in mine as we head out to his car.

The movie is action-packed. It's not really my thing, but its obviously Len's. When I look over at him during an intense sword fight, his golden eyes are big and bright. I smile and place my am on the arm rest, palm up. He looks down at it, hesitant, and then slowly slips his fingers in mine.
I am content to sit there holding his hand, for the rest of the movie, until my fingers are numb. Its so nice just to have someone else's skin in contact with yours. Just as I am about to lean my head on his shoulder, I feel something grab my other hand and interlace their fingers with mine.
I jump, looking to my right. Other Gumi smiles and turns back to the movie.
I bolt out of my seat, yanking my arms out of Len and Other Gumi's hands. Len looks up, frowning, a little hurt. "What's wrong?"
People in the seats above us are complaining, shouting, "Sit down!" I don't care. I'm just freaking out. Why the Hell is she here?
"What are you doing here?" I hiss in her direction, hoping Len doesn't think I'm crazy.
"I was lonely." She pouts. "Besides, you know you can't live without me." Smirking, she reclines in the chair, and motions for me to sit back down
"Um, actually, I was perfectly fine." I can't help it, my voice is rising. Len is staring at me, bewildered. "And I think you're the one who can't live without me. Get up!" I wave my arms, gesturing for her to stand up and leave. Len stands up, frowning. "Gumi, I..."
"Not you!" I say, exasperated. Not knowing how to explain this, I choose the best solution: I run out of the theater.

Sitting on a bench, my heart rate way higher than it should be, I clutch my temples. Breathe in, out. Why is she here? Why? Can't I have one evening to myself, in peace, with my boyfriend? Can't I enjoy holding some one's hand without her being there to look on in contempt?
I am about to call Gakupo to come pick me up, when two small yellow shoes step into view. I glance up. Len runs a hand through his hair and looks at me. Its a look of pity, concern, and just plain confusion.
"Gumi, I don't know what's going on, but I want you to know I'm here. Okay?" He says awkwardly.
I shake my head slowly. Other Gumi walks up and leans on Len, propping her invisible elbow on his shoulder. I glare at her and go back to clutching my temples.
"I'm really worried about you. You've lost so much weight. You're always staring into space, and just now...it was like you were in another world. Please." Len crouches down so that he's eye level with me. I look up a bit and I am lost in his golden eyes.
"Please tell me what I can do to help you." Len whispers. Other Gumi sticks out her tongue at him, and sits down on the bench next to me.
"Aw, poor wittle Gumi. She can't handle herself." Then she bends forward and hisses in my ear, "I'm a side of you that you can't live without, like it or not. There's no getting rid of me. Just accept it, and everything will be okay."
I shake my head again, more rapidly.
"I'm not just a ghost following you around. I'm inside you. We're stuck together until we die. I'm a part of you, Gumi."
The cinema is quiet. The only sound comes from the popcorn machine, humming softly behind the concession counter. All of the employees have either left or are smoking in the bathroom. It's just Len, me...and me. And I realize that she's right. I can spend my whole life freaking out about it, or I can just accept Gumi into my life. Not Other Gumi. Just Gumi. There is only Gumi. I wonder how it took me so long to see this.

I look at Gumi, and then I look at Len. "I'm okay." I say, straightening up and releasing my head. "Seriously. I'm fine. Just not feeling so . Can you take me home?"
Frowning, not quite convinced, Len flips open his phone.

I think Gumi is satisfied with how the evening turned out, so she allows Len to give me a kiss on the cheek before I exit his car. He waves goodbye through the glass, the look of concern still marking his face. It's okay, I want to tell him. I know now. I know I just have to deal with it.

Gakupo looks up from his manga. I'm surprised he's still awake. A part of me wonders if he stayed up just for me.
"How was the date?" He teases.
"It was..." I look at Gumi, and she smirks. "Interesting."


By the way, even though I'm busy , there's one thing that reminds me to write and keeps me going- REVIEWS! So please, leave one. Go on, do ittt. :) And thanks for reading!