SEASON 2

Episode 12: Never Seen This Side Of You

Rin awoke on a beach the next morning with a splitting migraine. He looked around. It looked like he was by the big bridge. "How did I get here? Wait a minute. I remember jumping off the bridge after Kaede and rescuing her." He said. Then it snapped into his head. "She kissed me. Kaede actually kissed me. After that I must have blacked out." Then he realized it. "What would Asa think about this? I feel like I should tell her but it will just get her mad. I didn't kiss her, but she kissed me. If that is the case, then why do I feel so guilty?" he looked over and saw Kaede still sleeping. "Kaede?" he said, shaking her awake. She awoke slowly and rubbed her eyes. Then turned to see Rin and suddenly blushed and turned away again. He wasn't surprised by this because she must have remembered the kiss too. "Kaede, are you okay?" he asked. Kaede nodded but stayed quiet. "I think we both need to go home." He said again. "I think so too." Kaede replied.

Kaede walked home by herself while Rin did the same back to his apartment. It was quiet when he got home. Something suddenly didn't feel right. Why did he sense tension all of a sudden. "RIN!" Asa jumped out of the bedroom in her nightgown. She looked pissed. "Where did you go last night? You and Kaede never came back to the party!" She screamed. "Asa….can we just talk about this later? It's not a good time right now." She saw his sad expression and calmed down right then. "What happened?" she asked. "It's Kaede. She got drunk last night and jumped off the town bridge." Asa gasped. "WHERE IS SHE? IS SHE OKAY?" She shouted to him. "Physically yeah I think, but I don't know what she's thinking right now. She's….depressed. "Asa, I'm not going to see Kaede for a while. I think it would be best for her if she didn't see me." He said. "What. Why?" Asa asked. Rin tried to walk past her but she got in front of him. "Tell me!"

"Asa, please just trust me when I say you don't want to know. Even if I told you, you would want that too." Rin really didn't want to hurt Asa no matter what it took. But he was feeling worse every time he didn't say something. "Look, I have to work tonight. But when I get home, could we talk then?" Asa asked him. Rin thought for a minute and then nodded. "Just make sure to not say anything to Kaede or anyone else if you run into them." Asa nodded. "I love you Rin."

"I love you too Asa." He replied. She looked at him before walking out the door and shutting it. "What could have happened to make him look that bad?" Then she left to go to work at the Flora restaurant.

Rin just laid on the bed and looked blanklessly into space. "Why am I so worried about this? It was just a kiss but it feels worse than it is." Rin soon fell asleep again lost in his thoughts.

"Asa, table 23 is ready to order!" shouted the manager behind the counter at Flora. "Okay! I'm on it!" Asa replied rushing to the table. "Welcome to Flora! May I take your…" She stopped when she saw it was Kaede and Primula. "Hey Asa!" said Primula. "We're ready to order." Asa looked and saw Kaede with a sad look on her face. "Hey Remu, what's wrong with Kaede?" Asa asked. "I don't know. She's been like this since she came home this morning. I thought maybe taking her out to eat would help." Primula replied. Asa looked back at Kaede again. "Well okay. What would you guys like to order?" She asked forcing a smile.

Rin was awoken to a knock at the front door. "What the?" he said as he climbed out of bed and walked to the door. He opened it to find Sia and Rina standing at the door. "Rin are you okay? You never came back last night and we were worried." Rina asked, which made Rin suddenly look depressed again. "Dammit. Okay girls, come on in. I guess telling you two might be best right now." Rin said, leading the two of them inside and shutting the door. "Rin, whats wrong?" Sia asked. "Rin sat them down on the couch while he paced the living room rug. "Kaede kissed me last night." He said.

"No way! Rin, how could you do that to Asa?" Rina said. I didn't kiss Kaede, she kissed me! She got drunk and ran out last night. I followed to keep an eye on her but when she climbed up onto the railing of the town bridge and jumped, I had to jump after her to save her. I got her over to the beach and then I couldn't move. Maybe it was my fault. She was in pain that that was threatening her own life. I couldn't let her do that to herself. So I told her about how I did like her when we were younger before I met Asa. She must have assumed I was confessing because I wanted to be with her instead of Asa now. So she kissed me. I would've stopped her but I couldn't move a muscle."

Sia then followed with, "Wait, did anything else happen?" Rin looked at them. "I really don't know. Sia I don't know what was in that sake your dad had, but when Kaede kissed me, the taste of it in Kaede's mouth passed to me and I blacked out during the kiss. I don't know if anything else happened after that because I came to this morning and Kaede and I were still laying on that beach. We were dressed but I still have this bad feeling that won't go away." He walked over to the open wall and leaned against it. "Do you think something else happened after that?" Rina asked. "Maybe something did, as much as I don't want to believe that Kaede would do anything like that, she was drunk and having suicidal thoughts. I was just trying to be a caring friend and maybe it backfired on me."

The girls both looked at each other and then looked down. "Well does Asa know?" Sia asked. "No, and I'm afraid to tell her enough about the kiss. We were working out this relationship really well. I don't want to break her heart over this. I love her, girls." Rin replied. The girls started blushing as they looked at him. "What?" he asked, seeing their faces. "Rin, this is why we fell in love with you to begin with. You've always cared about other people's feelings above your own. You cut your wrist to save Asa and jumped off the bridge to save Kaede without even thinking it through. It was very brave of you to do." Rin smiled to himself a little. "I did what anyone else would have done. They were both giving up on themselves and I showed them why they couldn't give up."

They still smiled at him, but Rin's smile faded quickly. "I think maybe I tried too hard this time. Kaede wasn't thinking clearly and she was drunk too." Just then Sia got an idea. "Okay well Rin lets say worst case scenario, something did happen. Asa and Kaede would talk it out. They fixed things between them after Kaede attacked Asa, remember? I'm sure everything will come to light!" Rin didn't feel much better even after hearing that, but he managed to smile enough to satisfy them.

Suddenly the phone rang and Rin picked it up. "Hello? Hey Mayumi." A few moments passed. "Wait slow down. What happened?" A few moments passed again and Rin's eyes turned to terror. "No! NO WAY! I'm on my way!" Rin said as he slammed the phone down and grabbed his house keys. "Rin whats wrong?" Rina asked. "There's been a explosion down at Flora! Asa was working down there today! I have to go!" Rin shouted going toward the door. "We'll come with you!" Sia shouted as her and Rina jumped up and followed behind him.

Rin and the others arrived in time to see 3 figures with a crowd standing around them. The flames made it hard to see anything. "ASA!" He shouted into the destructive blaze. "Ri…Rin….." said a voice to his side. He turned to see Kaede limping toward him, her clothes looking half-burned off. "Kaede! What happened? Are you alright?" he rushed toward her just as a magic ball of energy shot out of the smoke toward them both. "NO!" shouted Primula as she appeared out of nowhere and took the blast head on, falling forward onto the ground.

"So how long were you going to keep this a secret from me Rin?" a familiar voice said from the fire. Rin then looked up from Primula to see Asa, two balls of magical energy forming in her in hands resembling the one that just struck Primula. "Asa, are you responsible for this?" Rin asked, shock and horror in his eyes. Asa's eyes were looked full with rage. "Rin, get out of the way. I'll deal with you after I deal with her." Asa said, pointing at Kaede. "Asa, please stop this. I'm sorry for what happened, but it was an accident. We were both drunk. I felt I could tell you because we're best friends." Kaede mumbled, with blood trickling down her chin from her mouth. "No, you bitch. We were friends before, but not after you slept with my boyfriend! Now if you really want him, then lets see you fight for him!" She screamed and threw another blast right toward them both.

There was no time to think as Rin held Kaede tightly and turned his back to the blast. "RIN! DON'T!" Kaede screamed with tears in her eyes as the blast struck him from behind.

When the smoke cleared, Kaede opened her eyes to see Rin's body smoking, his eyes closed, and not moving. "!"

EPISODE 12 END