Yo minna! OMG 6 reviews away from Nirvana!-lol- Thanks go out to Saranghae-Minnie, Illuminating Darkness, b . aka-chan, and Spoutnik for their reviews! And yes, Saranghae, I will be doing something special for the occasion of when I get my first 100th review! Okay so here goes: When I get my 100th review, I'm going to post a RuiXTsukushi one shot, subject to be decided by a poll. Now for the person who gives me my 100th review... They shall receive either a long one shot of the pairing of their choice or a short multi-chapter of their choice! Okay with that said, Enjoy~
(Call It Fate)(Call It Fate)(Call It Fate)
Tsukasa looked out the window of his limousine, watching the commoners who milled around Shiseido Square like army ants. He felt numb even though his mind was full of Manda. Manda running up to greet him. Manda laughing when he'd made a mistake in wording. Manda kissing him... Manda crying in the hospital... Manda kissing Akira... Manda slapping him... Tsukasa closed his eyes, sighing. Why did he even bother with love? Why couldn't he just swallow his pride and let his mother choose for him?
Slowly he opened his eyes and resumed his survey of the rather large square. Then he saw her. Manda was sitting on a bench, obviously being harassed by two thugs.
"Stop the car!"
Acting purely on reflex, Tsukasa threw open the door and jumped out of the limousine. By the time he reached the square, Manda was being pulled down the street. He sprinted towards the group when suddenly the first thug, the one who had Manda, went down letting Manda pull free; the second thug scampered off. Tsukasa slowed down, wondering what the hell he was doing here. Tsukasa's eyes narrowed when he saw who Manda's savior was - Akira. He watched as Akira pulled Manda into an embrace, telling her something. Then he pulled back a little bit and Tsukasa felt a lazy droplet of water run down his cheek, as the first drops of rain fell from the sky and as his girlfriend and friend's lips met for the second time.
(Call It Fate)(Call It Fate)(Call It Fate)
Tsukushi pulled up to Shiseido Square just in time to notice two things. The first was that Domyoji was standing in the rain, watching two figures in the distance. The second was that the two figures were Manda and Akira, and they were kissing. Numbly, she put the car in neutral and pulled out her cell, dialing Manda's number. What the hell was going on? First Manda called her, obviously distraught, and now that she was here to pick her up she seemed to be doing fine- more than fine by how steamy that kiss looked.
"Moshi moshi?"
Tsukushi broke out of her reverie.
"Ah! I'm here for you... Unless you've got other plans?"
She watched as Manda looked around the Square and when the girl caught sight of her, she waved.
"Ah, gomen! I'll be right over- give me umm.. Five seconds?"
"Okay, I'll wait."
The line closed and Tsukushi looked on as Manda huggedAkira goodbye and ran over to the car, the somewhat heavy rain making medium sized spots on her clothing. Manda threw open the door and sat down on the passenger seat, shivering slightly. Tsukushi put the car in drive and drove away slowly and in silence.
"Ano... Did you see that?"
Tsukushi decided to play dumb.
"See what?"
"Me and Akira...?"
She made a turn, prolonging the silence. She didn't know what her friend was doing, but it sure didn't make a lot of sense to her.
"Yea, I wasn't the only one either; Domyoji was there too."
Manda's eyes widened.
"Tsukasa? Masaka... I wonder if he came after me..."
There was a red light ahead so Tsukushi stopped the car.
"What happened? I thought you loved Tsukasa? Haven't you been in love with him since you were in high school?"
Manda hung her head a bit and looked ahead when they started driving again.
"I do love him... But.. Nothing will come of it. Yesterday he gave me an ultimatum, be my pet or leave, under the guise that he had amnesia. I was stupid enough to accept the former. But then Yuuki called me and told me she had overheard Rui and Tsukasa talking..."
Tsukushi's eyes widened. Rui hadn't told her any of this; only that Tsukasa had done something horrible to her friend. He certainly hadn't told her that Tsukasa's amnesia was a ruse.
"It turns out that he remembers everything! When Yuuki called me, I was out doing errands for him in a ridiculous costume so I dropped what I was doing and we got into a fight. After that I left, and went home. At first I was just going to stay home and cry until I dehydrated, but I decided to get revenge on him by going to a club and finding a new guy- a fling. That's when I saw Akira and he took me back to his house when I passed out. The next day... Well I don't know what happened but he kissed me and Tsukasa walked in on us... And then I called you and... TSUKUSHI!"
Tsukushi felt the wind get knocked out of her as the small girl launched herself towards her. Luckily they had just encountered a red light or else the car would've spun out of control. Uneasily, Tsukushi wrapped her arms around the small girl's frame, not quite able to comprehend the intention of Domyoji's plan. Had he just gotten tired of Manda? Or maybe he just felt like playing games with the girl and didn't understand the consequences? No... Neither of those things made sense. Not even Domyoji was that much of an idiot. Tsukushi pulled her arms from around the sobbing girl, and patted her head while taking off down the highway. The rest of the ride passed in silence until finally they reached Manda's mansion.
The girl got out of the car, and wiped her tears.
"Arigato, Tsukushi... For listening to me... And picking me up. I'm really happy that I have a friend like you."
Manda sent her one of her cheery smiles, leaving Tsukushi to drive home, her thoughts going round in incomprehensible circles.
(Call It Fate)(Call It Fate)(Call It Fate)
Akira watched as Manda got into Makino's car, and then felt his heart flutter slightly as they drove away. Sulking, he stuffed his hands in his pockets and began walking away when he caught sight of the last person he wanted to see at the moment.
"What do you want, Tsukasa?"
Wordlessly, the curly haired boy moved towards him and then without changing his expression swung his fist towards Akira; Akira easily dodged the ill-aimed punch, returning it with a blow to the stomach. Tsukasa doubled over, robbed of breath for a minute.
"Why did you follow her Tsukasa? Why do you always want what you don't deserve?"
Fury flooded Akira's mind as he watched Tsukasa straighten up slowly.
"I may not deserve her, but your words from earlier... You're wrong!"
Not knowing exactly what Tsukasa meant, Akira dodged another punch and delivered a kick to Tsukasa's knees, making the boy fall. Tsukasa was good at fighting but he was better- you had to be to run with the wolves, and he was the Alpha.
"What do you mean?"
Tsukasa didn't get up from his knees.
"I'm talking about what you said.. Something about me being in love with the idea of being in love... You're wrong! If I weren't in love with her, I would be able to give up on her like I did Makino! If I didn't love her I wouldn't have chased her to Okinawa! If I don't love her why can't I get her out of my head?!"
Tsukasa pulled himself up, the knee of one of his pants ripped.
"If I didn't love her... I wouldn't have bothered doing what I did to protect her..."
Akira's eyes widened as he saw another side to Tsukasa- the compassionate side to him. The side that loved Manda. His friend might be narcissistic, arrogant and selfish in general, but....
Akira put his hands back into his pockets.
"I'm not giving up on her,Tsukasa... I've given up a lot for you; I'm not giving her up. Especially to you."
Akira watched in satisfaction as Tsukasa frowned- like a spoiled kid who didn't get what he wanted. Which was exactly what he was.
"I didn't think you would. Just don't expect me to leave her alone the first time I get rejected."
Akira turned around and began walking back to his mansion. If it was war Tsukasa wanted, then war was what Tsukasa would get.
(Call It Fate)(Call It Fate)(Call It Fate)
Gahh! Gertrude (my muse) has abandoned me! I apologize for the shortness! Review?