Disclaimer: I so want to own Soubi and Ritsuka, yet I can't. Too bad for me since they belong to Yun Koga.

A/N: The previous chapter felt like a hailstorm of emotions being thrown left and right. I flat out abused the characters, didn't I? More character bashing in this one . . . Read and review, thank you! XD

Yakusoku
Chapter 26: Unraveling

"Did dad tell you?" Her voice sounded small all of a sudden, and really scared at the same time.

"No."

"Then how did you hear about that?"

"Someone by the name of Ritsu came by today." Takara's eyes widened so much that Yayoi thought it appeared to have been rather painful. "He said something about the Seven Moons, but I wasn't understanding him. He said you knew him - claiming you know him very well, in fact."

"The Seven Moons is merely a group of seven students with outstanding marks and are recognized through that title, that's all," Takara said.

"Ritsu said something a little different."

"Well, whatever he said was plain gibberish because he really likes to say weird things to strangers." Takara was almost afraid that Yayoi wasn't going to buy her lame excuse for Ritsu's behavior, so she added, "I'm serious, though. He really is strange, isn't he?"

"Well, I suppose he is . . ."

----------

"Hey, Yayoi, how come your sister isn't here today?" Yuiko looked to her empty seat. "Did something--"

"She said she was going to switch classes this morning."

"Oh, how come?"

"Goes to show that she's with that weirdo kid in this class because he's not here today either," someone said amongst the swarm of students - it was a girl's voice.

"Hey! Who said that!" Yayoi stood up in his seat and looked accusingly at all the girls who stared back at him, all of them wide-eyed.

"Hayabi, sit down." He sat down without much protest. Despite the way the teacher looked he could be quite scary simply by gazing at a student with his gray-colored eyes. Masao silenced the rest of the students by holding up a stack of test papers. "Today's exam is here so get your pencils ready, everyone."

"Awwwww," the class groaned.

"I've warned you all ahead of time to study for this, therefore it will be your own fault if your score is low," Masao said.

When the exam sheet was in front of Yayoi he stared at it long and hard before even laying his pencil near the first problem. His mind was too occupied to be answering questions about Japanese literature. Masao was looking at him from his teacher's desk, but Yayoi didn't seem to notice at all. Yuiko would occasionally look up from her own exam sheet, even though she knew she ran the risk of getting her exam a big fat "F" if the teacher thought she was cheating off of a classmate. For some odd reason she couldn't keep her eyes away from Yayoi though - she sensed he was hiding what he really felt by putting on a indifferent front and challenging what came his way.

Seconds ticked by, turning them into minutes until the clock stroked 1:45 p.m.

"Pencils down, exam session time is over."

Yayoi stared down at his own paper to see that he hadn't answered any of the questions. The only thing marring his perfectly unused paper was a small scribble of something indecipherable even to himself.

"How do you think you did?" Yuiko whispered to him from two seats away.

"Bad."

"I think I did bad, too." Yuiko looked rather worried and bit her bottom lip in agitation. "If my dad finds out he won't give me the bike that I've always wanted! Ohhhh, what should I do, Yayoi?"

"A bike?" Yayoi's indifferent mask he was displaying cracked instantly. "What kind of bike is it?"

She's finally turning to me for advice! I could only dream of when she'd do this! Even if it were not for advice, just as long as she talked to me the way I wanted her to I am truly appreciative!

"It's a mountain bike."

I think I eased the tension a little. Is he still pretending or is this for real?

"A mountain bike, huh? It sounds expensive."

"I suppose." Yuiko looked to the window for a moment before turning back to Yayoi. "If you like you can come over to my house again today."

"Yuiko, you're so straightforward!" A nearby classmate cried out - it sounded like the female voice from earlier. "Yayoi ought to be happy since little Mister Cold Feet isn't here to interfere, because he's too busy with little Miss Creepy to have time to deal with you!"

"You have no right to speak of them that way!" Yayoi defended. "Mr. Kimikazu, your students should not be allowed to say such rude things about each other!"

"Settle down, class." He looked around the room with his eyes. "One more word out of any of you without permission you'll get after school detention, understand?"

"Yes, Mr. Kimikazu," the class replied.

My, my, this class has gotten more rowdier than usual.

----------

"You're acting awfully strange today, Yuiko," Yayoi told her. She gave him a funny look. "What I mean is that you always talk about Ritsuka when he isn't here at school. Somehow, today, you want to talk to me, just the two of us one on one."

"Is it really that strange?" Yuiko smiled and grabbed Yayoi by one of his hands - he immediately blushed, but did not pull away from her touch.

"Ah, I guess so."

"Well, are you coming to my house today or not?"

"S-sure!"

Why is she treating me this way?

All the while that they walked to her house she held onto his hand the entire time. As they neared her home her hold on him only got tighter; he actually stopped to give her a serious look. He now knew that she acting, but for what reason? Normally, she'd never act this way around him so why didn't he realize it sooner?

". . . Is something the matter?" Yuiko asked, eyes becoming downcast all of a sudden.

"It's more like what's the matter with you, Yuiko, why are you behaving this way?" Yayoi reluctantly pulled his own hand away from hers and let it hang limply on his side in mimicry of his other one. "I know you're paying special attention to me for a reason."

"Yayoi," Yuiko began rather awkwardly, "don't say it like that because you're making me feel bad. I'm only trying to help you or least that's what I think I'm doing. In class today you seemed really out of it," Yayoi looked rather surprised, "well, you didn't look very happy even though your face didn't show it, but I could tell."

". . . . . ."

"Listen, right now right here I'm all yours. You can tell me whatever you want; whether it's of importance or not I'll eagerly listen. Maybe that will help you feel better, you know?"

"Thank you, although I don't think that's necessary."

"Are you sure?" Yuiko was really worried.

"I appreciate your concern, however this is something between my sister and I, and I would like to keep it that way. Sorry."

"Uh-uh, don't apologize!"

"But . . ."

"It's all right!"

"Yuiko?"

"It's all right, isn't it?" Yayoi could only watch as teardrops began to fall from the girl's eyes. "It's all right, right? Takara and Ritsuka aren't doing anything together, right? She really did change classes, right? Right, Yayoi?"

"I . . ."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to jump the subject like that!"

So she was worried, but she put me before her own concerns . . .

"No. Go ahead, talk all you want about it - I'll listen." Yayoi smiled a somewhat strained smile, yet he felt that it was his turn now to try and comfort her. It was only fair because she tried to do the same for him. "Although we should go inside your house first?"

'Oh, yeah . . . Yeah, forgot we were standing outside."

". . . And Yuiko, about that mountain bike, was that a lie?" She nodded. "Heh, thought as much."

Chapter 26: END

Ritsuka: How can you torture us like this? How inhumane can you be?

Yuina: It's also known as drama. Your life would be dry and plain without any drama.

Ritsuka: That's not the point . . .

Yuina: Blah! Whatever . . .!