Lonely No More
by Cyberchao X

Chapter 35

Disclaimer: OC-heavy though it is, this is a fanfiction, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

A/N: Wow…it's been almost a year since I started this story, and a good few months since I initially declared it "complete". And part of me wishes I'd left it that way, because I'm running out of ideas, even though the most recent chapter just added a new complication. Now that the latest chapter of The Scarlet Devil 2 is up, it's time to get back to this… I guess technically that, not this, is my "longest-running continuously-worked-on fic", but it doesn't feel that way because of how few chapters that's had. Do you realize that there's been at least one new chapter in each calendar month since I started this last December? Because there has been.

*later that same day* (CCX: Never mind that the contents of the author's note at the end of the last chapter would be taking place on a later date.)

"So, you certainly seem to have enjoyed yourself today," Arisa teased.

"You mean the new exchange student?"

"Of course that's what I mean."

"Well, it'll take some time to form a proper impression, but he seems nice enough."

"Like you're really gauging him by his personality."

"Maybe I just have a thing for blondes," Suzuka teased, nipping at Arisa's ear.

"Stop trying to change the subject, Suzuka-chan; just because Keith-san couldn't understand what you told Ichirei-san doesn't mean you were discreet."

"…Did I make myself into the subject of rumors?"

"Yes, and if that was your plan all along, it may have backfired."

"I didn't intend for that little outburst to get out. What do you mean, 'may have backfired'?"

"Well, I figured that if you did intend that, it was to throw people off the trail of your true sexuality, and while those who didn't believe the initial rumors now have even less reason to believe them, those who did generally seem to feel that this was overcompensating and, well…an obvious ploy to throw people off the trail."

"I told you, I don't even care anymore."

"I don't think you mean that. Not now."

"Now?"

"Now that there's a guy you really want."

"You jealous?"

"Hardly. This seems like a good time for you to prove your claims of going both ways. You know full well that I don't mind sharing with a boy," Arisa said, reminding Suzuka of the arrangement she'd had with Tatsuke.

"…You know I still love you more, right?"

"…Well, yeah. Like you said, you barely even know the guy. Is Miss Honors Student confusing 'love' and 'lust'?"

"…A fair point. It's too soon for love to enter into the equation with Keith-san."

*a few days later* (CCX: To catch us up with the end of Chapter 34.)

"[Ah, hello…I didn't know there were any other exchange students at this school. My name's Dylan…]" Dylan seemed nervous as he introduced himself after baseball practice, and grew even more nervous when the girl he approached didn't respond right away. "Crap, she's not from an English-speaking country! I messed up…"

"[A bit nervous introducing yourself to a pretty girl, Keith-san?]" Arisa interjected, before translating. "[Unfortunately, that's not the only thing you got wrong. Suki-tan isn't an exchange student and she's not a high schooler.]" Suki had started giggling after Arisa had translated for her.

"Pleased to meet you, Keith-san," Suki said. "I'm Makimaro Suki. Are you a friend of Arisa's?"

"…Something like that. More like a friend of a friend at the moment, though I hope to become friends with her seeing as how she's more fluent in English than anyone else here save for the English teachers."

"Keith-san is in Class 2-A," Arisa explained.

"Oh. Suzuka-chan's class." After Dylan had left, she asked Arisa, "So does he know…"

"…that the majority of his new friends are interested in other girls? No, and it's going to stay that way for now."

"Why is that?"

"Because he may end up being definitive proof that Suzuka wasn't deluding herself about being bisexual. It's pretty obvious watching her around him that she's smitten…never mind the fact that she actually said as much on his first day here."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. He made the mistake of commenting about Ichirei-san's childish appearance, she kicked him right in the nuts, and Suzuka told her, in language that wouldn't be taught in any Japanese class, to save her groin attacks for guys whose children Suzuka didn't wish to bear."

"…And this was on the first day she'd met him?"

"Some people just melt over a blue-eyed blonde, you know what I mean?"

"Well, when you put it that way…although he's missing one thing that I've got."

"Two things, I'd say," Arisa cracked.

Suki followed her gaze. "Well, yes, obviously he doesn't have these," she puffed out her chest, "but I was referring to the other thing that everyone immediately notices about me. Forget being tall for a guy; he's not even as tall as me!"

"I don't know, it's probably pretty close."

"It didn't look close to me."

"Try measuring again when you're both barefoot," Arisa said.

Suki looked down. "Oh. Right. Forgot that I wasn't in flats."

"Dope."

Suki stuck out her tongue. "And you aren't jealous?"

"Why should I be? I didn't have any problem with sharing you with Tatsuke-kun."

"Point taken. So, how's the new year treating you?"

"Nothing notable yet. How about you? You're a third-year now, top of the food chain, so to speak. Has the Suki Makimaro Fan Club doubled in size now that there's a new pack of first-years?"

"If it has, this group's a bit more timid. I think whereas last year's pack saw me as a cool oneesama, this year's have me more as a genuine school idol."

"So in other words, your life is as charmed as ever."

"…Yeah, I guess. You know I hate it when you make me out to be so perfect, though."

"Yes, I do."

"…The student council vice president transferred away during the break. They had to hold an election for a new one."

"Any particular reason you're telling me this?"

"Just updating you on the status of my existing 'fan club', as you call it. Hanna-chan won the office. Also, Mayu-chan's a class rep."

"…Which one is that again?"

Arisa wasn't the only second-year learning this fact at the moment. "I'm going to be class representative this year, Shun!"

"That's great, Mai-chan! And here you were worried that there was no point in even trying."

"When did I say that?"

"A couple of weeks ago, maybe?"

"Well, that's because there were a pair of overachievers in my first-year class, one of whom I'd never run against anyway. But now I'm in a different class, so I'm probably going to be at the top of my class now."

"We should go out to celebrate."

"Eh…maybe tomorrow. I promised I'd come straight home after activities today."

"Oh. That's cool. See you tomorrow, Mai-chan."

"See you tomorrow, Shun."

*The next day*

"Thanks for helping me out yesterday," Dylan said, "though I still made a fool out of myself."

Suzuka looked over at them. "Nani? What happened yesterday, Arisa-chan?"

"Suki-tan was waiting for me after practice. The baseball team was practicing on the field right next to us, and Keith-san went up to her and started hitting on her. In English. Rather poorly, too."

"That's harsh…but, yeah, kind of true. I might've been luckier that she didn't understand me."

"I thought Suki-chan was good at English," Suzuka said.

"Decent enough, sure. Probably would've been able to respond eventually if I hadn't stepped in, although it wouldn't have been terribly eloquent. Translating for her just saved time."

Suzuka sighed. "So then that's the kind of girl you like?"

"Eh? Well, I don't really know…she's definitely very pretty, but I can't tell just by looking at someone whether or not I'll like them."

"And what kind of girl do you like?" Suzuka asked.

"Don't put me on the spot like that!" Dylan answered.

"That was a mighty quick answer, for a non-answer," Arisa said.

"[Yes, well, you've seen first-hand how awkward I am around girls.]"

"[You're surrounded by girls right now.]"

"[Which is exactly why I switched to English.]"

"[I'm a girl too, you know.]"

"[Yes, yes, I'm aware of that. Very aware. But I feel more comfortable talking to you, and not just because I can do so in English.]"

"[Then why is it?]"

"[I…I don't know; I just do.]" As Suzuka and Kaburagi both continued to press him for an answer, he added, "[Maybe it's because you haven't tried to hit on me.]"

"[So then you have realized how smitten Suzuka is with you.]"

"[It's kind of obvious.]"

"[Well, if you've had lots of girls hitting on you, why are you still having trouble with them?]"

"[Because I'm not good at reading people, and I never had this many girls hitting on me back in Kentucky so I'm assuming that most of them are attracted to me because I'm foreign.]"

"You're not making much sense, Keith-san, you know that?" Arisa switched to Japanese. "If you have trouble with other girls because they keep hitting on you, but you didn't have this much trouble with girls hitting on you back in America, shouldn't that mean that you were fine with girls before?"

Dylan turned red. "[Traitor.]"

"[You should know by now that that's just what girls do. Besides, Suzuka's my best friend. I'm sure she was doing a fair job keeping up with our conversation anyway, but I wanted to make sure everyone here got the message. Kaburagi-san's my friend too.]"

"Can't be too close a friend yet, given that you used her family name and an honorific while doing neither when talking about Tsukimura-san."

CCX: I actually initially had her use a more familiar name before realizing that I'd had Arisa call her by her family name just last chapter, which was only a few days earlier. Which, if I'm not mistaken, means that Kaburagi's given name still hasn't actually been revealed, unless one of those earlier chapters in which I accidentally forgot which was the given name and which was the family name and referred to her by the former was actually published in that form.

CC: Actually, you're not correct. She finally is introduced, full name, in Chapter 17. Going back to search through the early chapters, though, revealed some interesting mistakes…looks like maybe even we should invest in a beta reader.

CCX: Maybe so. Not so much for spelling errors, but for continuity errors.

"What's your point?"

"[Only that you can't support both of your friends if they're chasing after the same guy,]" he whispered, just to be absolutely sure that none of the others would get his message even if it was in English. Arisa didn't respond, obviously impressed that he had regained his composure so quickly. The rest of lunch played out without another word from either English-speaker, Kaburagi and Suzuka continuing to try to get Dylan to reveal his preferences. "See you later, Bannings-san," Dylan said, getting up from his seat and offering to escort Suzuka to class.

"Awkward around girls, my ass," Arisa grumbled.

"I thought you said you weren't jealous. And why'd he say goodbye to you in particular?" Kaburagi asked.

"That's…well, he said 'see you later', and there's probably a better chance of us seeing each other later than there is of him seeing you later today because the baseball and softball teams practice on adjacent fields."

"Really."

"Yes, really! Come on, you know I'm not interested in him! It's…not really much of a secret that I'm a lesbian."

"But Keith-san is new here, which means he doesn't necessarily know that. Can you honestly say for a fact that he isn't interested in you?"

Arisa didn't respond. She couldn't say that, could she? Thinking back on what he'd said when she reminded him that she was a girl too, it actually seemed…quite plausible.

Confirmation came the following Monday. "Arisa-san…sorry, I mean Bannings-san."

"Yes, Keith-san? What is it?"

"I know I said back on my first day that I didn't want to have you show me around because I wanted to be forced to utilize my Japanese, but…I'm thinking maybe it would be good for me to get some extra help with my Japanese from someone who understands English as well. Can you help me?"

"…I'm not really the best student. If you need a tutor, you probably would be better off asking Suzuka-san."

"That's…I get the feeling that if she were my tutor, there wouldn't really be all that much tutoring going on."

"And that differs from what you're trying to do now how?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"…I've been trying to deny it, but Kaburagi-san is right. You're trying to get closer with me, aren't you?"

"…I think you're getting the wrong idea. Maybe. I'm not really sure myself."

"…Well, try to explain it as best as you can. If necessary, in English."

"[I definitely do want to get closer to you as a friend. If it later leads to something else, well, I wouldn't mind that either; that's why I was so reluctant to reveal my 'type' when there were only two girls at the table that even remotely fit that description and neither had shown any interest in me—and one of them I'm pretty sure never would, not that I really care much for her personality anyway. But more than that, you seem like someone who I could be 'just friends' with, and I'm sure I'd get to make lots of new friends by sticking with you—and, if the need arises, you could help translate any tough words I encounter.]"

"I'm not teaching you any dirty words."

"You don't have to. There was something that Tsukimura-san said on my first day that's been bothering me, though…"

"Like I said, I'm not teaching you any dirty words."

"…Oh. That explains why she was quick to tell me that it wasn't anything I needed to know."

Arisa nodded. "So what did you mean by '[and one of them I'm pretty sure never would]'?"

"[Well…maybe I'm reading things wrong—like I said, I'm pretty bad at reading people—but Shinamori-san kind of comes off as…possibly attracted to other girls. Am I wrong?]"

"[No, you're right…but if I was the other person you were referring to, then you're one lesbian short.]"

"[…Oh. I didn't realize…]"

"[Well, I'm not as blatant about it as Kanna-chan is, but I don't exactly keep it a secret, either.]"

"[I just can't seem to catch a break when it comes to hitting on girls, can I?]"

"[You don't know the half of it. That friend of mine you hit on after practice last week is actually an ex-girlfriend that I'm still close with.]"

"[Okay, now you're just messing with me.]"

"[I am and I'm not. It's true that she's an ex-girlfriend, but she goes both ways so it's not like you were trying to pick up another lesbian. I actually had an agreement with her boyfriend wherein we shared her so as to be able to satisfy all of her needs; I was hoping to do something similar with you once Suzu-chan finally won you over.]"

"[Stop teasing me, Arisa-chan!]"

"[Okay, okay, I'll stop. Wait, did you just call me by my given name?]"

"Oops. Sorry."

"No, it's…okay, I guess." Arisa was too relieved that he had passed off what she said as a joke, because she'd just let slip not only that Suzuka was bisexual, but also that she was her current girlfriend. "What a mess that would be. I just hope that nobody here knows enough English to have caught all of that."

"Okay, then…well, I guess that's just as well, since there won't be any tension between us. Friends?"

"Sure…Dylan-san."

CCX: Well, that was…something. I just hope I'm able to come up with enough ideas to keep this going. This is Cyberchao X, signing off.