Krizzie: -is sulking in a corner-

Ken: What's the unstable freak's problem now?

Genzou: -smirks- People are not reviewing anymore.

Ken: Oh. -grins, satisfied-

Taro: That's not very nice guys…

Goalkeepers: -glares- Make me look like I care!!!

Chapter Thirty-seven

Genzou backtracked one more time, still too confused for his own liking. If he could trust her own words, she was that vain Wakashimazu's sister, and she was very much protective of her older brother. And even if admittedly, she did look like she was trying to get rid of him, the previous stunt had been only a mere ploy to find her brother a girlfriend.

So where, in all loopholes of hell, did she get the idea that she was riding the truck that had injured him in the first place?

It only fed his puzzlement when he realized that she wasn't at all surprised of his reaction. She was even smiling, for godsakes, if that curve of her lips was any indication, and it was genuine, and contemptuous, and suddenly he wanted to get rid of it.

"Are you pulling my leg or what?" He scowled and if possible, her amusement grew.

"Would I joke about something like that?" she prodded him. "Really, you mock me Wakabayashi." Her lips curved a little more.

"Heh." He crossed his legs in an attempt to look unabashed, refusing to break eye contact. "It's not unheard of."

"Oh?" She raised her left hand to tuck a particular lock of dark hair behind her ears. He noticed she was wearing a pair of small, cerulean earrings. They were round, and inconspicuous above all, and it was no wonder that he only noticed them.

"This is the first time I've seen you wear jewelry." he remarked, suddenly forgetting that they were in the middle of an important discussion. She blinked, surprised, before she fingered her earrings.

"They're the first gift Ken gave me…" she paused, hesitant. "A peace offering, you could say."

He tore his gaze from the stones she was fingering to her twinkling amber eyes. They were dancing with irony, with mirth that could only come from someone who thought she had seen all and could find her tight situation amusing.

"So I take it you really did ram him with a truck."

She frowned. "I didn't run him over, per se…"

"Oh?" He leaned forward interested. "Would you let me indulge in your sad tale then?"

She glared at him. "It's not exactly a tragic story, by any means… just unfortunate."

It was his turn to smile sardonically. "I'm all ears."

--

"Pick and split then."

Anna Kabayakawa was damn near getting pissed, her lips set on a thin line, brow arched and back stooped. She was bored, damn it, and her companion wasn't helping at all.

"I'm not flexible." he argued, and she wasn't surprised. He scoffed when he saw her scowl. "You're not either so stop acting like a hurt school-girl."

"Jerk." she muttered under her breath. "Fine. Truth or dare."

He backed up a step, looking honestly incredulous. "That's for sissies!"

She looked unaffected. "All the better."

His eyes narrowed. "No."

She glared at him. "What do you want us to do then? Stare each other to death?"

Ace looked around, blackish-brown hair following lazily with his movements. His companion watched it with half-lidded eyelids. "There are a lot of lunchboxes here." he said finally.

She collected herself, and looked around as well. "So?"

His stomach did the talking for him. He grinned sheepishly, and Anna tried hard not to swoon. Gay or not, he did look adorable. "Let's compromise. We'll have an eating contest. The loser has to answer one question and answer it truthfully."

"Game!" Anna's eyes sparkled. There had always been one question she had been dying to ask him. "Prepare to reveal your darkest secrets, Yukushi!!!"

He smiled, his hands closing in on the bento closest to him. "We'll see."

--

They had been talking an awfully long time, Ken thought to himself, watching the closed door with suspicious eyes. He had been surprised to find it locked, right after hanging up reluctantly on Kaede. She had volunteered to come over, but he urged her not to… that he needed to take care of this himself. That who knows? Maybe when he walks over that door right after he closed the phone his sister would be able to recognize him.

And then suddenly that painful ache in his chest returned. Because he had the feeling that when he entered, she would still be looking at him with dull amber eyes, blank, trained little orbs that could hide much from the world and then she would tell him that he was her brother— that they told her he was her brother. And then her eyes would say, though her voice wouldn't, that she didn't know him and he should go away until she knows that it is safe and he won't hurt her.

It was painful, and tragic because here she was again, relieving another memory.

…Because once upon a time, she had already done that to him.

--

She tells him that her brother is outside.

"Let him be." he says and for the first time, she follows him without argument. "Ken would still be there after you tell me everything."

"Why do you want to know so much anyway?" she said snappishly.

"Because believe it or not, I care." he ground out and was not surprised at the sudden widening of amber eyes. "They've all entrusted you to me, in that insane way of theirs, and the least I could do is listen to your godforsaken problems!"

She looked visibly appalled. "So that's it huh? It's all just for show so you could tell al your little pals that you've been an exceptional good boy!" she spat, and the way she threw out her words made him feel disgusted with himself but he was convinced that she was damn near getting hysterical and even if she wouldn't in her life admit it, she needed him there to lend his ears.

"You're getting it all wrong, Kurisaki." He took in a deep breath. One of them needed to calm down, and it was obvious that it would definitely not be her. "My concern is genuine, woman! Don't make me look like a gay pansy dog-tailing after everybody! I'm trying my best to look out for you here!"

She forced herself to look away, hair going through air like an offhanded whip.

He sighed. "Krizzie…" he clenched his teeth. he would never get used to calling her by her first name. "Look at me."

"…"

He cursed under his breath, but extended a trembling hand towards her chin to pull her his way. Her eyes were defiant, arms were crossed stubbornly across her chest. Her breathing was labored and she looked like she wanted to pounce but didn't resist the soft pull of his calloused fingertips.

"Talk to me." he pleased, and she broke, arms slacking down on either side of her. Genzou visibly relaxes, forcing muscles back, and listens.

He listens without comment as she tells him how she had sat on the front seat, frowning and sulking, because her sister had been given permission to hold the wheel while she had not. She laughs when she recalls how angry and envious and scornful she was that even her mother's gentle coaxes and breathy little songs couldn't calm her.

She tells him about the traffic, about the view outside the open window. She tells him about her sister's shriek whenever a bastard driver would honk his horn at her for being too slow, and how she would smirk with satisfaction. She tells him about her father, and how he slapped the back of her hand right before she sees Ken crossing the street. She tells him about the blood that rushes to her head, that sudden heavy lump in her throat, and she tells him most of all how she regrets being paralyzed, how she regrets listening to her sister's screams, her father, her mother, and how she regrets not doing anything when she had heard the screeching of tires.

She tells him how it feels to be airborne, and be pulled back, how her stomach had lurched because of an invisible force, and how her eyes had watered.

She tells him it was all her fault. Because she had been so childish, so immature. Because she had grabbed the wheel from her sister.

And he watches, with an equal, regretful silence, as she tries to push back her tears, as she wipes her eyes relentlessly with the back of her hand. And then he approaches, slowly, tentatively, and then tells her, as his hands cautiously held hers in a firm grip, that he is there and that it's all over and that was a long time ago.

She glares at him, tells him that she didn't need him and that he should go away lest she kill him, but he only smiles and maybe it was because he was touched, or because he was stunned, but the next minute he was rocking back and forth, murmuring sweet words of encouragement, and she was crying in his arms.

Krizzie: No comment.

Genzou: -sputters- Mind explaining what the hell was that???

Ken: Oh God… MY EYES!!! GAAAAWD!!! –runs into a wall-

Krizzie: Don't be a bunch of babies… it's just a bunch of sentimental fluff… not actual romance.

Genzou: This is madness! Character abuse! You have no right to do this!!!!

Krizzie: -mockingly- Make me look like I care.

Taro: High-five, sister! (He's not gay… --U)