A Third Chance
by Ranma Inverse
Chapter Two


Author's notes: Thank you, the few who have kindly reviewed. ^_^ As a reward, I bring out chapter two sooner than I expected! (Reviews give me inspiration, the more reviews, the more I want to write it!)
. . .

Their parents had once again gone on a trip for a few weeks. Mikki sighed as she ate her dinner silently with Yuu, who chewed on his own food while staring at her.

"Yuu, why are you staring at me? I thought we weren't together anymore," Mikki spoke softly and slowly.

"You're still a friend to me, and I want you to be alright."

Mikki stood up, slamming her hands against the table as she yelled. "Alright?! How can I be alright at a time like this!"

She stormed out of the room and left the house. Yuu didn't move from his seat.

. . .

The brown haired girl ran, and ran, and ran, and ran. She ran as far and as fast as her legs would take her until she fell to the ground, exhausted and crying.

That was when Ginta found her.

He had been taking a walk to think, but he ran to Mikki when he saw her fallen form. "Mikki!" the blue eyed boy sat her up in a sitting position. The man looked at her exhausted, tear-streaked face and stared at her for a moment before speaking again.

"Mikki? What's wrong?"

The brown haired girl didn't say anything, she just lay her head on his shirt and sobbed into his chest.

As one friend to another, Ginta comfortingly put his arms around and patted her back.

He continued the comforting action until the sobs ceased and Mikki looked up at him. "Thank you."

Ginta loosened his hold around her and tried to smile. He failed. "Mikki, what's wrong?" he repeated.

Tears threatened to fall out of the girl's eyes once more, but she took a few deep breaths, fought them down and tried to speak. When she found herself able to, everything that had been going wrong lately, first being her break-up with Yuu, spilled out. When she finished, a few mor tears fell, and Ginta was angry.

"How could he do that to you? You deserve someone better than him, if he's going to put you through so much pain-"

Mikki cut him off. "Don't say that! Yuu isn't that bad! You can't say that...I still love him..."

Immediately Ginta regretted his words. "S-sorry..."

The brown haired girl fought for a smile. "It's alright, your just being a protective friend, that's all. Thank you for trying to make me feel better."

She turned and began to walk home, but stopped when the thought of Yuu crossed her mind.

"If you don't wanna talk to Yuu right now, you can sleep over at my house." Ginta scratched the back of his head. Why was he feeling so extremely protective of her?

Mikki turned to him, her eyes showing uncertainty. "There are other people at your house, right?"

Ginta nodded. "My paren'ts wont mind."

A sigh of relief formed out of Mikki's lips. "Okay then."

. . .

As Mikki lay warm in the blankets of a make-shift futon, she wondered how she had gotten herself into this embarrasing situation. Ginta was asleep in another futon at the opposite end of the room so as not to make her uncomfortable.

It wasn't working.

The brown haired girl shifted uncomfortably. What was she going to tell Yuu when she got home? What was she going to tell Meiko? Well, Meiko wasn't a problem. If she explained, her best friend would understand. Her eyes widened.

Oh, no! What about Arimi! Spending the night in her friend's boyfriend's home! If she explained first, maybe her blue haired friend would understand. It wasn't as if anything unacceptable was going on, so everything sould be okay. After concluding that, Mikki closed her eyes and soon fell asleep.

Ginta listened as Mikki's breath slowed and slept peacefully. He let out the breath he had been holding and smiled. She had seemed uncomfortable and embarrassed, but at least she was going to get some sleep.

Something which he began to do soon after.

Meanwhile, a blue haired girl slept peacefully and a blonde haired man fell asleep worrying. The rest of the world slept peacefully, unaware of the troubles beginning to brew.