PART SEVEN

Intimate snapback to reality

"Should we wake them up?"

"Just poke them, I guess…"

"Nah, I think we'd better leave them alone like that. We shouldn't spoil their fun…"

"But we should definitely wake them up! If he sees them like this, he'll—"

"AAAAAGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!! NOOOOO!!!!!!! WHY DID THIS HAVE TO HAPPEN????!???!?!!!? HER PURITY HAS BEEN TAKEN AWAY BY OUR VERY OWN FRIEND!!!!!!!!!!!! HOW COULD HE DO THIS TO HER???!?!!!?!??!?! WWWAAAAAAGGGGHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"I told you we should've woken them up."

"Well, it's certainly no use keeping them asleep now; look, she's stirring."

"With the noise he's making, how can she not be?"

Voices…there were voices floating above her…she could hear them perfectly…and they had just disturbed her sleep. She groaned out loudly, her hand automatically reaching up to her forehead. She just had the most terrible headache ever, and every single part of her body was aching. Ironically, her insides felt completely wonderful, like she'd just done something she'd been wanting to do but couldn't, and just did. She moaned again, a wave of pain surging through her body and into her head. She felt like it was going to explode. It was a good thing she was lying on her soft, comfortable bed…

Wait a minute.

It took her a few minutes to realize that she wasn't lying on her bed. She was lying on something soft…warm…which definitely had something in it that made her want to cuddle closer to it. Slowly and burdened, she tried to open her eyes. And as her sight cleared, she caught sight of a pair of very concerned eyes, peering down at her. "F-Fuuko-chan…? Daijoubu desu ka…?"

She blinked, and it came to her that she had been looking into the eyes of Yanagi, her friend. Why in the world was she so worried? Why was she giving her that look? Why was she asking her if she was okay?

And what on earth was that awful wailing in the background???

Slowly, she turned to look at the person beside Yanagi, and saw Recca's smirking face, eyes shining interestedly at her. "How was it?" he asked eagerly. "Was he good?"

Yanagi frowned at him. Fuuko's own brows furrowed. What the heck was he talking about? She was just about to ask him this when she heard a deep groan right beside her.

Her eyes widened as she felt the thing she was lying on move. It groaned again, softer this time, but this alarmed Fuuko the most. That voice…she recognized that voice…in fact, she knew it too well…

Swallowing heavily, Fuuko hesitantly turned to look at where the groan had come from.

And she wished she hadn't. Holy—

***

Damn the heck of a racket that was going on. It clearly broke his sleep, the only thing he had been enjoying these days because of the momentarily respite it gave his deeply troubled mind. Whatever was making the darn commotion was clearly going to pay.

A shot of pain made its way up his arm, as if a weight had pressed onto it overnight. Luckily, it was the only thing hurting from him. He pushed his other hand on the bed and raised himself from it, his hand rubbing his temples and his eyes shutting tight still. The rampaging hippo somewhere was still declaring war against the chirping of the morning birds. He scowled irritably.

Sure, go ahead and ruin my morning, damn you—

He opened his eyes and found himself staring at his friends, all of whom were staring wide-eyed at him. He gave them all a look of death (except maybe Yanagi-san). What the heck—

His trail of thought immediately stopped, as he laid his eyes on a lady sprawled on the far corner of the bed away from him, looking fearfully at him, wearing nothing but her underwear.

Fuuko? He raised his brow and forced the blush out of his face. What in blazes is she doing almost naked in my—

He stopped again as the events that took place last night came back to him in a blur of thoughts. His eyes widened as he remembered how Fuuko had gotten herself drunk, and he had carried her to her bed…how she had pulled him in with her and tried to seduce him…how she had fallen asleep on his chest…and how he himself doze off, still in the same very naughty position Fuuko had gotten them into.

Understanding dawned on him as he looked at the very eager look in Hanabishi's eyes, the worried ones in Yanagi's, and then he finally realized that the hippo he'd been angering against was Domon, who was flailing his arms wildly and running back and forth across the room, shouting incoherent words nonstop.

"Mikagami-sempai…you…" Yanagi muttered softly, letting her words hang.

He blinked at her. "Yanagi-san, it's not what you think—"

"So, you've finally done it, Toki-kun!" Hanabishi clapped a mighty slap on his back, making him narrow his eyes dangerously. What was with the insensitive slap? And why the heck was he calling him that repulsive 'Toki-kun' nickname???

Recca circled Tokiya's neck with one arm in a bear hug. "Finally had the guts, huh? I bet yesterday's events in the hallway were all just to make us think you didn't like Fuuko anymore, so that we wouldn't suspect anything, right?" he whispered. "I bet right after Hime-san left Fuuko's room last night you came barging right in and did it the whole night! You rock! I'm impressed that you got Fuuko to do it this early!" He leaned in closer and lowered his voice. "Maybe you oughta teach me a few tricks, eh?" He jerked his head towards Yanagi with a wink.

Seeing Yanagi's very worried expression, Tokiya glared icily at Recca and pushed him away. "It's not what you think it is, baka."

Recca snorted. "Daijoubu, we won't tell anyone anything, okay?" He leaned in to whisper again. "So, how does it feel? She must've tasted damn good; I mean, look at her…what a hottie! You probably made her scream your name the whole night—"

He pushed Recca much more forcefully this time that Recca almost stumbled. "I'm telling you, damn it; it didn't happen."

But Recca merely waved his hand. "Yeah, sure, whatever. Let's talk again in a more convenient time." He was giving him the most annoying lopsided grin ever that Tokiya just wanted to punch it right out of his grinning face.

Meanwhile, Domon was still screeching. And when finally, he realized that Tokiya was awake, he ran over to him looking like a crazed rhinoceros. "WHAT—THE HELL—DID—YOU—DO—TO—HER?!?" He grabbed Tokiya's shoulders and glared menacingly at him.

Tokiya plainly glared back, his cold, blue eyes narrowing much more than ever. "Nothing."

"WHAT—IN—BLAZES—DO—YOU—MEAN—'NOTHING'??? YOU SPEND THE NIGHT WITH A NAKED GIRL IN HER BED, AND YOU TELL ME NOTHING HAPPENED??? I'M NOT BLIND, SUB-ZERO BOY!!! TELL ME WHY THE HECK YOU DECIDED TO TAKE AWAY HER VIRGINITY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Domon was screaming so loudly that veins popped out of his neck and he was flushing red. Tokiya's eyes turned on a dark color and he spoke in a voice of deathly calm, "I didn't do anything to her. Now get your filthy, stinking hands off me before I do something you will most surely regret; that is, if you live to tell the tale."

He could tell that Domon was still obviously pissed off, and was more than willing to say more, but anybody who'd known Tokiya long enough knew better than to mess with him with that horrible look in his eyes that told anyone that he meant what he had just said. Even Recca had stopped grinning. So reluctantly, Domon dropped Tokiya back down on the bed, Domon's teeth gritted and his fists quivering in anger. Tokiya gave him a sinister look, sending him a silent challenge to accuse him more. But Domon knew Tokiya could turn really nasty if he wanted to, and was forced to keep his emotions inside.

Satisfied at Domon's right judgment of his actions, Tokiya turned to look at Yanagi. "Yanagi-san, I never touched Fuuko last night," his eyes flicked over to Hanabishi, "to hell with you if you believe me or not." He looked back at Yanagi. "Sumimasen." And he stood up and headed for the door. He paused to look at Fuuko, who had started to frown at him. He merely blinked in the same expressionless way, and then he left.

As soon as the door closed, Domon started again. "That—" He began cursing Tokiya so much, saying every possible foul language in this world, and calling him every single insult in the dictionary.

Yanagi turned to look at Fuuko. "Ne, Fuuko-chan…was…was Mikagami-sempai telling the truth…?"

"Of course he wasn't," Recca said over Domon's sudden burst of intelligent language. He looked at Fuuko. "Why d'you think you'd wake up naked with him if he didn't do anything to you? I mean, even if he really didn't mean it, he'd be crazy enough not to lay a finger on you once he gets you naked in bed right beside him."

Yanagi frowned disapprovingly at Recca's choice of words. "How can you be so—"

"Iie, Hanabishi's right," Fuuko spoke softly, looking down on the floor. "I don't really remember anything that happened last night…all I know is that my head hurts and—"

"Aha!" Recca cut in, grinning. "I bet he had you drunk just to get you to bed. He probably offered you too much to drink and then grabbed you when you weren't conscious anymore."

"But, that's not possible…Mi-chan's not that type of person…" she hugged her knees to her chest, looking more glum than ever. "He would never take advantage of me…and besides, he—he doesn't love me anymore."

"Whoever said that you needed to love someone to want to get her stripped? Once a man gets a naked woman in his hands he doesn't give a damn anymore whoever she is," Domon's furious voice made them jump. They hadn't noticed that he had stopped swearing and had been listening to their conversation.

"…" Fuuko closed her eyes and buried her face on her knees. She didn't know if she should feel happy or not. For one thing, she didn't believe what Tokiya was saying at all. Although a huge part of her knew that he would never take advantage of her even if she stripped right in front of him, still all of the evidences pointed to the conclusion that something did happen between them last night. And if that was true, then she should be glad that Tokiya still wanted her, right? But for another thing, what Domon was saying was true, too; and lust could always conquer love anytime. So it would also prove that Tokiya didn't love her anymore, and she could be pregnant anytime and not have a father for the job.

All of a sudden she was feeling upset. How could her life get so ruined like this all in just a night? Why did this have to happen? The sadness inside of her was fast turning into anger. How could Tokiya do this to her, even though he wasn't interested in her anymore? Was that all she was to him? Just a plaything he could have pleasure over and then leave after he'd had his fun?

Had Tokiya changed that much over the year? Or was it simply that Fuuko never really knew him that well yet to see this side of him?

Her head rose so instantly that her three friends jerked in surprise. "Forget about him, minna…let's just—let's just go out somewhere today…"

***

"It's maddeningly cruel of him, don't you think?" Yanagi commented that noontime, taking a sip if her tea in Ramen-Ramen House, the restaurant they first ate at the day before.

"I'll say," Domon shoved the noodles into his mouth. "To be so malicious-minded…"

"I still can't believe that he could ever do such a thing, though…I always thought Mikagami-sempai was…well…more mature enough to know better," Yanagi frowned. "I'm kind of disappointed—"

"Can we please not talk about it already?" Fuuko snapped, looking up from her bowl. "I asked you guys to go out today so that I can forget about his jerkiness, but you've all been talking about him the whole day! I mean, I already know how big a user he is, okay? Do you all have to rub it in my face?"

Yanagi looked shocked at her, but then she looked down and gave a small bow. "Go-gomen ne…"

Domon stopped eating. "A jerk's a jerk. I always thought so since the first time I saw him way back. Stupid top student…crush of the whole female student body…I bet he slept with all those pretty babes who were all over his highly feminine looks—"

"Will you just shut up???" Fuuko snapped again, glaring.

Domon piped down and became overly interested in his chopsticks. And after a moment's awkward silence, he decided to change the subject. "Ne, Yanagi-chan, where the heck did Hanabishi go?"

"Recca-kun?" Yanagi looked worriedly out the glass doors. "He said he wanted to buy some chips for his midnight snack tonight…in fact…he left thirty minutes ago…" she trailed off.

"Don't you think we should start looking for him? For all we know he could be stuck in a canal or something," Domon put down his chopsticks and glanced at Fuuko. "Ne?"

"Yeah, let's. At least it's going to take someone's mind off Mi-chan for once," she glared at him again and got up.

Minutes later they were strolling down the sidewalk, heading for the apartment, after a useless search for Hanabishi.

"I think he's gone back to the apartment," Domon frowned.

"Yeah, it'll be just like him to suddenly forget we were all eating at Ramen-Ramen House and say, 'Oh, where had I been? And where are my buddies? Ah, never mind; I'll go back and take a shower.'" Fuuko said sarcastically. "For the love of kami-sama, can't you use your brain for once? Oh, I forgot; you don't have one."

Domon frowned even deeper. "Okay, so it was a bad idea. You can tell me straight, you know; you don't have to be all snobby about it," he said angrily. "You know what? You've been grouchy all day, someone could've fried an egg on your head and still have some heat left to roast beef. You've probably taken lessons from that hungry-for-sex Popsicle Stick—"

"Fuuko-chan!!! Yamete!!!"

Fuuko had jumped at Domon and was now squeezing his neck to death, cutting the air right away from him. Yanagi had grabbed Fuuko's arms and pulled her away before Domon got too red.

"Look, let's just go back to the apartment, okay? I'm sure Recca-kun will head back sooner or later," Yanagi held back Fuuko's shoulders, looking sympathetically at the gasping Domon.

"Yeah, anything to get her cooled down," he frowned, still panting. "Why the heck can't Recca just show up, damn him—"

"Oi! Minna!"

Speak of the devil.

The three turned around at the direction of the voice, and saw Recca coming out of Mei Ling's Stop and Shop. He ran towards them, beaming. And when he caught sight of Fuuko and Domon's angry faces, he raised his eyebrows. "Nani shiteru yo?"

"Recca-kun," Yanagi looked skeptically at him. "Where are…the chips?"

Recca's eyes widened, and he looked flustered all of a sudden. "A-ano…I decided not to buy any. I might get…um…fat."

"You left us for thirty damn minutes and got us into this trouble just for nothing???" Domon flared at him.

Recca waved his hands in front of him and grinned sheepishly. "Ehehehe…calm down, calm down…let's just go back, kapeesh?"

"Fuuko-chan, we'll go on ahead upstairs, okay? Could you please get our room key from the counter? I'll wait for you outside our room; Recca-kun wants to show me something in his room first," Yanagi smiled at Fuuko twenty minutes later in the lobby.

Fuuko shrugged. "Sure. See ya in a jiffy," she waved as Yanagi sped to where Recca was standing. Fuuko watched them, together with a heated Domon, get into an elevator and disappear from her view.

She stared at the elevator for a few minutes, not exactly knowing what to think. It had been a very awful day so far. And she had a feeling that staying in her room for the rest of the day wasn't going to make it any better.

She sighed. Still, what choice did she have? And she turned around to head for the counter. "Room 417 please," she told the receptionist, and took her room key.

But just as she turned around, the key flew out of her grasp again. She had just bumped into someone and made that person's key fall to the floor as well.

She stared irritably at her key on the floor, not moving for a while. Why, oh why, did the gods have to make her day worse?

"Fuuko…"

She clenched her fist and gritted her teeth, staring hard at the key on the floor. She did not hear that voice… she did not hear that voice…she did not hear that voice…

"Fuuko, about last night—"

Kami-sama, doushite??? She frowned crossly, trying to conceal her fury by bending down ever so swiftly and picking up her key. She would just have to ignore him…yes; she'd just walk out of there and leave him…no harm done…

But just as she started walking away, he picked up his key as well and began coming after her. He got hold of her shoulder and this time, there was a small hint of irritation in his voice. "Listen, I need to talk to you—"

She turned abruptly around and shook his hand off her shoulder. She glared angrily at him. "There's nothing to talk about," she said coldly.

"I can explain—"

"Then I don't want to hear it!" Fuuko shouted irately.

A flash of impatience flickered in Tokiya's eyes. "Look, I just wanted to say I'm sorry that—"

A fierce slap on Tokiya's cheek cut him off. After a second of letting the pain sink in his skin, Fuuko spoke her heart out. "You're sorry? You're sorry??? You use me and run me like a damn chess piece and now you're sorry???" she yelled furiously. "How can you chug some sake down my throat, strip off my clothes, take advantage of me, and then say you're sorry?!? You're a complete damn jerk and that's what you're sorry about!!!"

Fuuko, being a fighter herself, hadn't slapped Tokiya like any normal girl would have done. She'd done it with the force of her deathblows, and, considering her vicious attitude, had hit Tokiya really hard. Tokiya slowly wiped the small trickle of blood from the corner of his lips with his finger and turned to look at Fuuko with the same eyes of coldness and, this time, anger as well. It was the only emotion he ever showed in his eyes, and the fact that he'd used it on her angered her all the more.

"Don't look at me like that, damn it—" she raised her hand to hit him again, but he caught her wrist in mid-air all too easily. After a second of shock, Fuuko's anger aggravated and she raised her other hand, but all the same, he caught both her wrists.

She grunted in frustration, struggling to break free. But no matter how thin Tokiya's arms can be, they were not a tad bit weak at all. Quite the contrary, his hands held Fuuko captive no matter how hard she tried to break loose. "Kuso!!! Let go! Let me go, you jerk! Let—me--GO!!!"

She tugged and cried out, almost in a plea, as every failure of her struggle enraged her more. "LET GO!!!" she cried out helplessly, unaware of all the people now pausing to watch the commotion. She started kicking Tokiya's legs, but her feeble attempts were of completely no use. In fact, Tokiya's grip tightened and she cried out in pain and subjection.

Tokiya paid no attention to the onlookers, and concentrated on keeping Fuuko still enough for him to be able to speak to her. "Hold still and listen."

"Why the heck am I supposed to listen to whatever it is you have to say???" Fuuko cried out in rage. "Just get your hands off me! You've done enough damage with getting into my bed!!!"

That was the last straw. She saw the anger spark in Tokiya's eyes and found herself being pushed against the nearest wall. There were gasps that erupted from the people around them, but Fuuko barely noticed. She was too busy struggling even more.

Tokiya pinned her wrists more tightly on the wall, and spoke in an intimidating voice. "The only reason I was in your damn bed is because you got yourself drunk like it was the last day of your life and went unconscious on me," he breathed calmly, but he might as well have shouted. Fuuko couldn't help but regret everything she'd told him with the way he was talking. No matter how calm it was, there was something in his voice that would've made the strongest man in the world cringe.

"And then I had to be little mister goody-goody and brought you back to your room, because, heck, if I had left you in the pool area you'd wake up the next day with everyone gawking at your underwear," he went on in the same manner. "But then after I carried you to your bed you started going crazy and pulled me in with you. And the only reason I didn't just pull away when you fell asleep was because I didn't want to wake you up like the good little boy I was," his grip tightened again, and Fuuko held back a gasp of pain. She suddenly felt speechless.

Tokiya blinked. "So the next time you get yourself drunk to death, remind me not to be Mr. Nice Guy and tell me to leave you alone." At this, he dropped her wrists forcefully and Fuuko immediately clutched them in pain. In as much as she couldn't process everything he'd just said, she couldn't just drop her pride and stop being mad. So she glared at him all the more and stalked off without another word, making her way out of the small circle the spectators had formed around them both. She didn't even bother looking back at Tokiya's expression.

Because as she hurriedly made her way back to her room, it came into her mind that everything he'd just said was damn true.

And she would never dare face him with the stubborn way she'd just acted.