After Yukiko shuffled out of her detention, she wandered down the
stairs and toward the little bus depot at the end of the street. She had no
intention of going to meet Shingetsu no Knight at the park; she wanted to
go home and take a nap.
"Fuyumiya-san! What are you doing here?" Hanako asked, sitting next to her on the bench under the shelter.
"Hn."
"I'm going to deliver a letter for someone." The brunette blushed a little bit as she said this and held up a letter folded neatly and lettered in green ink to 'Kusanagi-sama.'
"...Kusanagi?" Yukiko thought for a few moments and looked at Hanako, slightly disgusted. "That pervert?"
"He's not a pervert... I've known him since primary school, and he's actually quite nice."
"So, what you're saying is you have a thing for him."
"H... Hai..." The girl blushed and squeezed the letter tight in her hand.
"Disgusting," Yukiko said scornfully.
"It is not! Love happens to be wonderful," Hanako defended.
"If it's returned, it's peachy and dandy. But as long as you wait around, love is nothing but an empty, useless feeling."
"Poor Fuyumiya-san. You came from a dysfunctional family, didn't you?"
"The family of Mitsuru, Reiko, and Koichi functioned just fine. It was just me that was screwed," Yukiko snapped irritably.
"Oh."
As the bus pulled up, Yukiko stood and hurried to get away from Hanako, losing her as she sat at the back of the bus. A hand touched her neck, trailing up to her cheek and tilting it in the owner's direction.
"It took you long enough," the soft voice of Mr. Motorcycle said.
"I told you not to touch me." She slammed the heavy schoolcase down on his hands as they traveled lower.
"Ow!" He rubbed his hands, smiling and shaking his head a little bit. "PMS, Yukiko-chan?"
"Iie. I'm just pissed."
"Oh? Why?"
"It's none of your business," she said coldly. Yukiko turned and busied herself with the crossword puzzle on the back of the newspaper that had been left in the seat by the previous occupant.
"Of course it's my business, you're my friend. Now tell me," he said, looking at her with interest.
"Hn..."
"I'll clean the entire house for the next week."
"Deal." She said nothing more.
"Well?"
"What?"
"Aren't you going to tell?"
"Hell no." She frowned for a moment, trying to think of the answer for 'a large tool used in farming.' "Dammit, that could be anything!"
"Yukiko... You'll feel better if you tell someone, you know." She snorted in disbelief and wrote 'adze' into the column.
"There."
"You added a square," he pointed out.
"Oh well." She continued scribbling in answers.
"Another question. Who's this?" He pulled a framed picture out of his pocket and held it up. In it was a smiling Yukiko and a tall blond boy.
"...Yorusuke-sama," she replied, with a slightly softer tone.
"Yorusuke? I see that he made you happy. That's going to be my name now, because I want to make you happy, Yukiko-chan." He smiled and tugged her braid playfully.
"Hn. You'll never be anything like him," she said coldly.
"I'll try to be the best there is." The new Yorusuke kissed her on the cheek. She blushed and swatted him away.
"How many times have I told you not to touch me?" Yukiko demanded.
"I'm sorry, Yukiko-sama," he said dryly. He tugged the brake cord quite suddenly and stood up. Yukiko lurched forward out of her seat and onto the floor.
"Ow! Dammit, you could have warned me!" she snarled.
"Eh." He took her hand and pulled her to her feet.
"Fuyumiya-san, wait up!" Hanako tagged after them as they got off of the bus.
"I thought you were going to Kusanagi's house, Kiba," Yukiko snapped.
"There's a shortcut through the park."
"How very convenient," she said, looking disgusted.
"I go this way every day, Fuyumiya-san..." Hanako trailed off and hurriedly left Yukiko and Yorusuke alone. She was afraid of anybody getting angry at her or, even worse, hating her. Hanako quickly glanced over her shoulder and saw that the two had disappeared. Maybe they weren't mad.
"So... Are you going to tell me?" She sighed.
"If I tell you, will you get off of my case and never mention it again?" Yukiko asked, sitting beneath a tree and glaring up at him.
"Certainly. And you'll even have a cleaned house the rest of the week."
"Fine. Well... My parents never fancied me much. They always ignored me and paid attention to Koichi."
"Who?"
"Koichi. My older brother. Keep up, dammit! He had always been so wonderful and perfect." She looked disgusted even at the thought. "I never did anything to match or even come close to being praised as much as him. School, sports, everything I tried could never compare. And then, my friends Mikami and Yuri abandoned me to chase boys and do makeup. I never liked makeup, so I never joined them. So that's why I'm the psycho-bitch I am today." Yorusuke smiled.
"Please pardon me." He pulled his hand back and slapped her across the face, hard.
"Itai!"
"This all happened years ago, am I correct?" She nodded, rubbing the red spot on her face and staring up at him hatefully.
"Yeah."
"It's about damn time you've gotten over it and made new friends! So Mikami and Yuri were fucked in the head and didn't realize they had a great friend. Big deal! Move on! Your parents were, with all due respect, morons who didn't know they had a neglected daughter. You at least have one person willing to be your friend. And I'll never abandon you. All right? Understand?" He had knelt and shook her very violently as he said this.
"Let go of me!" She jerked away from him and stared up at him, angry. "I don't want to move on because I don't like knowing that I'm going to be hurt, no matter what I do in life. If I have friends, they'll abandon me. If I fall in love, the person is never going to return it. If he does, he'll just abandon me in the end," she said sullenly.
"Yukiko-chan..." Yorusuke sighed.
"Now leave me alone." She turned so her back was toward him, fuming silently. He slid an arm down her shoulder.
"I won't leave you alone. You're my friend. I care about you." Yorusuke smiled and kissed her on the cheek.
"You'll leave me someday," she said darkly.
"Yukiko, think about it. But for now, let's go and see what we can do with your training, all right?"
"Fine." She followed Yorusuke as he strode deep into the trees, hands in his pockets and walking with a slouch. She stood and followed him quickly, wanting to get it over with quickly.
"Hey, isn't that your little friend from the bus?" He paused and looked over through a small clearing. Yukiko nudged him out of the way and looked.
About fifty feet away, Hanako stood waiting next to the fountain. She was smoothing out her curly hair and straightening here school uniform, blushing and fidgeting nervously.
"Let's get closer." Yukiko grabbed Yorusuke's wrist and dragged him closer, hiding behind a tree.
"I thought you didn't care about her."
"I don't. I just want to see her dreams smashed like glass when he rejects her."
"Who's 'he'?" Yorusuke asked.
"Shut up!" She clamped his jaw shut and listened to Hanako talking to herself. She kept reading over her letter.
"Oh... I hope Kusanagi-sama likes this... Let's see... 'Dear Kusanagi- sempai, remember me? Kiba Hanako desu! I wanted to ask you whether...' This letter is stupid. Maybe it's not worth it. Maybe he'll never care." She paced around the fountain, worrying.
"Oi! Kiba! You said to meet you here?" The boy appeared, grinning as usual. He leaned against a tree and flashed a handsome smile at the girl. She blushed.
"I... I..." Hanako stammered.
"You..." Kouji said, smiling. He tugged a stray curl of her hair, staring into her eyes.
"I... wanted to give you this!" She reached into her schoolcase and handed him a black notebook. "You dropped it earlier." Hanako blushed and backed away nervously.
"Oh. Thanks!" Kouji gave her a quick hug and eyed the girl that walked round the fountain and toward the hot-dog vendor's. Hanako sighed and shook her head, rubbing her temples.
"Damn my shyness..." she sighed. It was the only thing holding her back from convincing Kouji to pay attention to her for more than twenty seconds. To do that, she would probably have to streak buck-naked through the halls screaming 'Kusanagi-sama!' Of course, she would never go to that extreme, but the thought of it briefly floated through her mind.
"Oi! Kiba!" Yukiko leaned against a tree, smirking. The brunette quickly hid her sorrow and brightened, feeling like such a liar.
"Nani, Fuyumiya-san?" She forced a smile.
"How does it feel, your heart being torn to shreds like that?" Yorusuke's hand reached out to cover Yukiko's mouth, but she smacked it away yet again.
"Yukiko-san..." Hanako's green eyes started to tear up. She couldn't believe that the girl was being so insensitive!
"It's okay. Same thing happened to me." Yukiko, feeling unusually human, sat on the edge of the fountain and crossed her legs in a boyish manner.
"You were in love once?!" Hanako asked, clearly shocked.
"Once. He never returned it, of course. He had his heart broken by somebody even bitchier than me and committed suicide, even though he still had me. Foolish, really," the black-haired girl said, swiping a goldfish out of the pond and letting it flop back in.
"Oh?" The brunette had no idea what else to say.
"Of course, I can have him back. You can have your Kusanagi-sama as well."
"I-I don't know what you're talking about!" Hanako blushed lightly and looked down. Yukiko smirked.
"Oh? What about our little discussion about love? You want Kusanagi- baka to pay attention and love you, don't you?" Yukiko idly tugged the ribbon on the end of her braid.
"Yes... But I want him to love me because of me. I don't want to change," Hanako said, blushing a little more.
"You don't have to change." Yukiko gave her a rare smile.
"I don't? But Kouji-sama likes women who--"
"Not another word. You know, I met a woman who could grant any wish a few days ago," she said casually. Hanako stared at her as if she were out of her mind, as did a few passerby.
"Fuyumiya-san? I'm worried..."
"I'm perfectly sane, Hanako. I just want to help a friend in need. Really." For once, Yukiko wasn't lying. Hanako had been nice to her, so she felt the strange obligation to do her one favor in return.
"I'm your friend?" The brunette smiled, slightly cheered by this notion.
"Yeah. Now follow me!" Yukiko grabbed her hand and tugged Hanako along toward the bench where Yorusuke lay with a paper as a blanket.
"Done, Yukiko-chan? Who's this?" He smiled and nodded toward the brown-haired girl.
"Kiba Hanako. She's a classmate of mine who needs a little help from Lilith." She didn't bother to add 'Lady' or any other polite title. To Yukiko, Lilith was just another person who had a promise to keep.
"I see. Hanako-chan, would you like to have a wish granted?"
"Yes!" Hanako nodded, confused but willing to do anything for love. She smiled, no longer feeling depressed. She knew her friends would take care of her...
Wouldn't they?
"Fuyumiya-san! What are you doing here?" Hanako asked, sitting next to her on the bench under the shelter.
"Hn."
"I'm going to deliver a letter for someone." The brunette blushed a little bit as she said this and held up a letter folded neatly and lettered in green ink to 'Kusanagi-sama.'
"...Kusanagi?" Yukiko thought for a few moments and looked at Hanako, slightly disgusted. "That pervert?"
"He's not a pervert... I've known him since primary school, and he's actually quite nice."
"So, what you're saying is you have a thing for him."
"H... Hai..." The girl blushed and squeezed the letter tight in her hand.
"Disgusting," Yukiko said scornfully.
"It is not! Love happens to be wonderful," Hanako defended.
"If it's returned, it's peachy and dandy. But as long as you wait around, love is nothing but an empty, useless feeling."
"Poor Fuyumiya-san. You came from a dysfunctional family, didn't you?"
"The family of Mitsuru, Reiko, and Koichi functioned just fine. It was just me that was screwed," Yukiko snapped irritably.
"Oh."
As the bus pulled up, Yukiko stood and hurried to get away from Hanako, losing her as she sat at the back of the bus. A hand touched her neck, trailing up to her cheek and tilting it in the owner's direction.
"It took you long enough," the soft voice of Mr. Motorcycle said.
"I told you not to touch me." She slammed the heavy schoolcase down on his hands as they traveled lower.
"Ow!" He rubbed his hands, smiling and shaking his head a little bit. "PMS, Yukiko-chan?"
"Iie. I'm just pissed."
"Oh? Why?"
"It's none of your business," she said coldly. Yukiko turned and busied herself with the crossword puzzle on the back of the newspaper that had been left in the seat by the previous occupant.
"Of course it's my business, you're my friend. Now tell me," he said, looking at her with interest.
"Hn..."
"I'll clean the entire house for the next week."
"Deal." She said nothing more.
"Well?"
"What?"
"Aren't you going to tell?"
"Hell no." She frowned for a moment, trying to think of the answer for 'a large tool used in farming.' "Dammit, that could be anything!"
"Yukiko... You'll feel better if you tell someone, you know." She snorted in disbelief and wrote 'adze' into the column.
"There."
"You added a square," he pointed out.
"Oh well." She continued scribbling in answers.
"Another question. Who's this?" He pulled a framed picture out of his pocket and held it up. In it was a smiling Yukiko and a tall blond boy.
"...Yorusuke-sama," she replied, with a slightly softer tone.
"Yorusuke? I see that he made you happy. That's going to be my name now, because I want to make you happy, Yukiko-chan." He smiled and tugged her braid playfully.
"Hn. You'll never be anything like him," she said coldly.
"I'll try to be the best there is." The new Yorusuke kissed her on the cheek. She blushed and swatted him away.
"How many times have I told you not to touch me?" Yukiko demanded.
"I'm sorry, Yukiko-sama," he said dryly. He tugged the brake cord quite suddenly and stood up. Yukiko lurched forward out of her seat and onto the floor.
"Ow! Dammit, you could have warned me!" she snarled.
"Eh." He took her hand and pulled her to her feet.
"Fuyumiya-san, wait up!" Hanako tagged after them as they got off of the bus.
"I thought you were going to Kusanagi's house, Kiba," Yukiko snapped.
"There's a shortcut through the park."
"How very convenient," she said, looking disgusted.
"I go this way every day, Fuyumiya-san..." Hanako trailed off and hurriedly left Yukiko and Yorusuke alone. She was afraid of anybody getting angry at her or, even worse, hating her. Hanako quickly glanced over her shoulder and saw that the two had disappeared. Maybe they weren't mad.
"So... Are you going to tell me?" She sighed.
"If I tell you, will you get off of my case and never mention it again?" Yukiko asked, sitting beneath a tree and glaring up at him.
"Certainly. And you'll even have a cleaned house the rest of the week."
"Fine. Well... My parents never fancied me much. They always ignored me and paid attention to Koichi."
"Who?"
"Koichi. My older brother. Keep up, dammit! He had always been so wonderful and perfect." She looked disgusted even at the thought. "I never did anything to match or even come close to being praised as much as him. School, sports, everything I tried could never compare. And then, my friends Mikami and Yuri abandoned me to chase boys and do makeup. I never liked makeup, so I never joined them. So that's why I'm the psycho-bitch I am today." Yorusuke smiled.
"Please pardon me." He pulled his hand back and slapped her across the face, hard.
"Itai!"
"This all happened years ago, am I correct?" She nodded, rubbing the red spot on her face and staring up at him hatefully.
"Yeah."
"It's about damn time you've gotten over it and made new friends! So Mikami and Yuri were fucked in the head and didn't realize they had a great friend. Big deal! Move on! Your parents were, with all due respect, morons who didn't know they had a neglected daughter. You at least have one person willing to be your friend. And I'll never abandon you. All right? Understand?" He had knelt and shook her very violently as he said this.
"Let go of me!" She jerked away from him and stared up at him, angry. "I don't want to move on because I don't like knowing that I'm going to be hurt, no matter what I do in life. If I have friends, they'll abandon me. If I fall in love, the person is never going to return it. If he does, he'll just abandon me in the end," she said sullenly.
"Yukiko-chan..." Yorusuke sighed.
"Now leave me alone." She turned so her back was toward him, fuming silently. He slid an arm down her shoulder.
"I won't leave you alone. You're my friend. I care about you." Yorusuke smiled and kissed her on the cheek.
"You'll leave me someday," she said darkly.
"Yukiko, think about it. But for now, let's go and see what we can do with your training, all right?"
"Fine." She followed Yorusuke as he strode deep into the trees, hands in his pockets and walking with a slouch. She stood and followed him quickly, wanting to get it over with quickly.
"Hey, isn't that your little friend from the bus?" He paused and looked over through a small clearing. Yukiko nudged him out of the way and looked.
About fifty feet away, Hanako stood waiting next to the fountain. She was smoothing out her curly hair and straightening here school uniform, blushing and fidgeting nervously.
"Let's get closer." Yukiko grabbed Yorusuke's wrist and dragged him closer, hiding behind a tree.
"I thought you didn't care about her."
"I don't. I just want to see her dreams smashed like glass when he rejects her."
"Who's 'he'?" Yorusuke asked.
"Shut up!" She clamped his jaw shut and listened to Hanako talking to herself. She kept reading over her letter.
"Oh... I hope Kusanagi-sama likes this... Let's see... 'Dear Kusanagi- sempai, remember me? Kiba Hanako desu! I wanted to ask you whether...' This letter is stupid. Maybe it's not worth it. Maybe he'll never care." She paced around the fountain, worrying.
"Oi! Kiba! You said to meet you here?" The boy appeared, grinning as usual. He leaned against a tree and flashed a handsome smile at the girl. She blushed.
"I... I..." Hanako stammered.
"You..." Kouji said, smiling. He tugged a stray curl of her hair, staring into her eyes.
"I... wanted to give you this!" She reached into her schoolcase and handed him a black notebook. "You dropped it earlier." Hanako blushed and backed away nervously.
"Oh. Thanks!" Kouji gave her a quick hug and eyed the girl that walked round the fountain and toward the hot-dog vendor's. Hanako sighed and shook her head, rubbing her temples.
"Damn my shyness..." she sighed. It was the only thing holding her back from convincing Kouji to pay attention to her for more than twenty seconds. To do that, she would probably have to streak buck-naked through the halls screaming 'Kusanagi-sama!' Of course, she would never go to that extreme, but the thought of it briefly floated through her mind.
"Oi! Kiba!" Yukiko leaned against a tree, smirking. The brunette quickly hid her sorrow and brightened, feeling like such a liar.
"Nani, Fuyumiya-san?" She forced a smile.
"How does it feel, your heart being torn to shreds like that?" Yorusuke's hand reached out to cover Yukiko's mouth, but she smacked it away yet again.
"Yukiko-san..." Hanako's green eyes started to tear up. She couldn't believe that the girl was being so insensitive!
"It's okay. Same thing happened to me." Yukiko, feeling unusually human, sat on the edge of the fountain and crossed her legs in a boyish manner.
"You were in love once?!" Hanako asked, clearly shocked.
"Once. He never returned it, of course. He had his heart broken by somebody even bitchier than me and committed suicide, even though he still had me. Foolish, really," the black-haired girl said, swiping a goldfish out of the pond and letting it flop back in.
"Oh?" The brunette had no idea what else to say.
"Of course, I can have him back. You can have your Kusanagi-sama as well."
"I-I don't know what you're talking about!" Hanako blushed lightly and looked down. Yukiko smirked.
"Oh? What about our little discussion about love? You want Kusanagi- baka to pay attention and love you, don't you?" Yukiko idly tugged the ribbon on the end of her braid.
"Yes... But I want him to love me because of me. I don't want to change," Hanako said, blushing a little more.
"You don't have to change." Yukiko gave her a rare smile.
"I don't? But Kouji-sama likes women who--"
"Not another word. You know, I met a woman who could grant any wish a few days ago," she said casually. Hanako stared at her as if she were out of her mind, as did a few passerby.
"Fuyumiya-san? I'm worried..."
"I'm perfectly sane, Hanako. I just want to help a friend in need. Really." For once, Yukiko wasn't lying. Hanako had been nice to her, so she felt the strange obligation to do her one favor in return.
"I'm your friend?" The brunette smiled, slightly cheered by this notion.
"Yeah. Now follow me!" Yukiko grabbed her hand and tugged Hanako along toward the bench where Yorusuke lay with a paper as a blanket.
"Done, Yukiko-chan? Who's this?" He smiled and nodded toward the brown-haired girl.
"Kiba Hanako. She's a classmate of mine who needs a little help from Lilith." She didn't bother to add 'Lady' or any other polite title. To Yukiko, Lilith was just another person who had a promise to keep.
"I see. Hanako-chan, would you like to have a wish granted?"
"Yes!" Hanako nodded, confused but willing to do anything for love. She smiled, no longer feeling depressed. She knew her friends would take care of her...
Wouldn't they?