Curdled chokes on her tea over imagery of Soujiro resembling anything as harmless as a kitten. Man, I shouldn't read my reviews over breakfast. So much for cuteness break. Angst ensues.

Both Tsukasa and Tsukushi were staring at him. Soujiro let his eyes refocus on Doumyouji's brick red face, "I'm in for it now," he told himself as Doumyouji fought apoplexy to force out his own words.

". . . You. . .Dare. . ?!" Tsukasa choked out in disbelief. That one of his own comrades could betray him so, and not only turn on him, but accuse him of being the one at fault?! Why, he was the victim here! What the hell? The evidence lay before him! How could Soujiro stand there and lie with a straight face, when he could see the truth reflecting in a broken necklace. He stretched out one trembling finger to point toward where it lay. "Tsukushi," he almost pled, "lie to me. Tell me that it isn't what I think."

Tsukushi pushed past him, striding to the bed to pick up the sadly gleaming emblem. She looked very sad. "Oh, Doumyouji.' She sighed, "You won't believe the truth. Why should you believe a lie?" She was still in shock over Soujiro's admission, but right now, she had to put that aside and deal with Tsukasa, while she still maintained some of her self-possession. "I really loved you, so much it hurt. I would have done almost anything for you, except change who I was. But you couldn't accept that. It was never enough for you, was it?

"I thought love was supposed to make me happy. But it's brought me far more pain." She looked down at the necklace puddled in her cupped hands, "I wasn't weak enough to give in to you, and I'm not strong enough to continue to love where there is no trust. Are you?

"Do you really still love me?" Tears began to form in her eyes, as she continued, "I can't believe you could stand there and accuse me of all those terrible things if you still loved me."

"Tsukushi. . ." Tsukasa tried to interrupt.

"Hold on, I'm not done yet." Tsukushi stood firm, "Last night, All I wanted was to make you understand. I needed to hear you say that you understood why I was angry; that you'd try to trust me a little more; that you'd believe that I never wanted to hurt you. But I couldn't do it. And you wouldn't listen.

"I'm not strong enough to fight anymore. Not when I don't know if what we had is still worth fighting for." Tsukushi stepped up to Tsukasa, and regretfully placed the broken Saturn necklace in his frozen hand. "I don't know what you were told, or what you think is going on here, but last night, when I needed it most, Soujiro gave me a shoulder to cry on. He told me I should give you another chance. If you hadn't come raging after us, I would have. But I can't now.

"It's over."

Tsukasa looked down in disbelief at the object he now held. Even he wasn't too dense to understand the symbolism.

"So that's it?" He looked stunned. "You're choosing Soujiro over me?"

Tsukushi groaned and buried her head in her hands. She didn't think she could take much more of this. Sinking to the floor in frustration, she tried again. "Don't you get it? It's not about him! It's about Us! You. And. Me. I'm not leaving you for him. I'm leaving you for me. Because I can't play this stupid game any longer."

"Do you love him?" Doumyouji just didn't know when to let well enough alone.

"No," Tsukushi whispered despairingly into her hands, "I love you."

"Then Why?" Doumyouji didn't cope well with ambiguity. If she loved him, she should be with him, If she didn't, then it must be because she loved someone else. . .

Soujiro had been watching this exchange with worry. He could see how hard Tsukushi was fighting to stay calm, how she was willing Tsukasa to understand with every fiber of her being. Still, she was failing. And Tsukasa, though he was no longer raving, still refused to see how much pain he was causing the woman he claimed to love. Soujiro wondered if Tsukasa had forgotten him, as he focused so intently on the girl at his feet.

He shouldn't have.

Soujiro thought back to all Tsukushi had told him last night, and previously. All the terrible things Tsukasa had said to her, the intentional cruelties, and the unthinking ones. Who the hell pays people to rape a girl? And then expects her to trust him? To love him, even? Not to mention how he assaulted her sense of self, tried to undermine her independence, her self-reliance-all that made her the magnificent person that she was. And then, Tsukasa tried to manipulate her with guilt, playing on her love-- throwing around words like trust as if he knew what they meant, to force her to do what he wanted.

It reminded Soujiro of all that he hated most about his own father.

He hated it when people used the love others bore them to manipulate, to coerce, and to betray. He knew what it was to be taken for granted, to feel that your love was an unrequited obligation. He knew what it was like when loved ones refused to take responsibility for the pain they caused. He knew the frustration of feeling your own love crumble to ashes, when your stressed soul couldn't take the abuse anymore.

He hated having to see Tsukushi worn down by Tsukasa's unremittingly selfish persistence.

He hated the way Tsukasa acted as though everyone else was at fault and him the innocent victim.

"Get out of my house!" Soujiro could feel long suppressed rage searing through his voice as he launched himself at Tsukasa. All the anger and frustration he'd built up inside through years of watching his family crumble now found its substitute target in the shape of the curly-haired fiend now tormenting an innocent girl.

Doumyouji's eyes swiveled to stare at this new threat. Unconsciously, he dropped into a defensive pose to meet Soujiro's attack.

Neither boy noticed Tsukushi's reaction in time to stop her from jumping to her feet and interposing herself between them.

"No!" She barked, too late to stop Soujiro from barreling into her, and domino-like, impelling the both of them into Tsukasa. He, still in his defensive stance, withstood the combined impact, catching Tsukushi by her shoulders before she could trip and hit the floor.

"Damnit, Tsukushi. What'd you do that for?" Soujiro cursed as he quickly untangled himself and retreated.

"You're just going to get hurt. Don't be an idiot." She replied quietly, even as she wrenched herself free from Doumyouji's grasp. "There's no need for you to fight. It's not your battle anyway." She looked away, refusing to meet Soujiro's eyes.

"Like hell it isn't!" Soujiro vehemently disagreed, "He comes storming into my house, accusing me of all sorts of nonsense, and generally behaving like an idiot. You don't want me to fight your battles for you, fine. But I'm going to fight my own, goddamnit!" He gazed levelly at Tsukasa, daring him to make a move.

Doumyouji eyed Soujiro warily. It wouldn't be a real problem to take on Soujiro. It would probably be very satisfying to pound him to a pulp. But. . . Even he didn't think this was a battle that could be won with force. He was losing the war of words heavily; they'd never been his strong suit. He only had one trump card left. One thing to say to convince Tsukushi she was making a mistake placing her trust in this fool. He couldn't know that she already knew what he as about to say. Harshly, his words grated out, as he stared unflinchingly into Soujiro's face, "Did you tell her what this is really all about?"

"What do you mean?" Soujiro was taken aback at this verbal attack.

Tsukasa turned now to face Tsukushi again, "Did you know that all this, is for the sake of a dare? You stand there and defend a man who only ever wanted you to satisfy a bet. Did you really believe his pretty words? I heard the truth. This whole charade is a lie. And you fell for it."

"No. . . ." Tsukushi choked out.

"Yes. " Doumyouji held out his hand toward her, "Now do you see? Come with me, and I'll leave. We can work things out. . ."

"No," Tsukushi shook her head more forcefully, "It's not like that at all." She straightened, and continued to speak, "I told you, this isn't about Nishikado. It's about you and me. We can't work things out. It's far too late for that now. Maybe we could have once, but the moment's gone. Forever. . . And you're wrong, anyway. He told me about the wager, you see. And yeah, I was mad. But it doesn't change a thing. I can't leave with you."

Doumyouji let his outstretched hand drop. He looked defeated. "And you're still choosing him?"

Tsukushi growled in frustration. "Didn't you listen to a word I said? Please, Tsukasa, please just go away." She felt as though nothing she said was getting through to him. This was so futile. Maybe she'd kicked him in the head one time too many and he just wasn't capable of understanding spoken language anymore? She decided the best thing to do was to ignore him, in hopes he'd give up and leave her alone. Or maybe she should have let Soujiro carry out his useless attack; at least it would have kept her from having to repeat herself endlessly.

Feeling exhausted, she let herself slump back to the floor and rested her head on her knees.

The two men remained frozen, glaring at each other across the room.

"Do you get it yet?" Soujiro taunted, "You're only making things worse. What do you think you're trying to do to her? If you really cared about her happiness you'd get the hell out, and leave her alone! You're no good for her, all you do is make each other unhappy. Why don't you go? Stop dragging this out. Can't you see, you're breaking her heart?" He didn't care anymore if he was inciting Doumyouji to rage, he just wanted Tsukasa to see how miserable Tsukushi was, and how he was the one responsible.

Amazingly, it actually seemed to work.

Doumyouji's eyes lingered on Makino's hunched-over form, and his shoulders sagged as the fight leached out of him bit by bit. "You're the only one I ever loved." He whispered reproachfully at the top of her head.

Things could never be the same between them. Rationally, he knew this. Emotionally, he couldn't accept it, not yet. But he would have to try. . . .

Looking like the world was crushing him, Tsukasa turned and made his way out of the chilly mansion.

To be continued.. .

Ack. Curdled types while curled into the fetal ball of misery. Only the second day of term and already I hate my life. WTF was I thinking when I chose my career path? Not to mention the thrice damned mice. Angst oozes from every pore onto the page. I've got to stop referring to myself in the third person.

So, I think that I'm writing Tsukushi pretty OOC, and Tsukasa too for that matter. But really, it's a pain to write her as tongue-tied and spastic as she is in the manga. And the Tsukasa /Tsukushi dynamic of comfortable bickering really doesn't work in my story. So fuck it. I don't even know why I'm bothering to mention this here.