Disclaimer: FoR belongs to Anzai Nobyuki.
A/N: Nobody likes Nikki from what I understand, *me happy* ^_^; I think this is probably going exactly where I want it too. By the way, incase anybody noticed… I took down Fuuko's diary (or am planning to when I upload this chapter). I also happened to notice a lot of little… err… plot-holes in this fic that I completely forgot to cover in the last few chapters ^_^. I'm fixing them as I go along, and I would really appreciate it if you guys tell me if any of you feel any confusion and explain to what confuses you. I'm kinda stuck since the notes I took for this fanfic were on my other computer and when the virus struck and my notes went like… whoosh!
Chapter six
The Irony of Love and Death
Dedicated to my best friend who helped me on this one.
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Fuuko went to school the day after the funeral. She wasn't one to mourn for long. She had to go to school. She had to graduate, get a job and support herself and Ganko. It is only with the passing away of one's loved ones, that one realizes how dependant they were on that person; and there is no one in the entire planet that can be more dependable than ones parents.
"Hey, Fuuko." Greeted one of the girls, a slight hint of extreme politeness in her voice. Fuuko managed to smile back. She rushed in through the halls of the school and to her locker. She had been so carefree and happy when she last saw this locker… now she was getting sentimental about the smallest things.
"I need a break from all of this." She said to herself softly. She picked out her things, closed her locker door to reveal Nikki, leaning against the locker right next to hers. There was a strange expression on her face, as if she wanted to appear threatening without appearing unsentimental. Fuuko shook her head mentally. That made absolutely no sense!
"Hey Fuuko."
"Good morning Nikki." She replied, she was still grateful for all Nikki had done that day for her. Nikki smiled, in a way that sent shivers down Fuuko's spine, for some strange reason or the other.
"My mother's going to Australia tonight, school business and all… you know. It's hardly been three weeks and she's already being sent abroad on school business…" she said then stopped. Fuuko spun her head around and spotted Mikagami walking past them. He didn't look their way. It was only when he passed by again that Nikki continued.
"Anyway, Fuuko… I was wondering. Would you like to come by after school, I would really like to ask you about something." She said. Fuuko was seriously taken aback.
"Umm, why not?" Nikki smiled.
"Great, see you at seven."
**********
It seemed like as if it would be an ordinary school day. Fair enough, it was okay. Nothing unusual, then why was he feeling so weird inside? Mikagami climbed the stairs with his hands in his pockets, hurrying but in his usual calm way. He took a hand out of his pocket and swung open the doors, he stepped inside scanning the crowd. None of the Hokage were there, thank goodness. He rushed pasted through the crowds and book-less entered his homeroom. As usual it was empty, except for one seat at the back. One of the girls sat on his seat, staring dreamily out the window. He sighed, he hated it when people tried to take what was his usual seat so he crossed over and took the seat on the other side of the room.
The students began filing in, one of them dropped their pen as they went past and before Mikagami could think about what he was doing he reached down and picked it up. He handed the pen over to the girl and was almost taken aback when he saw it was Nikki.
"Mikagami-san." She exclaimed. "Hello." She was looking down at him in the same girlish way most girls did.
"This isn't you homeroom." He said looking away, he knew better than to encourage her.
"I know… I just came by, to uh- well, um… " The bell just rung then so she couldn't complete her sentence and rushed out. Mikagami sighed and rolled his eyes. Girls…
**********
Nikki squealed with delight when she got to the hall and crashed straight into Domon. Domon smiled at her.
"Hey Nikki, you seem happy." He said. Nikki smiled at him.
"U-huh… I am. Got to run." She said playfully winking at him. "Listen, I need to talk to you… how about… say, seven." She said. Domon gaped.
"Um, yeah though I'm not that good at tutoring or anything so I…" he began.
"No no silly, for other reasons." She exclaimed and ran away waving leaving a very confused Domon behind. This was going to be her day. First she'd confirmed that Mikagami was in love with her two, second she had the perfect plan to get Fuuko out of the picture.
Mikagami… she sighed as she skipped homeroom and sat on the benches outside underneath the Sakura trees. She was sure, from first sight onwards that he was in love with her and she with him. The way he'd looked at her the first time they met, the way he'd tried to resist her charms in the hallway and the way he'd picked up the pen and handed it to her. He had never bothered to do that to any other girl she knew.
He was passionately in love with her and the longer she sat under the Sakura tree the more she convinced herself that it was true and the more she convinced herself that, that was the truth, the greater the desperation to get rid of the inferences became.
**********
The day finished surprisingly fast, and to Fuuko's amazement she found herself wanting to stay in school after the bell had rung. She walked out anyway, but behind the rest and right at the end. She looked across the field and spotted a figure waiting against the gateway. As she walked up closer she suddenly came to recognize who it was.
"Hey… Gretchen… right?" she asked. Gretchen looked away from her feet and nodded.
"Hello Fuuko… I came to talk to you." Fuuko was confused.
"Um okay…" she replied. Gretchen cleared out her throat.
"Do, you… by any chance… like Mikagami?" she asked. Fuuko felt her heart stop.
"Uh… n-no." she said hoping that Gretchen didn't notice her red face. "Why? Do you?" she asked. Gretchen laughed.
"Yeah… love him in fact." She said. That got Fuuko worse than the first question did.
"That… is, great news. I hope you'll be happy together." She said. Gretchen laughed.
"It's not what you think, he's my cousin." She said "He's my adopted brother in other words, now I know you're probably thinking; okay she's a cousin what difference does that mean to how she loves him but from my part of the world, liking your cousin that way… just isn't the done thing." She said. Fuuko nodded.
"U-huh. It really isn't the done thing here either… at least not my knowledge… but" She replied, "what's that got to do with me?" she asked. Gretchen sucked in her upper lip and looked sideways then replied.
"I just thought, that… if there is any feelings between the two of you then I'm happy with it and to tell you the truth… had you said yes, I would've encouraged you." She said. Fuuko was confused.
"Whoa, hold on… let's get things clear one at a time, first of all I've never heard him mention any relative of his, the only one I know of is his sister who died and his grandfather. Second, what concern of it is it to you if he's in love or not and third, what makes you think I like him?" she asked. Gretchen smiled.
"Why don't I take treat you to a cup of coffee and we'll talk." She said. Fuuko bit her lip then nodded.
"Okay, but this better be good." She replied.
**********
When the last bell rang Nikki was still in school; in fact she was hidden in the school office hacking into the school's security. She sighed, and stopped for a moment then went on. It had been so long since she'd used a computer! Being poor sure sucked.
ACCESS GRANTED. Nikki jumped up from the computer chair with glee and did a small victory dance around the desk, then sat down and checked out the office files. She scanned the names and quickly spotted Kirisawa, Fuuko's. She copied it down onto a floppy and by the time half an hour was up she had copied Mikagami, Tokiya's also. Not only that but she also took down all their grades, previous school transfers, discipline, health records and every single thing she could find about the two. Then she took out the floppy and arranged the files in the way she remembered that they were and erased all traces of her being on the computer. Switching it off she kissed the floppy disk and carefully tucked it in her shirt.
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Mikagami was another story; he wasn't in school when the final bell rang. He was already at home. He hadn't skipped school, rather, his teacher insisted that he go home because he looked so pale. Mikagami had never really been the type who was prone to illnesses so this was unusual to him. To top it off, Gretchen wasn't home either and he was seriously worried. He wasn't one to get worried either.
"Things are changing." He thought as he closed his eyes and rested his head against the back of his sofa. He picked up a damp cloth and wrapped it onto his forehead. Things were changing, and changes were bothering him. He had fallen for Fuuko, admitted it, then shoved it to the back of his head again. That sounded so… cliché… like as if he were part of some corny piece of writing written by an insanely, hopeless romantic, who just loved to torture him. Him, who was emotionless, would be driven into a mad, mad triangle that would probably end in tragedy or something of that nature *.
"Mikagami, Tokiya… you're beginning to sound like a Shakespeare character using soliloquy." He told him self and laughed. Wait a minute, he never laughed. He was cold and distant, even to himself. Irritated with himself and life he threw the damp cloth onto the floor and got up. He didn't need a damp cloth; he needed a nice relaxing bath… relaxing bath? What next, bubbles and plastic ducks? Yeah, for some reason he could imagine himself doing that… everything else was going on like this in this weird, pointless piece of fiction that he imagined was being written by one of his many useless fan girls!
**********
Fuuko didn't touch her coffee, and not so surprisingly, neither did Gretchen. She did, however, reach up and pour herself four packets of sugar.
"Where shall I begin? At the beginning, or at the part where you come in?" she asked. Fuuko tightened her mouth.
"At the beginning please."
"Hmm okay. My name is Gretchen Hoshi, I am Tokiya's cousin… not by blood though, I was a good friend of his sisters'; before she died." She said looking down at the napkin in her hands. Putting it down she began to stir her coffee; "… after she died… life became difficult…"
**********
Mikagami turned around to face a 10 year old Gretchen.
"I'm sorry Mikagami," she said. Mikagami sneered at her.
"Sorry? Sorry for what?"
"For your loss."
"Pah!"
"You know Mikagami, if you need a sister I'm always there."
"No, you can never be a sister to me. I only had one and she's dead."
"Oh don't cry… please… cousin then. I'll be your cousin, and your best friend." She said. Mikagami looked up to her and smiled. She put out her hand and he took it.
**********
"Oh." Was all Fuuko could manage to say.
"After that, I moved away… back to the states, and we lost contact. Who could blame us? We were kids, we never knew about keeping contact." She said, her eyes misty as if she was actually picturing it all running through her head. Fuuko sighed. This Gretchen, she doesn't realize that she explained something I can not see.
"I searched for him for two years and only last year I finally found him." She said wiping her eyes and then smiling at Fuuko. " But it's not the same; he's gone cold… he needs someone to save him Fuuko. It's too late for me, I came this year to find someone to save him." She took Fuuko's hand into both of her and looked her in the eyes. "Please Fuuko. Save him." She pleaded.
**********
Nikki stared at the floppy in front of her and sighed.
"I have to find something, I have to find something to bring that girl down." She thought as she flipped over her notebook and took out a fresh page.
Observation # 1 - Fuuko and Mikagami are not dating, yet there is something between them. If signs show only as much as a sibling relationship I put in plan #2 otherwise I stick to plan #1. I will bring Fuuko down.
Observation # 2 - Mikagami seems to care about Fuuko. Should I feel threatened if I find out about any kiss or intimate moments?
Observation # 3 - No observation yet…but I will find one.
To be continued…
A/N: Okay, I know… late, small and downright pointless chapter ^_^. Gomen; It was supposed to be the climax but so much has happened in school and home ^_^. I promise that by June I'll have a better chapter up. I get inspired during the exam preparation period and I'll always have a notebook with me to write down my ideas during that time. Wish me luck for my exams and do check out my online journal at: ^_^; Bu-bye till June.