A/N: My first Parakiss fic. I've only read #1, so it's not like I know much about it at all...but the whole Miwako/Arashi/Hiro thing got me so worked up I just knew I had to write something about it. Hopefully, Arashi is not too OOC. I don't know his character that well. Short, fluffy fic dedicated to the three that captured my heart. (George and Yukari are okay, too, but I didn't fall in love with them the way I did with these three.)

Unbreakable

by: Nine



Miwako is crying again. It is the third time in the past twenty-four hours, and the second time in the past two hours. . .not that Arashi is counting. He is watching her again, out of the corner of his eye, trying not to be seen by her. It is not that he does not want to comfort her, it is just that he fears that if he joined her, he would begin crying as well, and Arashi does not let anyone see him cry.

He knows why she is crying. He knows who she is crying over. Yukari did not have to tell him. He had seen the two walking around outside of the school. He knew that they knew each other. When she invited Miwako and himself out to eat, he had a good idea as to what she was planning for them. He had not felt ready to face his childhood friend again, after everything that had happened, but he hadn't seen the point in depriving Miwako of seeing him again.

Now, he was starting to doubt that it had been a good idea.

He wonders why he had felt an immediate repulsion towards the idea of seeing Hiro again. Was it really just because he knew that something had gone on between Hiro and Miwako? Why would he let that come in between his friendship with the boy? He thinks there has to be another reason he had avoided the prospect of seeing the boy again, after all of those years.

In a way, he has a vague idea as to why he felt that way. He has an idea as to why his heart sinks and then rises into his throat when Hiro comes up in casual conversation with Miwako. He sort-of knows why he avoids thinking about him, and rarely ventures into the part of his brain that holds the memories of running around with the boy, holding his hand, not caring about anything except for the boy he was running with, himself, and the thought that he would like to run with him for the rest of his life. No, he can't allow himself to remember all of that. If he does, he will go back to missing the boy, and if he starts missing him, Arashi knows he will stop at nothing to see Hiro again, and he cannot deal with seeing him again right now.

Right now, he only wants to listen to Miwako's crying. Right now, he only wants to wait for her to calm down, so he can rush to her and hold her and whisper to her that it'll be okay. Right now, he only wants to have to deal with his love for her - not for the love he once treasured for not only her, but their childhood companion as well.

However, when this is all over, when he can deal with more, and when Miwako is no longer crying or sad or in any sort of emotional pain, and she does not need him to care for her fragile heart anymore, Arashi will go back to that part of his mind. He will run with Hiro again. He will find him, apologize, hug him, and do his best not to let go of his hand this time.

After all, in that small part in the back of his mind, he has never once let go of Hiro's hand.