-+- Standard Disclaimer -+-
The characters depicted in this story are not mine. Sue me and you get nada, cuz that's how much I own. Blah.
-+- End of Disclaimer -+-
Unlikely Companions
A fiction novella by Dave Zhang (dzhang@its.caltech.edu). Comments and criticisms welcomed. Copyright 2003.
[This text is in English.] "This text is spoken." 'This text is thought.' =This text is telepathic.=
Chapter 14: The Test of Empathy, Part II
Yuu blinked. That wasn't the reaction he expected. "What?"
"I'm serious! You two should get back together! She obviously likes you still, and she's really cute!"
"Um..." said Yuu, not really sure how to respond to that.
"So what did you guys do?"
"You want to know how far we went?"
'Not really, I just want you guys back together so I can get out of this weird reality,' thought Haruka, but she politely did not state what was on her mind.
"We didn't do... Anything."
Haruka elbowed him in the ribs as she grinned devilishly. "Liar! Come on, out with it!"
"It's true. 'Cause my first kiss was with you, Miki."
She froze. She had forgotten about that.
"You were awake that time, weren't you?"
"Why... why did you do such a thing?"
"Why? The devil made me do it!" replied Yuu with a small laugh. "I'm kidding. It's obviously because I like you very much."
Haruka slapped Yuu. It wasn't as hard as she slapped Ginta earlier in the day, but it was still forceful. "Stop kidding around, you little shit! Can't you ever be serious!? You know there's no way in Hell I'll ever like you romantically!"
"Miki," whispered Yuu as Haruka stormed off.
Haruka was very upset. Not so much with the possibility that Yuu was teasing her yet again, but much more so with the ever slight possibility that Yuu was serious. 'Holy shit! Don't tell me *I'm* supposed to be the one ending up as his girlfriend! Please, no! Being his sister, I can tolerate, and I'm actually starting to like. Being his lover? I don't think I can do that! Not now, not ever...'
***
"Mara," said Miki to the open skies from her window. "I know you guys out there are all listening. I just want you all to know that I fucking hate your guts. I'll bet you all are laughing your asses off at my misery."
Yuu's head popped in the window from outside. "Who's Mara? Are you in some type of cult religion?"
"Gah! Pervert!" Haruka reflexively launched a punch to Yuu's mid-section. Unfortunately, since Yuu was delicately balanced on the thin ledge, that knocked him off, and he was sent two floors down to the cement ground.
"Oh shit! Mama! Papa! Call an ambulance!"
***
Haruka stared at the still unconscious figure of Yuu, with large bandages wrapping his head, on his back on a hospital bed.
"Ah, shit. I sure messed up this time. Sorry about that, Yuu. Damn it! Why did you have to go popping up outside my window? It's your fault you know!" Haruka paused. 'This all is starting to sound familiar, even to me.'
"Ah, damn. How come I always end up hurting you? Every single time!"
Haruka looked down at Yuu again. "Shit! What the Hell am I supposed to do!? Is this supposed to happen? What the Hell is the point of this? Mara! I know you're listening. Tell me what the meaning of all this is! Am I here for a purpose?"
She sighed. 'Maybe it's just like the last one. Just survive through it, and then you pass no matter what.' "Get better, Yuu."
Haruka stood up and started walking out the door, when she heard Yuu speak in a quiet voice. "What? No kiss for me when the situation's reversed?"
"Yuu!" shouted Haruka cocking her fist back, before she checked it, realizing that it was her temper that landed Yuu in the hospital in the place. "Are you feeling better?"
"I'll be fine in no time," answered Yuu. His face contorted into a wry smile. "You didn't answer my question though."
"What?"
"I'm asking you to kiss me."
Haruka's heart fluttered for a instant, and part of her desperately wanted to run into Yuu's arms and embrace him. Another part wanted to run away from this scene in disgust. The rest was Haruka being frozen in place. 'After all that...'
"It'll be your punishment for hurting me," contnued Yuu. "Please?"
The addition of guilt to the equation tipped the equilibruim ever so slightly, and Haruka grudgingly allowed herself to walk to Yuu's bed, and gently kissed him on his cheek, formally and without emotion. And then she left the room wordlessly.
***
Yuu recovered after about a week in the hospital, and then he and Haruka's relationship returned to normal. The two would walk to school together, but often enough Yuu would say something expressly to irk Haruka, and Haruka would chase after him screaming insults. Shortly thereafter, Meiko's relationship with Namura-sensei was discovered, and events proceeded as they should. Ginta tried to talk to Haruka several times to apologize, but Haruka never gave him the chance, running away whenever possible. The one time Ginta cornered Haruka at her house, Haruka pounded Ginta into unconsciousness before Ginta could get many words out, and after that, Ginta could only sorrowfully gaze at Haruka with mixed emotions of affection and regret.
After a while, Miwa Satoshi befriended Yuu, and Haruka noticed Yuu spending more and more time with Miwa. As rumors spread, Haruka somewhat sadly considered the possibility that Yuu had 'an alternative lifestyle,' but left it at that. Not much later though, Haruka realized that Satoshi was also bent on trying to hook up with Meiko, and that led Haruka to investigate further the cause for Yuu and Satoshi's sudden friendship.
Quickly she found out that Satoshi's father was Miwa Yoshimitsu, the famous architect, and remembering that Yuu had a long-standing interest in architecture, Haruka put two and two together.
***
'That was Yuu and Satoshi!' Haruka looked up, and saw that the two had entered Miwa Architectural Design Office. 'That's great! Satoshi must be trying to get Yuu a job with his father! With Yuu's talent and Satoshi's recommendation, the job's nailed!'
Haruka decided then that it wouldn't be too bad to follow the duo up to listen in on the interview, so that she could be the first one to congratulate Yuu when he left that office.
"I'm not your father, Matsuura-kun. Chiyako-san and I didn't have that sort of relationship. I'm sorry, but... I am not the solution in the search for your father."
Haruka's eyes widened in shock as she listened on, to Satoshi and Yuu's evidence for suspecting Miwa Yoshimitsu to be Yuu's father, followed by Miwa's revelation that he was rejected when he propositioned Chiyako for an affair.
'So that's what it was... How stupid of me! To think that Yuu and Satoshi would spend so much time together just because of a common interest in architecture. They both must have suspected for quite a while now that perhaps they were half-brothers. That's why they were so close! But... they were wrong.'
'That explains why Yuu is bitter, and never reveals the true him to anyone... Having found out that his father isn't his real father, and that he was the bastard child of another man from one of his mother's affairs... that would tend to leave him wary of trusting anyone.'
The door opened, and the two students walked out. "Miki! What are you doing here!?"
"Yuu... I thought you were having a job interview, so I was waiting here to congratulate you when you came out." Haruka didn't sound cheerful, and she was sure that Yuu had picked it up.
"You heard?"
Haruka nodded. "Yuu..."
"Satoshi-san... please escort Miki home. I've suddenly got the urge to see the ocean." Without waiting for either of their responses, Yuu jogged off.
***
"Yuu."
Yuu ignored her, and continued staring out into the ocean.
"Yuu, let's go home now."
Yuu sighed, and closed his eyes, but other the position of his head was unchanged.
"You've been like this for an hour already."
He finally responded. "That's why I told you to go home ahead of me."
"The wind's getting chilly. You'll catch a cold. Let's go home, okay?"
"Come to think of it, it is a bit cold."
Haruka wasn't sure whether Yuu was speaking of the weather, or life in general. "You have a family to warm you up. Chiyako-san and Youji-san. Mama and Papa. And there's me. We're not related by blood, but still. We're close."
"I really thought he was the one. To think, that Miwa Yoshimitsu wasn't really my father. What has my life been for then? Why have I studied architecture? I'm an idiot."
"Don't be like that! You have family. We all love you."
Yuu looked up at his step-sister wistfully. "I love you."
***
The world whited out again, and Haruka found herself face-to-face the with demon game show host. "Hello again, Haruka. Now it's time for the culmination of your Third Test."
"Culmination?"
Pansom nodded. "All of the experience you acquired in that world was to prepare you, so that you can answer this question: Why does Yuu love you?"
"That's the Third Test? Too easy. Yuu loves me for the same reason Ginta loves me--I'm different, and not interested. People always view the grass as being greener on the other side. Yuu was attractive and popular and could have any girl in school he wanted, or even Arimi, who was much more attractive than me. He decided to chase after me because I was inaccessible. Same thing with Ginta. He rejected me in junior high, but then got interested again because Yuu was interested, and then he became even more interested when I showed that I wasn't anymore."
Pansom shook his head sadly. "I'm sorry, that's incorrect. You have failed your Third test."
"What!? What do you mean?" demanded Haruka. "What was the correct answer then?"
"Viewers, call in now to vote whether the correct answer should be revealed to Haruka."
After waiting a moment, Pansom continued. "It was voted 73% Yes, so we will oblige you."
"The correct answer is that Yuu didn't, at least not romantically. Incidentally, you would have also had to explain why not, and that is no easy question in itself to answer. Back to the point, Yuu should have been in love with you romantically at this point, but your muddling of actions resulted in an alternate outcome."
"What do you mean, muddling of actions?" shouted an indignant Haruka.
"As you gathered during your life in this world, you inhabited and controled the body of Miki Koishikawa, who was Yuu's girlfriend from his timeline. Before analyzing what exactly you did wrong, let's show you what actually happened with Miki, to the Yuu that you're here for."
The world phased back into the Marmalade Boy World, to the point where Miki was first informed of the divorce. Haruka now watched as an invisible observer. Mara fast-forwarded a bit, and returned speed to normal at the restaurant scene, where Miki first met Yuu. This continued on, with Mara fast-forwarding sections, and showing Haruka particular scenes where her actions and Miki's diverged substantially. Finally, Haruka watched the beach scene, how it should have been.
***
"So that little shit really just wanted a girl who would swoon over him like all the others do," grumbled Haruka. "Why the hell did he say he loved me at the end then?"
"You mis-understood him. His statement was a declaration that he now saw you as a sister, and he would love you as he loved his parents and yours, as a family-member. Which isn't very much, incidentally. I think it's pretty understandable that his life experiences made family ties weak on him."
"But what about the real Miki? He fell in love with her romantically? And valued her over his mother?"
"Yes. The reasons are not why you think. As Arimi demonstrated, Yuu isn't particularly impressed with girls just because they have high interest in him, nor because of their physical beauty. Nor, is his uninterest in you because of the accident. The main reason, we believe, is his perception of your personality. There are three main demonstrations:"
"First, is the issue of your early acceptance of the marriage swap. Like Yuu told the real Miki, he wasn't entirely happy about it either, but didn't really have the courage to challenge it. The real Miki did, and Yuu admired her for that. You, acting on knowledge that you were not supposed to have, went along with the scheme too easily, and Yuu saw you as another one of the crowd, who's opinion was easily swayed, and spent most of her life trying to please others."
"Second, is your handling of the Meiko and Namura situation. The real Miki was crushed when she found out that her best friend Meiko had been keeping secrets from her, especially one as large as her covert dating of Namura. That earned a lot of empathy from Yuu. You, however, never trusted Meiko completely. In so, you were correct, as she did not trust Miki completely, but that inability to trust someone completely further alienated you from Yuu."
"Finally, is your handling of the situation with Miwa Yoshimitsu. It was mainly due to ill-luck, but nevertheless, Yuu emerged from Miwa's office, crushed, and then saw you who had been listening secretly to the whole thing. Any shreds of trust he had left in you were completely shattered. On the other hand, Miki accompanied him in public as a supportive friend from the start, and with Miwa relevation, was on hand to provide comfort when the shock came."
Haruka considered all this, and replied. "I see... so the fact that I beat him up constantly instead of getting flustered when he teased me didn't matter at all?"
"That actually helped you, we think. While the real Miki was somewhat acerbic, she was a big softy compared to you. Hence she was 'Mustard Girl,' while you got upgraded to 'Tobasco Girl.' Yuu tends to be soft on the outside, making easy acquaintance with everyone, but hard on the inside, having few if any close friends. You tend to be tough on the outside, so that many acquaintances are afraid or dislike you, but of those who get along with you, you can form bonds of true friendship with much easier. Miki is very much like a slightly toned down version of you. Most of the viewers actually think you and Yuu are a perfect couple because of the complementary personalities, and had high hopes for you for that test. But, like I said, badly used knowledge and a couple unlucky coincidences ruined that."
"Anyway, now we have to determine your punishment. Viewers, please call in to vote now."
***
"The results are in. The top contenders are: Becoming permanently asexual, with 22% votes. Ten year indentured servitude to the Lust Department of Hell, 17%. Echo Love Curse, 14%. And Soul Link with Yuu, 14%. Normally you're only allowed to pick among the top three, but since there was a tie for third place to within one percent, you're allowed to pick any of the four."
"Hm... Does asexual mean what I think it means?"
"Worse. It means what you think it means, for eternity, following your through any number of reincarnations. Though I should note that it's only the physical aspect, not the emotional."
Haruka shuddered and decided she was definitely not picking that. 'Second option doesn't seem that bad... Working there might be pretty embarrassing or uncomfortable, but it's for a limited time, right?' "What type of work would I do for the second option?"
"Oh, you'd probably be physically transformed into a hideous she-beast, and torture the men condemned to that level of Hell by fornicating with them."
Haruka gulped. Ten years of that couldn't be pleasant. And forget that part about no lasting damage--Haruka was sure she'd lose her sanity after those ten years. "What about the third option? What's the Echo Love Curse?"
"Ah, it's the one named after the Greek myth of Echo and Narcissus. Echo Love Curse basically means that no one you love will ever return feelings for you. And then a few hundred years ago, some bored Diety *cough* Eros *cough* decided he'd make it a pun, so that your curse will also echo to people you contact often. In order words, you doom yourself and all your friends to unrequited love forever."
Haruka tried to decide whether that was better or worse than the first option. To have loved and been rejected or to have never loved at all? Neither sounded very pleasant.
"What about the last?" 'It's probably something like an eternal love contract for Yuu or something. Ugh... I'm not sure if I like Yuu that much, but it's gotta be better than all of the above.'
"Oh, that one is *interesting*!"
Haruka cringed as Pansom continued. "Your mind and Yuu's will be permanently linked, so tightly that both must occupy the same body. It'll be like having his voice always in your head, except he also gets some control of your body's actions. Since your mind will still go with your body, you can leave with Yuu's soul right afterward."
Haruka gulped.
"So, what's your decision, Haruka?"
"Are you sure I can't just take two extra Tests?"
"Nope, Sorry."
Haruka considered this. She *really* didn't like any of the options. "Can I request a re-vote, with consideration of additional punishments that I propose?"
"I guess we could allow that. Keep in mind though that it'll have to be really interesting if you want it to have any chance of being in the top three. And I'm pretty certain that two extra Tests wouldn't qualify as that."
"Um..." Haruka racked her brain to come up with something. The longer she delayed, the less the chances of acceptance of her substitute. "How about general unluckiness? You can make me the most unlucky person who ever lived after I finish the rest of the tests. My bread can also land butter-side down and stuff like that."
A devious wry smile crept up into Pansom's face. "Ooh, that has potential. Viewers, please vote again for Haruka's punishment for failing the Test of Empathy."
Haruka prayed to every diety she could think of to accept her suggestion. She really didn't want to be caught with one of the four earlier punishments.
"Looks like we have a deal, Haruka. An overwhelming 68% of our viewers have supported your idea. Life will sure be... *ahem* fun, when you get back."
Haruka mentally thanked every diety she prayed to, and vowed to not take the next test lightly.
--End Chapter 14--