Chapter Nine: Nothing To Lose
Mitsui pressed his cheek against the cold cement wall of the school building's entrance. He knew it was a ridiculous hour - 6:00 a.m. - to go to rushing towards school and he knew that he looked ridiculous to some few punctual students who sat in the small benches that lined the yard, books opened at their laps and studying for their first period class. Mitsui was seated at the highest step leading to the school's sliding glass door with his duffel bag at his side, his left arm perched on top of it.
Miyagi had cut classes yesterday afternoon. He wasn't even present for the basketball team's practice in the gym. First thing Mitsui did that morning was to call Miyagi. No, his mom had said, Miyagi did not come home at all last night. The last thing that entered Mitsui's mind was to call Hideki, but his pride kept him from dialing the number that was once so familiar to him. He was afraid it was true; What if he had heard Miyagi's voice? What if Hideki bragged right there on the phone?
Suddenly, Mitsui blinked at the sound of a car horn. He slowly got up and dusted the back of his pants. The familiar Red Toyota that Hideki has been driving around for what seemed like forever - but still looked brand new - pulled over at the side of the road. Mitsui was sure that it was Hideki, judging by the way the girls by the gate where giggling and trying to look cute.
Mitsui took his duffel bag and ran towards the car, but stopped short. Did he really want to see Miyagi with Hideki? But Mitsui had barely stopped when he heard a familiar voice boast, "You know how much it cost to have that car triple waxed?"
Miyagi stopped and his eyes widened as he saw Mitsui standing there in the middle of the courtyard. His sudden stop forced Hideki, who had his left arm around Miyagi, to stop as well. He looked inquisitively at Miyagi, wondering why the boy stopped and why Miyagi was not interested about the cost of triple waxing when he finally noticed Mitsui's presence. "Ah Mitsui kun! Good morning! Isn't it a little bit too early for you?"
Mitsui regained his composure and retorted, "It's too early for you too Hideki. Are you sure you didn't miss any of your beauty sleep?"
Hideki laughed. "Really Mitsui. We didn't have time to sleep!" He gave Miyagi a peck on the cheek. "Sorry babe but I have matters to take care of right now. I'll just see you lunch okay?"
Miyagi nodded hurriedly before Hideki skipped away, giving Mitsui a sneer that the latter hated so much. Mitsui suspected Hideki went off to boast to everyone about his latest conquest. Mitsui looked at Miyagi, who had not moved from his spot.
Miyagi looked at Mitsui and hesitantly said, "Hey."
Mitsui did not reply. If he opened his mouth, he was afraid he'd scream 'How could you?' and bring attention upon himself. He didn't want a confrontation with Miyagi either. He knew he'd regret it later, but he turned around and walked away, leaving Miyagi standing there.
The younger boy gazed at Mitsui's retreating back and bit his lower lip. He didn't want to admit how much it hurt, but he believed that he brought this upon himself. He felt a soft hand on his shoulder. Miyagi turned around and saw Ayako. Ayako gave him a small smile. Miyagi loved her that way. She didn't pass judgment or even ask.
"He hates me," Miyagi whispered, his voice at the point of breaking.
"No he doesn't," Ayako said. "He's mad at you. And he's even madder that he doesn't hate you."
Miyagi turned to look at the direction where Mitsui had walked away. "I miss him already."
"You want me to whack him with my fan later at practice? That might work."
"Do you think I deserved this? Him getting mad at me, I mean."
Ayako smiled at Miyagi knowingly. "I know you asked for this, but all the same, you don't deserve this. You're too good a person." She saw Miyagi sigh and she saw how tired the other boy really was. A while ago, Miyagi was almost in tears. She saw how Mitsui decided to ignore Miyagi and she even wanted to whack some sense into her sempai right then and there. "Are you ready to face your ever growing crowd of rumor fanatics?"
"Bring it on," Miyagi said, his voice lacking the determination the cliché grasped for. "Nothing could hurt worse than what just happened now."
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
If he had thought earlier that nothing could hurt more than that morning's events, Miyagi was definitely wrong. He had found out that Hideki and his "cronies" had spread the news all over school. He had to sit through class, knowing that his classmates where talking behind his back. He could hear them and he could feel them staring at him. Even the teachers had commented once or twice. Even seeing Rukawa and Sakuragi together hurt him. He knew he should be happy for them but he still wondered deep inside how unfair it is that things were looking up for them while he is in the dumps. The biggest thing he dreaded was lunchtime, where he would have to sit together with Hideki and his group. Miyagi even hoped Hideki would dump him as soon as possible.
Ayako and Yasuda have done their best to comfort him but now Miyagi was alone. He was standing in front of his locker, dumping all his things inside. He didn't want to bring anything with him to the cafeteria.
"Hey."
Surprised, Miyagi turned towards the familiar voice. "Mitsui san."
Mitsui hesitated. "Miyagi, I-" he was interrupted by Miyagi's hollow laughter. Slightly annoyed, Mitsui asked, "What's so funny?"
"It really is over, huh?" Miyagi said with a sad smile. "Remember? During the bet you called me by my first name. Now we're back to surnames huh?"
"I wasn't aware. I didn't really mean it like that," Mitsui said, though he was a little bit startled by Miyagi's observation. He wasn't even aware of the change.
"I guess you must be really mad at me right now," Miyagi said in an uncharacteristically weak voice.
"Mad? My god I don't even know what to feel right now. I'm not even sure how you feel right now. I don't even know what's going on in your mind!" Mitsui punched the locker next to Miyagi's, making the later flinch. "I AM mad. You're a traitor, you know that?" Mitsui looked at Miyagi accusingly.
"I'm not!" Miyagi half-cried out. He knew Mitsui's anger was justifiable but he didn't deserve to be called names. "You're just mad because you lost the bet with your gang!"
"It's not about that and you know it!" Mitsui pointed out quickly, his loud voice garnering attention from the students in the hallway.
"Oh right," Miyagi said, biting his lip again. His lip looked a little sore from all the biting but it was all he could do to keep from crying. "It's because you thought we had something going on for us, right? But isn't that what you led Seiko to believe too? What about the other guys? Isn't this just a game for you?"
Mitsui couldn't answer the questions. It's as if Miyagi had read his mind. Those were the same questions that he had asked himself all morning. Why was he so mad at Miyagi anyway? He didn't know. It was a different type of anger and it scared him that he didn't know what made him feel this way.
"At least, after all of this, we can still be friends, right?" Miyagi asked.
Mitsui wanted to laugh. "What made you say that?"
Miyagi smiled sadly. "Remember Seiko? I bet a week or two from now, we'll be laughing about this and everything will be back to normal."
Mitsui cringed when he heard the word "bet". Normal? He doubted it. "I guess," he finally answered.
"I have to go now," Miyagi said. "I'm having lunch with you-know-who."
Mitsui chose not to reply. He stood still while Miyagi walked past him.
"Mitsui san?"
Mitsui turned around. Miyagi was still there behind him. "Hm?"
"I'm sorry you lost the bet with your gang."
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Mitsui was practically stabbing the grilled pork on his lunch tray. His gang looked on apprehensively as Mitsui's mad cooked meat murders continued. Finally, the plastic fork broke in half and Mitsui, in anger, threw the broken pieces across the cafeteria, where it hit the west wall, covering the peeling paint with meat sauce.
"Uh, Mit-chan, are you okay?" Hotta asked hesitantly, afraid that Mitsui would take out his anger on him.
"Stupid guy, this is a hard time and all he could think about is the stupid, stupid bet!" Mitsui grumbled to no one in particular.
"Speaking of the bet," Hotta dangerously continued, "I think it would be SAFER for us all if we just cancelled the bet okay? Technically, you should have won anyway."
"Yeah," a small skinny guy they simply referred to as "you" said. "I could still give you my Playstation."
"Can you guys just lay off?" Mitsui shouted.
"I know, maybe we should start looking for your next guy. A little less feisty this time maybe?" Hotta said, looking around the cafeteria.
"Call it off," Mitsui grumbled.
"Call what of?"
"EVERYTHING!" Mitsui shouted, startling some students who were peacefully eating their lunches on the nearby tables. Mitsui quickly sat back down, but not before he scanned the cafeteria. He had just noticed that Miyagi wasn't there. He was just about to question Miyagi's absence when the cafeteria doors opened and Miyagi entered the cafeteria. He looked like he had been running.
Mitsui was aware that he was alone. Where was Hideki? Then Mitsui and Miyagi both found Hideki at the same time. Hideki was seated near the end of the cafeteria. He was laughing. And he had his arm - Mitsui's heart sank - around another guy, who seemed to be laughing at his jokes. Mitsui started to panic as Miyagi approached Hideki's table. Hideki didn't even seem to notice the other boy.
Miyagi said something to get Hideki's attention. Mitsui watched as Hideki finally looked at Miyagi's direction. The younger boy said something Mitsui couldn't understand, to which Hideki laughed.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Hideki laughed. "What was that?"
"I thought we were supposed to have lunch together," Miyagi repeated.
Hideki frowned in mock thought. "Really? When was that?"
"This morning, when we -"
"When we were in the car!" Hideki completed. "I remember now. Sorry babe, something came up." He made his point clear by holding the other guy closer.
"What? But I thought you wanted t-"
Hideki interrupted him once again. "Like you said, come off it Miyagi kun. We don't need to get emotional. You know what I wanted."
"Okay," Miyagi said. It was really okay, he told himself. He didn't really care about Hideki anyway. He turned around slowly and was about to leave the cafeteria.
Hideki was annoyed. A lot of people were looking at him and he would be damned if he let Miyagi off so easily without hurting him. " But really, Miyagi kun -"
Miyagi stopped and faced Hideki. "What?"
Hideki smiled and made his voice a little bit louder for everyone to hear. "But really, you didn't really expect me to take you seriously right? I mean, come on! You're not even attractive! I only played this little game of yours to hurt Mitsui."
Miyagi tried to find a good retort for that, but he couldn't think of anything. Worse, he couldn't even move.
"It's all about Mitsui right?" Hideki continued. "The reason why you were with me was because of Mitsui too." He smiled in mock hurt. "I'm hurt Miyagi. I was only your second choice. You really wanted Mitsui, right?"
"That's -that's not true!" Miyagi found himself shouting. His heart started to beat faster. Everyone was looking at him and for some unknown reason, he was afraid.
"Really now?" Hideki stood up for effect. "You murmured his name while you were asleep. You went with me because you were afraid, weren't you? Afraid that Mitsui would just dump you after he was through with you. You wouldn't be able to live with it. That's why you chose me. Well here's some info for you; I don't want you either!"
From the other end of the cafeteria, Mitsui watch Miyagi at the verge of breaking down. He couldn't hear everything they were talking about, but he could figure that Hideki was insulting Miyagi. Mitsui gasped. This was the way it happened. This is what happened to him. Mitsui wanted to stop it, but something inside him was saying, 'Maybe now he'll feel the pain you felt back then.'
Miyagi wanted to look away, but he couldn't stop looking at Hideki. Hideki's friends were laughing. Laughing at him. "I-I don't want him," Miyagi whispered as a last measure of defending himself.
"Of course you do! Really, you're so stupid Miyagi kun. You thought this would be easier didn't you? You thought you wouldn't get hurt, but the truth hurts doesn't it Miyagi kun? I don't want you anymore and Mitsui wouldn't want you either. You know why?"
Tears that were threatening to fall blurred Miyagi's vision of Hideki's smug face. He didn't want to hear the answer, but he knew Hideki was going to tell him and his own feet didn't allow him to run away.
"I'll tell you why," Hideki said, sneering. "Mitsui is stupid, but not stupid enough to want trash thrown by others."
Miyagi blinked; his heart practically stopped. He wanted to go over to Hideki and punch him in the face but he couldn't. His feet started to back away slowly, and before he can stop himself, he turned and ran.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
"Holy shit. I have to go," Mitsui said, not waiting for a reply. His table was near the door and he ran after Miyagi. As soon as they were outside the cafeteria, he called out, "Miyagi! Wait!"
Amazingly, Miyagi stopped, his head hung low. Even more amazingly, as Mitsui approached Miyagi, the latter turned around and wrapped his arms around Mitsui and buried his face at the base of Mitsui's neck.
The force was strong and unexpected and Mitsui almost fell back when Miyagi did it. When he finally recovered, Mitsui held Miyagi closer. Feeling Miyagi's breathing, Mitsui was glad that at least Miyagi wasn't crying.
"Hideki's right," Miyagi whispered, his voice muffled by Mitsui's shirt. "I'm stupid. Stupid stupid stupid."
"That's not true," Mitsui said.
"At least now you won't have a reason to play guys anymore right?"
"What?" Mitsui broke from their tight embrace and looked down at Miyagi.
"What happened to me just now is what happened to you back then. Now you can't justify that you hurt other's feelings because your own feelings were hurt. Isn't this what you want? For everyone to go through the same pain you did?"
"It's not the same!" Mitsui lashed out, pushing Miyagi away. "It's not the same. You're not in love!"
"Not with Hideki!" Miyagi cried out. He took a deep breath and said, "You're right. That didn't hurt that much. You know why? Because I don't love Hideki. I knew that whatever he did, it wont affect me. He means nothing to me. But I knew that if it was you, if I had gone with you and you did what Hideki just did to me, I'd feel really hurt."
Mitsui's eyes widened as he realized what Miyagi's words meant. He looked down and did not reply.
"Hideki's right. I thought it would be easier this way. But it's not!"
"Stop saying that Hideki's right!" Mitsui practically screamed at Miyagi.
"I'm stupid stupid stupid."
"Stop saying that!"
"Why not?" Miyagi looked at Mitsui with contempt. "You don't even know the reason why I did all those things!"
"Then by god, Ryota why?" Mitsui asked exasperatedly. "Why did you have to do all those things?"
"Look at me," Miyagi whispered. When he other boy obliged, he gathered up all his courage and asked, "Do you still want me now?"
Mitsui stared at Miyagi. Miyagi flinched. The silence was deafening and Mitsui made no move to reply. Miyagi was starting to regret asking the question, but he knew he needed to know.
Finally, Mitsui sighed. He placed his hands on his pockets and like what he did that same morning, he walked. He walked away and never looked back.
For the second time that day, Miyagi stood, watching helplessly as Mitsui walked away. Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain gripping his chest. He could hardly breathe. Mitsui had said nothing, but his silence hurt more than all of Hideki's insults put together.
Miyagi felt the urge to cry again, but this time, he didn't stop the tears from falling.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Yey! Finished Chapter Nine in record time! *looks at wall clock* 45 minutes!! Yey!! Please, please! For all the people who read this, PLEASE review. Reviews have been a little bit slow these days, and just when the story is about to end! It might end next chapter or the one after that. PLEASE PLEASE. I beg you guys to PLEASE review. Thanks to those faithful reviewers: (btw, if you have a nice line or quote which you think would fit nicely into the ending chapter, please do suggest ) qkslvr (the one who read but didn't review before), my sis Ryosashi, chris (where are you?), annachan, Miyahara Yuuki, Aki7, Crescent Quetzalcoatl, Mayumi (Thank you my muse)
Btw, I changed the summary to fit the current storyline more ^___^
Mitsui pressed his cheek against the cold cement wall of the school building's entrance. He knew it was a ridiculous hour - 6:00 a.m. - to go to rushing towards school and he knew that he looked ridiculous to some few punctual students who sat in the small benches that lined the yard, books opened at their laps and studying for their first period class. Mitsui was seated at the highest step leading to the school's sliding glass door with his duffel bag at his side, his left arm perched on top of it.
Miyagi had cut classes yesterday afternoon. He wasn't even present for the basketball team's practice in the gym. First thing Mitsui did that morning was to call Miyagi. No, his mom had said, Miyagi did not come home at all last night. The last thing that entered Mitsui's mind was to call Hideki, but his pride kept him from dialing the number that was once so familiar to him. He was afraid it was true; What if he had heard Miyagi's voice? What if Hideki bragged right there on the phone?
Suddenly, Mitsui blinked at the sound of a car horn. He slowly got up and dusted the back of his pants. The familiar Red Toyota that Hideki has been driving around for what seemed like forever - but still looked brand new - pulled over at the side of the road. Mitsui was sure that it was Hideki, judging by the way the girls by the gate where giggling and trying to look cute.
Mitsui took his duffel bag and ran towards the car, but stopped short. Did he really want to see Miyagi with Hideki? But Mitsui had barely stopped when he heard a familiar voice boast, "You know how much it cost to have that car triple waxed?"
Miyagi stopped and his eyes widened as he saw Mitsui standing there in the middle of the courtyard. His sudden stop forced Hideki, who had his left arm around Miyagi, to stop as well. He looked inquisitively at Miyagi, wondering why the boy stopped and why Miyagi was not interested about the cost of triple waxing when he finally noticed Mitsui's presence. "Ah Mitsui kun! Good morning! Isn't it a little bit too early for you?"
Mitsui regained his composure and retorted, "It's too early for you too Hideki. Are you sure you didn't miss any of your beauty sleep?"
Hideki laughed. "Really Mitsui. We didn't have time to sleep!" He gave Miyagi a peck on the cheek. "Sorry babe but I have matters to take care of right now. I'll just see you lunch okay?"
Miyagi nodded hurriedly before Hideki skipped away, giving Mitsui a sneer that the latter hated so much. Mitsui suspected Hideki went off to boast to everyone about his latest conquest. Mitsui looked at Miyagi, who had not moved from his spot.
Miyagi looked at Mitsui and hesitantly said, "Hey."
Mitsui did not reply. If he opened his mouth, he was afraid he'd scream 'How could you?' and bring attention upon himself. He didn't want a confrontation with Miyagi either. He knew he'd regret it later, but he turned around and walked away, leaving Miyagi standing there.
The younger boy gazed at Mitsui's retreating back and bit his lower lip. He didn't want to admit how much it hurt, but he believed that he brought this upon himself. He felt a soft hand on his shoulder. Miyagi turned around and saw Ayako. Ayako gave him a small smile. Miyagi loved her that way. She didn't pass judgment or even ask.
"He hates me," Miyagi whispered, his voice at the point of breaking.
"No he doesn't," Ayako said. "He's mad at you. And he's even madder that he doesn't hate you."
Miyagi turned to look at the direction where Mitsui had walked away. "I miss him already."
"You want me to whack him with my fan later at practice? That might work."
"Do you think I deserved this? Him getting mad at me, I mean."
Ayako smiled at Miyagi knowingly. "I know you asked for this, but all the same, you don't deserve this. You're too good a person." She saw Miyagi sigh and she saw how tired the other boy really was. A while ago, Miyagi was almost in tears. She saw how Mitsui decided to ignore Miyagi and she even wanted to whack some sense into her sempai right then and there. "Are you ready to face your ever growing crowd of rumor fanatics?"
"Bring it on," Miyagi said, his voice lacking the determination the cliché grasped for. "Nothing could hurt worse than what just happened now."
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
If he had thought earlier that nothing could hurt more than that morning's events, Miyagi was definitely wrong. He had found out that Hideki and his "cronies" had spread the news all over school. He had to sit through class, knowing that his classmates where talking behind his back. He could hear them and he could feel them staring at him. Even the teachers had commented once or twice. Even seeing Rukawa and Sakuragi together hurt him. He knew he should be happy for them but he still wondered deep inside how unfair it is that things were looking up for them while he is in the dumps. The biggest thing he dreaded was lunchtime, where he would have to sit together with Hideki and his group. Miyagi even hoped Hideki would dump him as soon as possible.
Ayako and Yasuda have done their best to comfort him but now Miyagi was alone. He was standing in front of his locker, dumping all his things inside. He didn't want to bring anything with him to the cafeteria.
"Hey."
Surprised, Miyagi turned towards the familiar voice. "Mitsui san."
Mitsui hesitated. "Miyagi, I-" he was interrupted by Miyagi's hollow laughter. Slightly annoyed, Mitsui asked, "What's so funny?"
"It really is over, huh?" Miyagi said with a sad smile. "Remember? During the bet you called me by my first name. Now we're back to surnames huh?"
"I wasn't aware. I didn't really mean it like that," Mitsui said, though he was a little bit startled by Miyagi's observation. He wasn't even aware of the change.
"I guess you must be really mad at me right now," Miyagi said in an uncharacteristically weak voice.
"Mad? My god I don't even know what to feel right now. I'm not even sure how you feel right now. I don't even know what's going on in your mind!" Mitsui punched the locker next to Miyagi's, making the later flinch. "I AM mad. You're a traitor, you know that?" Mitsui looked at Miyagi accusingly.
"I'm not!" Miyagi half-cried out. He knew Mitsui's anger was justifiable but he didn't deserve to be called names. "You're just mad because you lost the bet with your gang!"
"It's not about that and you know it!" Mitsui pointed out quickly, his loud voice garnering attention from the students in the hallway.
"Oh right," Miyagi said, biting his lip again. His lip looked a little sore from all the biting but it was all he could do to keep from crying. "It's because you thought we had something going on for us, right? But isn't that what you led Seiko to believe too? What about the other guys? Isn't this just a game for you?"
Mitsui couldn't answer the questions. It's as if Miyagi had read his mind. Those were the same questions that he had asked himself all morning. Why was he so mad at Miyagi anyway? He didn't know. It was a different type of anger and it scared him that he didn't know what made him feel this way.
"At least, after all of this, we can still be friends, right?" Miyagi asked.
Mitsui wanted to laugh. "What made you say that?"
Miyagi smiled sadly. "Remember Seiko? I bet a week or two from now, we'll be laughing about this and everything will be back to normal."
Mitsui cringed when he heard the word "bet". Normal? He doubted it. "I guess," he finally answered.
"I have to go now," Miyagi said. "I'm having lunch with you-know-who."
Mitsui chose not to reply. He stood still while Miyagi walked past him.
"Mitsui san?"
Mitsui turned around. Miyagi was still there behind him. "Hm?"
"I'm sorry you lost the bet with your gang."
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Mitsui was practically stabbing the grilled pork on his lunch tray. His gang looked on apprehensively as Mitsui's mad cooked meat murders continued. Finally, the plastic fork broke in half and Mitsui, in anger, threw the broken pieces across the cafeteria, where it hit the west wall, covering the peeling paint with meat sauce.
"Uh, Mit-chan, are you okay?" Hotta asked hesitantly, afraid that Mitsui would take out his anger on him.
"Stupid guy, this is a hard time and all he could think about is the stupid, stupid bet!" Mitsui grumbled to no one in particular.
"Speaking of the bet," Hotta dangerously continued, "I think it would be SAFER for us all if we just cancelled the bet okay? Technically, you should have won anyway."
"Yeah," a small skinny guy they simply referred to as "you" said. "I could still give you my Playstation."
"Can you guys just lay off?" Mitsui shouted.
"I know, maybe we should start looking for your next guy. A little less feisty this time maybe?" Hotta said, looking around the cafeteria.
"Call it off," Mitsui grumbled.
"Call what of?"
"EVERYTHING!" Mitsui shouted, startling some students who were peacefully eating their lunches on the nearby tables. Mitsui quickly sat back down, but not before he scanned the cafeteria. He had just noticed that Miyagi wasn't there. He was just about to question Miyagi's absence when the cafeteria doors opened and Miyagi entered the cafeteria. He looked like he had been running.
Mitsui was aware that he was alone. Where was Hideki? Then Mitsui and Miyagi both found Hideki at the same time. Hideki was seated near the end of the cafeteria. He was laughing. And he had his arm - Mitsui's heart sank - around another guy, who seemed to be laughing at his jokes. Mitsui started to panic as Miyagi approached Hideki's table. Hideki didn't even seem to notice the other boy.
Miyagi said something to get Hideki's attention. Mitsui watched as Hideki finally looked at Miyagi's direction. The younger boy said something Mitsui couldn't understand, to which Hideki laughed.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Hideki laughed. "What was that?"
"I thought we were supposed to have lunch together," Miyagi repeated.
Hideki frowned in mock thought. "Really? When was that?"
"This morning, when we -"
"When we were in the car!" Hideki completed. "I remember now. Sorry babe, something came up." He made his point clear by holding the other guy closer.
"What? But I thought you wanted t-"
Hideki interrupted him once again. "Like you said, come off it Miyagi kun. We don't need to get emotional. You know what I wanted."
"Okay," Miyagi said. It was really okay, he told himself. He didn't really care about Hideki anyway. He turned around slowly and was about to leave the cafeteria.
Hideki was annoyed. A lot of people were looking at him and he would be damned if he let Miyagi off so easily without hurting him. " But really, Miyagi kun -"
Miyagi stopped and faced Hideki. "What?"
Hideki smiled and made his voice a little bit louder for everyone to hear. "But really, you didn't really expect me to take you seriously right? I mean, come on! You're not even attractive! I only played this little game of yours to hurt Mitsui."
Miyagi tried to find a good retort for that, but he couldn't think of anything. Worse, he couldn't even move.
"It's all about Mitsui right?" Hideki continued. "The reason why you were with me was because of Mitsui too." He smiled in mock hurt. "I'm hurt Miyagi. I was only your second choice. You really wanted Mitsui, right?"
"That's -that's not true!" Miyagi found himself shouting. His heart started to beat faster. Everyone was looking at him and for some unknown reason, he was afraid.
"Really now?" Hideki stood up for effect. "You murmured his name while you were asleep. You went with me because you were afraid, weren't you? Afraid that Mitsui would just dump you after he was through with you. You wouldn't be able to live with it. That's why you chose me. Well here's some info for you; I don't want you either!"
From the other end of the cafeteria, Mitsui watch Miyagi at the verge of breaking down. He couldn't hear everything they were talking about, but he could figure that Hideki was insulting Miyagi. Mitsui gasped. This was the way it happened. This is what happened to him. Mitsui wanted to stop it, but something inside him was saying, 'Maybe now he'll feel the pain you felt back then.'
Miyagi wanted to look away, but he couldn't stop looking at Hideki. Hideki's friends were laughing. Laughing at him. "I-I don't want him," Miyagi whispered as a last measure of defending himself.
"Of course you do! Really, you're so stupid Miyagi kun. You thought this would be easier didn't you? You thought you wouldn't get hurt, but the truth hurts doesn't it Miyagi kun? I don't want you anymore and Mitsui wouldn't want you either. You know why?"
Tears that were threatening to fall blurred Miyagi's vision of Hideki's smug face. He didn't want to hear the answer, but he knew Hideki was going to tell him and his own feet didn't allow him to run away.
"I'll tell you why," Hideki said, sneering. "Mitsui is stupid, but not stupid enough to want trash thrown by others."
Miyagi blinked; his heart practically stopped. He wanted to go over to Hideki and punch him in the face but he couldn't. His feet started to back away slowly, and before he can stop himself, he turned and ran.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
"Holy shit. I have to go," Mitsui said, not waiting for a reply. His table was near the door and he ran after Miyagi. As soon as they were outside the cafeteria, he called out, "Miyagi! Wait!"
Amazingly, Miyagi stopped, his head hung low. Even more amazingly, as Mitsui approached Miyagi, the latter turned around and wrapped his arms around Mitsui and buried his face at the base of Mitsui's neck.
The force was strong and unexpected and Mitsui almost fell back when Miyagi did it. When he finally recovered, Mitsui held Miyagi closer. Feeling Miyagi's breathing, Mitsui was glad that at least Miyagi wasn't crying.
"Hideki's right," Miyagi whispered, his voice muffled by Mitsui's shirt. "I'm stupid. Stupid stupid stupid."
"That's not true," Mitsui said.
"At least now you won't have a reason to play guys anymore right?"
"What?" Mitsui broke from their tight embrace and looked down at Miyagi.
"What happened to me just now is what happened to you back then. Now you can't justify that you hurt other's feelings because your own feelings were hurt. Isn't this what you want? For everyone to go through the same pain you did?"
"It's not the same!" Mitsui lashed out, pushing Miyagi away. "It's not the same. You're not in love!"
"Not with Hideki!" Miyagi cried out. He took a deep breath and said, "You're right. That didn't hurt that much. You know why? Because I don't love Hideki. I knew that whatever he did, it wont affect me. He means nothing to me. But I knew that if it was you, if I had gone with you and you did what Hideki just did to me, I'd feel really hurt."
Mitsui's eyes widened as he realized what Miyagi's words meant. He looked down and did not reply.
"Hideki's right. I thought it would be easier this way. But it's not!"
"Stop saying that Hideki's right!" Mitsui practically screamed at Miyagi.
"I'm stupid stupid stupid."
"Stop saying that!"
"Why not?" Miyagi looked at Mitsui with contempt. "You don't even know the reason why I did all those things!"
"Then by god, Ryota why?" Mitsui asked exasperatedly. "Why did you have to do all those things?"
"Look at me," Miyagi whispered. When he other boy obliged, he gathered up all his courage and asked, "Do you still want me now?"
Mitsui stared at Miyagi. Miyagi flinched. The silence was deafening and Mitsui made no move to reply. Miyagi was starting to regret asking the question, but he knew he needed to know.
Finally, Mitsui sighed. He placed his hands on his pockets and like what he did that same morning, he walked. He walked away and never looked back.
For the second time that day, Miyagi stood, watching helplessly as Mitsui walked away. Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain gripping his chest. He could hardly breathe. Mitsui had said nothing, but his silence hurt more than all of Hideki's insults put together.
Miyagi felt the urge to cry again, but this time, he didn't stop the tears from falling.
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Yey! Finished Chapter Nine in record time! *looks at wall clock* 45 minutes!! Yey!! Please, please! For all the people who read this, PLEASE review. Reviews have been a little bit slow these days, and just when the story is about to end! It might end next chapter or the one after that. PLEASE PLEASE. I beg you guys to PLEASE review. Thanks to those faithful reviewers: (btw, if you have a nice line or quote which you think would fit nicely into the ending chapter, please do suggest ) qkslvr (the one who read but didn't review before), my sis Ryosashi, chris (where are you?), annachan, Miyahara Yuuki, Aki7, Crescent Quetzalcoatl, Mayumi (Thank you my muse)
Btw, I changed the summary to fit the current storyline more ^___^