Chapter 12

"SENDOH?!" I exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

"Yeah, what are you doing here?" Shigeki said coldly.

"Well, I…" Sendoh started.

"YOU WHAT?" I said curiously.

"I just wanted to check up on you…" Sendoh explained. What a crappy explanation!

"WHY?!" I demanded.

Sendoh paused. "Okay, I'll be honest with you."

He'll be honest with me? What will he say? Is it related with his personal feelings for me?

"I don't like you going out with Shigeki," he insisted.

"WHY?" I repeated, louder.

Shigeki was silent. He seemed to be interested in what Sendoh's going to say.

"Shigeki's a total playboy," Sendoh commented.

Shigeki glared at Sendoh. "I am not."

"He had a reputation of cheating on his girlfriends," Sendoh continued.

Shigeki was speechless. He seemed to be guilty of Sendoh's accusation.

"I'm NOT his girlfriend. We haven't even dated yet!" I exclaimed. After I said this, Sendoh looked relieved but Shigeki looked quite upset or hurt. I don't know! I asked Shigeki sternly, "Is this true?"

Shigeki slightly bowed his head. "Yes…but..."

"But what?" I snapped.

"But …I really like you," Shigeki said unconvincingly.

"So?" I said unfeelingly.

"And also, he still has a girlfriend in Tokyo," Sendoh added.

"I don't! I dumped her…after I met you, Nanami," Shigeki said intimately.

I felt like I wanted to puke all over Shigeki and Sendoh. "How…how could you?"

The two cousins look at me, wondering whom I was talking to.

I scolded, "Shigeki, how could you waste the time of poor girls by sending them meaningless gifts and bothering them all the time but dumping them afterwards, when you find replacements for them?"

"But…" Shigeki began.

"Shut up. I'm still talking here!" I continued, "And you, Sendoh!"

"Me?" Sendoh said.

"Why didn't you tell me about Shigeki earlier?" I demanded.

"I was about to, but…" Sendoh started.

"Your precious Mitsuki came along?" I said, putting more stress on Mitsuki. "You don't even care about me anymore."

"I care about you Nanami," Sendoh protested.

"You don't look like you give a damn about me," I complained.

"*I* care about you," Shigeki murmured.

I just observed him smugly. "I'm out of here!"

I ran away as fast as I can from those two bimbos. I was hurt really bad, not by Shigeki, but by Sendoh. Why didn't he protect me from Shigeki? He thinks that he would hurt me if he said that Shigeki's a gigolo. Of course I won't be hurt if I learned that because I don't really care much about Shigeki, but he has definitely hurt me right now. How dare he conceal the truth from me? And how dare he take me for granted? I hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate him right now.

The more you hate the more you love.

Shut up, conscience!

Okay. So I still love him, but I still hate him. Argh! My feelings are confusing me.

I looked back. Sendoh and Shigeki are running after me, like rabid dogs. What are they, psychopathic? I need time alone! I need freedom. I ran faster, but being the athletes that they were, they caught up to me easily.

"Nanami, wait!" I heard Sendoh call.

"Leave her alone," Shigeki warned. "She was already hurt by you."

"You think you didn't bother her a bit?" Sendoh replied.

"Of course I did. That's why I want to apologize to her."

"Stop running after Nanami and let me talk to her."

"Why would I?"

"I'm her best friend. I know her more than you."

"You don't even care about her."

"I CARE about Nanami," Sendoh snapped. "And I won't let her fall into the arms of a delusive moron like you."

(WOW! Did Sendoh say that?)

"Stop talking about me as if I weren't here!" I demurred rudely, still running.

"Sorry," Sendoh muttered. "Could you just listen to me."

"No! I'm not listening to either of you! Lalalalalalalalalalala," I sung.

The two imbeciles, I mean Shigeki the imbecile and Sendoh, slowed down a bit, giving me the opportunity to lose them. Nyahahaha.

But now I know why they slowed down. A drop of water fell on my head. "What the…"

I looked at the sky. It was raining! More droplets of water fell down on my face. What am I doing here standing around, looking at the sky, like an idiot?! I have to go home as soon as possible! I can't afford to be sick!

Man this is tough. I'm so tired. I can't run anymore… I think…. I'm going to throw up…

It rained very hard. My head was aching already. Only a few blocks left till I reach home.

As I entered the house, my mom welcomed me worriedly. She handed me a towel to wipe myself with.

"Why were you so long? It's raining cats and dogs outside!" mom said anxiously.

"There are no cats and dogs outside," I mumbled sarcastically, stomping upstairs to my room.

"Change your clothes immediately! I don't want my little girl to get sick!" I heard my mom shout.

I was about to say, "I'm not a little girl," but she might become more upset if I answer back.

*~*~*~*~*~*

I ran downstairs in a hurry. I actually overslept again! What's wrong with me? I took a slice of bread from the kitchen and put it into my mouth. Then I speedily ran back to the living room. "Bye mom!" I shouted.

My mom walked inside the room, carrying an umbrella and one of my jackets. "Wear your jacket first and carry your umbrella with you."

"Do I have to?" I complained.

"Yes," she said, determined. "It might rain again."

I groaned and forced myself to wear the jacket, even if it'd be hot, and to carry the handy dark blue umbrella with me. "I'm going to go now! I'm late!"

"Did you eat breakfast?"

I turned around and sighed. "I ate a slice of bread."

"That's all? Eat in your school then."

"Yes mom."

"Did you check if you brought your allowance?"

"Yes mom."

"Good. Be off now."

"Yes mom…achoo!" I sneezed. Was just an ordinary sneeze? I hope it was.

"Nanami, you have caught a cold!" Mom said, troubled.

"Don't worry. I'll be fine," I said, getting a box of tissue from the drawer.

My mom finally left me alone. I took my brother's old and rusty ten speed and biked all the way to school, for the first time. I never got the chance to ride my brother's bike because he always informed me not to. Now he's gone, so I don't care about his warnings anymore.

I reached my classroom, exhausted. I removed my jacket and kept my tiny umbrella inside my disorderly backpack. Luckily, my teacher himself is late today.

I sat down on my chair, without even greeting anyone. Sendoh wasn't also around. He must have overslept too. The dastardly Yukino Mori sneaked beside me. I pretended that I didn't see her.

"HI NANAMI!" she screamed near my ears.

I covered my ears immediately. I scowled at her. "Why you…"

"WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR DATE WITH SHIGEKI?" she said aloud.

Many of my classmates, especially the girls, looked suspiciously at Yukino and me. I ducked and gestured Yukino to lower her voice.

"Okay. I get it. You want your relationship to be confidential," Yukino grinned.

"Shigeki and I don't have a relationship," I insisted. "We didn't even go out on a date!"

"Why? What happened?" Yukino asked curiously.

"I fell asleep," I said simply.

Yukino rolled her eyes. "So nothing exciting happened last night."

"We DID go to the park. But that wasn't supposed to be a date," I answered.

"The park?" Yukino grinned mischievously.

"Don't think of anything… perverted," I quickly said.

"Sure…" Yukino said, still grinning. "What happened?"

"Sendoh was there, spying on us," I heaved a sigh.

"He was there?!" Yukino said, surprised. "Ooh… he likes you."

"Shut up," I said crossly. "He told me that Shigeki's a playboy…"

"Wow," Yukino remarked. "Are you going to leave him?"

"Certainly. Why?" I said.

"It would be too bad if you do that," Yukino said. "He's really cute."

I shrugged my shoulders. "Do anything you want to him. "

After a while, my very "early" teacher came in. He apologized for his tardiness and started to teach. BORING. I wonder where Sendoh is?

Speaking of Sendoh, he entered the room shamelessly and immediately sat down beside me. Even if my teacher's writing on the board, facing oppositely of course, he detected that someone entered the classroom.

He faced us. "Well, well well. Mr. Sendoh How nice of you to join us."

He walked forward, near my seat. "Did you oversleep AGAIN?" he asked, as if he weren't tardy too.

Sendoh smirked, "Yeah."

With that reply, everyone sighed. That was a very common excuse for his tardiness: oversleeping.

"If you're constantly late, I'll send you to the principal's office," our teacher notified.

"Sure," Sendoh muttered when our "early" teacher turned his back.

*~*~*~*~*~*

During the second period, I was extremely sleepy. I wanted to sleep, but I just can't. Education is important to me, but it isn't to the guy snoring behind me.

In the corner of my eye, I saw Sendoh glancing at me several times. I pretended that I didn't see him do that. He suddenly produced a pen and a piece of torn paper from his book and began to write. Still, I acted as if I didn't care…

But I do care! I want to see what he's writing! Hey, aren't I supposed to be furious at him? I just slept for seven hours and now I completely love him again? I just can't resist his warm smile, his azure emotional eyes… All I need now is his passionate kiss… HUH?! I think I'm really becoming gay here!

His warm hand unexpectedly touched mine, and put on it the piece of paper. So the paper's for me, eh?

I secretly read the paper while the teacher wasn't looking at us. It said: "I'm sorry." That's it? How shallow! But it sort of holds a deeper meaning. From his handwriting, it showed that he was sincere and…it showed concern. And the torn paper signifies his ripped heart when I went out with Shigeki. OR he just doesn't have a piece of paper. In either case, I forgive him. Ha! We should really be together. We're both shallow!

I wrote legibly on the piece of paper, "It's okay. I'm glad you apologized."

I handed it to him, smiling. I didn't smile my usual forced smile, but a genuine one.

He read the paper and smiled back. Looks like we're back together.

What about Shigeki and Mitsuki?

Who cares about them?

*~*~*~*~*~*

Ryonan Girl: Chapter 12 is finally done! Yay! Please don't forget to click the little review button on the bottom of your screen. Come on… click it right now.

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*lowers voice* I am your conscience! REVIEW NOW!