Disclaimer: Mars does not belong to me.
Wow, fifteen reviews for my fifteenth chapter. That's really great. I think that's the most reviews I've gotten for one chapter. I'm really sorry, but I can't reply to each of those reviews. I mean, I could, but that would take up a lot of space and time. So, I'll just let everyone know that I've read each review, and appreciated them all.
She stared hard at the cracked concrete below her feet as she thought about what she would do about her decision. It was either she dumped Rei, and had him hate her because she broke up with him and hooked up with Brian. Or she'd tell him the truth and be alone. Was it better for him to hate her for being dirty, or for betraying his trust?
When she finally got home she went directly to her room. She didn't stop for dinner, although her mother made her favorite meal, miso soup.
Kira changed out of her light blue sweater and jeans into old track pants, a t-shirt and put on her terribly stained smock.
Perhaps painting would take her mind off of things and help her to think better.
She stood in front of her easel for a while and stared blankly out the bay window, looking for some sort of inspiration.
Unfortunately she found none, and decided to pick up one of her thicker brushes, and took up a bottle of black paint.
She held it for a while, and stared at the white canvas. She began thinking of how pure it looked, unstained by anything. This thought made her think of herself, making her feel angry and sad at the same time.
Before she could think about it she raised her hand and began to strike the canvas with the brush, making streaks of black everywhere.
She looked at what she'd done and began to cry silently. Nothing was helping and she still felt as lost as ever.
Her cell phone began to ring, interrupting her thoughts.
"Hello?" she answered feebly.
"Hey... What's wrong? It sounds as if you've been crying," Rei said softly on the other line.
"It's nothing, really Rei. I told you not to worry about it," she said, a small smile creeping upon her face.
"Well, okay if you say so. Um, I don't have to go to work today, and since I didn't get to take you home today I was figuring that maybe we could hang out or something," Rei suggested, feeling a little shy about it.
"Oh, I'm... um... busy," she said slowly. If she saw him before lunch she'd probably lose the courage to break up with him.
"No you're not. You told Harumi that you had no homework tonight, and you finished your project yesterday," Rei replied, she could hear the boyish grin in his voice.
"You're right," she said sadly, knowing she'd been defeated. She wouldn't be able to back out of it now.
"Good, then meet me outside in twenty minutes," he said before hanging up.
She sighed heavily, looking at her "work of art." Her mother would be disappointed that she'd wasted canvas like that. They didn't have that much money nowadays.
"Hey you," Rei said as he pulled up behind her.
She spun around to look at him. The orange glow from the street lamps were reflected from the visor of his helmet.
"Hey," she replied, going behind him to get onto his motorcycle.
They rode until they came upon the park where they first met. It seemed to be a favorite spot for them.
"Do you recognize this place?" Rei asked as Kira got of the bike and slowly walked away from the bike.
She turned to face him, a large smile upon her face.
"Of course I remember where this is!" she exclaimed. "As if I could ever forget." Kira smiled as she remembered the first day she saw him. He'd changed so much from the reckless guy he was back then.
He smiled at her, both touched and pleased that she remembered.
He got off and headed towards the nearest bench and sat down. Moments later she joined him.
"We haven't had any alone time like this, so I just..." he finished off with a shrug.
She smiled at him faintly and placed her head gently against his strong shoulders.
"What's wrong? You seem a bit different today," he told her.
"Hmm? Nothing's wrong. I'm just enjoying the moment," she said, trying her hardest to sound content, although deep down her heart was breaking. This could be their last moment together like this. She dreaded the day that she'd have to go back to school and face Brian.
"Good morning my sweetness," Brian said from behind Kira, placing a hand on either side of her waist.
"Don't touch me," she replied, her voice colder than ice.
"Aww, come on. If we're going to be dating you could at least pretend that you enjoy it," Brian said, stuffing a hand in each pocket.
"You disgust me," Kira spat at him.
He shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. "You have until lunch, I'll be watching you. If you don't tell him by then I'll have to intervene. Until we see each other again my love," he said before turning and going to his next class.
She walked sadly to her classroom across the hall and took her seat.
"Kira? What's he matter? You seem distracted," Rei said concernedly. It was only him and her today. Tatsuya and Harumi cut school that day to spend some quality time together.
Kira nervously looked left and right, wondering where Brian was. He said that he'd be watching her.
"Kira?! You're really starting to freak me out. You've been acting strange all week," Rei told her, reaching for her hand.
The moment his fingers grazed her hand her eyes locked with Brian's across the room. She nervously pulled her hand from his reach and placed them on her lap.
"There's something I need to tell you," Kira said finally. She kept her eyes on Brian the entire time. Kira could almost read his thoughts. He was happy, and was probably planning their first date together.
"What is it?" Rei asked, his face faltering. It was rarely good when someone started a conversation that way.
"There's something I've been hiding from you," she said, taking her eyes from Brian and looking at the floor. She could feel Brian's smile. He thought that he'd won. "When I was in junior high school..." she began to tell him the entire story of her abuse.
"Oh my god Kira," Rei said breathlessly when she was finished telling her story. He placed a hand over his eyes. Rei guessed that she must have had some sort of bad history with men because of the way Kira pulled away from him when things between them heated up. He thought that it was that bad.
"I'll understand if you don't want to be with me anymore," she said sadly.
He was confused by her statement. "What are you talking about? Why would I want to break up with you?" he asked.
"I'm dirty... I slept with my step father," she told him, tears now running wildly down her blushed cheeks. "It's disgusting."
"You're not dirty, and it's not your fault that you're stepfather's an asshole," Rei told her, wiping her tears away with the pad of his thumb.
He pulled her into a warm embrace. Rei didn't care about who saw them, or what kind of rules the school had against public displays of affection.
"Is that why you were acting so strangely all week?" he asked her softly as he inhaled the scent of roses from her hair.
Her thoughts suddenly went back to Brian and she pulled away from Rei slowly. Kira nodded at him. "Brian blackmailed me. He said that if I didn't break up with you that he'd tell you what happened. I went along with it for a while because I thought that you'd leave me,"she said, tears streaming down her cheeks once more.
"You didn't have to hide it from me sweetie. I could never hold something like that against you," he said as he kissed her forehead.
"I love you Rei, thank you," Kira said as she embraced his hug. She truly felt like the luckiest person on earth.
"I love you too," he replied as he looked up from her hair and scanned the lunchroom. His eyes rested on Brian as he hurriedly left the lunchroom. Rei began to think of some way to get back at him. Nobody gets away with blackmailing his girlfriend.
Author's Notes- I'm sorry for the long wait for this chapter. As an apology I made this chapter longer. I know it seems that I've been spending more time on my latest Mars fanfiction, and it's true I have. I promise that I'll finish this one. As you can see it's coming to an end, if you have any suggestions for an ending let me know. If I choose any of your ideas I'll make sure I give you credit. Please review!!!
Wow, fifteen reviews for my fifteenth chapter. That's really great. I think that's the most reviews I've gotten for one chapter. I'm really sorry, but I can't reply to each of those reviews. I mean, I could, but that would take up a lot of space and time. So, I'll just let everyone know that I've read each review, and appreciated them all.
She stared hard at the cracked concrete below her feet as she thought about what she would do about her decision. It was either she dumped Rei, and had him hate her because she broke up with him and hooked up with Brian. Or she'd tell him the truth and be alone. Was it better for him to hate her for being dirty, or for betraying his trust?
When she finally got home she went directly to her room. She didn't stop for dinner, although her mother made her favorite meal, miso soup.
Kira changed out of her light blue sweater and jeans into old track pants, a t-shirt and put on her terribly stained smock.
Perhaps painting would take her mind off of things and help her to think better.
She stood in front of her easel for a while and stared blankly out the bay window, looking for some sort of inspiration.
Unfortunately she found none, and decided to pick up one of her thicker brushes, and took up a bottle of black paint.
She held it for a while, and stared at the white canvas. She began thinking of how pure it looked, unstained by anything. This thought made her think of herself, making her feel angry and sad at the same time.
Before she could think about it she raised her hand and began to strike the canvas with the brush, making streaks of black everywhere.
She looked at what she'd done and began to cry silently. Nothing was helping and she still felt as lost as ever.
Her cell phone began to ring, interrupting her thoughts.
"Hello?" she answered feebly.
"Hey... What's wrong? It sounds as if you've been crying," Rei said softly on the other line.
"It's nothing, really Rei. I told you not to worry about it," she said, a small smile creeping upon her face.
"Well, okay if you say so. Um, I don't have to go to work today, and since I didn't get to take you home today I was figuring that maybe we could hang out or something," Rei suggested, feeling a little shy about it.
"Oh, I'm... um... busy," she said slowly. If she saw him before lunch she'd probably lose the courage to break up with him.
"No you're not. You told Harumi that you had no homework tonight, and you finished your project yesterday," Rei replied, she could hear the boyish grin in his voice.
"You're right," she said sadly, knowing she'd been defeated. She wouldn't be able to back out of it now.
"Good, then meet me outside in twenty minutes," he said before hanging up.
She sighed heavily, looking at her "work of art." Her mother would be disappointed that she'd wasted canvas like that. They didn't have that much money nowadays.
"Hey you," Rei said as he pulled up behind her.
She spun around to look at him. The orange glow from the street lamps were reflected from the visor of his helmet.
"Hey," she replied, going behind him to get onto his motorcycle.
They rode until they came upon the park where they first met. It seemed to be a favorite spot for them.
"Do you recognize this place?" Rei asked as Kira got of the bike and slowly walked away from the bike.
She turned to face him, a large smile upon her face.
"Of course I remember where this is!" she exclaimed. "As if I could ever forget." Kira smiled as she remembered the first day she saw him. He'd changed so much from the reckless guy he was back then.
He smiled at her, both touched and pleased that she remembered.
He got off and headed towards the nearest bench and sat down. Moments later she joined him.
"We haven't had any alone time like this, so I just..." he finished off with a shrug.
She smiled at him faintly and placed her head gently against his strong shoulders.
"What's wrong? You seem a bit different today," he told her.
"Hmm? Nothing's wrong. I'm just enjoying the moment," she said, trying her hardest to sound content, although deep down her heart was breaking. This could be their last moment together like this. She dreaded the day that she'd have to go back to school and face Brian.
"Good morning my sweetness," Brian said from behind Kira, placing a hand on either side of her waist.
"Don't touch me," she replied, her voice colder than ice.
"Aww, come on. If we're going to be dating you could at least pretend that you enjoy it," Brian said, stuffing a hand in each pocket.
"You disgust me," Kira spat at him.
He shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. "You have until lunch, I'll be watching you. If you don't tell him by then I'll have to intervene. Until we see each other again my love," he said before turning and going to his next class.
She walked sadly to her classroom across the hall and took her seat.
"Kira? What's he matter? You seem distracted," Rei said concernedly. It was only him and her today. Tatsuya and Harumi cut school that day to spend some quality time together.
Kira nervously looked left and right, wondering where Brian was. He said that he'd be watching her.
"Kira?! You're really starting to freak me out. You've been acting strange all week," Rei told her, reaching for her hand.
The moment his fingers grazed her hand her eyes locked with Brian's across the room. She nervously pulled her hand from his reach and placed them on her lap.
"There's something I need to tell you," Kira said finally. She kept her eyes on Brian the entire time. Kira could almost read his thoughts. He was happy, and was probably planning their first date together.
"What is it?" Rei asked, his face faltering. It was rarely good when someone started a conversation that way.
"There's something I've been hiding from you," she said, taking her eyes from Brian and looking at the floor. She could feel Brian's smile. He thought that he'd won. "When I was in junior high school..." she began to tell him the entire story of her abuse.
"Oh my god Kira," Rei said breathlessly when she was finished telling her story. He placed a hand over his eyes. Rei guessed that she must have had some sort of bad history with men because of the way Kira pulled away from him when things between them heated up. He thought that it was that bad.
"I'll understand if you don't want to be with me anymore," she said sadly.
He was confused by her statement. "What are you talking about? Why would I want to break up with you?" he asked.
"I'm dirty... I slept with my step father," she told him, tears now running wildly down her blushed cheeks. "It's disgusting."
"You're not dirty, and it's not your fault that you're stepfather's an asshole," Rei told her, wiping her tears away with the pad of his thumb.
He pulled her into a warm embrace. Rei didn't care about who saw them, or what kind of rules the school had against public displays of affection.
"Is that why you were acting so strangely all week?" he asked her softly as he inhaled the scent of roses from her hair.
Her thoughts suddenly went back to Brian and she pulled away from Rei slowly. Kira nodded at him. "Brian blackmailed me. He said that if I didn't break up with you that he'd tell you what happened. I went along with it for a while because I thought that you'd leave me,"she said, tears streaming down her cheeks once more.
"You didn't have to hide it from me sweetie. I could never hold something like that against you," he said as he kissed her forehead.
"I love you Rei, thank you," Kira said as she embraced his hug. She truly felt like the luckiest person on earth.
"I love you too," he replied as he looked up from her hair and scanned the lunchroom. His eyes rested on Brian as he hurriedly left the lunchroom. Rei began to think of some way to get back at him. Nobody gets away with blackmailing his girlfriend.
Author's Notes- I'm sorry for the long wait for this chapter. As an apology I made this chapter longer. I know it seems that I've been spending more time on my latest Mars fanfiction, and it's true I have. I promise that I'll finish this one. As you can see it's coming to an end, if you have any suggestions for an ending let me know. If I choose any of your ideas I'll make sure I give you credit. Please review!!!