Broken
Chapter Three: Friends and Enemies
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Author's Notes: It's midnight here... and my eyes are getting so droopy. I'm so tired... so I apologize for any errors made. I'm off to bed now...
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"Mr. Fanel?" the teacher questioned as the bell rang, a slight tone of annoyance set tightly deeply within her voice. "Would you mind taking a seat, or would you prefer to just stand there until you figure out what it is about Miss Kanzaki that fascinates you so much?"
At the sight of this, Hitomi's cheeks went fiery, and she quickly looked down at her lap, calmly pretending to brush something off. Van snapped out of his trance then, as if he had suddenly gotten the answer he wanted. And in fact he had.
Kanzaki... Hitomi... my god, it really is her. She's back... she's back...
He didn't know what to do right then when it sunk into him that the girl whom he had spent his childhood with was finally back here once again, alive and in the flesh. He had missed her for so many years, but though recently, during the last three years, ever since rising up from the basketball team during his sophomore year, she had unconsciously slipped from his mind. She was back now though, finally. She was really back.
"Van," the teacher said as she gave him a push to his seat. "Please, sit down. You may continue to admire Miss Kanzaki after class because right now, I really need to start class."
Stunned and slightly embarrassed, Van could only nod understandingly. "Yes, Mrs. Youko. I'm sorry."
She seemed to ignore his apology this time as she turned to Hitomi. "And class, if Mr. Fanel hasn't made it painfully obvious already, this is Hitomi Kanzaki, our new student here at Escaflowne High. Please make her feel welcome, as Allen and Yukari seem to have already done."
When the whole class nodded, Mrs. Youko resumed to her teaching. And throughout the hour, Van found himself powerlessly looking back at Hitomi repeatedly, making sure that she was still there and that it was actually her, and that he was not imagining her sitting there in his class. Kyoko caught sight of this several times, and didn't seem too happy with him after class.
"You like her, don't you?" she accused the moment they stepped out of the class. "My god, Van! What is it about her that makes you stop dead in your tracks like that? She's only a high school girl just like the rest of us, not like some goddess or something. She isn't even all that pretty! So what's your problem?"
Van only shrugged as he gave her his ear to her constant nagging. "You need to chill, Kyoko," he said lowly as he put away his books into his locker with a calm. "And stop freaking out. Besides, you're not the only pretty girl in this school. Stop being so stuck up."
"I wouldn't be talking, Van," she snapped at him. When Van frowned at her, she turned away, and walked on down to her next class.
As Hitomi watched from the other side of the hall, she couldn't help but question how Van had changed so much. "Allen, you've known me and Van ever since we were little... and since I moved away, when did he start to change so much?"
Allen looked down at her, a feeling of uneasiness beginning to drown him. He honestly didn't want to be the one telling her the bad news. "What do you mean?"
"I mean... Allen, you know what I mean."
"Like... are you asking me how he turned into such a cocky bastard?"
Hitomi gave him a look of disapproval before turning back to stare at her childhood friend. "Hey now, he couldn't have changed that much."
"Oh, you're in for a surprise. I really hate to tell you this, Hitomi, but Van is no longer... well, the Van you knew before. He has a whole new life now. He's the captain and the star of the basketball team... and he's dating the most popular and might I add and correct now, the second prettiest girl in the school."
Finding it quite weird that he would name Kyoko the second prettiest, she couldn't help but ask who was the first. And when he answered the question with a smile, her cheeks turned pink and she looked away from him, ignoring what had just happened. "So... are you saying that his life is going pretty good now?"
"I can't judge, Hitomi," he answered, not wanting to hurt her. "Only he could answer that for you."
"Yeah... but I mean, if he's living the popular life, then everything in his life must be going great, right?" she asked. When Allen only shrugged, she turned back to look at him. "What about you though, Allen? I heard from Yukari that you're also quite the heartthrob. Van's not the only one, I see. Got a girlfriend?" she teased lightly with a smile.
He only laughed at her ridiculous question. "Anyway," he said, successful in changing the subject. "We've only got a minute to get to class, so I'm going to head down this direction. I'll meet you by either your classroom or your locker afterwards, alright?"
Hitomi nodded. "Alright. Thanks, Allen. I'll see you later."
"Yeah, no problem. See ya."
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"Psst, hey, new girl."
Turning around to see who was bothering her, Hitomi saw a beautiful brunette glaring at her as if she had just done something completely insulting to her. Confused as to why the girl was looking at her that way, Hitomi decided to ignore it and turned back around. It wasn't long though before the girl called to her again.
"Hey, you, Kanzaki girl, look here."
Hitomi turned around again, but this time, no dirty looks were present upon the girl's face. Instead, only a note was passed over to her. Hitomi accepted it willingly and slowly opened it up.
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Kanzaki,
Stay away from Van. I don't know what it is about you, but don't be stupid and make the mistake by thinking that he likes you. Because in reality, he doesn't, got that? He's taken, he has a girlfriend, and that's me. He's mine and I'm his'. He loves me. He doesn't need anyone else, so don't get too close to him—not that you would have the chance to anyway. Just keep that in mind.
Kyoko
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When Hitomi finished, an expression of annoyance was written clearly upon her face. Who was she to tell her to back off of Van? Sure, she was his girlfriend, but that didn't mean that she could control him like that, choosing who he could hang out with or whatnot. Picking up her pencil, Hitomi wrote back.
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Kyoko,
You have no idea how close Van and I were. With that statement said however, please don't think of me as a threat, because I don't think that I really am. If I am though, it is really up to Van, although I really don't want to interfere with you guys. I came back here for him, so everything will be up to him, but if he loves you like you claim he does, then I shouldn't be a problem, right?
Hitomi
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Kanzaki,
Who ever said that you were a threat to me? You're not, I was only just warning you before. And whatever you and Van had before, and whatever hopes you have of getting with him, trust me, you can just forget about it all. Van has pursued me ever since sixth grade when we first met in middle school. We've been together for nearly two years now. I don't think he'd want anyone else, and much less, you.
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Kyoko,
I've only been here for an hour and already you're picking me out. You make it seem like I'm really a threat, and I haven't even done anything yet. I honestly don't understand why you're being the way you are to me. Actually... now that I think about it, I guess this is kind of typical.
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Kanzaki,
What would you know about it? You wouldn't, would you?
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Kyoko,
I've seen enough to keep me from being pushed around.
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The bell rang by the time Hitomi finished writing her sentence. Class was finally over. She stood up, grabbed her bag, and then leaned over to give Kyoko the note before exiting the room. Right when she walked out the door, she found Allen standing there, waiting for her patiently. Immediately, a smile brightened up her face.
"How was class?" he asked as they headed down the hall to her locker.
"It was okay, I guess," she answered. "Kyoko wrote a note to me, telling me to stay away from Van. She told me that he loves her and whatever hopes that I have to be with him that I should just forget it and give up. And you know, Allen, honestly, I don't want to intrude on them, but I... he... before I left, we made a promise to each other..."
Allen nodded almost immediately, as if he understood everything completely. "I get it. You guys promised to be with each other, didn't you?"
Hitomi nodded.
"That's the trouble with promises," Allen said softly. "Especially promises that are meant to last forever. Fulfilling and keeping those promises are very rare nowadays, Hitomi. The world is a crazy place." He wasn't telling her that to hurt her, only to alert her of the honest truth.
"I know," she whispered with a bow of her head. "But I mean, it's Van... or at least, it was Van. He was so torn when I left... he had nobody, Allen. All of his life, it was only me that he went to and talked to. That's why I promised him... but he doesn't seem to need me now, does he?"
"Don't you worry about it, I'm sure he'll come to his senses... eventually. Van has gotten pretty pigheaded over the years, even more so than before, but I don't think he ever lost what he felt for you. I mean, it may be buried somewhere... but it's most likely still there. Otherwise, he wouldn't have embarrassed himself in front of the class this morning."
Hitomi stopped at her locker and gave him another smile. He was being so supportive of her, yet at the same time, he was gently telling her the truth, trying to avoid breaking her heart. "Thanks, Allen. Thanks so much." And honestly, she was very thankful to have him with her on her first day of school. It made it so much easier for her, having someone there for her when she got lost. However, he wasn't the person who she thought would be the one to help her around—not at all. But the thing was, he was the one who was doing it. And she was so grateful for it.
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At last, it was the end of day.
For some reason, Van wasn't feeling too well. As he opened his locker to put books in, Kyoko appeared beside him, wrapping an arm around his neck before leaning up to kiss him on the cheek.
"Hiya handsome."
He gave a low throat growl, but nothing more. When Kyoko sensed that something was wrong, she pulled away from him. "You're not mad at me, are you?" she asked.
"We're fine," he said in a gruff, causing her to frown.
"Then why are you being so mean?"
"I'm not."
"You are."
"I'm NOT."
"Van," she whined, clinging herself to his arm. "Don't be mad. Tell me what's wrong."
He turned to face her. Slowly, and unexpectedly for her, he leaned down to give her a kiss, perhaps to just shut her up or relief some stress. But it all ended too quickly, and when Van pulled away, Kyoko found herself yearning for more.
From her locker, Hitomi turned away at the sight. Seeing them kiss didn't really disgust her, only hurt her. She remained strong, however, when she saw Allen approaching her once more to drive her home.
"Ready to go, Hitomi?"
"Yeah, come on, let's go."
And they left.
Back at Van's locker, the two were still locking lips until one of Van's teammates nudged him.
"Gotta go, Kyoko. I'll call you later tonight, okay?"
She frowned at him when she was forced to let go of him. "Why couldn't you just skip practice for once to be with me?" It was a question she had constantly pestered him with.
"You know I can't skip practice, Kyoko," he said seriously. "It's not like we don't do anything outside of school and my practice. We do plenty of stuff."
Kyoko's frown flipped to become a smile. "Yeah... we do, don't we?"
Van nodded. "Yeah, so I'm gonna go now. Call ya later, bye."
"Bye."
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"Hey Dil, tell coach that I can't make it to practice today, okay?"
Almost immediately, Dilandau stopped in his steps to turn to look at Van. "What?" he asked, staring at him daftly. "Oh man, did Kyoko finally get to you? Are you seriously going to ditch practice to b—"
"No," Van interrupted immediately. "No, it's not about Kyoko. I just need to clear some things up. I don't think I'll be able to concentrate on anything unless I get it out of my system. So be sure to tell coach, okay?"
Dilandau shrugged and shook his head in disapproval. "Okay... if that's what you want..."
"Thanks, Dil. I'll see ya tomorrow."
And then he was off to visit his childhood companion.
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Next chapter update should be before or during my spring break... which is in middle April. You can contact me at imalildorkie@yahoo.com if you have any questions or AIM me at sea charm fishy. All feedback is greatly appreciated.