Jade wants more! She's on the rampage…no, not really, but I'll still deliver. I'm nice like that.
*****
Pain Inside
Part 2
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The time was approximately five past noon on the same Saturday as we left our examinees last. The setting was, of course, the examination center. Technically, it was just outside of the examination center where many exhausted teenagers were reuniting with their friends or with waiting family members to spend the rest of their weekend worrying about how they did. Actually, there was one girl who was all by herself, standing alone with her sad red eyes on the ground in front of her so that she would not have to see all of the groups of her peers, friends for years and years no doubt. She had no friends, really. She wondered what it was about her that had led to such a solitary life, driving away all potential companions. Perhaps the proper way she spoke seemed a bit snooty. Maybe they envied the rich red hair that marked her as undeniably different, a red that was only slightly darker than her matching eyes. It could have been the cultured way she carried herself, her perfect posture, the ever-attentive way in which she watched the teacher at the front of the classroom. Maybe they were bothered that she did not make any overt efforts at being friendly, feeling safer in books and studying and her own lonely thoughts. If they would have looked closer, they would have learned that while she was indeed very intelligent, she was also a very warm and compassionate girl, a mature and thoughtful sort, though she was sadly shy in her own lack of confidence caused by the fact that she had no friends, that she never had any. It was something she had to bear, being on the outside and still being utterly visible. People stared at her as if to ask what she thought she was doing, living in their world without winning their approval.
She had borne this burden for nearly five years. Kakyuu Hanagata could bear it forever, she was sure. At one time, she had been sure the ache was too great. Children are too cruel to ignore sometimes, and Kakyuu had been their target for a long time. Now, though, she was sure. She could start over, here, at Eien Academy. It was a lower level school than what she knew she could qualify for, but she did not want to cause her mother financial strain. She just hoped that her undoubtedly high scores would not cause her to be a target yet again. This time, she wouldn't run. This time, she would ignore it. She was stronger now. With her mother's love, she could do anything. That was all she had.
It was all she needed.
She looked around her, letting her eyes drift from a group of five girls laughing and joking with each other, talking loudly about going for ice cream to reward themselves for sitting through the exam. And there, just a bit to the left, she saw someone who looked to be as timid and alone as Kakyuu herself. A short girl with a black bob and dark purple eyes scanning the crowd frantically. But then, even she found someone, a taller boy who might have been a brother or a friend, it was hard to tell from the way they embraced when they reached each other. They obviously cared for each other a great deal, though. Kakyuu sighed, her eyes drifting now to a couple kissing discreetly, blushing and exchanging a quick account of how they each had done. It took Kakyuu a full minute to realize that they were both girls, as the blonde had seemed at first to just be a very pretty boy. She smiled softly and let her eyes move to a group of four boys who were rowdily teasing each other and laughing loudly. Finally, she saw a group of three boys who looked somehow…special to her. Something about those three…maybe it was their long ponytails, shirking the social expectation of boys with short hair. Maybe it was their perfectly appointed outfits, or the carefree way they stood and bantered with each other. She felt like a part of her knew those boys…wanted to be closer to them. Without thinking, she stepped forward, and the one in the middle, the boy with black hair and dark blue eyes, looked up at her, his gaze piercing her so deeply she felt winded. Shocked at her own foolishness, she blushed and turned to leave, keeping her pace slow so they would not know how embarrassed she was.
That was the trick, after all. Never let them see inside.
It was stupid, anyway. Why stare at the happiness she'd never know?
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"I can't believe you fell asleep right in the middle of an exam!" Jadeite was nearly hysterical with laughter at Nephlyte's expense. The brunette in question was flushing with embarrassment and anger at the same time, and he cut off his friend by smacking him sharply in the back of the head.
"I don't know what happened." He explained to his three friends as they turned away from the crowd to head for the train station so they could go home. "I mean, I had a triple shot mocha! How can anyone fall asleep with that much caffeine in their bodies?"
"Who knows?" Zoicite, his green eyes wide and sympathetic as ever, patted his friend's back as he pondered the question. "Maybe the girl at the coffee shop got your order wrong."
"Yes, if it was decaf, that would make sense." Kunzite added his opinion. "Although it would be a terrible mistake for her to make. Do you think you'll still pass?"
"Well…I knew the answers to everything I got to before I passed out." Nephlyte shrugged. "So I guess so. Still…isn't it…a bit odd?"
"What?" Zoicite blinked at his friend again.
"Well, she didn't screw up your drinks, did she?" he asked the others, and all nodded except for Jadeite, who was still hooting and laughing at his friend. "And then…look at Jadeite, have you ever seen him so happy after an exam?"
"I suppose not, it's almost like he was the time that…" Zoicite trailed off, his mouth forming an o as realization hit. "Jadeite?"
"Ehehehe…ech, ahem, er, yeah?" Jadeite composed himself with some effort, and before Zoicite could ask the question, Nephlyte jumped in for the kill.
"You got me decaf, didn't you!" he accused, finger out and brown eyes flaming with righteous anger. "Don't try to deny it! Look at you…laughing…after an exam you no doubt failed!"
"It doesn't look very good." Kunzite considered. "And you did get the drinks."
"What? I am shocked that you gentlemen would suspect me of such flagrant tampering! I would never do something so…so…" Jadeite searched for a word to fit what he was trying to describe, "So detrimental to your own possible future, as well as to our most precious friendship! Why would you even think I could?"
"Well," Nephlyte attempted not to laugh at Jadeite's attempted defense. "Cause you're a dick."
"The man has a point, Jadeite." Zoicite agreed with a sharp nod. "No offense meant, of course, but your record is not in your favor at this point."
"I would never do something like that!" Jadeite protested, blue eyes as wide as he could force them to go. "When have I ever been so cruel that you guys would suspect me of something like that at all?"
"Well, there was the time in middle school when you accidentally lit the teacher's office on fire with a cherry bomb and then tried to put the blame on me by planting fireworks in my knapsack." Zoicite recalled helpfully.
"Or the time you thought it would be funny to steal all my sister's underwear and plant them in Kunzite's room for me to find." Nephlyte added pointedly.
"Or the time that you hid that camera in Nephlyte's room and then played the audio of him jerking off on a continual loop in the cafeteria during lunch." Kunzite volunteered his own memory of past pranks.
"Hey, I could have shown the video." Jadeite shrugged, trying not to laugh at the fond memories of his own tricks gone perfectly to plan.
"Or the time you took a picture when Zoicite had to kiss Kunzite on a dare and then plastered copies all over the school." Nephlyte reminded them.
"Or the time you superglued the seat of Nephlyte's bike so that he had to get his mother to cut him off of it when he got home." Zoicite added another prank to the growing list.
"Or the time you doctored that phone conversation of ours so it sounded like Zoicite and I were having some illicit love affair and played it during the morning announcements over the speaker system." Kunzite added, his tone scolding.
"Hey, that was pure genius." Jadeite defended himself. "You know how long it took for me to set that up just perfect?"
"The point is that our friendship has never protected us from your pranks in the past, and I have to say that any time something bad happens to one of us, we immediately suspect you." Nephlyte concluded. "And we're usually right."
"Well," Jadeite sighed, knowing he was caught, but not really worried about it. They'd try to get him back, but they had yet to succeed. "I can't help it if you guys are so easy. And you should know better than to accept coffee from me. Remember the time I put Ex-lax in it and we had a test in gym that day?"
"I am quite sure everyone remembers that, thanks for the lovely memory." Nephlyte ground out angrily. "Although, I shouldn't be upset. Even if I did sleep through half the test, I must have gotten better than you."
"You see, Nephlyte, this is exactly the problem." Zoicite pointed out. "If you wouldn't egg him on, he wouldn't feel he had to do things like this."
"I'm still going to kill him if I don't get into Eien." Nephlyte grumbled. Jadeite attempted to look scared, but all he could do was smile. With skills like his, who needed school?
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"So, how do you think you did?" Minako's voice was weak, mournful, and relatively glum compared to how it had sounded before the exam. "I think I'm failing out."
"You can't fail out until you get in, Minako." Ami pointed out helpfully, only to have the other girl groan in distress.
"Well then, if I get in, I'm failing after the first week." Minako surmised. "Or at least after the first big exam."
"Not if you study!" Ami tried to be cheerful, but it did not seem to be working on her friends.
"I know I did badly." Makoto added her opinion. "There were so many that I was unsure of…I felt so stupid."
"There were a few hard ones, but I didn't find it all that bad." Rei told them. "Come on, let's go to get some ice cream, we'll all feel better."
"Maybe there will be some cute boys in whatever loser stupid school I have to go to." Minako mourned, but Usagi seemed to brighten a bit at the prospect of food.
"Speaking of cute boys, I saw the Kous, together like always." Makoto spoke up again. "Why didn't you say hello to Seiya, Usagi?"
"Well…I didn't want to tell you guys…" Usagi had been worrying at the hem of her shirt for some time, avoiding looking at them. "But we broke up."
"You did?" Minako looked aghast. "But he's so cute!"
"Yeah…well…it happened a few days ago, and I guess…I kinda hoped he'd change his mind. Like it was a whim or something." Usagi admitted, feeling rather foolish. "He said…he said we'd never get in the same class, since I'm not very…good at tests and all. So he thought we'd never really see each other, so maybe we should just…just…" at this point, Usagi burst into tears, and her friends converged on her, all offering sympathy.
"Guys are asses." Rei was always very direct in her opinion.
"If he feels that way, he doesn't deserve you!" Makoto exclaimed.
"If I see him, I'll kick him!" Minako added.
"That sort of thing is utterly unacceptable! You're better off without him, Usagi-chan." Ami put in her own feelings.
"Thanks…guys." Usagi was slow to recover, but she remembered something that cheered her slightly. "So…about that ice cream?"
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"So you broke up with her?" Taiki frowned, obviously mulling over this news. "That seems a bit immature, Seiya."
"Whatever, she was an idiot." Yaten clapped Seiya on the back, a wide grin splitting the shorter boy's face. "It's the coolest thing Seiya's ever done, I'd say."
"Look, Yaten approves." Taiki pointed out. "That should show you how mean it was, Seiya."
"Hey!" Yaten paused, feeling indignant for a moment. "Well, whatever, book dork. You know that you were sick of Usagi and her tribe of twits. If I had to hear that Minako girl flirt with me one more time…I thought my head would explode. That, or my IQ would start to drop to the point where she'd start to seem intelligent."
"You guys, I wasn't asking for your approval." Seiya told them finally. "I did what I felt I should. Look, we're going to be in high school now, and lets face the facts. There are going to be a lot of new girls, older, hotter girls who are smarter and less…grating, if that can be the right word."
"Perfect word." Yaten approved Seiya's choice.
"So I just think that it's better for me to free myself up now instead of letting it keep going, making her think that I'm really gonna stay with her forever." Seiya explained. "She's nice and all, but I can really only take so much before she starts making me miss Yaten, so obviously, I need to break it off, and this was just a good time to do that."
"Can I ask you one thing?" Yaten was still grinning broadly, and Seiya nodded with a deep sigh. "Did she cry?"
"Yaten!" Seiya smacked the other boy over the head, and Yaten darted to the other side of Taiki.
"What? It's a perfectly legitimate question." Yaten told the other boy. "Don't be such a dork all the time, Seiya."
"Whatever, ass." Seiya rolled his eyes. "I just want to get home. That test was really too long, and I'm tired."
"Yeah, it can be draining, realizing you're an idiot for two hours straight." Yaten spoke in his most serious tone. "Let's get the boy home, Taiki."
*****
The End (Of Part 2)