I best write another chapter before Jade's head explodes.
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Pain Inside
Part 4
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"Hey, I know I'm better than you, Nephy, but that doesn't mean you wouldn't make the team if you tried." Jadeite was escorting his friend to classroom B so that he could pick up Kunzite, who would accompany him to soccer club tryouts. "Not everyone's as good as me."
"I just want to limit my exposure to you so I don't need to kill you by the time we've only had one month of classes." Nephlyte told his friend tersely as they reached their destination and watched from the doorway for their friend to finish gathering his things. "I'll come and watch you, if only to pray that you make a fool of yourself, but I'm not really feeling the need to join any clubs this semester. I just want to focus on my studies so that I can get out of stupid D Class."
"Hey, you took the test on your own." Jadeite teased him. "I only gave you a little…you know, help." And he broke into raucous laughter, bending over and clutching his stomach as Nephlyte attempted to ignore him. This effectively blocked the door, so that a girl with long, dark hair was momentarily trapped in the classroom, much to her apparent aggravation.
"Excuse me, boys?" she interrupted Jadeite's mirth, and when he caught sight of her, he stopped laughing so fast he almost choked. "I would like to go home, please, if you'd let me through."
"Oh, well, excuse me." Jadeite was immediately the picture of amiability. "I didn't mean to block your way, miss…"
"Hino." She looked rather annoyed, as Jadeite was still blocking her exit. "Hino Rei, and I would like to leave now."
"Oh, yes, of course, Rei. May I call you Rei?" Jadeite reached to take her hand in greeting. "Akahito Jadeite, at your service." He easily ignored the snorting laughter that Nephlyte was failing to hide at his sudden behavior. Who would be laughing when he got this girl's phone number?
"You may call me Hino-san, Akahito-san." She told him sharply. "Please let go of my hand so that I can go home. I have better things to do with my time than to have a fool try to talk me up."
"Ouch, that one hurt." Nephlyte laughed as Jadeite let go of her hand and she marched off in obvious aggravation. "Huh, Akahito-san?"
"Shut up, asshole." Jadeite rolled his eyes and waved a greeting at Kunzite, who had also witnessed the exchange, but was keeping surprisingly quiet about it. "She can play hard to get if she wants, but she was totally checking me out. I notice these things."
"I bet." Nephlyte told him before collapsing into a new fit of laughter.
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"Okay, see you guys later." Yaten waved at his friends before heading to the music room, where the first meeting of the choral club was to take place that day after class. Seiya had, of course, commented on the girly nature of this club when Yaten had informed Taiki and him that he would be in it this year, but Yaten had cut him off with a criticism of soccer uniforms so biting and in depth that Seiya had yet to bring the subject up again. Taiki would be heading for the first meeting of the literary criticism club, or as Yaten called it, "book dorks anonymous." It was odd for them to be in separate clubs, but since they all met at the same time, it came down to personal preference, and Yaten felt that singing was far more bad ass than prancing around in short shorts or whining about books.
"Can I sit here?" a voice brought Yaten out of his reverie, and he looked up to see a blonde girl with bright cornflower eyes focused on him, her hands trembling slightly as she beamed at him nervously.
Ugh, fangirls already, and it's only the first day. Yaten sighed to himself. Why must I be so irresistible?
"Must you?" he asked her right back, and her eyes went enormously wide, as though unsure what to say to that. On his other side, a girl who had taken up the other empty chair without asking looked at him as though utterly shocked at his rudeness. Like Yaten cared what they thought.
I'm not here to make friends. I'm just here to sing. He chuckled slightly as the girl fled and found another empty seat across the room. Yaten noted with some irritation that the girl beside him was shaking all over, like she might burst into tears. Girls are so girly.
"That was really mean." She finally spoke, and he turned in surprise. She didn't seem to be scared of him. On the contrary, she seemed to be restraining the urge to hit him as hard as she could, which, judging from her frail build and delicate voice, was really not very hard. "She was just asking to sit down."
"So I should suffer?" he asked, immediately defensive. Who was this girl? She looked vaguely familiar. Maybe she was in Class A with him. He had been too busy mocking Seiya all day to notice many other classmates names and appearances. "What are you, the morality police?"
"No, I just don't think it was nice of you to do that." She told him, her trembling subsiding somewhat, as it occurred to Yaten that her righteous anger was fading into something that resembled painful bashfulness. "I mean…I guess I don't really know anything about it. Do you know her?"
"No, but I know her type." Yaten answered, comfortably sure that he was cowing this girl into agreement purely using his good looks. No girl could resist him, no matter how mean he was. That was just the way it was for him. "Seiya may go in for fanclubs, but I'm not here for that sort of thing. I just like singing."
"Seiya…Kou?" she looked like she was searching through a mental database. "With…dark hair? Didn't you sit with him today in class?"
"So you are in A Class?" Yaten gave her a carefully measured Charming Smile. To give such a shy girl the full strength smile would probably be too much, so he lowered the wattage to about sixty percent. "I thought I recognized your face. What was your name?"
"Oh…Tomoe…Tomoe Hotaru." She flushed, as though him asking her name was possibly the greatest compliment she had ever received.
"Well, Tomoe-san, my name is Kou Yaten." Yaten told her, enjoying the way her blush contrasted with the darkness of her hair and the pallor of the rest of her skin. "Of no relation to that dark-haired dork-on Seiya, of course. The name thing is just a coincidence. Though we do tell people we're cousins sometimes just to mess with them."
"So, you two are friends, then?" Hotaru seemed a bit confused.
"Yeah, Taiki and Seiya and I met in preschool, and I've been stuck with them ever since." Yaten shrugged. This girl…she was kind of cute when she crinkled her nose up like that and frowned so prettily. Not that he really cared about things like that. "So, you any good?" he indicated the front of the room where students were taking turns testing their ranges with the teacher plunking away at the piano as a guide and judge of their ability.
"Oh, no, I don't think I'm great." Hotaru blushed again. "I really like to sing, but I think my voice is really…ordinary, you know? Not like that." She indicated the current student, a girl with aqua hair and a gorgeous soprano tone. "I can find the notes, though, I guess."
"Well, I hope you're good enough to stay in the choir." Yaten told her, upping the wattage of his smile slightly. "I'd hate to lose the only girl in the room who probably hates me."
"I don't—" Hotaru went so flustered that Yaten burst out in laughter.
"Just kidding." He told her, and she bit her lip as though confused about whether to laugh or not. "Good luck."
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"Aren't we in class together?" Ami looked up at the male voice, her eyes going wide and surely making her look silly. She had thoroughly enjoyed the first meeting of the literary criticism club, and was a bit sad that none of her other friends had wanted to join it, as she was sure that they could all find entertainment from it as well. However, Makoto was already in track, Minako was in choir, and Rei was too busy working at her grandfather's shrine for any extra clubs. Usagi wasn't in any extracurricular activities, but she had assured Ami that she had a hard enough time scraping by in classes without extra responsibilities, so the blue-haired girl had dropped the discussion. It would be nice to have this chance to make new friends, and this boy with the brown ponytail and soft brown eyes seemed nice and non-threatening to her. So she smiled at him warmly and stuck out her hand with only the hint of a shy tremble.
"Mizuno Ami, Class A." she answered, "I believe we are in the same class…"
"Kou Taiki." He supplied, noticing the searching look on her face. "There are quite a few people from our class in this club. Had you noticed?"
"Oh, I was not paying very close attention to the people here." She admitted, flushing slightly. "I was just too enthralled in what Kokugaku-sensei was telling us we would be doing for the rest of the semester."
"I know what you mean." Another boy, who had heard part of their conversation, spoke up from where he was packing his things up next to Ami. "I can hardly wait to read some of these books, though I have to admit, I've read half of them already."
"Me too." Taiki smiled. "It's nice to meet people who read as much as I do." He told them both. "What was your name, by the way?"
"Oh! Oh, I'm sorry, my name is Aoseishi Zoicite." He bowed slightly, fumbling with the catch of his satchel. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Kou-san, Mizuno-san."
"You're in Class A as well, aren't you?" Ami asked politely, smiling invitingly at a girl across the room that was watching them as though she hoped to join their conversation, fingers worrying long, red hair. Zoicite nodded, and Ami frowned slightly as she noticed that the girl had fled the room, apparently even shyer than Ami herself. "We should all form a study group." She suggested, immediately feeling foolish. "I mean…if you guys…wanted to study outside of class…I'm sure you already had other friends to study with."
"No, I mean, I do, but I think it would be great to study with people who actually want to study." Taiki told her warmly. "My friends can be a bit difficult."
"Mine too." Zoicite and Ami answered simultaneously, and they all broke into laughter. Taiki sighed happily, leaving the room with the two people he had just met. It looked like this year would go very well, indeed.
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Usagi had intended to spend her free hour when all of her friends were busy with various clubs watching cute boys try out for the soccer club. However, when she discovered that Seiya Kou would be one of those cute boys, she promptly decided that her time would be better spent at the arcade where she had promised to meet Minako after she tried out for the choir. Usagi might have enjoyed being in the choir as well, but she knew that her singing skills were about as good as her study skills. Maybe that was why Seiya broke up with her. She just didn't seem to be good at anything.
I bet he'll find a new girlfriend in no time. He's good at everything he tries. Usagi sighed mournfully as she entered the arcade and went to the counter, intent on purchasing a large chocolate milkshake in which she could drown her sorrows. She was only halfway through it, still deep in despair, when a familiar voice brought her out of her self-induced pity party.
"Hey, save some for me, Usagi-chan." It was Rei, and unlike how she seemed to sound most of the time, the tone was kind, soft, understanding, sympathetic even. Rei was truly a good friend, and she seemed able to understand everyone's feelings better than they could themselves. "What's with the long face?"
"Hey, Rei." Usagi looked up at the clock in the back of the arcade. "Done with your chores this early?"
"Just wait until we're fully in autumn and I have to sweep up dead leaves everyday." Rei's face twisted slightly at the reminder of her chores. "No, it wasn't so bad today. Grandpa did most everything before I got home."
"That's nice." Usagi sighed, taking another long sip of chocolatey comfort.
"It's Seiya, isn't it?" Rei asked without further attempts at small talk. Usagi promptly burst into tears, letting Rei pull her over to cry on her shoulder so as to keep the scene at a minimum disturbance level. "Usagi, I've said it once, and I'll say it again. Boys suck."
"They're never mean to you, Rei." Usagi managed between sobs. "What's wrong with me?"
"They don't get the chance with me. You know that." Rei smiled softly, patting her friend on the back as she attempted to clean her face up. "Nothing's wrong with you, Usagi-chan. You're a very good person, and the only one to blame here is Seiya, because he's clearly an insensitive ass."
"You make everything sound so simple." Usagi sniffled, drinking some more of her shake. "But…I was thinking earlier…you know, I'm not like…really good at anything. I can't ever get good grades, and I can't sing like Mina-chan, or run like Mako-chan, or…or…anything!"
"You can do something, Usagi-chan." Rei assured her. "You can care about people with your whole heart. I wish I could do that, but I'm just too much of a coward, to be honest with you. I see boys, I think they're cute, or even sort of nice, and I am immediately in defensive bitch mode." At this, Usagi broke into giggles, eliciting a smile from Rei at the sound of her friend's laughter. "You know it's true. You've seen it happen."
"Why…do you think Seiya left me?" Usagi wanted to know. Rei breathed in deeply. This was exactly why she never trusted guys. Look what they did to perfectly good girls!
"Because he's stupid." She answered simply. "You know, he was really not a very nice guy, Usagi-chan. You could do a lot better, I'm sure."
"Yeah…right." Usagi hiccupped, blushing at the compliment. Just then, Makoto, Ami, and Rei entered, and Usagi waved at them all enthusiastically. Minako almost ran to the table.
"You guys! Kou Yaten is in choir with me! He's so hot!" she was in full fangirl mode, and Rei rolled her eyes in irritation. "You remember him, right, Usagi? Seiya and him were…oh…oh yeah." She cut herself off after seeing Rei's violent motions from behind Usagi's head. Of course, it was too late, and Usagi promptly collapsed in tears again.
"Oh, Usagi, don't get upset." Makoto squeezed in next to Rei and the crying girl. "I heard that today during soccer tryouts, some kid accidentally blocked the ball so that it hit Seiya in the head!"
"Really?" Usagi sounded vaguely interested. Rei was trying to hide the fact that she was laughing.
"Yeah, I think he probably still made the team, but after that kid hit him, he was out cold. They had to take him to the nurse." Makoto explained. "I saw some of it from track tryouts."
"Oh! That explains it, then." Ami's hand went to her mouth in surprise. "I had forgotten…Seiya had a friend named Taiki, didn't he?"
"Duh, of course." Minako sounded insulted that Ami could forget something so important. "The three Kous. No relation, of course. Except the fact that they're all hot! Oh…sorry, Usagi-chan."
"Shut up, Minako." Rei glared at the girl. She was not helping. "What were you saying, Ami?"
"Well, you see, Taiki is in Literary Criticism with me, as is another boy from Class A named Zoicite Aoseishi, which isn't really relevant to the story, except that the three of us were just leaving the classroom together, discussing the possibility of a study group." Ami explained.
"Booooring, Ami! Only you would talk to a Kou about studying! No wonder you can't get a boyfriend." Minako rolled her eyes.
"You're one to talk, Minako." Rei shot back. "Besides, Ami understands that there are things that are more important than chasing boys, unlike some people at this table. Continue, Ami."
"Uh, yes, well." Ami looked a bit nervous about the possibility that Rei and Minako might attack each other any moment, but continued her story nonetheless. "We were walking down the hallway, when another boy, ran up. I believe…oh yes, it all makes sense now. Taiki called him Yaten, I think, which would correspond with what Minako was explaining to us before about…the three Kous…yes. Well, anyway, he told Taiki to hurry up, that there was something wrong with Seiya, and then he ran off quite hurriedly. Now I know what it was all about, but I hope that he is alright. Seiya, I mean. Not that I don't agree with Rei that it was utterly unfair of him to treat Usagi so callously, but I would not wish injury on him just because of some personal drama."
"You don't think he'll be disfigured, do you?" Minako asked, sounding halfway intrigued, and halfway worried. Rei's glare ceased further commentary.
"I hope he is." The dark-haired girl effectively ended the conversation.
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"You two are here for the young Mr. Kou?" a young woman in a white nurse's jacket over a smartly matched blouse and slacks approached Taiki and Yaten, both of whom were a bit out of breath from running down to her office.
"Yes, is he okay?" Yaten asked first, his green eyes glistening with worry that rarely graced his expression.
"He's just fine. Would you like to go see him first?" she asked the silver-haired boy, who nodded eagerly, immediately going through the door she indicated with one perfectly manicured hand. She then turned her attention to the other boy. "I'm sorry to make you wait, but he woke up almost as soon as he arrived here. I only want to be sure he isn't concussed before sending him home."
"Oh, it's no trouble. I would like to see him, but I feel better simply hearing from you that all is well." Taiki told her, only then realizing that he didn't know her name. "Excuse me, I feel like an idiot. I haven't even introduced myself properly. My name is Kou Taiki."
"Oh?" she glanced at the closed door to the room holding Seiya before she asked. "Are you related to him?"
"No, no, no relation. Yaten's a Kou, as well. It was actually what first brought us together. Quite the coincidence, you know." He realized that he still didn't know her name and flushed lightly. "Um, excuse me, what was your name, then?"
"Meioh Setsuna." She offered her hand. "I'm pleased to meet you, Kou-san."
"Oh, you may call me Taiki." He told her, then flushed again. "If that doesn't bother you. It's just…I know you're a nurse, but you don't seem very much older than…er, I'm sorry."
"No, actually." She waved it off as if it was something she was extremely accustomed to. "I'm not much older than you, really. I just finished school last spring, but I am a bit young to have gotten so far, it seems. I skipped a few grades here and there, and then I only took two years in college…well, what I mean to say is that I don't want you to feel uncomfortable around me. I am only eighteen, you see, and it seems foolish to say that we could not be friends just because I'm a nurse and you're a student."
"Eighteen?" Taiki gulped slightly. Why did he suddenly feel like he was doing something wrong? "Wow, you really are young…I mean…no, you're still older than me, but what I meant…"
"It's alright." She smiled warmly at him. "You don't need to apologize."
"Ah, yes." He flushed slightly, saved from further embarrassment by Yaten exiting Seiya's room, looking like the two of them had probably spent the entire time insulting each other. Typical. "Well, I'll go in then, shall I?" he turned to enter the room.
"Taiki-san?" she stopped him dead on his way to the room. "You may call me Setsuna."
"Ah…yes." He fled into the room, knowing that he would never hear the end of this from the gleeful look on Yaten's face.
Still, she seems like a nice person.
*****
The End (Of Part 4, That Is)