Aaaaand, we're off!
Pain Inside
Part 7
"So…stupid…" Usagi snuffled slightly as she tried to regain her composure, walking shakily toward home. "Stupid…Seiya…"
Why couldn't I just tell him what I thought? Why couldn't I save everyone else the trouble of defending me? Why can't I do anything for myself? Mamoru…he believed in me, but I just ran out and left him to deal with it. What if he's hurt? It'll be my fault…
"Hey!" the voice made her whirl around where she stood, her face draining of blood as she thought, for one horrible moment that the dark haired boy that had chased her was the wrong one, the last one she wanted to see. But it wasn't Seiya. It was Mamoru trotting to catch up with her. "Wait up!"
"Mamoru-san…" she didn't know what to say at first, and then when she got a good look at the bruise blooming across the side of his face. "Seiya hit you…" she reached up and he shook his head, waving it off as nothing.
"No, well, I mean…yeah, he did." Mamoru admitted, flushing slightly as he remembered what a poor showing he'd made in that brief battle. "But this is from the floor, when I went down. He only hit me here." Mamoru indicated his stomach before adding on, "It doesn't really hurt anymore, so don't worry."
"He hit you!" she repeated the summary of events. "I left and he hit you! Because of me! Because I was too stupid to just…just tell him…"
"Hey, no, Usagi, stop." Mamoru reached out to her and she nearly collapsed into his arms, sobbing against his chest in shame and bitter disgust with herself. "Don't cry. I hit him first, it's not your fault. It's mine."
"You hit him…cause of me!" Usagi surmised brokenly. "If I just…told him no…none of that would have…have happened."
"If it makes you feel better, I didn't even land the hit. I did horrible." Mamoru flushed again in embarrassment. "But Makoto slugged him pretty good after he called her Amazon. She didn't like that very much, I guess. Looked like she broke his nose." He couldn't restrain his grin of triumph at this bit of news.
"Ma…Mako-chan too? They were all fighting?" Usagi looked up, her face crinkling as she prepared to cry even harder than before. Mamoru thought quickly, stumbling for the best thing to say so she wouldn't cry anymore.
"But…it's because we all care about you, Usagi-san! You're our friend, and anyway, Makoto didn't get hurt at all. I mean to say, Seiya did, definitely, but that was his own fault, really, and he shouldn't have provoked her…and us…and you…what I mean is that we all just want you to be happy." He tried again. Usagi looked nearly as confused as his words sounded. "I mean…that's what I want, for sure. You really are…a great girl, Usagi-san."
"Do…did you mean that? And all the stuff you said…before?" her eyes, wide and impossibly blue, looked up into his own midnight gaze imploringly. She wanted something, but Mamoru had no idea what.
"Of course I meant it. You're very…special to me, Usagi." He told her, his tone soft as he realized belatedly that he was actually holding this girl in his arms. Granted, she had a face stained with tears, but she was still…so…so…
"Am I?" she asked, her tone and gaze the same intensity as before. Mamoru nodded slightly, and she bit her lip as though making up her mind about something before going up on tiptoe and pressing her lips to his for the briefest of kisses. Mamoru felt floored. "I…really like you, Mamoru. A lot."
"So do I…I mean, like you. Not me, of course, that would be…but I mean, I do like me, just not like I like you…and…maybe I should shut up?" he finished, feeling extremely silly and somehow not really that worried about what anyone aside from Usagi might think of this.
"Maybe you should kiss me." She prompted, her lips trembling, and so he did.
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"It isn't broken, at least." Taiki sighed in relief as he dabbed cool water at the blood drying all over Seiya's face.
"Uch, that's cold." He moped. Yaten was in the background, chewing on an apple and watching the proceedings with great amusement.
"If I use hot water it won't do anything for the swelling I am trying to prevent here." Taiki explained. "Now hold still and I'll be done soon enough."
"Who taught you to do that, Taiki?" Yaten spoke up for the first time since Taiki had started cleaning Seiya up. "Could it have been your girlfriend?"
"My…what are you even talking about?" Taiki's face was a deep crimson, and Yaten chuckled at the proof of his guilt. "I don't have a girlfriend."
"The nurse, book-dork. You remember her, I'm sure." Yaten licked a bit of juice off his thumb as he finished with the apple and tossed the core away neatly. "She's the highlight of your week, whenever Seiya gets himself injured at soccer practice."
"I have no idea what you mean." Taiki demurred, face still red. "Seiya, tilt your head up so I can reach this…there."
"So, what, do you two play doctor, or is that too predictable?" Yaten hooked his thumbs in his pockets, still watching Seiya squirm under Taiki's sure ministrations. "I bet you've come across a lot of kinky stuff in your reading, Taiki. One might say you were researching real-life issues all this time."
"I do not read about…and we never play games…not that I see her outside of the time we spend…spent…I mean, there is nothing between Miss Meioh and I. I would thank you to drop the subject at once." Taiki scrubbed a bit too hard and Seiya yelped in pain.
"Am I really going to get swelling?" the dark-haired boy asked mournfully.
"You've already got great big bruises on both eyes." Yaten supplied his opinion helpfully. "All that trouble and you didn't even get the girl. Imagine that."
"Yaten, kindly do something useful for once and fetch the steak I set out on the counter when we first arrived. Seiya will need it for his eyes." Taiki's voice was a bit sharper than usual, and Yaten was so surprised that he forgot to insert a derisive comment into the exchange before rushing off for the steak.
"I feel like such an ass." Seiya groaned in annoyance. "I'm going to look so stupid tomorrow in class."
"Perhaps this is what is called karmic retribution, Seiya. You went to the arcade intent on using and destroying an innocent young girl in pursuit of your own ends, and not only did you fail in that mission, you walked away with two black eyes and a bloody nose. Your shirt is ruined, I think." Taiki added, pointing to the blood spattering the front of Seiya's uniform.
"I don't really care about the shirt. I can afford another." He sighed deeply and leaned back where he sat on the counter against the bathroom mirror. "Thanks for cleaning me up, Taiki. Sometimes I wish Yaten was more like you."
"I'm the voice of reason, Seiya. You are the foolhardy leader, and Yaten is the comic sidekick." Taiki explained with a slight grin. "It wouldn't work if he were like me."
"Don't let Yaten hear that." Seiya warned, and they both laughed briefly. "But you know…even though he's an ass…Yaten is still there for me when I really need him. Like…I know that when I get even with that Chiba jerk, he'll back me up."
"Seiya…" Taiki sighed wearily as Yaten returned and presented the steak with a long-suffering grimace.
"I know, voice of reason. But don't worry. It'll be fun, I swear." Seiya winked before wincing and accepting the steak, covering both eyes as Yaten shot Taiki a questioning look. The taller boy just shrugged. One day, he was sure his friends would grow up. He'd like to witness that.
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"Are you sure you're all right?" Hotaru's wide, purple eyes narrowed as she grasped Mamoru's hand in concern while they stood outside of his classroom the next morning. "I can't believe you didn't tell me about this last night." She eyed the ugly bruise on his left cheek warily.
"I guess I couldn't think about it." He admitted, smiling broadly as he had been since he'd dropped Usagi off at her home the afternoon before. "I'm just…so excited for you and Usagi to meet. I can't believe she likes me, Hotaru…you'll love her, she's so wonderful…"
"Yes, you've told me nearly a hundred times. I'm sure she is very nice, and it's no surprise she likes you. Despite what you believe, you really are a very good person, Mamoru, and you are not at all unattractive. Any girl with half a brain would be crazy not to like you." Hotaru brushed imaginary lint off his sleeves. "Except me, because clearly, I'm as good as your sister. Now be good, and no fighting today." She teased him with a wink and a smile, and he leaned down to hug her tightly.
"I'm so glad I have you to keep me out of trouble, Hotaru." He told her, only half-joking as he patted her hair down neatly. "Now, hurry up and off to your smart class."
"Mamoru!" she flushed at his jibe, but let it slide, turning to go to class as he entered his own, and running right into Kou Seiya. The blood left her face in a rush as she realized this was the young man responsible for Mamoru's bruise. But then she saw his face, and her eyebrows raised in surprise at the twin black eyes. It seemed Mamoru had left out the bit of the story where Seiya got his. "Sorry." She apologized without thinking, then flushed as red as she had been before as he smiled at her in a way that seemed somehow…not friendly.
"I know you, don't I?" he asked. "You're in A Class with me, aren't you?"
"Um, well…yeah." She thought maybe she should lie, but she was horrible at that. And really, what harm would there be in honesty? "Tomoe Hotaru's my name."
"You're friends with Chiba-san?" he asked, and she darkened angrily at the tone in which he spoke of her friend.
"Yes. I'm his best friend, in fact." She told him, a slight quaver to her voice. She wished she weren't so bashful, especially at times like this. "You should leave…him alone."
"Should I?" he laughed as though she had told a very good joke. "You know, maybe I will. Just for you, Tomoe-san."
"F…fine then." Hotaru had no idea what had just happened, so she decided rushing to class was really the best course of action. Seiya was just behind her, which made her very nervous, but once they reached the room, he left to rejoin his two friends. She sighed at her pointless fear and sat down at her seat, unaware of what was being discussed only a few seats away.
"Looking good, Seiya." Yaten teased, and the dark haired boy flashed him a rude gesture.
"Yaten, listen, I just thought of something we could do." He let his scowl dissolve into a devious grin. "Something…to pass the time this year."
"Oh?" Yaten sounded interested at this. "Got a prank in mind?"
"Not yet, but do you remember Umino-san?" Seiya asked, his tone still low. Taiki was clearly ignoring them both, or at least attempting it rather admirably. "In middle school, how we tormented him till he left the school altogether?"
"Oh…yeah!" Yaten laughed lightly. "Oh man, remember when we switched his milk out with that rotten carton we'd been saving up? The look on his face…priceless."
"Well, I've got a new target in mind. You up for it?" Seiya cocked an eyebrow, and Yaten shrugged slightly.
"Sure, who is it?" he asked, looking around for whoever he could see as the most annoying in the class.
"Tomoe Hotaru." Seiya answered, and Yaten hesitated as he pointed the girl out. Of course, Yaten already knew who she was, but he feigned surprise.
"Her? Why her?" Yaten tried to quell the rolling feeling of wrongness in his gut. "She's not that much of a loser."
"Please. Look at how many friends she has in here." Seiya swept an arm around. "None. She just sits there, reading, and she never answers questions in class. Scared of the whole world, isn't she?"
"I don't think she is." Yaten opined, feeling embarrassed once he'd said it as Seiya's sight narrowed on him. "I mean…I don't really know her, but she's in choir, and she talks in there…sometimes."
"Do you have a crush on her or something?" Seiya asked, his tone highly mocking. "She looks like she's maybe ten years old."
"Of…course not!" Yaten forced a laugh which sounded rather harsh and then coughed slightly. "I don't care if it's her. Whatever."
"Fine. Then we'll start tomorrow." Seiya nodded and sat, waiting for class to start and trying in vain to get the attention of the redhead sitting at the front of the class, just next to Hotaru.
Taiki noted that it all seemed very much like the calm before the storm, and once more wondered why he was friends with these children.
The End (Of Part 7, That Is)