Forgot to say… Minties are like the best mint lollies you can ever eat. They are seriously, scarily addictive. (Bit like video games, but a lolly) But, umm…
Mask, a soap opera writer? I'll take that as a… compliment… ehe… but that's okay, because I can diss you and you can diss me and we're all good :) And I read in a review you don't like Hayate… here's be to you!
Anyway. I'm sorry. The Hayate love/hate thing is still very much towards the latter at the moment, for no other reason then I'm getting extremely cut about the Ninja Gaiden delay, refuse to take it out on Ryu (Heck, he'll have EVERYTHING taken out on him when I get the game) so take it out on Hayate instead. It's great.
Fire Inu, I'm glad you liked it, and the start bit too :)
Yeah, Ice Cube, I wish too. Maybe that chapter was like, a hidden message to my teachers… let me out early, dammit!
Gouki, glad you liked it too –grin- I want to shed more light on that, because it is one of the turning points in the story. Hence… we're all good! Yay!
James: (Sorry, shorter then Metal Overload… although, I just typed that… -sigh-) You always give the most insightful reviews! And then I give you the shallowest thankyous! I'm sorry I can't put your beautiful words into a better light, but… thankyou! :D And I hope your stomach flu is getting better, too…
Wolf: Do I? I guess… 'my story' Hayate doesn't annoy me quite as much as 'game' Hayate does. But then again, -rant rant rant rhubarb rhubarb- this could take a while. By the way, how are you going on Ninja Gaiden?
Long notes! Anyway, better cut them short now. Thanks to everyone who reviewed before chapter 74, as well. You are all the best reviewers a girl could ever ask for! (Except Mask, who is the best disser… kidding! Kidding! You're great too :P) Enjoy!
He did. He really did. If he has to deal with that, and can't…
…what hope do the rest of us have?
He was dejectedly doing his maths homework, extra to try and vainly compensate for the maths test he had undoubtedly failed.
Concentrating was futile. He placed his pen down as the door softly creaked open, revealing, surprisingly, his mother.
She placed a small glass of juice and a piece of cake beside him. "How are you going?"
"Alright," he lied. "Badly," he admitted after falling victim to her scrupulously questioning glance.
"Do you need a hand?"
"Kasumi's busy. She has after-school something tonight,"
"Ryu isn't busy,"
"How do you know?" he blurted out before he could stop himself.
"Your father told me that Ryu would be more then willing to help you tonight,"
"And Father knows how exactly?"
His mother raised an eyebrow sceptically. "Seems that your father caught Ryu at about lunch-time in the local bar yesterday, drinking himself silly,"
That would explain a few things, but god… he must be feeling pretty down to do something like that. And as much as I would like to keep an eye on him, I can't. He's capable of looking after himself. But even still… I don't know what to do. I have my own problems too.
"Yeah. Figures," he settled with saying mildly.
"What do you mean?" his mother asked questioningly.
"It's none of my business,"
The hidden meaning behind that being it's none of yours, either.
"Listen, Hayate. I am your mother, and your happiness and well-being is my business,"
"Mother, this is something that is not your business, and you can't help me with it," he snapped unconsciously.
His mother's eyes narrowed immediately, before filling with an insatiable sadness that made him instantly feel guilty, his insides squirm with guilt. I made her sad… I put that sadness there in her eyes.
"Just call Ryu, Hayate. I'd say that you both need each other right now,"
Shows how much you know. Or how much you don't know.
"Yes, Mother,"
"So… could you?"
He could almost picture his friend with that inquisitively innocent glance, head cocked to the side, holding the phone.
"Sure. If you need my help,"
Less then ten minutes later, Ryu arrived. So there they were, working on more maths problems. Happy happy joy joy. Sometimes I hate my life.
"Statistics this time," Ryu informed him, waving the sheet around. He was spinning carelessly on the chair, trying to get every other thought out of his head and concentrate on the maths questions, but found it nigh-on impossible. His mother's words were still echoing in his head.
Your happiness and well-being is my business.
"No it isn't. This is something I must do," he said softly.
"What?" Ryu looked up, emerald eyes shining eerily in the lamp-lit room.
"Don't worry," he turned away and tried to dismiss it. "Why did you get drunk?"
"I didn't get drunk," Ryu said instantly.
"You're an idiot," he muttered softly, but not softly enough.
"What would you know?" Ryu stood up instantly, emerald eyes blazing. "You don't know a thing. What right do you have to tell me that?"
"Says you!" he was standing up as well, pushing his chair out before he could comprehend his actions, that extra inch of height he had on Ryu making a world of difference. "You have no right to tell me that! Just because you're the perfect student it doesn't mean that you are the final word of the law!"
"You have no say in my life," Ryu spat out the words as though they tasted bad.
He reacted instantly. It was only until Ryu faltered, holding his jaw, that he realised what he had done.
Unfortunately for him, Ryu wasn't in the most hospitable mood. The next thing he knew, he was pushed against his bedroom wall, emerald green eyes glaring furiously at him.
"I try to help you, except you don't let me. You're too busy moping and bottling up your inner angst. You don't let anybody help you. You just expect everybody to walk around you carefully and hope that they don't offend you,"
"What right do you have to tell me that?!" he exploded. "You're still feeling sorry for yourself because Irene died. What problems do you have? I know that you blame me for Irene's death. You don't have to bear that burden, I do. I have to live with it for the rest of my life! Perhaps it would have been better if it was you instead of her. Then maybe I wouldn't have felt so guilty, because it wouldn't have mattered!"
He doubled over as Ryu's fist connected with his stomach.
"Listen, Hayate," Ryu hissed. "You're not the only person in this world with problems. Look around you. Kasumi has problems. Ayane has problems. Open your eyes and look around you, instead of being so wrapped up with yourself and your own life. And you deserve to be blamed for Irene's death. If you hadn't been driving, then she wouldn't have died,"
"You don't know how it feels!" he yelled, pushing Ryu away with both hands. "You don't have to live with the burden of somebody's death on your conscience, and everybody around you being better then you, better then you could ever be. You would never have to live with anything like that, simply because you got lucky!"
"You're just re-iterating my point!"
"Don't you even start! Ever since Ayane came to this school, you've managed to screw up both of my sister's lives! Kasumi has been really down ever since she found out that you and Ayane were going out together, or whatever the hell you're doing. And Ayane nearly killed herself over the likes of you! I'm not going to let you destroy my family, only because of your selfish desires!"
"Hayate, you had as much of a hand in causing this situation as anybody! Don't try blaming all this on me!"
"See, now you're yelling at me, too! As much as you like to think that you're better then the rest of us, you're just as lowly as everybody else! How does it feel? Being lowered to the status of a mere mortal?"
How does it feel?