Chapter 3:
The bell rang signaling the end of classes for the day. Miaka bolted out of the room, away from the other students. She headed straight to the bathroom where she told Yui they were gonna meet up. All day, everyone was talking about the incident that happened this morning. Some of them though, didn't know who slapped Tamahome, but mostly her homeroom classmates knew about it. Some didn't care, a few hated her, but mostly everyone cheered. A lot of people in her class doesn't like Tamahome either, because he's an arrogant jerk as what she might call it.
" Miaka, are you there?" Yui asked from outside the stall of the bathroom. They were practically the only ones there.
" Yeah I'm here," Miaka said. She came out of the stall and checked her reflection on the mirror. She took a deep breath and turned to Yui, " Well, he's mad all right but I ain't scared of him. Don't show any fright in fron tof him ok?"
" Not after what he did to me...he should be the one who's scared of me. I still haven't got back at him, since you slapped him first."
Both bursted into fits of giggles. They once again took deep breaths and went outside the bathroom. They walked straight heading outside, not looking at anyone. They bursted outside the front doors of the school, there were only a few people left since everyone else has gone home from school.
Hotohori told her a while ago that he has another football practice and that she shouldn't wait for him again. Miaka decided that he's right, and besides she needs to get to safety fast.
Both girls walked down on the street away from the school. When the school was nowhere in sight, Miaka sighed and said to Yui, " We're safe now."
Yui raised her eyebrows at her, " I thought you weren't scared?"
" I....I wasn't.....it's just that I wanna get home early."
" Riiiight," both girls started to walk again, not noticing someone following them from behind.
" Alright, I'll see you tomorrow Yui-chan," Miaka waved at Yui. She decided to go by her house first, Yui invited her to stay over but Miaka insisted that she had to go home.
Miaka walked down the streets, but her slow pace started to fasten up as she felt someone following her from behind. Her heart started pounding so hard that she started running. The guy that was following her caught up to her, grabbing her from behind. Miaka tried to scream but was knocked out by a light punch at her stomach.
The only thing she saw before turning in over the darkness was a person with black hair carrying her over to a limousine.
Tamahome looked at the unconscious Miaka sitting right beside him. He didn't mean to knock her out this long, he only wanted her to remain unconscious for 5 minutes to be able to get her to the car.
He looked outside the car and went back to the incident that happened. He was totally humiliated in front of a big group of students and he just couldn't let that pass by. Although, he partly did blame himself, since he played that prank on her bestfriend. But still, she slapped him right in front of the school!
He planned on hurting this girl and he gathered lots of information from some students about Miaka. Practically, the most precious thing to Miaka right now is her boyfriend Hotohori, whom she doesn't know is cheating on him. He knew that would totally hurt her, so he plans to bring her to this place where he sees those two hanging out most of the time.
He smirked to himself, " This is just a small payback Miaka!"
Miaka stirred from the side, slowly opening her eyes. She tried to focus her view, everything seems to be spinning. She felt herself moving and that's when she knew that she was in a car. She sat straight up looking around her. Then she saw Tamahome sitting beside her, with a smik plastered on his face.
Miaka glared at him, scooting herself farther away from him, " Where the hell are you taking me?!"
" Shut up girl," Tamahome calmly said.
" I said where the hell are you taking me?!" Miaka demanded to know. Tamahome eyed her which brought a shiver through her body.
" You really want to know?" Tamahome asked.
Miaka gulped, " Yeah, if you hurt me, I swear I'll scream and call the police."
" Well, you're about to get hurt but not by me. And trust me, you won't wanna scream. I mean you can scream all you want, but you won't do it. This is what we call a payback Miaka from slapping me. I would really wanna hurt you by myself, but I choose not to. I don't like hurting girls that much."
Miaka felt a bit nervous at the seriousness in his face, " Yeah right. You practically hurt a lot of girls in school by playing pranks on them."
" That's just a harmless fun. What you're about to see, will totally tear you apart."
" Hey look, I slapped you because you were a total jerk! How dare you humiliate my friend like that?! How cruel of you!"
" She didn't get humiliated..I DID!"
" She was about to, until I slapped you! I only did that to protect my bestfriend!"
" Oh shut up."
" Why don't you?!"
Tamahome decided to zip his mouth shut. This girl screaming at her is pissing him off.
" Tamahome, we're here sir," the driver said.
Miaka looked around, wondering to herself where the hell they are. Then, she saw this big restaurant right in front of them and remembered that Hotohori actually brought her at this restaurant before.
She was startled as Tamahome pulled her from the hand, dragging her out of the car. She looked at her questioningly, which he only responded with a, " Just follow me."
They entered the restaurant and Tamahome asked for a table for two. The waitress eyed the two of them and lead them to their table. Miaka followed without a word but as soon as they both sit down, she blurted her question out, " What the hell are we doing here?"
" You'll see.....but please.....don't make a scene." Miaka raised her eyebrows not sure what she meant when Tamahome suddenly pointed at someone that was coming in from the door.
Miaka turned around to see Hotohori with that blonde haired cheerleader, Yuka. Hotohori had his arms on her shoulders, while Yuka was hugging him at the waist. They were both laughing cheerfully and was heading to a nearby table on the side. The waitress lead them to their table, and for Tamahome and Miaka it was easy to see them from there. Although, the two doesn't have a good view of Tamahome and Miaka. They have to turn to their side and look around quite a bit in order to spot them.
Miaka turned back around, taking the menu and hiding her face. She turned to take a peek at the one more time and what she saw next really shocked her. Hotohori and Yuka were leaning over the table kissing each other. Her body shook at the sight that she was seeing. She turned her gaze away from the two and tried to blink back the tears that were forming in her eyes.
Tamahome smirked in disgust at the two. He couldn't believe that Hotohori would cheat on someone. He looked so nice on the outside, but then again there are people like that. He suddenly remembered Miaka, so he turned to look at her with a smirk. However, that smirk disappeared almost too quickly when he saw Miaka. Tears were streaming down her eyes, she was sobbing silently to herself.
Tamahome suddenly felt guilty deep inside of him. He never gets affected that much when girls cry in front of him, which happened a lot of times when he broke up with his past girlfriends. But here Miaka is, a girl that he hardly even knows, crying in front of him, and he already feels guilty.
He looked at the two again, who were now holding hands across the table, talking so sweetly with each other. He was startled out of his thoughts when he heard Miaka say something.
" I wanna go home now," Miaka whispered but was a bit loud enough for Tamahome to hear it. Miaka's had her head bowed down, hiding her tears from Tamahome. When he didn't respond back, Miaka looked up at him and said firmly, " I wanna go home now.....please."
Tamahome saw her tear stained cheek. She was still trying to hide her weakness from him although he already knew that she's suffering inside. People have been saying how much she loves Hotohori with all her heart. Tamahome felt more guilty inside, but tried so hard to ignore it. He did this to get back at her, but then why is he feeling sorry for her?
" Please Tamahome......I wanna go home," Miaka's shoulders started to shake. Tamahome felt that he should stop this now, since it was only a slap anyways. She's suffering so much more than what happened to him a while ago. He nodded his head and stood up, without a single word.
He lend out his hand to Miaka but she didn't take it. She stood up by herself but accidentally knocking the champagne glass over. It shattered as it hit the floor catching the attention of everyone at the restaurant including Hotohori and Yuka.
Hotohori was shocked when he saw Miaka with tears in her eyes. He saw Tamahome standing right beside her and thought that it was his fault that Miaka was crying. Even though he's cheating on Miaka and doesn't love her the way she does to him, he still cares for her a lot. He stood up leaving Yuka at the table and followed the two as they head on outside. Yuka, seeing Hotohori making his way out, followed right behind him.
Miaka sensed Hotohori following them but ignored it. He walked beside Tamahome with a casting a single look behind. As soon as they got to the limousine, Tamahome opened the car door for her and slapped himself mentally for being nice to Miaka. Then again, he still felt guilty about everything so he decided to ignore the payback thing and get Miaka home.
Miaka was about to step inside the car when she was stopped by Hotohori's strong grip on her wrist. She turned to him, full of rage within her. What got her more furious is what Hotohori asked next, " Did he hurt you Miaka? Why are you crying?" Hotohori eyed Tamahome, while Tamahome just laughed full of disgust in his voice.
Miaka suddenly slapped Hotohori so hard which caught the attention of the passerbys. They looked at the scene in front of them and decided to stay back to see what's going on. Hotohori didn't see that coming to him so he didn't know how to react. He was lost for words, wondering why Miaka slapped him.
Miaka laughed sarcastically, " You are so stupid! Me, get hurt by Tamahome yeah right! I wasn't crying because of him....."
Hotohori still had a confused look on his face which made Miaka roll her eyes. Her small hands grabbed his face and twisted it to Yuka's way. Hotohori had his eyes wide open, remembering that Yuka was actually with him. He turned back to Miaka, " You saw?..."
" Of course I did you dumbass!" Tamahome stood back and let her handle this. " I can't believe you did this to me Hotohori. I've put my trust in you damn it. I trusted you, I've supported you all the way, I loved you! Damn it Hotohori, how can you do this to me?!" Miaka furiously yelled at him.
" ......I'm sorry," Hotohori quietly said with his head bowed down. He couldn't look into Miaka's eyes, didn't want to see her tears.
" I'm sorry?! I'm sorry?! Is that all you can come up with?! ......Damn you Hotohori! I hate you!"
Miaka suddenly felt her legs giving up on her. She was about to collapse on the ground when Tamahome caught her. She looked up at him with pleading eyes. He knew what that meant, " Take me home"
Hotohori watched as Tamahome guided Miaka's frail body to the car and shut the door. Tamahome headed to the other side, but before he hopped inside, he glared at Hotohori and Yuka who was walking towards Hotohori. " I can't believe you would do that to someone who loves you so much."
Hotohori looked away while the car pulled back and sped off, leaving him with tears on his face. Yuka looked up at him and seeing tears coming down from his eyes, she went on inside. Hotohori felt his heart being torn apart, but it was too late.......way too late to fix things up.
Tamahome kept quiet as the car went on. When they got in, Miaka told the driver the street where she lives and then she didn't say a single word at all. Tamahome glanced at her, she was still sobbing quietly to herself which brought up another pang of guilt.
" I can't believe I'm feeling sorry for this girl at all.....Maybe I shouldn't have done that at all. It was my fault anyways that I got slapped a while ago. Damn, why do I feel so freakin sorry for her?" Tamahome asked himself.
" Thank you," Miaka suddenly spoke up which startled Tamahome.
He looked at her questioningly and asked sarcastically, " You saying thank you to me when I was practically the one who ruin the night for you."
Miaka shook her head, " No, you actually saved me. If I didn't know about it, it would just keep on hurting me inside seeing Hotohori always making up excuses when he's actually out with Yuka."
" Well then, you're welcome."
"..................."
Another silence erupted between them, he decided to break the ice.
" So ummm....." Tamahome started but was cutted off when Miaka suddenly spoke up.
" It hurts so much you know. I've put my trust on him...but then he betrayed me," Miaka felt her eyes welling up with tears again but didn't bother to stop it. Tamahome kept quiet and listened closely as she spoke. " I've never felt this way before, it feels like my heart is being torn apart." Miaka took another deep breath and continued on, " I loved him so much.......and all this time I thought he felt the same. But no...he didn't...." Miaka couldn't take it anymore and broke into a loud sobbing.
She lunged herself at Tamahome's chest which caught him by surprise. She leaned on him, sobbing on his chest and mumbling over and over again, " it hurts."
Tamahome stiffened at first, but as soon as he looked down at the girl sobbing in his chest, his eyes softened and he started to feel sorry for her. He kept blaming himself for this, because he brought her to him unprepared. He couldn't think of anything to say that would cheer her up, so he only do what he think could at least comfort her a bit. He placed his arms around her, hugging her closely while Miaka continued to snuggle up, finding the warmth that was emitting from his body somewhat relieving.
He kept her close to him and he didn't know whether it was his imagination but his heart pounding for a few seconds. He ignored it and placed his chin on top of her head, both not saying a word to each other at all.