Disclaimer- I do not own MARS manga nor do I own any of the characters in
this story.
Response to Reviews-
Kitsunia- Thanks for reviewing it means a lot to me! Here's the next chappy, I know it's a bit short but the next one will be much longer to make up for the shortness.
GoddessDiana-To be honest I'm not sure which one Kira should end up with either. It would be too traditional for her to end up with Rei, but Tatsuya doesn't have much over Rei (in my opinion at least). I dunno, I'll make up my mind soon enough. Thanks for reviewing.
The story-
The high pitched ring of the telephone woke Tatsuya from his light slumber. He shifted Kira's head from his shoulder and ran to answer the phone so it wouldn't wake Kira too.
"Hello?" he puffed angrily, wondering who would be calling this late at night. "Hello?!?" he repeated a little louder than before after reviewing no response.
"Tatsuya?" Rei asked, sounding more than a little annoyed.
"Rei, why are you calling here so late?" Tatsuya asked.
"Why are you at Kira's house?" Rei asked.
"Don't worry about it. Just be glad that she has somebody she can talk to while you're away in Califor..."
"Arizona," Rei corrected him curtly.
"Whatever. You really thought she'd be able to make it alone?" Tatsuya asked him mockingly.
"She has other people, Harumi, friends at art school... I suppose you," Rei said in his own defense.
"Friends at art school? Have you ever known her to be any good at making friends?" Tatsuya asked, feeling bad about saying something so mean about Kira even though it was true.
"I don't know why you're so pissed off,but I called to speak to Kira and not to listen to you mouth off about shit," Rei retorted.
"It's late and Kira's asleep. Did you expect her to be awake at this time of the night?" Tatsuya asked.
"I didn't expect you to be there either," Rei said angrily.
"You're such an asshole. You think calling once in a blue moon will make up for not being around when Kira needs you," he said, feeling more confident than usual. He'd never been able to say such things to Rei without feeling intimidated.
"Fuck you okay! You have no idea what I've been going through. You act like I'm out here having a great time, or like I'm doing this to be cruel to Kira. I'm out here doing the only thing I'm good at so I can take care of Kira and be a respectable person. Don't you think I know how much she misses me? I'm not that stupid. I've been trying like crazy to get a weeks vacation so I can fly over and visit her but things aren't looking too good. Racing season's coming up and if I leave now they'll drop me from all the competitions," Rei explained in a huff.
"Whatever," Tatsuya said feeling a bit defeated. "You know that Kira lost her scholarship right?"
"What? No way, when did this happen?" Rei asked as he edged to the end of his seat.
"It happened perhaps over a week ago. I came over to visit and everything was out of place, her apartment looked like a hurricane hit it, and you know what a neat freak she is," he informed Rei.
Rei was silent, still in shock.
"Yeah, that's right Rei she lies when she tells you that she's okay. Kira murmurs your name in her sleep. In fact you're all she thinks about!" he exclaimed, letting out a frustrated gruntish noise.
"I wish that there was something I could do about that, but I'm doing the best I can... I know you're a good guy Tatsuya and I trust you whole heartedly. Just, don't get too close to her okay?"
"I wouldn't... You're my best friend remember?" Tatsuya said, trying to convince himself as well as Rei.
"I just don't feel right here with you always around her... You should worry more about yourself and stop yourself from falling in love with her. I know you liked her before I did and I guess you were forced to forget about your feelings when we cot together and maybe a part of you still likes her. I'm telling you now, even if it weren't for me things between you two wouldn't work out. When she wakes up tell her I'll call her back as soon as possible. I'm going to get the wrong impression if I hear you pick up again..." and then the line went dead.
Tatsuya frowned deeply, troubled by what Rei said. He glanced over at Kira on the couch as she slept. He wondered who she was thinking of and then grimaced, realizing that it was probably Rei. Maybe Rei was right and the best thing for him to do was to distance himself from Kira. She'd never love him like she did Rei so what's the point? He'd only end up getting hurt in the end.
The next morning they sat down at her kitchen table eating cold cereal and milk that Kira has prepared for them. Perhaps after weeks of being depressed and not cooking it was the equivalent of a continental breakfast.
"What am I going to do with my life ?" she asked aloud, breaking the silence. "I want to be someone Rei can be proud of. Maybe I should get a job and go back to art school? Or go to a cheaper city college and major in art?" she suggested.
Tatsuya simply nodded, still a bit miffed by his conversation with Rei last night. "Go for it," he said with a sad smile. "I'm going back to my apartment tonight," he announced suddenly after a few moments of silence.
Kira nodded. "Thanks again for staying with me and helping me get myself together... Hey, would it be okay if I moved in with you? I mean if I'm going to go back to college I don't think I'd be able to afford paying for this apartment alone and pay for school at the same time will I? However if I move in with you, pay for half of the rent and utilities and for my college payments then things will be easier," she said with a huge smile on her face. She watched as Tatsuya played around with the soggy cereal and frowned slightly. "Only for a while, until I get the hang of working and going to college at the same time. If it's okay with you, if it's not then I'll understand..."
"What about Rei? Wouldn't he be upset?" Tatsuya asked, wondering why he really cared what Rei would think.
"Why should he?" Kira asked curiously. "It's just you, I mean if it were any other guy then yeah he's flip... but it's you so it's okay." She got up and began to clean off the table
"Yeah, you're right," he replied, feeling severely deflated. She leaned over from behind him and picked up his empty bowl and glass, her long hair tickling his ear which caused his heart to flutter. He wondered if he's be able to deal with her living with him. He was a young man with raging hormones after all.
Rei grunted as he pushed the one hundred and fifty pound bar for the twentieth time that set. He closed his eyes, for he grew tired of staring up at the sloppily painted ceiling of the gym his manager locked him up in for hours at a time each day.
His mind drifted odd to Kira as he mused over what he and Tatsuya spoke about earlier on the phone. He hated feeling like the bad guy, and the way Tatsuya illustrated the picture of what happened he was nothing more than a selfish bastard who ditched his loving girlfriend to chase a stupid pipe dream. Rei grinded his teeth in frustration and shook the hair from his forehead. He needed to find some other way to reach out to Kira, weekly phone calls surely weren't cutting it. If he didn't come up with something fast he feared that Tatsuya would surely steal Kira away from him.
Response to Reviews-
Kitsunia- Thanks for reviewing it means a lot to me! Here's the next chappy, I know it's a bit short but the next one will be much longer to make up for the shortness.
GoddessDiana-To be honest I'm not sure which one Kira should end up with either. It would be too traditional for her to end up with Rei, but Tatsuya doesn't have much over Rei (in my opinion at least). I dunno, I'll make up my mind soon enough. Thanks for reviewing.
The story-
The high pitched ring of the telephone woke Tatsuya from his light slumber. He shifted Kira's head from his shoulder and ran to answer the phone so it wouldn't wake Kira too.
"Hello?" he puffed angrily, wondering who would be calling this late at night. "Hello?!?" he repeated a little louder than before after reviewing no response.
"Tatsuya?" Rei asked, sounding more than a little annoyed.
"Rei, why are you calling here so late?" Tatsuya asked.
"Why are you at Kira's house?" Rei asked.
"Don't worry about it. Just be glad that she has somebody she can talk to while you're away in Califor..."
"Arizona," Rei corrected him curtly.
"Whatever. You really thought she'd be able to make it alone?" Tatsuya asked him mockingly.
"She has other people, Harumi, friends at art school... I suppose you," Rei said in his own defense.
"Friends at art school? Have you ever known her to be any good at making friends?" Tatsuya asked, feeling bad about saying something so mean about Kira even though it was true.
"I don't know why you're so pissed off,but I called to speak to Kira and not to listen to you mouth off about shit," Rei retorted.
"It's late and Kira's asleep. Did you expect her to be awake at this time of the night?" Tatsuya asked.
"I didn't expect you to be there either," Rei said angrily.
"You're such an asshole. You think calling once in a blue moon will make up for not being around when Kira needs you," he said, feeling more confident than usual. He'd never been able to say such things to Rei without feeling intimidated.
"Fuck you okay! You have no idea what I've been going through. You act like I'm out here having a great time, or like I'm doing this to be cruel to Kira. I'm out here doing the only thing I'm good at so I can take care of Kira and be a respectable person. Don't you think I know how much she misses me? I'm not that stupid. I've been trying like crazy to get a weeks vacation so I can fly over and visit her but things aren't looking too good. Racing season's coming up and if I leave now they'll drop me from all the competitions," Rei explained in a huff.
"Whatever," Tatsuya said feeling a bit defeated. "You know that Kira lost her scholarship right?"
"What? No way, when did this happen?" Rei asked as he edged to the end of his seat.
"It happened perhaps over a week ago. I came over to visit and everything was out of place, her apartment looked like a hurricane hit it, and you know what a neat freak she is," he informed Rei.
Rei was silent, still in shock.
"Yeah, that's right Rei she lies when she tells you that she's okay. Kira murmurs your name in her sleep. In fact you're all she thinks about!" he exclaimed, letting out a frustrated gruntish noise.
"I wish that there was something I could do about that, but I'm doing the best I can... I know you're a good guy Tatsuya and I trust you whole heartedly. Just, don't get too close to her okay?"
"I wouldn't... You're my best friend remember?" Tatsuya said, trying to convince himself as well as Rei.
"I just don't feel right here with you always around her... You should worry more about yourself and stop yourself from falling in love with her. I know you liked her before I did and I guess you were forced to forget about your feelings when we cot together and maybe a part of you still likes her. I'm telling you now, even if it weren't for me things between you two wouldn't work out. When she wakes up tell her I'll call her back as soon as possible. I'm going to get the wrong impression if I hear you pick up again..." and then the line went dead.
Tatsuya frowned deeply, troubled by what Rei said. He glanced over at Kira on the couch as she slept. He wondered who she was thinking of and then grimaced, realizing that it was probably Rei. Maybe Rei was right and the best thing for him to do was to distance himself from Kira. She'd never love him like she did Rei so what's the point? He'd only end up getting hurt in the end.
The next morning they sat down at her kitchen table eating cold cereal and milk that Kira has prepared for them. Perhaps after weeks of being depressed and not cooking it was the equivalent of a continental breakfast.
"What am I going to do with my life ?" she asked aloud, breaking the silence. "I want to be someone Rei can be proud of. Maybe I should get a job and go back to art school? Or go to a cheaper city college and major in art?" she suggested.
Tatsuya simply nodded, still a bit miffed by his conversation with Rei last night. "Go for it," he said with a sad smile. "I'm going back to my apartment tonight," he announced suddenly after a few moments of silence.
Kira nodded. "Thanks again for staying with me and helping me get myself together... Hey, would it be okay if I moved in with you? I mean if I'm going to go back to college I don't think I'd be able to afford paying for this apartment alone and pay for school at the same time will I? However if I move in with you, pay for half of the rent and utilities and for my college payments then things will be easier," she said with a huge smile on her face. She watched as Tatsuya played around with the soggy cereal and frowned slightly. "Only for a while, until I get the hang of working and going to college at the same time. If it's okay with you, if it's not then I'll understand..."
"What about Rei? Wouldn't he be upset?" Tatsuya asked, wondering why he really cared what Rei would think.
"Why should he?" Kira asked curiously. "It's just you, I mean if it were any other guy then yeah he's flip... but it's you so it's okay." She got up and began to clean off the table
"Yeah, you're right," he replied, feeling severely deflated. She leaned over from behind him and picked up his empty bowl and glass, her long hair tickling his ear which caused his heart to flutter. He wondered if he's be able to deal with her living with him. He was a young man with raging hormones after all.
Rei grunted as he pushed the one hundred and fifty pound bar for the twentieth time that set. He closed his eyes, for he grew tired of staring up at the sloppily painted ceiling of the gym his manager locked him up in for hours at a time each day.
His mind drifted odd to Kira as he mused over what he and Tatsuya spoke about earlier on the phone. He hated feeling like the bad guy, and the way Tatsuya illustrated the picture of what happened he was nothing more than a selfish bastard who ditched his loving girlfriend to chase a stupid pipe dream. Rei grinded his teeth in frustration and shook the hair from his forehead. He needed to find some other way to reach out to Kira, weekly phone calls surely weren't cutting it. If he didn't come up with something fast he feared that Tatsuya would surely steal Kira away from him.