Broken Puzzle

A Misaki x Hatoko Fanfiction by Munkii

This story is unrelated to my other fanfictions, namely "Conceptions of Love" and "Lost in Dreams". It contains Shoujo-Ai, love between two girls. Please do not read this if this is not your type of story. Angelic Layer and all respective characters are copyright CLAMP, Japan.

Chapter 4
Gain by Two, Two Lost by One

.o..o…O…o..o.

Ringing could be heard on the other end as Misaki nervously held the receiver in her hand. She had just arrived home with her mother and Yuuko, and it was nearly bed time. After visiting the mall, they didn't have the time to drop Misaki off at the small house, and instead rushed straight to the appointment. Misaki was quiet the entire time, thinking about Hatoko above everything else, and ignoring the conversations between Shuuko and the doctors. A click could be heard as someone picked up the phone.

"Kobayashi residence." Answered Kotarou.

"Ah, it's Misaki… Is by chance… Umm… Hatoko-chan there?" Misaki's voice was jumpy with anxiety.

"One moment, she's right here. Make it short please, she needs to get to bed." Kotarou could be heard handing the phone to Hatoko, who sounded excited.

"Misaki?" Hatoko asked. "I've been trying to call you forever!"

"I'm sorry… H-Hatoko-chan, but I was with Okaa-san for a long time today. I just arrived at the place we are staying." Misaki replied, settling down at the sound of Hatoko's voice. Misaki sighed. "I have some presents for you too."

"Really?... Misaki…" Hatoko became quieter.

"I wanted to tell you something very important, Hatoko-chan, concerning you and me… But now that I think about it…" Misaki paused for a moment.

"I wanted to tell you something important too…" Hatoko said quietly as Misaki broke her words for a moment.

"I want to tell you in person, Hatoko-chan. Is that okay? If we tell each other in person tomorrow when I come home?" There was silence for a little while, and Misaki could hear clothing rubbing against the phone from Hatoko's end. "Hatoko-chan, are you okay?"

"Yes, Misaki… Just, I feel, happy… Very happy… Please, I'll be here all day tomorrow. Stop by for me…" Hatoko sniffled.

"Okay, Hatoko-chan. Tomorrow I will ask Okaa-san to let me off at your house when we come back. I promise, I'll be there."

"I'll see you then, Misaki, okay?"

"Okay, goodnight Hatoko-chan." Hatoko said goodbye, and Misaki set the receiver down, feeling elated and oddly at ease with her self. It had sounded like Hatoko already knew what they were going to be talking about, like she wanted to say the same wonderful words to Misaki. A pink hue crept upon Misaki's cheeks as she dreamily said goodnight to her mother and Yuuko before setting off to bed.

.o..o…O…o..o.

The sun was up just as soon as Misaki had fallen asleep, and she awoke with a yawn. She sat up and gazed out the window on the far side of the room for a few minutes before remembering what was going to happen that day.

"Hatoko-chan…" Misaki began, only to hear someone knocking on the bedroom door moments later.

"Misaki, may I come in?" Shuuko asked.

"Please," replied Misaki, yawning once again. Her mother opened the door, already dressed and looking a bit rushed.

"The appointment for early afternoon was shifted to this morning, Oujirou-san isn't feeling well, and Icchan asked if we could return early so we could go visit him. Sounds like there was an accident involving one of Oujirou-san friends. He's a mess. I would like to do what I can for him, he is like family. Anyways, I left some breakfast on the counter for you when you're ready, me and Yuuko are going to go to this appointment and be back here in a couple hours, okay?" Shuuko sighed upon finishing her explanation, and Yuuko appeared in the doorway.

"Ready, Shuuko?"

"Yes, I am." Shuuko replied, "Take care Misaki, love you!" Shuuko added, kissing Misaki on the forehead before leaving with Yuuko. The sound of the front door closing soon followed, and Misaki was left in relative silence. She yawned as part of what her mother had told her sunk in slowly.

"Okay…" Misaki said to herself as she climbed out of bed and made her way to take a shower.

It wasn't long before Misaki had run out of things to keep her mind off of Hatoko. Even the prospect of a grumpy Oujirou was out of her mind. And, even as she cleaned the small house in preparation to leave, her mind drifted back to the young girl and off of her self-appointed chores. When the time finally came for her to load her clothes and other belongings into the car, she was feeling desperately lonely and finding she could barely wait any longer to see Hatoko. Thinking of this, she remembered her promise to Hatoko as she shut the car door behind her. They pulled out of the driveway as Misaki spoke up.

"Umm, Okaa-san, I was wondering… Could we please stop by Hatoko-chan's home? I promised I'd talk to her when we came back. Something important."

"Oh? I don't see the problem. Would you like us to leave you there, or?" Shuuko replied, curiosity edging into her voice. She at least knew something was going on between them, and she had half a mind to guess that the gifts Misaki had purchased the other day were for Hatoko, agreeably a huge fan of Angelic Layer.

"If it's not a problem for you…" Misaki answered, blushing. Shuuko turned around to look at her daughter, and noticing her expression, smiled.

"Okay, Misaki. I don't suppose those gifts are for her, are they?"

"They are." Misaki face was so red and warm under her mother's gaze that she turned to look out the window in an attempt to hide it. "Thanks, Okaa-san."

"It's not a problem, my dear Misaki. You deserve to be able to spend time with special friends too, you know."

.o..o…O…o..o.

When Misaki had finally arrived at the Kobayashi residence, she practically jumped from the car, grabbing her gifts for Hatoko. They had not been wrapped, but the colorful bag they were in would suit the occasion just fine. Misaki waved to her mother and Yuuko, who drove off shortly after. As Misaki turned around, she saw Hatoko peeking out of the gate, which swung opened as the young girl bounded forward, wearing a pretty blue top and skirt.

"Misaki!" Hatoko called, running up to her. She wrapped her arms around Misaki tightly. "I've missed you… I've missed you so much…" Her face was quite red, but it seemed that she hadn't noticed as she tilted it back to look up at Misaki.

"Should we go inside and talk, or would you like to talk somewhere outside?" Misaki asked gently, stroking the hair on top of Hatoko's head. A tingling sensation was running through her, an excitement even, and she was hardly holding herself up straight. Tottering in Hatoko's warm embrace, she could find no inclination to move either, and instead waited for Hatoko to reply.

"Let's go to my room for a bit, Misaki." Hatoko released the older girl, and took her hand instead, leading the way to her bedroom. "Kotarou is out smooching with Tamayo-chan, so… It's just you and me right now, Misaki."

Of course, both girls knew what was coming, as they walked along in silence, and their cheeks were not indifferent, showing scarlet. The door to Hatoko's room slid shut behind them, and Hatoko guided Misaki to her bed where she sat down. Misaki obliged, sitting down next to her, letting her bag of gifts drop gently to the floor.

"Misaki…" Hatoko began, but she was interrupted as Misaki put a finger to her lips. She gazed up into Misaki's eyes for a few moments until Misaki spoke.

"Hatoko-chan… I want to say sorry to you. I want you to know I am so sorry. Sorry for not understanding your feelings…" Misaki began, though she could already feel tears welling up in her eyes. "You have wanted me to be yours for so long, I realized… It must have been painful, and for that, I'm sorry, Hatoko-chan. I'm just not good at realizing things sometimes…"

"It's okay, Misaki. Sometimes people need time to even begin understanding other people that are close to them. I'm sure Kotarou would agree with me on this." Hatoko replied, wrapping an arm around Misaki's back and leaning closer to her. "You are being yourself, I like that very much about you."

"But you suffered Hatoko-chan. You suffered, especially recently when we were being all huggy and stuff… I bet you felt like I was toying with your feelings. I bet…"

"No, Misaki. I was enjoying myself very much. Though I was sad you didn't realize my feelings, I was glad I got to share that time with you. I was always happy… being able to be with you is all I could ever ask."

"I would have been okay with it if you had asked me to yours, even if I wasn't feeling things the same way as you from the beginning… I would have been okay with it. You being my best friend and all, I would have been okay with it, because I always wanted to see you happy and never wanted to see you sad." Tears streamed down Misaki's face, and she wiped them off, sniffling.

"Misaki… It's okay… I didn't ask you because I wanted you to realize the importance of my feelings for you. It means more to me that your heart made the decision, and not my own." Hatoko moved her free hand up to Misaki's warm face, and brushed away the tears. "We don't have to hide anymore. We know about our feelings now." Misaki nodded, gazing at Hatoko before falling back on the bed, seemingly exhausted. Hatoko followed, and after coming to a rest beside Misaki, rolled on top of her in a hug. Misaki's arms wrapped around Hatoko, pulling her closer.

"Hatoko-chan, I love you." Misaki whispered softly, her eyes closing as warmth from Hatoko washed over her.

"I love you too, Misaki." Hatoko leaned forward, kissing Misaki gently on her lips before resting her head on Misaki's chest. Misaki let out a sigh of euphoria, her breathing quick now as her senses exploded for several moments. She didn't want this moment to end. She wanted it to go on forever. She wanted Hatoko, forever…

.o..o…O…o..o.

The early afternoon passed by quickly, and there was a knock on Hatoko's door before Hatoko wanted to roll off Misaki. But, thinking it was better to not be found lying on Misaki, she crawled off the girl and stood up.

"Yes?" Hatoko asked as Misaki brought herself up, still in a partly dreamy state.

"Misaki's mother called, she wanted you two to go visit Oujirou-san at the stadium." Kotarou spoke through the door, as if he knew he might barge in on something personal.

"Okay." Hatoko turned to Misaki, looking at her for a few moments before taking her hand in hers. "Ready, Misaki?" She nodded, and they began the walk. First out of Hatoko's room, then down a few halls to the front door, then along the sidewalk. It was a nice day, perhaps a little warm, but still quite comfortable. A few fluffy clouds drifted in the sky overhead, and a nice ocean breeze blew around them.

They were walking very close to each other, hands still clasped together as if someone had put glue on them. While they talked of normal things, it was easy to tell by their constant gazes and blushing that something was different between the two of them. And once during the trip to the Angelic Layer Co. building, Misaki had bent down and gave Hatoko a little kiss on the cheek, who became speechless for several moments as her face changed colors.

Arriving at their destination, they were amidst several people who recognized the both of them. Ignoring the looks and stares, the girls made their way into one of the administrative corridors in the building. They headed towards Icchan's office, hoping to find out where Oujirou might be. But, the answer to this question appeared when they opened the door, only to find the both of them looking flustered.

"Ah, Misaki-chan and Hatoko-chan!" Icchan exclaimed, going over to greet them. "Oh look, what a nice outfit Hatoko-chan is wearing…" Hatoko turned into Misaki's side looking uncomfortable. "What? I mean it!"

"Um… Icchan-san… You're scaring her…" Misaki explained.

"But I always see her wearing her school uniform… Though that's pretty nice too…" Icchan explained.

"Icchan-san! Please…" Misaki began, now looking uncomfortable herself. Icchan sighed, turning back to Oujirou, who had remained sullen though-out Icchan's oddity.

"Oujirou, would you like to?" Icchan asked quietly. He nodded after several tense moments.

"Misaki-chan… You remember the person I was talking about awhile back, the day we were walking through the market… The one I said you remind me of?" When Oujirou looked at Misaki, she could tell he had been crying, if at least a little. He spoke as if all his spirit had left him, the whirling fans of the computers in the room sounding so much happier then he did right now.

"Yes, I remember." Misaki tensed, knowing that Hatoko had heard that, but the younger girl just held her tighter, patting her on the back gently where no one could see.

"There was an accident this morning. She's dead." The words rushed out, even though Oujirou tried to slow them down. For perhaps the second or third time, the fact hit Oujirou in the face as he admitted the truth to himself, and he looked away as another tear began to form in his eye.

"I'm so sorry, Oujirou-san…" Misaki began, but she didn't know what else to say. Sure, she liked him as a friend, but there was only so much of her heart she could give him. Most of it she had already given to Hatoko.

"Misaki-chan, I… I… I want to stop messing around with your feelings. I honestly want to settle down, and share time with you. I don't know when you're going to leave this world… I don't know when I am either… I want to share something with you before another accident takes away my chance…" Oujirou explained, pretending to look at Misaki, though his eyes were actually trained to stare just to her side.

"Oujirou-san, I'll always be your friend, you know that." Misaki replied, somewhat curious now.

"I want you to be that person that's more then a friend, Misaki-chan." The words quickly came out, and he looked down at his feet. Misaki understood what he was getting at now.

"Oujirou-san, I can't…" Misaki began.

"Why? Aren't I good to you? Don't I take you places and treat you to things?" Oujirou responded quickly, his voice rising quickly. Misaki had never seen Oujirou like this, never in her mind has she thought Oujirou could act so… not Oujirou. "Aren't I good enough for you?"

"You are good to me, though… It's not that… It's that I already have someone special in my life. It would be wrong to tell you that you are special when I have already promised myself to someone else."

"Who?" Oujirou asked quietly, not looking up.

"Hatoko-chan…" Misaki answered, letting her arms wrap around Hatoko, who had seen the last parts of the conversation coming. She was still hiding her head, not wanting to make things worse by looking superior, or victorious, in Oujirou's eyes.

"But… but… She's a… she… It's… just not right…" Oujirou spit out, the expressions on his faced mixed about now.

"Oujirou, there will be none of that," Icchan said firmly, stepping over to Oujirou and placing his hand on his shoulder. "None. You cannot change her mind once it is set. You know that all too well. Adding insults will only make things harder for you."

"It's already hard enough!" Oujirou yelled back quickly before turning his head away. "Why is it I can never have what I truly want? Can't have her because she's too old, I grow up, and then can't have her because she's dead. Can't even get to the finals. Can't have Misaki's heart. Can't this, Can't that. Can't have a normal family. Can't…"

"You don't mean that, Oujirou." Icchan replied firmly, calmly. Oujirou let out a small sigh before beginning to cry profusely into his sleeve. "You've done a lot of good things Oujirou, one of these days it's all going to come back to you, you'll see. You just have to remember that along the way there, you need to respect other people's feelings. People like Misaki-chan, and Hatoko-chan. You can't make decisions for them, just because you think you know how to make them happy."

Several minutes passed in silence, save for the occasional sniffle. Oujirou began to compose himself.

"Misaki-chan, I'm sorry. You too, Hatoko-chan. Please, I'll be okay, you two shouldn't have had to hear that. I'm sorry." Oujirou made his way hastily to the door, not looking at anyone. It opened and he disappeared into the hall.

"Icchan-san, we should go home." Misaki said. Icchan nodded.

"Sorry for the trouble. I hope you understand that Oujirou is going through a hard time lately, and forgive him. I'm glad you came to see him." Icchan replied.

"It's okay. I'll see you later, Icchan-san." Misaki waved, and Hatoko peeked out to wave as well as they left the room. After a few minutes of walking, they were outside and on their way back to Hatoko's house.

"Hatoko-chan… Are you alright? Oujirou-san's remark wasn't very nice, and I know you were trying to stay out of it, but…" Misaki asked gently, nudging Hatoko with arm.

"I'll be okay, Misaki. I have you."

.o..o…O…o..o.

Ee! Another chapter soon!

.oO Munkii