A/N: I was wonderin' just what I need in order to keep this on-course. Well, to makki, you're right, I'm not using the same attitude. Just makin' things a bit more complicated. Thanks to my reviewers.

Ex78

P.S. I need your comments, okay? FLAMERS, I said you're welcome...

Disclaimer: So where are my slaves? Aha! There you are! Fuji Mihona, Go make the 2nd series of GALS now and I'll give your salary! moderators came in my company--

Ex78: Oh no, here they are again!!!!--runs moderators: Hey come back here and say sorry to the company!!--chases me--

Ex78: WAAHHH!! T-T....XD--smacked in the head--

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Legend:

"..." - characters talking

... - characters thinking

... - me speaking!!! 

Chapter II: Stolen

"Gentlemen, you may leave the room now and again, don't forget to study the notes I gave you and keep up with your animation subject." The teacher's voice said.

"Ladies, you may.." the teacher's voice trailed off as Katase had gone out of the room quickly.

"What the heck is this life about? I wish I could see Aya rather than see that ugly teacher." Katase grumbled to himself.

Someone nudged Katase. "You mean you prefer Aya over your career?"

As if knowing it was his mind's voice, he said "Yes, of course I do, she is much more—wait.." he came to realization. "Hey!" he turned to see the female stature. "Hi, Roiki."

Roiki, an OC, Katase's classmate, smiled. "Seems like you're deeply in love, huh?"

Katase nodded innocently. "I am."

Roiki stares at the blank air. "That girl might be pretty lucky with you."

"Huh?"

Roiki shrugged. "How I wish someone would love me like that."

"I'm always here, I'm your bestfriend."

"Well, a friend. But not the way you treat Aya. I want someone who'd love me as his own."

Katase put an arm around Roiki. "Someone will. Believe that. Love might come soon, who knows?"

Roiki simply nodded. Katase patted her on the back. "I gotta go. So long."

----------

"What's this all about?"

"Hands up boy! Just explain it all in the court."

Ran went to the commotion. "What's going on Tatsuki?"

Tatsuki turned his head to Ran's direction. He struggled from the police's arms and ran to her and knelt in front of her. "Help me please! I don't know what's happening in here!!"

The police quickly pulled him up and pushed him to make his chest lean against the wall. They began to handcuff him. "RAN please!!"

Ran held the police's hand. "Can you please tell me what exactly is going on here?" She asked, irritated of the complete ignorance the police is showing her.

"Ma'm, this man here is found driving a car that had been reported stolen 3 hours ago."

Ran dropped her take-out beverage. It spilled on the ground. She covered her mouth to keep from shouting. With wide eyes, she found herself gradually losing trust on Tatsuki.

"That's not true! I didn't know! It was—"

"No comments, just go." The police ordered.

Tatsuki tried to struggle hard, but to no avail. "Please! I didn't do anything wrong!! I—Ran! Help me here please!! Ran!! Ran!!!"

But the police had already put him in the car.

All Ran could do, for the first time ever, was to cry stupidly for the suspected thief. She buried her face in her hands and sobbed loud as she sat on her spot. Yuuhi, being rendered speechless, put one arm around Ran's shoulders and rubbed her other shoulder with his other arm. "Ran," he said.

"Yuuhi, he's a criminal!! I—I didn't know he could—he could—!" She couldn't say anything about Tatsuki anymore. She wept onto Yuuhi's shirt. Yuuhi had felt a mixture of emotions. Gladness, because Tatsuki's gone and he had Ran in his arms. Pain, because of Ran's crying sound. Anger, because Tatsuki betrayed Ran. He didn't want her and Tatsuki together neither did he like Ran hurt by Tatsuki.

"Can I bring you now back to your home?" Yuuhi asked, thinking they're doing this in the public.

Ran nodded. Yuuhi took out his own car keys and led her to his car.

----------

By afternoon...

--It's okay. I'd be waiting,,, -- Aya thought as she patiently waited for her lover to come. She thought of giving him a surprise.

"Yeah, sure bro. See ya! Okay!" Aya could hear his voice not very far away. She kept still on her seat, waiting for him to emerge from the corner and see her there. Aya smiled at the thought of him being surprised by her appearance. Soon, her wish was given.

Katase appeared from the corner near where Aya was seated. The locker was just beside the seat Aya was on.

"Aya? What are you doing here?" Katase asked, surprised as Aya had expected.

"I absented from my class today." She said truthfully while Katase stuffed his things into his locker.

"Why? Are you sick?" he stopped burying all his books in his locker and looked at Aya. "Do you want me to come with you to the doctor? I—"

"No, no. I'm not sick and I know you're already tired." Aya said with concern

"It's okay if I'm tired, I could come with you to the doctor. For you."

Aya blushed. --You're so cute when you blush.--Katase thought, then closed his locker.

"N-no, I'm not sick. I just felt kinda tired from my lessons last night so I felt the urge not to attend today."

"Do you want to go out for some coffee?" Katase invited.

Aya looked surprised now. Then she blushed again. --He's inviting me to go out with him.-- she thought. "I..guess..I guess so."

They walked out the halls of Katase's school. When they got out the school, they started to walk to the nearby coffee shop.

While walking, Katase kept taking quick glances at Aya. Then he himself blushed. --So beautiful at any angle-- he thought with amazement.

--I'm glad I already told her about what I felt for her. Maybe she'd understand somehow.--Katase thought. He took her hand and held it tight.

Aya blushed in alarm and slowly turned her head to face Katase. "Ka—Katase..you—"

"You know already, right?" he asked.

She nodded and blushed more, thinking of the people who envily looked at them. Still she allowed him to hold her hand.

----------

Rei slopped on his bed lazily. He put his hands up to the back of his head. He sighed again. And again. And again.

--Oh great, now I'm using up all my breath.-- Rei thought. A flashback about the scene at the café occurred to him.

--"Yes! I know! I wanted to avoid you! I don't even know anyone named Rei Otohata!"

I could see the hurt look somewhere in Aya's eyes. But outside it was anger she tried to show. "No one has ever been named Aya Hoshino!" I told her.

"Don't even come up to me if you don't have anyone anymore to run to!"

"I won't! Well why are you trying to say that I would come up with that idea?" Though I myself knew sometime soon I might come up with that.

"I know you! You turn to someone when you're down but you don't even want to understand your so-called friends when they were down!"

"Then why do you care if I understand them?!?!"

"BECAUSE I LOVE YOU!!!" she shouted.

I was surprised. She admitted it..

In front of everyone...

For the first time she shouted those three words. To me...and I did dump her. Not knowing what to say, I shouted in return..

"I hate you as much!"

Still I felt hurt when I spilled out those words...why?--

End of Flashback

Rei sat up and buried his face in his hands, placing his elbows on his knees. "What's going on in my life. All I want is to live happily."

"I'm not going to fall in love with that girl. Whether she liked it or not. I won't. I promise myself." He said. Still he felt uncomfortable. "I can't fall in love with you, Aya!! I am. Not. Ready. For. A serious. Relationship!!!" he shouted. His mind spun around like a whirlpool. Aya's words kept pounding in his mind repeatedly. --Because I love you!!--

"No way...I..I won't." he swore, though somewhere inside him there's something opposing him.

----------

Yamato slammed his fist on the table.

"What the heck did you do?" he insisted. But Tatsuki, who was seated across him at the station, spoke nothing.

Yamato heaved a sigh. He turned around and peeked outside the window bar of the door to make sure no one's listening. Then he turned back to Tatsuki. He whispered to him the softest possible whisper, "Look here,...you're my sister's boyfriend. Ran would kill me if she knows I'm the one assigned on investigating on you. Just tell me what you did and that will set you free, okay? Who knows? I might help to make you free."

Tatsuki stared into Yamato's eyes deeply. --He's telling the truth. He's not spoiling me.-- he observed. "Okay, I'll tell you."

Yamato breathed a sigh of relief and tried to peek out the window bar again. Then he sat across Tatsuki. He placed his chin on top of his clutched hands. "Start." He seriously said.

"I was walking to college school when some guy had invited me to dine with him and talk with me about your sister. He says he's the number one fan of Ran and asks me all kinds of questions..what she likes, what she does, what—"

"Then why does he have to ask you instead of my imouto?"

"Many people knew about us, you know."

"Proceed." He said, keeping his ears open for any necessary detail.

Tatsuki sighed first. Then continued. "Then I remembered I still have my psychiatry class today. I remembered it when it was too late. I saw the clock at the café read as 1:50. My class is 2 o' clock. So I bade him goodbye as quick as I could but he stopped me from going when he asked me why I need to go. I told him so and he asked again what I'm going to ride on. I said I'm commuting because I didn't bring my car. He said I could borrow his own car and he gave me the keys. I said a big thanks and bade him."

"Is this guy familiar to you or what?" Yamato asked, trying to clear things out with his mind.

"No." , was Tatsuki's simple reply.

"Then why did you let the car crash into the restaurant?"

"I didn't." Tatsuki opposed, trying to be calm as much as possible because they might think he's guilty if he runs amok in the precinct. "I panicked when I heard the police car sirens behind me. I didn't know why but when I looked around to see who you all were chasing, I observed not one car tried to go faster. I concluded that I was being chased. When I was about to turn into the corner, I tried to step on the break, but I had nothing to step on. The break is loose. I think the guy I talked to removed it for the purpose of killing me. So that was when the car crashed into the restau."

"Uh-huh." Yamato nodded. "Where did you meet this guy?"

"Just here in Shibuya."

Yamato nodded and stood up. "Thank you for your good cooperation, Kuroi Tatsuki."

Tatsuki bowed slightly. "If you weren't the one who investigated my case, I could have panicked and ran amok here in the station. You're welcome."

Both shook hands and Yamato led him to the Sergeant. At the main room, he salutes to the Sergeant and tells him all Tatsuki told him.

----------

"Thanks for driving me home." Ran smiled, hiding the pain she wanted to let out. The thought of Tatsuki stealing a car felt so ugly for Ran. Yuuhi drived her home and now they are on the front porch.

"You're welcome." Yuuhi replied.

"Sure!! Till next time!" She waved at him and laughed her hearty laugh. --Why is this so hard to do? I just need to laugh, though I myself feel that it's so hard to laugh when I don't really want to do it.--

"Ran.." she heard Yuuhi call her.

"Huh?" She said, lowering her arm. "Do you still need—"

Ran was rendered speechless when Yuuhi suddenly pulled her to his chest and embraced her tightly.

Slowly, tears came out of Ran's eyes and she began crying. She raised her arms and hugged him back. "Yuuhi..."

Yuuhi felt the soft curls of Ran's hair. "Don't stop what you feel. Let it all out. I hate it when I see you hiding your pain."

"You—you noticed..."

Yuuhi let go of her and cupped her cheeks with his hands. "Yes, and I'm telling you you shouldn't wear your mask in front of me, because I could let it all out anyway."

Ran embraced him again and now it's Yuuhi's turn to be surprised.

Ran cried loudly. --She could've been hiding so much pain in her heart for a long time. She's crying so loud, anyone she could've been crying out to now will notice that. She's trying to let it all out now.-- Yuuhi thought, rubbing Ran's back.

"Thank you for being here, Yuuhi." She said between sobs. "Maybe I could let everything out now, so that next time I don't have to cry for the past."

"I think you should confront your mom with this." Said Yuuhi.

"No. Okay, you may go now, it's getting late." She said.

"Are you sure you're already okay?" Yuuhi asked.

"No, I'm not. But maybe I will be after I cry all I could." Ran said, smiling a bit.

Yuuhi smiled. Glad that she smiled even before he would leave. But her sight was too exciting to be left. "Ran, don't get mad at me but could I ask a favor?"

Ran nodded, wiping the tears though it seemed useless for it was just being replaced by new ones.

"I wanted to hug you for the last time tonight." Yuuhi said undoubtfully of himself.

Unexpecting Ran's agreement, Ran opened her arms wide. Yuuhi felt so glad and hugged her tightly. He held her head and kissed her forehead. Then he bade goodbye.

"Bye. Mami might be waiting for you." Ran said.

Yuuhi waved and then drove away.

When he was gone, Ran went upstairs to her room. --I can't believe that being in college could change almost everything in my life. I am dramatic now, problematic and also lovesick. But on top of that, Yuuhi had been here when I needed someone. He is a good friend. Mami is so lucky with him. But—hey, wait!-- she thought.

"He hugged me for the last time and kissed my forehead!" She said to the air. If Mami was his girlfriend then why did he kiss Ran's forehead? The spot he kissed burned hot. Ran blushed a little. This was the first time she had gone with the flow of her emotions, and moreover, this was the first time someone had kissed her, though not in the lips, but still kissed her. Hugged her. The first time a guy had embraced her in his arms.

--Well, at least he's not a maniac. In this world, only a few people are left educated.-- she thought, still crying.