A/N: Well, I guess a new supporter of my fic takes place. You know who you are..you are reviewing my updates chappie after chappie...Thanks really. Your reviews make me go on with this story. You know what? I said to myself, if I don't get at least one review a day after I update that previous chapter...and guess what? You were there to cheer me on. I received your review in less than 24 hours after I had posted the tenth chap. You're a great author, too, you know?
Well, I better quit being melodramatic now..hehe...though that's the genre of my story..(maybe my own life, too..bleh..)
Took me a long while to update, ne?
Chapter 11: False Impression
Tatsuki laid down on his comfortable futon. One more day. One more.
--I'll be out of this stinky jail.-- Tatsuki thought.
"Hey, Kuroi." A voice called. "Thinking of Miss Ran again?"
Tatsuki didn't move his head, but answered coolly. "She's always on my mind, you know? Though I think of my freedom from this prison, her face never leaves my mind."
His inmates whistled and some even shouted 'Yoohoo!'. They are very happy for Tatsuki. That he won Ran's heart.
But something stung his own heart. When he is acclaimed to be free...would he also be freed from this doubt that is enveloping him and blinding him? He wonders whether Naoki is still on the scene..he even wonder why Naoki's not visiting him anymore.
--Don't say that. She visited you a day ago, right? And another day ago...didn't she? She even told you she still loves you, didn't she?-- a voice echoed in his mind.
Tatsuki looked down on himself.
He hoped she meant what she said.
----------
Rei took advantage of his suspension by smelling the roses (if you do get what I mean).
He started it by taking strolls around Shibuya by morning. He wanted to see Aya, but when he went to her house, her parents told him that she already left. Rei marveled why Aya would get up so early in the morning...Of course when he was with her he knew her schedule. Rei knew that Aya's early shift was yesterday.
Still thinking of why Aya was out at dawn, he ended up realizing that she must have been to Katase's.
So there he had gone.
He was about to knock on the door but he stopped. --Maybe it would be better if I...just get out of her life.-- he inferred. Then he turned away from the door.
After heaving a sigh, he started to walk away. He won't try to bother her...
..again.
But then..a few steps away from Katase's house...he heard someone open the door.
"Otohata."
----------
Yuuhi, who was in his bed, late IN THE MORNING... still thought of the kiss. He kept touching his own lips, feeling Ran's lips still hot on them...
--I got a kiss from her.-- Yuuhi thought, then he moaned.
--Aren't you happy with that? You got a kiss from your girl!-- 'another Yuuhi' thought.
"I am happy with it...but I did not do right. I shouldn't have given in to it." He compelled himself.
Then the door opened, Yuuhi's dad entering. "Yuuhi, are you talking to yourself again?"
"Again?" Yuuhi asked. Again? Does it mean he talks to himself often?
"I hear you talking in your sleep."
"I'm fine, dad. Ja ne." He said, so that his dad would go away. Anyone would have expected him to be sweet with his dad, but this time he won't be anything like that. He has to meditate on his feelings before he listens to anyone else.
----------
"Katase Kasuki....right?"
"And I know, of course, you're Otohata Rei. Funny though...that of all the places I'd see you be in...why here?" Katase mocked him, though deep inside, there was hate and anger, just waiting to burst out of him in case Rei goes wrong.
Rei ignored the mocking of Katase, and went straight to the point with his coldest expression ever. "Where's Aya?"
Katase shrugged. "Wanna go inside first? So we could talk a lot better?"
"I don't think so. Now answer my question." Rei gave Katase a look that could kill.
"I don't know where Aya is." Katase lied.
"You're a poor liar."
"Well, you're a poor lover." Katase shot back.
Rei clenched his fists. "What?"
Katase mock-grinned at Rei. "Whoa...Otohata. You can't do that to me here!"
"I can. Any minute I would. Where's Aya?! She—"
"Katase? Who's ther—"
The three of them fell speechless for three different reasons...
Aya...the one who called Katase...just emerged wearing a bathrobe on, and her hair in a not-so-neat bun. She stopped talking when she already knew the answer to the question by seeing him herself.
Katase...the one who hides Aya from Rei...was surprised to see her that way. And he was more shocked when Aya and Rei both have seen each other again.
Rei...the one who looks for Aya...has now seen her. But in the most heart-breaking way. Wearing a bathrobe? In KATASE'S HOUSE!!!! What does this mean? False images of what may have happened between Aya and Katase played in his mind.
The hair...the robe...Aya...Katase...
Rei gave Aya a 'death' glare(Thanks to you Heero Yuy!). "What's going on here?" he asked, darting his eyes to Katase.
"I...I...got nothing t-to do with it!" Katase stammered.
Aya pretended not to be hurt by Rei's sudden visit. "Katase, who is he?"
Katase gulped. --What do I tell her?--
Rei grinned. "That's funny of you to pretend you don't know me, Aya."
Aya smiled at him, completely hiding all the past. "I'm sorry, mister, but I don't really know you." She looked at Katase, then back to Rei. "I really would appreciate to get to know Katase's friends but we're busy right now."
Aya made a bow in front of Rei. "Maybe we would know each other some other time!" She stood straight and smiled at him. Rei felt his heart being pulled from both sides. Aya turned to Katase, "Can you please look after Jitaro for awhile?"
Katase nodded and left, but he doubted things were going wrong. He knew Aya would fix this out. She's stronger now.
Aya turned her head back to Rei.
"I'm not leaving here 'til I talk to you about something important." Rei said.
Aya looked at him with confusion. "Me? But we've just met a minute ago, didn't we?"
--She's doing a great job of faking it.-- Rei thought. "Why are you being like that?"
Rei expected her to fake it again, but then Aya told him, "I thought you said before that no one has ever been named Aya Hoshino?" (That scene wherein they fought at Lavender's café? If you've read Chapter 1, that is)
A flashback occurred to Rei. He was surprised.
So Aya took it seriously!
Rei can't let that happen, could he?
"Look, Aya, I didn't mean a word I said back at Lavender's before. Please believe me! Don't be so rude!" Rei pleaded.
Aya pitied him, but her face didn't show it. Her face illustrated disgust and hatred. "You know what? Standing here by the door wearing a bathrobe and talking to a person I've worn out of is really a bad example for Katase's younger siblings."
"I'm not going in there, I'm not leaving here, and you're going to finish this conversation with me." Rei said. --I have to carry on, even though she's putting it all down on me with different hits.--
"Okay. Whatever you say."
"I know it's hard to believe this. But I'm sorry about—"
"Yeah, it is hard. You're not yet done with your sentence but I know it would be hard to believe. Your presence here is also hard to believe in."
"Aya, please listen to me."
"Why? Did you listen to me before?" Aya retorted, leaning on the doorpost.
Rei sighed. "This would go nowhere."
"Correct. Because starting today, you don't know me, and I don't know you!" She said. Grabbing the door and slamming it towards his face.
Inside the house, Aya leaned on the door she just slammed shut, and like an old movie, she slowly slid down until she was sitting on the floor. She was crying, and she heard Rei shouting by the door.
Outside the house, indeed Rei was shouting. "Aya!!!! Please! Don't do this to me! Hey, open the door!!!! Aya!!" Rei continued shouting, and he banged his fist on the door. His voice was hoarse already.
Katase saw Aya crying again, so he decided to go near her. "It would be okay if you destroy our door, just like that bastard is doing now. I can fix it." He said, trying to cheer her up.
Aya just shook her head. "I'm sorry."
"What are you doing with that bathrobe anyway?" Katase asked.
Aya stood up and wore her mask in front of him. "Your mom offered me a hot bath. But when I switched it on, I just realized the switch I triggered was for the shower. So my hair was splashed with water."
"Then you heard me talking to someone, and you put the bathrobe on?" Katase finished for her.
Aya nodded. Then the tie of her facemask loosened, and she frowned. She looked down on herself, and said, "You know, if you haven't been back from Europe, I could have been suffering more than what I am under now. It's just so...painful." Then she hugged Katase tight, to which he was surprised.
The banging of the door stopped. It seemed like Rei heard Aya speaking right through those wooden shreds together.
Katase turned his attention back to Aya. --Is she telling me this because she really feels it, or is she saying this to me just to make Rei hear all of what she had said?-- Katase wondered.
----------
The hours passed by quickly.
For Ran.
For everyone else.
But when night came, Ran felt almost bursting.
"I kissed Yuuhi! What am I gonna do?" Ran told herself. "Tomorrow, Tatsuki is to be freed from jail. Ugh...what if he knows of it? He'd be mad."
She held the phone with one of her hands, having second thoughts of whether to tell this to someone or not.
'Go on. Talk about it with someone else.'
'No. Stupid. What if word spreads in a snap?'
'Don't think like that. You trust your friends right?'
'But I thought you said only Yuuhi's left to trust! And he's the one you kissed!'
'Then talk to him about it!'
'Fine, go on. But don't blame yourself if you feel more uncomfortable after the conversation.'
'Why would I feel that?'
'Because you talked to him.'
"WHATEVER!!!!!!!!!!!!" Ran shouted. Then she pushed the phone aside with a strong force. "I don't know what to do!!!!"
Yamato stormed into the bedroom with full anxiety. "Ran!" he yelled. He expected her to turn around, but she just stood there. She wasn't even surprised that he came in all of a sudden.
He saw her standing there, with her back facing him. The movement of her shoulders expressed her anger.
"Ran?"
"Leave me alone." She muttered under her breath.
Seeing the fingers of her sister clawing at the desk, he tried to soften his voice. "Ran, please." He said. Yamato felt more pain, because it was harder for him to do that. Just try to be humble and kind and soft and everything so you could comfort others...while your own big problem's just right in the corner.
"Quit that. I hate the way you're modulating your voice. Baka. Go away. Or else..." Ran warned him. But did her brother listen? No.
"But, Ran...I—"
Ran turned around and faced his brother. "Look at me!!!!" Ran shouted, showing Yamato her tear-stained face. "Just look at me! You wanna talk to me? I'm sick and tired of you!!! You weren't there when I needed you! You're always focused on your stupid police-hunting-criminal sh--t!"
Yamato was silent. He looked down on the floor. He let Ran pour out on him all she wanted.
"If you were only here, the gang would have...would have.." Ran's voice was hoarse. "...been..together!!!! But where the f--ck are you?! You're there, doing your job for yourself!" She pointed Yamato. "Yourself!"
Something snapped inside Yamato. At that very second Ran said that last word, Yamato slapped her. Now, it's his turn to speak. And so he thinks that it is.
"Do you know what I'm doing? What sacrifice I'm DOING?!?! You don't! Tatsuki may be in jail, but if it weren't for me, he could have been in jail for months! I saved your boyfriend from long prison by asking him to tell the truth, you know?!? And if it weren't for your boyfriend, which you aren't even thankful for, Miyu could've been saved! I would have been able to protect her! Yeah, thanks...SISTER."
Yamato went out the room, his own hot tears pushing their way out of his eyes.
End of Chapter 11
A/N: AAHH!!! I can't damn believe it...I haven't run out of ideas for 'one' story in my life! I'm not bragging, okay? But really! I never do run out of ideas...this chapter is short, ne?
Please review. SUGGEST WHAT WOULD HAPPEN NEXT!!!!!!!!! PLEASE PLEASE!!!!!!!