Author's Note:

This fic contains massive spoilers for the series.

Some characters (notably Takasugi) may be out of character. I hereby claim artistic license, even though it isn't mine.

Please review, whether you like or dislike the story.

Remember to check out Artemis' Bow's Princess Nine fic.

Disclaimer: I don't own Princess Nine or any of its characters. Suing me is a waste of your time and money.

Her Answer, Unexpected

Chapter Three: Ivory Towers

On Monday, school started. Ryo carefully avoided Izumi, not meeting her eyes when they passed in the halls. Izumi, though puzzled, said nothing.

At lunchtime, Ryo sat with the majority of the baseball team, eating her lunch in silence, only nodding or shaking her head when asked a question. Izumi hesitantly approached the table, working up the nerve to ask if Ryo was angry at her. Had she somehow gone too far?

'Is Ryo afraid I'll bring up that night? Does she think I expect something of her?' wondered Izumi.

Unfortunately for Izumi, she didn't have time to ask Ryo any of these questions, for the bell rang, and Chiyo pulled Ryo in the direction of their art class. As she passed Izumi, Ryo spotted the taller girl, a hesitant, almost scared expression on her face. Ryo gave the other girl a fleeting, almost unconscious smile, then turned to face Chiyo again.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!"

'Not fear, then,' mused Izumi, 'or anger. So what is it?'

She was forced to discard her musings in favor of her class, but she returned to them on the way to practice. She was in a daze by the time she reached the locker room, and almost didn't see Ryo and Chiyo as the entered, talking quickly. Ryo had splatters of red paint on her face, whereas Chiyo just had a smudge of blue under her left eye. Most of it had missed their uniforms, but Ryo was plucking nervously at a bit which had landed on her right sleeve, near the cuff. Chiyo simply looked odd in the uniform.

Izumi almost smiled at Ryo, but stopped as Ryo turned to face her. Ryo froze, then turned away, heading towards the sink with Chiyo.

Izumi slipped back into her former cold demeanor, but kept listening to their conversation. Apparently the two pitchers had caused quite a stir when their attempts at painting reproductions of the masters had degenerated into something more closely resembling a paint fight, though Ryo swore she hadn't started it, and bemoaned the fact that her "Starry Night" would never be the same.

"You think this will come out?" she asked, still half-heartedly plucking at her sleeve.

"Don't worry about it!" said Chiyo. "It was worth it anyway."

"To you, maybe."

"Oh yeah? Well, who got me with this?" Chiyo asked, pointing at her face, then removing her jacket to show stains on her shirt, "And this? And this?"

"What vulgarity!" said Arisu, sneering. "You do realize you're giving the team a bad name, don't you?"

She continued to speak, turning her attention towards Kanako, the only one on the team she'd talk to civilly.

"My father told me not to come to this school. He knew I wouldn't allow myself to be corrupted by," she looked around, "these hooligans, but he said it would ruin my reputation. My mother, on the other hand, said it would be the only chance for my sports abilities to be recognized as well as my looks, and you must settle for what you can get."

Kanako looked slightly sick. She turned towards the team with a look that begged for help, but they weren't looking in her direction. Also, their opinion of her seemed to have dropped at least slightly since Arisu had begun talking to her. Izumi, on the other hand, knew it was not by Kanako's choice, and she was considering telling Kanako something she'd heard earlier that day: Arisu talking to what might be called Izumi's former groupies, of whom she'd never been fond.

"She's rather plain," Arisu had said, "but at least she's better than the rest of that ragtag team. Even that Izumi seems to have sunken to their level. It's pathetic."

All four girls had laughed, not noticing Izumi's presence.

As Izumi dressed and went out to practice, she convinced herself that maybe she'd only been imagining Ryo's avoidance of her. That idea was completely shattered, however, when she saw Ryo's pitching in practice. It was so erratic that Chiyo had to step in as a replacement; she was more reliable, but not nearly so fast.

Izumi, too, was having a bad day as far as batting went. Though she hit Chiyo's pitches without fail, most of her hits were fouls. Arisu, on the other hand, seemed to be having a good day; though none of her hits were spectacular, all of them were competent, and she missed no opportunity to rub that in.

After practice, Izumi finally approached Ryo, who avoided her gaze. Izumi reached towards her to turn the smaller girl's face, but instead put her hand on Ryo's shoulder. She opened her mouth, closed it again, and then spoke.

"Ryo... what's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Ryo..."

"Look, nothing's wrong!"

"Ryo, your pitching was off today. Either you're sick or you're upset. You don't seem sick."

Ryo looked up into the taller girl's worried face, and frowned, looking away.

"Is it for my sake, or for the sake of the team?" asked Ryo.

"What?"

"Are you worried for my sake, or for the sake of the team?"

Izumi frowned. The answer seemed to matter a great deal to the smaller girl. Izumi's face softened, she opened her mouth to speak... and closed it. Her face hardened into her once customary expression, and she heard herself say:

"It's for the team."

"That's what I thought." said Ryo, her voice and expression taking on a little of Izumi's hardness. "Goodbye."

She ran off, ignoring Izumi's hand, which grasped emptily in her direction. Once home, she collapsed onto her bed and refused to come out until the next morning.

Izumi, too, headed home. She stared blankly into space, wondering how she could have been so stupid, being a coward when Ryo so desperately needed her reassurance. She spent the evening in an emotionally frozen state, emerging reluctantly in the morning to go to school.

Both girls spent the day staring absently in different directions, and both girls were erratic at practice. Yoko was the first to point out that the team had a practice game coming up. Arisu was only too eager to take Izumi's place, whereas Chiyo seemed concerned, and asked Ryo what was wrong, getting the same response Izumi had.

"Nothing."

Seira became angry. "Don't give me that! There's something wrong with both of you, and I want to know what it is!" She slammed her hand against the wall near Ryo, who flinched.

"Hey," said Seira, putting her hand on Ryo's shoulder, "I'm not going to hurt you. Just tell me what's wrong. Does it have to do with Takasugi?"

Ryo hesitated, then nodded. "But you're only asking because you want me to play well in the practice game," she said, downcast.

"Ryo!" Seira became angry again. "Why would you think that?"

"Izumi, she said.."

"Izumi!" Seira glared at Izumi, then turned towards the rest of the team. "Whatever she says, we really care, right?"

Each member of the team agreed, except Izumi who remained silent, and Arisu, who simply said, "I don't know why that has you so upset. I certainly wouldn't care." and left.

"See?" said Seira, after glaring at Arisu. "We care."

"But Izumi..."

"Izumi," said Seira in a dangerous tone, "what did you say to her?"

"I said..." said Izumi.

"She said she was just worried for the sake of the team," said Ryo.

"Why did you say something like that?" asked Seira, now pounding her fist against the wall next to Izumi with enough force to make even the usually composed fourth batter flinch.

"Because it's true," said a voice from the doorway. The girls turned to see Takasugi learning against the doorframe, wearing his school uniform, his usual grin on his lips and an angry look in his eyes.

"I've known Izumi for years," he continued, "and it's true. She doesn't make friends among her teammates, and she judges people based on what they can do. She may have loved me," and here he smirked, "but that's as much affection as she's capable of." He turned towards Ryo. "Not so happy to have left me now, are you, Ganmo-chan?"

Seira, Hikaru, and Koharu formed a barrier between Takasugi and Ryo. Chiyo stood hesitantly behind them, appearing uncertain of her place. The rest of the team crowded around Ryo, who was shivering, not with cold, but with fear.

"What are you doing here, Takasugi?" asked Seira, an edge to her voice. "If you're looking for Arisu, she's already left."

"Arisu?" asked Takasugi, looking surprised. "Oh no. I was looking for my Ganmo-chan. Apparently she didn't get the point last time."

Seira bristled at this, but Izumi was faster, coming out of her daze in the corner of the room and moving to stand in front of Seira.

"Takasugi," she growled, "what did you do to Ryo?"

"Oh, Izumi, I'm surprised," said the star batter, "it seems your Ivory Tower has crumbled. And all for my Ganmo-chan! Besides, I didn't do anything. I scared her, is all."

"Takasugi," said Izumi, looking very much as if she's like to slap him, "She's not yours. Not anymore. And you don't know me anymore, either. I'd appreciated it," she said, clenching her fists, "if you'd leave Ryo alone. Don't ever call her Ganmo-chan again."

"Why are you defending her? You know she can't avoid me forever... and whatever you say, she'll come back to me. She always has, in spite of your machinations."

Izumi tensed. She drew back her hand as if to strike Takasugi, but he danced back, just out of range. His mood suddenly lightening, he said,

"Oh, wow. Did I strike a nerve?" he smiled lightly, as if to assert his innocence. "I'll see you later, Ganmo-chan, Miss Ivory Tower."

He walked off and mounted his bike, whistling softly. Izumi frowned. When had Takasugi's temper gone so completely out of control, and why hadn't she seen it coming? Certainly he had always been somewhat insensitive, and she'd wondered occasionally if he'd been playing her off of Ryo over the course of the previous year, but never before had he exhibited these rages, which so suddenly dissipated. She wondered if it was just because, as the rich boy, baseball star, and popular guy he'd always been, he'd never really had anything denied from him. Now something was being denied him, something he'd taken for granted. It was, perhaps, merely a case of almost childish overreaction, compounded with the aggressiveness she'd known he possessed, which he was rarely able to indulge.

And that nickname, Miss Ivory Tower. Perhaps he'd chosen it because of her mother, who was known as the Ivory Tower Chairman. Certainly Izumi had always hated being associated with her mother. And certainly, the nickname would have been very appropriate only months earlier, when Izumi had largely shut off her emotions, and had reacted with a certain maliciousness to Ryo when Takasugi had taken an interest in the smaller girl.

Izumi, however, was worried that it was still true. She knew she still shut off her emotions sometimes, and perhaps she was a fool to think that Ryo could forgive her. But, she realized, she needed her to.

"Ryo," she said, turning to face the other girl, "I'm so sorry."

Ryo only nodded. Seira, standing in front of her, opened her mouth angrily, then closed it. Finally she said, "You owe her more than that. An explanation, at least."

Izumi replied, "I know." She hung her head for a moment, and then said, "Ryo, I'm sorry. I just..." It was hard to say, so hard to admit to what she was beginning to think a weakness, "I just... I returned to my old habits. I couldn't say it..." she wasn't looking at Ryo – she couldn't. "I couldn't say it was for you. Because," she said, gulping, "it was."

Ryo turned to face her, and she continued. "I'm not good with emotions," she said, "and I can't promise you much there. I can," she said, looking at Seira, "I can promise I'll keep Takasugi from hurting you. But I may need your help."

She turned to the team. "I'm not going to be able to protect Ryo at all times, or in every place, so I want you to keep an eye out for that asshole."

Every girl there nodded, slowly. "Thanks," she said. She turned to Ryo, finally looking her in the eye, "So," she said, "can you forgive me?"

'I don't deserve it,' she thought, 'I've done so much to her, so much for which I cannot make amends. And this is perhaps the worst offense."

"I think so," said Ryo, still looking very upset.

"Thank you," said Izumi.

The team gradually filed out, Hikaru declaring she'd see Ryo home. Izumi was grateful to the switch hitter; she wasn't sure she was up to it herself. As the last few girls left, and Izumi headed towards the door, she felt a hand on her arm. Turning around, she saw it was Seira. The tall sprinter had stayed behind, and was giving her a very serious, though not angry, look.

"What is it?" asked Izumi.

"You know," said the sprinter, looking her in the eye, "You'd better keep that promise."

With that, she left. Izumi followed slowly in her wake, then turned towards home.

"Yes," agreed Izumi to no one in particular, "I'd better."