Late Night
Chapter One
Written By: Nutty-Haru

It was dark and the street lamps had already been offering their pale yellow glow to light the streets for some time. Misha found herself standing against one of their tall, sturdy poles, hugging herself tightly. She was in no mood for the darkness of night. There was something about night that depressed her. Heaven had never had a dark time known as "night". The light never disappeared... unless a demon was near.

But night was common here on Earth. It happened steadily; at the end of every day the sun would slowly sink down on the horizon, at first a beautiful, full circle, then slowly it was dragged under to a semi-circle, and then it slowly fell from sight. She half thought that some great demon was pulling it down, stealing it from the humans for just a little while. She had honestly believed that when she was a child. Now it was just a fleeting, curious thought that she knew was untrue, but still thought it made more sense than the real explanation of the Earth's cycle and axis and other stuff that humans learned in school.

She sighed softly, suddenly reminded of what she was doing all alone, on the street in the middle of the night. It was such a cliche: try her hardest to please him, to make him happy, and then screw up and earn the opposite reaction, then to go off by herself and try to figure it out. Honestly, she had no idea what exactly it was that she had done wrong. Maybe he just hated her. Maybe that was why, no matter how hard she tried to do things right, he always was mad at her.

Even now, at least a few hours after their little fight she could recall every single detail of their latest 'argument'.

"Leave me alone Misha-san."

"But Kotarou-kun, I-"

"I said leave me alone!" his voice had been high with unspent anger. His amber gold eyes holding a hard, blazing expression and his mouth curved downwards. He had only glowered once at her and then unexpectedly turned his back completely on her, his shoulders twitching away from her lightest touches or warm hugs. She could almost see the anger and frustration radiating hot red off his slender frame. Kotarou was angry, and very angry indeed. He was no longer the calm, polite and thoughtful boy she knew but instead a sad, despairing and bitter boy who lashed out at everything and everyone - no matter how hard she tried to make him feel better.

"But Kotarou-kun!" Misha finally wailed, after Kotarou pushed himself away from her at her third attempt of hugging him. "I'm just tryin' to make you-"

"-What happy?" His voice was ice-cold with disbelief, filled with scorn and bitter sorrow. "Oh please Misha-san! Don't give me that crap!"

"Wha-?" squawking in disbelief, Misha finally started to feel the slightest tinge of irritation and sadness tugging inside her heart. Pulling her arms away from him, she sat back from him for once and stared intently at his back, utterly flabbergasted by his harsh words. And then she tried again. "B-but Kotarou-kun-"

"Please Misha-san." Kotarou's voice sounded weary now, almost desperate but still cruelly flat. "I need to be alone right now. Please."

She did not need any more words other than those. Getting up, she had sighed heavily and without another word or glance at him, turned around and left - walked quietly out the door of his apartment room, down the stairs of the apartment to-

Where she was standing now.

Shivering slightly the pink-haired girl pulled her sweater more warmly around her body, a weak attempt to shield herself against the night chill. It was no use though; the cold nipped at her cheeks and face like an animal, forcing her face to flush hotly in retaliation. Her hands and bare ankles felt just as cold as her face did though and by now she longingly wished to go back inside again. But stubbornness kept her out in the open, or at least for a while longer.

"Mi... sha-san...?" His voice reached her before she could see him. He sounded very surprised, and very concerned. She did not bother to look up to see him, but rather settled on staring downwards, and waited until his runners came into view.

"Ten-chan, hiyas," she said softly, trying to keep the tremble out of her voice and failing successfully. She hugged herself a little tighter--it was really a very cold night. "Suuu..."

"Misha-san, what are you doing out here!" he gasped, rushing to her side. "It's freezing out! It's the middle of winter! You're not even wearing shoes or a jacket!"

She smiled even though she was being scolded. It was a nice feeling to have someone worry over her as he was. His voice was loud, but it was not angry--it was concerned and worried. And the way that he was looking at her made her smile just a little bit. There was actual care in his eyes, care for how she was doing, that she might get sick. It was almost refreshing.

He placed his coat around her shoulders and started rubbing her arms to warm them. She stared down at him with round eyes, a little shocked from the kind treatment. He touch was so gentle, and his expression so warm and caring,--she thought that she might just pass out from the surprise.

Once she had stopped shivering, or at least Takashi seemed pleased enough with that, he smiled at her.

"Did something happen between you 'n Kotarou, Misha-san?" he asked.

Bull's eye. He had hit the right spot. Koboshi was often better at reading and understanding a person by body language than he could ever be, but all of Misha's actions suggested he had hit the right subject. From her sudden awkwardness, the twisting of her fingers and her unexpected fits of coughing, (which actually could have been from embarrassment or a starting cold). He turned to face her just when she turned quickly away from him - but not before he glimpsed her sad, defeated eyes. He was dead-on, it had to be Kotarou.

"What did he do?" Takashi asked mildly; refraining himself from grabbing her shoulders and start shaking her for some real answers. Afterall he would never do that to a lady and she looked tight-lipped, not ready to talk about it. Genuinely he did didn't really mean to bother her, or question her about personal things but by now curiousity had struck him and refused to let go - at least not until he got some good answers from her. Besides a lady needed a comforting man when she was sad, and he was the closest guy...

"N-no! Of course not!" This time Misha tried the alternative, or rather an easygoing laugh to shake off the serious atmosphere she could sense coming. It didn't work though, her laugh only sounded like shaky squeak, the start of a mournful sob and quickly tried forcing a smile onto her unresponsive face. It didn't work though, not this time. Her face by now was too frozen from the chilly night air and refused to follow her orders. She probably looked like a freaky clown at her attempts of curving her lips upwards, but no way would she try to discuss something as personal as Kotarou-kun with someone she barely talked-

"-It is Kotarou, ain't it?" Takashi was grinning this time, though he wasn't terribly amused. With women, he had to be slow and deceptive to interrogate. "Did you guys have an argument or what? Since you look like you've seen-"

"Nothing! SU!" Misha cried out suddenly, interrupting him and sounding slightly agitated. "Nothing at all! I just, urm-" wildly she searched for the best excuse in her mind. But the ones she did have did not sound plausible enough. "-I was waiting for you!" she suddenly declared, smiling pleasantly (her face had warmed enough) and looking for all the world as innocent as a three year old child.

"Oh really?" amused even more, Takashi stuffed his hands into his pockets and grinned in an easy-going fashion, his face pleasantly relaxed. She really was a terrible liar. Walking up to a bench nearby he sat down on it and still grinning lazily, patted the seat next to him, inviting her to sit down.

Promptly Misha sat down beside him, still so smiling serenely he himself was taken a back. Out of all the people Takashi had ever met; he had to admit Misha was one of the best actresses he had ever seen. Not only did her smile look genuine, her face looked cheerful and plucky, not sad or painfully forced - a strong front in her miserable state. But that wasn't the point right now.

"Oh give it up Misha-san," he said impatiently after they had sat side-by-side for more than three minutes in silence; no one trying to break the silent atmopshere. "I already know it's Kotarou that's troubling you. So what'd he do this time?"

"Nothin' at all Ten-" she suddenly cut herself off and stared at Takashi, looking mildly surprised. "What do ya mean 'this time'? Su?"

He laughed at her a little, but stopped when he noticed the serious look she was giving him. He shrugged.

"It doesn't take a genius like me to know that Kotarou's got, like, relationship issues or whatever," he replied, staring off at something across the street. "And there was that time when he knocked you one. Geez... what was his deal then?"

Misha looked down. She knew that Kotarou hadn't meant to hit her that time, but she also didn't know what had spooked him out so much. She took the blame for scaring him that time. She tried to, at least. But Takashi had stood up for her, told her that it was Kotarou's fault, that he was just that way sometimes and that she shouldn't blame herself. Maybe he was right. Maybe it was Kotarou's fault.

But did that really matter?

"I need to be alone right now. Please."

She sighed softly.

"I can be annoyin' sometimes," she said softly. "So he got mad at me. That's all."

She smiled at Takashi, a brilliant smile that said 'everything is perfect', but she could feel those hot tears betraying her. She could try all she wanted to, but she was still crying, and there wasn't a thing she could do about that. She wiped them away, but more flowed from her eyes.

"It's not right!" Takashi nearly yelled, facing her. Then, realizing what he had done, he withdrew a bit, and looked down. "Misha-san, you're a wonderful person, and anyone who makes you this sad... even if it's my best friend, you deserve better than him."

It took Misha longer than just a few seconds to let his words sink in. Digesting the words was like swallowing stones. Feeling as stiff as a statue she sat dumbly, almost delicately on the edge of the seat, the silence between them stretching uncomfortably. What seemed to be hours later she turned so slowly to look at Takashi it felt as though her head might snapped off.

"No way. Si."

"Are you really sure about that?" he asked her patiently, arching his eyebrows in a skeptical fashion. "Are you sure he isn't hurting you? I mean - well, Kotarou isn't a bad guy of course," he added hastily when Misha opened her mouth, looking very indignant. "But you have to be fair about this Misha-san. He's sometimes downright snotty on those 'off-days' he has and then he pushes everyone who even says 'hi' to him away and treats anyone who talks to him like they're some kind of poison to him." His intense green eyes met her violet eyes with such genuine worry that she quickly looked away, feeling suddenly intensely awkward. He had to be lying, he just had to be. No one really cared about her welfare. Nobody should. She blew out a bit through her nose and her chin stuck out. Very slowly she counted to ten before making her decision to reply.

"No."

Yet secretly - underneath her stubborn insistence, a little voice whispered to her that indeed his words had a ring of truth in them. Whether she liked them to or not.

"Oh come on Misha-san," Takashi coaxed, clearly exasperated at her stubbornness but at the same time amused by her unwavering loyalty. "Can't you even consider any other good-looking' guy? Kotarou isn't the only one-man marcher in this world you know."

I can never. And telling' you won't do nuthin'. You woouldn't understand at all, Misha thought to herself, giving him a small smile anyways. Kotarou-kun isn't just any boy...he's my Kotaroh-kun. You couldn't understand anyways. She ducked her head down again, refusing to look up at him and see the truth he was clearly trying to tell her about Kotarou-kun. He needs me. And I need him.

"Why won't you consider any other man anyways?" Takashi's next question managed to fully startle herself from those thoughts and she looked up, accidentally meeting vivid green eyes with vibrant amethyst. And then she blinked and broke the moment instantly. Her lips curved upwards in a small smile, her eyes crinkled in amusement.

"There's no other man, interestin' 'nuff. Suuu..."

"Aww, really?" Takashi asked solemnly; cracking a grin despite himself and feigning a look of hurt at her. "How 'bout Poops then? He's fancied you for a while now, don't you want to -you know- return his unrequited feelings?"

"Dai-chan? Su?" Misha laughed easily; her bell-like laughter filling the thick, hushed silence of the settling night. Shaking with amusement Ten-chan's coat actually slipped slightly off her shoulders until Takashi reached out (automatically) to push the rough coat back in place again. Smiling quickly at him in gratification -she was cold after all- she shook her head quickly, still giggling. This had to be some sort of funny joke of Ten-chan's, she decided. And all she had to do was play along with it and laugh.

"Naw, naw," she said, beaming childishly at him. "I dun think so. Not interestin' enough." She continued smiling jokingly at him, misunderstanding his expression.

"Well then," Takashi said very slowly, meeting her eyes with determined interest. "What about me then?"

And it was when he spoke again, that Misha—with growing apprehension—realized he was dead-serious and that no amount of good-natured laughing could pull her out of this mess.

"Misha-san, I like you," he said softly. "I love you, even. More that Kotarou does, I bet!"

She looked away, half panicked, and half at a loss to explain why her heart was threatening to pop out of her chest. Her face felt warmer suddenly, and she started pointedly at the ground, trying to come up with an appropriate response to his question.

"Ten-chan, I..." she stammered. Still nothing came to mind. She couldn't think of a thing. She, Misha, the angel that could never seem to shut her mouth because of an overflow of thoughts suddenly didn't have a single one. All that she could finish with was a meager, "su..."

Why can't I think of anything? Su? Nervousness had taken her unual speech patterns into her mind. She shook her head vigorously, foolishly hoping to loosen some thought that was stuck in her mind.

But she still had nothing.

"Y-you're joking, right? Su?" she stammered, after several minutes of tense silence. Disbelief and surprise etched all over her pale face. "Right?"

He shook his head slowly, his mouth unsmiling, but the curiousity visible from his bright emerald green eyes. "Not at all, Misha-san," he remarked quietly, nearly sadly. "Not at all."

How do I get myself outta this? she thought wildly, looking around their surroundings for something, someone, to help her or at least interrupt this utterly crazy, slightly disturbing dream. It had to be a dream. Unfortunately only the pitch blackness of the unforgiving night and the empty streets met her saucer-wide eyes.

(But then again, it isn't that bad) another voice—a voice she could not recall ever hearing—suddenly whispered. (You know him, you trust him. Surely it isn't all that bad. And all you have to do is-)

'Stop it! Misha! Get a hold of yourself, the only one you're concerned about is Higuchi Kotarou! No one else—

Well at least he's being considerate, that sly voice whispered encouragingly. (She was beginning to hate this voice). And he's not half bad if you look at him more close-

Go away, go away, go away, just go away—

"...I see."

Her eyes snapped open. Takashi gazed back, his lighthearted and friendly face filled with grave disappointment and sadness.

-It took her only a moment to realize she had been muttering outloud-

"I guess I'll take that as a 'no' then," he said softly, almost bitterly. But he half-grinned at her, as if it had all been a little joke. Only that smile looked painfully forced, and his eyes...

Shrugging casually, he turned around and lifted a hand lazily into the air to her. "See ya later then, Misha-san." He ran away from her then; his tall lean frame instantly disappearing while he trotted, in the darkness of the night.

(Gone) that voice told her condescendingly. (And you're the one who made him go.)

She continued standing there, numbly, blankly, her frozen mind trapped in a daze.

It was only when she finally realized he had not taken back his coat—when it began to rain.

I just wanted to get this up. This is another story from the Nutty-Haru production line. We hope that you like it. Eventually the next chapter will be placed up.