A/N: Okay, now i'm gettin nervous lol jk jk. here's chapter 4! see what happens. if ya read the first story, i made river the good guy this time :) anyways, chapter 4 has arrived! happy reading :)
Chapter 4: Conflict! Doubts?
As Liz rushed to Satomi HQ, she bumped into Amy. As the two fell with a thud, Liz apologized as they got up. Amy asked what was going on, and Liz replied with asking where was Takeshi. Amy told Liz that he went home to wash off and clean up like Liz suggested. Liz gritted her teeth for a moment, but smiled and thanked Amy. In a flash she raced to Takeshi's house. Amy was worried if something bad had happened to Liz, and Luca only purred to reassure amy that nothing was wrong. As Liz finally arrived at Takeshi's house, she politely knocked on the door.
"Hello Yuri, is Takeshi there?" Liz asked.
"My brother's already out of the shower if that's what you were asking. He's up in his room right now." Yuri replied and Liz smiled.
"Thanks." she said simply and walked up to Takeshi's room. 'Okay Liz, don't go overboard. Just, politely knock on the door and ask him the question. Simple as that...right?' she said to herself and noticed that her hand was shaking. 'C'mon...pull yourself together! You can do this you know you ca-' she thought and then gasped when the door opened, a startled look on Takeshi's face.
"L-Liz!" he cried and she took an awkward step back.
"H-hi Takeshi I'm sorry to intrude...I hope I'm not bothering you..." she said quietly.
"O..Of course not. You just surprised me that's all heheh." he replied and scratched his head nervously.
"Um...c-can I come in?.." she asked and he stepped off to the side.
"Of course." he replied and she walked in. She never really came to Takeshi's house often, and she'd never seen his room. It was pretty cool, he had a great view of the track. His bed seemed pretty soft too, and above it was a poster of The Rocket. 'Also known as Andrei surprisingly. I still can't get used to that for some reason.' she thought to herself with a chuckle. Then, she spotted the silver half of the once two piece he had always fiddled with for ages. She looked at it sadly, and remembered her gold piece was in her room, on her desk that was next to her bed.
"So um, what brings you..here?" he asked awkwardly.
"I..I ran into Cunningham today..." she began.
"O-oh...and?" he asked. He didn't like the sounds of this. He knew now that she had found out, and he was almost ready to answer anything she had to ask.
"He told me...the reason why you got into a fight with him was because you were jealous of him since he was dating Fantine...He also told me that he thought you didn't have any doubts, and then asked if you did. He said you didn't answer, and he just beat the crap out of you and left...I, I told him I didn't believe him, that he was lying. But Takeshi...I can't be sure if I don't get the true answer from you." she said and turned to him. 'Keep a straight face Liz, you can do it.' she thought to herself and bit her lip, holding back tears of hope. He was silent for almost the longest time, and she couldn't help but clense a fist. She tried to loosen her grip, but couldn't. That was how she was, how she took things like this. There was nothing that could change her actions.
"Well?..." she asked and took a deep breath while she asked.
"Well..." he repeated slightly with a concerned look on his face. She started to grit her teeth, she could feel the tears begin to form. He sighed, and then sat down.
"Liz I...I was jealous...and I am jealous. But I...I know for a fact that I'm not, I don't, have any doubts about our relationship. It's nothing like that I, I swear." he said to her. 'Am I lying? Or am I telling the truth?' he wondered. Liz turned her back away from Takeshi now. She was angered, that he was jealous. She was also sad, and confused about how he had said he didn't have any doubts. He kept stumbling to say he didn't, but did he really?
"Takeshi I...I'm sorry but...I don't know if I can...trust you anymore." she said and before he could answer she rushed out the door. He raced after her as she ran out of his house and down the street. He hurriedly rushed to catch up.
"Liz! Liz please, wait!" he called to her, hoping she would stop. She wanted to stop, she wanted her feet to just stop running and stay put. But then again, she wanted to continue to run, away from him. This was like the last straw for her. Strike three. She couldn't handle that, especially from him. She continued to sob as she ran, avoiding bumping into people as best she could.
"Liz! LIZ PLEASE! STOP!" he cried. He was beginning to lose her. He could hardly see where she was headed. When she finally saw him catch up, she rushed down an alleyway and hid in a short-wide-ish part of the alleyway. She saw Takeshi rush past, to reach the dead end. He wondered where she was. All he could do was call out to her.
"Liz! Liz please! Where are you! Let me explain! I...I am jealous as I said. And I'm hurt about it a little. But doubts I don't have! You can trust me with that!" 'I can't have doubts!' he thought. "Please! I'm sorry for making you cry! I'm sorry for even hurting you this way! Please let's just make up! Liz...I...I'm sorry..." he said to himself and slumped his shoulders. Liz bit her lip, and wanted to run out there and hug Takeshi tightly, never letting him go. But she stood her ground, and was too frustrated. She heard him sigh, and then talk to himself. She was glad she had heard this.
"What's the use...she's gone...she'll never come back. I don't even deserve Liz anymore...I don't deserve anyone anymore...Twice I've hurt her, and twice I've failed to bring her back. How many more times will I hurt her before I...before I finally realize that I've made too many mistakes? Maybe this was my biggest...my worst. But now, I can't do anything about it. I guess I'd better take care of business with Cunningham, and with Fantine. Maybe then I...maybe then she'll come back...Maybe then she'll be able to forgive me for what I've done...Liz..I'm sorry..." he said to himself.
She peeked out the corner, and saw that he had brought out the silver piece. He clutched it tightly, and brought it to his chest and started to cry. Liz was saddened that he was crying, crying for her, but at the same time glad he was. It meant that he could be trustworthy again. It just needed...time. That's why...that's why she decided until then she would break off any relationship she had with him. She wouldn't talk to him like she would as a girlfriend, she wouldn't give him a smile that showed compassion, nothing. Until it was that time she would start doing it once more. Start giving Takeshi all the compassion and love she could. Until then, the break up began. It pained her for this choice, but it had to be done. For now at least... When Takeshi finally left, Liz placed her hands on her chest and dropped to the ground, crying her heart out, shaking.
"Takeshi..Takeshi I'm sorry too...please..please forgive me." she said to herself and cried softly so no one would hear. Finally, her crying faded, and she wiped the tears away. She was different now, stern. No love could be seen. She walked off proudly back to Satomi HQ, hoping that the break up wouldn't last for what seemed to be a lifetime. 'Takeshi..please hurry up and get your business taken care of soon..because I want you back.' she thought and looked up at the Satomi HQ building. Finally she walked inside, and then went to her room. She had run into Takeshi there, didn't say anything, passed by with a small bump to the shoulder, and slammed the door shut. He was stunned at first, but then understood completely. After all, he continued to tell himself over and over again that he deserved it, that it was his fault.
Liz sighed as she stood, her back leaned against her door. It was like she was standing there so people wouldn't come in. She held her breath, and bit her lip. 'Pull yourself together Liz...it has to be done. You know it does...' she thought to herself. She couldn't help but feel guilty to dump him like that.
'I haven't talked to you in a while. What's happened?' her inner self asked.
"I don't want to talk about it..." Liz replied.
'What's happened between you and him? You were happy on your first date! Now the next day you're all mopy and stuff! What's gotten in to you two?' her inner self asked, hands on her hips.
"It's not my fault that Takeshi's being a jerk!" Liz spazzed.
'In what ways is he being a jerk? I recall you calling him all of these wonderful things the last time you and I chatted.' her inner self asked.
"He..He has doubts about something, and I sorta know he's lying to me that he doesn't. Also he's jealous of Cunningham for dating Fantine which shows that he has just a little bit of love left in him for her!" Liz explained.
'Sounds like you're jealous too. I'm sure it's just part of a...stage. I mean, after all he is human.' her inner self suggested.
"Yeah...but still it's painful. I'm angered that he can't make up his damn mind and just stick with it for once!' she roared.
'Do you really want to be like this? Especially when the race again Sledge Mamma is coming up! You're going to go against them this evening do you want to be in ruins?' her inner self asked.
"WHO THE HELL EVEN ASKED FOR YOUR ADVICE!" Liz roared in her head and her inner self vanished, just like that. Liz went into reality, and screamed bloody murder in her room as she ran to her bed and screamed in her pillow. Takeshi could hear her from outside, and gulped. He wanted to go in there and comfort her, but it was his fault in the first place. He'd have to fix this, make it right once more. No more running away, no more feelings for her ever again. He had said to her already he wanted her, and it would stay that way. He would figure this out, make it all better, and finally have no regrets at all for things in the past. He nodded silently to himself, and walked out. He needed fresh air, time to think of how to resolve this. In time, everything would be as it was.
When Liz was done screaming in her bed, she looked up and stared dully at the golden piece that glimmered. She picked it up, and stared at it. Her eyes narrowed, and she clutched it tightly. Her grip tightened even more, her fist began to shake, then her arm. She closed her eyes and threw the piece at the wall. It hit with a clink and fell, rolling under a spot where she normally lost things. She breathed heavily, and opened her eyes. She walked over to the spot, and gasped when she realized where it had fallen.
"NO! NO! NO NO NO!" she yelled and frantically put her hand on the spot. She could feel it just a little bit, and tried to reach in further.
"DAMNIT! DAMNIT GET OUTTA THERE!" she sobbed bitterly as she reached even farther. Her wrist began to hurt, but she had to get it out before it could be lost forever. She finally was able to grasp on to it, and pulled with all of her might. She yelled in rage and pain as her wrist began to bleed just a little. She cursed at herself and brought her legs up to her chest. The gold piece still had it's beautiful glow, and Liz stared at it lovingly as she brought it to her chest. She rocked herself to calm down, and muttered the words, "Takeshi...I..need...you..."
Takeshi walked around the park for a while, and looked up to see someone familiar. It wasn't Cunningham, or else he'd run up to that bastard and give a good punch, no warning attatched. It wasn't Fantine either. He'd be too depressed to walk over. It wasn't those two, but someone he was friends with from another team. It was River. Okay, so he did hate that jerk for giving Liz a forced kiss, but he was still his friend. River saw him and walked over.
"Hey man." he said.
"Hi." Takeshi said coldly.
"Look, sorry for what I did to Liz all right?" he said and Takeshi only gave a huff.
"Actually...I'm glad, you're here. Can I, talk to you about something?" Takeshi asked finally and River nodded. They were both looking out at the ocean now.
"I...Liz and I got into a, a fight." he put it that way.
"What'd you do this time?" River asked.
"Gee you don't wait do you?" Takeshi replied and River laughed.
"Usually it's the guy that screws up. The girl is just too nice to be the one who dumps the guy." River answered.
"Well, see ever since I heard that Cunningham was dating Fantine I just got so jealous! And then...I began having doubts. Not on the relationship I have with Liz, I would never think that!" he said at once before River gave him another insult.
"Then, what do you have that's giving you doubts?" River asked.
"A small, flicker of love that still belongs to Fantine. I guess it awoke from it's slumber when I saw Cunningham with Fantine that night.." he said.
"Wait, that night? You mean the night you had your date with her?" River asked.
"H-how'd you know?" Takeshi asked in shock.
"Sorry man, I was there with my date and saw you guys." River replied.
"Oh that is just great." Takeshi said sarcastically and River laughed again.
"Sorry man. So what are you planning to do to fix this, and have Liz back in your arms?" he asked.
"Well, at first I was gonna beat the crap out of Cunningham, but it ended up the other way around. For Fantine, I want to confront her again, find out some answers that have been bugging me, and then give this spark of love back to her. She can keep it for all I care. I don't mean to sound cold to her, but it's just getting to me now. It's been twice that I've hurt Liz...and you know what they say," he said.
"Three strikes, and you're out." the two said together and gave a laugh.
"Well, good luck with that man." River said with a smile. The two were quiet.
"Well, I'd better get going. You sould too. It's almost time for our big race." River said and stretched.
"Oh yeah...we're gonna kick your ass." Takeshi said with a smile.
"You're confident. I won't go easy on you this time." River said with a smile. They both rammed their fists into eachothers. They gave a nice stare with a grin.
"Good luck." they asaid and walked in the opposite direction of eachother.
'Right...the race first, then Fantine. And after that, I'll have my revenge and rematch against that bastard Cunningham.' he thought with a confident grin and ran off to Satomi HQ.
A/N: There ya are! chapt 4. hope ya liked it. i didn' realize this but the only conflict was really liz fighting with her inner self. haha well at least i had some conflict. doubts you could tell, obviously haha. and the next chapter has the race against sledge mamma! will they win? or is liz still out of it? and what about takeshi? will he give it his best as well? it seems that maybe Amy and Luca will be their only hope. let's hope that doesn't happen though...one against three isn't a fair fight after all. Next Time(!)- Chapter 5: Too Close for Comfort!