Because I'm somewhere in between

My love and agony

You see I'm somewhere in between

My life is falling to pieces

Somebody put me together

Sakurako was pissed off. After leaving—No—Getting kicked out of Tsukushi's apartment, she stormed off, leaving the others staring at each other in disbelief. While those three fools stood around trying to decide what to make of the situation, and what to do next, She knew exactly what had to be done.

Catching the first cab that caught her eye, Sakurako sped to the hospital where Doumyouji lay convalescing. She was too angry even to wait for the elevator to come to the lobby below. Instead, she raced up the stairs in a most unladylike manner. As she paused to catch her breath at the nurses' station, she was accosted by the night duty nurse.

"Can't you read the sign, young lady? It's past visiting hours – you'll have to come back tomorrow!"

"Get out of my way, you ugly bitch," Sakurako snarled, "I'm going to see Doumyouji and you aren't going to stop me. Don't even try." Not waiting for an answer, she shoved past the cowed attendant and stomped into Doumyouji's room.

At the sight of this unexpected visitor, Tsukasa looked up with a start.

"Eh? Sakurako? What are you doing here at this hour?"

"You shut up! Listen to me, you pathetic excuse for a man. Your girlfriend is making out with Hanazawa Rui right now and you're just lying there! It's disgusting!"

"What on earth are you talking about? Calm down, you stupid freak!"

Sakurako glared right back at the injured boy. "Tsukushi is cheating on you with your best friend and you don't even care? I don't know what that amnesia has done to you, but no real man would just lie there and let the woman he loved get stolen by someone else. . . Again! Get up and do something!"

"Wha? . . . Tsukushi? You mean that short, plain, annoying girl who keeps hanging around here? Isn't she already Rui's girlfriend? I told her to go away because she just wouldn't shut up. You'd think he'd have chosen a girl that was as silent as him? But oh no. What a pain!"

Sakurako lunged forward and grabbed Tsukasa by the collar. "Well if you don't do something soon, she sure as hell will be his girlfriend, and you're going to regret acting so stupid, once you recover your memories, you moronic ass! . . . or wait. . . " She stepped back again, a dangerous glimmer reflecting in her eyes, "Don't tell me you like that Umi bitch now?"

"At least she's not violent!" Tsukasa snapped back.

"Idiot! You Like violent women! Remember? Whatever happened to the man who couldn't stand cutesy girls? If you tell me you're interested in that vapid bimbo now, I'll kill her myself, before Tsukushi gets a chance to. . ."

"Huh?" Tsukasa looked confused, then smiled patronizingly, as an idea came to him, "Wait a sec. You're not really here to talk about this Tsukushi person are you? You're here because You're jealous of Umi! Did you think I couldn't see through your little plan?"

"Argh!" Sakurako shouted in fury, and tears rose in her eyes as she screamed her reply. "You stupid stupid man! Have you really not listened to a word I said? You loved Tsukushi! Tsukushi Loved you! I'm talking about the girl who carried you all the way to the hospital by herself when you were stabbed! Even if you don't remember her, you could at least have tried to act like you care! But you couldn't be bothered. And now, you're about to lose her! If you don't do something about it Now, I will never forgive you!"

Sakurako turned to storm out of the room, but hesitated momentarily in the doorway to favor the astounded boy with one final glare.

"And remember what I said about Umi. I'll kill her before I let you have her. So back the hell off." With these flamingly angry words, she vanished at last, leaving a very confused Tsukasa staring weakly after her.

"I have no idea what that was all about…" he muttered to the empty doorway.

To the nurses who poked their heads in shortly after Sakurako's departure, checking to make sure everything was ok, he could only answer with a shrug. And, after they left again, he was still frowning in confusion.

What had that all been about? Why was Sakurako so upset about Rui and this Makino chick? Sure, he'd heard Sakurako's words, but without memories to place them in context, they really didn't seem to make any sense to him. Makino had seemed to be rather plain, and well, ordinary to him. Nothing to get excited about. Plus, she seemed so angry every time his friends brought her to visit. It was very strange. She didn't really seem like a girl that he would ever have reason to meet, much less become interested in. What good qualities did she have? . . . He had no idea.

Now, Umi on the other hand, was very sweet and helpful. She appeared to be a nice person, but . . . her enthusiasm was a bit wearing. . . one only take so much of her blinding hyperactivity. He didn't really think that he liked her that much, though . . .she did bring him that bento that one time. . .

And what was up with Sakurako? She really was very cute when she was Angry. . It reminded him of. . . something. . . he couldn't quite remember what? As if from a great distance he thought he heard a voice in the far back of his mind: a girl yelling at him not to be such a pathetic coward? But the echo faded before it ever reached his conscious mind, and he could not quite grasp what spark it was that had made him smile. At any rate, Sakurako had seemed very cute just now. Not in that annoyingly girly way she looked when she was all flirty, but in a strange feisty way.. . Tsukasa smiled at the thought. . Sakurako really had become a more interesting person over the years. Maybe it was true, what he'd accused her of? Maybe she really did still have a crush on him and was just using Umi as an excuse to vent her frustration? Though why did she have to keep bringing up that Makino girl?

Hmm… Sakurako? She could be. . . interesting. . . Tsukasa drifted off to sleep with a smile on his face, even as Sakurako's tear streaked face flashed before his eyes and her words echoed through his skull one final time. "You idiot! Why are you lying there? Go do something about it!" . . . Something. . . . Perhaps he would go do Something. . . . Tomorrow. . . .

------

Tsukushi was having a bad day. One of what sometimes seemed to be almost an endless string of terrible days; attacked by the world, forced to suffer dramatic reversals of her happiness, and never sure when she would find stability at last. Sure, everyone thought she could handle herself just fine. After all, this was the girl who'd stood up to the F4 and the entire school of Eitoku all by herself. A common weed, unbent by numerous scuffles with her tormenters, bouncing back from even the most terrible emotional setbacks, and fights with Tsukasa. But still, everyone has their limits.

Tsukushi was finally beginning to reach her limits at last. In the past, she'd had many bad moments where she'd run way from her fate; tried to avoid the situations that caused her pain. But she'd always fought back, come back stronger than ever, with truer ties to Tsukasa forged in the hot forge of their shared trials. Now though, the situation was all different. This time, there was not even the subconscious awareness of Doumyouji's love that she'd always had before All there was, was emptiness; echoes of his cold eyes and cold, flat voice, as he pushed her out of his hospital room, without any recognition or the slightest hint of warmth in his voice. All this after he and Tsukushi had pledged their love on the moon-drenched shores of Shigeru's island. It was a pain that should not have been borne.

Tsukushi could no longer bear it.

She was heading full tilt for a major emotional breakdown.

The confrontation with the F2, Sakurako and Shigeru had just clinched the diagnosis. Sure, it was pretty obvious when she started coming on to Rui that something was deeply wrong with Tsukushi's psyche right now. Nevertheless, the way she sank bonelessly to the floor the second the door had shut behind the four visitors spoke volumes louder than her words had before.

Tsukushi did not want to say a word. Did not think she could say anything even if she tried. Did not feel like she would ever want to speak again. Not when everything she did went wrong. So she did the only thing she could, and dissolved into a hopeless puddle of tears.

Rui slowly knelt down behind her, and, cradling her in his arms, rocked her as if she were a baby, until at last her sobbing subsided and she lapsed into an exhausted slumber. Emotionally drained as she had been, this didn't actually take all that long. Long enough for Susumu to have returned to the apartment, however. The boy was not used to seeing his strong sister fall apart so completely. He couldn't bear to watch this scene, and beat a hasty retreat to his own corner of the apartment, where he fixed his eyes determinedly upon his text books and refused to acknowledge that something like this could ever happen. Sure, he wanted to comfort his sister. But.. . he couldn't. . . not with that scene he'd so recently interrupted so fresh in his mind, and not with that Rui guy still here. Susumu had always been a bit creeped out by the silent stony-faced man, and wished he'd leave soon. Susumu most definitely liked Doumyouji better—Plus he had more money than Hanazawa!

Susumu's wish for Rui to leave was soon granted, but not quite as he had wished. Scooping Tsukushi's limp body up, Rui headed for the door several minutes after he was sure that she'd really fallen asleep.

"Hey where are you taking my sister?" Susumu yelled in outrage.

"Away." Rui replied simply, "She needs some time to herself. Away from . . . all this." Declining to elaborate further, despite Susumu's somewhat incoherent protests, Rui left the apartment, still cradling the unconscious Tsukushi as if she were the most precious thing in the world.

Outside, despite the chill of the night, Akira, Soujiro, and Shigeru were still milling around, at a loss for what they should do next. Rui ignored them and their stares as he called a car to come retrieve Tsukushi and himself. None of the three quite had the guts to question him or what he thought he was doing after what had happened earlier, so they simply watched in disbelief as Rui and Tsukushi were driven off down the street and out of sight.

"Do you think we should follow them?" Soujiro suggested at last, in a rather hesitant tone.

"Probably," Akira agreed as he snapped open his cell phone to call his own chauffeur.

"Tsukushi. looked. . .almost. . dead. . ." Shigeru lamented.

For now there was nothing these three could do, but wait, and try to find out where Tsukushi had been taken. And, at last, they too departed in their cars, leaving behind the deserted street, the chilled apartment, and the saddened and confused little brother sitting all alone in the dark.

To be continued….