From the bottom it looks like a steep incline

From the top, another downhill slope of mine

But I know, the equilibrium's there.

Tsukasa woke from dreams of blood and tears. A sharp pain informed him that his nighttime thrashings had reopened the ragged gash in his side. Slowly he uncurled from the fetal ball that he'd unconsciously assumed, wincing as the flesh around his wound stretched. His sheets, damp with sweat from his feverishly clammy skin, now showed pink where blood seeped through his bandages.

"When is this fucking thing going to heal, already?" Tsukasa growled. He was in a foul mood. And to top things off, his head was ringing as if recently slapped.

Doumyouji managed to pull himself to a sitting position and impatiently rang for a nurse. "Hey you! I'm hungry! Bring me food, and do something about this!" he demanded, pointing to his oozing bandage. "Don't we pay you people enough to at least sew me up properly?!"

"Yes sir, right away sir," the much-harassed nurse mumbled as she fled. No one liked getting stuck with 'Doumyouji duty' – the man was a hellish patient. Maybe his friends would come by and distract him a while, so she could hide from his impatient demands. Though, from what she'd heard from the night nurse, some of them, like that girl…. What was her name? –Sakurako? Were almost as bad as him. "Hah, those two deserve each other," the nurse muttered cynically, "That'd make one fine couple—I bet she could take care of his whining all right-- anything to get him out of my care as soon as possible!"

---

Tsukasa was gloomily eating breakfast when Umi poked her heed through his door

"Ack!" Tsukasa threw his hand over his eyes to shield his face from the actinic glare of her smile. But it was too late. Like gleaming laser light, her super nova of a smile sent piercing rays of pain sleeting through his already aching skull. "Gah!" Tsukasa muttered as her smile dimmed down to mere 100 watt levels, "What are you so cheerful about?"

"Hi Tsukasa! I brought you lunch!" Umi whipped out a bento from behind her back, and skipped over to Doumyouji's bed. . . Well, at least she managed to convey the impression of skipping, even while limping on her crutches. It was a neat trick. Too bad Doumyouji was not in the mood to appreciate it. He was irritated and in pain. And not at all pleased that this grinning fool was acting like she knew him well. He was quite sure by now, she wasn't what he'd forgotten. He couldn't possibly have forgotten anyone so hyperactively irritating.

"Mind if I sit down? Thanks!" Without waiting for his 'no', or rather, for the 'Yes, I do mind' that was starting to form in Doumyouji's mouth, she plopped herself down on the bed next to him, and slid the bento onto the table next to his breakfast tray. "Eat this! Hospital food is no good for you! This will help you get stronger! I made it myself, so you have to eat it!" She even bounced encouragingly as she spoke.

It was quite sickening, especially as her jouncing of the bed sent fresh daggers of pain knifing through Tsukasa's side. But, remembering the bento from the day before, he dutifully opened the box and began to eat.

----

Sakurako woke with a start. Her phone was ringing. Again. She threw a pillow angrily across the room. Whoever it was had been calling all morning! Didn't they know she wanted to sleep? She wasn't in a mood to deal with people now, not after Tsukasa had totally blown her off. Again. Damn that man anyway! She sometimes felt as though he lived life to spite her. First, when they were kids, he just had to be an ass and insult her funny face... Then, when she'd got that fixed, he'd rejected her for the remarkably uncute Tsukushi. Sakurako had gotten over that too, aided by the fact that Tsukushi was such a relentlessly good-hearted person. And, now that she wanted Tsukasa to be with Tsukushi, he'd screwed her plans over. Again. Sakurako's pretty face twisted in rage. She hated not getting what she wanted. She wanted revenge.

It was time to go make Tsukasa's pathetic excuse for a life even more miserable.

Sakurako perked up; perhaps she'd start by fixing that bitch Umi so she couldn't smile that blinding grin again. She cracked her knuckles menacingly, as she climbed out of bed at last. Unheeded behind her, the phone continued its shrill ringing.

----

"Damn that girl!" Akira swore as he slammed his phone down. "Why doesn't she pick up?"

He, Soujiro, and Shigeru were sitting in his study; a mess of cell phones, crossed out lists, and telephone directories spread out before them.

"Maybe she's not home?" Soujiro suggested most unhelpfully.

"What's the point of having her cell phone with her, if Sakurako refuses to use it? That's what I want to know," Akira muttered grumpily.

None of the three had gotten much sleep that night; they'd been too busy trying to find out to where Rui and Tsukushi had vanished. Not that they knew what they'd do when they found the absent couple; but they were at least determined to find them. So far however, the search had been fruitless. They'd called all the high-class hotels in Tokyo, but as far as they could tell, Rui'd not checked into any of them, They tried his house, but no one had seen him there, either. Soujiro had even called Yuki, but she'd been shocked to hear what Tsukushi had done, and could offer no advice—though she was coming over after work today, to give what help she could.

So now they were trying to contact Sakurako, to get her to help out. But she'd turned off her cell, and wasn't picking up at home.

"Maybe she figured something out last night, and went to find Tsukushi on her own?" Shigeru suggested.

"Why wouldn't she call, then? And she should of at least told us why she ran off like that, while she was at it!" Soujiro was getting frustrated, "Well, we're obviously getting nowhere here. It's time to go see Tsukasa anyway. We can take a break and come back later."

Despite the logic of this suggestion, suddenly everyone was unwilling to meet his eyes.

"What?! I'm not suggesting we tell him Rui and Tsukushi were making out. Geez! I'm not that insensitive. . . . but we can't just ignore him."

He was right. Still, all three of them felt acutely uncomfortable with the situation. Should they be mad at Tsukasa for forgetting Tsukushi and acting like an ass? Or should they hate Tsukushi for abandoning him? Or Rui, for being so quick to take Tsukasa's place? Above all, they worried that Tsukasa might go back to his old heartlessly violent ways if Tsukushi wasn't there to calm him. No one really wanted to be the first to find out if that were the case. Yet still, Tsukasa was their friend. And if nothing else, he was in physical pain, and deserving of their concern for that at least. Therefore, the three friends set off for the hospital, a bit slower than they might otherwise have done, if their hearts had not been so heavy and full of a muddle of conflicting emotions.

---

Tsukasa chewed slowly. Somehow, nothing he tried tasted right. Something was wrong with this bento. Or maybe he just wasn't hungry. He shoved the box aside at last, a slight frown creasing his lips. Umi stared at him brightly.

"Did you like it?" She asked, "Oh. . . . you didn't finish. How do you expect to get stronger if you don't eat?"

Just then a sharp voice rang out from the doorway, "How do you expect to live long, if you keep hanging out places you don't belong?" Sakurako stood there, radiating fury. Somehow her diminutive frame still managed to fill the doorway like some demonic apparition. "Get out of Tsukasa's room before I re-break both your scrawny legs."

"Oh! Stop your teasing! You're so silly!" Umi actually had the temerity to giggle at Sakurako's threat. "Tsukasa was just eating the lunch I brought him, Isn't that right, Tsukasa?"

Glad of an excuse to be rid of this idiotic chick who was plaguing him, Tsukasa frowned again, "It wasn't very good. I don't like that sort of thing"

"See? There, he doesn't want you here. Now get!" Sakurako stalked closer; murder written in her eyes.

"Why are you so mean to me?" Umi's happy face began to dim, "I'm just trying to help Tsukasa!" Still, the foolish girl made no move to get up from her perch on the bed.

Sakurako shook her head in disbelief, "Tsukasa, I can't believe you actually go for this sort of ditz now. Enjoy your last few seconds together while you can." With these words she finished closing the distance between Umi and herself. Showing a strength no one would have believed such a short girl could have mustered, she dragged Umi up off the bed and flung her out in the hall. Returning to Tsukasa's side, she proceeded to slap the confused boy across the face. "If you weren't an invalid," she warned, her face flushed with anger, "I'd hurt you much worse. I never before thought you were the kind of idiot to fall for fools like Umi. But not only are you a faithless ass, but your taste in women is absolutely execrable!"

Sakurako raised her hand to strike Tsukasa again. But before her slap could land, Doumyouji caught her wrist.

"Bitch," he growled, "As if my head didn't already hurt enough. What did you have to go and hit me for? Is it my fault that women fling themselves at me? Why on earth would you think that I, the great Doumyouji Tsukasa, would like a girl as annoying as her?"

Sakurako stared in shock, "You mean you don't like Umi? Why were you flirting with her then?"

"Stupid woman! What makes you think I was flirting with her? It's not like I can easily get up and escape this room now can I?" Tsukasa felt his voice starting to get louder. Why was he getting defensive about this? What did it matter if Sakurako thought he was flirting with Umi? Why did he care what she thought at all?

Tsukasa's jaw snapped shut as he pondered this thought. Last night, something in Sakurako's tone when she'd yelled at him had seemed to click. There was something about her, something in her attitude; fierce, seemingly confident, yet, at the same time, somehow vulnerable to the attacks of others, that called out to him. Silently he stared up at her face, trying to understand why these things spoke to him. Still he held her wrist tight within his grasp, though she no longer strained to hit him.

As for Sakurako, she found that she could no longer look away from Doumyouji's face. The vicious words that she'd intended to hurl at him died in her throat, as his expression softened, and became unreadable. Why was he looking at her like that? Like she was some sort of hunted beast? Sakurako felt her anger begin to rise again. She was not his prey! Never! She was here to chastise Tsukasa, to make him pay for driving Tsukushi away… So why did she stand here like a deer in the headlights while Tsukasa stared at her?

Sakurako strained to wrench her wrist free from Tsukasa's unyielding grip. Desperately she tried to summon up at least a shadow of her former vitriol.

While Sakurako wrestled with her inner confusion, Doumyouji cam to a decision. Last night when he'd been thinking about Sakurako's strange visit, he'd felt a strange stirring in his soul, and he told himself he'd do something about it... Well, now was as good a time as any. . . .

Impulsively, Tsukasa tightened his grasp on Sakurako's wrist as much as his weakened state would allow, and pulled her towards him.

Taken by surprise, Sakurako was unable to pull away as Tsukasa stretched up and kissed her.

----

"Whoa!" Unbeknownst to either Tsukasa or Sakurako, Akira et al had arrived at the hospital just in time to have Umi land at their feet. Shigeru restrained her urge to kick the undignified girl out of the way, while Soujiro, gallant as always, helped Umi to her feet.

"What happened?" Soujiro inquired, as Umi broke into tears,

"That scary violent girl threw me out of Tsukasa's room!"

"What scary girl?" Soujiro and Akira exchanged looks—the only really violent girl they knew was Tsukushi and there was no way she'd be at the hospital now, right?

"I. . . . I don't know her name," Umi sniffled and moved in closer to Soujiro, "she was very pretty, red hair. . . ."

"Ah Sakurako!" Akira exclaimed in relief, "Looks like she beat us here."

"Violent?" Soujiro scratched his head. Who could explain Sakurako? At least she was here. Handing Umi her crutches, he disentangled himself from her deathgrip. Now was not the time for flirting.

Leaving Umi to limp off to her own room, Shigeru, Soujiro, and Akira poked their heads through Tsukasa's door, just at the right moment to see Tsukasa pull Sakurako close and kiss her.

Before either of those two could notice their presence, the threesome quickly withdrew to the corridor and stared at each other in disbelief.

"Moves fast doesn't she?" Soujiro's sarcastic comment just popped out of his mouth before he could even think

"Umm. . . . "Shigeru stopped to ponder a second, "Are you sure it was Sakurako's doing?"

"Huh? Why wouldn't it be? She's Always wanted Tsukasa. She probably figured with Tsukushi off with Rui, she could just waltz in here and steal Tsukasa!"

"You've got a very suspicious mind, Soujiro" Shigeru reprimanded. "It could be Tsukasa's fallen for Sakurako. After all, she and Tsukushi have a lot in common. . . ."

"Are you out of your mind??" Akira almost yelled. "He can't remember Tsukushi so he goes for the next best thing? You've gotta be kidding me!"

"Well, she is way cuter. . . ." Soujiro reminded his friend.

"And she is a pretty decent lay. . . ." Akira remembered

"Hmm. . ."

"Men!" Shigeru muttered, "Let's go find out shall we?" Distantly, in a far corner of her mind, she wondered if she really was the only woman on the planet selfless enough to love Tsukasa from afar instead of seizing this opportunity to tear him from the woman he truly loved.

Reentering Doumyouji's hospital room, the trio now witnessed to a different scene. Sakurako was halfway across the room glaring at Tsukasa, who was now nursing a bright red cheek from where Sakurako had slapped him again before pulling free of his grasp.

"You bastard!" Sakurako was yelling, as tears welled in her eyes, "How could you do this to me now?! How could you do this to Tsukushi?!"

to be continued. . . .