Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters. This story is rated R for language and explicit sexual content.

Note: Concerning the discrepancy mentioned on the difference between "shoujo-ai" and "lemon/slash", my disclaimer always says when a story has explicit sexual content. If a person doesn't believe this unless they see the word "lemon" or "slash", that's not my problem. I apologize for any confusion.

-----------------------

Chapter 2

The next morning Kaorin dragged her feet to Miss Yukari's classroom. With minus eight hours of sleep she felt and looked like a walking rag doll with clammy skin and dry eyes.

Last night she hadn't cared enough to get out of her cloths before climbing into bed. Clothes were a petty thing to worry about when her brain was still filled with thoughts of heartbreak and betrayal. Even closing her eyes had been out of the question. She had lain awake and stared listlessly at the ceiling until every indention and streak of paint became a familiar substitute for the memory of her beautiful Miss Sakaki laying prone beneath that treacherous bitch, Kagura. In the midst of her cold acquiescence, her pillow had become completely soaked before her tears finally dried and became sticky against her cheeks.

Getting up had been like emotional suicide. Beyond Miss Sakaki, there was no immediate reason for her to even get out of bed. She had been previously content in the knowledge that Miss Sakaki was alone and waiting for someone like her to come along, but last night's revelations had shattered the window of her idealism to shine reality right in her face.

The door to the classroom might as well have been the trigger of a gun, yet her hand was upon it. To think that only yesterday she had looked forward to these mornings. Her jaw tightened.

It was such a simple pleasure to have Miss Sakaki be one of the first things that she saw each day. Kagura had taken that simple pleasure and violated it beyond recognition, but not beyond repair. Through the bleak veracity of life's lessons there was always a small glimmer of hope. Kaorin would not let Kagura win. She slid the door open and entered the classroom.

Immediately she set her sights to the other side of the room. Miss Sakaki sat at her desk; a perfect representation of peace and loveliness with her chin propped in her hand as she gazed out the window. Kagura had occupied the seat in front of her sat sideways with one arm over the back of the chair. The athlete was talking about something, but Sakaki seemed to pay her no mind aside from the occasional glance and head nod.

Kaorin dug her fingers into the handle of her book bag and swallowed. No one else had seen those two the way that she had. To watch them now, talking and interacting so casually as though they had just met the other day, while less than twelve hours ago they had been wrapped naked in each others' arms, and she had been witness to all of it.

Quickly she made her way to her desk and sat down, trying not to notice when Kagura suddenly laughed and nudged Sakaki's arm. Her heart began to pound.

Sakaki and Kagura. Kagura and Sakaki. The pairing equation just didn't make sense when it placed together two athletes who were supposed to be avid competitors. Given that Sakaki didn't care about competition, Kagura was everyone's most prominent rival.

Slowly Kaorin creaked her head to the side and watched the two girls in the corner of her eye. Kagura laughed again, but Kaorin couldn't hear her. She was too busy focusing on Sakaki who made a brief reply and shrugged.

Sakaki raised her hand and sifted it back through her bangs. Kagura propped her chin in her hand and looked at the taller girl with a playful smile. Something had just transmitted between them and Kaorin suddenly grew very hot.

A subliminal language. Whatever it had been, why ever it had been, and what it meant, she was desperate to know. How long had it been going on? How much had she missed? How many signs had she passed by? What trick of events had set them in motion? Her fingers tightened into the edge of her desk and she felt herself becoming slightly dizzy. It had been going on all this time right under her nose and she had never even known it. All that time that she had spent pining for Miss Sakaki, all the poems she wrote and hours she passed by just staring at her image.....and Miss Sakaki had gone off without a hint and been taken by Kagura.

Suddenly she was startled by a hand falling against her shoulder.

"Kaorin," Chihiro stepped back when the other girl nearly fell out of her seat. She frowned softly as Kaorin looked up, then perched herself on the edge of her desk. "I called you three times. What's wrong? You're all sweaty."

Kaorin panted softly to catch her breath and wiped her hand across her forehead.

"Nothing's wrong. Just tired....or something," her voice was raspy because of the massive amount of sobbing she had done the previous night. Chihiro's expression only grew more somber.

"Oh....Are you ok?"

"Yes, I'm fine," Kaorin dragged out her text book and set it on the desk. All across the cover of the text book were small indentions made by her pencil where she had written Miss Sakaki's name over and over. The words could only be seen if light hit them just right. Sighing, she turned the book over.

Chihiro rubbed the back of her neck and offered a small grin.

"Um...I see. In that case, do you want to get together later and prepare some things for the astronomy club? I was thinking that we could plan a trip to an observatory."

"Maybe some other time. I'm busy this evening," Kaorin replied and cast another side glance toward Sakaki and Kagura.

Chihiro blinked, then slowly followed Kaorin's gaze to the girls on the other side of the room. She then looked back to her with a rather odd expression.

"Hm...All right. Let me know if you change your mind."

Kaorin nodded. She would definitely be busy this evening. She had to talk to Miss Sakaki and let her know how she felt before things with Kagura went any further. It was her own fault for having waited so long, but not anymore. Miss Sakaki would no longer wish to be subjected to the athlete's perverted whims once she heard how much Kaorin loved and desired her.

Just then, the classroom door slammed open and Miss Yukari stormed over to the front of the chalk board.

"Hurry up and take your seats! I don't have all day!" The teacher dropped her record onto her desk and then turned to start writing the day's lesson on the board. The students reluctantly obeyed their teacher and shifted back to their own desks, including Kagura who hoisted herself up and returned to her seat towards the front.

------------------------

"Hey Sakaki! C'mon, let's race!" Kagura ran up to the other girl who sat on the grass while she tied her shoes.

P.E. was the best hour of the school day for Kagura. She could barely pay attention in class for more than five minutes and was so hyperactive that she had problems sitting still. Then again she hadn't been transferred into Miss Yukari's class for her academic abilities. When it came to physical competition, Kagura was the number one pick that any team would have wanted on their side.

"Again?" Sakaki looked up from her partially tied laces. Kagura had her fists up in a playful fighting position and was bouncing back and forth on the balls of her feet. The dark girl sighed, but smiled slightly and shook her head. One thing about Kagura was that she was pretty easy to please.

"All right. I'll be there in a minute."

"YES! Just don't take forever like last time," Kagura smiled and jogged off to the track, unzipping the jacket of her winter uniform as she did.

Kaorin saw her chance. She had been watching Miss Sakaki all day and waiting for just one minute when she could possibly speak to her alone. Every time she would approach her, it was usually Chiyo or Kagura who beat her to it. It was now or never. She sprinted across the soccer field and skidded to a halt inches away from where Sakaki had just finished tying her shoes.

"M-Miss Sakaki!" Kaorin flashed the biggest, brightest smile that she could muster. She could do this. It wouldn't be any problem to get Sakaki to herself for a little while, and then it would be game over for Kagura. She held her hands together tightly in front of her chest and made a conscious effort to keep herself from fidgeting.

Sakaki looked up, a little surprised at the other girl's sudden appearance. She noticed that Kaorin had a knack for popping up, and then disappearing before the conversation ever got very far.

"Hi Kaorin," she replied as she got to her feet.

Kaorin felt her cheeks grow hot as she watched that magnificent figure rise to her full height. One hundred percent woman: tall, dark, and unbelievably sexy. Her black hair was so soft and her eyes were so deep and brooding. Kaorin felt herself begin to melt beneath their gaze but she cleared her throat and quickly shook her head.

"I..uh...I mean last night I wanted to apologize for. I mean for it. Last night that is. I hope you're not angry."

"Not at all," Sakaki extended one leg back and leaned her hands onto her other knee, stretching out her muscles. "You seemed to be in a hurry."

"Oh...um, well....Anyways!" Kaorin giggled nervously and rubbed the back of her neck. Looking at Sakaki and being so close to her didn't help the bombardment of memories that flowed rampant through her mind. She had seen that gorgeous body. She had seen it writhing and squirming in sexual excitement. The only problem was that she had been a witness to it and not a participant. That was soon to change. "You said that you like cats, right? Tonight would you like to come over and see our kittens? They're really cute!"

Sakaki shifted to stretch out her other leg and looked to the girl. The offer was very tempting, and the thought of getting to see the kittens caused her to blush at an almost unnoticeable degree. Unfortunately she had already made previous engagements.

"Sorry, but this evening I promised Kagura that I'd go shopping with her. She said that she needed new running gear for the Winter." She straightened up and flipped her hair back over her shoulder. The motion was enough to send the ends of the dark strands brushing against Kaorin's shoulder.

Flowers...Fresh, savory flowers. Kaorin inhaled the orgasmic scent as it passed briefly by her nose. She almost wet herself, but the vibrant moment was short lived. She snapped out of the trance when Sakaki's response registered in her mind.

"Shopping? B-but....Miss S-Sakaki...." She stuttered and held her hand out, but let it drop when Sakaki arched an inquisitive eyebrow. It wouldn't look good if she acted desperate. Yet she was so very desperate. Her entire upper body heaved in a sigh as she turned. Best to stave the pain and walk away than stand there and let the rejection gnaw at her gut. "All right...Some other time then."

Sakaki watched the girl shuffle off, then sighed and headed off towards the track where she could see Kagura doing a set of jumping jacks. She hoped that one day Kaorin would still invite her over. She did so love cats after all.

Kaorin felt herself crashing all over again. Miss Sakaki had given up an opportunity to be with her to instead go someplace with Kagura. Why couldn't anyone see? Kagura wasn't willing to do half as much for Miss Sakaki as she was. What did Kagura have that she didn't have besides a bigger chest?

Suddenly she stopped.

That was it. It wasn't Miss Sakaki that she needed to be paying attention to. It was Kagura. If somehow she could learn more about Kagura and figure out what it was that Sakaki found so worth while in her, then she could incorporate those attributes into herself and become ten times the girl that Kagura was. She hated Kagura, but she was willing to sacrifice her dignity and hatred if it meant winning Miss Sakaki's affections.

With fresh motivation she set off towards the volley ball court to earn her physical activity points for the day. It looked like she had plans for this evening after all.

----------------

"So that's how it happened and I just told him to mind his own damn business, ya know?" Kagura glanced at Sakaki and grinned playfully. With as much time as she spent with the quiet girl, she usually ended up doing most of the talking herself. It was never a problem though because she always had plenty of things to say.

It had started snowing that night so the girls had dressed for the weather appropriately. Sakaki wore a turtle-neck sweater and a skirt, over which she had on a long trench coat that reached down to her knees. Kagura had slipped into a pair of jeans and a tank top, then completed the casual wear with a brown leather jacket.

The girls had met up at the mall that evening and had spent the last hour shopping around. Kagura was the one who needed new running gear to wear in the cold weather, but she had convinced Sakaki to buy a set too. That way they could go running together.

Out on the sidewalk they walked side by side, both with their hands in their coat pockets with bags hanging from one of their wrists.

"I just don't see why it is that people always have to be up in each others' business," Kagura continued with a small shrug. "It's not like there aren't enough bigger problems in the world to worry about. I say that unless they don't have any more problems left of their own then they shouldn't..........uh....Sakaki?"

It was then that Kagura realized that she really was talking to herself. Looking to the side she saw that Sakaki was no longer there and she stopped in the middle of the sidewalk to look around. "Hey, Sakaki!"

Several yards behind her she spotted her girlfriend. Sakaki had stopped and was looking in the window of a shop that had demanded her immediate attention. To the sound of her name, the quiet girl turned her head and grinned softly as though to say "can we?".

Kagura walked back and stood beside the other girl, curiously gazing into the window as well. She should have known that it would be a pet store. On the other side of the window was a glass display cage. The inside of the cage was lined with shreds of newspaper and a few toys. Among the toys were several kittens ranging in color from grey to bright orange.

The shorter girl smirked and nudged Sakaki with her shoulder.

"You and those cats...What is it with cats anyway?"

"They're cute." Sakaki only grinned further and grabbed Kagura by the arm to tug her to the store entrance.

Kagura laughed and decided to indulge her girlfriend this time by not putting up a struggle. Once they were in the store, she stepped back and let Sakaki lead the way to the display cage.

Sakaki approached the cage and crouched down to bring herself level with the fuzzy little balls of fur. The kittens were too busy playing with each other to even notice that she was there, but it didn't matter to her. The blush in her cheeks grew slightly more apparent as she watched the little felines. One of the kittens finally looked up and mewed inquisitively in her direction. Softly she laughed and pressed her hand against the pane of glass.

Kagura stood off to the side and watched her girlfriend with a knowing little grin. At first she hadn't understood Sakaki's infatuation with cute animals and stuff like that. If anything, she had expected the dark girl to be just as imposing as she looked. She had imaged that her room would have been painted black and that her entertainment of choice would have had something to do with vampires or dead stuff. It turned out that the exact opposite was true. Sakaki was one of the gentlest people she knew, and even had a habit of becoming emotionally attached to stuffed animals. All of Sakaki's stuffed animals had names, and over time Kagura had been given detailed descriptions of their personalities.

"If you're quite done...." She stepped forward and rested her hand to Sakaki's shoulder. "I'm willing to bet that there's another cat just waiting to play with you at home."

Sakaki's eyes grew wide and she looked up at Kagura in disbelief that she had just said that. The true meaning of the words would have only made sense to her, however. The blush in her cheeks turned a deeper shade of red as she straightened and walked quickly out of the store.

Kagura caught up with her out on the sidewalk and linked their arms together.

"Sorry, I couldn't help it," she giggled and looked briefly over her shoulder to get the name of the pet store.

"You're impossible." Sakaki smirked before finally she too laughed and tightened her arm with the other.

"And you love me."

"No I don't."

"Yes you do."

"You're right, I do. And you're impossible."

"As long as you love me."

"Which I do."

"No you don't."

Sakaki arched one prominent eyebrow at her girlfriend who finally relented and turned her attention ahead of them. Their relationship was the only one where 'impossible' and 'love' could have fit hand in hand, and for that she was glad. There would never be another girl like Kagura.

-------------

Note: I had to cut this chapter in half due to its length, so Chapter 3 will actually be the second part of Chapter 2.