Disclaimer: I don't own Flame of Recca or any of its characters.

A/N: I'm back! ^^

BLT 5: Bizarre Love Triangle



Fuuko opened the door to her bedroom with a groan. Talking to her mother always end up with her having a headache. Why she even bothers, she'd never understand.

"You like Recca-niisan?" A sweet, innocent voice asked incredulously.

Fuuko entered the room and promptly started to hit her head on the wall.

"Fuuko-neechan?" Ganko asked in worry, not at her neechan (she knew that her neechan has a hard head), but at the wall. She was planning to hang a picture of her favorite Digimon on it.

"Go to sleep, Ganko. We have exams tomorrow." Fuuko told her, not missing a beat in her self-torture.

"But I heard you and mom…"

"Ganko, you know it's impolite to eavesdrop."

"But I wanted to know how your meeting with Tokiya-niisan went,"

Fuuko ceased hitting her head to glare at the younger girl. "You're too nosy for your own good,"

Ganko stuck out a tongue at her. "So, who do you like better, Recca-niisan or Tokiya-niisan?"

Fuuko groaned as she dramatically launched herself on the bed she shared with the younger girl.

Ganko squealed in delight as she bounced up and down. She giggled. "Wait, you're not going to get off that easy,"

"What?" Fuuko asked innocently.

"I think that you're confusing your friendship with Recca-niisan for love," Ganko told her seriously.

Fuuko looked at Ganko strangely. "I'm not taking relationship advice from an elementary school kid!"

Ganko made a face. "I heard that from a talk show somewhere," she started to explain, but Fuuko had already placed a pillow over her head so she wouldn't hear the younger girl.

"Neechan!" Ganko shook Fuuko's body violently to get her to listen. "Neechan!"

"Ganko!" Their mother called from downstairs. "Go to sleep!"

"Yes, mommy!" Ganko chirped like a little angel.

Fuuko stretched leisurely as she hummed contentedly to herself. She was alone in the school rooftops, enjoying the wind which was playfully toying at her long hair. She had finished the exam early and was allowed to go out, but an ingrained habit forced her to wait for her friends.

Fuuko frowned. Domon would probably take the whole day before he can finish the exam paper, while Yanagi was avoiding Recca. So that left her and Recca to walk home together, and she wasn't positive that that was such a good idea.

She groaned. She knew that she and Tokiya needed to talk. She wanted to talk to him so bad…but first, she had to figure out things for herself.

She sighed as she stretched out her long legs before her body. Her long, purple hair got in her eyes a little bit, so she hastily pushed them behind her ears, however, a lock rebelliously flew free and once again irritated her face.

Huffing, she took her bag and ruffled through it. Frustrated at not being able to find a rubber band, she began to take out the things in her bag.

A yellow pencil case. Her green notebook. A mirror Yanagi gave to her. A comb from Ganko. A pack of gum. A tube of lipstick, new face powder, a powder puff, and a blush, a gift from her mother. A watch. A pink hanky. A pack of tissue.

She started slowly, but by now, she was furiously emptying her bag. A pink pen. Her black wallet. A crumpled receipt. A bottle of perfume from Tokiya. Her uncharged mobile phone.

"Fuuko?"

With a screech, Fuuko threw her now-empty bag at the wall.

"Yikes!" Recca winced. "I know last night was a mistake, Fuuko, but you don't have to take it out physically on me,"

"It's not you," Fuuko grumbled.

"If it's not me, then what's wrong?" Recca asked as he crouched down before his friend.

Suddenly, Fuuko threw her arms around her friend and squeezed him with all her might.

"Fuuko!" Recca yelped. "Can't…breathe…"

"Recca!" Fuuko cried out.

"What…wrong?" He rasped, turning blue due to oxygen-deprivation.

"I'm turning into a girl! Waah!"

"You OK now?" Recca asked in amusement as Fuuko stuck out her tongue at him.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Fuuko muttered as she shouldered the doors out of the roof top open.

"The two of us seem to be turning on the water works lately," he mused out loud as he walked beside her down the stairs.

"Recca, can we stop talking about it already?" Fuuko glared at him in exasperation.

Recca chuckled. "Sorry, didn't know it was a touchy subject."

"Just drop it." Fuuko growled.

Recca held up his hands in mock surrender. "Alright. Alright." He laughed.

Soon, the two of them were almost out of the school gates, teasing and jostling each other as if last night didn't happen, like they didn't have a problem in the world.

"So where are we going now?" Recca asked.

"Well, I promised Domon that we're gonna wait for him in the coffee shop," Fuuko replied.

"Hah!" Recca grinned at her. However, he accidentally brushed the shoulder of the girl whose back was on him. "Sorry," he apologized automatically.

The girl turned to look at him as her companion, the one whom she was talking to, glared.

"H-hime?" Recca choked out in surprise.

The smile that was on Yanagi's face froze.

Recca then turned to her companion. "Mikagami," he snarled.

Fuuko bit her lower lip. Mikagami and Yanagi. Together. This must be someone's idea of a bad joke.

Suddenly, Recca walked away, but not before his shoulder intentionally brushed against Mikagami's rather violently.

"Recca!" Fuuko called out to her friend in worry.

Yanagi merely followed him with her eyes.

"Fuuko," Mikagami said her name quietly, calmly.

Fuuko took a deep breath. "Sorry," she muttered as she took off after the red-capped boy.

"Recca," Fuuko approached him slowly, hesitantly.

Recca was now pouring his frustrations into a large tree. "Why." Punch. "The hell." Punch. "Are they." Punch. "Together?" Punch.

Fuuko winced every time Recca's fist hit the tree.

"I'm sure it's probably nothing," Fuuko said as she effortlessly caught his hand before it hit the poor tree again. Recca's knuckles were already turning red.

"Nothing!" He threw up his hands, relinquishing them from Fuuko's grasp.

"Look, they're probably also wondering why on earth the two of us are together," she told him as she took a scarf out of her bag and tossed it to Recca. "And we're not doing anything wrong so get your mind out of the gutter."

"That's different!" Recca replied agitatedly as he attempted to tie the scarf around his fingers. "We're friends."

"Well, so are they."

"But, Mikagami—" Recca began to argue.

"Save it, Hanabishi." She told him. "They're just talking. Remember how Tokiya reacted when the two of us went home last night?"

Recca growled. "I tried to kiss you last night," he groaned in frustration. "Gods! He's gonna kiss Yanagi just to get back at me!"

Fuuko cuffed him on the head. "He is not!"

Recca took a deep breath and considerably calmed down. He looked at her. "Sorry about that,"

"About you acting like a baby just now, or about the thing last night?"

Recca grimaced. "Both, I guess."

Fuuko nodded.

"I'm sorry I tried to kiss you." He told her as he sat down, hoping that his blush isn't showing, his back against the tree.

"Yeah," Fuuko shifted uncomfortably as she reddened a bit. "Me too."

"Uh, do you wanna hash it out in the open or do you want to pretend it never happened?" Recca asked.

"Never happened."

"Temporary insanity?"

"Yup."

"So, are we still friends?" He asked.

"Sure." Fuuko nodded.

A moment of silence passed between the two, a comfortable silence that was only possible between friends.

"Recca, how come things got all weird last night?" She suddenly asked as she sat down beside him.

Recca turned to look at her. "We're both feeling lonely, I guess." He finally replied. "I mean, I know I am. The love of my life just turned me down." His voice trailed off.

Fuuko blinked. "How do you know that you love Yanagi?"

Recca turned beet red. "Kirisawa! You're not supposed to ask me those kinds of questions!"

Fuuko laughed. "Sorry."

"Wait. What do you mean, how do I know I'm in love with Yanagi? Aren't you in love with Mikagami," Recca demanded.

"I don't know," Fuuko admitted with a sigh. "I haven't told him I love him or anything,"

"How about him?"

Fuuko gave him a look that asked if he was crazy or something. "This is Mikagami we're talking about,"

"Point," Recca admitted. "So how do you feel about him?"

Fuuko shrugged. "I don't know." She replied honestly. "Last night, my mom asked me if I was over you."

Suddenly, Recca laughed, a sound that was loud and free, a sound Fuuko hadn't heard since that fateful day when Yanagi turned him down.

"What?" Fuuko asked defensively.

"So, you do have a crush on me when we were younger!" He crowed.

Fuuko rolled her eyes as she smacked Recca at the back of his head. "Baka."

Recca continued to snicker. Although, to his credit, he did try to control himself. He coughed. "Do you like me like that, Fuuko?"

Fuuko frowned.

"Do you see yourself growing old and gray with me? Can you picture yourself having a family with me? Do you want to spend the rest of my life with me, Fuuko? Can you live with all my faults?" Recca suddenly turned serious.

Fuuko and Recca stared at each other's eyes, oblivious to their surroundings.

"Can you stay with me, Fuuko, even if I'm bald and wrinkled? Will you take care of me when I can't take care of myself?" Recca's voice became husky.

A moment of quiet was shared between them…until… "EWW!" Both of them empathically said, shuddering in distate.

Both of them caught the other's eye, then they burst out laughing.

"The mental picture of an old, bald Recca was enough for me to throw up my breakfast." Fuuko laughed.

"And can you imagine the pandemonium that little Fuukos and litte Reccas could cause?" Recca shivered in fear.

Fuuko stopped laughing. "Tell me, Recca, is that how you feel about Yanagi?"

Recca looked at her solemnly. "Yes. I know you think that now is not the right time for me to get married, Fuuko. But I swear to God that she's the only woman who can make me happy, and heaven knows that I will do everything in my power to make her happy too."

Fuuko nodded, unused to this side of her friend.

"Now, tell me, Fuuko." Recca turned to her expectantly. "How do you feel about Mikagami?"

Fuuko tossed restlessly in bed that night, thankful that Ganko was heavy sleeper. She sat up in frustration.

How does she feel about Mikagami, Recca asked.

She rubbed her eyes and eased herself off the bed. She turned on the night-light Ganko had just recently outgrown. She then sat at the vanity her little sister insisted on buying and looked critically at herself in the mirror.

She cares about him enough to take pains in her appearances. She cares about him enough that she changed her whole wardrobe.

Fuuko sighed. But those were trivial things. She knew, beyond doubt, that Tokiya's feelings for her would not change even if she was still the same girl she was a year ago.

Now, the real question is, does she care for him enough to turn her back on her childhood dream?

Is the tomboyish Fuuko Kirisawa finally in love?

~tbc

PS:

Thanks to those who reviewed chapters 3 and 4! I might wrap up the story next chapter, so wait for it soon! Ja!

G - don't worry, I never planned on making Aoko a major character, she's just an extra, placed in the story to represent people who had been giving Fuuko hell for dating Mi-chan.

Kaze Yurei - You reviewed chapter 3, hope you read chapter 4, and wish you like chapter 5! I'm flattered by your compliments!

Lady Kai -  Oh, yeah, don't worry about the inspiration thing, as long as there are cool reviewers like you, an eye-candy like Mi-chan, and a kick-ass character like Fuuko, I will forever be inspired. Anyway, 'bout the evil cliffhangers reads the selection above and bats eyes innocently whatever do you mean? ^^

G-Cleft – once again you flatter me. So, when's chapter 3 of your story coming? I like the idea of a Mi-chan-Fuuko-Raiha love triangle. I can't write about that, tho, 'coz I was a Raifuu supporter before I became a Tofuu fan. Fuuko might end up with the wrong man. =)

Da*mouse – Aha! Another person not too keen on Yanagi. Maybe we should start a club…about the envelope, you are so close, but not close enough. ^^ at least stuffs are cleared up in this chapter. You're right in your analysis. Recca and Fuuko are just friends. As for Mi-chan and Yanagi widens eyes in fake surprise did I say that this was a companion fic to Kindred? At first, I also didn't see Tokiya's crush on Yanagi in the anime, I mean, aside for the you look like my sister so I lay down my life for you stuff. But remember the episode where the who gang visited Kagehoushi's house? Yanagi was praying to the image of Buddha and Domon said something stupid about that. Both Recca and Tokiya reacted by threatening to spill the large man's guts on the ground. I was like, uh-oh. But, that's just me. You're right about it being more obvious in the manga. Didn't they even go out on a date?

Dark Phoenix – your guess about the envelope is also pretty close, but that's not exactly it. I really have to thank you about your IQ analysis, it helped me smooth over some details in my story. I really appreciate it.

Bonnie Yang – sorry, darling but this is a tofuu. I'm a tofuu shipper. I did say that this is a companion fic to my other fic and in that one, mi-chan and fuuko ended up together. Plus, I'm not a Yanagi fan. I can read Raifuu or Recca-fuu, or even Mikagami-Raiha, but I really don't like a yanagi-centric fic.

Pratz – I'm sorry sweetie, Yanagi must make a cameo in this chapter, but don't worry, I promise next fic is Tofuu all the way!

MoonPhoenix – thanks. Only have two more exams to go. Yey!

Bishlov – do you know that ff.net was down when I received the message that you uploaded the last chapter of Baby…? I was frustrated to no end. Anyway, I'm really floored that you wanted to become a part of my mailing list, unfortunately, I don't have one. ^^ but your request did send me screaming in delight around my room (much to my roommate's amusement). Thanks.