Iris

Salty- In order to feed my insatiable ego, I have started to write again! Thank you to Crazy For Mac-A-Damian Nutz, RockPrincess410, ai-chan97, Raf Kowalski, and StarlightTango. I think I got a thing which is not a macbook (I'm SOO computer savvy). The thing is, (you guessed right Raf Kowalski) I uploaded microsoft word but it ended up failing for some reasons and seems to have spread to my computer camera TT-TT. And also, I'm sorry Eiji. You'll have to bear some one sidedness for a bit. And Raf Kowalksi you have given me an idea which I will steal for the very end!

Oh and for future reference Minagawa Junko is the voice actress for Ryoma Echizen, who will be coming into play very soon. Because the last chapter was very short, I will switch povs, like a lot.

Chapter 19. The Meetings Part Three

Fuji-pov

Though invisible to the uncaring eyes of the patrons who were unfortunate enough to buy tickets to what was being called the worst ending to a trilogy ever made, two subtle things changed within the theater. Well, many more occured but there were two which pertained to the emotional and possibly the mental health of some of my best friends.

I wished the both of them the best of luck, leaned forward in my broken chair (the seat did not go down, for whatever reason and I was left sitting on the upright metal edge) and drew out a long, oddly broken sounding sigh. Why did I feel so sad?

Kikumaru-pov

And she had a job at a flower shop that she really hates. Is clumsy. Doesn't have a lot of confidence in herself. Isn't gorgeous but is gorgeous and also pretty. Has no sense of direction.

When she was seven, she had a younger brother named Akira who died because he got sick. For a while he was her imaginary friend and they somehow traded personalities.

She had a younger sister named Rika. And I like her. I like her. I. Like. Her. HOLY JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE BATMAN!

Katsumi-pov

The movie was starting but I didn't have the heart to pay attention. My stomach felt queezy, like there was something really cold down in it. Not like ice cream, more like a huge head of frozen cabbage. Or just a plain head. Could a head fit in a stomach? No, probably not. Anyway, what did I know about my friends?

'You suck,' my mind whispered in the voice of some horror movie character. 'They will abandon you. You can't even remember their birthdays, only Eiji's but that's because you had a crush on him, you prick. That's why your relationship with Fuji-kun will end. Because you suck. Besides, he's still in love with Raki-chan and you're not even sure how you really feel about Eiji-kun. Or Kikumaru-san or whatever. Because. You. Suck. A. Lot. And you will NEVER get to meet Justin Timberlake.'

Even though I knew that that thought was drastically pessimistic, parts of it rang true. My relationship with Fuji-kun, although very new, would have to end sometime. Especially because there was nothing romantic about it in the first place. Except for some odd yearning which we shared for one of our friends. (Why had my own mind called me a prick? That was rude!)

'Just forget it,' I thought in my normal mind-voice thing, which sounded more or less like Minagawa Junko, for some reason. 'Just forget everything and watch the movie for the Angels' sake!' But I couldn't. Because an image of Kikumaru Eiji suddenly flashed into my mind.

Of him holding hands and laughing and smiling and playing games with Suzuyama Kei and I shouldn't have did what I did but I did. A sudden sickness grew in my stomach which was stupid but still happened so I stood up, walked down the aisle to the complaint of some of the seated people and I walked out of the theater, to the bathroom and sat on top of one of the sinks for no reason.

A lady with an expensive red coat attempted to walk in, saw me, then walked out. She probably thought that I was crazy but it didn't matter. Was I that angry that Kikumaru Eiji was holding hands with my arch nemisis? Was I insane and really that jealous? Was the combination too much for me?

Oh god, there was something seriously wrong with me.

Kazuma-pov

I sighed. For no reason, really. I just did. In front of me, Momo-chan and ochibi (who was really a month older than me but who I still liked to call ochibi) were having a burger/fries/shake/soda eating contest. This had pretty much become our routine; meet on Sundays, go to the burger place a few blocks from Seigaku and eat and eat and eat. But I didn't want to. I felt sick and I wasn't sure why.

Maybe it was because my so-called-sister was dating Fuji. It shouldn't have bothered me but it did. Because Fuji was cool and all, like really nice if not a bit weird and sadistic at times, but I'd seen the way Kikumaru looked at her. He liked her. A lot. Like, really a lot. The way I liked Space Palerio 6 or Ren-chan (I'd yet to tell anyone.) And I was totally fine with that, if not slightly weirded out that someone looked at my SISTER that way. But then there was Katsumi.

Katsumi, either totally unaware of his feelings or being really crappy, had started to date Fuji as soon as Kikumaru was starting to realize it. I guess that was what made my stomach hurt, and it bothered me that I even cared. No, wait, it was Katsumi and a friend. I had full rights to care. Never mind.

I looked up at Momo-chan and ochibi and guess what happened?

A. I finally made out with Hannah Montana who walked into the store suddenly.

B. Alternatively, Selena Gomez broke up with Justin Bieber because he supposedly got some girl pregnant then walked into the shop and made out with me.

or C. I stupidly opened my mouth while Momo-chan was messilly eating and got second hand burger in my mouth, meaning that I had just gotten my first kiss taken away by him.

Oh Angels I don't even want to say it!

Katsumi-pov

The bathroom smelled a lot like dog barf. Or just regular barf. I didn't know if there was a difference but I'd smelled dog barf before and it smelled just like that restroom. If I didn't feel sick to my stomach about going back to the movie, about seeing Eiji-kun after storming out-I wasn't angry, just embarrassed-even though they probably didn't know what was going on.

Oh, there was something wrong with me!

"Saisai-chan!" Raki-chan opened the door, briefly showing the empty theater lobby and stepped in. Her hands went straight to her hips. "What's up with you? You've been gone for like half an hour."

"Feminine troubles," I answered almost immediately. She raised a thin, speculative eyebrow.

"Have you been sitting there the whole time?"

"No..."

"Is it about Eiji?"

"May-be..."

Then what she did surprised me for no reason whatsoever. Raki-chan walked to the sink and sat down next to me, wetting her skinny jeans.

"Tell me about it."

And I did. About everything. How I'd had a crush on Eiji-kun since middle school started, because he was the first person to talk to me, how I hadn't spoken to him again for two years, how I'd not seen my parents for over a year, how I stopped liking him for a while and how I was now confused and how there might have been something going on between Kazuma and Ren-chan and how nothing seemed the same.

"Ordinarilly, I'd say that life was supposed to change and have lots of up and downs but DAAAAAAAAAAAMN, that's heavy." I laughed, a fluttery thing which surprised me.

"Still," Pride made me choke on my next few words, and something else made me say them. "I feel so stupid."

"About storming out?" she asked in disbelief, head tilting as she did so.

"No, just that I care that he was holding hands with-with her. You know?"

"No, actually, I don't," she stared up at the ceiling panels. Wads of wet toilet paper were stuck up there. "This bathroom smells like something threw up."

"I know right?"

It was quiet for a moment. "I know I'm overenthusiastic," she said. I was about to object when she said, "About Tezuka. About how I really like him and all, but it's weird. He said he liked me when we were second years-sort of ish-and I said I liked him too, but nothing happened. We don't even talk. Well, he never talks anyway. I've tried to tell myself that he's just shy but-Oh hey!" I looked at her in alarm. "Look who's splurging now! You're really good at changing subjects, Saisai-chan!" Then she got up and walked out, presumably to the theater.

For whatever reason, I hesitated to stare at the toilet paper wads then followed her to my seat. No one behind me complained this time. The movie must have been slow. Both Fuji-kun and Eiji-kun glanced at me but nothing else happened besides that. And I was very, very glad. Because I really didn't want to overreact again.

But there was still the unexplained Suzuyama Kei incident. What was up with that?

~I~R~I~S~