a/n hey!
Aren't you all excited?
Chapter six is out!
yay!
be overjoyed
please?
anyway! I thank all reviewers
Cynthia, thank you SO MUCH!
I loved your review
and I was gonna have an interview anyway so
yeah :)
now on with the chapter!
Disclaimer--hmm...no creative way this time. I just don't own Hana Kimi.
Just my characters and ideas
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Rio stared at Mika as she rolled over in her deep sleep. The resting girl's matted dark hair lay strewn over her closed eyes. Rio wondered what her friend was dreaming of to be sleeping so calmly and for so long. Maybe she wasn't even dreaming of anything. Maybe she was just so exhausted that she didn't need to sweet poison of dreams to keep her how she was. Rio sighed and pulled up a seat so she could sit beside Mika's bed. Part of her was telling her to allow the tired girl to remain asleep, but another part was screaming inside Rio's mind, telling her that it had been long enough and Mika needed to wake up and move on with her life.
Slowly the door to Rio and Mika's door creaked open, and Yuri popped her head in. Her jaw length, curly hair fell in her eyes as she looked about. Upon spotting Rio seated besides Mika's bed, she slipped into the dorm through the narrow gap between the door and the wall. She strolled over to the Umeda and placed her hand on the back of the chair. Resting her chin on Rio's head, Yuri said, "So she's still sleeping, eh?"
"Yup. And I don't know whether or not I should wake her up..." Rio sighed
"Yes, that is quite a dilemma..." Yuri paused. "No, not really. I know you're trying to be a good friend, but it's time she wakes up. She's slept more than a day...Yup. It was two days ago, in the afternoon, that we found her laying there."
Rio nodded; Yuri brought her chin off her friend's head and straightened. She took a couple steps towards the bottom bunk where Mika slept and knelt down beside it. Her hand hovered over Mika's shoulder; she looked over her shoulder at Rio, who still sat in the chair, playing with the ends of her long hair. Yuri raised an eyebrow.
"I should wake her, shouldn't I?
Rio looked over at the curly-haired girl. "That's what I was thinking over." Rio heaved a sigh and then nodded. "Wake her up. It isn't healthy to stay asleep for so long, you know..."
Yuri nodded and let her hand drop, gently touching Mika's shoulder. With her other hand, Yuri brushed Mika's hair from her peaceful face. "Mika--" she whispered into the dark-haired girl's exposed ear "Mika it's me--"
"Aura...guy..."
Yuri's blue eyes widened and she looked over at Rio, who merely shrugged. Neither knew who the 'aura guy' was, for Mika had never referred to him as that around them. And of course, neither ever really spoke to the boy, so they hadn't the slightest clue that he could read auras and see ghosts.
"Kaya..." Mika mumbled, and rolled over again.
Rio smiled triumphantly to herself and Yuri's eyes widened further. Kayshima! Mika had barely known him for three weeks! And there she was dreaming about him, mumbling things about him in her sleep. It was rather shocking, especially since it was coming for Mika, a girl who had never thought of boys but anything as fellow human beings, maybe even friends occasionally.
"Jeez...who would have thought that Mika would become so easily attached to a guy. I hope this doesn't happen about every guy she meets from now on. That could cause a problem," Rio mumbled, folding her arms over her chest and pulling her legs up onto the chair with her. Silence swallowed the room. Upon noticing that her hand was still placed on the sleeping Mika's shoulder, Yuri removed it.
And of course, that was when she started.
First Mika turned so that she faced Yuri and Rio. Then slowly, her eyelids lifted, revealing the glazed brown eyes that come from a deep sleep. She blinked a couple of times before her vision focused. Her eyes widened as she stared at Yuri and Rio, who stared right back, and then she shot up in bed.
"Did I say anything! In my sleep, I mean!" Mika inquired, clearly panicked. In fact, she sounded so worried that both Rio and Yuri felt bad telling her the truth. So, without even discussing it, the two shook their heads, point-blank lying to their best friend. A sigh of relief escaped Mika's mouth, and it was obvious on her face as well. She was worried that she had said his name in her sleep, and that they had heard it. After all, she hadn't any clue how long they had been there, nor had she any idea how long ago the dream involving him and where she used his name had been. Time moves awfully fast when you're sleeping.
Silence happily came back into the room, but not for long. Mika brought conversation back, pushing her knotted, dark hair away from her eyes. "So, how long was I asleep? Did the teacher say anything when I missed class?"
"No. The teachers didn't say anything when you missed your classes," Yuri unsurely answered
Mika cocked her head to the side. "What do you mean? What's with all the plurals? I only had one class at the end of the day..."
Rio cleared her throat and brushed away her long, smooth hair. After clearing her throat, she began, "Mika, dear, you've been sleeping for...almost two days."
Mika's jaw dropped, and she said nothing for quite a while, just sat there in shock. Her eyes darted back and forth between her two best friends, who still sat there watching Mika with cautious expressions. Finally, Mika closed her mouth and swallowed a few times to moisten her dry throat. Blinking then, she asked, "I slept how long?
"Almost two days," Rio repeated.
"How on earth did I manage that?!" Mika exclaimed.
"Well, you were exhausted. Seriously, it showed. But...how early were you waking up, and what time were you getting to bed? I mean...It's a good thing that you slept so long, but it actually made Rio and I even more concerned than we already were and...you know...yeah. We just want to make sure you're okay, because you're our best friend and--"
"Yuri?"
"Yes, Mika?"
"You're rambling."
"Oh." Yuri blushed a little, ducking her head so that the brown curls fell over her pink-tinged cheeks.
"So, how late were you going to bed. And what time were you getting up?" Rio inquired, repositioning her legs so that one swung just above the ground.
Mika bit her lower lip. Would these two questions lead up to an even bigger one? The one that was making her nervous. She didn't know what they'd say if they knew that she was waking up because of some guy she barely knew. Or at least, that was why she thought she was waking up. She couldn't really know for sure, since there was no way she could prove it. Before just a bit ago, she hadn't dreamt anything about him at all.
"Well...I went to bed at the normal time--" Mika began, her fingers clenching the cream colored sheets of her bed.
"Which is late," Rio interjected, earning herself a glare from Mika; Yuri giggled a little, getting her a glare as well. But Mika cleared her throat and continued with what she was saying, before the interruption.
"And I've been waking up between four and four-thirty a.m., for about three days, I think."
Rio and Yuri nodded there heads, eyebrows furrowed as if in deep thought. Yuri looked over at her dark-haired friend, a curious expression still on her face. With her clear blue eyes, she stared at Mika for a moment before bothering to say anything. "If you think about it, that isn't even that early," she commented; her eyes moved over to Rio, questioning, to see if she agreed; Rio shrugged.
"Think about that, and then think about how late she goes to sleep..."
Yuri rolled her eyes up as she bit her tongue. After nearly a minute, she let out a shocked squeak of, "That's only like, five hours of sleep!"
"And for three days..."
Yuri paled, as if it was she who had been losing sleep. With horror-filled eyes, she turned towards Mika, who merely nodded her head, confirming this. Yuri let out a feeble attempt at saying something, but gave up, and sat down at the edge of Mika's bed, beside the owner of it. Mika began to feel irritated by how often silence found its way in the dorm she shared with Rio. These two were her best friends, how could they have nothing to talk about?!
To get away from the stillness, Mika stood and began to limp over towards her dresser, pulling out a few items and then stepping towards the bathroom. "I'm starting to feel gross now that you've told me I've been asleep for so long...I'll be out in a bit. Once I'm out we could..."Mika was at a loss there. What could they do? She didn't really even know what day it was!
"We can shop!" Yuri happily suggested.
Mika shrugged. "Okay, that's fine with me." And then she disappeared into the bathroom.
It was maybe an hour later that she came out of there. Rio and Yuri secretly laughed with each other at the thought that Mika fell back asleep in the tub, since usually it didn't take Mika so long to take a shower, or even a bath. But, they kept the thought between themselves, since they didn't want to embarrass Mika or anything. Plus, if the answer was yes, then that would just add more concern to the mountainous amount that was already inside them.
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Steam followed Mika as she stepped out of the bathroom. The girl squeezed a mass of her wet hair with a towel and looked at Rio, and then at Yuri. Both had changed out of uniforms, which they had both been wearing prior to Mika's shower, and were lounging about.
"So, are you two ready?" Mika inquired as she zipped up her thin sweatshirt.
Yuri looked over the top of her magazine at her wet-headed friend and frowned. Even though her mouth didn't show, you could see it in her eyes. "You know, there's such a thing as a hair-dryer..." she said, disapproval dripping from every syllable. Mika looked down at her hair, which looked black in its wet form, and frowned herself. What was wrong with damp hair? Mika actually liked it when it was wet. Also, she didn't care for hair dryers. They burned her ears.
"Yes, I am aware of that," Mika said. "Not everyone has hair as short as yours though. It takes too long."
"And not everyone cares as much as you either," Rio muttered, her eyes flickering back and forth as the words on the page of her book were quickly absorbed into her mind.
Yuri scowled, although that didn't exactly last long. Shrugging, she placed her magazine on her lap and said, "That's true!" And she grinned. Mika smiled as she plopped down on her bed, leaning backwards so that her head almost brushed against the plaster wall.
"So about shopping...where did you have in mind?" Yuri asked, dropping down on the bed to Mika's left.
Rio took the side on Mika's right as the wet-haired girl replied with a startled, "You suggested shopping! I thought maybe you had some place in mind!"
A moment passed as Yuri processed what Mika said; then she grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of her head. Rio rolled her eyes at her friend's slowness, but made no comment. Mika stared up at her blue-eyed friend and laughed lightly. That was Yuri for you...
"I know! We could take a bus into town, and then just walk around! That would be fun, wouldn't it?!" Yuri exclaimed, shooting up to her feet so fast that she almost hit her head on the top bunk.
Rio and Mika exchanged an unsure glance, but nodded anyway.
"I could deal with that..." Mika replied, twirling a strand of hair around her finger; she stared absently at the bunk bed which was above her. Rio looked over at Mika curiously, and nodded.
"When should we leave?" the Umeda inquired, eyes flickering towards Yuri who was beaming with excitement.
"Now! What time is better than the present? The answer: NONE!!" Yuri grabbed Mika's wrist and dragged her off the bed so that she landed with a resounding thump on her dormitory floor. Mika winced as she lifted herself to her feet, not even scolding Yuri for doing that.
Rio cocked an eyebrow, but again bit back the comment on her tongue. Usually Mika would have at least made some sort of comment about such an action, like she Yuri should calm down, it's just shopping. But Mika just frowned a little as she headed towards the door.
Yuri ran ahead to get it, and then silently the three friends made their way out to the front of the school. From there they headed to a bus station, money jingling in their pockets. Each paid their own fare and took some of the free seats in the front, all squeezing onto two seats in between two larger people.
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"Oh! Let's go there! No, there! That place looks nice, too!"
Rio and Mika snickered as they watched Yuri dancing around the side-walk, peering through windows of stores, shielding her eyes from the sun using her hands. They had been doing this for almost an hour, and Yuri still hadn't decided where she wanted to go.
"Is your ankle okay? I mean we've been doing a lot of walking..." Rio whispered, leaning in towards Mika's ear; Mika nodded.
"Yeah, it's fine. Dr. Umeda said I should get some use out of it, anyway, and this is getting a use out of it..."
Rio nodded slowly and looked ahead again. Yuri was staring at the two of them a couple yards ahead, impatiently tapping her foot on the pavement. She was holding open the door to a store--she had decided where to go first. Rio and Mika sped up and turned into the store.
It was small, but lined with clothing. Yuri immediately tackled a shelf, her eager hands stroking the soft fabric of a sweater. The curly-top only got so excited about certain things; sadly, shopping was one of them. Mika's eyes flickered back and forth as she took in everything. There was really nothing she'd wear on a regular basis.
Rio watched Mika, inconspicuous. It seemed like she was browsing through a rack, but not at all. Her hands rubbed the material of some item of clothing she held, but her eyes were following the wandering Mika; what was she looking for? Anything in particular?
Rio's eyes mischievously sparkled as a smirk curled on her lips; she had thought of something. Grabbing a shirt and skirt from a rack, she bound up to Mika, grinning almost as widely as Yuri.
"Would this look good on me?"
Mika's eyes widened as she looked at the clothing. The skirt was a micro-mini and the shirt was tight. "Um...it depends on what you'd be wearing it for?" Mika squeaked, scratching the back of her damp head hesitantly.
That was when Rio first saw the clothes; the horror showed clear on her face, though she tried to hide it. Turning back towards Mika, she said, "It's for...a date!"
"You have a date?" Mika inquired, knitting her brows together. Rio hadn't mentioned anything about a date before...
"Not anytime soon, silly! I'm talking about in the future! Wouldn't it be nice to already have clothes set out to wear, so you didn't have to worry about it and be late?!"
"Uh, yeah I guess that would be nice. But...do you really think that you'd like to wear that? I mean it's so...revealing..."
Rio looked at it and blinked. "I guess you're right," Rio did her best to sound disappointed. She turned back towards the rack she got it from and then paused. "Hey! Why don't you look for clothes with me? I mean, instead of searching for date-clothes, we could look for clothes that would impress a guy!"
Mika cocked an eyebrow. "Why would I do that? You know perfectly well how I feel about dressing up just for the sake of catching some person's attention. I mean, it's so artificial! The guy will probably only like you for your...your body!" Mika sputtered; she blushed for even saying that, and Rio had to smile. Ah, that was the Mika she knew and loved.
"But still! Wouldn't it be fun? Just to have clothes that you knew you looked really nice in..." Rio was trying very hard to fulfill her scheme, which just before had been working in her favor, when she had to go back to the rack.
Mika narrowed her eyes and stared at Rio full-on. "What are you planning?" she suspiciously whispered.
"Nothing! I really just thought it would be nice!"
Mika snorted. "Oh yeah right. Come on! Tell me what you're scheming! And don't try to say there's someone you like who you want to impress--that won't work either."
Rio frowned. When she couldn't come up with a lie that she knew Mika--who was a very smart and intuitive girl--would believe, she sighed and shrugged her shoulders. She never answered the question though, just went back to browsing.
Before Mika could further pursue the question, Yuri jumped to her side. "You two have to see this! There's an outfit the three of us just have to buy! And get this--it comes in three different colors! This is fate!"
And before either of the two could protest, Yuri dragged them to the other end of the store and was showing them the outfits she was getting so ecstatic about.
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Many long hours passed. During that Saturday, the three went clothe shopping, book shopping, had lunch, and just roamed around the town. Occasionally they'd stop in a store and buy something, but that was a rare thing.
Just as the sun was setting and the sky was doing that odd transformation from blue to orange, Mika finally remembered something she needed to do. She stopped walking in the middle of an empty sidewalk, eyes wide, putting her conversation with Yuri and Rio to an abrupt halt.
"Mika?! What is it?!" Yuri called back, resting her arms by putting down her canvas shopping bags, which were busting at the seams.
"We need to get back to school!" Mika called back, pushing her now dry hair out of her eyes.
"Why?"
"There's...there's something I need to do!" Mika cast Rio a wary glance. She had figured out what that whole clothes scheme at the beginning of their shopping extravaganza had been about--Kayashima. Ever since Mika had met the aura-boy who fascinated her so much, Rio had been very...well, teasing, for one thing. But she was also always trying to throw her with him.
Something she doesn't need to do this time, if he'll let me write about him...Mika dryly thought to herself.
"Well, if you insist we leave...I was hoping we'd be able to stop back at that one store again!" The disappointment in Yuri's voice was very clear, even from the distance Mika was at.
"Yes, please! Thank you so so much, Yuri!"
Mika, ignoring her ankle and how her bags slapped against her legs, ran to catch up with them. Checking her watch, she mumbled a curse and looked up high. She remembered seeing that there would be a bus ride back around 6:40, which was in five minutes. The next one after that wouldn't be for another hour--they had to make this one.
I know I have three weeks for this assignment...Mika told herself as she began to run towards the bus stop
"Mika! Mika be careful! There's cars! And your ankle!" Rio shouted as she and Yuri chased after their friend; she sounded exactly like a doctor's sister should.
But who knows how long it will take to write! And I need to make sure he will let me write about him...
Mika piled straight through the crowds on that side-walk, not even caring how incredibly rude she was being. Behind her she could hear Yuri and Rio mumbling "sorry" and "excuse me". Mika felt bad that she couldn't take time to do the same, but that didn't make her do it.
Finally, she fought her way out of the crowd and let out a gasp of air she had been holding in. Up only about five yards was the bus stop. Mika almost took the time to smile and catch a breath before continuing on to catch it.
"I need to take care of this right away!" she whispered to herself; she was practically groveling to catch a breath after running however many blocks she had gone. Yuri and Rio seemed to be no better, from the sounds of it. They had caught up to the now limping Mika and their breaths were shallow.
"Come on!" Rio urged; forcefully she threw Mika's arm over her shoulder and dragged her on. Only a minute left until the bus was scheduled to come, and they still had that great distance left. Well, it looked like a great distance, anyway.
Yuri rummaged through her pocket for spare change as she carried on, only to find she had spent every last penny shopping. Cursing herself under her breath, she looked back up. Coming up the road was a large automobile--the bus.
"Run ahead, Yuri! Catch it!"
"But I'm not a runner! And my bags!"
"YURI!!" Rio and Mika bellowed in unison; Yuri jumped out of her skin at the loud noise and, clenching the straps of her bags for dear life, she dashed off to the bus stop, making it just before the large thing pulled up. She boarded it after everyone else who was there, and the doors remained open.
"Can you run?" Rio asked Mika as the two jogged closer; they should have made it by now, shouldn't they have?!
"Yeah!"
Rio released her friend and, side by side, the two sprinted towards the bus that was waiting for them, its gas polluting Japan's air. Mika felt a searing pain move through her ankle and all the way up to her knee, hot like a blue flame, but she ignored it and carried in.
Yuri still stood before the bus driver as Rio and Mika boarded, claiming she couldn't sit before she paid for the ride. Rio paid for Yuri, Mika, and herself while Yuri dragged Mika and her bags towards some empty seats in the middle.
Mika keeled over after she sat, exhaustion hitting her hard. It wasn't the same kind of exhaustion she just recovered from though. No, this kind was worse. It was from running, and running, and running, straining your body. Yes, Mika found that much more terrible than lack of sleep.
Before long, the bus started moving, and Rio was practically sitting on Mika's lap, her bags joining those belonging to Mika and--mostly--Yuri at their feet.
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"So Mika, you never explained to us why you needed to get home so badly," Rio commented as the three got off the bus.
"Homework. I need to ask someone something..."
Yuri cocked an eyebrow. "Who do you need to ask? It must be someone you don't see a lot, right? Otherwise you wouldn't have rushed us to get back..."
Mika shrugged and repositioned the straps of her bag. "I guess you could say that," she said, casting an anxious looked towards the sky. Light was becoming scarce--she hoped she'd still be able to go do it.
So the three continued on in silence; once at the entrance of St. Blossom, they separated. Yuri was going to her dorm, Rio was going to the cafeteria, and Mika was heading towards her own dorm, just to drop off her stuff.
Mika ended up sitting down on her bed though so rub her ankle. The pain hadn't left when she rested her legs on the bus. It flickered like a flame--painful, not so painful, and back again. It was annoying. After massaging the sprained and swollen ankle for a moment, she stood and headed out again.
Outside it was dim, but street lights lined the sidewalks, making it all a bit brighter, diminishing the dark in areas. But they didn't diminish Mika's sudden fears. She crept carefully along, making sure she had her keys to her dorm with her; she needn't worry about getting back onto the property after dark--Saint Blossom left the gates unlocked. But getting into the building, which would be something different. The doors were locked tight, and windows had high security.
Mika sighed. Maybe this isn't such a good idea... she warily thought, running a shaking hand through her dark hair as she trudged onward, heading towards Osaka High for Boys. How far away was that place anyway? They were partner schools, so it couldn't be too far but...
There was a rustling in the bushes; Mika came to a stop and her muscles tensed up. Squeezing her eyes shut, Mika counted to five and then opened them again, praying she'd be back at school when she did so. But she wasn't, and there was still rustling in the bushes.
Just as Mika was about to turn around and hurry back, someone stumbled out of the shrubs onto the dark part of the sidewalk. Mika desperately looked over her shoulder at the streetlight she had walked past, and then back towards the figure--a tall figure, and obviously a male. Swallowing hard, she prepared herself to make a run for it, back towards St. Blossom. She'd bang her small fists against the grand oak doors, if need be, until they let her in, since it was pretty much pitch black out now, but for the lights.
But she couldn't move.
And the figure was taking a step towards her.
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a/n how much do you all
hate me
for leaving that cliffhanger,
huh?
yeah...
anyway! I'm sorry it took a couple days to update
School gets in the way
but at least it wasn't as long a wait as you had
between chapters three
And four!
anyway! please drop a review!
it would be greatly appreciated!
later!