Hey guys, it's Anya! I give to you what is the longer chapter of Washed Away With the Rain so far! I like this chapter a lot, and I hope you do too! But my only conern is that I think that Saaya is a tad too mean compared to the Saaya in Shugo Chara. I say that, but then I think that if Saaya formed this complex about Amu when they were young, I think that it would've eventually grown into this. So anyways, please enjoy reading!

Chapter Thirteen

My cheek was stinging, and I was sure that it was turning red right about now. Saaya had a fierce element to her, and she looked as if she was going to go further than just a slap. I had never really been the best at physical combat, so I didn't exactly want to get too deeply involved in a fight with Yamabuki Saaya.

"Stop it, you two!" Nagihiko said as he got between us, facing Saaya with his arms outstretched. "Both fighting and bullying is against school rules, you two could get into serious trouble!"

I knew Nagihiko wasn't as serious as he may sound. He was actually really nice and he liked to have fun, too. Normally Nagihiko wouldn't go around forcing the school's rules on us, but I knew that it was just his way of trying to get us to stop. I appreciated his effort, but I knew that it wasn't going to work on Saaya at all.

"Get out of the way!" Saaya snapped. "This is between Hinamori Amu and me!"

Nagihiko was about to say something back when I said, "She's right, Nagihiko. This is between the two of us."

"Amu…" Nagihiko lowered his arms and turned around to face me with a worrisome look in his eyes. He closed them for a few moments, and when he opened them up, he said with confidence and trust, "I understand."

Saaya flipped her hair again and crossed her arms. She said with a determined tone, "So, you're finally fighting on your own? It's about time."

I put my hands on my hips. For some reason the stance gave me a little more confidence to speak what was on my mind which, when I was acting like I was cool, was very important. I really didn't like having to tell someone off or fight someone just because they started a rumor, but in this case since Saaya was starting it… I guessed that I would have to make an exception.

"You sound really confident." I stated the obvious, trying to buy myself time for something to say. I honestly had no idea what I would say. Sometimes on dramas and such the main character, which I guess in this case would be me, always knew what to say. I could not ever be the main character of a drama; I had no idea what to say. I knew that Saaya was an egoist to the max, but I wasn't sure how I would bring her down. I could call her names and such, but nothing of the sort would work. I decided to try my best with the next statement, "Do you plan on having your daddy buy your way to my demise?"

I really wasn't too sure as to what I was expecting from Saaya. Somehow, and God knows how, this seemed to offend her. I was just trying to take my chance and say something that I despised about her. Without even knowing it, I rained on her parade, and the kids around me gasped. I began thinking of more things to say while I waited for her reply.

Saaya looked very angry at me. She snapped at me, her fist raised into the air, "What in the world would you know, you—"

"Okay everyone, take your seats!" The teacher came into the classroom at just the right moment.

I flooded with relief as Saaya growled at me and walked away with her groupies. Everyone took their seats, leaving me to think by myself during class. For fifth hour today, we had a basic Japanese grammar class. Although I was glad that we only had Japanese grammar once or twice a week, since it was so boring, I was exceptionally grateful for it today. Japanese grammar meant I could space out as much as I wanted, the teacher wouldn't even dare to call on me. He knew that I already knew everything.

Just when I thought the day was going to go by without another incident like the one at lunch, I realized just how wrong I was. It was Monday that day, and every Monday we had the same schedule. Monday meant that sixth hour was phys ed. And today it was raining, so in phys ed we would have to be inside the gym. Which meant…

"All right class! Today, girls will be playing volleyball and boys will be playing basketball!" The phys ed teacher, Aoki-sensei, explained. She had long black hair pulled back into two pigtails with purple hair ties, and she was wearing a red gym suit.

I slightly envied her. Aoki-sensei got to wear the red gym suit that we only got to wear during winter. Us students, on the other hand, had to wear the summer uniform since the weather was starting to warm up. Girls had to wear a white T-shirt, a pair of red bloomers, whatever socks you wore to school, and then a pair of white running shoes that are sold at the school's office. Boys had to wear a white T-shirt, a pair of blue shorts, the socks they wore to school, and then the same pair of white running shoes that the girls wore. The girls didn't really like the phys ed uniform, mainly just because of the bloomers. If us girls could wear the shorts, we would probably be a lot happier with our uniform.

I sat there on the bleachers with a small grimace on my face. Normally I enjoyed indoor phys ed, but today was just the worst day for it. I really didn't want to participate in phys ed that day, it was the last thing that I wanted to do.

"Kato-sensei," Aoki-sensei called over to the other phys ed teacher. Kato-sensei was an average middle-aged man with short black hair and hazel eyes. He wore the same phys ed uniform as the boys did, except his was a lot larger and his shorts were way longer. "Be sure to tell your class not to gang up on the underclassman!"

"Okay!" Kato-sensei replied while writing down something on his clipboard, not really paying attention. "Class, you heard her. Do what she says."

Everyone was sitting in the gym. Aoki-sensei and the girls of my class and class 3-B, Kuukai's class, were sitting on the left side of the room while all of the boys sat with Kato-sensei on the right side of the room. Once we took roll, they would dismiss us to go play our games. Last rainy day, boys played volleyball while the girls played basketball, so this time it was switched. I knew that Kuukai and Nagihiko would have fun playing basketball. Kuukai was captain of the basketball team and Nagihiko was the co-captain. They were both really skilled, so I envied them a little.

"All right, you can go split up into teams now! Try to make sure that you guys and the upperclassmen are split evenly." Aoki-sensei dismissed us.

The teams were pretty much split up when girls would run over to one of the two courts and choose whichever side of the court they wanted to play on. Two of the upperclassmen by the names of Ito-senpai and Nakamura-senpai, two members of the volleyball team, made sure that we were split up evenly and that we were playing correctly. Naturally the two senpai were on different teams, so it was an equal game on both parts.

I was on the team with two of Saaya's groupies. Saaya and her other two groupies were playing on the other team. I was quite nervous to be playing with them, but I tried not to let it get to me. If I was too busy worrying about them, then I would probably end up getting hurt.

Well, I got hurt anyways. Saaya and her groupies always set up the ball so it would hit me. It never really hurt, but it stung for a few moments. They would always apologize and say that their hand slipped or that their aim was a bit off. No one really seemed to notice, but I knew better than that. Saaya was on the volleyball team, so she was good at the game. During an actual match, she would never slip up and miss the ball.

"Hinamori! Get your head into the game!" Ito-senpai snapped at me. Ito-senpai hated losing, and I was afraid that if our team lost, she would blame it on me.

We continued playing the game. Saaya was having no luck hitting me anymore, for I was starting to hit the ball back over the net. I would have to twist and turn and sometimes I even fell down, but it was a lot better than being hit by Saaya. If I could keep this up for the rest of the game, then I would have at least some sense of victory.

My confidence was sure to die down soon. Only about ten minutes after I started playing hardcore I got really tired. I was sweating to no end and it felt as though I was going to collapse. The teams barely rotated out, so I was in the game for long periods of time. Ito-senpai and my other teammates realized how hard I was working to get the ball not to hit me, and I think that Ito-senpai finally picked up on Saaya's plan.

"Oi, Yamabuki! Try hitting the ball to somewhere other than Hinamori for once!" Ito-senpai snapped at her. Ito-senpai was the co-captain of the volleyball team, so she had some sense of power over Saaya. "I can tell you're doing it on purpose!"

Saaya flipped her hair and shot back, "Hinamori-san only told me that she wanted me to give her a workout in P.E. today. I'm doing nothing wrong."

If I wasn't completely out of breath, I would've gone over to the other side of the court and yelled my head off. Saaya was such a liar. The worst part was that Ito-senpai even believed her. The nerve of that girl! She made me sick. My blood was boiling, but I was too exhausted to fight back anymore.

Our team rotated, and I was now at the front left side of the net. One more rotation and I could finally rest. I decided to bear with it, I only had to play my hardest for a little while longer, and then I would be able to take a breather.

"Saaya-san," I said with a sweet voice. Saaya was right in front of me, so I spoke so that only she and I could hear. "Be sure not to go too easy on me, okay?" I stuck my tongue out at her, which seemed to offend her to no limit. She was gritting her teeth, and her eyes were burning a green flame.

"Service!" The girl on my team called out as she served the ball.

The ball went back and forth the court a few times, staying away from me for once. I was getting my break earlier than I had expected. I watched intently, it seemed like Ito-senpai and a few other girls on my team were keeping it away from me on purpose. I gained back a little of my energy, so I was able to hit the ball again.

"Hinamori, spike it!" The girl who was behind me hit the ball high up into the air.

I jumped up with determination; I was surely going to hit it this time. Though as I jumped up, I didn't notice someone was jumping up with me. I spiked the ball, and when I looked forward I could see Saaya's face in front of mine. She blocked the ball by spiking it straight down. Straight down where, you might ask? It went straight down into my face.

My weary body slammed onto the gymnasium floor. Everyone stopped playing the game, and the volleyball bounced repeatedly against the floor. Even some of the boys playing basketball stopped to stare at me. I was sitting on the ground with my hand covering my nose, blood was gushing out.

"Hinamori-san, are you okay?" Aoki-sensei came rushing up to me. My nose was in so much pain that it was beginning to feel numb. The rest of my face, however, was stinging from the blow. She knelt down beside me and asked to those around us, "Can someone take Hinamori-san to the nurse's office?"

I heard a familiar voice come from the boy's side. It said, "I'll take her!" I looked over to see Kuukai running up to me.

"Thanks, Souma-kun." Aoki-sensei thanked Kuukai and went back to tell Kato-sensei what had just happened.

"Hinamori, let's go." Kuukai helped me up, and we walked out of the gym.

We did not, however, leave the gym until I got another word in. We were passing by Saaya when I managed to say quietly so only she and Kuukai could hear me, "You suck at volleyball." That put quite the scar on her pride.

When we got there, the nurse was not present. The nurse was normally always there, so why was it, when I need her the most, she was gone?

Kuukai took out a chair for me to sit down on and went over the proper procedures for stopping a nosebleed with me. Head forward, don't tilt it back no matter what, and I had to pinch the soft part of my nose for ten minutes. Kuukai sat on the nurse's desk, while we waited for time to go by. I was surprised with Kuukai; I would think that he would make some comment upon me getting a nosebleed. However, he only sat on the nurse's desk and stared outside the window. He looked so serious at the time; I didn't want to disturb him.

"Yo, Hinamori," Kuukai broke the silence about two minutes in, although the two minutes seemed like thirty. "Have you ever been dumped before?"

I tried not to look up at Kuukai, not because I was nervous, but because I wanted my nosebleed to stop. The question seemed to sting me. "Define 'dumped.'" I told him, my voice sounded funny because I was pinching the bottom part of my nose.

Kuukai sighed and said, "When someone you love tells you that they don't love you anymore."

The sting remained. I had never really been dumped by a boy. I had only been dumped by one person, and that was my father. Judging from the way he acted, I knew that he didn't love me. His love for me was only there because my mother was alive; if not for her, he would've straight up told me that he hated me.

"I guess so." I replied.

"Who dumped you?"

"My father." I really didn't want to talk about my past. But it seemed that Kuukai wasn't going to stop asking me questions.

"Why?"

I know the question wasn't meant to offend me. But it still hurt. I replied bluntly, "I don't know."

"Are you sure he just wasn't angry?"

"I don't know." My voice was sounding fiercer. I really didn't want to be reminded of the incident, I just wanted to forget about it and leave it behind. If I didn't think about it, then it wouldn't hurt me.

"So is that why you're so distant from others?" Kuukai seemed like he still wanted to continue the conversation. I was happy when it was Kuukai who had offered to help me, and not one of Saaya's groupies or Saaya herself, but now I was regretting the fact that I let him help me.

I felt completely uncomfortable. I just wanted the conversation to end. "Leave me alone." I told him coldly.

"That's not fair to others." Kuukai stated.

I was getting bitter. What right did Kuukai have to be pushing into my personal business? It wasn't his place to stick his nose into. Yet, what he said heightened my curiosity. "What's that supposed to mean?"

He answered me, "Your heart was broken, so you decide to shut everyone out. It's not fair to those who want to get close to you."

"No one wants to get close to me, so it's no problem." I answered back.

"Well you haven't spoken to anybody, so you wouldn't know." Kuukai pointed out.

My blood was boiling. I wasn't sure if it was with rage at Kuukai or just frustration towards me. Either way, I labeled it as Kuukai's fault. If he hadn't brought up the conversation, then I never would've had to feel this way.

"You don't know how I feel, so just can it!" I snapped at him.

Kuukai got off of the desk and leaned over so he was just inches away from my face. He looked very angry someone, I couldn't really tell who. It didn't really seem like he was angry at me, his anger just seemed too distant. "Don't act like you're the only one who's ever had their heart broken."

My eyes widened. What did he mean by that? Kuukai straightened himself out and leaned against the nurse's desk. All signs of hostility seemed to be gone. This time, he seemed to be more sorrowful and kind. He stared outside the window, as if seeing something that I could never hope to see.

"Just before the new school term started, my girlfriend broke up with me." He told me. I didn't even ask him, but he probably knew that I wanted to know. "She was the first girl I ever really liked more than a friend. Yet, for some reason, she said that she had fallen out of love with me and wanted to end it. My heart was broken, and I thought that I would never retaliate."

"But you're so cheerful during school." I filled in the blank. "How'd you manage to move on?"

"A friend helped me." Kuukai answered. "He helped me realize that I couldn't get caught up over one little incident."

I was really curious about Kuukai's story, mainly because it got him off of my case. "Who was it?"

Kuukai looked over to me and said, "The girl or my friend?"

I replied back, "Both," since I really wanted to know.

"The girl is a first year in high school, her name is Hoshina Utau. The friend who helped me, his name is Hotori Tadase." Kuukai answered.

Hoshina Utau's name brought me into grave shock. Hoshina Utau was a famous idol known for her singing and modeling. She was a beautiful young woman, and her voice and appearance were both strong and confident. I didn't know of many celebrities, but I did know of Hoshina Utau. She was one idol that just about everyone was familiar with.

"I think I know why you've never retaliated." Kuukai looked back out the window. "You never had a friend to help you out, did you?" Kuukai looked right back at me. He had a warm smile on his face, and it made me want to believe that everything was right with the world. "I can't exactly stop the downpour, but if you don't mind, as your friend, I can join you for a walk in the rain."

I looked up at him, unable to resist it any longer. We looked at each other directly in the eye. The small speech was moving in some strange way. Kuukai had just offered to be my friend, and he practically said that he would help me get through the tough times. I really wanted to cry, not with tears of sorrow, but tears of happiness.

"Keep leaning your head forward!" Kuukai laughed at me, pushing my head back into the position it was before. "If you keep moving we'll have to be here all day!"

He laughed in a friendly way. And, for the first time in a long while, I laughed right along with him.

Amu laughed!?!? Say what? What will happen now as Kuukai offers to take her for a figurative walk in the rain? Find out in chapter fourteen: Friendship is The Exception. Until next time!

Please Review! *w*