((A/N: I didn't think I'd make another one of these after Fire, but my muse decided otherwise. A little bit is inspired from the manga, because I thought it was perfect for the story. So this is my Mamimi-fic from episode three, Marquis De Carabas. There's lots about Ninamori in here, so have fun.))

Why do they hate me?

I never did anything to them. I'm just not like them. The piece that doesn't fit. I don't wear makeup. I don't have expensive things. So I am shunned, kept out of their lives, I am just a silly, weird girl and not worth their time. The dropout. The girl by the river.

I like it there. My river is my home. The bridge protects me, the water plays with me. No one but Takkun comes to the river with me. The water understands me. Fire and water, so alike and yet so different.

She hates me too. Takkun's friend, the girl with long dark hair. Hair like the river, flowing and smooth. Eri Ninamori, the mayor's daughter. To her I am just the delinquent girl, the child molester, the pyromaniac arsonist. I don't know why she hates me so much.

She hates herself, too.

Takkun doesn't see it. I was surprised. Takkun can see lots of things. Takkun sees why I don't go to school. Takkun sees why I don't go home. Takkun sees what Tasuku has done when everyone else is blinded by baseball. But Takkun can't see Ninamori. He sees her mask, her cloak of river-water and believes. He believes she is fine. He thinks she is proud, confident, happy. It's a lie.

Her father might go to jail because of the scandal with his secretary. Her mother cares only for jewelry and has no time for her own river, her girl with long dark hair. Ninamori hates her life.

She's like me. She hides behind her mask, and I hide under the bridge. Always hiding. Don't look and it will go away. Sweep your problems under the rug and maybe things will get better.

They never do, and she doesn't know. She thinks they will melt away and she can sink into her new reality without a ripple.

They will explode someday, and she doesn't know. I could show her. I could show her the ashes of my life and she would see. But no. She despises me because I do not fit in her new life. I am the piece that does not fit.

I do not fit because she loves Takkun, and he can't see. And she thinks I am stealing him away.
Takkun doesn't belong to me. If I am fire then he is the wind. Free and fast, making the flames stronger and brighter. Takkun helps me when I am nothing but embers. Takkun comes and I live again.

Ninamori can't see that.

Fire and water, light and dark, matches and rivers. So alike and yet so different. The delinquent firestarter and the nouveau-riche princess.

We could be friends. I could show her. But she is too different, too similar. We are too much alike. Fire and water collide and there is nothing left but steam. She can't break her mask. It would hurt too much.

And I do not fit.