Hibisha: Well, here's chapter two.

TOBF: You're making progress. But then again, you always do before killing a story.

Hibisha: Thank you! And now, I don't Inazuma Eleven, yada yada yada. On with the fic!

"Autumn Leaves"

Reina stared around the ballroom where everyone was enjoying the party. It had been Reina's idea, since she hadn't been able to attend Kii's engagement party. She smiled at her best friend who smiled back at her. Reina was still digesting the news that Ryuuji and Kii were engaged. She knew the two liked each other a lot since childhood but to see them so happy together now made her feel a bit envious. She stared all around at the happy dancing couples. Atsuishi was slow dancing with Clara, his steady girl friend for two years. A couple of feet away, Netsuha held his wife, Yuki, in his arms as they swayed to the music. So much had happened-she had missed so much. She felt like an alien, watching the others as they talked about their lives and funny incidents happening to them. She saw them remember the 'good ol' times'- times which she had not been present to witness. She felt like an outsider staring at a movie. An outcast.

"God," she muttered, "I need a drink." No sooner had she spoken that a glass of wine materialized in front of her. She looked up to see Hiroto holding out the glass, his own drink in his other hand. She took it silently and sipped it gingerly, knowing that if Fuusuke found her drinking, he'd kill her. Hiroto sat down next to her, gingerly sipping his own drink. He wore a navy blue suit and a black tie. As for her, she wore her favorite black dress. It was a full sleeved dress with a high collar. It fell a little below her knees.

"Rei-chan?" Hiroto mumbled. She looked at him out of the corner of her eye.

"Yes?" she asked. He turned to look at her in the eye.

"What's wrong? Please tell me." he pleaded with her, his eyes begging for her to tell him. She turned her gaze back at the dance floor.

"Nothing. Why do you think-"

"Please Reina." he cut her off, "I'm not stupid. You've been avoiding me the whole time. You won't look at me or even talk to me. Fuck Reina, it's been five freaking years and the first thing you said to me was, 'Hi, how do you do?' I feel as if something's wrong and believe me, I know you enough to know when you're hiding something. So don't try to sell me any crap about how you're just fine." His breathing was uneven now. He seemed to be on a roll now. "You stopped talking to us and then cut contact with all of us. You pulled away from all of those who love you and then one day, you up and disappear without a trace. What the hell is going on?" She stared at him for a few moments before getting up.

"Hiroto," she said calmly, "I don't know what you're talking about. You're the one who pulled away, not me. After med school, everyone knew I was in Korea. Then I had urgent business here which made me come to America. I found Burn and Gazelle here and decided to live with them. If you had ever called us, you would have known exactly where I was. Besides, I've been super busy these days."

"So busy that you can't even spare a few minutes to call us? Or even message us? BTW, you're home now. In fact, I didn't see you even attend a single call today. You seem pretty free to me." Hiroto asked, incredulity etched on his face. Reina stared at him again angrily, her fists clenching.

"Don't." she hissed, her voice low, "Don't ever call me free. You don't know anything. So don't make assumptions on your own. You idiot! Do you know how it feels to be me right now?"

"No I don't," Hiroto said quietly, "How can I? When you won't tell me anything." She shot him one last glare, drained her glass of its contents and put it down before walking away. Suddenly, Reina felt two arms circle around her waist. She couldn't help it-she gasped. Looking around, she saw a flash of jade green.

"The least you can do is dance with me." Hiroto muttered into her ear. She blushed. Prying his hands off of her, she turned around to face him. He smiled at her. Fortunately, no one had seen the humiliating display that Hiroto had managed to set up. She nodded at him. He took her hand and led her to the dance floor just as a slow song started. Every fiber in her body was screaming at her to stop this before she did something she'd really regret. But she ignored her inner voice of reason and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. He pulled her closer and smiled.

"Hey Rei-chan?" he asked. She 'hmmed' a reply. "Do you remember the last time we danced like this?" Did she remember? Of course she remembered. It was fifth grade. There was huge party and everyone was going-everyone except Reina. Hiroto had been been curious to find out exactly why Reina didn't want to go.

"Rei-chan?" a small head poked into her room and smiled at her, "What's wrong?" She turned her head away, glaring at the opposite wall. She could trust him with her secret. She knew she could.

"I can't dance." she said. He stared at her for a long while before-

"Bwahahahaha!" he laughed so hard that he had to use the wall as support. Her cheeks flushed and she looked away, tears in her eyes. Hiroto came forward and plopped himself next to her.

"Its alright." he said, smiling at her, "I can teach you right now." She jumped up excited and happily promised to give her cookies to him. He merely laughed and then he taught her how to dance. Slow dance.

It was that night only that Reina had started to have a slight crush on him. Hiroto smiled at her.

"You were always so cute." he said.

"Wha-what?" she cried, flustered and blushing like mad. He laughed. The song ended and Reina immediately let go of him. Hiroto pouted.

"You know," he said, raking a hand through his hair, "I'm starting to think you're afraid of catching some germs off of me." She didn't reply. Smiling, she excused herself and walked up to her room. Closing the door firmly behind her, she walked out of the screen door and onto her balcony. A small stairway led to their private beach. She made her way down and slipped her shoes off, enjoying the feeling of the cold sand against her feet. Remembering that day had unlocked some other memories as well. memories of that past that she wanted to erase.

In Jr. High, Hiroto had handed himself over to the darkness. No one knew what had happened. he just changed so drastically that it was hard to keep track of him anymore. He began to speak in harsher manner, began to taunt everyone and began to get frustrated at the smallest of things. He would then attack anyone near him. He had lost every emotion that made him human. Then after the Alieus Academy collapsed, he had once again gone back to being normal. At least, that's what they thought. Soon enough, he was called out for the FFI tournament. When he returned afterwards, he was different. He was arrogant and cocky. Even Burn and Gazelle couldn't do anything about it. He began to sneer at Burn, saying all sorts of things which would lead to many fist fights between the two that Gazelle had to resolve.

He also began to act colder towards her. That's when she should have noticed it but she had been oblivious to it in the beginning. Later however, in her senior year of high school, she had come to realize that it simply wasn't the same boy she had known back as a kid. He would avoid her in the hallways and never look at her in the eye while talking to her. She was cut up and torn into pieces but there was nothing she could do except watch him fade away.

Sighing, Reina stared at the sea as the waves crashed against the shore. She wanted to fling herself into the ocean, swim away and never return. But that was not possible. Mostly because, she'd die due to over exertion within an hour. She decided to head back and turned around only to stop dead in her tracks.

"The view here is great." She nodded. The person standing in front of her smiled.

"So this is where you ran off to." She nodded again. Kii sighed. "You know Rei-chan," she began, "I kinda wonder if marrying Ryuuji is the best option or not." She turned to look at the sea and smiled sadly. "I mean, I just don't know." Reina stared at her before charging at her best friend. The sound of the slap resonated all around. Kii touched the part of her face where Reina had just slapped her- hard. Then she smiled.

"Thank you." she whispered, "I needed that." Reina didn't answer. She didn't need to. The two girls could communicate without having to say a word-that's how strong their bond was. Kii couldn't back out now. Not when she had everything Reina would kill to have. They walked back to the villa, hand in hand.

"So how was your walk?" An asked Reina. Reina smiled. Kii had probably blabbed about the beach to just about everyone now. It was midnight and Reina was sleepy.

"It was fun." Reina said, her voice soft. What she really wanted to do was go and sleep. Her body had begun to ache slightly. But she needed to stay up. Fuusuke was on his way home from the airport and Haruya had also managed to give his office the slip. Of course, she had kept the others a surprise. She hadn't wanted to ruin it. Suddenly, James walked in.

"Ma'am," he said, "Master Suzuno and Master Nagumo have returned." Reina nodded and everyone made a huge fuss as they ducked into the hiding places Reina had allotted. Fuusuke walked into the room followed by Haruya.

"Man," Haruya was complaining, "The office is like a leech I tell you. They suck out all your happiness."

"Nagumo, shut-" Fuusuke's jaw dropped open in surprise. "Erm-Rei-chan? What are you wearing?" Reina suddenly realized a little too late that she there was no reason for her to be so dressed up. Fortunately, the other decided to spare her an excuse and jumped out.

"SURPRISE!" everyone yelled. Atsuishi ran towards Haruya and punched his buddy in the arm. Haruya and Fuusuke were frozen for a moment before they both smiled.

"Guys!" Haruya cried out happily, "What a surprise! What are you all doing here?" Fuusuke just smiled at everyone. Reina grinned. The look was so familiar, it was hysterical. Especially when Clara insisted that Fuusuke hug her. That only led to Yuki and everyone else demanding a hug too. Poor Fuusuke- he was claustrophobic. Reina was surprised he didn't faint. She was just about to crack a joke at Fuusuke's expense when suddenly, the room began to spin around. The ground beneath her tilted and she had one of her coughing fits.

"Reina!" she heard Fuusuke call out but she could respond. She could only cough harder and harder. This isn't supposed to happen. I took my medicine... Medicine. She hadn't taken her meds today! Ryuuji had come and then she hadn't remembered. Oh God! She felt bile rise up in her mouth as she coughed.

"Reina! Reina! What's wrong with her!?" She could hear the frantic cries of her friends. Then she threw up. It was kinda like a routine. You cough and then vomit up blood. Not a good routine but a routine. Oh and then she was going to pass out. She smiled to herself. Oh God, if the situation wasn't so dire, this would've been hilarious.

"REINA!" Hiroto's voice was the last hing she heard before she fell into darkness.

Fuusuke's POV:

I saw Reina's face turn pale and felt my heart stop momentarily. Oh no, not now. Reina's slim figure shook as she coughed her throat raw.

"Reina!" I cried, causing everyone to look in her direction. Nagumo who was closer to her, ran her way knowing what was about to come. Sure enough, Reina threw up and then was about to fall into her own vomit had Nagumo not caught her. Picking her up, he began to carry her unconscious form away.

"I'm calling Dr. Harp now." Nagumo called out, walking out of the room. I could feel the others staring at me as I nodded.

"Gazelle," Midorikawa asked, his voice horrified as he stared at the vomit plus blood on the floor, "What's going on?"

"What's wrong with her?"

"Is she sick?"

"No," I said, drawing myself up to my fullest height, bracing myself or what was about to come, "She's not sick...she's dying."

Hibisha: Well?

TOBF: What is with you and the dying and the evil?

HIbisha: Hey! You're over reacting. I didn't kill anyone except Bunr and Gazelle in that other story! BTW, R & R people. R & R.s