Shade's POV

I've never felt so freaking frustrated in my life. Something was obviously bothering the twins, but Fine wouldn't tell me anything. Whatever it was, I'm pretty sure it was hurting them too. It couldn't be just a coincidence that in the span of two days, Rein twisted her foot and Fine had to go to the infirmary twice. I knew the twins well, and even though they were probably the clumsiest people on Fushigi Boshi, they had never actually gotten severe injuries. I mean, when Fine fell holding her stomach that first day, I already knew something wasn't right. Maybe she was able to convince everyone else she was fine, but she couldn't trick me. I could tell she was in great pain, yet she desperately tried to hide it and I had no idea why. Everything just went downhill from there. And now here I am, lying on a bench in the academy garden, feeling like a load of crap.

Someone tapped my shoulder. I turned my head.

"Oh, hey Bright."

I must've sounded pretty depressed because Bright's next line was,

"You're sulking pretty badly. Did something happen?"

Ha, did something happen? Heck yeah something did.

"Yeah, I guess," I answered instead.

Then I pushed myself up into sitting position. Bright sat down next to me.

"So, what happened?"

I ran my fingers through my hair. Did I really have to talk about this? After thinking about it, I just sighed. I mean, sometimes he got annoying, but Bright was still my best bud. He had a right to know.

"It's about Fine."

"Oh, Fine?" Bright's eyes got a mischievous twinkle. "Did you have a fight with your girlfriend?"

"She is not my girlfriend!" I protested.

"Yet," Bright grinned at me.

I felt my face grow hot.

"Shut up! You're supposed to be making me feel better!"

Bright ignored me, as usual. He was pissing me off, and I didn't need to feel any worse than I already did.

"So, when are you going to confess to her?" He leaned closer to me.

I punched him.

So much for being best friends.

"Look, if you're not going to listen to me, then go away and flirt with Rein or something."

That caught Bright's attention. He stopped talking abruptly.

To think that just a second ago he was sputtering and throwing a stream of curses at me, and then bang! he's all quiet. Not that I was complaining or anything, but it just didn't feel right.

"Knock, knock, Bright, are you still here?" I whacked his head for good measure.

"Ow!" he yelled.

"Okay, so you can still talk. Kinda disappointing though," I cracked a smile, momentarily forgetting the load of crap I was in.

"Now's not the time for joking around." His crimson eyes were serious.

What a hypocrite.

Bright leaned back on the bench, raised his head to the sky, and sighed.

"Rein…I've been worried about her."

"Rein?" I asked.

"Yeah, she's been avoiding me for the last few days. I'm starting to wonder if I did something wrong to make her mad at me."

Wow, he was in the exact same shit as me.

I gazed up at the gray sky with him.

"I get you, Bright. It's the same with me and Fine. That's what I've been trying to tell you."

"Fine too?" he glanced at me, demanding further explanation.

I nodded bitterly.

"Fine hasn't been herself these last couple of days, especially today. She's not even answering me anymore. When I asked her, she just glared at me and told me to go away. I kind of exploded after that and came outside to get some air."

Bright looked unconvinced.

"Did Fine really do that? I've known her for a long time and she would never reject someone like that. Are you sure you didn't misunderstand her or something?"

Oh my frigging god I want to strangle this guy.

"Do you really think I would be seeing things at a time like this? I've known Fine for as long as you have and I as much as I don't want to believe it I'm sure that the person who glared at me before was Fine. Nobody else in the school has red hair tied up into two pigtails, right? There's definitely something going on with her and Rein and they won' t tell us and I am getting really, really pissed off!" I slammed my fist on the bench.

"Okay, okay, I believe you. Just calm down, Shade. Destroying school property is not going to help us," Bright patted me on the back.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

"Sorry. I kind of lost control again. It's just that this has never happened before and I have no idea what I'm supposed to do."

Even I could hear the desperation in my voice.

I turned to Bright.

"How are you keeping yourself together at a time like this?"

He blinked as if he had never thought about it before and then shrugged.

"Normally I would be in the same condition as you, but since you're already so messed up...I guess I could say you did the freaking out for me."

"Oh, you're welcome."

Bright smirked.

Then we heard another voice calling to us.

"Shade! Bright! There's something I need to tell you guys!" We turned. It was our friend, the Seed Kingdom's little prince, Solo. He stopped to catch his breath. I picked him up and raised him to eye level.

"Please…wait…a second," Solo was panting hard.

We waited.

"Okay, I'm good now," he exhaled.

"So, what did you want to tell us?" I asked him.

"Oh, I finally saw you guys sitting together and thought that it would be best to tell you now so I came running. It's about Fine and Rein."

I tensed. Bright sat rigid beside me.

"What about them?" we both asked anxiously.

"So, you see, yesterday, you know how Rein came to school with a twisted foot?"

Bright and I nodded.

"Well, I was just walking to class that day when I heard voices around the corner—Fine and Rein's voices. Since I was aware that they had been acting rather strangely the day before, I decided to check it out. I think I saw you walking away from them, Bright."

Bright had talked to the twins? I looked at him.

"Yesterday…yesterday…oh yeah!" he did that smacking-fist-into-hand gesture. "I went to see Rein because I heard she twisted her foot."

Oh, so just Rein.

Wait...why was I so relieved?

Unaware of my thoughts, Solo nodded.

"So I guess this was right after you left …" Solo continued to tell us the rest of what he saw.

After he finished, I sat there silent for who knows how long. I wasn't really surprised, because I always knew deep down something like this had been happening all along. It was something else, a weird kind of feeling that I had never felt before. But now was not the time for sorting out my emotions. Bright and I took one look at each other, and then, as if on a sudden impulse, we got up and sprinted towards the school, towards the class Fine and Rein were in.

I didn't know what we were going to do, but we had to do something.

YAY! Another chapter done!

Me: Shade, Bright, you guys forgot about poor Solo. He's small remember? He can't run as fast as you giants. And you just left him there. How mean!

Shade: ...Oops. Sorry, man.

Solo: haha...its...okay *panting really hard*

Bright: Do you need to go to the hospital or something?

Solo: No...no need. *still panting really hard*

Me: See what happens when you make the wrong friends?

Shade: Like you're the one to talk.

Bright: We only associate with you because you're the author.

*stab* *stab*

Solo: I think momocandy needs the hospital now.

Me: Yes...please... *struggling to breathe*

Anyways, look forward to the next chapter, and don't forget to review!

:)