Chapter 13

Grace

"Oh, look, the trouble-makers are having their scene!" Grace squealed. "I wonder how funny it'll be."

"Probably very much so," Blue snorted.

"I can't wait," Jo breathed.

"Neither can I," Crow admitted.

"Here they go," Victoria said calmly.

Irene said nothing, only blushed and grinned. "There's my Shun...!"

"Your Shun?" Grace echoed in confusion.

"I never said that!" Irene squeaked quickly.

"Right..." Grace turned back to face the boys now on stage. It was obvious they had no clue what to do. Finally, Kyoya picked up a stick that had been left behind from the last scene and lifted it in the air, holding it carelessly—the way you should hold a stick.

"This is a sword now," Kyoya announced. "Chazz, be a dragon."

"What? Oh, yeah, I'm...an evil dragon...roar," Chazz called. Grace blinked.

"This is turning out interesting," she whispered to Jo.

"I know, right?" Jo laughed back.

"Oh, I will...slay you, dragon," Kyoya declared.

"Oh no...I'm going to die," Chazz half-muttered. "Hurry up and 'stab' me. I'm tired."

Grace saw Miss Raven quietly face-palm in the background. She giggled. "It's certainly comedic improv. I wonder what role Shun will get stuck with...?"

"Probably the damsel in distress," Blue laughed.

"That would be HYSTERICAL!" Grace almost shouted. "Do you seriously think they'll do that?"

"Kyoya hates him and Chazz will be asleep. You do the math."

"Then he'd better do something."

Kyoya had thrust his "sword" at Chazz, causing Chazz to fall back, stumble, and "die". Shun seemed in a daze. Kyoya carelessly lifted the "sword" higher and yelled, "The deed...is done."

"Oh, no, I'm dead now..." Chazz called to the audience.

"Chazz, shut up, you're dead now," Kyoya half-hissed.

"You're not the boss of me." Chazz suddenly stood up and jumped down the stairs.

"Chazz!" Kyoya hissed. "What the heck, dude?! You're dead!"

"I'm the LIVING dead. I'm a zombie dragon. Ooooooh...whatever. I'm going back to my room to get some sleep."

"Chazz! Get back here...gahh...why do I even care? I'm turning into YOU, Shun," Kyoya complained.

"Hmm? Oh...whatever," Shun muttered.

Grace raised an eyebrow. "Is he OK?" she wondered aloud.

"Why wouldn't he be?" Irene quickly retorted. "I mean, it's not like we-"

"Here it comes!" Blue cut in. "Look at the smirk on Kyoya's face. He's about to do it!"

"Come on, Shun...snap out of it," Victoria murmured. "Before you're thoroughly humiliated."

"Oh, I have saved you..." Kyoya began.

Shun's eyes shot wider in realization. "No, my beautiful creation!" he shouted as quickly as he could, not giving Kyoya the chance to finish his sentence. "You...killed my beloved dragon zombie. Curses."

"Dude! You were going to be the-"

"I KNOW. That's why I interrupted you, genius," Shun countered, smiling triumphantly.

"But now who's going to be the princess?!"

Shun froze for a minute. "...Irene?"

"Irene?! Are you insane? Is she the reason you humiliated yourself and were almost a girl?!" Kyoya snapped in exasperation. "She's too peppy. How can you like her?!"

"She's adorable," Shun muttered under his breath.

"No. We're not using her. You need to be a girl."

"No way! Use Zhahara."

"She already went!"

Grace sighed. Well, this is going well. Now what do we do?

"Maybe the girl died because you were too slow," Shun retorted. "You've never been known to like any of them anyways. At least I have a girl who honestly cares about me and who I love back! You don't care about anyone but yourself. And sure, I used to be like that too, but now I realize that I can't afford to be selfish anymore. I have people who are lonely and who love me, and who I love back. If you want to grow up lonely, then keep acting the way you do. I can't think of one girl, not even Zhahara, who will want to be around you any longer then a day. I know I could never stand it."

"This isn't good," Grace whispered. "This is turning into a full-scale argument. With just the two of them up there, they've forgotten about the acting scene! Somebody, go get Chazz, now!"

"He's my roommate," Blue whispered back. "I'll grab him."

"Hurry!" Grace hissed in his ear when he inched past her.

"Hmm. I guess it's not true what they say. Opposites attract, and all that?" Kyoya stated calmly. "Since all the girls that care about you are also idiots."

A chorus of "Oohs" echoed through the crowd.

Shun opened his mouth to protest. Irene frowned. Grace, too, frowned, because she knew in her heart that she honestly cared about her roommate.

But when Shun didn't snap back with a sharp remark, Grace was surprised. Why don't you say something witty? Something really clever, to get back at him for everything he's done to you?

Shun finally sighed. "Kyoya."

Kyoya, who had been walking off the stage, suddenly froze. "What?"

"I'm sick of this," Shun mumbled.

Grace almost fell out of her chair. "What is he doing? Does he really think that guy will listen to this?"

But Kyoya had paused, and seemed to be listening. "Go on."

"I'm tired of fighting, Kyoya. Let's just admit it—you're better then me in some areas, and I'm better then you in others. I'm sick of you constantly putting me down, constantly fighting me on everything, and I'm sick of taking it. Because I know that that will make me the better person. If I just take it all. Sometimes I'll snap back, but for the most part, I ignore you, right?"

Kyoya shrugged

"Because stooping to your level isn't going to make me better then you," Shun continued. "So I let you humiliate me, and belittle me, and call me stupid to my face, and I pretended not to care, but all this time I was silently suffering. And I'm sure, whenever I couldn't take it and snapped something witty at you, you were pretty mad and hurt too, right? Especially when you knew it was true."

Kyoya took a couple steps back, landing him on the stage again. "I'll admit it; some of the stuff you eventually said to me was true, like about growing up lonely? And when it was, the tiny part of my heart that was still prone to pain felt a little stab," he said quietly.

Grace saw Blue about to re-emerge with a half-sleeping Chazz. She motioned with her hands for them to turn back around.

"Why?" Blue mouthed.

"Just go," Grace hissed back.

Blue nodded and started to half-drag Chazz away.

"Then why?" Shun said softly. "Why are we still fighting? What are you trying to prove, Kyoya? That you're more clever then me? That you're better at being a jerk? Who even cares, anyway?"

Kyoya nodded. "I know," he admitted. "I know it's stupid."

"Then why do you keep doing it?" Shun asked, stepping closer. "I'm asking you a question."

Kyoya blinked. "I like doing it...?"

"You like 'accidently' tripping me and watching me fall face-first in the dirt? You like feeling superior?" Shun stepped even closer. "Why? Don't you get enough of that already? Half the girls here are your fan-girls! And the other half just think you're cool. So why do this?"

Grace blinked. "Is all of this true?" she asked Victoria. "Does Kyoya really do these things to him? And does he really just take it?"

"It's true, all right," Victoria muttered. "You can tell Shun's steaming on the inside. His face, and the hatred in his eyes...you can tell he just wants to whip out a knife and cut that smirk right off of Kyoya's face."

"So why doesn't he?" Grace asked.

Victoria shrugged. "Why would he? That would make him just as bad as Kyoya. That's what he's been saying. And sometimes he does do something." She paused. "It's actually kind of funny, when they fight. Kyoya never does anything really bad, ya know? Just the occasional shove and things."

Grace frowned and felt tears sting her eyes for a split second thinking of all the horrible bullying her roommate must have had to endure. Kyoya probably had his fair share of detentions and trouble from Miss Raven, but it was nothing compared to the horrible things Grace could imagine Shun went through. She knew that her sister Jo would likely be on Kyoya's side, as would many other girls. But she knew that her side, her new best friend's side, would be the side that won this war.

"Kyoya, I'm dead serious, here," Shun said. "Why are we still doing this? Can't we just stop, once and for all? Aren't you tired of it, as much as I am?"

Kyoya finally turned to face him. The two trouble-making enemies faced each other, standing like that, for a long time. Neither moved or spoke. It seemed like Kyoya was seriously debating whether or not to step down.

"Please make up, guys..." Grace whispered. "Stop this already..."

Kyoya lifted his chin slightly, almost in an act of authority. Shun, in return, made the same gesture, met Kyoya's gaze evenly, and frowned. The difference was that Shun lifted his chin in defiance to Kyoya's self-given authority.

At long last, Kyoya took a step back and his chin lowered. Shun kept his head tilted, unwilling to back down just yet. Kyoya gave a quick nod and Shun's head lowered.

"Did they do it?" Grace asked.

Victoria shrugged again. "Who knows."

"I've made up my mind," Kyoya announced. Shun blinked.

"Yes?"

"...I like slapping people more then I do making up. So..." Kyoya blinked, slapped Shun quickly, and smiled. He turned and started to walk off the stage, but he paused. "We're still performing," he hissed to Shun. Shun blinked, dazed. Kyoya bowed. "Shun, bow!"

"I don't want to b-" Shun began, but was cut short when Kyoya shoved his upper body down, forcing him to bow.

"Cha!" Kyoya exclaimed, dashing off stage. Shun's eyes narrowed and he followed his still-enemy off the stage.

Grace frowned. "I'm going to go talk to him."

"Kyoya?"

"Yup. I mean, no. Shun."