Title: 30. touched by a thousand invasions

and still forever an island.

Pairing/Character/s: Yuki/Machi

Word Count: 710 words

Summary: He was the prince who touched everyone's life, including her's.

A/N: References Ch. 89 and one of my all time favorite manga, Sailor Moon. Boy, 700+ words and Yuki's barely in this?! I really love the symbolism/metaphor-thing here.

Music: "Ima demo Zutto" by Spontania feat. Yuna Ito, the song that can characterize Yuki/Machi (At least, I think so.)

Eavesdropping is like listening to a radio for Machi. She realizes a long time ago that she was much better at listening than speaking. But the problem is that she doesn't know what she's actually thinking half the time. Others always sound more interesting, anyway. People find her dull are still stuck on her station. For her, a station is changed the moment it becomes boring.

Currently the main station is Sohma Yuki. All stations are receiving static. (It's actually screams of die hard fangirls.) The announcers are ordinary students excitedly discussing the fact that Sohma Yuki has come back to school with... a new haircut. Some boys are already discussing plans to recut their hair. The Sohma Yuki fan club chats about anything and everything relating to Sohma Yuki. They are now reviewing Yuki's recent rejection of Tsukino Usagi and Usagi's subsequent tears.

Machi briefly wonders who Sohma Yuki is. This is her first year of high school. She's already distanced herself from everyone, desperate to hide the emptiness that lingers within her. Her memory brings up an image of an attractive looking boy with gray hair and eyes. He's so popular that she wonders how she could have forgotten him.

She twists the figurative dial and pretends to take notes. Somewhere her mind is also vaguely aware that class has not even begun for the day, but she ignores it.

"Did you see Sohma-senpai yet?"

"Prince Charming has the most beautiful eyes..."

"Look, he's got another group of girls around him!"

"...That's just insane. I want to be popular, so popular..."

Her interest peaks at the idea of someone who was never alone. Was there really someone out there who had been loved from his moment of birth?

"He's at the gates! Look!"

It takes all of her self-control not to immediately look out the window. The static is growing as her concentration slips, and Machi grinds her teeth, doodling calligraphy in her margins.

"...Such long... and slender... and beautiful legs..."

"Sohma-senpai... That's it, I'm going to confess to him today!"

"No!"

Machi snaps the radio in her head off, getting a headache from the constant static of creepy stalkers. She pretends to throw a bored look out the window and spots Sohma Yuki right away. Her first thought is that he doesn't look too different from everyone else. Her cheeks turn red when she grudingly admits to herself that he is attractive.

Someone says something to him, probably a chant of worship for The Prince. Yuki takes more than a second to respond appropriately. The expression on his face is so familiar that Machi sits up for the first time, knocking her pencil to the floor.

He's lonely.

He's... just like me. Like me.

She bites her tongue before any misleading comment pops out of her mouth. The girls in her class leave her alone, but they could always begin torturing her.

Machi pushes her hair back casually, sneaking another peek at the window. She squashes fleeting hopes of becoming best friends with Sohma Yuki, settling for the tiny connection she has with him. She could talk to him. She tries to imagine she is the girl talking to the prince, but conversation is nonexistent.

She notes his sometimes blank expression with scorn. How no one had realized he wasn't so perfect was a mystery to Machi. He had good looks and a charming smile, but zero personality beyond the princely refinement, which was really more good manners than the born ability to pull off a crown.

But I can't say that to his face.

There is a sharp snap that brings Machi out of her thoughts. She glances around the room, relieved to finally see the teacher arrive. Something tells her to look down, to see her forgotten pencil snapped in two. Someone must have stepped on it. Her tiny shred of confidence crumbles. Her cheeks burn with embarrassment when she realizes how bold she was, thinking of talking to Prince Yuki when her mind couldn't even conjure up a suitable topic.

Then she remembers that these are foolish, one-sided feelings. She remembers that she's the lonely outcast, not him. She remembers that all she knows to do is listen to a radio inside her head.

A/N: Please PM me or review with any questions, problems, or requests. I promise to answer within a week. And this promise, I actually keep!

The next one will revolve around Yuki!