I DO NOT OWN SHUGO CHARA, ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS, OR ANY LICENSED MATERIAL THAT MAY APPEAR IN THIS STORY AND CHAPTER.
THIS STORY IS RATED T FOR LANGUAGE AND CONTENT SO BEWARE OF THE LANGUAGE!
Hello everyone, I am back again and I'd like to thank every single person who took the time out of their lives to review, I really appreciate the feedback. I enjoy knowing your reaction to what happens in each chapter, and I try my best to write based on what you guys say that you like.
Taking One for the Team
CHAPTER 31: Kukai and Utau
"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't chop you into tiny little slut slices?" Rima growled as she shoved her face centimeters away from Kamen's.
Kamen chuckled lightly, "because that is an actual crime?"
"Blah blah blah!" Rima sang, twirling about before finding herself right back up in Kamen's face, "Listen bitch, just because you can't get cuffed for publishing the love journal, doesn't mean you are not going to get repercussions."
"Oh yeah?" She laughed.
"Oh yeah! When I'm done with you, bitch you're going to want to be in jail where I can't get to you!"
"You see!" Kamen shouted. She turned to face the crowd surrounding her and Rima's little spat, "This is why I did what I did, I was tired of Rima and Amu acting like innocent little puppies getting the love from all of you, when this is their true nature!"
"Oh boo-fucking-hoo!" Rima shouted, "So what? They treat me like a princess when I'm really a bad ass? That must have tore you up inside, since it obviously has so much to do with you!"
"I deserved a spot as one of the head cheerleaders, but you come along and act all like a little angel with your 12 year old looking ass, and then you take the position from me like nothing! Of course it has something to do with me!" She shrieked.
"I can see you got problems, so I'm just going to make this quick," Rima said getting her fists ready, when she felt a pair of arms wrap around her waist. Her body was being lifted into the air as she saw Tsukasa-sensei's face appear in front of Kamen. Rima wasn't thinking, all she could really do was kick and struggle against the —apprently really strong—person holding her back.
"Rima stop you're going to hurt Nagihiko!" Amu cried running up beside her best friend. Suddenly, Rima felt her face flush.
"Well! What the hell is he doing holding me for? He's sick!" She gasped, she turned her head and was face to face with a crappy looking Nagihiko, "You're sick!"
"That is enough!" Tsukasa-sensei shouted at everyone.
Rima raised an eyebrow. Just what was he yelling about? Kamen was being a little bitch but she's being protected? Did he have any idea what she has been doing to them? She made them run about kissing staff members, stealing security footage, accusing each other! Accusing poor Utau! Oh god, she had to get this bitch! Sick Nagihiko, or no sick Nagihiko she was going to break free and kill Kamen!
"I am sick and tired of the behavior I have seen on this trip! Ditching curfew to go to a concert! Fighting with your team members! Calling each other horrible things! The sneaking and the lying and the fighting has got to stop, and it stops today!"
After the last word that Tsukasa-sensei shouted, everyone froze. The crowd of teenagers stared at each other solemnly. They were supposed to be a team, how were they going to kill at the game if they were busy playing their own little games with each other? Tsukasa was right. Of course, Rima had still been struggling and trying to break free to catch Kamen, but eventually she got tired and realized that Nagihiko was holding her against him.
"Hey you can let me go now," Rima whispered to him.
"Don't trust her, she's going to take out her knife the moment you put her down!" Ikuto warned Nagihiko.
"Ikuto!" Rima exclaimed, wriggling about in Nagihiko's arms. Ikuto laughed and Amu laughed. Then Yumi laughed and Yaya laughed. Then Saaya and Lulu couldn't help but giggle, whilst Tadase and Kairi smiled.
"Guys," Ikuto said to everyone, "I was acting like an ass since I saw that stupid piece of paper, I'm sorry. Especially to you, Tadase. I mean, you can't expect me not to be a little hostile, but I never gave you a chance to explain. Kukai was right, I am the bitch."
"I never thought anything bad about you because of it, Ikuto. I understand. I'm just sorry Amu and I never told you, I understand the emotional response." Tadase assured, touching Ikuto's shoulder.
"I was not emotional!" Ikuto scoffed, dusting Tadase's hand off of his shoulder, "Let's be clear."
"Ha," Saaya laughed, "Liar. You went ape on us."
Ikuto shot a glare at Saaya momentarily then looked at Amu who offered him an understanding smile. They intertwined their fingers, and Ikuto squeezed her hand. He tilted himself forward and planted a kiss on her forehead and ran his fingers through her hair. Everyone stared. It wasn't an obnoxious kind of public display. In fact, everyone could tell it was a long overdue affectionate apology.
"I think," Amu said to her group of friends, "That we owe both Kukai and Utau an apology."
"Well, why did she pretend to be the culprit anyway?" Yumi scoffed.
"Because," Lulu folded her arms and narrowed her eyes, "It was easier than fighting to keep all of your non-existent trust."
"Because you accused her like right away, because you thought it was her, because if you could be like so quick to believe in her doing such a thing, then why is she like even your friend? What's a friendship without trust?" Saaya explained further.
"So what? You're all sticking up for her now!" Ikuto threw his hands in the air, "I didn't see you saying anything last night?"
"I know, and that was wrong." Saaya said.
"We were all wrong." Amu insisted, "Let's just apologize to them, okay?"
"Well, yeah, but…where the hell are they?" Yumi asked.
O.O.O.O
"This is the first time we actually came up on the roof the right way, huh?" Kukai laughed.
Utau pressed her back against the wall of the entrance and glared at Kukai. She was extremely exhausted, and Kukai grabbing her hand and dragging her all the way up the roof didn't help. He was amazed at her beauty and was surprised she didn't notice how he couldn't help grinning at her every time he saw her. Her legs shook a little and he noticed that it must be her heels causing the problem.
"Hey," He said as he knelt in front of her, "You trying to kill yourself wearing these stilts?"
She glared at him, yet again. He was the one who made her run in them! She glanced down to source the tugging she was feeling at her ankle, and realized that Kukai was taking off her heels for her. She bit her lip and couldn't fight the stinging on her cheeks. It was stupid, but she felt like Cinderella, even though he was taking off her shoes, not putting them on. The first shoe came off and she leaned into him a little and placed her hand on his shoulder for balance. Then the second one came off a little faster, and she stood on her own two feet securely.
"So," He said as he stood up. He looked at her for a long time and seemed to refuse to look away. She averted her gaze as usual and stared off at the distance and the beautiful Tokyo lights, "I missed you at lunch today," She shot him a skeptical look, "I mean I get that you were pretending to be a bad guy and all but you could have taken a break from the act to spend one minute with me, you know how much I cherish our time together."
Utau looked flustered. She had her back against the wall and he was in front of her, almost as if he was blocking her from going anywhere else. She couldn't hide her embarrassment, but wasn't it natural to feel a little bashful at his over-affection? It wasn't just embarrassment, however. She was flattered, she really liked his flattery because it was more than just fawning over her, he really truly adored her and for the first time in years when someone adored her, it was really her. The real Utau. The nice Utau. The weird Utau. He adored the crazy Utau.
"Why are you so quiet? You're never this quiet, in fact I've come to the conclusion that you actually like to talk. No wonder you were captain of the squad. Yelling out commands and pep-talks must be your strong suit." She giggled at his comment and offered him a weird smile, "I love your smile. I love your hair. I love how you keep up with me when we run around on the streets. I love how much you eat. I love how you turn into a pop-star when you sing and dance to yourself. I love…"
"Kukai!" She groaned, "Stop it."
"I love how you're finally talking, I love your voice, I love your beautiful voice…"
"Stop!" Utau said laughing a little, "This is embarrassing!"
"I can't help it. I just love everything about you, and I feel you should know," Kukai shared with a smile. He inched closer to her and put his hands at her sides. She didn't seem to mind, she didn't squirm, or look disgusted, she just kept her eyes locked with his, "You might not respond to my confession, you might reject me, and the fact that I went crazy trying to prove your innocence might not make your heart beat any faster. You may not care that I fought with my best friend over you, or have confessed my feelings for you publically many times…too many times," She threw her head back with laughter now, "but I don't care because my feelings aren't going to change and I'll wait. Forever. I'll wait for you forever, Utau."
After he uttered the last words, there was a little awkward silence. Utau found herself gripping onto his arms and pulling him into a hug. Well, it wasn't really a hug, it was more as if she had pushed him up against her, and consequently pushed herself up against the wall.
"When you first told me your confession, I was so freaked out." Utau laughed, "I thought it was because I just didn't like you,"
"Oh, that's…nice." Kukai grumbled. He felt a slender index finger pushed up against his lips.
"No interrupting." Utau hissed, "I thought that's what it was, but I realized I was afraid. This is so corny, but I was afraid of my feelings."
"I get it. It's not corny, I get it. I know you are afraid to be anything but what they think you are, you've lost yourself to your ego, to your pride, and I get how scary it is to be yourself against all odds, without knowing if anybody will accept you."
"You see," Utau said wrapping her arms fully around him, "This is why I am crazy about you too."
O.O.O.O
"Can, I…talk to you for a second Oushi?"
All the girls stared at the raggedy looking Nagihiko stationed at their doorway. Rima's face turned red almost immediately as she remembered what Shouta had told her earlier. She stood up from where she had been crawling around on the floor with Lulu, and exited the room rather abruptly.
"About you liking me…" Nagihiko said clearing his throat, "I wasn't aware…I must have caused you so much pain…"
"I rather not have this conversation Nagihiko." Rima winced. It wasn't a confession and she wasn't about to be rejected by him. Just what was Shouta talking about? Nagihiko obviously didn't have feelings for her! She could see how he was looking at her. Finding out that she liked him like that changed everything!
"It's just…It's a good thing you've moved on. I…have a girlfriend…"
O.O.O.O
"He told her what?"
Ikuto held the phone up securely to his ear. Why couldn't these people just be honest for once in their lives? He groaned and stared up at the ceiling with a dazed look.
"But, Amu, I lied. There was no girlfriend, why is he going around talking about a girlfriend?" Ikuto whined into the phone. "Wait…you don't think there is really a girlfriend, do you?"
"Don't be stupid."
"Look, I am going to talk to him right now." Ikuto assured Amu before getting up off of the floor and marching outside where he knew Nagihiko would still be standing, "What the fuck, dude?"
"I see Amu already knows," Nagihiko laughed. He crashed his head into the wall, "I'm such an idiot."
"Yes you are! So why the hell did you do that? Why did you do that?"
"She moved on!" Nagihiko shouted. He didn't care if the girls in the room could hear. Let the whole world hear! Shouta and her were pretty much public in Nagihiko's eyes anyway.
"No she didn't you idiot! Now you just ruined everything! She only said that because you screwed everything up!"
"You don't know anything!" Nagihiko exclaimed pushing Ikuto into the opposite wall, "I heard that guy on the phone, you don't know anything!"
"Maybe none of us know anything." Ikuto spoke calmly, "maybe Amu doesn't know the truth, maybe I don't know the truth, and you certainly don't. The only way we'll ever know is if we ask Rima! Why the fuck do you think lying is an acceptable solution?"
"I don't care anymore, I'm tired of Rima and our destructive relationship, and can't you see being around me has hurt her? Can't you see that it's hurt me too?"
"Well you do look like shit," Ikuto mumbled.
"If it's meant to be it will be." Nagihiko said bitterly as he brushed past Ikuto and into the guy's room.
Ikuto stood in the hallway, leaning against the wall and thinking to himself. Tomorrow would be his last day of practice, and then the next day was a day of fun for the whole team before they game started in the night. Everything was winding down and he already felt exhausted. He didn't care if they won the game or not, all that mattered is that they went back home as soon as possible where everyone was sane. His thoughts were brought to a halt by the sound of giggling and he looked at the end of the hallway and saw his best friend. His best friend holding hands with no other than Hoshina Utau. Utau immediately stopped in her tracks and shook Kukai's hand from her own.
"Oh god," Ikuto thought, "The girl's afraid of me."
Kukai stared at Utau then at Ikuto. Then he wore his classic determined expression.
"Ikuto! I don't care what you say, Utau is my…"
"Congrats." Ikuto interrupted, he headed back into the boys room, "You two look good together."
O.O.O.O
RIMA POV:
That wasn't the greatest night of my life. I hated it, I absolutely felt betrayed and angry and I didn't know what to with myself, all I remember really is Nagihiko confessing about his girlfriend. I remember coming into the room in tears and clinging onto Amu crying and crying. She actually went off on her phone right away, and I had to be comforted by everyone else but my best friend, but I knew she was just trying to contact Ikuto and figure shit out. I couldn't care less. I just wanted to go to sleep and forget.
I went to sleep of course, but when I woke up nothing happened. I wasn't numb to the pain. I didn't feel like waking up. It didn't feel any better as I sat with all my friends at breakfast. I should have felt happy for Kukai as he ended up with the love of his life. I should have smiled when Utau and Kukai sat together, alone, for breakfast and Utau seemed genuinely happy. I didn't turn Kamen into the Kuchisake-Onna (A/N: Japanese urban legend translated as: the slit-mouth woman) when I saw her. I just became extremely reserved.
I thought to myself: "I'm Mashiro Rima. I was absolutely obsessively crushing over Fujisaki Nagihiko who was unavailable and obviously had no intention of even seeing me like that. A really cute and funny and nice guy actually liked me and I let him go for Fuji-fucking-saki Nagihiko who doesn't even like me." My god, I am such an idiot!
It seemed everyone went back to their normal lives. Sure my intimate thoughts were thrown in the faces of all my peers, but apparently that was the least of my problems. It certainly was the least of Amu's. She was just so content with being with Ikuto she didn't even care if everyone saw her mushy thoughts and fantasies about one day marrying Tadase. I give her props.
Amu was normal. All the other girls were normal. Kukai and Utau were like two little…um…two little things that always had to be together. Of course, Saaya and Lulu were a bit devastated that Shouta and I were no more. When I suggested they pursue him instead, they gave me a funny look, and I realized that I was so fucking messed up; I never even like-liked the guy. I was a depressed mush and all I could think about was my bed. Not Amu's bed, which I had been sleeping on for the past few months, but my own bed. Funny thing was, it wasn't my bed back at my old house either. I saw a random bed at a random place I never been to.
I just wanted to be alone. I just wanted to not be a cheerleader. I wish I could be a normal girl without all of this. I wish I could have been a normal girl when I met Shouta, not just some cheerleader, perhaps a girl who actually came to see the concert with maybe two friends. An emotionally available girl. Then we would have actually fell in love properly and he could have been my boyfriend.
I must have truly been sick, because even as I pictured a normal relationship with Shouta, it just wasn't what I wanted. I still wanted to be Fujisaki Rima. I still wanted to be Nagihiko's girlfriend. I wanted to hold his hand in the mall and go to his house after school. I wanted him to help me do my homework just so I could watch that face he makes as he concentrates really hard on something. I wanted him to make his beautiful smile when he saw me, because I wanted to make him happy. I wanted to stroke his long purple hair until he got annoyed, and then still keep going because I know he really likes it. I wanted him to call me and I wanted to hear his beautiful voice say: "Rima-chan."
I was hooked on him in ways I could have never imagined and suddenly became all too real as I realized, when he finally became unattainable, just how devoted to him every fiber of my being was. I was addicted to my love for Fujisaki Nagihiko, and I tried to give up on him, but I couldn't, so eventually, I just pretended to have given up.
O.O.O.O
"Oh god, practice was stressful," Lulu sighed patting her shoulder as if it were really going to help her back problems, "I really don't think we're ready."
"Stop being such a like worry-wart, we totally got this bitch." Saaya admonished as she pulled her dress down over her head. She shut her locker and threw her bag over her shoulder, "Now let's get out of this gym, it's always so cold."
"If the gym still feels cold, you definitely haven't been working as hard as you should be." Yumi pointed out, and Yaya giggled.
"No, it's just really cold, right Rima?"
Amu's futile attempts at getting me to talk was beginning to tire me out even more and I just shot her a glare and turned my head away from them. I could see they were all sighing, and I waited until every last one of them left the room until I started walking on my own. What I hadn't noticed when I started walking was that Lulu was still in the room. She grabbed my arm in a swift and forceful movement.
"Let's have a heart-to-heart." She suggested, or rather, informed me.
So then we ended up sitting in a café somewhere in Tokyo. For a heart-to-heart it certainly started out very normal and quiet. Lulu was feasting on her chicken salad like she hadn't eaten in days and I slowly slurped on my slushie without actually eating any food.
"You know you have an attitude, right?" Lulu asked with her mouth full of chicken strips. I raised my eyebrows at her and gave her a look that I hope she'd understand to mean I was offended. "Well you do! Anyway, you and I are friends now, right?"
"Now."
"Exactly!" She laughed, and then it seemed it became hard to chew and she paused seriously. She pressed her palm against her throat, coughed a little bit, and then went back to talking, "We are friends now, but we weren't always. Just like I heard that you were a psycho who chops people up with her knife, you must have heard something about me."
"Well," I decided I was going to be candid with her, as I wasn't particularly enjoying this hear-to-heart, "I heard you only sleep with guys who have girlfriends."
"I knew it!" Lulu shouted, pounding on the table. My slushie rattled a little and a few heads turned towards our table, but I didn't really mind so much. "That's what people say about me, but isn't really true. You see, I'm best friends with Hoshina Utau, I'm a cheerleader, I'm highly sought after and by sought after I mean…"
"All the guys want to sleep with you."
"Gee, you're really perceptive. You're right, because I am a cheerleader they think I am a slut. Well, I apparently lived up to the stereotype."
"And whose fault is that?" I scoffed, before I realized how rude it was. She looked at me with sympathy rather than offense and that actually offended me. Why was she pitying me?
"First it was Akizawa-kun, then it was Aso-kun, and then, for the life of me, I did it a third time with Yukio." Lulu shared. I noted how the last one was just Yukio without any honorific.
"Akizawa was my first real boyfriend…or what I thought was my boyfriend, I should have known we weren't because we only ever went out in secret. We had sex so many times…too many times, and I never liked it, then his girlfriend found out about me. Aso-kun and I were actually a real couple,"
"I remember. It was always PDA with you guys." I groaned.
"Exactly!" Lulu squealed yet again, "We were the talk of school. Had sex so many times; I actually liked it. Then one day we were no more, just like that! Remember?"
"Yeah."
"His girlfriend from Toyotomi showed up at my house! At. My. House. I was devastated!" She shrieked. Once again, people were watching us. I skewed my mouth sideways and sipped on my slushie contently. "But then I was with Yukio. He and I were together for a whole summer and we slept together, I wasn't expecting much from him, but he actually seemed to care and when he and I…you know…did it, I finally realized what good sex was! Plus, he talked to me. He knew my favorite song and he would sing it to me. He had a nice voice, I'm not just saying that, he did. I knew everything about him too, it was like finally! You know, finally, I have someone who loves me."
"But he had a girlfriend?" I asked raising my eyebrows. I mean, this happening to one girl three times is really unbelievable.
"Her name was Kirei. Kirei, can you believe it?" Yumi laughed, and she really did laugh. As though it was hilarious. I suddenly dropped my attitude and realized what Lulu was trying to tell me. I was being a baby. "Kirei broke up with him when she found about me, and I heard him say to her 'but that girl means nothing to me, babe, she was just some slut I messed around with, it means nothing, babe.'"
"So what are you trying to tell me?" I asked quietly.
"You don't see the pattern? I slept with them, Rima. If a guy has a girlfriend, there are things he does with her that he just doesn't do with the side chick. A side chick is for having sex, and a girlfriend is for doing things like…let's see…helping her with homework, going over to her house and playing cards, bringing her lunch when she's injured, playing basketball with her, bringing her to meet his mom…"
"I get it." I sighed.
"With all the things Nagihiko did for you, what did he have left for his girlfriend?"
"What?"
"I mean, there's the girlfriend and the one you mess around with. I certainly hope you don't think you are someone you mess around with. Obviously, you are the girlfriend type. Nagihiko wouldn't do the things he did if he didn't care for you in a certain way, and that kind of caring just doesn't occur when there's another girl in the picture."
"Maybe I'm just a really good friend." I insisted.
She looked at me and stared for a bit. She poked at her salad with her fork but still continued to have a little stare-off with me. It was like Yamamoto Lulu had seen me, actually seen me. I knew she was seeing through me and I wondered if everyone else could tell. If they all knew that I was still enamored with Nagihiko. Finally she giggled a little and broke the gaze, she just stared outside the window and shook her head.
"If you say so."
O.O.O.O
"Everybody wants to see us together." I whispered into the phone, "It's like we are the couple in that anime you really like, you know? You want them to be together so bad you make fan-art and stuff like that and of course how the characters actually feel about each other just doesn't matter, you know?"
"Well obviously not. They're fictional characters."
"Yeah, exactly. Well, Nagihiko and I are not fictional characters. This is real, and everybody wanted us to be together and so our own personal feelings and lives just don't matter. Everybody is trying to make me reach some kind of epiphany about the fact that Nagihiko and I are like soul mates, but we're not. We just aren't."
Shouta sighed on the other end of the phone, and I wondered if it was because he thought I was being difficult too. Or maybe he was busy. But I didn't really have anyone else to talk to. Amu doesn't understand, Lulu already shared her wisdom, and everyone else I guess I am too scared to really open up to. Shouta had seen me cry already, of course I could tell him anything now that he's seen me in my natural state.
"Rima, I don't know what to tell you. I think you and that guy need to be more honest with each other,"
"Honest? Honest how? He was honest with me by telling me about his girlfriend." I almost said a little too loud. I had to be quiet so that no one could hear me. I was curled up in the corner of the hotel lobby, and I didn't want to draw any attention or speculation to myself.
"Yeah, but he told you that after you lied to him about moving on." Shouta pointed out. Although it really didn't change my opinion on the matter. I heard him sigh, "I know that you're going to get your happily ever after, that's why I am so cool about giving up on you. You're friends know it too, but you don't. You're too scared to go after what you really want because you've spent your whole life telling yourself you are different from all those other girls who are obsessed with guys, and friends, and hair and make-up."
"How do you…" I began, but he didn't seem to hear me. Or care.
"Look, you want my advice? Tell the truth! Go after what you want because I can't go after it for you and neither can Amu, or any one of your friends. I gotta go now babe, you're making me like you again. I want to be there for you, but I'll be there for you when you're not available. Okay? Don't keep giving me hope. Please. Bye."
I couldn't believe it. After all that has happened, Shouta still seems to think that Nagihiko likes me. Why does everyone think Nagihiko and I can make it when, I, who loves him the most, believe with every fiber of my being that we can't.
O.O.O.O
Then, before I knew it, it was the morning before the big game. I woke up unusually early. It was probably because I went to sleep super early out of frustration. I was actually glad to have woken up early and I decided on taking a bath and everything really early. When I made my way into the indoor bath, I saw that Utau was already soaking in the water. She looked at me with a weird expression and I stared back awkwardly.
"I'm sorry I pretended to ruin your life."
The statement came as a surprise to me. I didn't say much. I only looked at her for a while and took in everything I could about her. I remembered her face as she bullied me and Amu, as she emerged from the crowd during the Toyotomi game looking for a hug from Ikuto, I remembered her face as she realized she wasn't captain anymore. It was the same face, but my god, it was so different. I liked this Utau, unconditionally. I truly liked her. Something about her I really liked.
"Not just taking the blame for the love journal stuff. I'm sorry for everything, Rima. I'm sorry for how I treated you, and I just want to say: You make one hell of a cheerleader. "
I remembered the faces she made when she was with Kukai, they always seemed like they were best friends. They had the time of their lives together and she became more and more like the girl version of Kukai. That girl version of Kukai was a really good friend. She supported me when I said I didn't like Shouta and that I liked Nagihiko. She was the one who was there when Nagihiko ditched me. I kept saying that he left me alone, but I wasn't alone. Utau was with me.
"You know what you look like?" Utau laughed, "Like you need some girl talk."
"Do I?" I asked surprised, as I finally dipped into the water. I was a close distance beside her but not too close, after all we were naked and I did feel a little awkward about that.
"Well, not really. I actually need some girl talk. I'm dying to drone on about my new boyfriend." She giggled.
"And you think I am a good person to do that with…?" I asked confused.
"Definitely." Utau smiled, "Because you understand Kukai. I know you do, because he really likes you. He talks about you all the time."
"About how crazy I am?" I asked laughing a little.
"Yeah and how at first you seemed like this scary thug, but you're actually pretty cute. He also said you're one of the funniest people he'll ever meet, me being the number one funniest of course." Utau added, "I get what he likes about you, because that's what I hated about you."
"Excuse me?" I asked, taken back a little by her candor.
"I hated you because you were likable, and I was afraid that a girl like you, would take away my popularity. I mean, who could blame me? My popularity was all I had, without that, who would like a bitch like me?"
"Kukai apparently." I said with a smile, and she grinned like an idiot. She grinned like Kukai. "And besides, you really didn't have anything to worry about. I'm not likeable, it's all a façade."
"You're crazy." Utau sighed, dipping herself underwater for a moment, "You're seriously crazy. How is it that the world can see how cool you are but you can't?"
"I've never opened up myself how would you guys know how cool I am?"
"Who did I sneak out with then, huh? Who did I crawl through a bathroom window with? Who was that who cheered Nagihiko on at the game and congratulated him? Who was that girl who took silly pictures with Kairi at the photo booth in the mall? Who is our friend then? We thought we knew her." Utau never looked so serious, "I think I am a sorry loser but Kukai showed me I don't need to pretend, that who I really am is amazing!"
"And who is that?" I had to ask.
"I don't know, but it's me." She smiled warmly, "Your real self is the one who makes you do and say crazy things, the one who knows right from wrong and takes pleasure in the silliest things. We degrade ourselves and become insecure and wrap ourselves in our egos, and so we wholeheartedly believe there is nothing about our true self to like. I don't even get what makes me likable."
"That's easy." I sighed, "You're fun, you're funny, you sing nicely, you're pretty, and you always know how to make people feel better."
"Well you have the courage to say things no one else can say, you're a talented dancer, believe It or not, and you are very witty, you can beat anyone at a diss-off."
"You have gorgeous blonde hair and you're tall and you…you just look like a model."
"Yeah well you look like a doll!" She countered.
"And," I paused and bit my lip, and I don't know why but I was crying, "Kukai…really…brings…out the best in you!"
"And Nagihiko probably has a longer list of all your wonderful qualities." Utau replied.
It finally clicked. I still felt less than. I was so quick to believe that there was another girl, a girlfriend, held at a higher pedestal than me because I was insecure. I felt less than, but now I got it. I liked Nagihiko, and he liked me, because I was worth liking, and I was going to make him mine.
O.O.O.O
Okay so we're getting closer to the exciting conclusion of Taking One for the Team! Oh my god, it's been like 10 years. JK it's been 4 years. Oh my god 4 whole years! Do you know what happened to me since I started this story? Ah, oh well it's time to put this baby to bed but first I had to leave you with a cliffhanger, as usual.
Review. Review. Review. Tell me if this story was any good for you, or otherwise. Or, just tell me what you think might happen, what you want to happen. Review, you know you want to.
THANKS FOR READING! ONCE AGAIN, REVIEWS ARE APPRECIATED
NEXT CHAPTER PREVIEW:
"Rima is going to like confess to Nagihiko, like properly," Saaya informed Utau.
…
It was a moment of silence that everyone was too afraid to break. It was the perfect time to panic, but they couldn't bring themselves to believe it was actually happening. Every single one of them was in shock.
"What the fuck just happened?" Sanjo broke down and said at last.
….
"Hinamori Ami," Amu growled, "Are. You. In. Tokyo?"
…
"That little bitch is stalling." Yura mumbled to her friends in the crowd, "She looks familiar, too."
"I think she goes to Seiyo." One of the girls considered.
"Well, we know she's not a cheerleader," Yura said with a hearty laugh, "Or else she'd be stranded with the rest of the losers. They're so pathetic."
…
"Never mind all the fuckery that just happened. I am confused as shit and emotionally worn out from this godforsaken day, can we just get on the damn floor and do our stupid cheer?"