AN: I'm sorry for leaving you guys with that super depressing chapter for so long! I swear I'm not dead- it's just finals season. Ughhh. This isn't my favorite chapter, but it was fun to try to write it in Masako's point of view. People rag on Masako waay too much IMO. She's 16! Anyways, this chapter is dedicated to Lil'OldNarcissisticMe. Thanks for requesting! I'm sorry for how short it is D:
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She was never one to give up. She had forged her career through tears, scathing words, and determination- and quite a bit of talent. Even when the faceless crowd bombarded her with accusations, with words of 'fake' and 'poser', she still did not cave in. She would never cave in.
She once heard a friend say that in a landslide, it is the pebble that does not get smashed. And so she made herself small, compact, but firm. Amidst the hundreds of others who let fame get to their head and came crashing down soon after, she stayed strong. Strong and small.
But when she forgot these wise words, when she reached out and tried to use her power, her influence, she found herself in over her head. But who could blame her? He was perfect. He was smart, handsome, powerful- and he was a better version of her. They both stayed calm, but he was calmer. They both were sarcastic, but he managed to still make friends.
And so she used him. She used him to improve herself, but she soon found that the harder she pulled on his arm, the more he wanted to return to the other girl.
That damn girl.
Bright. Smiling. Adaptable.
Strong. Loud. Big.
She wondered how the girl didn't crack under the pressure of their occupation. The girl should be more like a pebble- small, inconsequential. More like her.
But time passed, and the girl still did not fall apart in the landslide. In fact, with each new case, she shone all the brighter. Smiled even wider. Loved him all the more.
And Masako didn't know how to handle that.
A key, given to her in a sign of friendship. She wondered how the girl learned to do this- she had never received any formal training, but she was still able to astral project. She began to see why he stayed with her. For her power.
But time passed, and the girl still smiled, and it seemed that she was wrong. It was not the power that she held, her aptitude, that kept him anchored to her. It was the love. Love that was mutual- mutually unwanted at first, but mutually given nonetheless.
And so when he scorned the girl by the lake, denying both of their hearts, she realized that he was no better than her. He was cracking, breaking apart.
Mai, it seemed, was not one of the mere rocks caught in the disaster.
She was the landslide herself.
Masako shook her head, covering her own new smile with the sleeve of her kimono. She would have to let go of him if she didn't want to be caught by her, too.