Chapter 4

[-] Kawashima Ami's POV

Was this what you meant, Kushieda? Ami thinks to herself, as she continues following Taiga and Ryuuji. After seeing them at the convenience store, she'd decided to get some answers – though Ami wouldn't press Ryuuji on it until tomorrow. No, Ami needed time to digest the information she got tonight, so she'd go home and review what she saw so she'd have a structure to her questions for the young man.

Ooh, public handholding? How scandalous, I'm surprised you haven't kicked Takasu yet, Ami thinks, while watching Aisaka and Takasu enter a Sudoh-bucks shop for something warm to drink. It was still winter, after all, and a very cold one at that. Some minutes pass, and Ami sees the two of them leave, steaming cups in hand as they continue their afterschool errands.

Ami continues to follow the two for… much longer than she had initially planned, but ends up leaving for home when she recognizes the store they frequent for their dinner supplies, knowing where they're going next.

Kihara was right, something did happen between Aisaka and Takasu. Something made those two acknowledge their feelings for each other, and whatever it was involved Kushieda… What happened? Ami thinks, as she opens the door to the family apartment. No one around, just her and her thoughts for the time being.

"Do you want them to hate you, Kushieda?" Ami wonders aloud, as she sits down in her room with a plate of cheap food. No, if she wanted them to hate her, she'd be antagonizing the two of them, and she's not the type of person to do that, she thinks, digging into her dinner. Ami exhales. "The only person with the answers is Takasu. That means I need to talk with him."

It's a quiet rest of the evening for Ami, as she finishes her dinner and starts in on her homework. After she's done, Ami continues to ponder the recent happenings between their small circle of friends. Even after she falls asleep, these thoughts invade her unconscious mind and result in all sorts of odd dreams for the young model.

[-]

As Ami wakes up the next morning, her first thoughts are directed towards the conundrum involving Kushieda, Takasu, and Aisaka. Breakfast is made, lunch is packed, heavy coat thrown over her school uniform as this morning is much colder than yesterday's. Ami makes her way to school, and on the way there, catches sight of an interesting scene between Kushieda, Aisaka, and Takasu.

Aisaka and Takasu were chasing after Kushieda, with Aisaka calling out "Minoriiiiin, we just want to talk!"

And Kushieda was shaking her head, eyes closed with a smile on her face when Ami saw her, giving a response of "Noooooooooo! I don't wanna see another seaweed ghost!"

Seaweed ghost? Like the one that those two tried to scare her with at the summer house. Ami thinks, before smiling. Now I get it. She forced them together. Stopped that idiotic game of 'House' by burning it all down.

Ami smiles to herself as they all make their way into their classroom. She takes her seat, and begins passively observing Takasu, Aisaka, and Kushieda while dealing with the make-work that were her lesson papers. This continues until lunch period begins. As Kushieda and Kihara enjoy the contents of their respective lunchboxes, she watches for Takasu to leave to get Aisaka some juice. Fortunately, Ami wouldn't have to wait long – barely ten minutes in, and there goes Takasu. As Ami leaves the room, she smiles again.

[-] Takasu Ryuuji's POV

Ryuuji plinks a coin into the vending machine and punches in the selection for orange juice. As he hears footsteps, he turns and sees Kawashima. Inwardly, he sighs, as he braces for another word riddle from the young model.

"You know, I've been wondering lately what's going on with you and Aisaka. After all, she went the entire day yesterday without calling you a mongrel, let alone her usual acts of violence."

Ryuuji raises an eyebrow. This was not the word puzzle he was expecting. "You're not curious about my behavior towards Kushieda?"

Kawashima shakes her head. "I know what Kushieda's been up to – after all, Kihara told me Kushieda has been avoiding you and Aisaka since the ski trip. No, my curiosity was directed towards the why of that. Why would Kushieda avoid both her best friend and her love interest? Did something happen recently that left no room for her? Or did she do something that made her leave?"

Kawashima's line of questions starts to frustrate Ryuuji, but he thinks to himself, maybe when she talked with Kushieda, she didn't really say anything?

He and Taiga had seen Kushieda talking with Kawashima yesterday after school had ended, but she had run off before they could talk with her.

[-] Yesterday afternoon

"What do you think that was all about?" Ryuuji asks, turning to look at Taiga.

Taiga shrugs. "I wish I knew. Minori's stopped talking to me since that night in the hospital."

Ryuuji exhales, the fog condensing in the cold winter air. "She's been avoiding me as well. You think Kawashima knows something? Those two have already had an odd friendship."

"I don't think any of Baka-chi's friendships could be described as normal" Taiga says, before looking back to – "Huh. She's already gone too."

Ryuuji shrugs. "We'll see her tomorrow, I'm sure. In the meanwhile, what do you want for dinner tonight?"

[-] Current day

"What did Kushieda tell you? We saw you talking with her yesterday." Ryuuji asks.

"The usual Kushieda nonsense about ghosts and aliens" Kawashima says. "Though, in its own way, it kind of makes sense. After all, you have the eyes that a scary ghost might have, and you've been spending pretty much every minute with Aisaka. Has it been like that since the accident?"

Ryuuji looks back at the vending machine, and gets another can of juice, since the one he got was now warm. "…Yeah, pretty much. But it's not like that's different from normal, since – "

"Oh, but it is different! See, Kihara noticed that Aisaka's been acting a lot nicer towards you. That's how I found out – she told me…"

Ryuuji's irritation returns with each statement Kawashima makes and continues to grow as she pretty much admits to stalking the two of them for pretty much all of yesterday, recounting events from her point of view up until he and Taiga went to their usual place to get supplies for dinner that night. And then watching them up until lunch…

"You're kidding me, right?"

Ryuuji looks back at Kawashima, and already has his answer. "You're not kidding me" he says, pocketing one of the cans of juice and rubbing the bridge of his nose. "We were going to talk with you, because of what's happened."

Ryuuji's eyes grow angry, and they start to scare Kawashima. "But instead of, you know, coming to talk with us, you follow us like that coward with the camera!"

"Hey, that's not fair!" Kawashima says, backing away from Ryuuji.

"Fair?! At least I'm not stalking my friends for dirt on them! It didn't even occur to you that you could've just asked!" Ryuuji shouts, striding past the model and back to the classroom afterwards.

He knows all eyes are on him as he enters the classroom. Ryuuji sits down next to Taiga and hands her the can of orange juice. "That bad?" Taiga asks as she cracks open the can. Ryuuji nods.

"Watched us all of yesterday, talked to Kihara about us, then asked Kushieda about us, followed us after school, and watched us this entire morning." Ryuuji says, opening the can of warm juice and draining it in one go. "Yeah. That bad."

[-] Just after school ends

The rest of the day was much quieter than normal – likely because of Ryuuji's outburst in the hallway. Just after lunch period, as Kawashima returns from the hallway, Yuri-sensei asked Ryuuji to stay after school – to the surprise of absolutely no one, after hearing what happened in the hallway – for a talk regarding the incident before classes continue.

Ryuuji sits in front of Yuri-sensei's desk, eyes on the desk he's sitting at. Yuri-sensei clears her throat, and the young man looks up at her.

"I'd ask if something was wrong, but I already know the answer to that, given what happened during lunch period. So instead, how about you tell me where this new frustration is coming from?" Yuri-sensei says, leaning forward over her desk, arms crossed.

Ryuuji sighs and rubs his forehead. "The part you don't know was what she – what Kawashima did."

"I can guess. Your shouting carried far enough, after all. Something about getting dirt on one's friends?", Yuri-sensei says, writing down what Ryuuji said on a notepad. "I'm guessing that's not the only thing bothering you, is it?"

Ryuuji shakes his head. "You're right – it's not" he says, looking down at the desk again, head between the palms of his hands… and he starts talking. About all the things that have been bothering him since the ski trip, and some since before that. Yuri-sensei listens patiently as he goes over the list – Kitamura pretty much disappearing into the student council all the time now, with his duties seemingly taking up all his time, his mother overworking herself for his sake, the fight between Kushieda and Kawashima during the ski trip, and lastly, Kushieda not talking to either him or Taiga.

"It makes sense to be frustrated over those things. So much change in so little time, anyone would feel the same way…" Yuri-sensei pauses for a moment, before looking back at Ryuuji. "Do you want to know what she told me at the hospital?" Yuri-sensei asks. Ryuuji looks up and nods. "She told me that she wants to cheer you two on from the sidelines."

Ryuuji smiles a little bit. "Taiga and I would rather she be our friend though, instead of distancing herself from us."

"Give her some time. Maybe reach out to Kihara, since she's spending time with Kushieda? And for the rest, I would suggest talking with your mother, Aisaka, and Kitamura." Yuri-sensei says, standing up.

Ryuuji stands up as well, grabs his bag, and heads outside, where he sees Taiga waiting for him, just inside the entrance to the schoolyard.

"You took a while. You forget it's cold in the winter, idiot mongrel?" Taiga says.

Ryuuji rubs the back of his head. "Talk with sensei took longer than I planned. Sorry about that."

Taiga huffs before linking hands with him. "Baka-chi's long gone, I bet, so she can't watch us" she says, a smile appearing on her face. "What did the eternal bachelorette have to say?"

Ryuuji looks up. "Not a whole lot. She suggested that we talk with Kihara about Kushieda, since we can't seem to corner her anywhere."

"Did she say anything about what happened with Minorin?" Taiga asks, looking up at Ryuuji.

Ryuuji nods. "Teach said that Kushieda wants to cheer us on from the sidelines. I told her that we'd rather her just continue being our friend, and that's probably why she suggested talking with Kihara."

"Did she suggest talking with anyone else?" Taiga asks.

"Yeah. She suggested talking with you, and with Ya-chan."

Taiga smiles again. "We're talking now, and we can talk with Ya-chan at dinner."

Ryuuji smiles. "Speaking of, how do you feel about beef skewers for dinner tonight?"

Taiga beams. Ryuuji can't help but chuckle – after all, the quickest way to his girlfriend's heart was with a good helping of meat. "Alright. Let's go get some skewers for the stove-top grill."

[- Author's Panel ]

Hey, if you're liking the yarn I'm spinning here, feel free to follow. If you have any thoughts you'd like to share, leave a review. Or do both. I'm not picky