NOTE TO MIPPA>> Read on. Here's where the story
begins to split. Both Liz and I have an alternate scene, and now here are
additions to BOTH SCENES. Meanwhile, Joanna's trying to get Keiko to tell Otaru
the truth, and has already decided how it's going to happen, while the rest of
the writers think it best not to do so. Here's where the thing goes haywire:
"Yes. Kakeru-Kun and I had the same idea." Otaru
smiled cheerfully. The morning did agree with him. Unlike Keiko, who wasn't
much of a morning person.
"Really." Keiko said in more of a statement than
a question. "Fine, I apologize."
Kakeru put his hand on Keiko's head and acted worried.
"Oh, are you sick?"
"Very funny." She glared.
"Hey, you thought so out on that cliff." Kakeru
chuckled.
"Am I missing something?" Otaru blinked.
"So far everything has been running smoothly."
Staci said. "No interruptions, no pranks, no nothing!"
She smiled in satisfaction. In her all too brief moment of
glory, her walkie-talkie went off.
"PHEONIXSCOUT TO PHEONIX BASE!!" Naoki yelled.
"WE HAVE A PROBLEM IN THE LAKE!!"
"Hmm? What?" Staci looked worried.
"IT'S COVERED! I MEAN AAALLLLLL COVERED IN SHAVING
CREAM!!" Naoki exclaimed. "I DON'T KNOW HOW, BUT IT'S ALL OVER THE
PLACE!!"
Kakeru laughed to himself.
"What's so funny?" Keiko asked.
"Private joke." He smirked. Screams were now
heard as girls fled from the lake in towels.
Otaru's eyes widened in surprise. "Kakeru? Didn't you
just say...?" He said this as calmly as he could. What he was really
thinking... "Keiko? Kakeru? Noooooo!!!"
Keiko suddenly felt trapped. She knew that what she had
just said made no sense. She felt angry at Otaru... and had know idea why.
Couldn't he just forget about the whole thing?!
"You know what? I really don't know the details... so
just... ask her herself!"
She ran away before Otaru could see her eyes fill with
tears. She felt really bad about being so sharp to Otaru, and suddenly wished
that she could take it all back. But then... she realized she wouldn't be able
to anyway. She had made up so many excuses lately, told so many lies, that...
she wanted to go away to sort it all out! Before Otaru tried to ask Amuro Keiko
about Kakeru... --Joanna
Keiko jerked suddenly out of her faint sleep. Her backed
ached like mad from leaning against the tree, and her nose was numb from the
cold.
/what a wierd dream.../ she thought to herself as she
recalled it. Otaru, admitting to liking Keiko, Kakeru doing something nice for
her, breakfast... She shook her head.
There was an uncomfortable warmness on Keiko's shoulders
as she realized, with a sudden blush, that Kakeru and Otaru both sat beside
her, asleep, with their heads resting on either side of her shoulders. She
quickly pushed down any thought in her mind, and rested her head in her knees,
convincing herself that she was still tired.
But she just couldn't. Her back was aching, and, for some reason, she'd
begun to have a stomach ache. And, she noted with sudden displeasure, she felt
unordinarily unclean... unpleasent... moist...
"moist?!" Keiko breathed to herself, her eyes
nearly bulging with realization. Without realizing, her fingers had slipped
down between her knees and emerged, to her utter horror, red. She was breathing
heavily now, and struggled to shift Kakeru and Otaru's weight from her
shoulder.
/NOT NOW! NO NO NO!/ Keiko shouted furiously in her mind,
propping up her blankets between her two sleeping friends, to make up for her
absence. However, it seemed her presence was not really needed for, when she
rose to her feet, Otaru and Kakeru merely shifted in their sleep and against
eachother, now sleeping back-to-back with eachother. Keiko took a moment to
admire the scene before recalling her emergency and panicking.
/Now what do I do?!/ she questioned herself, hopping
impatiently on the balls of her feet and looking around.
"...Aika and Naoki!!!" Keiko breathed with
relief, remembering stupidly that she was in a camp full of girls. She ran
hurriedly up the hill, where she remembered Aika letting her sleep in a tent
earlier that day.
Keiko, out of breath and cramping from the long trudge up
the hill, eventually made it to Aika's tent, conviently located away from
everyone else. Without much thought, she fell to her hands and knees, unzipped
the tent, and fell in, gasping.
"AIKA! NAOKI! PADS! NOW!" Keiko shouted at both
the girls who were wrapped tightly in their sleeping bags. She shook them
feverishly by the shoulders to arouse them. When they finally woke up, Keiko
took Aika by the shoulders (poor Aika had been nearest to the door), and shook
her, shouting her demands. Naoki's eyes
widened with shock as she listened in on Keiko's recent news. She managed to
calm Keiko down, torn between amusement and pity at her friend's unfortunate
situation. Aika, she noted, was feeling the same, by the look on her face
matched her own. They both shared sideways grins before turning their attention
to Keiko.
"So, why don't you have any pads, Keiko?" Aika
questioned with false concern, attempting not to giggle. Naoki gave her a
warning look.
Keiko sniffled. "I'm almost a week early!"
"Oh?" Naoki siad brightly, reaching into nearby
bag. "So, would you prefer pads or tampons?"
"Pads."
"Sure?"
Keiko recalled an instance in her mind about using
tampons. She had sworn never again. "Pads. I'm sure."
Aika and Naoki agreed happily to accompany Keiko while she
changed behind a bush, as far away from camp as they could possibly get without
the fear of being eaten by wild animals. Once she was finished, they said
goodbye to her and left to their tent, stifling their giggles.
Keiko felt a bit cleaner now that she was changed, but she
still felt sore and tired. She knew all she needed was sleep for a few days,
but she knew she couldn't. They were going to finish up the hike tomorrow...
"Might as well get as much sleep as I can..."
she thought aloud, relocating the spot where she had left Otaru and Kakeru to
sleep on without her. When she got there, however, she was surprised to see
Kakeru, his eyes now open and staring, but still leaning against Otaru, most
likely to conceal warmth; or, to keep Otaru asleep.
Kakeru rose his head to her as she approached, and, to
Keiko's surprise, smiled sympathetically as she sat down against the tree, once
again seperating the two boys.
"That time of month?" Kakeru said knowingly, and
Keiko could feel her cheeks turning red.
"How'd you--"
Kakeru cut her off. "I--er--woke up when you moved
and saw you walking off... and--your pants were..." he trailed off, his
own face turning a deep crimson to match Keiko's. She nodded, and shifted
uneasily.
"Well," she began to explain, "I went to Aika and Naoki's
tent--they're so cool--and they gave me some... supplies... and I
changed."
Kakeru nodded knowingly, as if the same thing had once
happened to him--which Keiko knew was impossible. Sighing, she rested her head
against the thick trunk of the tree, pulling her blanket tighter around her
shoulders.
"Just wish I had some aspirin, though--" Her
words were once again cut off, this time by a tiny snort given off by (to
Keiko's amusement) Otaru. It was everything she could do not to burst out
laughing.
"I didn't know Otaru snored!" she whispered, an
amused grin crossing her face. Kakeru grinned as well, but not so much out of
amusement as Keiko.
"Sleeps like a log, that guy," Kakeru stated,
"Poked him in the face, even; didn't even move. Just snorted and his head
lolled onto the other side."
Keiko grinned wildly at this new fact. "Ya learn
something new every day," she said, resting her chin on her knees.
"But, now I have something to pick on him for!" Her eyes twinkled
happily. Kakeru nodded, before resting his head on the trunk of the tree, and
sighing contentedly.It had gotten cold without Keiko's presence there. Within
minutes, both of them too tired to say anything mroe, they both fell
asleep. --TD
Otaru woke up to
see Kei beside him. He looked at his watch, and gasped. '8 already?!' He gently
nudged her. She stirred, and opened her eyes with a groan.
"Sempai! Wake up. It's Eight'o'clock!" Otaru
said. "We're late for breakfast!"
Kei's eyes opened wide, and her stomach grumbled. In her
uncomfortable position that last thing she needed now was to eat icky, cold
food. He nudged her again. "I'm getting up, OKAY?!" She exclaimed.
Otaru jumped.
"No need to be upset Sempai." He smiled.
"Someone got up on the wrong side of the tree this morning."
Keiko managed to smile. "Let's go."
At breakfast, Kei was unusually silent. 'I wonder what's
wrong?' Otaru thought.
Once finished, Kei and Otaru were about to leave, but when
Kei got up from the table, 'he' yelped in pain.
"Are you okay?" Otaru asked.
"Yeah, fine. Just cramps." She said, then opened
her eyes wide. 'IDIOT!' She thought. "I think I slept on that tree
wrong." She added quickly.
"I think any way of sleeping under a tree is
wrong." Otaru laughed. He looked up at the sky. "Looks like
rain."
'Great.' Keiko thought. 'Rain.. Ugh..'
"By that look on your face, I'm guessing you don't
like the rain." Otaru smiled.
"Of course not!" She snapped. "Why, do
you?"
"Sure! It's so traquil." He looked up at the
clouds. "It's early yet, maybe they'll pass before it gets too
heavy."
"I hope so.." Keiko mumbled.
Kakeru was looking over some sheet music in his 'tent', if
you could call it that.
Keiko walked by, and mumbled something, and angry look on
her face. A confused Otaru stood by a tree. Kakeru decided to check it out.
"All I said was that he looked irritated." Otaru
told Kakeru.
"Then what?" Kakeru folded his arms.
"Then he said, 'WHAT DO YOU THINK?', then I said 'No
reason to get all upset', and he said, 'NO REASON?!', then he stomped off. I
just don't understand." Otaru sighed.
Kakeru supressed a chuckle. "Don't mind him. He's
just upset, that's all. You need to let him cool off." In his mind, he
added, 'Yeah, for like, the next ten days, give or take.'
Otaru shook his head in confusion and walked off.
Two hours later, Keiko had still not returned from her
little steaming session. The clouds overhead were getting darker, and it was
only a matter of time until rain fell. He decided to go after her. He found
footprints that had to be hers, or o he hoped. As Kakeru followed, about 15
minutes later, sprinkles of water gently trinkled down his face. He looked up.
The storm was begining. Within minutes, the few drops turned into a feirce
storm, that he couldn't escape out in the open. After about ten or so more
minutes, he found himself at the foot of a cave.The only way to get refuge from
the cold wind and pouring waters was to go inside. The further in he got, the
quiter the raging thunder became. But he soon heard another sound.. Crying.
There, a sobbing, but dry girl sat on the ground, her long hair over her
shoulders, and glasses in her hands... --Ikuno
"Keiko?"
Her head sprung up from her knees, and she stared at
Kakeru, her eyes red and puffy from crying. She wiped her eyes distractedly,
before shooting a menacing glance at Kakeru.
"Go away!" she said, before flopping her head
down on her knees again and letting out a stifled sob. Kakeru was reminded of a
five-year-old in the middle of a tantrum. Instead of doing what she had
commmanded him, he approached her, his brows furrowed.
"Keiko," Kakeru said softly, the slightest hint
of concern embedded in his voice. "What're you doing here? The whole
camp's prob'ly looking for you, by now!"
Keiko sniffed, but did not raise her head. "I don't
care. LET them look for me!"
Kakeru began to grow impatient. "Keiko, you--"
Kakeru's sentence was suddenly cut off by a sound that
made goosebumps on his skin: thunder. Keiko screeched loudly at the sound,
unable to control herself.
"I WANNA GO HOME!" she yelled, causing the cave
to echo with her whiny voice. Kakeru covered his ears, before kneeling down
beside Keiko and clasping his hand over her mouth.
"Stop that!" he ordered, cautiously taking his
hand off her mouth. Instead of yelling, Keiko took to pouting, and looking as sulky
as ever.
"Now," Kakeru started, glaring at Keiko.
"Will you be reasonable and listen now?"
Keiko sniffed a "yes". Kakeru smiled.
"Good. We need to get back to camp before this storm
gets any worse--" another roll of thunder bellowed through the cave, and
Keiko whimpered.
"Take that back," Kakeru said, peering toward
where a light stood as the cave entrance.
"We'll wait out the storm, then we'll go back to camp
and--"
"NO!" Keiko whined, her face flushing. "I'm
never going back there! Being a guys sucks!"
She hid her face in her knees again, just barely escaping
the piercing gaze from Kakeru.
"Will you come off it?" he growled, "I know
it's "that time of month" for you, but it doesn't give you an excuse
to act like that!"
Keiko lifted her head, her brows furrowed in anger.
"It gives me EVERY right! It's not easy being a girl, you know!"
"It's not easy being a guy, either!" Kakeru
retaliated.
"Well, it's even harder being a girl being a
guy!" Keiko squeaked, her voice going unusually high. Her eyes began
brimming with tears.
Kakeru had no idea how to retaliate now. Having never
pretended to be the oppisite sex, he had no idea how Keiko would have been
feeling. Guilt hit his stomach like a weight. She really had it rough...
Keiko had gone back to sulking. Kakeru, now feeling guilty
and not wanting another argument with Keiko, decided to sulk himself. Standing
up, he decided he'd like to explore the cave some, if he was going to be stuck
in it with an already moody girl on pms.
However, with the first step he took, he tripped and fell
flat on his back, losing his breath. Laughter erupted in the cave, and Kakeru,
having regained his breath only slightly, perched up on his elbows to look at
Keiko, who held her stomach from laughing.
It was an improvement to see a smile on Keiko's face, but
it was the fact that it was HIM that was the source of her entertainment that
made him turn sour.
"That wasn't funny."
Keiko brushed her eyes against the back of her hand.
"I know! It was hillarious! You should fall down more often!"
Keiko's laughter ceased when another roll of thunder shook
the cave. She hugged herself tightly, shutting her eyes.
Kakeru noticed this, and sat down beside her. "Cliffs
AND thunder?" he said teasingly.
"What are you--are girl?"
Keiko didn't smile. It didn't seem like she'd heard his
joke at all, as she hugged herself even tighter. Kakeru raised his eyebrows in
concern.
"Keiko?" he questioned, "You okay?"
Keiko burst. "NO! I'm NOT okay!" she spluttered,
sniffling back tears once again. "And since when did YOU start caring
about whether I'm okay or not?"
Kakeru blinked. "I--"
"Over half the time I'm NOT okay," Keiko
interrupted, "YOU'RE the reason!"
Kakeru choked. Did he really do that to Keiko...?
Keiko pounded her fists on the ground furiously. "I
hate you! I don't even know why I tolerate you! You're mean, insensitive,
cruel...!" The insults continued. Kakeru sat, gazing at Keiko with awe.
Did she really mean those things?
Keiko had begun to cry again. Her eyes were tightly shut,
as were her fists, as if ready to strike Kakeru at any moment. He gulped and
felt his own eyes sting.
/Do I really cause her that much pain that she keeps it
bottled inside like that...?/
The insults were still coming out in a steady flow.
Finally, Kakeru did something drastic, without much thinking (if any). Keiko's
words were suddenly ceased and caught in her throat. She felt her heart skip a
fewnecessary beats as, much to her surprise as his, Kakeru had her in a
crushing hug.
"I'm sorry," Kakeru whispered into her ear, his
lips just barely brushing against her cheek. Keiko felt her heart race, and,
her eyes flooding over again, she allowed herself to cry freely onto his
shoulder.
"I had no idea I caused you so much misery,"
Kakeru said after a moment, still hugging her tightly. He could feel Keiko's
head moving back and forth on his shoulder in a derterminate "no".
"It's not just you, it's this whole... thing.
Everything."
Kakeru nodded understandingly. Though he had no experience
being a girl, he had a slight idea of what she meant, and pity surged through
him. She really, really had it rough...
--TD
Keiko, getting over her fears, blushed. Was Kakeru hugging
her? Was he acting this way? And why was her heart beating so fast? She told
herself it was the storm, but was it really?
Kakeru felt his stomach turn. He was here hugging Keiko, they were
there, all alone. He was wet, and cold,
but somehow he didn't notice. Keiko pushed away, stood up and turned around.
Something felt strange about hugging him. Not bad, just, strange. Kakeru stood
up. "Have you explored this cave yet?"
"No! There could be bats, and spiders and all kinds
of stuff!" Keiko looked in horror. He laughed and took hold of her arm
gently.
"Hey!" She exclaimed. He pulled her closer.
They both paused. "Don't worry, I'll protect
you," He smiled.
She turned around and put her nose in the air. "You
protect ME? I'm gonna need protection from you, you creep."
Kakeru blushed, then put his arm around Keiko. "Okay!
Let's go!"
Suddenly Keiko felt like she was in a movie she saw once.
It didn;t turn out good. She clinged to Kakeru's arm. He blushed more. As they
went through, there was a fork in the tunnel. The went to the right. Dead end.
They turned back and went to the left. Kakeru looked around, his flashlight in
his hand. Keiko was caught up in being so close to Kakeru.
"Woops. Can't go through here." Kakeru said.
"Why?" Keiko looked over. It was too dark, but
when Kakeru pointed his flashlight that way.. Keiko screamed. A giant spider and
it's web sat in front of the path.
"Well, that's it for exploring." Kakeru smiled.
They walked back to the entrance, and Keiko sat down on a rock.
"I WANT TO GO HOME! NOW!!" She yelled.
"Shh!" Kakeru said. "Do you want to cause a
cave in?"
Keiko looked at him, horrified. She put her hands over her
mouth and cried again. Kakeru sighed. 'Why me?' He thought.
He sat next to her, and put his hand on her shoulder.
"Calm down. The storm will be over soon." She quietly looked at him,
still bawling. He gently wiped the tears from her eyes, and held her chin with
his hand. Her mind was racing. 'What?! Is he going to kiss me? Did I say he
could kiss me? Do I want him to kiss me? I dont even like Kakeru! I like Otaru!
I mean, wait, I do like Kakeru, and I like Otaru, I mean, I like Otaru?! Since
when do I like Otaru?! Since when do I like Kakeru? Am I insane?! Should I let
him kiss me?' He lifted her chin closer to his, and closed his eyes, and.. She
put her hand in between their lips.
"Hey, buddy! Did I say you could kiss me?!" She
was furious, partly because she was mad at him, and partly because she wanted
to kiss him, too..
"I, Umm, Uh, Er.." Kakeru was bright red.
--Ikuno
"I..." Kakeru stuttered, his face going redder
by the second. Finally, his mind came up with a reasonable excuse.
"You've got a bug in your hair," he stated,
reaching around Keiko. "Hold still; I'll get it out."
There was a tense silence as Kakeru, pretending, managed
to pull out an invisible bug. He hid it from Keiko's view as he let it out onto
the ground, then got to his feet.
He ran a hand through his hair nervously. /Man... what was
I about to do?/
Oblivious to Kakeru pacing around her, she had been
wondering the exact same thing. What HAD Kakeru been doing? It was far too
close for him to simply be retrieving a bug...
"Wow..." Keiko said, her own voice taking her by
surprise as it broke the silence. "For a second, I thought you were really
gonna kiss me!" she sighed with relief, though, cautiously, she watched
Kakeru from the side of her eye, expecting to see him blush any moment. But, to
her amazement, he turned to her, his face looking void of any emotion.
"I WAS gonna kiss you..." he said, his voice
oddly monotone. Keiko felt her stomach twist in knots at his words. She opened
her mouth to reply, when he spoke to her.
"Come on," he said, his voice taking on a cold
note. "The storm's letting up. We should probably head back to camp before
dark, or else they'll send out a search party."
Before Keiko could protest, he had grabbed her roughly by
the arm and nearly dragged her all the way to the exit of the cave.
Then he stopped dead. For a moment, Keiko wondered why,
until she noticed-- Her jaw dropped. The entrance to the cave was blocked by
rocks and dirt. It felt as if the pit of her stomach had fallen out, leaving
her feeling dizzy and disoriented.
"But... why didn't we hear... it..." she said
dazedly, the air in her lungs slipping out. Her head felt dizzy.
"Must have happened when we were exploring..."
Kakeru said, to Keiko's surprise, calm. His voice didn't quiver like Keiko's
did; only his eyebrows showed any trace of concern on his face.
Panick gripped Keiko like a hand around her throat. She
was trapped--in a damp, cold cave--no one knew where she was--alone with KAKERU!
"NO! LET ME OUT!" She screamed, jumping to the
wall of rocks and pounding as hard as she could on them. "OTARU! OBARI!
SOMEBODY! I WANT OUT! I CAN'T STAY IN HERE! SAVE ME! OTARU! OTA--"
Kakeru gripped a hand around her mouth. "Do you want
to cause another cave-in?!" he whispered furiously, dragging her away from
the wall. When Kakeru released her, she fell down to the floor, and started
bawling.
Kakeru rolled his eyes. /how many times can a girl cry in
one day?/ turning his attention to the wall, he attempted to tug out one of the
rocks. it was wedged in. He followed suit with the other rocks, finding that
they were all the same as the first. He turned defeatedly to Keiko.
"Well, the only way we'd be able to get those to
budge is if we had a sledge hammer and about six other people," he stated,
realizing immediately that this was the wrong thing to say. It only caused her
to cry louder, and Kakeru was forced to clamp her mouth shut again, giving her
a warning look.
Keiko nodded and trudged drearily after Kakeru further
into the cave, as he had the only flashlight between them. They picked a
suitable spot not too far away from the cave entrance to sit and...
"We wait," Kakeru stated simply as Keiko sat
beside him, sniffling. He couldn't help but grin at how she acted; like a
five-year-old just after a tantrum.
"I'm so tired..." she said, expanding her point
by giving an audible yawn.
"Then sleep," Kakeru suggested, shrugging his
shoulders and leaning against a nearby rock. He rested his head on it, and
closed his eyes. "We're not gonna have anything better to do, for a
while--til somebody finds us."
Keiko nodded, pain, misery, and Kakeru forgotten, she
leaned on the rock beside Kakeru. She removed her glasses, realizing, for the
first time, how very dark the cave was. She shivered. Beside, her, Kakeru could
feel her skin quiver.
"You cold?"
Keiko shook her head. "No, just... kinda freaked
out."
Kakeru nodded, but scooted closer to her, none-the-less,
pressing his shoulder against hers. She felt her face go warm.
Making herself more comfortable against the rock, Keiko
closed her eyes. It was only moments after she had done so that she fell into a
peaceful sleep. --TD
A million thoughts wandered about Kakeru's mind. 'What was
I thinking? Did I actually believe she would want to kiss me? I'm such an
idiot.' He looked over at her, peacefully sleeping, and managed to smile,
despite the scoldings in his head. 'She's so beautiful..'
He stood up, and figured, as long as Keiko couldn't panic,
maybe he should go check out that spider web again. Maybe he could get around
it..
Otaru's worried expression troubled Rina. He waited
impatiently to speak with Obari about Kei. He knew they were doing all they
could, but he couldn't shake this feeling of helplessness. Rina walked up to
him, and put her hand on his arm.
"I'm sure they're doing everything they can to find
Kei." She assured him.
"I want to help, but I cant do anything!" He
seemed angrier than she'd ever seen him.
"It's okay, I'm sure sh- *cough* he is fine."
Rina smiled. 'That was close. How could I almost slip up, and so easily?!'
Kakeru found himself at the spider web, with no spider in
sight. 'Hmm..' He thought. He searched the area with his flashlight, and after
finding nothing, he gently tugged on the web, to demolish it. After he was
finished, he moved up his hand to wipe his brow. 'Whew.' His relief suddenly
turned into horror, when the spider, about the size of a tarantula, was
crawling slowly on his arm.
Keiko awoke to a yell. "Kakeru?!" She exclaimed.
She stood up and brushed herself off.
She then ran towards the tunnel. Soon she found herself at
the fork, and remembered. "He wouldn't.." She went to the left.
Kakeru stood, his arm extended, with a horrified look on his face. She finally realized
the large black spider on his arm. She gasped. Without thinking, she ran to his
arm, swatted off the spider and stomped on it, full force, six times. She was
ready for the seventh, and Kakeru stopped her.
"I think it's dead." He told her.
"Whew." She said.
Obari lead a group of TUA students to look for Kei and
Kakeru. Otaru was the first to volunteer.
--Ikuno
The search parties were divided into pairs. Otaru, to his
sudden dismay, was stuck with Jiro, who was still planning "battle
tactics". Otaru couldn't get a word in edgewise, so he contented himself
with staying silent and scanning his eyes everywhere he went. It had gotten
dark, and his stomach was twisted in knots form worry. /You'd better be alright, Sempai.../
In a matter of speaking, Keiko WAS doing alright. After
the encounter with the spider, however, she felt extremely drained of energy;
she wished with every bone in her body for a bath and a meal.
After the "attack" (as Kakeru had so nicely
dubbed it), Keiko had wanted nothing but sleep and--
"Foooood..." Keiko moaned, rubbing her stomach
absently. "I'm sooooooo huuuuuuungryyyyyyy..."
Kakeru vaguely remembered storing something in his pockets
for a prank he had been planning earlier that day. Quietly reaching into his
pocket, he located the item, and pulled it out.
"I have some caramels..." he stated, staring
blankly at the candy he had been planning to melt all over Jiro. Keiko looked
at the caramels greedily. Her hands lurched forward to grab them all at once,
but she drew back, knowing it was unfair.
"So, how do we split them?" she asked gloomily,
the prospect of having only half of the candies increasing her hunger. Kakeru
inspected the candies carefully.
"Well, there are seven of them, so they won't be
divided evenly... So, you'll get one more than me."
Keiko felt a rush of gratitude toward Kakeru. Quickly
snatching her four candies and allowing Kakeru his three, she devoured them
within seconds. Kakeru took his time, slowly nibbling off bits at a time and
observing the shiny wrappers.
A sniffling sound met his ears and he lifted his eyes away
from the wrapper to meet eyes with Keiko, who was bearing the poutiest face she
could muster. Kakeru sighed.
"Fine..." he murmured, handing over his last
caramel. Keiko squeaked happily and, almost as soon as she had snatched the
treat, she had eaten it, and was smiling contentedly. Kakeru couldn't help but
snicker at the childish look on her face.
Next moment, she was looking sour again. Kakeru raised a
questioning eyebrow.
"Eh... can I use your flashlight?" she asked, a
slight brush creeping up to her cheeks. "I need to... change."
Understanding immediately, Kakeru handed over his
flashlight and watched as Keiko descended farther into the cave, out of his
eyeshot. He listened, instead, and heard the ripping of plastic and other such
noises as he waited patiently (though somewhat nervously; he always needed the
comfort of a flashlight) for Keiko to return. When she did, she was in a happy
mood again, obviously feeling refreshed.
Kakeru was glad; he didn't want to have to deal with a
moody Keiko, in the morning. She sat down beside him, letting out a yawn.
"Yeah, sleep sounds like a good idea," Kakeru
said, again resting his back against the rock. Keiko, however, was contented
leaning against Kakeru, causing his face to go a deep shade of pink (which,
luckily, Keiko couldn't see in the dark).
It didn't take long for Keiko to get back to sleep.
Kakeru, however, had a hard time with that, as he wondered what might happen if
Keiko were suddenly awake and find herself with Kakeru near her.
/slap me, most likely.../ he thought tiredly. /girls and
their mood swings.../ --TD
"I say we go back. It's nighttime, there's nothing we
can do now." Jiro said. Otaru was looking at the rock face.
"Hmm.." He said. "This looks,
strange.."
"What?" Jiro looked at the rocks. "Just
looks like a bunch of rocks."
"Let's come back here in the morning, this looks..
..Interesting." Otaru said. 'It's almost if those rocks were moved.."
Kakeru awoke with a sudden embarrassment. Keiko was
asleep. Her arm around his chest, and her head on his shoulder. He turned deep
crimson. She stirred, as if to awaken, and he decided it best to pretend to be
asleep.
Whe Keiko woke up, she realized her position. 'ACK!' She
thought in embarrassment. She stood up and took Kakeru's flashlight, to go,
change.. When the footsteps got farther away, Kakeru opened his eyes widely.
The darkness was making him uneasy. But he saw light seeping through from
somewhere. He stood up to see what it was, and...
When Keiko returned, Kakeru was in a panic.
"Hurry!" He said quietly. "Put your hair up!"
In the rush of finding her tie, she finally realized.
"We're being saved!" She exclaimed. Once she tied her hair, she
hugged Kakeru happily. He blushed.
Otaru helped Jiro remove the rocks, along with Kuji, Obari
and a few of the more muscular boys. Otaru knew they were in there. He could
just feel it. Once the got a solid whole through, Obari yelled loudly, "IS
ANYONE IN THERE??"
They heard it echo through the cave. A pause then
followed. Otaru looked worried. The had to be in there!
"Yes!! Help us get out!" The voice of Kakeru
said.
"Who am I speaking to?" Obari called back.
"It's Kakeru and Fujishige Kei!" Kakeru called
back, happy to hear Obari's voice.
A sigh of relief followed from Obari. and One from Otaru
aswell. --Ikuno
NOTE TO MIPPA>> *sobs* This is so upsetting. I
forgot to save some of it and missed Otaru's relief, Anij's anger and a funny
scene with 'The Rules', dictated to Otaru from Anji about his sister. That was
some of my favorite scenes!! And now they're gone.. That's why there is a big
gap, *sob*...
Kakeru and Otaru walked into the tent and then Otaru
zipped the flap to the tent. He didn't want to risk Anjii finding him
again. They then walked over to Keiko,
and to there surprise, she was still asleep.
"Hey get up." Kakeru said. He then poked her in
the shoulder. She didn't even move. So Kakeru just poked her harder. Keiko
jumped up.
"Kakeru! What the hell are you trying to do!? I'm
gonna..." She stopped mid-sentance when she saw Otaru. "Oh! Hi Otaru!
How are you doing?"
Otaru blinked. 'He sure does change his emotions fast.
Just a second ago he was chewing Kakeru out!' He thought. He blinked again.
"Um.. well fine I guess. But, Anji came over to my
tent and started giving me rules about.." Otaru blushed.
"Who?"Keiko decided to play dumb.
"Keiko." Otaru looked like a tomato.
Kekio made a face."Oh god. Anjii's such a dork! Don't
pay any attention to him, he's a nut-case." Keiko then rolled her eyes for
an added effect. "He's a little overprotective."
Otaru laughed."Just a litte? He looked like he was
ready to deck me."
"Ok then, he's extreamly over protective." Keiko
grinned.
Kakeru decided to break this up, NOW. "Um."
Kakeru budded in. "Sorry to break this conversation up but, we have to go
back to our own camp in like 20 minutes." He didn't sound the least bit
sorry.
"Hey!" Rina Yelled. "You have to tell
somebody that you're leaving!"
"Why don't you tell then that i'm leaving! The tennis
match is way more important then that!"Anjii yelled back. He was way ahead
of her.
"A.N.J.I.I!" --Kayla
"Amuro-San, are you sure you'll be alright?"
Rina asked Keiko while the rest of the TUA students gathered their things.
"Sure! It's only a hike.." Keiko said. 'A very
grueling hike.'
"Then you didn't hear." Rina bit her lip.
"Hmm?" Keiko started to worry. What was wrong?
"One of the groups will be crossing a river on the
way back!" Keiko's jaw dropped.
"WHAT?!" She said.
"Mmhmm. You'd better make sure you're not on
it." Rina warned.
Keiko went to find Kakeru, since he was the only one who
knew that was there.
"Kakeru!" Keiko said. "I've been trying to
find you!"
"Why?" He asked in a deadly tone.
"What's wrong with you?" She asked.
"Looks like our team is going to be crossing a
river." Kakeru said.
"I know, I was about to--" It just sunk in.
"OUR TEAM?!!?"
"Yes.." Kakeru said. "We need to get you on
another team. Wet clothes often tend to cling."
Keiko glared. But she knew he was right. Under somewhat
baggy clothes she'd been able to hide her figure, but now she didn't know what
to do. Not to mention how uncomfortable she'd be, being in her period, and
waterlogged. "How?"
"I'll talk to Shuu-san." Kakeru said. Keiko
grumbled. She knew he could get Obari-sama to agree to it. How come SHE
couldn't have Obari wrapped around HER little finger? Kakeru walked off.
'I hope this works.' She thought. While she waited for
Kakeru, Otaru showed up.
"Sempai, I have a question.." He blushed.
"What?"
"Umm.."
"What???"
"Uhh.." He blushed more. "Nevermind, it's
stupid."
"WHAT?!" She said. 'Curiosity killed the cat.'
She thought. 'I WANT TO KNOW!!'
"Umm.. Could you ask Keiko.." He was bright red
again. Keiko loved to watch him blush.
"Hmm?" She asked.
"I mean, because you see her more often than I do, it
seems.. And you know her better.."
Otaru blushed more. "Would you ask her if she will go
to the dance with me?"
Keiko was now the one to blush. "I'll ask her."
She answered. 'She already knows...'
"Thanks!" Otaru said happily.
'What?! Am I actually thinking of going to the dance with
him? I don't want to say no, but do I want to say yes? And what about Kakeru?
HEY! How'd HE get in my mind?! I can't believe this. I don't even know if
Kakeru's going to ask me. My other alternative is going as Kei and.. Being
pestered by Mai.. That's it. I'm saying yes. It doesn't have to be a date,
right? It's just a way to keep Mai away from me. Kakeru will understand, wont
he? I'm actually doing him a FAVOR. Then he wont have to take me. What if he
wants to take me? Should I go with him instead? Go with Kakeru? When did I
start thinking THESE thoughts?!'
Keiko was so confused.
"Earth to Sempai." Otaru said. "You've been
staring off into space for about 3 minutes now."
"I'm sure she'd love to go with you." She said.
'WAIT!! AM I SAYING YES?!?!!? What about Kakeru?! I'm so confused. STUPID,
STUPID, STUPID, STUPID!!'
"O-okay." Otaru blushed insanely. 'She would
want to go with me?! Really?!?!' "Thanks, Sempai!!"
She ran off like she was going to go ask 'Keiko', but she
was really thinking. 'WHAT NOW?! I don't even know if Kakeru is going to ask
me! I don't want to go as Kei, and I certainly don't want to be the geek going
alone..'
Otaru waited a few minutes, and saw Kei running back
towards him.
"She'd love to.."
Kakeru walked towards Keiko. 'I wonder if now's a good
time..' He thought.
"So???" Keiko inquired.
"Yep. You are in group A with Otaru." Kakeru
said. 'Great. Isn't that just perfect.' He thought.
"Oh. Umm... Okay.." She blushed.
"So, we have a few minutes before we have to
leave.." Kakeru said. "I've been meaning to.. I've been WANTING to
ask you something."
'Please don't be what I think it is, PLEASE don't be what
I think it is.' She thought. "What?"
"Umm... I was wondering, or rather, hoping that.. I
mean because it would be safer, because you don't want to blow your cover,
and.." Kakeru blushed almost as much as Otaru did! 'JUST SAY IT!' He
thought. "Would you go to the dance with me?"
"Oh.." She wanted to slap herself. 'WHY'D YOU
SAY YES?! YOU KNEW THIS WAS GOING TO HAPPEN!! IDIOT!!' She felt inside her
chest get heavy. "The thing is..."
Kakeru closed his eyes. He really didn't want to be here
now. He knew she was going to turn him down. 'It was too soon..' He thought.
"Otaru already asked me." She said, as she
looked away from him. Kakeru's heart sank.
'With Otaru?!' Kakeru frowned at her, and stomped off.
Keiko wanted to cry. She didn't want to hurt Kakeru. She also didn't want to
hurt Otaru. After they got back to the camp, she would explain. She had to make
things right. She WANTED to make things right with Kakeru. --Ikuno
"Unicorn Academy students! Into your groups!"
The students of TUA gathered where Obari directed them,
all ready and prepared with their packs and gear. Keiko trudged drearily toward
the back of the line, where she spotted Otaru and Jiro--for once--chatting
happily with eachother. Keiko, without having to listen in, almost instantly
knew that their chatter was about the dance. She approached them, and both boys
grinned at her.
"So, Fujishige," Jiro said, "Who're you
going to the dance with, huh?"
Keiko stopped dead. "M-me?" she stared at the
two blankly. What could she say? "Um..."
"You HAVE gotten a date for the dance," Jiro
said expectantly, "HAVEN'T you?"
Keiko nodded feverishly. "Oh, of COURSE!" she
laughed, "I'm just... er... keeping it a secret! That's all!"
Keiko was grateful for Obari's sudden command to assemble
into groups; she didn't want anymore discussion about the dance, if she could
avoid it.
"C'mon, Fujishige," Jiro said, noticing Keiko
slowly trailing behind Otaru as he left for group A. "He said get into our
groups; you're with us."
Keiko's eyes went wide. "Oh, but--"
"Come on!" Jiro suddenly grabbed Keiko by the
wrist, pulling her to the middle of the line of group B students. She tugged
her arm in protest.
"Wait! You don't understand! I'm supposed to--"
"You're just trying to get out of crossing that
river, aren't you?" Jiro asked scathingly, "Well, your excuses aren't
gonna work this time."
"But, they're not excuses! I'm supposed--"
"It's MY JOB as student president to make sure that
do-nothings like YOU, Fujishige," Jiro said menacingly as he drug Keiko
forward, "don't manage to weasel their way out of every challenge that is
set in front of them."
Keiko found herself unable to protest. She allowed herself
to be dragged away, gazing longingly at group A, who were slowly dissappearing
down the trail she had come up from.
Only once the other group was out of sight did Jiro let go
of her wrist. He gave her a warning glance, but he really needn't have worried
that Keiko would go back with the other group. By the time they had entered
another forest, they were on another trail completely unfamiliar to Keiko--she
wouldn't dare run away, and risk getting lost again.
She managed to wander to the back of the line, at least
out of Jiro's demeaning eye-shot. Walking slowly backwards, Keiko suddenly
tripped and fell backwards, taking (to her embarrassment) over half of the line
along with her. Menacing stares followed her as she drifted slowly to the very
back of the line, allowing herself to become the last in line.
Something snagged her elbow. As she turned her head, she
was not surprised to see Kakeru there, looking deadly.
"I got you in the other group," he said, staring
at Keiko with icy eyes. "Why aren't you with them?"
With a sneer, Keiko pointed to Jiro at the front of the
line. "Him." she stated simply, hoping that Kakeru would understand
that is wasn't her fault. He merely nodded and turned away.
"What's YOUR problem?" Keiko asked, raising an
eyebrow. Kakeru "hmph"-ed.
"If you don't know, I'm not gonna tell you."
Keiko became automatically irritated.
"Oh, don't you start your pouting!" she
commanded bitterly. Kakeru hastily folded his arms behind his head and focused
his gaze to the side of the trail.
"How're you planning to cross the river?" he
asked suddenly, taking Keiko by surprise, having been expecting some bitter
retort.
"I... don't know..." she realized suddenly. How
WAS she going to cross the river? Perhaps she could avoid it completely... and
recieve a lecture from Jiro. Not worth it, she noted disgustedly.
"Well, we'll just have to see when it comes..."
Kakeru said as brightly as possible, and Keiko raised her eyebrows.
"We?"
Kakeru nodded. "Yeah. You n' me." --TD
'How could she go with Otaru?' Kakeru thought. 'And now
I'm going to get back to the camp, and we're going to be in the same tent... I
wonder if I can bunk with someone else. Would I do that to her just because I'm
mad at her? No, I can't be the one who gets her cover blown.'
The scenery was wonderful on this trail. If not for the
river, Keiko would have prefered going this way. How could Group A stand the
cliffs they would face on the trail Keiko previously journeyed on! She hoped
this one didn't have any.. The good thing about being here, is now she felt
uneasy around Otaru, maybe if she kept her distance, it wouldn't feel so wierd.
'I CAN'T BELIEVE I'm going to the dance with OTARU! OTARU! My BEST FRIEND!! How
could I have said yes??! Do I even like him that way? If I knew Kakeru was
going to ask me, would I still have said yes? Now I find myself thinking of
Kakeru that way aswell. When did everything get all screwed up?! Oh yes, on
this 'Great Adventure'. If I had been allowed to stay home during this little
camping trip, none of this would have happened!! But NOOO, they have to have
EVERYONE go.' Keiko's serious thoughts turned into sulking. 'Why did I have to
go?! Why'd I have to cross a RIVER, and WHY DID EVERYTHING MESS UP?!'
Group A was led by Obari, so she STILL couldn't swoon over
him, but that was all for the best. Kakeru chuckled. He looked over at a
pouting Keiko. But he didn't feel like laughing.
'I made a fool of myself.' He thought. 'I should never had
asked her. But I had to. I had to know.. Man! I wanted to go with her so
badly!'
Otaru smiled, as he watched the beautiful trees. He didn't
know why Sempai fussed so much when he went through this trail. He breathed in
the warm crisp air. Otaru was more than his chipper self. Just knowing Amuro
Keiko wanted to go out with him, such a beautiful, funny girl. Little did he
know what this 'beautiful, funny girl' was doing right now..
"I can't!!" Keiko screamed, when she saw the
water.
"It's very calm, you can just walk across it."
Jiro said.
"No!! It's too deep!!" She cried.
"Don't be such a baby, Fujishige-Kun!!" Jiro
pushed her towards the edge of the water... --Ikuno
"WAGH!" Keiko screeched as she fell toward the
water, closing her eyes and preparing herself for the inevitable fall, ready to
be swept away by the giant current of the river--
Then she opened her eyes. She blinked and looked around to
find herself in ankle-deep water. She stood and looked a Jiro, who was almost
doubling over with silent laughter.
"I thought we were gonna be going through deep
water!" she stated irritatedly. Jiro smirked incredulously at her.
"Are you KIDDING?" he laughed, causing Keiko's
face to go pink. "And risk students sueing the school 'cause they got
hypothermia? No way!"
Keiko flushed.
--TD
Keiko, majorly annoyed, looked up and saw that not only
Jiro, who appeared to be having some sort of seizure, was laughing at her, but
the whole group seemed to think it was amusing. Kakeru was no exception.
/Man, this is so not good for my mood./ she thought, as
she looked daggers at Kakeru.
/Now I'm glad I'm not going to the dance with that jerk!/
She walked stiffly up to the other side of the river,
where the rest of the group had already assembled, and pushed her way rudely up
to Kakeru. "I don't know what you think is so funny!" she pouted.
"Why didn't YOU find out beforehand what the river was going to be like?
You would have if you really cared for me!" She walked past him, looking
as if he had committed an unpardonable crime against her.
"Come on, Keiko!" he protested, suddenly looking
as though he didn't find anything funny about the situation. "What was I
supposed to do? I tried to help you..."
"Oh sure, you tried!" She whirled around to face
him, her eyes suddenly brimming with tears. "I bet you knew all along that
I could get across that river! I bet you, ::sniffsniff:: didn't WANT me to be
with you!"
"Keiko, be reasonable!"
"I WON'T be reasonable, and I don't HAVE to be
reasonable! There's nobody at this camp who cares for me..." she said,
still looking tearful, "except Otaru! HE would never do this to me! HE
cares for me! He even worried about me when I was in that cave with
YOU..."
"Keiko..." Kakeru said, catching the obvious
flaws in that argument, "Otaru wasn't worried about YOU. He was worried
about 'Fujishige Kei', his best friend!"
"Don't talk to me!" she said, turning her back
to him. "You could TRY to make me feel better, instead of, ::sniffsniff::
ARGUING with me! I can't take it!"
As she stomped away, Kakeru collapsed onto a handy stump.
/Why me?/ he wondered.
/Why do I have to deal with an over-sensitive pms-ing
teenager? Why do I LIKE this over-sensitive pms-ing teenager?/ He got up,
having manfully summoned up the energy to get on with this grueling hike.
--Joanna
The moon was just peeking out by the time the students of
the Unicorn Academy reached their camp again. Keiko, who was tired, sore, and
feeling all-around unpleasent, stared at her camp area, and believed, for a
moment, that she had never seen anything quite like it. She could have cried
with joy, at that moment.
Almost jumping with joy (even though she was still
cramping), Keiko sped toward her tent, which had still been set up while she was
gone, as if waiting for her to come back. She crawled in excitedly before
flopping down on her fluffy sleeping bag, glad for a comfort on her aching
back.
Before she could drift off to sleep, however, Kakeru poked
his head in the tent.
"Hey," he mumbled, pushing Keiko in the shoulder
to keep her from falling asleep. "There's gonna be a short campfire before
everybody goes to bed. Get up!"
Keiko blinked tiredly. "Campfire?"
Kakeru nodded. "Yeah; campfire. They're gonna take
roll to make sure nobody died or got lost on the hike or anything," Keiko
whinced. "Then we're gonna do normal camping stuff. Like, roasting
marshmallows and stories and everthing. Really stupid, I think, but it's
tradition.
"Now, let's go."
Kakeru grabbed her roughly by the arm. Keiko stayed
planted to her sleeping bag. Kakeru gave a long, drawn-out sigh. "We'll be
making s'mores!" he tried to say brightly, as if this was something
special. He was surprised when Keiko sat up.
"As in, S'MORES s'mores?" she looked expectant.
"Like, with chocolate?"
Kakeru nodded cautiously. Keiko grinned greedily, before
nearly bowling Kakeru over in her hurried attempt at scrambling out of the
tent.
"CHOCOLATE! MINE!"
Kakeru's eyebrow twitched as he watched her scamper toward
a crowd of students who were assembling in a circle around a newly lit fire. He
brushed himself off, leaving his pack inside the tent, and headed off to join
the group. --TD
Keiko sat impatiently waiting to get her hands on the
chocolate. Kakeru prefered to sit as far away from Keiko as possible. He was
still upset that she turned him down. One of the campers handed Keiko a stick
for roasting marshmallows. Keiko wanted to say, 'A STICK?! I DON'T WANT A
STICK!! I WANT CHOCOLATE! NOW!!!!!' but she held back. Otaru walked up and sat
down beside her, with a s'more in his hands.
"Mmmm.." He said.
Her eyes got big and watery. "Otaru..." They
were glued on the chocolate in his hand.
"You can get one over there." He pointed, as he
moved his own farther away from Keiko.
"Thank you!" She smiled, as she darted towards
where the s'mores were being made.
"He must really like his s'mores..." Otaru
blinked.
When Keiko returned with a handfull of gooey s'mores, she
was pouting.
"What's wrong?" Otaru asked.
"They said 5 was enough.." She sulked. Otaru
blinked, then laughed.
"You're strange, Sempai." He casually moved in
his hand to take one of her five melting s'mores. She pulled them far away from
him, and growled.
"Don't even think about it." She snarled. She
snapped at his hand, which he jerked away.
"Ack! Down, Sempai!" He said.
After a couple minutes, Jiro stood up. "Okay
everyone, time for scary stories." He grinned evilly.
After the campfire, Kakeru went to their tent.
"That was fun!" Otaru said cheerfully.
"Yeah.." Keiko replied. "..Fun.."
"What's wrong. Are you SCARED??" Otaru put
emphasis on the last word, and wave his hands around.
"Don't be stupid! Of course I'm not.." She said.
She turned around to go to the tent, and she felt something on her shoulder.
Her face went blue and she screamed.
"See? I knew it!" Otaru laughed, his hand still
on her shoulder. Keiko narrowed her eyes at him.
"Good night.." She said, as she walked off.
"G'Night, Sempai!" Otaru called to her.
"Make sure you don't get killed by a wandering dead axeman or
something!"
Keiko sighed. It was finally time for bed. She opened the
tent and crawled inside. She covered her blanket over her head. 'It was all a
story, it was all a story, it was all a story..' She told herself. Her hormones
and emotions were causing an anxiety attack(been there!), and she couldn't get
to sleep. It also didn't help she just heard the scariest story of her life.
'It was all a story, it was all a story--' She felt someone, or something, tap
her arm. "AH!!" she screamed. Kakeru stood over her.
"WHAT IS IT?!" Keiko tried to catch her breath.
"Nothing.. Nevermind.." He said, as he lay back
down.
Later that night, Kakeru was thinking. 'What was I
thinking? I'm glad I didn't say what I was going to. In her position, I'm sure
she wouldn't want to hear 'I love you' right now..'
"Kakeru..." He heard a whimpering. He sighed.
"Yes?"
"I can't sleep." She sobbed.
"Try."
"I can't!"
"Do it anyway."
"I CAN'T!"
"Just close your eyes, and go to sleep. I'm here..
Everythings fine." Kakeru said. 'I'm here..' He repeated in his mind.
--Ikuno
Kakeru propped his head upon his hand, which, in turn, was
supported by his elbow on the hard tent floor. Ever since Keiko had managed to
fall asleep, he'd find himself unable to stop watching her.
/She looks so harmless when she's asleep.../ he thought to
himself as he brushed some hair from his eyes. /If only she could look this way
all the time.../
He layed his head back down on his pillow, unable to get
into a comfortable position. His mind drifted endlessly, not allowing him to
even close his eyes. He just lay there, hands behind his head, and, without
realizing it, humming to himself.
Keiko stirred beside him, and he ceased his humming, only
just realizing that he was doing it. She rolled over onto her back, and her
brows furrowed in discomfort. Kakeru watched her with interest. /Must be having a nightmare.../ he thought
blankly, noticing the cold sweat embedded upon her forehead. --TD
"uhh... noooo..." This was Keiko, murmuring in
her sleep. Kakeru noticed this, and sat up in alarm. /What should I do?/ he
wondered. /Is it a good idea to wake her up?/
Before he decided to do anything, Keiko sat up with a
start, eyes wide. "Kakeru... I don't think that chocolate and scary ghost
stories are a good combination." She shivered, and without realizing it
moved closer to him.
Outwardly calm, but inwardly screaming with joy, Kakeru
patted her hand to comfort her.
"Don't worry about it." he said soothingly.
"Just try to get back to sleep, and if you get scared, I'll be here."
How he longed to say more to her. He would have, if he was sure of Keiko's
reaction...
"'Kay," she murmered sleepily, falling back on
her pillow, Kakeru's hand still patting her own. "G'night."
"'Night," he said listlessly, noticing the way
her hand folded under her pillow. Still unable to fall asleep himself, he lay
there, thinking.
/This is strange, these feeling I have for Keiko. And she
isn't even going to the dance with me.../
Thoughts suddenly shifting to the person she WAS going with...
/Otaru is one lucky boy. I wonder if he fully appreciates that fact?/ His eyes widened, as he is thinking of
something alarming. /Is it possible that Otaru likes Keiko as much as I do? CAN
he? But... that would mean... please don't let it come to where Keiko has to
choose between us!/
/Would she choose me?/ --Joanna
Otaru sat and watched the campfire go out. What once was
seemingly a raging inferno became a pile of embers and burnt wood. The smoky
smell filled his lungs, and he watched the tiny lighted ashes burn out. His
eyes glowed with the last peices of wood that were burning. He sat there,
watching, thinking. 'I don't understand this..' He closed his eyes. 'The way
I'm feeling.. I don't even know her! This is crazy. I know nothing about her,
yet... I can't shake this feeling I know her perfectly. And I can't get her out
of my mind...'
Kakeru furrowed his brow. It was strange to think such a
nice peaceful young man such as Chinen could be the biggest obstacle in his
happiness with Keiko.
'OUR HAPPINESS?! Did I just think that?!' Kakeru's face
turned bright pink. 'I just can't get her out of my mind!'
That morning at breakfast.
"Look Otaru, they're serving your favorite. Cold
eggs." Keiko wrinkled her nose and Otaru laughed.
Kakeru narrowed his eyes at Otaru, and folded his arms.
'Am I being bitter?' He thought.
"So, Kakeru-Kun, who are you going to the dance
with?" Otaru asked cheerfully. Kakeru didn't answer, and Keiko lowered her
head.
'Don't ask him that!' She scolded Otaru in her head. 'Oh
great, I hope he doesn't say..'
Kakeru sighed, and put on a fake smile. "I was going
to ask Amuro-San, but you beat me to her." He said.
'I knew it..' Otaru thought. "Umm, well, I.." He
sweatdropped.
"You snooze you lose!" Keiko smiled nervously,
trying to cut the obvious tension between them. Kakeru glared at her.
'She's mocking me.' He thought.
"So, see any ghosts or killers last night?"
Otaru teased.
"Nope. You?" Keiko smiled.
Kakeru sighed. 'How can she stand him?' He thought. Of
course, before he knew Otaru was competition, he'd thought he was a pretty nice
guy. But now.. Without a word, Kakeru left for the tents.
"What's wrong with him?" Otaru asked.
"Nothing.." Keiko looked at him sympathetically,
ask he walked off.
"Love can do crazy things to a guy." Otaru
blurted out. They both blushed.
"Love???" Keiko's eyes were wide.
"I mean, I only assumed..." He started to
studder again. "B-because.. You know, he likes K-keiko, right? And, I
mean, what guy wouldn't.." He started blushing furiously.
Keiko was as red as a tomato. And Otaru was even MORE red.
--Ikuno
Staci gave an uncharacteristic shriek of unhappiness. Her
friend at the girls' camp site rushed over, concerned. Well, concerned, but
with a pretty good idea of what happened.
"Were you pranked?" Aika asked.
"No." Staci murmered, looking downtrodden
"The walkie talkies aren't working, right?"
Naoki guessed.
"No." Staci sniffed.
"Well then, what is it?" Cried Aika.
"My dress isn't in my bag! I hung it up in the bus on
the way here so that it wouldn't get wrinkled. And I guess with thinking about
how to keep the boys from pranking and ruining everything, I- I forgot
it."
"Ah, poor Staci!" Naoki murmered, putting her
arm around the girl's shoulder, "It'll be okay."
"How?" Staci eyebrows tilted, framing paniced
eyes, her chin quivered once. To anyone else, this might have seemed to be a
light reaction, but for someone who was as together as Staci, it was the
equivilent of a wail of horror, "I don't have anything else I could wear.
I mean, I've been spending all this time trying to keep everything for the
dance, well, perfect."
"Hey, no problem!" Aika chirped, "Naoki can
sew better then anyone else I know. She'll MAKE you a dress!"
"Huh? Out of WHAT?" The other two girls
chorused.
"Um..." Aika made a scan of they're
surroundings.
Trees, grass, bushes, Mai's tent,
Mai's tent...
Mai had just gotten there, so her tent was much nicer then
everyone elses. Also, having more time to prepare, she'd bought her own tent
instead of using the one that the schools provided. It was a dark maroon, heavy
fabric, but with that velvety look that some water resistent matirials had.
Still, it *was* someone's tent. Nobody deserved to have
their tent whisked away to make clothing without being asked first!
Well, almost nobody.
The three girls looked at each other. They grinned. --
Harkly
Kakeru marched into the woods, feeling furious with
himself. Nothing was going the way he wanted. Nothing ever did, he noted, as he
stopped near a tree. He immediately fell backwards onto the ground, lying on
his back and panting.
/Why do I have to care so much?/ he questioned himself
inwardly, gritting his teeth. In the past few days, he had gained and
experienced so many new feelings... It confused him and made him angry. He sat
up abruptly, rustling the leaves around him, and smashed a fist against the
hard tree near him.
"Why do I have to care?!" he asked the air
furiously, continually pounding his fist against the hard tree bark until,
almost without his noticing, his fist began to bleed. He didn't care. He merely
wiped the fresh blood onto his shirt before falling onto his back again, and
groaning audibly.
Then he noticed it. Someone was standing over him, wearing
a blank expression on his pale face. Kakeru bolted up onto his feet, and stared
Otaru straight in the eyes.
"Otaru!" he exclaimed, his face contorting with
anger, "What're you--?"
Otaru smiled suddenly, and Kakeru's words lodged in his
throat. What was he doing...?
Otaru closed his eyes, not wanting to look at the blank,
yet drawling expression on Kakeru's face. His smile changed to one of irony.
"You..." he muttered, barely audible, "You
really love her, don't you...?"
Kakeru suddenly found himself unable to breathe. That was
not what he had been expecting.
"I..." Kakeru's voice quivered. He knew who
Otaru meant. He had to say something, or Otaru would... he didn't know. He
didn't want to think about it. He swallowed hard, and opened his mouth.
"Yeah. I do." --TD
Kakeru knew the feeling was mutual. He saw it in Otaru's
expression. The same expression he saw when he questioned his feelings about
Keiko, himself.
Otaru knew he had no right to feel this way about Keiko.
He barely knew her! Kakeru most likely knew her longer, too. But something
about his feelings just felt right.
"I.." Otaru looked at the ground. He felt his
chest tighten. "How does she feel.. About you?"
".." Kakeru thought a moment. He really didn't
know. This could be his chance though, he could say she loved him too. Then
Otaru would.. No. That wouldn't be right. "..I don't know.."
Otaru felt a pain, but at the same time happiness. 'Is it
wrong for me to hope?' He thought. He couldn't look Kakeru in the eye. He felt
such resentment towards him now. Something he'd never felt before.
"How did you know?" Kakeru asked. 'Was it that
obvious?'
"It was easy to tell.." He smiled.
"You feel the same way.." Kakeru hoped the
answer would be a no.. So badly, he hoped..
"..Well.. Yes.." Otaru blushed. Kakeru's heart
sank. "I know I have no right to.." Otaru's eyes stung. "..To
feel the way I do.. You've probably known her and loved her for so long.. I've
only know her for three days..." Otaru felt tears well up in his eyes, but
he wouldn't allow himself to cry. Not if front of Kakeru.
Kakeru could tell he was hurting. "Everyone has a
right to their feelings. You can't choose who you love. It doesn't work that
way." What was he doing?! How could he feel sypmathy for Otaru?! "I
could never ask you to step aside for me.. I know you couldn't either, so I'll
do it for you.. I'm going to step aside." Kakeru could barely say the last
words. Otaru looked at him, shocked.
"I couldn't ask you to--" He started. Kakeru
stepped closer to him.
"If you hurt her.." He didn't want to finish the
rest. He turned around and walked towards the camp, and went inside his tent,
leaving Otaru standing there. Even though Kakeru didn't finish his last
sentence, Otaru knew what he was going to say. 'I would never hurt her...' He
thought. --Ikuno
Keiko found herself eating dinner alone that night. She
wasn't sure why. In fact, she hadn't even seen Kakeru since that morning, and
Otaru said he had to go do something important. So there she sat, not knowing
that she was the reason her friends avoided her this night.
Then night came, and still no sight of Kakeru, though she
had seen Otaru, once that evening. He had greeted her blankly before telling
her he needed to go do something, and off he went. Keiko was left bewildered
before she stalked toward her tent, tired, irritable, and confused.
Zipping open the flap, she crawled in, unaware that
another presence was there until they stepped quietly around her and out of the
tent.
"Kakeru!" Keiko gasped, "Where WERE you all
day?"
Kakeru stood with his hands on his hips, looking up at the
clear sky.
"Hurry up and change," he said, a strange
coldness in his voice that made Keiko shiver. Or perhaps it was the sudden
breeze that had run through the camp; she didn't know. She zipped up her tent
and went through the normal night ritual before unzipping it again to let
Kakeru know that it was okay to come back in.
He paused for a moment before crawling back in, Keiko
watching him with interest.
"You... Okay?" she asked cautiously. Kakeru
shook his head and crawled in, flopping down on his sleeping bag and not
bothering to cover himself. Keiko continued to observe him, her brows furrowed.
"Kakeru, if there's something wrong--"
"Nothing's wrong," Kakeru mumbled hurriedly,
interrupting Keiko. She frowned at him, and crawled warily into her sleeping
bag. What could be wrong...?
There was an awkward silence between the two, in which
they simply watched eachother, each curious about the other. Then Kakeru
groaned, and turned over on his side so his back was facing Keiko. She became
quickly irritated.
"Kakeru, you tell me right--" Keiko began to
say, but was again interrupted.
"Do you love Otaru?"
Keiko's jaw dropped. "Why?" is all she managed
to say, in her sudden confusion. She hated how unpredictable Kakeru was! And
now he had again managed to leave her stupid and numb... Kakeru didn't turn to
face her as he spoke.
"Do you love Otaru?" he repeated sternly. Keiko
took on the defensive.
"Why should I answer you, huh?" she asked,
propping herself onto her elbow. "What does it matter to you--"
Kakeru sat up urgently, and stared at her pleadingly. He
grabbed her roughly by the shoulders and stared into her eyes--straight into
her, Keiko noted with a shiver. His gaze was almost menacing, yet... she didn't
know. She couldn't think straight, when he looked at her...
"Please, Keiko..." he whispered pleadingly.
"Do you love Otaru..? Tell me..."
Keiko suddenly found herself unable to breathe. Under
Kakeru's intense gaze, it was almost impossible to think, much less breathe.
"I... I-I..." she breathed, stuttering.
Suddenly, and much to Keiko's relief and curiousity,
Kakeru looked down and closed his eyes, ceasing his intent gaze. Keiko
remembered to breathe.
"I'm sorry..." Kakeru breathed, barely audible.
"It's none of my business..." He crawled back into his sleeping bag,
and rolled over so he was not facing Keiko. Keiko, too confused and breathless
to say anything, did likewise, and soon found herself in a deep and troubled
sleep.
Kakeru, however, lay awake, as he so often did when he was
troubled with thoughts. He allowed the thoughts to drift listlessly through his
mind, causing his head and body to become dizzy and disoriented. He was glad he
wasn't standing upright; in his state, he would surely fall over, dead. Kakeru
thought that being dead about then probably wouldn't be the worst thing in the
world. Kakeru turned over onto his back once he was sure that Keiko was asleep.
He didn't feel like talking to her just then, though his heart longed to. /I
sound so corny.../ Kakeru thought fleetingly as he perched on his elbow,
watching Keiko in her uncomfortable sleep.
/I wonder what she dreams about.../ Kakeru asked his
racing mind. Abruptly, Keiko moaned and rolled over in her sleep, apprantly
having a nightmare, of some kind...
Absently, Kakeru reached out with a quivering hand, and
stroked back a few loose strands of auburn hair from Keiko's pale face. Kakeru
became aware of how cold her skin was, compared to his own warm hands, and he
drew back.
But the helpless look on the girl's face led him closer to
her. He wanted so badly to help her out of her troubled sleep...
He reached, once more, to push strands of hair away from
Keiko's face, also, unknowlingly, drawing his face closer as well.
"It's okay..." He whispered inaudibly, almost as
if to reassure himself. "I'm here..."
All the sense Kakeru had left had suddenly been numbed.
Stupidly, he allowed his face to draw closer to the auburn-haired girl's. He
could feel her unsteady breath, as his own breath grew shallow. His lips were a mere needle's width away
from Keiko's when he flung back, shocked at himself. How could he have almost
done something so stupid...?
Shaking uncontrollably, Kakeru lifted himself up, quietly
unzipped the tent, and stepped outside. He needed to get away from Keiko...
"Before I do something stupid..." he told
himself as he walked aimlessly toward the forest. --TD
When Keiko woke up the next morning, she was aware of
feeling very... sad. That's it. Sad when she looked at Kakeru lying across from
her, and angry, too. She was mad at this whole dang mess! Why did the boys have
to make things so complicated? All she wanted to do was make herself look
pretty, go have some fun at the dance, and Kakeru had to ruin it by making her
feel sorry for him!
But then... she realized that she probably wasn't being
fair to Kakeru. He couldn't help what he was feeling, right? And for HER,
nontheless. For a moment she felt a happy glow inside her, but that too was
ruined when she thought of Otaru. Did he REALLY like HER? But... he had only
known her for three days! She wouldn't doubt it, the way he had talked about
her when he was around 'Fujishige Kei'.
She had to get some air.
She quickly made herself look like Kei, and stepped
outside. Kakeru, thankfully, hadn't woken up. She started walking briskly
toward the woods, deeply breathing in the fresh air that cleared her head...
but not for long.
"Otaru!"
"Sempai!"
"What are you doing out here so early?" He said
this cheerfully, but she noticed a feeling of deep sadness behind his sunny
exterior. /Not him, too!/ she moaned. --Joanna
"I could ask you that same question!" Keiko
replied in a would-be cheerful voice.
"Um, you know, just getting some air."
"Yeah, same here..." /Think of something else to
say!/ she demanded herself fiercely. /He doesn't know you're Keiko, he thinks
you're Kei! Act like it!/
"So, looking forward to the dance?" she said
brightly. /Whywhywhy did you bring that up? STUPID!!/
"Yeah." Otaru responded shortly. "I would
be more if... Kei?"
"Yes?"
"Do you think that Keiko..." he blushed
furiously... "loves me?"
/LOVE?? What in the world is he talking about? What
could've brought that question on?/
"Why do you ask?"
"Well... oh, this is embarrassing... I heard that
Kakeru asked her too, right after I did. And I was just wondering..." his
voice trailed off.
/Ooh noooo./ Keiko moaned in her head. Out loud, she said:
"If she's going with you and not Kakeru, why are you worried about
it?"
"Normally I wouldn't, but, Kakeru loves her
too." he said quietly.
/Kakeru loves her TOO! Kakeru... and Otaru... they both
LOVE me?/ "Uuhh... oh....."
"Sempai? What's the matter?"
"Nothing!" she said quickly. "Well, I'm
sure that she likes you a LOT."
"She LIKES me?" Otaru looked just vaguely
disappointed. "How do you think she feels about Kakeru?"
/How does he expect me to answer that?!/ "Why would I
know?"
"Well... you've known her for a long time..." He
started to blush again. "I just figured that she might talk to you about
this."
"Ok then. I know that she likes Kakeru too, although
MAYBE..." she worded this carefully... "not as much as you."
"That's... good." He smiled. "Not that I
don't feel sorry for Kakeru, or anything, but... how can I help feeling happy
when I found out Keiko actually cares for me!"
"Yeah. I understand." --Joanna
"Well, I've decided not to go." Keiko said.
"I mean, I have no one to go with, and I'm not really into the whole dance
thing.."
"Oh, come on! It'll be a lot of fun!" Otaru
smiled.
"I'm sure." Keiko smiled. "But I don't feel
well.. No, I think I'm going to stay home."
"Okay." Otaru smiled.
Kakeru couldn't wait to get back to the Academy. With his
violin, and the music hall, and school, he would have plenty to keep him busy.
'Should I even bother to go? If I don't go she's going to know I didn't because
of her, and then I'll look so stupid, because I didn't go just because of her.
I'm going to go. I'll prove to her that I'm mature.'
Otaru sighed.. 'I can't believe I'm so nervous! This is
crazy.. I'm being silly.. But I want it all to be perfect..'
He took a deep breath. 'Everything is going to be fine.'
Keiko lay out her dress, which she magically got even
though she didn't know about the dance. 'I can't believe I'm going to that
dance, with Otaru! This is so wierd.. Yet.. I feel so excited!!'
Over at the girls' camp..
"Wow! This is.. It's so pretty!!" Staci
marvelled at the new dress. "Naoki-San, you're a genius!"
Naoki blushed. "Thanks."
Aika smiled, as she pulled out her dress. It looked so
plain compared to the masterpiece
Naoki had created. "Umm... Naoki.." She
sweatdropped.
"Hmm?" Naoki smiled.
"Could you, like, fix up my dress?" Aika
pleaded.
Naoki sighed. "Okay.. Hand it over."
"I hope Mai doesn't get mad that we took her
tent.." Staci giggled.
"She wont find out until later. She went to the boys
camp yesterday.." Aika said.
Keiko would wait until later to change, then no one would
see Amuro Keiko coming out of Fujishige Kei's tent. Her eyes glittered as she
looked at her dress. It was the perfect shade of blue. She decided to put it up,
so no one would see it. After she did, she unzipped her tent, to leave, and Mai
stood right in front of her.
"Hi, Kei-Kun!" Mai smiled brightly. 'This is it.
The dance is a perfect place to be seen with someone. Rina WILL see me with
Kei. She must!'
"Umm, hello, Mai-San.." She sweatdropped.
"Who are you going to the dance with?" Mai asked
forwardly, but with her sly smile always on her face.
"What?!" Keiko blushed. 'WHAT DO I SAY?! I can't
say, Oh me? I'm going with Otaru!!'
"Me? Umm.."
"Oh, so your free?" She smiled.
'Mai doesn't know when to take a hint!' Keiko sighed and
nodded.
"Well, then you can go with me!" Mai winked.
"But I--"
"Don't worry! It'll be fun! I'm not taking no for an
answer.." Mai continued to talk as she walked off. "Gotta go now, see
you at the dance!" She blew 'him' a kiss.
"Oh no!!" Keiko gasped. 'I could just stand her
up.. That would be a rude thing to do.. But not too mean for Mai.. But I've
already got the reputation of a cheating boyfriend, NOW WHAT?!'
Keiko slapped her head. Tonight was going to be a long
night. 'I can't believe the mess I'm in!' Keiko thought.
Kakeru walked towards the tent, and saw Keiko with a
dress, a hair brush, lipstick, hairspray and tons of other cosmetics in her
hands. "I'm going to go get ready where someone can't see me." She
told him.
"I didn't ask." He said.
"I didn't ask if you asked. I'm just informing
you." She said.
Kakeru waited until she left, zipped up the tent and took
out his tux.
Keiko walked towards the forest area, when she saw Otaru,
in a tuxedo, looking at the lake. 'ACK! I can't let him see me with all this in
my hands!!'
She hid behind some bushes, and watched him. 'Gee, he's
handsome tonight.' Right after thinking that she blushed.
"Should I even go?" She over heard him say.
"I mean, I don't even know her.. But I couldn't stand her up. Even if I
feel this way about her, it would be rude not to show. I just don't think I can
handle being near her so long without telling her.. That I love her.."
Keiko turned bright red. 'I can't believe this!! When did
my life turn into a soap opera?!' She left to get dressed. --Ikuno
Keiko smiled at herself through the tiny compact mirror
she had brought along. She was satisfied with how she looked, so she closed the
mirror and made her way back to the camp.
She was surprised at the number of students already
parading around the camp. There were a number of TUA students in their tuxes,
showing off their dates from the Phoenix School to their friends. There were
large groups of girls chattering excitedly here and there, as well as groups of
boys, looking nonchalant as they watched the girls from a distance.
All in all, Keiko observed as she stalked inconspicuously
toward her tent, EVERYONE looked nervous.
Keiko quickly unzipped her tent and climbed in, anxious to
find Otaru and get ready to leave for the dance. She hadn't noticed Kakeru
lying in there on his sleeping bag until she heard a stifled laugh. She turned
to him, eyes wide. He lay there, in a not-too-formal tuxedo, grinning widely at
her.
"What's so funny?" she asked. Kakeru's eyes lit
up.
"So, have you heard?" he said, not really
expecting an answer. "Fujishige Kei is going to the dance with Toseki Mai!
What a lucky guy, huh?"
At his own comment, he burst out laughing. Keiko, feeling
frustrated, put her hands on her hips.
"He's not going with her!" she protested, poking
Kakeru in the chest. "He... He drowned in the lake and couldn't go with
her!" she stuck out her tongue defensively.
"That's not what Mai told everyone..." he said,
his voice trailing off as he sat up. Keiko's eyes went wide with sudden horror.
"She's been telling everyone that--that I--"
Kakeru cut her off. "No, not YOU, Keiko..." he
smirked. "She says she's going with KEI... perhaps he'd better take his
uniform with him--just in case..."
Keiko glared at him. "No way! Fujishige KEI just
drown in the LAKE 'cause he didn't want to go with MAI!" her voice was
filled with finality, and Kakeru stopped grinning.
There was a nervous pause before Keiko decided to voice
something she had been wondering for a while.
"Who're you going with?" she asked in a hurry,
afraid Kakeru would stop her in mid-sentence. Kakeru glared at the door of the
tent.
"You'll see," he said, before unzipping the tent
and letting himself out. Keiko watched him for a moment before returning her
attention to her make up.
Kakeru was now determined to find a date. Nearby, he heard
stifled giggles; a group of girls. He didn't turn to face the group, but
listened, instead.
"Wow!" one of the girls said in a high, excited
voice, "This is going to be great!"
The group sighed in agreement. One of the sighs was more
long and drawn-out than the others.
"Oh, it's too bad you don't have a date..." the
same girl said to another. Kakeru felt his mind turn in gear. This was perfect!
Gathering up what courage he had left, Kakeru casually
strolled over to the giggling and sighing group of girls, and cleared his
throat loudly. They turned to him, their jaws dropping in unison.
"It's the violin player!" a brown-haired girl
whispered excitedly to her friend. Kakeru felt his face go red, and he prepared
to lose what dignity he had left in his body.
"I..." he said, standing up as straight as he
could. The girls watched him intently, anxious to hear what someone so famous
had to say to them. /here goes everything.../
"I overheard that one of you didn't have a date for the dance
tonight..." --TD
Rina and Staci were talking, and watching the people
getting ready.
"So is Anji going to come pick you up?" Rina asked,
making small talk.
"No, He's going to meet me there.." Staci
smiled. 'What a gentleman.' She thought.
"Your dress is beautiful!" Rina said, looking at
her.
"Thanks. So who are you going with?" Staci
looked around. When her eyes met Rina, she saw a dissapointed look on her face.
"No one..." Rina sighed. She saw Staci look
behind her and smile.
"Don't give up hope." Staci said happily.
"I'll see you later.." She said, walking off.
Rina found that quite peculiar. 'I wonder what got into
her?' Rina then felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around, and to her
surprise, Jiro stood there, blushing.
"You look very pretty tonight, Rina-San." Jiro
smiled.
"Thank you.." She smiled nervously back.
"Umm.." Jiro started. "Rina-San, do you
have a date for the dance?"
She smiled. "Not currently."
"Then would you consider, going with me?" Jiro
blushed.
"Uh.." Rina started to blush aswell.
"Sure."
He smiled.
Otaru paced impatiently. 'Is she here now? Maybe she
decided not to go through with it. I don't-' His thoughts came to a screeching
halt when he saw her, the most beautiful girl he had seen all night, walking
out of a tent in a blue dress. 'There she is..' His heart jumped.
Keiko smiled as she saw an obviously embarrassed, blushing
boy looking at her.
'Otaru. He's so funny around girls.' She thought. As she
walked up to him her chest tightened. 'The point of no return.'
"H-hi.." He smiled.
"Hi." She replied.
"You look.." He stared in amazement.
"Beautiful."
"Really?" She blushed.
Meanwhile Aika and Naoki were watching. "Well
would'ja look at that." She smiled.
"What?" Naoki said. She finally saw something.
"JIRO AND RINA?!"
"WHAT?! WHERE?!" Aika said. "That's not
what I was talking about. Look." She pointed.
"Keiko-Chan.. And Otaru-kun?" Naoki put her hand
on her head. "Thing just keep getting stranger!!"
Aika pouted. "Meanwhile we're going without any
dates, and Staci-Chan is going with MY Anji!!"
"Your Anji?" Naoki frowned.
Keiko looked around. She saw Kakeru talking with a group
of girls. She was somewhat relieved that he would find someone else to go with,
but at the same time feeling jealous.
"Are you okay?" Otaru asked.
"Fine." She smiled at him. Aika and Naoki headed
towards them. 'Oh, great. Not now! They're going to tease me..'
"Hi Otaru-Kun!" Naoki smiled.
"Oh, and Keiko-Chan! Really, you two are getting
quite aquainted, aren't you?" Aika smiled also. Keiko gave them both a
death glare.
'Don't mess this up!!' She thought. Otaru blushed
furiously. "Mmhmm."
"Yes.. Well.." Otaru looked away.
"Don't worry. We're leaving now." Aika grinned
impishly. "Have her home by 10!"
Otaru and Keiko blushed.
"And behave, you two." Naoki added. The giggling
girls walked away.
Otaru blushed again, then realized something in his hand.
"Oh, yeah.." He held it up.
Keiko smiled. In his hand was a red rose. "Thank
you." --Ikuno
Keiko felt odd, her arm wrapped around Otaru's. At first
she thought she was Kei still and she wasn't supossed to do that, but then she
had to remind herself she was a girl now and girl's did that kind of thing. But
still, the whole "Normally I wouldn't, but, Kakeru loves her too."
thing Otaru said to her...no...kei earlier was on her mind.
Otaru wasn't as clueless as we fangirls often portray him
as, (lol, really, we do all the time) He noticed something was bugging keiko as
they walked to where the dance was being held, (let's just say it's a 10 minute
walk? ^^;; I can do whatever I want with this right now, BLEH!) and he looked
down at her face worriedly, he eyes seemed watery, and her lips her closed
tightly. 'Maybe she wishes she was with Kakeru? Maybe she doesn't like me as
much as Sempai said....I wish I could break the silence somehow...' and just
then, thanks to my evilness, otaru tripped on a root cuz he was too busy
watching Keiko to watch where he was going. He fell foreward and dragged keiko
with him. "Ack!"
"Yeep!!" (gotta love yeep)
**falling scene happens**
Keiko got up from where she partially fell on Otaru and
started giggling. Otaru pulled himself up and brushed the front of his tux off,
starting to laugh with keiko before helping her up, luckly they weren't too
covered with dirt and keiko's hair and makeup were still perfect so after quite
a bit of laughing and brushing themselves off they started walking again, but
it was anything but silent.
"When I met Sempai? Well, I sort of ran him
over..." Otaru blushed slightly at Keiko's giggle. "No, seriously, I
knocked him down in the boys bathroom when I was...uhm..."
'Should I tell her about Koji and Jiro? no...' "In a
Hurry."
"Oh I see" Keiko tried to keep a smile on her
face, but she knew he didn't want to tell what really happened, and she was
fine with it, it prolly would have ruined the cheerful mood they're in now
anyway.
"When did you meet Sempai?" Otaru chirped.
"Well...uhm.." Keiko turned pink, but hoped he
wouldn't notice 'What am I supossed to say?' "I was in Preschool
and...There were these boys that always picked on me, Kei-chan always tried to
protect me from them..."
"Sempai's really...a..a good guy isn't he?"
Otaru Stuttered, his mind racing with zillions of thoughts 'Does she like
Sempai? was that why she was so quiet??'
"Yeah, he's like a sort of...brother to me I
guess..." Keiko wasn't sure why the silence had set back in again, but
they finally arived and it didn't matter.
She looked up at him, eyes shining. 'My first date!! ...I
still feel guilty though...Kakeru and...Mai...BLEH! I don't care about Mai!!
She'll be stood up and she'll have to live with it!!'
Otaru returned the gaze and noticed how Keiko's
eyes...reminded him so much of Kei and began blushing again at the thought.
"S..Shall we go in?"
Keiko nodded and they merrily went off into the dance...
--LaNnY
Otaru and Keiko stepped in, and Keiko's eyes opened wide.
The place was decorated with flowers and lights. Girls in beautiful dresses and
guys in tuxs were everywhere. Otaru smiled at the expression on Keiko's face.
Everyone looked so happy, except for Staci, who stood by the punch table,
alone.
"Will you excuse me a second, Otaru?" Keiko
asked. Otaru nodded, and she walked over to Staci. "Hey, what's up?"
"I go through all this trouble and Anji is
LATE!" Staci pouted.
"One thing you should know about my brother. Punctual
is not in his dictionary. He'll be here, don't worry!" Keiko smiled.
'He better be.' Staci thought. "I hope so."
Keiko walked over to Otaru, meanwhile Staci spotted Mai,
who looked somewhat dissapointed.
Although, knowing Mai, she would find herself another date pretty fast.
Keiko listen to the music play.
"Care to dance?" Otaru asked as he blushed.
"Love to!" She smiled. Otaru and Keiko got out
onto the floor, and Otaru hesitated. A slow song was playing. He blushed
furiously, and she stood there looking at him.
'Maybe he needs some help.' She thought. She walked closer
and put her arms around him. He blushed more, then did the same.
Kakeru, who stood in a corner while his date talked to her
friends, watched the two with close to tearful eyes. 'Darnit.. I wish I was
with her now..' He closed his eyes. 'Save the last dance for me, Keiko.' He
thought. --Ikuno
Otaru listened to
the music. He wished the song would play on forever so he could hold Keiko this
way all the time. He wanted so badly to kiss her, but he would never forgive
himself if
something went
wrong. Not now, not here. What if she got mad? He couldn't stand if that
happened. He wanted it to be perfect.
Keiko sighed. How
did this happen? Five or six days ago, Otaru didn't know this side of her
existed. They would joke around as buddies, and she never thought they would be
dancing,
holding each other
like this. And she never knew she could have these feelings for him. That same
time, five or six days ago, Kakeru and she would be bickering, and another day
would
pas by, and his
witty comments would make her blood boil. Now he loved her, and those days were
gone, and someone she once despised made her blush when he looked at her that
way,
or when he
whispered in her ear. Things were confusing now. She didn't really mind it
though, except now she was here, with Otaru, and things have changed between
them. The music
stopped, and they
stopped dancing, and for a brief moment she looked into his eyes. 'What is he
thinking now?' She wondered.
Kakeru and his
date had decided it best that she go off with her friends, since they had barely
said a word to each other since he met her. Now he not only felt alone, but he
felt like a
loser(A loser with
a voice that could melt antarctica, mind you, but, anyway).
'Why must I feel
this way? She's just a girl! And it's not like they're getting married or
anything, they just went to a dance together! Besides, she's going to tell him
she's Kei, he's going to
freak out and they
probably wont even speak..' He suddenly felt extremely bad, because that
thought had made him feel even the littlest bit happy.
Anji rushed in,
and spotted Staci, who was chatting with, GOHEI?!
"Oh, I know,
the life of a reporter is so hectic!" Staci laughed.
"Hi,
Staci-Chan!" Anji smiled.
"Oh, hi
Anji.." Staci put her nose in the air.
"What? So I'm
a LITTLE late.." Anji looked at his watch.
"You're VERY
late." Staci narrowed her eyes.
"Aww come on!
I had to find a cab, and you gotta remember it's a two hour ride from the
Academy!" Anji smiled charmingly. "May I have this dance?"
--Ikuno
Otaru and Keiko were taking a break from the dancing, and
they were having fun doing a little people watching!
"Look!" Otaru pointed. "There's your
brother. Looks like him and Staci are having fun."
Keiko smiled. Staci appeared to have forgiven him for
showing up late, and they were now dancing closely. She stifled a laugh. VERY
closely... "This is great! Now I have material for when I see him
later..." Otaru laughed.
"Hmmm." Otaru looked around again. "I
wonder where Sempai could be."
Keiko laughed nervously. "Oh!... He's probably
avoiding Mai. /Well, that's the truth!/ You know how she is..."
"That's too bad." He smiled at her. "He's
missing out on a lot of fun!"
Keiko grinned. /No, he's not...!/
Simultaneously, both of their eyes crossed over to Kakeru,
who was sitting by himself, looking completely miserable.
"You know..." Otaru seemed to have trouble
saying this. "I... I almost feel sorry for him."
"You do?" Keiko was still looking at Kakeru
across the room.
"Yeah." Otaru looked at her ecstatically.
"I feel sorry for anyone who's not with you tonight."
"Really?" She looked at him with stars in her
eyes, and threw her arms around his neck. "That is sooo SWEET!"
Otaru couldn't take this, and blushed furiously. /She
likes me! She REALLY LIKES me!/
Kakeru happened to look at them during this moment, /Wow,/
he thought bitterly. /they sure are having a jolly time./
Keiko and Otaru had moved back onto the dance floor, and
were dancing slowly with romantic music playing, and couples swirling all
around them. /I had no idea he could be like this!/ Keiko marveled. /Makes me
sorry to have to be a guy around him so much./ She sighed inaudibly. /Oh
well... one day the day will come when Amuro Keiko will appear for good, and
life will be simple again./ --Joanna
Kakeru felt destroyed inside, watching them. He wanted
that to be him. He sighed. Maybe he shouldn't be here. He didn't want to sit in
the corner, watching them all night. Just as he was about to leave, Aika
stopped him.
"Having fun?" She smiled brightly.
He sighed. "No.."
"Hey, don't think we didn't see you, standing in the
corner, trying to be invisible," She giggled. "What, or should I say,
who, were you watching?"
He blushed. "No one."
"Boy, you must really like Keiko-Chan!" She
giggled more.
"What?! No! Well maybe... Yes.. But... Why does it
matter?" He started getting frustrated.
"Sooo.. Do you want to dance?" She winked.
"I guess I should dance, once.."
"That IS the idea." She took him arm and led him
to the floor.
Keiko smiled. This was like a dream. A constant dream she
had. After the song was finished, she asked to go to the bathroom. On her way,
she saw Kakeru with.. Aika?! How did this happen?! Was she jealous? No..
Never.. But.... She shrugged it off and went to the bathroom. She felt
confused. She wanted to splash water on her face, but she knew it would take
her hours to get her make up back on after, so she resisted the urge.
'Why is Kakeru with Aika??' She thought.
When Keiko came back, she couldn't find Otaru. Instead,
Naoki walked up to her.
"Otaru-Kun said he needed some fesh air." She
told her.
Otaru breathed in. 'This is so hard.. I want to tell her
but a can't. I want to kiss her, but I can't..' He wrestled with himself. 'I
can't think about it now... It's so beautiful here. Everythings perfect. I
can't mess it up.' He looked up at the starry sky. He felt a hand on his
shoulder and jumped. Keiko smiled at him.
"You sure are timid, aren't you?" She laughed.
"U-um, yeah.." He blushed as he stood and
brushed himself off. Keiko looked up at the stars.
Kakeru hoped Keiko would dance with him once. He had to
dance with her just once. He had to hold her, and look into her eyes. --Ikuno
Keiko and Otaru walked back inside after spending a few
minutes relaxing and silently star-gazing. Neither of them had said a word
since the few initial ones. Neither of them trusted themselves to.
As they walked in, Keiko noticed Kakeru standing by the
door, looking as though he was getting ready to leave because he just couldn't
stand being there anymore. Keiko felt a strange wrenching inside her stomach
watching him like this. True, she was having a fantastic time with Otaru, but,
she didn't know how she could live with herself afterwards if she didn't do
anything to make him feel better.
"Otaru..." She felt absolutely horrible for
doing this to him. But, it wouldn't be for very long...
"Yes?"
"You said earlier that you felt sorry for Kakeru
and... well... you see how miserable he is right now! I was just thinking that
it might help him to feel better if I was to dance just once with him... but I
want to make sure it's ok with you first."
"W-what?" Otaru thought he could literally feel
his heart breaking. He thought they were having such a great time together, he
loved her, and, and... /Stop that!/ He demanded himself sharply. /You have no
right to her. If she wants to dance with Kakeru, that's her decision. As much
as you'd like her to be with you, and only you, it isn't so right now.../ He looked at her wretchedly.
"Otaru? If it isn't ok with you..."
"N-no. I mean, yes. I suppose... I suppose I can't
stop you from doing whatever you want."
Keiko looked at him thankfully. She felt so sorry for him,
but she thought that he was such a gentleman for doing this. She could see on
his face what it must've cost him.
"Don't worry, Otaru... I won't be for long..."
And she left. Otaru walked off to a corner of the room to recover himself and
watch them discreetly. If Shiranui tried anything... well, he didn't know what
he would do.
"Kakeru?"
Kakeru looked up, saw Keiko, and felt a jolt in his heart.
/She's coming!! I wonder what she's going to say.../
She smiled at him. "May I have this dance?"
Kakeru looked like he thought he must be dreaming.
"That's all I've wanted all night..."
"Then why didn't you ask sooner, silly?" She
laughed at him, gently took his hand, and led him out to the dance floor.
"But I thought... Otaru..." he asked her this
confusedly as he put his arms around her waist, and thought that this was all
he'd been waiting for his entire life.
"Don't worry about that... Otaru's so nice, he let me
come and ask you willingly."
"You had to ask him to get his permission?!"
"No... I just thought that was the nice thing to
do."
At this they both stopped talking, and settled for simply
swaying to the music and staring in each other's eyes. Keiko at first thought
she had asked him just to be nice, but she then realized that she WANTED to be
here, dancing this dance, with Kakeru, and dancing with him was just as nice as
dancing with Otaru. She felt upset at this. She had thought, being with Otaru,
that she really loved him. But now, with Kakeru, she felt her conflicting
emotions rise up again. Otaru, or Kakeru?
Kakeru wasn't being plagued by feelings of confusion, he
was simply the happiest he had ever been in his life, or so he thought. He
wanted to kiss her so badly, and while he had resisted the urge for awhile now,
he suddenly felt that he couldn't any longer. He leaned down to her, closer,
closer...
Otaru, off in his corner, saw this and felt his fists
clench. /No! Not Kakeru!!/
Keiko snapped back into reality from her thoughts and saw
Kakeru EXTREMELY close to her face. Suddenly she knew what he was fixing to do.
She pushed him back. "NO!"
Kakeru, surprised, jumped. "W-what??" He looked
at her wildly. "Oh nooo... I'm so sorry. I... I don't know what came over
me..." /Stupid!! how could you have done that?? now she'll hate you.../
"Uh... that's okay." Keiko herself was surprised
at what had just happened. "You've got to understand, though, I can't have
that, from you or Otaru. It just can't happen now..."
"Yeah, I was stupid to try it." Kakeru looked
crestfallen. "But... I have to know... maybe, in the future? Can you...
um... love me?" This again was an impulsive act. Keiko had him doing
things the normally calm and cool violinist would never dream of doing.
"Kakeru! How in the world can I answer that! I just
don't know! My feelings for you... and Otaru... are too complicated to figure
out now."
"I shouldn't have asked you that... we have to be in
the same tent tonight!" They both laughed ruefully. "Goodnight."
"Bye..."
They both went in different ways. Keiko didn't know how to
face Otaru again, after what had just happened. After all... she loved him
too... --Joanna
Kakeru was shocked. Did that just happen? What just happened?
He was confused. After the dance was
over, Keiko felt a knot in her stomach. What if Otaru was a gentleman and
decided to walk her home?! She was at the TUA camp!!! She could say she was
going to the Pheonix camp with Naoki and Aika, but where were they?! Otaru smiled at her. "What are you
thinking about?"
"Hmm, me? Uh.." She sweatdropped. "How
beautiful it is tonight." 'WOW!! Nice cover.'
"Yes, it's lovely." He smiled. "So I guess
I etter walk you home. Wouldn't want you walking all alone at night."
Keiko sweatdropped again. "Actually, I'm walking back
with some friends.."
"Oh," Otaru looked a little dissapointed, but
then smiled at her. "Then I guess this is goodnight." Otaru paused.
Should he give her a goodnight kiss?
"Goodnight, Otaru." She smiled. He then kissed
her. It didn't even register until he pulled back, and was walking back to the
TUA camp. "Goodnight!" He smiled as she sat there, blushing.
'What just happened??' Keiko blinked. She kind of spaced
out as she walked back to the place where she left her clothes. 'I can't
believe it.. Otaru.. He.. He kissed me!'
She picked up her clothes and quickly changed, then headed
towards the lake to wash the make up off her face. But she heard a noise.
"What in the heck?! Why did you do that?! Are you
insane?!" It was ANJI!! "Don't think I didn't see that!!!"
"I wasn't thinking, okay..." Kakeru sighed in
frustration.
"I'm sure. I didn't think I could trust you before,
now I know I can't." Anji said.
"Listen! I don't give a flip whether you trust me or
not! You think that I'm one of those people who just kisses someone without
having any feelings for them?! Well you're wrong! And I don't appreciate you
interigating me like this! That was humiliating enough, and I don't need you to
add to it!" Kakeru spat out in obvious anger.
Anji was in shock. "What do you mean, 'Without any
feelings for them'??"
"I'm done talking. I don't have to answer to you,
Amuro." Kakeru started to walk away.
Anji grabbed his shirt, and pushed him against a tree.
"If you step on foot near my sister.."
"What the heck is going on here?!" Keiko
exclaimed. Both Anji and Kakeru's jaws dropped. --Ikuno
"K-Keiko!" Anji stuttered, and dropped Kakeru,
who quickly brushed off his shirt, glared at Keiko, then turned to leave again.
Anji, however, was not ready for him to go just yet.
"I'm not through with you, Shiranui!" he again
grabbed Kakeru by the collar and swung him around. Kakeru didn't try to stop
him, but the look on his face said more than his actions could have. He looked
ready to kill. Keiko drew back instinctively.
"I'm through with YOU, Amuro," Kakeru said
icily, pushing away Anji's hand. Anji glared daggers at him, and looked
prepared to beat him the ground at any moment. Keiko stepped in before their
staring contest could turn into something slightly more harmful.
Grabbing Kakeru's arm, she pulled him away, slightly, from
Anji. She sent a piercing look in her brother's direction, telling him plainly
to lay off, then stalked away toward her tent, still grasping tightly to
Kakeru's arm.
Once they were away from Keiko's raging brother, Kakeru
jerked his arm away. This surprised Keiko, and she nearly fell with the force
he had used. He didn't seem to care as she stumbled. She turned to face him,
and his face was set with anger that Keiko couldn't match.
"What... what is WRONG with you?" she asked,
"Anji can't have made you THAT angry!" she said this as if it were a
fact. Kakeru narrowed his eyes at her, then took a step forward.
"Why did you dance with me?" he murmured, seemingly
too angry to do otherwise. Keiko took a step backwards, and found herself
against a tree.
"What... What do you mean?" she asked shakily.
Kakeru took another step.
"Why did you dance with me?" he asked again,
this time a bit louder. Keiko shook her head.
"Because... I..."
"Because you felt sorry for me," Kakeru said,
his voice raising again. "WHY did you feel sorry for me?"
Keiko found her voice lodged in her throat, leaving a
great lump. Kakeru, however, seemed uncaring of whether she responded or not.
He went on.
"Because I looked unhappy, alone..." his words
came out shakily, but his eyes still burned furiously. "So you decided
that it might be nice if you just had one dance with me... because you felt
sorry for me...
But that's all I got; one dance. Your pity didn't seem to
stop you from dancing with someone six times..."
Keiko stopped him there. "YOU were COUNTING?!"
she looked at Kakeru's suddenly blank expression with fury. "YOU are
PATHETIC! If you wanted to dance more, why didn't you just ASK ME?"
"You didn't think I tried?!" Kakeru growled,
"After every dance, I would get up to go ask you, but then Otaru would ask
for another dance! Every time I even LOOKED at you, HE was there, dancing with
you or talking with you--I couldn't even approach you! How could you have
expected me to ask you to dance with HIM all over you all night?!"
His words came out very fast, and he had to catch his
breath when he was done. Keiko, however, had no breath to catch. She was in
shock at his words. Her mouth opened as she attempted to find the right words.
"You... you seemed so happy when we were
dancing..." she said softly, knowing that what she had said was not the
thing she should have. Kakeru took his eyes away from her and faced one of the
trees.
"Happy... Yes, I was happy..." he said, his tone
sorrowful. "That was before I saw you two... after the dance..." his
voice trailed off. Keiko stared at him in disbelief.
"You... SAW that? You were spying on us?!"
Kakeru grinned sadly. "SPYing?" he chuckled
bitterly, "Why would I need to sink as low as that? No, I wasn't. It was
more like a public display, you two. Almost everybody could have seen if they'd
just turned their heads. I'm surprised Anji isn't out killing Otaru..."
the grin he wore now turned to one of irony.
Keiko was at a loss for words. Her mouth hung open.
Everyone could see...? There was an uncomfortable but drawn-out silence in
which neither of the two spoke.
"Why didn't you just tell me?" Kakeru said
finally. Keiko stared at him again, finding her mind suddenly blurred.
"Tell you what?" she breathed, almost inaudibly.
Kakeru took a step closer to her, though he still didn't dare to look.
"Why didn't you tell me... that you..." he
hesitated. "That you didn't feel the same way about me? I would have been
saved a lot of grief if you'd just told me, from the beginning, that you... you
and Otaru..."
Keiko finally decided to retaliate. "Listen--stop
your pity party!" she demanded, and Kakeru looked up at her. "Otaru
kissed ME! I didn't kiss HIM!"
Kakeru's expression had gone blank. He stared at Keiko,
lips parted slightly. Keiko readied herself for a retaliation from Kakeru, but
she was taken aback as he stayed silent. He brushed past her on his way deeper
into the forest. Keiko looked after him for a moment before, resolutely, she
followed him.
"Kakeru!" she called after the form that was
silently stepping into the darkness. She quickened her pace to a jog, then a
run, as she met up with him and grabbed him roughly by the shoulder. --TD
The dance had broken up about a half hour before, but
Aika, Naoki, and Rina were only now struggling back to their tent. They of
course could have been there much sooner if Aika and Naoki hadn't decided to
follow Keiko and Otaru for a while and hadn't dragged Rina along for the ride.
Just to make sure that Otaru didn't try anything, of course.
Of course.
Naoki whacked Aika on the back of the head. "We were
supposed to be making sure he *didn't* try anything! You weren't supposed to
cheer him on when he kissed her!"
Aika looked up, teary-eyed. "But it was so adorable!
They make such a precious couple!"
"What if they heard us?" Rina asked nervously.
"Nah," Aika dismissed the thought with a wave of
her hand to illustrate. "If they had Keiko-chan would have come and killed
us by now. Otaru-kun would probably be helping her."
"He wouldn't hurt us!" Rina gasped, sounding
slightly doubtful.
"No, but I bet he'd play lookout while Keiko-chan
did," Aika said, a little too perkily considering the thought.
"Anyway," Naoki cleared her throat, returning to
the topic at hand, "there's another reason that you shouldn't cheer on
Otaru-kun."
"What's that?" Aika asked, puzzled.
"Kakeru!" Naoki exclaimed. "You can't tell
me that you didn't notice how sad he was when Keiko-chan and Otaru-kun were
dancing! That's why *you* danced with him!"
"Well... yeah..." Aika said slowly. "But
Otaru-kun's liked Keiko-chan a lot longer."
"You don't know that!"
"It's been obvious all along!"
"RINA!" The two cried together, turning on her.
Rina cowered away from the two scary girls.
"Ye-yes?"
"Which guy do you think we should set Keiko-chan up
with?"
"Well...I..." Rina had a VERY bad feeling about
answering either way.
As she stood there stammering, a shrill scream was heard
coming from the clearing where the girls had pitched their tents. Aika, Naoki,
and Rina looked at each other in alarm.
"MAI!" Aika shrieked. An answering scream
reverberated through the forest and the girls took off running to the rescue.
On reaching the clearing they all stopped short. Mai was
on her knees, holding scraps of velvety fabric. She looked up, sniffling.
"First Kei-kun stands me up... and now someone's vandalized my tent!"
She sniffled again.
The guilty party sweatdropped and looked at each other
questioningly. After a moment of furious whispering, Aika and Naoki shoved Rina
forward to "do something about it" while they escaped, giggling, into
the woods.
"Well then..." Naoki said thoughtfully, panting
a bit as they stopped a considerable distance away from their clearing. "I
guess there's only one way to prove who's right."
The two looked at each other and evil grins spread slowly
across their faces. "CONTEST!" they both shrieked as they slapped
hands and shook on it. They were promptly showered with any variety of small
projectile as the people trying to sleep in the clearing they had unwittingly
run to during their flight yelled at them to shut up and go to sleep.
"Sorry!" Naoki whispered, chagrined. "So...
first person to get Keiko-chan to tell their guy she loves him wins, right?
What's the prize?"
"Umm..." Aika chewed her bottom lip. "The
loser has to calm our darling Anji down when he finds out about it."
"WHAT?" Naoki's shriek was cut off abruptly as
the annoyed would-be sleepers calmly got out of their tents and calmly began
beating the two girls over the head with their pillows. --Tamashii
Otaru felt like he could float off the ground. She didn't
get mad at all when he kissed her! What was he worried about? Then he bumped
into someone.
"A-a-amuro-san!!!" She studdered. He then
realized what he was worried about. Anji narrowed his eyes and grabbed Otaru by
the collar of his tux.
"Come with me, Chinen."
"Why are you being such a jerk?! It's none of your
business whether or not I like Otaru! And what's this all about with me feeling
the same as you?! Up until yesterday or so, I didn't KNOW how you felt!"
Keiko exclaimed. "You can't expect me to feel the way you feel if you are
always hiding it!! How was I supposed to know?! Am I psychic?! AND, I never said
I didn't like you.." Keiko trailed off. Maybe this wasn't a good time to
say that.
"What??" Kakeru looked at her. "You like
me??"
"I didn't say that," Keiko said nervously.
"So you don't.." Kakeru turned around with his
back to her.
"I didn't say that either." Keiko put her hands
on her hips.
"Then what did you say?!" He faced her. She
could see the deep hurt in him.
"I..." She didn't know what to say.
"Forget it.." Kakeru started to walk away.
"How?! How am I supposed to forget when someone says
they love me?!" She exclaimed.
"I didn't say that." He smiled. She glared at
him.
"Now you're making fun of me!" She exclaimed.
"I don't know how you can possibly stand doing this to people! I don't
know how you can do this to me! Especially since you-"
Kakeru smiled at her, and put his hand on her mouth.
"Sshhh.." He said. He move his hand to the side of her face, his
fingers in her hair. He looked into her eyes. He knew he couldn't try to kiss
her again, so he just stood there, and looked into her eyes.
'What is he doing?! Is he going to try to kiss me AGAIN?'
While they stood there, Keiko found instead, HERSELF leaning in on Kakeru. She
closed her eyes, and there lips met. She backed off quickly, realizing what she
had done.
Anji glared at Otaru. "WHAT WAS RULE NUMBER
ONE?!" He exclaimed.
"U-u-um.." Otaru blushed. "D-don't make
p-passes at your sister??"
"Oh," Anji thought a second. "Okay, well,
WHAT WAS NUMBER TWO!?
"I'm sorry.. It's just.. I.. It was only a goodnight
kiss.." Otaru blushed wildly.
"NEVER KISS MY SISTER UNLESS YOU HAVE A DEATH
WISH!" Anji exclaimed. He wa ready to kill Otaru.
"I'm sorry.." Otaru looked away. "It's
just.."
"IT'S JUST WHAT?!?!" Anji exclaimed.
"..I think... ..I love her.."
Kakeru couldn't believe what just happened. Did Keiko just
kiss HIM?! He felt overcome with joy. Keiko DID just kiss him! She liked him,
too! But Keiko didn't look happy, instead, she looked shocked.
'What did I just do?! How does this help the situation?!
Didn't I just say at the dance that I couldn't have that from either of them?
Now I've kissed both of them! Why did I do that?!'
Keiko mentally slapped herself.
Kakeru put his hand around her waist and pulled her close.
He then kissed her, like he'd always wanted. A long, passionate kiss, and now
he knew that she wanted to, too. As the kiss ended, Keiko blushed, and her
mouth hung opened. "I.. I.. I.." She couldn't get any words out. Her
expression changed to anger, and she slapped him.
"Oww!! What was that for?!" Kakeru said,
confused.
"YOU KISSED ME!!" She looked at him, bright red
with anger and embarrassment.
"So?! You kissed me!!" Kakeru exclaimed.
"So?!?! That was.. Well.. I didn't mean.. I.. I
didn't kiss you like THAT.." Keiko couldn't think of the right words to
say. Instead, she stormed off to her tent, leaving Kakeru dumbfounded.
"YOU WHAT?!!?" Anji exclaimed.
"I'm sorry... I have to go.." Otaru said, as
Anji let him go.
'Keiko, what are you doing?!' Anji thought. --Ikuno
It took a moment for the entire encounter to register and,
finally, make sense in Kakeru's heavily weighted mind. When it did, he found
himself unable to stand, and he slid down onto the hard forest floor, covering
the bottom of his elegant tux in dirt and leaves.
He replayed the encounter in his mind, breathing heavily
with utter disbelief. He'd actually done it. He'd kissed her. What astonished
him most, though, was that SHE had done it FIRST.
He calculated in his head briefly. Since she had kissed
him once, and he had kissed her once, that meant that... they'd kissed twice! His heart lept with rapture as he climbed
unsteadily to his feet. That was one more kiss than Otaru had gotten, and he'd
been the one to kiss HER! She hadn't kissed him, like she had Kakeru! He
suddenly felt very smug, and would have given anything to simply rub this in
Otaru's face. His step was light, but his mind began putting itself in proper
order. As always, nagging thoughts ran through his mind, attempting to
discourage him.
/She looked angry/ one of the thoughts said, /she didn't
want to kiss you at all. she felt sorry for you again.../
Kakeru shook his head. No, she wouldn't do that again...
she wouldn't do something out of pity twice... but then another thought struck
him. Perhaps that was the reason she'd run away, and not said anything. Because
she felt sorry for him, and didn't want to reveal it.
Kakeru grimly pictured in his mind a sad-looking Keiko,
running into the wide-spread arms of Otaru and crying on his shoulder,
then... He wouldn't allow his mind to
take the picture any further. After what had happened with Keiko in the forest,
he refused to believe that she could feel anything for Otaru. But, then, he
wasn't sure she felt anything for himself, either...
Unaware that his feet had been moving at all underneath
him, Kakeru nearly toppled over as he found himself back at his tent. Absently,
he unzipped it, and climbed inside. There, not much to his surprise, he found
Keiko curled up in her sleeping bag, attempting to hide her face which was,
most obviously, covered in tears.
Normally, Kakeru would have insisted that Keiko get out of
the tent while he got dressed, but he decided not to bother with anything that
night. Instead, he removed the heavy jacket of his tux, took off his shoes, and
climbed into his sleeping bag, not really intent on sleep at all. Fully
clothed, he knew the task would be impossible, anyway. Keiko seemed to notice
this.
"You're wearing those to bed?" she said dryly,
not even turning to face him. Kakeru knew this was a cover for what she really
wanted to say to him, so he answered as if a different question had been asked.
"I'm sorry for kissing you."
Keiko sat up quickly, startled by Kakeru's sudden choice
in words. She stared at him, her mouth hanging open and her cheeks a crimson
color. "S-sorry?!" she said. "For kissing me?! WHY??"
"You seemed angry... I thought that I might have done
something wrong by kissing you--"
"But I kissed you first!" Keiko intervened,
"If anything, I should be apologizing for kissing you!"
Kakeru let out a laugh filled with irony. "Why would
you want to apologize?" he asked, staring fixedly at the door of the tent.
"Wouldn't you think that, after all those near misses, all I wanted was to
kiss you?" He let out another hearty laugh. "Perhaps I should be thanking
you..." --TD
Keiko didn't know what to do.
"Th-thanking me? Why?" she asked shocked.
"Because that's all I wanted to do alnight was Kiss
you!" he exclaimed, as if pointing out the obvious.
Keiko was lost in thought. Otaru had kissed her. And now
Kakeru kissed her! But, that wasn't the real problem, the real problem was that
she wasn't really sure how she felt about either of them...
All of the sudden Keiko burst out crying in frustration
and burrying her head in her pillow, unable to hold back the tears. Thinking he
had done something wrong, got up and walked over to Keiko, taking Kakeru in his
arms and rocking back and forth whispering "I'm sorry."
Keiko finally stopped crying and pulled back a lil` to
look him in the eye's.
"No," she said. "It's not your fault. It's
mine."
"Yours? wha'd you do?" he asked, plainly
confused.
"I tottally screwed my life!" she shouted,
bursting into tears again and rubbing her face in his chest and letting him
comfort her agian.
Otaru, remembering that he didn't see Kei alnight decided
to go visit him. But when he got to his tent he didn't see Kei, he saw Keiko.
He sew Keiko spilling her guts out to Kakeru!
"I'm tired of plying the roll of Kei all the
time..." Keiko's muffle voice faded off.
"What?!"
Keiko jumped and lifted her head up to see Otaru standing
in the doorway looking stunned.
"Otaru! wait-" she shouted but was cut off by a
raging Otaru storming off to the lake thinking, 'I TRUSTED you!' --KittyK.
Otaru closed his eyes to keep the tears from pouring.
Sempai, was Keiko!!! He, was a SHE, and he, no, she, has been lying to him this
whole time. And Kakeru! He KNEW!! She told Kakeru and she didn't tell him!!
Since the very beginning, it's all been a lie! Kei was a girl and.. Kei was a
girl. That was it! All the weird things about Sempai, the fact he'd never met
any guy like him, it all made perfect sense now. Kakeru.. Otaru's eye opened
wide. Kakeru knew, and he's.. He's been sharing a tent with KEIKO?! He felt
something grab his arm. It was Keiko. He pulled away. "Why.. why didn't you..
Why didn't you TELL ME?!?!" He exclaimed, an angry look on his face. He'd
never been this inraged before, with Keiko or with Kei.
"Otaru, I.. I couldn't." She started crying, her
eyes still wet from when she sobbed to Kakeru.
Otaru couldn't stand this. He was so mad at her, and now
he felt worse, because he made her cry. Before he could say anything, she kept
on. "Anji told me not to tell anyone! I've wanted so much to tell you,
but.."
"But you could tell Shiranui-San, right?"
Otaru's stomach turned. He had felt worse than he ever had in his life.
"No, he found out! I even had to beg him not to tell!
I told him I'd do anything and.." Keiko closed her eyes and felt like
hitting herself. 'Now what's he going to think?!'
"What?!" Otaru gaped. He hoped Kakeru didn't do
what he'd thought. Just then Kakeru walked up, and Otaru became infuriated.
Without even thinking, he walked up and punched Kakeru, right in the eye. Keiko
gasped. Otaru just hit Kakeru!! OTARU!! Who doesn't hit ANYONE! Even for self
defense!! Why would he do that?! Otaru panicked. How could he do that?! He just
injured someone!! No matter how he felt, that was no excuse for.. He had to get
out of there. Otaru ran away as quickly as he could. Keiko followed him.
Otaru stopped to catch his breath, and collapsed on the
floor onto his knees. Keiko was KEI! How could she not tell him?! He put his
hand on his face, tears streaming down his cheeks. He didn't know what to do.
He thought he should be a man about it, but how could he be a man about this?!
How could this happen?!
Keiko caught up to Otaru, and her heart sank as she saw
him on his knees with his head in his hands. How could she let him find out?!
She knew this was going to happen!!
"Otaru.." She sniffled. "I'm so
sorry....."
He looked up at her, and wiped his eyes. "Is he
okay??"
"What?" Keiko thought of all the things Otaru
would say, and this didn't come up anywhere.
"Is he okay? I didn't mean to.. I just.. It was an
accident.. I wasn't thinking, I.." Otaru couldn't believe he had hit Kakeru.
He thought Kakeru had taken advantage of Keiko, but still, it was wrong, and he
felt horrible.
"Yeah. He's fine.. He's probably going to have a
black eye, but.." Keiko thought a sec. "Why did you do it???"
"I... I thought.." Otaru couldn't look at Keiko.
"I thought he.."
"I understand." Keiko looked at him
sympathetically.
"Wait a second! You two sleep in the same room! You
see each other all the time, and He, he loves you! How could I possibly.."
Otaru blushed, but was soon overcome with anger. "You just let me believe
in this lie!! This whole time!! I told you.. I told you that I loved her, I
mean, that I loved YOU! I told you HE loved you! I can't believe this!"
She walked towards him and fell on her knees. "I'm
sorry!! I wanted to!! I couldn't!! I'm your friend! You know me! If I could,
you know I would tell you!"
"I don't know anything about you! Everything was a
lie! How am I supposed to know you at all?!"
She leaned closer to him, and held him by the shoulders.
"I am ME. You know me. Boy or girl, the way I act with you, it doesn't
change. I'm not Keiko, I'm not Kei, I'm Sempai. I'm your friend. And I care
about you."
They stared at each other for a long time, then Otaru
hugged Keiko in a warm imbrace, despite the cold of the night. Keiko blushed.
Otaru lay his forehead gainst hers, and breathed. He hadn't got alot of air
within those past minutes. Otaru realized how close they were, and blushed
furiously. When he hugged her, he knew she was a girl, but it never clicked
that it was Keiko, the girl he was in love with. It was Sempai, his best
friend. Now their faces were close together, and it was Keiko. He moved his
face closer, and kissed her. And she kissed him back! He then backed away in a
panic. 'What did I just do?! I was kissing SEMPAI! And Sempai kissed ME!! This
is too weird..' Keiko blushed. He knew, and he still liked her? Maybe she was
wrong. She felt so happy. He knew and he didn't care!!
"This is too weird.." Otaru stood up. "I
gotta go.." Otaru said, as he started towards the camp..
Keiko sighed. Kakeru kissed her, She kissed him, She
kissed Otaru, and he kissed her. She was so confused. --Ikuno
NOTE TO MIPPA>> Yesh, this is a little OOC, but like
I said in the BBS to TD, if you loved someone, and you thought someone else had
hurt them or had taken advantage of them, no matter what principles you had,
you'd probably want to slug 'em once or twice... I NEEDED redemption!!! Haven't
you read my past few scenes? I was appointed the OK General! Howcan I let my
troops down??
Keiko had to get out of there, and NO WAY could she go
back to the tent she was sharing with Kakeru. In fact, she didn't feel like
facing him for a long, long time.
The enormity of what had just happened, Otaru finding out,
Kakeru being punched out by OTARU... where could she go to get this
straightened out? Anji of course was out of the question... he'd probably be
more likely to beat her up than comfort her. She had to find someone who had
known her for a long time, who had helped her out in times of need, and would
know how to help her now. The answer popped out at her... Aika and Naoki! Of
course! She started running in the direction of their tent.
While Keiko was running off to be petted and comforted by
her friends, Anji was busy pacing through a clearing. His mind was a buzz of
activity. Clearly he'd have to stay here at the camp for the rest of the trip,
which fortunately would not last much longer. He hated this as much as Keiko
did, but there was no choice. Keiko and her two FRIENDS (his face darkened as he
thought of them) were in need of constant supervision....
BAM
Keiko had been running through the clearing Anji was
pacing through, and without seeing him, ran right into him, knocking him on his
butt! She stood over him laughing, while Anji got up. Keiko thought happily, /I
am SO glad that happened now. Serves him right!/ That however did NOT help
Anji's mood.
He glared at her coldly. "Ok, you can shut up now,
you've had your laugh. I don't think you'll be laughing anymore once you hear
what I have to tell you." He stepped closer to her, and despite the
giggles she was still trying to hold in, he saw the tears still glistening in
her eyes. His eyes widened, and he stepped still closer to her, shaking her
shoulders roughly. "OK, WHAT HAPPENED?!"
At this Keiko started sobbing wildly.
"Don't you dare try to hide anything from me, I know
something is wrong! What did those two... (he muttered several expletives under
his breath) do to you?!"
Keiko crossed her arms, and emboldened by Kakeru's earlier
defiance to her brother, shouted at him through her sobs.
"Who know what, I really don't feel like telling you,
because it has NOTHING to do with you whatsoever! And if you think you can
scare me or try to force it out of me, then you're dead WRONG. You've been
acting more like a slave driver than a brother lately, and don't think that I'm
not getting sick of it!" Keiko
stepped back from him, almost scared of what he would do, but feeling oddly
liberated by her burst of defiance. SHE would make sure that he thought twice
before trying to treat her like a baby again!
Anji facevaulted. He was, to say the least, shocked. TWO
people had defied his authority in the same night! Was he losing his touch? He
was so shocked he was incapable of getting angry at Keiko, all he wanted to do
was drop to the ground. But he knew that he had to stand his ground, he had
that much self-control. A pretty big come down for the great Anji!
"D-Don't think I can't find out some other way,
Keiko," he threatened lamely. "I'm watching you..." If this was
meant to scare her into talking, he was failing miserably. He still couldn't
get over her earlier words. Slave driver...?!
"Whatever." Keiko dismissed him with a wave of
her hand, and then took off again toward the girl's camp.
As Anji watched her run away, he felt the anger once again
bubbling within him. She wasn't gonna talk to him, huh? She thought he was a
slave driver, huh? Well, he would teach her to shout at him! She would thank
him one day, after this mess was over. And the funny thing was, he really
believed that... he took off in the opposite direction, intent upon finding
Chinen and Shiranui. --Joanna
Aika rubbed her eyes groggily. Someone... outside? She
checked her watch, which read in bold green numbers '2:13 a.m.'. She grumbled
and looked over at Naoki, who still slept soundly. The person outside the tent
continued to shake the tent.
"Go away!" Aika whined, "We're
sleeping!"
"Aika!" the person outside the tent whispered,
"It's me! We need to talk!"
Aika immediately threw off her sleeping bag and unzipped
the tent, a mother-like concern sweeping over her at the sight of her
brown-haired friend.
"Keiko-chan!" she said, "What's the matter?
Everything all right?"
Keiko sniffed and looked up at her miserably. Naoki, who
had just been stepped on, woke up, took one look at Keiko, and hugged her
protectively. "What HAPPENED?"
Keiko started to sob uncontrollably. "EVERYTHING'S
GOING WRONG!" she cried miserably, while Aika attempted to quiet her. She
looked through her bags, and quickly located a chocolate bar she had been
saving for the bus trip the next day. She convinced herself that this was more
important.
Keiko took the chocolate warmly and thankfully, but didn't
eat it right away. She contented herself with staring at it and letting silent
tears run down her face. Aika and Naoki both gave eachother helpless glances,
before turning back to their friend.
"Why don't you tell us what's wrong,
Keiko-chan?" Aika asked soothingly. Keiko was strongly reminded of her
mother, but she pushed that thought back as she nodded. She took a deep breath,
and unwrapped the bar of chocolate. In her state, she never would have guessed
what was going on with the two people that had caused her problem.
"I'm sorry for punching you..." Otaru said
miserably to the figure who sat beside him on the hard floor of the bleak
forest. The figure nodded, then gave a short laugh.
"That was quite a punch, though," Kakeru said,
"For a first time, that is."
Otaru shook his head and sighed miserably. He still
couldn't believe himself. Not only had he kissed Keiko that night--twice, to be
correct--but he had also punched someone. Not only were both firsts, but they
were far out of his normal character. He felt almost ashamed. He looked over at
Kakeru, and noticed the ironic smile on his face. He arched an eyebrow
questioningly.
Kakeru noticed this, and shook his head. "Don't you
think it's funny," he murmured, resting his chin on his knees. "That
we, who should be practically enemies, can sit here and act as if nothing is
has happened tonight?"
Otaru's expression went blank. He found irritating when
people referred to such things as "funny", but he wouldn't say that.
He nodded at Kakeru's remark. Then something hit him.
"Did you kiss her?" he asked quickly, afraid
what Kakeru might do. However, Kakeru merely looked at him, dumbfounded. Then
he nodded.
"She... kissed me first, though," he said
hesitantly, though automatically. He wanted, for some reason, to make this fact
clear to Otaru, who wore a very vague expression.
"So..." he said shakily, "you kissed her
twice?"
"And so did you," Kakeru said matter-of-factly,
taking Otaru aback.
"How did you..." he began to ask, then stopped.
"You saw..."
Kakeru nodded grimly. He knew that Otaru probably thought
he'd been spying on them, but both times had been by accident. He quickly tried
to explain this fact to Otaru, who nodded and looked somewhat satisfied.
Otaru opened his mouth to speak again, when he was
interrupted.
"Sharing love stories, girls?" the voice said,
and Kakeru and Otaru's eyes both opened wide in horror.
Above them stood Anji, more terrible and menacing than he
had ever been. --TD
Kakeru and Otaru flinched briefly, but then each put on a
bold face.
"A... Anji. How... surprising... to see you
here," they simeltaneously stammered. Both then backed away slowly.
"It shouldn't be. What have you two been up to with
Keiko?" Anji queried sternly.
Kakeru blinked, obviously trying to think of a way out.
"Weeell... ah..."
"Two kisses. That's it," Otaru interjected
quickly. He then started to back up a fair bit quicker, hoping to get a good
head start if he turned out to need one. Track was not exactly his sport, and
since Anji was a jock he could probably run pretty fast.
"That's too much," Anji growled.
Otaru gulped. *Yes, I probably am going to need that head
start,* he thought, and said, "Myit'sgettinglate.
Maybeweshouldtalkinthemorning?"
He then headed for his tent at top speed. Perhaps Anji
would be too polite to intrude on him sleeping. Probably not, but it was worth
a try.
"Well... I kissed Kakeru... and then he kissed me...
and then Otaru overheard... and now he knows that I'm Kei... and then he got
mad... and I kissed him... and he kissed me back... and he punched Kakeru...
and I'M SO CONFUSED!!" Keiko blurted out quickly, sporadically crying.
Aika attempted to calm her distraught friend. "It's
okay, Keiko. I'm sure you'll figure it out eventually."
"Eventually's too late. I need help, NOW. Who? I'm
just so confused..."
Against their better selves, Aika and Naoki grinned at
each other over Keiko's head. Now just might be the time to settle their bet...
Anji watched Otaru run away, reasoning, *I can get him in
the morning.* He turned to Kakeru and said, threateningly, "And you?"
His words fell on empty air. Kakeru had followed Otaru's
example. Now it was too late for Anji to catch either.
Otaru couldn't sleep. Keiko had run off crying... Poor
her. She must be so confused.
He had to try and see if he could help her. So he left his
tent, and tried to find her.
When he arrived at Kakeru's tent, Keiko was nowhere in
sight.
"Where is she?" he demanded of Kakeru.
"No idea."
"Doesn't that worry you?" Otaru said, aghast.
"Now that you mention it, it does," Kakeru said,
with some concern.
"Maybe she went to the girl's camp, to see her
friends," Otaru speculated
"That's probably it. G'night." With the air of
one finished for the day, Kakeru retreated back to his tent.
"I think we should go apologize." Otaru said,
before Kakeru climbed back in.
Turning, Kakeru replied, "Maybe you're right."
The two boys set off to find Keiko. --Betsy
Aika and Naoki listened to their friend sympathetically.
They had managed to calm her down, and had also managed to con her into telling
them everything--starting from the moment she'd heard about the camping trip.
Keiko let out sobs between nearly every sentence and, by the time she had
finished her heart-wrenching account of the trip, Aika and Naoki were in tears,
and nearly an hour had passed.
"Oh, Keiko-chan!" Aika sobbed, the three of them
hugging eachother. "I'm so sorry!"
"How can we help?" Naoki sniffled. Keiko wiped
her eyes from underneath her glasses, and stared at the two. Then her shoulders
sunk with miserable defeat.
"I don't know..." she muttered, "I think I'll
have to work all this out on my own..."
sniffling, Naoki patted Keiko's head. "I don't think
you should go for EITHER of them!" she said, shaking her head and smiling
a bit. Aika nodded fervently in agreement.
"You shouldn't!" she said, "All they've
done this entire trip is make you feel bad!"
"And, besides," Naoki added, "If you chose
one of them, then THEY'D be hurt! You don't want to hurt anybody..."
"'Specially 'cause you can't seem to decide! I'd just
drop both of 'em..."
Suddenly the tent rattled, and all three girls looked at
eachother curiously.
"Now who could that be..." Aika wondered aloud
as she crawled carefully to the door of the tent, and unzipped the flap slowly.
Otaru and Kakeru's pale faces popped into view
immediately, and Aika started.
"What're YOU TWO doing here?" she said, shocked.
Otaru cleared his throat nervously, indicating that Kakeru was to speak. Kakeru
looked at Otaru for a moment, before returning his attention to Aika,
attempting to get a look over her shoulder and into her tent.
"Is... is Keiko with you?" he asked shakily, and
Aika inspected him for a moment, before peering around the camp grounds, and
moving aside and signaling them to enter.
Kakeru immediately stepped into the somewhat crowded tent,
leaving Otaru to stay behind, looking frightened beyond words. Aika was finally
forced to grab him by the wrist and drag him in.
Keiko looked at the two blankly, her eyes barely visible
through her thick glasses. Naoki, taking on the defensive, glared at Kakeru and
Otaru as they entered.
"What did you want?" she said icily as Otaru and
Kakeru positioned themselves uncomfortably in the small tent. Kakeru, a lump
suddenly caught in his throat, looked helplessly at Otaru, who was left to
explain.
"We... just..." he started, finding the lump in
his own throat. He swallowed it back, and continued. "We wanted to
apologize..."
Aika and Naoki stared, wide-eyed, at the two boys. Grins
broke out on their faces, and they turned to Keiko. Their faces changed,
however, when they saw that Keiko's tears were pouring out steadier and harder
than ever. Her eyes were focused on Otaru and Kakeru.
Kakeru opened his mouth to speak to her, but she stopped
him with an icy look.
"I bet that... you're expecting me to choose
now..." she spoke between sobs, looking far mournful. "Aren't
you?"
Otaru and Kakeru bothed looked on at the brown-haired
girl, both expressing a sudden emotional agony. Aika and Naoki stayed quiet,
hoping that, if they kept quiet and pretended not to be there, something
interesting would happen.
Kakeru shook his head fervently. "No, Keiko!" he
said feverishly, his face suddenly stern.
"Neither of us want to hurt you. If you don't want to
choose--"
Keiko let out a racking sob. "ALRIGHT!" she
cried, "I don't want EIHER OF YOU!" She pulled her knees up to her
chest and hid her face in them. Her back shook with silent, wrenching sobs.
Everyone in the tent looked on at her helplessly.
Finally, Otaru sighed, which Kakeru did also. They both
put a hand on both of Keiko's shoulders, and she jerked her head up. They
stared at her, smiling.
"Then it's settled..." Kakeru murmured. Keiko
looked up at him in wonder.
"Neither of us it is, then," Otaru added, and
Keiko's head turned to him. "Keiko, we're sorry to have put you through so
much..."
Keiko felt ready to dance. They weren't making her choose!
She was free of the guilt! They didn't care! Without thinking, she sprung up
and threw her arms around the two.
"Thank you!" she gasped, trying to hold back the
rest of her tears. "I love both of you..."
Aika and Naoki watched the scene with watery eyes.
Everything was right again! Although neither of them (or, rather both of
them)had won their bet, they felt completely satisfied. She'd admitted to BOTH
of them...
Naoki let out a sudden, happy squeak, taking Keiko,
Kakeru, and Otaru, who had forgotten that they were there, turned to them.
Naoki blushed a furious red, but she smiled none-the-less. She then joined the
warm embrace the three friends shared, followed quickly by a sobbing Aika.
The five of them stayed like that for quite a while,
until, quite to everyone's surprise, Keiko began to giggle. Then she began to
laugh loudly. Then she roared with laughter, releasing everyone from her grip
and lying on her back, her laughter reaching the top of the tent and almost
shaking the walls. Her laughter, which
came of what, nobody knew, abruptly ceased, as she began to cry hysterically
once more. Stopping herself afer a few moments of this, she put on a wide grin,
and stumbled out of the tent without second thought.
The four remaining teenagers gawked after her, dumbfounded
by her actions.
"She's the most confusing person I've ever
known..." Otaru commented. Kakeru gave him a quick glance before settling
his brown eyes back on the quickly disappearing form of Keiko.
"If you'd known her as a girl longer," he
mumbled, "You prob'ly wouldn't find her so confusing."
Aika gave him a 'look'. He sighed. "Then
again..."
After watching Keiko disappear in the distance, Kakeru and
Otaru bid the two girls (who were still in tears) good-night, and left back to
their campsite.
They walked in silence for a while, until Kakeru spoke,
taking Otaru by surprise.
"Hey, Otaru..." Kakeru said blandly, folding his
arms behind his head.
"Yeah?" Otaru replied, swallowing hard.
"Is..." Kakeru said, "Is Jiro sleeping
right now, do you think?"
Otaru looked at him with shock. Kakeru, he noticed, always
seemed to be full of surprises. To answer his question, Otaru shook his head in
a "no". "Out by the lake with Rina, I think..." then he
became suspicious. "Why?"
Kakeru grinned maniacally. "Oh... nothing..." he
said slyly, "I just suggest that you stay out of your tent,
tonight..."
Otaru nodded, and glanced at his watch. "Well, it's
almost 4:30, anyway..." he said, "sleep would prob'ly be useless,
right now."
Kakeru nodded, and grinned again, a glint in his eyes.
"Perfect..." he whispered, almost to himself. Actually, Otaru was
sure that he was speaking to himself. Another prank was surely stirring in the
young man's mind.
After everything he had been through that week, Otaru
suddenly felt very bold. He watched Kakeru with the side of his eye, then began
to grin as well.
"Need help?" he suggested, and Kakeru looked him
over skeptically. Then, he grinned.
"Got any duct tape?"
They both walked off, grinning wildly. --TD
THE END!!!!