Chapter Seven-

It occured to me once I got home to call Akai. I picked up the phone and dialed her number.
“Hello?” she answered, sounding a little breathless.
“Hello,” I said happily.
She lowered her voice, “You have the most atrocious timing that I have ever seen13 ,” it sounded threatening almost.
“I’m sorry,” I apologized meekly, “what was going on?”
Akai sighed, “Nothing. Just...nothing. How are you?”
“Pretty good,” I replied, “listen, Akai, I can go and you can go back to...whatever,” I knew I had a smirk on my face, and I wondered in the back of my mind what really had been going on.
“No, I don’t think I can,” she said regretfully.
“Akai!” I cried exasperatedly, “what was going on?!”
“Well, I...I was teaching Tasuki to dance and then...” she trailed off.
I was sitting on the edge of my seat, “And then...?”
“Well, the song ended, but he...” she paused, “he didn’t let me go, and he had this look on his face, and then...and then...”
“Akai...” I said in a low, warning tone, meaning if she didn’t finish her sentence, I was going to go through the phone and kick her little booty, pacifest or not.
“And then the phone rang,” she finished unhappily.
I was silent, stunned, then I cried loudly, “I’m such an idiot!! Sure, I get this impulse to call you, and of course, I act on it! Stupid!”
“It’s not your fault,” she said, “but...he started to say something...and I don’t know what it was!”
“I’m sorry,” I apologized sincerely, then a thought struck me, “where was Amiboshi through all this? Providing the dance music?”
“No, he went to bed not long after you left,” she paused, “I think he misses you.”
I couldn’t stop the embarrassed smile from spreading over my face, but then thought, oh hell, she can’t see me. “Sure, whatever, I wish,” I paused in thought, “you know what’s weird? Before he left, he said--”

“Nishiko! Get off the phone this instant! It’s time for bed!” my dad burst into my room, fuming like he usually is after a hard day of work. When my dad is mad, you don’t argue.
“I gotta go, Akai. I’ll talk to you tomorrow,” I said quickly, “bye.”
“Bye,” she said, and we hung up. My dad gave me another menacing glare, looking as if he wanted to argue with me some more. He loves to do that. He’ll come up with anything he can to argue with me when he’s in a bad mood. He must not have thought of anything, because he just muttered a goodnight and slammed the door to my room, leaving me to fall back against my bed and dream about the green haired flutist.


*****************


“I can’t believe that it’s prom night!” Akai exclaimed excitedly on Friday, in choir, “it came so soon!” she turned to Kimiko, “you’re going, aren’t you, Kimiko?”
“Yeah, yeah, I wouldn’t miss it for the world!” she replied happily.
The week had passed surprisingly quickly with little to no problems with the two boys. They were both fitting in wonderfully and growing more popular with all our friends, the drama, debate, and music people, loved them. They both seemed pretty excited about the dance.
I glanced over at Amiboshi, who was on the couch, talking to Tasuki, “Ah, to slow dance with Amiboshi! Sigh, sigh, and sigh again!”
“Do they know how to dance?” Kimiko asked.
“I don’t believe Amiboshi does,” I said, “Tasuki...” I looked expectantly at Akai.
She raised her hands innocently, “What? I gave him one dancing lesson,” but a smile crept across her face.
“Ooooh!” Kimiko clapped her hands together in delight, “tell, tell!”
Akai blushed a little, “It wasn’t anything, really...he didn’t know how to slow dance...so I taught him.”
I smiled smuggly, but said nothing. I was beginning to wonder what I was going to do with Amiboshi. I didn’t think I was brave enough to ask him if he wanted me to teach him to slow dance.
Akai suddenly said, “You know, the longer they’re with us, the worse we mess up their lives in Ancient China.”
“’We ?’” I said, “it’s not our fault! We don’t know what to do!”
“I don’t know...” she sighed, “but I promised him...”
I sighed also, “I keep telling Amiboshi we’ll send them home soon, but we don’t know how and it gets harder and harder to keep telling a lie.”
“It’s getting harder and harder to keep telling them that at all,” Akai sighed.
“Tell us what?”
We whirled around to suddenly see Tasuki and Amiboshi behind us. I looked to the clock just as the bell rang to end the period.
“Idiot!” Akai cried, having jumped in surprise, “don’t scare me like that!”
“Sorry,” Tasuki grinned, then tapped her on the forehead teasingly, “didn’t ya even realize that class is over?”
“No,” Akai said, “but you didn’t have to sneak up on me like that.”
“Sneak up on ya?” Tasuki snorted, “I just walked up. Yer too jumpy.”
“I’m not jumpy, I’m stressed,” Akai declared, “don’t I have a right to be, trying to hide two teenage guys in my basement? One of which, I might add, snores loud enough to bring the house down and tries to burn all my appliances.”
“Hey, it’s not our fault we have to be stuck in a freaky world with two very grumpy, very bossy girls,” Tasuki shot back, but was grinning at he did.
“Imagine where you would be if you weren’t stuck with us. Either you’d be with someone worse, or you’d be wandering around the streets without a clue. You two probably would’ve killed each other by now,” Akai pointed out.
Tasuki opened his mouth to reply with a most likely smart ass comment, but Amiboshi dropped a hand down on his shoulder (even though he was shorter than him ^-^) and looked to Akai, “And we’re very grateful, now let’s go to lunch.”
Akai grinned at Tasuki triumphantly and replied,”Sounds good to me.”
We headed down to lunch, which was fun because everyone was happy and getting along. Before I knew it, the school day was over and we were on our way home walking from Akai’s bus stop.
Tasuki suddenly seemed to remember something as we entered the house, “Hey, I resent that comment about me snoring loud enough ta bring the house down earlier!”
She snorted, “But it’s true. Don’t worry though, I think it’s kind of endearing,” I bit back a comment about how endearing wasn’t the word I would have used when you’re trying to sleep at four in the morning, “I bet poor Ami-chan doesn’t get any sleep though.”
“Oh, he sleeps pretty damn good,” Tasuki retorted, “besides, you’re not perfect either, having to stuff your face every five minutes.”
I cut in, “How adorable! Yet another lover’s quarrel!”
Tasuki laughed coldly, “Lovers? With her? Shit, she’s just a kid.”
Akai’s face hardened, and she raised a fist, as if preparing to punch him, but gave him one last hurt stare before grabbing Amiboshi and taking him out the door with her.
At first, my mouth dropped open that she’d taken Amiboshi with her, then I turned and smacked Tasuki hard on the arms.
He grabbed his arm in surprise, “Jeez, Nishiko! Ya gotta stop fuckin’ hittin’ people!”
“And you’ve gotta stop opening your big, fat mouth before thinking!” I exclaimed angrily to him, “do you even realize what you do to her?”
He looked startled at my anger, then confused, “Look, I didn’t mean that remark about ‘er bein’ a kid--”
“Then don’t say it!” I cried and shook my head, “you’re such a moron, Tasuki!”
He glared at me, “Nishiko! Ya say ya wanna be friends, then ya go around hittin’ me and callin’ me a moron!”
“Oh, so I should just sit back and let you insult my best friend?! God! You are such a chovienist!”
“Me?! At least I don’t sit around all day, and tell people every little thing tat’s wrong with them!”
I gritted my teeth, but forced myself to stay under control, “Okay, let’s calm down, okay? Let’s not argue.”
He glared at me more, but nodded stubbornly.
“Okay,” I sighed, “let’s all try to be friends by prom. When Akai gets back, you can apologize...” a grin spread on my face, “...by confessing your deep love for her!”
“WHAT?!”
I laughed, “Oh come on. You can’t deny that you have the hots for her.”
His eyes grew huge and he turned bright red, “I do not!”
I laughed again, “Okay, whatever. So...” I grinned mischieviously, “I heard Akai taught you how to slow dance.”
He blushed more, “Well...yeah...hey, is that the only thing we do there?”
I snorted, “Yeah right. There’s all kinds of dancing...” I trailed off, an idea coming to me, “hey! I can teach you how to swing dance!”
He looked scared, “W-what?”
“Swing dance! It’s actually a dance from the 40’s, but it’s come back and they always play it at dances. Akai loves swing dancing, and tonight you could surprise her by know how!” I beamed, “she’d love it.”
He stopped from taking in my babbling, “She would?”
I winked, “Uh huh. Let me go get my CD,” I went down to my backpack, flipped through my CD’s, got one, and hurried back. Before putting it in, I set it down and went up to Tasuki, “all right, I’ll teach you the basic stuff, and we can go from there,” he nodded unsurely, “okay, we’ll take hands like this,” I brought our hands up together, “you’ll have your hand on my waist,” he blushed and swallowed as I placed his hand on my waist, “and I’ll have my arm on yours. The movements of our feet are like this,” I showed him, “step, step, back, step. Step, step, back, step. All right, good, you’re getting it. We’ll do this in time to the music,” I taught him the swing rythum and showed him how to bring me in for a move called the cuddle, where the guys hs both of his arms around you and the girl is backed closely against him. I noticed him blushing and decided to take advantage of it. I grinned, looking up at him, “just think, you’ll get to do this with Akai.” He turned even redder and glared at me. I laughed and brought myself out, teaching him other great moves, even how to dip a girl (sure he loved that). Finally, we were ready to try it with the music. I instructed him how to get in time with the music, and I don’t think Tasuki has the greatest rythum, because at first, he didn’t get it at all. But we worked on it a lot, me counting loudly like Mr. Genkun, and he finally had it well enough. As we practiced it with the song a few times, he really seemed to be getting the hang of it, and we getting actually really good and confident.
“That’s great!” I smiled, taking out my CD from the CD player, “now, you can’t tell her about this. It’ll be a great surprise. When the song comes on at the dance, I’ll tell you and you go over and ask her to dance, all right?”
He nodded, smiling self assuredly, “All right.”
Just then, Akai and Amiboshi walked in. I shoved Tasuki forward, whispering, “Go,” and giving him a smile.
“Uh...Akai? I’m really sorry for saying that. I didn’t mean it. I just didn’t think before I said it,” he said, looking down at his feet.
She beamed suddenly (I knew she would), “Apology accepted. And I’m sorry if I rag on you all the time. Friends?” she held out her hand.
He grinned, “Friends,” and shook her hand. I leaned sideways from behind Akai and Tasuki to grin triumphantly at Amiboshi and gave him a thumbs up. He smiled weakly and nodded, but seemed to be off in another world, thinking about something.
“Well, Akai,” I said, “we should probably start getting ready, huh? And them too,” I walked up to Tasuki, “are you actually going to brush your hair for prom?” I teased, practically on my tip toes to reach up and ruffle his flame colored hair. I stopped, backing down to my own height and staring at him with a frown, “damn you’re tall!”
“He’s five ten,” Akai said quickly, and Tasuki gave her a weird look.
“I know, I know,” I sighed, “I’m getting used to everyone being a giant compared to me. Hey, we should probably tell them how to put on the tuxs and pray to Suzaku they get it right.”
“Yeah, so where should we start?”
“Uh, it shouldn’t be that hard for them, especially since they’ve gotten used to putting on our world’s clothes,” I said, not even sure myself how to put on tuxs, “I’ll go get tuxs,” I went to Akai’s room and brought them back out.
Akai took Tasuki’s from me and we gave them a few instructions before sending them off. Akai turned to me and grinned, “It’s our turn.”
“Oh, yeah!” I smiled, “dress up time!”
We hurried off to Akai’s room and began getting into nylons and slips and that sort of thing.
Akai seemed to be having trouble with her nylons and toppled over backwards in her underwear, “I swear,” she said, “I have a Miaka-complex. I eat all the time and I’m clutzy.”
I chuckled while pulling my slip on over my nylons, “Good deal. Tasuki and Amiboshi go for that sort of thing.”
“Yes, but I don’t want Ami-chan falling for me. And did you notice it takes Tasuki two years to get that far? I don’t have that kind of time.” she sighed and sat down, “but who am I kidding? He’d never fall for me anyway. I’m just a kid to him.”
I sighed too, looking over my shoulder at her, “Oh, you are not. He didn’t mean that at all. He told me that when you were gone, and you know he’d be telling the truth, ‘cause...” I paused, “why would he lie to me?” with my dress in hand, I went over and sat next to her, “hey,” I smiled softly, “it’s pretty obvious he likes you. Why else would he go to the dance with you if he didn’t?”
She snorted, “Because I asked him, and I’d just finished crying at the time.”
I smiled, “Ah, ye of little faith. It’s not so unrealistic, you know. I can just see it in his eyes when I say your name.”
She glanced at me, “What do you mean?”
I laughed, “Oh, now you’re open-minded. But I dunno. Something just flickers, and they seem to soften when you’re mentioned. Don’t take his actions around you to heart, Akai. He is Tasuki, after all.”
She smiled, “I know. That’s what makes him so...cool,” she sighed, pulling her slip over her head, “you know, Amiboshi had this crazy idea that you had a crush on Tasuki-kun,” she laughed, “I told him to stop complicating things.”
I laughed, then stopped, realizing what she’d said, “Oh! So that’s what he meant outside,” I stopped, shaking my head, “why would he think that?”
Akai shrugged, “I don’t know. I told him you don’t,though,” she glanced at me, “or do you?”
“Please,” I snorted, “I have enough trouble staying friends with him let alone like him in that way.”
“It’s no picnic, I can tell you that much,” she sighed, pulling up her dress, “he’s adorable, but he’s as dense as a pile of bricks.”
I set down my dress and zipped her up, then started to put on my own dress, “Yeah, he’s adorable. Damn, I never thought amber eyes could be so sexy,” I put a hand up with a grin, “this is all from a friends point of view, remember.”
“Ah, but you’re right. And did you get a look at that chest? Holy Suzaku!” she put a hand to her forehead dramtically, “how could I not fall for someone so handsome?”
I laughed softly, “Yeah? Well, I’ve seen Amiboshi’s bare chest three times!” I smirked, holding up three fingers, “now that is a wonderful sight to see.”
She sighed, “I don’t get that. I thought Ami-chan was the modest one. Unless,” she smiled suggestively at me, “he just wants to strip for you.”
I smacked her, even in her pretty dress, “It’s only because he’s been hurt or needed help...” I trailed off, “that sounded bad. Need help with clothing.”
She snorted, “Can you believe Amiboshi thinks I’m in love with Tasuki?” she laughed, but quickly trailed off.
I looked over myself in the mirror, “Gee, I wonder why anyone would think that?” I said sarcastically, turning to her, “you’re almost as dense as him. You are in love with him, you dope.”
“I am not!” she said hottly, “I just...I just...” she paused, “shit, you’re right.” she plopped down on the floor, looking up at me, “Nishi-chan! I’m in love with him! What am I going to do?! This is awful!”
I pulled her up, “What can you do about love? You enjoy it while it lasts. Besides,” I grinned, beginning to pull her into the bathroom, “what’s so awful about getting to see the guy you love in a tux and slow dance with him?”
“But...I can’t be in love with him! I’ve only known him two weeks!”
“Loves knows no length of time,” I said wistfully, “besides, you’ve seen Fushigi. I think watching it has at least made it a little more than two weeks.”
“Okay, but he’s only known me two weeks,” she began to brush her hair, “what am I going to do?”
“Enjoy prom and quit complaining?” I smiled, brushing out my dark locks.
“Why couldn’t I have waited a week to figure this out? Now it’s gonna bug me until...well, probably till the end of eternity because nothing’s going to become of it!” she brushed her hair frustratedly, “damnit, I hate men!”
“So do I, dear, but let’s just finish getting ready and have fun at prom.”
We fixed our hair, mine all up with some curlie-cues falling down around my face. Akai’s was partly pulled back and slightly curled. I did both of our make-up jobs, and after I’d finished I turned to her, taking in a deep breath, “You ready?”
She stared at herself in the mirror, “I guess so. Do I look okay?”
“Oh, for Suzaku’s sake!” I cried exasperatedly, “if I hear one more insecurit come from your mouth...”
“Oh, I don’t know,” she said, fiddling with a piece of hair, “I’m just nervous. And I hate being nervous.”
I gave her a warning look and began to haul her out to the living room, to the head of the stairs. I called down, “You guys ready?”
My stomach felt like a cage of butterflies as they called ‘yes’ back. Was this actually happening? I wondered, are we actually going to prom FY characters?
“Jeez, what took you two so long? Women are so damn slow!” Tasuki called from downstairs.
“Yeah, all they have to do is throw on some clothes, run a couple fingers through their hair and they’re good for go,” I muttered to Akai, a faint smile on my lips. She smiled nervously.
They came up the stairs with the tuxs on perfectly. I soon found I couldn’t barely breath, let alone talk. Amiboshi looked more handsome and gorgeous in a tux than anyone I’d ever seen before. He simply took my breath away. He looked at me nervously and shrugged, a faint blush in his cheeks.
Tasuki looked extrememly handsome too, but a better word to describe him was sexy. His flame hair seemed calmer today and fell over his eyes in that patented ‘I don’t give a damn’ way.
“What the hell are these?” Tasuki asked, shattering my thoughts (or perhaps daze), holding up the black ties we’d gotten. It was then that I realized they weren’t wearing them.
“Oh...” my voice came out choked, “those...those are ties. Um...here, I can put them on.” I was surprised anything came out of my mouth at all. I was so...taken aback.
Tasuki came up the rest of the stairs and handed me the ties. I set Amiboshi’s down and began to tie Tasuki’s around his neck, “I’m not very good, actually, but it’ll have to do.” I finished the knot and pushed it up a little too high on his neck. He choked, and I loosed it a little. “Sorry,” I laughed softly, “aw! You look so cute!” then, remembering Amiboshi thought I had a crush on Tasuki, I cleared my throat and went on to Amiboshi as Tasuki complained to Akai about what the fuck kind of torture this was.
I picked up Amiboshi’s tie and put it around his neck. I was doing an awful job at trying to tie because my fingers kept fumbling and my hands shook terribly.
“Sorry,” I blushed, undoing the awful job I’d done and starting again.
“You look beautiful,” he said softly and I jerked my head up to see him staring into my eyes deeply. I caught my breath and my heart sped up as we held each others eyes. The tie suddenly slipped from my hands, breaking the stare. As I knelt to pick it up, I replied in a nervous, “Thank you. You look nice too.”
I managed to tie it fairly well this time, and pushed it up gently, as not to choke him as I had Tasuki. I stepped back, smiling weakly, “I guess we’re ready to go.”
“Hey, how long do we have to stay in these,” Tasuki asked, loosening his tie more.
“Until prom’s over,” I turned to him, “that should be some hours. Hey, we have to be in dresses and heels, God forsaken things,” I pulled up the bottom of my dress to show the uncomfortable heels.
“Ah, shit!” Tasuki muttered as we walked out the door. I leaned over and whispered to Akai, “It might be nice to tell your prom date he looks nice. He’s probably insecure, with you barely talking to him,” I gave her a ‘really’ look and went back to Amiboshi.
Standing next to him, I felt more nervous than ever before, even more than singing, performing in front of a bunch of people. As we waited outside, he gently took my hand, and smiled nervously down at me. I felt the cage of butterflies again, but I don’t think I could have been any happier.


***************


We’s gotten a ride from Kissechi to the prom, and after exchanging some short chit-chat, we were there. Loud music blared, lights flashed, and the whole commons was littered with teenagers, dancing. Amiboshi looked a little alarmed at all the people and the music (they were playing “Gettin’ Jiggy With It” by Will Smith). but he hid it surprisingly well.
I love dancing. Dancing is just one of those things I can get into and cannot get enough of. I can’t say whether I’m good or not, because I can’t see myself and judge it. Embarrassedly enough, the way I dance involves a lot of hip movement and stuff like that (hey, I was taught by a cheerleader who told me ‘just move your hips and don’t be afraid to let your butt follow.’). I wasn’t too sure about dancing like that in front of Amiboshi.
Akai began dancing and helping Tasuki along with it, and I said loudly to Amiboshi over the music, “Have you ever danced before?”
He shook his head and I could see the nervousness seeping out.
“Okay, well, just follow along with me,” I shrugged, beginning to dance. He looked unsure, but began to dance a bit, and although it was the first time he’d ever danced before, he wasn’t bad. He seemed to get more confident as more fast songs played, but suddenly a slow song came on. I felt a blush come into my cheeks. Amiboshi looked confused at the change of music, and looked around at the couples starting to slow dance.
“This is...uh...a different type of dance,” I said softly, “if you don’t want to, it’s completely okay.”
He smiled slightly, “No, it looks okay. What do we do?”
I felt butterflies in my stomach, wondering if I could actually stand up, let alone slow dance. “Well, just like the other couples, I mean, people...” I stammered, hesitating but taking a deep breath and drawing my arms up around his neck. He glanced at the other couples, then gently put his arms around my waist. We weren’t too close at first, but as we moved to the music, he pulled me closer and soon we were cheek to cheek. I smiled happily, sighing in my mind. This was more perfect than anything I’d ever imagined or dreamed of. I wanted to stay like this forever, forever in his arms.
I just realized I’d closed my eyes and was completely silent. I felt him still tense, and I figured I should probably talk to him.
“So, what do you think of the dance so far?” I asked quietly in his ear.
He seemed to ease up a little now that I was talking to him. “It’s nice,” he replied, “I’ve never been to anything like this before.”
“Mm hmm,” I smiled, “dances are fun. Whenever I go to them, I just get really into it, like I wanna dance all night,” I chuckled softly, blushing, “I’m sorry, you probably don’t care about all this.”
He chuckled in return, “It’s okay. I like listening to you. I...” he paused, “it helps me get to know you better.”
I hesitated, a little surprised, “You...you want to get to know me better?”
“Yeah. You’re my...friend.”
I smiled, “Yeah.”
To my utter dismay, the slow song ended. He held onto me a bit longer, then let me go, looking at the ground and blushing. I wondered why, but remembered it was his first slow song, and he’d maybe never been that close to a girl before for a long period of time.
Another fast song started andI asked him, “You wanna go over and see what Akai and Tasuki are up to?”
He nodded, and we headed over to them, me secretly wondering if they (Tasuki and Akai) were going to sneak off any moment to go make out. I smiled, seeing them holding hands.
“Hi,” I said, causing them to look startledly at Amiboshi and me, “enjoying the dance?”
“Yeah,” Akai said, looking a bit flustered and pulling her hand away from Tasuki’s. Tasuki looked down at the floor, then at Amiboshi, “Yeah. You?”
“Yeah,” Amiboshi and I answered in unison, then turned to look at each other in bewilderment. After a moment, we both laughed, coloring a bit in the cheeks.
Akai smiled smuggly and Tasuki merely rolled his eyes. “Oh, aren’t couples cute?” Akai asked Tasuki.
Amiboshi and I turned bright red. Amiboshi stammered, “No...I...we...we’re...” “We’re not a couple,” I filled in quickly, “just...friends.”
We avoided each others eyes, me thinking about how humilated he must be. He probably cringes at the thought of us being a couple. He just danced with me because he’s a nice guy. I frowned unhappily at the conclusion of my thoughts, then remembering I was surrounded by people, forced a quick smile on my face.
Akai gave me a questioning look, then started, “So...” but trailed off.
Luckily, Kimiko came up then, smiling and radiant in her long green dress. Her date was pretty handsome, with longish black hair that fell over his eyes a bit.
“Hi, everybody,” she said happily, “this is Yukio.”
“Nice to meet you,” Akai said polietly. I smiled and said, “Hi.” Yukio nodded and said hello back to us.
“So, are you guys having a good time?” Kimiko asked.
“I am,” Akai replied, “I don’t know about everyone else.”
“I am,” Tasuki declared, grinning crookedly. Amiboshi and I nodded.
“What about you?” Akai asked, “you look so cute!”
Kimiko smiled and blushed, “Thanks, so do you. I’m having a great time,” she suddenly snickered and scooted closer, “hey, Akai, Namida’s been watching you and Tasuki all night.”
Akai grinned, “Good. I hope the bastard’s jealous.”
Tasuki looked a little surprised, “Why would he be jealous?”
“Uh...no reason. He just deserves to be,” stammered Akai, then turned to Kimiko, “let’s go get some punch.”
They started to walk off, and I sighed loudly, “Oh, sure. Leave me with the guys.”
Akai glanced over her shoulder, “C’mon, Nishiko.”
I smiled and turned to Amiboshi, “Be right back,” then went off with the others, leaving the guys to fend for themselves.
As soon as we were away, Akai groaned, “Aggghh! I am such an idiot!”
Kimiko and I both turned to her, me raising an eybrow. “Why?” I asked.
“Do you realize I have picked the worst guy possible to fall in love with?” she said unhappily.
I sighed and turned to Kimiko, “She’s been going on about this all night.” I turned back to Akai, “would you relax? It’s not impossible for Tasuki to fall in love.”
“Well, I know that, but...” she stopped and looked at me sharply, “how come you aren’t freaking out about this with Amiboshi?”
I stared at her, “What do you mean?”
“Well, you’re in love with Amiboshi. How do you stay so calm?”
I looked down, then said thoughtfully, “I think I handle being in love differently from you up here,” I tapped my head, “I’m okay with being in love with him. Even though he doesn’t love me back, I like just being around him.”
I felt deep down that the last part of this was a lie. It did bother me that he didn’t love me back, just not much as it had with Akio. I wondered about that. How could two loves be so different for two people who are so much alike.
Akai cocked her head, “How do you know he doesn’t love you back?”
I blushed and laughed a little, “I can just tell.”
She raised an eyebrow, “How, exactly, can you tell?”
I stopped, feeling a bit stuck, “...oh...little stuff,” I frowned, “there isn’t much reason to it, so let’s just get on with our lives.” I forced a smile.
She snorted, “That’s what you think. You know perfectly well that’s not true. It’s so obvious he’s in love with you, it’s sickening. Why else would he have asked you to prom?”
“Because you told him to.”
“No, I told him about prom and told him he should ask you. He wasn’t sure you’d go, and that’s what took him so long to ask you.”
I shook my head, “No one likes rejection, even from the simplest source. Come on, we should get back before they start discussing what bad dancers we are.”
“That doesn’t explain why he always stares at you. Or why he was so happy after I told him you’d go with him.”
I blushed furiously, pulling her back, “Yeah right. He doesn’t stare at me, and he was probably just happy to get to go to the prom.”
“Yes, he does, and no, he wasn’t. I’ve seen him watching you Nishiko...he watches you the same way I watch Tasuki.”
I looked at her, still a bit flushed, but we were already back to the guys. I looked at Amiboshi. Did he actually watch me...the same way Akai watches Tasuki? I looked away, thinking, no way. He’d never like me that much.
And as luck would have it, another slow song came on.
I glanced at Akai nervously, but went over to Amiboshi, “Do you want to dance this one?”
He nodded and took my hand, leading me away. We began to dance cheek to cheek again, and I entwined my fingers in his soft hair. How odd, it struck me, that no one’s questioned his green hair yet. I found it a fascinating color, and most would assume it dyed, but no one said anything about it. I sighed to myself, thinking how pathetic I was, getting caught up in thoughts about his hair.
“Hey, Nishiko?”
Startled a bit at him interrupting my thoughts, I stammered, “Uh huh?”
“Can...can I asked you something?”
My heart raced, “Yes...?”
“Do...” I could feel his hands trembling a bit on my waist, “do you love Tasuki?”
I froze, stopping our dancing, “What?”
He still held me, but we had stopped, “I’m sorry, that was a very forward, a very rude question. You don’t have to--”
I smiled at him, getting courage to hold him tighter, “No, I don’t.”
He seemed realived, but seemed to be trying to hide it, “Oh.”
We began dancing again. I laughed softly, “I couldn’t fall in love with Tasuki.”
There was a hesitated silence, then he asked, almost expectantly, “Why?”
“He’s too loud. I could never take all that yelling. Besides, he’s too violent. I’m a pacifest.”
He laughed in return, and we danced in a happy silence.
Suddenly, I heard the beginning to the song I’m sure Tasuki’d been stressing about all night. The swing song. My eyes widened and I pulled away from Amiboshi, “Gotta go!” I said quickly, hurrying over to Tasuki and Akai.
Akai grinned at me, “Shall we?”
I was a bit stunned and blinked, but got a hold of myself, saying, “Actually, I think someone else would like to have this dance.”
I winked at Tasuki and he cleared his throat before turning to Akai and saying, “Akai, ya wanna dance?”
She looked utterly shocked, “Uh...yeah...”
Tasuki grinned at me, then brought Akai to him, a hand on her waist, bringing their other hands up together. He began to swing dance with her and I stepped back in satasfaction.
Amiboshi came up beside me, “What’s going on? How does he know how to do that?”
I smiled, “It’s called swing dancing. I taught him how,” I saw a quick flash of something got through his eyes and added quickly, “for Akai.”
He nodded and we watched them for awhile. Tasuki was awsome. Akai looked so shocked it was funny. He’d smile at her confidently, then sometimes glance at me. I gave him a thumbs up and turned to Amiboshi, “It’s hot in here. I’m gonna go get a drink of water. I’ll be right back.”
I was walking to the drinking fountain when a hand caught my wrist roughly. I cried out and whirled around to see Namida. Kagami stood behind him, a frown on both of their faces.
“Hello, Nishiko,” Namida said, almost coldly.
“Hello, Namida,” I replied, just as cold.
There was a bit more to Akai and Namida’s story than I’d told Tasuki. Namida and I had been best friends. We’d tell each other everything. We went through so much together, even went out for a week. I knew his view everyday he went out with Akai. I heard his lame excuse and version everytime he’d cheated on her. I’d listened faithfully with gritted teeth as he told me he’d cheated on Akai, again and again. Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore. Something just snapped. When Akai dumped him, I realized that he’d never been my friend, he’d just used me, for everything.
I glanced at Kagami. She’d been my best friend too, of course. But she was exactly like him, and she wasn’t a very different story.
“So, how’re you doin,’ Nishiko?” Namida asked, still holding my wrist tightly.
“Fine,” I replied.
“Hey, who’s Akai dancing with?” he asked, jealously seeping through his tone.
I glanced at him sharply, “It’s really none of your business.”
His grip tightened on my wrist, “C’mon, Nishiko,” he said, trying to hide his anger, “we’re buddies, you can tell me.”
I attempted to pull my wrist away, but failed. “Buddies?!” I said fiercly, “I’m not relaying information to you anymore!”
“Nishiko,” he said through gritted teeth, his grip tightening still more, “what’s the big deal?”
I again tried to pull my wrist away, “Namida! Let go! You’re hurting me!” I cried, pain shooting through my arm.
“Nishiko--”
“She told you to let her go.”
I jerked my head around to see Amiboshi, glaring at Namida.
“Who’re you?” Namida asked, glaring back at Amiboshi.
Amiboshi ignored his question and repeated, “Let her go.”
My heart beat quickly. He’s...he’s protecting me. Oh, but I didn’t want them to fight!
“Are you her boyfriend or something?” Namida asked, then sneered, “man, what are you thinking? Do you know what a bitch she is?”
My mouth fell open at this, but before I could slap him, Amiboshi shoved Namida all the way to the wall. My wrist was released and I rushed over to Amiboshi.
Namida, furious at this, recovered and shoved Amiboshi back. Amiboshi cast a thick death-glare at Namida, and began turning away. He’s peaceful, I remembered, I have nothing to worry about. But Namida couldn’t accept this and grabbed his shoulder, turning him around. Anger flashed in Amiboshi’s eyes, and it was then I noticed a faint blue light emminating from under Amiboshi’s clothes, on his shoulder. My eyes widened, for people had begun to crowd around to watch whatever was going on. I couldn’t let anyone know about his character.
I grabbed him, covering his shoulder first thing, “Amiboshi, please! Let’s just go...” I felt more heat from beneth my hand, and he frowned questioningly, “Amiboshi, you’re character!” I hissed and his mood suddenly changed. He glanced to his shoulder, which was covered by my hand, and he knew what I meant.
He turned back to Namida and said in a threatening tone, “Don’t ever call her that. And don’t ever touch her again.”
I forced him away from the angry Namida, still holding his shoulder.
Once we were away from the crowd, I sighed and said to him softly, “Okay, just calm down.”
He closed his eyes, breathing steadily. I couldn’t help but rest my hand on his chest and lay my head upon it. I just was worried about him, and everyone finding out he was a seishi, or Namida hurting his handsome. Tasuki’d already given him a faint bruise on his cheek from punching him.
“Nishiko...?” He murmured, surprised at my sudden affection.
“I was worried about you. I always worry about you,” I said softly, my head still against his chest. There was silence and I said even softer, “Thank you... for protecting me back there.”
His hand fell upon my back, hugging me, “Hey, what’re friends for?”
I blinked, and quickly drew myself away from him, “Yeah...” but underneth my smile, my heart began to cry. That’s how he thinks of me. A friend. I’ll always be just a friend to him, a little sister, nothing more.
I suddenly heard shouting and turned to see Akai screaming at Namida, who looked utterly shocked.
“You don’t deserve it!” she yelled, ”you are dirt, you are scum, and so is anybody who’d lower themselves to sleep with you!”
I widened my eyes. This was a new Akai. Tasuki’d pulled her away, and she stormed off with him. I pulled Amiboshi with me up to her and once we got to them, I had no idea what to say.
Akai looked away and spat out, “Worthless bastard.”
I sighed, “Just forget about him, Akai-chan. After this, he’ll never have enough guts to talk to you again and you won’t have to deal with him.”
Tasuki gritted his teeth, balling his hands into fists, “That guy pisses me off! First, he hurt you Akai, and now you, Nishi-chan!”
I narrowed my eyes but said, “Let’s just forget about it.”
“You’re right. The coward probably won’t have the guts to approach us now,” Akai looked down, “I’m sorry I made such a scene. I never do things like that,” she grinned suddenly, “but damn, it felt good!”
I laughed, “Yeah, you were Death Bitch from Hell back there! Xena’d be afraid of you!” I rubbed my sore wrist a little.
Amiboshi looked at me concernedly and said softly, “Are you all right?”
I looked up and cleared my throat, “Uh, yeah.” The truth was, it really hurt. Namida didn’t know his own strength, and if he did, then he was just an asshole. And that bitch comment hadn’t made me feel too great.
“Where am I staying tonight?” Amiboshi asked suddenly.
“Well..” I asked, confused, “Akai’s right...? I mean, if two guys are too hard to sneak in, I’ll take him...” I looked at Akai, shrugging.
“Oh, yes, Nishi-chan, that’s a good idea,” Akai smiled, “my parents are actually going to be home tonight and that’d be a big help.”
I turned to Amiboshi, “You can stay in Jiyu’s room. He’s hardly ever home anymore and it’s all the way downstairs, away from my parents.”
Another slow song came on (another?! Oh, well, I don’t mind. =.)) and I turned to Tasuki and Akai, “Are you guys gonna dance this one?”
Akai looked at Tasuki, who shrugged. “I dunno,” she said, “it’s kinda hot in here. You wanna go outside?”
Tasuki nodded and they went out together.
Amiboshi looked at me, “Do you want to dance again?”
“Do you?” I smiled.
“I’d love to,” he said seriously, “but I’ll understand if you’re tired of dancing.”
“I’d love to too,” I smiled back and we went out onto the dance floor. I rested my head against his shoulder peacefully, thinking of how blissful this all was. I heard him sigh and a thought suddenly struck me.
“You want to go back, don’t you?” I asked sadly.
He was silent, then replied slowly, “I don’t know. If I could have Suboshi here with me, I’d stay here forever.”
I couldn’t help but smile, “Really? Why?”
He was silent again, running his hands through my hair, “I like it here.”
I chuckled softly, “My world’s not that great. It’s more corrupt than Ancient China.”
“That doesn’t matter,” he replied and I could hear a little wistfullness in his voice. I could feel his warm breath on my neck. Slowly we pulled away enough to look into each other’s eyes. So many emotions filled his, I couldn’t read them, but found myself lost at the same time. Seeing him stare at me, staring at him, I felt a love more powerful than I ever had before. It was stronger than with Akio, more like what poets call ‘true love.’
Before I knew it, he leaned to me and I could felt his breath near my lips. I took in his breath along with his chi and gasped silently, pulling away. It was so powerful, feeling like a sudden jolt in the stomach. It made my heart beat quicker and the butterflies in my stomach dance more irratically.
Just as we’d begun to stare at each other again, I felt a tap on my shoulder. For the love of God! Who the hell would interrupt me at a time like--
Shuriu. I felt my arms drop from Amiboshi as I found myself face to face with Shurui. It was just then that I noticed the first slow song had ended and a new one had begun.
“Hey, Nishiko,” Shurui smiled, ignoring Amiboshi completely, “do you wanna dance?”
“Sure!” I said, almost a little too eagerly. He asked me to dance!! He asked me to--I suddenly remembered someone. I turned to Amiboshi, biting my lip, “that is, it’s all right with you...”
“Sure,” Amiboshi said softly, “I’ll just go sit over there or something. Maybe I’ll go talk to Bishimon.”
“Okay,” I nodded as he went off. I turned back to Shurui, who put his arms around my waist, and I drew my arms around his neck. We danced in silence, and I thought of how many times I’d dreamed of this. I had the biggest crush on Shurui, and he hardly ever seemed to notice me. Until tonight.I sighed silently, resting my head against his. Maybe he liked me after, I thought happily, that’s more to be said than about Amiboshi. I can come up with reasons for every single seemingly romantic guesture Amiboshi gives towards me, but not one for Shurui. Maybe...maybe I should tell him how I feel. I thought, it’d get my mind off Amiboshi, going out with Shurui. And Shurui’s a really nice guy.
The slow song ended and Shurui pulled away from me, “Well, thanks for the dance,” he said rather quickly, beginning to walk off. I caught his arm, “Shurui, can I talk to you? Alone?” he looked at me skeptically, “please? It’s important.”
He sighed and shrugged, and we went out to the outside of the school. He turned to me expectantly.
I took a deep breath, “All right, well, lately, I was sort of noticing you, uh, paying a little more attention to me...and I wanted to tell you...I’ve liked you for a long time. I guess...you could say I’m asking you out.”
I held my breath, not breathing, wondering if I’d actually done that, made such a risky and serious decision like that so quickly.
He looked at me for a long time, and eyebrow raised, and finally he spoke, “Go out? With you ? You’ve got to be kidding. Why would I go out with you?” I felt like I’d been punched as he went on, laughing, “oh, because I asked you to dance? That was a dare, Nishiko. A couple of my friends dared me to dance with a freak like you. It was pretty revolting, but I figured, what the hell. A dare’s a dare, right?” he sneered and I felt more blows delivered, “you actually think anyone would go out with a freak like you? Yeah right. The only reason anyone would go out with you is because you’ve got big tits, but even I’m not that desperate.”
I took in some air, for I realized I’d not been breathing. Tears stung my eyes and my heart felt like it’d been savaged ripped apart. I felt the impulse to slap him. To hit him. To do anything I could to make the pain go away. But all I could do was whirl around and run away. I held the tears in, I wanted to keep them concealed until I was far away from from everyone. I thought for a moment about everyone, but the pain was too great. Fuck everyone. Fuck the world.
Suddenly, strong arms caught me in my running.
“Hey, Nishiko!” Tasuki cried, holding me by the arms. He was smiling and Akai was with him, “where ya runnin’ to?”
I swallowed the tears, forcing them to the pit of my stomach, painful as it was, “No where.”
“Hey, we’re gonna leave, ‘kay?” he said, letting go of me, “let’s go in and find Kissechi and Flute Boy, all right?”
Amiboshi. Oh God, I didn’t want to see him right now. He’d over load my already fragile and heartbroken emotions, and I didn’t know what I’d do.
We found them inside, and I did as best as I could to avoid Amiboshi. He could probably take one look into my eyes, know what was wrong and I’d begin to sob. That was not what I wanted.
The whole car ride, I couldn’t say anything. I was sure if I talked, I’d cry. Amiboshi watched me concernedly.
“Nishiko, are you okay?” he asked me softly, taking my hand.
I couldn’t bear his touch and pulled my hand away, nodding. I just turned and stared out the window, pushing the tears and pain to the pit of my stomach till it hurt.
I felt so stupid. How could I be so stupid? Of course Shurui wouldn’t have gone out with me. He was handsome, popular, athletic, and I was just a...freak, as he’s called me. It wasn’t Shurui so much, but the overall rejection. There it was. Another rejection. How come I never learned? I still had no idea what was so replusive about me that turned guys off so much. I’ll never tell Amiboshi now. I’d learned my lesson. I think this time, I actually did learn, and I’ll never tell another guy how I feel again. I could thank Shurui for that, at least.
Before I knew it, we were at my house.
“You ready to go in?” Amiboshi asked my softly, beginning to get up. I froze, just now remembering I’d agreed to take Amiboshi home with me tonight. Ah, crap. Tonight of all nights.
“Sure,” I replied, shocking myself that’d I’d actually gotten one word out without sobbing. I got out of the car, followed by Amiboshi and waved goodbye to Akai and Tasuki. They waved back and Amiboshi and I headed around back silently. We got to Jiyu’s window and climbed into the room.
Once in, I guestured around, “This is where you’ll stay. I’ll be upstairs if you need anything.”
I began towards the door, but he gently caught my arm. I didn’t turn.
“Nishiko, I know something’s wrong,” he pulled me back to face him, “you can tell me. Please tell me.”
I was looking down at my feet, but he tipped my chin gently with his hand to look at him. The moment I looked into his eyes, I felt the tears roll down my cheeks. His eyes flashed, putting his arms around me, and I burst into tears. It felt wondeful, to let the tears out that I’d held in so long. He pulled me to him, his arms around me, and I fell into him, laying my head against his chest, sobbing.
“It was Shurui,” I sobbed, holding onto his arms tightly, “I told him how I felt and he made a fool out of me. He was dared to dance with me. He said no guy would ever go out with me. I...I feel so stupid! I blurted out how much I liked him because I thought I had a chance,” I sniffed, closing my eyes tightly and letting the tears overflow, “he never liked me at all.”
Amiboshi held me close, rocking me back and forth. He was so strong and comforting. I let myself cry and be held in his arms.
Finally, he said, “Nishiko, I’m so sorry. He’s just a jerk. I know how hard it is when the one you love doesn’t love you back.”
I was silent, then I shook my head, “No, I don’t love Shurui. I couldn’t,” I closed my eyes again, “You’re the only one I love.”
The words fell from my lips before I’d even realized I’d said them. Amiboshi pulled away from me, staring at me with wide eyes. I slapped a hand over my mouth in horror. Oh God no. Not again. Not with Amiboshi. I began to bolt from the room, but again he caught my arm and pulled me back, staring at me a moment before he lowered his lips to mine and kissed me. My heart jolted and began beating rapidly, but I kissed him back, more tears streaming down my cheeks. God, how I loved him. I expressed it through the kiss and he did the same. Slowly, we kissed deeper, embracing each other. He gently wiped the tears from my cheeks and hugged me. I breathed his name, and he breathed mine. No more words needed to be said. We knew we loved each other and that was all we needed to know. Our lips didn’t kiss: our cheeks kissed, our hair kissed, our hands kissed, our hearts kissed...our lips had no reason to kiss.


***************

Prolouge	Chapter One	Chapter Two
Chapter Three	Chapter Four	Chapter Five
Chapter Six	Chapter Seven	Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine	Chapter Ten	Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve