Erika Hiroshi groans and looks like he wants to crawl under a rock and die. "Do you have to keep saying that?" "What?" Imite asks, blinking. "Girls?" Hiroshi flinches. "Girls? Girls, girls, girls!" Hiroshi covers his ears and looks like he wants the floor to swallow him or maybe the building to collapse. Satoshi slides his arms around his distressed boyfriend. "But Hiro-chan, you'd make a very *cute* girl," he murmurs, and I'm close enough to hear it. Suddenly, Hiroshi isn't nearly as annoyed. "And it's a good idea to butt your nose into someone else's business?" Tooru asks Imite, who looks at him and flutters her lashes. He grins weakly. "I must have forgotten who I was talking to..." Imite laughs. "It's a good deed." "Natsume deserves it..." "So does Erika!" Everyone turns to look at me, and I shrink back, waving my hand slightly. "Uh..." "Well then..." Shigeru drawls. Kasumi hugs him tightly and kisses him... It would be nice to be this happy with Natsume. And I'd love that chance... Our friends are so happy. I'm sure they have their problems, nothing is ever *perfect*. But... it would be nice to try... and see if we could reach perfection. Or as close as possible... "You have such a dreamy look on your face," Imite coos. "You're thinking about Natsume." She states. I blush, and smile. "I am." "Then what are we waiting for?" Kasumi asks. "Nothing!" laughs Imite. They say their good-byes, and then Imite pushes Hiroshi out towards the exit. "You don't have to push me, you know," he says. "Yes I do," she laughs. "No you don't." "Yes I do." "No you don't..." Kasumi sighs. "Right about now, Natsume's voice would be booming in your head and then you'd definitely lose the argument," she murmurs wistfully. I blink. "I..." "You're going to be perfect for each other. Completely perfect... And we'll be there for support!" By the time we reach the car, Hiroshi is muttering about his manhood and Kasumi is snickering. "If you're such a 'guy', then why are you here with us, hmm?" she asks. Hiroshi huffs and glares at her and goes to unlock the driver's side door. "Someone needs to give you a ride and I doubt that the others would be so... sensitive." Imite giggles. "So, you're getting in touch with your feminine side?" she asks. Hiroshi blushes and Kasumi leans on the passenger side door. "Imite, remember who you're talking to," she says. Imite blinks. "Eh?" "Hiroshi. Who's dating... Satoshi. What does that say about him?" Imite blinks. "Eh, he has good taste?" she offers weakly. "No, silly. He's *gay*..." Imite blinks (do we see a pattern forming?) and then smiles. "Oh! I get it. Of course. Hiroshi is gay." She then turns and looks across him at the car, as he opens the door and hits the unlock button. I open the door to get in behind him. "Shouldn't you already be in touch with your feminine side, Hiro-chan?" she asks, and then slides in behind the passenger side seat. Hiroshi fumes and slides in, and Kasumi's last in, closing the door. "Belt up," Hiroshi mutters, and turns on the car. "Aw, Hiroshi, don't be so pouty. We could have driven ourselves." "In this car?" he asks, remotely amused. "As if Satoshi would let *that* happen." We start to drive out of the parking lot, and Imite giggles. "You know, we should do more things like this. Ooh! I know. We could all get manicures and..." "No!" Hiroshi shouts. "No..." "Oh come on don't you want to get pampered?" Imite asks. "I can tell you, it's certainly divine..." Hiroshi focuses his attention on driving. Imite huffs. "You're no fun." "Let's just get to the gym before Natsume makes another mistake..." All I want to do is see her. The time passes by slowly. And it's not like Hiroshi it's driving fast enough... "You should go faster," Kasumi says. "I have to go the limit," Hiroshi replies. "Hiroshi," Kasumi sighs. She swings her leg over the divider and slams it down onto the gas pedal -- and Hiroshi's foot. He cries out, and Kasumi grips the wheel so as to keep her balance. "You're going to kill us!" he grits out. "It's all for a good reason, so it's okay!" "What, death?!" Kasumi laughs. At least one of us is as worried about this as me... "Hiroshi?" Kasumi asks, the gym coming into sight. "What?" he asks in a hiss. "I'm going to take my foot off yours now. So. Hit. The. Breaks!" She sits back, and he does, the car skidding and hitting the curb. But we've come to a stop... In the front view mirror, I see Hiroshi's eyes open slowly. "Are we alive?" "Yep!" Imite chirps, getting out. "Come on, come on!" Hiroshi sighs and turns off the ignition, and I unbuckle myself and crawl out of the back seat. I feel a bit shaken, and I look to the gym. "Well, what are we waiting for?" Imite seems to ask for the millionth time. Hiroshi gets out of the car, and checks it over. Imite rolls her eyes. "What are you doing?" "Making sure we didn't hit anything," he sighs bleakly. Imite giggles. "You're being paranoid." "One of us should..." Kasumi shakes out her hair and starts up towards the gym. I follow after her, determined to see this through. "Are you sure we should go in with her?" I hear Hiroshi say behind me. "Of course," Imite replies. "You're being paranoid again..." "Well, I think someone needs to be," Hiroshi sighs. Imite giggles, and Kasumi pushes open the front door. Biting her lip, she steps into the darkness partially. "Natsume?" Kasumi calls out, and her voice echoes in the empty gym. "Natsume, are you there?" she looks for a light, but there's nothing. "What could it hurt?" she asks, and then, swallowing her fear, she walks completely into the gloom, and is then swallowed up. "Kasumi?" Imite whispers. "Kasu-chan?" she blinks, and then follows after her. "Into the darkness..." She too gets swallowed by the gloom. I look to Hiroshi, and he holds out his hand. Smiling, I accept it, and we walk into the darkness together. So why isn't it ending...? Oh. I open my eyes, and peer around the brightly lit room. "Where are we?" I ask. I can still feel Hiroshi's hand around mine... that at least is a comfort. "I'm not sure. It looks like a little kids room... a girls," he says, and I nod. The toys, the dolls... everything is fresh and pristine. "Kasumi and Imite have to be around here somewhere." I nod, and step away from him, fingers sliding away. "You're right. Now... if I were Imite or Kasumi, where would I be?" "Uh..." I turn around at the sound of Hiroshi's voice. "How about here?" he asks, holding up two dolls who's appearances are hard to ignore. "Uh... it couldn't be," I murmur. "Natsume! Natsume, please, I want to talk to you..." Hiroshi gasps, and I turn around. "Natsume, please... give Erika a chance to talk. You could be surprised... in a good way." I hear nothing and then *poof* Hiroshi's not there anymore. But the three dolls on the floor... I gather them up, and then look up at Natsume from where I'm still kneeling on the floor. "Natsume..." "They don't understand. You don't understand, either," she whispers, closing her eyes, the light fading away. "Maybe I do... just give me a chance, please..." She shakes her head, hair unbound. "You..." "You won't let me talk," I say with force. Natsume's eyes flash open. "Erika..." "Why won't you? I'm not going to hurt you. If you'd just let me talk..." "Of course you're going to hurt me! That's what... love does. It hurts. It makes you regret. It makes you someone else and takes your free will away. It... it's stupid and it's a mistake and..." "Love might change you a lot, but it's not going to change you for anything but the good, Natsume. You need to feel... you need to take a chance." She blinks, tears in her eyes. "But I don't want to... I'm afraid." I set the little dolls down, and then walk to her. She's hovering right off the floor, and I hold my arms out, her eyes widening as I envelop her in my embrace. "Then you can be afraid with me... because you wouldn't be alone..." "Erika..." she whispers. "I love you, Natsume. Please don't leave me when I don't even know..." "I... Erika..." her arms slowly wind around me and she holds me for a moment. I hear the click of her heels as she sets down on the floor, and she holds me against her tightly. "I'm so sorry... I don't know what I'm supposed to do. I..." She shifts her head, gloomy blue eyes focusing on my own. "I'm so sorry. I --..." Her voice trails off, muffled as I press my lips against hers. Her eyes widen, and I can feel the caress of her mind against my own, the taste of her lips and the push of a tongue against my own. So sweet, so perfect, so... Natsume pulls away from me, a sad look on her face. "You're too good for me... look at what I've done. I let my emotions get out of hand... look what I did to them..." She closes her eyes and when she opens again, they're so radiant, so blue. "Natsume..." "I'll hurt you, like I hurt everything. I'll --" Smack! Natsume touches her cheek and I stare at the red mark on her pale skin, wide-eyed. "I -- I... I'm sorry..." I whisper. She blinks, hand dropping away from her cheek, and then she speaks slowly, choosing her words carefully. "Why did you do that?" Natsume acts in a quiet voice. "B-because... you're not going to hurt me? -- I really don't know..." She blinks again, and takes a step back away from me. "I..." "Natsume, don't leave me, *please*... if there's a chance that something could happen between us, then I want to go for it..." "Erika..." "Please... listen to me..." Natsume shakes her head slowly. "Erika..." "Say something else!" I plead. I can see tears welling in her eyes, something she's not used to at all. "Erika..." she whispers. "I don't know what to say..." "T-then... make me *feel* it..." She blinks, and I tap my forehead. "You can show me things that no words can describe... I know you can..." Natsume looks reluctant, and then her eyes glow, and I feel the gentle touch of something pressing against my mind. I can feel my eyes closing... but at the same time, it's like I can see a whole new world. And everything... everything is so clear and vibrant and I can *feel* it coursing through my veins... And I can feel that she loves me. Though that isn't the word that the feeling radiates... it's a wholeness and it encompasses me completely. It makes me feel complete and I don't ever want to let it go. I open my eyes again, and I'm in her arms, bodies pressed together. "We should thank them some time..." "I should change them back..." she replies, nervous and shaking. "We don't have to right away... no one will miss them." I smile and whisper and then we kiss, and that's all that matters.
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