It is bittersweet. The way your fingers brushed mine. In a crowded room... Meeting You Again Life did not become any easier for Ami since her first confrontation with Nishikawa; she knew it wouldn't be from the very beginning. It was because of this reason that Ami decided it was safer to come to school earlier than necessary to avoid any unsupervised meetings with him. She would hide in the girl's bathroom until the bell rang and would wait thirty minutes more just to make sure their tardy teacher arrived at the classroom before she did. She was not surprised to know that her homeroom teacher didn't care if she was late. She didn't leave the school unscathed, however. When everybody heard that she was Nishikawa's latest target, everyone else started to play pranks on her. They would put disgusting things in her locker. They would steal her lunch or her shoes. They would call her hurtful names and make up some disgusting stories about her while she was within hearing range. They haven't resorted to any physical bullying yet. But the meek, blue-haired girl knew that it was only a matter of time... She hadn't seen the tall, brunette girl for three days since their collision at the entrance. She did not know how she felt about that. For some reason, she believed that the other girl would understand how she felt and what she was going through. She had an aura of grim determination... The resolute strength that only a person, who had experienced a lot of hardships, could ever have. The kind of tenacity and fierceness that Ami lacked and envied. But in spite of these rough qualities, she knew that the other girl was kind. It was the way she looked at her, the way she spoke... apologetic and embarrassed for causing the both of them to fall that one fateful day-- the careful way she helped her up. She wanted to meet her. She wanted to ask for her help. She had asked herself before, 'Am I fooling myself? Am I assuming too much?' Deep down she knew she was. But she found she was hesitant to kill that little spark of hope in her. Once she did, she knew she was going to break down and cry. Everyday for three days, she would look around the sea of indifferent faces in hopes of catching a glimpse of the infamous Makoto and worried over her absence when she didn't show up. On the fourth day, she was late for school. It hadn't been her fault really... She had woken up as early as always, but her dad had gotten sick and she had to prepare the things a sick person would need before heading off to school. She was walking towards the entrance, possessively clutching her brown-leather book bag. She was not letting go of it any time soon. It the last thing her parents bought for her together as Christmas gift for her before they divorced. It was the only thing, besides her dwindling hope for Makoto's reappearance, which kept her going. Then she noticed a couple of students loitering just outside the gate, watching everyone else walk through. Ami stopped and swallowed hard when she recognized their sneering and bandaged faces. "Look! It's frickin' her!" Usui suddenly exclaimed and pointed in her direction and Nishikawa, Endo and Inouye all turned to look. The first one to smile was Nishikawa. He seemed almost pleased to see her. Ami took a step back, about to run away, when she bumped against someone. She whirled around quickly to see Makoto stare right back at her, her deceptively slender hands had abruptly grabbed on to the smaller girl's shoulders to keep her from stumbling. "You never watch where you're going, do you?" Makoto muttered, sounding a little annoyed and amused at the same time. When she looked back up to the other guys, her frown deepened. "Great... I shouldn't have come back." Despite the regret in those words, and the noticeable reluctance on her face, she strode on ahead-- leaving Ami to stare after her in surprise. The blue-haired girl was so relieved to see her, she wanted to cry. But instead, she hurried after Makoto and settled in a steady pace behind her. The bullies at the gate laughed at this. "Oi!" Inouye, the boy with the dreadlocks, called out, "Kino-yaro! Is that your new bitch! Can we borrow her to play with, sometime?" Ami felt her cheeks heat up in humiliation. "Shut up you bastards or I'll shut it for you..." Makoto growled as she walked past them and through the gate. The smaller girl wanted to smile at her and thank her for defending her, but she felt her self being yanked to one side and was pulled against a large and muscular body. "So you don't mind? Nishikawa called out to Makoto as he ran his hand through Ami's hair. She cringed at his touch and tried to pull away. But the behemoth Endo, who had locked her arms behind her back, was freakishly strong and held her fast. "No, please!" She whimpered. She looked towards Makoto and was shocked to see her continue to walk away without even leaving a backward glance. "No!" She yelled desperately and redoubled her efforts to get away. "Kino-san!" She cried out. She saw the brunette stop before she could walk through the school building's entrance. The tall girl finally turned her head to look at her. Ami's eyes were wide with disbelief when she saw the apathy in her face, mirroring everyone else's expressions as they passed by and pretended not to notice her. Ami felt the ground leave her and only Endo's firm grip kept her from crumpling to the ground. Makoto shrugged and disappeared inside. Nishikawa stood to block her view and crossed his arms over his proud chest. He looked down at her with a smirk. "Well, well... Looks like your girlfriend doesn't care about you after all." He leaned in close to stare into her frightened eyes, conveying every dark intention he had for her in his angry gaze. She began to tremble. Her knees weakened under the force of this boy's animosity. It was like he was full of hatred for everything and everyone. But there was also pleasure in his malicious regard for her as he fed off on her fear. Finally he nodded over to Endo. The large boy nodded back before he pushed Ami away roughly-- wrenching the book bag out of her hands in the process. She fell to the ground and grazed her elbow against the cracked surface of the pavement. She yelped and clutched at the wound as it began to bleed. Endo quirked a humorless smile at her. "We'll be taking this." He told her as he held out the bag for her to see. Usui cackled and grabbed it away from his hands. "Did she bring her frickin' lunch? It better be frickin' delicious 'cuz I'm frickin' hungry!" He tore her bag open and fished around inside, throwing papers and pencils away which impeded his search. Inouye, oddly enough, bent to pick up the pencils which he stuffed inside his pocket. "No! Please! That's my homework!" Ami was in tears as she stumbled to her feet and tried to grab her bag back. Nishikawa snatched it before she could and held it over her head. "Homework! Are you listening to this?" He jeered and wrapped his hand around her head to keep her at arm's length. "She's actually DOING her homework! What a nerd!" Ami flailed her arms in a frantic effort to grab any part of her bag and accidentally hit the side of Nishikawa's face. She gasped and froze. The hand over her face tightened to a painful degree before it released her. Then, without warning, it lashed out to smack her right back with a vengeance. She fell to the ground again. Her head was swimming with pain and dizziness. "Bitch!" Nishikawa made to lunge at her, but Endo quickly rushed to grab him around the waist and lifted him back. "Whoah! Aniki! Don't go too far!" "Yeah, too many frickin' outside witnesses, bro!" "Fuck! Let go of me!" "Shit... Let's just get out of here..." Ami did not notice Nishikawa throw the bag at her, which bounced harmlessly off her head. She did not notice them leave. She even did not notice how everyone else jostled her as they walked past. Numb, she shakily wiped the tears from her face, stood up and stared hollowly at the clear and sunny sky. The classroom was buzzing as almost all of the students gathered around the windows to watch the events unfold outside. Makoto entered the room in such a setting. She ignored the whispers around her as she went to her seat and sat down. She was in a foul mood. Earlier this morning, Seiya and Yaten kept teasing her about her unintentional tête-à-tête with Aino Minako. She was forced to escape them by finally going to school. Then, she had an encounter with four of her LEAST favorite people in the world. And what's worse... it looked like the new girl was brought into the middle of the madness. Makoto felt a little guilty about that. But then again, she really had nothing to do with the girl. SHE was the one who approached her-- for reasons the tall girl could not fathom-- who obviously knew WHO she was and probably knew about her reputation. The stupid ones, bearing all these things in mind, knew it wasn't a good idea to get near her or they would find themselves sucked into the conflict. Heck... Even Makoto knew that herself-- which was why she never dared help anyone in fear of worsening their fates. Was this new girl even stupider? She had to wonder though, what the other girl did to merit Nishikawa's attention like that. "Whoah shit! He hit her!" Makoto's head snapped up at that. 'What!' She shot to her feet and stormed over to the window in time to see the blue-haired girl go down. She winced, feeling guiltier and guiltier for leaving her helpless at Nishikawa's mercy. She did not expect the stupid idiot to go that far though. She knew him to be the type to only resort to physical violence if he was hurt first. "Damn it!" She yelled and ran out of the classroom, startling a few of her classmates nearby. By the time she was outside, Nishikawa and his gang, and the new girl were nowhere to be seen. She looked around just to make sure. She did not even catch a glimpse of her. Her shoulders sagged with defeat, the guilt weighing it down even further. She could not give up. What if the others dragged her away somewhere to pummel her to pieces? Then she caught sight of a boy who was sipping at his juice box, watching her from his spot near the entrance. She realized had seen him when she walked in earlier. Her eyes gleamed as she moved towards him. The boy, upon seeing Makoto approach, choked on his juice. Coughing, he tried to run away but the she had already grabbed him by scruff of his neck and forcefully pulled him towards her. "Where is she!" She snarled into his face. "And don't you even dare pull one over me. I know you've seen them!" "S-she went th-tha-that way." The boy pointed a quivering finger to his left. "W-went straight ah-ahead." She dropped him on his ass and ran in the direction where he pointed. She hoped she was not too late. She ran straight down the road, whipping her head back and forth for any possible places that one could drag someone away from prying eyes. Just when she was about to go inside an alley, she caught a glimpse of blue-hair and stopped. She stood, gasping for breath, a few meters in front of the town center's fountain. There she was, ALONE and safe, sitting on the fountain with her head bent down and her arms wrapped tightly around a battered bag. Makoto approached her cautiously and paused when the other's head shot up. She frowned when she caught sight of a darkening bruise near her right jaw. Then she steeled her nerves and took careful inventory of the girl's body. Other than the bruise on her jaw and the small, bloody scratch on her right elbow, she seemed relatively unharmed. Makoto tried to approach again and felt ashamed when the other girl flinched back. She held her hands up in a mollifying gesture. "It's okay." She told her softly and carefully moved towards her again. The girl stiffened but did not move away when Makoto sat beside her, keeping a respectful distance between them. Silence reigned for a few minutes as both tried to gather their thoughts in regards to the unfortunate events earlier. Finally, Makoto decided to speak first and quietly told her, "I'm sorry." She waited for a few tense moments before Ami replied, in a small and broken voice... "Why?" 'Why?' The brunette thought. Why didn't she help her? Why was she here now? She decided to answer the easier one and tried to meet her eyes, to try and express her sincerity, with no success. "So you wouldn't get hurt." Ami practically crumbled before her eyes. The smaller girl hugged her bag even tighter, and burrowed into a small, protective ball to try to keep the pieces of herself together. She wanted to laugh at the stupidity of the answer but was afraid that if she did, she wouldn't stop. "I got hurt." She retorted, her voice quiet but accusatory. Makoto looked away from her, her lips twisting in a small self-deprecating smile. "It would've been worse if I helped you." She knew that, and yet she could not help but feel like she had just betrayed her. Ami could not and would not understand. She was feeling numb to the point of not caring about anything anymore. She just wanted to go home, into the solace of her room and immerse herself in her father's Art books. But her father... Her sick father would be worried if he saw her and could not find it in herself to go home in such a pathetic state. She started when Makoto rose and offered her hand to her. She looked at the appendage dumbly before looking up at her questioningly. She saw the kind smile on the other's face, which seemed rather forced. But she could also see the effort behind it. "Let's go to the Crown." "Why?" Ami asked warily. Makoto shrugged, feeling awkward and a little lost. She really didn't know how to comfort the other girl, or how to redeem herself for her grievous error. She could only try to help Ami forget about what happened. Frankly, Makoto felt incompetent when it came to this kind situation with another person involved. She was so used to being independent for so long that she did not know how to show compassion to anyone anymore. "I don’t know... Seems like fun... And we both need it now anyway." Ami looked down unsure. She was not sure she could trust Makoto anymore. She felt a finger tap against the top of her skull and had to acknowledge it. She felt her heart stop when she saw Makoto's gentle and apologetic face. Something clicked... just like the first time they met. She knew, deep inside her, that Makoto would never abandon her again. The hopes, that she thought had died earlier, were rekindled in that instance. She smiled shyly up at the taller girl and answered, "Alright..." Makoto nodded, and felt some of the guilty weight lift off her shoulders. "Good." She answered back with a relieved smile. She reached down to take Ami's hands, who blushed at the sudden contact. The blue-haired girl looked up at Makoto, feeling strangely nervous at how intently she seemed to be looking at her arm. She wasn't sure what to make out of her expression when she saw a hint of remorse flash in her eyes. "I really mean it you know?" Makoto whispered quietly as she took out a small, white handkerchief from her skirt's hidden pocket and carefully wrapped it around the wound on Ami's elbow. Her fingers lingered over the cloth, over the wound, as she looked into the smaller girl's wide blue eyes. "I don't know your name." "I know. I forgive you." Ami told her, looking down to hide the blush that was beginning to spread across her face. 'Makoto's touch...' She marveled, her heart racing at the thought. She would treasure this wonderful feeling for a long, long time. When she looked up she was grinning. "My friends call me Ami. Mizuno Ami." Makoto was scowling. Ami was giggling beside her but she had to stop because it hurt her jaw. "I hate this game!" The brunette exclaimed and kicked at the offending machine and crossed her arms sulkily. "I bet it's rigged." Ami tried really hard not to smile and asked to try her hand at the game. Makoto stood back and watched in disbelief as the other girl manipulated the Crane Machine's claw with ease and lifted a bright pink rabbit plushie among the other toys. She dropped the toy inside the hole then bent to retrieve it through the little black flap on the bottom of the glass. She held the rabbit plushie in front of Makoto's face. The brunette did not say anything for a long, long time and Ami was suddenly afraid she might have angered the other girl. Suddenly, Makoto grabbed her hand and held it palm up before placing several more coins inside it. "Hey, can you win some more?" "Um... I can try..." Ami answered, looking down and blushing. Then she proceeded to win as much plushies as she could for Makoto. When they returned to their booth, the taller girl practically carried an arm-full of colorful plushies. Both of the girls sat across from each other, so it was clear for Ami to see how pleased Makoto seemed to be with her new treasures. "I didn't take you for a plushie maniac, Kino-san." "I'm not." The brunette looked aghast at the thought. "But it's such a bargain to get these many plushies for only 50 yen each... You could say I love bargains." Ami was so happy to be able to see this new side of Makoto, she was practically beaming. She had never desired to know someone as much as she wanted to know about the girl in front of her. She decided, secretly to herself, that she would do anything to become her friend and be close to her. "Really?" She leaned forward slightly in anticipation as she asked the following question, "what else does Kino-san love?" Makoto thought for a minute, before shrugging and answering, "Well... I love to cook. There's not much to cook in my place though. I'm not exactly that well-off." She looked at Ami pointedly, "Like most of the kids in Juuban." The smaller girl nodded, "I know what you mean. You could say I'm on the same boat as you are. But it hadn't always been like that." She looked up to see if the other girl would care to listen to her story and found Makoto looking right back at her patiently. "I lived in a condominium. I used to study in Mugen Gakuen. I was one of the top ten smartest students in school." "And let me guess..." Makoto smirked, resting her chin on the palm of her hand as she tilted her head to look down at Ami in amusement. "You had lots of friends, you had loving parents, you had a great life..." She could not help it. The picture perfect description made her bitter inside. Of course she would not show that to Ami. She bottled her negative feelings inside with practiced ease. Then she realized that Ami had suddenly grown quiet and wondered if she just said something offensive. "My... My parents divorced. And I have no other friends except my best friend... People just don't like me I guess." Ami lowered her eyes, ashamed at the ineptitude of her existence. Makoto wanted to kick herself. She should've known that one of the reasons why Ami came to a school like Juuban was because of something like that. She had no right to impose her bitterness on the other girl. "I'm sorry." She told her. "Kami, I seem to be doing you a lot of wrong today." "No, no, Kino-san." Ami shook her head furiously and smiled at her. "You couldn't have known." "But..." "Look, friends forgive each other. So it's okay." She watched, and was slightly alarmed at how quickly an unreadable mask came over Makoto's face. She anxiously bowed her head several times as she apologized fervently, "I'm so sorry! I am assuming too much. I know you don't really consider me as a friend, Kino-san. I'm really sorry." When she was done, she kept her head down in sorrow. She knew it was just too good to be true. A self-reliant person like Makoto had no need for a weakling like her. For the brunette's part, she was afraid and unsure. To be friends with Ami would mean signing the girl's own death warrant. Makoto had a lot of enemies, she had a past she could not run away from, and felt she would only bring people down with all the extra baggage she was carrying. "Mizuno-san," Makoto began quietly, "I'll only hurt you. I can't be your friend." "How will you hurt me?" Ami asked just as softly, slowly straightening to look at the other girl through her eyelashes. "You're the first person to show kindness to me since I came to Juuban. You came after me earlier because you were worried about me. How can such a compassionate person like you hurt me?" "I have a lot of enemies. If they find out you're my friend, they will come after you." "Then I will not leave your side." "That's crazy!" "It seems that way." The blue-haired answered back adamantly. Makoto did not outright reject her friendship, which gave her the hope that she might just win her over if she was stubborn enough. But the brunette just shook her head and rose to leave. Ami was desperate now. If Makoto left, she would never get another chance. "Even if I have to put up with people like Nishikawa, I am not leaving you alone until you like me!" She yelled to the sudden silence of the restaurant. Makoto stared down at her, stunned. Ami stared back at her, red-faced and embarrassed but firm and unyielding. The brunette could feel her resolve weakening, the beginnings of a real smile started to twitch at the corner of her lips. When she sat back down, conversation in the restaurant resumed. "You're so annoying, you know that?" Makoto half-complained and half-complimented. "So I've been told." Came the sheepish reply. "It's not going to be easy though..." The taller girl added seriously. "Nothing ever is." Ami answered knowingly. Minako was exhausted when she came home to her empty room in the hotel. She had decided to stay another night in Roppongi, and had been partying herself to the bone. She also met a lot of great-looking guys tonight and had a grand time being gushed over and worshipped. More than once, however, she found her thoughts straying to a certain green-eyed boy. She wondered if she would ever see him again. If she did what would she do? What did she want from him? Why DID she want him? These are questions she had no answers for and frankly, these nagging thoughts annoyed her. She had to come to a solution fast or she would drive herself nuts over it! She threw herself on the bed with a tired groan and closed her eyes. She waited for sleep to take her and was about to slip into deep slumber when her cell phone rang. She ignored it for a moment, willing the ringer to stop-- but the damn thing continued ring. She rolled over, grabbed the offending object and was about to punch a button to turn it off when she noticed who it that was calling, the name flashing clearly on the phone's glowing LCD. With another groan, she answered the phone. "You better have a damn good reason to call me up this late, Ami-chan..." "Late? It's only 9 o' clock Mina-chan." Minako rolled her eyes. She had been partying non-stop SINCE last night. But she didn't want to tell her overprotective best friend and have her fret over her. "Yeah whatever... I had a long day, that's why. So what's up?" "I..." The voice on the other line was bashful which caused the blonde to perk up in curiosity. "I met someone." "Whaaaaaaaaaat!" Minako squealed and rolled on to her back in giddy surprise. "You dawg! You have a boyfriend now? Why didn't you tell me sooner? Is he hot? What's his name? I better meet him first before I deem him worthy enough for your affections, Ami-chan!" "Mina-chan..." Ami's laughter echoed against her ear. "It's not a boyfriend. It's um... I met a new friend, that's all." "A friend, eh?" Minako repeated slyly, not convinced in the least. There was just something in her friend's voice that implied at something deeper. "Are you sure? Maaaaybe you have a crush on this friend..." Silence. 'Bingo.' The blonde smirked. "C'mon! What's his name?' "It's um..." There was a long pause before Ami continued shyly, "it's Makoto-san..." Minako felt faint and nearly dropped the phone. "W-what?" "I said her name is Makoto-san." 'Her?' She thought, expelling a breath in relief. The insinuation of her best friend's crush's gender did not even register in her tired brain. What was wrong with her? Makoto is such a common name... Why did she have to practically swoon like a school girl with a crush when someone else mentions it? She was disgusted with herself. "Is everything alright over there, Mina-chan?" "Yeah, yeah... I... Look, I think I'm more tired than I thought. Maybe we could continue this conversation some other time?" "Of course, Mina-chan. I shouldn't keep you up." "I love ya, Ami-babe!" "Love you too, Mina-chan." Minako hung up and groaned into her pillow. +Author's Note+ What have I done to Ami-chan! (wails) I am too cruel! Shame on me! Shame on me! I hate myself for writing this part... But it was necessary! TT The things I must sacrifice for the good of the story... Ami-chaaaaaaan! Forgive meeeeeeeeeeeee! (wails again) Ignore me... I lack sleep... Ahem... The "-yaro" suffix means that you're calling someone a bastard. Kami means god. Mugen Gakuen roughly translates as Infinite Academy.
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