More
than Friends Chapter Three "So what’s the matter? Did you get up on the wrong side of the bed?" Keiko shook her head, then, after giving it some thought, nodded. "Kind of." Yusuke cleared his throat. "Why?" It’s with that darned Okada, she wanted to say. But she couldn’t bear to say it. What was the use? It was the morning after. The two were sitting on a bench under a big shady tree, waiting for classes to start. The sky was giving signs that it would give a slight summer downpour that morning. It reflected Keiko’s mood. She looked up at the gray-bottomed clouds gloomily. Yusuke snapped his fingers. "I know. I finished up all your food in your restaurant and your chichi-oya couldn’t find any more food. You’re worried that you’ll starve to death." Despite her bad mood, Keiko couldn’t help but laugh. "Yusuke, you always find a way to make me laugh." "It’s a corny line, I assure you," Yusuke said. "So come on, Keiko. Let your good ol’ friend lessen your burdens." "Oh, Yusuke." Keiko sighed. "Arigatou. But…oh, forget it." Keiko hugged her books tighter against her chest and kept her eyes on the ground. She didn’t say anything more. When she looked up at Yusuke, she saw that he was looking at her firmly. His brown eyes were intense. "What?" Keiko raised an eyebrow. Yusuke shook his head. "I was just wondering what might be bothering you. Any…secrets?" "Since when were you interested with my secrets, Yusuke? When you went away to the Ankoku Bujutsukai, you didn’t even bother to tell me. Hah! You kept a secret from me, too." "I would have told you, but Koenma ordered not to," Yusuke replied innocently. "It’s a special circumstance." "Let’s just say that my secret is not of any great importance at all, so I’d just forget about it." "Wait, let me guess. Koenma assigned you to be a spiritual detective too." Keiko rolled her eyes. "Ha-ha. It’s much, much simpler than that." "Hmm…" Yusuke tapped a finger on his lips. "Tanaka sent you to the headmaster’s office?" "Of course not." "Hmm…one of the guys pulled your skirt up?" Keiko’s hand flew across the air and landed smack on Yusuke’s face. Yusuke lost his balance and fell backwards, his back hitting the ground with a loud thump. "Ahh…that was painful," Yusuke said. He was in too much agony to stand up. Keiko didn’t reply. "I just remembered the time when I pulled your skirt up and you got angry with me," Yusuke told her. He pulled his bones together and sat up. As he did, he saw Keiko’s face frozen in shock. "Keiko?" "Ah…" Yusuke followed Keiko’s gaze. She was staring at someone…a tall guy whose longish golden-brown hair glinted against the sunlight. No doubt about it; it was Okada Takashi. He was walking away from them. "Oh, it’s Okada," Yusuke said, snickering. "He probably wanted to talk to you, but he chickened out because he saw me." "Stupid Okada," Keiko mumbled angrily. Yusuke looked at Keiko. A wave of pity washed over him. He put a hand on Keiko’s shoulder. "Yeah, I know how stupid Okada can get." "Mm…" Yusuke knew how Keiko felt. He was a witness to all of the things Keiko went through living with Okada Takashi. Of course, she needed his help oftentimes.
Okada Takashi. The man who was made for the destruction of anything that comes in his path. Not that I would call him a man. After all, Okada doesn’t know how to balance his life. On the other hand…he doesn’t know how to balance a pencil on his nose. So I find it hard to classify him. Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not the kind who would follow a cute guy like him like a lovesick puppy. But that’s just the point. I don’t want to fall in love, but I fell. Whether it was love or a trap where I fell into, you may judge. You see, it was funny how I got to know him. Yusuke was not around and neither were my girl friends. I was finishing a project, and I was about to pass the big illustration board to my sensee, when he stopped to help me. Just like that. His charm didn’t fail to escape me. By the end of the day, I knew that Urameshi Yusuke was history, as far as boys were concerned. Takashi sent out signals that he wants to be with me all the time. He caught up with me after classes, ate with me during lunch, walked with me to school. What I didn’t know was that I was abandoning Yusuke. I was so caught up with hanging around with Takashi. Then, when we’re alone, he’d tell me that he loves me and that I’m the prettiest, most intelligent girl in the world—things like that. All right, let’s face it—who wouldn’t fall into those kind of compliments? Perhaps smart, wise people. I should have been a smart and wise girl I always thought I was. But I was in my early teens. It was easy to fall prey to those stupid remarks. A few weeks later, I found Yusuke at the rooftop, lying down and staring into the sky. I don’t know what came to me, but I actually managed to sit down beside him and watch the sky with him. "So how’s life with Okada?" Yusuke asked quietly. I sighed happily. "It’s great," I answered. "You know, Yusuke, he has never kissed me, but…" "But?" "But I like him a lot," I finished. "Why?" Yusuke’s skepticism started to annoy me. I wanted to stand up and tell him that Takashi is a lot better to like than he is, but I strained myself to do so. "He’s sweet, charming…and he likes me, too." "Are you sure?" I stood up, finally. "Yes, and if you don’t want to believe the same, I am going to tell you what kind of a friend you really are." I turned around and started to walk away, but Yusuke grabbed my hand. "I got thrown into the headmaster’s office once more," he said. "I’m not surprised," I replied airily. "I heard Okada conversing with some of the guys in the men’s locker room," Yusuke continued. "He said something about what kind of a dupe you are." "A what?" "A dupe," Yusuke repeated. "A fool, a sucker, a baka." I used my other hand to slap him on the face, but he easily caught it. "When I appeared to them, everyone else backed out except he," Yusuke told me. "I learned that he was just fooling around and that he really doesn’t love you. He used you as a plaything." "A plaything?" I echoed. Yusuke stood up. "Hai. I was so mad at him that I punched him squarely on the face. Then the coward went to the headmaster and exposed the fight to him." I found it hard to breathe. Tears started to pool in my eyes until Yusuke’s face was a blur. Takashi will never do that, I told myself. He’s a good guy…he’d never do that… "Y-you’re lying," I finally said. "Whatever you say, Keiko. I’m just telling you the whole truth. It happened just a few minutes ago while you were in the library, so you wouldn’t know. But if we come down right now, you’ll see that I’m telling you the truth." Takashi would never do that… I looked at Yusuke, a friend of mine for a long, long time. Maybe Takashi would never do that. But Yusuke never, ever, ever lied to me, and he never will. I started crying. Yusuke took me in his arms and comforted me like the good old days.
Yusuke held his right hand, as if ready to fire his rei gan. He pointed his index finger towards Okada’s direction. "Urameshi Yusuke, what do you think you’re doing?" Yusuke closed one eye shut and confirmed his would-be target. "I’m not going to fire it, Keiko. Who do you think I am to kill a human deliberately?" "Actually, I expect you to kill someone like Okada." "I expect you to kill Okada," Yusuke said, putting his hand down. Keiko smiled at Yusuke bitterly. Yusuke smiled back pityingly. A drop of rainwater touched Keiko’s right cheek. Sighing, she stood up. "Let’s get in. It’s drizzling." "Sure." As he said it, more raindrops fell down. They sauntered across the field and towards the school building, but they were too late. Rain suddenly poured on them like an instant waterfall. Laughing, Yusuke and Keiko grabbed each other’s hands and ran towards shelter. The bell rang. The couple laughed harder as they stared at each other’s wet selves. Keiko’s skirt clung to her thighs. Yusuke shook his hair and they stood up on end. "Oh, my gosh! We’re all wet!" Keiko exclaimed between laughter. Her cheeks gave out a pink shade that highlighted her shining eyes. "Don’t worry, you always look nice," Yusuke told her. "Except for your clothes, of course. They look like your second skin!" "Your hair looks like a bird’s nest," Keiko commented. "You’d better slick it up again before entering classes." "Right. For the first time, I’m going to attend classes!" Previous Chapter | Next
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