Four
"I dare you."
"Demo, Rei-kun..."
"No, really, I dare you."
Midori sighed, closing her eyes. Why me? she mentally asked the heavens. The brown-haired girl opened her eyes, and stole a quick glance at Rei beside her. They were on a wooden bridge a few blocks from Midori's house after school on a Friday, enjoying the cool breeze, blue skies and each other's company. She had her elbows on the railing, while Rei was sitting on the railing, and was looking very smug.
"Nee, Rei-kun...Why are you so happy that I can't think of an---"
"Hey," Rei interrupted, waving a finger at her, his eyes practically laughing, "don't change the subject."
"I am NOT changing the subject!"
"You are, too."
"I am not."
"Are, too."
"Are you asking me this so you can gloat about it when we find out?"
"No, I'm not. Honest! I'm just trying to prove to you that I'm right."
"And what global good will THAT do?"
A pause.
"Well... The world will know I'm right!"
"Mattaku..."
"So tell me, O Great Yukibana-sama, what is something I'm better at than you?"
Midori sighed again, propping her chin on her hand. She can't think of anything! Of course, she knew there HAD to something.
"See?" Rei's voice broke through her thoughts. He playfully poked her forehead, apparently pointing at her brain.
"You can't think of anything."
Drat.
"OK, I'll tell you what you're better at than me. Maybe it'll help."
"Fine," Midori said in defeat. Normally, she, like anybody else, liked to hear compliments --- after all, it encourages you and reminds you that you're actually not worthless --- though she wasn't one who bragged about them. But, for some reason, when it came from Rei, she was uncomfortable. Whenever Rei said nice things about her, her stomach would do a little somersault. And, as exciting as it can feel sometimes, she didn't like it when her stomach did that. It made her consider possibilities that she didn't want to consider.
"For starters," Rei said, counting with his fingers, "there's home economics."
"No offense, Rei-kun, but I'm a girl."
"It still counts. Secondly, there's science. As interesting as it is, I really can't grasp it. I suck at memorization. You, on the other hand..."
"Yeah, whatever."
"Thirdly, there's music. You have an awesome voice, Midori."
Oh, darn, there he goes again.
"Then there's math," Rei laughed, slapping his forehead. "Man, oh, man, there's math. I suck at math."
"Don't let Takashi hear you say that," Midori said with a laugh. "And speaking of Takashi, have you noticed he hasn't pestered me these past two weeks? It's sorta nice to have some peace and quiet, but..." she laughed again, staring at her hands. "I kinda miss it. Weird as it may sound, I do. I guess it's become a part of my everyday routine or something."
When Rei didn't respond, she looked at him, and was surprised to see that his face had darkened slightly. He was staring at the water, his eyebrows knit together.
"Rei-kun?"
He "woke up" with a start. "Huh? Sorry, what were you saying?"
"Are you OK? Did I say something wrong?"
"No, no," he said, trying to smile. "No, you didn't..."
"Then why the sudden silence?"
Rei blinked. Why DID he react that way? Because Midori brought Takashi into the conversation? Because she was smiling when she mentioned his name? Because she said she missed fighting with Takashi? Rei felt his jaw clench involuntarily. Why DID she bring him up? Well, he argued with himself, he's a classmate, so it's unavoidable, right? He still wished she didn't mention him, though. Rei glanced at Midori, who was still looking at him worriedly.
So does she mention me when she talks with The Two?
But so what if she talked about him with The Two? So what if she mentioned Takashi?
What does he care, anyway?!
"REI-KUN!!!"
"WHAT?!" he growled involuntarily.
"Mattaku!" Midori said in exasperation, crossing her arms. "What's wrong with you? I've called you three times already! And why were you looking at me as if I wasn't there?"
Rei didn't know if he just imagined it, but he thought he heard a tinge of hurt in her voice. Tearing himself from looking in her emerald eyes --- lest he wanted to be shouted at again --- and looked at the water below them, instead.
"Fine. Stay that way."
Rei stole a glance at Midori, and found her looking out into the horizon, the sunset's orange hue coloring her cheeks.
"Look, I'm sorry, Midori. I was just...I was just thinking about something."
"It's all right... Wanna to talk about it?"
Rei hesitated. "Not today, I guess. I gotta sort it out first." Oh, man, do I ever.
"OK..."
He nodded, then stared down at the water again. They sat quietly for the next minute, the birds' whistles and the brook's hum occassionally breaking the silence.
"Rei-kun...we're friends, right?"
To say that Rei was startled would be an understatement. He turned so sharply, he almost fell off the railing.
"Of course we are!" he blurted out. "What did you think we were? Enemies?"
She glanced at him, then smiled. It didn't quite reach her eyes, though. "No..." she said quietly.
Rei frowned, then hopped down onto the bridge. "What's wrong?" he asked worriedly.
Midori sighed. "Nee... Since we're friends, you'll be honest with me, right?"
Rei blinked. "Sure..."
"Like, if we play a game, you won't purposely perform badly, right?"
"Well, yeah! I have pride, too, y'know... Besides, you're not a kid that I have to let you win---"
"And if what I'm wearing doesn't look good, you'll tell me, right?"
"Yeah..."
"And if my behavior isn't...nice, you'll tell me, right?"
"Right...Midori, what're you getting at?"
She just shook her head. "Just checking." Rei raised an eyebrow at her, but she just ignored it. She looked at the sun again, saying, "Looks like the sunset's over."
Rei followed her line of vision and nodded. "Shall we go home, then?"
"Race you!" Midori said suddenly, sprinting before Rei could respond.
"You're on!" he said, running after her.
He was quite a fast runner. In fact, he was in the track team in school. Not the star runner, but good enough. Speed came naturally to him, almost without thinking. He remembered the times that this skill came in handy. Sometimes, he would see Takashi's gang heading in Midori's direction in the school grounds, probably to tease her again, judging from the look on his face. He had run as fast as he could to wave them off before she even saw them. Rei's fists clenched tighter just thinking about it. Will Takashi ever stop?!
So engrossed was he in his thoughts that he didn't realize that he had overtaken Midori halfway. He had reached her doorstep when he remembered he was running with someone else. Turning quickly, he saw Midori panting several meters away, her hands on her knees, her head bowed. He was instantly beside her.
"Midori! Are you OK?"
"Yeah," she replied, smiling up at him, amazed at how worried his blue eyes could look. "I just need to catch my breath."
"Aiya..." Rei said when they reached her house. "I should've watched out for you..."
Midori laughed. "I told you already, I'm OK!"
"But...you don't run much, do you?"
"Not as much as you do."
Rei groaned. "If you knew that, then why did you--"
"Just to prove you wrong," Midori said with a smile. "That I'm NOT better at you than everything."
"You should've just told me!"
Midori shrugged. "So you can't say I didn't try."
Rei scratched his head in frustration. "Argh...You are one stubborn girl, y'know that?"
Midori scrunched her nose. "You don't hate me for that, do you?"
Rei couldn't help but smile. She was so cute when she did that. But then, she raised her eyebrow.
"What?" she asked. "What're you smiling like that for?"
Rei just shook his head. "Nothing," he said, beginning to walk away, but Midori caught his arm fast.
"Oh, no, you don't, Yokaze. Spill."
"Forget it, it's nothing!" Rei exclaimed, trying to get his arm free.
"What's that smile for?! SPILL!" Midori demanded.
Getting fed up with Rei's stubbornness, Midori pulled at his arm hard. But at the same time, Rei decided to stop resisting, and moved towards her instead. Balance was lost. With a stifled gasp, Midori stumbled a couple of steps backward, pulling Rei's left arm with her. As a result, Rei was leaning over her, his right arm getting support from the very same door she was pinned on.
Both Rei and Midori were stunned wide-eyed at their sudden close proximity.
Midori held her breath.
Rei gulped.
No one spoke.
No one moved.
Midori blinked.
Rei grinned.
"You."
Rei watched in nervous amusement as Midori's eyes widened even more. So Yukibana Midori is still a girl, after all.
"W--wha?"
Rei smiled wider, then poked at Midori's forehead.
"Gotcha."
"W...wha..." Midori said almost incoherently as Rei moved away.
"Don't scare me like you did earlier, OK?" Rei said with the grin still on his face.
"WHA?"
"See ya tomorrow!" With that, Rei turned to leave.
"MATTAKU, YOKAZE!" Midori exclaimed.
Rei turned again to see Midori trying to glare at him. But there was still a betraying pink hue on her cheeks. He just laughed, running off. He knew Midori was trying to be angry at him, but he knew she really wasn't. As far as he was from her then, he still saw that sparkle of laughter in her eyes.
And for that he was glad.