Five
Rei stared at the students going in the door.
Here he was, standing in front of the school gym, and all set for the dance. Now, all he needed to do was go inside. What WAS keeping him? "Nothing," he decided with a strong nod. He took a deep breath, clenched his jaw in resolution, took a step forward, took a step backward, leaned on the tree behind him...
And hit his head.
"What's wrong with you?!" he growled at himself. With a sigh, he looked up at the sky. He knew why he can't bring himself to go inside.
"Darn. Why did everyone have to leave last night, anyway?" he wondered out loud.
The previous night, he went home to an empty house. His mother had left dinner and a note, saying that she and Kano had gone to her sister's and that they'll be back the next day. In Rei's world, nights alone equals reflective mode. And, in last night's reflection session, he had made a decision. He decided he would tell her about that.
Tonight.
And somehow, he wished he didn't decide to. Then he wouldn't be having such a hard time. Or would he?
"Oei, Yokaze!"
Rei looked up to see Takashi and co.
"Yo."
"Waiting for us?"
"Well, not particularly," Rei said slowly. "I was waiting for someone to go with inside---"
"And we're that someone, right? C'mon, guys, let's go and paaaartyyyy!!!!"
~~~
Midori was looking at the punch bowls in front of her, trying to decide which one to get.
"Hm..."
"Oooh, try the pink one. It's strawberry," Ayako suggested.
"No, no, get the raspberry," Yuko told her.
"Hmm.."
"The strawberry tastes great," Ayako defended.
"But it's sweet, and sweet can be so boring. The raspberry has a more exciting taste."
"Hmmm...."
"Strawberry's better."
"No, raspberry is."
"Oh, for crying out loud, you two!" Midori finally said. "Can you just--"
She was interrrupted when the doors burst open, revealing none other than the Hanabishi Gakuen's Master of Mischief, Takashi Shun himself.
"Well, well, look who the cat dragged in," Yuko said under her breath.
But Midori wasn't looking at Takashi. She was looking at the one beside him.
Rei-kun? Midori thought disappointedly. His being with Takashi's guys wasn't really a surprise. After all, he still hung out with them during school hours, even after the latest Takashi-Yukibana duel. What caught her was that Rei won't even look at her. It wasn't that he hasn't seen her, because he had! Their eyes had met for a second, but he looked away almost instantly.
Deliberately.
Oh well, it's not like our friendship is something out in the open... Midori thought. They had started calling each other by their first names that month, but still not in the classroom. Sure, they go home together (or rather, Rei takes her home) and hung out, but their behavior towards each other during class hours hasn't changed. They still rarely talk in class. Not even the Two knew about their friendship.
But why did they have to keep it a secret, though? It's not like they're doing anything wrong... Rei can't be ashamed of being friends with her, can he? Midori quickly took a glass of lemon juice and drank it all in one gulp.
"M-Mi-chan?" Yuko asked her in surprise when she did so.
"C'mon, let's dance." was Midori's answer.
The Two followed her, not knowing what was going on in her mind. They just assumed that Takashi had ruined their friend's night just by showing up, and that she just needed to get her mind of him.
Remember, Midori thought to herself, he said you were friends, and that he would be honest. He's a friend...
A friend.
With that, Midori's attention shifted to having genuine fun. The girls practically never left the dance floor --- except for the slow songs, they had to go and freshen up. Midori completely forgot about her doubts about Rei's sincerity, but a new issue surfaced towards the end of the night: she and Rei hadn't danced yet. It was 10 minutes till midnight. And midnight was the set curfew.
Hmf, maybe he forgot, she thought as she went for another drink when the Two went to the bathroom. That won't be a surprise. After all, the last time we mentioned the dance when we were together was more than a week ago. She sighed, and took a sip from her drink.
"Having fun?"
Midori turned to see Rei beside her. He was holding a cup of...something.
"Oh, I didn't see you! How long have you been there?" Midori said. After she did, her mind screamed at her: "What kind of a lame question was THAT?!"
"Heh...Well, it is a bit dark. I was already here before you got your drink."
"Oh."
"You didn't answer my question, though."
"Huh? Oh, right...Yeah, the party's great, but I'm a little tired. My feet are killing me!"
"You're not too tired for another dance, are you?" he asked. Midori looked at him, and saw that he was wearing a hopeful smile. She smiled, too, and put her glass down.
"Nope!"
Rei offered his arm formally (though he WAS wearing a smirk), and Midori laughingly took it. As they moved towards the dance floor, the song suddenly changed to a slow one. Midori almost hesitated, but, she reasoned out to herself, she was tired. And, besides, they didn't have any choice, either, because the disk jockey announced that it was the last song. When they found a spot, she put her hands on his shoulders, and he put his on her waist. They just stepped from side to side for a while, until he decided to strike a conversation.
"Y'know, Midori...I think you're pretty neat," he said. She just smiled. It was a plain, innocent compliment. "Neat" won't be the adjective you'd use if you wanted a girl to be swept off her feet.
"I see..."
"I mean, you're nice to your friends and from what I've seen for the past years, you look pretty fun to be with... I mean, you haven't gotten into fights and stuff..."
"Uh-huh..."
"But then you're not the typical softie girl...You're strong and you stand your ground when the guys tease you --- sorry 'bout that, by the way. But then you're not angry at all the guys still. I mean, look at us!" he said with a chuckle.
"Yeah," she agreed with a laugh. "I suppose."
Rei opened his mouth to say something else, but he closed it again as he watched Midori stifle a yawn.
"I think I'm getting sleepy," she said, more to herself than to anybody else.
Rei smiled. "Yeah, looks like it. Wanna sit down?"
Midori shook her head, unconsciously leaning her head on Rei's shoulder, her fingers entwining themselves behind Rei's neck. In turn, Rei's hands moved from her waist to rest lightly on her back. She almost jerked away when she realized their position, but she didn't.
I suppose he doesn't mind, then, she thought, closing her eyes again.
Well, she didn't mind being that close, either.
The song was about three quarters done when she heard a very familiar, annoying voice behind Rei.
"So, Yokaze, you finally did it, huh?"
That woke Midori up, making her eyes snap open. She lifted her head and dropped her hands, and Rei turned around. Surprise, surprise.
"What do you want, Takashi?" Rei asked.
"Aww, c'mon, buddy! You can stop acting now. You won the bet already!"
The bet? Midori thought, her doubts resurfacing again. But she stomped her mental foot at them.
"What're you talking about?" Rei demanded angrily.
"The party's over, buddy. So you finally proved you could get Yukibana to go all mushy over you. But, c'mon, man, it's disgusting to see you dance with her like that!"
Midori felt all the color drain from her face.
"Really, man, your strategy's really good! Playing hero for several weeks must've taken a lot out of you!"
"What?" escaped Midori's lips in a half-whisper.
"Don't you get it yet, Yukibana?" Takashi said with a smirk. "It was a BET. We wanted to see if you're as tough as you act, and guess what? Yokaze here just proved that you weren't."
Midori started putting two and two together...and to her, everything matched. She didn't notice that her jaw had clenched, and her figers had balled into tight fists.
"Yes," she said, "he DOES have a knack for proving himself right, doesn't he?"
His stunned but angry look at Takashi melted, and he turned sharply at her, his jaw practically dropping to the floor in disbelief.
"W-wait a second---"
"Unbelievable..." she continued, not looking at Rei. "Unbelievable... And to think... And to think I..." She stopped herself before she said anything. Her chest felt tight, and she could barely breathe.
Rei shook his head, dread written all over his features. "Mi...Midori, listen..."
But his sentence was cut short when Midori finally looked at him. Rei had always been glad that, no matter how many times Midori had tried to be angry at him when he teased her, she never was. No matter how many times she tried to use her "I don't care about what you think" look --- the one she always used to send Takashi into frustration --- he knew she was his friend. He was glad she was never angry at him. Even now, she wasn't angry. Not really.
She was FURIOUS.
And she GLARED at him.
If there was any perfect form of a glare, it was this one. Her expressive green eyes became dark, piercing and overflowing with fury. It made him feel that if he didn't do something to fix things now, she was never going to speak to him again.
And that scared him to the core.
"Don't you DARE call me by my first name..." she told him in a low, shaky voice.
"But, Mi---"
"DON'T YOU DARE CALL ME BY MY FIRST NAME!!!!" she screamed at him.
And it was then that Midori felt tears stinging her eyes. No way. She was NOT going to cry in front of those...those...those BOYS!
Not seeing what else to stay for, Midori turned on her heels and ran.