Part III: A questionable friendship


"Your house is so lovely," Mystian said as she sat her bag and cape onto the low, purple plaid couch. She laughed. "The inside is just so...bloody purple. Mind if I take a peep around, Vie?", she asked.

"Yea, go ahead," Ahviera replied, "But we can't stay long." She quickly got a confused look on her face and asked, "Wait, what exactly do you mean by "bloody purple?""

Mystian had already begun to walk off; she stopped and laughed sweetly. "No, mate. I wasn't being literal. The word is just a figure of speech. Don't try to think about it, nay?" She turned and walked towards Ahviera's upstairs room.

Chiiary sat down on the couch and sighed deeply. "I feel a little dizzy," she said.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Chiiary. Do you want anything to eat or drink?" She dropped her bookbag onto the dark-purple carpet. She leaned onto the back of the couch and forcefully positioned her hand on her friend's forehead. She closed her eyes and concentrated. "Hhhmm...you feel a little hot, but you'll be fine, dear."

"Ahviera, get your hand off of my head!", Chiiary said, raising her eyes to her. She laughed, "I know that I will be fine, I always am. I just.. I don't know." She lay down on her back and rested her head on Mystian's soft cape which was on top of her yellow bag. "Can you get me some soda, please?"

Ahviera walked into the kitchen just as Mystian came down the stairs. She sat on the floor in front of the couch and lay her head on Chiiary's stomach. She innocentaly smilled at her and pulled her hand back near her face, waving with her fingers.

Chiiary smiled back and tried not to laugh. "Confortable?", she asked.

Mystian turned her neck to the side and popped it. "Ah yes, very, me Cherry," she muttered with her odd, at least to Chiiary, accent in reply and closed her eyes.

Ahviera re-entered the room with Chiiary's drink. "Here," she said as she handed it to Chiiary. She sat on the floor, next to Mystian.

"Thanks," Chiiary said. She sat up, shoving Mystian's head off of her, and downed the soda in one gulp. As she drank she touched the side of her lip to keep it from running down her chin. She finished, with the eyes of the other two girls on her, and sat the cup down on the coffee table in front of her. "Alright, lets go."

The girls walked down the street looking straight ahead. "What are we going to do? Take the bus, ah'gen??", Mystian asked. She studied her companions' faces. When neither answered, she figured that they were and asked, "You guys do have money for the fair, yes?"

"Oh, sure," Chiiary said softly. She looked down and then at the others. She got in the middle and draped her arms over their shoulders.

"Hey, Vie-chan!"



All three turned towards the voice. They, except Mystian, recognized it. "Oh noh," Chiiary muttered under her breath as Ayato's car approached them. He slowed and came to a stop.

Mystian arched her right eyebrow. "Hhmmm...?"

Ayato lowered the window completely and leaned out. He removed his sunglasses and said,"Hi ladies, need a ride?" He avoided looking at Chiiary.

Mystian smiled. "Oh yea, anytime baby," she thought, not holding back the wicked smile. She glanced at the other girls. "I think I speak for us all," she said. She walked over to the car and leaned in, "Sure, lover boy. Take us downtown."

Chiiary cringed. "Why is she...?" she thought. She bit her lip and climbed into the car after Ahviera. She got comfortable on the far-right side and remained quiet. Every few minutes she would glance up into the driver's mirror to look at Ayato. "I don't know what to do. How did this get so complicated?" she thought as she stared out the window, "I can't believe this happened because of a kiss--No, that girl, Venarie."

Mystian, meanwhile, was thinking something far different. She turned her gaze to Chiiary, who was at the moment looking at Ayato. Mystian smiled slightly. "Hhmm...he must be Aya-kun," she thought, "No wonder she's been acting weird. This will make it fun."

Ayato stopped his car and reached over Ahviera in the front seat to open her door. "Bye, Vie," he said and watched her get out. She opened Chiiary's door. Ayato turned to face the backseat. "Chiiary, please. Come see me next Friday at the library," he said in a pleading voice, "I miss you."

Chiiary stumbled out her door and into the bright sunlight. She covered her eyes and slipped on her sunglasses. "Bye, Aya..." She waited for Mystian to join her and Ahviera, who was messing with the bottom of her long, purple shirt.

"Alright, where do we go first?" Ahviera asked after Ayato left. She stepped in front of Chiiary and removed my glasses. She smiled at her.

"She is blind," Chiiary thought as she studied her face. It was obvious that Mystian knew that he was Ayato. Chiiary knew it by the look Mystian had in her eyes when they had left him. Chiiary replaced her sunglasses. She simply smiled and muttered, "It is bright."

Mystian wandered over and gave her opinion as usuall, "Let's go to the apartments by the music station." She looked behind us, into the window of an Italian restaurant, noticing her reflection and smiling.

Chiiary turned around completely to emphasize the city's largeness. "Which one? There has to be at least ten on the square alone," Chiiary said. She was slightly annoyed. In such a few short moments Chiiary's entire option of Mystian changed. Deep down she still liked her, it was just that...she didn't know. "Well, maybe not that many. But there are still a lot. Be more specific."

Mystian looked at Chiiary blankly. She sweat-dropped. "Bad mood?" she asked herself. She thought. "Um...well, last night I was listening to the radio and it seemed like a really good station. They said that they were located downtown somewhere."

Ahviera smiled. "Okay. Anyway, why do you want us to live near there?" she asked. She paused and pointed out, "After all, the radio sounds the same almost anywhere in town."

"Yeah, mate. You know that sometimes an idol stops by to make an appearance, right?" she asked, "Or are the idols here in Japan too stuck up?"

Ahviera remained quiet. "They do... sometimes." She looked at her watch. "We wasted enough time here. There is a complex called Brandywine just a ten minute bus ride from here. We should look around there. It's affordable," she pointed out.

Mystian nodded. "Right. Besides, the apartments directly on the square are probably too expensive for two teens, heh?" She looked directly at Chiiary and smiled. "But once again, it's all up to you."

Chiiary didn't answer. Instead she stared blankly at Mystian. She snapped back to reality and looked forward. Up the street was a bus stop. "The bus!" she suddenly cried, "It just got there!" With that, she took off running with the other two behind her.


Later that night after dinner, Chiiary slowly climbed the stairs to her bedroom. She collapsed backwards onto the bed. She closed her eyes and spread her arms and legs out. Chiiary felt that during her entire life, her heart and mind had been tugged and pulled on from all directions. Ayato appearantly missed her, and the truth was that she missed him too. She knew that it was jealously on her part. But if Ayato really didn't intend to break up with Venarie, he shouldn't have kissed her. Her gaze fixed on the ceiling in deep thought.

Her thoughts were disrupted by a soft, knocking sound on her window. "Ayato?!" she thought. She shot up and pulled it open, only then realizing that it was raining. She sighed in disapointment. "Come in, Mystian." She returned to the bed. "Ever hear of the front door? Or in Austrailia is it normal to enter this way, especially uninvited... and in a storm?!" she asked sacasticly. "Besides, how did you get here?" Chiiary asked curiously as she turned to the wet figure standing next to the bed.

"Can I stay here tonight?" she asked, avoiding the question. She shivered and then wrapped her arms arround herself tightly. In the darkness of the room, her bright green eyes stood out against her snow-white skin, while her hair seemed to fade.

"Misty, did you walk here?!" Chiiary said, jumping up. She wrapped an extra blanket around the other girl and told her to sit on the couch, oddly placed against the oppisite wall. "I guess that you can stay here. But won't your host family be worried?" She flipped through the closet to find clothes for Mystian to sleep in.

"Chiiary..." Mystian muttered slowly. She sat on the couch, half laying and half sitting, and crossed her legs. She leaned her head against the arm and breathed deaply. "No, they won't. The truth is there isn't one."

Chiiary tuned from the closet; she was utterly confused. "They sent you here to be alone?"

"No--"

"So, tell me where you really came from."

Mystian closed her eyes tightly momentarily. "Alright, here goes, mate." She sat up and fiddled with her fingers. "I was born in Austrailia, that's true. My step-father was Japanese, so two years ago we moved here, er Hanabashi City that is. I was staying at a friend's house, and they never came to get me. See, they died that night on their way; because I wanted to spend that day elsewhere."

"I'm sorry," Chiiary interupted.

Mystian ignored the comment and continued, "So what was to become of me? I heard them say that I would be sent back to Austrailia--to an orphanage. There was no way I was going to let myself be sent from foster home to foster home. So I ran, and as far as I could. Somehow I ended up here."

"Where have you been staying?" she had to ask.

"Wherever I could. Usually the school," she laughed, "And they still haven't noticed." She pulled her knee up to her chin. "But tonight there was a teacher meeting and it was locked right afterwards, so I couldn't get inside. I got on the bus and came as close to here as possible. I ran the rest of the way."

"Oh," Chiiary muttered. She didn't know what else to say. "Oh yeah," she finally said. Holding the clothes she found for Mystian, she stood. She walked over to Mystian and gave them to her. "Here, put this on. Get up and I'll get the couch ready for myself. You can have the bed."

Mystian stood up, leaving the blanket behind and walked towards the full-length mirror. "No, it's okay. The bed is big enough for both of us." She pulled Chiiary's brush through her hair, then stripped off her wet clothes.

Chiiary sat on the couch, unintentionally staring at Mystian, who's back faced Chiiary. "Whatever you want. I really don't care if I sleep on the couch. So you could have the whole bed to yourself."

"Nah, me Cherry," she laughed as she started to get dressed. "It'll be easier to chat if ya' close." She seemed to be in a better mood, Chiiary also. She finished and jumped face down onto the bed. "Oh, what time is it? I feel so god awful tired."

Chiiary turned on the CD player and played one of her Letter to Cleo CDs. The first song came on. "Late, but not late enough for me to sleep." She then turned on her laptop and sat at the desk.

Mystian watched her and rolled onto her back. "So, will I be sleeping alone for the most part of tonight?"

"Sure," Chiiary said. "Sorry, but this is the one day of the week I can stay up."

"Untill?"

Chiiary laughed, "Whenever I feel like... like, I cannot stay awake a second longer!" She clicked on the icon to connect to the internet.

"Oh, how sad," Mystian laughed. "You have a "condition", don't ya'?"

Chiiary sharply turned her head, looking questionably at Mystian. "No!" she laughed, "I just don't get much online time."

"Come on, me Cherry! Go to sleep..." she said, almost musically.

"Well," she said as she turned off the computer. "Looks like you feel much better? Oddly, I am too. You know, before you came I was a little depressed."

Mystian smiled. "Good"


Chiiary sat up in the bed. Mystian was gone. She looked at the clock. "One PM?!" She leaped out of her bed and looked outside. "Oh no..." She caught her breath and went to the main room where her father sat in his chair. "Why didn't you wake me up?" she asked.

"It's not my job," he simply replied.

"Yeah, but I figured you would like me to make you lunch," she said sacasticly. She quickly left before he could get upset. Chiiary got on the bus and went to Ahviera's house.

At the front door, she reached for the knob but hesitated. It suddenly occurred to Chiiary that she was not going to get anywhere with Ayato unless she talked to him. And she didn't want Ahviera to tag along. She remembered what Ahviera had said, "Remeber, Ayato lives in my neighborhood."

She took off towards his house. She slowed as it came into view, a small one-story building. As she approached it, she heard familiar laughter. "What the?" She layed her ear on the door and listened. The door suddenly opened. Chiiary pulled back surprised, blushing. "Oh, hey Ayato." She laughed nervously.

Ayato stood, as if he didn't know what to say. "Cherry-chan, I..."

"Who is it, Aya?" a female said, standing from where she was sitting on the couch. She stopped. "Chiiary?!"

Chiiary's eyes stung. "Misty? How did you..?"

"Ahviera told me where he lived," she said slowly. She looked at Ayato as if they had something to hide.

Chiiary moved her eyes from Mystian to Ayato. Then she noticed that Ayato's lips still had a hint of the same color Mystian was wearing(which was smeared), lipstick that belonged to Chiiary. "Get comfortable?" she asked, choking back tears. She turned after she decided it would be better to leave.