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*_* MARMALADE MERCURY *_*EP 14b: QUALIFICATION OF LOVE - THINGS AREN’T GOING AS PLANNED |
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<commercial break; Ami, Greg and Kaijin skating, they trip over Ami's computer>
It all made sense now, Ami decided. That talk with Minako had helped immensely.
The reason she’d hesitated on admitting anything to Greg was because, despite everything that had happened between them? She wasn’t entirely sure how Greg would respond. It wasn’t even that she feared rejection, exactly... it was more that she feared the one she cared for was incapable of taking it seriously enough.
But that didn’t change the way she felt.
Ami finished cutting up the picture, one that her mother had managed to take of them at some point over the last month. She traced her finger around the image of Greg, then slipped it into the medallion that Rei had given her.
The one that would bond the two of them together, distance or no distance.
She then snapped the light blue locket shut, and, clutching it tightly in her hand, she went down to watch some television. Hoping that doing so would help take her mind off of the conversation that would happen as soon as Greg got home.
Strangely, for some reason, the episode that was airing on the channel didn’t match what it said it should be in the TV Guide. This series seemed to have started playing episodes out of order.
*****
“You know,” Motoki said, dryly. “What you do on your own time is none of my business, but what you do at work..."
Greg shook the mop at his employer. “I said it’s not like that.”
Minako had run off almost immediately after Motoki had exposed the two of them being in the closet together. Presumably she’d done so to continue avoiding Sewaya, who had also run off, possibly in pursuit.
Leaving Greg to clean up the mess, both in terms of the spilled drink and the social fallout. At least Minako had apologized as she’d fled.
“I went back there to look for a mop and bucket,” Greg continued as he finished cleaning up the spilled drink. “But the faucet was stuck. Next thing I know, Minako’s jumping into the room with me and closing the door on us. Really, I think she was as surprised to find me back there as I was to see her, seeing as she nearly fell on top of me as she turned around. I’d only just figured out that she was trying to hide from Sewaya when you burst in on the two of us. Nothing happened.”
Motoki quirked an eyebrow.
Honestly, Greg didn’t think the guy looked that mad. He had almost decided to deflect and not explain at all, except, based on the murmurings of the other customers in the Game Centre? It felt like saying nothing would be problematic in the long run.
“Well, your story almost checks,” Motoki said after a moment. “Except how is it you went for a mop and bucket before the drink got spilled? Do you have precognitive abilities or something?”
Shoot. Good point. Greg rubbed the back of his neck. “Well, no, that would be silly,” he admitted. “It’s just, the floor looked a bit dirty.”
“Mmm hmm. And the name Kaijin Taylor doesn’t mean anything to you?”
Greg nearly lost his grip on the mop handle. “What? Wait, why would you bring that name up now?!”
Motoki rolled his eyes. “He was here. Said he’d chased you into the back? You must know him. About this tall, blue hair, from your school...?"
Now Greg found he needed to use the mop as a support to keep from falling over. “No. TH-THAT was Kaijin? But I thought he was..." He jerked his gaze around the Game Centre. No sign of the guy any more. Of course. “D-Do you know where he went?!”
“Home?” Motoki said with a shrug. “Claimed you’d want his phone number, but as I said to him, I’m not his messenger service. Maybe he’ll be back tomorrow.”
“Urk,” Greg said, his hands sliding down the mop handle. “I-If he shows up, let me know? I really do need that guy’s phone number. Okay?”
“Hmph. We’ll see. No meeting with this Kaijin in the broom closet either, understood?” Motoki said, shaking his head as he finally turned away.
Behind Greg, someone gasped. “Of course. If Greg didn’t do anything with Minako it’s gotta be because he goes THAT way.”
Greg turned his head, but he had no idea who had spoken. Not that it mattered. The rumour mill would probably be all over the place after the events of the last five minutes... though frankly, he deserved whatever he got for having missed the significance of blue-haired-library-guy’s advances.
Kaijin Taylor... damn. Greg hoped he’d be able to keep it together for the rest of his shift.
*****
Urawa reached out quickly to catch Minako before she could fall to the floor. “Minako! What happened?” he gasped.
Minako took a few seconds to catch her breath before rolling her eyes up to meet Urawa’s gaze. “You. Would. Not. Believe. The. Morning. I’ve. Had,” she wheezed.
After a quick glance outside, Urawa helped Minako all the way into his apartment. “Sewaya?” he divined. She nodded. “Before or after you saw Ami?”
“After,” Minako said, leaning against the wall. “There were hijinks. I finally lost him. You got a place to hide me, in case he turns up here?”
“Uh, sure. Always. Here, let me get you a glass of water.”
Minako waited until she’d caught her breath, had a drink, and had moved to sit across from Urawa in his living room before continuing. “Right. So. Hijinks first? Or bad news?”
Urawa slumped a bit in his chair. “I think I can guess the bad news, based on what I’ve already seen.”
Minako blinked. “Seen what now?”
Urawa ran his fingers back through his hair. “I had another one of my visions. It’s related to everything.” He began to go into detail.
*****
Kaijin hadn’t returned to his work that afternoon. As such, Greg was still kicking himself as he arrived back at home that evening, and it took him a full minute of leaning against the wall to consider his next move before he registered how Ami was sitting by herself in the living room.
“Hey,” he said, offering up a wave as he came around the couch. “Are you all studied out for the day, or did you feel like talking some geography after dinner... I really wasn’t lying about it yesterday.”
She winced.
He frowned. “Alternatively,” he decided. “There’s always ice cream. I hear Bobsons’ is renaming itself Bob-Floy for some reason, they might have promotional deals on.”
Ami shook her head, and he now noticed that she seemed to be clutching a piece of paper in her hand. “No,” she managed. “Thank you. It’s just... I got some news. A couple hours ago. I have a lot of thinking to do. And you can’t help me with this. Not right now.”
Greg rubbed his chin, staring quietly at Ami. It didn’t look like she was in a stressed-out overthinking state of mind. She still seemed to be absorbing the impact of something. “Okay,” he said. “I’ll be cooking dinner then, so don’t worry about that.”
Ami nodded. “Sure. Thank you.”
He turned to head into the kitchen. “Also, don’t worry about the rumours about Minako cornering me in the broom closet. Those’ll die down soon enough.”
“Sure,” Ami repeated from behind him.
Greg began to count the seconds in his head. It took almost ten until the exclamation of, “wait, WHAT?”
Ami obviously had a lot on her mind.
He’d keep the explanation brief, just long enough to divert her mind from whatever had been on that paper. To help whatever news she’d received to finally sink in.
*****
“You want to come up?”
Mamoru turned away from looking across the street to focus back on Kato. “I don’t know. Will you finally explain whatever it is you’ve wanted to say since Motoki accosted us earlier today?”
Kato flinched. “Wait, you... you knew he meant me?”
“I didn’t at the time,” Mamoru admitted. “But you calling me this evening, asking if I was free for coffee? And the way you’ve acted for the past hour, including asking me to walk you home? Yeah, it makes things a bit more clear.”
“Oh.” Kato’s eyes fell to the ground. “So do I even have to say it?”
Mamoru sighed. “Yeah, I think maybe you do. Otherwise you’ll wonder if the answer might have been different if you’d actually come out with it.”
Kato looked back up at him. “You’re saying knowing my feelings won’t make a difference.” She wanted to make it a question, but it felt more like a statement.
Mamoru shrugged. “There’s a lot more going on here than you realize.”
“Of that I have no doubt,” Kato said, not sure if she was smiling or grimacing. “Your life has never been easy since the car accident, right?”
“Yeah, well, the full story actually has to do with reincarnation, protection of the Earth, and strangely enough, a psychic projection of my subconscious desires manifesting itself in an Arabian costume.”
Kato’s smile vanished. “If you’re not going to be SERIOUS..."
“Sorry. I meant to say I have strange dreams,” Mamoru revised, rubbing the back of his head with a sheepish look. “Sometimes I wonder if I’m testing myself somehow.”
Kato sighed. “For as long as I’ve known you, you’ve been so admired, yet so quiet and mysterious. Powering through the pain you had to be experiencing. I’m not sure if it was one of those qualities in particular, or the combination that... drew me to you.”
He said nothing at first. At last, he seemed to realize that she was waiting for some sort of response. “You never said anything.”
“I’m bad for that,” Kato admitted. “But Motoki’s right. It has to be out in the open between us. Otherwise there might be misunderstandings, as with that Kaijin guy. And I don’t want to do that to you, I care about you too much. You understand that I care, right?”
Mamoru nodded slowly. “Yes. Except it’s like you said. Knowing your feelings here, it doesn’t change anything. I’m sorry. I hope you can believe that.”
Kato bit down on her lower lip. “This Usagi means that much to you?”
He smiled. “She means the world to me. In a somewhat literal way, actually.”
Kato looked closely at him. Then she slowly nodded. “I understand. So you’re not coming up, huh?” she added, half joking, half hoping against hope...
Mamoru sighed. “More than that, it’s probably better if we don’t see each other again. Or at least, not for the foreseeable future.”
“Oh.” Kato swallowed. She forced out a laugh. “Well, hey, I had been considering a job in real estate out in Hiroshima, so..."
“Look, I’m sorry it has to be this way, but I feel like it’s better to make a clean break on romantic relationships,” Mamoru explained. “No hesitation, no second guessing. I mean, know that you can still call on me if you need a friend? But it has to be just as a friend.”
Kato gazed into his eyes. Then she nodded. “Take care of yourself.”
Mamoru nodded. “You too.” He turned and headed off down the road.
Kato watched him go for the first few steps, then clenched her jaw, nodded, and headed into the building.
*****
Makoto had once been told that, owing to her height, she had a “looming presence”. She normally tried to minimize that. Sometimes, however, the situation called for exploitation of that fact. Surely it wasn’t possible to ignore her for much longer?
At last, Kaijin turned from where he had been scrutinizing one of the video games. “Oh, hey, Makoto, didn’t see you there.”
“As if,” she challenged. “What the deal, Kaijin?”
He scratched his head. “Five card stud, nothing wild?”
“You’ve been distracting Greg from his job all morning,” Makoto pointed out. “People are starting to talk.”
“Ooh, gossip! Excellent. What are people saying about me these days?” He smiled in what Makoto decided was meant to be a charming manner.
Makoto simply glared back. “Mostly that the embarrassment of being seen with Minako has chased Greg out of the closet and into your arms. I think it’s time you set the record straight.”
Kaijin tilted his head. “Oh? Well, I have two questions related to that. First, why should it be me going on record, and not Greg? He’ll be back here any minute, once he’s dealt with that game token issue. You can talk to him then.”
Makoto fumbled to find the words. “Greg doesn’t say much as it is. Someone trying to be the student body president should be able to articulate himself better. Don’t you think?”
“Perhaps,” Kaijin nodded. “But second, curious choice of words, set the record ‘straight’. What if that’s not the way the record is? How can you claim to know better?”
Makoto quickly glanced around the Game Centre to see if anyone was listening to them. “Look, Kaijin, Greg likes Ami!” she hissed quietly.
Kaijin’s eyes widened in mock surprise. “He told you that?”
Makoto felt her mouth twitch. “Well, no, but didn’t I just say Greg doesn’t say much?”
“Ahh, yes.” Kaijin rubbed his chin. “Funny, he’s had a lot to say to me today..."
Makoto flexed her hands, and ultimately spun away. Arguing with the guy was futile. Plus, was it possible that there was something going on that she didn’t know about?
She hadn’t spoken with Ami since Friday at the swings. Was it possible that Ami had confessed to Greg, and he’d turned her down? Maybe her irritation was being misdirected here. Maybe she really should be angry with Greg instead, for playing with her friend’s feelings.
Makoto resolved to give Ami a call as soon as she could.
****
Elsewhere, Mamoru and Usagi were finally on their date in the park. But it was as they moved closer, to kiss, that Mamoru felt something bounce off his head. Moments later, the atmosphere was completely shattered by the arrival of a small, pink haired girl... who then claimed that she was also called ‘Usagi’.
At roughly the same time, in her bedroom, Ami crumpled the sheet in her hand. Of course, it was only a printout of the message she had received the previous afternoon. The message that changed everything, that remained, and could not be crumpled.
News that made her more mixed up than ever, not only about her romantic situation, but about her entire life path from this point onwards. The scholarship she had applied for, to study medicine in Germany, had been granted.
She had less than a week to decide if she was going to leave town for good.
<closing theme>
