Day 34: Lunch

[thatdamnedninja.livejournal.com]

Yuffie bounced all the way through collecting her lunch, all the way to a good seat- one with a nice view of the whole cafeteria, which was something she'd been missing out on during the past day or so that she'd been stuck in the Institute- and hell, she even bounced into her seat.

A good mood? No, really?

Despite the occasional blip, talking to Sagara had been awesome. He was a fun guy; he wasn't a prude, didn't have a stick shoved so far up his ass it was poking out his eyeballs, and he'd actually had a conversation with her. One that hadn't revolved around doom, gloom or how much life sucked. If she could find other people like that and keep in touch with Sagara, maybe there was a little hope for this place.

After a quick gulp of pink lemonade, Yuffie settled to munching through her food and keeping an eye on the door.

[Waiting for Dean, I think? :x]

Comments

[kagurazuki.livejournal.com]

Kagura looked up when she heard a familiar voice, but immediately regretted doing so when she recognized who it was. Her eyes looked quickly back down at her tray and her hands balled up into fists in her lap. What did he want now? She knew perfectly well what he'd meant the night before, but it was like he had to rub salt in the wound now, acting like it hadn't happened. She was too distraught to see that he seemed just as nervous and scared about their meeting as she was.

"I understood your message last night," she said quietly, unable to disguise the pain in her voice. "You don't have come here and rub it in. Why don't you go sit with your new friend?"

[roger-hug.livejournal.com]

That hurt. It was clear she didn't want anything to do with him, but he had to get it out.

"I wanted t-to explain," he mamaged. His breath hitched a little as he tried hard not to cry. Boys, he had to remind himself, did not cry.

"I d-on't know her. But I knew sh-she was going to hurt you after... after she hurt me and... I," here he paused and scrubbed at his eyes. He wasn't going to cry! "I didn't want you to die." He took a slow breath.

"And I know you hate me now, b-but you're still my friend, and I," drat, were those tears? Of course they were. "I would rather have you hate me than be dead."

[kagurazuki.livejournal.com]

Despite her better judgment, she quieted to hear him out. A part of her did want to believe that Bridget really was her friend. Even as he tried to explain, things were still... confusing. He didn't owe her an explanation. He didn't owe her anything. But...

So that bitch had threatened to kill her? He'd shooed her away, brushed her off, but it was all just to keep Kagura from being hurt? Her fists shook angrily at her sides, but she wasn't even sure where to direct the rage that was starting to pulse through her veins.

She wanted to hit something, she wanted to break faces and tear things and scream and yell as loud as she could. But when she looked up at the boy in front of her and saw the tears running down his cheeks, it was gone. And she knew he'd been feeling just as lonely as she had.

"I don't hate you," she said so quietly she hardly heard herself the first time. "I don't hate you," she repeated, only a little stronger. When she faced Bridget, there were tears in her eyes too. "I wanted... I wanted to help you! I would have fought for you! I..." Did he know how awful it felt not to be wanted? "I thought... I thought you didn't like me anymore. I thought... I'd done something wrong. I know... I know I'm not a very good friend, but... but it made me really happy when we spent time together and... even when it was so scary I thought I couldn't move, I thought... it would still be okay if I had friends to face it with me."

[roger-hug.livejournal.com]

Sniffing, Bridget couldn't bring himself to look up, but he shook his head. "I like you, Miss Sohma," he managed, reaching up to wipe off his own tears. "I-I didn't want you to get hurt. I couldn't stand it if y-you got hurt because of me. I'm sorry. I wouldn't ever abandon you, ever."

Sniffing again, he glanced up and tried to breathe a bit more normally. "I promise never to do that again."

[kagurazuki.livejournal.com]

It wasn't like in the fairy tales. Feelings didn't just magically vanish and there was no real happily ever after. But she did feel a little bit better. It didn't make her heart hurt to look at Bridget or talk with him anymore. She really wished she could hug him because... wasn't that what normal people would do in this kind of situation? As much as she wanted someone to put their arms around her and tell her things would be okay, she realized it was probably the same for Bridget too. Stupid curse.

"Then... me too. I'll try to do better. I want you to be able to rely on me too." She reached out, her fingers brushing his skin before she wrapped her hand around his.

[roger-hug.livejournal.com]

Bridget's hand tightened on hers and he tried hard not to blush. It worked about as well as trying not to cry had.

"Yes Miss Sohma." His smile was a little less watery. "I trust you." And he did. With his life. Roger would probably think he was being silly and naieve, but... what could he do about it?

He hugged his bear, looked down at him, then up at Kagura. "Since... I can't do much more than this," he squeezed her hand lightly, "Perhaps you would accept Roger's company?" He offered the bear. He remembered she could hug a boy....

[kagurazuki.livejournal.com]

Kagura took the offered bear and hugged him tightly, still embarrassed by her own outbursts, but even so, she felt a little bit better.

"It's ok," she assured him, "this is... fine. I... I'm sorry." She wasn't sure if the apology was because she couldn't hug him herself, or because of the things before, but she felt like it needed to be said.

"Does this mean we're friends again?" she glanced up hopefully, face half-buried in the bear's fluff.