:) Nothing belongs to me except the storyline yo.

Making Nice

Hana Yamaguchi leaned against the front of the bus seat, looking out the window. She still had the feelings of Ponta swimming within her. "I love you... I love you." It echoed throughout her body and she sighed as she thought about it. How far was she from that ideal? That love could be something complete and pure like that? She wanted that, she wanted to be able to think about love and not associate it with pain. Youth is a funny thing. At 17, she felt as if she had the world in her hands. A promising career of modelling and whatnot. Her life was so sure then- she had known what was important to her then. The reflected Hana looked back at her with sad eyes and a faint smile.

The bus slowed down to make a stop. People piling on, people piling off. Same thing, each day. She watched as mothers adjust hats and wrap scarves around the necks of daughters and sons, business men laugh and joke about what happened in their day. She watched young lovers hold each other close this cold winter evening. She couldn't really say that she admired or envied them, but she was painfully aware of how alone she was. She blew softly on the window and drew a heart around a couple that kissed in the snow, with flakes of white falling slowly to their destiny. Hana felt the sensation in her nose before the tears sprang to her eyes. She hated weakness. Hated the idea of being too female and yet not being female enough to have won Mirai's affections. And it wasn't even that, it was just... she should have been the ultimate woman. There should have been not even a faltering of a moment where one would have to choose between herself and another girl. And even though Ponta was something of a dork, she was fascinated and weirded out at the idea of Ponta. Ponta was, most assuredly, more unique than anyone else she knew. She looked out the window. The crowd was still coming and going. She noticed that the people were getting a little rowdy as someone was pushing through.

Go Fujinaga walked at a furious pace. He wanted to get to the music store before it closed for the day. He glanced at his watch- 9:30pm. And up ahead, people were coming off of the bus! He ran up to the crowded sidewalk and cursed his luck- the next bus wouldn't be by until another 15 to 30 minutes and it would be too late by then. He tried to push against the wave of people getting off and fought for each precious inch. "Gah! Why is this happening?!" He pulled at his hair as he cried out in frustration. The bus was full and its doors closed. As it started to pull away, Go looked up. Through a misshapen heart of fog on the window, he locked eyes with Hana Yamaguchi.

"Stop! M-my little brother's outside!" Hana called out. The bus driver stopped and she ran to the door and called out to Go. "Little bro, come here right now!" Go blinked curiously but decided to worry about it later. He ran and Hana grabbed his hand and led him to where she had been sitting. They sat down with an oomph and she looked out the window again. Go wrestled with different ways of greeting this girl who had just helped him out. He knew her name but he didn't really know her.

"Hey," he said finally.

"Hey," she answered blandly, still staring at the passing scenery. "And you're welcome. It was no problem." He looked at her with a slight distaste and disbelief. She could at least pretend she was somewhat interested in making conversation with him. He looked down at his shoes and sighed. Was it that people who were attractive were more untouchable because they just were or it was something they let others believe? He stole glances at her and noted that she slightly sank in her seat. He looked out the window hoping maybe he'd be able to make conversation more interesting by mentioning some of the stuff they were passing. "Doesn't this town seem so bland to you?" Bleh, she shot him down again before he had said anything.

"I just recently transferred here. I don't really know the area as well as I should."

"So then how do you know where you're going now?"

"This is the sixth bus I've taken since 2 this afternoon. I'm trying to get to the music store that's located by that bookstore with the books that are for the sidewalk sale..." He scratched his head as he thought. "Geez, I'm lost."

Hana laughed. She turned to him and there were tears in her eyes, pouring down her cheeks, raining on the front of her turtleneck shirt. It was happy and it was scary all at once. Go was taken aback as she laughed. And then she cried. Sobbing, she put her hands to her face and tried to wipe the tears away but they were coming in too fast. Go patted her back for lack of anything more tactful. He heard children behind them talking. One child leaned over the seat and said,"You should hug your sister and say sorry when you do mean things."

"You're right, little one." The boy's mother chided him and apologized to Go before pulling her kid back down. He gathered Hana and hugged her. "Whatever was done that upset you, I apologize Hana-san. I would never purposely hurt you." She had quieted, now just leaning back against him while staring out the window.

"You're on the right bus," she said after a long while. "But the store's closed on Sunday."

"I know."

"What's your name?"

"Fujinaga, Go."

"Have we met before?"

"You were a cafeteria lady at the school if I remember correctly." She laughed again, this time the sound was clear and sweet. Go was worried for a moment that she might become melancholy again but didn't say so.

"Go, have you ever been in love before?" She had said the words a little softer. "I'm not sure if I have before. But I think the feeling could be great." The bus has stopped and she stood. "This is my stop. Hey, come with me. I want to show you something." She pulled Go off the bus and they headed down the street. Go felt like a rag doll as he tried keeping up with Hana but would randomly slip on the road. They approached a park and walked through the gates.The grass crunched beneath each step and Go found himself wondering at why he had decided to follow Hana out here. Wasn't she "in love" with Mirai? And what was the talk about love for? They walked down a cobblestone path with trees that hung overhead, drooping slightly. They stopped by a set of benches and sat down. "Look," she said as she pointed upwards. You can see the night sky the clearest from here. There's the north star- the ursa major... and there's the ursa minor." She pointed out constellations to him, grabbing his hand and tracing each one as she recited them to him. "I come here every once in a while. Usually to wait for a shooting star."

A star fell. Go excitedly pointed to it and Hana smiled as she pointed as well. "Make a wish," he said. Grabbing Hana's hand, he declared, "we'll both make one!"

They closed their eyes. Squeezing each other hands as if the intensity of the wish depended on it, they hoped with their all. Unbeknownst to each other, they had made the same wish that very night. When all was said and done, Go walked Hana home and called for a ride. Hana had thought about Mirai until sleep overcame her. Go had dreams of grandeur concerning Ponta. Far above them, a star twinkled brightly as it carried their wishes throughout the folds of time and space.

I wish someone loved me, truly.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed .