Lights

Scene Three: Let's do Math! Party Games are to Jealousy as Flyswatters are to (?)

"Get off of her, idiot!"

Yui smacked Kyouko upside the head, and the girl toppled away from the petrified brunette, wearing a dazed expression, as if she wasn't sure what she'd done wrong. Groaning, the raven-haired girl yanked the girl back into her original position beside her by the collar of her shirt. Yui was not amused (nor surprised, unfortunately) by the uncommon (even for Kyouko) level of stupidity that her best friend had displayed in her assault on Sakurako.

Across the 'circle', poor Ayano was wearing an expression of absolute despair, having endured higher levels of anxiety in one day that the average person would in an entire lifetime (a long one, at that, not that eighty-year lifespan that hardly ever applied). She appeared to be paralyzed from the shock and heartbreak, not even twitching as Chitose sympathetically rubbed her back.

Just off to the left of Ayano, Himawari was fuming, her face a deep crimson, though for an entirely different reason than it had been just moments before. Her jaw was tight, her lips set into a thin line, and she was just barely breathing through the effort of keeping herself from crying at the same time as keeping her temper under control. Her heart felt like it would explode from the pure, liquid possessiveness that was boiling within it, and this time, there was no outlet. It had been much easier to control during the play, because it had, once again, been Sakurako who had done something stupid, and it was nothing out of the ordinary for her to snap at her counterpart, even if Sakurako had been clueless.

But now there was no outlet, and nowhere to hide from her feelings. The two impulses were warring inside of her, and she knew that she couldn't keep them both under control. But at the same time, she had to. She couldn't start crying, even though she knew she'd feel so much better, because that would make absolutely no sense, but she couldn't very well snap at a senpai for kissing a girl she "hated", particularly Kyouko, who she actually had a fairly good relationship with. She needed a distraction.

And, as fate would have it, she received one.

Luckily, there were enough uncalled for reactions to Kyouko's stupidity so that Himawari's was generally overlooked—even luckier, Sakurako seemed too out of it to notice anything, though Himawari had mixed feelings about that due to the cause of her dazedness.

Finally, Chitose took it upon herself to break the awkward silence (and rescue her near-comatose friend). "Who's turn is it now, Toshino-san?" she asked, in her usual polite manner.

Kyouko blinked. "I don't remember."

Yui sighed. "Just spin the bottle, Kyouko," she sighed, though she had the feeling that she'd regret allowing the blonde to pick up where she'd left off.

Kyouko's face lit up, her lips curling into a lecherous grin as she spun the bottle, clearly hoping for it to land on a terrified-looking Chinatsu.

Unfortunately for her, it landed quite a ways away from its target, the neck pointing directly at a sulking bluenette. Kyouko looked disappointed for a moment, only to brighten instantaneously as she seemed to remember something. Chinatsu eyed the girl wearily—she didn't know why, but she had the most awful feeling that Kyouko was still going to involve her in some convoluted plot twist. She sighed inwardly. She was never safe, really.

And she wasn't disappointed, either.

"Hmmm…" Kyouko pretended to think, until Yui dealt her another blow to the side of her head. The blonde wobbled up from the floor, sporting a dazed grin and a painful-looking lump. "Okay, okay, Yui," she relented, leaning back against the wall, legs spread out in a way that left little to the imagination. Poor, remarkably unremarkable Akari was floundering about with her omnipresent box of tissues, not sure whether to offer them to Chitose, who looked as though she'd been admitted to Yuri heaven, or Ayano, whose nose, to her complete embarrassment, had started to drip just a tiny bit of blood.

"Like what you see, Ayano-chan?" Kyouko asked, assuming a face reminiscent of a train-station pervert.

"Ye—I mean, OF COURSE NOT! SIT PROPERLY, TOSHINO KYOUKO!" the flustered vice president stuttered, face turning an unhealthy shade of fushia. Chitose giggled from beside her and patted the purple-haired tsundere on the leg as Kyouko cocked her head, somehow completely oblivious.

"Just get on with the game," Yui muttered. Though there wasn't anyone else in her apartment, somehow she was still embarrassed to be around all these crazy, hormonal girls she somehow called her friends.

"Oh, right!" Kyouko shot back up into a sitting position, immediately focused entirely on the game, causing Yui to sweatdrop. "Truth or dare, Himawari?"

The girl in question balked at the informal use of her name, but only for a moment before she regained her composure. Kyouko was the last person she wanted to talk to at this particular moment, and, to her utter mortification, the bluenette found herself shifting just slightly closer to Sakurako, placing her right hand just behind the brunette's left so that she was almost touching the girl's lower back. The neanderthalic notion of possessiveness was completely foreign to Himawari, and it made her want to cringe in disgust of her own behavior, but somehow, she wasn't even in control of her own body.

"Dare."

Or, apparently, her mouth.

Kyouko assumed an expression similar to a fox who'd cornered its prey. "I dare you to…" Her blue eyes flickered teasingly around the room, before landing predictably on Chinatsu, who merely groaned, folding her arms over her chest. At least she wouldn't have to do anything with Kyouko. "Hold Chinatsu on your lap for the rest of the game."

The pinkette shot Kyouko a look that practically snarled "really?". The blonde just grinned, apparently very proud of herself. Himawari flushed slightly, but she'd honestly been expecting a lot worse, so she straightened slightly as the pinkette flounced over and planted herself on the taller girl's lap, all the while staring at Kyouko with a bland expression.

Beside them, Sakurako huffed.

Yui shot Kyouko a disparaging look. "Really?" she asked, voicing Chinatsu's unspoken question.

Kyouko shrugged. "Back when we set the dates for Christmas last year, I remember her saying she wanted to be partnered with Chinatsu-chan," she stated, looking over at Yui with confused eyes. For her part, Yui was surprised at how reasonable Kyouko's dare had actually been. Still, when she hazarded a glance in the direction of the duo, she couldn't help but think Kyouko had an ulterior motive for bringing Chinatsu into the equation—and not just to pleasure herself, for once.

"I knew she'd drag me into her stupid dare somehow," Chinatsu muttered from Himawari's lap, and the bluenette took pity on the smaller girl, who really wasn't overreacting at all, given the way Kyouko was always grabbing at her. "At least I didn't end up on her lap."

Sakurako gave a noticeably louder huff, her arms folded over her chest, eyes dark and narrowed in the way they had been back on Valentine's day. Himawari turned to check on the visibly annoyed brunette, but Sakurako refused to meet her gaze. The bluenette frowned slightly before leaning back against the sofa and wrapping her arms loosely around Chinatsu's waist in an effort to get comfortable. The smaller girl didn't seem to mind, and actually turned so that her head was lodged between Himawari's shoulder blade and her neck, pulling her knees up, apparently aiming to get comfortable herself. It made sense, considering they'd be here for a while, if Kyouko had any say in it.

Sakurako, who had been watching the exchange out of the corner of her eye, swallowed hard, her cheeks puffing out slightly in a childish pout. She wanted to tear the two apart—she was the one who should be on Himawari's lap, not Chinatsu. It made sense—it wasn't as if Himawari even knew Chinatsu before this year, and Sakurako had been her best…frienemy all their lives. The urge to stake her claim was even stronger than it had been on Valentine's day, and this time in a more…physical manner. Like in a shove that pink-haired bitch off of her Himawari's lap and take her place manner.

Sakurako shook her head, hard. What did she care if Chinatsu sat on Himawari's lap, even if it made more sense for Sakurako to? Even sitting beside the bluenette set Sakurako in a bad mood—really, she felt sorry for Chinatsu, having to have those monster breasts pressed into her face.

Firmly reassured by her (rather weak) arguments, Sakurako sat up straighter, before leaping to her feet and swiftly stalking over to sit next to Akari instead, because really, watching those two cuddling was nauseating. She did all this with a serious, straight face, because really, she was just annoyed by PDA, and what was wrong with that?

Unfortunately, her silent, less-than-dramatic departure had actually peaked Himawari's curiosity, who knew the brunette better than anyone. Normal for the rest of the world was extremely unusual for Sakurako, who was almost always bouncing off the walls and spouting off about some random thing or another. Himawari had only seen this side of Sakurako a few times before, the most recent being those short moments before the brunette had thrown that tantrum in the middle of homeroom about Himawari spending more time with Chinatsu than her. Akari, for one, was just happy someone had noticed her.

Yui, who'd been observing the various scenes taking place before her, (which looked like they'd been plagiarized directly from an episode of Degrassi) finally decided to take charge.

"That's enough truth or dare," she stated, fist already formed in case Kyouko decided to object. The blonde had noticed, and had made her first intelligent decision of the night, and kept her mouth shut.

"I agree, Funami-san," Chitose replied in her usual dreamy voice, still lightly stroking a positively haggard-looking Ayano. "Perhaps we should watch a movie instead?"

"SAW!"

"That's a good idea," Yui agreed as Kyouko twitched on the ground beside her, sporting yet another massive lump on the back of her head. "What do you guys want to watch?"

Kyouko was stretched across the sofa, pouting profusely, only stopping to yelp when Chinatsu "accidentally" stepped on her on her way to claim her seat beside Yui.

"I wanted to cuddle with Chinatsu-chan~" the blonde whined. Yui rolled her eyes. She'd seen the wheels in the pinkette's mind turning when the snake had fallen from the door the morning of the play. She doubted the younger girl would be the terrified cuddler that Kyouko was hoping for. If anything, the movie would probably expand her…unique affinity for drawing.

Sakurako had stubbornly taken a seat at the very end of the sofa, in spite of Kyouko's legs, which she had to deal with resting on her lap. She was still pouting profusely, even now that Himawari and Chinatsu had parted without incident, and, for all the world to see, no newly discovered feelings for each other.

As for the bluenette, she stood in the doorway of the room beside a rather forlorn Ayano. Their eyes were resting in the same general direction, but for entirely different reasons.

Himawari knew that Sakurako was still upset over the dare, and to be honest, she found it kind of adorable…not that she'd ever admit it to the brunette. Unfortunately, what kept her from joining Sakurako on the couch was the lingering, overwhelming urge to have some kind of contact with the girl—stake some kind of claim on her "rival". Also, in a more physical sense, Kyouko's legs.

In the end, the last bit was what prompted her to move from the doorway and solve both her and Ayano's problems. She walked gracefully over to the couch, as if nothing were the matter, and, trying her best to hold back her blush, shoved (or pushed, maybe, because she was still attempting to be polite and not entirely neanderthalic) Kyouko's feet away entirely, making them land unceremoniously on the ground. Kyouko groaned slightly, but made no move to regain her position, and Himawari took the opportunity to sit next to her sulking friend, maybe just a tiny bit closer than was necessary. Beside her, a blushing Ayano was huffing at Kyouko to be more considerate and leave room for others, which caused the blonde to sit up and pull the tsundere down with her, completely oblivious to Ayano's embarrassment.

"Why are you here?" Sakurako asked bitterly, and Himawari might have taken offence, were the brunette not still pouting. "Shouldn't you be over there with Chinatsu-san?"

Noting the cold, formal addressing of the pinkette, Himawari couldn't help but giggle just a little bit, causing Sakurako to glare up at her. "Are you jealous?" the bluenette asked, recalling the smaller girl's slightly adorable reaction last time she'd asked the same question. This time, Sakurako did huff, but didn't say anything in response immediately, and when she finally did, it turned the tables on Himawari entirely.

"Are you?" she replied in her usual petulant style. "Is that why you got so mad during the play and wouldn't tell me why?"

Himawari floundered for several seconds, her face flushing an increasingly darker shade of red. "I—of course not!" she finally replied, turning away from the brunette, folding her arms protectively over her chest. "It was because you were being an idiot and upset Sugiura-senpai."

Sakurako didn't reply after that, instead casting her gaze toward the screen as the movie began to play. Chinatsu had ended up choosing, easily beating out Kyouko, and had selected Shrek the Third, an American animated movie that was apparently hilarious. Himawari gazed at the brunette for several long seconds before sighing and allowing herself to settle back into the comfortable sofa, for once wishing that she didn't have to be quite so stubborn regarding Sakurako.

A/N: Okay, so…this isn't related or anything, but…yeah. I was just sitting there, bored, looking up stuff online on my phone, and I remembered hearing Taylor Swift on the radio and hearing her say 'she's the best thing that's ever been mine'. And naturally, I was like, "what?" so I looked that up, and I realized it wasn't, you know, lesbian or anything…but I also found a lot more. Like how she crashed a Kennedy wedding, and completely brushed off the mother of the bride. And then I just started thinking back to all her songs (I used to be a huge fan, and I still like some of the songs…if I don't think about how she meant them) and I was just like…wow, she's kind of a bitch. And this was like, a HUGE revelation for me—I was honestly shocked. But guys…she kind of is. I honestly believe that she used to be the naïve small town girl that everyone sees her as…but she sure as hell isn't that same girl anymore. Boys treat girls badly sometimes and sure, write a song about it, I've been there. I've been a bitch to my exes, too. I've done things I'm not fucking proud of, things that still haunt me with guilt (that is probably irrational, given my anxiety levels). I was (and technically still am, but not at heart, not really) a teenage girl, too. But she isn't a teenage girl anymore. And she isn't naïve. She knows what she's doing, and she can be just as heartless as her infamous exes.

This is just my opinion, anyway, don't take it to heart, please. I just wanted to share it with someone because…it literally shocked me, it really did.

I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and please review! :)