He was *the* model of perfection, sitting in all his glory, right next to her.  Her heartbeat was fast, and her mind spun. His masculine scent, and cologne, slowly intoxicated her. The scent of roses during blooming season, beautiful and heavenly.  She sighed, her eyes closing as she drank in his smell.  If only he was hers, then everything would be okay... except for one, tiny fact...

"Fuuko," he suddenly said, breaking the calmness that had surrounded them. Fuuko's eyes opened, staring straight into his midnight blue.

"Hai, Tokiya-chan?"

He grinned roguishly at her; the blueness of his eyes drawing her into a state that was unbearable.  "Fuuko," he said, "I'm going out today. Don't wait up for me, okay?"  Without waiting for her answer, he leaned over to deliver a small peck on her cheek. He strode away, never knowing that her eyes were watching him walk out of the arcade.

He was going out, meaning 'out' on a date...Fuuko sighed, her eyes suddenly downcast. He would never look at her in that way; After all, when truth came to truth, she really was only his best friend. Nothing more, nothing less.  Suddenly, feeling as if she was going to cry, Fuuko crossed her arms on the counter and slowly lowered her head down to meet them. Her eyes slowly filled with tears, as she let out a sigh.

'If only, Tokiya...if only you would love me like I love you. I just wish you would look at me the way I look at you...and then I wish, you would love me...the way I love you...'

~~~

She looked into the mirror, and her reflection stared back at her. She internally cringed at the sight that greeted her. "Am I too skinny? Too short? Too dark? Too tough for him? Maybe it's my hair. Is it too short?" she asked her reflection. Fuuko sighed as she wondered why, after all this time, he still thought of her as his plain best friend.

"I just don't understand why Tokiya won't wake from his stupor, and see that I am the one for him...I just wish..."

She let out a sigh, flopping onto her bed. The pillows that had been arranged neatly that morning, flopped into disarray; she paid no attention to them. Fuuko had known him ever since she was young child. They had met at the orphanage, and had been neglected by the other children there. If the children had spoken- to her, at least- it was only to tease her. Fuuko smiled faintly that's how she became tough. She smiled again as she thought back to their first meeting.

****Flashback****

 The dark haired child sat against the tree. She was only eight, but she held a faded copy of 'Gone with the Wind' in her hand. She began to read the most romantic part of the story, and gave a sigh. 'Rhett had just stooped down to pick up Scarlett, who had fainted from the heat. Her red, velvet dress, which was badly torn, had begun to slip from her shoulders. Scarlett could feel herself being carried...By whom, she didn't know. She opened her heavy-lidded eyes. Green clashed with black, as she gasped, and fought to remain calm.' Fuuko closed the dog-eared book, which had been read so many times before. In her mind, she thought, 'I shall someday find a boy like that for me...He will be there whenever I need him. I won't even have to call for him, because he'll come to me. He'll know when I'll need him, and he'll love me for what I am.... Not what I can become-'  Her thoughts were interrupted as the book was suddenly snatched out of her hand. A boy, about 11 years old, stood, towering over her, his dirty blond hair dangling over cold brown eyes. Asanuma had a mischievous gleam in his eyes, as he watched the young blond immediately spring up from her previous position.

'Juzamasu,' Fuuko had calmly stated, 'Please give me back my book.'

Juzamasu grinned. 'Why?' was all he said, as he held the book over her head, and her fingers just barely brushing the book as she tried desperately to get it back from him.

'Juzamasu...please?' She had pleaded to him, as he gave the book in his hand a cryptic look. He opened it, and began to read it.  The words did not compute well in his head, and he shut the book. His eyes were boring into hers again.

"Little girls," he spat out, "should not be reading these kinds of books." She glared at him, her temper flaring dangerously.

"Oh REALLY?  What type of books are little girls SUPPOSED to read?! Wait a second, you should know, you ARE one." The heavy tinge of sarcasm was in her voice, but all he did was shrug off the insult, knowing that he was still in charge of this harassment. A smile slowly started to form on his face. He brought the book down to her face, and slowly began to tear the front cover. Fuuko's eyes filled with tears.

"No! Juzamasu! Please stop it!!  Stop it!!  That's the only thing I ever received from my mother..." She cried, tears falling down her face.

He grinned as he saw her bend as he continued to slowly, painstakingly, rip the cover. '!' was all that she had been able to yell, before a hand appeared out of no where, and grabbed the book away from Juzamasu's hands, and handed it back to Fuuko.

'Back off,' a cold voice had interjected.

Both Fuuko's and Juzamasu's eyes had widened at this new voice. A boy, around the age of 9, was Fuuko's protector. Literally, she would later find out. Juzamasu's eyes narrowed.

'Who are you?'

"It doesn't matter," he had stated as he placed his hands on his hips as he glared at the other boy offensively.
 
"But what does matter is that if you don't get away from here as soon as possible, I'll beat you to a pulp." Juzamasu gave the boy, who was obviously younger than he, a look of disbelief. Juzamasuwas older, taller, and more experienced. He let out a mocking snicker.

"*You* beat *me*? You? A boy that has probably just begun to write kanji? Please!' Juzamasu's arms circled his own waist, trying to contain his laughter.

The other boy was not amused. Nor was his fist as he slammed it into the older boys face with a sickening thud. Tokiya stood there proudly, and watched as Juzamasu brought a hand up to touch his jaw. 'You broke it! How could you? Wait until the director hears about this.'

Tokiya merely raised an eyebrow, as Fuuko stood watching with fascination. No one had ever stuck up for her before- at least, not to her knowledge. She could feel pride emitting from this pale-haired boy that stood in front of her and the bleeding opposite.

Tokiya had just smiled coldly at the threat that the other boy had just given to him. 'Go ahead and tell the director.  Ask him what he thinks of me after I tried to defend this young girl while you were harassing her- tearing up her property and pestering her? I've seen you get into fights and harass other kids! What will one record do to me when you already have fifty?'

Juzamasu had snarled out, 'You *will* pay for this, boy. You'll regret it soon enough. Just wait and see.' Tokiya had watched his retreating back, and turned to Fuuko.

'Daijabou ka?' was the first thing that he said to her.

'Daijabou desu. Domo arigatou, sempai.' She had replied, blushing.

'Mikagami. Tokiya Mikagami is my name.'

'Tokiya-san,' Fuuko had said, with a tiny giggle.

He look down at the book that was still in his hand. His eye brow lifted questionably, 'Exactly what *are* you doing, reading that book? Girls your age-' he had stopped there, watching Fuuko's eyes light up with fire.
 
'Girls my age? Onegai, Tokiya-san, exactly what *do* girls my age read? Little books with pictures on every page?' Fuuko had turned to storm away, but Tokiya had spoke up

'Matte! Gomennasai! It's just that I don't see girls as young as you reading such complex book.'

She blushed at the comment as he then walked beside her. 'So, what's your name? It's only fair that you tell me, 'cause I told you mine already."

'My name is Fuuko Kirisawa. She said as he translated her name in his head.

Tokiya nodded. The two then sat down against the tree that Fuuko had been under before, and began to chatter happily.

****End Flashback****

 'And that', Fuuko thought happily, 'was how we first met.' Her sunny smile, however, suddenly turned into a frown when she remembered what a living hell the rest of the orphans had made their lives...

They hadn't accepted Tokiya because they were jealous and angry...jealous at the fact that he was not brought there because his parents didn't want him, like the rest of theirs had. Tokiya-chan had been brought to that home because there was nowhere else for him to go. His parents and older sister had been killed in a car accident, 5 years before. Tokiya had been in different orphanages, different foster homes... No one wanted the boy with light gray long hair, and blue gray eyes because they felt that he was different. Different in a good way, but still... It would be too risky to take him in. The anger came from Juzamasu and the rest of his little 'gang.' Since his gang composed of almost all of the boys in the orphanage, none of them had wanted to take him in, either. Tokiya had felt no regret. He had Fuuko, and Fuuko had him. They were a little family, content with each other.

Fuuko was different, however. She did have one thing in common with the rest of the orphans...She was brought there because her father and mother wanted a son. They hadn't wanted a HER.

****Flashback****

'Fuuko!' Her mother's singsong voice filled her ears as she looked up at the woman who smiled at her.

To Fuuko, her mother and father were the most beautiful people in the world.  'Today's your birthday, and I thought I should take you to this place...' she said, as Fuuko nodded. The couple shared a small secret nod. It was quite rare for her parents to take her places. She was always off somewhere else, doing this, doing that.  'Pack up some stuff, because you get to spend the night there, too...'

Fuuko had nodded, and grabbed her stuffed kitten and clothing. Her father smiled sadly, as he picked up the child into her arms. "Let's go, darling," he had said, as Fuuko wrapped her hands around her mother's neck and held her fathers hand.

The scent of lilac's filled her nostrils.  She always loved the scent. It always intoxicated her with lovely thoughts about growing older and being just like her mother. Her mother had the most exotic shiny black hair that was cropped into a stylish hairstyle,and her eyes were a green color. Fuuko had always wondered why she had just these dull dark ones. Her mother's eyes were always filled with so much beauty and wonder.
 
They walked to a gate, and her mother had brought her into the large building while her father waited in a car. A lady then appeared as her mother began to talk to her. Fuuko looked around, for she could feel the looks of the other children were on her. She could tell, in her heart, that something was not right about this place. There were so many kids without their parents -

'Fuuko,' her mother's voice had called. She walked up to her mother, her dark eyes looking into her mother's globe of green.

'Stay here for tonight.I'll be back tomorrow...' she had said, as she tightly gave her child a hug. She had then parted, but not before giving her a wrapped package. 'Here,' she said, her voice choking, 'This is your birthday present from us.'

Fuuko nodded, as she carefully opened it.  A book. It was quite long. Fuuko flipped to the last page, and saw the number of pages that it had...1,024.

'Sugoi,' had been her only thought. She looked up at her mom, who was smiling sadly at her.
 
'Thank you Okaa-san...' she had said, and her mother wrapped her arms around her.

"We'll see you tomorrow, love."

****End Flashback****

The truth was, there was no tomorrow.  No matter how much she had waited for her mother or father, there was no tomorrow.  The days had slowly turned into weeks, weeks into months, and months into years, and although Fuuko didn't want to admit it, she never did see her mom or dad come back through the gate telling her 'Let's go.' But, for some reason, that didn't bother her as much as it should have. If her mother had come back, she never would have become such good friends with Tokiya.

She had grown up with Tokiya, and they spent much of their time talking about what they were going to do when they were older. Although Fuuko didn't know, by the time she was fourteen, she had already fallen in =
love with him.

He had been her first and only love for the past six years, and her heart ached at the thought that he had no clue how she felt.

"Love sucks." She then exclaimed, turning off the lights. "But what sucks even more is that I can't help but want to be in love!"

~~~
Authors Note:

Wai! Wai! My first fanfic, but still my first chapter. I'll get on with the second chapter soon! Don't worry! What do you think? Tell me if it sucks okay? I made Tokiya soften up around here first since I don't exactly want him to get cold on Fuuko. Well, second chapter coming soon!