crossXdeep: First, thanks so much for the review! I know I keep repeating myself with these notes, but I really do mean it. LOL, I hope you're not too disappointed with Saeki not ending up with her. ^^"

Chocobaby: Thank you! :D I really do appreciate how everyone comes back to keep reading. Honestly, it makes me really happy. :) I hope your writer's block ends soon and the creative bug comes back to bite again! (I'm corny, hehe.)

Everyone: Thanks for reading, even if you don't feel like reviewing! xD Without you guys, I would've given up on this already. ^^

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Eight

Pride: Tarou

When I'd first met that damned girl, there had been nothing special about her. No distinguishing jolts had struck, and my heart had refused to beat faster. Because really, she was just normal. Short brown hair that framed her elfin face nicely (at best), and a figure that would take very, very sexy lingerie to make flattering. I dismissed her as nothing more than what she was ― my skinny, unattractive partner for the Culture Festival setup. At first, that is.

And then she'd opened her mouth and spoken the most untrue of all statements.

-

"Your hair is weird, you know." She said coolly, looking over at the top of my head. "I think you'd look better if you cut some of that…mess off. I don't like it."

I could only gawk at her then. Clearly, she had been hit in the head, or perhaps was on some kind of medication. No one, and I repeat with emphasis, no one, had talked about my hair in such a way before. My hair ― a beautiful masterpiece of perfectly-volumized, expertly-curled cream waves ― was not weird, nor a mess as this conceited girl had claimed it to be. (If it was, it would be considered a beautiful mess simply misunderstood as masterpieces often are, but I knew that that wasn't what she'd meant.) Who was she to deem it disgusting?

Before she could flounce away with her cheap sense of pride, I reached out and grabbed her by the elbow. Tightly. "I'm sorry for my behavior," I forced through clenched teeth, "but did I hear right? Did you just…insult my hair?"

She squirmed before successfully breaking free of my grip. I watched in surprised awe as she turned to face me, her eyes ― by then, I'd noticed that they were a strange, unearthly shade of brown ― sparked with a fierce, unwavering determination. I found myself taking a step back from how her stare pierced through me. But I was unafraid.

Just annoyed. And a teeny, tiny bit…fascinated…

"Your ears are fine." She continued to speak without a single hint of remorse in her tone. "Anyway, I look forward to working with you. Maybe." Bowing slightly ― mockingly, I noted ― she turned her back to me and began to walk away.

But I couldn't, I wouldn't, let her walk away with insulting my pride. My hair.

"You can't possibly mean that, can you…er…" I paused. I didn't know her name. "I mean, I'm Majima Tarou, the prince of the second-years. Your senpai." I politely reminded her of how much I towered over her in the school's hierarchy. "There's nothing wrong with me."

She only blinked innocently, looking at me up and down and back up to my face again. Heh, I knew it. Even she could only resist for only a little while. But it was normal. Girls usually tired to deny any sort of attraction they, of course, felt, but in the end, they'd surrender and admit to it. They always did.

"Did you just listen to yourself? Clearly, there's something wrong with you, Majima-senpai."

Once again, her words, and tone ― obviously, she was challenging with her ridiculously stretched pronunciation of my name ― had me stunned. I'd expected something else, and suddenly, she'd gone against my anticipation.

Who was this girl? "W-who are you?" I demanded, losing my cool now. I rarely did, but this girl…

She was different. I found my interest growing with every minute that effortlessly passed by.

"I don't see why it matters to you, but I'm Shiroi Megumi." Her brown eyes turned passionately strong again, but this time, I took a step toward her.

"Well then," I murmured, "looking forward to working with you, Shiroi-san."

"You too." Her orbs narrowed to hazel slits before she walked away, that aura of confidence surrounding her petite, undeserving self.

Her short hair bounced flauntingly off her shoulders as she strutted away. I was surprised. But it was slowly turning into the pleasant kind…

A small smirk painted itself onto my face. "Megumi," I whispered.

Hn. This is interesting.

She's interesting.

-

I kept my eye on her as we worked together, writing onto the banners and working on the other decorations for the yearly festival. We rarely spoke as we worked ("What color should this letter be, senpai?" "Either red or blue, choose yourself."), but I'd constantly catch her shooting me looks across the room.

On the final day of the preparations, Megumi and I climbed atop two ladders across from the other and hung up the final, and most important, banner in the front of the school. As cars whizzed by behind us, I yelled directions, satisfied with myself, over to the junior, making sure that she followed with a smirk that dripped of challenge. She only narrowed her eyes as she'd done when we'd met and quietly obeyed.

"Good job, kouhai." I stretched the syllables as if I was speaking to someone weak of hearing. When she only walked past me without a single word, I clapped my hands together loudly, theatrically applauding her work.

Megumi stopped in her tracks as my smirk broadened. Point for the senpai.

I watched her carefully, and saw that she was trembling. I forbade any sympathy from coming across my mind ― this was what she deserved. She'd insulted my hair, hadn't she?

Finally, finally, I had weakened her. This was the true Shiroi, a sensitive young kouhai who didn't take much to make cry. She could pose as confident as she wanted, but inside, she was nothing more than an insecure little kid.

"Now that I've forced your tears and true self to come out, would you like to go on a date with me? Or is such a request overdoing ―"

I was cut off as she whirled around to face me. Her eyes weren't rimmed with the pink from the aftermath of tears, but instead held the same expression as it had a few days ago ― fierce, determined.

The words that I'd planned to say stuck to my throat instead, and my lips dried as her stare pierced through me once again, looking into my very soul. "I know what you're trying to do, you jerk, and I'm not going to say it now. I will never fall in love with an egotistical leech like you."

Fall in love? With me? My eyes widened as I stared at her incredulously.

That wasn't my intention; it never had been! She was wrong. Stupidly wrong.

"You think that I'd want ―" I began, but like before, I was interrupted. Rudely, if I might add.

"―someone like me to fall in love with you?" She finished my sentence, spitting the words out at me now. "Don't try to deny it and blame my pride, when really, you know it's the truth."

The truth? I'd known it as soon as she'd called my hair strange, but now, it was official. Shiroi Megumi was crazy.

The lunatic kept going, kept pressing at my nerves, kept trying to make me crazy with her accusations…

"But I know your type. You throw away girls just because you don't feel that 'magic' anymore," she sputtered, earth orbs engulfed in such a fire, "and you say it's the girl's fault for not being exciting. You don't know what love is, do you? If you did, you'd try and make that magic happen again." She paused to take a breath, but the drive in her eyes never faded. "I'm right. Both you and I know it, but you just can't admit it because of your fucking arrogance."

I swallowed the bile in my throat as she stomped away. I could still see the embers fly around her, gaining strength as she continued… I could still feel the burn that she'd pressed onto me, long after she disappeared from view…

Because she was right. There was no denying it… I had just been too foolishly stubborn to realize it sooner.

But everything that she'd said rang true. Even…the part about trying to make her love me… I'd been so enthralled about how…different she was from other girls… And I hadn't noticed how that interest had turned into something else, something deeper…

I hadn't noticed that I couldn't leave her alone.

And now it was too late…wasn't it?

I closed my eyes and closed my hands into tight fists.

I'd been a jerk.

I could only ask for forgiveness now… But apologizing would cost me a blow to what I valued the most, wouldn't it?

A blow to my pride.

-

As I began the long, quiet walk back home, I found that my thoughts were my only company. They swirled around me, reminders of how stupid I'd been, how I'd been blinded by none other than myself…

A wind blew by as if on cue, running its gentle fingers through the locks of my hair… "Perfect waves of cream", as I'd seen it…

My hair…

"Your hair is weird, you know."

I sighed as another breeze passed, playing with the cream waves atop my head…

"It'd look better if you cut it. I don't like it."

She hadn't known how much that statement had affected me.

My hair… As silly as it sounded, it was a big piece of my pride.

Pride…

I stopped in the middle of my walk as an idea hit me, falling out of the sky and thumping me on the head as if it'd been obvious all along.

I turned around and sprinted, running towards the nearest hair salon.

-

One after another, gasps and whispers filled the air as soon as I stepped through the gate the very next day. I decided to ignore the many "W-why do you think he did that?" and walked in silence.

There was only one person whose opinion I craved.

I craned my neck and searched through the crowd of Hanegasaki uniforms, looking for that person. Where was she…?

"M-Majima-senpai?" The voice was behind me.

Hold on, I recognized that voice… Immediately I turned around as my mind began to numb, even before I could see her face.

My breath hitched as her eyes looked up at my head, and then back into my eyes. At that moment, she was the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen. Plain and simple, but that was where her beauty was found…

"What'd you do…Majima-senpai…?" she asked breathlessly.

I took a step toward her. She couldn't look or whisper my name at me like that and expect me not to do anything about it. "I cut it," I murmured. "You said…you didn't like it. Do you…like it now?" My heart began to pound as I finished my question. This…these strange feelings were all new to me… I'd been missing out…

It didn't help my heart that she bit down on her lip and smiled slightly. "Yeah. This style suits you more."

"I'm glad," I said. It wasn't a lie, not when those tingles were rushing throughout my body and practically lifting me off the ground. "I never thought I'd find myself saying this, but… I'm sorry for my behavior. No, no, I'm sorry for more. I'm sorry for what I said, how I made you feel, and for not seeing that you…you were right. You were right about everything."

I closed my eyes and took in a breath. I'd said it. Now I only needed to wait for her reaction, for if or not she'd forgive me…

My eyelids snapped open in surprise ― the pleasant kind ― when I felt something warm, soft, and moist against my mouth.

It was Megumi. She'd…she'd kissed me.

I smiled into the kiss, closing my eyes once more and losing myself into her lips. I tossed all my cares, and my pride, into the sky, and let me tell you as a first-timer, it felt nice. Really nice…

"I'd like to call you 'Megumi-chan'… I'll let you call me 'Tarou-kun' in return…"

--

Note: I just noticed a mistake in my story. Not in this one, but the whole "You and Me" collection. I incorrectly labeled Shiba's story as the seventh in the Chapters list, when it's only the sixth. Ad then I put Saeki's as the eighth, when it's only supposed to be the seventh. :'D Sorry about that! Math never was my strong point, even simple math. Lol, no I'm just trying to be funny (and failing…?). It was just a mistake, but I'm still sorry. It was a stupid mistake.

Ahem, anyway… ^^"

I always thought Tarou-kun's hair was a little weird. Cool, but strange and a little…feminine? –hides, get shot- I don't think I'd seen a hairstyle like that in real life, lol. Or maybe I have, I don't know. I shouldn't ramble. xD

Thanks for reading!

I look forward to everyone's reviews but they're not required, of course. :D

Next shall be… Hn, I'm thinking Wakaouji Takafumi. (x