~Emerald Eyes~ ~(PG) Chapter 6 By Callisto~ "Happiness Again" "There?s nothing to do." Makoto thought to herself sadly. "Usagi has detention... again, Rei?s busy helping her grandpa, Minako?s out at dinner with her parents, and Ami said she had really important studying to do. Now I?m left here bored to death. It?s too early for dinner, and too late for the arcade...." She shifted her hand under her chin and sighed. She stood up and walked out onto her balcony, leaning her arms on the banister. A warm breeze blew and she smiled. She looked down at the ground and saw Shin entering the gate and walking up to the building. She sighed, "Four weeks. I?ve lived next to him for four weeks. Four weeks of seeing him everywhere. Four weeks of him making fun of me, and joking around. Four weeks of going over to his house for cooking lessons. It seems like he?s everywhere I go. He won?t leave me alone. He makes fun of me about something every time I see him." She thought sadly. "It?s always, ? You ate too much, You have such a bad temper!, Can?t you take a joke? "He makes me so mad! And yet he never becomes angry at me. He?s always so calm and seems like nothing is ever wrong. "I don?t understand him at all. Rei and Minako go crazy every time they see him, but he?s never nice to me. He never takes anything seriously. Everything?s just one big joke to him!" She stood up as she thought of something to do. She Put on her shoes and walked out the door and down the hall, walking past Shin as she went. She neither smiled nor said hello as he stopped and looked at her. "Well You?re sure in a good mood!" Shin joked as she brushed past him. Their shoulders touched briefly, for less than a second, but as they touched, a clear image of those sad little eyes flashed before Makoto, like a burst of lightning. "That was weird." Makoto thought as she walked down the street. "It seems like everytime Shin?s around,I get those headaches and I see that little girl." She sighed. "He doesn?t care about me. He doesn?t care about my feelings, or how his jokes hurt me. Everyone just assumes that because I?m big I don?t have feelings, so then I?m forced to act as if it doesn?t bother me. No one cares." She made her way to the park near her home and sat down on a bench near the lake. She looked out over the lake at the sunset for a few minutes, smiling peacefully. "Hello." A voice came from behind her, breaking the silence and startling her. She spun around and saw Shin standing, holding something behind his back. "Oh, hello." Mako said. She wasn?t sure how to act towards him. "What are you holding?" "Well," He said walking closer to her, but making sure that she could not see what was behind him. "Its a, well its a gift. For you." "Why would you buy me a present?" She asked bewildered. "Well, when I saw it, I just couldn?t help it. Its for you know, for giving me a cooking lesson and everything and to say I?m sorry I guess. I?ve been kind of mean to you. Plus, you told me how you felt lonely so, I guess I thought this would help you." He said half defensively, half embarrassed. "Just take a look." With that he brought his hands around, revealing a small golden puppy. Its fuzzy fur was thick and soft, its eyes dancing with excitement, and a smile on its cute face. He put it on Makoto?s lap as he sat down beside her. "Its a golden retriever puppy. The Vet that I intern for found her and was going to take her to the pound, but I couldn?t let him. You don?t have to take her if you don?t want to, I mean its you choice." Makoto, who had stayed silent, stroked the puppies soft fur and looked up at Shin. "Thank you." She said quietly. "That was very thoughtful of you. I mean, you really listened to me that day. You really istened to me." Shin and Makoto smiled softly at each other. Mako put one hand down on the bench and Shin placed his on top of it. Shocked at first, Makoto thought about pulling her hand away, but didn?t. "I?ve been trying to figure you out ever since I met you." Shin told her. "What do you mean?" Makoto asked him. "When I first saw you, you looked happy and sweet, with your friends. Then when I talked to you, you were unfeeling and serious. Then I saw you again walking with Usagi-san, happy and gentle, but as soon as I showed up you put on this rough exterior. When you gave me that cooking lesson, I was able to see through that exterior as you talked about your mother and your friends. You aren?t a serious, rough person, Makoto-san. I see that now. You are gentle, and kind. You just don?t like many people to see it." "No one does see it. Everyone who sees me just assumes because I?m big that I?m mean. No one cares about the real me. Besides my mother, Usagi-chan and you are the only two people to see past my size. The only two people who looked at me and saw a person with feelings. Thank you." She smiled, and Shin returned it. "You know, I?ve been trying to understand you too. I don?t know why, but I couldn?t get past this image of you as rude, unfeeling and abnoxious. I was beeing a bit hipocritical though, because I don?t think that I ever really looked at you. I never gave you a chance and for that I?m sorry." "Its OK." Shin said quietly as he slowly put his arm around her shoulder. They sat on the bench silently watching the sun sink below the horizon, sending a warm pinkish-orage glow over the park. It softened to a bright orange, and dimmed to a purple. They finally stood up and walked home silently, engullfed in the beauty and serenity of the twilight. Mako walked close to him, and he kept his hand on her shoulder, neither of them speaking. They stopped at Makoto?s door and she unlocked it. "Goodbye, Shin-chan. She said quietly. "Goodbye, Makoto." He smiled, leaned over and gently kissed her on the cheek. He watched her go inside, then smiling, turned and went inside his own home. Mako snapped the door shut, and smiled happily, petting the sleeping puppy she was still craddling in her arms. She didn?t understand what had happened, but she didn?t care. She was happy.