March first. It was a day that Apple didn't have any care for, really. In fact, it was nowhere near her birthday, it was far away from any holiday she cared about, and nothing special had ever happened in March.

March was one letter away from Marsh, too, so that factored in.

But still, she couldn't stop smiling as she knocked on Marsh's door, match in hand, and waited.

No response.

"Come out, Marshmallow! I know you're in there. You drink apple juice at breakfast every other day to make me angry. But today you didn't even come to breakfast."

Silence. Apple raised an eyebrow, irritated.

"You don't seriously think I'll leave if you don't answer, do you? I can just burn this door down!"

There was another moment of silence. Apple raised the match to strike it against the door, but there was a sharp clicking sound, and then Apple was knocked to the ground by the door being swung out.

"What do you want, to beat me up some more?"

There was something weird about Marshmallow's voice. Apple opened her eyes to see her aggressively rubbing her eyes, then glaring at her.

Her breathing was audibly ragged, too.

"...Were you crying?" Apple asked.

Marsh's eyes widened, as if she wasn't expecting it to be so obvious. "D-don't answer my question with a question, idiot."

"I'm not an idiot! I'm smart, I tell you!" Apple swung her arms for emphasis. "And that's lame. Crying is for babies."

"Shut up. If you want to attack me, I'll bite. At least it's something to do."

'Uh... What? It almost sounds like she wants me to. I-it kind of takes the fun out of it if I know she wants to be beat up.'

"Eh, I don't feel like it," Apple mumbled, tossing the match away. "It's no fun when you want me to do it."

'She never cries. Usually she comes out here and puts up a good fight!'

"I-I'm fine. Don't pity me, because I wasn't crying." Marshmallow punched Apple's stomach, but it was a weak punch. A token punch.

"Show me your room."

"What? No, you're not allowed in!"

"Too bad." Apple barreled in, brushing roughly past Marshmallow as she did so.

She'd never really taken a good look at Marshmallow's room before. It was furnished in hues of pink, purple, and white, all pastel-looking. The pillows on her bed looked super soft, punchable like Marshmallow herself was. Her bed was completely unmade.

"You're not allowed," Marshmallow repeated hollowly. "I'm not in the mood, idiot."

Her voice crumbled. Apple retorted, "Well, maybe I'll leave when you tell me what's the matter."

"Why should I? You're my enemy!"

"But there is something wrong."

Marshmallow was silent, not turning to look at her. 'It'd make a great sucker punch,' Apple thought, considering giving up her emotional torture in favor of the usual, but opted to instead belly-flop onto her fancy bed. It was still warm. Marshmallow was still staring outside her door when Apple added, "I'm not leaving until you tell me. Your bed's comfy!"

Suddenly Marshmallow slammed the door. When she turned to face Apple, tears were already pooling in her eyes. "It's none of your business. But if you must know, I-I miss someone."

"Seriously?"

"She's... a close friend. I haven't seen her in a long time."

Marshmallow sat in one of the ribbon-covered chairs at the other end of her room and stared at a plush animal on it. It was a snow-white rabbit with a pink bowtie tied around its neck.

Apple's stomach felt uneasy at the sight of her. It was so weird to see her enemy so vulnerable, and it was tempting to...

What was it tempting to do?

...

...Well, something.

"Is that all?"

"Why would you care if there's more?"

"I kinda like hearing you talk, when you don't want to talk anyway," Apple said with a smirk.

Marshmallow looked back at the toy. She didn't react, which made Apple's fists clench.

"It's the anniversary of the day we first met," Marshmallow explained.

"Anniversary? What's that mean?"

"It's the same day I first became her friend, but a different year," Marshmallow explained, "so it feels like it's been a long time..."

"So she's the one making you sad?"

The thought filled Apple's stomach with bile. 'I should be the only one who makes Marshmallow sad. That's the only reason I feel bad, that's all.'

"Why do you care?"

"I should be the only one who makes you cry. We're enemies!"

Marsh huffed, vindictively amused. "You almost seem jealous."

"No, I'm not!"

"Riiiiight." Her voice dripped with sarcasm.

Apple wondered what the warmth in her face was. She ignored it and said, "I just want to be the one to make you cry! So..."

Apple stalked over as menacingly as she could: with huge steps, and stomping, and her arms spread out so she looked and felt bigger. Marshmallow laughed dryly. "Is that supposed to be intimidating? Do your worst, idiot."

Apple darted out a fist to grab the stuffed toy by its neck and chuck it across the room. It hit the far wall with a noisy thud.

Marshmallow flinched as if struck.

Apple crawled onto the chair beside her and pulled her roughly closer, until their sides were pressed flush and Marsh's limbs were pinned to her sides.

"...Look, I hate you. I hate you so much that I get sick around you! But as your rival, it's my job to make sure you aren't upset at anything but me! So I'm not leaving this spot until you stop being sad about her and start being angry at me again."

'Man, she's soft and squishy like a pillow. Maybe I should strangle her next time instead of just punching her...'

"...Do you have any idea what rivals are?" Marshmallow asked flatly.

"Shut up, Marshmallow! Rivals exist to tell you that someday you will see her again, and she'll be glad to see you for some reason. And you'll hug each other. And you'll have a little bit of time before I get you, but not really because I'm smart enough to always get you in the end." She pressed their cheeks together as roughly as she could. "Got it?"

Marshmallow looked at her with surprise. After a long moment, a tiny, wry smile came onto her face. "...Maybe you're right. If I'm patient, I WILL see her again."

Her smile was better than most things about her, but it still made Apple's stomach turn. "Great. Now stop smiling already; you're making my tummy hurt."

The smile dropped off her face, only to return. "You're the worst. Now get out of here. And, thanks."

Apple got off the chair with an irritated huff and stalked towards the door. "Don't mention it. Please," she retorted. "Next time we see each other, you better not be sad about anything but me, okay? I'm going to punch you in your stupid face! Then I'll set your face on fire! OJ will be mad, but he won't be able to stop you!"

"Right. I'd like to see you try."

Apple didn't turn around, but she could swear that she heard amusement in Marshmallow's voice.

Possibly even a smile.

And even though it was business as usual as true rivals later... hey, maybe she liked the feeling of making her smile. It gave her pleasure.

The same kind of pleasure that came from building a Lego sculpture, then having the real fun knocking it down, breaking it into itty-bitty pieces.

'Yeah, that's it! I'm just setting myself up for fun later! And she'll fight back. Heh heh...'