3 years ago, graduation ceremony

"We're going to become third years, Yuko!" Ren said cheerily, watching all their former senpai exchanging goodbyes.

Yuko nodded. Ren looked carefully over her pale face, which highly contrasted the eye-bags. She looked worse for wear, but putting up a smile. Ren's smile faltered a bit, and then he heard some people calling his name.

"Ah, Yuko, I'm going to say goodbye to my senpai from club, if you don't mind." he told her. "Stay right here, okay? Don't go anywhere, stay right here. I'll be back in five minutes. Definitely."

After Yuko nodded, Ren left her side very hesitantly and unsurely. Once he had fully turned away from her, Yuko turned around to retreat to the wall, but instantly bumped into a boy. The flower in his gakuran told her he was a graduating student.

(Note: The gakuran is the uniform for many middle-school and high-school boys in Japan.)

Yuko became very nervous and tried to walk away, but the boy stopped her.

"Yuko, was it?"

Yuko nodded, not looking him in the face. But she felt him nod, and he let go of her arm, which she snatched back and pressed against her chest. She didn't move, and the boy wasn't looking at her.

When she finally decided to take a step, the boy said something.

"Yuko, if you don't love yourself, who would ever love you?"

She whirled around and looked at the boy, wide-eyed, and he was smiling at her, but his eyes said that he had looked right through, deep into her soul. Those eyes could read anything. They read what was the deepest kept part of her.

"Yuko!" Ren called, waving.

Yuko glanced back at the boy, and quickly scurried back to Ren. Until the last second he held her gaze.

Grey bore into grey.

***

She doesn't remember the face of the person who told her that, but she remembered the words very clearly.

Yuko's hand was on the barre, but she wasn't doing anything. She went away saying she was going to warm-up, but she was just standing. She looked very ruffled up, and the bags beneath her eyes were more highlighted than before.

Simple answer: she didn't sleep.

Yuko was thankful for the weekend. It gave her time away from everyone, time to think. She had gymnastics, but it was okay, because none of them knew what happened. She was confident Ren hadn't told Muranaka-sensei anything.

"Nishikawa," Shun called, and it made Yuko jump. "You're muscles are tensed. Are you okay?"

"Um, yes." Yuko replied. She began stretching, supervised by Shun. Even with the casual way he was looking at her, she felt like she was being intensely scrutinized. He sighed and shook his head disapprovingly.

"You're not doing it properly." he told her. He made her sit on the floor with her legs stretched in front of her, and he helped her with her toe reach.

"How have your university entrances going?" Yuko asked, distracting herself.

"Hm? I've been studying. I come here for down-time." Shun replied.

"Physiotherapy, right?" Yuko asked, and Shun nodded.

"Helloooo!!" Miyabi came over, and leaned against the barre. "What up, Yuko-chi?"

"Are you done with your warm-ups, Mii?" Shun asked plainly.

"Maybe. Anyway, Yuko-chi. Anything on your mind?" Miyabi asked, ignoring Shun.

"Huh?" Yuko looked surprised.

Shun sighed again. "Tension on your mind can also lead to tension on your muscles. I mean, look." He pushed her forward further than he was doing before.

"Owowowowow!!" Yuko sqeauled, and Shun stopped.

"Usually, you can reach that far pretty fine." Shun said.

"Therefore, there is something on your mind." Miyabi said.

Shun shot her a look. "You just piggybacked onto my reason, didn't you?"

Miyabi pretended she hadn't heard him. "Now, tell me. Shun knows too. What's bothering you?"

Yuko stopped and put the soles of her feet together, clutching them with her hands. "Something happened." she began quietly.

Instantly, Shun and Miyabi were sitting on the floor as if the were listening to a bedtime story. Yuko stared at them, and then said very hesitantly, "You know...Anzai Saburo?" She felt her face heat up.

Shun and Miyabi looked blank for a second. Then they both went, "Ohhhh!!!"

"That guy Yuko-chi likes, right?" Miyabi asked, grinning.

"Yeah, he came for the... performance, right?" Shun asked.

Yuko nodded, disregarding Shun's hesitancy in refering to the disastrous performance back in summer. Yuko pressed her feet more tightly together, facing down. She finally blurted out, "He confessed to me."

Silence. Then, "Congratulations!"

"It's okay, Yuko-chi." Miyabi told her soothingly. "I'm sure it really happened. He returned your feelings, right? What did you do?" She assumed that Yuko's anxiety was the cause of unease.

"I ran away." Yuko mumbled.

Shun and Miyabi exhaled heavily. Miyabi suddenly pushed his head away, as if remembering Shun was there. "Go away! This is girl talk! We don't need your boyish insensitivity here!"

"No no, it's okay!" Yuko said quickly. "I'm fine talking to Shun too!"

Shun did not expect that. It seemed as though he had gone higher in Yuko's comfort zone. He suddenly felt someone staring daggers at him. He turned to see Miyabi glaring at him, with a menacing aura.

"I will never forgive you for stealing my Yuko-chi away from me." Miyabi said menacingly, staring down at Shun. "Just because you're closer in age doesn't mean you are better friends with her than me. I'm very mature for my age, I have the wisdom of an eighty-year-old granny, and don't judge me, because guess what? I grew half a centimeter taller, so ha."

Shun and Yuko nervously sweat-dropped.

They settled back down, this time with Miyabi closer to Yuko than Shun.

"Yes, we were talking about Yuko-chi!" Miyabi said cheerily. "Yes, so it's okay. You should tell him as soon as possible, otherwise he will think you weren't happy with what he said."

"I don't think that's the main problem." Shun said.

"That's not the main problem." Yuko said.

Miyabi looked as though she had been slapped across the face. She scooted closer to Yuko, and glared at Shun. "Die, Shun."

"I'm leaving this conversation..." Shun said, making his exit.

"No, wait!" Yuko called frantically. "Mii-chan, be nicer." she added in an undertone.

"Che..." Miyabi muttered, imitating a gangster almost perfectly.

Shun sat down again. He looked annoyed at this point. "Just talk, and don't interrupt, Mii." Miyabi stuck her tongue out at him.

Yuko thought for a while how to start. Slowly, she explained everything. Her thoughts, how she feels betrayed and how she felt she betrayed. Shun and Miyabi's expressions were softer as she spoke, describing as much as she could.

Shun nodded after listening to all of it. Clearly, Yuko was in a very conflicted state. Shun looked up at her.

"Talk." he said.

"But I'm done..." Yuko replied.

"No, I mean, talk with your friends. And then talk with this Anzai guy too." Shun said. "You feel slightly relieved after talking to us, right?"

Yuko nodded.

"You'll feel even better after talking to them. Mii and I don't know the whole thing, but they do. They'll understand better than Mii and I did, and they'll be able to give you a better solution. It's best to just talk it out. Talk it out with Anzai as well. He might be able to explain to you, and misunderstandings can be cleared. Talking is the best way to face things."

Yuko hugged her knees. "But I'm scared."

"Of what?"

"What Senpai might say. What Takiyo-kun might say. What everyone else might say." Yuko mumbled.

Shun looked at her for some time. "Nishikawa, do you ever wish there was a way to press the off button on your flow of thoughts?"

"Yes!" Yuko asked promptly.

"That's why you joined gymnastics, right? So that you can have something to distract you from overthinking. Don't worry. Just always remind yourself: think simple. Stick to the facts."

"If I keep overthinking?" Yuko asked.

Shun smiled at her. "Don't. I can tell, Nishikawa. I can tell he likes you. He was jealous, you know?"

"Jealous?" Yuko asked, surprised.

"Yes. That time after your attack, when I was making you drink water. He wanted to do it."

Yuko blushed a little, and her head sank into her knees.

"And about your friends? Don't worry. I don't think anything bad will happen. They're your friends for a reason. Hamasaki is your friend too. He won't abandon you or anything. That's what he wanted, right? Besides," This made Yuko looked up, and Shun gave a her a bright smile. "You deserve to be happy, right?"

Yuko was trembling a little. But she felt warm.

I...deserve to be happy? Really?

"Shun, do you think I... love myself?"

She looked up at him, and he had a surprised expression on his face. Yuko couldn't comprehend it, but then Shun smiled pleasantly.

"How would I know?"

Yuko stared at his smile some more. Then her eyes suddenly brightened.

"Yuko, if you don't love yourself, who would ever love you?"

It was definitely the same smile. And the same eyes that stripped you of all your layers and looked at you bare.

"Hm?" Shun cocked his head a little, still smiling.

You know. You know. You definitely know. What a scary guy.

He saw. He saw everything. He knew everything. He probably knew the answer to her question, maybe better than her. He had, after all, seen through her the minute he met her. But he wasn't telling her...and he definitely knew he should let her answer it herself.

I can't believe it. That person...was Shun? This is ridiculous.

But it made sense. Yet it wasn't fair for him to know the answer before she did. She was definitely going to find an answer better than his. She nodded, then smiled at Shun too.

"Thank you, Shun!"

She suddenly felt someone wrap their arms around her arm. She looked down to see Miyabi clinging to it, and giving the death stare to Shun, who shuddered.

"Yuko-stealer." she hissed.

"Mii-chan!!"

Author's note
I wonder what you guys think of Shun's BiG rEvEaL 👀
I actually can't believe I have him such an important role out of nowhere 😂