(Third year of high school)

"I am so lonely..." Arisu cried, dangling her arms outside the window. "I miss Yu-chan..."

"Me too..." Ren said, mimicking her.

"Me three..." Syo added, in the same position.

"Hamaguchi-chan broke up with me again..." Isao sighed, joining them.

Takiyo opened the door to the classroom and stepped inside. "Good morn–"  He spotted the four of them. "Wait, what the hell are you guys doing?!!"

"Don't bother them, Takin-kun," Sayua told him. "They're being depressed."

"Oh..." Takiyo stared at them, then he snapped his head back at Sayua. "Wait, what did you say?"

Sayua blinked at him. Then repeated, "Don't bother them, Takin–"

"That!" Takiyo yelled, pointing at her accusingly. "Why are you using that name?!"

Sayua stared at him. "Arisu uses it."

"But–" Takiyo retorted, but Sayua interrupted him, waving her hand. "It's fine, isn't it? We're on first-name basis anyway~"

"Since when?!" Takiyo demanded.

Sayua looked at him strangely. "Didn't you call me by first name on the last day of school?"

"That was– Nishikawa–" Takiyo sputtered, then he gave up and finally sighed. "You know what? At this point, I don't care anymore. Call me Taki-pii for all I care."

Sayua's eyes were bright, and Arisu perked up. "Really?!" they exclaimed.

"NO!!" Takiyo yelled, and Arisu drooped over the window again.

Hikari approached him, and patted him on the back lightly. "It's fine, Hamasaki-kun. But don't you want to join them?"

"Hm?" Takiyo looked around at her.

"I mean, you are sad about Nishikawa-san leaving too, ri–" Hikari began, but Takiyo grabbed her shoulders.

"Sakura-chan..." he said shakily. "I thought at least you were sensible..."

"Chuck it, Hikari," Erika said loudly. "The guy doesn't have a heart."

Takiyo slowly turned to her, and smiled a cold, forced smile. "Well, Kono-san. I'm glad I at least have brains."

Erika nodded for some time, until she realised what he said, and leapt to her feet. "Hang on, what did you say, you b*stard?"

"Truth," Takiyo said simply.

"Piece of scum." Erika scoffed.

"Old hag." Takiyo spat.

They were glaring at each other, practically growling. Hikari's alarms were ringing.

"Now, now, calm down," Hikari told them both calmly, pulling them apart. "No fighting on the first day of school."

"Che!" Takiyo and Erika spat, looking away from each other.

Are these guys pre-schoolers? Hikari thought. She sighed, and said, "Shake hands and say 'let's have a good year'."

Takiyo and Erika looked at Hikari, their eyes screaming that it was the last thing they wanted to do, but Hikari countered them with a stern  smile.

Begrudgingly, they both grasped hands and mumbled, "Let's have a good year," and Hikari seemed satisfied. However, the moment she turned her back on them, they both gave each other rude hand gestures, and proceeded to cleaning their hands.

"They transform into moody first graders in front of each other," she sighed. "Even Hamasaki-kun."

Sayua smiled. "At least Hamasaki isn't putting on airs anymore."

Hikari smiled as well, then giggled. "Surprisingly childish, isn't he?"

***

(Yeah...that had nothing whatsoever to do with Syo but like I missed Takiyo okay I wanted to write about him T^T. Anyway, back to the actual story.... These 500 words don't count, okay??...Yes, fast forward to after Hikari's confession!)

"Oh, welcome home, Syo!" Sora said cheerily, but then she noticed Syo's state of deep thought. "Syo?"

Syo still didn't notice her and went inside. Finally, he threw his bag down and plopped himself opposite Shoya at the kotatsu, staring into space. Shoya only glanced up for half a second before dropping his eyes back to his manga.

Hikari confessed to him. Cool, calm, collected Hikari. She seemed so genuine when she said it, and the fact it was coming from her of all people made it too hard for him to turn her down. He simply could not turn her down the same way he had for everyone else.

"Hey, Syo," Souta called, walking into the room. "Hey, at least change out of your uniform..."

"Onii," Syo said suddenly, and Shoya glanced up at him. "Have you ever been confessed to before?"

There was silence for some time as Souta froze in the doorway. Syo looked up at his brother's face properly, to see a repulsed look on his face.

"Eh?" Shoya scowled. "Who in their right mind would confess to me?"

Syo suddenly came to his senses, and then gasped. "Seriously, Onii?! Never?!"

Shoya crinkled his nose. "No."

"I mean, not even that girl who's helping you out all the time? You know, she went to same high school with you too?" Syo persisted.

"Etsuko?" Shoya asked, looking downright disgusted. "Bleh. Never."

"At least use a '-chan' or something..." Souta mumbled. "What's gotten you into the mood for love talk?" Souta walked over and sat down at the kotatsu.

"This is love talk?" Shoya asked, throwing his manga down on the table. He prepared to leave, and called over his shoulder. "Aneki, I finished the manga!"

Sora poked her head into the living room, eyes bright. "It's so emotional, right? It really makes me cry..." Sora sniffed. "Did you feel it?"

"Not really," Shoya answered, burying his hands in his pockets. "The main character is so melodramatic." Sora seemed to take it as a personal offense.

"You didn't feel a thing? At all?" Sora pestered him, following him up the stairs. "Tell me!"

Syo and Souta stared after them for some time, and then looked at each other.

"So what were you talking about?" Souta asked. "Love and Shoya aren't compatible."

"Ah..." Syo remembered the reason he asked the question in the first place. "One of my friends confessed to me..."

"Hm? Who?" Souta asked, but Sora practically came rolling down the stairs.

"WHAT?!" she yelled. "Which measly peasant confessed to you?"

"Please don't call her that..." Syo mumbled.

Sora gasped, and dashed over to him. "Do you like this friend of yours??" she demanded.

Syo blushed. "N-no...but I don't dislike her or anything! She's a good person! I do like her, but not..." Syo's brain was muddled. It was making a mess of a simple yes or no question. Sora looked horrified.

Syo shook his head. "Anyway, I wanted to turn her down..." he mumbled, and Sora suddenly brightened, and nodded her head.

Souta stared. "I don't get it."

"Um... It's like..." Syo looked for an example. "Ah! Like if Etsuko-san confessed to Onii. I want to turn her down..."

Souta nodded his head. "Ah...but then Shoya would say something like, is something wrong with your head, or something like that, right?"

"Ah... You're right." Syo agreed.

They all sat silently, then Sora finally stood up and said, "Well, at any rate, don't drag it out. You need to reject her as soon as possible, okay? There's a good boy." She patted him on the shoulder and walked out of the room, Syo and Souta's stares on her back.

"Aniki?"

"Yes?"

"I've been thinking... isn't Aneki kind of a hypocrite?"

Souta paused for some time, then nodded. "She's a married woman, for goodness' sake."

"Why do we idolise her in the first place?"

"I really don't know."

***

It had been one week, and Syo still hadn't turned her down. The thought of rejecting Hikari... He didn't want to even think about it. However, he did appreciate the fact that Hikari was acting the same as usual. He also had confidence that if he rejected her she would still continue to be his friend, and return back to normal.

But he felt he would be disappointing so many people. Arisu, for one, and Erika would probably be really displeased as well. He felt it would make Isao upset as well, but he didn't think Isao would show it. Takiyo also seemed to especially fond of her. But the biggest problem was something else...

The first day of the week, he was about to walk over to Hikari when he spotted her at the shoe lockers. She straightened up and saw him.

"Oh, good morning Teruya–" She began greeting him, but then Syo turned away from her so fast it made his head spin. He felt his face grow hot and he pressed his hand to his mouth.

Hikari cocked her head in confusion, then shrugged. By the time Syo had turned around, she was already walking away. This repeated over and over. Every time Hikari would greet him or interact with him, he would always turn away and blush violently. He kept getting overly self-conscious around her. He couldn't bring himself to speak to her.

***

"Bye then!" Isao called, waving at Syo and Katashi as they parted ways on the way home. Katashi waved back and then turned back to Syo.

"I'm going to stop by at the bakery," he explained. "My sisters wanted some rolls."

"Ah, okay then." Syo nodded, and he pushed open the door of the bakery open. "I'm ho-" He stopped short at the sight of the small crowd in front of the counter. Haruna, Riku and Mirai were biting into breads as they looked around at two of them.

"Oh, Syo, welcome home!" Sora waved.

"Ah, hi." Syo smiled.

"Syo-chan! What's up?" Haruna asked cheerfully, as Riku and Mirai raised their hands in greeting. "We thought we would stop by."

Syo was about to reply, but Sora interrupted. "Syo! Did you reject that girl yet?"

"Reject?" Riku turned her head in Sora's direction. "Who?"

"Oh, some girl confessed to Syo a while ago, but he still hasn't turned her down." Sora explained.

"Huh? Why? I thought you didn't want a girlfriend?" Haruna looked at Syo questioningly.

Katashi glanced at Syo as he stared at his feet. Then he said, "I think Syo likes her."

***

Haruna, Riku and Mirai stared at Syo cross-armed, as he sat on a swing. They had taken him and Katashi to the playground near their house. Katashi merely leaned against the poles of the swing, observing.

They were quiet for some time, and then Riku finally spoke up. "So who is this girl?" 

"Sakura Hikari..." Syo muttered.

"Witness, Katashi-chan!" Haruna shouted, and Katashi perked up. "Provide testimony for this 'Sakura Hikari' character!"

"Sakura-san, huh..." Katashi stared up at the sky, thinking. "To sum it up, she's a good girl. Really cool. Oh! She's really strong too! Responsible and reliable." Katashi nodded, thinking he did a good job. He had no idea of the image he created in Haruna, Riku and Mirai's minds.

"Uh...do you have a picture?" Mirai asked, as he refused to accept the image his mind gave him.

"Oh, maybe!" Katashi pulled out his phone, scrolling through it. "Aha!" He showed them a picture, and the three of them grouped around it. "The one in the corner."

"Oh, she looks like a good girl." Mirai acknowledged.

"Really cool," Haruna added.

"Responsible and reliable." Riku nodded. It took time for them to realise that those were the same words Katashi used, making thrm look up at him.

Then they looked back at Syo again, who was kicking his legs to move the swing.

"Teruya-kun, do you like her?" Riku asked.

"I–" Syo began, but then he stopped. He opened his mouth again and mumbled, "I don't know. I don't want to turn her down."

Haruna frowned, and then asked, "Is she a good friend?"

Syo nodded instantly.

Riku examined the picture again. "Doesn't she remind you of someone?" she asked in a low voice.

Mirai nodded. "The original Date-san."

"Well, we know Syo's type now," Haruna said.

They exchanged glances, and Katashi quickly said, "Hey, no! I can assure you Sakura-san is nothing like that. One of our friends have known her since junior high! She's really a great person!"

Haruna, Riku and Mirai still looked uneasy.

"Teruya, are you sure you like her, or do you just not want a good person to get hurt?" Mirai asked.

Syo stared at the ground, clutching his left sleeve. He didn't know.

Riku noticed his movements. "Teruya-kun." Syo looked up. "I don't know anything about Sakura-san. This is something you should decide for yourself. We can't hold you back forever. But please, you should take your feelings into consideration. Don't prioritize others feelings over your own, okay?"

"She's right, Syo. She won't hate you if you reject her. Seriously consider your own feelings." Katashi added. 

Syo looked at them, then nodded. Mirai leaned over to Haruna and whispered audibly, "They're rather soft for the sadistic pair, aren't they?"

"Shut up," Riku and Katashi told him. 

***

A couple more weeks passed by in deep thought. His heart rate still increased considerably whenever Hikari was near. Sometimes, he would end up staring at the back of head during classes, but turn away quickly when he got caught.

One day, he was laying on his back at the fountain, contemplating the sky. He had told Katashi to go ahead of him, and the yard was almost completely deserted. He closed his eyes, thinking.

Going out with Sakura-san, huh...

His thoughts slowly moved along, but then his eyes snapped open and he was blushing. However, when he had opened his eyes, he saw Isao leaning him, about to tap his shoulder.

"WAH!" Syo jumped, rolling away from him. "You...you were still here?" he asked shakily.

"Well, yeah," Isao replied plainly.

"I see..."

They were silent for some time, before Isao spoke up. 

"Hey, Syo," he began, not looking at him. "Um, if you don't mind me saying... would you please stop leading Pikari on?"

Syo was confused. "Leading on?"

"Yeah," Isao nodded. "I mean, it's totally fine if you want to reject her, I won't hate you for that, but...you're sort of getting her hopes up."

"I'm getting her hopes up?" Syo repeated. Whenever he saw Hikari, she seemed to be a little disturbed, not hopeful.

"I mean," Isao sighed, and sat cross-legged next to him, putting his bag down. "Pikari is a really strong person, you know? But if you're going to reject her, I'd prefer if you would do it as soon as possible. So that she can move on from it easily. The longer you keep her waiting, the more attached she'll get. But like I said, Pikari has her mental limits. It's not like she got away from all that bullsh*t in junior high unscathed. She has a really low impression of herself, you know? I really tried to fix her and make her stronger...so I really don't want her to break again." 

Syo deviated his gaze from Isao, staring at the ground. Isao noticed this and quickly added, "I'm not saying you can't reject her! I mean, she would be upset and all, but don't keep her waiting for so long. Pikari had actually made up in her mind that she was gonna be rejected."

Syo didn't say anything, and Isao sighed and rubbed his head. "Maybe I shouldn't have said that..." His phone suddenly started ringing, and he got up.

"Oh, Hamaguchi-chan" he muttered, smiling a little. He answered the call and began to walk away, and then Syo spoke up.

"You're a really strange person," Syo said.

Isao looked back, surprised. Then he smiled and countered, "Pikari's a really good person."

Syo smiled back. 

I knew that.