A young lady walked into her bedroom and walked to the closet. She threw it open and looked at all her clothes. Some were jeans with flared bottoms, others were lengthy dresses, but the majority of them were skirts and simple tops. Her pink hair fell over her ears and she tucked it away. On her closet door, a full-length mirror displayed her image. She was frail looking, thin but full at the same time. Unnoticeable dark circles were beneath her eyes; when she wiped away her make-up, it was shown deeply. The girl stood up and looked at herself. Long and thin, her legs seemed to be longer than ever. Shifting from foot to foot, she admired how she looked. She was cherishing herself, from her cute shoes and full chest, to her gentle now strawberry-blonde hair and sincere eyes. A coy smile came across her face when she thought of how other people could think of her. Finally, she pulled her eyes away from the mirror and reached for her clothes, practically throwing them off her hangers.

Late at night, a young man was studying, his eyes were starting to close, but he'd catch himself before he dozed. Many books were spread across the desk he was sitting at. The time flew by like a dove and he looked at the clock. Two thirty, it was two thirty in the morning. He rubbed his eyes and sighed. In his mind, he couldn't fall asleep, but he wanted to so badly. A picture on his desk caught his eyes. It was simple, yet lovable. And at the same time, it made his heart break. It was a picture of a friend; a picture of a crush, a picture of a sincere young girl of which he fell madly in love with. Over the years of departure, his love for her only grew to an increasingly large size. Every time he'd hear her name, his mind raced to the memories they had. Every time he heard the phone ring, he prayed it to be her. And every time his computer bleeped to signal an e-mail, he'd drop anything to check it. Rarely would he get what he wanted, but his hope never ceased. He sighed and shut his most current book and turned his laptop off. Before he could do anything more, he fell asleep with his head resting upon his folded arms.

Morning came to one very quickly. He moaned and whined about how much sleep he got, or how much sleep he didn't get. Although all his complaints, his mother encouraged him to wake up; so he did. Instead of getting in the shower, he stopped to look at himself. On his mirror, a little dried carnation ornamented the side of it. And on the other side, the little note that matched with the flower was taped. He reread it over in his mind several times and grinned. It was simple, caring, and sweet. And best of all, it was from his crush. Another minute passed until he realized he was daydreaming. He imagined the girl's lips brush against his and sighed happily. It was a night to remember, and he wanted to look for more nights like that. Again, he found himself day dreaming. He shook his head and walked away from the memories. After all, memories were memories, and now, everything was changed.

As the sun raised and shone through the window, a young girl yawned and stretched her arms. She didn't welcome the sun with the normal grin on her face. A scowl and a pout were what she gave. As her feet reached the ground, she stretched once more and walked out the door. The sun seemed to be everywhere; it never left her alone. Light was the last thing she wanted. Her recollections kept her mind preoccupied, but she still noticed life outside of her thought-infested walls. She sighed and opened the door to step onto the balcony. Then again, the sun wasn't a bad thing. It was what she thought of love in disguise. Masked in its blinding beauty, the sun creates perfect moments for young lovers. Sunsets, sunrises, even when a sun was peeking out from behind a cloud, it was gentle and beautiful. She brought her hands to her cheeks, just as her lover did on one particular sunset, and pretended to be held in his arms. A sigh escaped her lungs and then she continued with her daily happenings.

After his sister got up, the brunette boy sat up in his bed. He rubbed his eyes to focus them and yawned. Another day was about to begin. He wasn't really ready, but then again, he was. Every day he'd look upon the morning as a sign of the afternoon. Nobody but him understood that. It was his way of saying that whatever happens in the morning, it will be the outcome of the afternoon. Therefore he tried to look on things as bright and cheerful unless it was just a plain and horrible day. Scarcely would he have days like that. He always wanted to keep a happy disposition. As he stood up, the sun shone in his eyes and he shielded it with his hand. A chuckle filled the emptiness as he thought about the nights before. His two friends fought bitterly about pointless things. He didn't even know why. But everything turned out okay it gave him a new memory-that night that is. The boy rubbed his eyes and exited the room.

The blonde and tall boy was already up, fixing his father some breakfast. Still thinking of a past night, he grinned as the food sizzled in the frying pan. His eyes shifted from his food to his watch, he realized that he'd be late for school. The clinking and clanking of plates told the boy's dad that he was running late. Running into his room, the young lad stopped to look at a picture. Memories… That's what he clung to. It revealed a picture of him and his friend, he had his arm around the other person's shoulders and both were giving the "peace" sign with gentle smiles. His lips formed into a smirk as he remembered the night. Running his left hand through his hair, his smirk grew into a broad smile. Soon afterwards, he relived the dance moves that happened on that special evening and ended by falling into the bathroom with a thud. His chuckle filled the silence.

Darkness seemingly stretched out until the last possible moment for the intelligent young boy. It was so welcoming; the boy almost invited it into the world. Must've been all those times where he refused to see the morning light. The times when he would hideaway in what he thought was imaginary, he was always in darkness. For him, it was home, but for others, it was feared. He thought of all the days he stayed in that imaginary place, and how he figured out that it was real. More or less, he was told, but he understood now. His mind thought of one girl and the way she cared for him. She brought cookies over one day when he was depressed. And she stayed until he had fallen asleep. They had talked about everything he wished to talk; he expressed his feelings for the first time in a long time. But that was just a memory now. And memories don't last forever. The boy sighed at his thoughts and took his time to prepare for the day.

Everyday was the same routine, the glasses-bearing girl would get up to start the day and her brother would occasionally ruin it. Today was different, however. She studied with her thoughts instead of her books, and now she wasn't prepared for a test. She attempted to do anything, even if it meant talking to her brother. After all, he knew more about the subject than she did. Instead of her brother telling her to get lost or to go away, he actually helped. But not enough, the girl stumbled back into her room and looked at a picture one of her friends had taken. It was of the mysterious ruler who wasn't mysterious anymore. She sighed; her crush was still upset with is life, and she couldn't help at all… She felt helpless and most of all, pathetic. Misery followed her when she thought about the memories she had with him. True, true, they were friends, but they seemingly lost touch with each other. The girl sighed and gathered her things to go.

Today was a relaxation day for the soon-to-be doctor. He had planned himself a day out of school because of the occasion; the school earned its day off. How? He couldn't figure it out, but he didn't want to complain. It was a free day for the high school kids. Or something. His mind pondered about this, it was baffling, but it was fine with him. Finally he brought his eyes upon a remembrance of a girl. A photograph and a letter. She wrote it to him before her departure to the U.S. and he kept it ever since. Without realizing it, he took the picture into his hands and reread the letter. He adjusted his glasses and set it back down. To himself he thought: "Every single day I do this. She probably doesn't even remember me. How upsetting. …I hope she comes to visit soon." And with that, he left his room with his many books still wide open.

The young kid jumped up from his seat and dashed into the bathroom to fix his hair. After a second of setting it to perfection, he slapped on his goggles and took one last look at himself. Today was the day he was going to ask a girl out. He planned it all out; he was to walk her to school and before they would arrive, he would ask her. Right then and there. The kid smiled to himself and altered the position of his vest. Another glance in the mirror, then he ran out of the bathroom to grab his stuff. He had to get to his girl's place before somebody else did. He stopped and looked at his school picture. In the corner, it showed his friends. A small growl came from the boy as he saw the certain blonde-haired boy. He rolled his eyes and grabbed his bag; he wasn't going to let that guy get his girl. With a slight mumble of "Lousy, T.A. or T.S. or whatever the he's named," the boy rushed out of his house to meet with his girl.

A girl stood in front of her mother; she asked if she looked okay for school. Of course, her mother disagreed and she started to protest. It was a daily routine that they did and it always ended with the girl obeying her mother. This time, she left the house without her mother saying it was okay. She knew she'd get in trouble, but she wanted to talk to a boy before school started. All her hopes and dreams were on him. To her, he was the perfect guy. Sure, he was a loud mouth and sometimes careless, but she looked beyond his normal day appearance. She giggled when she remembered how she and his friend argued about stupid things. Her crush got annoyed, but the two arguers enjoyed the bicker. She sighed when she thought of all her wishes. One wish came out screaming at her; she wanted to be with her guy…

Still thinking about his previous thoughts, a youthful child stood up from the table. He excused himself to go get ready for school. When he walked into his room, a mirror ceased his movement. Staring into the reflection, he realized what he was thinking about. He was thinking about a girl. Could it be his first crush? Nah, he didn't look at his friend in that way. But whenever she would talk to that other boy, her crush, he would get a slight flame in his eye. He wanted her to have better. He wanted her to have someone caring and nice. Not someone like him. The kid sighed, he knew that his friend and her crush would be compatible, but he didn't want to admit it to himself. With another sigh, he started to prepare for the day.

-Basic Relationships 101-

This is the introduction to the actual story. If you haven't realized, the first eight people are couples. (I went with the Japanese coupling or the coupling that most people wanted.) It first went with Mimi and Koushiro (Koumi/Mishiro) then it was Takeru and Hikari (Takari/Hikeru(?)) followed by Taichi and Yamato. (Taito/Yachi… eh…) Which ever the couples are. ^_^; And the last couple was Ken and Miyako. (Keyako or Miyaken or something… I dunno.) And then I added the possible love triangle. (For each couple there's a person in envy.) For example, for Mimi and Koushiro, Jyou is jealous. For Takeru and Hikari, Daisuke is jealous. And so on and so forth. Just to clear things up, I took the most common couples if I couldn't find the Japanese coupling. Uhkay? So don't flame me about things I put into this… Er, well, you could flame, but nothing too extreme, please. And now I can start the story. ^_^ Tata--Hikari Takaishi.