It used to be all about us. The Golden Pair. We were the ones who were going to take everyone on by storm, together, the two of us. Just the two of us.

When did he come in the picture?

It was a slow, subtle process, wasn't it? A gradual thing. It started out so unnoticeably... He'd join us after practice for a burger, which was no big deal. At least he paid his own way.

Then he started showing up at your house more and more frequently. Sometimes it was to help with homework, and sometimes it was to just...be there.

It was a little weird, but it was still okay. I mean, just because he's Inui, doesn't mean he doesn't have a social life.

Then you started to ask me over to your house less and less, while I watched him go with you more and more. Often times you said it was because he was helping you with a new training regime.

It was starting to get a little more weird, but I let it slide. He's Inui: creating training schedules is what he does.

But then you stopped giving me a reason altogether. You'd wait for him after practice, instead of me. You'd give a small wave before skipping off with him. You barely even said bye anymore, and you certainly never gave me your usual farewell glomp.

And it hurt. A lot.

None of that could compare, though, to what you never told me; to what I had to see, what I had to hear.

Quiet whispers, muffled giggles; this was what greeted me first. They were followed by soft pleas and the tiniest whimpers.

I never thought I'd see what I did.

In case you were wondering, the image of the two of you holding each other...of your lips together like they were...it's going to be forever burned in my mind. I close my eyes and I see it, I hear it.

And I break a little more each time.

It's probably my fault, you know. It's my fault for not having talked to you about it sooner, about us sooner. He just...got to you first.

But you still could have told me.

Weren't we friends?

Weren't we the Golden Pair?

You should have said something.

We made a promise to each other. A promise for there to always be an us, at least, until you could beat me.

Wasn't that what we said?

Well, congratulations. You finally managed it, just not in the way either of us imagined. You beat me in the last place I would have that you would.

You beat my heart.

You're free of our promise. The obligation is no longer there.

The distance between us now has grown too wide for me to even begin to attempt to bridge it. So...good luck, you know? I wish you well.

Ja, Eiji.