Affinity
Chapter One
-First Day of School-
A boy with light blue hair stopped in front of his new high school, placing his hands on his hips and taking a deep breath, a smile on his face. "You smell that Hiro?" he asked, taking in the scenery and vegetation outside of Gakugei High, their new school. His indigo eyes twinkled with mischief as he looked to his best friend, a boy with grey hair and icy blue eyes. They were both dressed in their school uniforms, which consisted of black pants, with a matching jacket that had a high collar, and a white shirt underneath. On their left arms they had a band that signified their grade in green lettering.
Suddenly his gaze darted off as a girl walked by, and he admired the way her uniform fit her figure perfectly, while still keeping the mystery alive. The girls' uniforms had black skirts that went down mid-thigh, knee-high black socks, sleeveless button-up shirts that were white, with a black tie that had their class on it. "That's the smell of hundreds of beautiful girls that haven't been exposed to me and my amazing dick." He nodded, a smirk coming to his face as he returned his attention to the boy next to him.
"You can be so boorish sometimes." Hiro sighed, shaking his head as he walked forward, "Come on. We don't want to be late."
"Aw come on," Taizen said, catching up with his friend. "You can't tell me you're not even a little excited about going to a new school." He held up two fingers about a centimeter apart. "Maybe there'll actually be a girl here who will go out with you." he snickered.
The grey haired boy flashed his friend a small glare. "I don't have a problem getting girls…it's just the right one." He huffed. "And I am excited, just not about you wanting to have sex with the whole school. I'm just excited about soccer. I'm glad we transferred in the summer so we could try out for the team."
"Well yeah, there'd be no point in going here if we couldn't play soccer." The blue haired boy said. "I mean, that's what makes us cool." He smirked.
Hiro rolled his eyes, "You're an idiot." He said simply, opening the door to their classroom.
"And you're no fun." Taizen said, going into the room. He scouted the seats and then smirked when he spotted an empty seat in the front next to a super hot girl. She was slender, with a nice sized chest hidden under her white, sleeveless button down shirt. She had long black hair, with a prominent white streak on the right side of her head. The only thing that differed on her uniform was that she was wearing thigh high stockings, instead of the knee high ones. He instantly went over to the desk and sat in it, leaning back against the chair.
Hiro shook his head, walking past his friend and sitting beside his him on the other side. "Pig." He mumbled. The next three that entered the room all looked like brothers, despite the fact one of them was blonde. The blonde boy had deep, forest green eyes, and took a seat behind Taizen. One of the dark haired boys seemed bored, his light jade stare focused on the back. On the left side of his head was a white streak, and he could only assume he and the girl beside Taizen were related. He went all the way to the back and sat in the far right-hand corner, crossing his arms and silently waiting for the class to start. The last male seemed a bit of a recluse, because he walked as silently as he appeared, sitting behind the blonde and pulling out his supplies.
Another boy walked in then, his hair brown with auburn highlights. He had teal depths that were full of mischief, and he walked past Hiro, giving him a nod before sitting behind him and next to the blonde boy. Finally, a dark haired girl walked in. She was pretty, but cold looking, her gaze focusing on the back of the room. She wore the normal uniform, but her wrists were adorned with black bracelets. Her hair was cut short aside from her bangs, which framed her face and were the longest part of her hair. She had beautiful green eyes, with a stare that warned others away. She walked to the back and sat in the far left corner, crossing her arms as she closed her eyes and waited for their teacher to arrive.
"Do you think our teacher is nice?" the blonde asked, looking over to the brunette next to him. "Cause' I don't want our senior year to suck."
"Who knows, she's new. I tried to read about her, but she's got nothing on the website yet." He shrugged.
"Shame." Ryousuke sighed, facing forward once more as the rest of the class arrived and took their seats.
A few moments later a woman walked into the room. She had short brown hair cut in a bit of a bob, and dark brown eyes. "Good morning class." She smiled, walking behind the desk and placing her things down on top of it. "My name is Miss Tamamoto, and I will be your teacher this year." She turned and wrote her name up on the board so that everyone could see how it was spelled. Then she picked up a clipboard and began to read over it. "Now, I understand most of you are related, or have been going to school together since you were young, correct?" she asked, looking out at them.
Some of the kids nodded and murmured an affirmation, while others, mostly the ones in the back, stayed silent and continued to sit there. "And I see we have two transfer students," her gaze moved back to the chart. "A Matsuo Taizen and a Nakamura Hiro?" she scanned the students, trying to find the two that she was talking about.
Taizen raised his hand. "Right here Miss." He said, pointing between him and his best friend.
"Ah," she smiled slightly. "Would the two of you please come to the front of the class and tell everyone a bit about yourselves?"
The blue haired boy sighed, getting up from his seat as Hiro did the same. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and looked out at his fellow classmates. "My name is Matsuo Taizen. I transferred here from Kagaku High, I play soccer, defense," he smirked. "And am really excited to get to know everybody here." His indigo gaze slid over to the girl he had chosen to sit next to, and he winked, giving her a charming smile.
She gave him a somewhat annoyed look and rolled her eyes as she looked to the other boy up front. Hiro waved to the class and smiled, "My name is Nakamura Hiro. I love theatre and I'm also on the soccer team, mid-fielder."
"Thank you boys, you may take your seats once more." Miss Tamamoto said, earning a nod as the two sat back down. "Now, since that is out of the way, you can all introduce yourselves to the class, so that I can put a face to the names on my list." Her dark gaze turned to the girl next to Taizen. "Would you start dear?"
"My name's Uchiha Izumi." She said simply, glancing to the back of the glass. "He's my twin brother." she said pointing to the dark haired boy in the very back. "And I'm a cheerleader." Izumi announced proudly.
Everyone's attention then moved to the person sitting behind Izumi. Once they were finished, it moved to the blonde boy. "I'm Uchiha Ryousuke." He said. "They're my cousins," he pointed to Izumi, Tadaaki, the boy behind him, and Izumi's brother. "And I'm the captain of the soccer team."
The brunette raised his hand and nodded. "I'm Akechi Tadaaki. I'm the goalie on the soccer team." He said. The girl behind him went and introduced herself, and then it went to the shy dark haired boy.
"My name's…Uchiha Sakimori. I'm a forward on the soccer team…and…I like to hang out with my cousins…" he said softly. The boy to the left of Sakimori went, and finally they made it to the back row, and the dark haired girl, who seemed disinterested.
She didn't say anything, until the teacher cleared her throat. "My name's Viletta." She said simply, picking up the book on her desk and beginning to read it, indicating she was finished.
The girl next to her went, before it got to the quiet boy in the back. "Uchiha Kurogané." He said, his jade gaze seeming disinterested. "I'm a forward on the soccer team."
"Thank you." the teacher said, picking up a large stack of papers on her desk. "I have here an assessment test to give you," she walked out towards the students, ignoring the groan some of them gave out. "To see how much you remember from last year, so that I know what I need to go over before we begin our actual lessons later on this week." She said, passing out the tests. "And once you finish, you can go ahead and sit quietly and read a book or something."
They sat there quietly and took the test, everyone slowly finishing and setting them on her desk. Once they finished, Miss Tamamoto went over a few things that they would be learning during the year. Then she dismissed everyone for lunch, reminding them to be back by twelve-thirty. Taizen rose from his seat and walked over to Izumi's desk, setting his hand on it and leaning so that he was blocking the exit of the aisle. "Hey Izumi." He smiled. "That's a really pretty name you know. I was thinking we could eat lunch together, you know since I don't know anybody, and I'm sure you know the best places to eat-"
"She's not interested loser." Kurogané said, glaring at the blue haired boy as he placed his hand on his twin's back. He shoved Taizen out of the way, leading the ebony haired girl from the room.
Hiro walked over to his friend, a small smile on his face. "Well he sure snuffed you out."
"Yeah…playing the role of the protective older brother." Taizen sighed, before smirking. "Oh well, that just means I gotta work harder for her. Let's go get something to eat, I'm starving." He said, gesturing towards the door before they left.
The two walked down the hall, looking around as Hiro studied the map. He glanced up for a moment, his eyes widening. "Whoa." He breathed out, stopping because of a girl walking towards him. She was a gorgeous creature, with luscious legs, a bodacious rack, and flowing purple locks that stopped above her rear. She was the definition of perfect. She was wearing the standard school uniform, with a book bag hanging off her shoulder. "She's…wow." Hiro smiled.
Taizen smiled. "Hell yes she is." He said. "Excuse me," he said, holding his hand out to get the girl's attention. "But can you help me? I seem to be lost in the dazzling depths of your eyes." He told her, looking into her dark blue gaze.
The girl laughed, giving him a pleasant smile. "Well aren't you sweet? Thank you, I know my eyes are mesmerizing."
"I'm Taizen." The blue haired boy said, introducing himself and holing out his hand. "And what's the name of such beauty? Or does beauty even have a name?"
"My name is Ming Yue, and seeing as you don't know who I am, you must be new." She smirked, shaking his hand as well. "But you can just call me Ming."
"Ming." He repeated, his smile widening before he gestured to the gray haired boy next to him. "This is my friend Hiro. We just transferred here from Kagaku High." He raised a brow as he returned his attention to her. "So, do you have any plans during the lunch hour?"
"Actually she does." A voice said from behind them. Ryousuke walked up then, wrapping an arm around the purple haired girl and kissing her lightly. "Don't you baby?"
The purple haired girl practically melted in the blonde's grasp, though she snuggled against him. "I sure do my hot sexy captain." She purred, kissing his cheek before nibbling on his jaw.
He smiled, though a small blush came to his face due to her show of affection in front of the other two boys. His green gaze slid over to Taizen. "Try hitting on my girlfriend one more time, and I'll make you regret it at practice." He promised, keeping his arm around Ming as he led her off.
Taizen watched them leave, the somewhat startled look still on his face. "I think…I may just wait to hit on a girl until I've scoped out if she has a boyfriend or not." He said. "Cause' as much as I like girls…I value my life a lot more, and I don't wanna make a bunch of enemies at our new school."
"You're an idiot." Hiro sighed, walking ahead of his friend.
"What?" the blue haired boy asked, following after him. "I think that sounds like a good plan!"
"You're still an idiot." the other man sighed. They finally found the cafeteria and grabbed some lunch, before finding a nice place outside to eat and talk about what they thought about their class so far. When lunch came to an end, they threw their trash away and made their way back to class.
Taizen let out a sigh as they walked down the hall, thinking about how he could get Izumi to talk to him. It would suck if he was stuck next to her the entire year and she never said a word to him. That just made it boring. Suddenly he grew intrigued when he saw a girl walking towards them. Based on the writing on her tie, she was a junior, but she was a cute one at that. Her dark brown hair was tied back in a long braid that went down to the small of her back, her bangs cut straight across her forehead. She had on a pair of large, round glasses that shined in the light, concealing the color of her eyes at this distance. Taizen's gaze went to her chest, which was partially covered by the lunch box she was holding to it. But it was clear to him that she had a good enough amount for a nice handful.
He smirked. Nerds were one of the best girls to get, because they always gave the cutest reactions to everything. "Hey," he said, holding an arm out and halting the girl. She blinked, looking up at him through her glasses with wide blue eyes. "Where are you going in such a hurry?" he asked.
"U…um…m-my locker." She said quietly, her cheeks turning a light shade of pink. "I have to put my lunch away and get to class."
"Well you know, if you're into the whole fast-paced thing…I know something we could do that would blow your mind." Taizen said, leaning closer to her. "And I bet I could make you explode before you're late to class."
Her blush darkened, and she held her lunch box closer, as if to protect her. Taizen's smirk grew in triumph, until she spoke up once more. "T-thanks…but my heart already belongs to someone." She said, looking down in embarrassment. "So I can't."
The blue haired boy straightened, disappointment flashing through him before it disappeared, since there were always tons of other girls he could hit on. Some even cuter than this one. "Oh well." He sighed, before resuming his walk with his friend. "See ya." He waved, not even looking back at her.
Faia looked after him, watching him for a few moments before shaking her head and resuming her brisk walk. What a weirdo. She swore the upperclassmen got stranger and stranger every year. Except for her love, she though with a small smile. He always stayed the same, firm and grounded.
She stopped in front of her locker and put in the combination, opening it up and placing her empty lunchbox inside. She shifted everything, grabbing a new notebook for the second half of the day. When she closed it, she jumped back, letting out a startled noise at the sudden appearance of a boy with brown hair and dazzling teal eyes leaning against the lockers next to her. "Tadaaki!" she exclaimed, looking up at him with wide eyes as she clutched her notebook so hard her knuckles turned white.
"Hey Faia." The senior smirked, "You're looking extremely good today. You do something new with your hair? Or is it just naturally this gorgeous?" he asked, lifting his hand and brushing some of her bangs from her eyes.
Somehow her eyes widened even more, and a cherry red blush came to her cheeks. "I…I…c-cut it." she got out, beginning to hyperventilate at his touch.
"Well it looks good." he smiled, stepping closer to her. "So how've you been Faia? I didn't get to see you all summer."
"I've been…w-well…" Faia said softly, her breathing picking up even more due to their close proximity. "And y-you?"
"I've been great, enjoying life as it comes you know and-" his eyes widened when Faia slumped forward, her eyes fluttering shut. Tadaaki moved quickly and caught her, keeping her up and against him as he looked down at her face.
Her brow furrowed, and then her eyes opened, a somewhat dazed look in them. "What happened?" she asked, speaking clearly for once.
"You fainted." He said simply, smiling down at her. "You okay? Do you need to go to the nurse?"
Faia shook her head quickly, her cheeks quickly heating up. "I d-don't want to m-miss class." She said, placing her hand on his arm and trying to stand. At the feel of the muscle there, her knees quivered, making her fall slightly, only to be caught by Tadaaki once more. He was just so much stronger than he looked. And she'd dreamed of touching his muscles for years. "Sorry!" she blushed, looking up at him.
He just laughed, steadying her as he scooped her up into his arms. "It's alright Faia. If you insist, I will make sure you get to class safely." He smiled, grabbing her dropped bag and shouldering it as he started down the hall.
"B-but!" she protested, feeling close to fainting once more, since she was pressed against his chest. "I really am f-fine Tadaaki."
"If you were fine, your knees wouldn't be giving out." he said simply, looking down at her.
She pressed her lips together, since she could never tell him the real reason they had given out. "It was j-just…from when I f-fainted." She lied.
"Well I will be a gentleman and make sure you are well before I leave your side." He announced.
Faia felt like she was going to faint once more, but she suppressed the feeling. Instead, she decided to take advantage of the situation, and rested her head against his chest, listening to his heartbeat. "D…do you know where m-my class is?" she asked, looking up at him. She pushed her glasses up her nose, something she usually did when she was nervous, on top of stuttering.
"Of course I…" he stopped, blushing a bit. "Um…well I suppose I don't." he laughed.
She giggled, giving him a small smile. "Turn left h-here." she said, pointing to the hallway that they were coming up on.
He followed her directions and finally came to one of the Junior classrooms. Once they were in front of hers, he set her down, keeping his hands on her arms to make sure she was alright. "You going to be okay?"
"Y-yes." She nodded. "T-thank you."
"No problem." Tadaaki smiled, cupping her cheek. "See you later sweetness. Try not to lose that balance while I'm gone." He winked, before pulling away and handing over her bag. He waved, turning around and heading off to his own class.
She blushed, holding her bag close to her. "Bye." She whispered, turning and going inside her classroom. She walked to the center aisle of the three, and sat in the front seat, letting out a deep breath and calming her racing heart.
"Did you have a good lunch Faia?" a voice asked. Faia turned to her left, meeting the hazel gaze that belonged to a girl with green hair. It was cut short, though on the right side it got longer, ending just above her shoulder.
"Yes, I did. What about you?" she asked.
"It was great!" Valencia beamed. "I got to eat with Momo, and he was telling me about the two new kids in his class. That's so exciting, having new students. I wonder what they're like?" she blinked, pausing in her ramblings to think about it. Her hazel gaze darted up as a girl with purple hair entered the class and took the seat behind Faia. "Hey Ming, do you know anything about the two new senior boys? Momo was telling me about them at lunch, but he didn't know that much." she smiled.
"Oh yeah," the beauty laughed. "I think I met them, they were kinda cute. I think one had grey hair and the other blue. They were total losers." She smirked, waving off the matter. "They were practically drooling over me."
Valencia giggled. "So were they nice? Or did Ryousuke shoo them off before you could talk to them?"
"My man took care of them for me." she snickered, leaning back as she thought of her blonde love. "He's so sexy when he's aggressive."
"That must be so nice." Faia sighed, resting her chin in her palm. "To have an overprotective boyfriend that takes care of you and sees to all of your needs." She smiled, thinking of Tadaaki.
Ming smirked, glancing at the nerd in front of her. "You've no idea."
"No idea of what?" A brunette girl asked, sitting in the seat next to Ming. She had teal eyes just like Tadaaki, her brown hair falling in waves just past her shoulders, parts of it clipped back away from her face.
"About how sexy fine having an over protective boyfriend is." Ming snickered. "My Ryoyo was just being so cute today."
The girl arched a brow. "You guys didn't have sex, did you? I mean, it's the first day of school. At least wait a week before you defile parts of our campus." She smirked.
"Why?" Ming chuckled. "We already defiled it last year."
"Yeah but they super clean the campus over the summer." She said. "So your germs are all gone."
Ming just shrugged, pulling out her notebook and pen. Another brunette walked in, her brown locks falling around her face and stopping past her shoulder blades. Her eyes were a pretty blue-green, and she smiled at the kids already in the class. "Hey everyone." She waved, setting her things down in her seat behind Emiko. She went back to the front, sharpening her pencil just as a brown haired boy came in.
He glanced at Shiori, obviously checking out her rear before smirking. "If that breaks, I have one you can borrow." He said.
She glanced back, rolling her eyes at him. "Oh Shusui, when are you ever going to get over the fact you're not as awesome as you think you are?" she wondered, arching a curious brow.
"I'm as awesome as I know I am, Shiori my sweet." He winked, turning and walking down the aisle to the seat in the right hand corner of the classroom of the back.
"I am not your sweet." She huffed, her grip on her pencil tightening as it broke in half, part of it still in the sharpener. Her eyes widened slightly as a dark blush spread across her face.
At the sound, the brunette paused in his step, turning and looking back at her. "So…you wanna borrow that pencil?" he asked, unable to hide his smirk.
"No!" she glared over at him, throwing the broken pencil away. She went over to her bag and dug around, trying to find another one, but let out a defeated sigh as she held her open palm out to him.
Shusui pulled a pencil out of his pocket and placed it in her hand, keeping his over hers to prolong their contact. "You can keep it." he murmured. "That way every time you use it you think of me." he told her, before turning and going to his seat.
"Yeah." She huffed. "I don't think so."
"Hey Shiori." A girl with ebony hair greeted as she entered the classroom. She had bright violet eyes that were similar to Sakimori's, her hair flowing down just past her shoulder blades. "Did you have a good lunch?" she asked, heading to her seat, which was in front of Shusui's.
"I did. My dad made it for me today so it was extra special." She beamed.
Ming scoffed. "Isn't your mother the one who stays home and does all that domestic business? Isn't she supposed to do that?"
Kairi snorted. "Please. If Aunt Vitani even steps foot in the kitchen something catches fire. She's a terrible cook."
The purple haired girl laughed. "So she's a failure as a woman?"
Shiori whipped around and glared at Ming. "Excuse me! My mom is not a failure as a woman! She just can't cook!"
"Nobody's perfect Ming." Kairi said, coming to her cousin's defense. "You aren't."
"I beg your pardon?" Ming scoffed, standing and setting her hands on her hips. "How am I not perfect?"
"You're annoying, arrogant, bossy…the list goes on." The ebony haired girl said, crossing her arms.
Shusui snickered at the look on the purple haired girl's face. "Oh my God, please tell me you're about to get into a fight." He said, watching the two girls avidly.
"Ming, sit down, it's not worth getting upset about." Emiko sighed.
"I'm not upset." She snapped, before she smirked, giving Kairi a once over. "Besides, why should I take offense to an Uchiha who can't manage to climb her way to the top, nonetheless get herself a boyfriend." Ming sighed, looking her over once more. "You must be a defective one. So sad too…I heard your mom's a babe."
Kairi's eyes flashed in anger and she stood. "Excuse me?" she glared, placing her hands on her hips. "Just because I'm not a slut like you doesn't mean there's something wrong with me. I don't need to have a boyfriend to feel like a complete, actual human being. Ryousuke's only dating you cause' you put out anyways."
"What?" Ming exploded. "I have only slept with one person and that's my sweet Ryoyo! And I'm going to tell him you think he's so petty!"
"Alright girls." An older woman walked in, sighing at the sight. "Let's not make this a habit Ming. Kairi. I would rather not have to call the principle like I had to this morning, and I am really not in the mood so sit down." She ordered, crossing her arms as she stared the two down.
The girls glared at one another before sitting down. "Now…" their teacher sighed, gesturing for someone to come in. "We have a new student everyone, and we're going to have to help him a bit because he's from London, England. Mr. Harrison."
A boy walked in then, his skin pale and smooth. His red hair was spiked out in all directions, and his vibrant blue eyes scanned the class with interest. He waved, smiling politely. "Hello, my name…James Harrison…still learning Japanese."
Everyone blinked before bursting out into laughter. Ming tried to control herself and raised her hand. "So your name is Harrison?"
"No." the redhead blinked. "James."
"Then why did you say James Harrison? Is it not Harrison James?" she wondered.
The teacher held her hands up in a placating manner. "Now, now. Everyone be quiet. Where James is from you say the first name and then the last."
"So what are you doing in Japan?" Shusui asked, leaning back in his chair.
"Um…" James had to think for a moment. "Father…in trading business…moved here for job." He nodded.
Valencia smiled at him. "Well welcome to Japan! Do you like it so far?"
"Not really." He smiled. "People talk fast."
She laughed. "You'll get used to it, I promise." She nodded.
"Your accent sounds funny." Shusui pointed out with a smirk. "Does everybody from your country sound like that?"
"Yes." James sighed.
The teacher placed her hand on James' shoulder. "Alright James, you can have a seat right there between Kairi and Shiori." She said, pointing between the two Uchihas.
He nodded and took the spot she had indicated. The teacher began class then, writing things on the board and making sure to speak a bit slower so that James could understand. Shusui let out a sigh, tapping his pencil on his desk in boredom instead of taking notes like the rest of the class. Kairi turned slightly and looked back at the brunette. "Hey Shusui, is there soccer practice today?" she asked.
"Yeah, there's practice." The brunette nodded.
James seemed to perk up a bit and glanced back at the boy. "Are you talking about football?"
Shusui blinked. "No, we're talking about soccer."
"That's what I said. Football."
The brunette smirked slightly and leaned forward in his seat a bit. "Look Ginger," he said. "We call it soccer here. So if you don't want to stand out as much as you do," he held in a snicker as he glanced at the boy's wild red hair, "stop calling it football."
"Are you really poking fun at hair?' James glared, pointing at the girl in front of him. "She had purple!"
"Has, she has purple hair." Shuhei corrected. "Besides, Ming's fucking hot, and her hair is beautiful."
Shiori's pencil snapped in half as she glared off towards the wall. Ming simply smirked, giving Kairi a haughty look. Kairi rolled her eyes, ignoring the purple haired girl. Emiko frowned, reaching into her bag and pulling out another pencil. "Here." She said softly, passing it up to her cousin.
"Thanks…" she grumbled, taking it and letting her head fall forward and hit her desk.
James seemed to notice the girl and looked over at her before back at Shusui. "I would like try out for…soccer team. Please."
The brunette shook his head. "Yeah, okay." He snickered.
"Is there something interesting happening back there?" the teacher said, turning around and giving the people in the back a harsh look. "Because I am trying to go over an important lesson that you will need for the next unit."
"No ma'am." Shuhei shook his head. "I was just explaining something to James, since he's new and all." He smiled.
"Well it can wait until after class, am I clear?" earning a nod from him.
They continued their lesson then, time seeming to pass slowly, until the bell finally rang. As everyone gathered up their things and left, Emiko stood and walked over to James' desk. "Hello." She smiled kindly at him. "I noticed your Japanese isn't very good, and if you want I can help you out during lunch and stuff."
"Really?" he blinked, standing and rubbing the back of his head. "That be great…I wouldn't want inconvenience."
Emiko giggled. "It's really no problem." She assured him, her smile widening. "Besides, you can help me learn English in return. I took a class last year, but it wasn't very extensive."
James nodded, smiling at her. "Thank you very much…now…could you show me to football?"
She nodded. "Yes. My name is Emiko by the way. Akechi Emiko." She told him, picking up her bag and putting her notebook into it before she shouldered it.
"Emiko." He smiled. "Thank you."
"You're welcome." She beamed, before turning and leading him out of the classroom to where the soccer team usually held their practice. And along the way, she would be sure to ask him as many questions she could about England. She'd always wanted to travel there, after all.