"Hey _. Where are you sho? I thought you were coming over to watch the video Tadokoro-chi brought with us."

The room of cyclists was silent, everyone listening closely to Makishima's phone conversation in hopes that they could understand what was going on and what the situation was. They were currently gathered in Makishima's spacious bedroom to watch a video Tadokoro Jin brought however one member of their party was missing and they didn't deem it right to start without her. Naruko and Onoda exchanged slight frowns with one another whereas Imazumi only seemed mildly annoyed at the wait. Whatever Tadokoro wanted them to watch must have been important and beneficial for them for competing at the inter-high right? Why on earth was _ holding them up? She was usually very punctual, arriving to class sometimes even 30 minutes before the school bell has even rung. Tadokoro's eyebrows knitted in confusion whilst pondering what could have happened to her. Perhaps she found something more important to do or maybe she was pmsing...

He wouldn't admit it to himself but he had developed quite a crush on the girl. There was no way he would get so worked up about anybody else. They rode their bicycles together to school and she always shared her intricately made bento with him after practise. He began to come to the worst conclusions. Maybe she crashed her bicycle somewhere and hurt herself, she's pretty clumsy after all or maybe she got stopped by the mafia and is being held hostage. The bastards trying to hurt my little _, he thought slamming his large fist into the carpeted floor of Makishima's room causing Onoda to jump and whimper in fear of being pummeled like the poor carpet.

"Calm down old man" Naruko whisper shouted, focussing a little too much on the shouting side causing Makishima to send a glare his way which he totally ignored but made Onoda shiver "I'm sure she's perfectly fine. I'm good with girls and I say she's just on her periods or something..."

"I am calm" he roared at the redhead who simply rolled his eyes at the outburst all the while Onoda was sheepishly backing away from the two in fear of conflict arising.

"You sound like you've been crying, _. Are you alright sho?" Makishima asked scratching his neck awkwardly as Tadokoro's gaze whipped onto him.

"What happened?" Tadokoro mouthed at Makishima who simply shrugged in return and pulled a face focussing back on the conversation with _.

"Yeah alright. We'll watch the video without you. I'm sure you're not missing out on much sho. Don't worry."

With that Makishima hung up and slid his phone into the pocket of his jeans.

"Guess we'll just have to start the video without _" Naruko said as he leaned backward idly, clasping his hands against the back of his head.

"It can't be helped" Imaizumi agreed with a slight scoff at the idea that Naruko and himself actually shared the same view on a subject such as this.

Tadokoro gave a gruff shake of his head before he slowly got up and placed the video tape into Makishima's hands.

Turning to the first years who were looking up at him curiously,with Naruko seeming amused at this new side of the bear, he said "I'm going to go and check up on _. Pay attention to the feet of the runners, first years. This is filmed in Hakone where you will be cycling at the inter-high" and with that he turned around and walked out of the large house with purpose in his quick strides leaving the remaining quartet of cyclists silent until Makishima piped "Well let's get this video started sho" and pushed the video into the VCR.

Onoda turned his cerulean gaze to the door Tadokoro went through just a few seconds prior and muttered to himself "I hope she's alright..."

Tadokoro was now sprinting down the street earning questioning stares from children and adults alike. He skillfully dodged people and incoming bicycles as he made his way to _'s house, still hoping that she was actually there and not at the mafia's headquarters or something else as ridiculous... Slowly the girl's house came into view and Tadokoro slowed down, turning his running strides into calm footsteps as he approached the white wooden door. The house was nowhere as big as Makishima's but it sent out a homely and welcoming aura with bright floral curtains at every window, which were now all drawn as Tadokoro had noticed, a cherry blossom tree to the right and a row of perfectly tended to flower beds to the left. Tadokoro stuck out his meaty fist and gave a timid knock on the door. A range of sounds could be heard from inside the house. First a slamming of the door then stomping on what sounded like the stairs. Maybe Naruko was right about the psming, Tadokoro thought to himself as he winced at each stomp. Then out of the corner of his eye he saw _'s face peek through the window of the living room to check who her visitor was, her eyes swollen and red and her face a paler hue than usual. As quickly as she had appeared she had disappeared from the window and was now standing before Tadokoro rubbing her arm nervously trying to put on her best fake smile.

"What brings you here today, Jin?" She asked, the usually bouncing and happy nature of her voice not present.

"Don't play with me, _" he growled causing the girl to widen her eyes at the harshness of his tone "I know you've been crying and I want to know what's the matter..."

He continued in a more gentle tone, not wanting to frighten her or cause her further sadness "You know that you can talk to me about anything _. And if you ever need a shoulder to cry on you can snot up my shoulder all you want. Now please talk to me."

_ stood there for a few moments staring into Tadokoro's eyes that softened when he saw that her lip began to slightly trembling at his words of assurance.

"H-how about we go inside and talk...?" she stuttered, her voice slightly wavering as she motioned him inside. Taking this as a sign that he was indeed going to get an explanation out of her, he walked into her house, closing the door extra gently behind him and began to follow his friend up the stairs and into her room.

Once they arrived at their destination, _ stood beside her bed unsure of what to do or say. The large man slowly made his way up to her bed and sat down onto it causing it to squeak from his weight however he did not seem bothered by it. She followed suit slowly and lowered herself onto the soft bed sheets before lifting her legs up to hug them to her chest. The room was silent for a few minutes, only the sound of the duo's breathing and the chirping of birds outside could be heard.

For a moment Tadokoro looked around the female's room taking in his surroundings. He had visited _ on many occasions before but he was never invited into her bedroom and was only left to imagine how girly and neat it must be. The walls were painted a light hue of _'s favourite colour and shelves full of books books took up most of the space. Off the shelves hung a string of fairy lights that Tadokoro assumed gave off a soft white light. Although the room was neat like he had imagined, there was a clutter of school books and folders as well as an array of magazines on her desk. Surrounding the desk was small mountains of curled up paper balls, he assumed from the frustrating homework tasks they were set each day.

Whilst he was taking everything in,_ was watching his reaction, her tears still threatened to spill however she greatly appreciated that he had let go of the subject and simply let it be. That is until he turned to look at her again and a flash of worry crossed his face at the tears now tumbling down her rounded cheeks. Without a second thought he lunged forward and pulled her into a tight bear hug, her face was buried into his soft shoulder the fabric of his t-shirt absorbing the wetness of her face. When embracing his crush he did not give a thought as to whether he did the right thing in suddenly taking a hold of her like that and rather focussed on constructing a sentence that would not further upset her and would give him the answers he wanted.

"Who or what upset you like this, _?" he questioned softly rubbing his hand against her back in soothing circles in an attempt to calm her down.

"Myself" was the muffled reply.

Tadokoro slowly pulled away from the girl and held her at arms length by the shoulders looking at her crying face intently.

"What do you mean myself?"

"I'm a f-failure, Jin. I'm not good at anything. I-I'm not as pretty as all of the other girls, the things I thought I was good at others can do a hundred times better and I'm boring. I don't understand why anyone w-would want to hang around with me..."

Tadokoro gave a sigh realizing what the problem was. She didn't see what he saw when she smiled, true beauty and she didn't realize what he noticed when she did her favourite things, the girl was talented. She had no confidence in herself and he saw parts of his younger self in her. He remembered the boy that was picked on for his height and stature. He remembered all of the times he attempted to lose weight and all of his losses in cycling when had when he thought he was doing decently. He understood.

"I know that no amount of compliments will help the situation so I'll tell you a story. _ I was like you once" he began, pausing to see her reaction. She lifted her gaze from the ground and looked into his chocolate brown eyes beckoning him to continue.
"I had no self confidence. I hated all that I was and what i thought I couldn't do. I beat myself up about things that I had no control over but _, I changed my outlook."

"Y-your outlook?"

"If you look at yourself in such a negative way that is how everyone else is going to perceive you. If you think you are the worst then you won't be able to do your best because you'll be in doubt. If you think you are ugly or fat or boring, people are going to end up agreeing with you. You tell yourself you are the best. That you are beautiful, you are strong, you are amazing and watch how your outlook on life will change for the better. You'll lead a much happier life, _" he ended giving her an embarrassed smile over all of the mushy words that he felt had no place in his otherwise loud and confident mouth.

"I am beautiful?"

"Yes you are."

"And smart and exciting and talented?"

"Of course."

"Well that changes everything" she grinned before pulling him into a gentle hug and whispering a thank you into his ear that made Tadokoro's face burn crimson.

Extended ending:
"Hey _, I thought something way more serious was going on like you were taken hostage by the mafia or something though Naruko thought you were pmsing."

"Pmsing? Tadokoro you idiot. You can't just come to the conclusion that whenever I am upset I am pmsing."

"Well you're really moody and pretty mean to all of us when you are on your period so I figur-" Tadokoro was interrupted with a feeble punch to his soft stomach, though it was the strongest one _ could muster.

"I could go get you some chocolate if you want, _. Pads?" Cue a smack on the head with a japanese dictionary _ owned.
Seems like Tadokoro wouldn't be able to confess his undying love for _ today.