I sighed as I went to the garden. It was always a place that calmed my senses. I reached into my messenger bag and took out my first-aid kit. This time they hadn't been careful. Purple bruises started to form on my arm. I slowly started to tend to all my wounds, my hazel eyes holding back tears.

For a while now, Kumiko's family owned a cake shop. Her mom died a few years ago in a car accident and all she had left was her dad. She went to Rikkaidai and was constantly bullied by the tennis club's fangirls. 'I just don't know why they hate me. Okay, that's a complete lie.' she thought bitterly. She knew that they hated that Marui Bunta would always come to her family's cake shop. Kumiko thought sadly, 'But I didn't do anything. I never flirted with him or talked to him. So, why do they hate me?'

I snapped out of my thoughts when I heard the pop of bubblegum. I quickly turned around and saw none other than the self-proclaimed tensai, Marui. Hastily, I wrapped all of my bandages and ran out. An arm grabbed me and asked "What happened to your arm?" I yanked my arm out of his grasp and ran out. "Damn, now they're going to hurt me for sure." I thought.

Marui rubbed the back of his neck with his hand and walked out. He can't be late for tennis practice or Mura-buchou would give him laps. He wondered what happened to Kumiko. She looked as if she was in a lot of pain. She almost never looked at him and always avoided him whenever she could. 'Did I do something to offend her?" Shrugging off his thoughts, he quickly ran to the tennis courts.

I slowly walked back to my class when I suddenly heard a slam next to me. I shrieked in fear and saw Kasumi, Naomi and Riko, my long-time bullies. "Well, well, well. Look who we have here." Kasumi spoke eerily. "I heard that you flirted with Marui-sama. That means we triple the punishment." Naomi smirked. 'Oh Kami-sama why?' I thought while I tried to escape. After many punches and kicks I dragged myself outside and rest under the sakura tree, tending to my wounds. Again. In the distance I could see all the Regulars practicing. Suddenly, a hand appears in front of me. "Need some help?" a rather annoying voice that is the cause of all her misery spoke. "No thanks." I quickly got up and hurriedly walked to the entrance. Unfortunately, that was right next to the tennis courts so I had to pass by all the Regulars who could blatantly see my bruises. 'Wow. I guess I dressed up early for Halloween. Now that I think about it, I've never been a mummy before.' I thought bitterly. My caramel hair tied into a ponytail whipped behind me as I avoided everyone's gaze. Just thinking about all the hell I suffered made me angry. 'I did absolutely nothing. Those stuck-up jerks just don't get it. They're too obsessed with their make-up covered faces to understand.' A pale hand stopped me and I froze in my tracks.

I saw Marui's pinkish-red hair and I groaned. I looked at him, raising an eyebrow as if to ask what he was doing. He rubbed his neck sheepishly. "Why do you hate me?" I was angry, no I was beyond pissed. So I did what was necessary. I slapped him. All the Regulars stopped their matches, curious as to what's going on. I suddenly burst. I just couldn't take it anymore. "Why do I hate you, you say." I spoke lowly. The sweet, quiet me was gone. This was my dark side. The side I only showed if my friends or family were hurt. But now I popped, there's only so much I could take. "I hate you because the day you stepped into my family's cake shop, my life's been a living hell. What happened to my arm, you asked. Well your crazy, obsessed fangirls were annoyed that you bought a cake from my dad's store, they decided to 'punish' me. But you know, this wasn't the first time. I've been putting up with this crap for months. But I'm done. You killed me. You keep killing me just to revive me and kill me again. But now, I'm done. I am sick and tired of the same routine." I straightened myself up and stormed back inside leaving a gaping Marui and surprised Regulars.

I ran home as soon as the bell rang. I did my basic routine of cleaning the shop, greeting customers and whatnot. I felt like dead weight by the time I went to bed. The next day, I was feeling unusually gloomy. Then I figured it out. From today, it's been four years since I lost my mom. Sluggishly throwing on some clothes, I trudged to the dreaded place called school. When I arrived, Naomi, Riko and Kasumi appeared in front of me. "How dare you slap Marui-sama. A girl like you needs to know your place!" Kasumi shrieked. How I haven't gone deaf from her voice will always awe me. I was too upset to fight back. I braced myself when a voice suddenly called out, "Hey, leave her alone!" Yay! It was Marui. I quickly hurried away to the sakura tree. It was kind of my special place. I looked at my locket. It was the last picture I took with my mom before the accident. I unknowingly let a few tears slip. Eight shadows loomed over me. I looked up to see the Regulars. Realizing my tears, I quickly wiped away my tears with the back of my arm. "What do you want?"

Marui walked up. "Look, I'm really sorry about everything. If I had known that you were bullied because of me, I would've stopped it a long time ago." Dang, he really looked sincere. "Does that mean that if I was bullied and it wasn't because of you, you wouldn't have stopped it?" I asked. Teasing him was so much fun. And no I'm not a sadist. "No I didn't mean it that way! I just…" I giggled. "I'm just kidding." I smiled up at him. "I would apologize for slapping you but I don't really regret it so..." "Its fine, I kind of deserved it." he said. I smiled somberly. "Why were you crying?" he said. I began to explain to him about my family and how my mom got into an accident. All the Regulars looked sorry. I simply smiled

A hand appeared in front of me. "Well, I've been meaning to ask you for a while…" Marui started. I looked up at him quizzically. "You're blushing." I pointed out the obvious. "No I'm not!" "Yeah, you are." "Whatever. Anyways, I've kind of liked you for a while now. So do you want to go out with me?" I was shocked to say the least. He looked down at me hopefully. "Sure, why not." I smiled. All the Regulars cheered. I gave Marui a peck on the cheek, winked and ran, the sound of his laughter following me.