I've always acted like I cared about nothing and saw everyone as a bother…maybe that was a lie.

"There are ten pages of math printouts!" shouted Hase, "They gave too much math this year!"

"You always save it until the end of summer break," I muttered, barely looking up from the "interesting" book I was reading. Fujimiya-san said she did some of the homework everyday…I didn't look up at all…but when Hase asked Yamagishi-san…I sighed and looked up.

"When I called you yesterday, you had forgotten what had even been assigned," I muttered. It was true. Last night, I had called her, worried that she'd turn in nothing when the second semester started.

"Eh!" shouted Hase, "Why did you call her yesterday?"

"He said he was worried about me not turning in anything…or something like that! I kind of forgot our conversation!" exclaimed Yamagishi-san. We all sighed in disbelief…I was somewhat disappointed or maybe even saddened that Yamagishi-san didn't remember me talking to her yesterday.

"Wait!" shouted Hase, sounding as if he realized that Oda Nobunaga was dead (he isn't the smartest guy around), "You were worried about Yamagishi-san?!"

"I'm sure it was more like looking out for someone," said Fujimiya-san, smiling as I hit Hase on the head.

"Keep this up and I'll truly abandon you," I muttered.

"I'm sorry!" shouted Hase quickly, nervous that I would reveal something, "Oh, by the way…weren't you and Shogo childhood friends?" He had to bring that up…you idiot.

"What?!" shouted Yamagishi-san and Fujimiya-san.

"You guys went to the same elementary school," added Hase.

"We did?" asked Yamagishi-san, turning to me. I nodded.

"Same class too?" she asked.

"Yup," I replied…maybe slightly hurt that she didn't remember me. After learning that she only made it a point to remember fun things, I understood…in elementary school, she was hopelessly tiny and couldn't do anything by herself. I suddenly remembered seeing a tiny tear stained face that belonged to Yamagishi-san. She constantly got teased and all I did was watch from the sidelines…until that day. I decided to give her all of the answers for the summer homework—trying to encourage her to change herself for the better. I thought it would help her change into someone who wouldn't get teased and wouldn't feel sad for most of the time—I thought it was the right thing to do at that time. I felt sympathy towards her…sometimes I even pitied her. I was glad she didn't change though, because—

"I just remembered something!" exclaimed Yamagishi-san. I looked at her immediately…maybe hoping that she had some memories of me.

"What is it?" asked Fujimiya-san kindly.

"There was a show I wanted to watch!" exclaimed Yamagishi-san. I looked back down at my book…slightly disappointed.

"Wanna watch it downstairs?" offered Fujimiya-san.

"Yay!" shouted Yamagishi-san happily. I guess seeing her happy is a nice change from the tear streaked face that I always thought about since I gave her answers to her homework. I remembered trying to find her shoe locker—which I thought it would be difficult until I saw super small shoes. I remember placing the answers into her locker and having people look at me.

"What's he doing? Isn't that the tiny and useless girl's locker?" I remember them saying. I remember them spreading rumors about the "weird tiny and useless girl" and "that guy" (I didn't get myself involved into anything in elementary school just—like today) being together. They would give the hardest time for Yamagishi-san. I remember me thinking about why I couldn't be friends with Yamagishi-san—the answer was unknown to me.

"Just to make sure," said Hase to me, "You aren't getting annoyed with Yamagishi-san, are you?" Apparently they had gone downstairs while I was thinking.

"This much doesn't bother me at all," I said truthfully, "I've seen how she usually acts. I know she doesn't mean any harm."

"Huh, really?" asked Hase, "Despite what you say, you worry about her! You really are a busybody!" He's making me sound like a tsundere…Just then, Fujimiya-san and Yamagishi-san came back up. The minute they started working, I went back to reading my book, trying not to lose to the temptation of helping Yamagishi-san.

"Yay!" I heard Yamagishi-san shout, "Everyone needs reliable friends!"

"Especially you," I muttered, looking at her. There was a really tempting feeling, trying to pry my mouth open and tell her about elementary school…but I shook it off.

"I baked some cookies!" shouted Fujimiya-san's mother, "Oh, and I also baked some cakes! Come down and have some later!"

"Thanks for the food," I muttered and quickly took a cookie and ate. I hoped that it would stop the tempting feeling for now…after all, it was rude to talk with a full mouth. I glanced over at Yamagishi-san…she was working really slowly…I sighed. Screw it…so what if I lost to temptation? I grabbed some paper from my bag and a pencil. I began copying down all the questions and started solving them…repeating the exact same thing that I did in the past.

"Eh?" said Hase, "I thought you said that you finished everything."

"I'm bored," I muttered.

"What're you doing?" asked Hase.

"As a harsh honor student," I muttered, "I can't tell you." Hase sighed and continued to go back to work. I kept working, way faster than Yamagishi-san. After an hour or so, we all went downstairs for a break. Before I knew it, we were all supposed to do something to "help" and I was left to do nothing…not that I minded.

"Saki-chan, there's a tea can in the cabinet. Can you get it for me?" asked Fujimiya-san.

"Sure!" shouted Yamagishi-san, smiling. I saw her jump to open the cabinets…and things only went downhill from there. She couldn't reach the tea can and was struggling to even reach inside the cabinet. Fujimiya-san seemed to take no notice and I sighed. I walked over towards the cabinet and reached over Yamagishi-san, barely touching her head.

"Is this it?" I asked, holding a yellow tea can in my hand. She nodded. Instead of giving it to Fujimiya-san right away, she started staring at me.

"Hm?" I asked bluntly, not showing that I was secretly hoping that I had triggered some kind of memory for her of me.

"Was there always a student this tall in my elementary school?" she asked, staring straight into my eyes. I deadpanned.

"I'm sure he wasn't always that tall," giggled Fujimiya-san. I have to stop getting my hopes up. Speaking of, why did I get my hopes up all along? Was Yamagishi Saki that important to me? Did I really want her to remember me that much? And most importantly, why do I have this tempting feeling to explain the past to her so maybe, just maybe she could remember me? As I snapped out of my thoughts, I realized that Hase was talking to me…I just missed a whole half of his venting…probably about Fujimiya-san…oh well, I guess I could make up advice and give him some sort of reply. After we were done with our break, we went back upstairs.

"I should probably get going," said Yamagishi-san suddenly, "I promised that I'd be back home for dinner."

"I should get going too," I muttered, "I have some shopping to do." Hase started complaining but I just ignored it. Oh and that thing about shopping, a lie. I wanted to give Yamagishi-san the answers to her homework and maybe…I just wanted to make sure she got home safely. We (or just Yamagishi-san) waved goodbye and got going.

"I'm turning here," said Yamagishi-san, smiling, "See you tomorrow!"

"Here," I muttered, "I was bored so I copied all the questions and solved them for you."

"Eh," she said, staring at the paper, "Didn't someone do this for me before?" I realized that I did manage to trigger one memory and looked away.

"When I was in elementary school, I couldn't do anything. When I found the answers in my locker, I was so happy. I always wanted to know who did it. So it was you all along Kiryu-kun, but why?" she asked, looking into my eyes.

"No reason," I muttered, "No matter how much you got teased, you never bothered to change yourself. I thought that by giving you that answers to the homework, it would encourage you to change yourself." I felt better, having to say the truth and the tempting feeling soon disappeared.

"I always wished that I had a person that reliable to depend on," she said happily, "It was you all along."

"I guess I went about it the wrong way," I sighed, "But if you did change yourself, I wonder who you'd be now."

"It would be really scary!" shouted Yamagishi-san.

"I guess it would," I said, refusing to let myself smile.

"Kiryu-kun," said Yamagishi-san, "Thanks for this and back in elementary school! I hope I can keep on depending you!"

"Dork," I muttered. I suddenly felt another tempting feeling…the feeling to pat her head. I know that I always hit people on the head but…

"Kiryu-kun?" asked Yamagishi-san, "Why did you want me to change?"

"Throughout elementary school, all you did was cry," I said, "I felt that you were going through a lot of sadness and misery. I thought it could've helped you fit in and feel happy, I guess."

"Really?" asked Yamagishi-san, "So you were looking out for me all along! Thanks!"

"Don't take it the wrong way," I muttered, "but I guess you could say that I've gotten a habit on looking out for you. But remember, I won't baby you."

"I may not act like it," said Yamagishi-san, loud enough for only me to hear, "But I'm really grateful right now! But, why aren't you like this to anyone else?" I felt a burning sensation rush to my cheeks

"No reason in particular," I replied, lying. The truth was…maybe it was because I liked Yamagishi Saki. The thought made more blood rush to my cheeks.

"Really?" asked Yamagishi-san not believing it but letting it go, "Well thanks again! I'm glad that there really is such a great person in the world that worries that much about someone like me! You're super duper reliable!" I sighed, feeling myself lose to temptation…screw it. Like I said before, who cares if I lose to temptation?

"I'll walk you home," I said and patted her on the head.

"Kiryu-kun," she whispered softly, but recovered, "You should do that more often instead of hitting me on the head! It makes me feel like a cat and it also makes me feel nice and warm on the inside for some reason!"

"Don't get your hopes up," I said. Like I'm the one who has the right to say that.

"Please!" begged Yamagishi-san, "It makes me feel like someone special to you!"

"Fine," I sighed smiling.

My conclusion: I did like Yamagishi Saki.

Omake

The next day, we all changed seats in class.

"Sensei!" shouted Hase, "I want to sit in the back!"

"Idiot," I muttered.

"I want to sit in the back so I can watch Fujimiya-san," explained Hase.

"Sounds pretty impure to me," I muttered.

5 minutes later

"It's a miracle," muttered Hase, who ended up sitting next to Fujimiya-san.

"You look happy," said Yamagishi-san, walking over, "Ai-chan is sitting behind me so I think I'll make it through the second semester alright!" I looked over to Ai-san, wishing that I could take her seat for two reasons: One, so I could be away from Hase and two, so I could be near Yamagishi-san. I guess I'll settle for the back now…so I can watch over her. I sighed.

Hase has been affecting me too much lately…