Nagumo was unfamiliar with the concept of a nice party. Now that he was attending one, he didn't really like them all that much. His suit was uncomfortable, everyone around him was too uptight, the room was too big, the food was too fancy, everything was too fancy-and most importantly, he didn't belong. None of them belonged. Not after what they did.

Endou seemed to think that they belonged, though, so once he figured out that the Prime Minister was going to be holding a party in honor of the defeat of the "aliens," the fool practically begged him to let all of the members of the former Aliea Academy attend. No, wait, he probably actually begged. Nagumo couldn't figure out why he had agreed.

Even now, he could feel the hostility some people in the room felt toward him. People fell silent when he walked by. Groups gave him suspicious eyes and talked in hushed whispers. He swore that some people even glared at him. In the end, he decided to station himself by the wall instead of awkwardly standing alone in the middle of the room, where the partygoers' animosity couldn't reach him as easily. Stupid jerks. Acting like they were all high and mighty, and that Aliea were a bunch of insects. They had no idea what they'd been though-what he'd been through. He really regretted coming to this stupid thing.

"So tell me. Why do you look so angry?"

Nagumo turned his glare from his empty punch cup to whoever had barged in on his sulking. His throat went dry when he saw who he was glaring at, though.

"Zaizen?" he replied, gawking slightly. Why was she talking to him, of all people?

She stood before him, a playful smile on her face. Wearing an elegant dress, her fluffy hair pinned up, makeup covering her face. It didn't suit her at all, he thought. "How many times do I have to tell you to call me Touko?"

"You've only told me that, like, twice," he deadpanned.

"Still more than once."

She was right, he grudgingly admitted. "What are you doing hanging out at the wall of shame?"

She laughed. "Well...I never do well with these sorts of things." She gestured to the party going on in front of them. "They're too fancy."

"I can understand that," he grumbled, glaring at Hiroto, who seemed to be right at home. No fair, stupid jerk. How dare he fit in so easily?

"Where are the rest?"

"Huh?" Nagumo blinked. What did she mean by that?

"You know...all your teammates. Where are they?"

He frowned. "Only the captains came. None of us really wanted to come, but father was going to make everyone go. We compromised." The frown turned to a scowl.

She hummed next to him. Why was she still here? Not that he minded...wait, what? "Why didn't you guys want to come? You know, besides the fact that fancy parties suck."

This time it was him who laughed. He turned to look at her; she looked back with expectant eyes. Should he tell her? It was so different for him to think like this. What if she laughed at him? No, no, this was Touko; she wouldn't laugh. Maybe it would be good to get it off his chest. That's what he told himself, anyway. He swallowed. "Well...you know...we don't...we really shouldn't be here in the first place. We...we don't deserve it. Not after all we've done."

"Nagumo...everyone does things they're not proud of. You just have to move past them."

He looked over at her in surprise. Her eyes were soft. "Uh...t-thanks..."

"No prob." She smiled at him. It was different from her usual grin that she sports when playing soccer. It wasn't bad.

An awkward silence enveloped them. Nagumo nervously went to drink out of his cup, but remembered it was empty. Curses. After a minute or two, he glanced over at Touko. Her eyes were pointed somewhere in the crowd. Confused, he followed them. He found Endou, talking excitedly with someone else, his arms flailing around wildly. He looked back at Touko and his heart tightened.

"You know..." she started, speaking more to herself than to Nagumo, eyes glued to Endou the whole time, "...if this were some crappy romance movie, this would be the part where a guy would come and tell me how beautiful I am all of the sudden, all dressed up." She frowned.

Nagumo snorted. "Don't be stupid." She turned to look at him in surprise. "All that stuff doesn't suit you at all. You're beautiful already, without all that junk."

He realized what he'd said too late. As he looked at Touko's shocked expression, his own face began to turn a shade strikingly similar to that of his hair. He messed up, he messed up, he messed up-

"Uh. Some...stuff...happened. I have to go." He turned around with inhuman speed and made a beeline in the other direction-but not before he saw her face turn bright red.

He...he actually said that. Crap, now what?! He probably creeped her out; he barely knew her! Yes, maybe her personality was interesting...and she was a skilled soccer player...and she was prettier than she realized...and the first time she talked to him way back when he was trying to trick Raimon, he almost clammed up-crap.

He never should have come to this stupid party.