Disclaimer: In no way do I own any of these characters, or the original story. They all belong to Minami Maki.

Takishima Kei. Even at a young age, he seemed unreachable. Because of that, nobody wanted to get close to him.

Toudou Akira. A tea-loving girl. She didn't speak much, and so nobody went near her either.

Saiga Yahiro. A young boy with a cold and powerful exterior. Always making others cry, it was no wonder nobody wanted to be his friend.

The day the three of them first met, they all thought the same thing.

They're just like everyone else, judging me before they get to know me.

* * *

"Yahiro, this is Akira and Kei. Go play with them, okay?"

The girl with long black hair gave me a skeptical look that hinted at whether or not I was good company. The blond boy glanced at me with boredom in his eyes. I only scowled at them, and walked away.

I went to my secret place, the one that not even Mom and Dad knew about. It was the one place that I could get away from everyone. I lay down on the giant tree stump and stared up into the clouds. It was nice and quiet, just the way I liked it.

I knew I was a bit of a disappointment to my parents. After all, they do have a reputation to keep. But I hated people who looked at me and assumed that they knew what kind of a person I was. Just like those two kids earlier. What were their names again? Oh yeah, Akira and Kei. I had no doubt that they were just like every other kid I've met – snobby and spoiled. It wasn't long before I drifted off into sleep.

* * *

I woke up to a voice breaking through my world of silence.

"Yahiro! Where are you?" It was Mom. I quickly got up and went back to the house. Mom spotted me, and ran over. "Oh Yahiro, where were you? Where're Akira and Kei?"

I gave her a questioning look. Akira and Kei? Weren't they the two from earlier this afternoon? How was I supposed to know where they were? I responded, "I don't know."

"But didn't you guys go play?" she asked.

"No," I replied coldly.

Mom sighed, and went back outside to entertain her guests. As for me, I just stayed in my room for the remainder of the day.

* * *

The following week, I was called downstairs to say hello to some guests again. They weren't in the garden like last week, since it was raining. My parents usually had different people over every week, so I was really surprised to see Akira and Kei sitting in my living room that day.

My Mom saw me coming in, and said, "There you are!" Quietly, just to me, she told me, "You'll be seeing Akira and Kei quite often, so please be nice to them, okay?" My face remained expressionless as I nodded. She nudged me in the direction of where they were sitting.

Reluctantly, I sat down on a chair opposite from them. Out of politeness, I muttered, "I'm Yahiro. Nice to meet you," when really, I wasn't glad to have met them at all.

Before they could say anything back, I had left the room. I went into the tea parlour, and sat down on one of the chairs. There was no way that anyone could know where I was.

Deep in my thoughts, I didn't even notice someone coming into the room. Out of nowhere, two people came and sat in front of me. I looked at them, and realized it was Akira and Kei. "What do you want?" I muttered.

Kei didn't say anything, but Akira pointed at the table in front of her and smiled. I looked down, and saw three cups filled with hot tea. "Do you like tea, Yahiro?"

I was shocked that she was being so kind, after I've been so indifferent to her and Kei. I looked at Kei, and he gave me a half-smile as well.

"…Yeah."

Smiling brightly, Akira handed me a cup of tea, and I took a sip. "How does it taste?" she asked happily.

"It's good."

She giggled, picked up a second cup, and gave it to Kei. He took a sip and smiled. Seeing this, Akira picked up the last cup on the table and finally took a sip of the tea that she had prepared.

It was at this moment that I realized what a hypocrite I'd been. I always blamed others for judging me, but the truth was, I was the one always judging others. I never gave them a chance to be nice to me before I convicted them of being terrible and mean people.

Being with Akira and Kei, I realized that I had never experienced anything like this before. It was a nice feeling.

Maybe this is what they call…friendship.