Chapter 1

"Mikuo! Our school schedules are here!" I turn my head to the direction of my sister's voice. She had two envelopes in her hand. She hands one titled To: Hatsune Mikuo.

"Let's see if we got any classes together!" She exclaims in an excited voice.

"Okay," I open the envelope and pull out the piece of paper.

"What did you get for 1st?" She asks. The first class read "World Geography"

"I got World Geography. You?" She frowns.

"Aw…I got Chemistry." Suddenly behind us the phone starts to ring. Miku jumps up to answer it.

"Rin! You got your schedule too!?" I didn't hear anything after that because I went to my room to get a pair of shoes so I can go for a walk.

I step out of my house and stand at the porch taking in the fresh air.

"Hey, Mikuo!" I turn and see Akaito along with his brother, Kaito. Both of them were wearing their signature coats and scarves. I see him tell something to Kaito, too low for me to hear and he turns and walks towards me while Kaito continues down the street. "So where are you going, Mikuo?"

It was awkward having to look up to Akaito just to see his eyes, but for some reason I really enjoyed looking into his ruby eyes. I was always grateful that he never shifts his gaze away from my own eyes.

"I was actually going to look for you," I answer. I see him smirk and a hint of humor crept into his eyes.

"How does that not surprise me?" He chuckles.

"Well we have been best friends since kindergarten," I reply. He quickly hugs me as he usually does and grabs my arm and pulls me to begin walking.

"Come on let's head to the park."

"Where is Kaito going?"

"Where else would he be going?" He replies. Of course I knew the answer now.

"Len?"

"Of course!" He releases my arm and we walk side by side. His hands were in his pockets and he seemed to be lost in thoughts at the moment. I reach out and grab his scarf and yank on it.

"Ahk!" He chokes out. I laugh and release his scarf.

"What was that for?!" He shouts in annoyance.

"I had to do something before your hair caught on fire!"

"Ha ha, very funny, Mikuo!" I caught his eyes again and they sparkled with amusement rather than annoyance.

Before I knew it we were at the park. Suddenly a mass amount of weight hit my back and I fell over into the grass. My back was on the ground and when I focused my eyes I see Akaito looming over me a smile on his face and his red hair traced in gold by the sun.

"You didn't see it coming now did you?" He laughs while I just roll my eyes at him. He leans back and sits on his heels and reaches out a hand to help me sit up. I cast a mischievous glance at him and his smile quickly turned into a worried frown.

"Uh oh," He whispers. I pounce on him making him tumble over onto his back but soon my back was on the grass again. "You're not taking me down so easily…"

"Oh really?" He wasn't pushing down my shoulders much so I lunge forward into his chest knocking him on his back again.

"Okay! You win!" He exclaims.

"Damn right I win," I smile at him and he looks me in the eyes again. He smiles at me and his gaze softened. I get up and help him sit too.

"Come on, let's go to the tree!" Akaito exclaim and jumps to his feet.

"Okay, let's go." He helps me up and we stroll deeper into the park and to the group of trees in the center. We sit down under our usual tree. It wasn't really special but it had a thick covering of leaves that provided good shelter from the sun.

"Did you get your schedule yet, Mikuo?" Akaito asks. I turn to him and met his gaze again.

"Yeah. Did you get yours?" I reply.

"Sure did! Do you remember them?"

"Not really. I only looked at the first class."

"What is it?" He asks, wonder and hope creeping into his crimson gaze.

"World Geography," His eyes brighten.

"Me too!"

"That's great!" His eyes suddenly darken. Uncertainty clouding his gaze.

"Can…I tell you something, Ku?" I heard my pet name. He had always had that pet name for me. I'm not sure why though, but I certainly didn't mind it.

"Sure. You can tell me anything."

"Well…You see…since we first met I…have always had this weird feeling when I would be with you…and…I…" He closes his mouth and looks away from me.

"Akaito? Are you alright?" He doesn't look up. "Akaito?"

No luck. I scoot closer to him and put my small hand on his strong shoulder. That didn't seem to have much of an effect either so I move even closer and hug him.

"You know what, Mikuo. Nevermind," He murmurs and hugs me back.

He pulls away and removes his scarf. I watch him with curiosity. He looks at me, eyes meeting and mischief glinting in his ruby eyes. He pounces and wraps the scarf around my neck. He sits back and looks at me. The scarf had the strong scent of Akaito all over it. I didn't mind one bit.

"Red doesn't really work on you…" He murmurs. I see him grin.

"Uh oh." I instantly jump up and run. I only went a few steps before I felt the fabric around my neck tighten. "Ahk!"

I stop and Akaito releases the scarf.

"Doesn't feel too good now does it Ku?" I turn and gaze at him.

"No, but that's not going to stop me!" I grin. I hear a low chuckle from Akaito. "What?"

"Look at us. We are about to enter our senior year in high school and we still act like little kids," He looks at me with this look I've never seen before. His eyes were even softer and it seemed as if they spoke to me, but I couldn't understand.

"Well, who's going to stop us?"

"No one."

"Of course! We will be who we want to be Aku!" He looks at me half amused and half, whatever his eyes were saying.

"Aku, huh?"

"What? You don't like it?"

"No, I like it." And again, our eyes meet.

"Hey let's head back to my place for something to eat. Do you have your schedule with you?" I ask.

"Yes. In my coat."

"Cool we can check the rest of our classes too. Come on Aku! I'll race you!"

"A shrimp like you can't beat me!"

"Well you'll have to win or else you're not getting your scarf back!" I instantly start sprinting across the park, Akaito close behind shouting "Get back here!"