" I… really don't know what to do, Yuki." I said as continued to splash my feet in the water of the Lake Water Park. The water was cool and refreshing, but somehow it still wasn't enough to clam my turbulent thoughts. I shifted my dress downwards a bit, for the wind was warm and my neck was perspiring. Beside me, my friend, Yukita, sighed. She moved her legs a bit as she continued to fish, using my Dragon Wand as a fishing pole.

She turned to me now, her green eyes glazed with worry as she tucked away a stray lock of auburn hair from her face, "Why are you so worried, Mina? I mean, don't you think you should tell him that yourself?"

I looked down at the water as I thought about my answer, "You don't know Ken as I do. He's not going to come and tell me what's wrong. He isn't like that." I giggled, "Besides, you know how some men are. They're too proud to confide on other people sometimes."

Yuki laughed, "Well, you're right about that." She sobered up and looked down at her fishing rod again, pulling it up and down to entice the fish, but failing miserably, "But still, I don't always have the answers for you, Mina. You should try asking Paul about it yourself. It won't hurt to ask him right? Nothing ventured, nothing gained, I always say."

Once again, I am astounded with Yuki. For someone with a devil-may-care, carefree attitude, she sure has a lot of good wisdom in her, "I guess you're right." I hugged myself and looked up at the summer sky above us, all the while imagining my boyfriend, Kendric, in my mind's eye. His brown eyes… his thick, wavy hair… his full lips… I remember him so vividly. But as I remembered his eyes again, I felt myself shivering, for recently, Ken looked so cold and distant from me.

"Look…" Yuki said suddenly, making me start and snap out of my reverie, "It may seem like Ken is distancing himself from you, but maybe he's just like that. You'll never know. Maybe he'll tell us what's wrong when he's ready."

She smiled at me then, and I couldn't help smiling back. Yuki's smile can be infectious sometimes. "Yeah, I guess you're right. I'm sure he'll tell me what's wrong someday."

She grinned and patted me on the back, which brought me into a fit of coughing, for her friendly gesture was rather heavy and it hurt. "Thatta girl! Now come on, let's get a bite to eat, I'm starving. The fish aren't biting today, anyway."

I laughed as I snatched my wand back from her, and removed the line. "That's because you're using my staff, silly!"

We laughed as we put on our shoes and made our way to the Bus Stop, talking about what we going to buy at the Market Place. Yuki was ranting on and on about an overpriced bow she always wanted, and I smiled and laughed with her, but my mind was distracted with thoughts of Ken's strange behavior.

By the time we reached the Market, the place was already in full swing. Merchants and students alike roamed the area, selling their wares, trading items, and lightening their wallets from buying things. Yuki kept dragging me from store to store, looking for a new bow again, but I was very distracted. It wasn't until we reached the Locker Area, that I realized what was going on.

"HEY! KEN! SIGFRIED! HOW ARE YOU DOIN'?!"

I looked up to where Yuki was waving, and sure enough, there sat Ken, drinking cola through a straw, and his best friend, Sigfried, who was stuffing his face with pancakes, his sword sheathed at his back. He waved at us as he downed a cola, inviting us over, but Ken remained seated, his brown eyes staring at us.

"Move over, doofus." Yuki said to Sigfried, pushing him over to get a seat beside him. Ken moved a bit on his seat, giving me enough space to sit on. I sat down quietly, and feeling very shy, looked down at my fingers as I placed my hands on my lap.

"Awww… aren't you guys cute?!" Sigfried was saying. In my peripheral vision, I saw bits and pieces of pancakes that flew from his mouth as he spoke, and I giggled. "You guys act like kiddies in love!"

"Eww! You're getting your crud all over me!" My best friend screamed as she patted her pants clean. "Swallow your food before you talk, will you?! What are you, an animal?"

"Yeah! I'm a grizzly bear and I bite!"

"Oh yeah?! Just try and bite me!"

"Rwaarrr!"

"Bite me and you're dead, Sigfried!"

"You dared me!"

"Well, you started it!"

"That's enough!"

I looked up at Ken, who had stopped drinking and was glaring at both Yuki and Sigfried. The coldness in his eyes made me shiver, and couldn't help but look away from him. He must have noticed it, for he sighed and softened his voice as he spoke again.

"Sorry about that. I just want everything to be nice and quiet, that's all."

I nodded timidly. In front of us, Yuki merely raised her brows in annoyance. But Sigfried merely grinned.

"Haaa, Ken… if you would've wanted to eat at a quieter place, we should have headed to the Hang-Out instead. You just wanted someplace to speak with Mina, that's why you came here." His grin got wider as he used a Pocky Stick as a conductor's wand, singing as he waved the chocolate-covered confection in the air. "Ken wants to propose Ken wants to propose"

"QUIET, YOU!"

We laughed out loud as Ken reached out across the table, and grasping Sigfried's throat firmly, shook him so hard that I was sure his brain must've done a 360 degree turn inside his skull.

Yuki laid a hand on Ken's forearm as she said, "That's enough, Ken. There's no use shaking a head that had no contents in the first place."

Ken let go Sigfried, who was coughing from his friend's chokehold, but was still grinning. He resumed the quiet nibbling of his Pocky Sticks, but was still humming.

"Whatever, man." Ken said as he stood up. I was surprised when he took my wrist and pulled me up, "Come on, Mina, let's go."

I felt my face become warm. "Wha… where are we going…"

He looked down at me, and his eyes softened a bit, "I just want to talk to you. Nothing wrong about that, right?"

My face must be bright pink right now. "Oh, sure. Uhm… where are we going?"

"Just let me lead." He said, smiling at me as he took my hand. He turned to the two and nodded, "Just wait for us here, all right?"

Yuki nodded, but Sigfried swallowed his food and saluted him, "Yes, my captain!"

I laughed at his remark, and soon I felt Ken pull my hand away from the crowd. I placed my hand on my chest, as if trying to still my heart. It thundered inside me that I felt it would burst. Is he really going to propose? Will he tell me what's wrong now?

I wasn't really paying attention to where he was dragging me, but as I felt the road become inclined, I looked up and noticed that he was actually bringing me to the Wedding Hall, a church owned by the Sacred Gate Financial Group. I swallowed, for I have always dreamt that someday he would bring me here, and propose to me inside. Perhaps… perhaps…

"Hey, Mina…" Ken started as he finally let go off my hand. He looked up at the building in front of us as he continued to speak. "How long have we been together?"

"Uhm…" I said nervously, my voice shaking in both anticipation and fear. "We've been together for 11 month's now, Ken… we'll be having our one year anniversary this June, remember…?"

"Yeah, I remember." He said. His head lowered and hung, as if he was thinking deeply. "It was great being with you all these months, Mina. You gave me the greatest times of my life. I'm really thankful for that…"

I shook my head, "Ken… why are you saying this? Is something wrong? You've been strangely cold these past few days…"

"I'm sorry, Mina, but I can't be with you anymore."

Time grew still. I felt like everything just stopped. I couldn't breath and speak. I heard his words perfectly, but I think my mind didn't register it. I remained quiet as Ken turned to me and placed his hands on my shoulders. I wanted to look up, but I couldn't. I looked down to my shoes as I felt the tears start forming in my eyes.

"It's been almost like I'm living in someone else's life during all these months with you." I heard him say, "You are a really nice, beautiful girl, Mina. And I'm sure there're lots of guys who are head over heels in love with you, but… but I'm not one of them."

I nodded as I tried to calm myself down and be reasonable. My voice shook as I asked, "So… so that means you don't love me, right?"

"I'm sorry, Mina. I do love you, just not in the way you want it." He sighed, "I love you as a friend, nothing more. Believe me, I tried to love you, but I can't. I can't lie to myself, and I can't lie to you anymore. I hope you can forgive me. I just can't take the though of lying to you about my feelings for another month."

His word pricked my heart, and I felt it break into a thousand pieces. I tried to stifle my sobs, but I couldn't. I felt my tears run down my cheeks as Ken touched my chin and forced me to look up at him. My vision was blurry from my crying, but I could see in his eyes that it pained him to tell me this… to tell me the truth.

"I'm really sorry if I hurt you, Mina." He was saying now, his brown eyes looking at me sadly, "Someday, you will find someone who will love you unconditionally, and you will learn to love him, as well. But that can't be me. You are my friend, a sister to me… but no more. However, I'm sure that whoever is going to love you, will treat you right… perhaps, even better than I treated you."

I nodded my head and wiped the tears from my eyes. Looking up at him, I swallowed my pain and smiled at him, though it hurt my cheeks to do so. I was hurting so hard, but I have to show I still have strength in me. "I understand, Ken."

He looked at me sadly, "I'm really sorry, Mina."

I laughed, which made him a bit surprised, but I wasn't laughing because I was happy. What was happening with us was so ironic that I found it humorous. I found it ironic that someone would actually apologize about saying the truth, even if it was painful. "I'll be fine, Ken. I understand it perfectly. You don't have to worry about me."

Ken opened his mouth, no doubt to apologize again, but I cut him off. "Stop saying you're sorry. You don't have to apologize about being true to yourself and to me. You're right, if this had carried on, I'm sure it would've hurt us both even deeper."

"You really are a nice person, Mina." He said, bending over and kissing me on the forehead. The action was gentle, but to me it was like a jagged sword cutting my chest. I swallowed before I spoke again. "You see me as your friend, and as friends, we're supposed to support each other. So I accept your decision about us. I'm sure its for the best…"

Ken's face softened, and I felt him pull me into his embrace. I clung on to him as well, and though I felt like crying, I had to stop myself. A few seconds later he let go of me, and I got a whiff of his aftershave. I'll miss a lot of things about him, his scent is one of them, for I knew I'll never get close enough to him again to smell it.

I nodded to him, and he nodded back. He placed a hand at the top of my head in a pathetic gesture of comfort, and turned his back to me to ride the buggy back to Mystic Peak Campus. I watched him leave, and as his shadow faded off from sight, I became sad again. The sobs and cries I've been holding back finally came out, and I placed my hand on my mouth to stifle them. I felt my hand get wet with tears, but I couldn't wipe them.

"Hey, Mina! Look! I found a box of strawberry coated Pocky Sticks! They're selling them in Shibuya! Maybe we should try sticking it to a cup of chocolate ice cream, eh? Mina?"

I looked up, still sobbing, and in my tear fogged vision I saw Sigfried standing in front of me, one hand holding a plastic bag, and the other holding a chocolate-coated Pocky Stick. At the sight of my tear-stained face, the kneeled beside me. Panic widened his hazel eyes as he raised my face.

"Mina! What happened? Why are you crying?! Are you hurt?" He kept asking as he let his snack fall to the ground. He stuck his hand into his uniform and pulled out a handkerchief, which he used to wipe my tears away.

"I'm fine, Sig." I said, sniffing the last of my sobs away, and trying to my smile at him, "Ken broke up with me and, well, I didn't take so well."

Sig looked down at me, his face sad as he wrapped his arms around me in a comforting embrace. I wiped away the last traces of my tears as he continued to cradle my head in his arms, "Ken kept on telling that he had something to tell you. I didn't know it was about this." I felt him sigh, "I'm sorry, Mina, I should've seen this coming."

I shook my head as I broke out of his embrace. I sniffed my sobs away and patted his arm, for he held a worried look that touched me. "No. It's not your fault, Sig. I should've seen this coming, too. I'll be fine, don't worry about me."

His look remained skeptic, "Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm fine really." I said, but I knew I was lying to myself. I was hurting badly, and all I wanted was to go home and cry.

Sig, however, seemed like he read my mind, "Maybe I should just take you back to your house. I get the feeling that you'd like to be alone for a while."

I nodded, grateful that he didn't force me to talk. He put his arm around me as he walked me back to the Buggy. He held me close, and I felt strangely comforted. He was quiet during our walk back to the Parking Bay in the Mystic Peak Hole, and even until he was inside the car and driving back to the Residential Area in Trading Hole, where my apartment was located.

"You know… I can't help but feel guilty for this." Sig was saying as we climbed up the stairs. I was fishing my pockets for my keys when he said this, and I turned to him. "For the last time, Sig, you don't have to apologize or feel guilty. You didn't know about it either, remember?"

"That's the problem. If I really am his best friend, he would've told me and I would've persuaded him not to break up with you. He didn't have to hurt you this way, you know."

I can't help but smile. Usually, it was Yuki who comforted me when I have problems. It was good to know that a guy like Sigfried had a nice side in him. "Even if you talked to him, he still would've done it. He's stubborn, and he won't let anyone interfere with his decisions. Besides, you can't force him to love me. He told me that. He tried to love me, but he couldn't. You can't force someone to have feelings for you, you know."

He sighed as he leaned on the wall, as I placed my keys into the lock of my door, "Yeah, I guess you're right. And yes, Ken is a stubborn git." I couldn't help but laugh as he said this.

"Well, I'm just thankful you're here, Sig." I said as I opened the door, "You want to come in and rest for a while? Being with an emotionally troubled girl can be pretty tiring for a guy like you."

Now it was his turn to laugh. "No, I don't think so. I have three sisters, so I'm used to being around these situations. Besides, I know you'd rather be alone for a while." He raised his hand, still carrying the bag that contained a box of Strawberry Pocky Sticks and a pint of Trading Hole's best ice cream. "Here, you should have this. I heard ice cream can be a great comfort to those who have heartaches."

"Thanks, Sigfried." I said, smiling as I took the bag. "Thanks for taking me home."

He shook his head and waved a hand in a gesture, "Hey, no problem. If you need anything, you know how to contact me. Just rest for a while, okay?"

I nodded and waved goodbye at him before entering my door and closing it. As I walked towards my bedroom, I heard him walking away, whistling as he climbed down the stairs outside.

I plunked down on my bed, uniform and all, as I took the ice cream, spoon and Pocky Sticks that Sig gave me. As I took a bite of the chocolate-and-strawberry confection, I heard his car start and slowly move out of the driveway and into the street. Somehow that sound saddened me, and it made me feel very lonely. I dug my spoon into the ice cream again, my eyes brimming with tears… knowing that I am, once again, alone in this world.