Tragic Bonds of Affection

Chapter 1: New Feelings

The golden rays of the late afternoon sun shone down on the suburban area, causing all of the objects it hit to cast short shadows behind them. Although winter was closing in, the temperature was quite warm on that particular day, nearly surpassing eighty degrees fahrenheit.

A young woman with short, light brown hair was walking along one of the sidewalks. She was wearing a white T-Shirt along with a short black skirt that stopped a few inches above her knees. She also wore a pink long-sleeved shirt wrapped around her waist. She lifted her right arm as she continued to step forward, using the back of it to wipe the beads of sweat from her forehead. She looked completely exhausted, and she had dark rings encircling her eyes.

"Archery practice should have been cancelled today..." She uttered under her breath, soon stopping in her tracks once she was positioned right in front of the main doors to a dorm building. Reaching out slowly with her left hand, she opened up the door and stepped inside. As she closed the door behind her, she released a huge sigh of relief from her lungs. The air inside was significantly cooler, causing her to instantly straighten up her slouching posture. She felt much better in just a matter of seconds.

"Welcome back, Yukari." A young female with long, red locks of hair greeted her as she sat in one of the lobby chairs.

"Arigatou, Senpai." Yukari's lips curved upward slightly into a faint smile as she started to walk toward the stairway. She had been getting along better with her senpai, Mitsuru, recently since they had a certain talk.

"Whoa, Yuka-tan! Why're you so sweaty? Have a busy day with a certain someone?" A tall male wearing a blue cap was standing nearby, and he was grinning in a teasing manner as he set his gaze on Yukari's figure.

"N-no! I j-just overheated a little at archery practice! I didn't expect it to be so warm out!" Yukari's cheeks turned beet red in response to Junpei's comments, and she appeared flustered... he just struck a nerve.

"Uh-huh, suuure. Someone's in denial..." Another male stepped out from behind Junpei, and he was speaking in a mocking tone as well. He had abnormally pale skin and bright sapphire eyes. He was also sporting a yellow scarf around his neck in spite of the temperature outside.

"Ryoji-kun, you're just as bad as Stupei!" Yukari growled and picked up a vase from a nearby table. She was prepared to toss it at Junpei and Ryoji's heads, but someone grabbed her arm firmly prior to this action.

"I don't think that's a good idea." Another male with grey hair held onto Yukari's arm with one hand and used the other to pluck the vase from her grasp. After setting it back down in its original position, he released her limb.

"Gomenasai, Akihiko-senpai." Yukari's expression shifted to one of shame as she lowered her head. Recent events had caused her to become more touchy about that subject, so her temper worsened also. She was becoming more emotionally unstable with each passing week, and she was very close to breaking down completely.

"I wish you two would stop teasing Yukari so much. You know she gets... sensitive about certain things." Sensitive was just a mild way of referring to Yukari's behavior, but Akihiko didn't particularly feel like aggravating her any more than she already was. After a few brief moments, he merely sighed and turned around as he headed up to his room for the remainder of the evening.

Yukari kept her gaze focused on the floor, still ashamed because of her temper getting out of hand. However, she lifted her head slightly when she heard the front doors opening again. A young male with blue hair stepped inside with his hands in his pockets. He remained completely silent, not even responding to the greeting Mitsuru gave him. Yukari seemed to be caught in a trance as she remained entirely focused on the male, and the temperature of her cheeks began to rise again. Her expression showed signs of affection and yearning, yet it also showed hints of hesitation and sadness as well.

"Yep. She's totally in denial. Look at that... she's completely love-stricken by him." Junpei smirked and crossed his arms over his chest while he stared over at Yukari. "Eh, oh well. There's plenty of other fish in the sea, right Ryoji?"

Junpei blinked after a few moments when he received no response. Turning his head to face his best friend, he lifted his left eyebrow. Ryoji was staring at Yukari with the exact same expression that she wore as she gazed at Minato.

"Dude, are you feelin' okay?" Junpei reached out and shook Ryoji's shoulder gently, causing the other male to blink as his mind returned to reality once more.

"H-huh?"

"You were just starin' at Yuka-tan like she put you under a love spell or somethin'..."

"I was?"

"Yeah. Oh wait, you were just doin' that to get on her nerves, weren't ya? Too bad she wasn't lookin' though."

"U-uh, yeah. Too bad." Ryoji nodded in agreement as a smile returned to his lips. However, his eyes still displayed traces of sorrow as he kept his vision focused on Yukari, who finally began to ascend the stairs. "I should probably be leaving for home now."

"What? Why? There's still a few hours of daylight left. We could go see a movie or somethin'."

"Sorry. I just... have a lot of homework tonight."

"Since when do you do homework?"

"Since... since I heard that I was going to be failing a few of my classes unless I get my ass in gear."

"Really? I've been managing to pass all my classes with straight D's."

"Lucky you. Ja ne." Ryoji turned and began walking toward the front doors, and his smile quickly faded away once his back was turned to Junpei.

"Be sure to get your grades back up to D's so we can start hangin' out more again!" Junpei called after him, then started heading up to his own room.

...

The following day at school, Yukari caught Ryoji staring at her several times during their various classes. By lunchtime, she seemed nearly annoyed enough to lose her temper again. As Minato and several other students exited the classroom to consume their lunches elsewhere, Yukari rose to her feet and walked over to Ryoji's desk.

"What was that all about?"

"Umm... what are you referring to exactly?"

"The whole staring thing! Do you think it's funny to stare at some random person for no reason, or do I have something on my face? Wait... Junpei put you up to this didn't he? Well, I'm certainly going to be giving him a piece of my mind..." Yukari turned and started to move towards Junpei's desk, but she stopped when her arm was grabbed.

"M-matte! He didn't have anything to do with this... i-it was all my idea." Ryoji released Yukari's arm after admitting this, and he wore a bit of a nervous expression while his cheeks flushed a light shade of pink.

"Why? Just why? Do you really enjoy tormenting me that much?!"

"No, Yukari-san... i-it's not like that... I..."

"Forget it! I don't want to hear any more of your excuses! All of you annoying perverts are the same... you'll never change your ways." Yukari huffed and turned around, storming out of the room.

Ryoji sighed in disappointment, shaking his head as he focused his gaze down on the floor. Junpei chuckled as he leaned back in his chair and rested both of his legs atop the surface of his desk.

"Damn! What did ya do to her this time, dude?"

Once again, Ryoji didn't respond to his friend's inquiry. Instead, he stood up and left the room next, leaving a confused Junpei behind.

"Was it somethin' I said?"

Yukari was pacing through the hallways while trying to calm herself down. Unfortunately, she noticed something while she was walking... something that would only make her feel worse. Minato was walking around with Yuko, listening quietly while she poured her heart out to him. The two of them appeared to be getting close.

Yukari felt a lump forming in her throat, and everything suddenly became blurry as she continued to stare at the couple. Her eyes were filling with warm tears, impairing her vision. She lifted her left hand and wiped them away, but she knew it was only a temporary measure. The tears would soon return, and there was nothing she could do to prevent it. She took off running in the opposite direction, aiming for a particular door. Once she reached it, she quickly opened it and rushed up a flight of stairs. After arriving at the top, she opened yet another door and stepped outside. Then, she looked around and took in a deep breath of fresh air. Fortunately, the roof was unoccupied for the moment, so Yukari could have time to be alone with her thoughts. She stepped over to a corner and sat down, wrapping her arms around her knees as she rested her chin on top of them. The tears once again formed in her eyes, and they soon started to pour down her cheeks uncontrollably. After she had been crying for nearly a minute, she heard the door to the roof opening again. Her eyes widened, and she frantically attempted to wipe away her tears again. She didn't wish for anyone else to see her in such a state.

"Sh-shimata!"