He sat on the low concrete bench, feeling his short, messy brown hair with his fingers. The odor of the room was strong, and consisted of the pure and unadulterated aroma of male sweat.

Daisuke zipped up his track jacket and slung his duffel bag over his shoulder and, weaving in between the maze of lockers and boys still stumbling in and out of their shorts, walked out of the Yasogami High boys' locker room into the refreshing air of the early evening. Instead of dwelling on the mud-stained wet weather of the months past, early spring decided to anticipate the hot Japanese sun, and leaves tinted a gentle green ran scattered across the newly-revitalized grass, carpeting the soccer field up to the short chain-link fence that bordered the school grounds.

He stood there and looked around the field, scratching his nose. All the sports teams had finished practice for the day, and except for a few neglected T-shirts and a random backpack lain across a wooden bench aside the soccer goal post, there was no evidence of the place having just been host to a group of teenagers out for some after-school physical activity.

Bag in hand, Daisuke took a moment to pause, to wait, and allowed his mind to wander toward something he'd been avoiding internally for...god, as long as he could remember. From way back before the time he realized it might have been a little bit strange, or unnatural, or maybe even--

"Hey! Doofus!" a voice called out suddenly from behind him. Kou Ichijo emerged from the stuffy locker room, rubbing his sweat-rinsed black hair that threw across his face messily. He tossed his duffel bag onto the ground and put his hands to his hips. "What the hell are you looking around for, dude? You're standing there like somebody died." Daisuke turned his head to look at his bag, his posture straightening slightly, unresponsive. Kou scratched his side unconsciously. "Well, you up for some noodles? I'm starving."

Gathering their belongings, they began walking toward the end of the field.

---

Weird thing. It's like the more you have somebody on your mind, the more often they just seem to pop outta nowhere.

Dusk was falling upon the central downtown streets of Inaba. The textile place was closed for the day. As he turned the lock on the front door of his mother's shop, Kanji could see two figures entering Chinese Diner Aiya down the street.

And there he is now with his friend. Of course.

Frowning to himself, he closed the screens on the front windows and began slouching his way up the staircase to his room, staring at the steps. He decided not to eat dinner. His stomach turned. Whether it was a pang of jealousy or something else, he didn't want to focus on something so shallow, so nonproductive.

He closed the door to his room, scratching his hard belly with an index finger. His mother had told him the other day that his room looked like a cave, asking if he was turning into a bat. Or a vampire. He rubbed his scarred cheek; well, he was pale enough. Moving over to the blinds coating the window and opening them a little, he looked around at all the posters and action figures that lay scattered on his walls, his desk, the floor. The action figures were mostly ones he had made himself.

He wondered what Naoto Shirogane had been up to lately.

Her arrival in Inaba had thrown him into a bit of a funk, to put it simply. Perhaps it did the same for everyone else, too. He hadn't seen her lately; he remembered a few months ago, they would occasionally spend the afternoon together after school. Most of all she liked spending time at the river; she said it was her favorite place to go and think.

He fell into a chair and looked at all the materials on his desk, wishing that it could all be transported to the riverbank, where he could sit and work on all of his things in peace.

---

"Really though, dude," Kou began, his elbows on the table and his cheeks full of flattened noodles. "When are you gonna get some decent clothes, instead of just wearin' your track suit around all the time? What, are you in the Olympics or something? Chicks are never gonna go for that look, the way you're sportin' it. Nah, I'm tellin' you, one of these days we have to..."

They sat at the bar in Chinese Diner Aiya, the hue of the air taking the dark colorization of reds and yellows as many other men and women took time out of their busy schedules to sit down and eat a traditional meal. Kou was rambling on, as usual, when Daisuke suddenly interrupted him.

"Hey--when are you gonna call those chicks back for another blind date?"

Kou froze, looking slowly at his comrade.

"Wha--? Dude, you were the one who flaked out on them in the first place! When I was talking about dressing up for the girls, I meant for new girls, not old ones. I mean, sure, they were great and all..." He paused to slurp up a stray noodle. "...but we missed our chances with them, man. You know that. They'd hate me if they thought we were trying to ditch 'em again. Remember? I told you before."

"Oh," Daisuke said, shrugging. He sat quietly. Kou, used to his best friend's silent personality, went on. "Besides..."

"...Yeah?"

"Besides that, if you could just get over your ex-girlfriend from middle school, I bet you'd find that there are a hell of a lot more fish in the sea. Especially for you."

Daisuke nodded, making a face of reluctant agreement. He thought for a second how often Kou got impatient with him with this sort of thing. Essentially reading his mind, Kou punched him lightly in the shoulder. "Ow..."

"Cheer up, man, it ain't all bad. The girls would be all over you if you just gave them the time of day, even with your plain old track suit on. Hell, I even heard about Ai Ebihara talking about you like she'd been checking you out. You're just a little denser than the rest of us. Shit happens."

They took a moment to finish their bowls.

"Well I better get on the bus," Kou said, putting down his chopsticks with satisfaction. "It's already dark out and I don't wanna miss the last one. Remember what happened last week?"

For the first time all day, Daisuke broke into a laugh. "Yeah, and I remember seeing your scrawny ass runnin' after it like you were gonna catch up to it--"

"Shut up," Kou said, hitting his shoulder again. Daisuke flinched. "Hey watch it, I hurt my shoulder today!" Kou made crying motions with his fists. "Aww, you gonna tear up? You gonna cry in front of everybody?" He smiled and pushed Daisuke's head. "Later man."

"Later," Daisuke said, turning back to his empty bowl.

It took him a moment to realize what was happening.

He ran out the door of the restaurant and yelled to Kou down the street. "HEY!"

"Next time's on me, thanks bro!" Kou called out, his voice trailing further away. Daisuke walked back inside. Exasperated, he took a few thousand yen out of his wallet. And of course, the bastard has to eat practically everything in the restaurant...

He dropped the bills next to the empty bowls and grabbed his duffel bag. Swinging it back over his other shoulder, he walked out of the building. Before heading down the other end of the street, he paused and noticed the textile shop not too far away.

He wondered if he would ever tell Kou that maybe it wasn't that he was oblivious. That maybe, just maybe, it had been something else this whole time.