It was another three days before Yamaken saw her again.

He was sitting on the patio of a café, flipping through one of his school books as he sipped his fancy coffee. His eyes were on the words but he couldn't focus on any of it. His mind was occupied with Shizuku, as it always seemed to be of late. He constantly tried to think of ways he could approach her, what he could say that would finally get her mind off of Haru. No matter what he thought of, however, he still came up with the short end. There was no way he could get her to forget about Haru and fall in love with him. It was a hopeless task, one that he was too stupid to give up on. He tossed the book back in frustration, pushing up his reading glasses so he could massage the bridge of his nose. If only he could lose interest…

"Are you giving up already?"

He looked up to face Shizuku, who stood on the other side of the railing. She had plastic bags in hand, looking as if she just came from grocery shopping. Her face gave no indication that their last meeting had occurred, her expression as composed as could be. Strangely, this irked him, which contributed to his sharp response. "Who said I was giving up? I just needed a break."

Shizuku stepped closer to the railing, looking over at the book. She read the first few paragraphs, recognizing it. "That's about the history of the class system and its economic impact, correct? I read it last year. It wasn't hard to comprehend."

"That sounded like an insult," he muttered, watching as her eyes continued to read what was on the page. He leaned back in his chair, adjusting his glasses as he attempted to read her expression. "What? Do you think that I need help understanding?"

She shook her head, though not looking at him directly. Her eyes found safety in the written word of the book in front of him, something she couldn't usually find in others. At least that was how she used to feel. Now she was comfortable with many people…but probably most of all with Yamaken. He was her equal, if nothing else. "You could do it…if you put your mind to it."

Her words caught him off guard. He could feel his cheeks slowly turning red as he silently thanked the heavens that she was looking away at the moment. His heart was throbbing painfully in his chest, his mind unable to make any coherent thoughts. It killed him that she did this to him so easily. Sometimes he wished that she could understand what kind of effect she had on others. Yamaken cleared his throat after gathering himself, gesturing for Shizuku to take the seat across from him. "You could join me, you know, instead of standing there."

Shizuku straightened up, shifting the bags in her hand. There was a fluttering pressure in her chest that made her feel suddenly uncomfortable in front of him. "I need to get home so the cabbage doesn't spoil."

Yamaken crossed his arms, willing to have her walk away. He expected that kind of response from her by now and really didn't see the need to fight it. But he sighed as his heart gave in to a little pull. It pained him enough to constantly see her walk away; he didn't want to watch her do so again. And it wasn't like Haru was around to stop him anymore. He stood, collecting his stuff quickly. "I'll walk you home then."

She didn't respond but patiently waited as he circled around the patio area, joining her on the sidewalk. Yamaken snatched one of the bags from her hand without a word, swinging it over his shoulder with a light smile. He hoped he looked a little more carefree than he truly felt at the moment. He was incredibly nervous being this close to her again; their last meeting still left a heavy impression in his mind. He started forward, trying to calm his thoughts and act normal at the same time, and was surprised when Shizuku yanked at his sleeve. He paused, blushing greatly at her touch. She gestured the opposite way with her thumb.

"I live that way."

Without uttering a word, Yamaken spun on his heels to head in the other direction. No matter how many times he did it, his sense of direction never got any better and still left him incredibly embarrassed for messing up, especially when it was in front of her. He hated looking so pathetic. So he took long steps to create an air of confidence, something he was starting to lack, to make himself look cooler in front of Shizuku. She came up behind him and matched her stride with his, stifling a smile or what could've been a laugh. He glanced down at her, watching as she composed her face carefully back to an unreadable mask. He wanted to ask her how she was doing, what was under that mask, but he figured she would shoot him down in an instant. That and he feared he wouldn't be able to handle whatever it was she responded with.

Are you scared of becoming more hurt?

Yuuzan's words echoed in his head, which irked him. He didn't want to be thinking about that creep right now! But, no matter how much Yamaken tried to deny those words, they were still the truth. He was scared. He didn't know what he could do, what he could say, and feared that he would mess up what he already had with Shizuku. And that would only lead to more pain, pain he knew he was too weak to tolerate. He sighed. He was already aware that it was a path of thorns he was on. But he was too much of an idiot to give up on it.

Yamaken shook his head, trying to shake away his thoughts. He chose to put his focus on something else and looked at the bags she was carrying, doing his best to avoid eye contact with her. "Why do you have so much cabbage?"

"It's for dinner tonight," she responded simply, her steps uninterrupted. If he didn't know any better, he would think nothing could shake the woman.

Yamaken raised an eyebrow at her. "All of it? Are you, like, a rabbit?"

Shizuku shrugged but otherwise ignored the comment, looking down towards the ground. She brought the bag of vegetables closer to her as her mind began to fill with memories of their last meeting. That was a low for her, and something she wished to forget (and hoped that he would too). But it had happened. What she felt at that time was real and there was no changing what she had revealed to him. But strangely there was a relief she felt to know that there was at least one person who she could share her pain with…even if it was Yamaken.

"It's been strange."

Yamaken shuffled his steps at the sound of Shizuku's voice but quickly recovered. "What are you talking about? There are a lot of strange things around here…"

"Haru's absence."

"Oh. Haru." Saying his name left a sour taste in his mouth. He really didn't want to get started on this subject. Yet it always seemed that their conversations went back to the monster. Was there really no getting away from him? "I suppose so. It has been considerably quiet."

Shizuku shuffled uneasily with his words, her thoughts clouding her mind. She wanted to say that she missed Haru, despite how upset she has been, and how she has been filled with regret since letting that fight happen. But was it something that she could tell Yamaken, especially knowing the feelings he held for her? But…they were friends; it was something friends did, right? Then she remembered something he said…"The other day…when you said you wanted to be here for me…did you really mean it?"

He was shocked that she had brought up that exchange. He thought for sure she would've filed it away already. "Of course."

"Does that mean…you can help with that feeling?…th-that absence?"

Yamaken's heart leapt at her words. Filling that place in her heart was all he ever wanted to do. And now was his chance. His eyes lit up as they rested upon her. "That's definitely something I can do."

She gave a very faint smile as they finally approached her house. Unlike the thoughts Yamaken was having, hers were purely innocent. She just wanted a friend to distract her from thoughts of Haru, someone who knew how to avoid such conversations. Natsume would've been the expected choice, but all the brunette could go on about was finding Haru. Shizuku didn't need the reminder. She paused at the gate, looking up at Yamaken as she took the bag he held from him. "Thank you for walking me home." She gave a polite bow before opening the gate and heading toward the door. Just the few steps between them took off a pressure from her shoulders that she didn't realize she was burdened with.

Yamaken was feeling like his opportunity was slipping through his fingers once more. "Mizutani..." he started, his voice a little quiet and shaky.

Shizuku spun to look at him, though her expression made it look like she hadn't caught his voice. "I'll see you around, Yamaken-kun." With a last little nod, she opened the door and slid in.

The moment it shut, Yamaken felt his heart sink. There went that chance. He spun on his heels, sighing loudly as his hand ran through his hair. It didn't seem like a productive meeting with her but her words started to echo in his head. Can you help with that feeling? Yamaken's hand drifted over his chest, pulling a little at his coat. This was a major step for him. Though he wasn't able to capitalize on all of it, his foot was in the door.

Now was when the real challenge started.

Yamaken pulled the phone out of his pocket, quickly dialing a number before putting it to his ear. "...Hello...Yes, I need a ride..."