A/N: As with Yuuko, Hideyoshi does not wear a hairpin in this story. Also, there are a few references from The Beginning.

My name is Hideyoshi, Kinoshita Hideyoshi. I live at home while my parents are off on their travels, and I don't have any siblings to share the house with. It's not bad, since I do have friends that I really enjoy hanging out with; but, sometimes, I think it would be pretty nice to have a brother or a sister. It'd probably make my life... happier.

I shook my head, trying to keep past memories from resurfacing. Instead, I focused on getting ready for school, finishing drawing on my uniform. I placed the belt on, feeling a bit happier once it was completely on. I was wearing a boys' uniform, which I've only just started wearing since I've entered high school. Beforehand, in middle school and grade school, I had been forced to wear a girls' uniform all the time... But now, it's different.

I took a deep breath, focusing my mind towards breakfast and lunch. I wouldn't allow myself any time to dwell on the past; after all, it was the past. I have a present now alongside my friends.

I stepped out of my house, locking the door behind me right before I heard a voice calling out to me. "Hideyoshi!" I turned around, waving my hand back at my best friend, a brunette boy by the name of Yoshii Akihisa. "Good morning!" Akihisa finished once he had reached me, a big and idiotic grin on his face.

I smiled back at him, a blush instantly making itself known on his cheeks. "Yeah, good morning, Akihisa."

"You two coming or what?" A deeper voice called out from the street, my eyes shifting past Akihisa to catch the sight of a tall, red-haired boy leaning up against a post with his bag slung over his shoulder and a couple of bandages on his face.

"Good morning, Yuuji." I told him, walking up to the boy with a smile on my face, though it started fading when I saw the extent of his injuries. I couldn't help but feel the need to apologize to him, but as soon as I started to open my mouth, he interrupted me.

"There's nothing you need to be sorry about, Hideyoshi. We're friends, and this is what friends do for each other." Yuuji said, moving away from the pole and turning towards the direction of the school.

"Yeah, Yuuji's right, Hideyoshi!" Akihisa assured me, his smile even bigger than before, if such a thing was possible. "Besides, the lunches you make us are gratitude enough! So, you don't have to worry. We don't mind beating up a couple of pushy, hormonal guys if it's for our friend! Right, Yuuji?" Akihisa asked, looking hopefully at the redhead.

"Right." Yuuji simply said right before starting to head off towards school.

I looked at the two of them for a few moments before giving off a soft smile; and though I acted content as I walked along with the two of them, I couldn't help but to feel guilty. All because of me, they'd get into fights with any hormonal guy who was too pushy.

It was all because of what happened in middle school...

"No one's going to be here to help you, Hideyoshi-chan."

"Hideyoshi?" Akihisa's voice snapped me back to the present, my eyes going to lock with his own. Concern was written all over his face, which only eased a little when the smile returned to my face.

"It's nothing..."

Lunch Break

I got up, heading out of the classroom, telling Akihisa and Yuuji that I was heading off to the restroom and assured them that I was fine going alone. I made my way down the hall, wary of the other students milling about. It didn't take too long for me to catch sight of the restroom; but before I could reach it, a voice suddenly called out my name. "Kinoshita-chan."

I turned around, catching the sight of a tall, raven-haired guy. His cheeks were pink as he stood in front of me, his gaze shifted more towards the ground than me. I knew what was going to happen (it's happened before), and I just hoped that he wouldn't be forceful or desperate...

"Y-yes...?" I muttered, glancing back at the bathroom. It was the boys' bathroom, so if something happened, it would be useless... but the girls'...

I could go in there if the situation called for it...

"Umm, well, you see..." The boy scratched at the back of his head, clearly nervous as he took a deep breath to try and regain himself. "I... I like you, Kinoshita-chan... and I was wondering..." The boy's blush got deeper as he looked back into my eyes. "If you'd... go out on a date with me..." He said softly.

"But I'm... a guy!"

He averted his eyes away from me. "It... it doesn't matter... whether you're a guy or a girl... because... I... I really like you, Kinoshita-chan!" He took a step forward, a new determination in his voice.
"I'm sorry, but I can't..." I looked away from him, turning towards the restroom.
"W-wait, Kinoshita-chan!" The boy called out, reaching forward and grabbing my arm.

My body reacted by itself; my voice instinctively sounding out in a shriek as I pulled away from his grab, falling down onto the ground as uncontrollable terror swept over me. My body trembled from his touch, my mind a blank as I tried to scoot away from him. Memories rushed forward from where they had been hiding under the flow of time; memories of everything that had happened...

Memories... of them...

"You're all ours for now."

"P-please... n-no..." I muttered, my voice shaking as the boy backed off, his eyes wide in shock. "G-get away... s-stop... p-please..." Tears ran down my cheeks as I wrapped my arms around me. I looked down, hiding my face as the tears started to fall. I don't remember what happened after that; all I could remember was the sound of Akihisa's voice and of his feet running.

In grade school, because of my feminine features, the guys forced me to always wear a girls' uniform. They bullied and teased me constantly, never allowing me a moment of respite. I wasn't even able to use the boys' restroom because of them saying how girls should use the girls' restroom instead. Even the teachers didn't believe that I was a boy.

But middle school was where it truly started; where all of my terror and nightmares began. I was still forced to wear the girls' uniform, and their bullying worsened even more so than how it was like in grade school. They always made fun of how I looked, always took my lunch without mercy, and always took up every chance to tease me. But then, it all started to change.

They gradually stopped being so mean; stopped making fun of how I looked; stopped teasing and stopped stealing - they stopped all of the bullying. And like that, they lulled me into a false sense of security. I actually began to think that they were making up for everything they had done to me when they started being nice and friendly. But it was all a lie.

They weren't friends; they were boys entering into puberty, growing aware of girls... and me. Me.

One day, in the locker room, was when it happened - was when it all began. My terror, my nightmares, my instinctive fear of being touched by another boy. It was all a result of the unspeakable horrors of that day, where I had no one to come and rescue me. I was just alone, all alone in a room full of hormonal guys. And ever since then, I've been unable to tolerate the touch of another boy... even Akihisa...

Then, there are the nightmares, where I'm all alone, just like that day. Backed into a corner in pitch darkness, demons all before me... all staring at me and coming closer with each passing moment. They suffocate me, they terrorize me, they make me wake up screaming in the middle of the night. And in the middle of the night, there is no one there to comfort me. I lie awake for hours some times, unable to go back to sleep because I'm afraid of having another such dream.

It's all... so horrible.

But there's Akihisa, who, with his boundless stupidity and kindness, manages to cheer me up despite everything; Yuuji who is a good friend and takes good care of his own friends, always standing up for me even if he has to fight against bigger guys that outnumber him; and then...

There's that one dream...

A dream I have once or twice every couple of weeks (or if I'm lucky, three or four times every two weeks). This dream, like the nightmare, is set in that world of darkness. It still has those demons before me while I'm stuck in the corner, but... there is someone else there. A shining silhouette that stands in between me and the demons. In that dream, the demons cower where they stand, unable to move as they fade away into nothingness. The darkness turns to light, the corner disappears, and I reach for the silhouette. But just as I'm about to make contact with it, and just as it looks back at me, the dream ends.

Sometimes, I wonder who that silhouette is. Someone the same height as me, but with an overflowing abundance of power... of protectiveness. Lately, I've begun to think that the silhouette represents what would have been if I had a brother or sister... He, she, would stand as shield and sword, protecting me and loving me with no effort at all... always caring for me...

Then, before I knew it, I was having that dream. My back was up against a wall, dozens upon dozens of demons of all different sizes and shapes and colors arrayed before me. But standing in front of me, and in front of them, was that shining silhouette. The demons tried to move, as hard as they could they tried; but it made no difference. They cowered in the end, vanishing into dust and nothingness until not one trace of them remained. The wall behind me disappeared, and a beautiful sky bloomed over the field I now stood on.

I started to reach out my hand towards the silhouette who still stood resolute, but I suddenly stopped. Ever since I've been having this dream I've always reached out for it, but what if I were to do something different...? Instead of reaching out, what if all it took was just to call out to it? But, what would I say... what name would I call?

Then, before I knew it, my mouth moved on its own accord.

"Sis..."

The silver of the silhouette disappeared, being replaced with full color as she turned around, her emerald eyes meeting my own, her brunette hair swaying in the gentle breeze.

"Hey..."

I couldn't stop myself from stepping forward, reaching out and grasping her hand. She looked at me with a smile on her face, placing her arm around me and holding me to her.

That moment, I felt the safest I have ever felt in my entire life in her embrace; so safe and warm, even if it was...

only a dream...