Disclaimer :: I do not own neither the song lyrics, the song itself or the characters involved in the development of this fanfiction.

Enjoy ~

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And I'm sure the view from heaven
Beats the hell out of mine here
And if we all believe in heaven,
Maybe we'll make it through one more year
Down here

Feel your fire,
When its cold in my heart
And things sorta start
Remindin' me of my last night with you
I only need one more day
Just one more chance to say
I wish that I had gone up with you too

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The question had caught him off guard. He didn't exactly expect the brunette to give him an inquiry as an answer. His only answer at that. But that's just how Shinjirou was. And Akihiko was already used to these antics coming from his childhood friend.

They had been together long enough to know even the smallest detail of each other's life…or so it would seem. Once they grew, things turned for the worst.

They both lost something dear, and on top of that they kept blaming one another about how they were to blame; they usually beat themselves up in the present due to such a fact. Both never forgave themselves for those events that had happened—sealing their fate as a rather sad one.

But that alone wasn't going to stop him from fighting on; from being pushed back from something that he knew was right. So the silver haired male kept on living. Living with the burden that has been set upon his shoulders, but full – well knowing that he wasn't the only one with their own cross to bare. A perfect example was right before his own persona; sitting there with brows furrowed in a confused yet irked mannerism. This didn't make him back down; not one bit.

"I need to talk to you"

"What the fuck about?" the brunette spat back carelessly like he always did. Something typical, really and personally expected; but with those words spoken Akihiko now took the opportunity to gain a hold upon his childhood friend's wrist in order to drag him up and off of where he had been perched for quite some time.

Even if it didn't look like he had noticed such fact, he indeed did.

The young boxing champ was fairly observant; even if it didn't come to shine in some situations. Most cases he would just be oblivious about what was truly going on, or maybe he just didn't want to notice until someone pointed it out? No, that wasn't the case.

One of the few basic rules in boxing is observe your opponent's defense as well as offense in order to use their same power against them. That was actually something the S.E.E.S group would most likely apply to Shadows. Simple matters that cause the outcome of the battle to either become tough or fluently.

And dealing with Shinjirou also had this type of application filled out. You needed to know where to ease in to be able to gain a proper conversation with him instead of the whole topic being completely one sided.

Steps could be heard throughout the dorm of which was currently pretty much empty for the time being. Mitsuru had things to do with the Student Council, Iori said something about meeting up with Chidori or something along those lines earlier in the day, and Aegis had gone off with Minato, Fuuka and Yukari to eat something since they were tired of Fuuka's… 'experiments'.

So all that was left behind of this small group was them; not that he minded. He actually had some things to cover before letting things continue on with its progress.

The creaking of the hinges at Akihiko's door could be heard once the doorknob had been grasped and twisted to offer entry into the cozy interiors of his room. Stepping inside, Shinjirou's arms came to a cross along his chest as a display of his slight annoyance that was bubbling up to the surface. The silver haired male just took this as a sign of his usual style of saying 'get it over with'.

Bringing his back to a light rest against the wooden material to create that boundary once he had closed it; his eyes now focused on those chocolate ones of his counterpart, "You're…probably wondering why it was that I asked you to come with me. And I know that—"

"Just spill it, Aki." Shinjirou retorted.

"…Right. Well. You see, Shinji. I've been giving it a lot of thought, and…I've known you for quite some time. You might find this either amusing or…well. I'm not entirely sure of how you'll react to this, but—"

"Are we going to just stand here like a couple of girls gossiping or some shit like that? Cuz I ain't got the tim—"

"I love you."

"…What did you say?"

"I'm…not repeating myself." And with that, his body shifted the direction in which it had been facing—off to one side in order to hide those pinked expressions of his from the elder. He knew that this was a slight display of weakness. The silvernette knew that it would seem like he was cowering from his own true feelings—to just come out and say what it was that he was going through in the brunette's eyes. But he had no other way of saying those three words that made his heart beat rapidly and sink all at the same time.

Awaiting a blow of sorts in form of either physical contact or simple words that would end up piercing him, his eyelids rolled to meet a light seal all until a strong hold grasped onto one of his upper limbs and dragged him all the way over to where the other male was stationed.

"Say it again."

"..No—"

"Say it again, Aki!"

"…I .. love you."

"Do you mean this?"

"Y-Yes.."

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Holy crap, that was so corny even for me; but it needed to be done for the upcoming chapter. I kind of lost my touch with Akihiko, it would seem. But I did try! In a sense.; Anyways, I'm starting college which is basically why I might write a bit slower than I usually do. I'll still update as soon as I possibly can, though. So R&R—tell me what you think! Tell me how I can improve; I appreciate it. ;D