Author's Note: This chapter, unlike the first one, is a stream of consciousness. I wanted a way to quickly detail the important points of Sho's first year of high school and how his relationship with Manjome developed, and this seemed like the best technique to use. I skipped things that were not important to the development of the characters. Certain events have been altered to be better suited to a real world setting. It's definitely not perfect, but I did the best that I could. I just hope it's not awful.


I first met Manjome when we were in our first year of high school. I wish I could say that it was love at first sight, but it wasn't. In fact, we hardly interacted at all back then, and we were both interested in other people. The first time I remember noticing him was after our first exam results were posted. He was ranked second, but he looked mad. I was close to the bottom of the list, and I couldn't understand why being so high up was something to be mad about. I didn't think much of it though, since it wasn't like we were friends or anything. I just thought it was weird.

My first crush was Yuki Judai. I used to think that he was the coolest person in the world. He had a low rank, like me, but he never stressed over it like I did. He was always just going with the flow and enjoying his life, something that I had never done before. I was always trying to meet the expectations of my parents, who thought that I should be a genius like my older brother. While Judai may not have been the best influence, I needed to have him as a friend. I probably would have ended up breaking down from the pressure if he hadn't taught me how to relax. I was able to reach my full potential because of his help. Not in our first year, but eventually. I actually almost dropped out of school, but Judai was able to convince me not to. He even stood up to my brother, who was the top of third year and the most popular guy in the school. He really was a great friend.

Manjome doesn't talk about high school too much, unless he's talking about us. I did learn why he was mad at his ranking later on that year, though. I remember it because it was the first time I thought that maybe we could be friends, if he wasn't such a jerk. He had genius brothers who had always first when they were in school, and he had to be first, too. There were even rumours that he was punished if he got anything else. When he was ranked second again after our second exam, he ran away. Everyone talked about it in our class, wondering where he went, or if he had committed suicide. Judai even started a 'Search for Manjome' club. He eventually came back on his own after he got his own apartment close to the school. I don't know where he went, or why he came back. Maybe I'll ask him one day.

Since he missed so much school, Manjome ended up at the bottom of the rankings with me and Judai. That's when we started to be friends, well, sort of. He sat in the back of the class with us, and talked to us. He didn't have very nice things to say, but he did somehow end up a part of our group. I still had a huge crush on Judai at the time, so I didn't pay much attention to Manjome. I'd feel bad, but he didn't pay attention to me either, except for when he was making fun of my height. He still does that, actually.

Not long after Manjome came back, there was a bit of an incident involving some bullies. I've been bullied plenty of times before, but this time was different. I can still remember it vividly. I was walking home from school after staying late to study, so the sun was setting. They ambushed me when I was walking past the playground I used to play on when I was a kid. There were three of them. They were mad that my brother was smarter and more popular than they were, but they were too scared to confront him about it. So, they decided to take their anger out on me. I probably would have gotten hurt pretty badly had my brother not walked by when he did. He actually protected me. He had never done anything like that before. I just sat there stunned while he scared them off. Then he asked me if I was okay even though he was hurt more than I was. It was our first real bonding moment. Our relationship didn't change too much after that. We didn't become really close or anything. He just stopped ignoring me. It doesn't sound like a big deal, but it meant a lot to me at the time.

Later on that week Manjome dealt with his brother issues, too. His brothers were a lot worse than mine though, so it didn't have a happy ending. I've asked about it, but he refuse to talk about what happened exactly. All I know is that he ended up getting disowned. Since he already had his own place he didn't have to move, and he had a lot of money in his bank account so that wasn't a problem either. It was more of an emotional blow. It hurt him pretty badly, not that he let anyone know it. A few days after it happened, he told me that I was lucky to have an older brother who wasn't a complete jerk. That was the only time he even slightly mentioned what had happened with him and his brothers. I was surprised that I was the one he talked to about it, if briefly. He started to make fun of me more after that, and I started fighting back. We still make friendly jabs at each other. It wasn't a very romantic progression in our relationship, but it was something.

About a month before the end of first year, Manjome fell in love with Tenjoin Asuka. She was ranked third in our year, and was one of the most popular girls in the school. He used to chase after her with flowers, chocolate and love letters. She wanted nothing to do with him. I feel a bit jealous thinking about it now, but at the time it was hilarious. He even had her brother giving him love advice. She was definitely not impressed. Actually, I think she had a thing for Judai. Top students usually don't talk to the bottom students much, but she talked to Judai quite often. Enough that they were friends, even. Misawa, the top student in our year, did to, but he was trying to get Judai to take school more seriously. Asuka just did it because she wanted to. Yeah, she probably liked him.

It was a pretty interesting year when I think about it. By the end my brother had graduated at the top of his class, of course, while I was still at the bottom of mine. I was friends with Manjome by the end of the year, but I still liked Judai, and he still liked Asuka. If you had told me then that I would end up with Manjome, I definitely would not have believed it. It's funny how much people can change in just a few years. People grow closer, or fall apart. Happy moments and heartbreak. It was all worth it to end up with Manjome's love.


Author's Note: Yes, the ending is sappy. I'm horrible at endings, and I got tired of changing it so . . . yeah.