EDIT: This chapter was originally written in honor of the first reviewer ever :) I'm super duper thankful for that review. It made me very happy.
Chapter 3: Are all cherry blossoms so green?
To elaborate, green is a color that usually comes with connotations of jealousy. Just in case the chapter name lacks a bit of sense :) Enjoy!


A warm breeze blew throughout the endless sky, tousling the boy's bangs a bit. Pink buds had already started to form on most the trees in the area preparing to sprout timid beautiful pink blossoms. The dark haired boy sighed at the temperature change, realizing that it would be spring any second now. Not that it had been a bad thing, especially since Aoi-chan would look great with the cherry blossom background, but he actually came to like the cold climate. A scowl appeared on his face as he slowly brushed his bangs back in place.

"Aoi-kun! Look! Look!" A girl motioned enthusiastically, to a certain tree that seemed to be an early bloomer. He grumbled at her energy. How was it that this girl could be such a morning person? He was dead tired, and here she was skipping around and staring at ants on the sidewalk. He had yet to understand why she decided to step over the ants rather than just crushing them. In fact, ever since Kohaku Yamashita had deemed herself his friend, she never left him alone. He couldn't decide whether he was grateful for her company, or just found it annoying. Besides, there were plenty of other people she could choose to hang out with, so why him?

"Yeah, yeah. It's a tree. What's the big deal?" He groaned. She playfully hit his arm and pouted, motioning to her newfound interest.

"Can't you see? It's in bloom! Aren't the cherry blossoms pretty?"

"I don't know. I guess so?" Her enthusiasm was starting to become a burden, as he really would have just enjoyed silence in the morning. To be honest, he wasn't really even listening to what she was saying anymore, and just began replying with bland one-worded answers. He wiped the sleep from his eyes, as the petit girl tugged at his sleeve.

"Come on, Aoi-kun! We'll be late!" She exclaimed, tugging him with her. Heaven knows what possessed the girl to stop at his house every mornign and walk with him to school. She was like a fly and would never leave him alone, which he happened to find very irritating rather than convenient. Still, he couldn't say that he hated the girl. That though had already been long gone.

"Aoi-ku-" She started, dancing along the sidewalk path, before tripping when she came upon a crack in the path. He scowled, catching her with a single arm.

"Sheesh. Watch where you're going, you idiot girl!" He exclaimed unhappily, in which she replied with a grin.

"Thank you Aoi! Hehehe. I guess my feet just slip out from under me sometimes." She giggled, and grabbed the boy's hand, pulling him ahead again. Aoi began grumbling again, knowing that she hadn't taken in his warning at all. Kohaku either slipped or walked into someone or something about 10 times a day. She really was so troublesome.

"Did you study for the test?" He asked, after noticing the unusual silence between the two. Usually she would be the first to start every conversation, as well as lead it through. All he really had to do was utter a few indifferent reponses, but strangely she seemed to be deep in thought.

"Eh? There is a test today? Hehehe. I guess I just kind of forgot." It was responses like these that made him want to smack her upside the head. He sometimes questioned what urged him to get involved with the girl in the first place, yet it wasn't as though he could just tell her to leave him alone. She held in so much innocence, and to hurt her feelings would be like squashing a butterfly.

"Ah. I just love the spring, don't you?" She spoke, seemingly mesmerized by their surroundings. The sky was a light blue tint with numerous fluffy clouds in the sky, while the ground had now become a lush green and many flowers had began to sprout. She skipped foward, analyzing a cherry blossom bud on a tree.

"Grow up soon, okay?" She whispered to the bud, which he silently laughed at. What kind of idiot was she? Talking to plants? Now that was beyond dumb.

"Hey, Aoi-kun! I've been thinking about joining a club or something. Are you in one? What do you think I should join?" He quickly gave a thought to her question, but couldn't really see anything that suited her rather than a beauty pageant. He took back that thought knowing that even with that she wouldn't enjoy being pampered, which he didn't understand at all.

"You know," she continued happily, that same energetic grin plastered on her face, "Satou-san said that he wouldn't mind if I took a place on the student council with him."

"Is that so? Good for you." He replied, knowing he couldn't care any less about the stupid student council. He still couldn't imagine her actually doing any good on the student council, and wondered why Satou would want her on it.

"Eh? Oh no! We're late!" Kohaku cried, finally getting her focus back. Aoi sighed at how easily distracted she was. How was he ever going to handle her?


He hadn't seemed to see the pest when he had left school, but he had dismissed this fact and decided that she probably had other things to take care of. Aoi slumped in his seat, once again angry that his aunt wouldn't let him parade around in one of the maid costumes. Seriously? Not only would it make their shop 100% more popular, but he wouldn't mind advertising himself to more potential Aoi-chan fans.

"So, how was your day at school?" Satsuki cooed happily. Aoi scowled in reply, keeping his arms crossed, "You know, you never did tell me how it went with that one girl. Um...Konami?"

"Kohaku." The boy corrected, "Her name was Kohaku Yamashita, and it went fine."

"Really? Do I see a relationship coming on?" At this, the boy slammed his fists on the table in annoyance.

"What the hell? Of course not! That girl? She's a headache! She won't leave me alone." He blew up, "And it's not like I can tell her that because she's a stupid crybaby. She'll just start crying and making me feel all guilty. God dammit. I hate it." His face became a deep red as he expressed his annoyance towards the girl, who haunted him so.

"Kohaku Yamashita." A voice mused from behind the two. The pair turned to face the Seika high school class president. Her fingers rested on her chin, in a sort of thinking pose, with a certain loyal dog by her side. "Curly blond hair?" She confirmed.

"Yeah? What of it?" He scoffed, at the girl's sudden interest in his so called 'friend'.

"I think I may know her. She also used to live here, but moved when we were young, around the same time as You-kun did. I remember that she used to get bullied by the boys and girls in her class a lot. Eventually her family decided to move when the bullying got to a certain point."

"Oh..." His voice suddenly became quiet as he took in the explanation. "Really." He pondered whether Misaki could have been mistaken. There was no way little miss popular could have been bullied. Even so, if she was she wouldn't act the way she did. Victims of bullying don't act like innocent ditzy idiots.

"Heh. That girl used to come crying to me a lot about it. She really was a cute kid. So, Aoi, how is she doing now?"

"She's fine." He snapped, unsure of his sudden anger. He just didn't like hearing about this. He wasn't sure why, but it bothered him to hear of the girl's past. Especially one like this. If she was bullied like that, then why did she smile so much? Why did she act so...so...


He found himself in this kind of situation again. Waiting. Why was he always waiting for her? The rest of the week she stuck to him like glue. She never left his side, and always had useless things to say, her voice happily chirping and ringing through his ears. Why was it that when he actually had something important to say, she never was there. He huffed and sigh, waiting for the girl to make her way down the crowded hallway. Lately it had annoyed him that she wasn't around as much. She had decided to join the student council, deeming it as "fun", and that was the last he had seen of her for a while...except maybe in class in which he might sometimes steal a few glances at the oblivious girl. She now left for school earlier and stayed after much later, so it wasn't as though he actually had much of a chance to see her.

During that time, he had been thinking quite a bit about what Misaki had revealed about the girl. He had a sudden want to know more about the girl. It had felt like she was a pretty open person, but had she really opened up about anything? No. Nothing was known about her old life and her old school because no one asked.

He sighed once more, bored from all the unnecessary thinking, awaiting the troublesome girl. A few moments later, he caught sight of the girl, but it hadn't been all that he'd expected. He gritted his teeth when he realized she had been walking with Satou, said boy's arm around her shoulder. He snarled at the scene disgusted by Satou's motions. He now understood why the boy had wanted Kohaku on the student council, and that oblivious girl hadn't even realized it herself.

"Hey." He greeted in a calm indifferent tone although his actions differed. He swatted Satou's arm away, and quickly grasped the girl's hand, dragging her away again. He could feel his face burn up, almost regretting the stupid action.

"Aoi-kun! Eh? Wait, where are you taking me?" She asked in panick at the boy's sudden actions. He had never been on to act upon them, and it had bothered her a bit that he had been acting like this. It was unusual, and she immediately began guessing what had caused him to act like this. "Uh...Bye Satou-san! I'm really sorry about all this!" She added as an afterthought upon seeing his disappearing figure.

"Wait! So, Aoi-kun, what's wrong? Did you need me for something?" She questioned at the scowling tsundere, whom just replied with a glare and a grunt.

"You idiot! Are you completely unaware of what he was thinking or..." He cringed at the thoughts, and eyes glued to the girl, wondering what she was to say next.

"Eh? What do you mean?" A huge sigh escaped his lips as he shook his head in disbelief.

"Whatever. That's not what I came for anyways. So, I don't exactly know how to put this, but..." He bit down on his lip, hard, at his inability to express these thoughts. He didn't want to seem soft towards her, but there really was no other way to explain it except in a cliche fashion."If you ever need someone to talk to, or if something's bothering you, just come to me, got it? And not that stupid freak, Satou. Me."

"Um...I got it. But where did this thought come from? There's really nothing bothering me. Why? Do I look like something's bothering me?" She giggled nervously after smoothly lying through her teeth. He obviously didn't buy it, and was confused as to why she just couldn't tell him. Why not? It wasn't really that much of a big deal, so what was so wrong with just simply explaining about what had happened?

He found himself lying to himself again. He wanted to know first hand from this girl what had happened. He wanted her to feel comfortable with telling him about herself, and it slightly bothered him that she didn't trust him enough to open up like that.