Shun let out a small, nervous chuckle. They were right there. Those people who he almost forgot and remembered again, with a little help from Reifu of course. Rin and Hanayo were right in front of him with Maki. This was understandable since they were in the same idol group but he never expected their coming. He doesn't even know if they were alarmed of his stay there at the hospital.

"Shu-kun." Hanayo said as she walked to her friend. "No one told us that you were in the hospital, right Rin-chan?" She asked, looking over to her orange haired friend.

Rin just stared at Shun for a moment. She shut her eyes and took a deep breath. "You really are misfortune's servant ne, Shu-kun!" She exclaimed in her bubbly manner as she skipped towards the teen at the bed. "Ever since we were kids, you were always the one who always got the bad end of the stick."

"Yeah. Seems this time, it wasn't directly because of you Rin-chan." Shun said before looking at Maki. "But still related to you."

"Wait, you three know each other?" Maki asked, obviously confused about what was happening then and there.

Hanayo nodded. "Shu-kun is a childhood friend of ours. We were all in the same neighborhood when we were kids, went to the same elementary school."

"But then the apartment we were staying in closed so we had to relocate and we found ourselves in another neighborhood although not far enough for us to not see each other but we don't bump into each other a lot." Shun continued. "I went for Amagiri while these two went for Otonokizaka."

"And so we sometimes see each other near while we go to school!" Rin finished.

"That's basically it." Hanayo finalized. "Although no one really told us that Shu-kun was involved in an accident."

"That was my fault. I literally forgot for a moment who you two were." The brown haired teen said with a small chuckle. "But I didn't think my parents wouldn't contact you two. Rei knew about it too."

"You're really no fair Shu-kun." Rin said before raising her hand to give a playful bump to the head of Shun but was quickly stopped by the heiress of the hospital. "Nya~?"

"You can't hit him there... " Maki pointed out. "His head has been stitched after all."

"Thanks Nishikino-san." Shun said before attempting to sit down. "I really hate this cast though. I have to wear it for a few more days." He muttered as he slid his leg out where it was hanging and then resting it on the bed. He laughed victoriously. "Yes! Finally did it!"

Of course, he immediately blushed in embarrassment as he remembered there were other people inside. "U-Uh…" He quickly covered his face with his hand to hide the blush.

Hanayo giggled and Rin let out a laugh. "Shu-kun always gets embarrassed easily." The latter said through her laugh.

"S-Shut up!" Shun said before looking away from them and towards the window.

Honestly, even Maki couldn't stop a smile from breaking out. "Anyway, I came here to teach you right." The redhead proclaimed. "So let's start."

Shun looked back and nodded, the blush fading from his features. "What are they doing here anyway? They didn't come with you yesterday."

"Practice got cancelled so these two wanted to go with me." Maki replied with her arms crossed. "Not that I'm bothered Hanayo is here but Rin…"

"Is a tad bit too noisy?" Shun asked. "But even if she's like that, I'm sure Rin-chan won't cause any trouble. Ne, Rin-chan?" He asked as he looked at the orange haired girl who had made herself comfortable sitting on the bedside.

The cat girl smirked and then raised her hand in a salute. "Roger that nya~!" She replied. In exchange, the brown haired teen patted her head like a master would to a cat who obeyed her orders.

"Good girl." Shun said with a smile.

"Were they always like this?" The redhead asked as she picked up the notebook Shun placed by the desk earlier.

Hanayo nodded. "They were always close like this."

Maki looked like she was about to say something when the door opened, revealing the same taller male who had visited the day prior. He was holding yet another plastic bag.

"Reito~" Rin said as she waved at the blue haired male. "Long time no see!"

"Ah, Reifu-kun, good day to you." Hanayo smiled as she turned to him as well.

"Quite the party you have here Shun." Reifu said as he dropped off the bag at the side of the drawer and then stood near Maki. "Rin, Hanayo, good to see you two again." He then turned to the heiress of the hospital. "You as well Nishikino-san. Although I expected for only you to come, what with your school idol business."

"You knew?" Maki asked.

"I stumbled upon it while I searched for inspiration to draw." Reifu replied.

Maki turned to the other three to explain. "Ah, you see Rei is a mangaka. He often draws for the monthly magazines." Shun replied before rummaging through the contents of the bag that was given to him and got a thick book out. He then flipped through the pages and then stopped at a certain point and gave it to Maki. "He's the author for 'Is this Love?', a shoujo manga revolving around a teenage girl having struggles with her love life." He said.

"Although understanding a woman's heart has proved to be difficult at first, one would gradually get used to it." Reifu said. "But of course, different personalities yield different thoughts thus my limit to insecure high school girls."

"Wait… is this really what a girl in love thinks like? Isn't it a bit too exaggerate?" The red haired girl thought as she skimmed through the manga. Once she reached the end of it, she closed it and handed it back to Shun. "Well it is certainly interesting."

"Buying it would be a great help." Reifu said.

"Mou~ Reito-kun, don't use these kinds of things to endorse your magazine." Rin pointed out.

"If you were wondering Maki-chan, Reito came from combining Reifu-kun's first and last name. The Rei from 'Reifu' and To from 'Sato'." Hanayo pointed out.

"It's the most unique nickname ever thought of for myself." Reifu said. "I allowed her to call me by it… but it is only limited to her and Hanayo if she ever wanted to use it."

"I'll stick with Sato then." Maki said. "Wait, don't tell me he is your childhood friend too."

Rin shook her head. "Nope! We only met Reito-kun two years ago. He attended the same school as Shu-kun here so we were bound to meet anyway!"

"And now it's your turn to be admitted in our little circle." Reifu said as he looked at Maki. "You are undoubtedly close friends of Rin and Hanayo."

"And a close friend of Rin and Hanayo is a close friend to us!" Shun exclaimed. Rin had rejoiced over the fact that her old friends had well accepted her new friend.

Maki sighed. "Yeah, that's good and all but wasn't there something else we were supposed to do?" The redhead asked.

"There was?" Rin asked as she looked at Maki dumbly.

The young redhead's eyebrow twitched in annoyance. With her arms crossed, she took a deep breath but before she could tell her off, Shun had stepped up. "Now, now Rin-chan, Nishikino-san was supposed to teach me remember? You told me that you won't cause any trouble."

"A-Ah! Right, right! Sorry." The cat girl said as she rubbed the back of her head and then jumped off the bed. "I-I'll get us some drinks nya~" She then hurried off. Reifu watched her go and he knew one thing. The blush on the orange haired girl was unmistakable.

"So, where do we start?" Shun asked, not knowing of his friend's unapparent internal warfare.

"Perhaps… from the start?" Reifu suggested. "It's not very hard so I assume you would get it pretty quickly Shun."

"That would be good then." Shun said before looking at Maki. "After this, can we please go out to eat? I mean, I'm all good see?" He said. "I'd need crutches but it'll be fine!"

Maki looked at him and shook her head. "No chance. Besides, we can always just eat tomorrow. You're getting released right? Besides, tomorrow is a Saturday."

Shun nodded. "Alright then!" He exclaimed. "Now let's get this started." He said as he opened the notebook.

Rin came back, cans upon cans of juice in her arms and tried knocking on the door with her foot. No way she could do it with her arms. The door opened to reveal the blue haired man who was standing guard earlier.

"Need help with that?" Reifu asked.

"Nah, I'm good nya~" Rin replied but before she could proceed any further, the male took two cans from her arms.

"I'll take my share then." He said before walking inside. He then examined the can of juice. Ah, the other one was for Hanayo. Good thing he managed to get his preferred juice by luck. "Here you go Hanayo."

The brown haired girl took the can from his hand and said, "Thank you." with a smile on her face as she opened the juice, same with Reifu.

"Here you go Maki-chan, Shu-kun~" Rin said as she hopped to their side and gave them their cans with a little difficulty.

"Thanks Rin." Maki said as she placed the notebook on her lap and took the can.

Shun only nodded at her as he grabbed the can and began gulping down the contents. "Not too thirsty I hope." Reifu said.

"Shu-kun, you might choke…" Hanayo said worriedly.

Although her worry wasn't needed as Shun stopped drinking and placed the can on the side of the bed with a smile on his face. "Ah~ That was good."

Maki then noticed that they all had different cans of juice, all with different flavors and brands. That's when it hit her. They knew each other since they were kids, or at least two years for Reifu, and that's how they knew their preferences. Rin had bought the ones that were their all time favorites and she even got hers right. Tomato juice was pretty delicious after all…

And that is when she also noticed that it was already dark outside. Had Rin really take that long or did she leave at sunset? And they should be heading home now. Shun was going to be released tomorrow she they'd all see each other again. She began to close the notebook and place it down. "I have to go now." She said as she stood up and picked her bag up. "It is pretty late after all."

"A-Ah... you're right." Shun said as he glanced at the clock mounted at the wall. It seemed like he was unhappy with how fast the time passed by. Although the reason why wasn't really clear. "Well I'll see you guys tomorrow?"

"You can count on us for that Shu-kun~" Rin said with a mock salute. "We'll pick you up here and then go out. When are you going to get released?"

"Actually, he'll have to be released with his parents." Reifu pointed out. "I'll just pick him up at his house and then we'll meet up at the restaurant."

"Oh right, we'll just mail you the restaurant. It's pretty near after all." Rin said. "We'll meet you two then."

Shun nodded. "Sounds good. I think I'll be out tomorrow morning so I can go at lunch."

"Let's go then." Maki said as she was already at the door. The other three followed as Shun waved goodbye.

Soon enough, Rin and Hanayo broke off from the group to head to their houses leaving Reifu and Maki alone. "I never knew the Nishikino family lived in the same block." The blue haired boy mused.

"Making small talk Sato-kun?" Maki asked as she looked at her companion. "I never took you for the type to do that."

"I'm not what most people expect me to be." Reifu admitted. "Besides, I was going to go to another topic."

Maki raised an eyebrow at him and asked, "And that topic is?"

"Rin and Hanayo." Reifu replied. "I always wondered how they would act when they were around other girls. And the school idol business, I never through Hanayo could do any of that given her lack of self-confidence and Rin with her lack of… well confidence on her femininity." He said. "When I first found a video of them singing in costumes, I couldn't really believe it so I never told Shun but now… now I'm sure it was them."

Maki looked at the road in front of them. "Hanayo only needed a little push and support. Rin said that Hanayo always wanted to be an idol like her mother."

"That… is true." Reifu muttered, having heard of the topic before.

"As for Rin, well… she went along with Hanayo when they joined Muse and I followed soon enough." Maki replied. "They've been enjoying it too."

"That's good." Reifu said. "It's been… I think a month or two since we've all hung out with each other because of our busy schedules. It never bothered Shun too much because he could always just call them up to hang out."

"I can see that." Maki said. "Sato-kun… don't tell me you feel out of place in that group."

Reifu let out a small chuckle. "Feel out of place? Not really."

"You fade in the background when with them. How could you, of all people, get involved with a group like that?" Maki asked. It was true. He was silent, not as hyperactive as Rin and Shun but still was bold enough to not be like Hanayo. He wasn't even usually mentioned by Rin and Shun like they did with the brown haired girl.

"I met Shun when we were in middle school you see." Reifu replied. "He was too shy to socialize though so he often just stays alone at lunch. No one approached him either so he was on his own. When our class started changing seats, he ended up sitting beside me. He awkwardly started a conversation and I followed through. We became friends ever since. A few weeks later, I met Hanayo and Rin and then you see where I am now."

"I see." Maki said. "No other friends?"

"The whole class is a friend now… another friend of ours is the Student Council President. He really likes messing around despite being sick but then pushes through to make our school happier despite the rumors that float out and about." Reifu replied. "I'ms sure you are aware of that."

"Akai Gakuen right?" Maki asked. It roughly translates to the Red Academy in English. "A place where guys are thought inequality and general bad manners." The blue haired man nodded. "It all stemmed from one group of graduates right? I think right after graduation they immediately egged houses and bashed on a lot of students especially those in…"

"Otonokizaka." Reifu continued the thought. "It's good that we know Hanayo and Rin so they didn't believe that old rumor. I hated it. The school never taught us anything like that. In fact, they always told us to respect everyone around us. You know, help the citizens in trouble."

"But you can't because of society's sick image of you." Maki said. She then shook her head and sighed. "How long has that been? Five? Six years? And yet you're still being misunderstood."

"That's life I guess. President's doing something to make it better though." Reifu said. "Although he hasn't told anyone of his plants yet, not even Vice President knows about it."

"Really now…" Before the redhead could ask who the president was, Reifu had already stopped in front of an apartment complex.

"Well my house's right here. If you're curious, Shun lives here too since he wanted to live alone." Reifu said. "'Till tomorrow Nishikino-san." He said with a small bow of his head.

"See you tomorrow Sato-kun." Maki said, mimicking his farewell. The blue haired teen entered the gate and Maki proceeded forward. She learned a lot of things that day. From learning that Hanayo and Rin had another childhood friend to finding more about Amagiri Gakuen from a resident mangaka. It had been interesting, yes, but also definitely odd. When she went to Shun for the first time to thank him, she had never expected for it to escalate to this.

Not like Maki actually hated it. She was actually glad that all of that happened. She actually acquired new friends, new guy friends and she was happy for that… not like she'll ever admit it out loud though. That'd be too embarrassing right?

She opened the door to her house to see her parents already there. "Hello mama, papa." She said with a small bow.

Mrs. Nishikino smiled at her. "Welcome home dear. I hope that study session with Katanashi-kun went well."

Maki placed her bag at the sofa and sat down beside it. "It did with a little help from his friends."

"That's good." Mrs. Nishikino said.

"Maki." Mr. Nishikino started and the redhead looked at her father, body rigid and attention unwavering. "About Kei…"

A/N: And there's the next chapter. Hope you guys enjoy the reveal that they were all childhood friends after all.

Jiulong Tang: There are other stories with male OCs out there but I'm happy that you found this story interesting.

Cheezus: Well there's the story about how Shun knows Rinpana. Thanks and here's the next chapter.

Rena Bodewig: I swear, it's like you're in my head Rena... Oh and about the other story, I have a little something in store for you guys so I'm kind of working on it.

Guest N: The love will blossom... eventually... or will it?