Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note, nor anything related to it in anyway. I am not receiving any profit from writing this.

Thank you to all those who reviewed. Once again, I'm sorry for the erratic updates. I've been going through some things in life that unfortunately have taken me away from writing. I'm trying my best to be productive once again!

Enjoy!

Abrasions Chapter 4

by lmh

The atmosphere at lunch had become increasingly trying. Yuika took it upon herself to invite Watanabe Hiroyuki to eat with them every few days. Every few days eventually turned into every day and that soon turned into Watanabe being not far from their sides, no matter where they went. Just as he had shown at the konpa, he was especially keen on Moemi. Not only did she have to ignore his advances, she also had to tune out Yuika's frequent jeers and encouragements. What could she say? She wasn't interested.

However, Yuika didn't see it that way.

"I don't understand you," she said as they waited for their pork curry to be dished out.

The cafeteria was in full swing with students and faculty flowing this way and that, eating, socializing; it was a regular bee hive with busy voices humming in the background.

"Why should I lead him on?" Moemi said after sighing quite audibly. "I don't want to start anything with him. Besides, as if I would have the time for that stuff."

"'That stuff'?" Yuika said as she took her plate of curry. She thanked the cook and moved her tray on down the line. "Having no time for 'that stuff' just means you're too scared to try anything."

Moemi was next as she took her plate and thanked the cook. She followed Yuika and grabbed a shredded cabbage salad.

"Why can't you just believe me when I say I'm not interested? Would you start something with Shiiba from our English writing class?"

She was referring to a particularly peevish boy in one of their classes who always had the answer and made sure everyone knew he was much smarter than them. Yuika crinkled her nose as she took a cup and began to fill it with tea.

"That crater face Shiiba? Gross!" she exclaimed. A few passerby looked on in confusion.

"Exactly my point," said Moemi as she too filled up on tea.

"But Watanabe isn't hideous. He's very good-looking, tall, and kind. There's no comparison."

"You seemed so concerned about this non-relationship with him."

"Well, you should know a good opportunity when it shows itself," Yuika said as she looked down at her tray.

"Yuika," Moemi said as she tried to peer into her friend's face. "Do you like Watanabe or something?"

Yuika shrugged her shoulders before shuffling a few feet. People in line behind them got tired of waiting and moved around them and onto the next item on the menu. Yuika gave a short, barely there nod.

It finally dawned on Moemi, Yuika's language to her at the konpa, and the cold reception she received afterwards.

"I saw that he likes you, so I didn't want to try anything. I just thought there was no point, you know?" she said with a little laugh before walking off. Moemi followed her.

"You can have him if you want, I'll even talk to him for you."

Yuika stopped in her tracks and stared Moemi down. Her eyes quivered in a desperately hopeful way and a smile that wanted to show itself, but was too afraid. She had no idea Yuika's feelings were so strong.

"Really?" she said. Moemi nodded.

"Yeah, next time he comes around I'll give him a good talking to!"

Yuika nudged her again and the smile came though, however sheepish it was.

"Thanks," she said. Moemi shook her head; it was nothing, anything to get Watanabe focused on someone more receptive of his attraction. She chastised herself; without knowing, she was inflicting Yuika with pain every time Watanabe showed up, which just happened to be every day. Then again, Yuika was quick to change the way she felt about anything. The past few weeks were certainly evidence of that.

Several hands in the crowd shot up and waived at the two of them. Yuika stood on the tips of her toes and craned her neck this way and that. A grin spread on her face when she saw who it was.

"Oh, it's Mana and Rie!" Yuika said. She nudged Moemi with her elbow and nodded towards the group of tennis girls. "Come on!"

A hot flash burst through Moemi's cheeks. She certainly hadn't forgotten what they did to her locker. After several trips to the bathroom sink and an hour and a half later, she had finally washed her clothes and scrubbed out her locker with disinfectant cleaner. She took home the wet garments to air dry and made sure to lock her locker. She still hadn't figured out how they got in there to begin with.

Although Yuika acted quite angry at the time, she was very chummy with the girls at practice. Her attitude towards Moemi hadn't changed at all, but she couldn't help but feeling like it was some betrayal.

So she followed Yuika to the table. Ishikawa Manami and Anzai Rie were sitting with one other girl, Noda Harue, another tennis freshman. They grinned at Moemi and patted on the unused chairs next to them.

"Have you guys found a place to sit?" Manami asked.

"No, it's so crowded," Yuika said.

"Sit down then, what are you waiting for?"

Yuika smiled as she plopped right down next to Manami. Moemi instantly saw where she stood in this group. Manami and Rie were facing each other, as were Yuika and Harue. The only other seat was next to Yuika, with no one sitting across from her.

"Is something wrong, Moemi?" Rie said.

Moemi shook her head and sat down. Harue leaned across the table and grinned.

"So, I hear you're going to play at the match tomorrow, is that true?"

The other girls leaned in closer and bore their gazes into Moemi. As she picked up her spoon she looked down at her curry. She held it over the plate for a fraction of a second. She nodded.

"Yes, it's true," she mumbled.

"Oh, wow, that's so amazing!" Rie squealed, "Right, Mana?"

Manami nodded, "Yeah, it's like having a prodigy on our team. I could never hope to be as talented at that."

"I wonder what other talents you have, Moemi-chan," Harue said as she straightened herself in her chair.

Moemi said nothing, not seeing their comments deserving of a response. It was clear to her that they weren't letting her sit with them solely for the sake of friendship. After what they did to her locker, she expected it; but this time the enraged voice of Yuika was absent.

She glanced towards her friend and felt a pang of something stab her heart when she saw Yuika staring into her curry. She tapped Yuika's foot under the table, but the girl didn't respond. Instead she turned to Manami and started a new line of conversation.

"Oh, The spring drama(1) line-up is starting tonight! Which one are you guys going to watch?" she began. As the other girls chimed in, Moemi tuned out.

It had only been a few weeks since the term started and already people were grouping together and others being singled out. She thought that the university experience would be full of mature people who didn't waste their time with things like creating childish drama and going out of their way to destroy another person's gym locker. It wasn't right, the way these girls were acting. It wasn't right how they said one thing than did another. And it certainly wasn't right to see something and then look the other way.

She took a big spoonful of curry rice and stuffed it in her mouth. She held her time chewing, not listening to the conversation and not really attempting to take any part in it. The others didn't seem too concerned about engaging her either.

If this was all college had to offer in the way of relationships, then she would just forget it. If this is the way things are, then she saw that people hadn't advanced past an elementary mindset.

How disappointing.

As she dug in for another spoonful a loud clacking noise made the table collective jump in their seats. Their heads snapped to the person making a big show of sitting across from Moemi. She almost scowled. It was Watanabe.

"Watanabe-senpai!" Yuika said with astonishment. A few eyes at the table shifted towards Moemi before focusing on Watanabe again.

"What are you doing here?" Moemi said pointedly.

"You invited me!" he exclaimed as he put a hand over his chest. The pained expression on his face was so fake it was laughable.

"Yuika invited you,"

"Thanks, Fuji," he said to Yuika with a big dumb smile on his face. Yuika basked in Watanabe's limelight.

"How forward of you, Fuji," Manami said. "It's not often the tennis senpai, let alone the boys, bother with us freshman."

"Yeah, yeah," said Rie.

Watanabe laughed. "You invite me to lunch, I'm gonna eat with you," he said while grinning at Moemi; it wasn't lost on the girls.

Moemi sighed as she lifted the spoon, ready to eat…but her appetite just wasn't there. Wherever it had gone, it seems it was chased away by Watanabe's appearance. She downed her tea and stood up.

"Where are you going?" Yuika asked.

"The library," she said.

Picking up her plate she got away from that table as fast as she could. Much to her chagrin, Watanabe followed her.

"Senpai!" Manami yelled after him.

"Oh, take care of that for me, will you?" he said, gesturing to the plate.

Moemi looked back at Manami's horrified look.

"Eh? Is this what she does to men? What the hell is wrong with your friend, Yuika!"

Moemi didn't wait around to see Yuika's expression or listen for her answer. She was tired of pandering to that crowd. Yuika could do as she liked.

She deposited her plate at the cleaning station, thanked the woman working there, then briskly began her walk for the library. Watanabe followed.

"So, Mishima, what's new?"

"Nothing," she said, short and simple. He laughed.

"Ah, are you always going to be like that?"

"Like what?" she said, knowing full well what he meant.

"Like you can't stand me,"

"I never said that."

"You don't have to."

She turned her head without stopping and addressed him, straight on.

"Look, Watanabe-san, I'm not interested, okay?"

"Ou!" he said as he laughed out loud. Very loud. "Boy you are stuck up! Whoever said anything about liking you?"

This made her stop. She turned around to face him. "You don't?"

He laughed more. "I never said it."

She narrowed her eyes and almost sneered at him. "You don't have to."

Laughter. "Well, in that case, come get some ice cream with me."

Moemi took a step backwards. "I don't think so," she said before she continued her brisk walk. "I don't think that's possible. Besides, didn't you just say you are not interested in me?"

"I never said that," he replied. "I was just playing around with words like you are."

Abruptly halting again, Moemi whirled around and put out a hand to stop him. He fell short, just a few twitches from her fingers.

"You know, Yuika likes you, a lot," she said.

His eyes widened as round saucers as he straightened up. He was in mid stride and stumbled at bit at her bluntness. Putting his hand behind his neck and scratching away, he squinted at her.

"What…did you just say?"

Moemi sighed. "Yuika, she really likes you."

He squinched his face up in an ugly fashion. "Fuji? Likes me?"

"Yeah," she said, "So ask her to ice cream, not me."

With that she turned back around and continued towards the library.

"But it's not her I'm interested in," he yelled after her.

"And you're not the one I'm interested in either," she called over her shoulder.

"Then who do you like?"

Well, she didn't answer that. Perhaps it was a poor choice of words, now she had him thinking she had feelings for someone else, when that definitely was not the case.

"You just need to be convinced!" she heard him yell after her before laughing.

There was the slightest pause in her step, but she ignored him. Interested in him? Yuika never accounted for compatibility, or on second thought, perhaps Yuika and Watanabe were well suited for each other. Both of them were pushy and loud, and they both went for the looks only. Moemi didn't think she was anything special, but she knew what men looked for, she knew what men thought of her features. She crinkled her nose at the thought. What did Watanabe really know about her?

She passed through the library doors in a sour mood. She kept telling herself that it wasn't worth getting angry, but she couldn't help what bloomed anyway. She had to forget him and focus on what was really important to her now.

Her grades.

Along with tennis practice every day of the week, and occasional trips back home, and going out with Yuika, and her many, many, many tennis duties…as if there was any time for school work. She didn't have to worry about English and her other classes so much as she did about Maths and Sciences. Her Algebra and Chemistry classes were taking a toll on her average.

She walked past the sensor gates and the front desk. Students were lounging about, chatting in hushed voices while others stared intensively at their laptop screens, occasionally taking notes here and there. It was the usual atmosphere of a library.

Climbing the stairs, she took a left and made her way to room 285, the tutoring office.

All right, so she came here, on purpose, with the sole intention of seeing him again… but she really was failing Algebra and Chemistry. And he said that he tutored in those subjects.

She no longer had any tie with him, having given the money and papers back; but there was still an interest in whatever he was about. Men like Watanabe walked around with a gleeful look on their face, knowing that people wouldn't stand up to them, that people would just take it.

Then there were the people like Mikami Teru. Well, she thought, actually she didn't know anyone who acted like Mikami Teru…no one. Both times she saw him, it was strange, as if there was nothing around him…just a dark void, almost like a black hole, to her at least. On some level she was being sucked in, but once she was there, she felt nothing but confusion. Sense left her and she was rendered wholly unlike her usual self.

A silly girl with nothing interesting to say. A silly girl who talked back to her senpai.

As she stood in front of the tutor office, she took in a deep breath. Rarely did she feel reduced to being a silly girl. She wondered if he saw that in her.

No matter, she thought as she gathered her reserve and wrenched the door open.

The same Asai-san was sitting at the reception desk and looking over some papers, occasionally glancing at the computer screen then making a note. Moemi strode to the counter and leaned in, placing her hands on the counter lip.

"Um, excuse me…but…"

Asai looked up at her and smiled. "How can I help you?" she asked in a pleasant tone. It buffered Moemi's spirits.

"Yes, I thought that I could get a tutor for Maths and Science…?" she said.

Asai nodded as she swiveled in her chair and took a black three-ring binder from a shelf.

"Which classes are they? I need the class and section number."

"Oh, just a moment please," Moemi said as she turned to her bag and fished out a folder. After finding her schedule she gave the proper information and watched as Asai reached for a familiar white binder and flipped through it.

"Well, hm…" she began, "We have Kanehara Hitomi-san who will be in around 1:30, she tutors mostly in Science. Then there is Tanaka Daisuke-san who is mostly tutoring in basic Maths and Biology, but you're in a Chemistry class, aren't you?"

"Yes," Moemi said as she nodded. "Um…there isn't a Mikami Teru-san, is there?" she said in the most casual way she could. Though really, how silly did she sound asking for specific person?

Asai eyed her in surprise before nodding and looking through the binder again.

"Ah, Mikami-san," she said as she flipped another page. "Yes, he's actually in a session right now, but if you'd like to wait he should be done in a few minutes."

"Oh, yes," Moemi said. Inwardly sighing, she sat down in one of the waiting chairs. Asai gave a little smile.

Moemi glanced around at the various magazines and newspapers to read while she waited. It was the one normal thing she could do to stuff down the embarrassment that was sure to follow in a heat wave to her face.

One paper in particular caught her attention. It was hard to miss, with the large, bold letters across the front page. KIRA killings strike again after hiatus. Needless to say it shocked her. Pictures of several criminals were pasted across the page along with a lengthy story of the origins of KIRA and the whole fiasco surrounding it.

Aida peered over the counter and made an inquisitive hum.

"Scary, isn't it?" she said. Moemi looked up to her.

"Y-yeah," she replied.

"It's really scary, not knowing who this KIRA is. It's been going on for a year and the police still don't know who it is."

"Yeah, I suppose that's what makes it so frightening," Moemi said, "It's much more intimidating when you can't see your adversary."

Aida nodded as she fiddled with a pencil. "Though, he's only killing criminals, this KIRA, he can't be all that bad."

Moemi tilted her head to the side and pursed her lips. This was true, KIRA only attacked convicted criminals, at the moment. But something didn't feel right to her.

"That may be so," she said, "But it's still murder. I mean, that's why we have laws and stuff like that."

"Hm…" Aida said as she lifted her head in thought.

"Then what do you propose we do when the law fails?"

Moemi snapped her gaze up to see Mikami Teru looking down on her. He was holding a folder with various papers inside. Taking out one, he handed it to Aida.

"The report for this session, Aida-san," he said.

Aida nodded as she filed the paper away.

"Well, Mishima-san, what do you think?" he said to Moemi, who was instantly on the edge of her chair. "If the law fails, is that it? Do the guilty run free? Where is the justice in that?"

"I," she began, unsure of what to do with his challenge. But something in her stirred and she looked into that arrogant face and had the desire to throw the 10,000 yen bill he gave her back in his face.

"Then that's too bad," she said. Aida gasped from behind the counter. "It's too bad," Moemi continued, "It's dangerous for one person to have all this power. No one person has the right to pass judgment on someone else."

At that moment, she remembered what kind of trouble her father went through to clear the family of debt. Loan sharks become less sympathetic over time, he realized, and only one thing could satisfy them after they took every last cent from Moemi's family.

Mikami Teru studied her with an inquisitive, and she wanted to say confused gaze. He cleared his throat before moving on.

"What are you doing here?" he asked. So blunt and uncaring.

"She needed some tutoring in math and science," Aida offered.

He glanced back at her before turning to Moemi again.

"Kanehara-san should be in after the lunch break."

"Yes, but she specifically asked for you," Aida-san said.

If she wasn't in the company of this very man, Moemi would have dropped her jaw. She risked a glance at Mikami, who barely paused before taking a deep breath.

"Really? Well then, follow me, please," he said and pointed towards the door with his hand.

Moemi hesitated, just the slightest, wondering what the hell she had gotten herself into. Standing up she shuffled through the door he held open and waited outside for his direction.

"I'm surprised you remembered my name," she said as he walked ahead of her.

He spared her a glance. "Mishima-san is very outspoken at times. It makes it easier to put a name to a face."

"So being outspoken is a good thing?" she asked, humoring him.

"I wouldn't say that," he replied, just as blunt as ever.

Muttering to herself she resisted the urge to kick at the floor beneath her. Watching him from the back she could almost feel the void pulsating around him; and yet again she wanted to retaliate anything he said. Any word that came out of his mouth made her twitch in…not anger, but annoyance. The arrogance was irritating, so very irritating.

They walked away from the tutoring office and made their way back towards the main hall of the library. Looking down from the walkway above, Moemi saw once again students milling about through the stacks and chatting away with friends. Mikami took a turn and walked down the main staircase, towards a rather empty section of the library. Several tables were reserved, for the tutoring services, she assumed.

He sat down on one side, she sat on the other. He took out his pens, calculators and folded his hands neat a prim pile on the table top. She took out her books, her homework, her worksheets, her pencils and eraser, and she pulled her chair up. Squaring each other off, they began.

"Algebra and Chemisty, was it?" he said. She nodded. "Well then, if you have homework, let's see it."

Pushing down her nerves she opened her folders and slipped papers across the table. Taking them in his hands he eyed them, asked her where she was having trouble, and did his best to help her understand.

Much to her surprise, he didn't lord his knowledge over her. He was certainly smart, very intelligent, she could see that, but never during the session did he explain things in a tone which suggested she were a child. In all actuality, she couldn't solve an algebra equation to save her life. No question as to why she was failing. Her embarrassment at struggling with these rudimentary maths brought a redness to her cheeks, but he never commented on it, never even looked at her face for longer than a second, only to confirm her comprehension.

Halfway through the session he moved his seat next to hers and leaned over her papers. Clicking away on his calculator, he explained everything step by step in a voice that could only be described as restful and confident in his own abilities. Unapologetic, but not forceful. He came across so different on the phone.

"It's not that you can't do the math," he said when they had finally finished all her homework, from both classes. "For whatever reason you're not following the equations properly."

"Well," Moemi began as she rubbed her hands together under the tabletop. "I was never good at this kind of stuff."

He frowned, just the slightest and he began to gather his things. "Anyone can do this, as long as you work at it."

He didn't have to look her straight in the eye to get his full meaning across. He lifted his voice towards the end, almost sounding as if he was mocking her. It was such a delicate adjustment, but she picked up on it right away.

"Um, well…tennis duties do take up a lot of time," she said.

Nodding his head once, he began to straighten her books, stacking one on top of the other.

"Tennis duties," he repeated, "I'm sure they have you do all sorts of things."

"It's just what being in a club is about, it's nothing too bad."

"Except that it keeps you from your school work."

"Well, you kept me from my school work too, if you remember correctly," she said, tinged with irritation.

"The envelope, you mean?"

"Yes, the envelope that I had to skip algebra class to get."

He paused. "I never meant for you to skip class."

"If I recall, you said something like 'I need that envelope now', and then I missed my class to go get it."

"Well," he began as he slid her books over towards her, "Please forgive me."

"What?" she said. She was fully expecting him to push back.

"I'm sorry. So now there is nothing to complain about, is there?"

Squinting her eyes at him, she heaved a deep sigh and turned back to her things.

"Do you think you've grasped the material?" he asked, bringing the conversation back to the table.

Moemi whisped her hair out of her eyes as she sighed. Hunching her shoulders over, she nodded reluctantly.

"I suppose," she said, "I guess I'll see after the midterms," she said.

"You'll have to tell me the results," he said.

Moemi caught her breath before nodding again and glancing at him out of the corner of her eye.

"Sure," she said, short and quiet.

"If you need more tutoring, don't hesitate to do so."

He pushed his chair with the back of his legs as he stood up. As Moemi watched his turning figure she wanted to believe that he was saying such things for a reason. Yes, she knew the reason; it was his job to make sure that she passed her classes.

But she still couldn't get over the look on his face whenever he said or did anything. He was such a pompous ass, something in her was made to retaliate.

As she stood up, putting her things in her bag, she was slow to begin.

"You…you should come watch the match. It may not seem like it during practice, but all the work, it really pays off during the match."

He stopped and turned as she spoke. His eyes, glaring at her from behind his thick rimmed glasses looked at her as if it was such a non-sensical subject to mention.

"Will you be playing?" he asked.

"Well…well, nevermind," she said, hear flaring in her face. She shook her head as she stuck her hand in the air and tried to wave the incident away.

Stashing the last of her items she slung her bag over her shoulder and gave a curt bow of thanks. She kept her head down as she swiveled on her heel and walked away. She didn't want to give him the chance to answer.

Ridiculous, it was ridiculous. It was a snap reaction she had, like hell if she understood it.

"Mishima-san," she heard from behind her.

She stopped, she turned, she sighed in certain agony as she saw him following her.

"I was at the last match, as you know," he said.

"Oh," she said, suddenly remembering what she forgot in a fluster. "Yeah, I know. Do you know someone on the team?"

"No," he said as he continued to walk, she went beside him. "The man I was with, my classmate, his girlfriend was on the opposite team. He invited me."

She raised her head as understanding came over her. He didn't really seem the type to go to a tennis match for the hell of it. He didn't seem the type to enjoy much of anything.

"Do…do you usually go to matches?" she said.

"No," curt and bordering on rude.

She began to drag her feet as she walked, stealing glances at him when it looked as if he wasn't paying attention to her, which probably was the case.

"No, I don't have time, usually."

"Oh," she said, nodding, "Yeah, I suppose law students are always busy. I bet you have a lot of homework and cases that you have to read through."

"I'm not busy in the sense of homework and the like, though I do have to read through many cases."

"For your dissertation?" she asked. He glared right at her as soon as she said it. "I just glanced a little from the paper in the envelope," she added as quick as her tongue would let her.

"Yes; and tutoring takes up a lot of time. Many students don't catch onto the material as fast as they could."

Her face flushed warm as she hid her glancing eyes under her bangs. She saw him pause in his step for the tiniest of moments and draw in a silent, but sharp breath. Looking down at his shoes he gave a modest bow.

"Please excuse me," he said.

Slightly taken aback by the change of persona, she shook her head and bowed back. She swallowed a big lump of embarrassment.

"Do you need to tutor? I can't imagine it pays well."

"Yes, I need to. Loans will not pay themselves."

"Your parents don't pay for your tuition?"

Again, there was a skip in the beat of his rhythm. His eyebrow twitched and he closed his eyes as he moved his head side to side.

"No. They don't."

He paused, his hands on the books, his gaze going off somewhere, far far from where they were. She could have been mistaken, but the usual brown tint in his eyes wasn't there. They were black.

She wouldn't chase after that subject again.

Just as they came to the main staircase, a distinct and familiar sound cut through the soft murmur of voices.

"Oi! Mishima!"

Moemi groaned inwardly.

Bounding over from the doors were Watanabe and Yuika. Moemi felt the air shift to a darker shade beside her. She felt the air inside her shift to a darker shade.

"Hiroyuki-san said you were in here," Yuika said as she looked Mikami up and down. Moemi watched the rise of her eyebrows as she realized who it was.

"You must be Mikami Teru-san, right?" she said with no hesitation.

Moemi sighed again and did all she could to make her displeasure known…without actually showing it.

Mikami gave the smallest nod of the head she had seen from anyone. Yuika's jaw slowly descended as her eyes widened and she put her hands on her hips. Watanabe's chest puffed out and his chin lifted his head to an elevated state.

"Mishima-san, if you have any more questions, please, do not hesitate to come again," he said and walked away as soon as he finished.

The three of them watched him walk up the staircase and disappear behind the stacks. Watanabe sauntered up towards Moemi and slipped in beside her.

"Who the hell was that?" he asked.

"That," Yuika said as she squeezed in between Moemi and Watanabe. "Was Miakmi Teru. He bumped into us at the last tennis match and dropped his folder. I guess Moemi did more than just return it to him!"

"Eh?" Moemi said as she whipped around to face Yuika, who was smiling ear to ear. "What are you talking about?"

"You were saying how much he disgusted you, yet here you are, chatting him up in the library! I'll say that there are better places you could have chosen, but I suppose this is very non-descript."

"Yuika!" Moemi said.

"So, Mishima, this is why you're so cold, yeah?" Watanabe said.

Moemi expected him to have that stupid grin on his face, but instead he was barely frowning. He was glaring, at her and up the stairs after Mikami.

"Come on," Moemi said. "As if I have time for that stuff."

"Again, no time for 'that stuff' means…" Yuika began.

"Shut it, will you?" Moemi said as she walked out of the situation as fast as her feet would carry her.

Thanks for reading. I'll do my best to get the next chapter up in good time.

Notes:

(1) Japanese dorama (drama): I'm sure many people already know, but Japanese drama are basically fictional television shows that air every Spring, Summer, Winter, and Fall months. They can be comedies, horror, romance, etc. and have a variety of lengths they can run, but about 90% of them run only during one specific season and have a definite ending, usually with no idea of a second season or sequel, unless the ratings are really good. They're usually only 10-12 episodes.