AngelicType: Dear loyal (heart:D) or random readers, thank you for reading until Chapter 4. I never knew that I would be able to write this much since I have never experienced romance before. A warning: this chapter is a little melodramatic. Anyway, please enjoy!

Miku was fuming. What gave Rei the right to insult her friends. They didn't even do anything to incur the wrath of his vicious tongue. He was a strange one, being hostile, then helping her, then being hostile again. She sighed. No wonder he didn't have many friends. If girls were difficult to get along with, he was certainly superior in that aspect. He was so strange... and handsome.

Rei had honey-golden eyes and jet-black hair that gleamed under sunshine. She sighed again, this time, dreamily. Miku blushed, realising that she had side-tracked and wondered why she had thought of his appearance at such an inopportune moment She would ask him what he meant about Luka and Len being annoyed later. She hoped he had a reason for acting that way.

It sure was tedious, dull work. The walls, floors and every single surface of the classrooms and lavatory had to be scrubbed until not a single speck of dust remained. In the stables, the horses' fur had to be brushed, their excrement cleared and the hays replenished.

Detention had another rule: stop talking, start working. If she did not abide by the rules, the detention period for Rei and herself might be extended. As the detention master scrutinised them the whole time with sharp hawk-like eyes, she did not get the chance to ask him what he had meant that evening.

Rei had not spoken to her or made eye contact ever since that night and she was afraid that he meant it, that Luka and Len were annoying and that he despised them. If that were the case, she shouldn't even try to make amends or ask him to clarify himself.

But Miku didn't want to believe that. She wanted Rei to be her friend and she surmised that he would want to too. She couldn't bear for him to dislike her just because of a misunderstanding he had with Luka or Len.

Len couldn't bear the thought of Miku having spent time alone with Rei and he would get her first. After all, Rei was a nobody while he was Miku's friend, so there was a higher chance that Miku would like him in that manner than Rei. Still, there was always the chance that Miku might not even consider himself a candidate as a boyfriend as she merely treated him as a friendly ordinary friend.

He felt so frustrated sometimes after she rejected hanging out with him on several occasions. It seemed like she wasn't at all interested in him while she always attempted to catch Rei's attention.

At times, when he thought he was being too possessive of her, he would loosen up and reproach himself that he was too possessive. However, he wouldn't do that anymore, as he felt afraid...no, threatened that she would not hang out with him as much anymore if Miku's relationship with Rei amounted to anything more than friendship. How dare that bastard come to her house and insult him in front of her.

He knew that he was a playboy in everybody's eyes for having had numerous relationships in the past and then callously dumping the girls. However, that was all for fun. He liked Miku differently from all the other girls he had ever went out with.

The phone beeped and vibrated against the glass surface of the table. He unlocked his phone eagerly... only to receive a hysterical and ridiculously melodramatic message from Ritsu Namine who he had just dumped. It read: 'Len, don't leave me. I'm sorry for disturbing you always. -Ritsu'. In a sudden ire, he threw his phone against the wall, which cracked upon the impact.

To even the odds, he would make it known to Miku how much he longed for her, and make her fall in love with him with his expertise before the amateur got the chance to compete with him. His nostrils flared. For Miku, he would do anything to get her, even if it meant not playing around with any other girls anymore, even if it meant much time was lost to get her to love him.

Bad luck, Rei. You'll never catch yourself winning against me in this little love game.

You're mine, Miku. Always had been, always will be. His lips tilted into a half smile and widened into a crooked grin.

Miku grabbed her turquoise slingbag and left for the Nex Mall. She had to rush. The peak hour was drawing near and she didn't want to squeeze her way through the large crowd of train commuters. They hindered her pace and she had been late for her part-time job on several occasions.

There was a penalty for being late, which was the deduction of her wages despite the hours that she had to work to make up for the lost ones. Besides, she had to prepare the stall for the peak hour as shoppers tended to shop after their working hours.

Living alone with her younger sister, Gumi, she had to carry the responsibility of supporting the family. It was the only job in the district that allowed her to work part-time and offered a generous wage for the few hours, if she was punctual.

Juggling school and work was no easy task, but at least she could live her life the way she wanted to, without having to be under the constant surveillance of relatives who were reluctant to take them in from the very start.

She was unpacking various limited editions of Blue-Ray players which were in high demand, and stacking them onto the glass shelf.

"Excuse me, miss, but could you show me the latest designs of Lenovo laptops," a tenorish voice inquired behind her. The voice sounded vaguely familiar. She turned around to come face-to-face with Rei Kagene.

The familiar fiery golden gaze held hers and Miku was unable to tear her eyes away. Due to them being in close proximity, their eyes could see every tiny little detail on each other's faces and their arms accidentally brushed against each other. Her heart raced so vigorously, threatening to spill out of her ribcage.

She took a step back thoughtlessly, unaware of a wire behind her. As she tripped over the taut wire, she fell and her head landed on a sharp edge of the glass shelf. She felt a piercing pain in her head and could feel a warm liquid trickling down the nape of her neck.

Miku noticed that the ground seemed to be swaying and her hearing was muffled as if she were wearing thick winter ear muffs. She blinked, confused.

The last thing she saw was Rei's worried expression and his two wide, anxious golden orbs when she was engulfed by a sea of comforting blackness.