Monday. Lunch time.

Fuji ran down the hallway. He quickly stopped when he spotted Oishi Shuichiro.

"Oishi, are you going to Eiji's classroom?" Fuji questioned the taller boy.

"Yeah, I thought it would be nice to eat lunch with him today," Oishi explained.

"Good. Please, apologize to him for me. Tell him that I'm sorry I couldn't eat lunch with him today. I have to find some things in the library before next period."

"No problem. Get going," Oishi smiled as he watched Fuji ran off.

Eiji sat in the far, right corner of the classroom. He isolated himself from everyone and hoped that Fuji would walk into the room soon. Staring at his lunch, he realized that he wasn't that hungry. As he sat there, he began to play with his food. He took his chopsticks and swirled them around in the rice.

"Eiji."

The boy quickly looked up to see his old friend, Oishi. Smiling, Oishi sat down across from him.

"What are you doing here?" Eiji questioned.

"I thought you'd like some company today," Oishi opened his lunch and began to eat.

"Fuji was supposed to eat lunch with me, but I don't think he's coming."

"I saw him in the hall on my way here. He asked me to apologize for him. Fuji had to find something in the library before his next period."

"Oh…" Eiji continued to play with his food.

"What's wrong, Eiji? You don't seem yourself today," Oishi frowned. He always worried about his friends; it was just the type of person he was.

"We're going out…Fuji and I…"

"That's great. I know you two will be happy together, but that doesn't explain why you look so sad."

"Is it wrong for me to love another guy?"

"Eiji, there's nothing wrong with it. Some people don't understand that love is love no matter what. It's going to be hard because there are people out there that won't support you."

"Oishi, it hurts knowing that people don't like me just because of the relationship I'm in. I love Fuji, but it hurts…it hurts so much. He's important; our relationship is important. I shouldn't let these things get to me. I shouldn't care if people tease me or say that I'm gay," Eiji moved his lunch off to the side and placed his head on the desk. "Even though it shouldn't matter to me, I'm still letting it get to me."

"…Eiji…" Oishi softly placed his right hand on the boy's head. "Even if you don't think anyone will support you, you'll always have two people you can count on for sure."

"Two?" he lifted his head up and looked at Oishi with curious eyes.

"Well, Fuji would be one, and I would be the other."

"You?"

"Yes, me. You're my friend, Eiji. As I said, love is love no matter what. Whenever you need someone to talk to, I'm here for you. We may no longer play tennis together as the golden pair, but that doesn't mean we should stop supporting each other. Right?"

"Right! Oishi and Eiji! We're the golden friends~!"

"Exactly, so don't le―" Oishi stopped as the bell rang.

"Oh, we better get to our next class. I'll talk to you later, Oishi. Thank you!" Eiji grabbed his unfinished lunch and ran out of the classroom.

Slowly, Oishi picked up his things and let out a sigh. "I still don't think he fully understands yet…" Shaking his head, he left the room.

NOTE: Woo~! Another chapter finished! I really do enjoy writing this story. I want to continue to make this fic better and better. I hope that everyone who reads this fic will stick around and read the whole thing until the very end. Thank you, everyone, for all the wonderful reviews. Your support means a lot to me~!