Hey, so I added the links to the outfits ^^ yay~ Just take out the spaces...

Sorry to spam you like this, but I felt it really needed to be done. Enjoy~


Chapter 4: Let's Move On, Please.

Later that very week, Yankumi began getting on her students about their futures and what they want to do for the rest of their lives. Of course, Yabuki almost blew her cover once. She so wanted to kill him. After that, the whole class played around with her when she did a mock interview for Hamaguchi, Omori, Tsuchiya, and Kojima. But, as usual, they turned the situation on her so she had to give them an example of an interview. How pleasant. Tsuchiya and Hyuga wore glasses that had big plastic noses on them to freak her out. Hyuga also had his uniform jacket tied around his neck by the sleeves so it looked like a cape of some sort. Take just put on a pair of round glasses. Ryu sat unenthusiastically to the side, slouching in his chair, round glasses on the desk where he was to write fake notes on Yankumi down. Yabuki looked like a couple's counselor that didn't want to help the couple, but make sure they drifted further apart. When she entered the room, she was shocked by their changes of appearance.

But she quickly lost her temper and the whole thing was off. Later on, she started looking for jobs for the whole class with a burning intent of success. That very night, the guys decided to promise to Yankumi that they wouldn't fight anyone before they graduated.

A few hours after they planned to promise Yankumi that, later that very same night, Hayato and Ryu ran into the girls and the three morons who had tried to pick them up weeks ago. They ended up leaving after Sayo took down their leader again.

So, the guys, even though Hayato had told the girls about their little promise with Yankumi, they weren't expecting two of them to show up to the site where they were being beaten up at. Of course they figured Yankumi would come, but not them.

See, what happened was, after Sayo left, she went straight to her cousin's house. On her way she mailed her mom, even though she figured Takeshi already had done so, but she sent it just in case.

Saya and the other girls made their ways home, murmuring to themselves about what had just come up for Sayo.

It took her a while to get to Takeshi's place, but she made it there around ten thirty at night. She knocked on the door to his condo and waited for him to answer the door. She heard a faint 'coming' come from behind the door and some feet shuffling around the living room.

She had been to his condo before, but it had been a while since then. She remembered his living room had a couch that folded out to be a bed. His bedroom was a nice contemporary, modern room with soothing colors which made it easy to fall asleep in. He had a kitchenette, which was just enough for him. There was also a bathroom for his bedroom and a half bath in the front by the living room and the balcony. The laundry room was by the front entrance hallway, kind of looks like a closet at first.

The shuffling feet came closer to the door and a few seconds later the door clicked, signaling the unlocking of the contraption which was considered his lock. Then the door swung open, revealing Noda Takeshi in sweat pants and a t-shirt with slippers on his feet. He smiled at the sight of Sayo.

"Come on in." he said as he held his arm out towards the hallway so she could enter.

"Thanks. Ojamashimasu." Sayo slid her shoes off and slipped on the guest slippers that Takeshi kept by the door for, well, guests.

"So, you'll be staying till tomorrow right?" he asked after she tossed her bag on the couch, which was already unfolded into her temporary bed.

"Yeah, I sent mom an email." Sayo smiled again as she looked back at him.

"You seem a bit different than normal. Is something up? Or did something happen recently?" Takeshi questioned with a small smile, and he thought for a second before she answered. "Well, besides what I told you about."

"Well, I've been having a lot of fun dancing with the girls in Ginza recently, if that's what you mean." Sayo made her way to the fridge.

"Anything else?"

"Hmm…" Sayo bent over with the fridge door open, searching for a bottle of water. "I guess you could say something has." she grabbed the water bottle and smirked after she pushed the door shut, facing Takeshi again.

"What could that be?" he was smirking too.

"I met up with Kumiko-sempai and found out that my Kumiko-sempai is your Yankumi." she smiled fully now.

Takeshi looked surprised. "Eh?"

Sayo only nodded slowly.

"Yankumi? You knew Yankumi before I did?" Takeshi tried to process this but found himself to be slightly unsuccessful. "How could that happen?"

"Well, remember when my parents lived in Kamiyama-chou?" she asked, smile still there.

"Yeah."

"That was when I met her. She was the one who taught me martial arts, remember?" she was trying to jog his memory now.

"Oh yeah. Yankumi really taught you that stuff?" Takeshi seemed a tad bit confused. "No wonder the style seemed a bit familiar but it never really caught my attention much back then." he trailed off thinking back to his high school days.

"Well, anyway. She's teaching at the school across from my school." Sayo informed as she finished off the bottle she grabbed and was now heading for the recycling bin.

"Really?" Takeshi looked up at her again.

Sayo nodded her head and tossed the bottle into the bin.

"It's a small world." he muttered, though Sayo heard him.

"It certainly is." she agreed.

"Hah." Takeshi shrugged it off and watched Sayo for a few minutes.

"Oh, I don't have anything to change into, can I borrow a shirt?"

"Yeah, go ahead."

Sayo walked into his room and shut the door behind her. She went straight to his small dresser and pulled out a long, baggy t-shirt. Quickly changing and making sure the shirt stayed on her shoulders and covered enough of her legs, she made her way back to the door with her clothes in tow.

Takeshi was standing next to the couch watching the night news before bed. Sayo opened the door and continued to the couch. She tossed her clothes onto her bag and climbed into the bed. Takeshi glanced down at her for a few seconds then went back to the television.

"Have you met any guys recently?" he asked out of nowhere.

Sayo nearly choked on the air around her. "Huh!" she hacked.

Takeshi chuckled a little and returned his sights to her. "Well?"

"Um…" Sayo colored and lowered her face, focusing intently on the sheets over her lower half.

Takeshi noticed her coloring and smirked. He slid over to behind her and bent over the back of the couch so he could see her face. "I'll take that as a yes."

"Geez, first Kumiko-sempai and now you…" Sayo mumbled, shutting her eyes.

"What happened with Yankumi?"

"She thought Ryu and I were having a moment at her house a couple weeks ago and let out a squeal." Sayo muttered darkly. "She thinks I like him."

"Do you?" he asked seriously this time.

"I…" Sayo opened her eyes just enough to see the sheets being scrunched up by her fists that were trying to close. "I don't know…"

"Hmm." Takeshi pushed himself off the couch and ruffled the top of her hair a little. "Well, don't think about it too much."

Sayo just turned around as much as she could and looked at him curiously.

"Just get a good nights sleep and be ready for tomorrow, okay?" he smiled.

"Mm." she nodded her head.

"Oyasumi." he called before shutting his door.

"Oyasumi." she whispered and sunk down into the bed, drifting slowly into dreamland.


The next morning, the girls were sitting in the back of the music room at their school, talking about Sayo's big opportunity.

"What do you think the article will be about?" Juri asked Saya, a small smile on her face.

Kiri was running a little late again.

"I'm not sure…" Saya then began thinking hard about all the possibilities.

"What do you think she'll be told to wear?" Mitsu smirked at all the possibilities.

"Who knows…" Maki shrugged.

"Well, whatever he puts her in, it won't look bad, that's for sure." Saya smiled.

"Why do you sound so confident, Saya-chan?" Juri inquired curiously.

"Well…" Saya started, but was interrupted.

Just then, Kiri burst through the door. "Sorry, overslept…"

"Typical." the girls sang out, amusement in their voices.

"Be quiet." Kiri muttered as she took her seat near the group. "So, what were you going to say Saya-chan?"

"Well, I was just about to explain why Takeshi-kun wouldn't make Sayo look bad fashion wise in the photo shoot." Saya explained in a level tone.

"Oh, okay. Explain away then." Kiri smirked playfully.

"Alright." Saya nodded. "Takeshi-kun, before he went into photography, he wanted to have his own fashion line."

"Wow, that's interesting." Maki let out.

"He still wants his own fashion line, but he's settled for photography for now while he gets the rest of his qualifications." Saya continued.

"He's really committed isn't he?" Mitsu chuckled a little.

"Yeah, he is committed. To his girlfriend, his work, his dreams, and his friends." Saya smiled as she thought of the stories she and Sayo had heard from him about his days in Shirokin.

"Eh…" Kiri gasped with a smirk.

Saya blinked a couple times and looked at Kiri curiously. "What?"

"You really hold him in high regard, don't you?" Juri asked sweetly.

Saya shifted her gaze to Juri, and nodded. "Well, yeah, I mean…"Saya paused and looked out the window, a distant, solemn expression on her face. "he's always helped us out as much as he could."

"Eh? Is that so?" Maki looked a tad bit curious now.

"Yeah." Saya nodded, a smile creeping onto her face.

"How did he help you two?" Mitsu inquired, pursing her lips in anticipation afterwards.

"Well…" Saya turned back to the girls and thought hard for a few seconds. "He's helped us out of a few situations in our past that involved fighting."

"Really?" Maki's eyes widened.

Saya only nodded with a small smile on her face.

"Eh…" Kiri breathed again. "I can't believe Sayo's going to be in a magazine."

"Yeah, it's kind of exciting." Juri chuckled lightly.

"You know…" Saya murmured.

"Not kind of, Juri-chan." Mitsu corrected, totally ignoring Saya.

"Really exciting." Maki finished for Mitsu.

"She's been in a magazine before…" Saya let out thoughtfully. "So have I."

All four of the girls turned to Saya with shocked expressions. "Eh!"

Saya looked over at them indifferently.


Tsuchi heaved in a long breath, and sighed it out. "I'm so bored."

"Me too." Hyuga agreed nodding his head.

Take only sighed and nodded his head.

They were in their first period without Yankumi and all the games they had to play had become tiresome. Ryu just sat quietly in his seat facing the blackboard ahead of them. Hayato had his head bent all the way back and was staring at the ceiling.

"I wonder what the girls are doing right now…" Take mumbled, mostly to himself, but the others heard him and thought hard about that.

"Hmm…." Hyuga furrowed his eyebrows and stared hard at his poor desktop.

"Good question." Tsuchi added and halfway folded his arms so he could still fan himself whilst thinking.

Ryu ignored the question and continued with his inner thoughts, whatever they were… And Hayato secretly thought about the question while continuing to stare the life out of the ceiling.

Misawa had heard the question as well and debated with himself if he should tell them what the girls had planned to do. After five minutes of arguing with himself, he finally decided to turn around and tell them. "Um… I know what they might be doing right now…" he interrupted all of their trains of thought.

They all blinked a couple times and then looked at Misawa, waiting for what he was going to say. Once he knew he had their attention, he smirked a little. "They're probably helping out Saya-chan's mom at school."

"Why would they do that?" Tsuchi looked confused. Why go to school if you don't have to?

"Well, I just know that they were planning on doing that. If they actually ended up doing it, I have no idea." Misawa added.

"Hmm…" Take thought some more.

Hayato and Ryu returned their gazes to their previous locations and continued to think.

Hyuga rested his head on his desk. "I'm still bored."

All the others nodded in agreement with him.


Sayo and Takeshi were on their way to the studio. Of course, Sayo was back in her school uniform, as she didn't have anything else to wear except the street clothes she was in when she got to his apartment the previous night. Takeshi on the other hand, wore a white button up shirt with three buttons at the top undone, a pair of washed blue jeans, and black dress shoes on his feet. All of his equipment was in the back seat of the car.

Sayo had her eyes closed, she was still a little tired from dancing. Takeshi eyed her for a moment out of the corner of his eyes and smirked. It took them a few minutes before they reached their destination.

"We're here Sayo-chan." Takeshi announced as he opened his door.

Sayo opened her eyes and looked out her window at the tall ten story building towering next to the street. She smiled and opened her door.

Takeshi had closed his door and moved to the back door. "Help me get the equipment, okay?"

Sayo turned around, "Sure." she smiled and opened the back door as well.

Takeshi grabbed the camera with the film while Sayo grabbed the tripod. Both of them were being extremely careful. Sayo knew how much Takeshi's camera and equipment meant to him.

They slammed the car doors shut, Sayo winced a little at the loud bang it made. She hadn't intended to slam it at all, but both their hands were full and apparently they used too much force.

Takeshi made his way to the double doors of the set building as Sayo looked on at the car doors worriedly. He got five steps away and the doors slammed open, revealing his girlfriend. She smiled at him, looking mainly at his hands filled with his camera and the film.

He continued in without saying anything, only smirking at her. Sayo turned around with her eyes closed while sighing. When she opened them, she was a tad startled to find Tanaka Miku, Takeshi's girlfriend. She quickly regained herself and smiled at the older woman. Miku smiled heartily at them and held the door open for Takeshi as he carried in his equipment.

"Could you grab the laptop?" he asked as he passed her.

"Sure, I don't mind." she let the door go after Takeshi was through and made her way over to the car.

"I didn't know you would be here this early Miku-san." Sayo greeted.

"Well, I had to check the place out for Takeshi since you were with him. I knew he'd be a little later than he usually is." Miku explained as she opened the car door and retrieved the laptop from the floorboard of the back seat.

"Oh…" Sayo frowned a little realizing she was a slight burden to Takeshi. "Well, I'm sorry…" she apologized, sounding a little guilty.

Miku shut the door as Sayo said that. She felt a little bad herself for saying what she did. "Oh, you don't have to apologize Sayo-chan." Miku smiled.

"Eh?" Sayo blinked as Miku walked by her to the front door of the building.

"I wasn't exactly thinking about what I was saying a second ago." Miku explained as she grabbed the door handle and pulled it open. "Takeshi asked me to come before him to scope out the place because he knew he'd have you with him."

"Oh…" Sayo nodded slowly as they both entered the building.

"We're on the third floor." Miku informed as she headed towards the elevator.

"Really?" Sayo questioned.

Her only answer was a nod of the head from Miku as they entered the elevator together. Miku, being the only one with free hands, pushed the button for floor three.

A few seconds of elevator music and silence went by and they were on the third floor. The doors opened to reveal a large, bare room with Takeshi in the middle. He looked back at the two indifferently and then turned back to studying the room's properties.

"It's pretty good in size." he commented after his sights returned to in front of him. "Good job Miku-chan."

"Thanks." Miku smirked as she made her way to his side with the laptop. "Here."

"Ah, thanks." Takeshi delicately placed the laptop on the floor.

Sayo slowly made her way to the two, admiring the room's largeness on her way. "Wow…" she whispered.

"Oh, you'll have to go park your car in a parking space Takeshi-kun." Miku informed Takeshi before he got too deep into anything.

"Ah, alright."

"Sayo-chan." Miku called over to the bewildered girl carrying the tripod.

Sayo suddenly came back to what she was there for. "Ah! Yes?"

"Come on over, we'll set up the tripod together." Miku smiled warmly.

Sayo smiled wider, and nodded her head. "Hai."

Takeshi was already in the elevator. Sayo finally reached Miku and they set up the tripod, but didn't place the camera on it just yet. Miku knew that was something Takeshi always did, no matter what.

"This room is just so…" Sayo was at a loss for words.

"I guess this is your first time seeing a room this large totally empty, huh?" Miku chuckled a little.

"Yeah…" Sayo looked down at her feet sheepishly.

"That's why I chose you for this project." Miku said out of nowhere.

Sayo looked up mildly surprised. "Huh?"

Miku smirked. "You're so honest."

Sayo was a little shocked by that little comment, but then she looked to be a little disappointed. She had thought back to the way she felt when Ryu looked at her. "If only I could be honest about that though…" she mumbled with her head down.

"Eh?" Miku blinked curiously.

Unfortunately, Takeshi walked in right then so Miku couldn't ask about it.

"Okay, when is the crew getting here with everything else?" he asked Miku, sounding a little displeased about the lack of timing they all had.

"Um…" Miku thought hard for a few seconds. "I'm not sure…"

Takeshi looked very displeased with that answer. He was in total business mode now. Miku eyed him and quickly made a decision.

"I'll call them now to see where they are." Miku made her way to a large window near the elevator. "I hope they aren't lost or anything…" she murmured to herself.

Sayo heard Takeshi muttering things to himself in a devilish tone. She looked at him with semi-wide eyes and was suddenly glad she was on his good side. She sighed, seeing as she really had nothing to do at the moment.

A loud clack was heard followed by an exhausted sigh. Sayo looked over to Miku, saw the look on her face, and had a bad feeling something bad was going to happen if the other crew members don't get here soon. Sayo stepped lightly over to Miku with a curious look on her face.

"They're not lost, are they?" she asked in a hushed tone so Takeshi couldn't hear her.

"No." Miku shook her head.

"Then…" Sayo hesitated, thinking a bit more before speaking again. "What happened?" was the safest thing that came out of her mouth.

Miku eyed Takeshi for a few seconds before leaning in towards Sayo to whisper to her. "They slept in like idiots."

Sayo's eyes widened and she turned her head to Miku.

"Takeshi can't know." Miku sternly whispered, which made it a little funny sounding. "They're almost here now though." Miku stood straight again with a smile on her face.

"I see." Sayo mumbled, eyes heading toward the ground, still wide in shock. She knew how Takeshi could get when he was angry, so she didn't even want to think about the possibilities here.

"Well?" Takeshi huffed impatiently, setting up his laptop with a new folder for the shoot while hooking it up to the camera.

"They're almost here." Miku informed him smiling as she made her way over to him.

"Good." Takeshi said under his breath.

"Ah," Miku turned swiftly on her heels, realizing that Sayo had no idea about the article's theme. "Sayo-chan."

Sayo blinked a few times as she realized her name was being called. As she looked up towards Miku she answered. "Hai?"

Miku walked as she talked. "I'm going to inform you of the article's theme and what the interview will be like." she smiled as she stood next the girl in uniform.

"Oh." Sayo blinked a few times again. "Okay." she smiled.

"Why don't we go to the dressing room to talk so we don't disturb Takeshi-kun?" Miku suggested in a hushed tone since Takeshi was immersed in his camera workings right at the moment.

Sayo only nodded her head and the two headed for their shared dressing room. It was a shared dressing room because the two of them were the models for the shoot today. So it was technically their temporary room.

Once the door was shut behind them, they took seats in the chairs by the large vanity mirrors on the walls surrounded by lights that would burn your retina if you stared too long. Sayo looked around the room before Miku started speaking. It had a couch, some potpourri to keep a fresh smell in it, a clothing rack to hang your outfits on, a small water dispenser with a full gallon bottle on it ready to go, and a small coffee table. And of course, the last bit of the room was the wall with the mirrors for the preparation of make-up.

"So," Miku started, "the interview will be your take on relationships as a modern high school girl." she said enthusiastically with a beaming smile. "The name of the article is 'A Modern High School Girl's View On Relationships'".

"Interesting." Sayo nodded as she thought hard for a minute or so. "But wait, why did you choose me? I'm not technically a normal high school girl you know." Sayo reasoned. "You and I know each other personally."

"Yeah, but you are still a modern high school girl with views on all sorts of relationships aren't you?" Miku smiled a smile that said 'it's true and you know it'.

"Well, yeah but…" Sayo hesitated for a second. "Why me? Shouldn't you have chosen someone you don't know?"

"I could have, but I'd prefer the interview to be less intense." Miku nodded in understanding of Sayo's point. "Come on, you know it would be difficult for any reporter to interview a complete stranger about what they think of all kinds of relationships." she pointed out.

She did have a point there. "Mm." Sayo nodded in understanding. "So, how did you get your editor to accept me?"

"Well," Miku thought, then a little smile played her features. "my editor knows your father from way back and they both agreed to let you go through with this."

"I figured it was something crazy like that…" Sayo sighed.

"That's not a bad thing you know." Miku comforted Sayo by patting her head a little.

Sayo only nodded once at that.

Then in a hurry, the make-up artists rushed in like the building was on fire or something, tools in hand. All their bags were bouncing up and down on their backs. It honestly didn't sound good for their equipment. The hairstylists followed after them. Bags bouncing as well.

"Sorry we're late, Miku-san." the first in managed to get out after she let the bags slide off her shoulder onto the couch. The others followed suit. Then, before anyone could say anything else, they started rummaging through the bags for the tools, foundation, eye shadow, everything they needed to prep the girls for the shoot.

"Wait, Takeshi-kun hasn't even picked out our outfits yet!" Miku sounded a bit panicked as she saw the foundation and straightening irons.

"He's doing that as we speak." the head make-up artist, Aihara, informed her as she came closer with the big pack containing eye shadow, eye liner pencils, blush, and foundation. A different lady, Fujiwara, came up to Sayo with the same thing in hand.

"Let's get to work girls." she said as she turned Sayo's head straight toward the mirror forcefully.

"Eek." Sayo let out under her breath, fearing what was coming to her face.

"This is going to be pure torture…" Miku muttered in a dreadful tone which scared Sayo even more so than she already was. Her eyes widened in horror just thinking about it.

"What have I gotten myself into?" she mumbled to herself as the first powder puff hit her cheek.


By now the first four chorus classes had come and gone in the blink of an eye. The girls were having fun watching all their kohais sing a bunch of songs they had sang before. Since it wasn't their class, they weren't allowed to participate, so they all sang under their breath, so they didn't screw up the others singing.

It was time for lunch and the girls were sitting in the classroom, watching all the girls scatter out on the campus grounds into their little cliques and groups. Some were studying, some were reading, some were goofing off, and others were actually eating.

"Ah! I'm so hungry…" Kiri complained as she watched bento after bento go by the classroom doors.

"Well, we don't really have any way to get lunch…" Saya mumbled, examining their situation.

"Eh?" Kiri threatened to cry when she heard that.

"Now now Kiri-chan…" Juri sweat dropped, patting Kiri's back.

Mitsu and Maki had left for work earlier. Kiri was supposed to work in a little bit too. Saya thought a little more about what their possibilities were.

"Hmm…" Saya mumbled again, her fist on her chin, brow furrowed as she continued her thought process.

"Saya-chan?" Juri looked at the girl curiously.

"I'll be back in a few minutes ok?" Saya told the two as she made her way to the door.

"Ok…" Juri nodded as her mind reeled. What could she be up to?

"Man!" Kiri cried holding her stomach, her face showing slight exhaustion.

Saya made her way down the hallway to the faculty and staff room. She was looking for her mother. She peeked her head in a little and scanned the office thoroughly.

She saw the Vice Principal, the Science Teacher, the English Teacher, her second year Phys. Ed. Teacher, and the Mathematics Teacher. The next desk was her mother's, and she was there.

Saya sighed in relief and stood up straight to enter the room. "Excuse me…" she called a little timidly.

The teachers all looked to the entrance and saw her. Ayumi stood once she saw her daughter and walked slowly over to her, knowing Saya was there for her. She led her out of the room with a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"What is it?" Ayumi asked gently with a motherly smile.

"Is it alright if we leave a little early today?"

"Well, I don't see why not. Why do you ask?" Ayumi was now curious.

"Kiri-chan is hungry and I was thinking about going to get something to eat with her and Juri-chan." Saya explained. "Besides, Kiri-chan will be leaving for work soon anyway."

"Yes, that's true." Ayumi looked up at the ceiling thoughtfully for a moment or so. "Alright, you girls can leave for today." she looked back down at Saya with a smile and handed her a few bills for lunch money.

"Thanks." Saya smiled, accepted the cash, and turned to leave.

"Make sure you're home earlier than you were yesterday alright!" Ayumi called at her daughter's back before she got away.

"Gotcha!" Saya answered while waving her hand above her head at her mom.

"Girls…" Ayumi sighed, watching Saya disappear. After she was out of sight, Ayumi went back into the faculty room to finish her lunch and prep for the next class.

Saya came back into the classroom beaming with plenty of positive energy. She made her way to the girls hurriedly. "We can go get lunch at a restaurant or something."

"Maji de!" Kiri's eyes sparkled like stars in the sky, her mouth began to water a bit, and her hands were clasped together.

"Maji." Saya nodded with a giant smile on her face.

"Where should we go then?" Juri inquired thoughtfully.

"Hmm…. Good question." Kiri nodded her head, as she turned to her normal face. "We should change before we leave though."

"Yeah, I'm a little bored of the uniform." Juri looked down at her clothing with squinted eyes and puckered lips.

"Yeah, I'd rather the guys look at us for us instead of what school we go to." Kiri mentioned lightly, pulling her skirt out a little.

Saya looked over at Kiri with wide eyes and a small smile on her lips. "You really want guys to look at you?" she mumbled under her breath.

"Let's go change so we can leave before class starts again." Juri suggested.

The girls all looked over at her and nodded. They grabbed their bags before heading to the bathrooms to change.


The guys were on the rooftop skipping class. Hyuga, Take and Tsuchi were talking about things that made no sense. Most of it was cracking jokes. Hayato was listening but not joining in. He laughed at quite a few of the jokes they told. Ryu was trying to take a nap. Obviously, trying wasn't an option because the others were being so loud. So he stood up in surrender and watched the scenery from the roof with a blank stare.

Of course, it didn't take long for that blank stare to turn into a questioning one. Right before Hyuga was about to start a knock knock joke, the girls had walked out of the school in casual clothes instead of their uniform. Hayato noticed the change in Ryu's face out of the corners of his eyes and looked to see for himself.

"Hey, it's the girls…" Hayato mumbled in surprise.

That caught Take's attention. "Really?" he hopped to his feet and leaned over the edge. "Wow, I've never seen Kiri-chan in something like that before."

"Did you say Kiri-chan? Are the other girls with her?" Hyuga joined next to Take.

"Well?" Tsuchi prodded, fanning himself and taking his time.

"Yeah, Saya-chan and Juri-chan are with her." Hayato answered the question.

"But Sayo-chan isn't with them." Ryu muttered in place of Hayato, since the idiot hadn't seemed to notice quite yet.

"Oh yeah, Sayo-chan isn't there." Take nodded his head slowly.

All the gears in their brains were turning. Why was Ryu the first to notice instead of them again? Did he really care about the girls but just not show it openly? Who knew.

"I wonder if she's still wherever she went last night…" Tsuchi thought out loud.

Ryu's eye twitched when he heard that come out of Tsuchi's mouth. It put him on edge. After all, they don't know where she went or what she was going to do.

"Maybe she met with some guy." Hyuga joked with a cat-like smirk on his face.

Ryu's eye twitched a second time and Hayato saw it this time. He looked a tad bit shocked that Ryu, of all people, Ryu's eye was twitching from a remark like that. Such actions make one wonder, you know.

"That's not a funny joke." Take chastised Hyuga with an un-amused face.

"But, the girls look really good right now." Tsuchi changed the subject. "I wonder where they're going…"

"Maybe they're on their way to lunch or something." Take guessed.

"Maybe." Hayato added in.

"Probably." Ryu finally said something else. Although, it didn't really help the situation any.

"So, what should we do after school today?" Hayato walked away from the edge, arms folded behind his head and eyes closed.

"Hmm…" the others thought hard and moved away from the edge as well.

Ryu stayed though. He was still interested in staring at nothing at all.

"I think we should look for some jobs, what do you say?" Take offers enthusiastically after an intense brainstorm.

"Yeah, we can grab some magazines and search the job ads." Hyuga smiled, agreeing with Take.

Tsuchi only nodded his head.

"Yeah, I guess we could. At Café de Rovne." Hayato finished.

Ryu saw this as the end of the conversation, as the others' voices faded into the distance. He followed them down stairs back to the classroom.


After the girls had lunch, Kiri headed off to work. Mitsu had finished her shift for the day, so she was with Juri and Saya. Sayo still hadn't returned from the photo shoot yet. Saya had tried to call a few times, but Sayo didn't answer so they assumed she was still busy.

It was about 3:30 in the afternoon, the girls were wandering around as students heading to cram school crowded the streets. The girls slipped into the arcade for a little bit to avoid the crowds.

Of course, with their clothes, they attracted much attention from the guys in the arcade.

Juri had on a white t-shirt with a printed sketch of a man with sunglasses in black. Short cuffed jean shorts and cream colored ballet flats. (Link: http:// s718. photobucket .com/ albums/ ww185/ KameLuvr9/ ?action=view & current=JuriShorts-1 .jpg )

Mitsu was getting the most looks with her attire, which was a sheer light gray quarter sleeved shirt with a black spaghetti strap shirt under it. Her black shorts stopped at mid thigh, the bottoms rolled up revealing gray leopard print. Her feet were adorned with a pair of black and gray slip-on heels. (Link: http:// s718. photobucket .com/ albums/ ww185/ KameLuvr9/ ?action=view & current=MitsuLeopardShorts .jpg )

Saya wasn't paying any attention to the guys who were staring at them, since she was hunched over Tekken 4 intensely fighting a match with the computer. She looked a bit too formal to be in an arcade, since she had on a nice grey long sleeved shirt, elegant white tie up capris, and white peep heels to boot. Who knows, maybe all the attention was going towards her instead of Mitsu. (Link: http:// s718. photobucket .com/ albums/ ww185/ KameLuvr9/ ?action=view & current=SayaCapriOufit .jpg )

"I'm a bit bored of this…" Saya muttered after she lost miserably.

"Don't pout Saa-chan…" Juri pleaded lightly.

"Yeah, too many guys are staring at us…" Mitsu observed all the eyes on them. "Let's go to the Zest Cantina and harass Kiri-chan." a twisted smirk played Mitsu's lips.

Saya perked up at that. Kiri was always messing with the other two while they were working and she was off. "I'll go with you."

"I'm going to see Maki-chan, not to harass Kiri-chan." Juri interjected, she never liked being the troublemaker.

"All right." Mitsu balled her right hand into a fist in front of her face and smiled widely, so all her teeth were showing, cynically. She was going to enjoy this.


Maki and Kiri had been slightly swamped with customers since they had arrived. Maki was busting tables left and right. Kiri was having a really hard time keeping up with the orders Maki was bringing back.

Each girl continuously sighed exhaustedly about every ten minutes. This was not cool at all.

Four different tables left at the same time and the two finally got out a sigh of relief. Though it quickly turned into another exhausted one as they heard the doors open again.

"Welcome." they both chorused, a little unenthusiastically with their eyes closed.

Saya, Mitsu and Juri came down to the bar quietly. Kiri and Maki still had their eyes closed. So, Mitsu took this as a golden opportunity. "That wasn't very enthusiastic you know…" she chastised.

The two girls' eyes flew open upon hearing Mitsu's voice and looked up surprised.

"Why are you guys here?" they both asked in unison. It was a little like when Saya and Sayo answered in unison. Scary.

"I came to harass you like you harass me." Mitsu told them flat out with her arms crossed over her chest defiantly and a conniving grin on her face.

"I came to watch." Saya threw in with a casual grin.

"I came to get some coffee." Juri said sweetly.

Kiri wasn't pleased, they could tell. She knew it was revenge on her and she was dreading it. "Great." she muttered bitterly to herself.

"Thanks Juri-chan." Maki smiled.

The three girls sat down at the bar like usual and Maki made her way to a few tables that were signaling for her. Kiri walked down the bar to a few customers who were signaling for her as well.

The girls sat and chatted among themselves while Maki and Kiri were taking orders, running all over the place.

"So, I know this topic is a little elementary but…" Saya started, staring uncertainly at the bar top. "Have you two seen any guy who's interested you lately?"

Mitsu and Juri seemed a bit surprised from this question, seeing as Saya asked it of all people.

"Well…" Juri started, turning her forward again and looking up at the ceiling thoughtfully. "Not really." she sounded a little disappointed.

"Maybe…" Mitsu shrugged, thinking this might be an opportune time to say something about it.

"Maybe what?" Kiri had come back from the other end of the bar to put together a few cups of coffee.

"What about you Kiri-chan?" Juri asked with a small smile on her face.

"What?" Kiri was a little confused by the question. She continued to pour the coffee while listening.

"Have you seen a guy who's interested you lately?" Saya smirked, Kiri was probably the most boy crazy of their whole group.

"Hmm…" Kiri thought hard as she finished the orders and placed them on the trays. "I'll be right back." and she took off again.

"I don't know…" Mitsu mumbled, getting Juri's attention again.

"Mitsu-chan?" Juri was a little concerned, Mitsu was concentrating a lot harder than she normally does. Ever.

"It could be him…" Mitsu mumbled again, thinking out loud just a bit.

"Could be who?" Kiri interrupted loudly, like a little kid teasing her best friend.

That had startled Mitsu. She jumped and jerked her head toward Kiri with wide eyes.

"Uhm…" Mitsu breathed, debating whether she wanted Kiri to hear or not.

"You didn't answer the question Kiri-chan." Saya sang tauntingly.

"Eh…" Kiri's face contorted in displeasure and embarrassment. She left before answering the question as well.

Maki came back with empty trays sighing. "Man, there's way too many customers today…" she mumbled as she got to the group.

"Well…" Kiri started, looking at the floor as she started to color. "I think, maybe, Tsuchiya-kun would be a fun boyfriend…" she let out in a low voice. Her feelings about guys were things she didn't always like to say first. Usually she waits until she knows the guy a bit more before she can say anything proudly.

"Aw." Saya smiled at Kiri.

"How cute." Juri smiled as well.

"Really, Kiri-chan, that is cute." Maki patted her on the shoulder.

"If Kiri-chan can do it then so can I." Mitsu declared to herself with her fist up by her face.

"Then say it." Saya dead panned.

That remark downed Mitsu's courage and enthusiasm a little bit. "Well…" she closed her eyes, concentrating on what she was going to say and trying not to imagine the reaction she'd get from them. "Maybe Hyuga-kun…" she got it out. Finally.

"Eh, Hyuga-kun huh?" Saya smirked knowingly, nodding her head at the answer. "I can see it."

Mitsu looked up at Saya. "Huh?"

"I can see you and Hyuga-kun together." she still had that knowing smirk on her lips.

"Hey, don't get me wrong." Mitsu tried to defend herself, though there was no reason for it at all. "Tsuchiya-kun is so my type, but it just isn't him…" she trailed off, looking down again.

"I know." Kiri snickered a little.

"What about you Maki-chan?" Juri turned her head to Maki, who was a little confused as to what was going on.

"Hmm?"

"Does Takeda-kun interest you since he fought a college boxer for you?" Saya smirked deviously. Kiri and Mitsu joined quickly, this was so their kind of thing.

Maki looked a tad frightened by the deviousness radiating from the three girls. "Uh…"

Juri sighed in defeat. There was no stopping them now, since they loved to do things like this. She watched from the side lines since there wasn't really anything she could do for poor Maki.

"I guess, a bit…" Maki let out lightly. "Yeah."

Saya didn't say anything, but her smirk turned into a kind smile. Kiri and Mitsu backed down after hey saw how Maki was getting all thoughtful.

Kiri was being signaled by three guys at the end of the bar again and had to go over.

"Good for you Maki-chan." Juri smiled like a little child would.

"Thanks Juri-chan." Maki looked out at the rest of the café. She being signaled again so she left with her tray in hand.

"So what about you Saya-chan?" Mitsu inquired curiously.

"Eh, me?" Saya smiled with wide eyes, pointing at herself.

"Yeah, come on." Mitsu started. "You started this whole conversation as it is."

"Right." Saya returned her gaze to the bar top. "For me,"

Kiri and Maki came back at the same time. "Sorry about that." Kiri apologized.

"No need to apologize Kiri-chan." Juri shook her head.

"I'd have to say Yabuki-kun interests me the most."

"Eh!" Kiri, Maki and Mitsu looked super shocked. Juri had wide eyes, but that was it.

"That idiot Yabuki?" Mitsu and Kiri were shocked by Saya's choice.

"How do we know he's an idiot?" Saya asked defensively.

"Well, he kind of acts like one don't you think?" Kiri tried to reason, but found it a bit hard.

"Even so." Saya was still on the defense.

"She didn't criticize your choices, so don't criticize hers." Juri chastised the two for being that way.

The other girls were shocked to hear that come from Juri's mouth.

"Okay…" they nodded.

After that, the manager came around the store, watching the customers come and go. Six other parties had come and four had left. Maki and Kiri were working hard to get the parties seated and their orders taken. There were too many for them and the one other person who was working with them.

He stopped when he saw Mitsu sitting at the bar.

"Ah, Mitsu-chan." he greeted with a large smile.

"Hello tencho-san." Mitsu greeted with a smile as well.

"It sure is busy here today." he observed, looking around whilst thinking about a solution to the problem. He was in the back making pastries and what not with the other worker.

"Yeah, I feel a little bad for Maki-chan and Kiri-chan." she said. "But I'm not sure I understand why so many people are here today…"

"It's mostly college students and other high school students like yourselves who have come here after checking the entrance board." he informed, still looking at the rest of the customers.

"Oh."

"Would you like to make a little over time?" he turned his head back to Mitsu.

"Huh?"

"Maki-chan and Kiri-chan could use some help. And you could make a little over time by helping them. What do you say?" he proposed in a way that almost made it impossible to say no.

"Well, I guess I could…"

"Great!" he smiled widely. "I'd like you to start helping as soon as possible."

And he walked back to the kitchen where he'd continue to help with the food.

"Man, I was supposed to be off…" Mitsu pouted.


The guys were at Café de Rovne, drinking their usuals and flipping through job ads.

Tsuchi, Hyuga and Take were making comments on their finds. The three of them were on the couch while Hayato and Ryu were at the bar, looking really bored because they weren't finding anything. Tsuchi pointed out one job that he was interested in.

"Idiot, it says for university graduates." Hyuga remarks pointing at the spot where it said it in the book.

Not long after that though, the guys from the other night, which Hayato had started the fight with, came into the café and had them follow them.


Sayo walked down the street in a pair of black designer flare jeans, her skull-and-crossbones converse, and a fitted graphic t-shirt with a giant tote bag of neatly folded clothes from the photo shoot. She had already called Saya right after she left the building. Takeshi had been reluctant to let her go seeming as how she would be walking around alone for awhile. But she convinced him to let her go anyways.

As she kept walking, she turned a lot of heads. It wasn't everyday that you saw a teenager walking down the street with a bag of clothes, and she's also dressed in designer clothes that you see in store windows for thousands of yen.

It didn't take her long to find Saya though. They were close to Tetsu's takoyaki stand, but didn't stop there. Just about the same time they were passing by an old rusted building, they saw Shiratori-sensei looking a little worried as she stared down the hallway the two buildings created. They didn't say anything to her, but as they made it to where they could see down it too, they were shocked as well.

The guys were following students from another school into the building. And there were a lot of the other guys compared to their five.

The girls and Shiratori-sensei follow lightly behind the large group of boys. While they watched the conversation they stayed weary, but were still a little curious about what was happening.

"Sorry but, we have no intention of fighting you guys." Ryu opened after the two groups were face to face.

Saya eyed Sayo out of the corner of her eyes. Sayo looked a little worried already.

"Heh, interesting." the leader of the other group scoffed with a look of disbelief and irritation.

Hayato breathed in. "That's all there is to it." he looked at the group in front of him. "See ya." he did his signature bunny ears and they got ready to leave.

The leader of the group was even more pissed with that, so he stepped forward toward Hayato and copied his bunny ears. "You think you can walk away like that?" and he socked Hayato right in the face.

Saya had to do all she could to restrain herself from making a sound when she saw that. Sayo furrowed her eyebrows.

Tsuchi, Hyuga and Take followed Hayato as he stumbled backwards. Tsuchi was the first to turn and try to start something. "You!"

"Tsuchi." Hayato yelled, calling him off.

Tsuchi looked back at Hayato who returned the gaze intensely. He eventually gave in and didn't do anything.

The other two moved next to Ryu who hadn't moved, only turned his body to see if Hayato was alright.

"What is this? Bring it on." the other leader taunted, getting even more irritated by the second.

Ryu stuck his hand in his pocket and moved right in front of the other leader.

Sayo held her breath, having a bad feeling that Ryu was next. She didn't want to see that.

"We told you we don't feel like it."

"Don't joke." and he socked Ryu in the face too. Ryu felled to the ground on his shoulder and Take rushed to help him.

Sayo bit her lip hard to refrain from doing or saying anything stupid. Saya noticed this and felt a pang of sympathy for her cousin. She returned her attention to the fight.

The next two victims were Hyuga and Take. Hayato was being held by his collar. Instead of holding the guys collar like he normally would, he held his hands up in surrender.

Tsuchi was already on the ground holding his stomach. Some jerk wad was kicking him in his side.

Poor Take was being pinned to the ground by his head. Hyuga was on the ground too.

Hayato got kneed in the stomach by the guy who was holding his collar.

Ryu was being held by his neck with a pipe.

Saya and Sayo began to tear up at the sight of this. Shiratori-sensei was staring on in disbelief and horror. She found this hard to watch. She turned around and pulled out her cell phone.

Hayato got socked a couple more times.

Apparently, Shiratori-sensei had called Yankumi. The poor English teacher was panicking.

The guys had been pushed to the wall. The other group approached them with their plastic pipes in the air.

Sayo couldn't take it anymore. She wanted to rush in and help them. She knew they wouldn't appreciate it, but that was what she wanted to do. She took a step forward but was stopped. She turned her head back and saw Saya holding her wrist firmly.

"Don't do it."

"But they…"

"Don't do it, Sayo!"

She ignored her cousin's pleads and tried to rush forward again. This time Saya grabbed her by the waist and held her as tight as she could.

"Let go!" she struggled while she trembled from her emotions going haywire.

"Sayo you can't go out there!"

"Let go of me!"

"Sayo, you can't do it, you'll get in big trouble if you fight!"

Sayo couldn't say anything else, but her tears began to flow down her cheeks. Her body trembled involuntarily while she stood there being held up by Saya. If Saya hadn't had a hold of her somehow, she'd have fallen to the floor already.

The girls couldn't see what was going on, they could only imagine that, but they could hear all the shouting and sounds of pain coming from the guys.

"Move." The leader had finally stopped the other guys from hitting them and grabbed Ryu by the back of his collar. Ryu just stared blankly at him with a bloody lip and ruffled hair. "Hey!"

He moved to Hyuga and looked at him. "You guys…"

He moved down to the next one in line, which was Tsuchi, and held his collar. "Why?"

He kept going, next was Take. "Why?"

He finally went to Hayato, who was in the middle of them all, and held him by his shoulders, pinning him to the wall. "Why won't you fight back?" he yelled. Getting fed up with no answer, he punched Hayato in the stomach again, causing him to fall to the floor.

Yankumi finally arrived. "Shiratori-sensei!"

Said teacher turned around to see the woman who had called her name. She had been waiting eagerly for her to arrive and stop the fighting. "Yamaguchi-sensei, over there." she pointed into the warehouse.

Yankumi stood there and watched for a moment, not noticing the two girls there, crying softly. "They won't fight back at all." Shiratori-sensei informed with worry in her voice.

"Eh?" she looked disbelievingly at Shiratori-sensei.

"They didn't try to hit them back even once."

Yankumi looked at the scene in front of her. "They can't…" she mumbled to herself, remembering the promise they made to her just that very morning.

Saya let her tears flow quietly as they all finally collapsed to a sitting position, resting their backs on the wall behind them.

"What's with you guys?" the leader asked with irritation.

The guys coughed and hacked while Yankumi got even more pissed by the second as she stared on. She started forward and made her way to between Shiratori-sensei and the guys, all of them. "Don't touch my precious students!" she yelled.

This cause all the other guys to turn around look at her funny.

"You've done enough."

The leader walked forward towards her. "Who're you?"

"Me?" Yankumi started with the famous lines that all her students have heard before. "I'm their homeroom teacher."

"She's their homeroom teacher." the leader scoffed and the others laughed stupidly.

"I won't let you lay a finger on them." with that, she started removing her hair ties, tossed her glasses down on the floor, and shook her head to fix her hair. She was now ready to fight them.

"The homeroom teacher here to avenge her students?" the leader taunted with a look of amusement on his face.

"She's so cool." Saya mumbled through her tears. Sayo only nodded her head as she wiped hers away.

"Don't kid around." Yankumi was dead serious now.

"You wanna fight?" the leader said as he walked closer to Yankumi. She only looked at him calmly, so he struck her face. This caused everyone else who had never seen her get hit before to tense up a little. She recovered quickly and just looked at him again. "Why aren't you running away?" he seemed a bit shocked by her persistence.

"Fight back!"

"You wouldn't understand why they weren't fighting back." she told him calmly. When she took one step forward, he took one step back. "They weren't holding back just to entertain you." she continued.

"They've endured so much." she kept moving forward, him backward. "I can't just waste their efforts." they kept moving. "Hit me all you want."

Her words echoed in the room. "But make sure you know what you're doing." she moved a couple more steps. "Because I'm prepared for the worst!" she yelled.

He got so scared that he fell on his butt. She only had to stare at him with intense eyes before he got even more scared. His eyes shifted around the room. "Let's go." he told his crew as he stood up. They all made haste and ran out past Saya, Sayo, and Shiratori-sensei.

After they were alone, just the girls, the teachers, and the guys, Yankumi had a talk with them about the fight. When Saya and Sayo heard Ryu and Hayato talk, they stood up straight and looked very worried. Sayo was now standing on her own, even though her body was still trembling a bit. Saya had wiped away her tears.

Yankumi got on her knees to be level with them, and she began to tear up a little. "You guys…" she had to make it so she could talk and be understood. "You guys really are students I can be proud of."

She got off her knees and ruffled their hair playfully.

"All right, you did well." Yankumi laughed as she continued to ruffle their hair.

"Stop it." Hayato said calmly as she ruffled his.

"You too."

"It hurts." Tsuchi let out when she ruffled his.

Hyuga didn't say anything.

Ryu sat there and took it like a man. He looked a bit comfy on the ground the way he was sitting, but his view was perfect. His eyes widened a little when he saw Saya and Sayo. "Sayo-chan…" he murmured.

Shiratori-sensei looked a bit relieved that they were alright and left.

"Hey!" Saya called as she entered the mini hallway that led to where the guys were.

Yankumi turned around after hearing that and was surprised to see the two girls standing there with small smiles on their faces. "Saya-chan, Sayo-chan? Why are you two here?"

"We saw the guys coming in here and saw the whole thing." Saya continued in while Sayo stood back where she was, unable to do or say anything at the moment.

"Oh…" Yankumi nodded her head.

Hayato, Hyuga, Tsuchi, and Take were looking up at Saya with shocked faces, though it was hard to tell with all the injuries on them.

Saya made her way next to Yankumi and observed the guys. "Man, you really got it didn't you?" she tried her best to mask how she really felt.

"Yeah." Hayato chuckled a little, which led to a bit of coughing.

"Sayo-chan?" Yankumi looked back at the girl who was still standing there. Only, now she was looking at her feet.

She breathed in and looked up with a forced smile on her face. "I'll go get a first aid kit." she called, setting down her tote bag full of clothes and then she took off running.

"That Sayo…" Saya sighed and jogged over to the bag. She shook her head as she picked it up and returned to over by Yankumi and the guys.

"What's in the bag?" Yankumi inquired, curiosity taking over. It was a little weird, her looking serious, but acting silly.

"It's clothes." Saya knew she would ask what kind, but tried to be basic none the less.

"What kind of clothes?" Yankumi was getting a little suggestive and it was bugging both Saya and the guys.

"The clothes she got from Takeshi-kun earlier today…" Saya mumbled, hoping the guys couldn't hear her.

"Why would he give her clothes?" Yankumi asked aloud.

Saya sighed, giving up about the guys not figuring out what had happened today. Let's face it, Yankumi can be a bit of a loud mouth when you really don't want her to be.

"Because she and his girlfriend were the models in his photo shoot today…" she kept her eyes closed to avoid the looks she would get from the others present.

"Eh!" Yankumi blinked. "A photo shoot? For a magazine?"

Saya nodded her head shyly. She was silently yelling at Sayo to hurry and get back here, this was awkward. "How long does it take to get a first aid kit?" she muttered under her breath, then remembered the way Sayo had been acting throughout the fight.

"How did she manage that?" Yankumi asked.

"Takeshi's girlfriend is a journalist." Saya began to explain. "She wanted Sayo to be the one in the pictures and the interview."

"Hmm…" Yankumi nodded her head while she listened.

"Besides, Takeshi-kun always does the pictures for her articles." Saya shrugged. "I've been in some of them too."

"Hmm… Eh, wait what?" Yankumi was thrown off a little at the last little bit. "You've been in them too?"

Saya nodded her head slowly.

"Damn, you must have a lot of designer clothes then." Hayato commented.

"This outfit here came from one of my shoots with Takeshi-kun." she smiled, referring to what she was wearing.

"So, who is his girlfriend?" Yankumi began to get curious about it since it was mentioned.

"Takeshi-kun's?" Saya made sure they were talking about the same person before she said anything stupid. "Her name is Tanaka, Miku."

"Is she really pretty?"

"Well, yeah. Miku-san is beautiful." Saya smiled. "I admire her style quite a bit."

"Eh…" Take smirked, as well as he could at least.

"Poor Maki-chan would hate to see you like this Takeda-kun…" Saya mumbled.

"Sorry for taking so long!" Sayo came around the corner running and seemingly out of breath.

"No worries Sayo-chan." Yankumi shook her head when Sayo got to her.

She was doubled over breathing really hard. Apparently she had ran to and from the drug store. She held her arm up showing the other two women the bag of first aid materials.

"Thanks." Yankumi said as she gripped the bag and distributed the materials among the three of them evenly. "We'll each take one and two of us will have to do two."

"Yeah." Saya nodded, a small smile on her face, then she looked down at Sayo, still doubled over, hands on her knees.

"If I mess anything up you two can fix it right?" Yankumi asked.

"Mm." Sayo nodded her head then stood up straight. Yankumi held out her portion of the materials to her. "Thanks." she said as she took them.

"Here Saya-chan." Yankumi handed Saya hers as well.

"Mm, thanks." she nodded her head once as she took them.

The three turned toward the guys. "So," Yankumi started, eyeing them like a hungry wolf. "Which one do you want Saya-chan?"

The guys were suddenly afraid of what was coming to them.

"I guess I'll take Yabuki-kun, since he's in the middle of everyone." Saya shrugged and walked closer to him before kneeling down in front of him to assess the damage done to his poor, beautiful face.

"All right then. How about you Sayo-chan?" Yankumi turned her head to her side to see the girl looking very down in her spirits.

"…" she didn't say anything while she thought carefully.

"Sayo-chan?" Yankumi was getting concerned now.

"I'll take care of Odagiri-kun…" she finally answered and moved forward. Since Ryu was on the end of the line, Sayo was able to kneel down on his left side and assess the damage.

"All right then, I'll take Takeda." Yankumi declared and moved toward the boy who just sat there in surrender.

Saya talked lightly with Hayato while she put bandages on his face and cleaned up his wounds. "Ow." he muttered when the alcohol hit the open cut on his face.

"This is your own fault…" she retorted, at that point, she was really tempted to press the cotton swab a little harder against him, but she didn't.

Kumiko had to continue to tell Take to endure the pain since he'd already endured being beaten up so badly.

Sayo and Ryu were completely silent. She tried to avoid eye contact with him as much as possible. Seeing him like that wasn't exactly something she enjoyed.

He, on the other hand, watched her almost like a hawk. He could tell she was trying to avoid eye contact, but he was searching for words to say to her. The silence was just a bit awkward for him.

"Ne…" he finally let out. Her head was down, she was putting some more alcohol on the cotton swab in her hand. She looked up at him with her head down for a few seconds and then quickly averted her eyes back to her hands.

"Yes?"

"Why were you crying?"

Her eyes widened when she heard him say that. She blinked a few times before answering him. "Heh, what are you talking about?"

"Your eyes are red."

"I think it might be from the alcohol." she tried to steer away from the subject, and was apparently forcing herself too much.

"No, it's not the alcohol."

"So what?"

"…" he watched her as she stopped what she was doing and closed her eyes. "Never mind, just forget it."

Saya was listening to their conversation, even though it wasn't right. Take, Yankumi, Hyuga, and Tsuchi were making enough noise by themselves. But she could still hear the two. And Hayato was doing the same thing. Only, Hayato was watching the two with his eyes.

"What's going on over there?" Saya asked as she prepared a bandage for Hayato's face.

"He's been watching her." Hayato answered, keeping his eyes on his best friend. "It's almost like he won't look at anything else but her. Kind of weird for him."

"Is she looking back at him?" she looked at him with the bandage ready in her hand.

"No, I don't think she wants to."

Saya sighed and gently placed the bandage in the appropriate place on his face so she didn't hurt him.

"You weren't rough that time like the others." Hayato sounded a little shocked. He moved his gaze from the other two to Saya. "What's with that?"

"I didn't want to hear you whining again." she lied.

"Eh." Hayato nodded and looked back at Ryu and Sayo.

Ryu was still watching her even though he wasn't wondering why she had been crying anymore. Well, at least not out loud. She looked back up at his lips, where his wound was, and brought the swab to it slowly. Upon contact, she was tender and gentle with him. She didn't want to hurt him anymore than he already was.

"So, you were in a photo shoot earlier?" he tried to start another conversation.

"How did you…?" her eyes widened again, but this time she was actually looking at him in the eye.

"Yamaguchi got curious and Saya-chan couldn't hide it."

"Oh…" she nodded slowly. "Yeah, I was."

Ryu didn't say anything else, just kept watching her. Her solemn face was enough to keep him entertained, as strange as that was for him. As this happened, he thought back to that statement Hayato had made about him when they were heading home after watching the girls dance in Ginza.

'Don't you like her?' Hayato had asked him.

'You really can be stubborn.' Hayato had said to him.

Ryu couldn't do anything but stare at his best friend when the words came out of his mouth. Did he really like her but not know it yet? Did he know he liked her but not want to admit it? Was he really that stubborn?

Those were questions he couldn't answer himself yet. He didn't know enough. Not yet.

Sayo was also in deep thought while tending to Ryu. She was thinking about all the answers she gave to the questions Miku had asked her for the interview. How she knew she felt for Ryu but didn't want to admit it to anyone, including herself. How she wished she were as honest as Miku seemed to think she was.

She knew she wanted to be Ryu's friend. And that was enough for now.

Whether anything continued from there was to be, and remain, a mystery to her.

For now…