"Here, senpai∼," an overly happy blonde said as he shoved a box in my face.

I looked at him apathetically, "What is this?"

"Since you said that you don't like to make your lunch, I asked my sisters to make an extra bento for you," he said all proud of himself.

I turned away from him, "No thanks."

A look of sadness flashed across Kise's face, Rima looked at me saying, "Aww, just take it, he looks like a sad puppy."

I slowly turned my head and slid the box over to myself saying, "I don't like you very much, but I have nothing against your sisters."

Rima smirked, "That, and you'd never actually turn down free food."

"True," I said taking a bite of the food.

Kise watched me as I chewed, "Is it good Haizawa senpai?" he asked.

I nodded a yes and he smiled softly, "I'm so glad senpai-ssu."

I interlocked my fingers and rested my chin on them saying, "Is that genuine happiness I'm detecting?"

"No, it's a renewed sense of determination," Kise answered.

"Regarding what?" I asked.

"What you said last night," Kise responded.

"What did I say last night?" I asked.

"You said that I probably can't impress you, which still means I have a chance," Kise said smiling.

"Good luck with that Kise," Rima said sympathetically.

Changing her tone Rima asked everyone, "Does anyone have plans for white day, tomorrow?"

I'm sure that it must be easy to ask other people that question when you're currently attached to eyebrows. "You do realize who you're talking to right? Moriyama isn't here right now, but he's probably racked up three restraining orders trying to get a date for tomorrow, Yuki can't talk to girls, Blondie's going to get a crapload of chocolate and confessions from his fans, and I sure as hell am not confessing to anybody," I answered for all of us.

"Why not? Are you still getting over your relationship with Imayoshi?" Rima asked me.

"No, we haven't been together for over a year," I answered.

"Then why?" Rima probed.

I shrugged back at her. I couldn't exactly say that my best friend always cockblocked me and I got used to not having someone. I sighed, "I guess I just don't see the point in starting anything with someone when I'm going to college after this year, I already tried having a long distance relationship with Shouichi, it doesn't work."

Rima pouted, "Well that's cynical of you."

I laughed, "Have you met me?"

"Unfortunately," she spat back playfully at me.

I was about to provide her with a snarky reply, but was interrupted by Takeuchi-sensei saying from his desk, "Shira, good work on the test last week, you actually passed."

"Does that mean I don't have to be manager anymore?" I asked.

"No, this obviously seems to be working," he said firmly.

Rima looked at me, "I guess miracles do happen."

"Not that they matter apparently," I replied.

"Completely off topic, have you and Kasamatsu ever realized that you could be siblings?" Rima asked.

I'm sure she was referring to the fact that we both had the same color eyes, hair, and bitchy resting face. "Yes, I have realized this fact," I replied.

"Now that Rima senpai mentions it, it's kind of creepy how similar you two are, and you're both so mean to me-ssu," Kise said.

"If I'm so mean to you, why do you keep trying to impress me?" I asked.

"Because I can't," Kise said seriously.

I smiled, "So it's like what that American hottie said, what was it, it's better if I can't win?"

"Senpai, you know his name is Kagamicchi, right?" Kise asked.

"Fine. Kagamicchi it is," I said mimicking Kise's nickname.

The bell rang and Rima laughed saying, "You two are hopeless."

The four of us went to the gym for practice. Things were going about normally, I was doing my homework, Moriyama was sulking in the corner about how he doesn't have a girlfriend, and Rima was tending to her new boyfriend's every need. Now, I really feel for Takeuchi-sensei, because there are so many distractions that keep happening when he's trying to prepare his team for the interhigh. I probably feel for him more than most because more than half of them seem to be coming from me. The cold hearted part of me thinks he deserves it for making me do this job as manager, but no one really deserves their practice to be interrupted by someone like him

Like I said, things were going about very normally, until I heard a familiar syrupy voice say, "There's my favorite girl."

Everybody in the gym turned to the speaker except for me, I didn't need to look to see who it was. "I thought we mutually understood that I wasn't speaking to you," I said still looking down at my homework.

"Too late," a voice laughed in my ear.

"I'm sorry for the intrusion sensei, I'll take this outside," I said, leading the owner of the voice out by his tie.

I could tell they were all bewildered by my politeness, but I couldn't help it, I felt like being overly nice whenever I was around him.


The sun was just starting to go down, painting the sky with streaks of dull yellow and a harsh orange. I leaned against a bench while my companion sat on it with his arms outstretched, his fingers dangerously close to my back. "What do you want?" I said harshly.

"To talk," he said.

"That's always all you ever want to do, but something more always ends up happening, doesn't it," I replied.

"You knew what type of guy I was from the beginning," he said.

"Your point being?" I asked.

"Why the silence?" he asked back.

"That was on a whole different level and you know it," I answered.

"You're right," he said.

"Apologize and I'll talk to you," I said.

"Apologize to you?" he asked in a sarcastic tone.

"You know who I'm talking about," I said in a steely voice.

"But I don't regret it," he laughed.

"You will though," I said.

"I know," he said almost in a whisper.

"What good would apologizing now do when I might do worse this time around?" he asked.

"Then let him know that in the apology, you're acting like he didn't spend three years wearing the same uniform as you, or that he doesn't know you better than anyone because the two of you are the same in different ways and that's what pisses you off so much," I said heatedly.

"I don't want to say I'm sorry," he whined.

I sighed, "It's not that hard; just go to the hospital and say, I'm sorry for crippling you and for the fact that I'm a sick fuck who needs to go out in the sun more."

He laughed at that saying, "Aren't you supposed to be my partner; "Bad girl Haizawa Shira, where's the cruelty that comes with that title?"

I chuckled, "You know that's more of a reputation thing."

He hummed in agreeance, "Maybe I'll apologize...someday," he said getting up to leave.

"See ya around Shi-chan," he said walking away.

"See you, Hana-chan," I called after him.

He flipped me off and although a year ago I would've laughed at that, I couldn't currently bring myself to crack a smile. "Bad Boy" Hanamiya Makoto (aka truthful flower) wasn't one that let his emotions cloud his judgement, the one time I did see it though, it haunted me. I still loved him dearly, but the memory of hearing Teppei's knees crack and his agony kept me from seeing him the same way.

I sighed and walked back to the gym, where I was instantly bombarded by a tall blonde, "Haizawa-senpai, who was that guy?" he asked.

"Hanamiya Makoto, he's the captain and coach of the Kirisaki Daiichi team," Kasamatsu answered for me.

"He's captain and coach?" Kise asked.

"He's also bad news and I don't think you should be hanging around the likes of him, Shira," Kasamatsu said to me.

"Aww, Yuki, I love that you worry about me," I cooed.

"Shut up," he said, throwing a basketball at me.

I laughed at him as he walked away, then I spied eyebrows and Rima being a very cute new couple, "Ah, young love," I sighed.

"Senpai, you sound like an old woman," Kise said, sitting down next to me.

"You'll understand when you're older," I said.

"Senpai, you're only two years older than me," Kise pouted.

"You're still a fetus," I said.

"Uwaaah, Senpai that's so mean!" Kise whined.

"HEY, who told you to slack off!" Kasamatsu yelled at Kise.

I patted Kise's shoulder, "Don't be too hard on the young one, I was just teaching him about the wonders of love."

Yuki then told me to stop being ridiculous all the time, and Kise went back to practice.


Instead of going straight home after practice, I made a small detour to a very tall building in Tokyo. Dodging many a white coat adorned person, I finally made my way to a room marked with the name Kiyoshi Teppei. Upon entering I said cheerfully, "Hey there, I don't come bearing gifts due to the fact that I am a broke teenager, but I brought my shining personality."

Kiyoshi looked at me and smiled, saying, "It's nice to see you Shira, how are you?"

"Isn't that what I'm supposed to be asking you?" I said.

"I'm doing okay, I'm probably going to be released in a couple of weeks," he said.

"That's great, are you going to be playing this year?" I asked.

"Yeah, this is the last year I can play," Kiyoshi said.

"Is that okay for your knees?" I asked.

"Not really, but I need to finish things," he said firmly.

I smirked, "You boys and your need for resolution."

"So what've you been up to?" he asked me.

"Due to my behavior and horrible grade in Japanese History, I have been forced into the position of manager for Kaijo's basketball team," I answered.

He grinned, "I guess I'll be seeing you whenever we play against them."

I smiled, "I'll probably be cheering for you guys."

He laughed, then looked out the window saying, "You should go home, it's getting dark and I don't want you on the trains too late, there are a lot of creeps out there."

I stood up, ruffled his hair, and said, "You're such a gentleman Te-chan, worrying about your senpai like this."

I gave him a hug and said goodbye. I exited the hospital, fiddling with the zipper on my jacket because it refused to zip up, and bumped directly into someone's chest. I looked at the person in surprise before saying, "Stalking is a crime you know."

A deep shade of red flashed across the boy's face before he spewed out quickly, "I'm not stalking you, I just got done with a job and I saw you!" Kise insisted, waving his hands in front of him.

I chuckled, "No need to get so flustered blondie, I was just joking."

Kise breathed a sigh of relief before he looked at me seriously saying, "Never mind that senpai, why are you at the hospital? Are you sick?" he said, putting his hands on my shoulders.

"No, I was just visiting someone," I explained.

Another look of relief washed over Kise's face and I could tell he was about to say something, but his phone interrupted him. "Excuse me," he said reaching for the phone in his pocket.

He answered it and immediately flinched at the loudness of the voice. I could tell from where I was standing the person on the other line was really upset. He looked at me saying, "It's Rima, she said she was trying to get ahold of you all afternoon."

"Oh, my phone doesn't work in the hospital," I explained.

He nodded in understanding and I asked, "Why is she so upset?"

"Here," he said handing me his phone.

I heard Rima sniffling on the other end, "Hello, Rima?" I asked.

"Shira…" she replied.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

I could tell that she was crying, "I'm a terrible girlfriend," she finally managed to get out.

"What do you mean by that? Did eyebrows do something? Cause if he did I swear I'll-"

"No, it's not that," she interrupted me, "I just...tried making him chocolates and I almost burned my kitchen down."

"That's it? Just buy him some at a convenience store," I said.

"No, I absolutely cannot do that! It's our first White Day together!" Rima yelled at me.

"Fine," I grumbled, "Meet us at my house in an hour."

I hung up the phone and tried to hand it to Kise, "Put your number in it while you have it," he said.

"I don't really know if I trust you with my number," I said.

He started crying," Waahh, that's so mean senpai."

I sighed and quickly added myself in his contacts before throwing his phone back at him. "Senpai, don't throw it like that, what if I hadn't caught it?" he whined.

"Then you should try to find a sport you're better at, now come on, or we'll miss the next train," I said.

The train was very crowded given the fact that it was rush hour, and my face was shoved up against Kise's chest. I laughed saying, "Blondie, may I say you smell very manly."

He pouted, "I like this cologne."

I laughed louder, "Yeah, but I feel like someone just punched me in the nose with an assortment of flowers."

"It doesn't smell bad," he protested.

"Never said it did, but I don't think this particular scent qualifies as cologne. Can we agree that you're wearing perfume?" I said.

"Don't be mean senpai," he said childishly.

"I'm not, I guess it sort of fits you in a way," I conceded.

He beamed, "Really?"

"Well, let me put it this way, I don't think any other straight male could pull it off," I said.

He looked way too happy after I said that, and I wish I could be half that happy right now, but the hand currently groping me was preventing that. I hate being on the train during rush hour for this reason specifically, everyone's always packed together like sardines and some creepy pervert always tries to take advantage. "Due to the fact that I am unable to move my head, I can't see you, but if you don't remove your hand from my ass in the next two seconds, I am going to rip it off and use it to gouge out your eyeballs," I said loudly.

The hand rapidly moved away and I'm pretty sure the person it belonged to squeezed to the other side of the train. Kise looked at me alarmed, "Was someone touching you?"

"No, I just like to randomly say things like that in public," I said sarcastically.

He frowned, "You should've told me."

"And what were you going to do about it, it's not like anyone can actually move around in here," I said.

"But still, I'm the guy and I'm supposed to protect you," he pouted.

I snorted, "First, I don't subscribe to gender stereotypes like those, and I thought we already established I can take care of myself."

"You think you can, but you can't. What if you were alone in an alley with that guy at three in the morning?" Kise protested.

"Why would I be in an alley at three in the morning?" I asked jokingly.

"That's not the point," Kise said.

I laughed, "Well, I guess you're just going to have to keep stalking me to make sure that doesn't happen."

He cracked a smile and told me I was being mean again.

We got off the train a half an hour later, the walk to my house was nice. The sun had almost completely gone down, but still had enough presence to color the sky a light shade of blue. Although it was towards the end of winter, a chilling wind blew against us as we walked.

When we got there, Rima was waiting on my doorstep, her nose and eyes were still red. "Come on," I said opening the door and walking into the kitchen.

I wrote a list of ingredients on a notepad and gave it to Kise saying, "Get these for me, I'm gonna go clean her up," I said pointing at a near hysterical Rima.

He nodded and left. I looked at Rima, "No offense, but you look a hot mess."

She sniffled, "I know."

I took a glance over her. Her hair was messed up and had dried chocolate in it, her clothes had chocolate over them as well, and her eyes were puffy and bloodshot. "Why don't you go take a shower, I'll show you where the bathroom is," I said guiding her up the stairs.

I grabbed a shirt and pair of shorts from my room on the way and handed them to her at the bathroom door, "Here you can borrow these."

"Thank you," she said quietly.

I went back down the stairs and settled on my couch, deciding to watch tv while I waited for Kise and Rima.

Kise arrived first, slightly out of breath, "You didn't have to run you know," I said, taking the bags from him.

"Where's Rima?" he asked as I sat back down on the couch.

"In the shower, she'll be out in a bit," I said.

He sat down next to me, "What are you watching?"

"A really interesting korean soap opera," I said.

"That seems boring," he said.

Twenty minutes later I was almost dying of laughter. The show Kise had initially labeled as "boring", now enthralled him to the point his eyes were glued to the television. "So, wait, she's not really her aunt, but her mother!?" he exclaimed.

"Yes, indeed," I replied.

He ran his fingers through his hair, "How is that even possible?"

I laughed at him as I turned my head to the stairs, noticing Rima had come down. "Ooh, I love this show," she said when she looked at the television.

I clicked the tv off, and Kise and Rima looked at me as if I had just murdered a dog. "I'll record it," I assured them, "But the chocolate."

A look of horror flashed across Rima's face, "There's no hope, I'm terrible at it."

I walked into the kitchen, "It just takes practice, I'll help you," I said grabbing a bag.

"Senpai, don't we need aprons?" Kise asked me.

I looked at him, "Aprons are for the weak."

"But I don't want to get my uniform dirty," Kise whined.

"Fine," I said handing him one.

"You can't be serious," he said.

I smiled, I had given him a very pink, very ruffly monstrosity that my mother had tried to force upon me in efforts to make me more "feminine". He laughed and then proceeded to put it on. "You are a very secure individual Kise," Rima said.

"Of course I am, this is almost as cute as me," he said, oozing out that fake happiness I hated so much.

I chuckled, "We better get started or we'll be up doing this all night."


I know that I told Rima I'd "help" her make the chocolates, but she had no idea what she was doing, so it turned into me making them and her and Kise watching. She watched me temper the chocolate saying, "How are you so good at this?"

I continued stirring and said, "My cousin owns a candy shop in Akita, my parents sent me there one summer and she taught me how to make it."

"That sounds really fun, we should go there some time," Rima said.

I poured the chocolate into the mold, "Okay, it just needs to set."

"Where are your parents?" Rima asked suddenly.

I realized then that it was past eleven and anyone normal would probably be asking that, "They're both on business trips right now, so I'm alone."

"You're so mature," she said.

"I'll most likely be living on my own next year anyway," I said.

"You're not staying in Kanagawa?" Rima asked.

"No," I answered.

She yawned, "Hey, do you mind if I sleep over, it's pretty late to go home."

"Sure, you can use the guest bedroom, it's across from my room," I said.

"Okay, by the way, where's Kise?" she asked about the blonde who had disappeared almost an hour ago.

I turned around to see a pair of feet dangling from the side of my couch, "He's in the living room, but I have a feeling he'll be staying too."

Rima hugged me, "Thanks for everything, you really saved me."

"You're welcome," I said as she went up the stairs. I walked into my living room and was confronted with a sleeping Kise, who barely fit on my couch. "Idiot," I said, grabbing a blanket and putting it on him, "You don't just go around falling asleep on people's couches."