A/N: I am extremely sorry for taking so long to update this chapter.

Thanks a lot to all the readers who waited patiently.^_^


"…and then Megumi-chan went and complained to the captain…" As usual Akiko was summarizing her day to Tezuka.

It has been more than a couple of weeks since that unpleasant incident with the snake and the very next day Akiko had appeared in front of Tezuka's door step with a bright smile, offering to walk to school with him one more time. And just like that, everything went back to the way it was before that fiasco.

Thinking back, it made him wonder if the whole episode had been just a strange dream. But he could never forget the expression he saw on her face that day and what he felt at that moment. It had hurt him to see that painful expression on her face. It has happened before, with his teammates, when they got hurt he'd get more upset than anyone else though he wouldn't show it on his face.

But he had never felt helpless before, like he did now.

At first, he thought that Akiko was somewhat like Kikumaru, overly social and very outgoing. He thought that was the reason for her taking all those liberties with him as if they had been friends for years.

But the way she acted that day made him think otherwise. He had a feeling that there was something else that she wanted. But he had no right to probe into her personal affairs even if it did involve him. He was already feeling ill at ease with the way their conversations are going, while she contributed a lot, he hardly shared anything about himself. He didn't want to feel any more guilty by prying more information out of her, though he had no idea why he felt guilty. After all, he had no obligation to let her know more about himself.

"Tezuka-kun, can you come to my house tomorrow? It's my sister's birthday." Akiko asked him abruptly and the way she phrased the question made him blink.

Did she just ask me 'can' you come? He wondered if he heard it correctly.

Normally he would have declined any offer to attend social gatherings not to mention a kid's birthday party was definitely not his cup of tea. He was fairly certain that he would be out of place there. Yet, her stiff shoulders and the anxiousness she was desperately trying to conceal behind a bright smile just like she did two weeks ago made him decide otherwise.

Her body relaxed visibly and her face broke into a real smile.

"Alright then, we'll go straight to my house after school tomorrow" she said, skipping the rest of the way to his house.

It was amusing to see how her mood changes so swiftly, sometimes it leaves him baffled as well.

She's like a polar opposite of me. He thought to himself.

Yes and polar opposites attract each other... A voice which suspiciously sounded like Fuji's told him and he mentally shook his head to clear off the unnecessary thought.

Once they were home, she ran inside before him to ask Ayana her permission for Tezuka come to her house tomorrow, though they both know very well that she wouldn't disagree.

Within these two weeks, both Akiko and Ayana had become relatively close to each other.

It has become a habit for Akiko to take a half an hour break from studying and help Ayana with cooking. This means more often than not a dish or two made by Akiko would be served at dinner and Kuniharu doesn't need a better reason to tease Kunimitsu to his heart's content.


The next day, at Ayuzawa residence 4:30 A.M.

Akiko bolted upright in her bed panting. She shut her eyes tightly and shook her head. She shook her head again as though she could shake the dream and the feeling out of her mind. A slight mist of sweat covered her body making her nightdress stick to her chest. She shivered and unconsciously began rubbing her arms.

An influx of images hit her once again and Ayuzawa Akiko grabbed at her head, her fingers tangling into her ruffled hair. She wanted to yank it out as though that would get rid of the images.

It was the same dream once again which had been haunting her for the past 5years. It's been a while since she last dreamt about it and she almost believed that she had moved on from that sour incident. But no, it'll probably never stop haunting her. Her actions on that day was inhuman and even the Gods wouldn't forgive her.

She covered her face with her trembling hands and caved into herself, feeling dirty.

Her eyes clamped shut so tightly her head was beginning to hurt.

Tbc…

A/N: You can look forward to more humor from the next chapter on wards^_^


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