a/n: OH MY GOSH I'M SO SORRY EVERYONE! School's been a meanie! Anyways, here's a chappie for everyone! So sorry for being (really, really) late!

Prompt: Star

Our school was always a funny one. After all, what kind of school gave out gold star stickers at the end of the week? But hey, that was Teitan Elementary School.

I had never gotten a gold star before. They were only given to the outstanding students who had gotten perfect scores on their tests for the entire week. Before this week, I'd never gotten that. But today I stood a chance. A chance for the star.

"Sonoko Suzuki!"

My heart jumped. Yes! I screamed to myself, YES! Finally, FINALLY I get a gold star! I wanted to leap up and jump around and do a triple somersault. I felt like flying. At the corner of my eye I saw Ran give me a thumbs-up. I slowly got out of my chair, savoring the moment as I walked up to my teacher's desk.

She gave me a little smile as she peeled a star off her sticker sheet and placed it on the left corner of my uniform. I was bursting with pride. "Congratulations, Sonoko." She said as she sat back down in her seat. I muttered a small 'Thank you." And slowly went back to my seat, gathering my things. We were to be dismissed soon.

"And that's it! Have a great weekend everyone!" Our teacher clapped her hands once with a smile on her face. "Dismissed!"

I couldn't help smiling as Ran ran up to me, backpack bouncing on her shoulders. "Sonoko! You got it! You got a star!" Her face broke out in a smile.

"Yeah! I did!" I slung the backpack over my shoulders and began walking out the door, Ran at my side. "I can't believe it!"

Ran smiled again, then frowned. "Hey, was Kyogoku called?"

"No…" I wracked my brain for the names that came up today for the stars. "Don't think so…odd. He always gets a star. He gets perfect in all his tests." I said with a slight roll of my eyes.

"Oh…okay." Ran muttered still frowning in confusion.

"Don't mind that!" I gave her a slight nudge with my elbow. "So what if he doesn't get a star! He's got a hundred of other stars that could make up for it. He's gotten one every week so far anyway. So what if he misses a week! He'll cope!" I said with a huge smile.

"Yeah…I guess your right…" Ran mumbled, her eyes still furrowed in worry and doubt. "Hey!" Her face immediately lit up as she saw her father impatiently honking at her with his car horn. "I have to go, Sonoko! Bye!"

"Bye!" I waved at her as she ran to her father. My mother should be here any minute. Nothing to do but wait. As I sat down, at the corner of my eye I saw Makoto sitting down with his back against a tree and knees curled up to his chest, eyes hidden by those stupid glasses.

I didn't know what came over me as I found my feet automatically walking in his direction. I never really liked Makoto Kyogoku. He was annoying. And those annoying, stupid glasses of his gave him an annoying bratty air. Yet here I was, walking towards him.

"Makoto?"

His head tilted upwards to look at me. His face was cold with no emotion. A moment passed, and even though not a sound escaped his lips, I knew he was asking me what I was doing here.

"I…uh…I…" Niiiiice. The voice at the back of my head whispered. Reeeal smooth. I was stuttering like an idiot. "Ummm…" I abruptly pointed at the left corner of his shirt. "You have no star."

He tilted his head a fraction to the left, as if to say, "Isn't it obvious?" I stuttered a bit before mumbling, "Bu-but you always get a star. Right?"

He looked down again before whispering something. "I'm sorry, what?" I asked.

"One mistake on Thursday's test."

"O-oh. Well, it's okay right? I mean, it's okay! You have tons of stars! It doesn't really matter, right?"

His only response was to stand up and sling his backpack over his shoulders. He turned away from me and began walking away. I was left staring stupidly at the tree he left me with. I knew it. The voice at the back of my head whispered. Dumb, dumb idea. I was about to walk away myself when I heard a whisper.

"Father."

I whipped around to face the back of his head. "Wh-what?"

"Father. Father will get angry. He got angry the last time." He looked down at his shoes, and said in a very, very soft whisper that I had to strain to hear, "He hit me. He used a belt."

I looked at him, slack-jawed in shock. "But-but surely he can forgive you! I mean, you can't always be perfect!"

"Perfect. Father needs me to be perfect. He needs perfection." He whispered, eyes looking at his shoes, his back still turned to me. "When I get home tonight, without a star, he'll get angry. He'll use a belt and hit me." He looked up. "I have to go home." He started walking again.

And something came over me. I don't know what it was. It was the same feeling that came over me when I started walking towards him in the first place. There was some sort of feeling in my chest as I reached out and grabbed his shoulder.

"Wait."

He slowly turned around, slowly turned to face me. "What? I have to get home. Father is waiting."

I peeled the sticker off of my shirt and slowly put it on the left corner of his uniform. "There." I whispered. "You have a gold star now. Now your father won't get angry."

He stared at me incredulously. "But this is yours. This is your first star. And you're giving it to me?"

I gave him a smile. "My parents won't get mad at me if I don't have a star. I'll be fine." I rubbed the star to make sure it was stuck to his shirt. "You need it more than I do."

I took a step back and saw his head tilted a fraction to the right. "What?" I said indignantly. "You're looking at me funny."

He took off his glasses, and I saw his eyes. They were a shade of brown (or black, I'm not sure) that matched his hair. They were dark and refined, the eyes of someone who knows too much for his age. And I realized how much more mature he was compared to me. Then the corner of his mouth turned slightly upwards. So slight that I barely realized it, but Makoto Kyogoku was smiling. A real, honest-to-goodness smile.

Then he stepped forward and hugged me.

I didn't know what to make of it. His arms were wrapped around my waist, his chin over my left shoulder. I just stood there, arms sticking out beside me and eyes wide open in shock.

"Thank you." He whispered in my ear as he stepped back and gave that little smile again. Then he turned and walked away.

I was never really able to get another one of those gold stars. But it didn't matter. Because that one gold star I got and gave away meant so much more than a million of those stars put together.

a/n: Sorry for the loooong wait! I'll try to update more often! Please review!