-Chapter 10-

As Maron walked back to class, she saw what she thought was the boy who heard her yelling in the bathroom. So she tried to sneak right past him, trying to be as unnoticeable as possible.

"Hi, there... um... What's your name???" the boy asked.

"Eh... It's Maron Kusakabe."

"Oh, hello! My name is Akemi Takahashi," the boy said. "Now that we know each other's names, how about a proper introduction?"

"Yes?"

"Hello, gorgeous," he said.

At this, Maron got mad and said, "Oh, please! Don't act like you don't think I'm fat!"

"Well, if by fat you mean beautiful, then yes, you're by far the fattest girl I've ever seen," Akemi replied.

Maron looked down and blushed. "I have to get back to class, anyways! Bye!" she said and ran off.

Chiaki, who was just around the corner, overheard the conversation and went straight up to Akemi. "Takahashi! You stay away from her! That's my girl!"

"Who are you???" Akemi asked.

"Chiaki Nagoya, and I'm not too happy with what I just heard. If you value your life, you'll keep your distance!" Chiaki answered.

Chiaki's arm was forcefully grabbed and pulled behind him. Then his arm was used to throw him to the floor. THEN something very heavy was set upon him.

"If you value your life, you'll keep your distance!" a girl's voice said. "We broke up, remember? So technically, I'm NOT your girl!"

"M-Maron?!" he said in a strangled tone. "Y-You're a little heavy! Please spare me! Get off!" Next thing he knew, he had a huge bump on his head from where Maron's fist had made contact with it.

"You should know that I can't get up on my own anymore! And since no one ever helps me up, you're just plain out of luck! And you know what else? Miyako was right! You really are just a happy-go-lucky playboy!" said one angry Maron. Well, she was angry until a hand came down in front of her. That's when she became confused. "What are you doing?" she asked.

"What's it look like? I'm helping you up, of course! It's disrespectful to not help out a lady as lovely as you," Akemi responded.

Maron blushed and without even thinking about it took his hand. Akemi used his other hand and grabbed her arm, then pulled with both of his own arms to bring her up and off her unfortunate victim, in which whose eyes made one big "X" and was frowning. Not to mention gasping for air.

"She's a tough one to get! You're gonna have to work for that one!" Chiaki shouted out as the pair went off in the opposite direction.

"So... I've two questions, may I ask them? Oh! Well, let's make that three questions!" Akemi said.

"I'm not stopping you," Maron answered.

"First: I thought you were going to your class. What happened?"

"As soon as I got back, class, I found out, was over."

"Okay. Second: What happened between you and Chiaki?"

Maron looked down, her bangs overshadowing her eyes.

"Oh, I'm sorry... I didn't mean to-"

"No! It's fine, you deserve to know after what you just saw... So here goes: Chiaki was a pervert; he embarrassed me and was constantly teasing me. But he had his supposedly sweet sides. In ways, he encouraged me; he cheered me up when I was down and when I told him a secret that I hadn't told anyone else before, he took me seriously. The problem was me, though. I was foolish enough to believe his act, and I fell in love with him. We went out several times, and we got to know each other better. Or so I thought. It was still an act he was putting on. Then one night I invited him over for dinner. Everything went fine until I stole his steak and held it over my head, keeping him from getting at it. It was all fun and games until a freak accident happened where Chiaki fell on top of me while trying to get the steak. The steak was thrown into the air, and it landed on Chiaki's head, pushing his head down and making him kiss me. Let's just say we spent the night together. The next morning, I found out I was pregnant with his child. So I thought of a way to tell him; at the time I didn't have the courage to tell him to his face. Instead, I wrote a letter and put it in his mailbox. When I next saw him, he said we should break up. And that's it... I got pregnant so he left me. And until just then, I hadn't seen him since," Maron explained.

Akemi wiped away a single tear that had been shed as Maron told her story. Apparently, she'd not even known it was there. "That's not very fair of him," he said.

"Guess not, but I'm alright. I'm used to being alone." What was she saying?! She hardly even knew this guy! And here she was, blurting out things that she'd meant to keep secret!

"Yeah... It's not easy being alone, though. I know that I've kept this to myself for quite some time, but, my parents left me to fend for myself when I was about ten years old. I've been alone ever since then... But, hey! I've met you! That's an upside!" he said.

They both stopped. Maron eyes shed yet more sparkling tears. "T-That's the same thing that happened to me..." she whispered.

"Then I guess it's safe to say we can relate to one another, huh?"

She nodded, too choked up for words.

"It's okay to cry, Maron. There isn't anyone in the world who'll think less of you for doing so. You can cry on me if you want."

She took up that offer and leaned on him, still crying.

Chiaki came around the corner and saw this. One thing could most definitely be said about how he felt. He was crushed. Shattered like a four-wheeler ran over a thin piece of glass and that glass was him, Chiaki. In his mind, that should be him over there, not that Akemi kid. He still didn't understand how Maron could even like someone with a name like that.