Disclaimer: I do not own Tonari No Kaibutsu-kun.

11

On that particular night, she sat alone in her room, facing that same sight she stares at every night. She sees the names of her friends, her online friends and watches them talk about their vacations, how fun their day was, how happy they are and whatnots. She's supposed to be as enthusiastic as these people, but tonight she wasn't feeling the spirit.

In other words, she was bored. In her mind swirled a lot of things. Things she'd rather not think about. She grabs her phone and plays with it. Wow, she's bored.

She holds it by the charm and lets it dangle, waiting for some miracle to happen. The thing she may be waiting for showed itself through a sound. She almost dropped her phone when it rang. Nobody usually texts or calls her or anything, so she was eager to answer whoever was on the other side.

"Hello." She says, her voice hyped up from being almost unable to catch her phone.

"Oh, Natsume-san?" The voiced on the other side was Mitty's. "Sorry about calling you on New Year's Eve. Do you know how to program a TV recording? My little brother asked me to record the New Year's Special, but I can't find the instruction manual."

If Shizuku could see the look on Natsume's face on the other side, she'd witness an overjoyed girl wanting nothing more than to hug her to her death. Shizuku never calls her if it isn't about her study updates, so she was really happy when the circumstances changed. She was busy fussing over this that she never had time to reply to Mitty.

"Natsume-san? Can you hear me?" Shizuku says, it brought her back to her senses.

"Oh, you want to program a recording? I can help." She begins typing from her computer. "What brand is your machine?"

"Um." Shizuku tells the brand name and Natsume eagerly types it on her keyboard.

"Yep. That should do it." She says after giving instructions she found on the web.

"Got it." She says. "Thank you. Bye."

But she let out a little cry of frustration after Shizuku was about to put down her phone. "What is it?" Shizuku says additionally.

It took Natsume a little time before answering. All Shizuku heard were some sort of stiffled sobs. "I'm so lonelyyyyyy." She lets out, finally.

After that, Shizuku found her standing outside their door.

She calls Haru along with her, and they spent the night in Shizuku's house. She notices how close Mitty and Haru have become and she worries whatever would happen to her if they became a couple. Haru just told her that there's no reason for her to be so lonely, she can just drop by anytime… But she thinks…

"I'm sorry Haru." She says as she wiped the table for their dinner. "I have to focus on protecting my little world."

She considers it a lot. The friendship she had with them. It's not very easy for anyone who's in Natsume's shoes to do that, so it's natural for her to think of protecting that little world she tried so hard to achieve.

They all fell asleep. It's New Year's eve, and the three of them were hunched up on the floor, probably having fun in their dreams. They awoke, however, when Natsume's phone rang. She sits up lazily, rubbing her eyes before putting it on her ear.

"Hey, Natsume-san?" The voice says. "Happy New Year!" He was too cheerful, and she was still adjusting her thoughts.

"Er, Sasayan-kun?" She replies.

"Oh. You were with Mizutani-san and Yoshida? Aren't you coming to the shrine? It's packed."

So they hurriedly went off.

The gang all met up in the shrine, eventually. Sasayan and his pals, Ooshima, even Yamaken and his group. They had a fun time. They drew up fortunes which none of them were happy to read about. Natsume didn't regret getting up. She should be thankful, even, that they woke up. If she didn't, they wouldn't have experienced it.

And they wouldn't be able to watch the sunrise all together, too. Even though in the end, she didn't get to see it, anyway.

At the manager's place, they met up. Natsume was flustered to go. After what Sasayan told her, it's a lot harder trying to talk to Micchan, or even just being around him. "Happy New Year." Shizuku told everyone when they arrived. Natsume seconded, but less energetic, and Shizuku wasn't energetic already.

They chose the roof of Micchan's batting center to be the perfect spot to watch the first sun of the year rise. The air was cool there, and though it was much colder too, it came with a great view of the city.

"Young people have so much energy." Micchan says, shivering. Sasayan and Shimoyanagi were laughing, and they took a glance at Natsume. When Yana and Natsume's eyes met, she immediately broke contact, and walked away.

"Does she hate my guts now?" He hopelessly asks Sasayan.

"Uh." Sasayan can only say.

Micchan continues to smoke. "You look unhappy, Natsume-chan."

Natsume freezes when she realized he was addressing her. "You hurt his feelings." He continues to say. "Boys that age are sensitive."

"You were watching, Micchan-san?" Natsume says.

"It's New Year, I'm happy that Haru brought friends. And I'm happy that I got to see you and Shizuku-chan. You could be a little nicer to him, right?" It was as if the manager was teaching her a lesson.

"I just didn't know how to act after being so mean to him last time." She admits.

Hey. I don't have any trouble talking to him. She just realized it.

"I hate boys!" She screams, not minding if everyone in that rooftop heard her. "And I really hate boys who try to hit on me!"

"Oh." Micchan says, keeping up with her enthusiasm. "That's harsh." He was probably joking. When the manager talks, it's like he doesn't mean it. He smiles too much. But at the same time he looks serious. "Most girls your age don't get to say stuff like that. Personally, I love girls." He began talking about what he truly feels.

"Do you want to fall in love?" Natsume timidly asks him.

"Fall in love?" Micchan says it as if he doesn't know it. He laughs. "Well, I've got all this debt right now." He pauses. "But love is good. It changes people, for better or worse. You could look at it as a chance for you to change. The best kind of love helps you grow up."

Natsume processes what he just said.

"As long as I have Mitty, Haru-kun, and my other friends, I don't need anything else." She turns her back on him as she talks. "An eternal kingdom, where you always have fun and never get hurt."

"There's no such place." Micchan frankly tells her. "You know that."

There was a brief silence that enveloped them after that. She just looked at him, and down to his hands which were holding a cigar. "Then can you and I… grow up together?"

Micchan doesn't answer. It was hard to determine what he was feeling that time. He was wearing shades, and it blocked out the only part of our body where we can clearly see how a person truly feels. She didn't wait for an answer anyway, she slowly walks… away from him.

But what she didn't know, was that someone heard their conversation. Someone who was hiding at the corner, building up some kind of plan for his dear friend to be forgiven by the girl she was about to confess to.

Sasayan didn't know. That was a conversation he wasn't supposed to hear. But he did. He walks to Yana afterwards. "Sorry, Yana." He says. "My plan backfired."

On the other side, or those people who seemed not to feel the tension: Shizuku and Haru were both too excited to see the rising sun. However, they can't clearly see it. What they thought to be a place of the perfect view was a hoax. A great tall building loomed before them, blocking out the sun and all its wonders behind it.

Either way, they can all feel the glimpse of its beauty. They can still see a little part peek out behind the mountains. They all started talking about sunrises they've seen before. Sasayan was surprised to know that most of his friends considered that moment to be their first sunrise, whilst he watches it almost every year.

But something was missing. Someone was missing.

"I bet Natsume-san's never seen sunrise before." He looks around and noticed that the familiar brown hair wasn't with them. When his eyes landed on the roads below, he saw her.

She walked. She didn't even wait for the sun to rise, she just left. Without telling anyone. Not Mitty, or Haru, or Micchan. Not even him. Well, it's not like she tells him a lot of things concerning about her, anyway.

She didn't even mention his name when he heard her conversation with Micchan. Maybe he was part of the "other friends". Either way, he thinks it would be better if she'd seen this.

Natsume continues to walk, her eyes focused on the ground than on the path in front of her. She didn't even try looking back to see how her friends are all doing. See their faces as they watched the sun rise.

If she did, she would've seen Sasayan's face looking back at her.

And she'll realize that of the group of people keeping their eyes on the sun, he was the only one who kept his eye on her instead. She would've known that the only person who noticed her disappearance and tried to look for her was only him. Only Sasayan.

Perhaps she would've needed to reconsider more. That Sasayan called her twice, and that she was asleep during those times. That she woke up on his first call, opened her phone, but didn't check on who was calling her. Instead, she took a picture of Haru and Mitty lying, sleeping.

If she'd think about it, why would it be only her he'd be calling if he knows that Mitty and Haru were with her all the time? Did he try calling them instead after realizing she wasn't picking up her phone?

But of course, none of those things entered her thoughts at that moment.