He laid on his bed, not knowing what to do with himself. "Haru! Can you go to the grocery store for me!?" He heard his mom call out.

"Okay, Mom!" He stood up, and looked into his mirror. "God… I look horrible…" He commented as he saw his bloodshot eyes and messed up hair. Haru combed his hair to the side, covering the corner of his left eye. "At least that covers one of them…" He sighed, walking downstairs.

"Here you go, Haru. These are the things I need you to get for me." His mom handed him a small list of about 10 things.

"Oh, so we're having curry tonight?" He asked, looking over the list. She nodded, smiling. "Okay, I'll see you in a little bit."

"Hurry home, dear. Also, be careful. It looks like it's going to rain soon." He heeded her warning, and nodded.

Haru began his walk to the local grocery store, which was still a ten minute walk from his house. He lived in a small town, and it didn't have many people living in it. Only about 30 families scattered across. Though, his family had not conversed with the other families much.

Haru arrived at the store, and he began to grab everything that was on the list. "Okay...I think that is all." He double checked the list. "Yep, that's it." He went to the register, and paid for the groceries. On his way out, he saw a young woman who looked around his age, and she looked lost. "Um, excuse me?" He said, tapping on her shoulder.

She jumped a little, startled by him. "O-oh, you mean me?" He nodded. "Um, what is it?"

"You look a little lost, so I came over to see if you needed help."

"Oh, really? Well, I am a little lost. Could you help me find the train station?"

"Okay, sure. It's about a 15 minute walk from here, and it's straight down this road there." He replied, smiling.

"Oh, thank you so much." Just as she said that, rain started to pour down.

"Oh no… Hey, follow me." He grabbed her hand and took her to his house. When they walked in the house, his mother greeted them.

"Haru, you're back...what happened? And who is this young lady, Haru?"

"Well, we got soaked as I was about to walk back. And… I don't know. What's your name?"

"Oh, it's Sakurauchi. Sakurauchi Riko." She responded, smiling slightly.

"Pleasure to meet you, Sakurauchi-san." He said, smiling back. "Oh, here you go, Mom. This is all you needed, right?"

"Yes, it is. Thank you, Haru. Now...Sakurauchi-san, do you mind staying for a little bit? I wouldn't want you walking home in the rain."

"O-oh, no, you don't have to do that. I'll be fine." As she said that, she sneezed.

"Sakurauchi-san, you need to get out of those wet clothes. Mom, can I get something out of your room for her to wear?" She nodded. "Okay, thanks. Follow me, Sakurauchi-san."

"W-wait!" She tried to stop him. "I assure you, I'm fine." She then sneezed again.

"Come on, I'm just trying to help you." She gave up resisting and followed him upstairs. Haru led Riko to the closet in his mom's room. "Okay, pick something that you would like to wear."

"A-anything?" He nodded. "Okay then…" She looked around and found a black dress. "Is this okay?"

"If you want to wear it, then yes, it's fine. Now...I'm going to wait outside. Put your clothes in this basket and I'll dry them for you, Sakurauchi-san." She nodded, smiling. Haru began to leave the room.

"Hold on!" He turned back towards her. "I...I never got your name."

"Oh, my name is Akashiya Haru." She smiled. "Now, get dressed. We can talk afterwards, okay?" She nodded again. He smiled at her, leaving the room. "She...she seems different…" He said quietly outside of the room.

"Akashiya Haru… What does life have in store for us…?" She asked herself, putting on the black dress. "Okay, I'm finished, Akashiya-san." He entered the room again. "How do I look?" She asked him, twirling around.

"You look beautiful…" He whispered, turning red.

"T-thanks…" She smiled, also turning red to the face.

Haru grabbed the basket that had her clothes in it, and took it downstairs. "Wait for me in the kitchen. I'll be out in a moment."

"Okay, Akashiya-san." She walked into the kitchen. "Hello, ma'am. Thank you for letting me stay here."

"Don't mention it, Sakurauchi-san. Besides, this is the first time I've seen Haru this happy in years. I don't know what you did, but thank you."

"W-what? I-I didn't do anything. He just tried to help me earlier, but it started to rain. Then we ended up running here. If anything, I should be thanking him."

His mom smiled. "Maybe...maybe you can change him back…" She whispered quietly.

"What?"

"Oh, it's nothing. Also, you look really good in that dress, Sakurauchi-san. I have really nice memories with that dress."

"You do? Like what?"

"Well, that was the dress I wore on my first date with Haru's father. Sure brings back memories…"

Haru walked back into the kitchen. "Okay, they're drying now."

"Oh, thank you, Akashiya-san. Do you want to talk now?" He nodded, leading her into the living room. "Your mom told me something...and...I'm a little curious now. Do you mind if I ask?" He shook his head. "Okay. She told me this is the first time she's seen you happy in years. What happened to you?"

"I...I don't want to talk about it… All I'll say is that it's a personal matter, and it made me stop going to school for almost two years…"

"O-oh… I-I won't ask anymore about it…" She said, feeling guilty. "But, you should at least finish high school, Akashiya-san."

"I know, Sakurauchi-san… I just...don't know what people will think. I was an honors student who suddenly vanished. I don't think people will want me anyways…"

"You can't say that. If you want, you can come to the school I'm attending starting next week. It was an all-girls high school, but recently it became co-ed to have more students enrolling."

"I-I don't know…"

She put her hand on his lap. "Trust me. You'll be fine, okay? And besides… You've shown me nothing but kindness ever since we met, even though you didn't know me. I think it would be really good to have someone as sweet as you at our school. Also…"

"Hm? What is it?"

"I-I want you to come…" She whispered in a light voice.

Haru knew his face turned red. "I-I'll consider it, Sakurauchi-san."

"Really?" She asked, looking happy.

He smiled. "Yeah, I guess it wouldn't be a bad idea for me to attend school again. Maybe it would help me…" He looked down at the ground. "Sakurauchi-san, what grade are you in…?"

"I'm going into my second year of high school."

"Really? I would be too…" He noticed her smile. "Could you tell me the name of the school?"

"Sure thing. It's Uranohoshi Academy. It's not that far from here. Probably just a five minute train ride."

"Okay, you two! Dinner's ready." Haru's mom called out from the kitchen.

"Let's go, Sakurauchi-san." She nodded, walking with him to the table. "Mom, dinner looks great!"

"Aw, thanks, Haru. Here you go, Sakurauchi-san." She said, handing her a plate.

"Thank you, ma'am." They began to eat their food, and chatted. Once they were finished, the rain began to let up. "Okay, I think I should be leaving now. I really appreciate the hospitality you both showed me."

"Don't worry about it, Sakurauchi-san. Oh, wait!" Haru quickly went to the laundry room and grabbed Riko's clothes from the machine. "Here you go, Sakurauchi-san. Mom, is it alright if she changes at home and brings the dress the next time I see her?" She nodded smiling. "Okay, you can keep the dress on until you get home."

"Okay, Akashiya-san. Now, I really should get going. Don't forget what I said, okay?"

"I won't, Sakurauchi-san. Are you able to walk home yourself? You did get lost…"

She laughed lightly. "It's okay. I know my way back. I hope I'll see you on Monday, Akashiya-kun. Bye!" She said, leaving his house. "I really hope I see you…"

"She is a really sweet girl. You sure know how to pick them, Haru." She teased.

"Mom! I just helped her out! Anyways…do you know anyone who could get me enrolled at Uranohoshi?"

"Yes, I do. I was going to contact her later tonight actually." Haru looked confused. "Well, I thought that you should've gone to school this year too. I was going to ask the chairwoman herself, since she is a good friend of mine."

"Mom…why didn't you tell me first…?"

"I was going to tell you during dinner, but since Sakurauchi-san was here, I decided to wait. Though, she made it a lot easier for me to convince you. You know you can't just keep hiding in your room all the time, Haru. I know you've been through a lot, but you can't just hole yourself up like that."

"I know, Mom…" He said, looking away from her.

"I'll only say this; this is your life, and I want you to make the most of it. I was reminded of a pretty, young girl when I saw Sakurauchi-san today. Do you remember her?"

He laughed a little. "Yeah, of course I do. How could I forget about her? She always dragged me off whenever she saw me, and we would play the whole day."

"I don't think it's considered dragging when you are smiling the whole time." She chuckled a bit. "You also met her two friends back then too. I remember the four of you being really close."

"They were the first and only friends I've ever had…" He said, a weak smile shown on his face.

"Well you're lucky that I never stopped talking to their parents after you disappeared from the world. It seems that two of them go to Uranohoshi too. But Kanan… She can't go back to school yet. She was really hurt when you left. She couldn't focus on her studies, so she left school to work with her grandmother and father at the diving shop. I really do think that going back into their lives will make you feel a lot better about everything."

Haru sat there, shocked. "Kanan… Mom, where is the diving shop?"

"It's by the docks. Why?"

"On my way to school, I'll go and see her." She smiled. "Now… I'm going to go to sleep. I'm really tired…"

"Okay. Good night, honey."

Haru went upstairs to his room. Before he laid on his bed, he walked over to his desk. His attention went towards a picture that he had faced down. He flipped it over, and smiled. "I miss you three so much… I'm so sorry…" He put the photo down, and went to sleep.