Chapter 1 My Hidden Feelings

Ichika's POV

I have a secret. A secret not even Saki, Shinho and Honami know. It started when I was in middle school.

Tsukasa's POV

I was walking home from school…when I noticed a familiar person sitting on a bench.

It was Ichika…and she was crying!

I rushed up to where she was before kneeling down besides her.

"Ichika", I started.

"Oh", she started. "It's you, Tsukasa-San."

"What is wrong, Ichika", I asked. "Why are you crying?"

After I asked this…more tears began to fall from Ichika's eyes.

"It's Shiho and Honami", she started. "It seems like they don't want to spend time with me anymore."

"What", I exclaimed. "But how could that be? You guys are so close! Did something happen?"

"That's the thing", I started. "I don't think something happened. And if something did happen, they won't tell me about it."

As I tried to process this, Ichika began to cry again!

"Why would they do this", she asked. "And while Saki is the hospital too?! Why would they leave me all alone?!"

When I heard Ichika say these words, it brought up some feelings of my own.

"Ah, Tsukasa", my mother started. "I'm sorry. Saki isn't feeling well, so we'll be around her for some time. We'll come back in a while, so please wait a little longer."

"…okay", I said. "Got it! Take care of her properly!"

"Fufu", my mother said. "You're a big brother that we always can count on. Thank you. Then, I'll hang up."

With that, my mother hung up…and I frowned.

"…seems like mom and dad are going to be late today as well."

With this thought in my head…I made up my mind.

I grabbed onto Ichika's hand, which got her to look at me.

"It's okay, Ichika", I reassured her. "You and your friends mean so much to each other, so I'm sure that you'll sort out whatever it is that is going on. But until then…I'll stay with you. I won't let you be alone."

These words made Ichika cry again.

"Thank you, Tsukasa."

Ichika's POV

And so, Tsukasa and I began spending a lot of time together.

He would take me to see shows and play the piano for me. I would take him to eat yakisoba buns and teach him the meanings of different flowers.

Before I knew it, I had developed feelings for him.

I decided to confess these feelings. This was his response.

"I'm sorry, Ichika", the apologized. "But you are my sister's friend. It wouldn't be appropriate for us to be in a relationship."

After that, Tsukasa and I stopped spending time together.

The next time I saw him was when I went to visit Saki after she had fainted.

We didn't say anything about my confession, and silently agreed to not tell anybody about the time we had spent together.

To this day, Saki and my friends don't know of this. To this day, I have kept my feelings for Tsukasa buried within my heart.