A/N:

BlackDragon829: I don't want to turn this entire thing into one linear collection, but there will likely be a few with other chapters.

Ouchanrrul: Yeah, I forgot that FF only allows one comment per chapter, which is kinda stupid IYAM. And I guess I will, but you have to admit there are times where you look at something and think "This would have been better off never seeing the light of day"

LeoKunn: Yeah, like I said, I just haven't felt like writing recently.

wow: Thank you!

Petrus streamrock: Thanks. To my knowledge, I don't have depression, but I've had my fair share of depressive episodes, so I based the chapter around those. Real depression is probably different, but I'm glad you think it's realistic. And I'll give that a try, thanks for the suggestion.

Guest: Interesting, I didn't actually think about those. And nice to meet you, greetings from the USA!

Also, I just realized it's been two months past my first full year on FF. Man, time flies!

He had had enough. Weeks...no, months of embarrassment and torment had built up to the point where Hachioji finally snapped.

All in all, he considered himself an okay person. He didn't lie, smoke, drink, or intentionally go out of his way just to hurt others, but he didn't see himself as some great person that should be used as a role model for children and adults of all ages.

He was just...decent.

But even decent people had their limits. One bad day or even one snide remark at the wrong time can be all it takes to completely change the way they are. And that time had finally come for Naoto Hachioji.

That's why instead of sitting in the art room like usual, he found himself eating in the corner of the cafeteria; out of everyone's sights and in one of the last places his recent bully would expect to find him. And even if she did look in the room, he would be able to see her and get out before she would be able to scan the room in search of him.

Well, maybe "bully" was a tad bit harsh. Maybe "antagonizer" or "way-over-the-top-teaser" were better terms. Or were they even any different?

For whatever reason, some girl named "Nagatoro" had chosen him to be her victim of constant remarks, awkward situations, and even inappropriate teasing at times. Every day she stopped by the art room, he became more and more desperate to just be alone like he had always been beforehand.

With a sigh, he dipped his utensil into the food and ate, waiting to go home and get some more work done on his manga. Some quality alone time was just what he needed to recover from everything he had been put through over the last several days.

On the way to his next class, he saw the very girl he was trying to avoid step out of the art room with a somewhat disappointed look on her face. Naoto just hung in the crowds of students heading to their classes and passed by unnoticed.

Even the path he took to and from school had changed to avoid running into Nagatoro. Every now and then he would catch a glimpse of her waiting where she normally ran up to him, almost like a dog waiting for their master to come around the corner.

Part of him felt bad for making her wait over and over again, but something else in him just couldn't feel to bothered. It was nowhere near as bad as the things she had done to him, so why should he regret his actions?

However, Nagatoro was much more persistent than he had initially expected. At first he just thought after a few days she would move on to a new victim and practically forget about him, but she just seemed more determined to find him as the days passed. He saw her wait right at the main doors when school ended, and apparently she had started getting there early enough to wait at the entrances before school began.

Luckily, she couldn't cover each and every door at the same time, so it was all too easy for him to just find another way in and out.

Eventually Naoto noticed the need to further shake up his routine to stay out of sight. He found himself eating lunch in the bathroom every other day, and spent more and more time in the back of the library.

But the cost of his actions was losing his time in the art room, where he would still occasionally see Nagatoro walk out of, now somewhat slumped over in disappointment.

Despite his desires to keep away from her, her recent change in attitude piqued his interest, and the next day he decided to take a risk and set himself up in the art room for lunch.

And, as expected, Nagatoro eventually slid the door open.

"Senpai?" She ran up to him and skidded to a halt just beside him.

"Where have you been? I haven't seen you in weeks! Did something happen?" she asked in rapid succession.

"Ye-yeah. Something did happen, I guess."

"What? What was it?"

He stood up and began pacing, keeping his eyes on the floor. After nearly half a minute, he came to a stop and spoke.

"You. You happened," he answered.

Like flipping a switch, Nagatoro was back to her old ways. "That's so creepy! Did I make you too embarrassed to come to school?" she mocked, notably less confident than usual.

"S-see? This is what I mean. I can't even try to have a conversation with you without getting made fun of for something." He walked to his pack and slung it over his shoulder, then stepped to the door.

"Please...please don't follow me. I made a mistake hoping for things to be different."

Before he could open the door, a hand grabbed his wrist and pulled him around.

"I...I'm sorry. I thought we were having fun. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable," she offered.

"Could have fooled me," Naoto retorted, then rushed out of the room.

From where he left, Nagatoro just stood with her arm still raised. Something wet collected on her bottom eyelid, but didn't fall down the cheek.

It was a lot sooner than he expected when he saw Nagatoro again. That being at the end of the same day.

"Hey, Senpai?" He already knew who it was, and turned around to face her.

"What is it?" he said in an uncharacteristically unfriendly tone, even causing the girl to flinch a little.

"Can...can I have another chance? I want to be friends, and I promise I'll go easier on you."

The statement, while blatantly true, did take the teen off guard for at least a few reasons.

"But, why do you want to be my friend? Why can't you just find some other guy like me to pick on every day?"

"It's just...I don't know, but..." She let out a long, exasperated sigh and took a long breath in through her nose.

"Most guys aren't like you. They're...boring. There's nothing really interesting about them. You're different. I can't explain it, but you're different."

"Okay, but that doesn't explain why you want to be my friend. Being 'different' and 'interesting' isn't necessarily a good thing."

"I just can't explain it, okay?" she suddenly shouted. "Look, remember that one time I fell asleep in the art room and woke up with a scream? The same time you had covered me with a blanket and told you you weren't as creepy that day?"

"Yeah, I remember that."

"Well, I told you it was nothing, but that wasn't the case. I-I had a dream that you left with Gamo-chan and Yoshi. You were completely apathetic towards me and didn't give a second glance before walking out with the other two."

"So if you were so afraid that I'd leave, why did you keep treating me in a way that would make me want to leave?"

"I don't know! I just..."

She wasn't able to finish the rest due to a sudden bout of crying. It wasn't that extreme, overdone crying found in movies, but a soft, almost helpless cry.

Despite his previous attitude, Hachioji felt an urge to hold her until she could recollect herself, and reluctantly wrapped his arms around her. After a minute or so she calmed down to just the occasional sniffle and nose wipe.

"Thanks. I feel a little better now." The arms let go of her and Naoto took a few steps back, an action that Nagatoro mirrored.

"I-I think you understand now. Or, I hope you do," she said with a faint chuckle at the second half.

"Uh...yeah, I think so."

An awkward silence fell over the two as they stood, looking at the ground, the air, anything besides each other.

"So, should we head home?"

"Yeah, I think so."

And they did just that. The walk home was weird, given everything that had transpired over the last few weeks and minutes ago. But at the same time, it felt good to fet back into his old routine.

"Were you just thinking of something pervy, Senpai?" the girl next to him asked with a distinct lack of malice.

"Not really. I was just thinking about how it's good to be back in a routine," he answered.

"Yeah, I guess it is," Nagatoro agreed. "Well, see you tomorrow, Senpai!"

The girl rushed down the path that led to her home, soon taking another turn and leaving Naoto's field of view.

He stood there for a little, not quite sure what to think. He had planned on staying away from her, but now he felt like maybe things could work out between them. Then there was the confession of sorts that he had to decipher.

Things seemed to get weird around her, to say the least.

A/N: Well, hello again y'all. Hope you enjoyed. Not my best work, but I still have another on the way, so hopefully that makes up for it. Later!