Yeah... life's not getting any better.

Anyways since I haven't said it before; I want to thank all those who have followed/favorited. Every email notification I get makes my day better, so thank you. Regarding the reviews, thank you for your time to actually write out a response. I do in fact read them, so thank you for your kind words. I would respond to them but... I simply don't have time, as I'd feel inclined to respond to ALL my reviews on ALL my stories. I only respond to reviews on Princes of Sobu.

This chapter's a bit... confounding(probably). It made sense it my head, but probably doesn't translate well into writing. So to help out:

Line breaks, the full line that separates texts, represent an END to a scene. Anything after is a new scene and/or timeline.

A back-slash/slash, the arrow-like thing '/\', represents a BREAK in a scene. It is to break the flow of text, but retain the timeline and/or current scene.

"Yo, Hayato-kun, what'cha got there?"

A young man roughly puts his arm around another as he gives his friend a wide grin. The young man in question quickly puts his phone away and turns towards the speaker with a friendly smile on his face.

"Oh nothing important, really." He quickly waves off his friend. He had been in the middle of typing a text message with the response of 'we should meet up sometime', to a contact in his phone. The one in question had been a girl he had met the other night; she had a dark aura about her when they first met, almost as if she had an underlying problem. He always did have a thing for girls in distress; maybe he was a white knight in one of his past lives? His childhood friend, Yukino, was no different. He always did have a soft spot for her; the cards that were dealt to her? Well… no one deserved a fate like that.

"Oh keeping secrets now, are we?" His friend, once again calls out with a grin on his face.

Hayama just responds with an eye roll, "you know how that saying goes, 'friends don't make secrets, but secrets make friends'."

"That doesn't really make any sense if you think about it."

"Quite the contrary, it takes thought to make it plausible, Tobe."

His friend, Tobe, just scratches his head in response, not really understanding the flow of the conversation.

"Right… well, at least we got a class together, right? Must be fate, or, something like that. Glad to at least know someone here."

"The feeling's mutual Tobe." Hayama simply responds with a smile.

The two young men had met just recently. Hayama had stumbled across Tobe one day when he was out and about, like he usually was during the night. Tobe had been sitting at a park bench for some time, for how long, I doubt even himself knew. Again, with his 'white knight' instinct, Hayama simply approached this strange young man, why was he out here, out of all places, and alone to boot? Surely he must be freezing with such light clothing on. Feeling a bit of sympathy for this enigma, he just simply… sat down with him. Of course, at first, nothing was said between the two; but eventually they started to converse with another. Neither knew what actually sparked it, but nonetheless a conversation had started.

At first, the conversation between the two were customary, simple greetings and filler statements such as commenting on the weather and whatnot. However the longer the two spoke, the more intimate the conversation grew, and proving Hayama's instinct right, Tobe had a lot to get off his chest at the very moment.

"Okay class! Settle down, we're starting. I'm not very good with names so please bear with me for the first few weeks." Their teacher soon calls out to grab her class' attention.

"Say she looks pretty young, don't you think Hayato-kun?"

Of course she did, she was twenty-six, fresh out of college. Hayama only knew this because her name had popped up on of the various ledgers he had to keep track of from his family's multitude of businesses they owned. She had taken out a large loan a few years back and had slowly, but surely, been keeping up on her payments. The only reason the name stuck out to him was when he learned that she was his homeroom teacher, 'Hiratsuka, Shizuka'. Of course, if she were ever to fall behind on her debts, he at least knew where to find her.

"Yeah, you're right." He simply responds distractedly.

About a week before the first day of school Tobe had gone out with a close friend of his, a girl at that. Now that wasn't particularly out of the ordinary, nor was it something noticeable. Contrary to popular belief members of the opposite sex could, in fact, just stay friends. Even so, that particular statement didn't exactly ring true with the two in question. A simple 'date' between friends, nothing quite wrong with that picture. However, the fact remained that Tobe was currently in a relationship, and that this small little get-together he had going on with his friend wasn't exactly a new occurrence. They were simply friends, no harm in that right?

Of course it was; Tobe had even gotten his girlfriend's blessings to go out and spend time with his friends, an understanding one to say the least. But the fact remained that there was, if even a little, attraction between the two friends. What started off as an innocent get together, had ended in heartbreak and carnal regrets.

/\

Isshiki was simply lounging at her house among her happy family when she suddenly had received a text from a mysterious number, she didn't think anything of it; most likely spam to be completely honest. However, something within her had felt a sense of importance within this seemingly random text. Instead of simply deleting the thread, she actually opens it and reads the contents, it was a simple time and home address with a vague message of 'cheater, cheater'. She didn't really think much of it, and was even in the middle of deleting the whole thread until she realized that she knew the home address stated. It was her boyfriend's, 'Kakeru, Tobe'. Why did this seemingly random number know the location of her boyfriend? Was he in danger? With completely irrational thoughts she quickly went up to her room and got dressed, while at the same time calling her boyfriend's phone number. One tone, two tones, three, four, nothing. She tries again: nothing. With thousands of thoughts of irrational thoughts racing through her mind she dashes out her door without even telling her parents and runs towards Tobe's house; completely disregarding the fact that she knew he was out with friend, the fear being too much for her to process thought rationally.

/\

Back with the two friends, they somehow ended up at Tobe's place. His parents usually worked the late night shift, and he was the only child, so it was left pretty much empty. With his mornings taken up by school, and his parents' night's taken up by work; he usually found himself relatively alone. It was during breaks from school like these that he relished the small amount of time he could spend with his family, when they were gone he had no one else. That is, until he had met Iroha, his girlfriend. What of his friend, you may ask, well to make matters more complicated she isn't exactly from Chiba, no in fact, the only reason they were spending the day together was because she happened to be in town. They were close friends as kids, both of them grew up in their hometown towards the Kanto region; not very far from each other(relatively speaking) but far enough to not being able to see one another on a daily basis.

A movie. That was their excuse to come here, they wanted to watch a movie and one at the leisure of one of their homes seemed like a more enticing idea than waiting in line at a cinema. A single couch, a single blanket, two teenagers of the opposite sex, and a dark room. Now, one doesn't have to be exactly a genius to figure out that this particular activity had less than favorable results. After an hour or so, the two had gotten themselves into a rather intimate position, one resting her head on the other's shoulder, a few more minutes and arms were involved; a few more and the two found themselves pressed up against each other, further and the two were practically on top of each other. A position that felt wrong in Tobe's head, yet, right, at the same time. His mind muddled with carnal thoughts to feel any other emotion, how would his girlfriend feel? He sure as hell didn't know, nor particular care at that point in time. Though in a few moments he would most definitely have those thoughts racing through his head.

/\

As Isshiki raced to her boyfriend's house her thoughts had descended deeper and deeper into despair, he was her first ever boyfriend. She wasn't exactly a choir girl or even prudish for that matter, however, the fact remained that he had been her first boyfriend; if he was her first, well, even I wouldn't divulge that information. Approaching Tobe's house, Isshiki had an even deeper sense of dread when she saw that his lights were out. She knew he was usually home alone at this time of day and that, he, in fact hated being alone. He would usually turn on all the lights for a sense of comfort and a sort of liveliness to his house, the fact that it was dark either meant he was out, or that someone else made it dark. His parents were at work, she didn't know of any relatives that would come and visit, let alone turn off all the lights. She hoped with all her heart that it was the prior. Finally reaching his front door she was out of breath but had been able to keep up her pace and breathing steady. She was captain of the soccer team back in her middle school. Taking out a spare key given to her by Tobe himself, a symbol of how serious their relationship was and how long they have been together. As she walks in, she immediately goes for the lights, what lies in wait for her within the darkness would shocker her to the very core. Like most things in her life, everything good comes falling down like a house of cards.

As school end, Hayama makes his way out towards the front gate, he had never gotten a response from the text he sent. A shame really. The girl was obviously a minor, a fake I.D was the most logical answer to that problem. She, although dark at first, had opened up to be a rather wily and cheerful girl after a bit of alcohol was flowing through her system. She had been ranting and raving about some guy and left some rather nasty and vulgar remarks about him. He wasn't exactly sure who she was talking about, but he assumed it was an ex-boyfriend of some sort. Soon enough she turned into the cheerful persona that Hayama was so fond of. If he was around her age, it wouldn't be too hard to find her; there were only two major high schools in the Chiba prefecture. If she wasn't in Chiba, then it'd be a bit more hard; but he'd cross that bridge when he came to it.

As he sighs, he sees a rather peculiar sight speed past him in a brisk walk. A girl with a, rather bold color - to say the least, kept her head bowed and her eyes to the floor as his peers started jeering at her. It left a rather bitter taste in his mouth, but he still kept quiet, it wasn't a good idea to paint such a large target on your back the first day of school. Still his 'white knight' instincts burned within him once again; he'd make sure to keep an eye out for her. Maybe he'd be able to help her, if even discreetly. He was almost positive she was in his homeroom. Where was she headed off to in such a hurry anyways? The hospital or something?

As Tobe makes his way back to his house, he sullenly enters the door and calls out his arrival, "I'm home."

The simple statement just echoes throughout the empty house, it seemed like his parents had an earlier shift than usual today, unfortunate. He goes to turn on all the lights, a habit he seemed to have when he found himself alone at his house. Even if there was plenty of sunlight streaming through his windows, he still left them on. He went to his couch, a place of rather… complicated feelings, and turned on the television. His mind wandered and he eventually just sighs out, an aura of contempt radiation off his form. At times like these he'd ask Iroha to hang out, she was the highlight of his days. That cheerful attitude would brighten anyone's day, her happiness infectious. She was always so cheerful, so friendly. He wondered if she was still that way, or if she was just bitter.

He just scoffs while shaking his head, "ridiculous."

Yes of course, there was no way someone like him would dampen that spirit of hers. But alas, all of these musings were for naught, as it is much easier to break something than to make it.

He simply takes out his phone and texts a number that he was used to seeing, in fact, he had basically memorized it. With a simple greeting he hits send and waits for a response that was probably never going to occur. Though, contrary to his belief, he did, in fact, receive a message; almost immediately at that. He quickly goes to his phone and checks his messages, expecting to see Iroha's thread on top, he was sorely disappointed when he saw the new message. A text message from 'Ebina, Hina'.

Main characters are out of the way, everyone else will most likely be side characters or plot devices. Don't quote me on that though. I think six is four-too-many(haha, get it. 'Cause it's supposed to be 'far'? Yeah... okay.)

No but seriously this is probably going to be a pain in the ass to keep track of. Oh well, it helps get my mind off things.

Almost did another pair of charcters, Ebina and Shiromeguri, but decided against it. Again, six is already a bit much.

Also concerning the length of each chapter, I do each chapter in one sitting because, well... it's a relaxing pasttime and gives me a small break from the real world. I spend, on average, two-three hours per chapter. Also mainly writing off of feeling, so that's why all my other stories are on hold. They will turn out needlessly dark or dramatic.

Fact and Fiction

1.) Dramatized version of my first relationship; basically ended the same way. I was Isshiki, but the fallout was pretty rough. Decided to skip that part as to not bore anyone. Why I didn't just do the relationship on Isshiki's chapter? Well I didn't want to reveal Tobe and I thought writing out their whole 'get together' and 'relationship' would be redundant, so there's that.

2.) Shiromeguri was supposed to be based off my Valedictorian.

3.) Ebina would be complete fiction, though based off a certain situation that happened within my(highschool) 'squad'. Oh god, I can't believe people(myself included) actually used to say that. Cringe. You can probably guess what part of the U.S I'm from just from that, lol.

3.) Whole 'I'm dating your ex' group dynamic was something that almost happened within my friend group, so that's a homage to that. Also, what's a slice of life without some drama.

Trying to remember my highschool years is actually pretty interesting. I even looked through my old yearbook.

Anyways, again, thank you if you actually read all the way up until this point. I want to thank, most of all, those who have a genuine interest in this story. Again it's a story that is written off of feeling instead of thought, so... yeah. Take that as you will.

Promise to get back to my other stories when I sort my life out.

Until next time,

-Ausko