Sakuchii: Four years is a long time, I wonder if anyone is still around?

Aiko: Finally, finally we get this story moving again!

Yukiko: But then you will take another four year break, right?

Mirai: At this pace you will become and old lady before you finish this story.

Aiko: Yeah, even if it's only 37 chapters, you can't seem to work it well.

Sakuchii: Can you guys stop scolding me everytime I write about you?

The Uncried Tears
Tear Ten: His Return

"Senpai!" Yuuki yelled and approached the pink-haired boy. He turned around, wondering is someone was calling him. Once his eyes met with Yuuki's gray-blue ones, they widened in surprised. It was almost as if his eyes had glazed.

"You're…"

"We met this morning, didn't we? I live next to you, senpai." Yuuki blushed, pulling her hair behind her ear.

The boy stared at her with astonished look, but seconds later he finally seemed to pull himself together. "Yeah."

"Oh, Fubuki-kun, you know her?" Handa questioned and then glanced at the girl. Upon taking a good looking at Yuuki, his eyes widened. "Fubuki-chan?" He knew her, right? She was in the same group as Ichinose and Midorikawa's younger sisters.

"Yes?" Yuuki tilted her head.

The boy sighed. Apparently he had been wrong. She did look exactly like her, but given that she didn't recognize him, it had to be someone else.

"Why are there so many Fubuki's in this school?" He let a comment slip through his lips.

"What?"

Hannah was about to follow Yuuki, seeing that this senpai of hers was being accompanied by a familiar face. She hadn't seen the guy since summer festival.

Her advance was stopped when a trembling hand suddenly grabbed her arm. Hannah turned around and saw Mirai gasping for air as cold sweat was running down her face.

Yuuki laughed vivid at a snarky comment and then realized that Hannah and Mirai were still standing away from her. "Hana-chan, To-chan!" Yuuki yelled while waving her arm. The two boys turned around to look who were she talking to.

"Oh, Fubuki-chan!" Handa commented, finally seeing the one he had expected. The girl waved her hand while smiling nervously. She felt as Mirai's grab on her arm tightened. She wondered what would make the girl act so scared that she would freeze completely.

The pinkette's eyes widened. "Mirai!" Atsuya took a step toward the rust-haired girl, who backed away while pulling Hannah with her, using the other girl as her shield.

Yuuki moved her head from Atsuya to Mirai and again to pinkette. "You know each other?" She was clearly confused of this unexpected development.

The rust-haired girl tried to open her mouth to speak, but no voice came out. Her throat was dry. "A… Atsuya… kun…" The girl managed to stutter between her breaths.

Fubuki Atsuya shot a worried look at the girl. All color had escaped from her face. Yuuki seemed to be completely shaken by the situation and even Hannah wondered what was going on. She had never seen her friend to act this way. Who exactly was this boy?

Seconds later Mirai broke the heavy atmosphere by dashing away all of a sudden. "Mirai!" Atsuya and Hannah yelled at the same time. Yuuki kept her eyes locked on Atsuya, who seemed offended and hurt. A silence fell between the trio, which Yuuki tried to break it eventually by cracking a troubled laugh.

Handa looked amazed. "What just happened?"

Hannah was at lost with words. "I have nooo idea."

Mirai ran on the hallway, cursing deep inside. What was Atsuya doing there? Why they all had to appear before her eyes… and at a time like this? She had no rights to beg for their forgiveness yet. Hadn't she transferred to Raimon in order to escape them and her past?

So why were they appearing before her eyes?

Why did her past keep on haunting her?

The girl made her way to the principal's office. She forced the door open and slammed it closed behind her. Mirai gasped for air. She hadn't run so fast since elementary school.

Natsumi who was sitting on the chair behind the table, glanced up from her work. Her expression showed that she was rather surprised. "My, this has to be the first time. I don't think you've ever come here unannounced, cousin."

"You knew about it, didn't you?" Mirai huffed, still trying to catch her breath.

"Knew what?" Natsumi looked confused.

Mirai was now glaring at the older female. "You knew that Fubuki Atsuya was going to transfer here. Why didn't you tell me about it? You know my circumstances well enough."

She had done everything in order to be closer to Shirou while escaping from the rest of the Fubuki's. And now, because apparently Karma was being a bitch to her, each and every one of the remaining Fubuki siblings were attending to the same school as her.

Natsumi blinked her eyes a few times, but then seemed to return back to her normal self. "You know, there is a reason why I tried to push you to the position of the student council president. You do know that they are aware of these kind of things." She kept a short pause. "So don't try to make me the evil in this. This is completely your own fault for running away from your duties. Had you have done your work, you would've know that he was transferring here."

Mirai clenched her fist while mumbling curses between her breaths. This wasn't good for her, this wasn't good at all. Her peace had been disturbed not by one, but two of Fubuki's who were strangely fixated on her what also meant that she wouldn't get to see Shirou so freely from now on.

And just when she had finished dealing with Hannah.

Natsumi stared at the girl moving anxiously in her office and her eyebrows furrowed. "You know, why are you so fixated on the Fubuki's? What exactly have you done to them to get this freaked out just by seeing their silhouette?"

Mirai stopped and glanced at Natsumi. There was a silence between the two of them as they kept staring at each other. Mirai broke under the pressure and looked away, heading towards the door. "I'm going back."

Just as Mirai was about to open the door, Natsumi interrupted her. "Judging by your reaction you much have crossed path with the new boy. Then you've have also noticed that, just like you, he's a part of the Language Class." Her comment was purely objective, but Mirai sensed her cousins voice bursting with sarcasm.

There was a movement by the door and then Mirai opened it. "I really need to go." She forced the door open and slammed it closed behind her. The rust-haired girl sighed; the problems seemed to be piling up for her.

Natsumi stared at the empty door with her eyes wide open. "Apparently, you did not."

-OO-

"You two are so lucky to be in the same class. Why am I the only one that's still separated from you?" Homuzumi Hikaru sighed while standing at the windows of 3-C. She was in different class, but it wasn't too far away so she still had the chances to spend breaks with her friends.

Shina and Shizuka, who were both situated by the corridor side of the classroom smiled at the comment and then Shizuka spoke. "Well, we might be together but who's the lucky bastard who's on the same class as her boyfriend?" She commented and Hikaru wasn't sure how to reply to that question.

Shina then glanced at the girl. "Is Yamino-kun alright that you're here with us? Shouldn't you be spending time with him?" She questioned from her friend, who was on the other side of the corridor window.

Hikaru's eyes widened for a moment, but then she smiled softly. "He doesn't really mind. Shadow visits us every day so we're practically like living together." The girl answered and made a swift movement to change the topic, "Let's stop talking about me. I'm more interest in your relationship with Endou."

Amaterasu smiled. "You're lucky to be in the same class as him again this year. Was there any progress in your relationship during summer?" She stared at Shina with curious eyes and even Hikaru turned toward the brunette.

Shina was completely caught off guard by the sudden change of topic and panicked. She avoided meeting the eyes of her two friends and pulled her hair behind her ear while giggling nervously as her whole face was slowly glowing like a Christmas light during dark winter night. The girl blinked her eyes a few times and shot a nervous look at her friends.

"Well, I did come to see for his soccer practice during summer… For some reason Junko-chan wanted me to bring him lunch, so I came and…"

"And?" Amaterasu and Hikaru asked in union. Their eyes were sparkling in excitement.

Shina lowered her eyes while massaging her fingers anxiously, "He called for me few times, but I ran away every time. I didn't know what to do since I had no one with me so my mind blacked out." The brunette admitted and took a few deep breaths. Just remembering his cheerful voice calling for her made her cheeks burn red.

The two girls who were listening to her stared at Shina with frozen looks. Hikaru broke the silence between them by sighing loudly. "This girl is so hopeless…"

"What do we do with you?" Amaterasu said while shooting a worried glance at Shina.

The girl seemed to understand their concern and hurried to speak, "Bu- But… We- We did go have some ice cream together few days after the festival." She seemed to act out courageous, defending her whole being as a human and woman. She wanted to prove that even she could do something.

Hikaru and Amaterasu smiled; their friend was so innocent and adorable. "Good job! That's a start!"

Shina blushed lightly while smiling. "Thanks, I'll do my best!"

The trio smiled at each other. Seeing as the conversation was dying, Hikaru decided to change the topic once again. This time she turned toward Amaterasu. "Soo, I heard your boyfriend transferred to 3-D… When are you going to introduce him to us?" Her smirk was playful and Amaterasu couldn't help but to sigh.

She let out a laugh while taking out the book for their next lesson. "I just knew you were going to do this to me."

Hikaru tilted her head. "So, when?"

"Fine, I'll ask him to come and join us during lunch." The girl then gave up, but in fact she was glad that she was finally able to introduce the man she loved to her dearest friends. Just as Amaterasu finished her sentence the bell rang.

Hikaru smiled widely. "Well, then. See you during lunch!" She said after what started heading towards her classroom. Meanwhile Amaterasu and Shina started to prepare for their next lesson.

After taking out her books, Shina noticed Endou entering the classroom and her eyes unconsciously started following him. At some point, the boy seemed to realize her stare as he turned to her while smiling widely. Shina averted her glance as she felt her cheeks burning hotter.

All of a sudden she realized there was something they were to face now that it was their last year in Jr. High School.

The prom.

-OO-

Ichinose Akari stared at her lunchbox.

The girl put down her chopsticks and let out a deep sigh. This wasn't her day at all. First, she had been separated from her dear friends and now this…

"Akari, what's wrong?" Mai questioned, realizing that the girl had been gloomy since the morning lessons. She might've been upset for being situated in different classes, but this was something else. Akari wasn't the type to get all gloomy from it.

"You seem to be more down than usually…" Hannah stated worriedly, glancing at the girl.

Akari stared at her unfinished lunchbox, feeling as appetite was slowly fading away. Letting out another deep sigh, she raised her head and glanced at her two friends. It was no useful trying keep any secrets from the two, so she decided to spill the beans.

"It's just about Fideo…"

"Your boyfriend?" Mai questioned.

Akari nodded. "I was so happy when he informed that he'll be transferring here… but you know, when he arrived in Japan last week, he came together with a girl…"

"Eh?" The duo listening to Akari questioned in confusion.

"Do you know who that girl was?" Hannah asked then.

Akari sighed loudly, "Apparently a childhood friend, Cecara Mimi or something. He has mentioned her a few times in our conversation, but when I saw them together I couldn't help but to get bothered by how close there are…"

Hannah and Mai's eyes widened. They glanced at each other, trying to think of something to say. They needed to cheer up their best friend who was facing a dilemma.

"Come on, Akari-chan! Cheer up! Hasn't Fideo told you that he loves you? You two have been going out for so many years! You can't break up at this point because of minor jealousy!" Mai started and gestured Hannah to continue after her.

"Yea..h Yeah! It's most likely just a misunderstanding. Even if that girl is hanging around with your boyfriend it doesn't mean that…"

"Girl? What girl?" A sudden question interrupted Hannah.

The girls looked up and saw Midorikawa and Hiroto standing behind them. Mai felt slightly annoyed at the sight of her older brother, but it was all gone the moment her eyes met with the red-heads. Akari and Hannah were both at loss of words, what made the situation awkward.

"So, what girl were you talking about?" Hiroto asked, as the situation seemed to be stalling.

Hannah was the first one to recover. "Well, you know… the girl who always with Fideo-senpai."

Midorikawa's eyes widened slightly. "Ah, that one. If I recall she's in your class right, Hiroto?" All of a sudden, all eyes were on the red-head. All expect Mai's. Ever since becoming more conscious about her feelings towards her brother's friend, she started avoid having any eye contact with him.

"Yeah, but she disappears as soon as the bell rings…" Hiroto explained, and he could swear he heard a few sighs of disappointment. Well what could he do about the fact that the girl didn't like being in the class room.

"Oh right, now that you mention. I've seen her coming to our class during every break. It's seems that she's afraid of strangers which is why she always hangs around Fideo-kun." The greenette seemed to remember all of a sudden. Even then, if felt kind of weird that she was hanging around with a boy, who already had girlfriend.

Akari sighed.

In the end, the conversation had led them nowhere and they were back to square one. Her boyfriend was spending time with another girl and had even refused to eat lunch with her because of it. This just couldn't get any better!

"But I wonder why she went with him to the student council meeting…" Midorikawa's thoughts reached Akari's ears and her eyes widened in shock.

"Eh?"

"What? You didn't know about it? Fideo was apparently asked by Okazaki-kun to become the General Affairs Manager." The boy told and Akari felt like her heart would burst open. First he was meeting with another girl and now even this.

Her school year just couldn't get worse from this!

"And when I finally thought that we could hang around in school…" She sobbed.

The whole hang being speechless, they were saved by a calling voice. Fubuki Yuuki was dashing toward them while panting heavily. She stopped for a moment to catch her breath and then spoke. "Have you seen To-chan? I've been searching for her the whole lunch break, but she's nowhere to be seen!"

"To-chan?" Mai tilted her head.

"Ah, she's talking about Mirai-chan." Hannah hurried to explain her classmate. "I don't think I've seen her since the second period." She continued and everyone else said pretty much the same thing.

"Thank, I think I'll search around for a bit more. She might be still within the school area. To-chan is just very good at hiding, which is why it's hard to find her…" Yuuki said, bowed and continued her search.

Hannah watched her classmate desperate with the search and a light sigh escaped from her lips. She might not have seen her, but Hannah had a pretty clear idea where Mirai was at the moment. It was better not to get stranger involved, though. She should pay a visit at the hospital after school.

Mirai had definitely been acting strange upon meeting with that third year Fubuki.

Speaking of third years, Hannah wondered where that guy was and exactly was he doing that moment.

-OO-

The last bell had already rung, but there were still students who hadn't gone home. In a certain classroom, a trio of girls were obviously scheming something out of this world, while a lonely soul was watching at their doings from the sidelines.

"Now tell me, why exactly do I have to be here if I never participated in the whole game?" Endou Junko let out a frustrated question as she stretched her body. Unlike her friends, she wasn't very fond of plotting behind people so she saw no meaning of her staying behind with them. She just wanted to go home and have a good chat with Kazemaru.

"Aww, don't be such a party killer, Junko!" She heard Yura commenting while not even raising her head from the table before her. Junko rolled her eyes. How could she be a party killer if she wasn't even part of the party in the first place.

"Yeah. Also, don't you want to be deciding what kind of punishment your brother will receive?" Aiko let out a wide grin and Junko's senses were activated. That girl had a hidden meaning behind it and Junko knew her brother wouldn't survive if it was left up to them.

The girl stood up in a flash and walked to the girls. "So, what is this thing about?"

Aiko grinned. "See, I told you she would join us if we use Mamo-nii as a bite." She whispered to her sister, who nodded playfully.

"That girl has a brother complex…"

Meanwhile Yura started to explain the situation to Junko. "We need to think of a punishment for the people who failed to complete their missions during summer festival. Here's the list of the people we'll be punishing." She told and gave Junko a piece of paper.

Ichinose Kazuya
Ichinose Akari
Endou Mamoru
Ookami Mira
Midorikawa Mai

"What was Nii-san's mission?" Junko questioned without even flinching. She did wonder why both of Ichinose siblings had managed to fail their missions…

"Apparently, he was supposed to hug his partner," Aiko stated, trying to search for the paper where the dares where written.

"And his partner was?"

"Tanaka Shina." Yukiko answered without any second hesitation. It was as if she had bothered to memorize everyone's missions and partners. Yes, there very girl who had been partnered up with her mortal nemesis and even had exactly the same mission as the stupid blonde.

Junko couldn't hide her smile. If it was Shina whom he had been partnered up, then it was no wonder he couldn't pull any advances on her. Those two obviously had mutual feelings towards each other and they seemed to act normal when with friends, but for some reason the results where catastrophic.

Her brother was a failure as a man.

"So, have you thought of the punishments already?" The girl then asked, trying to of a chance to safe her brother from further embarrassment. There would definitely be a punishment that was suitable for him. And maybe something that would push him and Shina closer.

"We thought for the girls. Since the annual Music Battle-festival is coming up, we thought to have them perform a song – in bikinis." Aiko's eyes flashed dangerously and Junko couldn't help her sigh.

Yes, this was exactly the reason she did not want to participate in these kind of things.

"But we still hadn't gotten any idea how to punish the guys." Yukiko continued, and it seemed that they were in pinch. For some reason, it was easier to make up something for the girls than the guys. What exactly would be a good thing?

Junko stared at the two names and recalled that they were both third years. Along with the music festival, there was another annual thing approaching the third years. A wide smirk appeared on her face. This might just be the thing. This was she could get her brother to act on time.

It was the perfect plan.

"Then how about this…" Junko started and explained her idea to the other girls. While Yura's eyes seemed to widen in pale horror, the Okazaki siblings caught the bite and were ready to play along the plan. The plan was more than just wonderful.

The punishment was perfect.

"12 years old, I forgot you, 14 years old, you loved another one, 15 years old, you are finally mine."

Sakuchii: I might take me sometime to return to this story again, because I want to fix the previous chapters before continuing. But I promise it won't take another four year to get a new update.

Yukiko: You seriously believe that?

Aiko: You shouldn't keep promises you can't keep.

Sakuchii: Thank you guys for constantly reminding me about it. The other drastical change in the story will be, that I will change their age's to high school-university students, since the things that are going to happen aren't exactly things jr. high students would be doing. Also, the story will have more realistic tone to it, since these are rather serious relationships they are having here.

Mirai: Thank you for making me dissappear again. I feel like I'm becoming more insane with every passing chapter.

Sakuchii: You are, and this is only the start.

Mirai: ... Please don't update... ever.

Sakuchii: Can do not. I wonder what the boys punishment is going to be.

Aiko&Yukiko: YOU'RE THE AUTHOR!