Perhaps pissing Ryou off constantly wasn't exactly a good thing, you thought. I mean, he is your boss after all.

"Crap, work's gonna suck tomorrow," you said to yourself while walking home. Tomorrow was a day you didn't want to exist for. No doubt you'd have to do something about the Mitsuru-kun issue. You rounded the corner of Akiro rd. and continued clicking your heels own the sidewalk.

"There is always..." you trailed off as your mind lingered into the idea of what lurks in the back of your closet."No, no, no! I refuse to...! Well, if I have to..." Situations could not have seemed worse. You hung your head and sauntered in through the front gates and to the door. There was a note tacked near the door knob.

You pulled it off with your right hand and read it out loud while unlocking the front door, "Niu-rou dear, your father and I are away in Shanghai for business. Be back soon. Hugs and kisses. Love, Mom and Dad." With your school bag slung over your shoulder you opened the front door. You closed then locked the door behind you, then looked around. Everything seemed normal. And lifeless. And dull. And- okay now you were just depressing your self.

The note was instantly thrown away into the garbage can, never to be looked at again. Dinner didn't seem like such a fun idea. Remembering what happen today may have gotten you down that if you ate, you'd end up seeing it again.

That night, a dreamless sleep was exactly what the doctor ordered.

The Dreaded Morning

Now in a bath robe, all squeaky clean, you stood in front of your mirror. The image of your self was very depressing. A lot of things were lately, but now was because you still had no hat and Mitusru-kun still thinks you're a guy whose as straight as a circle.

The closet door creaked as you opened it. There were many clothes hanging, some still with the price tags on, others were worn from age. You inhaled deeply and pushed them all aside. There hung your old school uniform. It was from two years ago, but it still fit although it was outdated. It consisted of a white blouse, black tie, and blue plaid skirt. Very plain, but attractively simple.

Yes, the uniforms changed since then, but it was still fit for school. A massive hate for the school system started to come into being as you slipped your arms through the blouse and put on the tie. You put your shoes and socks on the, but saved the skirt for last. That was done with your eyes closed so you couldn't change your mind.

Downstairs was as quiet as ever with no one home. The TV that you didn't remember watching was on, but you shrugged it off as lack of remembering stuff. Figuring that the melon bread at school would be enough for your stomach, you grabbed your school bag ready to leave. The copper handle was cold on your skin as you held it to unlock it. It was already open though. Once again you left it off as something not important enough to remember.

The school yard was crowded and whispers were polluting the air. You spotted Ichigo and two of her friends, you forgot their names, talking to each other and decided to leave them alone. So, by yourself you walked towards the school building, ever so glancing at people who were whispering and talking to themselves while stealing looks in your direction. You stopped dead in your tracks when you saw Mitsuru-kun talking to two of his friends by the double doors. You wished you could only hear what they were talking about. To try and get a good kick out of it though, you tried to be able to some how magically hear them.

"Why is she wearing that uniform," someone asked. They sounded like they were right next to you, but you looked around, no one was there.

A second person spoke, "I dunno. But doesn't she look familiar? Hey, what do you think Toshio-san?"

Your gaze shifted back over to Mitsuru's group with curiosity. "Well, she looks cu-" he stopped talking when wide grins spread across his friend's faces. "Lost. She looks lost."

"So why don't you go talk to her? I mean, she is lost," the friend on his left said with a sly fox like grin.

"Fine then. I will." There was a light blush on his face as he walked towards you. Those nervous butterflies swarmed your stomach as he headed in your direction. Were they really talking about you? He stopped just five feet in front of you and your heart started to race even more.

He scratched the back of his head, unsure of what to say. "Um, hi. I'm Mitsuru Toshio from class 3c. Are you new here?"

The butterflies were still fluttering about, just not as violently anymore. "You mean," you said having a slight tinge of sadness in your voice, "You don't recognize me?"

"Should I?"

You sighed, "My name is Niu-rou." A look of disgust washed over him as he remembered what happen yesterday. He still thought you were a guy apparently. "I know what you're thinking, and you're wrong. I am a girl. I always have been."

He looked puzzled, "Then why didn't you say anything yesterday?"

Your eyes shifted to the matted dirt ground, "What was I suppose to say? No problem, cause I'm a girl. Thanks for confusing my gender?"

His face gained that blush from being embarrassed again. "I'm sorry."

"It's not the first time."

"Then," he said quietly to himself and looked away from your eyes. "How about I walk you to class as an apology?"

You smiled, but looked away from his face. Not sure if talking loudly would cause you to explode with joy or not, as quietly as you were able to you said, "Okay. That'd be nice."

Smiles upon smiles was all you had. Nothing was wrong, and everything was perfect. You practically skipped to your next class through the sea of hallway whispers and rumors.

Sitting down at your seat, which was by the door, the words rang through your head in a lovesick motion. "Mitsuru-kun is perfect. No one can compare," you whispered. But the bliss didn't last.

Reality slapped you hard across the face to think about everything that had happen, because your day dreams of Mitsuru-kun were gaining the appearance of Kish.

School wasn't difficult, the hours flew by, stolen glances at Mitsuru-kun while passing, and contemplating over how you could have super hearing or whatever it was. That's how the next six hours went. Lame, huh?

After the final bell rang you left school without meeting up with Mitsuru-kun again. You didn't want to appear to be a love sick puppy or anything. You shuffled your feet through the dirt at a slow pace towards the cafe. Dreams and fantasies about your crush and you flooded your imagination. Even a wedding dress appeared once.

With drool coming from the corner of your mouth you drifted on cloud nine into the cafe. Then reality came crashing through your cloud when you saw Ryou. He could ruin anyone's day, but most of all, he could ruin yours. As you stood at the door, holding it open, you were faced with a choice. Work, or leave now and fantasize again. You chose the latter.

Instead of going home though, you drifted towards Inohara Park. The sun was just starting to make it's descend down below the horizon so almost everyone in the area had already gone home. Quickly you found a bench to sit at and thought over your day picking apart each and every detail that you could recall.

"Thinking at this time?" a male voice behind you asked.

You knew you had heard it before, but couldn't place a face to it for the death of you at that moment. "Yeah. Um, just stay there. I need to try to remember where I've heard you before."

He made huff noise that sounded outrageously arrogant, and it was the kind of noise that was made with a smirk. "Take all the time you need. I have plenty."

You sat there for a bit in silence with the mystery person still behind you. Patience wasn't really your game and you had ran through all of the possible answers as to who it was. It wasn't Ryou, Keiichiro, or Mitsuru-kun. Nor was it some guy from school. Just who was the questioned etched into your head.

"Darn it," you muttered. "Why do I have to be so stupid? I can never remember anything!?"

"Allow me to remind you, Niu-chan," they said. Before you could do anything, he draped his arms around your neck and rested his chin on your head.

"Oh shit," you whispered as the memory came back to you but the air in your lungs left.

"That's right," he said. "It's me."


Just a heads up, Niu-rou and the mystery dude may know who it is, but you don't. I'm not giving any names, but it is not who you'd expect. And sorry if this chapter was a little slow with the action and funny. I happen to have the evil science teacher from the show "Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide" teaching me Chemistry! She's a demon! D