A/N: Hi, people! Yes, I updated pretty fast for a new story. About the only reason for this speed is because this chappie was one of the few I managed to rescue from a corrupted disk. So, here I am, with Chapter 1 for 'Hitori Janai...Zutto'.

Disclaimer: Isn't it obvious?

Chapter 1: Hope

Morning once more in Tokyo, Japan. As was usual when school starts, the day was rather balmy. On the grounds surrounding one of the more luxurious-looking houses, several late-flowering cherry trees were blossoming, as were the flowers in the rear garden of the house.

In said house – it was a mansion, actually – a maid was walking down the hall to a room she herself had visited many times. It was her responsibility to see that the occupant awoke as promptly as possible; otherwise, he would be late for his first day back at school.

She knocked thrice; a rather sleepy voice called from within. "Hai?"

"Hiwatari-sama," the maid answered. "It's time to rise. You might miss your first day."

Several quiet moments passed before then the oak door opened a crack, and several strands of slate-gray hair and a single amethyst eye passed into view. "Please tell them I'll be down in fifteen minutes; I still need to bathe and dress."

The maid bowed in acknowledgment, turned, and left.

The young teen – he was turning fifteen in November – slowly closed the door. He looked about his room and smiled faintly, remembering the family vacation he'd returned from not even a week ago. He supposed he was still fairly jet-lagged, which would account for his sleepiness.

The slate-haired teen walked over to his desk and picked up the sketchpad that lay open. He scanned the contents for several moments, and then turned and slipped it into his black schoolbag. Then he grabbed several articles of clothing – his school uniform, to be more precise – and went into his personal bathroom.

Minutes later, the sound of running water could be heard.

"Hiwatari?" The gray-haired teacher called, glancing at his clipboard. He then looked at the class expectedly.

Hiwatari Kai looked up from his notebook, which he had been doodling in while staring out the window. It took him only a split second to realize that it was a roll call; he took a deep breath before replying, "Hai."

"Ivanov?"

"Hai." Came the reply from across the room.

The slate-haired teen started when he heard the familiar voice. He discreetly turned his head to look in that direction, and what he saw made him freeze inside. Crimson hair swept up into a hairdo that looked humanly impossible, two long pointed bangs falling into the front of the face; icy blue eyes that could darken at the slightest mention of an insult; and pale skin that rivaled even his own.

Yuri.

Kai's eyes widened, and then he shut them tight and shook his head to clear his thoughts. So many memories…

"Kanesaka?"

"Hai."

"Kinomiya?"

"Hai…"

And so it went, all the way down the list. However, Kai paid little attention to the names of his classmates; for him, those pieces of information didn't matter. Not since what happened to him in second year.

Kai closed his eyes, tuning out to what his teacher was saying. He was having trouble concentrating anyway, now that he knew that he would be sharing a schoolroom with one of the people he'd been trying to avoid…since the incident, at least.

After several moments, the amethyst-eyed teen turned his head slightly, to glance once more at his crimson-haired classmate. For a while, Kai felt glad that they weren't making eye contact. And then…Yuri Ivanov turned to look at him; Kai felt their gazes lock. He quickly looked away.

If you don't let him near you again, he told himself silently, gripping his pencil tightly, then you'll be fine…He took a deep breath, then turned to stare out the window again. You'll be fine…

"Hey, Kai."

Kai looked up from his sketchpad (it was time for morning break, and he'd brought it out just to pass the time) to see another familiar – but welcome – face. He smiled. Since he hadn't paid much attention to the roll call, this came as a pleasant surprise. He put down the pencil and eraser and turned to face the person who sat down beside him. "Ohayou, Hiromi-san…hisashiburi desu ne?" 1

The auburn teen smiled back at him. "Hai. Anata wa ogenki desu ne? " 2

Kai nodded, then brushed away several strands of slate-gray hair that had fallen into his eyes. "It's nice to finally see a friendly face."

Tachibana Hiromi frowned when she saw her best friend's face darken slightly. And what exactly had he meant by that remark?

"Kai-kun," she began, "nan'ga atta'nda?" 3 She reached for the slate-haired teen's hand and grasped it gently with her own. Kai looked into her ruby orbs and saw the concern shining there.

Should I tell her?

There was silence for several minutes while Kai contemplated whether or not to tell Hiromi the truth. Finally, he decided on the former.

"It happened…just last year, halfway through the second semester…" Kai started, his voice quiet and pained. He took a deep breath and continued.

"I'd noticed that Boris, Yuri, and Ivan were acting rather-"

"Weird?" Hiromi volunteered. Kai glanced up briefly, and then looked back down at the floor.

"So you noticed, too, huh?" he asked.

Hiromi nodded slowly, though she knew he couldn't see her. "I did. That's when we started spending all of our break times together."

"Hai…" Kai agreed, a hint of joy in his voice. And then, in the blink of an eye, it disappeared. "Anyway, a few days before the school year ended, I wrote each of them a personal letter, asking for an explanation for their behavior."

"That's what you were trying to give them back then?" Hiromi broke in again. She'd seen that Kai had had a hard time approaching his group of friends that day, but had though nothing of it.

Kai nodded. "Anyway, I expected them to reply – either face-to-face, through the phone, or even on my cellular phone. Thing is, they didn't."

"Maybe they were busy or-" Hiromi offered, but Kai cut her off.

"No, no…they did reply, after two weeks or so… It was a few days before I left for vacation when I received an e-mail from all three of them. And…" His voice trailed off as he struggled to control the sadness and hurt that threatened to overwhelm him. He couldn't break down; not here, not now, definitely not in front of Hiromi.

The ruby-eyed girl sat quietly as she waited for Kai to grab hold of himself; she could tell that whatever had happened must have been quite a blow to his psyche, and that he needed time to gather his strength to tell it to anyone.

Soon, Kai managed to steady himself and relayed the rest of the facts: how the e-mail had contained the message of dislike; and how he'd felt when he first read it; and how bad he felt that everyone else in their class had kept the truth from him, even though they knew it. Hiromi listened patiently while he 'ranted' – he wasn't shouting, at least. She knew how it felt to be unwanted for she'd suffered the same thing while in her elementary years.

Finally, Kai finished his 'story', took a deep breath, and then fell silent again. The auburn-haired teen took this as her queue.

"Well, look at it this way," she began, attempting to cheer up her friend. "At least you don't have to deal with all of them this year; we're only classmates with Yuri-san."

Kai nodded sullenly; he secretly wished that he didn't have to deal with any of them. Just out of curiosity, he stole a glance at Yuri's chair, expecting it to be empty. Instead, the blue-eyed teen was still seated in it, looking strangely…lonely.

Kai shook his head. The Russian was just bored, that's all.

Hiromi saw that Kai wasn't listening; she broke into a grin. "So, you up for a round of 'Yu-Gi-Oh!'?"

Kai glanced back at her. "Sure you'll pose a challenge this time?" He asked, smirking.

"Riiight…If I recall correctly, I kicked your butt during our last battle."

"That was nearly three months ago! Do you actually think I'd have the same deck?"

Yuri glanced at them from across the room. Unbeknownst to Kai and Hiromi, the crimson-haired teen had heard every word.

And it hurt, being reminded of how he, Yuri Ivanov, had had to tell one of the most interesting people he knew, the four words he never thought he'd say: I don't like you.

It had been a surprise when Ivan Petriovsky called to inform him of the chain e-mail; all throughout the three-way conference call, Yuri had been silent, whereas Boris Kuznetsov and Ivan had discussed what each would put in his section of the message; this 'reply' was nothing short of cowardly, he though, and he wanted no part of it. However, he had gone without friends for quite a while – just a little over a year – and had wanted to feel welcome and accepted; in the end, he'd interrupted the 'argument' between the two other Russians.

"Look, you two," he'd said, obviously irritated. "This is taking too long. How about I start the e-mail, and then I'll send it to either one of you?"

"Okay…" Ivan had replied, sounding unconvinced. "Why are you in such a hurry to end this phone call anyway?"

"I was in the middle of a movie, and I'd like to get back to it now."

"Oh. Well, sorry 'bout that, Yuri. Didn't think this call would take so long."

"Yeah, sure, Ivan. 'Bye." And with that, Yuri had put down the receiver. Of course, there wasn't really a movie. He was just getting tired of hearing all the putdowns that Kai was unknowingly receiving. However, he'd just volunteered to start the e-mail. There had been no backing down from that, and now look where it got him!

Yuri knew that they had been unfair, the three of them, when they didn't give Kai a real chance at friendship. He knew what the slate-haired teen had gone through in his elementary years, and he was truly sorry to have added to his sorrow. Three years of being ostracized by the whole class was no picnic, but Kai had been able to endure it; Yuri admired him for that.

He sighed and ran a hand impatiently through his hair. What was it that kept him from being true to one of his best friends? It couldn't have been solely the desire to be accepted, could it? Even until now the answer eluded him.

He glanced up again at Kai and Hiromi, once more engrossed in another of their card games. He smiled. He'd never been a sharp one at strategy trading card games, but Kai was different; teach him any game and he'd get the hang of it after only a few tries. That was another trait Yuri admired in him, aside from his great resiliency to the trends of the world.

Sighing again, he reached into his school bag and brought out his notebook. He had a lot to share with his friend that he might as well start with that: a written apology.

"Psst."

Kai looked up from his notebook to find his seatmate looking at him intently.

"What?" The amethyst-eyed teen asked, his voice a hoarse whisper. His seatmate, a cheerful-looking sort with steel-blue eyes and dark blue hair, gestured wildly to the floor; Kai thought he looked familiar but couldn't place it at that time. Instead, he followed the boy's gaze and came across a sheet of snow-white paper, folded carefully into a crane.

Violet orbs narrowed. There was only one person he knew who was skilled at origami: Yuri. What in the world does he want from me? Kai thought as he ducked down to retrieve the paper. He opened it slowly as he straightened up in his seat.

His eyes widened as he read the crimson-haired teen's message. For a note, it was quite lengthy.

Amethyst pools flicked back and forth as he reread the note.

Kai,

I am truly sorry for what happened last school year. I wanted to remain true to you when they didn't, but something – I know not what – came over me. I'm really sorry because I could see in your eyes what you were going through, yet I had not the courage to do anything about it.

You must have been hurt really bad by what we did, and it wouldn't surprise me if our friendship ended here. However, I hope that you'll be able to forgive me. I don't think we'd survive one school year together without acknowledging each other's existence, ne?

Once more, my sincerest apologies, especially for what I said in the chain e-mail.

YURI

Kai looked up slowly, to see if the teacher was looking at him, and then he glanced at Yuri; the Russian was slumped in his seat, facing the front of the class.

The slate-haired teen carefully refolded the note and slipped it into his bag. Though he knew it could be a trick, it was something worth looking into. Perhaps it would turn out that Yuri had been telling the truth – that he was still Kai's friend; after all, the flame-haired Russian had never meant to hurt Kai, intentionally at least.

Kai smiled and glanced out the window, seemingly noticing for the first time how beautiful the scenery was. Without him knowing, Yuri had given him more than a note of apology: he had given him hope. If there was one thing the amethyst-eyed teen had learned in his short life, it was that no one should be without hope; without it, one was truly dead.

And Kai allowed that feeling to grow, to swell, to burn within his heart. He relished in the warmth hope brought, even as he realized it could easily be replaced with the icy bleakness of depression and sadness, and he allowed it all the same.

Rina's Diary:

Today, Ran (one of my three 'best friends') apologized! I was SO shocked...At first I didn't want to believe her, but then...I saw the look in her eyes; she really was sorry. So, I did what anyone else (probably) would have done: I forgave her.

Thank you, God, for granting me at least one good friend. It's enough.

A/N: 1 This basically means "It's been a long time, hasn't it?"

2 Used in this context, it means something like "I trust you are doing well?"

R&R, dears! I'm off to RP with my dear li'l sister! See you in Chapter 2! Dewa matta and God bless!