I'm taking a break from reading this psychology-related book. 'Can't seem to concentrate. So what's new? Probably had ADHD as a kid, who knows.

And yeah, as if having people spill their drink on my uniform isn't enough, I bump onto Kaho-chan.

Her scores flew all over the place. And the wind had to choose that exact moment to make a grand entrance. I must have looked really stupid running after the offending sheets of paper. And then the stupid ball from the soccer team had to hit the back of my head just as I handed her the scores. What could possibly be more embarrassing than getting knocked down in front of your crush?! It could have hit me thirty-five seconds later, after she'd thanked me and headed straight to the practice rooms. And of all the things I had to say, I had to blabber about the weather. Ugh. Life is so abnormally cruel.

The front door opened and aniki stormed noisily into the living room.

"Oi, Kazuki."

"Huh."

"Akira lent me this CD. Man, you've to hear the tracks—hilarious."

"Huh."

I grabbed my school bag and dumped my notebooks on the center table. Might as well work on my homeworks as we listened to the songs.

So I had to walk around the campus in my colorful shirt. I even received quite a mouthful of sermon from Sawada-sensei. Humph. It's not like it was determined choice.

How come the teachers keep on dishing out more assignments than we can handle? As if we seniors have so much free time.

Examine the excerpts from Michio Muyagi's Koma no Haru—determine the construction and direction—yadda, yadda.

I must have looked really stupid to Kaho-chan.

First excerpt looks like it could be G-major, because there's a key signature of one sharp, and there are no leading tones, like the D#, to make E minor a possibility.

Scratch that.

Music theory proves quite exhausting at times.

"I'm just a regular, everyday, normal guy," sang aniki loudly from across the room. I shook my head. Really foul lines. Funny, yeah, but foul. I turned my attention back to my music notebook.

It couldn't be E minor, because that would require the presence of D# to create the leading tone that's necessary to emphasize E as a tonic.

"And I'm not very good with the women—I'm a pretty shy person and I'm average lookin—"

I scratched my head with the end of my pen. I feel miserable enough without that foul song reminding me of my utter bad luck.

"When I got nothing to say I usually talk about the weather."

Ow, shoot.

List down the things that makes you smile, makes your day and makes you appreciate a day gone bad.

Geez, I totally forgot about this assignment. And it's due tomorrow! I scratched my chin absently. Why do people assign topics like this to graduating students, anyway? It sort of reminds me of middle school. I wonder what Yunoki's take on this one would be.

Hihara Kazuki.

4-A.

I blinked at the paper.

Oh, geez.

Well, my days aren't really any different from most people. I wake up, drag myself to school and the make the best of some great education, cram or "study" for an exam in an hour, pig-out, squeeze practices in between classes and inevitably daydream. How about that, huh.

A lot of things make me smile but in a really glum day for me, I just silently sulk, I don't even know if it's obvious I'm pissed or down. So what makes me a tad happier even by less than half a notch?

Of course seeing my family makes me happy. Hanging out with my friends, especially those I don't get to see so much.

Playing the trumpet, of course. It gives me a boost in energy! Morale, strength, whichever way you'd like to put it. Playing basketball with friends. Running in the morning. Reminds me of my junior high days.

Food makes me happy! Reading good books, watching interesting movies, meeting new people.

"You close your eyes and you're on a chicken farm, the only problem's that the chickens have human arms—"

"Ugh, aniki," I complained loudly. Just what kind of people writes about chicken farms and chickens with human arms?!

"Sorry."

Seeing Kaho-chan smile makes me happy! Seeing her doing her best makes me want to put my best foot forward in everything.

And I realize it actually doesn't take a lot to make me happy. Hehehe. Maybe because we all need a wretched day, or a good old bad day to make us appreciate the fun things in life. Now, now, that's pretty impressive. Hahaha.

"Like the time in grade three when a girl called me stupid face. She really hurt me—why'd she call me stupid face?"

I laughed at the lyrics and then I picked my notebooks up. Aniki was bent on the component, his eyes glued to the notebook where all the lyrics probably were written.

"Is my face stupid? How's that even possible?"

I thumped him on the back as I passed him on my way to the stairs. I must admit—the songs have made me feel better.

And about Kaho-chan…well, I gotta try again, right?

"A person can be stupid but a face, that's impossible."

Yeah.

---

I took a deep breath and turned the knob.

Tada!

I felt like patting myself on the back. Good timing, Kazuki!

She spun around nervously and then looked at me in surprise. Yeah, well, I'll flatter myself into thinking 'in pleasant surprise.'

"Kaho-chan. Are you done practicing?"

"Whew, I thought for a moment you were someone else. Well, never mind that. Um, what are you doing here, Hihara-senpai?"

Yech. Senpai. Is that all I'm ever gonna be?

"Did you eat lunch before you went to practice, Kaho-chan?"

"Eh…actually…no."

I clutched the paper bag I've hidden behind my back and handed it to her.

"I wanted to buy you lunch, but I figured you wouldn't have enough time, so…I bought you bread instead."

"Eh—melon bread! That was really thoughtful of you, Hihara-senpai! Thank you!"

"No problem."

We sat side by side on the stone bench. Okay, Kazuki, focus! I went over my 'lines' as I waited for her to finish eating. I glanced at my newly-acquired wristwatch—the one I wrangled from aniki, anyway--I still have ten minutes. Hmm, that ought to be enough.

"Gochisosama! Thanks again for these, senpai."

"Um—"

"Senpai? You have something to say?"

"Kaho-chan. I—I really—I mean…I—"

Gah, I can't do this! I can feel the heat rushing to my face and then I stuttered stupidly. I should've written my speech down! Now I can't remember anything!

"Hihara-senpai…are you alright?"

I risked a glance at her face. I can tell she's confused—concerned, even, but at least she didn't look annoyed. At least not yet.

"Actually, Kaho-chan…I…I really like—"

Kerthud.

I broke off. Was that…Was that the sound of something or someone hitting hard cement? I jumped off the bench and both of us looked around.

"Shimizu-kun!"

Gah!! What's he doing here?! Kaho-chan leapt up ad almost ran to his direction. She cradled his head while I picked his cello up to check for possible injuries. No crack, no scratch. Well—

"Is he alright, Kaho-chan?" I asked worriedly. "Is he sick? Why'd he lose consciousness? We should carry him to the infirmary—"

"He's alright, Hihara-senpai," she assured me, "He fell asleep, is all."

"A-asleep?" Whoa, what was that? I mean—I never really noticed that Shimizu-kun's always sleepy until now, but Kaho-chan's chuckling like it's normal routine. I shifted uneasily, his instrument still cradled in my arms. "Is he always like this?"

"He was asleep the whole time," she supplied fondly, "That's probably why I didn't notice him when I came up here. Eh—I keep on telling Shimizu-kun…This habit would be the death of him."

I nodded sheepishly. "A bad fall could cause nasty complications. Er—Kaho-chan, don't you think we should wake him up already?"

"Yes, it's almost time for our first class."

And so my first attempt on a confession went down the drain.

---

"Yo, Kanayan."

"Hoo, I'm busy."

"But you're not doing anything!"

"It may not look like I'm doing anything, but at the cellular level I'm really quite busy."

I don't know why, but I find myself talking to Kanayan every time I had a particularly 'bad' or uneventful day. It's not like he would tell me something or anything 'enlightening'—he's one to always joke around. He sat at the bench lazily while he fed his equally lazy fat cat.

I leaned against the bench and folded my arms behind my head. I replayed the scene earlier in my head. Shimizu-kun, of all people. Gah. But, well, I'd rather it was him than Tsuchiura or Tsukimori. Or worse, Yunoki. But still—

"Where did I go wrong?" I asked no one in particular. The timing was perfect, she was alone, and I've got the rules covered. Oh, man.

"Huh, this is going to take more than one night," yawned Kanayan. "So, you've resorted to stalking, huh."

"What stalking? I'm not stalking her."

"Oh please. I won't pretend I didn't see you pressing your ear against the door to the rooftop earlier."

"Why are you snooping around?"

"How was it, then?" he asked indifferently as he lit another cigarette. "I see you finally got to her. Things went well?"

I heaved another sigh and slumped on the bench. His cat meowed at me stupidly.

"Naw, there were complications."

"Well, as they always say, if at first you don't succeed, destroy any evidence that you ever tried."

"Huh, stop bugging me, Kanayan. I feel miserable enough."

"What happened?"

"Uh, Shimizu-kun," I stated flatly, not caring to elaborate. Leads to one thing, anyway. But then Kanayan chuckled as if he understood, grabbed the cat and settled it down the bench beside him.

"Competition's pretty intense, don't you think?"

I blinked.

"What competition?"

"Well, I overheard Tsuchiura offer to walk Hino home. Practice room," he added with a shrug.

I leapt up. "What? Tsuchiura?"

"Chill. She refused. She's got the afternoon planned with her friends, apparently."

"Oh."

"Yunoki got to her, though. Can you believe it? He actually grabbed her hand and shoved her inside the car! Hahaha, you should've seen his fan girls' faces after they drove away."

My eyes bulged.

"Yu-Yunoki?! Yunoki took her home? C-car?!"

"Uh-huh."

I slumped down, defeated. Huhu. Yunoki. My bestfriend. Boohoo. I guess it can't be helped. Some people are born irresistible.

"And earlier, Tsukimori asked her to--"

"Oh, please!" I wailed loudly and then I stormed out of the garden. And then I remembered I left my school bag behind. Sheesh. Talk about ruining my perfect walk-out scene.

"What's wrong?" he complained, "You didn't let me finish--he asked her to return the CDs she borrowed."

Rats.

My chin jerked up a fraction. I just have to tell her what I feel, right? It doesn't matter now if she ends up choosing someone else. I just know that I'm never gonna be able to live with myself if I actually didn't try.

So there.

---

boing! haha! woo! i've been reading lcdo chapter 60 previews earlier, and hihara-shi occupied most of the panels--whoopie flippin doo! shiawase!!^-^ so kawaii is he. ahem. ^-^ btw, the lyrics are from songs i wouldn't mention, since it contains heavy language (then why mention it in the first place, dummy). hearts sarcastic lines. uh, thanks for the reviews! ^-^