A/N: I apologize if this chapter is SUPER boring (I think it is). It's just so that you guys get to know Mao's character more and her past stories!

30 minutes later…

"You know, Mao, you're pretty nice." Akito said in a 'holy-crap-I-just-realized' kind of tone. I scoffed.

"Why, thank you." I replied sarcastically. "You're not half-bad yourself." He smiled and shifted his position.

"I don't really know you that well. Since we're here, do you wanna…talk? I pursed my lips in discomfort. Oh God. Talking. People. Awkward. Can't.

"…Sure." I managed to utter. I was never really social and I only have like five friends. I don't really understand how Akito can be quite feminine while Agito is this beast. Ironic, isn't it? He smiled.

"I like getting to know people." He said in a humble tone with a slight blush. Yeah, well I never really liked people. Especially talking to new ones as I tend to only embarrass myself.

"So how do you wanna do this? You're just gonna ask me questions? 'Cause that's kinda awkward." I stretched my neck; we've been sitting on the floor for a little over half an hour and I don't understand why we're not sitting on his couch.

"I guess? Hmm…" he pondered, his lips slightly pointing to the left. "Let's start with something easy; how old are you?"

"Seventeen, yourself?"

"Same. What do you hate?"

I thought for a moment and swallowed hard, thus causing me to choke a bit from my saliva. Great, I just nearly killed myself. Scumbag body. "Well, I hate Math. I don't understand shit in class. Uh…I don't like carrots and cucumbers… and hypocrites." I nodded slowly, finding this conversation weird—how he's just asking me questions, it's like being interviewed for a job. I felt bad for him because he had to think of questions while I just had to wait so I gulped and did something that I never thought I would do in my entire life—socialize. "Do…do you like pizza?" He slightly flinched, taken back by my question.

He chortled a bit, "yes I do, who doesn't?!" I exhaled; that went better than expected.

"What was an embarrassing moment that you had?" He asked after a few seconds of thought.

"'An embarrassing moment, huh?' Well, I naturally embarrass myself everyday. 'There was a time when Kao and Rin, who is a close friend whom you have seen from the restaurant, and I went to some resort beach. We then saw a two—" I stopped myself, realizing I had been talking too much and his attention was probably lost.

I don't know why, but people tend to always get bored of me. My chest felt tight. But this time… it was different. Akito stared at me with a smile, fully engaged and focused into my story; I smiled within and continued. "Well, there were two really cute guys and they were walking by opposite of our direction, but when they were close, I literally forgot how to walk! Dude, like, I literally stood there—frozen, admiring their presence and I found myself tearing up because they were just that damn striking. My eyes were unworthy of their beauty." Akito's hearty burst of laugher echoed within the room and he bumped the back of his head on the dresser. It's not even that funny.

"Oh my goodness, I—!" he started laughing hysterically again. He waited for a few moments to calm down, "okay, okay, I'm good." He breathed and regained his calmness. "So, what happened next?" He grinned and inched closer to me.

"To me, my friends, or the dudes?"

He shrugged, "either."

"Well, the dude that I had eye-contact with raised his eyebrow, probably thinking I was a freak. Then, I forgot which foot was left and right because I was dazed by their beauty, so I ended up tripping myself after they left so uhh…yeah, it could have been worse. Kao and Rin were laughing like mad." I'm awkward as hell. Akito laughed again; after around forty minutes, I have been quite fond of his laugh. It was…nice.

After a while, Akito cleared his throat. "Oh so Mao, you're straight?"

I had to do a double take; did he think I was a lesbo? NOT THAT THERE'S ANYTHING WRONG with being one because I think lesbians are really cool, well not that I'd know them because I don't really know lesbians and I'm not one and—oh god. I'm blabbing on again. Wait…what was I talking about? …Oh yeah, lesbians. Okay. Got it. "Yes, I'm straight…I guess?" I was never fond of labels.

"Oh, sorry. I thought you were a lesbian because of the way you dress and your attitude." He commented slowly, probably trying not to sound offensive.

I looked down at my clothes, "why? What's wrong with them?"

"No! Nothing's wrong! It's just that…that…you're wearing a sleeveless band shirt, jeans, Vans, and you talk kind of like a man."

"So you're saying I have a deep voice." I summarized flatly.

"NO! I meant—I meant that you—" Akito gesticulated and panicked. I burst out laughing.

"Nah dude, sorry, I was just fucking with you, man." I laughed; I like to goof around and play with people. It was weird how Akito's company was quite pleasant, usually I don't like people I don't know well. Odd.

"See? See?! You just did it again!" He snapped and pointed at me accusingly.

"Did what again?" I asked innocently.

"Talked like you're a boy!" The anxious look on his face made him looked ten.

"Oh, because I say 'dude' and 'man' a lot? Yeah, I do that a lot. Bad habit, sorry." He seemed to calm down and his gentle features returned.

He calmed down. "Sorry, it's just that you seem tomboy-ish and I just assumed. Plus, I thought you and Kao were…too close." He tilted his head down.

"Oh no, don't apologize! It's totally fine. No worries."

He snapped his head up, "really? Thank goodness I thought you were going to be mad at me." He slightly pouted.

"Why would I be mad at you? You're cool." His eye twinkled and he grinned. My heart was beating quite fast at the success of the conversation. 'Don't screw it, Mao!' I told myself. 'Be cool and don't embarrass yourself.' Jesus Christ, talking to people is hard. How do people do this easily? The conversation died.

"Thank you!" He blushed after a few seconds. There was nothing else to talk about.

"Oh and about Kao and I, she's like my sister, don't silly." I chuckled, remembering a slogan that I read before: 'Don't be silly, wrap your willy.' I think it was an advert for condoms—NOT LIKE I WAS IN SOME PORN MAGAZINE OR SOMETHING OH GOD HELL NO DUDE. IT WASN'T LIKE THAT I SWEAR TO GOD I JUST READ IT RANDOMLY ON THE INTERNET AND—

Out of nowhere, I felt a buzz in my pocket and I jumped. I realized I've been going into a mini internal rant again. Horrid habit. I took my phone out.

"Sorry, just a text." I didn't look at the sender nor read the text because I find being on your phone while talking to others is rude, so I just pressed some buttons to make it shut up.

He looked at my phone, "can I see it?"

"My phone?"

"Yeah, it looks…really nice."

"Uhh…sure, I guess." I handed the phone to him. He studied the phone, tracing the lines and curves, smiling and frowning every now and then. He clicked the home button and I saw him slide his index finger. I then heard the noise that the iPhone makes whenever it's been unlocked. Crap. I watched him eagerly as he went through my phone, my hands getting clammy. I was sweating like a sinner in church. Technically, there was nothing really important nor private, just some retarded photos of me during the—my eyes widened at the sudden realization.

"Can I see my phone quickly? I just want to check something, sorry." I lied. Technically, it was a white lie. I wanted to check if the embarrassing photos of me during the Christmas party were still in there.

He slowly showed me an evil grin, "you're hiding something, aren't you?" He wiggled his eyebrows up and down.

"No I'm not." I said too quickly. My hands were sweating like crazy now. Stupid hereditary genes. Thanks a lot, dad.

He shook his head in delight with a sinister smile, "let's see…" he said, sliding his index finger.

"Dude, you're not—" I bent over and hastily snatched my phone away from him, catching Akito off guard.

"Come on, please? Just let me see it!" Akito urged.

"Hell no dude, it's embarrassing!" I jogged away, hiding the thing away from him.

"Just a tiny, tiny peek, I promise I won't laugh!" Akito repeated again and again, looking over my shoulder to get a glimpse of it. His chest shoving my back and his wildly flailing arms from his desperation were causing me to be imbalanced; I wobbled.

"NO, AKITO-STO- " And with one hard sudden shove, I felt my stomach churn wildly as I felt myself fall on Akito's sofa, with him following on top of me. I squeaked at the sight of the purple leather...slowly increasing in size. It felt unreal. I was going to get squished and die. I haven't even met Ruki yet! To die not meeting my favorite band, how said is THAT?

I crashed on the sofa, face first, followed by a ton of weight that smashed onto my back roughly, nearly injuring my ribs. Face plant.

"AHA! I got it! Now let's see what your little secret is...hehe." I heard Akito sang menacingly, feeling the vibration of his voice on my back. Oh God. WHY ME.

Out of nowhere, I heard the door creak open, "...Oh. I'm so sorry, I didn't know you guys were uhh...busy. Mao, I'm going ahead. You guys can...continue." I heard Kao's petrified voice and then the sudden slam of the door. Kill me now. I stayed in the face plant position, anticipating my death from lack of oxygen.

"Err…Mao?" Akito asked as I felt him get off of me. I ignored him stayed still, mentally cursing myself for having a short breath. "Please don't die in my room." He said in a worried tone. Thanks, Akito. You're such a pal. I groaned and slowly got off his couch.

"I should get going now, sorry for the trouble." I scratched the back of my head.

He stretched his arm, giving me my phone with a frown, "I promise I didn't look at your stuff, it was meant to be a joke and sorry for falling on you." He was giving me the puppy dog eyes.

I had always been weak when it came to the puppy eyes, I smiled, "no it's fine! It's not that private anyways and thanks for having me over. Well…I kinda forced myself in your room, same thing but yeah, you get my point. You're not heavy either, hell, I'm probably heavier than you." My hands stopped sweating. Finally. "If you really wanna know, they're just some stupid photos of me looking like a retard with my friends."

I took my phone from his hand, "Ahh, I see, sorry again! Oh and don't worry about it, you should visit some other time. About your match with Agito, I'll talk to him about it." He smiled again. How is he going to do that? Talk to himself? That's funny. "That reminds me, you should hang out with us! We're going to see The Gazette in Funabashi, it'll—"

"Holy crap are you serious?!" I squealed without thinking and I suddenly clamped my mouth shut with my hands. I can't believe I just did that. Akito simply looked surprised.

"Yes, it's tomorrow. The whole team is going."

"Dude The Gazette is my favorite band!" I was breathing unevenly now. I don't know why but I always get excited when it comes to bands, like the fangirl I am. 'Aww yissss, my husbands will finally know I exist!' I thought. I LOVE post-hardcore, metalcore, and alternative rock bands so much more than I love myself. I don't even like myself. I'm basically like poop compared to my other friends. Poop is a funny word…hehe. Poop.

"We should definitely meet up and I'll text you the details." Akito got his phone. What was he talking about? Crap. "What's your number?" Oh. I recited my phone number as he typed. "Okay, see you tomorrow, Mao!"

"Thanks," I said happily for once. "I never knew you were into bands." I thought.

He shrugged, "Agito's into bands, not me."

I made a face, "oh." Great, the evil one is the one that I have things in common with. Wait…is that saying something? Awesome, I just offended myself...stupid brain. I should seriously stop talking to myself.

Akito laughed at my expression, "you're funny, Mao. I like you." He giggled. His voice was high, even higher than mine.

"Thank you," I smiled back.

"So tomorrow, then?" Akito asked, walking towards his bed.

"Definitely. See you and thanks!" I turned my heel and headed for his door.

"Bye!" Akito called out. Before closing the door, I heard him mutter something though it was too low to hear.

I walked down the stairs 'left, right, left, right' I thought in my head as my feet followed. Sometimes if I don't say 'left' or 'right' I forget which foot goes next and I trip over myself. I took my phone out and read the text message that I got from earlier; it was from Yuki:

'Home. Now.'

A/N: Do you guys think it's progressing slowly? Hmm…I might add some more romance in the next chapter then. I hope someone's actually reading this :( Interesting fact: Mao's personality is based on me and her awkward moment was actually real (my experience). I will be more active in writing chapters :) Chapter 9 is being currently written and I will try to make it interesting with lots of...stuff? Hehe. Thank you for reading!

Special thanks to:

*Aoi Heart for being my first follower and for keeping up with my story despite the long delays!

*Rocky Renagade for the very supportive reviews :D Your writing is really amazing!

*Aya Kruez for the profound support and yes, I try not to make her a Mary Sue character and hopefully I'm doing well at it :) Thank you so much! I'd love to read your stories as well when you are able to log in the next time :D

*Wings2strong for the review and yes, I am planning on writing more and faster chapters :)