Been a while since I updated this. Sorry. Here's a relatively short one.

It was Sunday again. A whole two weeks had passed, and even though Kagura wanted to talk to Kaiya, she couldn't muster the will. Of course she had noticed the girl staring at her constantly in class. She noticed how the girl once surrounded by her friends now sat alone. She also noticed how when she would say hi to Emi and Rin, Kaiya would look away from them as if ashamed. Emi voiced her concern for their former friend, while Rin (usually the more easygoing of the two) was having difficulty forgiving Kaiya. Kagura thought of what Rin had said. "She will always be my best friend, but I just need some space from her."

And yet, here Kagura stood. In front of Kaiya's house. If she had another choice, she probably would've taken it. But even though both Emi and Rin excelled in the subjects she was weak in and she had copied their work countless of times, they weren't very good tutors. Letting someone copy your work and teaching them how to do it are two very different concepts entirely after all. Kaiya, though, was a wonderful tutoring. Probably the best of anyone in school, and Kagura needed to improve her grades. So she rang the doorbell and hoped for the best.

The resemblance of Kaiya to her mother was striking. As many times as Kagura had been to Kaiya's house, she had never actually seen her mother. Although she was about half a foot taller and had light red hair instead of brown, Kaiya's mother looked exactly like her daughter. She also wore a bright smile, not like one she had ever seen on Kaiya. "Yes, how can I help you?"

Kagura cleared her throat. "Hi, I'm here for Kaiya tutoring." Kaiya tutoring? Man, I sound like I really do need tutoring. Kagura smiled sheepishly and let out a chuckle.

"Oh yes. Yuso. Your mom and I talked. She's in her room." Kaiya's mother removed herself from the doorway so Kagura could make her way in. "I'm usually at work, but I've taken some time off so I could spend time with Kaiya," she said as she closed the door. "But she's been locked up in her room. I'm surprised she agreed to tutor you."

"Oh," Kagura said guiltily. She didn't know why she felt guilty. She thought she didn't really do much to feel guilty about. But she couldn't help but feel bad for Kaiya. As she was about to head over to Kaiya's room, Kaiya's mother grabbed her by the shoulder.

Kagura turned to face her. "Look, if you feel like she doesn't do a good job, I'll refund your mother, okay?"

The young athlete nodded. "Thank you." She then began her trek to Kaiya's room. Kagura made sure to make the walk as long as possible, but she could only go so slow without making Kaiya's mother suspicious. She paused for a moment, adjusted her backpack, and sighed. She then opened the door and saw Kaiya sitting at her desk, looking out the window.

"Get your stuff ready, and let me know when you want to start," Kaiya said immediately, without taking her eyes away from the window.

Kagura took off her backpack and silently did as told. She organized her notecards in order of difficulty. She took her notebook out and dog eared the pages that contained the material she found most difficult. She took out her pencil pouch and took out the pencil she decided was lucky. Kagura smiled. "Ok, I'm ready."

Kaiya perked and turned her head quickly to find Kagura sitting on her floor, smiling like nothing was wrong. "What are you doing here?"

"I think I'm supposed to get tutored," Kagura said confused. "I thought your mom told you."

"She did," Kaiya said, getting up from her chair. "She didn't tell me I was tutoring you, though…" She stood motionless, staring at the athlete on her floor. Kagura's gaze was hard and Kaiya started to grow angry the longer the two stared at each other. "I'm not tutoring you," she said finally.

"What," Kagura spat.

"You heard me," Kaiya hissed. "Get out. You've done nothing but hurt me."

Kagura raised an eyebrow. "How? You're treating me like I've done something wrong. What have I done?"

"Going behind my back and dating my friends. Then you keep on talking to them while I'm left alone," Kaiya said angrily. "You never noticed anything about me. I've been miserable these past weeks, even before the sports festival, but did you care? No." Kaiya was beginning to tear up as she went on. "And my friends, they treat me like I don't exist. I've tried apologizing to them, but they act like they're so much better than me when they're just the same."

Kaiya then stopped, realizing she was getting too loud. She didn't want to have to explain any of this to her mom. Kagura was lost of words. She knew that Kaiya was twisting things around to be more in her favor, but some of what she said had some truth. Emi was willing to start dating her just to hurt Kaiya and Rin, and Rin picked alliances with either Emi or Kaiya depending on how the situation suited her. She also was bad on picking up the misery Kaiya felt.

"Look," Kagura said quietly. "I'm sorry. Things are a bit dramatic right now. A lot's going. A lot more than I'm used to. But after that day, two weeks ago, Emi was the first to defend you when I was mad." Kaiya sat back down and tried to fight off the waterfall of tears streaming down her face. "Rin is a bit harder, but she still thinks of you as her best friend. I take it this is the first real fight you two have been in." Kaiya nodded. "And I'm sorry I never notice anything. I'm just not good at that stuff."

Kaiya started crying more. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I called you stupid. I didn't mean it. I didn't mean anything I said. I was just angry and so willing to say anything to have you that I ended up pushing everyone away." Kagura stood up, walked over to Kaiya and gave her a tight hug.

"It's ok," Kagura said softly and she kneeled down to meet Kaiya at eyelevel. "We all forgive you," she said as she smiled.

This is it. The perfect moment. Kaiya thought. She leaned in for the kiss she desired so much. Her lips drew closer and closer to Kagura's. She could feel Kagura's hot breath on her face, and their lips were so close by this point Kaiya swore she could feel Kagura's on hers. At that moment, Kagura pulled back a bit, leaving Kaiya to almost fall forward out of her chair. Kagura blushed and looked away. Kaiya looked up and saw the blush. "I'm sorry. I forgot you're dating Emi."

Kagura shook her head. "No, that's not it. We're not dating anymore. I just…" She was trying to find a way to say what she wanted to without hurting Kaiya's feelings. "I just don't want a kiss… From anyone. I'm not interested in that stuff right now. I need to focus on school and swimming."

"Oh," Kaiya said quietly. She dreaded the fact that that was the possibly closest she was ever going to be to Kagura's lips, but she shook off that feeling. "Sorry, it was the heat of moment…" the two girls sat in an awkward silence, avoiding eye contact. "Well… I guess it's time for some tutoring."

"Right," Kagura said quickly, happy for the subject change.

zzZZzz

Today had been an emotional day for Kagura and she was glad to finally be at the pool. A good swim was in order after all that happened at Kaiya's. Lucky for her, the tutoring lesson went well and none of what was spoken about beforehand was brought up again, nor was that almost kiss. Kagura touched her lips and sighed. "Well then." She prepped herself in front of the lane she had chosen. After a few moments of gathering herself, she dived into the pool. Her arms pulled her forward with great power and her legs propelled her with great intensity. Before she knew it, she had reached the other side of the pool. She flipped over underwater, and pushed off the pool to swim back to her starting point. She went back and forth about ten times before deciding to get out of the pool. She pulled herself out to find that she was face-to-face with a woman she had never seen before.

"Sorry," she said and tried to walk around the woman. The woman pulled her back.

"What grade are you in," the woman asked.

Kagura was puzzled. She was always told to not talk to strangers, especially since she went out on her own a lot. But she saw no harm in just telling the woman her grade level. "Eighth."

"Hmm. High school is coming up quickly. You have two more years, yes?"

"Yes…"

"You're a good swimmer."

"Thank you," Kagura said. She was about to walk off when the woman stopped her again.

"My name is Minamo Kurosawa. I teach at Hiroyuki High School. I also coach the swimming team there. Have you heard of that school?

Heard of it!? Of course I have! "Yes," Kagura said quickly. "My mom wants me to go to that school."

"Good. Keep swimming like that and we may have a spot for you," Minamo said, smiling.

Kagura couldn't believe her luck. She was face-to-face with the swimming coach at the school her mother desperately wanted her to go to. Her happiness began to fade when she realized the real reason why that dream was almost impossible to achieve. "My grades though…"

Minamo's smile didn't faulter. "That's okay. All you need to do is increase your current grades by at least one letter grade, then keep them at that level by the time you apply." Minamo patted Kagura on the back. "With your swimming skills, I'll make sure you get in. What's your name?"

"Yuso Kagura."

"Well, Kagura, we'll see what we can do for you. Just get your grades up a little" Minamo left, giving Kagura a pat on the head before leaving. Kagura was incredibly happy. She couldn't wait to tell her mom. She quickly went and changed back into her regular clothes and began running home.