The next day, I woke up tired as usual. I got ready lazily and then walked to school. Today the group was all supposed to be here. I wasn't ready to face Hikaru though. There's no doubt in my mind that he DIDN'T know who it was that fell on him yesterday. Errgh..

At the front of the school, I spotted them all there. Suke and Renee talking quietly to each other on the steps. Minori and Yumi checking Hikaru out and being complete girls. Daichi and Kai joking around and saying stuff. Kai saw me and waved cheerfully. He walked up to me and gave me a big hug. I laughed.

"You should've been there," he whispered to me. "It was boring. I needed someone to go and steal some food with me. A ninja though." He grinned.

"I think it would've been better if I hadn't gone. People would probably wonder who that girl was."

Kai saw through me all the time too. He joked around a lot and tried cheering me up.

"So, the new guy…" Kai started. "He's so hot, don't you think?"

I stared at him. "I never knew you were checking him out."

"I was not! Rumors, you know." Then he waved his hand dismissively, let me go, and we both walked into the building to our first class. It was the usual, I guess. Lunch came and Kai danced his way up to Hikaru, put his hand on his leg, and did a whole bunch of stuff that could cause us to question his … Whether he was straight or gay. The strang-er thing is that Hikaru put his hand on Kai's leg also and pretended to be gay too. Then Kai came back all freaked out.

After school, I was hanging out with Renee and Suke. They were holding hands and just talking in their quiet gentle voices. I sat there and sighed. Yeah, it was nice and peaceful being around these two, but you couldn't help but feel so… left out. "Nerds in love," I muttered.

Renee laughed and Suke just smiled a bit.

"Haven't you ever thought of moving on Akemi?" Renee asked me softly. I looked at her and her blue eyes looked back at me, showing me that she cared.

I sighed. "I did try..." I admitted. "I just can't though. I know I'm better off without him but still... I know he's a jerk. I know he's mean. But I just can't forget about him."

Suke and her nodded.

"Akemi…" said Suke. "You are aware that he thinks he may have found someone else right?"

"Yes. I know." How could I not? So many people already knew that he may like another girl. They all seemed to know who it is but just weren't telling me here name. I swear, I think Daichi made them vow not to tell me, specifically me of course. I tried asking Yumi but she wouldn't tell me, said he'd 'kill her' if she ever did. It wasn't like he'd find out though, I barely talked to him. In fact, I never talked to him. And he told me that we could be friends. Some friends we were, I thought darkly.

Renee gave me a hug and it took most of my will to not break down and cry right there. I was sick of crying. Everytime someone showed me pity or that they're sorry for what happened, I felt like crying even more.

"Hello," a familiar voice greeted. I turned to glare up at that person.

Hikaru was standing right next to me while I was sitting there on the steps. He sat next to me, making himself comfortable. I resisted the urge to push him away and chose instead, to look away.

"So, your name's Akemi?" he asked me. No doubt some girl gave him all the information on me.

I nodded, still not looking at him.

"I'm Hikaru," he told me. Like I didn't already know. He held his hand out and I looked at him in disbelief. He was looking directly at me with a friendly smile on his face. It lighted up his features and made him look even more beautiful.

"I figured that we should start over," he told me sheepishly.

I muttered something like "Fine", then I shook his hand and pulled it away just as quickly. He laughed. I looked up at him and he was obviously entertained by my expression, I bet.

He took my hand smoothly and held it in his. A small gasp escaped my lips. "You don't like me very much. Why?" then he looked at me with his charming eyes. I smacked his face away and pulled my hand free of his.

"Just messing around," he chuckled. "But seriously, why? It's obvious, you know."

"Of course I know," I folded my arms across my chest. "Because you think you're so good looking, think you're so popular, think you can get all the girls, and you think you're all that but you're not."

"Aren't I though?"

"No."

He laughed and then said, "I don't think I can get all the girls. Well, most of them."

I growled/mumbled things un-understandable to him.

"Are you missing something?" he suddenly asked me. I was caught off guard. I didn't know what he meant. "No…?" I told him confused. He shrugged then. I figured it was time to go. Felt like getting out of there before we started having a full on conversation.

I stood up. "Well, bye you two." I said towards Renee and Suke who were lost in conversation. She waved but didn't look at me. Then I turned and was walking away. After about 2 minutes of walking, I heard footsteps behind me and turned, ready to hit whoever it was.

"Don't hurt me!" Hikaru held up his hands, defending, of course, his face. I sighed and lowered my bag.

I figured I could talk to him normally but I wouldn't be considered his friend or fall for his charming ways.

"What are you doing?" I asked him, exasperated.

"Walking you home," he said with a confident expression. I stared at him incredulously. "Why?"

I couldn't figure out why he was so intent on walking me home, but seeing his expression made me feel like laughing. I was just going home, after all. He then had a thoughtful expression on his face.

"Let's go," then he walked ahead of me and I had no choice but to follow. I realized we weren't headed to my house but instead, to a park.

"Why are we going here?"

"Just felt like I should get to know you better," he said.

Me? Why me? Just so he could show how stupid I was in front of his friends? I stopped my irritation from taking over. I never liked people that were really popular and had everything. Made everyone below them look really bad.

We stopped in front of swings and he sat down. I sat down on the other one and then we started gently swinging.

"Do you have a boyfriend?" he asked me. That was unexpected.

"No," I told him.

"A girlfriend?"

Erk. I glared at him.

"Okay, I take that as a no…" he laughed. His beautiful face lighting up. There was something under the surface though… Some kind of-

"What do you like to do?" he asked, smiling.

"Uhh… I like to write, listen to music, take pictures, hang out with my friends…" This was kind of awkward.

And again, "Are you missing something?"

"Noo…" I told him. When he asked though, my thoughts had immediately turned to missing Daichi. I ignored that aching feeling and wondered what Hikaru meant.

"Is anyone's birthday coming up?"

My mom's. "Oh!" I remembered the bracelet I got for her. "My mom's birthday is in 2 days."

He nodded. "What'd you get her?"

"A bracelet."

Hikaru smirked. "This bracelet?" Then he reached into his pocket and pulled that exact same one out. I was in disbelief as I checked my own pockets, knowing that the one he had in his hand was the one I bought.

"But, what, how..?" I sputtered. He looked over at me, calmly.

"When you decided to leave me with picking up all those clothes you knocked over."

There was an awkward, embarrassing silence. Oh, so he did recognize me..

"Well…" I held my hand out, stubbornly, for the bracelet. "Could I… Please have it back?"

Hikaru looked at me with his eyebrow raised, slightly. As if questioning me. "No." He stated simply.

"Why not?"

"Since I had to pick up and refold all that clothes, I think you owe me, wouldn't you agree?" He asked with a slight smile on his face.

"No. I don't agree. I bought it, it's mine." I held my hand out impatiently. "And if I did actually owe you, what do you want from me?"

"Oh, no." He pulled the bracelet farther away from me. "You owe me. In order to get this back, you have to…." Then he was thinking.

Whatever he thought of, I hoped it wasn't embarrassing or ruined my reputation in any way. I hoped it didn't involve other guys or girls or having to be his own personal maid. Ugh, I shuddered.

"Go out with me tomorrow."

"What?"

Hikaru nodded, smirking. "You heard me. In order to get this back, you go out with me tomorrow."

"Why?" I couldn't wrap my head around it. He wanted to go out with someone like me? There were so many other, prettier girls he could choose from that he could get. Why me?

"Because… I'm interested in you..?" He said as if it was supposed to be obvious. "Well, it's your choice whether you want it back or not." Then he put it back in his pocket and looked at me. "So what is it?"

I pursed my lips. It couldn't hurt. I would just hang out with him for one day and then go home after getting the bracelet back. The day after tomorrow would be my mom's birthday and everything would be all good. I wouldn't have to involve myself with Hikaru anymore.

"Fine," I agreed.

"You don't look so happy," he pointed out.

I just shook my head. "I'm not interested in you."

"Ouch."

I smiled a little. I wouldn't let him affect me like all those other girls are. He's just some guy, interested in me. He'll end up getting rejected.

"I'm going home now," I stood up and walked away.

"Bye then," he said.

I waved my hand and then went home.