Lonely No More
by Cyberchao X

Disclaimer: Still the same as it ever was.

CCX: Okay, got an idea for a chapter that chronologically is still a ways away, so hopefully it's gonna be full speed ahead for awhile.

…he wrote, and then didn't write anything else for the next four-and-a-half days. :-)

*same day as previous chapter*

"Oh dearest big brother? Is there something you were keeping from me?"

"I…don't think so," Atsuya said, confused.

"Really? Because I seem to have remembered where I'd seen your date to last month's school dance before…which got me to wondering who Chikuro-san's date was."

"…You know."

Hanna nodded. "I confronted her on it. She told me that you wanted to protect me… but I don't think I'm the one who needs protecting. She swore me to secrecy on the matter…and I plan to honor that, for now."

"So does this mean you're leaving her thrall?"

Hanna laughed at her brother's choice of words. "Like I said, there are others who need protection. I don't want to see Katsu-tan hurt… She really seems to love Suki-sempai. I think she might actually be in love… and I want to see her happy."

"Even if it means she won't be with you?"

"…Suki-sempai made the same mistake. I don't feel that way about Katsura-chan. My love for her is purer than that. I don't need her love…only her happiness. That's all I need to be happy."

"That's deep. Too deep for someone your age."

"…Jerk." Atsuya was left rubbing his arm after Hanna left, victim of an Indian burn.

*July*

"Ah, I've been waiting for this," Arisa said.

"Why? You've seen more of me than this before," Suki replied.

"Yeah, but it's not the same." Being Arisa's girlfriend, Suki had been invited along on the trip to the beach—though, for the purpose of appearances, Tatsuke had been invited along as well.

"Agreed. Glad to have something to be happy about. You look wonderful, Suki-chan."

"You're not so bad yourself, Suzuka-chan. But why are you unhappy?"

"Oh, no reason…" While an all-girl outing wouldn't seem so weird, a strongly lopsided gender ratio would appear off, so Suzuka invited some guys along.

Like Kokuro.

Who brought Kusakabe. The bookish girl seemed uncomfortable, but this wasn't exactly surprising—hers was a body that would invite a lot of attention.

"Damn, I can see why Jugo-kun was interested in Kusakabe-san," Kaburagi said. "Meek, unassuming, and totally stacked. Only thing I can't figure is why he gave up on her."

"He was probably too impatient. She doesn't seem like the type who would put out on the first date," Shinamori said.

"That could be it."

Kokuro was trying, unsuccessfully, to convince her to come into the water. "I don't want to. People will stare at me. B-besides, I didn't bring any goggles, and, well, I can't wear my glasses into the water…"

"Have you thought of getting contacts? Uh, not that I don't think you look cute with glasses, because you do."

"I don't think I'd be able to put them in. It would bother me too much."

CCX: Amen to that. Luckily I don't need glasses all the time, just for seeing distances—although my biggest problem is that I put on and take off my glasses so frequently that I sometimes forget where I put them. In fact, at the time I wrote that last sentence I wasn't quite sure where they were and it was the act of doing so that reminded me that I had taken off my glasses at dinner last night and might have forgotten to take them with me afterwards. Sure enough, they were sitting at my spot at the kitchen table.

"Okay, then. I guess I'll just stay here with you."

"You don't have to do that, Kokuro-san."

"Don't worry about it. I'd rather be spending the time with you."

"Aah~… You're so sweet…"

"Wow. Have you been growing a bit more, or is it just more noticeable in that bikini?"

"Flattery will get you nowhere. I think it's just more noticeable. But…thanks for noticing."

"Hey, isn't it my job to notice you? And I thought 'flattery' was exactly what we didn't want."

Miki laughed. "Well, I'm still far flatter than most. Did you know that they don't sell separate bikini tops and bottoms in the children's section? My bottom can finally just about fit into the smallest junior size, but my top…" She quickly ran her hand down her chest. "Still flat as ever."

"Well, you still look cute. And I don't have to worry about being seen getting close to you because like you said before, you're more than willing to prove your age."

"True. I've got my ID as always, and if anyone says it's fake I'll smack them in the head with a used tampon."

Izei put his arms around her midriff. "My adorable, vulgar, youthful, ticklish girlfriend."

"Yeah…wait, what? Ah! Izei!" Miki was soon squirming on the ground laughing as Izei tickled her.

"Hey, you lovebirds, keep it down. You want to draw attention to yourselves?" Suzuka asked, somewhat jokingly.

"I still find it slightly depressing that the loli of our group is one of the only ones in a stable, loving relationship," Shinamori said. "Though I'm happy for her."

"Quick to qualify yourself, aren't you?" Suzuka teased.

Shinamori smiled grimly. "I'll admit, I'm ashamed of the way I treated Ichirei-san in junior high. She's really a pretty nice person once you get past all of that rage about her lacking physical dimensions. And she's even been lightening up about that a little since she started dating Kumaya-san."

"Everyone has their flaws," Suzuka agreed. "Hey, watch it. You really are going to draw attention to yourselves if you keep that up and I'm pretty sure that regardless of whether he questioned the validity of your ID, hitting a police officer with a bloody tampon would get you arrested." The tickle fest had devolved into making out, Izei atop Miki. They turned over so that Miki was on top. "Better. I think that'll probably look less like someone's being taken advantage of."

"Yeah, at least until I take my top off," Miki cracked back. "Kidding! I'm not going to do that. Here. Although… Because I'm so flat, if I kept my bare chest pressed up against Izei-kun's, it wouldn't even be indecent exposure. It's not like there'd be any sideboob."

"Miki!" Izei shouted.

"I'm not going to do it; I was just saying, I probably could. Are you saying that you don't want me to rub my breasts all over you? Are these tiny breasts not good enough for you?"

Izei knew Miki well enough not to fall for her teasing and sent it right back at her. "You're plenty woman enough for me, little Miki-chan. But this isn't the time or the place."

"…Of course not."

"…Listen. I know you don't like being so small, and perhaps some our friends aren't the best at being subtle in their relationships, but all of these comments, they aren't exactly attractive. I think you're starting to confuse love with lust, and I'm sorry, Miki, but I have no lust for you as you are right now. But that shouldn't matter, because I am deeply in love with you."

"Yeah, I know. I love you too, Izei… It's just not fair, though. I'm growing up in every meaningful way except physically. It's perfectly natural to have a healthy sex drive during adolescence, isn't it? And that's what I am, an adolescent. I just don't look like it."

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, you're still beautiful."

"I thought you said you weren't physically attracted to me?"

"I said I wasn't sexually attracted to you, as you are right now. But I'm sure you'll grow eventually, and when you do, you're going to be stunning."

"Thanks. I think I'm going to just work on my tan for awhile."

"…And she still found an excuse to take her top off. Well, at least she's not being indecent… although with her mentality, I wouldn't put it past her to not put it back on before turning over onto her back." Izei continued to look at his diminutive, nearly-nude girlfriend. "She's right, though. I'm not going to be able to wait forever… and she's so beautiful even now, I kind of do want to be able to do that for her."

"I'm a little disappointed that there aren't more guys here. And most of the ones who are here are already taken."

"Surely that couldn't have been your only reason for coming here, Yuna-chan," Shinamori replied.

"Well, I guess it's not the only reason, but I certainly didn't come here to show off this body to girls."

"Vanity doesn't suit you. Though I have to admit, you do look dynamite."

"You're not so bad yourself, Kanna-chan."

"You flatter me too much. Didn't you have a boyfriend, anyway?"

"I don't think I'd say that we were ever really boyfriend and girlfriend. We dated a few times, and I guess we enjoyed each other's company, but there was no real spark. I'm surprised you haven't had anyone."

"That's because she's never looking," Suzuka said. "I understand what you mean about a lack of spark… although, what happens when one person feels a spark and the other one doesn't? Um, not that that necessarily applies to your situation… although it might, because I don't really know you…I'm Tsukimura Suzuka; Kanna-chan and I are in the same class, and we've become friends that way."

"Fusabi Yuna; I'm a cheerleader too, and Kanna-chan's one of the nicest girls on the squad."

"I'm sure she is," Suzuka said, receiving a kick to the shin for her trouble. "She's a friend you can count on. A bit abrasive sometimes, but always has her friends' backs."

"Yeah, I know. So if it wasn't my situation you were talking about, then I'm guessing maybe you're feeling that way?" Fusabi asked.

"Yeah… I've had a bunch of dates since getting into high school, and some of them even want a second date, but the only one that I'm actually interested in going out with again didn't feel the spark at all and wants to be just friends."

"And does he know how you feel about him?"

"I don't think so. I tried to be direct at one point, but I wasn't direct enough…and I can't say anything now because he's dating someone else. She seems like a good person, too, someone I'd probably be friends with if we met under different circumstances. I don't know her too well, but she seems a lot like me…or rather, like what I used to be like back in junior high… except she's got two very big things that I don't have. I'm not suggesting that that's why he likes her, because they're in the same club and I'm only not in that club as well because I joined the Student Council, but how can I compete with someone that looks like that and can easily match me in personality?"

"Hey, don't sell yourself short, Tsukimura-san. Yeah, you might not have a great body yet, but you're pretty in your own way. I certainly wouldn't mind having hair like that."

"I don't know if you'd look good with purple hair, Yuna-chan," Kanna said. (CCX: As much as I like her surname, I can't go on referring to her by it in the narration when most of the major characters are on first-name basis with her now and she probably has the second-most screen time of any OC.)

Suzuka agreed, "Yeah. Do you mind me asking about your hair color? Blonde isn't exactly a common color among full-blooded Japanese, but you don't look particularly foreign otherwise."

"I'm not. This isn't my natural hair color, though I've been dyeing it since my final year of elementary school."

"It works for you."

"Yeah, that's what I thought, too. But I'm thinking about changing it. Maybe I'd look good as a redhead?" She looked up. "Well, it was nice meeting you, Tsukimura-san. See you around."

"So, Kanna-chan…just how 'nice' have you been to Fusabi-san?"

"Thanks for at least having the decency to wait until she left to ask that. She's quite obsessed with guys, though, and only with guys. I don't think she has the slightest suspicion that I'm a lesbian, and I have no intention of letting her find out, because then I'd lose out on seeing that wonderful sight sauntering around the locker room." She nodded at Fusabi, who was flirting with a group of guys and jiggling with every step she took.

"Wait, that's just the way she always moves? I thought she was intentionally shaking her assets to impress those guys."

"Well, she is. Her breasts don't normally move that much. But that ass wiggle is still there even when she's not trying to catch a guy's eye, if perhaps slightly less pronounced."

"Are all of the cheerleaders that pretty?"

"Nah, Yuna-chan's one of the hottest. There are some pretty plain girls, too. But none of us are ugly."

"Just kind of generic?"

"Exactly."

"Miki, wake up. You fell asleep."

"Mm…wha? Izei, what are you doing here…it's supposed to be the girl who wakes her boyfriend up for school…"

"It's not a school day. It's summer, and we're at the beach. You were sunbathing."

"Oh. So that's why my back feels so warm. I'm not sunburnt, am I?" She turned around to try to look at her own back.

"Um, Miki-chan…"

"Yes? Why are you staring?"

"You, uh, you're kind of…showing the world something that you probably shouldn't be."

"…Yeah. I may look prepubescent, but I'm still not boyish enough to get away with this. So…did you like what you saw?"

"Still trying to be forward. You really should act more ladylike, you know."

"You're not answering the question."

"I… I think you're beautiful. All of you. But we're still not having sex."

"Good answer."

CCX: Arisa barely featured in that chapter at all…I guess I still really don't know what to do with her when Suki's stuck playing straight. Which, now that I think about it, seems especially stupid because the foregone conclusion of this fic is that Arisa ends up with Suzuka. Anyway, omake time!

Omake—Grade S

Kanna: You know, Ichirei-san, you should try wearing your hair in pigtails sometime. Your popularity would skyrocket.

Miki: Psh. Popularity with lolicons, maybe.

Kanna: Not necessarily. Well, yeah, them too, but lolicon or not, boys go crazy for the grade S zettai ryouiki.

Miki: Absolute what? What are you talking about?

Kanna: You already have the grade A zettai ryouiki and the tsundere personality that's half the requirement for upgrading it to grade S. All you need is the twintails. It's an appearance thing.

Miki: I am not a tsundere! Anyway, how would you know what drives boys wild?

Kanna: What do you mean by that? And yes, you totally are.

Miki: Am not.

Suzuka: *entering* You kind of are, though I'm surprised Kanna-chan would say so because I didn't think you'd ever shown her your deredere side.

Miki: My deredere side was not in question! I always saw myself as more of a kuudere, though.

Kanna: You're not serious.

Miki: I am. They didn't exactly use that word, but that's how I was categorized back when—well, back when.

Kanna: By whom?

Suzuka: Never mind that. *shoots Kanna a look telling her to drop the issue* I wouldn't doubt that you were a kuudere at one point in time, but you've long since broken out of that mold and turned into a tsundere. You dodged Kanna-chan's other question.

Miki: Well, she's not actually into boys, is she? I mean, I heard rumors back in junior high…never mind. We agreed to put junior high behind us, right, Shinamori-san?

Kanna: Yeah. Well, give it some thought, okay? *leaves*

Miki: …Not likely.

Ja ne!