Author's Note: Here's the next chapter for you guys. There's a lot of talk in here, as well as some explanations for things. Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 6

Tsukiko-chan?

"Don't call me that," she says, and her voice suddenly sounds small. I want to rip his arm off of her.

"Don't be like that," the boy croons, and his lips near her hair. "What have you done with your hair? It looks awful."

I like her teal hair.

As if my thoughts were so forceful they were projected to him, the boy finally notices me. "Who are you?" he asks blankly. Then recognition flashes across his face. "Hey, aren't you that guy who just lost? The one who made that stupid mistake? That was kind of hilarious, actually. Who would've thought you'd actually fall for that?"

Anger boils up inside of me.

Tsukiko darts out from underneath his arm and dashes over to my side. "Don't say that!" she says. "Mayuzumi-senpai tried his hardest tonight! And he did really well."

The boy's eyes widen. "What's this, Tsukiko-chan? Are you dating him now?"

Both of our cheeks redden. "N-no," she says. "We're not dating. That's not how it is. He's my friend. He's a good person. Unlike you, Omura-kun."

The boy — Omura — appears amused. "Omura-kun, huh? I guess you're not going to call me Kenta anymore?"

"We're not boyfriend and girlfriend now. I don't have any reason to."

I nearly puke. Tsukiko . . . she dated a guy like this?

Omura shrugs. "Whatever. But I'll give you a piece of advice, if you'll listen. Don't hang out with losers like this. You can tell just by looking at him. There's something wrong with him. He'll be a loser all his life. Literally." He lets out a low laugh, and then he turns around to leave.

Tsukiko whirls around to face me, grabbing my arms. "Don't listen to him, Senpai," she says. "Omura . . . he's . . . he doesn't know what he's talking about! He doesn't know you like I do."

"No," I say, "he's right. I do lose everything."

"That's not true!"

"Did you watch the game?" I ask.

She nods. "You did really well tonight."

"Don't try and make me feel better. It only makes me feel worse, actually."

"I'm not trying to make you feel better. I'm being truthful."

I give her a sideways look.

She continues, "You scored a lot of goals tonight, even without having to rely on your misdirection. Even if you did make a mistake, the team should be thankful toward you."

"That's not how Rakuzan thinks."

"Well? Then their thought process stinks."

I suddenly let out a laugh. "Ah . . . ," I breathe out. "That was awful, honestly. I guess I've forgotten what it's like to lose . . . I suppose I got too used to winning. . ."

"Losing does kind of sting, doesn't it? But . . . sometimes it can be beneficial. And maybe, you should think about the winners as well. Think of how hard they've worked toward this, how much they surely wanted this. Think of how happy they are."

"That doesn't particularly make me feel any better."

"Mayuzumi-senpai, you aren't a very sympathetic person, are you?"

"S'pose not." I sigh. "But, look, Omura is right. A person like me is no good for you. I can't help it. There's just something inside of me . . . Tsukiko. I'm mean to you all the time. I reject you. I mess with you. Why are you still here?"

"You said you lose everything," she says. "But I don't believe that for one second. I'm going to prove you wrong. Just you see."

"How?" I ask, despite myself.

"For example," she says, and she jabs a finger toward her chest. "I'll stay by your side. You won't lose me."

I walk her home that night. Well, as far as I can. I actually decide to run an errand before returning to my own home, so we decide we'll part at the train. As we walk to the station, though, she fills me in about the jerk that is Omura Kenta.

"We met in middle school," she says. "He was nice, popular, and smart. I was . . . average at best. Anyway, he seemed to take interest in me and I suppose I should've seen that that was unusual, especially with the circumstances, but I thought he actually liked me, so I thought I'd give him a chance. We began to date, and for a while, it seemed really nice. There didn't seem to be anything super special. It just seemed like a nice relationship, you know?"

I can't say I have, seeing as I've never had a girlfriend before. In truth, I don't think a girl's ever noticed me. Before Tsukiko, that is . . .

"Anyway, Omura was generally a mild-mannered person. Not super emotional or affectionate, but he gave me enough attention that I thought he genuinely liked me. As our last few days of middle school approached, though . . . he dumped me. Through text."

"Through text?"

"Yes." She nods. "There was no reason, no explanation. All he said was, 'I'm breaking up with you.'"

I really want to pummel the guy now.

"For a while, I guess you could say I was heart-broken. I mean, it's not like there was a lot of chemistry between us or that I really liked him in that way, but I was . . . attached. After spending so much time with someone, it's hard not to become attached, right? And so, I was a bit depressed for a while. But then, I made up my mind to not let it get to me. Mom and I moved to Kyoto, and I decided to go to Rakuzan. It was a fresh start, a place that I could actually make friends for once, and have people that liked me for me. I thought that maybe . . . everything could be perfect for once."

"What do you mean, 'make friends for once'?"

She grimaces. "Perhaps, because of who I am, I've never really had any friends. I am average, too ordinary, much too normal. And people never flock to people like that, right? Anyway, I was also fairly shy as a kid, and I could never get out there to talk to people. By the time I managed to swallow my shyness, everyone had already formed their cliques, and I was just left . . . alone. That's not a good thing. And so . . ."

She heaves a sighs, looking downwards. For a few moments, we walk in silence. I am filled with a mixture of wanting her to continue and wanting her to stop. I want to know about her past — and at the same time, I really don't. I really don't because . . .

She continues, her voice calm, like she's talking about something normal to someone normal on a normal night. I almost wish it were so.

"High school isn't exactly the first experience I've had with bullying. The middle school girls would play mean little tricks: messing with my desk, hiding my textbooks when I wasn't looking, or blaming me for things whenever something went wrong in class. When I started dating Omura-kun, it got a bit better. He was popular, so people treated me nicely simply because I was his girlfriend, but they weren't real. They were just people who were my 'friends' because they were his friends. In the end, I haven't had a real friend my whole life. Mayuzumi-senpai . . . I guess you could say you're my one and only friend. My true friend. I wasn't lying when I said you're my best friend."

"Tsukiko . . ."

She has a defiant look on her face. "I know you must be thinking that there must be something wrong with me. I must be deficit in some area. How can someone grow up without any real friends? Why do I keep getting bullied? Well, I'm sorry! I don't know what to do about it!"

"Tsukiko!" I say, and she quiets down for a moment. "I'm the same way."

"What?"

"I'm the same way," I repeat. "Well, not about the bullying — people just ignore me. But I've never had any friends either, actually. Like in basketball, I've always been overlooked. You could say that I'm a shadow. People don't see me. Like their shadow, they never think about me. I am invisible. And so . . . of course, that's not a good thing to make friends for. You know, I'm not saying that bullying is any better, but at least you're noticed. And I've always thought that if someone is taking the time to bully you, waste their energy on you, it's because they see something in you. They're jealous of you, probably. You're better, nicer, stronger, all that, and they can't reckon with that, so they just try and put you down. It's disgusting."

"I've . . . never thought of it that way," Tsukiko says. "I've always just thought they hated me."

"Well, better to be hated than forgotten. If nobody remembers you, that means you're not even worth it."

"Don't say that."

I frown. "It's okay. While some part of me wouldn't mind having friends, another part thinks that I don't need anyone to rely on. That I should just rely on myself and no one else. I suppose you understand that?"

She nods. "I suppose I do. You know, Senpai, I didn't think we were alike at all at first, but maybe we have more in common than I thought."

I frown. "Is that a good thing?"

"I suppose it depends on how you look at it." She walks a few steps in front of me.

I watch her back for a few moments before I say, "You said you wanted to make a fresh start at Rakuzan. What happened there?"

She pauses for a moment, inclining her head slightly toward me. "About that . . . well, I resolved that I would do everything in my ability to make sure I made friends and that I would never be alone again. That the situation with Omura wouldn't happen again. But then, I realized that just changing my appearance wasn't enough. You can't dye your hair and hope your personality changes along with it. I couldn't . . . I couldn't do it. I tried making friends, but they all just stared at me like I was crazy. And I couldn't do it. Eventually, I stopped trying altogether."

"But . . . you seem fine with me," I say. "I don't think you seem strange or anything."

"Or even normal?"

"Or even normal," I agree.

"Well, with you, maybe it's different," she muses. "I was running and I didn't know where I was going. And I happened upon the roof. And I saw you. And you were reading a light novel. I immediately thought that maybe I could start a friendship between us because we actually have something in common. With the others, it seems like I have nothing in common with them, nothing to start with. But with you . . . there was immediately something to start talking about, you know? And so I made the decision that I wouldn't stop talking to you until you talked back."

"Well, you definitely accomplished that."

She smiles broadly. "It definitely worked, right? We're best friends, yeah?"

I glance at her. Best friends. "Right," I say. "Okay."

"No!" she says and I jump.

"What is it?" I ask, glancing around. "Is something wrong?"

"I don't want you to just agree like that!" she says. "You have to say, 'Yes, Tsukiko, we're best friends!'"

"I don't see any reason why I should say that."

"Mayuzumi-senpai, you can still be really cold sometimes, you know."

"Sorry."

"Ah, you don't have to be. I'm just kidding. But come on now, say it!"

I sigh. There is really no denying this girl.

"Yes, Tsukiko, we're best friends," I say.

The grin on her face . . . it really does make everything worth it.

A/N: So what'd you think? I'll try and update soon (I know I said that last time and a week passed . . .). Thanks for reading!

~ J. Dominique