A/N: Another chapter! I really apologize for not quickly updating this fanfic...Anyway, I hope you're liking the story so far! And don't be afraid to voice out your thoughts and comments on my story. You're always welcome to do so! Sore de wa...

More Than Just A Crush

By: Killua K.

Chapter 8: Deserted

We met in junior high.

I thought she was a total weirdo back then. She did not talk to anyone, except for the homeroom teacher. She always ate her lunch alone on the bleachers, and seemed to avoid attention. She sat in the last row of our classroom and never tried to speak a word.

Everyone also thought she was weird and antisocial. Though a lot of my classmates attempted to strike a conversation with her, she would never answer back or make any facial expression. That was simply how she was, and mostly everyone in our class gave up on her...

Except for me.

We became lab partners in Chemistry one time. When our teacher announced the pairs in class, I thought it was the end of the world for me. There was no way I was going to pass that subject with an introverted weirdo partner like her. There is no friggin way... I desperately thought to myself once.

But I did not lose hope. I tried my best to talk to her whenever we would do experiments in class. And as for the lab reports, I always made sure that she helped me in writing them no matter how awkward it felt for me to study with her in the library. Surely, it was tough to deal with a person like her, but I was left with no other choice. Some of my friends told me to consult with our Chemistry teacher and ask for another partner, but I guess I simply did not have the guts to dump her that easily with no valid reason at all.

"Why..." I tried to talk to her one time while we were mixing solutions in our Chemistry class. "Why wouldn't you talk to people?"

And of course, I did not get any answer.

She nonchalantly continued on with her work, not even pausing for a bit and acknowledging my question.

I sighed when I realized she was not interested at all. I was stupid to even think that she would speak to me.

"It's...It's not like I'm saying that it's bad you know," I said. "I- I know that there are some people like you who prefer to be quiet."

No reaction whatsoever.

"I... I'm not that kind of person you know...

I like making friends and I talk a lot." I scooped two spatulas of copper carbonate and put it in a test tube. Then I inserted it a one-hole rubber stopper and obtained calcium hydrate to perform a chemical reaction test on the two compounds.

I glanced at her and saw her scribbling some stuff on a paper.

"Do you have friends?"

I noticed that she stopped for a moment when I asked her that question. Then as if she did not hear anything, proceeded with her work and finished writing on the paper.

I sighed again, knowing that there was no point in talking to her. I was just wasting my time and energy, and I somehow hated that she seemed not to care at all. If she did not want me to talk to her in the first place, she could have simply told me to stop blabbering nonsense. But no... She never did. I felt as if she was ignoring me on purpose, as if she enjoyed taunting me with her apathetic responses.

After heating the test tube containing copper carbonate, I observed that a cloudy appearance formed in the calcium hydrate solution. I jotted down my observation and moved on to the next part of our lab project.

"I...I have one."

I suddenly stopped when I heard her speak for the first time. I looked at her through my protective goggles and saw her casually adding hydrochloric acid into a test tube. She looked normal as ever, but I somewhat felt relieved that she finally gained the courage to talk to someone. At least, I thought, my efforts had finally come to fruition.

"Do- do you still talk to her?" I asked.

She dropped a piece of zinc metal into the acid then scribbled some notes on her paper.

"It's a 'he.'"

"Ah...right."

"And...no," she spoke once more. "I haven't talked to him for years."

I added silver nitrate solution to a dry test tube, then sodium chloride.

"Hhmm..and he hasn't contacted you at all?" I wrote my observations on a piece of paper and examined the mixture inside the test tube.

"Unfortunately no..."

"Ehh..."

After a few more minutes, we eventually finished our experiments and lab report. Then after announcing in class that our midterm exam would be held next week, our Chemistry teacher dismissed us, and everyone excitedly went back to the classroom to eat lunch.

"Soujiro-kun! Let's eat our lunch! What do you have in your bento today?" my friend shouted from the other side of the classroom. I smiled at him then grabbed my bento.

"Prolly the same as usual.." I said.

"Awesome! Then we can have a taste of fillet...fillet...arggh! What's the name of that steak again?"

I moved my desk and chair to sit with my friend. "Filet mignon..."

"Aha! That's it!"

"His lunch always has complicated names. But besides that, I have nothing else to complain about. Soujiro's food is always the best!" my other friend exclaimed. The two boys laughed excitedly then settled down.

They placed their bento boxes on the desks, and started eating. I also did the same, but of course I had to share my meal so I cut the steak into pieces and gave some to my friends.

"Uwahh! This is delish-!"

"Thanks, Soujiro! You're the best!"

I chuckled. "No problem..."

They gobbled up their food, while I slowly chewed mine. I was trained to savor every meal and not to rush eating as my family considered it impolite. Though I never really cared about what they thought, I still maintained my good table manners, and simply resorted to watching my friends chomp on their lunches every day.

"Ohh..there she goes again.."

"Hmm?" I paused for a while.

"It's Makimachi-san! Look, she's gonna eat at the bleachers again. I mean, why can't she just stay here and eat with some of the girls?"

I looked at Misao Makimachi and saw her walk across the room, her long black braid swaying behind her. She held her bento in her hands and ignored the side-glances thrown at her by the whole class. As she left the room, everyone started chattering about her weird personality. I heard them talk about her introverted character and lack of social skills. Even my friends started discussing about Makimachi's actions, and strongly disapproved of her reclusiveness.

"Uhhmm..I'll be back, okay?"I stood up and moved my chair aside. My friends looked at me, puzzled.

"Where are you going? You haven't even finished your lunch, Soujiro."

"Yeah..it's such a waste!"

I glanced at the large window beside me and saw Misao walking across the field.

"I- I have to go. I'll back soon! You can have my steak," I said as I hurriedly walked away from the classroom.

I decided to follow Misao that day and keep her company. After all, it was my first time to hear her speak during our Chemistry class, and I felt that it would just be inappropriate to act as if we did not talk about anything in the previous period. I just did not want to end things in that way.

She sat on the bleachers and opened her bento. She gingerly ate with her chopsticks as she watched a couple of boys play baseball in the field.

"Hey!" I shouted at her. Luckily, she reacted and looked at her side.

To my utter surprise, she smiled at me.

I smiled back then approached her. This time, I sensed no shyness or awkwardness or fear whatsoever from her. She was simply sitting there, her bento on her lap, and her long braid hanging from the back of her head.

"I knew you'd come." She spoke as she turned her head away and looked back at the field.

"Really? How did you know?" I asked, quite shocked at what she said.

"Because..."she started. "I said I have no friends."

I sat beside her, and watched her eat her food. She put a lot of rice in her mouth and swallowed it quickly as if it were water.

"Well..it could've been different you know," I told her as I smiled. "I could've simply ignored you..or I could've just chosen to forget our small talk during Chemistry class."

She drank her bottle of Oolong tea then looked at me with her huge sapphire blue eyes.

I unconsciously blushed when she did that. I didn't notice how gentle her face looked until that moment.

"But I wouldn't have talked to you if you weren't different from the others," she said.

My eyes widened in surprise. I wondered for a moment why she considered me different from our classmates. "Different?" I asked.

She nodded her head then looked back at the boys who were playing baseball. Somebody made a homerun and most of the spectators suddenly cheered loudly; they were very pleased that the game turned out well.

"You're like him."

The bell suddenly chimed as its sound resonated in the whole school. It signaled the end of our lunch break, and the start of our next class in five minutes. Makimachi stood up after she cleaned up and fixed her bento. Then she smiled at me once more.

"Nice talking to you, Seta-san."

I smiled at her again, and was really relieved to see this side of Makimachi. So she wasn't totally weird after all, I thought. Perhaps, our classmates just misunderstood her, including me.

Before we left the place, I held out my hand and offered her a handshake.

"Then... Can I be your friend, Makimachi-san?" I asked her. "And please, let's drop the formalities. Call me 'Soujiro.'"

She smiled even more. She grabbed my hand and shook it excitedly.

"Of course...Soujiro-kun."

That was the first time Misao and I became friends. I still couldn't forget that day and how happy I was to see her change from the reclusive and apathetic Misao to the bubbly and energetic girl I know today. It took a while before she eventually mustered up her courage to interact with other people, but as a friend, I was really proud to see her gradually transform into a different kind of person. She gained more confidence in herself, and acquired more friends in the process. And though she has always been at the top of our class, she was able to raise her grades considerably because of the significant change that happened in her life.

However, when we managed to pass the entrance exam at Shizuoka Senior High, the most prestigious high school in the Kanto Region, I noticed another side of Misao that manifested unexpectedly – a facet of her personality that I never knew existed until that day when she composed her very first love letter to her long lost childhood friend, Shinomori Aoshi.

We were sitting inside the classroom that time, and she was scribbling something on her paper. At first I didn't have the idea what it was all about. I thought she was simply rewriting the lecture we just had in our History class. But when I sat in front of her and noticed that she was lost in her own thoughts, I realized that something was wrong.

She nibbled the tip of her pen and anxiously looked at the paper on her desk. She continued to stare like that for several minutes until she lifted her hand and vigorously ruffled her hair.

"Heya! Whaddya doin'?" I asked her.

She didn't look up. She merely ignored me.

"Oi, oi! Mi-chan, what's that, huh?"

She tapped her pen on the desk and then wrote a few more words on the paper. Somehow, her reaction that time reminded me of the first time I tried to strike a conversation with her in our Chemistry class in junior high. She completely shut herself off from her surroundings.

"Yoohoo! Are you even listening to me?" I waved my hand in front of her, trying to get her attention as much as I could.

Then without any warning, she finally looked up and stared at my face. I blushed slightly, surprised at how innocent-looking her blue eyes were. I tried to turn my head away to hide the uneasiness that suddenly showed on my face, but it was too late.

"Do you love me?" she asked.

"Eh..?" 'twas all I could say. What! I thought. Then, as if the whole world blacked out in an instant, I froze in my place and ran out of words to say. At that very moment, something stirred up within me, an emotion so familiar yet different that shook my entire being. For a moment there, the times I've spent together with Misao flashed before my eyes and surprisingly made me realize the identity of that something.

How could I have not realized all these years? I closed my eyes for a second then savored the feeling that engulfed my whole body and soul.

Then as I opened my eyes and stared at her face intently, I replied, "You know I do."

But what I saw right after almost broke my heart.

Her eyes widened in shock and seemed so confused. Perhaps, she didn't expect for me to answer in that way. Or maybe, she just never expected for me to have any special kind of feelings for her. After all, we have been just ordinary friends since junior high.

I forced myself to smile.

"Why, you don't believe me?" I said.

"Eh? Wh-what?" she seemingly woke up from her reverie.

"I asked you if you don't believe me." I tried my best not to show what I was feeling that time.

"We-well...of course I-I do believe you, Soujiro b-but..." I saw her glance at the paper on her desk. When I saw her do that, I clearly understood what was going on.

I pulled my face away from her then messed up her hair. "I was just jokin', Mi-chan!"

She let out a sigh of relief then smiled at me."Yeah...of course you were...hahaha!"

I stood up from my seat then held her shoulders gently. "Good luck with your love letter."

"Eh? H-how..?" she confusedly asked. I chuckled softly when I saw her reaction.

"I know you very well, Mi-chan.." I said. "It's your first love letter, isn't it?"

"Y-yeah..and I don't really know what to write."

I swallowed a lump inside my throat. "Well, who's it for?"

"Aoshi-sempai." She blushed as soon as she spoke his name. At the same time, something twitched inside my chest. "I decided to finally do it. I mean, after all I've finally found him, Sou-kun. Remember when I told you before that he's my only friend? That's because he was the only one who was able to put up with my rash and tomboyish behavior ever since I was a kid. And then, when my parents suddenly moved out of our old house and we parted ways, I suddenly felt so alone. I wasn't able to talk for several months when we left."

She choked back the tears that suddenly formed in her eyes. "And then I just shut myself off from everyone who tried to become friends with me. You know why?"

It hurt for me to see Misao in that state. It reminded me of the reclusive girl whom I first met years ago. I wanted to embrace her that time and make her stop explaining those things to me. Somehow, I felt that she was in tremendous pain, and that what she was about to do would only bring more sadness and hurt in her life.

"Why?" I said.

"Because I thought that they would just eventually leave me. And then I would be all alone again." She tried to smile. "But now that I've finally reunited with Aoshi-sempai, I just have to tell him what I really feel about him...Even though I think he wouldn't take it seriously anyway.." her voice trailed off.

I noticed the sadness that formed in her eyes. I reached out for her hands and held them tightly. I wanted to make her sure that I would always be there beside her no matter what happens.

"I will always be here for you, Mi-chan," I said gently. "Always..."

Her lips arched up and her eyes started to glimmer in happiness. "I know you would," she answered back. Finally, I walked away from her.

But when I glanced back to check on her, I saw her crush the letter on her desk and let out a heavy sigh. Once again, I felt something twitch inside my chest.

"When did you last see her?"

"Yesterday..then before we went home, she told me we should eat at a sushi restaurant after our practice today," I explained to Shinomori Aoshi as we ran around the school and searched for Misao.

Her mother told me that Aoshi-sempai might know where she was, so I called him up and asked for help. He was shocked when he heard the news from me, and he quickly left his Kendo practice to help me search for Misao.

"And then you said, her club mates last saw her today? After Judo practice?" he asked me. We knocked on the doors of the club rooms and checked if she was in one of them. Unfortunately, we didn't find her there.

"You're right. She wouldn't go anywhere for sure. She will never break her promise," I anxiously told Aoshi.

He shut the door of the janitor's room and turned to me, disappointed that we were not making any progress. "Yeah, she's not that type of person," he spoke as he let out a heavy sigh. For a moment, I noticed that he spoke of her so tenderly.

Though it was my first time to talk to Shinomori Aoshi, I have always heard from people, including Misao, how stoic of a person he was. I've heard that he would never reveal his feelings to people, that's why it's hard for them to know if he's happy, sad, or angry. But now that I've spoken to him in person, I realized how vulnerable he could get when it came to displaying his emotions, especially when it concerned his childhood friend, Misao. He definitely cared for her, even though he might not verbally express it.

"Say, do you like Mi-chan?" I finally asked him. I didn't know what I was thinking that time, but I felt that I just had to know how he felt for her.

We stopped in the hallway. I was somewhat nervous about what he was to answer.

"Do you like her, Seta-san?" he asked me back.

"Ah..." I was caught off guard when he said that. Should I tell him the truth? I thought to myself. "W-well... she's my friend after all. Don't you think it's weird if I say that I don't like her?"

"I see...then I guess I like her too."

I wasn't sure how to interpret his answer. Does he like her merely as a friend? Or as a girl? What does he really think of Misao?

But I didn't ask any further questions.

"I guess we should go," I said.

"Yeah," he replied as he nodded his head. We moved on and continued our search for Misao. Then for some reason, as each second passed by, I felt anxiety growing inside me. I was beginning to worry for Misao even more. I didn't know where to find her, and I wasn't sure if she was all alone by herself.

For the first time, I was unable to do anything for Misao.

She wiped the tears that continuously rolled down on her cheeks. She hasn't stopped crying since she last spoke to her captor.

Aoshi-sempai...she thought helplessly as she looked around the dark cramped room she was in. She didn't know why she suddenly thought of him. But for some reason, she felt that she could only find sanctuary in his arms, just like the time when they played hide-and-seek as kids and she failed to find her way back. She remembered that it was Aoshi who had found where she was.

Damn it...even if I heard my captor's voice, I can't recognize who he is. She put her hands on her face and tried her best to stop herself from crying.

Suddenly, light invaded the darkness that pervaded in the room. A huge creak resonated inside, startling Misao and making her wipe her tears off quickly. She immediately stood up when she saw the huge metal door fling open.

"I'm letting you out..." a man came in and spoke to her.

Her heart pounded heavily inside her chest. It was her captor. She couldn't clearly make out his face as light was not enough to illuminate his face.

"W-what..?" she said. She backed when he walked closer to her.

"People are...shall we say, getting suspicious?" he said. "And I can't afford to ruin my reputation in this school."

"What do you want?"

He laughed mockingly then walked even closer to Misao. His pair of emerald green eyes flashed before her.

"Once I let you out of this dark room, I want you to forget about everything that happened," he suddenly grabbed her shoulders and stared at her right in her face. "And then I want you to purposely lose in the semi-finals of the Judo Tournament, understand?" He started to shake her violently. Tears started to flow out of her eyes and blurred her vision. She struggled to break free from his hands but she was too emotionally weak to fight him back.

"Who are you!" she screamed.

His green eyes looked at her directly as he tightened his hold on her arms.

"I am the one who's gonna save your ass from humiliation, Makimachi." And then without any warning, he punched her in the stomach and knocked her unconscious.

A/N: Alas! I finished another chapter. I think I'm making progress here. Anyway, please oh please review my fanfic! It would really help me improve this story! Thanks for reading, guys! Ja ne! ^_^