Ooh, last chapter was so sad! I wonder what this chapter would be like. Wait a minute, since I'm the writer of this story, I know! But I'm not gonna tell you guys. Sorry. I wonder if Koji has gotten over with what happened in chapter 5. I guess you'll have to read this to find out! Chapter 7 coming up soon you guys! So keep reading! Enjoy!

Talking
Thinking/Memories
Important words/Emphasis

Chapter 6: Hearts Grow

The next day, Koji woke up to a bright sunny day. Instead of his usual morning grief, he's still destroyed by what happened last night. He still couldn't believe his eyes to see Karen's lips touch Kai's. His heart was still racing and has mixed emotions of grief, anger, and confusion. He went outside to do his daily things, but instead of going to the inn, where he usually meets Karen, he goes to the lone tree at the base of Mother's Hill. He didn't want to go to the inn because of he doesn't want to see Karen, not after what happened. Suddenly, he was met up by Kai.

"Koji…"

"What the hell do you want?"

"Look Koji, I just wanna explain on what happened last night."

"What's the point in explaining? I already saw what happened. Just get out of my face… go on, go be with Karen. Nothing really matters to me now…"

"I didn't know you would feel that way…"

He turned around with his head hanging in sorrow. He took one last look at Koji and headed back. Koji sat underneath the tree and looked at the clouds. Then a fox cub and its mother came. The fox cub sat in his lap and its mother rubbed her head next to Koji's. The fox cub and its mother were the same ones that he took care of last spring. He held the fox to his head and held the cub as well for comfort.

"Thanks for coming here to make me feel better… but I don't think this pain will last very shortly. Now go on, go home now."

The fox and its mother left to its den and Koji went into town. He saw Karen passing by and he didn't even look at her.

"Koji…"

"I don't wanna talk to you… I don't even wanna see you… just leave me alone…"

"But-"

Koji's face flashed red with anger.

"I SAID LEAVE ME ALONE!!!"

Karen's face turned red and tears came down her face. She has never seen Koji like this before. She realizes that what she has done was the worst thing possible to Koji. So instead of chasing after him, she just turned back and headed towards the beach. She knocked on Kai's door to talk with him. He opened the door, saw Karen, and started to close the door, but she stopped him.

"Kai…"

"(sigh) oh it's you again. What do you want now?"

"Koji's sad…"

"So you finally realized that huh? Thanks to you, Koji won't even talk to me. He won't even look at me!"

Karen's tears dripped down from her face and held Kai as tight as she can. Kai felt sorry for her and held her close too. Karen felt a warm feeling in her heart after hugging Kai. Meanwhile, Koji was busy looking at his own reflection in the river. His eyes grew sad and thinking back to what happened last night made him feel even worse. Elli found Koji sulking and went over to comfort him.

"Koji? What's the matter?"

"I don't wanna talk about it…"

"Oh… well, you can tell me…"

"…I found Karen and Kai kissing last night…"

"And it just hurt you inside really bad… didn't it?"

"I didn't think that Karen would do that to me… I mean when she was with Rick, I did feel something, but it wasn't serious… Now that she's with Kai, I just feel like I'm gonna throw up…"

"Do you wanna be left alone for a while?"

"Yeah… thanks for being there for me Elli…"

She turned back home and met up with Karen.

"Oh, Karen…"

"I wanna speak with Koji…"

"I'm sorry Karen… but… he doesn't wanna speak with anyone right now… After with what you did last night... I don't think that he wants to see anyone right now… He's really hurt Karen…"

"Oh… never mind then… I guess with what I was gonna tell him is that…"

"Hmm?"

"Kai and I are going out now… and the worst part for Koji is… I like going out with Kai."

"Don't tell him… it'll only make him feel worse…"

She dropped her head and tears came running down her eyes.

"…(sniff)… I know… I just want our friendship back…"

"Well, he's not your friend anymore Karen… you lost him… I'm sorry…"

Elli gave her a hug and Karen was left looking at Koji from afar. She noticed that he's been sitting at the river for an awful long time. Then, she took one last look at who used to be her friend and went home. She went towards her mother to talk about what happened.

"Mom… I'm going out with Kai… but I don't feel happy…"

"What's wrong?"

"I've lost him… Koji's gone…"

"Karen… Let me tell you something about Koji, that probably even you don't know. He's a special boy… no matter what happens to him, he always smiles. But now that he's gone from your heart, you took that smile away from him…"

"I didn't think that it would matter to him because I'm just a friend to him…"

"Karen, you need to talk to him… regardless of what he says…"

Karen wiped her eyes and smiled for a bit. She headed towards Koji's house and knocked on his door. He opened the door and closed it shut.

"Koji, I need to talk to you…"

"Go away. I don't need your sympathy…"

"Koji listen… (sigh) I'm sorry with what happened… I was in love… I was blinded by love and I didn't see you coming… I thought it wouldn't matter to you…"

Koji didn't answer back. Instead he didn't say anything at all and completely ignored everything she said. He had just lost the girl of his dreams and now his heart is empty. Karen didn't realize that she was everything to him and she blew it.

"If you don't wanna talk to me, I understand…"

She wiped her eyes and headed back home. Meanwhile Koji was sitting in a corner of his room, buried in his knees and arms. Koji's face was covered in tears. Inside his head, memories started racing through his mind. He never had this feeling before. This was the first time that this has ever happened to him. What was going on? In his memories, he has seen the first time that they met. He remembers the time when Duke tried to buy on credit and Koji tried to stop him until Karen got to him. He remembers Karen's beautiful smile and sparkling emerald eyes. His knees became weak whenever he sees her smile and those emerald eyes looking into his. Now whenever he sees Karen, he just couldn't help but look away. Then he cried himself to sleep after those moments and hasn't seen Karen since. The next day, Karen passed by Koji's house to check and see if he was okay. Her hand was about to knock on the door, but gave it a second thought. She thought it would be best for her to just not talk to him.

"Koji hasn't talked to me for a while… I wonder if he's okay… Koji, I'm sorry…"

She turned back and headed towards the inn. Ann greeted her with her usual cheerful self and bought her a drink.

"Hey Karen! Wow, you look like a total mess…"

"I don't wanna talk right now Ann…"

"How's Kai doing? I think that it's great that you two are going out now!"

"Yeah… really great…"

"Come on Karen! You used to smile all the time… what's wrong?"

"…It's Koji… he wouldn't talk to me… he wouldn't look at me… he doesn't even wanna be near me… I broke his heart Ann… I kissed Kai right in front of him and then he saw what happened with us… I tried to talk to him and explain what was going on, but instead he just kept running… Then Kai ran back to his place and now…"

Her face turned red and her eyes were covered with tears. Ann placed her hand on her back and rubbed her gently.

"Now that Kai and I are going out… he doesn't even wanna be my friend anymore…"

"Karen… what you did was wrong… Koji have always been your friend. I think he may have a crush on you and when he saw you and Kai making out, he was devastated… He gave you his friendship and now you just tossed it aside like some rotten trash on the street. I'm not trying to be mean Karen, but what I'm trying to tell you is that… you did the wrong thing at the wrong time…"

"I guess I only thought of Koji as just a friend and I guess I thought he felt the same way about me too that… I just ignored it…"

"Karen… it's best to just stay away from him… being with him is only just gonna cause some more trouble… you just need some time alone…"

Karen took a long drink from her wine bottle and smiled.

"Thanks Ann…"

She walked outside and found Kai at the beach selling his goods to people. She hugged him, kissed him and stayed with him for a bit.

"So what do you think of this relationship Kai?"

"Huh? Umm… it's alright I guess…"

"Baby, what's wrong?"

"I just need some time alone… I'm still worried that Koji still hates me…"

"He doesn't hate you… come here…"

She held his face and gave him a long kiss. Kai pulled away gently, but didn't feel anything. He doesn't have that kind of attraction towards her. He tried to smile, but the thought of Koji still ran through his mind. Karen pulled away from the kiss as well, but she didn't feel anything. There was no spark, no love, nothing. Her relationship was a dud and Koji meant a lot to her now. So she went off to find him. Meanwhile, Koji was resting at Gotz's house. Gotz gave him a cup of wine to ease Koji's sorrows.

"Hey kid, don't worry… there are plenty of other girls left…"

"I don't know Gotz… Karen meant a lot to me…"

A knock on the door came by and Gotz opened it. It was Karen. Koji looked back and looked away. He still hated Karen for what she did to him.

"Koji… I wanna talk to you for a moment…"

"Why?"

"Please… I'm desperate…"

Finally, Koji gave in and went outside to talk to her near the lonely tree.

"This better be quick and this better be good."

"Koji, I'm sorry for what I've done to you. I didn't know that you were watching and I was a fool. A fool in love."

"This talk is over."

He turned away but his hand was caught by Karen's.

"Please… Koji… I want you to be my friend…"

"Why?"

"Huh?"

"Why are you still talking to me? Why do you want our friendship so bad?! WHY DO YOU EVEN CARE ABOUT HOW I FEEL?! JUST TELL ME THAT!!!"

"Koji…"

His face was red with anger and hot tears were dripping down his face. His eyes were focused on Karen's.

"What do you even know about me?! I'll tell you, NOTHING!!! You know nothing about me! You took our friendship and threw it away like trash… and now you've come to ask me for forgiveness? You broke my heart Karen… I really cared about you and I thought that nothing would come between our friendship together…"

She cried as well as Koji did too. His eyes were not filled with anger, but despair. She ran up to him and hugged him with her eyes in his chest.

"Koji… I'm sorry… I didn't know that you actually felt that way about me… Can I at least still be your friend?"

Koji's tears fell down on his face and then something happened. He finally gave in and held Karen as close to him as possible. Instead of pulling away, she embraced it.

"I don't have physical attractions for you yet Koji… I still wanna be your friend… so could you please…"

"…"

"…please…"

"I'm sorry Karen…"

"Huh?"

"I'll be your friend… but… I don't think I'll still see you as often…"

"…At least you'll be my friend Koji… That's all I ask…"

She smiled and embraced Koji with a warm hug. Koji smiled and reconciled their friendship with each other. After a long warm embrace with each other, Karen turned back to go home, seeing that she'll never see Koji again. Koji look towards Karen and smiled. He went home with the sadness of never seeing her again. But how long will this last? Will Koji leave for good? Or will they finally make up for their problems? Who knows.