A/N: Hey everyone! I've been adding some more depths to this story, but I want to know how you all feel about it;. I'm always open for suggestions! Right now, I feel that I am around 70% through the storyline. Also, I really appreciate the support for Yukiji! Hata left me wondering how her story may progress, so I wrote a small side story about her. Hope you'll enjoy!

Chapter 17: A Lifetime of Suffering

Sitting on a chair outside at the busy shopping district, Yukiji fine-tuned her brand new electric guitar, as she prepared to practice what she hasn't touched for over a decade. After plugging the guitar to her amplifier, her teacher name was suddenly called.

"Oy! Katsura-sensei!" shouted Risa.

She looked at the three idiots who happen to pass by.

"You play the guitar?" Risa asked. "And why do I feel like we were just called idiots..."

"Because it's not a guitar, idiot," Miki replied. "Or at least, not any guitar..."

"It's an electric guitar!" Izumi happily shouted. The girls all sweat-dropped at her amazing guess.

"Well, of course!" Risa said, before deciding to tease Izumi. "In other news, earth is round..."

"And women are females," Miki added.

"Hey! Stop it!" Izumi cried. "It is an electric guitar, though! Right, Katsura-sensei?"

Yukiji chuckled. "You're damn right it is," she said. "This is the fully customized M*nson MB-*S, signed by the amazing song artist from the previous chapter!" She extended her arms holding the guitar to their eyes. The guitar was cherry red, with some black accents, but all in all, looked sparkly and expensive-looking.

"Ooooh... aaahhh..." the three girls awed in unison.

Izumi's hand began to reach one of the guitar strings. "Will this make a sound?" she asked.

"Wait, Izumi-san, don't touch that! You'll-"

Izumi struck out a note.

That was so disturbingly loud that it startled everybody in the district, causing people to drop their shopping bags, causing the vendors' products to spill, and almost knocking off the high-rise window cleaner, who held on for dear life from the nearby 6th story building, as windows shattered by the loudness of the sound.

The entire district stared down at the guitarist and the three girls. Yukiji immediately packed her things and ran off, while Izumi and the other girls ran away from the angry vendors and the fallen window cleaner.

"Onee-chan, why did you sell your guitar?" asked an 11-year old Hinagiku.

"I didn't sell it, silly..." Yukiji responded. "I'm just letting someone else take care of it while I'm working." She gave Hinagiku a warm can of soup, heated from the barrel fire pit outside of their abandoned apartment.

"How long will you be working?" she asked. By the sound of her tone, she seemed a little sad.

Yukiji looked away from her. She knew that by looking at her sister this way, it would break her heart again.

"For as long as I can keep you safe," she replied. "For as long as it takes..."

She then felt trembling hands held by a pair of smaller mitten-covered ones. She held her head up high, refusing to tear up, as her hands stopped trembling from the lack of heat this apartment has.

"You spent 550,000 yen just for a guitar?!" Kyonosuke asked. "That's ridiculous."

"Shut it, Kaoru-kun," Yukiji replied. "I don't bash on how you spend your money..."

It was late night. He and Yukiji were sitting at a night lounge in a restaurant. The two teachers often go to this spot, as the late hours of the restaurant seem to make a nice atmosphere to whine and dine.

"You still buy those Gunpla toy, right?" she asked. "I see nothing wrong with buying things you enjoy."

Kyonosuke blushed, impressed that his childhood love would even remember his hobby. "S-sorry," he muttered. "I'm just surprised by how much you spent on just one item. My models, (which certainly are not toys!), barely cost a lot one by one, but my spendings on them have accumulated over the years. You, on the other hand, just went all out!"

"Haha yup!" she said proudly. "To my new guitar!" She raised her cup high and drank.

Kyonosuke sweatdropped. 'She's getting excited just for drinking tea...' he thought to himself. But he had to admit, he really admired her for staying sober over the months. He raised his cup as well and also drank his tea.

"Man, those kebabs, though..." she said, before lightly burping. "Really hits the spot. Totally worth my paycheck! Heheh!"

Kyonosuke tried to ignore her lack of politeness from burping, trying to figure out why he's still into her.

"Hey, Yukiji-san, let me pay for the both of us," he said, carefully trying to be cool in front of her as he put his card on the tab.

He froze as her hand was placed over his hand on the tab.

"Nah, let me," she said. "You've covered me way too many times out of my selfish needs to drink. I can do this."

His cheeks heated up as her hand was in contact with his. "Uh... okay," he muttered.

She picked up the bill, surprised with the amount charged. "5300 yen... Wow, this is so cheap compared to my previous drinking orders!" she commented.

"Are you sure you can pay for this?" he asked.

"Well, not having to spend money on drinking really do makes my earnings look fat," she said. "And the guitar is paid off, so now I can finally-!"

Yukiji paused for a second. Kyonosuke blankly stared at her still self. For a second, he noticed her hand tremble.

"Yukiji-san... are you okay?" he asked.

"Huh... oh yeah," she mumbled. "I just realized something."

"What is it?"

"... Nothing," she answered. She left an extra 2000 yen as a tip on the table. "Let's get out of here."

He briefly followed her out with no question, like a fool who'd do anything to be with who he desires. They walked through the dark yet busy district, where people in their late-20s such as them were scattered, only drunk, shouting, and dancing to the loud club music that could be heard from other bars. Couples could be seen making out in the alleys.

"Pff... disgusting," he could hear her mutter in all these noises. "Find a room, geez..."

He stopped his pace as she suddenly turned around to face him. He got a good view of her face and was caught blushing, admiring the fact that she looked way more attractive when she's sober.

"Hey," she said it bluntly. "Walk me home, will ya?"

He nodded before she turned around again and they continued walking. He gulped discreetly, unsure whether he was taking her words out of context or not. 'Is this it?' he thought. 'My time to shine? After all these manga chapters where I've been acting like a total pu-'

Random background cat hissing.

'This is it,' he continued his thought process. 'I'm going to confess to her! And she'll remember this time! Then I'll sweep her into her apartment, and finally make love to that-'

The same cat meowed. As you all may already know, Kyonosuke is a 29-year old virgin, quite sadly.

'This is perfect! My Tr*jan has been sitting in my wallet for a while and was going to expire next month!'

The cat cringed and walked away in disgust.

'I'll show her what a man I truly am!'

"Well Kaoru-kun, I had a good time," Yukiji said. "Thanks for walking me home." She felt awkward for wondering why he hasn't been talking to her since leaving the restaurant.

'Eh?! We're here already?!' he thought. They were already in front of her door. Kyonosuke was thinking too much! He started to sweat, unsure of what were the right words to say.

Yukiji let out a loud yawn.

'Eeeehh! Don't yawn right in front of me!'

"Boy, staying up late sure isn't me anymore," Yukiji said, rubbing her sore eyes from the tiredness. "Well, goodnight, Kaoru-kun."

'W-wait! I need to tell you how I feel!'

"G-... goodnight," he muttered instead.

The door between the two closed shut in his face, once again.

He turned around and walked his way home, alone, once again.

And on the other side of that door, stood a women who couldn't help but continue to tremble, as she's been longing even more for a drink, wanting to forget the feeling of forever giving up on her love life.

'I guess nobody is capable of making my heart beat faster.'

With a broken smile, she looked over to her wall on her side, where her electric guitar has been resting against. A picture suddenly refreshed in her mind, when she had once seen the same look on herself on someone else's face, and knew what the cure was.

"Well... that's the price I paid for after all of these years... right?"

So she practiced playing it the whole night. Despite the errors she struck out, she didn't want her fingers to shake anymore.

Hinagiku and Ayumu walked alongside of the shopping district. Ayumu looked really excited, as Hinagiku wondered what Ayumu's excitement could be about. To add to her curiousity, Ayumu was carrying her guitar on her back.

"So... why are you bringing me to wherever we're going?" Hinagiku asked.

"Well, my musical classmates all called me to come down here," Ayumu replied. "Supposively, a 'guitar legend' has returned without any announcements and just played some really good music out of nowhere! I thought it'd be really nice to bring you along!"

"A legend, huh...?" Hinagiku muttered. But she wasn't really in the mood for whoever the legend was. Hinagiku was more concerned about keeping her secret from one of her closest friends.

'I really am horrible... aren't I?' she thought. 'She doesn't know about Hayate-kun and me.'

As they continued walking, their path became more crowded. People were cheering and applauding, and the two girls had some trouble seeing who they were applauding for, so they stopped and listened.

"Okay, folks..." a familiar voice to Hinagiku was heard. "This one's a cover for a song called, 'Before My Body Is Dry!'"

Before Hinagiku could interpret that voice, a strong guitar note combined with heavy drumming bursted into her ears. The song was playing perfect; the notes were precisely played according to that song. Hinagiku ran through the crowd as she could not believe who it was, but wanted to be sure.

It was none other than her sister! Yukiji!

Alongside with her was one of Hinagiku's other teachers, the young and intelligent Shiori on the drums. And the one playing the synths? Well, it was none other than Shiori's robotic creation, Nursing Robot Eight. Hinagiku couldn't believe her ears when her sister started to sing, almost as if she was seeing her exactly the way she was 11 years ago.

"In the dusty basement where we met,

May you surprised me so much,
Because you're talking now,"

Kaoru ran through the crowd as well. From a mile away, he just had to be sure he wasn't mistaken.

"I gotta find the truth from many fights"

But I'm all alone,

You're the only one who can help me out,
We'll be as one"

"!#0h3lly3 #!" Eight said.

"We're ready to fight,
Look over there,"

As soon as that line was sang, Yukiji found her little sister staring at awe at her. She focused her eyes on her as she continued to sing.

"They try to kill us for stars,
Our bond has got much stronger than before..."

The sounds suddenly ended with two quick drumbeats. Yukiji looked at how many people she had gathered, then back to the girl whom she has been protecting all her life. A small smile formed over her aggressive singing face. She finally understood who she wanted to become. She took a deep breath, then sang her heart out as the sounds resumed.

*Don't lose your waaaay! In your mind,
We have to beeee as one,
Don't be afraaaiiid, my sweetheart,
This is the waaaay to be more strong,
Harbour my deeeeep secret,
It makes me so blue,
Run through this game before my body is dryyy~yyy!"

And she strummed her guitar while the synths played tp the very end. The crowd couldn't stop cheering then, as Yukiji stood so casually, smiling at Hinagiku, who ran up to her to give her a hug.

"Onee-chan!" Hinagiku yelled. "You were so cool again!"

Yukiji laughed. "Again? I thought I've always been, aha."

As the crowd eventually split and continued their way out of the busy district, Ayumu finally made it to the sisters.

"Thank goodness I found you, Hina..." Ayumu said with a long sigh. "Eh? Yukiji-san, it was you all along?"

"Oy! Ayumu-kun! Long time no see!" Yukiji put an arm around Ayumu with a smile, as Hinagiku looked at the two in confusion.

"You two know each other?" she asked.

"Hinagiku-san, this was the teacher I told you about at the fair!"

"My sister?! But you described your teacher as a male!"

"I guess she and Hata wanted to be secretive!"

"Who's Hata?"

"Nevermind!"

A man's voice was heard from behind. "Yukiji-san, so it was you singing after all."

Yukiji looked over the two girls to see who it was. "Kaoru-kun?"

Kyonosuke walked closer towards Yukiji. His eyes looked different to her before she realized, he looked very serious. Hinagiku and Ayumu both remained silent, feeling as if there was something going on between the two.

"When you sang, I thought I'd seen the same girl I've fallen for 11 years ago..."

"Fallen for...?" Yukiji muttered, surprised by his sudden confession. But it was too late for that. 'I had already given up on this silly game...' she thought.

"I... I gotta go pack up my gear," she said so quickly, immediately turning around before her wrist was grabbed. She was spun around in confusion as she was pulled, realizing that it was him who had grabbed her.

"Kaoru-kun! What are you-!"

His lips fell onto her's. Her eyes widened from so much shock as he's passionately kissing her, while his arms locked around her waist.

The fact that Kyonosuke was doing something like this was too shocking to her. But what was even more shocking to her, was how she began to close her eyes and kiss him back. She pulled his face closer and leaned forward, kissing him to her last breath with mutual passion.

Hinagiku and Ayumu gaped at the scene of affection until Eight covered their eyes with his robotic arms.

"You young ladies shouldn't be watching this," Shiori said with a smirk.

"According to my love scanner, Hinagiku Katsura already has the experience," Eight said. "She has experienced kissing, making out, and even grop-"

The robot was ultimately double kicked by the student council president.

A blushing Hinagiku stood in anger as Eight trembled on the ground. "Shiori-sensei, I suggest that you re-calibrate Eight-kun's scanner if he keeps making these false allegations."

"Eh? This is the first time he ever misinterpret..." Shiori said as she kneeled down by her damaged robot.

Kyonosuke slowly pulled away from Yukiji's lips. Yukiji opened her eyes, completely flustered of what had just happened.

"Kaoru-kun..." she mumbled. She forgot what else she was about to say. Her heart was beating so fast.

"Yukiji-san... I-"

Kyonosuke got punched in the face so hard, he flew up in the air for a couple seconds and landed next to Robot Eight.

"B-b-b-b-baka! What were you thinking?" Yukiji yelled, her face being so red. She turned around and touched her lips. For a second, she was hiding her smile.

Eight's sensors just picked up again. "According to my love scanner, that was Yukiji Katsura's first ki-"

"We've heard enough from you, stupid robot!" Yukiji said as she repeatedly stomped on Eight.

That evening of stomping then turned into night. Shiori went off to her lab to fix and re-calibrate Eight. Yukiji, Hinagiku, and Ayumu all went to a snack bar together. Hinagiku counted all the money that was thrown at Yukiji from her performance.

"2570 yen..." she said after finishing her count, looking impressed. "Wow, for performing for five minutes, you made quite a lot of money."

"Yukiji-san, imagine if this was your full-time job!" Ayumu exclaimed.

"Meh... chump change," Yukiji said, chewing on some mochi. "Maybe I could make it, but I don't want to look alone and miserable like that girl on that TV..."

Hinagiku and Ayumu both looked up to the TV above the bar: It was Ruka about to cry beforeher performance.

"This song is about... some idiot not wanting to marry an idol!" Ruka yelled to the her audience. Cheers from the TV could be well heard at the bar.

"Ruka-chaaan! You're so crazy and miserable! We love youuuu!"

"A-anyway..." Hinagiku said, wanting to forget that sad look on the TV. "Why did you play guitar again? After all of these years..."

"Well, Hina... that song was for you," she replied smoothly.

"Really? Why?" Hinagiku asked.

"Because I want you to fight! Don't you give up because of our old man! Your love life is at-!"

She stopped talking when she noticed her sister signaled her with hers arms waving up and down. Hinagiku's eyes pointed to Ayumu, which Yukiji acknowledged that she doesn't know. Luckily, Ayumu was happily distracted from eating her mochis.

"So... why was that song for Hina-san?" Ayumu with a mouth-full asked.

"Um.. um... just kidding! That song was actually for me!" Yukiji said. She looked for more words to support her statement. "Yes! What I was describing was my alcohol abusement. Without it, I was weak... but now..." she just came to realize something. "Now... I don't need it." A smile creeped into her face as she touched her lips again. "I don't need it."

Hinagiku and Ayumu both smiled at her.

"And I won't need my guitar anymore... because I have him."