Disclaimer: Don't own it.

Summary - The trio had to start somewhere: Makoto, Kousuke, and Chiaki's beginning. Hopefully will include all flashbacks from Makoto's last leap. And more.

Kousuke noticed Makoto was shivering a little. He frowned. It wasn't that cold in here, was it? He shrugged. It was probably nothing. If Makoto wasn't comfortable, she'd tell him. Right?

"Makoto, are you cold?" Kousuke asked, turning slightly in his chair to look more closely at her face. She was grimacing.

"No." Makoto shook her head. "It's just so, so weird in here."

Kousuke glanced around the public library building. Something weird? He sniffed the air, subtly he hoped. It smelled the same as always: like old paper and fresh ink. And everything looked the same. The same librarian was working quietly behind the counter, and the same tables by the windows were filled with students catching up on last minute homework. The soft hush of the building hadn't changed, either. So, what?

"Weird?" Kousuke asked.

Makoto glanced around warily. "Yeah. Everything's so quiet! It's not like the school library, you know, where someone is always gossiping in the corner and making some sort of noise. It's just weird. There's a lot of people in here and they're all being completely silent," she whispered. "It makes me nervous. I think if I talked like normal I would get arrested."

Kousuke looked down at his paper and took a quick note, chuckling slightly, before turning back to Makoto. Her eyes were wide, darting around the library. She was sincerely anxious.

"Don't worry," Kousuke said, trying to reassure her. "I've never seen anyone arrested. Some kids that were causing trouble got kicked out once, but the library staff doesn't usually bring the in the authorities. So, you've never been to the public library before today?"

Makoto shook her head. "Nope. I just do everything at home, or at the school's library. Are you here a lot?"

"No, not that often."

Well, it depended on what a lot meant as a unit of measurement. If it meant he came twice daily, then no, he wasn't here a lot. Really, five times a week wasn't that excessive. He had a lot of things to get done, and he liked the library's atmosphere and resources. Right.

Makoto looked a little doubtful, but she didn't say anything. She let out an anxious huff, then turned back to her homework.

They worked side by side for a few hours. Kousuke managed to get some decent work done, though from time to time he'd turn his head slightly to look at Makoto. She chewed on her pencil again. Kousuke smiled. He thought it was cute.

"That was actually-" Makoto stood up and stretched her arms above her head "-pretty nice! It was so quiet! I could really focus!"

Kousuke looked down at Makoto's papers. They were messily filled out with many doodles in the margins. Seeing that he was looking, Makoto quickly snatched her papers away and shoved them into her bag.

"I did!" she insisted.

"Okay," Kousuke agreed.

Makoto could tell that he didn't believe her. She huffed a little in indignation. A slight scowl was forming on her face. Kousuke almost rolled his eyes. He stopped himself and settled for a small smirk.

As they left the building, the librarian looked up from her book and spotted Kousuke.

"Hello, Kousuke!" She even waved. Kousuke lifted his hand and waved a little back. He glanced at Makoto, hoping she didn't notice. She did.

Once they were outside, Makoto stopped. "The librarians know your name?" she asked, smirking.

Kousuke felt his ears go a little red. "Well, I-" he put a nervous hand to the back of his neck "-she's a family friend."

"Right." Makoto began to walk again, and Kousuke followed, glad that she hadn't asked anything more. She stopped again, abruptly. Kousuke stumbled a bit as he brought himself to a halt, too.

"Do you really like baseball?" Makoto asked, her face serious.

"Honestly?" Kousuke asked, smiling a bit sheepishly. "I hadn't really cared for it until we started playing. But now, I'm starting to like it." Makoto kept staring at him with that serious face. "And I'm pretty good at it too, so, that's good." Her eyes never left his. His hand flew to neck again. "And I guess you could say that I come to the library a lot."

Makoto nodded, looking satisfied. "Well, I was thinking that sometime we should get at least one more person to play baseball with us. Then you wouldn't have to run for the ball. And maybe we should do karaoke sometime, too! That would be really fun! I was thinking that I wanted to go to that new bookstore to get some magazines. And they say that this one restaurant has the best sandwiches! Oh! My sister did the stupidest thing the other day-"

Makoto continued to talk as they walked, and Kousuke thought he had never felt so relieved in his life. Whew.

Author's Note: Review when the mood strikes. A bit longer this time. Thanks for reading!