"It sounds like you're off to a promising start" chirps Kyubey, munching on some Sushi obtained at a store. He particularly likes the avocado and salmon filled ones.

"I can't believe I even made it this far. I still don't know that much about her though. The way she goes on about Kyouske drives me nuts" I sigh, tired from the first day and already preparing for bed.

"These things take time. Communication is key. Don't let things sit in assumption or ignore them. People in general like it when you listen to what they have to say. It makes them feel like they matter to that person".

"I'm already mentally taking notes".

The scoundrel finishes off with his disposable tray, licking it clean, before jumping up onto the tatty bed with me, coming up close, curling up beside my head. His purrs cause vibrations through the pillow and I roll my eyes.

It's gotten to the point I'm basically teaching myself. Sitting out on the roof is so nice, especially after experiencing another verbal rampage from the teacher. Men can't be THAT bad, for crying out loud. I'm studying Algebra, before I'm startled by a pair of hands landing on my shoulders.

"Boo!".

"Aargh!".

Sayaka projects what I assume to be a flirtatious giggle. "What's up Kyoutarou-san? You a closet egg-head now?".

"N-No" I scowl "I just wanna keep on top of work. Doesn't make me an egg-head". I turn away from her, but she see walks back into my line of sight.

"Well I'm not surprised, people don't get much from the homeroom teacher's lessons anyways. The most they learn is how to cook eggs right".

Communication is key.

"Do you have a favorite subject?" I ask. She blinks at me for a bit, thinking.

"I guess English. I love writing. I wanna be able to cook and make music too, but I suck at both pretty hard".

I give an amused glance "You can't be that bad. C'mon".

"I caused a school evacuation when I tried to make Kushiyaki and the Home Ec. room caught fire".

I gulped.

"Yeah, I'm bad".

"Good god, never visit my house".

"Oh I will, I'll cook even more Kushiyaki and burn your house to the ground!" she yells humorously, jumping at me. I yelp in surprise, as her hands clamp around my chest and she hugs me from behind.

Although enjoying the contact, I have to show restraint. If she pulls too much, my binder would come loose. "H-Hey, knock it off, will ya?".

She chuckles more and even smacks my back. My poor back, is that just a thing around here?

"Whatever, geek, I'll be off then".

Man, restraint is hard to keep.

"What did you call me?".

She grins deviously and flicks her hair back some, looking over her shoulder to me. "Oh nothing, that you're a nerdy doofus".

Her stance is in a manner of getting ready to run, anticipating my reaction. Smart-ass.

"I'll show you who's a doofus!". I charge for her and she runs away, chuckling lightly. God her laughter makes me weak in the knees. I chase her around the roof for a good while, although I hold back some, not wanting to actually catch her. More or less just being playful.

"So much for lightening speed. Is the whole boys football team just composed of weaklings then?".

That's it. I finally catch her, my arms snaking across her tummy and I pick her up, arching my back somewhat. I can't believe how light she is and her hair falls back some and tickles my face. She kicks and flails, screaming and laughing and I begin to chuckle too. I feel so happy.

"How about this weakling throws you off the roof?".

She's scrambling and squeaking now and her arms cling about my neck, her face buried into my chest, as I walk over to the perimeter where the posh rails are. I create a swinging motion with my arms, like I'm really gonna do it.

"Eeek! No! You're not a weakling. Put me down! Put me da-hown!" she manages, through her fits of laughter.

I'm literally carrying her bridal style now and I turn and walk back to the bench to lay her down. As she collects her breath, she looks up at me and her smile eventually shrinks away. Those orbs of sky blue reel me in deep and I feel my heart lodge in my throat again. I notice her lips are glistening with a type of cherry lip balm. Their appearance, and scent, is begging for me to try. I flush deeply and pull away, so hungry for a taste of those lips.

"Kyoutarou-san?...Are you joining us for lunch then?"

I gather my composure and brush my hair back a tad, sorting myself out.

"Um, yeah, sounds great" I say cheerfully.

"Cool, I can introduce you to my friends, Hitomi and Madoka. They're eager to meet you".

"Yeah?".

"Yeah I... err, talk about you sometimes".

My heart flutters in my chest, seeing her hair clash with her blushing face and she turns around to head to class.

"So, it's 'The Lightening', Kyoutarou-san!" excitedly proclaims the bubblegum haired gal, known as Madoka, somewhat shorter than Sayaka.

"It's a pleasure to meet you" Hitomi greets in a hushed, pleasant tone, bowing.

"Yo" I say, waving my hand.

"He's joining us for lunch" explains the bluenette, as we seat ourselves at a booth in the canteen. "I'll be back in a sec. Napkins".

"Sayaka sure has taken a liking to you rather quickly, Kyoutarou-san" Hitomi informs, quite cheekily.

"We hear you go off on your own sometimes. Are you lonely? You shouldn't be, concerning all the 'fans' you've gotten after yesterday's match" wonders Madoka.

"I'm not one for crowds. I enjoy company occasionally though" I insist. My burger in front of me looks so freaking good, but I'm waiting for Sayaka. Manners, right?

"What a gentleman, waiting for your lady to arrive back!" cooes the lily, kink haired maiden, with a small smile. My lady?

"H-Huh? Erm... n-no! Me and Sayaka aren't like that... we err" I attempt to say, feeling my face catch fire again. The girls deliver a bubbly giggle to each other.

"We're only teasing you".

"Aww Kyoutarou-san's turned into a tomato" Madoka joined in, mockingly.

I just sit there and take it. I can't really do anything and I'm actually pretty worn out from the 'work-out' I had, chasing Sayaka earlier.

"What's so funny you guys?" inquires the blueberry haired gal, taking her seat.

"Kyoutarou-san waited patiently for you. Some guys I know wouldn't take a moment to spare once they had their food placed in front of them. I was just saying how gentleman-like it was of him to wait for his girlfriend like that".

Okay, she's here now. I can eat. I rip of the wrapper for the burger and chow down greedily, hoping it'd quickly wash away my colour scheme and drown out the sounds of their amused laughing. Out the corner of my eye, I see Sayaka blushing.

I don't get it. Are such little actions really that big a deal? I thought some manners were out of courtesy, like holding open a door for someone. I started to notice if I even did something as simple as that for Sayaka, some girls would squeal and fawn over me. It's hard to escape it. Does everything really have to be so damn suspicious?

I hear a loud cry of pain from outside and go outside, discovering Kyousuke on the ground, holding his leg, cringing and wincing in agony.

"Dude what happened?" I ask, getting on the ground beside him.

"M-My classmate, Kaneda..." he stutters, groaning.

A condescending chortle emits from behind me and some stupid, bowl hair cut loser stands over me and him.

"What's your problem?".

"Kyousuke needs to man up. Ever since he came back from the hospital, he's been dragging our team down. We thought we'd knock some sense into him".

"Are you dimwits hearing yourselves? He came back from the hospital recently, lay off!".

"K-Kyoutarou-kun..." Kyousuke whimpers, as I rise to my feet. Taking this guy on, headstrong.

Kanade doesn't give a second to think, not even for me. He delivers a quick punch into my stomach, something I didn't expect. This guy is big. He laughs in my face and so I deliver a hook and uppercut, knocking him onto his back. A crowd forms around us and lets out a collective gasp. Kaneda grunts and picks himself back up, or tries too but I leap at him, getting him in a headlock. A wave of chanting and cheering sweeps over us, as he gets back up and attempts to throw me off him. I've locked my legs around him from behind and he's still in my grasp. He throws fistfuls at me from behind, but eventually, he collapses and I let him go, as he's gasping for air.

"Don't ever touch Kyousuke again, do you hear me?" I bellow and he nods, passing out on the concrete. The students cheer and a teacher finally approaches the scene.

"What happened here?".

To my amazement, the crowd goes nuts, saying Kaneda got in a fight with Kyousuke and I was trying to stop it. It seems I was free of blame and the teachers hulled up the neanderthal and dragged him to the Head Master's office. Me, I took Kyousuke's arm over my shoulder and helped walk him to the nurse.

End of Part Five