Note: Short chapter is short. Thanks so much for the encouraging reviews. I apologize for the lateness of this update. I started writing this chapter a while ago and got sidetracked by life and school work. This chapter doesn't have any fluffy fanservice, but it does provide some perspective as to what's going on with everyone at the high school.

Does anyone happen to know if the high school in Suzuka actually has a name? I kept trying to find it, but came up empty. So unless anyone has any objections or knows it's name, I'm just going to make one up.

Thanks so much for reading and keep up the awesome reviews. I love reading them and getting feedback. Hope you all have an awesome Valentine's Day!

Yamato was quite proud of how his midterm exams had turned out. His success in track had also increased and those afterschool practices with Miki in the park were definitely starting to pay off. he had also started hanging with Sōichi Miyamoto and Miki more often. Just this past weekend Miki had unceremoniously dragged the two of them to an arcade in downtown Tokyo. Admittedly it had been fun to watch Miyamoto beat Miki at a downhill biking game. Though she and Yamato both managed to beat him at the new Tekken TAG2 game. Yamato was also pleased to note that Miki took winning and losing with the same easy going attitude that she did with everything else. While motivated to win at track meets and perform well in school, she never let it get her get her down completely and unlike the other women in his life, she never blamed him for her own personal choices. He reasoned that that was why Miki had no difficulty understanding other people's situations. She made her own choices and she lived by them for good or bad, and would often sympathize with those who'd made less desirable choices. Like Yamato every other day when he received some type of criticism from his family, friends, and peers.

"Come on Akitsuki. Pick up the pace!" Miki called as she waited for Yamato at the halfway point on the parkway.

They were practicing for next week's track meet against Gakkan Urayasu Senior High School and Hashiba was once again helping him with his baton passing. Yamato was actually going to be participating in the track club's next relay event. Something that was both exciting and extremely nerve wracking.

His interaction with Honoka Sakurai had lately become much more casual. Honoka was starting to act more like her shy cheerful self again and Yamato was glad to see it. Ever since their breakup on her birthday Yamato had felt slightly guilty about the mess of confused feelings that had been left in their wake. Honoka also seemed to be acting a bit more awkward and bashful around track club member Kenji Kobayakawa. It seemed like she might finally have noticed Kobayakawa, though she was still oblivious to his feelings for her. Hatori seemed to think it was a good sign, despite his usual insistence that Yamato go clubbing with him the next night to find a new girl. Yamato had given the usual reply before leaving to meet with Miki at the school gate.

"Akitsuki! Are you day dreaming again?" Miki said she shook her head "You've got to pay attention during these maneuvers. We've only got a few days until the meet."

"I know, I know" Yamato replied apologetically "I just couldn't help thinking about what happened yesterday with Yuka and Sasaoka."

"Oh? That's right you drove Saotome to the airport yesterday in your aunt's car so she could confess to that guy she loved. How did that go for her?" Miki wondered. "A rejection would have been very hard on her after all that."

"That's how it went unfortunately." Yamato replied evenly "Sasaoka told Yuka that he was already engaged. She took it pretty well, though I feel kind of bad that she changed everything for the guy and still wasn't able to achieve her goal."

"Life can get like that sometimes. People can lose sight of their goals or risk never being able to fulfill them" Miki said "When I was little I wanted to be an Olympic gold medalist in shot-put, but when I got older I realized that I should concentrate on more measureable goals first, like getting on the middle school track team."

Yamato nodded.

"I used to think that being a rock star might be pretty neat, but my family quickly told me that my singing voice was horrible and that I shouldn't try singing." He said. "I guess I never had any real measurable goals outside of getting into a good high school and leaving home."

"Did you really not get along with your family all that well?" Miki asked speculatively, then held up her hands in a halting gesture "Not that I want to pry, I was just curious why you wanted to leave home so badly. You mentioned it a few weeks ago."

Yamato shrugged slightly and replied "I guess home is a lot like here. Many of the people I'm close to like to criticize my choices without thinking why I made them in the first place. It always feels like I'm being tugged in several different directions at once. That was how it felt when I spoke to Honoka and Suzuka. They were always ready to criticize my decisions and demand that I take responsibility for something they thought was wrong. They never tried to see it from my point of view."

"Well did you ever try to see it from there's?" Hashiba ventured "Maybe they were just afraid of getting their feelings hurt. People do strange things when they like someone."

The dark haired boy twirled the baton in his left hand while putting the other one against his forehead.

"I didn't at first, but then as I got to know them better I began to understand them a little," Yamato admitted. "But just when I thought I knew I was doing right by them, either as a friend or Honoka's boyfriend, things would go wrong or someone would get emotional and I'd end up being blamed for it."

"Then maybe you made the right decision, maybe you just don't understand each other that well. Sometimes people grow apart because of their differences. Honoka certainly seems happy with Kobayakawa now."

Yamato smiled a little at the mention of Honoka's change in attitude. The start of her relationship with Kenji Kobayakawa had marked the return of her normally cheerful lease on life. He was glad that she'd finally found someone to make her happy, even if that someone hadn't been him.

"Suzuka's been a bit down lately though" Miki continued "whenever your name gets mentioned she abruptly changes the subject. I think might like you Akitsuki, you should be careful about her feelings."

With a sigh Yamato looked down at the ground below and idly kicked away the small rocks beneath his track shoes. Suzuka was another story and since his declaration to Miki a month and a half ago, he hadn't spoken to Suzuka or tried any more to convince her of his feelings. If anything Yamato knew he was slowly getting over what he'd felt for Suzuka. After being rebuffed so many times, he finally assumed that she would never have any feelings for him and decided to move on with his life. His only goals right now were graduating high school and getting into Tokyo U. with Miki and Miyamoto. Miki was right when she said certain goals were just unobtainable and for Yamato that goal was Suzuka. They still saw each other at meals and around the dormitory, but their conversations mostly consisted of polite formalities that were spoken for his aunt's benefit.

"So, what are you doing for Valentines, Akitsuki?" Miki ventured quietly.

"Wha-what?" Yamato said as he was startled out of his thoughts "Why?"

"Well, a friend of mine's having a party that night and she invited Miyamoto and I. So I was wondering if you wanted to tag along?" she explained, fixing her ponytail "I didn't think you wanted to be alone that night. You've seemed pretty down whenever someone mentions it."

"Sure, why not" Yamato said with some bravado "I'm determined to meet more people in the area and hanging out instead of moping about my love life seems like a much better idea. Thanks Hashiba."

"No problem Akitsuki. We're meeting at my place before going over, so don't be late." Miki replied with some cheer. "Now let's finish our practice before it gets too dark to see."

Later that night Miki lay on her bed after her homework was done and thought about her current predicament. Yamato still clearly had some feelings for Suzuka and while Miki likes him as well, there was no way she was going to come between them. She had honestly surprised when Yamato had declared he no longer wanted to try fixing things romantically with Honoka or Suzuka. Although admittedly his feelings for Suzuka had seemed hopelessly one-sided from his point of view.

Miki wanted to make Yamato some chocolate or at least get him something to cheer him up. She knew Yamato didn't see her as anything other than a friend. He would not, in the foreseeable future return her feelings, but that didn't stop her from wanting to make him feel a bit better about himself and his personal choices. Yamato's self confidence would have a big impact on his track performance and his schoolwork. Miki wanted him to do well and she wanted him to, hopefully, get into Tokyo U. with her and Miyamoto, so that he could have that to look forward to. If anything Miyamoto already claimed that Akitsuki's track skills had potential at the college level and that might just give Yamato that worthwhile obtainable goal he would finally be able to achieve.