Author's Note: Wow! Thanks for the reviews. They make me feel loved! No really. XD So, thanks to Josh, jasonturnerdragonmaster, and Raj. As you may have guessed I've decided not to abandon this fanfic, since I did get feedback, which is much appreciated. All I ask is that some of you review once in a while, even if it's just a short one. So long as I know there are still readers for this fic, I'll continue to write for it. I have this chapter now and there's another one on the way. Chapter 5 should be updated in another week or two after I finish it and get around to doing the editing. Yamato and Suzuka finally have a confrontation in this one, which makes it a bit of a downer. I promise the next one will have a much lighter tone. Thanks to all of my readers for continuing to follow Yamato and Miki's story!

Enjoy! ;)

The next track practice was harder than Yamato had expected. He was forced to endure looks from both Suzuka and a couple of the other girls on the track team.

"C'mon Akitsuki, get moving" Miyamoto shouted as someone called out 'go' to start the practice relay.

Yamato nodded and took off toward his teammate Sanaza, positioned at the halfway mark. He'd sweat out the rest of it before meeting Suzuka later that afternoon.

They met in a corner of the school that was usually empty at the end of the day. Suzuka arrived last as Yamato had gone straight there from practice, only stopping to quickly change his shoes.

"I can't go with you" Yamato stated firmly "it wouldn't be right. The guy may have looked like me, but I didn't know him."

"You could just say 'no'" Suzuka replied as she turned away. Now Yamato was facing the back of her head and he let out a sigh of frustration. Why did all of the girls he knew have to be so complicated?

"I just did" he said "I don't even know why you asked me. I still don't understand whether or not you hate me Asahina."

"I don't hate you...Akitsuki...Yamato" Suzuka said in slow utterances "I just don't know how I feel about you."

Yamato winced. He hadn't been expecting her to be outright honest. Now what was he supposed to do with that statement?

Yamato shook his head. He couldn't give in to uncertainties anymore. It only brought him even more emotional trouble and he couldn't handle being rejected by Suzuka again, not when he'd almost gotten over her.

"Maybe we can be friends someday" Yamato said as he picked up his track spikes and started to walk away.

"I don't know why I bother" Suzuka said with her jaw gritted tightly "I don't know if we can ever be friends if you don't say what you mean Akitsuki."

"You haven't been very direct either" Yamato reminded her without turning his head. "I've been confused whenever I'm around you since day one."

"Have you ever taken any of this seriously?" she wondered aloud.

"Did you not see me confessing to you a few months ago?" Yamato said "I was serious about it. At the time, I didn't realize what had happened and I'm sorry about your friend. But you can't keep doing this Asahina. Living in the past isn't going to help you. You can't bring him back."

"I know that!" Suzuka shouted "I-I regret it every single day."

Yamato cringed slightly as he heard her sob.

"But I feel like I'm being haunted by him every time I see you."

"I can't change that." Yamato said "I can't look any different than I do now. I...gave up on you the night we saw the fireflies in Hiroshima and you told me that it was all just a joke. You asked me to confess to you again with a flower that had a firefly in it. I did and you still said no. Maybe that's what you wanted him to do or maybe you wanted him to show up to track practice like nothing had ever happened. I've never lost anyone like that, so I can't understand what you're going through. But I do know that someday you're going to find someone, a person you truly care about, Asahina, and you're going to hurt him if you don't give him a chance. You can't make everyone compete with the ghost of someone whose isn't even there anymore."

Suzuka seemed to gain some composure after that. It was obvious that she didn't like what he had to say.

"Then maybe I never will." She said quietly. "It doesn't seem to be worth it."

"With someone else or with me?" Yamato wanted to know. "I wasn't going to be your pretend Tsuda forever. I can't have that same love-hate friendship with you. Maybe Honoka was right, I don't know what I want either. You can't have anything if you don't trust someone."

"I don't know if I can ever trust you" Suzuka said plainly "you used Honoka against me. I wouldn't have stayed an extra night with you if I'd known that was what you were up to. Then you lied to me about your breakup. "

"I never used her against you, I wasn't sure about our relationship before we got stranded that time" Yamato fired back. "How was I supposed to know that that was the only reason you stayed to see the fireflies? I decided to give Honoka a chance after that, because I needed to get over you."

"So you did use her?" Suzuka said, taking his words as a confirmation. "You needed an outlet and that poor girl-"

"No, I needed a friend. We all need comfort sometimes, we're only kids you know."

Then he sighed.

"I feel like you've been stuck with some adult problems" Yamato continued "and it's too much for one person to deal with all on their own. Unfortunately, you never let me help you. Honoka is happy now and I'm trying to make something of myself...for me this time. You should talk to your friends, talk to Hashiba or Kanzano. You can hate me Asahina, but just don't judge me. You don't know me well enough for that."

Suzuka didn't say anything. She didn't have to. The two of them were officially not on speaking terms.

Yamato started walking again and didn't stop until he reached the dormitory. The first thing he did when he got home was to pack up his stuff. Then he got Miho, after he told her what had happened, to help convince his Aunt Ayano to change his room. Miho was annoyed at first until he explained everything that had gone on since the previous summer. Eventually his cousin decided that despite Yamato being an idiot, what had happened hadn't been entirely his fault. She agreed that Yamato would probably be better off with time away from Suzuka and that having a room next to hers might just make his life more unstable than it already was. In the end he made a deal with Aunt Ayano, that he would completely scrub the room from top to bottom after he moved out, and she didn't ask questions.

The day after he moved into room 305, two doors down from Megumi and one from Yuka, Yamato called Miki. He figured she'd want to know before he and Suzuka started acting strangely around one another in school. Miki was the one who called Miyamoto. Yamato never did find out what Miyamoto thought about it. In the days to follow he seemed fairly neutral as he greeted everyone as well as both Suzuka and Yamato whenever he saw them in the halls or at the field. Suzuka herself seemed to withdraw into her old attitude and continued to ignore Yamato as he did to her.

Yamato was slightly thankful that all of this had happened before Valentine's Day, otherwise his Aunt might have been suspicious and more people might have taken notice. The last thing he needed was more people telling him what to do again. Hadn't that been what had gotten him into this mess in the first place? Well, that and his misguided feelings for a pretty girl who'd only asked him to go shopping. She'd given him that smile and he'd thought maybe it was something more. Yamato doubted he'd ever see a smile like that again, he was too jaded now. At least he still had his friends. That and there was at least one girl still willing to talk with him normally, even if she was just a friend.