Why had she even said all that stuff in the first place?

She still didn't think Isuke understood her, and yes, she wasn't confident she could ever fully understand either. Yet, what she had said had been out of place and far too harsh.

She hadn't meant for it to sound that way. She hadn't meant to drive Isuke away like that. Sure, they had their problems, but it was now that she needed her the most. That was probably why she'd said what she had, as well.

Between her mother being ill and her siblings unfed she had been so worried and stressed out lately she'd probably just felt the need to let out her feelings and snap at someone.

She'd told her she didn't understand. She had told her to leave. She hadn't really meant it, had she?

She had meant the part about her and Isuke being different, but she wished she hadn't said any of it. She didn't want her to leave.

As soon as she realized this, her feet started moving. She didn't waste any time putting on a jacket and instead exited into the cold night without it.

She didn't want to waste one more second. She needed to catch up to Isuke and apologize, and then she needed to explain everything to her.

Haruki didn't want to drag her into it, but it seemed Isuke was genuinely concerned, despite her sometimes harsh ways. If Isuke really wanted to know, and if not knowing hurt her feelings somehow, she needed to tell her.

"Isuke-san, are you alright?" asked Sumireko kindly as she approached her, "Your phone call had me worried."

Right after she had argued with Haruki, she'd called Sumireko while on her way home. She hadn't been able to say much of anything, but the blonde had realized she was upset about something. Even so, Isuke hadn't expected her to come all the way to her house just to check up on her.

"I screwed up… Why do I always screw up?" muttered Isuke, her voice a little hoarse. Studying her face, Sumireko saw how red it was, especially around her eyes.

Had she been crying? She found it hard to believe that someone like Isuke would cry over… well, over anything, really. But she guessed not even she could pretend to be strong all the time.

Isuke stepped out into the night and shut the door behind her, so that her Mama and Papa wouldn't be able to eavesdrop on them. The cold night air made her shudder and wrap her arms around herself, trying to cover her bare stomach.

"What happened?" she asked, her voice filled with genuine concern for her friend, who now looked completely broken.

"Haruki and I…" Isuke struggled to find her voice, which was nearly gone already from having cried so much, "We argued and…"

Not wasting another second, Sumireko wrapped her arms around Isuke and pulled her closer.

At first, it felt unfamiliar to Isuke. She didn't usually go around hugging people, so the only times that happened was when Haruki stole a hug.

Thinking about it, she hadn't really known Sumireko for long either, so they had never done something like this before. Most of the time, they just talked, and physical contact had more or less been narrowed down to Isuke grabbing her by the wrist to pull her along somewhere.

After a while, however, she relaxed and let herself sink into the girl's comforting embrace, enjoying the heat in the otherwise so cold night, and the presence of another person. A person that even appeared to want to help her.

Maybe it was true that she didn't understand Haruki, and it didn't feel like she understood Isuke either, which was why seeing Sumireko before her felt so reassuring and so familiar right now.

The two were so much alike in so many ways. Their backgrounds resembled each other in that they had both grown up in wealthy families with high expectations to them. They both had parents who tended to go a bit too far when trying to make sure their daughters had everything they needed, even going as far as pairing them up with someone.

And now, both of them had gotten their hearts broken.

That was why seeing her felt so nice. Having someone there who had gone through the same as her, who understood her problems and her pain… It made her feel less alone.

"You and I really aren't lucky when it comes to love, are we?" spoke Sumireko, a humorless chuckle escaping her lips.

"I think we're just very good at ruining it," disagreed Isuke. She wasn't quite sure that applied to the other girl, but she herself seemed to do that a lot. Heck, she even managed to ruin things for other people.

"So much for a fairytale ending," she sighed heavily, referring to their joking conversation from a few weeks back, "Both of us being alone and heartbroken."

"I guess," Isuke nodded, finding it difficult to concentrate on the conversation because of all the thoughts swirling around in her head, and all the emotions that threatened to make her tear up yet again.

"I always did like the concept of the prince and the pauper and all that, but I guess that belongs in movies and story books," she laughed bitterly before continuing, "Because the real world isn't like that, is it?"

Isuke wasn't sure whether it was a rhetorical question or not, so she shook her head slightly just in case.

The real world was as far from a fairytale as it got. True love, miracles, happy endings… what a load of bullshit.

"I've found myself wondering if I'm just making things more difficult for myself by pining over someone I cannot have," Sumireko said, seemingly deep in thought.

This reminded Isuke of Otoya and how she had refused to give up on her even after being rejected several times. In a way, it seemed a lot like the situation Sumireko was in, and if that had been everything, Isuke would have advised her to give up right away.

The reason she'd kept pushing was because she had been certain there had been more to it. While Isuke loathed Otoya, she had been sure Mahiru had had feelings for Sumireko.

Knowing she had been rejected twice, she wasn't quite sure what to think anymore, and she could relate to Sumireko for doubting it too.

"Yeah," she spoke, "I can't help but think of how things could have been so much easier."

If she had never started this thing in the first place…

If she had never hired Haruki and never fallen in love with her, she wouldn't have changed so much, and she wouldn't have gotten her heart broken.

She could have just let her parents keep pestering her for a while, and when she found a girl that was tolerable, just started dating her.

Isuke was certain that if she had, she wouldn't have been so miserable right now.

But she was certain of another thing as well. She never would have gotten to experience that feeling of being fully content that she had only ever experienced around Haruki. So at the end of the day, she probably wouldn't have changed things if she could have done all of it over again.

Yet, now she wondered if she would ever feel that way again, now that her and Haruki were over.

"Then again, I don't think I could ever be happy if everything was easy."

It took a while before the blue eyed girl caught up with what Isuke was talking about, but when she did, she nodded in agreement.

"But you have to agree that easy would be better than nothing…" she muttered, slowly moving closer, "Better than loneliness…"

She shut her eyes as she inched closer, slowly closing the gap between them.

Isuke's mind told her to pull away and not complicate things further, but just like before, her body and now also her heart, wouldn't obey.

It was merely a moment of weakness. Both of them sought comfort, or maybe an escape from reality. It wasn't as though the desperate act was enough to mend their broken hearts, but at least they could forget about the pain and loneliness, if only for a minute.

From the moment her lips touched Sumireko's, or maybe even before that, she knew she would regret this later. But she couldn't make herself care. What did she have to lose at this point? It felt as though she'd already lost everything. She felt so cold and empty. She needed to seek solace in someone, and it didn't much matter who.

The kiss didn't last for long, and when they parted, neither of them knew what to do or say next.

For a little while they just stood there, unsure of how to proceed from there, but the awkward silence was cut short by the sound of someone's voice.

She headed down the fastest way to Isuke's house, running as fast as she could without tripping over or bumping into anything in the dim lighting produced by the moon and a sparse number of street lights.

She wondered what she should do or say once she caught up.

Having said some things that were beyond unreasonable, she didn't know how or even if she could just take it back, especially since there had been some truth in parts of it.

She wasn't sure how Isuke had felt about it either. In many ways, the pink haired girl was very difficult to understand. There were many things about her that Haruki still didn't get, and there was probably a lot she didn't even know yet.

When she thought about it, it was sort of stupid, really. She'd yelled at Isuke for not understanding her, but did she fully understand Isuke?

Sometimes, the girl could come off as selfish and uncaring. For example in school, where she spent all the classes sleeping or fixing her nails, and didn't offer the other students as much as a second glance, it was clear that she didn't give a damn. The people and the schoolwork was completely irrelevant to her.

But that didn't mean she was always like that, did it? Haruki had seen her care for others. Despite the results, she had tried to help Sumireko that day, and she showed concern for her after that fight she had with Otoya through patching her up and being pissed at Otoya for hurting her.

Isuke definitely had some selfish tendencies, that she could not deny, but there was a caring and sweet side to her as well.

Spotting Isuke's house just up ahead she slowed down.

What should she do when she got there? What if Isuke didn't want to talk to her? Would her parents be home?

She didn't have any idea how to fix things after everything she had just said to Isuke. The look in her eyes just before she left had indicated something far beyond hurt. Just recreating the image of it in her mind hurt, and it made her curse herself for making Isuke feel so sad.

Everything she did was to make sure everyone she cared for were alright, so why…

Why was her mother sick? Why didn't her family have enough money? Why did Fuyuka have to work and why did she have to hurt Isuke like this?

Before she got to dwell any further on that, something else caught her attention.

On the staircase to her house stood Isuke, talking to someone. She couldn't make out who it was at this distance, but the shape of the figure was that of a slender female, a little shorter than Isuke was.

Or then again, maybe not. Isuke pretty much always wore high heels, and with them on she was taller than most the girls in their grade. Haruki preferred her without heels though, because she looked cuter when she was shorter, and that way Haruki could tease her about being shorter than her.

As she got closer, she recognized the other girl as Sumireko. That was understandable. The two had become good friends lately, and it was only natural to want to talk to a good friend after something like that happened.

Of course, it would make it more awkward to approach Isuke, but at least she didn't have to go knock on the door and maybe have Eisuke open. Truth be told, she would rather have to deal with Sumireko any day.

Just as she was about to step forth, something unexpected happened.

The two girls on the stairs moved closer to each other…

Haruki narrowed her eyes, not believing what she was clearly seeing. She thought her eyes must have been deceiving her, but after staring at them for a few, but seemingly endless moments, she knew that was not the case.

She didn't want to believe it.

Had she just been Isuke's little plaything after all? Something for her to entertain herself with until she got bored…

She was well aware that she must have hurt her deeply earlier, but this… If she had truly cared she wouldn't do this, would she? Haruki knew she would never have done something like that.

So, was that all she had been to her? Something she could just throw away that easily? She could never throw away her feelings for Isuke just like that.

The look in her eyes earlier; had she misread it? She'd looked so hurt, yet now she was kissing someone else. Was she seriously going to move on and forget about her already?

Damn it, she had been such a fucking idiot, reading things into it like that… Thinking there might have been something more.

She had genuinely thought that Isuke had feelings for her, that she broke away from her habit around Haruki and actually cared for her. Just goes to show people don't change that easily.

She had just been fooling herself, in the end, and she had no one to blame but herself. She should have realized that she wasn't good enough for someone like Isuke, who had dated all kinds of wealthy, classy and popular people and wasn't even pleased with that.

Haruki could never even hope to compete with someone like Sumireko, and even she probably wasn't good enough for Isuke.

She never even stood a chance, did she?

"No way," she spoke to herself. Although her voice had been hushed, in the otherwise silent night it was loud enough to attract the attention of the two girls.

Isuke was the first to spot her. Her eyes widened in shock and her mouth opened as though she wanted to say something, but the night remained just as silent as it had been.

Haruki felt split. One part of her wanted to run away, go home and cry because she had ruined everything, but the other part was furious. That part of her told her Isuke was the one at fault, for toying with her feelings and giving up on her so easily.

The angry side got the best of her, and she ended up marching over to them.

"Haruki…" Isuke started, her voice barely audible, but Haruki didn't want to hear any of her cheap apologies or excuses or whatever she was planning to feed her.

"You know, I came to apologize," Haruki interrupted her. Her voice was angry, and she laughed bitterly. She just couldn't help but laugh at how foolish she had been to trust Isuke in the first place. She'd even been warned not to trust her, but did she listen? Of course not. "I wanted to say that I was overreacting and that I didn't mean any of it. But you can just fucking forget it."

She stopped laughing as her memories with Isuke came flashing through her mind. All those precious memories she swore to treasure forever.

Right now she wished she could forget all of them.

"You know what; just forget all of it. Forget everything that ever happened between us. Every word, and every kiss," she uttered, "Shouldn't be that difficult for you, since you never even gave a fuck about me in the first place."

Her hands curled into fists, and she felt the need to punch something, just to let her anger out.

"That is-" Isuke tried again, but she found it difficult to try to explain. She knew it had been stupid, and she felt guilty about it already, so seeing Haruki so upset about it made her unable to say anything more.

"To think I felt bad, to think I thought I was coming with false accusations…" the redhead mumbled, before speaking up again, "I was right all along though, wasn't I? You're just a selfish bitch and I was just stupid enough to fall for you."

Maybe they were both at fault, Haruki thought. Isuke was at fault for using her, and she was at fault for not realizing she was being used.

Not that it mattered at this point. All that mattered was the fact that this could never work. Her and Isuke just weren't meant to be.

Feeling like she'd blown off most of the steam, she relaxed her body and exhaled deeply.

"I'm gonna go now," she declared, "And I don't wanna see you again, so if you ever cared even a little, please respect that and leave me alone."

With that, she started walking away with slow steps, her feet feeling so heavy one would think she was dragging chains along after her.

A part of her still hoped Isuke would run after her, but she knew that wouldn't happen.

And that was for the best, she convinced herself.

She didn't once look back as she walked, afraid that if she did, she might change her mind again, and she couldn't do that.

It was over now.

After Haruki was out of sight, Sumireko, who had stood there silently the entire time, cleared her throat.

"I should probably leave," she decided, the guilt filling her as well. Hurriedly, she walked away, leaving Isuke alone on the staircase.

Having watched the both of them walk away, Isuke now felt like the loneliest person in the world.

Hey there. Not such a long wait this time.

I just realized that whenever I publish an update, I feel the need to apologize for something. Last chapter it was the delayed update, and this time it's because I'm being so cruel to the characters of this story and the entire thing is so depressing. Hehe, I'm hopeless.

Anyway, the kiss between Sumireko and Isuke is actually something I've been planning for a while. The things leading up to it changed a little from what I originally planned, so it was harder to fit into the story than I expected.

I was rather hesitant to write it, because I didn't want to ruin Isuke's friendship with Sumireko. Then again, we all know everything goes to hell for everyone in this story.

Well, that's all. So cross your fingers for the next chapter being a brighter one, and I will see you next update :)