AN: Yay, longest chapter yet! It might be really untidy though, I wasn't patient enough to sit through another reading because I just wanted to get this out as fast as possible! (Beware of messy prose, confusing action, repetitive language and so on.) But this chapter is the turning point in the story, after all, and lots happen, yes! Wow I'm excited to publish. I want to personally thank all the readers... It's really encouraging. And... I hope you enjoy this special chapter!

Words

Conversation was a weird thing for Ryoma and Akari. Given their attitudes and quirks, it didn't seem to happen that much in the first place. As they continued to eat lunch together on the roof, however, they started to carry words with ease. And although their first lunch together totally lacked in conversation, it still shared something between the two of them.

The green-haired boy and the hazel-eyed girl each possessed a different sort of loneliness. Ryoma was straightforward- he was simply alone, he almost didn't even care. Akari was a lot more complicated. While still managing to control a social life, she couldn't shake the feeling that she was still alone. Friends couldn't understand some things. Akari had a sort of strange intellectual pull some people found abnormal. The sharp opinions she never let go of, her own principles she would protect at any cost, those insights she seemed to have into life, other people just didn't understand these things about her.

"Why do you play tennis?" Akari asked. Ryoma glanced up from under his cap and, with no rush, finished chewing while holding his gaze at Akari. They had never talked about anything like this before. The strange intensity of his golden eyes almost made her look away, but her odd competitiveness made her keep her hazel eyes fixed on the boy, returning the stare.

"Huh," was what he managed on his first try. "It's all I've ever known."

"But tennis- isn't it so- lonely?" Akari asked. "And it's not like you do well with doubles," she added, earning a raised eyebrow from Ryoma. "And don't ask me how I know, because you'll be freaked out by how much everyone knows about you, okay? What with all your fangirls going around reciting details of your play style, personality, report card, and physical... physical... things," she ended with a biting tone.

"It's not like you play tennis," Ryoma said, trying not to imagine what else his fangirls knew about his personal life.

"I happen to play basketball," Akari countered. "Where you actually work with your teammates."

"Che, team sports are kind of annoying. Teammates never understand you perfectly, and you end up forcing yourself into harmony."

Akari felt a pang in her chest. Echizen seemed to be, without knowing or intending it, pointing out her social life. She didn't reply and looked down to continue eating. She was about to pick up a tamagoyaki (*japanese egg roll) when it was snatched away from right under her nose. She looked up to see Echizen Ryoma chewing with full cheeks, avoiding eye contact, the ends of his chopsticks still in his mouth.

"Echizen," the name came out of Akari's mouth with a soft growl.

"What?" He asked, still avoiding Akari's eyes but looking at her through his peripheral vision. He had to admit, Akari's annoyed look was kind of charming.

"Echizen!" Akari fumed. Sure, it was just a tamagoyaki, and she had a few more left anyways, but it was simply infuriating to feel like a boy was seeing through her deepest emotions one second, then to be stealing her food the next. Fortunately, Echizen relented under her glare and gave in, scratching his head.

"Sorry, mom promised me a japanese breakfast today but it was bacon and toast again..." Akari didn't say a word.

"...Sorry, it looked really good, okay?" Akari stayed silent.

"Goddamn it, I said sorry." He scowled, unable to keep up the apology for long. Akari couldn't help but melt at the sight. It was hilarious, and, okay, kinda cute.

"Hey, Echizen," Akari asked, "why did you invite me to have lunch with you?"

Ryoma shrugged. "I don't know." He paused to think, then continued, "I'm not big on friends, but just because I don't understand, it doesn't mean it's not important for other people. So I figured you were really down yesterday." He shrugged again. Ryoma wondered how this girl pulled these words out of him; conversation was rarely this easy.

"My turn to ask you something, Asato," Ryoma said. "Riko? The girl you had a fight with?"

"Yeah," Akari replied, stiffening.

"After we ate together, I saw her call you over from the stairs. You guys made up, right?" He asked. Akari didn't reply. Ryoma had thought it weird that Akari would come and eat lunch with him again, since she could now go sit with her friends. Why would Asato sit with him when she could return to her friends?

Akari had hoped Echizen hadn't noticed, but he had. Worse, the situation was not quite as he understood it. Akari grimaced as yesterday's memories came back.

"Akari," Riko had waved her over as she walked down the stairs from the roof. Riko was smiling, and Akari was glad they were making up so soon.

"Yeah, Riko, I'm sorry about what happened. We're best friends, and-" Akari stopped, noticing Riko's attention shift elsewhere and focus on a figure behind them. Akari turned around, wondering what Riko was looking at. Her heart sank as she saw Echizen Ryoma, coming down from the roof. They stayed silent as he passed them, and waited until he was well out of earshot. Finally, Riko's stare returned to Akari.

"Was that Echizen Ryoma? You had lunch with him?" Riko asked, or rather, demanded. Akari could visualize their friendship crumbling; Riko was one of Echizen's biggest fangirls around.

"Akari, you have to answer me!" Riko said, with an icy tone. Akari was at a loss for words- she lowered her head with a wince.

Riko sighed, hostility lacing her words. "I won't tell anyone. I'm not a bitch. But it looked suspicious and- well, I don't know what this means for our friendship, to be honest."

"No-no, it's nothing like that. We're just-" she caught herself. What even were they? It didn't feel like just a peer tutor-tutee thing. Friends, then? But friends didn't sound right. But... she had never thought of him as a... a boy, really never, but come to think of it, the way her heart skipped a beat whenever she saw that green hair- "we're just- nothing."

"Yeah right, Asato. Bye, see you in class, I guess." The sudden use of her last name stung Akari. She was left hanging- she wanted to let it go, like she had always been able to do. Akari wasn't the type of person to cry over something like this, she had always been able to forget it and move on. With her attractive looks and easygoing attitude, it was never too hard to find new friends when old ones left, but it got tiring. She had only been friends with Riko for one year. It really wasn't a huge loss, but why did people have to keep leaving her? Is there something wrong with me? Why do I always lose my friends? Maybe there's something just really disagreeable about me. Maybe that's why everyone leaves me all the time.

Ryoma, even being as dense as he was, sensed the sharp change in the air.

"Did I say something wrong?" He asked, but Akari didn't respond. Akari tended to not reply altogether whenever she couldn't figure out what to say.

"Asato, you don't have to answer-"

"Riko knows we ate together yesterday. She won't tell, but... but..." Akari bit her lip. She wouldn't cry in front of Echizen. Never. Never. And she had her eyes tightly shut, willing the tears to go away. She cursed as they started to flow, cursed the way she was crying over something like that.

Ryoma was frozen. He felt a pang of guilt he had never experienced before. Had he done something wrong just by eating lunch with Akari? Eating lunch with him deserved a broken friendship? But all thoughts aside, his biggest problem was that Akari was crying, and he needed to do something about it.

His body reacted before he could really think about it. He leaned closer, reached over to Akari's face with his left arm and brushed her tears off with one motion of his school jacket. It felt right.

Akari stopped mid-tear at the sudden contact. Her eyes opened wide. She was really too surprised to do anything, and her heart started beating like crazy. She looked into Echizen's eyes, all big and golden and looking at her like nothing just happened.

There were no more words exchanged for the rest of the lunch period. But oh no, Akari Asato and Ryoma Echizen just might have silently realized they were crushing. On a certain green-haired boy and a certain hazel-eyed girl.