Written by Lvl7Loser

"Shigeko, let's hang out today! Mittsun isn't gonna able to hang out, right?"

Shigenaga looked over to see Izumi and Yoneya looking at her expectedly. They side-to-side in a way that made her want to throw a sideways kick to knock the both of them down for their stupidity. The only thing preventing her from doing so was that they had not actually done anything wrong.

Even if she was rough when compared to others, she had standards for what would require violence and what could be solved with a glare. Currently, neither option was available since they were only asking to hang out. It was a bit annoying since she had been feeling irritated for most of the day.

"I can't. Even if Mitsuteru can't hang out today, there are some things I need to get done at the base."

"Aw! But we were going with a bunch of others too!"

"Deal with it," she said with a glare. If they were going to whine then she had reason to glare at them.

Seeing them whimper towards the back of the class annoyed her a bit more, but she knew they were only messing around. Nothing to get on them for.

Letting out a huff of her own, Shigenaga began for the door. There would be no one waiting for her since Mitsuteru was not in school today, so it left her free to walk towards the front gate without needing to stop.

Even with no one else to speak to, she could hear others talking all around her. A lot of them were talking to their friends while others spoke to the teachers. The sounds coming from all around her were starting to give her a headache that refused to leave. It added on to how the rest of her day had been going, souring her mood even more.

Everything had started at the start of the day, where she had found that her parents were out of the house before she had even woken up. The entire house had been silent, something she had gotten used to long ago. There was nothing for her to do before she left for school, so she had taken her time in eating and going to school.

On her way, she had learned from a message that Mitsuteru would not be able to make it to school. It added something to her schedule for the rest of the day. If not for who it was, she would have left that slot in her day open for something else. But it was important to check up on him and make sure that everything was fine.

Even if he might hate me now...

Her hard expression remained on her face, but there was a clear pain inside. Something she never thought she would feel again after realizing what kind of family she was living with. But here it was, hurting her from the inside without any remorse.

There had been no right and no wrong, yet she had gone to a point where it was hard to take her words back. For someone like her, those sorts of words came naturally when facing an opponent who she wanted to defeat. Fighting with words held the same value as fighting with blows and tactics. Nothing would change her mind once she had decided to win.

But there was something she had never considered.

...What if that opponent is also a friend?

If it was something that could be settled easily then everything would be fine. And if everything fell apart afterwards then it meant they were only an opponent to her.

...But he's a friend. ...I hope that remains true. Others have said similar things before to me, but I had never once cared for the end results of any arguments with them. So then...why? No... I know why.

Unlike all of those people, Mitsuteru was someone who really did see her as a friend. Someone who he could be close to without either side being forced to give something as compensation. It was because of that thought process that Shigenaga felt the same way. In that sense, she could say that there really was no one closer to her than that boy.

So she had to then ask herself something else.

...Why did either of us let things escalate that far?

They had both screwed up and Mitsuteru was not even at school.

The only thing that eased her worries was that she had been clearly told that Mitsuteru had gotten sick. It was something minor, something anybody could get, but knowing that he was not here now due to something like that put her mind at ease. If only a bit.

Letting out a breath, like she had seen him do on multiple occasions, Shigenaga prepared for her trip to his house before going to the base.

Seiji could feel eyes on him. That much he knew, even as he made sure to cover his face and dress in much more casual clothing.

I do feel a bit bad, but I really don't have the energy to deal with fans today.

If not for his covers he was certain that there would be a swarm of people going after him. They would create a crowd that took up a good portion of the street, making it hard for others to get around the city. It was a downside of being famous, but not something he wasn't used to.

Something else that he was used to was the way his teammates were with said crowds that would tend to gather. Asagi and Kenzaide were always quick to dodge the crowd and keep their distance. Their size made it hard for them to intervene too much, so it was easy to forgive their actions. Then there was Shigenaga. The strike forcer girl would stand her ground and slam herself back into the crowd in order to make sure everyone kept their distance from him. It was always something to see the way she became a bodyguard for him. Then there was their last squad member.

Unlike the rest of their squad, Mitsuteru had never been able to deal with the crowds that were created. He could never move out of the way in time and could never hold his ground long enough to get through them all. This left him to be pushed around in the crowd before Shigenaga moved to pluck him from the crowd of people. Seiji had never been blamed for these things, but it never failed to hurt him whenever he saw the way his teammate would get bruised due to being pushed around violently.

That only made things worse whenever Shigenaga wasn't around to pick Mitsuteru from within the crowd.

He had said there I am not to blame then. Even if he said that, it is still hard to deal with this.

For Mitsuteru to be sick only a day after it had happened, well, it was hard to think that it was something so simple. If it had been a simple illness then there would be no problem, but he was not too sure if that was true or not.

And after he had come to be because of an argument he had with Shigeko. ...That only serves to make me feel even more bad about this.

The two of them were close, especially among their squad, so if they had a falling out then it was a serious matter. Taking the time to listen to what had happened and give his own input was what he assumed to be the bare minimum. That had been why he offered to go out.

"But for things to turn out in such a way... Hah. I really do need to be more careful from now on."

In all honesty, he had wished to spend as much time as possible with Mitsuteru to figure out what he should do. It had always been nice to speak with someone who was not energetic or rough, someone who held a nice level of easy to speak with and a good listener overall. Mitsuteru knowing little about his fame only served to make things that much easier on him. There had never been a clear want to use him for his fame as a former actor.

To know that it had been because of that fame that Mitsuteru had gotten hurt, it hurt him a lot to think about it all.

It left him with little options.

"I suppose I will just see what is going on at the base."

The door opened slowly. Two sighs followed it and overlapped with each other.

Shigenaga and Seiji locked eyes the moment the door was fully opened. Both of them stared for a moment, registering that the other was really there. A few more moments passed before Shigenaga moved from the door to the spot across from her captain. The two remained silent for a moment, no noise coming from anywhere in the room.

After another moment, they both overlapped again.

"Hah."

Their released breathes sounded in unison as their bodies sagged in their seats. To take this even further, Shigenaga lowered her upper body further until her hair fell over her shoulders, covering her face from view.

The two of them came to an immediate understanding of what was happening.

"Not a good for the both of us, I see."

"That seems to be the case. ...Urg. This really sucks. I'm pissed, but I can't really let it out on anything else by myself."

"But doing so would only make Teru-kun disappointed in you, right?"

Shigenaga gave another groan before looking up to stare at her captain.

"And he wouldn't really like that you are blaming yourself for what happened."

"I see. So he told you what happened," Seiji said with a bitter laugh.

It was Seiji's turn to lower his head. His hair was not able to hide his expression, leaving his distraught expression for Shigenaga to see. It left a bad taste in his mouth, but the two of them were right in their words against each other.

Shigenaga was not viewing him as an opponent, but she was not holding back from pointing out the obvious. Likewise, he refused to mince his words for her when he understood that it would only annoy her further.

So that had lead their their conversation.

"He didn't. I got a general understanding after hearing about what happened and how I wasn't there. Ha. I figure it's after our own argument, too, so he really wouldn't have noticed at all."

"I only know a bit about that. We had met up to go over that, but then...well, I shouldn't need to tell you."

"That's right," Shigenaga said with a slight glare. "Your annoying fans came along and trampled over him, didn't they? I heard that he was sick today, but I really don't know at this point."

"Likewise, I am not sure if he really is sick or not. But besides what happened with me...it could also be your argument."

"I know! ...Yeah, I know..."

Both of them could be viewed as the one sin the wrong. Both of them could also be viewed as innocent from whatever happened. The real reason behind Mitsuteru not appearing could have been because of them or not involve them at all. It would have been easy to find out by asking him, but both of them were in a bad predicament for that.

If it really was their fault then they would only feel worse. Regardless of it was their fault, they had done something against him that both felt to this moment.

"Since I was never told... Would you mind telling me what you were arguing about? The two of you...are very close, after all. Closer than the rest of us. So if the two of you were arguing..."

"Ha... That's the worst part of it. I more-or-less forgot about what the stupid argument was even about once it was over. I remember what we had both said as our last words, but that's what stuck with me the most. ...The part of it all that hurt the most."

"I see. That does make sense then."

"What do you mean?"

Seiji gave a light shrug and a small smile of comfort. His expression was the same, but Shigenaga could see that he understood what had happened. Along with that understanding was something she didn't think she would see from someone like him.

Is he really jealous? she thought to herself.

It made no sense, but neither did a lot of things about her captain. This was only one of the things that added onto that.

"The two of you... Sorry. You and Teru-kun, the both of you really can come to an understanding while on opposing sides. Even if it was bad enough to hurt you, I have no doubt that the two of you will get over this and continue on as better friends. And that...must be really nice."

"I suppose so... I can't say that I have ever had anyone else like that, so I don't know how this will end. So if someone like you...someone loved by a lot of people... If you were to say that, I guess I don't a reason to reject that idea. That nice thought."

"Heh heh... I suppose that it really would sound like I know what I'm talking about, wouldn't it? Well, let me inform you on something to clear the air."

Seiji's smile fell into a frown along with his brows lowering as well. This was an expression that Shigenaga has never seen on her captain before. One that was far removed from the usual appearance her captain took when around others.

It sent a shiver down her spine and shook her to the core. All of the other expression Seiji had shown before were not the work of an actor. Each one of them had been his real self. But so was what she was seeing now.

This was another honest side of him.

Then he released it with a breath. It was unlike him, but very similar to their teammate.

"I will admit that I am a bit envious of how you and Teru-kun are. To have that kind of friendship...it must be nice. I am not too used to that sort of thing. Fame really brings out a cynical side from someone, even after they realize that there is no need for that."

"Would you like for me to counter that?"

"Not in the slightest. Besides, it isn't like you can go beat up celebrities. That wouldn't look good no matter how you spun it."

"That's true. But it would relieve me of some of my current stress."

Seiji could only laugh at that. It was very much like Shigenaga to respond that way while under a lot of stress. Even more so when it came to someone as important as her friend.

They really do make me jealous, he thought.

With nothing else to discuss, the two of them relaxed their bodies and sunk into their seats. They knew that they had done something wrong in some way, so it was only best to figure out a way to make up for that.

But there was a single staring point for them.

"...We need to go see him."

"Yeah... I know."