AN: Enjoy Chapter 5!

Disclaimer: I don't own Shikimori's Not Just a Cutie or anything affiliated to it.

"Kamiya-san! Neko!"

Kamiya looked in front of her and saw Shikimori standing in the middle of the hallway, waving at her and Nekozaki. The two girls walked over to Shikimori.

"What are you smiling about?" Shikimori asked, locking eyes with Kamiya.

"I've just been feeling much better lately," Kamiya responded.

"How so?"

"Ryuga-san! That's how!" Nekozaki exclaimed.

Shikimori looked confused for a second, then smirked. "I knew it, you like him."

Kamiya held her smile, appearing like she wasn't bothered by her friend's teasing, but she was annoyed inside. Why did they always have to tease her about Ryuga? "I just think of him as a friend. And he's slowly starting to open up to me."

"Really?! That's great, Kamiya-san!"

Before their conversation could continue, Kamiya heard something hit the lockers, which grabbed the entire hallway's attention.

"Sorry about that. Better watch where you're walking next time." It was the student who constantly harassed Ryuga.

Ryuga was lying on the floor, looking away from everyone.

"What's his problem?" Nekozaki asked distastefully.

Kamiya didn't even answer her. She kept her eyes on the tall student and walked up to him. "Apologize to Ryuga-san."

He looked down at Kamiya. "Why should I? He ran into me."

"Hard enough to knock himself against the lockers and onto the floor?"

The student opened his mouth, but no words came out. He looked completely embarrassed as everyone looked at him with questioning eyes. With a huff, he walked away.

Kamiya knelt down to Ryuga. "Are you hurt?"

To her surprise, he just stood up and walked away.

She didn't understand why Ryuga just ignored her. She thought he was finally starting to see her as a friend, and then he just started ignoring her. She didn't know if she should be angry or sad.

"Kamiya-san, are you okay?" Shikimori asked, walking up to Kamiya along with Nekozaki.

Kamiya nodded. "Yeah."

"What was that all about? Why did Ryuga-san just ignore you like that?" Nekozaki asked.

Kamiya looked at Ryuga, who just entered his classroom. "I don't know…"

When the bell rang, all of the students packed their things and left the classroom.

Kamiya finished packing her things and caught Ryuga's eye. "Are you feeling better, Ryuga-san?"

To her surprise, Ryuga just packed his things and stood from his seat.

"Did I do something wrong?" Kamiya asked, trying to stop him from leaving.

Ryuga slung his backpack over his shoulder, then walked out of the classroom.

Kamiya just continued to sit in her seat. She was surprised that she didn't feel angry at all. She was just confused. Confused as to why Ryuga was ignoring her. She didn't think she did anything wrong to him, so he didn't have a reason to ignore her.

Kamiya glared at her desk. Why is he ignoring me, then? What did I do to wrong him? She exhaled a deep breath, calming herself down. She didn't even know why she was getting angry. She still didn't fully understand why she wanted to be friends with Ryuga so badly. Shikimori and Nekozaki were already good friends to her, so why did she need another one? She should be happy with them.

Kamiya narrowed her eyes, then blinked slowly. Am I even happy? She thought she was, but something told her that if she was even asking herself that question, then she wasn't truly happy. Why am I not happy, then? What more do I need? That's what frustrated her, she didn't know what else she needed to make her happy. What more did she need other than two friends?

Kamiya closed her eyes and remembered what often upset her. Mom… She widened her eyes, realizing why she's always felt so empty. It all makes sense now. I've never really had any parental figures in my life, so I've always been alone. But even though I have two friends, that void is still not filled. I need a mentor figure, or…

Kamiya suddenly jumped out of her chair, crashing against the wall. What am I even thinking?! How can I like Ryuga-san?! We're not even friends! She stood up and pushed her chair underneath her desk. Still… will I be happy if I can find someone who loves me the way I might love them? She thought back to the Culture Festival; how sad and lonely she felt when Shikimori told her to give up on her feelings for Izumi. She didn't want to feel like that again. She wanted to feel loved and accepted. Is that why I'm trying so hard to befriend Ryuga-san? Because he makes me feel accepted? She didn't fully believe that to be the case, but she still didn't understand why she needed to be friends with him when she already had Shikimori and Nekozaki.

Kamiya placed a hand on her forehead, frustrated that she couldn't figure out the answers she wanted. She looked at the clock, a little surprised. 3:20. I've only been in here for an extra twenty minutes.

She grabbed her bag and walked out of the classroom. She looked at the floor as she walked, but stumbled to the side and ended up leaning against the wall. She sat on the floor, holding her forehead. The ringing in her ears made it almost impossible to take in her surroundings.

Kamiya took a couple of deep breaths, trying to ease her headache, but it didn't work. Her head just kept pounding, so hard it was the only thing she could hear besides the ringing in her ears.

With a shaky exhale, she closed her eyes and collapsed on her side.

Kamiya slowly opened her eyes. She sat up and heard a creak beneath her. She looked down to see that she was laying in a bed. Where am I?

"Oh, good, you're awake." It was a woman's voice.

Kamiya looked at the owner of the voice and saw that it was the school nurse. So I'm in the medical room.

"How are you feeling?" the nurse asked.

Kamiya placed a hand over her forehead. It didn't feel as hot as it felt earlier, so she assumed her headache was getting better. "My head doesn't hurt as much."

The nurse sighed, seemingly relieved. "That's good to hear. You looked pretty out of it when you were brought to me."

Kamiya looked away from the nurse, dropping her hand from her forehead. Now that she thought about it, she had no idea how she even got to the medical room. The last thing she remembered was falling unconscious just outside her classroom.

"Is everything okay?"

Kamiya looked at the nurse. "How did I get here?"

The nurse looked confused, then smiled. "Someone brought you here. Such a kind soul."

"Do you know who it was?"

The nurse looked away from Kamiya with a troubled expression. It's like she knew who it was but didn't want to tell her. She looked back to Kamiya. "I'm afraid I can't say. They didn't want you to know who it was."

Kamiya was confused. Why would someone go through the effort of helping her, but not want to reveal it was them? "I understand…" She got out of bed and started walking toward the door.

"Please take it slow," the nurse advised. "You're not fully recovered. And you need to stay hydrated."

Kamiya nodded, then walked out of the medical room, making her way to the school entrance. She didn't know why, but she was very curious to find out who helped her. She knew it wasn't Shikimori or Nekozaki because they would've stayed with her. And she wasn't friends, or even acquaintances with the other students in her grade, so who else could it have been?

She shook her head furiously, overthinking the matter was already taking quite a toll on her. Whoever was kind enough to help me, I thank you.

Kamiya smiled after silently saying her prayer and left the school.

The sun was setting when Kamiya arrived at her house. She felt a little better after getting some fresh air, and the walk home was peaceful, giving her some time to think.

She still didn't know who helped her, but she decided to put it past her. Overthinking several things is what made her headache worse anyway.

Taking a deep breath, Kamiya opened the front door and walked inside. After taking her shoes off, she headed to her room, but stopped when she saw her mother cooking in the kitchen. "Good evening, Mother. What are you making?"

Her mother turned around to look at her, then sighed. Kamiya noticed something different, though. Usually, when her mother sighed, she sounded annoyed. But she didn't sound annoyed. Instead, she sounded… relieved?

The thought of her mother actually caring about her made Kamiya happy, but she didn't want to get her hopes up.

"Soup," Kamiya's mother said, making Kamiya focus her attention on her.

Kamiya was used to her mother's cooking, but they rarely had soup unless… Did she somehow know I stayed behind at school because of a headache? The thought made her smile. Her hopes rose a little bit knowing that her mother made soup specifically for her to get better. "Thank you."

Her mother held her stare, then looked at the pot of soup. She looked disappointed in herself.

"Don't worry about how it turned out," Kamiya reassured her. "I'm sure it'll taste great."

Her mother looked at her and nodded, then served them their dinner.

Kamiya smiled as she ate her soup, happy to see that her mother was showing that she cared about her. Thank you, Mother.

Kamiya made it through the rest of the week. It wasn't a really good week, though. She felt like she was repressing back into her old self, and she didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing. She wasn't becoming a bad person or anything, she just hasn't talked to Shikimori or Nekozaki all week. She's been avoiding them.

She didn't bother to approach them at school, and she didn't really understand why she's been distancing herself. She hasn't had any contact with Ryuga either. She was more angry with him than anything, so she didn't really bother to try approaching him throughout the week.

It was the weekend now. Kamiya's mother was at work, so Kamiya was home alone. It was times like these when she would feel alone more than ever.

Kamiya decided to make breakfast to distract herself. She didn't want to spend all day thinking about her problems.

After finishing her breakfast and cleaning up, Kamiya showered and got cleaned up for the day. Since it was the weekend, she decided to go grocery shopping so she and her mother would have more food for the next week or two.

After getting changed into black jeans, a white t-shirt, and a black hoodie, Kamiya walked out of her house, locked the door, and walked to the train station.

Kamiya finally arrived at her stop and walked to the grocery store. She grabbed a basket and started searching for the necessities she and her mother usually ate on a daily basis, such as rice, lean meats, and lots of fruits and vegetables.

When she got what she came for, Kamiya looked around the store for anything she might like. While looking around in the seasoning aisle, she saw someone wearing black leather boots along with black skinny jeans and a black button-up shirt over a charcoal grey t-shirt, who had familiar-looking jet black, center-parted bangs. Is that Ryuga-san?

Kamiya didn't know if she should approach him. She wanted to try talking to Ryuga, but she was still angry with him for ignoring her for the entire week. She didn't want to be angry with him, she just wanted answers. I guess there's only one way to find out. Taking a deep breath, Kamiya walked over to the familiar figure. "Ryuga-san?"

He glanced at Kamiya and widened his eyes, looking frightened.

"What's wrong?" she asked, growing worried.

He looked away from her, acting as if she wasn't there.

"Why are you still ignoring me?"

Ryuga stopped himself from grabbing something off of the shelf. "Please leave me alone."

"Did I do something wrong? Is that why you're ignoring me?"

Ryuga grabbed the seasoning he was looking at, then looked at Kamiya. Deep lines creased under his eyes and slightly down his cheeks, making him look even more tired and depressed than usual. "You didn't do anything wrong, but I would appreciate it if you would stop talking to me."

"Why don't you want me to talk to you? I won't force you to open up about anything."

Ryuga started walking around other aisles and Kamiya followed him. "That's not the reason I don't want you to talk to me."

Kamiya wanted to ask what the reason was, but didn't want to annoy Ryuga. She knew she had to be patient with him. "Will you please tell me what your reason is, that way I don't have to keep questioning you about it?"

"If I tell you I'll just want to keep talking to you."

Ryuga's statement made Kamiya smile, but she didn't want him to see her smiling. She didn't want him to think she was being selfish.

"Are you going back home after you're done?" Kamiya asked, receiving a nod from Ryuga. "Then you can just talk to me on our way back."

"Is that alright with you?"

Kamiya nodded.

"Did you get everything you need?" Ryuga asked.

Kamiya looked inside her basket. "I think so."

"Then let's checkout."

They made their way to the checkout area and Kamiya checked out first. Ryuga started to check out, but stopped to look at his phone, frowning.

"Something wrong?" Kamiya asked.

Ryuga pocketed his phone. "My mother needs me to get some butter." He reached out to cancel his order, but Kamiya stopped him.

"I'll go get it for you. Which kind of butter exactly do you need?"

"Salted, the ones in the rectangular packages."

He's still as blunt as ever. Kamiya was surprised that that didn't annoy her. She was actually relieved that Ryuga hadn't changed. "I'll be right back."

She quickly walked to the dairy section and grabbed some butter, then walked back to the self-checkout area. "This one?"

Ryuga nodded, then scanned the item and paid for everything. He started bagging his items and Kamiya helped him, seeming to confuse him.

"We can finish faster if we work together," Kamiya explained. "And I want to help you."

Ryuga continued bagging his items with narrowed eyes.

When they finished, they grabbed their bags and walked out of the store, but were stopped by a store employee.

"You guys are such a cute couple!" the employee said, her voice filled with excitement and happiness. She looked at Ryuga. "Young man, you should hold your lady's bags for her."

Ryuga opened his mouth, probably about to go on a deep monologue about freedom, but Kamiya intervened so things wouldn't come to that.

"I'm afraid you're mistaken," she said calmly. "We're not a couple. We're just acquainted with each other at school, and we happened to run into each other here."

The employee looked surprised. "Well, you two look like you'll make a great couple. You both look so calm and mature."

Kamiya smiled. "I appreciate your kindness."

"As do I,'' Ryuga said. "Please have a good rest of your day." He bowed his head, then walked out of the store with Kamiya, and they headed to the train station.

"Do you want me to hold some of that for you?" Ryuga asked.

Kamiya looked at Ryuga with wide eyes. Is he asking me that because of what that employee told us? She looked at the two bags she was holding. They were pretty heavy, and she would feel relieved if she just had to hold one, but she didn't want to burden Ryuga with the extra weight he would have to carry. "I'm fine…" For now, at least.

Ryuga looked at the bags she was carrying. "I apologize for not helping you put your groceries in your bags. It was very inconsiderate of me to just stand there and watch. I'll try to be more helpful in the future."

Kamiya smiled at Ryuga's apology. "It's fine."

"No, it's not. I was being useless and made you put in more effort than you needed to."

"Then I accept your apology."

They continued to walk in silence, but instead of comfortable silence, it was tense and awkward.

"So, why didn't you want to talk to me earlier?" Kamiya decided to ask.

Ryuga glanced at her, then back to the ground. "Because if I did, I would've wanted to keep talking to you. And I can't stay out for very long."

"Why?"

"My mother won't let me."

"Is she the reason you've been ignoring me?"

"No, I chose to ignore you."

Kamiya just kept getting more confused. "Why did you choose to ignore me?"

"I hoped you would forget about me…" Ryuga looked at Kamiya. "But apparently I was wrong."

"Why did you want me to forget about you?"

"If I didn't, I would've wanted to come to you to talk about what's bothering me. But I didn't want to burden you with that. So, in a way, it was a selfish decision on my part." Ryuga looked at the ground with narrowed eyes.

"I don't mind if you tell me what's bothering you," Kamiya said. "I want to help you."

Ryuga looked at Kamiya with a confused expression, but seemed to get over his sudden confusion after a few seconds. "That day when you took me to the cove, my mother wasn't happy with me when I got home."

"Is it because you got home so late?"

"That's part of it. She was furious that I stayed out after school without telling her anything. I'll admit that was very irresponsible of me, giving her a right to be upset, but she just gets paranoid about the littlest things. So now I have to be home as soon as school is over. And I can only go out to school, work, and if my mother needs me to run any errands."

"Why doesn't your mother just run her own errands? Does she work?"

"No."

"What does she do then?"

"Lays on her bed looking at her phone all day, then complains when she has to actually do work," Ryuga said distastefully.

"So, are you working to support your family?" Kamiya asked hesitantly.

"No, my father supports us on his own. I only work to save up enough money to move out after high school."

"Why do you want to move out so quickly?"

"Because I'm sick of living at home."

Kamiya looked away from Ryuga. She's gotten little hints that he was having problems at home, but she didn't know he was affected so much by his family. "Are you an only child?"

"No, I have an older sister and brother."

"I'm going to assume that your relationship with them isn't very good."

Ryuga sighed, but he didn't sound annoyed. "It's not. All they did was pick on me."

"Have you told your parents?" Kamiya asked.

"Yes, numerous times, but they didn't care."

Kamiya looked at the ground so she wouldn't glare at Ryuga. She wasn't angry at him, she was angry at his parents, who didn't seem to care for him at all. Sure, she was angry at her mother for neglecting her, but when it counted, she showed Kamiya that she did care about her.

The two eventually reached the train station, then boarded the train, sitting on opposite sides of each other. They then got off when they reached their stop.

"Do you want to come over to my place?" Kamiya asked, looking at the ground in embarrassment.

"I told you, I can't go anywhere except for school, work, and wherever my mother needs me to go," Ryuga said, sounding irritated, but he didn't seem to be irritated at Kamiya. He sounded like he was irritated at his mother. "And the both of us have groceries, so it wouldn't make any sense."

"You're right…"

"Why were you even out grocery shopping? Shouldn't your parents be doing that?"

"My mother's at work, and I never knew my father…" Kamiya lowered her head to the ground, feeling sad.

"You must feel lonely," Ryuga said, and to Kamiya's surprise, he sounded like he was trying to empathize with her.

"It can be…"

"May I ask you a family-related question?"

Kamiya was a little confused as to why Ryuga would ask such a question since they were already talking about their family's, but nodded nonetheless.

"How is your relationship with your mother?"

Kamiya was even more confused. Why would Ryuga-san want to know if he doesn't even want to be my friend? She shook the thought aside. "It's… complicated. She's usually at work most of the time, and when she's not she doesn't even acknowledge my existence. But there are times when she shows me that she really does care about me." She smiled, remembering how her mother made sure she got better at the beginning of the week.

"How does she prove to you that she actually cares?" Ryuga asked. "If she neglects you all the time, she doesn't really care for you, at least to me."

"At the beginning of the week, I got a headache after school and somehow ended up in the nurse's office. When I got home, my mother was making me soup. So I assume she was aware of my condition and wanted to help me get better."

Ryuga stopped walking and lowered his head to the ground.

"What's wrong?" Kamiya asked.

Ryuga turned his head away from Kamiya. "You should go home."

"Did I do something wrong?"

Ryuga didn't say anything.

"Please talk to me, Ryuga-san. Let me help you."

"I shouldn't be around you anymore," Ryuga eventually said.

Kamiya just blinked. "Huh?"

"I don't feel comfortable around you."

"Was it something I said? If I said something that hurt you, I'm sorry…"

"It's not you, Kamiya's-san," Ryuga interrupted, stopping Kamiya from saying anything else. "I made myself uncomfortable around you."

Kamiya was getting a little nervous. "How?"

Ryuga looked down even further, but Kamiya could still see the bright shade of pink coloring his cheeks even though they were covered by his bangs. "I… brought you to the nurse's office when you collapsed…"

Kamiya gasped, taking a step back. "You… were the one who helped me that day?"

Ryuga barely lowered his head downwards to form a nod.

Kamiya felt her cheeks heat up, but smiled to try and cover up the fact that she was blushing. "Thank you, Ryuga-san."

"You're not mad at me?"

"Why would I be mad?"

"I carried you to the nurse's office. I touched you without your consent."

"You were only trying to help me. You didn't try to take advantage of me, which I'm grateful for."

Ryuga looked at Kamiya with a confused expression. "What do you—" He held his mouth open for a few seconds, then closed it, widening his eyes in horror. "I would never do such a thing!"

Kamiya smiled. "I know you wouldn't. You're too kind and respectful."

Ryuga still looked confused, but seemed to get over it. He started walking again, and Kamiya followed. "Do you still want me to come over?" he asked. "I can help you with your groceries."

"What about your groceries?" Kamiya asked.

He looked at the groceries he was holding. "I don't have much. It can wait."

"Are you sure?" Kamiya wanted him to come over, but she didn't want to cause any trouble for him.

Ryuga nodded. "And besides," he said in a soft, raspy voice, "I'll be out of the house longer…"

"So… are you using me as a means to escape your life at home?" She hoped he didn't.

Ryuga looked away from Kamiya. "I don't want it to be that way." He looked as guilty as he sounded.

Kamiya took a step closer to Ryuga. "Hey, I won't hold that against you. In a selfish way, I want you to come over to keep me company."

Ryuga looked at her with narrowed eyes, as if he was trying not to glare at her. "And that's justifiable to you?"

"What do you mean?"

"You think it's okay for us to use each other to feel better?" Ryuga asked in a disgusted growl. "To me, that's completely selfish. And it tells me that everything we do is for our own benefit. The only reason we have friends, or want friends, is because we want something from them." He longingly looked at the cloudy sky. "If humans are like this, what's our purpose for living?"

Kamiya could only stare at Ryuga. She had no idea he would ask such a question. She could somewhat understand his reasoning behind humanity's selfishness, but to question their entire existence… "Ryuga-san…" she whispered.

He looked at her. "You okay?"

She took a deep breath, holding in all of the sadness she felt for him, then forced a smile. "Yeah… I'm fine. We should get going."

Ryuga nodded, and they walked to Kamiya's house. He took her groceries from her, and Kamiya unlocked her front door. They took their shoes off and took the groceries into the kitchen.

"Don't worry, I'll put everything away," Kamiya assured Ryuga.

"May I take everything out to make things easier for you?" he asked.

She smiled appreciatively. "Of course!"

Ryuga started taking everything out of Kamiya's grocery bags, and set them on the counter gently, organizing each item by similarity.

Kamiya was impressed with his organizational skills. "Thank you. That definitely made things easier for me."

Ryuga looked surprised. "Sure… No problem…"

It went quiet for a few seconds, neither of them saying anything. They occasionally glanced at each other, but never held eye contact.

Kamiya couldn't take the awkward silence anymore. "Do you want something to drink?" she offered.

Ryuga looked at her. "No, thank you. And besides, I need to get back to my house." He grabbed his groceries and started walking to the front door.

"Want me to come with you?" Kamiya asked.

Hope flashed across Ryuga's eyes, then instantly disappeared. "I don't think that would be a good idea. I don't want to give my mother a reason to be angry with either of us."

"And I don't want her to be angry with you, so please let me come with you so I might be able to help you," Kamiya tried to reason.

Ryuga nodded meekly. "Okay…" He put his shoes on and walked out of the door, closing it after Kamiya walked out.

They walked next door to Ryuga's house.

Kamiya stared at the two-story house in front of her. The layout and concrete material were very similar to her house.

"Having second thoughts?" Ryuga asked curiously.

"No," Kamiya quickly denied, shaking her head. "It just looks so similar to my house."

"All of these houses look similar, but they are not completely identical."

"Kioshi, what the hell took you so long?!"

It was a woman's voice. She had blonde hair that was tied in a top bun, blue eyes that looked as cold as ice, and thin eyebrows that looked naturally arched, making her look angry. She was just wearing pajamas.

Kamiya already had a bad feeling about her, especially how rudely she spoke to Ryuga.

The woman at the front door looked at Kamiya, and she smiled. "Hi, I'm Ryuga Mari, Kioshi's mother. And who are you?"

Kamiya could tell she was putting on an act. She knew if she wasn't around, Mari would continue to yell at Ryuga. She forced a smile before responding. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Kamiya." She bowed respectfully.

Ryuga's mother looked surprised at the gesture of respect, but returned it. She looked at Ryuga. "Why haven't you told me about her?"

"I didn't see a need to," Ryuga said. He looked as uncomfortable as he sounded.

Ryuga's mother's eyes narrowed, then brightened when she looked at Kamiya, who wasn't aware of taking a step back until she slipped on a rock, but she was able to catch herself from falling.

She took a few deep breaths, looking away from Mari. Am I afraid of her? I just met her and yet, I can only sense this negative aura about her…

"Is everything okay, Kamiya?"

Kamiya. That's what Ryuga's mother addressed her as. She hasn't once used an honorific, which already proved to Kamiya that she had no respect or courtesy for others. She looked at Ryuga sympathetically. I'm so sorry, Ryuga-san.

"Mother, would it be alright if Kamiya-san comes inside?" Ryuga asked.

"Sure," Ryuga's mother said offhandedly, then turned on her heel and walked inside.

The inside of the house was just as similar to Kamiya's house to the outside. Just the layout, anyway. There were lots of flowers and candles in each room, as well as pictures, but they all looked like they were taken years ago.

Kamiya followed Ryuga into the kitchen, which was definitely the most impressive room in the house. It looked like it was completely remodeled from the smooth, polished wooden material on the counters and cabinets to the bamboo floor.

Ryuga put the groceries on the counter and started taking everything out.

"May I help you?" Kamiya offered.

Ryuga stopped what he was doing to look at her, then nodded.

Before Kamiya could do anything, Ryuga's mother entered the room.

"Kioshi, what are you doing just standing there?" she asked, sounding confused. But there was also a note in her tone that made it sound like she was purposefully trying to annoy him.

"I'm putting groceries away," he said. He looked confused by his mother's rhetorical question.

His mother just watched him take everything out of the grocery bags and organize them on the counter.

Kamiya started to grab things to put away, but was stopped by Ryuga's mother.

"You know what, I'll handle this. Ryuga, why don't you take Kamiya home."

Ryuga looked at his mother with narrowed eyes.

"Is that too much to ask of you?" she asked in the same rhetorical tone, crossing her arms.

"Not at all," Ryuga sighed. "Let's go, Kamiya-san." He turned around and led Kamiya out of his house.

"Ryuga-san?" Kamiya said carefully.

He turned his head to look at her. He looked less stressed, relieving her. "Yes?"

"May I ask you a personal question?"

He nodded.

"Where was your father, or your siblings?"

"My older brother is already moved out, and my sister is living with our grandparents," he explained. "So I'm the only one living at home with my parents right now."

"Oh… I see…" Kamiya felt like she was starting to understand Ryuga even more. They were both living alone with neglectful parents. But Ryuga's parents openly expressed their neglectfulness. "I'm sorry about your mother."

"Why? You didn't do anything," he said, sounding annoyed. "If she wants to live the rest of her life neglecting and disregarding her children and her husband, then that's her choice. And she will have to live with whatever regrets she has once we're all out of her life."

"You have a lot of anger internalized towards your family, don't you?" Kamiya speculated.

"Is that a bad thing?" He looked at the sky with a conflicted look in his squinted eyes. "All the time I hear that we should always be grateful to our parents for raising us, as if we're always indebted to them. But it wasn't our choice to be born. We never got to decide who our parents are. It's like from the moment we're born we're chained to an eternity of servitude to our parents."

"That's not how we as children should feel, Ryuga-san," Kamiya said softly. He looked at her, and she smiled, hoping it would make him feel better. "We should feel grateful for being raised by our parents to a certain degree, yes, but don't ever think that we're forever indebted to them. As you just said, we don't get a choice of whom we're born to. We just have to live with it. In the end, a child should always be cared for by their parents. We return the favor because we love them, not because we feel obligated to. And if your parents convince you to believe that you are indebted to them, then they aren't mature enough to be parents, let alone married."

Ryuga stopped walking, looking at Kamiya with a surprised expression. It was like this was the first time someone gave him good advice and agreed with him.

"Was that too much to process?" Kamiya laughed, getting embarrassed. "I can explain all of that more simply if that's what you want."

"It's fine, I get what you're saying." He looked at the ground sadly. "I understand because someone I once considered to be my best friend helped me understand all of this. He advised me to do what's best for me; to keep improving on my own, otherwise I will never be happy."

"What happened to him?"

"He left without a word," Ryuga said numbly. "It was so sudden. I was confused and lost for so long and tried to understand and justify his actions for so long. But I don't think I ever got over it." His red eyes stared into Kamiya's so intensely they glowed. "You're the first person I've told about this."

Kamiya's heart literally skipped a beat. No one has ever openly admitted their trust in her ever. No one has ever looked at her as an actual human with emotions before. "Well, I'm honored," she said, feeling flattered. "I will respect and honor your trust, Ryuga-san."

His eyes were now filled with doubt. "I can't believe that, not yet. May I have some time to think about all of this?"

They arrived at Kamiya's house.

Kamiya smiled, trying to hide her sadness. "Of course. Take all the time you need."

"Thank you, Kamiya-san."

Kamiya watched as Ryuga turned around to walk back to his house. She didn't know why, but she was happy.

To be continued

AN: And that's Chapter 5! I hope you all enjoyed it. I know it seems like Kamiya and Ryuga are making no progress in their developing friendship, but they'll figure it out. They are depressed teenagers after all.

And we finally introduce Ryuga's mother. To be honest, I based her on my own stepmother. We never had the best relationship (or much of one to begin with), so this really helped me vent.

Will Kamiya and Ryuga ever find happiness? Keep reading to find out.