He's handsome—the boy whose hand is on Karina's mouth and whose body is pinning her to the wall of the fitting room. But unlike when she was too close to Sano-san, she is repelled by their close proximity. Karina doesn't want anything else apart from freeing herself from the stranger before her.

She wriggles out of his grasp, not able to use her hands because of the number of dresses she is carrying.

"I'm sorry," the red-haired stranger apologizes, "but I'm afraid you'll tell them where I am if I let you go." As the footsteps outside disappear, only then does the boy slowly release his hold on Karina. "Ha! At last, they're gone!" He widens the gap between him and the girl, smiling. "Forgive me, but I might say I'm rather lucky today, meeting such a pretty lady despite encountering some... difficulties. Oh. No. Don't look so alarmed. I'm not being chased by the police. Just by two equally beautiful ladies who claim that I am the father of the child they're bearing." He sneers.

Karina does not know how to react. The boy doesn't seem to be an evil person or someone scary, but her instinct is telling her not to be at ease with him.

"The name's Sam, by the way, my lady." He bows at her. "And do continue what you need to do." He gestures at the pile of clothes in Karina's hands. "After I get out of this room of course. But oh!" He eyes the dresses and, from the pile, takes a V-neck long-sleeved light brown dress which is tight on the body but has a flowy skirt littered with white leaves and vines as its design. A thick white ribbon hugs its waist. "This one will look perfect on you," Sam suggests.

Karina just stares at him.

"Go on. Try it on."

"U-uhm..."

"Try it." The good-looking tan stranger takes the other dresses away from Karina and places them on the seat inside the fitting room. "You'll believe me," he says pointing a finger at the girl.

After the boy gets out of the room, Karina does what he says and slips into the light brown dress. No harm in doing it anyway. She looks at her reflection in the mirror. Magical how someone could easily transform with just a little thing. Like a change of one's clothes.

Can she really be... just a tiny bit pretty?

Karina gets out of the room.

She is welcomed by a series of claps from the stranger, looking at her through his dark sunglasses. "Perfect! Told you so."

"T-thank you, Sam-san—"

"Just Sam is okay."

"Sam. I think I'll show this to Emma first."

At that exact moment, they hear Emma's voice getting closer to where they are."Karina-chan?" The beautiful blonde is calling her.

Sam stands up and unconsciously rakes a hand through his thick red hair. "Oops. That's my cue to go." But before leaving, he dangles something in front of Karina—her cellular phone. Grinning he says, "I took this earlier. I'll just insert my number here like this... and yes! That's it. Now, just call me whenever you want to." And as he walks away, he takes Karina's school I.D. from his own pocket and waves it in the air. "That is if you want this back." He faces her again and winks. "Bye-bye. And see you again, Ms. Pretty Eyes."

Then, he's gone, disappearing when he goes through a horde of customers.

Karina tries to go after him but he's nowhere in sight. Somebody holds her arm.

It's Emma.

"Were you with someone, Karina-chan?" Emma didn't change her clothes back to her uniform. She looks absolutely gorgeous in her off-shoulder peach floral dress.

"Yes." When she looks in the direction where Sam was, she couldn't find him anymore. She lost him. With her school I.D.

"A boy?"

"Yes, but-"

"Your boyfriend?!"

"No! That's impossible. I don't have one." How can someone like her have one?

Emma looks relieved. "That's good. Come on, then, let's go to Draken's party. No need to pay for the dress. The owner's a friend of Draken's many moms."

Many moms? She's curious but she never asks, having the feeling that she'll understand in time.

And she did.

The party is being held in one of the buildings in the red light district and is being hosted by women who work there—Draken-san's "moms". Apparently, he was abandoned by his biological mother, who was a prostitute, and left him there. The workers took him in and raised him.

"Are you surprised?" Emma asks her as Karina stares at the women who are patiently distributing food to the Toman members.

"I'm just wondering how lucky Draken-san is to be so loved."

The beautiful blond smiles at her and leads her to one of the women to get her food. "I'll be right back. I'll give my present to Draken."

"Go on. It's alright," Karina replies.

When she sees where Draken-san is, she finds Sano-san with him. Together with some of their friends, they cheer on two Toman members who are arm wrestling. It's the first time Karina sees Sano-san like this. He looks joyful and carefree... more child-like and acting like his age. The boy had first struck her as serious and silent, but maybe that's just him when he's with someone he's not close with. Seeing him now, he looks like a totally different person.

As the beautiful Emma approaches the group, many whistle and tease Draken-san, eyes on the girl. The boy prepares to leave the group to be with his special someone. Before they leave the crowd, Emma tells Sano-san something that he disapproves of but finally gives in to. He stands up, gets an orange drink from the table, and strides toward the water fountain-where Karina is sitting at. He offers the drink to the gray-haired girl.

"T-t-thank you, Sano-san." Karina doesn't know why she's being nervous around him, maybe, because the Toman members are now looking at them, snickering and chuckling.

Now that she is alone with him, should she ask him how his injury is? Though he looks fine, she's still worried.

But Sano-san closes his eyes and says, "This is not my idea. It's Emma who wants me to give you that."

"I-i know."

"And she's the one who wants me to talk to you."

"Y-yes."

"And no matter how Ken-chin and Emma would like us to be close to each other, we wouldn't be."

"Yes."

"Because I don't like you."

Suddenly, it feels like the world is drenched in silence. Not the partygoers nor the hosts nor the busy streets make a sound. Then, in the still quiet, Karina hears her beating heart.

Pitpat. Pitpat. Pitpat.

The boy's eyes open wide and meet hers.

"I understand," she says in a small voice and with an honest smile, "I don't like me too."

They stay like that for a long while, just staring into each other's eyes.

Until one boy suddenly puts his arm around Sano-san's neck. "Mikey! So the rumors are true. That you found your own woman—" He stops when he sees her.

"Baji," Sano-san finally speaks, "come on. Let's go find Pah-chin."

"Okay," the other boy responds.

"Maya," the blond boy calls, "wipe your tears."

As the two boys walk away, Karina touches her cheeks. They're wet from the water that is falling from her brown eyes. She touches her heart and realizes that it feels like a drill has just made a hole in it.

She's aching.

Standing up, she heads towards one of the women, and smiling, she says, "Please tell Draken-san that Karina Maya wishes him a happy birthday. Thank you."

"What? You're leaving?" The woman is petite and pretty, with a dimple on her cheek that shows itself even when she's just talking. "Already? But you just arrived here with Emma-chan, didn't you? And you are dressed so beautifully it would be a waste if you go home without having some fun."

But she doesn't need fun. What she needs is some peace and quiet. Alone. "It's okay. I need to go."

"Are you sure—"

"Yes." She dashes out to the street, not looking back.

What is this heavy feeling churning within her? And why does it make her cry? When she thought that, at last, she would be smiling freely.

Ah. When was the last time she had smiled? Sad, that when she is finally able to, it is accompanied by tears.

Sano-san... He said he doesn't like her.

Many don't like her, and some even hate her. So why would Sano-san's feelings towards her matter?

The road back to her home is long but not long enough. Karina stops by the park, sitting at one of the swings while watching the neighborhood's kids play. She stays there until all the kids go home and everybody leaves, until the day turns to night.

When she finally decides to go back home, the front door of her house bursts open and reveals Karina's mom.

Unlike her daughter, Chiyo's hair and eyes are both black. She doesn't resemble her child because Karina takes after her father. Something that makes Chiyo's blood boil whenever she sees the girl.

Chiyo reaches for Karina's hair and drags her inside their home. "You brat! You weren't at the convenience store! If you're not there, then how the hell can I get more beer?" She tosses her against the wall in the living room. It is dark, with only one lamp giving off a yellow light.

Karina whimpers. "I went out with my friend—"

Her mother slaps her so hard that the hand leaves a red mark on the girl's cheek. "Liar! You don't have friends. The truth is you were in the red light district. Hashimoto phoned me earlier. He saw you walking alone there wearing... such distasteful clothes." Chiyo's hands roam the dress, finding a way to tear it apart. "How did you come to have this, eh? Who gave it to you, you whore?!"

"Mother—"

Another slap on Karina's face. "I told you not to call me that! I may have given birth to you but that doesn't mean I want you as my child." Successfully, she's able to rip a part of the cloth Karina is wearing. "There, that suits you better." She wipes the sweat on her face, grabs the half-empty bottle of beer on the table, and tells the girl, "Go and make some food. I'm hungry."

Head down, Karina walks to her room to change her clothes. She sees her reflection in her mirror, battered and beaten up. It's nothing out of her ordinary, but...

Emma's words circle in her mind, "You shouldn't let others treat you this way." Then she remembers Sano-san again—brave and strong and unbeatable. If he could be like that, then can Karina be, too? Even a tiny bit courageous, a little bit strong, even if she can't be unbeatable?

But how can she go against her mother without physically hurting her? Karina's young mind rattles. Despite everything, she still doesn't want to hurt her. She loves her. Maybe, she should just go away. But she doesn't know where to go.

She changes her clothes and heads out of the room to make dinner.

She'll be able to think of something.