"What am I missing to get Hayashi-kun to pay attention to me?"

Akiko sat tiredly beside her desk during a lesson she considered the most boring in school. Placing her hand on cheek, her gaze looked out at the athletic field from the window.

The field, which was part of their school grounds, was, frankly, an imposing size, and many students would gather there in droves after the school day was over, for there you could find any sports gear you wanted.

In fact, Akiko was looking at Ryou, whose class was having a grueling run with the gym teacher. There were no girls on the run, for they were practicing physical education inside the school.

Ryou's spiky dark bluish hair occasionally interfered with his running, causing him to have to fix it back. For Akiko, his backward hairstyle completely changed his beauty: while his normally wavy and downcast hair colored his smarmy character, his backward hairstyle gave him a brutishness.

Akiko dreamed of dating him, but didn't know where she should start to impress the silent, in her opinion, handsome young man. He hadn't faced this problem before - all the guys she'd managed to date and rejected had confessed their love to her themselves. How disappointing for Akiko when she found out that Ryou didn't even notice her.

Why does she want to have a love relationship? It's simple, because she has as many as two factors to acknowledge her love for the opposite half. The first factor is his beauty, for to Akiko's social circle it has always been remarkable to have by no means an ordinary guy, and in their opinion, a guy should have a zest in himself. The second factor for her, however, was the usual cordial disposition, and Akiko also concluded in her mind that Ryou's rank, youthful gaze drew her to him.

At least, Akiko herself was sure she thought so.

Or maybe she didn't.

But could Akiko have thought that her next private encounter with Tomoyuki would turn out to be a shattering split in her views and an influx of sharp catharsis. After the school day was over, Tomoyuki met her outside the hallway and called her to the field at the back of the school. His eyes gleamed with optimism as before, but in front of Akiko the young man looked more subdued.

As they approached the field, they stood right in the middle of a running field circled in white paint. Tomoyuki, looking dreamily toward the sunset, enjoyed the general silence. His eyes were soft and closed until the silence was brought down by a misunderstood Akiko.

"What's new in total? You didn't call me here, I hope, to fool around?"

"Sometimes silence soothes the mind. I enjoy this melody, coming from the mouth of nature itself. It harmonizes with my desires to set everything aside and climb somewhere higher, to a place where it's always cozy and quiet."

"I don't know what you're getting at."

"For you, you probably prefer the noise of the city and the incessant hustle and bustle of youth. I, personally, would choose a much more humble way of life. In the quiet mountains, for example."

"I'm sure you chose this theme for a reason."

"What else are you sure of, Akiko-chan?" the blue-eyed youth looked at her with tenderness. "Right now I am sure of what I feel like as a bird flying carefree through the open sky. What about you, Akiko-chan?"

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"Have you begun to take an interest in self-development?"

"You don't understand anything after all. Let's start talking."

"Is there something you want to know from me?"

"Yes, more specifically, your attitude toward Yumiko Sato. From what you've said in previous conversations, you have an abhorrence for her."

"That's true. Lately I'm starting to think she's constraining my presence around her and Hayashi-kun. She pisses me off! She's driven by self-interest and pretense."

"Is that it?"

"Hmm... Except for her annoying communication style-" she didn't finish as she was immediately interrupted by Tomoyuki.

"Is there anything in particular that causes you to despise her, would you say?"

Akiko tensed at his prejudiced tone of voice. You could clearly see from Tomoyuki's stern face that he was growing discontent with the maiden.

"What more do you want me to say to you?!" shouted Akiko, whose defensiveness kicked in. She couldn't stand the scornful attitude, and Tomoyuki's gaze stabbed her right in the heart, reminding her of the sad memories that had happened to her in high school.

Remembering the playfully sad face of a certain girl, the hard face of a certain guy, and the stern look of a girl turned away from her, Akiko was momentarily overcome with oppression. In her mind, she shouted for them to get out of her head, and these blurred faces uniformly showed one dirty, wide smile that judged her personality.

"If your hatred only rests on the words you have spoken, then that alone makes no sense," Tomoyuki said, making Akiko flinch.

"What do you mean...?"

"All you have to do is hate aimlessly and play the harmless ducky."

"I don't know what you're getting at..."

"You have no reason to hate Sato-chan. I guess that's just how you protect yourself from your inner fear. You're afraid, and making the other person out to be the guilty one in your sense of the word. And what are you not stingy, what are you not self-interested?"

Tomoyuki adopted a guilty look.

"Don't criticize me!"

"You don't know who Yumiko Sato is, and you don't know who Glenn-kun and Hayashi-kun are. They won't let anyone touch a fragile girlfriend. Ground yourself."

"I don't care! I thought you would understand me!"

"I don't have to. It's written all over your face," Tomoyuki said, and after his words, the girl realized that her usual anxiety had already managed to turn into open stress. "You yourself, I'm sure, don't know which way to go in order to make Ryou-kun fall in love with you. Alas, you are more useless to me."

"What goals are you after?!"

"Me? I only hate fake and two-faced people," Tomoyuki replied, and moved back toward the main entrance of the school. When he stopped, he stood shoulder to shoulder with Akiko, but their gazes were pointed in opposite directions. "And Yumiko-... Sato-chan is a good person."

Resuming his step, he withdrew without turning away. Having endured a strong rush of criticism and hysteria, Akiko could not hold back her tears. She covered her sour face with hands.

"Yamashita-kun, you overreacted..." she said quietly.

This tense scene was observed by Yumiko from the first floor, who was sitting at the window of the club office, with an interested look. She was actually unable to hear their conversation unless she would open the window, but she had enough of their tense stares to know that their conversation had given the defenseless Akiko a great deal of fear. She didn't bother to stop them, thinking that doing so would only make their conversation even worse.

She couldn't dismiss from her mind why they didn't get along. With these thoughts, Yumiko for the first time began to worry about her new acquaintances.