Hikari was able to round up Takiyo and Syo to help in the clean up after the sports festival. The two of them were helping putting away banners. They were now packing them away in boxes which would be delivered to the storage rooms to be used again next year. Syo struck up a conversation.

"So, Takiyo, you like Iseri-san, right?" Syo asked nonchalantly, folding a banner.

"Why are you asking?" Takiyo inquired, looking at him with cold eyes.

"You do, right?" Syo persisted.

"Yes, okay, fine. Happy?" Takiyo said finally.

"So that 'like' is as in 'in love', right?" Syo questioned further.

"Seriously, what are you trying to get at here?" Takiyo asked loudly.

"No, I just wanted to make sure you were in love with Iseri-san." Syo said.

Takiyo looked around to make sure nobody was near. Then he said in a low voice, "Okay, fine. Yes."

"Ha, that's so embarrassing to say!" Syo laughed, and Takiyo whacked him with a roll of tape. "Okay, fine, sorry." Takiyo sat back on his stool, and continued folding a banner.  Syo sighed and placed one of the banners in the box. "It must be nice, right? Being in love."

Takiyo froze. Then he glared at Syo. "Why would you say that?"

"My so-called 'love' sucked. It wasn't 'love'. I've never been in love. I did have a girlfriend in junior high, but she was pretty toxic. That wasn't 'lovely', per se. So I was just thinking you were lucky to be able to experience that. So, how does it feel?" Syo asked, resting his head on his hands.

Takiyo didn't say anything. Syo waited. Takiyo still didn't say anything.

"Taki–"

"It's not so great, okay?" Takiyo said, and Syo picked up some annoyance in his voice. "It's not as great as you think, get it? It's just... annoying. And messed up. I just don't even want to be in love."

Syo watched him for some time. "So you can't control it, huh?" he said quietly. Then he looked up at him. "Why do you say that?"

Takiyo looked at him with menacing eyes. "I don't want to answer."

"Then you don't want to confront your problem?" Syo asked. Takiyo couldn't help but get serious Yuko vibes.

"I don't want to talk about it." Takiyo replied plainly.

"You haven't told anyone?" Syo asked, pressing on.

Takiyo hesitated for a while. "I've talked about it a little with Nishikawa, and I guess Muranaka and Kaneshiro kind of know."

"Then why not me? I'm your friend now too, right?" Syo asked.

Takiyo stalled, restacking the banners in the box. He was considering. What would be the pros and cons of telling Syo? He thought for a while, but Syo was waiting patiently the entire time, folding another banner.

"Michi is going out with Ishida." Takiyo said finally.

Syo looked up. "I know that." he said, but there was no urgency. He was patient. It was as if he was saying to take his time.

Takiyo stalled some more. "He's a son of a b*tch." he added.

"I know that too." Syo said, smiling a little.

"Teruya, do you think love is really amazing?" Takiyo asked suddenly.

"It should be." Syo replied. It was nice how patient he was when speaking. Takiyo found speaking to him be almost as easy as speaking to Yuko. He wasn't forcing his face into a more human expression. But now that expression didn't seem to be murderous. It seemed as though he was looking into you, trying to understand you, trying to solve those problems, and reassure you. He wanted to kill those problems. Syo was definitely one of a kind.

"That's exactly what Michi thought." Takiyo said. "And so she fell in love."

"Why Ishida?" Syo asked.

"I don't know, he liked her." Takiyo said. "Anyway, so she was so happy, she forgot about me. It was like I hardly existed anymore."

"Ah..." Syo thought for a moment. "But I've seen her come and talk to you sometimes, right?"

"Yeah," Takiyo agreed. "It's been happening fairly often this year."

Syo thought some more. "You became friends with Yuko at the start of the year." he said.

"Yeah," Takiyo replied, wondering why he was saying that suddenly.

"And Iseri-san started noticing you more this year." Syo mused. Then he gasped. "I get it." he muttered.

"What?"

"She has been noticing you more since you became friends with Yuko. But she has talked with Yuko before your friendship too."

"You know all that?"

"I've been watching." Syo said dismissively. But it was creepy how he seemed to notice everything. "Anyway, Iseri-san doesn't notice you in the picture. You're just the background of the painting. Ishida is the main piece. She's looking at the main piece. But when Yuko came into the picture, their was something new in the background. She noticed that. Obviously, she would explore it; curiosity is part of human nature. So she did. But you were pretty much always with Yuko. Do you get what I'm saying?" He gave him a serious look.

Takiyo paused, trying to digest what Syo had just said. Then all at once it hit him like a hard rock.

Michi hadn't noticed him. She never came for him. She came for Yuko. He was almost always with Yuko. It truly was like the painting analogy. Yoichi was the main piece. He was just part of the background. Yuko arrived. She was a drop of paint in the background. Something different. You would notice this, and naturally acknowledge the background around it. Michi really was looking at a painting, but he was never brought to the forefront. He was always, and still is, a part of the background.

Syo studied his expression. "What's with that face?" he asked. "Didn't you already know this? You did, didn't you? How you have been using Yuko."

No, it wasn't possible. Why would he use Yuko? Yuko was his friend.

But Syo was, in fact, right. He always knew it. He just never bothered to acknowledge it. Somewhere deep in his mind, he knew this. Was this his deep desire? He knew Michi noticed Yuko. Did he disregard that back then, and the impulse for friendship was him taking her to his advantage? Was that why he became her friend? To use her?

No, no. He liked Yuko. She was nice. She was friendly. She was supportive. He did care about her, right? He did admire her, right? He wouldn't use her. He wouldn't accept it.

But that dark corner of his mind always knew, but never revealed. This was why he became Yuko's friend. This was why Michi noticed him.

But the battle remained: was Yuko a genuine friend, or just a tool?