Takiyo learned something new about Yuko: she never held grudges. Before he knew it, she was talking to him like normal. And he could tell that she wasn't pretending and wasn't even forcing herself.

There were two weeks to go till the term finals.

"Takiyo-kun, what were your midterms like?" Yuko asked, once again in front of his desk in her signature position.

"Mm, not bad." he replied. "I'm lagging in English, though."

"Haha, I'm best at that!" Yuko laughed triumphantly. "I'm bad at Math."

"Oh, I'm best at that." Takiyo said.

"Woah, really?" Yuko giggled. "Then we can tutor each other!" Then she leaned in a little. "What about Michi-chan?" she whispered.

"What about her?" Takiyo unconsciously whispered back.

"What is she good at?" Yuko asked.

Takiyo glanced at her. "I have no idea. Michi isn't very good at studying. She ranked 108th last year."

(Note: There are 177 students in their grade.)

"How do you know, stalker?" Yuko inquired.

"I'm not a stalker. Stop calling me that." Takiyo said through gritted teeth while Yuko laughed. "She lives next door to me, I'm bound to find out. Anyway, what about Muranaka and Kaneshiro?"

"Ren's bad at Japanese, for some reason." Yuko said. "I'm good at that too. Arisu-chan...what was Arisu-chan bad at?" Yuko became lost in thought. "Aha! She is bad at Social Studies!"

"Really?" Takiyo asked incredulously.

"Um, no, not really." Yuko said. "I just said that because she got lowest in that in midterms."

"How much?"

"84."

"What the wh–"

"Hey guys~" Arisu and Ren showed up, carrying some drinks from the vending machine. Arisu caught Takiyo's stare and asked, "What?"

"I knew it." Takiyo muttered. "You're one of those smart*sses."

"Huh? Who?" Arisu asked.

"Never mind." Takiyo said looking away from her. Then he leaned in and whispered to Yuko, "What was her highest?"

"Um, 100 in English and Science, I think."

"I see." Takiyo turned back to stare at Arisu, who looked very confused.

"Takin, please stop glaring at me. Term finals are around the corner, we better study." she said.

"Sure, sure." Takiyo sighed.

"Takiyo-kun!" Michi yelled, and slammed her hands on his table, making him jump. "Nobody I know is good at Math. I asked Suzuki and Maru, but neither of them are that good at it. They'll help me in English and Social Studies though, such good people." Michi giggled to herself. "Anyway! I need help. You're good at Math, right?" she asked eagerly.

"Um..." Takiyo leaned back a little, because Michi had unconsciously leaned forward. His eyes diverted to Yuko, Ren and Arisu, who were giving him thumbs-up and winks. His face turned slightly red and he turned back to Michi. "Sure." he muttered.

"Yay! Thank you!" Michi said, leaping forward and hugging him. Then she let go and waved, "Thanks again, Takiyo-kun!" Then she walked back to her friends.

Takiyo was still dealing with the impact of the hug.

"Takiyo?" Ren called, and when he didn't respond he waved a hand in front of his face. "Takiyo!"

"I think he needs another hug." Arisu said thoughtfully. "MICHI-CH – mmph!"

Takiyo covered her mouth and whispered, "Shut up!" When he withdrew his hand, Arisu only giggled. Now that he had come back to his senses, he could feel a menacing stare directed his way. He turned towards the source, although he had a pretty good feeling who it was. Of course it was Yoichi.

Takiyo ignored him.

***

Michi said she would come by on Saturday around 2:00 PM. At around 1 o'clock, he was spread over his bed, going over his Social Studies notes. He couldn't focus, so he tossed them aside and stared out his window.

Through his front window, he could see Michi's front porch. He was staring unconsciously, then he saw movement, which alerted him. He sat up, and saw Yoichi walking up to her front door.

Ishida? Why is he here?

Yoichi rang the doorbell. He saw an auburn head come out, and laugh. Yoichi said something, and then the auburn head disappeared back into the house. Yoichi waited for some time, and Takiyo watched, unsettled.

Michi came back out, pulling on a coat. She closed the door, and she and Yoichi set out together. Takiyo watched with wide eyes. He glanced at the clock, and thought, There's still an hour. She can do whatever she wants till then.

Three hours later, she hadn't come.

His phone vibrated, and he hoped to see an explanation text from Michi, but it was a text from Yuko.

Nishikawa:
Hey, hey! Are you done tutoring Michi-chan? Ren and I are going out for crêpes. Wanna come with? We're inviting Arisu-chan too! (^^)

Takiyo placed the phone on his bedside table and buried his head under his covers. He lay like that for who knows how long. He was oblivious to his phone vibrating again, and his mother calling him from downstairs.

He picked up his Social Studies notes again, and just then, his father came in.

"Takiyo, didn't you hear us?" he asked.

"Oh, sorry." Takiyo replied, sitting up.

"What's gotten into you?" Mr. Hamasaki inquired, sensing something uneasy about his son.

"No, nothing. What does mom want?" Takiyo assured him.

His phone started ringing, he glanced at the caller ID and ignored it.

"Aren't you going to get that?" Mr. Hamasaki asked.

"It's fine." Takiyo said, picking up the phone and cutting the call. "What is it?"

"Um, nothing, if you're studying." Mr. Hamasaki exited the room.

Mrs. Hamasaki was waiting with her hands on her hips at the bottom of the stairs. "So?" she asked.

"Something has rattled him, it seems." Mr. Hamasaki said, glancing back up at Takiyo's room. "Leave him alone for some time, Riko."

***

"Jeez, Bakiyo isn't responding." Yuko said, irked.

(Note: 'Baka' in Japanese means 'idiot' or 'stupid'. Here, Yuko combined that word with Takiyo's name.)

"Is his phone on silent mode or something?" Ren asked, peering over his shoulder.

"Ooh, he's probably really into tutoring Michi-chan." Arisu giggled. "He probably didn't want any distractions."

"Hmm, you may be right." Yuko said. Still, it had been quite some time since she had sent her first message.

"Don't worry so much, Yuko." Ren said. "Here, enjoy your crêpe."

"Poor Takin." Arisu said, taking her crêpe as well. She took out her phone and clicked a picture. "I'll send this to him!" she said excitedly.

"Haa~ I hope he's doing fine." Yuko said, taking a bite of her crêpe.

"Yeah, I wanted to see him." Ren sighed.

***

"Takiyo-kun, why didn't you respond to our messages on Saturday?"

"Sorry, I was probably asleep."

Yuko wanted to ask about how his tutoring session with Michi went, but something stopped her. Her gut told her it was best if she didn't ask. She looked at Ren and Arisu, and she could tell they were thinking the same thing.

So, without a word about the tutor session that never happened, the term finals came and went.

***

On the last day of term, they received their results.

"What's you rank?" Yuko asked Ren when they had gotten their results.

Ren consulted his report card. "I came 15th."

"Wow, really? I'm 16th!" Yuko said, also looking at her report card.

"So you two really were smart." Takiyo said, watching them with a bored expression.

"Arisu-chan came 3rd." Yuko said, as Arisu bounced into their view.

"What?!" Ren exclaimed.

"Fufu, you still haven't gotten used to my geniusness, have you Rekkun?" Arisu smirked.

"I don't think a genius would use a word like 'geniusness'." Takiyo commented. "Are you sure it's 3?"

"Yup." Yuko informed, going over Arisu's report card.

"Wow!" Michi came out of nowhere, leaning around Ren. "All you guys are smart, huh?"

"What did you get?" Ren asked.

"Ehehe... 109th." Michi said, holding up her report card.

They simply looked at her. "But...but it's better than Yo-kun!" Michi added.

Now they all gritted their teeth.

"Which rank are you, Takiyo-kun?" Yuko asked, trying to escape the atmosphere. "Are you smart or dumb?"

"Neither." Takiyo replied.

"Come on, it's simple. If you're more than half, you're smart. Less than half, you're dumb. That's how it works."

"I am half." Takiyo said. "I came 89th." He held up his report card as proof.

Yuko observed it closely. Then she looked at Takiyo. "Takiyo-kun, you're at the height of average. You are literally the definition of average."

"So average!" Arisu commented, peering over Yuko's shoulder. "This is the first time I'm seeing an average as 50! The only formidable thing is your Maths, and that's like 82." Then she looked up at him with soulless eyes. "But your English is just...sad."

"If you're done–!" Takiyo yelled, snatching his report card out of their hands.

"Takiyo-kun, you beat me again..." Michi sighed.

Yuko, Ren and Arisu watched their short interaction closely, before Yoichi swooped down on them and took Michi away. They could hardly sense anything from Takiyo. He was normal.

Takiyo looked at the three of them.

"Ah, now it's summer vacation!" Yuko said suddenly, snapping her attention back to Takiyo, bringing Ren and Arisu with her.

"Yeah, it is!" Ren said. "Any plans, Takiyo?"

"Nothing particularly. I'm planning on working in a part-time job." Takiyo said dismissively.

Arisu gave him a look of disgust. "How boring." she said.

"My parents said they'd take me to the beach sometime with my cousins." Takiyo added defensively.

"Oh, so you're already doing that." Ren said.

"But Takiyo-kun, we're definitely gonna meet up sometime during vacation!" Yuko insisted. "We'll have some fun together. We're friends after all."

"I have a couple weeks at training camp for club, though." Ren sighed, putting his hands behind his head.

"Then we'll meet up after that!" Yuko said determinedly.

"Yeah, that's a good idea." Arisu said.

Takiyo watched them. Was he seriously not going to be alone during summer for once? Were they really planning on hanging out with them?

The day went by, and when it was home time, the four of them walked to the gate together.

"Well, see you sometime!" Yuko said, waving to Takiyo and Arisu.

"See ya!" Ren also said, smacking Takiyo on the back.

"Ow!" Takiyo gasped, and rubbed his back, glaring at him. Ren laughed in reply.

"See you!" Yuko yelled. "Enjoy summer, Takiyo-kun, Arisu-chan!"

Takiyo watched the two of them walk away. Those two words held so much hope. 'See you'. For once, it didn't make him feel lonely. Michi would often say that, but it would hardly ever happen. But when they said it, he felt sure it would.

He turned and started walking home, and a moment later realised that Arisu was walking next to him. When he looked at her questioningly, she grinned.

"I'm always walking home with my friends." Arisu said brightly. "For once, I'll walk home with Takin. I don't even know where your house is." She laughed to herself.

Takiyo stared at incredulously. Seriously?

As they walked, he heard a couple of whispers behind him. He was sure they belonged to Arisu's two friends.

"Hey, hey, why's Arisu walking with Hamasaki-kun?"

"Yeah, he's Arisu's friend."

"What? I can't handle him."

"Arisu is amazing."

Arisu either couldn't hear them, or was very good at ignoring. Takiyo guessed the latter. He gave her an unsure expression, and Arisu replied, "It's okay, it's okay."

They walked home together, Arisu denying any silences. Takiyo let her talk most of them time, and he gave simple replies.

"Oh, so this is where you live." Arisu said, looking at Takiyo's house.

"What's with that judgemental look?" Takiyo asked, unlocking the gate.

"Eh? No, I'm not judging! It's a fine house." Arisu said quickly.

Coincidentally, Takiyo's mother was out watering plants. She stood up straight and asked,  "Oh, is this your friend, Takiyo?"

"Huh? Um, yeah." Takiyo replied.

"Nice to meet you, ma'am." Arisu said, bowing. "My name is Kaneshiro Arisu. I'm Takin's friend."

"Please, please, call me Riko." Takiyo's mother said. Then she looked at Takiyo and mouthed the word, "Takin." Takiyo looked away.

"Arisu-chan, was it? Please, come in for some tea." Mrs. Hamasaki said.

"No thank you, Riko-san. I live a few doors away." Arisu replied.

"Oh, really?" Takiyo asked, and his mother gave him an unsatisfied look.

"Yeah. Well bye then." Arisu bowed to Mrs. Hamasaki again, who now looked very pleased and satisfied. "See you, Takin!" Arisu said, waving as she walked away. "Don't forget! We'll hang out with Yu-chan and Rekkun for sure!"

"Ah, sure. Bye." Takiyo said.

"Nice meeting you, Arisu-chan." Mrs. Hamasaki said.

"See you!" Arisu yelled, now at quite a distance. Takiyo raised his hand in farewell.

"Ah~ what a nice girl." Mrs. Hamasaki said with her hand on her face and a pleasant aura around her. "So this is what it feels like when your son's friends greet you. She also mentioned a 'Yu-chan' and a 'Rekkun'. Make them meet me sometime."

"Yeah, sure." Takiyo said walking into his house.

So they really were such nice words. Words that meant exactly what they were. Ensuring that they were not going to part forever. They will see each other again.

For sure.

'See you.'

Author's note
See you. ;)
Also, I wrote a lot of story in this chapter...huh.