Ren was gone for club practice. Arisu was gone for club practice. So Yuko took Takiyo to club practice.

Of the basketball team.

Yuko refused to classify this as stalking.

"It's just a crush. It'll disappear after some time." she told him. "Better enjoy it while it lasts, eh?"

I don't think that's just a crush, Nishikawa. Takiyo thought.

When they arrived at the basketball court, realisation came over Takiyo. He stopped abruptly, and made an "Urk!" sound.

"What's wrong, Takiyo-kun?" Yuko asked, also stopping.

"I just realised...Ishida is in the basketball club." Takiyo said unhappily. "Well, I can get through."

"Do your think Michi-chan will be there?" Yuko inquired.

"Dunno. I've hardly seen her around here." Takiyo shrugged. "But I think that Ishida would love to show it off."

"Ishida-san doesn't like you, does he?" Yuko asked.

Takiyo laughed hollowly. "He despises me. But he's always nice in front of Michi."

"Ah..." Yuko said, and they both peered into the basketball court.

"Oh, Nishikawa-san!"

That was fast. Takiyo thought.

Saburo Anzai. Tall. Messy black-hair. Popular. If beauty could hurt, his blue eyes could kill.

"S-senpai." Yuko smiled nervously.

Saburo jogged over to them, wiping his sweat with his jersey. He grinned at Yuko, and then his eyes fell on Takiyo.

"Who's this?" Saburo asked.

"Hamasaki Takiyo." Takiyo said instantly.

"He's my friend." Yuko added.

"Nice to meet you, Hamasaki-kun." Saburo smiled, and shook his hand.

Really nice.

"Anyway, what brings you here?" Saburo asked Yuko.

"Nothing particularly." Yuko answered quickly. "Just dropping by."

Takiyo could see Yuko's nervousness, but she was talking surprisingly well.

"Hey, that girl came to see Saburo again."

"Oh , her? She's weird."

"You know what happened to her when she was in junior high?"

"Yeah, unbelievable. Only in junior high."

Takiyo couldn't help but overhear the basketball team talking about Yuko. She was busy in conversation with Saburo, but this intrigued him.

When people would notice Yuko, they would always start talking about her. Obviously, there was something about her that he didn't know. Something had happened to her.

Whenever he walked with her, he could hear people saying uncomfortable things about her. Yuko could always hear them too, but she would keep her head down, and forcefully smile, although her lips were trembling.

That was the worst thing about Yuko. Her smile. She always had this hint of sadness, as if her muscles forgot how to smile. As if her muscles had gotten so accustomed to sadness that she couldn't smile the same way. Her smile always highlighted bags beneath her eyes. If you noticed all of this, it made you extremely uncomfortable. It made Takiyo think terrible things that could have happened to her.

"Nishikawa-san, did you get taller?" Saburo asked.

"Ah, yeah. A couple of centimetres. I'm 155 cm now." Yuko replied.

"Really? You still seem so tiny!" Saburo said, placing his hand on her head.

Yuko blushed. "T-that's because Senpai just got taller!"

"You're only 155 cm?" Takiyo asked.

"What are you, 160?" Yuko asked nastily.

"Hey, I'm not that tiny. I'll have you know I'm 168 cm, now. So, ha, shorty." Takiyo stuck his tongue at her.

"I see Nishikawa-san made a friend she could get along with." Saburo said, smiling. "I wish you'd talk to me like that sometimes. You're so scared all the time."

"Y-you're a senior!" Yuko said, repelled at the very thought.

Yuko obviously reverted to shy girl whenever she was with Saburo. Takiyo could almost swear she had split personalities.

Takiyo realised something. He stuck his tongue out at someone. When was the last time he did that? He turned away from the two of them, a hand on his face.

"Hey, you're that scaredy from my class!"

Takiyo jolted at the sound of his voice. He turned back to Saburo and Yuko, only to see that they were joined by Yoichi.

"Yoichi, don't call her a scaredy." Saburo said, as Yuko recoiled away from him.

"Anzai, did you hear the stuff about this girl?" Yoichi asked, laughing.

Yuko started taking steps back from them.

"Oy, Nishikawa!" Takiyo yelled.

Yoichi turned to the sound of his voice. His face instantly went grim.

"Why are you here?" he asked, a menacing aura around him. Then he gasped. "You weird stalker, you're here because you heard that Michi was going to come watch me today, right?"

"Eh, no." Takiyo snarled. "I'm just here with Nishikawa..." He turned to look at where she had been, but then Saburo said, "She ran away."

"Oh, sh*t." Takiyo cursed, and started walking after her.

"Yeah, you better go." Yoichi yelled. "Michi promised she'd come."

Takiyo froze for a moment. A memory surfaced.

"It's a promise, okay?"

He squeezed this fist tightly.

"Ah, here she is!" Yoichi smiled instantly, as Michi came running.

"Sorry, Yo-kun! Am I late?" she asked breathlessly.

"No, it's okay." Yoichi replied.

Takiyo stood frozen. He turned to look at Michi, who hadn't even acknowledged him.

Do you know how badly that hurts? You've been keeping promises with others but breaking mine.

He turned on his heel and went away.

***

"Nishikawa, where did you run off to?" Takiyo asked sternly.

"My bad." Yuko smiled nervously. That smile wiped everything from his mind again. That sad smile. "It's nearly cleaning time. Let's go." she said.

They set off down the corridor.

"Hey, it's that girl!"

"Oh my god, do you know about her?"

"Yeah, in her junior high..."

Takiyo side-glance at her. Same trembling smile. Same way of keeping her head down. Honestly, what was her story?

***

It was cleaning time, and Yuko had gone off to get some extra supplies. Takiyo and Ren stayed behind, brooming. Now was a good time.

"Muranaka."

"I told you that you can call me Ren." Ren said, smiling at him.

"I want to know already." Takiyo said.

"Know what?" Ren asked, confused.

"What's the deal with Nishikawa?" Takiyo asked, trying to hide his frustration. "Everyone always points at her and talks about her junior high years or something! She always smiles in that weird way, as if she forgot how to! It drives me nuts because I can't understand anything! You should know about it! You said that you want her to be happy again! What is it about?"

Ren stared at for a moment's, and then smiled, in the same, sad way. "You've noticed, have you." he sighed, resting his head on his broom. He stopped smiling and stared at a point on the board. He didn't say anything for some time.

Suddenly...

"It's all my fault." Ren whispered.

"Huh?" Takiyo asked. "What do you mean?"

"I am the cause of her suffering." Ren said, his voice slightly cracking. "And I can never forgive myself. If I just noticed things, right then and there, nothing like this would have happened."

"What exactly are you talking about?" Takiyo asked.

Ren turned to Takiyo, looking grim.

"Takiyo, I'm going to tell you about Yuko's past."