Hino extended his hand out." Hold on. It'll be difficult getting on normally with this crowd."

Sumire blinked, startled, but she accepted his hand.

See? The gentleman type. Yuhi can use some lessons from Hino. Once they were inside, he let go of her hand and yet remained hovered over her as though to ensure she wouldn't fall. Unfortunately, there were no seats, and thus they both stood up. For her, who had a serious injury, standing up took a great deal of her strength.

Then again, it is her fault for getting injured.

"Sumire? Are you alright? Do you need to hold onto me?"

Sumire didn't get a chance to respond as the train shook, and she hit her head against Hino's back. She rubbed her nose.

"My bad."

"It's alright. Hold onto my jacket."

Sumire slowly extended her hand out and clung to the edge of his jacket. If this was Yuhi, then for sure, this moment would be more romantic. She could imagine the scenario perfectly well, just like the events that just happened. They would end up blushing and looking away, but despite the battle of nerves, nobody would pull away.

It would be one of those cute moments from a shoujo manga. But there is a reason why such things are fiction, and there is no chance for it to happen in reality.. Sumire sighed; life isn't fair after all.

Hino noticed her odd behavior and asked. Is there something wrong?"

"I just thought that Yuhi could use some real tips from you."

Hino stared at her for a few minutes before he nodded. "Ah." He started, "You spent some time with Yuhi today." Sumire nodded in response. "I'm guessing that once again, you had to lead. Even when he did suggest something, and you guys went through with the idea, it was dull and boring? Like taking you to that pie place?"

Sumire looked at him, startled at those words. That is spot on, but how come he knew that? "Like Hino, do you have esp?"

Hino chuckled "You could say that, or you could say I got it from watching him and his ex.."

Oh, that's right, during the time frame, Yuhi was dating other girls. So Hino must know all about Yuhis past relationships.

"So was Yuhi always like this?" Sumire asked.

Hino knowing everything about Yuhi, at least since Yuhi parted ways with her to return to Tokyo, is not new to her. Despite how curious she is, she knew better than to ask such questions. Hino treasures Yuhi a lot, so if she asked such questions, it would make her the same as those other girls who snooped around instead of getting to know Yuhi.

She is very curious, and it would be a lie to say she never thought about it. But even more than that, she wants to treasure the current situation.

Hino nodded, "You could say so. Touko would often - as in complain every day about how clueless he was. She said, 'Even though I give him the most obvious of hints, he doesn't seem to get it'"

At that, her sweat dropped; she could imagine it now. Yuhi, what on earth did he do?

Hino continued. He doesn't seem to know the timing for a kiss too' I often heard such stories, and well, I would also see it.

The timing of a kiss, huh? Perhaps that might be the case. So much time has passed, and yet Sumire still felt it, his lips on hers and that same warmth. He should have kissed her before they parted ways, but the earlier kiss in school remained firm in her mind.

Yuhi-san is not the only one at fault but her; she allows him to go at his own pace.

"I don't think he does it on purpose, though." Hino said, "After all, he loves you a lot."

Her thoughts broke off when she heard those words and saw his warm-hearted expression. "Eh? Wait !!! Did Yuhi say that to you?"

"Yeah. Rather he more or less announced it in the assembly when he came, didn't he?" Hino said.

Sumire blinks, the assembly? He did say a long and grand speech. But she spent far too much time annoyed why he didn't tell her. As well as what she would say to him when they got around to talking. "

"I guess since you were so distracted, you didn't hear a thing." Hino sighed deeply. "Aren't you two just misunderstanding each other? It's easy to make that mistake since it's been such a long time."

Come to think of it earlier, and it did seem as though he was trying to say something. A misunderstanding, huh?

"Then Hino, if you saw the girl that you liked again, would you misunderstand her?"

Hino scratched his hair. "Well, it will probably be different."

"Different?"

A gentle smile appeared on his face. "The answer for us won't be the same as you and Yuhi. That's why you have to search for the answer yourself."

Search for her very own answer, huh? But that sounds like so much work. Aha, she supposed love isn't an easy matter. It's the first time she has ever fallen in love with someone, after all.

True love, the love that she sought, is within arms' distance and yet still seems to be so far away. Up until now, she never thought about things like true love. After all, she's a daughter from nobility, isn't it only normal that she would get matched up with a son from a noble family?

That's why she didn't bother to seriously fall in love. There was never anything like that. She dated many guys but not for love. It's because they asked her.

Yuhi differed from all the others. From the very start, he was different.

"By the way, have you met with Sano lately?"

At that comment, Sumire turned to the door. "Maybe I should get off at the next stop."

Hino rolled his eyes and sighed. He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "Hold on, don't run away."

"But every time we see each other, you mention him." This was the main reason why she stopped hanging around Hino's place. She did not want to end up in this awkward situation again.

"If I do, it is because I'm concerned."

".."

"He is having a hard time recently; why don't you go and see him? Say you are going for a check-up."

Sumire recalled the last time she saw him and sighed. "Right now, I cant." She felt very bad about what she did to him.

"You ended up missing your live because of him; he wants to make it up to you."

She shook her head. "I know him well; that is not the reason he wants to see me."

"I already said before that I would not concern myself further. You already frightened me away with all that talk about using him like a doll."

Her sweat fell when she heard those words. Indeed she said something like that, but now that she is in her right mind, she felt bad about it. At least in front of Hino, she does not want to act evil.

He was her first good male companion in a long time, and she did not want to lose that friendship.

Her thoughts broke off when Hino patted her hair. "You don't have work?"

"I don't."

"Then, let us go bowling."