The hierarchy system of any place and every place is frightening.

You have been already allotted your position is an early age, and the other members of the hierarchy willingly or subconsciously make sure you stay there if you are in a lower class or they will try to drag you down if you’re in the upper class.

There are some people who can be a Good Sport about it, but if that were to happen with everyone, life would not be as exciting as it is today.

Alex has known Hikaru almost as long as he has known Asuna.

Hikaru and Asuna have been living next to each other for a long time and have been childhood friends. They lived in the same building, and both lived with their grandparents.

Hikaru always wanted to be more than friends with Asuna, but the poor guy has been friend-zoned, and he blames Alex for it.

Apparently, saving a girl’s life means more than being childhood friends, but it’s not his fault. Hikaru had entered the friend-zone since the day he met her.

Hikaru was what you called a prodigy.

The thing about being a prodigy is, not everyone can admire them, but everyone can shun them, and all the kids that could, did.

Asuna and Hikaru were first put in the same in 1st grade, but as time progressed, Hikaru was in 5th grade when Asuna was in 3rd.

He couldn’t make any friends because of that. Nobody wanted to play with him. Even though he was a prodigy, he was still a child, physically and mentally.

He tried to make friends, but all the other kids looked at him as if he was some kind of nuisance which forced him to think,

--Is there something wrong with me?

One day on the playground, he was sitting in his usual place, seeing other kids, laughing and giggling, playing together.

As Hikaru was in a higher class, he was occasionally threatened and bullied by his classmates. Because of that, he had to sit alone, and like a child he was, wept.

Every day he thought and said the same thing over and over.

‘I didn’t ask to be smart, I don’t want to be smart.’

Like an angel, Asuna appeared.

Hikaru was sitting in a corner, and Asuna heard him crying and blowing his nose with a tissue. She knew Hikaru as he was famous and lived in the same building.

Children are smart, very smart. They just don’t have enough knowledge, and even if they had it, they are still innocent. *Most of them.*

Asuna walked up to him and asked in a sweet angelic voice, which was music to Hikaru’s ears.

‘Why are you crying?’

Hikaru looked up to see an angel gently smiling upon him. He was speechless, he didn’t know what to say except,

‘Because I don’t have any friends’

Asuna leaned down towards Hikaru and made him blush.

‘Why?’

‘Be-because I am…smart.’

‘But my Grandpa says that smart people have lots of friends and girls like boys who are smart.’

Hikaru was dazzled by Asuna’s warm smile. She was the first person of his age who said that.

‘But you don’t have friends, you just said. My Grandpa is never wrong, so to prove him right, I will be your friend.’

Hikaru realized that she was the first girl to say that, he also realized that she will probably be the last one too, *proof that he was actually smart.* He asked.

‘Then if I become really smart, will yo-you li-like me too?’

Hikaru’s face was red at this point. Asuna had no idea what he meant.

‘Sure, I like you now too, come on, let’s play.’

Children are so innocent and pure that it makes you wonder; How did humanity end up like this if we all started the same way?

Hikaru knew that Alex saved Asuna, and he was grateful. One day he wanted to visit him with Asuna.

There were two reasons for him to meet Alex; to thank him, and the other was to clear doubt in his mind.

When you really love someone, you can notice the slightest difference in them. How they talk, walk, and even if their scent is different or not. *Maybe the last one is a bit stalker and creepy like.*

Hikaru saw something different in Asuna after the day she fell, she would seem distracted and sometimes caught daydreaming.

After carefully checking to see if it was a concussion or not, he had only one other possible theory, a guy is behind this.

He confirmed this when he visited Alex, and though it was in a pre-initial state, it was as clear as day to Hikaru that Asuna has developed feelings.

He even made chemicals (non-lethal) to forcefully remove those love feelings, which were Oxytocin, Dopamine, Serotonin, etc. basically, the substances that create the emotion of love, he added them in food and drinks many times but failed.

Not because the drugs didn’t work, but half of the time, he would mess up and end up eating the drug-infused food himself.

Also, the feelings would quickly return to Asuna after a day or two.

The surprising fact is that Asuna didn’t even realize what she was feeling.

You know the time when you just don’t know if you are in love or having a bad stomach day because you can feel your stomach churning and your chest tightens, and you feel like vomiting. Makes you wonder what did you eat last night.

This demotivated Hikaru, but one day while was working hard again, making the drug-infused food, he realized something. He had also taken the drug as many times as Asuna and was surprised that even his feelings wouldn’t go away, meaning even his feelings were strong.

He realized that Science can’t remove Asuna’s feelings, but he vowed to win Asuna’s heart one day.

*There you have it, a fully functioning love triangle.*