"Any progress made with your family at all?" Hitoshi asked [Y/N] the next day. They were currently sitting underneath the regular old tree in the courtyard; the usual spot of where they sat for lunch at school. [Y/N] noticed that the tree wasn't bare anymore since there were sprouts of green leaves growing on it. Hitoshi also wasn't shivering out here anymore.

She quickly nodded her head, feeling pleased with herself. "I went to the movies with them last night and I talked to my brother afterwards. It was different....but nice."

He grinned at her, his pearly white teeth showing. She stared at it some more. "That's good to hear," he said.

She looked back at her packed food and continued to eat.

She was at her last class for the day and she couldn't help but finally notice that people kept staring at her. She was pretty sure they were talking about the rumors of her being the kidnapper. Her heart lurched at the thought. Maybe she could talk to Hitoshi to see how she could handle situation. She wanted to end this.

Sitting at her desk, she looked up at the teacher and focused on the lecture. But that didn't stop her from seeing a pair of eyes staring at her in the corner of her eyes. It was a girl who was glaring at her. The girl was probably one of the people who believed in the rumors. These rumors seemed to have created a lot of enemies for [Y/N]. She turned her head to face the teacher again and tried to ignore the girl. The girl glared at her for the entire hour.

She was definitely going to have to talk to Hitoshi.

The bell rang, so she rushed out of the classroom. Entering the hallways, she looked around to find out which classroom is Hitoshi's last. She didn't know which one because she never cared before. Curses ran through her mind. She had to see him today to talk about it. It had been stressing her out.

Darting through the crowds to get to the lockers, she quickly got to her locker to retrieve her items. She then scanned the crowds and looked around. Luckily, she was able to spot him. She let out a sigh of relief. Thank god his purple hair stood out.

She crossed towards the other side of the locker bay and started to approach him. Before she could fully reach him, she stopped and hid among the crowds. Many of friends were surrounding him and they were happily talking to each other. She knew it would turn awkward if she went up to them and some of them might believe the rumors as well. It would be too embarrassing.

So she waited in the shadows until his friends go away. But they wouldn't move an inch. They stayed at his locker and waited until he was done. [Y/N] gnawed on the inside of her cheek in frustration. It had already been ten minutes and they were still dawdling around there. Why does he need to be with so many people on the day she desperately need him?

Suddenly, she could hear Hitoshi's voice excusing himself. "I need to do something quick. Don't wait for me and go to the gym first," he was telling them. She then heard the shuffle of the crowd walking away. Soon, the locker room grew silent. That was when she realized the room was actually pretty empty for a while now. There was probably only her and Hitoshi in here now.

She poke out of the corner she had been hiding in to see warm, brown eyes staring back at her already. She gasped and flinched.

Hitoshi smiled at her and walked up to her. "I saw your figure among the crowds before and I thought it was you," he explained. "It makes me happy, because this is the first time that you're looking for me; instead of the other way around."