Three weeks have passed since I've talked to Emi.

Three weeks have passed since we cut down any semblance of a romance.

Though it's not so bad. I've been a lot more focused in school, and I've started swimming so that no more conflicts between Emi and I appear. It's caused me to look a little more athletic, which is nice but it's not like I have to look nice for anyone anymore.

Still. . . It hurts to think I put so much of myself into the relationship just to crash and burn.

After a short morning swim, I start walking back to my room to change and shower off the chlorine smell. Thankfully this time, Kenji isn't here to ambush me post shower. The same walk I've made every day so far feels like I'm in some walled maze and can only go where the gates are open for me to go. As I get into the class room, I see that I'm yet again the first one here.

Left alone to my thoughts, I look back and think about how I could have stopped it from happening. Maybe I was too much of a white knight where I should have been a sympathizer... Maybe I should have just listened to her. No, maybe I should have confided in Misha instead of being a big headed jerk. I'm so caught up in my pity party that I don't even notice that the rest of the class has arrived, except for Hanako as per the usual.

"'Sup, Nakai," A familiar voice calls out from above me. "Why the long face?"

"Oh, hey Miki," She must have noticed me scowling or something, "Nothing, just thinking to myself."

"About school, or you-know-who?" She asks, and I shoot her a look that tells her I'm not in the mood to discuss it either.

"Okay, fine! You can't keep it away forever, Hisao. You'll eventually need to talk to someone about it or you'll burst." That's where you're wrong, I don't need to talk to anyone about personal problems. That's what makes them personal.

Miki retreats to her seat as Mutou arrives in the room. As usual, he looks like he was just thrown up by a dryer. As quickly as he arrives, he writes the assignment on the board and underlines the phrase "Group Work" before retreating to his desk and pulling out a newspaper. I turn to go join the usual company of Misha and Shizune, but my vision is suddenly clouded by a white blouse.

"Hey Hisao, mind grouping with me? My usual partner is sick in her dorm." Miki asks, smiling sweetly.

I scowl in response, but seeing as it's either this or she works alone, I cave. "Yeah, pull up a desk."

"Yay~! Thank you so much, Hisao." She cheers, and all I can manage in response is a grumble.

The short time between questions is filled with silence, and after our pre-class discussion I'm happy it stayed that way. Time passes quickly, and just as we finish our assignment the bell for lunch rings. I make my way through the herd of hungry students and grab a loaf of spice bread and some juice before retreating to the courtyard. The open air, sweet scent of flowers, and gentle breeze feels nice as I find a secluded place to sit and devour my bread.

"Eating alone, Nakai?" A voice calls out from beside me, causing me to jump reflexively and almost choke on my bread.

"Miki?! You scared the hell out of me! Wait, how did you find me?" Is she spying on me?

"You? Hard to find? Please, I could see your messy mop of hair for miles." she replies, sticking her tongue out at me as if to punctuate her sentence.

"Well... Erm.." Damn, she's got me there. "Anyways, what do you want?"

"What, I can't have lunch with the person who helped me in my time of need?"

"Not when you dig where you shouldn't be." I snap in response.

"Hey, relax tiger. You shouldn't be expressing this aggression towards me." All I can manage is a sigh and we sit in silence for a moment.

"Look... I'm sorry for going off on you. It's been tough, you know?"

"Yeah, I can see that. What happened to make you two just up and quit?" I respond and give her the short version, sparing anything personal that I don't feel comfortable sharing.

"Yeesh. . . For what it's worth, I'm here for you to talk to." She responds, and rests her hand on my shoulder offering a sweet smile in return. For a while we sit and look at each other and time just freezes. I could spend the rest of my day like this, but our little heart to heart is cut short by the sound of bells.

We retreat to our class, only exchanging a few words here and there to fill the silence. The rest of the day passes by fairly quickly and, as if God himself let his light shine upon us, we leave without any huge assignments but don't escape completely unscathed. I retreat to my dorm and manage to completely dodge the puppet wielding madman known as Kenji and begin on the night's work.

I'm awoken by the sound of my alarm and the warm sun invading my bedroom. I practically roll off onto the floor and climb into my swimming trunks and a light t-shirt and make my way down to the pool for my morning swim. With lap after lap, I can feel myself swimming faster and my heart is doing a good job of maintaining a quick, but steady pace. This is a lot better than running, that's for sure.

After retreating to my room and changing out of my trunks, I lay on my bed for a while. It's Sunday, so I've got nothing better to do. Maybe go down to the Library and read for a bit? Walk to town and have lunch later? In the end, my body just decides it wants to rest for a little while.

BANG BANG BANG BANG

What's that noise?

BANG BANG BANG BANG

Please stop, I want to sleep...

BANG BANG BANG BANG

Sigh... Alright, I'm coming. I open the door to find the offender, a casually dressed Miki. Instead of the school uniform, she's chosen to wear a bright red t-shirt with some strange design and some flatteringly tight jeans.

"Hey Hisao! Man, all that swimming did you good!" She giggles. I look down and realize I'm only wearing jeans and an unbuttoned shirt. Frantically, I button myself up and try and maintain a positive attitude.

"Do you have any idea how early it is?" Real positive there, wise ass.

"Early?!" She responds with a girlish cackle, "Hisao you goon, it's almost 1:30!"

"Well.... Shit, you caught me there. Anyways, what's up?"

"I was wondering if you would accompany me on a trip to town, my parent's wired me some money so I wanted to get some shopping done at the convenience store. You don't mind do you?"

"Hm, no not at all. I needed to get some more food. Let me get my shoes on and we'll take off." Casually I invite Miki inside as I slip into my shoes. I can't help but steal glances at her. Her long, lean legs only accentuated by the blue denim jeans which cut off at her ankles, interestingly enough she's wearing a pair of jet black flats instead of a pair of running shoes. It's only after I look up and realize that she's been looking me over as well. As our vision locks, I can feel my face burning just as much as hers does. We share an awkward laugh before I hoist myself up to my feet.

"Well then... Shall we head out?"

"Heh... Yeah, can't waste all day here like so~me people."

The walk to town and to the convenience store is filled with much more conversation than our usual times together. Miki talks about happy she is that she can be a bit lazier now that she doesn't have any engagements with track. As we arrive at our destination, we immediately grab a basket and begin filling it with various breads, juices and a few bottles of water. After paying for our respective bounties, Miki guides me to the nearby park.

"You don't mind staying in town a bit longer for lunch, do you?"

"Not really, so long as it doesn't start raining out of nowhere.." Why does this still bother me? It wasn't that long of a romance, why does this one in sting harder than when Iwanako stopped coming by. I feel Miki take my shoulder and smile at me, and I can't help but give one in reply. We find a nice little spot in a clearing and sit down and dig into our picnic. Again, I find myself appreciating the person I'm with. Easy on the eyes, boisterous but not even close to Misha, and a great attitude.

"Hello?! Earth to Nakai, do you read?" she says, tapping my temple with a slender finger.

"Oh, sorry about that lost in thought."

"I asked what you were going to do on break." Huh, never really gave that much thought before.

"Dunno... Might head back home, but it'd be just as lonely as it is in my dorm with my parents working constantly."

"Well, mine went out on a cruise so I'm stuck here as per usual too... Say, would you be interested in making this more of a regular thing?"

"A bit eager, aren't we?" I joke, which earns a blush in response.

"Not like that! I mean just hang out some more, maybe we can swim sometime. That kind of thing."

I place my hand on her shoulder and smile, "Sure. I'd like that."

Before long, our lunches are finished and we begin the trek back up to Yamaku. Before this whole exercise kick, this walk would have killed me, or at least tried to. We arrive back at the school, just as the sun starts to go down and I stop at her dorm to see her off.

"Alright, Miki. I'll see you in class tomorrow."