You, Mikado, Masaomi, and Anri were taking a leisurely walk to school. Mikado and Anri were a couple steps ahead of you while you and Masaomi faltered behind. Mikado spoke with Anri in a low tone so you couldn't catch on to their conversation. Masaomi walked beside you with his arms behind his head and you held onto your beloved (f/c) messenger bag as you four headed towards school.

Masaomi had enough with the secret conversation Mikad was having with Anri and decided to butt in with his usual energetic attitude. "Man, I didn't think you'd get to her before me," Masaomi teased.

Maikdo, offended by the comment, whipped around with a blush dusting his cheeks. "That's not what happened!" He cried out. Anri pretended to not hear what was going on and continued walking ahead at a faster rate.

"But it worked out fine," Masaomi reassured the two as he walked between them. "If I were in your position, I wouldn't let that chance go. And I didn't, just in case you were wonderin'. While you and Anri ditched us, (your nickname) and I were having the time of our lives at Sunshine 60, drinking our favorite drinks and learning more about each other. If we weren't running for our lives from Shizuo, then I would definitely call it a date so (your nickname) and I can be part of the couples club at Sunshine 60."

"Masaomi!" You shrieked, blushing so hard that your face disappeared. "And I told you not to call me (your nickname)!"

"(Your nickname)?" Anri and Mikado repeated what Masaomi called you.

"Ignore him," you huffed, your face still red. "I prefer to be called (Y/n) and will be called that until the day I die."

"You and Masaomi are that close?" Mikado asked you, ignoring your last comment.

"No!" You yelled, while Masaomi yelled "Yes!" at the same time.

"No no no no no no!" You shrieked some more,

"Come on! Don't be in denial," Masaomi teased.

"I'm not! It's true!"

"Alright then. Anyways..."

Suddenly, Masaomi was down on one knee as if he was going to propose to someone and spread his arms out. "So yeah, go out with me!" He cried.

"Huh?!" Anri and you sputtered, stunned.

"Is he talking to you or me?" You asked her.

"Um..." Anri replied to your question.

"Oh, you both don't have to answer right away," Masaomi put a hand out in front of the both of you. "I'm waiting for responses from seven girls, and I'm still figuring out which one I want to date."

You both stood there in stunned silence, unable to answer. The two of you exchanged a glance, silently signaling the other to answer. Suddenly, Mikado cut in. "Anri, (Y/n), don't take him seriously," he huffed. "You both will just get tired. And he may look like a playboy, but he's actually not. Even when he goes to pick up girls, he--"

"Hey Mikado!" Masaomi interrupted.

You looked at where he was before but he wasn't there. You turned to the side and you saw him crouching on the railing, giving Mikado mischievous look before pouncing on him. Mikado jumped back but he was too late as he was tackled by Masaomi. The two of them began to wrestle while you and Anri sweatdropped at the two of them.

"You two are good friends, aren't you?" She asked the two wrestling boys.

"Yes we are," Masaomi replied, slightly out of breath.

"Not that I don't wish to be rid of him..." Mikado added, also out of breath, laughing.

Masaomi playfully glared at him before wrestling some more with him. You held your hand by your mouth as you giggled at the sight of them. A true-blue friendship is always a beautiful sight for everyone.

*~*~*~*~*~

It was after school and the four of you agreed to meet in Nishiguchi Park. Anri sat on a white, motorboat-shaped equipment that has a giant coil stacked to the bottom so you can rock back-and-forth on it. You leaned on it beside her while Mikado leaned on his adjacent from you both. Masaomi returned with four mini ice cream cones-vanilla for Anri, strawberry for Mikado, chocolate for him, and (f/f) for you. He handed all of you the ice cream cone you all asked for before taking his seat on the rocking white motorboat next to Mikado. He licked his soft serve before saying something. "Seriously, Anri, be careful," he told her.

"What?" You asked, taking a small lick of your cone. "What happened?"

"Mr. Nasujima was cozying up with Anri after class, and she looked extremely uncomfortable before I interfered."

"Wait...Mr. Nasujima? I heard there were rumors floating around about that teacher, but I never believed in any of them."

"Yeah-they're all rumors, except one. This one time, a couple years back, he was going out with another student. Haruna Niekawa, I think her name was? She's a year ahead of us. Anyways,  something happened between the two, as she transferred out second semester last year. I don't know the details. She could of dropped out on her own, Nasujima threatened her, or the school made her leave. Either way, she's gone."

Masaomi's soft serve began to drip so he took a huge lick before continuing. "If anything happens between the two of you, Mikado and I will take care of it. Won't we?" He gave Mikado a sideways glance, indicating that there was only one answer to that question.

"Yeah," Mikado nodded. "I don't really understand what's going on, but I'll do whatever I can."

"Come on. You need to be like, I don't know what I can do, but the power of love will aid me, or something like that. Otherwise, you're not a man."

"You're not making sense."

"It's how this works," Masaomi finished, shoving the rest of his cone into his mouth before chewing it quickly and swallowing.

"Anri," you asked her, finishing the soft serve portion of your cone before working on the waffle cone. "Those girls a couple days ago that were bullying you, they're from the same middle school as you?"

"H-How could you tell?!" She gasped a you, nearly dropping her cone in shock.

"Just from the way they were talking to you. I'm assuming this 'Mika' person who you ran after was the one who stood up for you from them, so they stopped bugging you for a a while. But, now that she's gone, they're back. Am I correct?"

"Mika?" Masaomi asked. "You mean Mika Harima from our class? The one who's been missing since the first day?"

Anri nodded as she pulled out a pocketbook and opened it. Inside were photos of her and Mika that looked like they were taken from a photo booth at a fair or something. "They're treating it like she's absent from school, but since before the start of school, she hasn't come home once," Anri explained, her voice sounding like it was choking up with tears.

"Isn't this something for the cops?" Masaomi asked. He was right. A missing person's case should be handled by the police, not a high school student.

"Her family and I received a message from Mika," Anri continued. "She said she was going on a journey to ease her pain, and not to worry."

"Ease her pain?" Mikado asked, confused. "Something happened?"

"Well..um..." Anri trailed off, unsure if she should say it or not. "Don't be surprised, okay?"

"After these past few days, not much would surprise me," Mikado assured as Masaomi gave a silent thumbs-up in agreement. You shrugged. You only been here for a nearly two months, so you didn't know how you were going to react to the next piece of news.

"Mika is a stalker..." Anri confessed.

Mikado choked on his soft serve and it flew from his mouth, some landing on his shoulder sleeve. You choked as well,  but on the waffle cone you were trying to fit into your mouth. Waffle pieces fell out as you attempted to cover your choke with a cough, but you knew you already blew your cover. Anri seemed unfazed, as if she was expecting the reaction out of you. Only Masaomi kept a straight face. He looked as if to be in deep thought.

"I see," he said, as if he was coming to a conclusion. "So that guy you were talking to earlier...Mika was stalking him. No, she was deeply in love with him, and she left on a trip because he rejected her. Gotta leave that to her family, then. If it gets too long, then they'll call the cops."

A silence hung in the air. Mikado decided to break it. "Was she close to you?" He asked.

"We are always together, yes," Anri replied. "I'm not really the social type, so I don't get along with people well, but she always dragged me along. I felt bad when she chose the same high school I did. I--" Anri took a deep breath, trying to compose herself.

"What?" Mikado asked, urging her to go on.

"I know that she kept me around to make herself look better," she continued. "And I used her, too. It was easier to live, being dependent on her. I thought I couldn't live any other way. But now, I don't think I really need her anymore. I'm used to it. Her being gone, I mean. The reason I became Class Rep because that's the job she wanted...I figured I should do it in her place."

So that explained why she had the expression that she felt like she was being forced to when Anri raised her hand to volunteer to be Class Rep on the girl's side. "I thought if I could be Class Rep, I might be able to surpass her," Anri sighed, as if she was admitting a crime that she was guilty of. "You think I'm devious...don't you?" She laughed slightly.

"It's sounds to me you're asking for forgiveness for wanting to be better than her," Mikado cut in.

"He's right," you added on, placing a comforting hand on Anri's shoulder. "From the way you're saying it, I think you view Mika as your role model. It's not unusual to want to be like someone you admire or even surpass them. I believe it's instinct, in fact. Don't be so ashamed of it-hold your head high and be proud of it."

Stunned silence hung in the air as everyone took in the wise words you said, something they definitely were not expecting to come out of your mouth. Realizing what you just said, you stuttered, trying to come up with a cover. "Oh...um..." you blushed deep red.

"No, you're right," Anri nodded, giving you a soft smile. "Thank you."

You gave Anri a smile of gratitude, but Masaomi broke your train of thoughts. "I didn't expect such bold words to be coming out of your mouth, (Your nickname)," Masaomi shrugged. "You're always so quiet and reserved. No one really expects you to say anything like that."

You blushed red at your silly nickname, decided that you've given up on trying to correct him. "N-No...this is not unusual for me," you explained. "It's just I guess I say more to other people when I open up to them."

"I'm glad you're finally considered us as your close friends," Mikado nodded.

Masaomi, deciding that he had enough of this sappy moment, rocked his motorboat causing Miakdo to fall, as he was leaning on it and drop his unfinished soft serve. "Masaomi!" He cried, surprised at what his friend did and that his ice cream was now a half-melted pink puddle.

"Man, you're so lame," Masaomi teased his best friend.

"Why am I lame?!" Mikado demanded playfully at Masaomi as he continued rocking in the motorboat and laughing.

You and Anri exchanged a small smile as the two boys got into a cat fight. Somehow, after today, you felt closer to your friend group than ever before.