I miss you, Kogure, Mitsui walked along the corridor, his bag for basketball practice slung over his shoulder as he reached up to ruffle his own short hair thoughtlessly. I'm so glad you're coming home for the mid-term holidays. All your letters, all your words of love, nothing can compare to you being here beside me. He smiled at the thought. Kogure was returning. Then harsh words on the adjoining corridor arrested him, and he automatically ducked out of sight as Ayako and Haruko rounded the corner, Ayako talking heatedly nineteen to the dozen while tears ran down Haruko's cheeks. What's going on?

@@@

"At least you did it!" Ayako said at last, a smile on her face. The younger girl's shoulders shook.

"I had to," she rasped at last, turning her gaze up to look at the ceiling as her sobs calmed. "I had to."

Ayako nodded in agreement. "Rukawa and Hanamichi were never meant to be together."

@@@

Rukawa? Hanamichi? Together? Wow.

Then the sobbing girl, the grimly self-satisfied image of Ayako, clicked together to form a disturbing picture in Mitsui's head. His eyes widened. They didn't…

@@@

"At least Hanamichi knows that what you said to him was nothing but the truth, Haruko-chan!" Ayako said cheerfully, clapping and ushering Haruko forward towards the gym. "Boys just don't love one another in this society, ne! It's for their own good that you woke Hanamichi up to that!"

Behind her, Mitsui froze at the words, and he growled before he could stop himself. The two girls turned in surprise.

"Mitsui-sempai?" Ayako smiled cheerfully in greeting. "Practice is about to start, ne? Hurry change!" There was no response, and she couldn't shake the sudden growing discomfort away. Why was Mitsui-sempai glaring at her like that?

@@@

"What did you just say?" the harsh question make Ayako blink in surprise. "Excuse me, Mitsui-sempai?"

He moved forward, his eyes dark. "What did Haruko tell Hanamichi?"

Ayako was truly shocked this time, she just stared at him, stunned. "You know about it?"

Know about what!? Mitsui had to stop himself from yelling. That a boy can't love another boy? That's not true! He was shaking with fury at their bias. He calmed himself with some effort. "What's going on between those two, Rukawa and Hanamichi?"

Ayako shrugged as Haruko tensed. "Nothing," she smiled, before steering the other girl towards their original destination.

Mitsui stared at the retreating backs until they disappeared into the gym.

@@@

"Today you can look forward to Rukawa playing with all his undivided attention, ne?" Ayako grinned playfully at Haruko, who was silent. Images of Hanamichi's shocked eyes, his expression, replayed itself over and over again in her head. He had seemed so shocked, and there had been such terrible pain in his gaze before she ran away. It wasn't possible…

"Haruko?" Ayako tried snapping her fingers in front of the younger girl's face. Whatever was she thinking about?

end of part 4