• “You’re too slow, hurry up or we’ll be late!” Kei was standing outside my house when I came out for school. I passed him by and ignored his presence.
    “Hey, are still ticked about yesterday?”
    “No.” I said.
    “Then why are you so quiet?” Kei walked alongside me.
    “I don’t like big conversations.”
    “But I want to get to know you.” I stopped. I was already stressed as it is, I don’t need this!!!
    “Look, I don’t want to get to know you. You’re a bother and an irritation. Just leave me alone!” I continued walking as he chuckled.
    “No can do.” He followed me. Instead of yelling even more, I ran the rest of the way. And it wasn’t even a surprise as he followed me perfectly the whole way. How annoying!!!

    “Hey, did you hear? I heard Aya got herself a boyfriend!” The girl group that I sat with was whispering during lunch. Kei had gone off to buy something to eat; he said he’d be right back, as if I’d even care if he ever came back at all.
    “How nice, who is this guy?” I asked nicely. The girls looked at me slowly.
    “Be prepared Miki…its Jiro…”
    “Huh? Oh, that’s wonderful.” I smiled. Of course inside me, I always had a different opinion. And right now I wanted to cry, but at the same time I wanted to beat myself up for not pursuing Jiro quicker.
    “Miki…” They all looked at me with pity.
    “Please leave me alone!” I looked at the front of room, and saw Aya struggling to get back her lunch again.
    “You should get your boyfriend to help you.” Rui teased.
    “Poor Aya…I would help her out, but I’m just too scared of that group.”
    “Why would you be scared?” I asked, confused.
    “You don’t know?!” One of the girls said with a gasp.
    “Akane, Miki just moved here. She doesn’t know.” So that was her name, Akane?
    “Oh, that’s right. Well, Rui is friends with a gang on the outside of school. Anybody who get’s in his way will suffer even harder than the person they had saved.” Akane explained. That still doesn’t give them the right to bully her! I narrowed my eyes.
    “No!!!” Suddenly the whole class looked over at the front scene. I could see, everyone’s eyes were widened.
    “Tell your boyfriend I just stole your first kiss.” Rui walked out of the room. All his guy friends followed him out. I looked at Mami; she looked as if she wanted to cry. But instead, she looked over at Aya with a glare. I knew that glare, and so I stood up just as Mami had stood up. No one watched me, only Mami.
    “You sicken me. How dare you kiss Rui!” Mami was about to slap Aya, but I grabbed her hand before she could. Everyone gasped. Mami looked over at me with anger.
    “Are you blind?” I asked.
    “What?” She said through her teeth.
    “If you are not blind, then you would have seen that it wasn’t Aya who kissed Rui. It was Rui who kissed Aya. You might not want to accept it, because you’re madly in love with him. But don’t blame Aya for his crude actions.” I let go of her arm. Tears formed in her eyes. She looked the other way to avoid us from seeing them.
    “Whatever.” Mami walked out of the classroom, her group following her.
    I looked at Aya who was crying as she looked at me. And after a minute, she ran out of the classroom too. So I followed her out. I needed to talk to her.
    “Hey!” Kei said as I brushed passed him.
    I followed Aya all through the halls and up a bunch of stairs until we finally reached the roof.
    “Aya, please stop running already. I can’t run anymore.”
    “Then stop following me! Why do you always insist on helping me?! I don’t like being pitied! I’m tired of being bullied, I don’t have friends, and the only reason everyone thinks Jiro is my boyfriend; was because he helped me out when I was being bullied by other students!” I now looked at her with wide eyes, it’s not like I cared for an explanation.
    “That’s why you followed me right? To see if I was dating Jiro! You’re nothing but a fake! The only reason you made friends with Akane, Kaori, Meiko, and the rest of the class was because you’re cute! You have no idea what it feels to be an outsider!!!” I feel like I’ve been slapped. I guess she was right, I am a fake. Maybe I should just go. If I was too just disappear, maybe everything would be better. I wouldn’t have to deal with life as a fake.
    “Wait…What are you doing?” I’ll just be free…
    “Free like Asami…” I said in a daze. I knew I was walking towards the railings; no one could stop me now. All I had to do was go over the railings and jump off. I might splat at the bottom, but I would probably be happier.
    “Hey, that’s dangerous!!!” I could hear Aya, but I paid no attention. I climbed the over like it wasn’t all that new to me; in fact…it wasn’t new at all. I’ve always thought of dying early since I had nothing left to live for. Maybe if I had gone away sooner, Asami would still be my friend. I began to cry.
    “Miki!!!”

    “Miki? Miki, can you hear me?” I opened my eyes to see Kei. Was he the one holding my hand? How weird...
    I sat up slowly.
    “You shouldn’t get up too fast.” Kei pushed me back down.
    “Will you…” I whispered.
    “Will I what?” Kei bent down to ear level.
    “WILL YOU GET AWAY FROM ME!!!” I shouted into hid ear. He fell down from the impact. I sat back up and noticed I was lying in the nurse’s office. What happened?
    “Miki…?” I looked up and saw Aya looking at me with a worried expression.
    “Hey Aya, why are you here?” I asked.
    “I…”
    “She wanted to apologize, so that’s why she stayed waiting until you woke up. Did you know school’s over already?” Kei was sitting up on the floor.
    “Then why are YOU, still here?” I asked through my teeth.
    “Hello, I can’t leave you.” He crawled over to my side and kissed my hand. I could already feel my anger rising above me.
    “Hey.” Kei looked at me seriously as he stood up, “why didn’t you tell me you had insomnia problems?” He asked. “Because it’s none of your business. Who are you to me anyway? You’re not my boyfriend.” I turned away.
    “Fine.” Huh? I looked at him again from a side glance. He looked upset. And after another second passed, he exited the room.
    “Um…” Aya began to start, so I looked at her now.
    “He really cares about you, Kei.” She said in a shy voice.
    “No, he likes to tease me is all.”
    “Well I was really impressed that he saved you.”
    “He what?” I was shocked.
    “You were going to jump and commit suicide, but Kei grabbed you before you could get over the bars. When he caught you, you had feinted. He brought you to the nurse, and she later told you it was due to sleep insomnia. Kei stayed with you the whole time.” I looked down at my hands. Kei carried me here because he was worried. If he was really evil, he would have never helped me.
    “Um…and also, I’m sorry for causing you trouble.” Aya apologized.
    “Why are you apologizing?” I asked.
    “Because, I said all those things to you that made you want to jump.” I chuckled. She looked at me confused.
    “It wasn’t your fault. It was mine, it always has been.”
    “What are you talking about?” Aya came closer and sat on a chair. I took a deep breath and looked out the window.
    “At my old school…I had a friend who was just like you almost. Her name was Asami, and we were best friends. We would go everywhere together like we were sisters even. One day, I was asked out by a boy who actually looked like a nerd, Eru. But since I was happy to finally be asked out, I said yes. Soon, I noticed all the nice things he did for me and I slowly fell madly in love with him. But one night, we met up after his job was over. I didn’t know where he worked, and I really didn’t care at the time…”

    “I’m sorry, did you wait long?” Eru said as he embraced me.
    “Not really.” I giggled.
    “You’re terrible at lying. Stay here and I’ll go get you something warm to drink.” He let go of me and went off. I didn’t realize how cold I was until he had hugged me. And now that he let go, I’m feeling cold.
    “Hey pretty lady.” I was somehow surrounded by a group of guys. I backed away from them and made sure not to turn my back on them. This wasn’t good at all.
    “Don’t be afraid, we just want some fun.” I could smell the stench of alcohol and smoke.
    “Come here cutie, I’ll treat you right.” Gross, I screamed.
    “Hey!” One of them covered ran over to cover my mouth.
    “Yeah, shut her up!” One of the other guys ordered. Even though my mouth was covered, I was still screaming underneath.
    “Miki.” I looked over and saw my boyfriend for the first time. He looked cold and furious.
    “Come here Miki.” He told me. What the hell was he thinking?! I can’t just walk away from these guys! A little help would be nice!!!
    “Miki, if you don’t come here; these guys will all suffer.” He said once more. Was he trying to prove something?!
    “What the hell are you talking about boy?” One of the guys laughed. In fact, they were all laughing.
    “Fine, but I warned you Miki.” Eru snapped his fingers once, and another group of guys came out of no where, and began to fight off the drunkards... My eyes widened, as he only walked through everything, coming towards me.
    “Don’t come closer, or I’ll cut her throat!” The guy behind me held a knife to my neck.
    “Hold on, let me give you something first.”
    “What do you want to give me?” The drunkard asked as Eru as he walked closer.
    “This.” Eru punched the drunkard in the face. I was trembling in fear for the first time. I looked all around and saw that the drunkards were almost half dead.
    “I told you to come to me.” Eru looked at me with a cold expression. I didn’t know what else to do, so I hugged him tightly.
    The next day, everything went back to normal. Except, I noticed Eru was becoming a little over-protective. After my club activities, he would be waiting with his best friend Shin, by his side. I didn’t mind though, it felt nice for somebody to care so deeply about me.
    “Hey Miki, why don’t we hang out after school today?” Asami had asked me after club activities one day. I said yes, since I haven’t hung out with her in a while. After our club ended, Eru and Shin waited again.
    “Sorry Eru, but I’m going to hang out with Asami for a bit.” I told him. First he glared at Asami, and then he looked at me and said no.
    “Too bad you have no say, she’s MY best friend!” Asami pulled me away and we left together. The next day, is when everything went bad. Eru had taken me to the side to talk to me. It would have been nice, if it didn’t feel so sinister.
    “I don’t want you to hang out with Asami anymore.”
    “Why not, she’s my best friend!” I was outraged!!!
    “So?” His face was serious.
    “I don’t care what you say! I’m going to keep seeing Asami!” Before I could say or do anything more, he pounded his fist against the wall in the back of me.
    “Then everyone will suffer.” He said. I didn’t like the feeling his words gave me.

    “He was so controlling, that everyone suffered because of me. I was torn between love and concern for others. After a while, everyone stopped talking to me because they were just too scared too approach me with Eru as my boyfriend. Asami…had it worse than everyone else. She was also the first person to cut all ties with me. She told me she didn’t want to talk to me ever again. Even though we stopped talking, she was still being bullied which made it even worse…” Tears began to form. Aya stayed silent, so I took another deep breath and continued.
    “Towards the end of the year is where it really went bad. One day after our club ended, I noticed that Eru hadn’t showed up yet to pick me up. So I made an effort to catch Asami as she was just about to reach the exit of the school…

    “Asami…” I approached her.
    “I told you before; I don’t want to talk to you.” She told me, heading for the exit.
    “I’m sorry Asami, please…”
    “I don’t want to talk to you!” She turned around and slapped me.
    “Well what do we have here?” Eru and Shin came walking towards us. I looked at Eru, by the glare in his eyes; I could tell he had seen everything. Since I didn’t want him to hit her back, I ran up to him and kissed him passionately. He responded by holding onto my waist.
    “Let’s get out of here.” I told him after the kiss ended.
    “Sure.” He put his arm over my shoulders.
    “What should I do with her?” Shin pointed to Asami before we could leave. Damn him!!!
    “Whatever.” Eru replied. Shin smiled and pushed Asami against the wall. He forced himself on her, kissing her with his tongue, and going past her skirt. Inside, I wanted to do something. I wanted to help! But Eru held me back, I couldn’t move.
    “Stop!” I yelled. Shin jumped back, feeling his lip.
    “You…!” He slapped her across the face. Asami ran out the door before they could do anymore damage. I pushed Eru hard, and ran after her.
    “She bit me!” Shin yelled as Eru began laughing.
    “Asami!” I grabbed her arm.
    “No!” She looked at me with tear struck eyes. I remember that Asami and I used to be close…and now she seemed so far away.
    “Ever since you started going out with him, you’ve changed. You always stepped up for what was right. Now all you’ve done, is bully everyone weaker than you! Well guess what? I’m tired of it! I don’t want to see your face ever again! I HATE YOU YOSHINORI MIKI!!!” I was so shocked, that I didn’t even stop her.

    “After I let go of her arm, she slapped me again, and ran into the street…” I put my head in my hands; I was beginning to cry even harder.
    “Asami…she didn’t see the car that was driving fast and…”
    “ASAMI!!!”
    “Oh Miki…” Aya was hugging me now. I could tell she was crying too. We just sat there, she stayed with me until I stopped...