"Rena-chan! I know I said it before, but you shouldn't have!" Hisa shouted, her hands balled into fists. "Sorry..... Hisa-chan...... but after everything you've done for me, it wouldn't be right to stay and watch you leave." Rena replied, averting her blue eyes. "Besides, just because we aren't down there with them doesn't mean we can't cheer them on from the stands, right? And I have a feeling that this'll make them stronger."

Hisa sighed and slumped down in her seat, burrying her face in her arms. The teacher came in and Rena made her way towards her seat, making sure to be cautious since Kaiya was also there. She caught Rinnosuke's gaze and a small smile spread across her face as she sat down, taking out her notebook. She knew that just because she didn't walk with him after school or helped his team directly, nothing would change. She'd still like him, and they'd still remain friends.

"Good morning, class."

"Good morning, sensei!" Another typical day of school started again, but the pink haired girl was feeling much better than she had the day before.

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Rena sighed as she started walking towards the exit of the school. She'd subconsciously headed towards the gymnasium since she was walking alone, and to her surprise, it was empty. Amaya had business in the studen council room, and Kumi was stuck on cleaning duty, which meant she would be walking alone, which felt quite unnatural.

She clutched the strap of her bag tightly as she walked outside, the chilly winter air making her breath come out in puffs. She shivered, rubbing her arms. She didn't think it could get much colder in Japan, but knew better than to dawdle. It was winter, which meant that the skies would get darker quicker, and it would inevitably grow much, much colder as the evening drew to a close.

She looked up at the fading sun, huffing. It really was beautiful. She found herself stopped in her tracks, staring up at the sky. She shook her head and started her treck once more, until she felt a hand rested on her shoulder. She gasped and jumped, her head whipping over her shoulder. She relaxed.

"Mitobe-san, you startled me." She smiled and he gave her a shy, appologetic grin in return. Her cheeks warmed up, and she averted her gaze. Why is he so cute.....? Immediatly her face flushed a darker crimson, scolding herself for thinking such a thought. Her eyebrows then knitted in confusion as she looked up at the tall boy. "Aren't you supposed to be at basketball practice?" She asked.

Cancelled.

She nodded her head. "Ah, I see..." She trailed off. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow..... Mitobe-san."

I'll walk you.

She looked at him in surprise before nodding hesitantly. "I-If you're sure...." She mumbled and he nodded, the two of them taking the familiar route towards her house. Her heart bubbled with excitement, while her stomach flipped in anxiousness. On the way, the two passed the basketball court when he suddenly stopped, causing her to turn around to look at him. His dark eyes were serious, and she felt a pang of adrenaline in her veins.

She knew what he was going to ask, and she was scared to see how he'd react.

What happened the other day?

No one had gotten the chance to ask her yet, and she swallowed the lump forming in her throat. She took a deep breath. She trusted him, and even though it wasn't really a big deal, it only furthered her problem, not to mention the pain that it would bring her to think of those horrible memories. She walked into the concrete court, a little dust of snow on the ground. She sat down on one of the benches provided, and he sat beside her.

"I trust you, Mitobe-san, enough to tell you all of this.... so, please, keep it between us, okay?" He nodded and she took another deep breath, holding her knees to her chest as she looked at the ground.

"In elementary school, it wasn't exactly the best of years for me, or my sisters, for that matter. I was just any other normal shy kid, but a near the end of the third grade, people started to treat me differently. They said it was because of my weird pink hair, which I'd always been so proud of. Day after day, their torments grew and grew, and the little friends I had started to drift away in fear of being targeted, too. I started to get more and more self-conscious, until something sprouted from it. I guess some would call it a phobia. At the end of the sixth grade, I was always looking over my shoulder, always afraid."

"I wasn't really living at that point, but the last straw was when I saw Kumi go through the same thing I was, just because she was my sister. No one dared pick on Amaya, but she took it just as hard as Kumi and I did." She cursed as tears started to come to her eyes. She blinked them away, determined not to let any fall.

"I had to be perfect, I thought. I couldn't let people judge me, and in turn judge my sisters because of me. I grew so accustomed to that thought, that when people do judge me, I feel like I'm on the verge of dying, and I'm overwhelmed with fear. So when Kaiya did exactly that..... I... lost it. Shortly after, when I was a first year in middle school, my parents died in a car accident, and my siblings and I moved in with our aunt. She has to travel a lot, so she sends us money every month to pay for essentials. She said she didn't want us to have to move and leave our friends behind constantly."

She clenched her fists on her uniform's skirt, squeezing her eyes closed. "And the one who started all of it, and kept it going all throughout grade school... It was..... It was..... Hisa." She whispered and his eyes widened, his mouth parting slightly.

"I found her crying one day shortly after my parents died, and that day changed both our lives. She quit being a delinquent and a bully, while I started being less obsessed with being 'perfect', because I'd finally made a friend; a real friend. Turns out an enemy from the past can be a friend in the future, and she wasn't all that different from me, I realized that. I still do. Her father was a strategist for basketball, but he passed away when we were in first grade. That's why it's so important to her. We just had different ways of handling things. I knew Kaiya said something about her father that would have upset her, because nothing else would make her react that way." She finished, and brushed away a stray tear that leaked from her blue eyes.

She hated the way that it seemed so small, but she made such a big deal out of it. Her eyes widened when she was suddenly pulled into his arms. The gesture alone meant one thing, and she heard it loud and clear.

It's okay to be scared of something.