"After that, he got busier and busier in the tennis club while I went ahead and did my own thing. We met each other a few more times in the playground like always... but eventually, practice took over almost every spare moment he had. He'd train right up to an hour past sunset. Gradually after that, he just stopped coming. I found out he spent his evenings at some sports centre in town."

A little wry smile appeared on 's face as she reminisced.

    "It's strange. I didn't know I liked him enough to miss him until he went away to play tennis and left me behind to take photographs in that old playground."

    "...you had a crush on him, senpai?" ventured tentatively.

The response was almost instantaneous and snappy, like a whip. "No! Of course not! We were just friends... friends can miss each other when they go away, can't they?"

    "Y-yeah, sure they can..." The younger girl tactfully didn't mention that her senior had gone quite red in the face.

calmed down slowly, twiddling with a pen in her hands. "...anyway... there was really nothing I could do. He was busy with tennis and if I was correct, nothing would convince him to work any less than he was already doing. So I just went along with it and... well, it wasn't too big of a deal. You know, some 'hi's and 'how are you's exchanged here and there... nothing special."

The wry smile diminished slightly at her words.

    "I wasn't that interested in tennis... but I just kept up anyway, just to find out what he was up to. And as you know, Rikkai soon became famous for the Big Three: Yanagi-san, Sanada-san and of course, Yukimura-kun. But not long after that..."

    "Ill?"

    "Yes. Some sort of strange illness, they said."

He was all the whole school could talk about the day. Somehow, word had leaked out that the rather famous Yukimura Seiichi had had to be hospitalized for a mysterious sickness. A sickness that could very well cost him his entire tennis career. In his absence, the tennis team would be led by Sanada Genichirou. Yukimura would undergo treatment and hopefully be restored to his former self.

, as she sat at her desk, pretending to be folding origami cranes and not listening, felt a shiver run down her back at such a thought. Tennis was the boy's passion, one of his reasons for living. Take that away and it would be like taking away one of his legs. But as far as she knew... there wasn't much anyone could do except pray for his swift recovery and support him all the way. Much like what the rest of the tennis team was doing whenever they went to visit.

A thought struck her and she quickly brushed it away. It wouldn't be sensible. And besides, he might not even recognize her.

Recognize you or not, prodded her conscience, you're still his friend, aren't you? Visiting him as a friend isn't going to hurt.

I wouldn't know what to say to him, she shot back. It's been such a long time since we had a decent conversation. You expect me to waltz into his ward and say "Heard you were sick so I brought you some fruit, how're you doing?"

~*~

The very act of knocking on the door had taken about half a minute's worth of courage mustering. The response from inside, "Come in", elicited feelings of nervous excitement and disappointment – disappointment that he was awake after all.

Opening the door, she slowly went forward, to the end of the bed.

There, propped up by pillows and covered with a sheet up to his waist, was the same pale skinned, blue eyed boy she remembered. Only he'd grown noticeably thinner, cheeks a little gaunter than what she thought was healthy. Nonetheless, she tried to smile when he lightened up in recognition.

    "-chan."

There went that theory of him not recognizing her... "Um, hi. Heard you were sick so... I kinda, uh, brought fruit. Good for health and all that..."

He'd laughed softly when she winced at the clumsiness of her words and beckoned her to sit on a chair by the bed, setting the fruit basket on the nearby table.

    "...how're you doing?" She asked and immediately felt stupid for such a question. The boy was in the hospital. How else could he be doing?

However, Yukimura just smiled gently. "Better than the past few days, I must say."

    "...that's good." She laced her fingers together in her lap, fidgeting with them. "...your whole class wanted to come visit tomorrow. But they figured Sanada-san might kill them for driving you up the wall with so many people so they agreed to let Shoko and Yoshi be their representatives. I told them you might not want more fruit since I was bringing some today." She wondered why she seemed to be babbling – was it to fill up the empty space between them? Or was it so that she wouldn't say something that was more nerve wracking than the daily news of school?

    "Genichirou wouldn't kill them." There was a moment's pause. "At least, I don't think he would. But that's nice of them. It'll be great to see them tomorrow."

There was more small talk, things about school that Yukimura had already heard from Niou and Kirihara, explanations about his conditions and his chances of recovering...

Eventually though, the whole conversation came to a halt and took that as her cue to go. She'd been here for a little over an hour already anyway, forty five minutes more than her initial expectations.

    "I better get going, Yukimura-kun. I'm sorry I bothered you for so long."

The patient looked up at her as she got to her feet and smiled. "Not at all. Thank you for coming to see me, . It was good to see you again... good to talk to you again too."

She returned the smile. "It's been a long while. Maybe we can do this again sometime."

...what the hell did I just say?

    "I, I mean-"

Yukimura had cut her to the quick, nodding in agreement. "That would be nice."

stared at him for a moment or two before nodding as well. "...um, yeah. Well, get some rest. And uh, eat the fruit."

He laughed. "I will. Take care."

    "You too. Ja ne."

~*~

She brought origami papers and grapes the next time she visited. They made paper cranes while she was there. It went without saying that their goal would be a thousand cranes. Even though was the one who taught him at first, his cranes were somehow always more delicate than her own.

She commented on the unfairness of that while Yukimura slyly opined that perhaps her hands were a bit too tomboy-ish for the task. nearly threw something at him despite him being an invalid.

Nevertheless, while they folded, they talked. He told her about tennis and the upcoming Nationals, she told him about her photography and an exhibition that would soon be held at their school. An hour soon grew to two and eventually to three. Paper birds filled up the top space of his bedside table. And in that time, they'd caught up about half of what they'd missed while their connection was weak two years prior.

There came a knock on the door and a nurse came in, smiling apologetically. "Excuse me but it's time for your medicine, Yukimura-san..."

As she entered the room, glanced at her wristwatch and bit down on an exclamation. "I didn't know I'd stay this late. I have to run, Yukimura-kun."

Yukimura watched her pack her things and then picked up the sheets of origami paper that were left. "Here, before you forget these."

blinked. "But... don't you want to make any paper cranes? You know, when you're bored or something...?"

And there came that little smile again.

    "When you come again, I'll make them."

    "...Yukimura-kun, that's-"

He simply reached over and slipped the entire packet into her still-opened bag. Leaning back against his pillows, he grinned slightly at her nonplussed expression. "We've only folded just a little over ninety, I think. There's a long way to go."

    "..." She looked at him for a moment before shaking her head and smiling. shrugged on her duffel bag and nodded. "I'll try to come more often then."

Yukimura nodded smilingly. "That would be best."

left, only realizing that he'd just effectively given her a reason to visit more often than just once every few weeks.

...she didn't know if she ought to be thanking her lucky stars or cursing herself for being taken in so easily.

was clutching a small pillow by now, hanging onto every word and wide eyed. "That was so sweet of you, senpai...!"

fidgeted and twisted her mouth a little, now embarrassed by such a show of sentimentality on her part. "It was a pretty dumb idea."

    "No it wasn't! And he actually used that to get you to see him more often...!"

Resisting the urge to cover her face with her palm, tossed her junior a mildly annoyed look. "Do you want me to continue the story or not?"

promptly hid the bottom half of her face in the pillow and nodded.

There was a short pause as wondered if continuing was the wisest thing to do. But then... in for a penny, in for a pound.

    "That whole routine lasted nearly five weeks. I ran into the tennis team quite often. But if they were there, then I usually left. They're a close knit team, figured I'd be a third wheel.

    "Still, it almost felt like old times if you put aside the fact that he was sick. On his good days, Yukimura-kun never seemed to realize he was ill himself." She smirked ironically. "Sometimes... he could make you believe that really, he had nothing more than a cold."

grimaced at that point. "Then, Yukimura-kun dropped a bombshell one day, a week before the Kantou Regionals..."

    "What do you think about Rikkai's chances at the Kantou Regionals?"

didn't look up from creasing one of the papers. "They'll win."

    "You think so?"

    "What else could happen?"

Yukimura smiled strangely, bending his own piece of paper over. "I don't know, ... a lot of things."

She glanced up at him. "You don't think they could lose, do you?"

The reaction was calm but firm and precise. It was also automatic. "No."

She gazed at him for a good moment before speaking up, long at him fully in the eye. "...listen, Yukimura-kun. If you have any doubts at all, you can push them aside. They're going to do well. If all the rumours I've heard are true, the tennis team are honestly working their as- their butts off for this tournament. They've got especially good reason to do so this year."

    "...I have none of those doubts." He looked at his final product, the 498^th crane. A look of quiet confidence stole over his features, filled his smile. "I just wondered if there is anyone in Rikkai who does."

couldn't shake off the feeling that Yukimura had some sort of double meaning to the question. Nevertheless, she was bound to tell him the truth. "No. Not as far as I know."

    "..." He nodded in satisfaction, setting the little bird on the bedside table. "That's good. That makes my decision doubly confirmed."

    "Decision?"

Yukimura turned towards her. "The doctors asked if I would be willing to go for the operation a few weeks earlier than expected. I'd already agreed even before talking with Genichirou and Renji yesterday. But with what they've told me and after what you've just said... it makes me surer than ever that I'm doing the right thing."

For several heart beat skipping moments, thought she'd gone deaf. She only saw her friend's face but could hear nothing else. It took a few seconds for his words to register in her brain and for her to reply, quite weakly, "...oh."

He smiled slightly. "Don't look so scared, . If all goes well, this guarantees that I'll be able to join the others for the Nationals."

swallowed. "I... I'm not. If you've made your decision, then that's that. I'll support you. All the way." She bent her head again, feeling the need to fold more paper cranes even faster. But that wasn't enough to allay the fear within that threatened to clog up her throat.

There was a long, heavy silence after that revelation.

    "...you don't trust me to come out of the operation alive, ...?"

That one soft spoken question made her jerk her head up in exasperation.

    "Yukimura-kun, it's not that I don't trust you. It's just... just...!"

    "Just what...?"

    "Don't you get tired of being strong all the time like this? You're the one who knows best of all that this operation might..." She couldn't bear to finish her sentence.

    "...I know. And sometimes. Sometimes it can be quite hard."

    "Then why can't you be weak? Even if it's just for ONE second..." If only so I would know that you're really human and you won't exhaust yourself being so brave all the time...

Yukimura regarded her for a while before shaking his head. "You know why I can't. I've told you before."

    "I know. But do you think the team would blame you for showing any... any fear? Do you think anyone would judge you for the slightest shiver?" demanded , her vexation rising. "If they do, they deserve to be shot."

    "...then doesn't that mean I should be shot?"

She was stunned for a moment by that short reply.

    "...what do you..."

He smiled, the serenity in that facial gesture suddenly seeming so ingratiating to her. "I don't think they would blame me if I told them outright that I was scared. In fact, I believe they already know. But I would be disappointed in myself if I let them see my fear. The very fact that I don't say so is important. Do you know why, ?"

    "...no, I don't."

    "Because that is known as courage. It is not the avoidance but the mastery of fear. Part of that mastery is not letting it show on our faces if we can help it. And courage plays a large part in the Rikkai Dai team."

He looked out, far beyond the window.

    "One day, , you'll understand the importance of being strong even if you won't be judged for being weak. One day, when you find someone who needs you to be strong for them... and vice versa. But then..."

Yukimura smiled gently.

    "You've always been strong. Maybe that one day has already come and gone for you."

And felt something inside her twist the wrong way at his words. It was horrible but she actually smiled wryly.

    "...for once, you're wrong."

    "How so?"

She shook her head, going back to her paper crane. "Not telling."

clutched her pillow tighter, not saying a word about the fact that her senpai's eyes were suddenly shiny.

blinked to clear her eyes of that prickling sensation she felt at the back of her eyeballs. She hated that feeling.

    "...he was operated on the day of the Kantou finals. I wanted to be at the hospital during his operation. But some days before, Yukimura-kun said he'd much rather have me rooting for the team if that was possible.

    "...so I did. I went. And as much as we cheered and as hard as they played... Rikkai lost to Seishun and fell to second place."

She shook her head, remembering the fear that had rippled through her entire body when she saw Sanada Genichirou's defeat.

    "There's no superstition that relates losing a competition to a sick person but at that point in time, there was always that feeling... that really awful feeling at the pit of your stomach that... well, that Yukimura-kun could..."

    "I know, senpai. I can imagine," cut in , her tone of voice quieter than normal.

nodded, releasing a long breath. "But thank God... superstitions didn't hold out that time. He pulled through. In a few days... he was back on his feet, slowly rehabilitating. It was a short time before he was released out of hospital, free of illness." The smile on the older girl's face was reminiscent. "And of course, Rikkai Dai fully welcomed their hero back."

    "...and you, senpai?"

    "Me? Of course I welcomed him back with everyone else."

    "No, I mean... you said you'd sort of lost contact with him before he fell ill. After he got better, what happened to the two of you?"

The smile remained, reminiscence now melting into resignation. "Nothing happened, -chan. Granted, I didn't get to talk to him much during his rehabilitation and his practicing for the Nationals. But nevertheless, we remained friends. Heck, I went to one of the matches during the Nationals to cheer him on."

    "...but after all you've just told me, why aren't you two any closer? If you got that upset over him being-"

    "-chan, I wasn't the only who was upset. If anything, it was his family and his team who were a billion times more upset than I was. I was just an old friend who didn't do much but visit and make him fold cranes out of paper." shook her head. "Like I said, we remained ordinary friends. To this very day, three years after that incident, we're still friends."

could have pulled her hair out at her senior's uncharacteristic resignation. "But you LIKE him. As in, you LIKE, and HAVE liked him for years. I can see it written all over your face no matter WHAT you say...!!"

waited for a few minutes as her kouhai realized what had just been blurted out. cringed in anticipation of a very pointed rebuke.

Hence her surprise when just sighed. "Even if that were true, even if I DID like him as more than a friend, does it matter, -chan?"

    "Of course it does!"

    "Why?"

    "Because it's not good to bottle up all these feelings! You've always told me that, so why haven't you DONE anything about it, senpai?! It's not like you to hide all these feelings away-"

    "It IS like me, -chan...!" In her rising aggravation, had forgotten she was supposed to be denying the fact that she liked the boy.

    "I may believe in opening up to people and I'm downright crude when I speak and I don't have much talent in the tact department but I know when I should say something and when I shouldn't. This is one of those times when I SHOULDN'T say anything."

    "How would YOU know, senpai, when you don't even give it a chance-"

    "Because I already know I'd lose to tennis!"

stopped short, staring at her best friend.

    "I know damn well that Yukimura's head is filled with nothing but tennis! There isn't any room for anything else, much less ME!"

's angry look turned into frustrated guilt at 's wide eyed expression. "It hurts because... I know I couldn't do anything to help him. Tennis gave him strength. His team gives him strength. I... I've done nothing else but... be weak."

That last word settled into the room with the silence. It stretched out, created a sort of invisible barrier between the two girls.

    "...senpai..."

closed her eyes, letting her hand support her head. All the turmoil had faded away already. Now she just felt tired.

    "I don't know how he thought I was strong when I really wasn't. A stronger person would've done better things than try to fold a thousand paper cranes. A stronger character would've tried to help him more, in any other way...a stronger person would have persisted in going after him even if he was busy with tennis."

looked at 's weary expression in silent sympathy for a bit.

    "And you kept this to yourself since your first year in junior high? You never told anyone?"

    "...you're the first." took in a deep breath and shook herself, letting the turmoil fade away slowly. "...anyway it's all over now. Has been for three years. He doesn't need to know all this."

    "...but senpai... he's quitting tennis after tomorrow. Surely, that could be a chance-"

shook her head firmly. "No. Promise me, -chan. Not a word to anyone."

She caught the seriousness in her senior's face and relented, nodding. "...but will you still cheer for him tomorrow? It's his final match after all."

    "...I don't know."

~*~

    "-san, isn't it?"

turned around, meeting the calm, slightly smiling face of one Yanagi Renji. "Yanagi-san... hi. I thought you'd already be inside, anticipating the scores."

The smile stretched a little further. "I had an errand to run before coming thus my slight tardiness. Are you here to cheer Seiichi on?"

    "Oh, um, no, not quite, I'm afraid."

    "Then may I ask what you're doing here outside the stadium?"

I couldn't stay away but I'm too much of a chicken to buy a ticket and actually go inside to watch.

    "No reason. I just like hanging around here..." Oh, sure, that's smooth, , REAL smooth...

Yanagi lifted an eyebrow but said nothing. "Well then, I must be heading in. The match has probably already begun."

She nodded quickly. "See you around, Yanagi-san."

The data man of Rikkai returned the nod and proceeded inside. meanwhile breathed a sigh of relief and went to look for a quiet place outside the stadium. Unaware of her sudden last minute decision to come, -chan was inside with her other second year friends. They were determined to show the Rikkai Dai colours.

She'd be able to hear the cheers from here, surely. A player as good as Yukimura was bound to draw out large applause and hoots.

She thought back to the conversation she'd had the day before with and remembered what had plagued her throughout the night after the younger girl had gone home.

    "You've always been strong. Maybe that one day has already come and gone for you."

    "...for once, you're wrong."

    "How so?"

I've never been strong for you.

It wasn't fun being weak... but that was what she was. If it concerned Yukimura, you could tell her to do the stupidest things and she might just do it.

He was the first boy to get her to cry when she dreamed of him suddenly just dying like that, in front of her eyes. She'd jerked upwards awake, tears pouring down her face because she was that worried.

A stronger person would have believed in Yukimura more.

shook her head. She was truly being stupid. She wanted to walk away, wanted to go on home.

But somehow she felt a need to be here. Even if Yukimura didn't know she was here, even if she couldn't compete with tennis... the very knowledge she'd been here would be enough. She'd at least been strong enough to come, if not strong enough to actually go and see him and while feeling elated at watching him play the sport he loved so, feel sad that she would never inspire him that much.

She settled onto a bench and with one earphone in one ear connected to her mp3 player in hand, she waited.

Half an hour later, she heard the exuberant cheers and she smiled to herself. The faint calls of "Yukimura! Yukimura!" told her that Yukimura Seiichi would be ending his youthful tennis career with a bang. She looked up to the sky, vast and blue above her. White clouds floated gently by across her field of vision.

She hoped his victory had been something well earned.

Congratulations, Yukimura-kun.

~*~

That evening, sat and went through the digital images she'd captured an hour beforehand. Under the red-orange sky on sunset, she'd taken pictures of the kids playing in the jungle gym, see saw, on the swings she was sitting on right now. She'd gotten pictures of the surrounding atmosphere and the fading light.

But fresh in her mind were the thoughts of a blue eyed tennis player.

How would his life be like now that he'd retired? More time to concentrate on exams, for one thing. And maybe time to pursue other hobbies. She didn't quite know.

She wondered if he'd kept those paper birds they'd made three years ago. She'd never had the guts or the opportunity to ask.

Sighing a little, changed the mode of the camera and began lifting it this way and that, wondering what else she could take photos of. The left gave her the silhouettes of the trees, the center, the empty jungle gym, the left, Yukimura-

........what?

stared, slowly lowered her camera and nearly had a heart attack to find that she hadn't been hallucinating.

    "W, what are you doing here...?"

Yukimura chuckled, taking a seat beside her on another empty swing. He placed a box he'd been carrying on the ground. "I thought I might revisit this old haunt."

She looked down at her camera, feeling her heartbeat quicken. "Really."

    "Mm hmm." He looked around, one hand curled around the swing's chain. "...it's been a long time since I came."

said nothing, wondering if she could really say anything. They hadn't really had much recent conversation after all.

    "...I have more time now though, since I've quit tennis."

    "...I know." She looked up. "Why did you?"

Yukimura took in a deep breath. "Entrance exams are not able to be passed without full concentration. And... I decided that perhaps, it was a good time to retire. There aren't many good opponents left to play against."

Her gaze went back to her camera. "I see."

She didn't notice the long look Yukimura gave her before he eventually spoke up. "...Renji told me he met you outside the stadium earlier."

froze, her grip tightening around her camera. 

    "...why didn't you come in?"

She didn't dare look up. "...I..."

    "...you...?"

There was an inward groan. "I... didn't have a ticket."

    "...then what were you doing there?"

Annoyance flashed through her, at his questions and at her own limp answers. "Look, can't a girl hang around outside stadiums? Is that so strange?" She raised her head to face him and gave him a look. Yukimura held her gaze without the slightest sign of discomfort.

Eventually it was who had to turn away again, feeling all kinds of emotions all at once.

    "...did you stay for the whole match?"

She crossed her arms, still purposely long away from him. "...congratulations."

Yukimura chuckled at the curt, rather grudging answer. "So you did stay."

    "So what if I did?"

The boy only smiled. He swung back and forth gently for a while, letting the silence settle about them for some time.

    "We really haven't talked for a while, have we?"

    "...no."

    "Is there any chance you might want to talk about something now?"

    "...nothing in particular."

    "...in that case, I'd just like to ask you something, . And I'd like you to be honest."

    "...what?"

    "Did we ever reach a thousand paper cranes, between the two of us?"

nearly fell off her seat. She whipped around to stare, mouth slightly open, sullenness knocked away by amazement.

    "You... you remember...?"

    "Of course." Yukimura reached downwards for the box and held it out to her.

In completely shocked silence, numbly opened it up. Inside, were the paper cranes he'd folded three years ago, made out of square papers of multiple colours and patterns. She barely heard him say that he'd counted 501 for his part.

There was more silence, more awkwardness. Finally she just looked at him, at a loss of what to say. He returned the gaze, equally silent.

    "...309," she suddenly blurted out.

    "...309?" repeated Yukimura.

She nodded. "I don't know if that's correct but I remember counting that many at some point."

    "...altogether, that would make 810." He smiled a little. "We're 190 short."

    "...does it matter?" She glanced at him through the corner of her eyes. "You're alive and well now."

    "Who knows? I might need a thousand anytime."

    "Yukimura-kun!"

He chuckled and looked up to the already dark sky. "...nevertheless... I'd still like to reach a thousand. World peace is a good thing to work for." [2]

    "...you still can. You've got time do so now."  

    "...you honestly don't remember, do you?" Yukimura turned to look at her, smiling gently. "I only fold them when you're around."

There was silence from her as he continued. "Why do you think I stopped at just 501?"

    "...because you didn't have time to buy origami paper...?"

Her wan smile turned into a gulp at the look on his face. Something in that expression made her go wobbly at the knees even though she was sitting down.

    "I... Yukimura-kun-"

He shook his head. ", I've always remembered these birds. And I've always wondered why till today, you've seemed to avoid me."

The expression on Yukimura's expression was calm but there was something in his eyes that suggested regret.

    "I'll be honest with you, . -san happened to catch me this afternoon. She told me you thought you were being weak... when you should have been strong."

He shook his head slowly. "I should have been stronger for you so you didn't have to feel as if you'd failed me. I'm the one who failed you... and I didn't even know I had. I'm sorry I made you feel that way."

I should have been stronger for you...

Did he just say...?

    "Strong... stronger for me?" Her eyes were wide. "Why would you be strong for me? I-"

    "I wanted to be strong for you so you wouldn't worry. But instead, I made you even more distressed." He continued to look at her in that very strange manner. "I suppose that's why you've avoided me... even till today."

There was a very long silence as that sunk in.

And then she shook her head.

    "Yukimura-kun... just for the record... you could never fail me. Ever. I just thought... that you would be too busy to talk or meet. And... you know, I saw how dedicated you were and... well, admit it: would you have had the time to spare talking like this? Would you have wanted to?"

    "...no."

The answer stung, no matter how expected it'd been. "There you are."

    "No, I wouldn't have had the time to spare. But I would have wanted to."

stopped short and looked up again.

    "Didn't you?" urged Yukimura further.

fingered one of the paper cranes she lifted out of the box. "...I did."

    "Then do I have to fall desperately ill again so that I can see you more often?"

That did it. Regret for the time lost, sadness that she'd made him feel like that and a realization that he wanted her around mixed together and pureed, poured through her entire being.

Yukimura took one look at her face and with some sort of resolution, got up from the swing. He stood in front of .

    "I think we've wasted enough time assuming things about each other and wondering if we've failed each other. Which we have, in a way." A kind of smile appeared. "Will you give me another chance to make things right?"

stared up at him, her mind going in crazy circles and screaming that this might be a dream and what on earth had just happened? Her heartbeat was going into overdrive to boot.

    "...Yukimura-kun, I wish I could but... I might not be able to be strong for you in return..."

    "You already are." His smile was the gentlest, kindest thing she'd ever seen. "You may not know it but you already are. And even if you weren't, I couldn't care less. Just as long as you let me be strong for you."

For one breathless moment, couldn't fathom how this boy could just turn her own illogical logic onto its head so effortlessly.

And when that moment passed, she found herself being pulled up to her feet and in his arms. All she could think about then was him.

    "You know, I think I tortured myself for six years for no reason."

Yukimura's voice murmured amusedly near her hair. "Seems like you to do such a thing."

    "Hmmph."

    "...thank you for waiting for me."

    "...who says I was waiting for you?"

The low chuckle made her look up at him, about to protest that she hadn't been waiting for him. Sort of. Kinda.

Instead, she lost all sense of thought when Yukimura pressed his lips against her own. They broke apart half a minute later, Yukimura smiling, shaking her head.

    "I think I'll always be weak for you, Yukimura-kun. Never strong."

    "There's strength in weakness, . I've never known how until I met you again."

That earned him a tighter hug.

They remained like that for a while, in their silent, warm and comfortable embrace.

Then a thought occurred to her as she leaned her head against his shoulder.

    "...Yukimura-kun?"

    "Yes, ?"

    "Remind me to kill -chan on Monday after I thank her for telling you all my deepest darkest secrets."

Yukimura just laughed.

End.
Yoake
8.July.2006

[1] Shinjuku Gyoen's full name is Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden. It's a "large park with an eminent garden in Shinjuku and Shibuya". (quoted from Wikipedia) It used to be only for royalty until they opened it up for the public in 1949. Sure looks like a very lovely place to visit. :)

[2] One thousand paper cranes are folded as a wish for good health as well as for world peace.

A/N July 8th, 3.07 a.m: I honestly don't understand why I can only write at these insane hours. =__________=;;;; As some of the other writers know... this was supposed to be an AU DN. But due to time constraints, I decided to go with a modern setting – a few years later when Yukimura's in his third and last year of high school.