Mr. Shiozawa loved the morning.  He would always wake up early and read his morning paper and even listen to his favorite radio programs.  A lot of times he would sit on his front steps with a hot cup of cocoa and watch the sunrise make the world turn bright and colorful.  This particular morning he had just done so and walked back into his house, feeling very good about the new day.  Mr. Shiozawa was a very charismatic man and, he liked to think, a good father for his two boys.  He had rather thin blonde hair on the top of his head (he liked to blame Hiroshi for his lack of a full head of hair) and steel gray eyes.  He was wearing a white robe and had the newspaper clasped in one hand with an empty mug in the other.  As he walked back into the kitchen, his oldest son, Hiroshi, zoomed past him.
    'I CAN'T BE LATE!!' he screamed.
    Mr. Shiozawa stood absolutely still.  Something wasn't right here.  Hiroshi actually cared about being late for something it seemed.  Being late never fazed him in the past, he was late usually every day!  As well as he knew his son, Mr. Shiozawa just knew Hiroshi had to be up to something'
    'Hiroshi?' he walked to the sink and watched his son frantically digging through the refrigerator.  Hiroshi stopped and looked back to him, his face with its usual vapid shallowness.
    'Oh, hey pop.'
    'What are you doing?' he asked, setting the newspaper on the sideboard.
    'No time to talk now, I just have to go to school!'
    'School?' Mr. Shiozawa looked to the clock on the kitchen wall and became very confused, 'Son, it's only 6:20.  You're always in bed at this time!'
    'Crap...' Hiroshi whispered with his head in the refrigerator.
    Mr. Shiozawa walked up to him.  'Why are you up so early anyway?'  Then he spotted something in Hiroshi's back pocket.  It looked like a rolled up piece of bright paper, like a flyer or something.  He had his speculations and almost grabbed it, but Hiroshi stood up, bumping his head on the top of the fridge as he did so.
    'Aw, come on pop, can't a guy just really want to get to school early?' he was avoiding his eyes.
    Mr. Shiozawa didn't like the tone in Hiroshi's voice and could still see the bright paper sticking out of his back pocket.  Trying to be sneaky, he reached for it, but Hiroshi got out of his way.  He continued to do this and Hiroshi now was getting scared.  Finally, his dad out maneuvered him and grabbed the paper.  Hiroshi saw his life flash before his eyes.  'And what have we here, son?' he brought the bright orange paper in front of him and began to unroll it.  Hiroshi tried to slowly sneak away, but his dad caught hold of him.  He looked down to the paper and began to read aloud, 'Do you like beautiful bunnies and sweet kitties?  If so, come to the 'Bunny vs. Kitty mud wrestling contest' at the Tokyo love asylum Monday morning 6:30 sharp to be part of the exiting action.  See Tokyo's most beautiful women get bare and dirty in the mud and even become part of the action yourself.  It's a once in a lifetime experience you won't want to miss.  Bring all your friends, and BE MURDERED BY YOUR FATHER!!' Mr. Shiozawa looked to his son with fire in his eyes.  Hiroshi just smiled dumbly.  He knew he was going to die.  Mr. Shiozawa was insanely angry, so much so that his eye even began to twitch!  'Hiroshi' how many times have we been through this?' he tried to keep calm, but his voice was wavering with rage.
    Hiroshi tried to think and back away at the same time, it proved to be rather difficult for him, 'Umm' I'd like to talk, but I fear you'll strangle me if I do'
    He snapped, 'HIROSHI!  YOU ARE NOT GOING TO THIS!!  WHY DO YOU ALWAYS INSIST ON BEING SUCH A FREAKIN' PERVERT?!'
    Hiroshi was scared, he shielded his eyes.  Then, he was a little shocked, 'Dad' did you just say a word I thought you said?'
    'DON'T CHANGE THE SUBJECT!  NOW YOU ARE NOT GOING TO BE DOING ANYTHING FOR THE REST OF THIS MONTH, YOU UNDERSTAND?' he ripped the orange paper into several pieces.  Hiroshi watched with tears in his eyes and could feel his own soul practically being ripped also as the little scraps fell to the ground and collected in a pile of shattered dreams.  He whimpered and his bottom lip quivered.  Mr. Shiozawa was totally disgusted, 'Son,' he tried to be calmer, 'I love you, but please don't ruin your life by getting caught up in this garbage.  All it can do is harm you.'
    Hiroshi looked to him, his lip trembling more than ever.  His dad gave him a very insistent glare and Hiroshi sighed, walking slowly and sadly back to his bedroom.  He sat down in front of his beloved laptop.  The screen flickered back on to reveal a pair of legs loading on the screen.  He sighed.  'No one understands' and I was looking forward to that all week!  I guess I'll just have to watch it live from the web site' right as he said that, his screen went totally blank.  He gasped and screamed, 'NO!!'
    'Honey?  Could you come here please?  I think I blew the fuse when I was curling my hair!'  Hiroshi could hear the voice of his mother from outside his door.
    'Oh, sure honey!  Just let me see' yeah you did blow it.  I'll have to call the electrician and see if he can come out this afternoon to take a look,' he heard his dad say.
    'Does that mean we can't use any power all morning?'
    'Until it's fixed this afternoon, that's right.'
    Hiroshi fell over off of his chair.  Was this really happening to him?  Was his luck totally turning sour for a reason?  A tear streamed down form his eyes as he thought of never being able to experience the thing he had been looking so forward to, he couldn't even watch it online!  He thought about batteries, but then remembered he had already used all of them.  It was hopeless.  Hiroshi just laid there and thought about the grimness.  For him, it was the ultimate torture.
    Mr. Shiozawa walked down to the end of the hallway to a white door.  There was a sign on it, painted pastel pink and blue with little teddy bears that read 'Satoru.'  He knocked softly on the door.  'Satoru?'
    'Come in, daddy.' He heard a soft voice from the other side of the door.  He opened the door to reveal Satoru's bright, clean bedroom.  There was bright white carpet and over to the left side, shelves full of cute, fluffy stuffed animals and toys.  He had a butterfly mobile hanging from his ceiling right by the door along with several ballet posters on his white walls.  To the right side was his closet, closed and neat and a shelf with several storybooks stacked nicely and orderly together.  There was also a small fish bowl on the desk in the corner, home to a beautiful little guppy that Satoru loved very much.  There were two large windows in the bedroom, one on the wall right behind the bed and one on the wall perpendicular to the bed.  They let in the bright morning light through their lacey curtains.  Placed right before the center of the wall opposite of the door was Satoru's bed.  It was very cute, pale pink and soft with several pillows with flowery designs.  His whole room seemed to even have a sweet scent to it also, it was completely the opposite of his brother's.
    Mr. Shiozawa smiled to his son, sitting up in his bed.  'Good morning.  How did you sleep?'
    'Just fine.'
    'That's good.  Are you going to get ready for school now?'  Satoru nodded with a cute little smile.  'Alright, mom should have breakfast ready soon.  We don't have any power right now, but your mother always finds a way of getting around little details like that.'
    Satoru giggled, 'Alright.' His dad left and Satoru got out of his bed.  He smoothed it out again and set his favorite stuffed animal, Chika-chan, in her place in the middle of the pillows.  He got dressed in a light blue sweater and jeans and combed his soft hair perfectly until it was very shiny in the light.  He went down and had some breakfast, for once not being bothered by Hiroshi (who was still in shock in his bedroom) and gathered all his school stuff together.  It was pretty early, but he decided to head off to school anyway.  He always went to school early, he liked the way it looked in the morning.  He said goodbye to his parents and went off.
    Satoru walked by himself down the street the short walk to his school.  He sat on a bench in front of the school and waited for Mayuki, who usually was the second person to arrive.  Then, he saw her and she came up to him happily, 'Hi, Satoru-chan!'
    'Hi!  Nice morning, isn't it?'  She nodded.  The weather seemed to be perfect, so sunny and so nice.  Not too hot, not too cold, just right.  They were then pleasantly surprised to see their teacher walking up, in his usual stylish suit and briefcase.  They both smiled as they saw him and called out, 'Good morning, Mr. Kiyomura!'
    He smiled to them, 'Good morning!'
    'Are we getting that new girl today?' Mayuki was very anxious to meet her, apparently.
    'Actually,' he stopped to talk, 'I was told she is coming today.  Be sure and make her feel welcome, ok?' he walked toward the school entrance again.
    They nodded, 'We will!'  They were both very excited and couldn't wait to meet the new student.  Both of them wanted to make another good friend.
    Just then the twins came up and Mayuki told them the good news.  They were equally as excited to meet the new student.  'I wonder what she'll be like!' Tenko was dreamy.  Her and Mayuki talked amongst themselves about possibilities.
    The boys looked to each other.  They finally convinced the girls that they should all walk inside as other students began to arrive.  They sat in their seats in the classroom and all too soon class began.  For once, they were actually excited about that.  It meant that they were drawing closer to meeting the new girl!
    In the beginning of class, the entire morning routine of taking attendance and such was underway, and along the whole while the anxiousness among the group was rising.  Then, Mr. Kiyomura's attention was drawn toward a note delivered by the office.  He came over to the group of desks and set it on Mayuki's desk, 'This is for you.'
    Mayuki looked at the note with confusion.  'Oh, thank you.' She took it and eagerly opened it.  She read it and almost couldn't believe it, 'It says my parents are in the office and I'm supposed to leave now.'
    'What?!' Tenko couldn't believe it.  'But you just got here!  You'll miss the new girl!'
    Mayuki sighed, 'I know what this is about' they're probably making their annual trip to Okinawa and they didn't tell me about it'
    'Well, that should be fun then, I guess.  Tell everyone hi for me!'
    Mayuki smiled to Tenko and looked back to Mr. Kiyomura.  'Well, I have to go then.  I should be back in a couple of days.'
    'Have a nice trip, Mayuki.'  She gathered all of her belongings and with the note in hand left the classroom to meet her parents in the office.  The group was sad to see her go, especially Shingo, they would miss her while she was gone.  The group just didn't seem complete without Mayuki.
    Tenko promised that she would make friends with the new girl and introduce her to Mayuki as soon as she got back.  With the desk next to her empty, Tenko decided to slide over into it so that she was directly across from her brother.  That way she could hold secret telepathic conversations with him better, and it would make it a whole lot easier to throw stuff at him if he feel asleep!  Satoru was a little sad she moved, but it didn't bother him too much.  Now the desk in front of him was empty, it was the only desk in the entire classroom that was vacant.  That meant that the new student would have to sit there'
    Mr. Kiyomura walked back up to the front of the classroom and was about to start his lesson when yet another interruption came.  A messenger from the office came up and talked with him for a minute.  None of the students could make out what they were saying, not even the twins.  The messenger left and the class could tell that Mr. Kiyomura had a big announcement to make.

    The sound of thick rubber soles against the smooth, slick tiles filled the elementary school hallway.  From a note on a tiny ruffled piece of paper, the number of a classroom was written in blue ink.  They turned their eyes up and saw the number above the classroom door, this was the right place to be.  Not wanting to intrude, the student stood against the wall and waited for an invitation by the teacher to enter the new classroom, keeping their eyes lowered.
    'Well,' Mr. Kiyomura began, 'I just got told that the new student is on her way.  I want you all to make her feel welcome when she comes in, remember she was transferred to our school to get away from the harassment she was getting at her old school.'  The student in the hallway could hear this clearly from the opened door.  Mr. Kiyomura looked back to the door and caught a glimpse of the student.  He was thrilled that finally the student arrived.  It was a big deal for the school too!  To have a student transfer there who was harassed at another school made their school seem really ethical and humane.  Many people called since hearing about that to enroll their children into this 'perfect school.'  Mr. Kiyomura wanted to live up to the expectations and make the new student feel welcomed.
    He didn't quite know how this new student would act, so he would try to be as understanding and sensitive as possible.  'Dear?' he called to the new student in the hallway, 'You can come on in now.'
    A tiny black compact mirror closed with a loud snap inside long fingers, decorated in silver rings with black painted over the fingernails.  It was tucked away in a small black bag wrapped around the student's wrist.  There was a daring, yet shy smile on their lips, adorned with a faint silver blackish hue as the student brought their piercing eyes up and quietly whispered, 'It's show time.'
    Everyone's eyes were staring at the door so they could get a glimpse of the new student as she entered.  And just then, the new student stepped into the classroom.  As soon as everyone saw this, a loud gasp echoed throughout, followed by a deafening hush.  This new student was not at all what anyone was expecting.
    The faint smile remained on the silvery lips.  The student looked all around the classroom with brilliantly colored jade green eyes that were dazzling with a thin layer of black eye makeup.  Everyone was staring straight at this student, it was a familiar, good feeling.  The new student spotted the teacher and slowly began to walk toward the front of the classroom.  This student's hair was short and completely jet-black and was spiked into several perfect spikes.  On their ears, they wore two red star earrings that glimmered in the light, along with four other silver rings that ran up along both ears.   They had a black choker around the neck that had several very sharp-looking silver spikes.  Their shirt was also black, it was nearly skintight and made of a sheer fabric that made it almost see through.  It was long sleeved and hugged against their lean, developed body and kept the shoulders bare.  Tiny rips in the shirt were pierced with silver safety pins.  Around their wrists, the student was wearing several bracelets: one spiky one, a chain one, even one with little skulls on it.  They were also wearing black boots that came up to their knees and tied all the way up the legs with very thick soles that had red flames on the bottom and short spikes on the toes.  But the most intriguing part of the new student's ensemble had to have been the shiny black vinyl skirt-looking thing that came to just above the knees, kept up by a red belt with even more short spikes on it.  It was an eyeful for anyone, and none of the students could quite believe what they were seeing.
    Shingo's eyes grew, 'THAT'S the new student?!' he pretty much spoke for the entire classroom then.
    Mr. Kiyomura had to admit, this student was not at all what he was expecting, but, he would look past the outrageous appearance and welcome the student like any other.  'Uh, well, here is our new student.  I'm sorry, they never told me your name.  What is your name?'
    'Taka.'  The voice was surprisingly low, 'Kamedaki Taka.  Nice to meet you.'
    A GUY?!?!?!?!  That was the most shocking and disturbing part of all!  This new student that everyone thought would be a girl proved not to be.  It was a guy!!  AND HE WAS WEARING A SKIRT!!!  Everyone was very disturbed and couldn't think of anything to say to each other, they just stared at him with their mouths opened, as if in shock.  The twins looked at each other in disbelief and Satoru didn't know quite what to think!  The new student just kept his sly smile on his face.
    Mr. Kiyomura had to do something.  He was totally caught off guard, but he couldn't let that get to him.  He cleared his throat and attempted to speak again, 'Well, it's' nice to meet you, Taka.  Um,' he looked around, 'you may take the seat right over there.' He pointed to the only empty seat in the classroom, the one right across from Satoru and right beside Tenko.  Taka looked to it and began making his way, the students continued to stare as he walked.
    The twins couldn't believe he was coming to sit with them!  Shingo turned back around to face Tenko and gave her a desperate, very frightened look.  Tenko swallowed nervously and watched as he approached and took the seat right next to her.  Satoru saw him sitting there and became very uncomfortable.  He turned his eyes down so he wouldn't have to look at him.  Taka was the most, in lack of a better term, scary person he had ever seen.  He definitely didn't want to get on his bad side.
    Taka looked to his fellow table group to see none of them looking at him.  It was as if they were trying to avoid him or something.  It didn't bother him, he was used to it by now.  Mr. Kiyomura began his lesson finally and the school day went underway.  Taka was still receiving the odd stares, but he didn't even acknowledge them.  All he did was sit there, his legs crossed one over the other, trying to listen to the teacher's lesson.
    Satoru took a pencil from his pink school bag and set it on his desk.  When he put the bag down, the pencil rolled off onto the floor.  He looked down to it, it had rolled near Taka's feet.  Taka saw the pencil down there and did the only thing he knew to do in that situation.  Without knowing it, both of them reached down for the pencil at the same time and Taka's hand covered Satoru's.  Satoru gasped quietly and looked up to see the most gorgeous, penetrating jade green eyes he had ever imagined. Immediately, he could feel a small blush cover his cheeks.  Taka looked to Satoru and smiled uncontrollably a very beautiful smile.  He couldn't help it, there was something about Satoru' he just kept looking at him and wild emotions lit up inside.  Taka's heart began to race as he felt the soft, smooth skin of Satoru's tiny hand under his.  Almost instinctively, he began to caress Satoru's hand softly, the best way he knew how.  Satoru could feel this and blushed even more.  Then, he thought about what was happening and quickly grabbed his pencil and sat back in his seat, his cheeks blazing.  He looked away from Taka and tried to figure out what had just happened.  Taka sat back up as well.  He looked across to Satoru and could still feel his hand under his.
    Shingo was wondering what the heck was going on, he looked beside him to see Satoru with the blush on his cheeks.  His eyebrow stooped, 'What happened to you?'
Satoru looked to him and controlled his emotions.  'Nothing.' He said and went back to listening to Mr. Kiyomura.  Shingo didn't believe him, Tenko looked at him with the same suspicions.  Both the twins' eyes fluttered to Taka and what they saw sickened them.  He was looking forward at Satoru, a blissful smile on his lips.  Then, they didn't even want to know what was going on and just went back to the lesson.
    Satoru couldn't get it out of his head.  He looked to the pencil and could almost still feel Taka's big, warm hand over his.  Who was this Taka person anyway, he wondered, and why did me make him feel that way'  Satoru glanced over and saw Taka's beautiful eyes looking straight at him with a kind smile.  He blushed a little again.
    Taka had to break the ice, 'Hi.' He said, making sure no one else could hear.  'What's your name?'
    Taka made him feel so important inside when he asked that, Satoru liked the way that felt.  He became a little more comfortable and figured maybe he wasn't really scary after all.  'My name's Shiozawa Satoru,' he said in his gentle, girlish voice, 'and you're Taka?'
    He nodded.  'It's very nice to meet you, Satoru.  I really like your school bag.'  He looked to the pink bag beside Satoru's chair.
    'Thanks.  Pink is my favorite colour.'  Taka liked the sound of that.  He smiled at him and wondered if he would notice anything about him.  To his liking, Satoru did.  He looked at his clothing and was very interested by it.  'Your clothes are very' unique.'
    Taka folded his arms on the table, his silver lips gleaming, 'Why thank you.'
    Satoru then noticed something new about Taka.  He saw something very colorful on his left shoulder.  It was hard to make out what it was, but he thought it looked pretty.  'What's that?' he pointed to what he could see of it.
    Taka looked down to where he was pointing on his left shoulder and smiled again.  He turned so that Satoru could see his bare left shoulder plainly.  'It's a tattoo.'  Indeed it was.  It was a heart tattoo with bands of the colours of the rainbow, red at the edge and deep purple at the center.
    Satoru's eyes seemed to light up, 'Oh, that's pretty!  You must be a rebel or something!'
    Taka turned back around with a sly expression.  'Something like that' he whispered.
    Satoru was beginning to like Taka.  He wasn't as weird as he thought he would be, he was just a really sweet guy.  Within a little while, lunch began and they could speak freely without worrying about Mr. Kiyomura catching them.  Satoru pulled out his lunch within a cute little bunny lunch bag and began to eat it before anyone else even had theirs out.  The twins, still a little weirded out by Taka, took out their lunches and ate silently.  Satoru was appalled at them, 'Come on, you guys, why are you being so quiet?' They didn't answer.  Satoru sighed, 'Taka is a really cool guy, all you have to do is get to know him.'  He looked to Taka for support and Taka winked at him.  He didn't know why exactly, but it was a good sign!
    The twins then felt a little guilty.  They both looked to Taka and lowered their heads, 'We're sorry.' they said together.
    'It's just that,' Tenko began, sneaking in a look at Taka, 'no offence but, we thought you'd be kind of mean'
    'Yeah,' said Shingo, Taka's eyes then moved to him, 'we've never seen anyone like you before in our school, so' it just made us all a little uneasy, that's all.'
    Taka smiled to Shingo in a playful way, 'Do you like what you see?'  Shingo didn't quite know what to make of that, but he was beginning to have some 'ideas' about Taka'
    'But now we're glad to meet you too!  My name is Tenko!  Nice to meet you, Taka!' said Tenko in her usual genki way.
    'Hello, Tenko.' He greeted her in a deep voice.
    'And I'm Shingo, her twin brother.'
    Taka looked to Shingo.  'Very nice to meet you,' he set his hand on top of Shingo's on the desk and Shingo immediately became very frightened.
    Shingo pulled his hand away and tried to change subjects, 'Heh, well, we heard you're a transfer student, is that so?  Wow!' he spoke rather quickly.
    'Yeah, you were transferred?'  Asked Tenko.
    Taka looked downward, 'Yes.  It was because' there was a very long pause, they all could notice that he seemed to be deeply reminiscing something rather painful, 'I kept getting harassed by some of the students at the other school'
    'That's terrible' Satoru said, he was very sorry that Taka ever had to go through anything like that.  'But you seem really cool!  Why would anyone ever harass you?'
    'Because he's a fag!' they all looked up to see the face of a very mean and rotten person.  Tanaka Kenichi, the local sixth grade bully.  He was a very big kid, held back a couple of years, with large arms like trees and a chubby face that always seemed to be scowling.  He and his two henchmen would go up to kids for no reason and give them wedgies or take their money.  Then they would all laugh and share the wealth.  He had a very stingy disposition and he was mean, everything about him was mean. So it wasn't at all shocking that he would try to pick on Taka.
    'Hey, this conversation is none of your business, Kenichi,' said Shingo powerfully.
    'Everything that happens in this school is my business, punk, so just shut up and you won't get hurt.'
    'No one talks to my brother that way!'  Tenko stood up to him, she only came to his chin.  Then she wished she hadn't have done that.
    He growled at Tenko and she sat down again, she would never try to stand up to him again.  Besides, it wasn't her or Shingo he wanted to start something with, it was Taka.  He looked to Taka with his big, mean face and showed his crocked yellow teeth.  'I've had about enough of you fags comin' in and screwing up our lives.  Now listen carefully, I want you to get out of here and never come back.  Go on, go back to all of your stupid little gay friends.'
    Taka's face didn't become enraged looking, he didn't even seem to appear very bothered by that accusation.  All Taka did was stand up and when he did, for once Kenichi was the shorter one.  Taka looked down to him and folded his arms, his jade green eyes flaring.  Kenichi was amazed, he never thought that there would ever be anyone taller than him!  (Of course, the only reason Taka was so much taller than him was because of his boots')  Kenichi growled again, 'You listen carefully, fag, I really don't like you.  I hate all your kind so if you don't watch yourself, something bad just might happen.'
    'Come on, Ken.  I think this fag gets the point,' one of his henchmen said.
    He turned to leave, but then looked back to Taka again, 'Hey, homo,' Taka looked back to him, 'remember what I told you.'  Then, he walked away with his henchmen, leaving Taka standing there, watching him leave.  Taka's normally calm eyes became narrow and angry.  That bully had just insulted him beyond anything else and that was one thing he could not stand for.
    Taka sat back down again and one by one popped some strawberries from his lunch into his mouth.  He was staring forward and didn't say a word.  The others looked to each other and didn't quite know what to do.  Shingo knew about Taka for sure then, but he didn't think it was alright for Kenichi to threaten Taka for it.  That was just wrong.  Tenko wasn't sure she understood fully and Satoru seemed to be totally in the dark.  Satoru wanted to try and make him feel better after what those bullies said, but he didn't know what to do.  Taka kept looking forward.  In a deep, hurt sounding voice he said, 'Just like my old school'
    Satoru couldn't take it.  He looked to Taka and put a hand on his.  Taka looked up to see his concerned face.  'Taka-san' um' he didn't know what to say, 'what does' 'fag' mean?'
    Shingo looked back to Taka and could feel his heart skip a beat.  A very small smile sprawled out on Taka's face as he covered Satoru's hand with his own.  'Don't worry about it.' He said and went back to eating his strawberries.

    School ended and everyone got ready to go home.  Shingo and Satoru couldn't leave yet, however, they still had tennis club, although it would be far less lively without Mayuki.  Both boys walked out of the classroom and were talking with each other, they didn't take a moment to think to include Taka in their conversation.  He walked closely behind with Tenko at his side.  She glanced over to him and saw the black shiny skirt and boots he was wearing.  She still didn't understand why he dressed like that, the only things the group had really heard Taka say was during lunchtime, and even then his time was cut short because of the bullies.  There was still a lot Tenko wanted to know about Taka and she was sure the others wanted to know also.  When they reached the changing room, the boys stopped before going inside after they peeked back to see Taka and Tenko still right behind them.
    'Oh, Tenko-chan, Taka-san, you're there!  I'm sorry, Shingo-chan and I were talking and I guess we forgot to notice you two,' admitted Satoru, a little ashamed.
    'That's alright!' Tenko beamed, causing Satoru to smile.
    Shingo then looked up to Taka, 'Uh, Taka-san, now we have to go play tennis, so I guess we'll see you tomorrow.' He was about to open the door to enter when Satoru objected.
    'Wait, why don't we invite Taka-san to come play with us?  It would be so much fun!'
    Shingo gave him a look as if he had just asked to do the craziest thing in the world.  Glancing back at Taka for a second, seeing him grinning as usual with his silvery lips, Shingo then grasped Satoru by his girly hand, 'Excuse us a minute!' he said and whirled them both into the changing room, slamming the door behind them.  He pushed Satoru lightly against a wall and seemed far more than serious.
    'Shingo-chan!' Satoru squealed, 'What are you doing?!'
    'Shh!' he covered his mouth with a hand, looking frantic.  'Do you realize what you just did?'
    Satoru was baffled, 'Invite Taka-san to come play with us?' Shingo nodded, almost breaking his neck, 'What's so bad about that?  I bet Taka-san would love tennis.'
    'Don't you understand what you could be getting us into?!' Satoru just stared forward into Shingo's green eyes.  Slowly, he shook his head and Shingo sighed, 'How naïve can a person get'
    'I don't get why you're so worried.  What is it?' Satoru demanded in his soft voice.
    Shingo set his duffel bag down and put his hands on Satoru's shoulders, staring straight into his eyes.  'You don't know what Taka-san is?' he asked seriously.
    Satoru thought, 'A human being?'
    Shingo shook his head, 'Ok, I'm gonna come right out and say it.  Taka-san is gay.'
    He blinked and looked as if waiting for Shingo to continue onto a subject that made sense to him.  It was abundantly apparent that little Satoru didn't really grasp all of what Shingo had said.  In his most humble of humble ways, Satoru spoke quietly as he whispered, 'What do you mean exactly?'
    Shingo banged his hand onto his forehead and couldn't believe what he was hearing!  It was like Satoru didn't know anything!  Well, besides history.  'Satoru!' he whined, 'He's gay!  He's a homosexual!!  Don't you know what that means?!'  At the mention of those two words being so discretely yelled out, other boys in the changing room looked over to Shingo and Satoru with a little less decency as before.  Shingo blew them off, but would try to keep his voice down.
    'Why are you yelling at me?' Satoru sniffed, his voice shaking.  He could feel tears forming in his eyes.
    'I'm sorry.  I just can't believe that you don't' guess I shouldn't damage your innocence though.  That's what Taka-san is gonna do to you though if you keep letting him hold your hand and' look at you with that grin on his face' it's totally obvious he likes you already.  A little too much'
    'Well I like him too, I hope we can be good friends someday!'
    'Not that kind of 'like,' Shingo sighed.  This conversation wasn't going anywhere.
    On the other side of the door, Taka and Tenko were still standing and waiting for them to get done with whatever it was they were doing.  Tenko looked up to Taka's face and saw that his grin had vanished, and was replaced with a distant, almost dark expression.  'Taka-san?' she asked.  He looked down to her and immediately redeemed his earlier lighter expression.  'You're a boy, right?  Why do you wear make up?'
    A side of Taka's mouth went up and he brought a finger to his cheek, as if in deep thought, turning his jade green eyes upward.  'Well, Tenko-chan,' he began, 'let's just say I like the way it brings out the natural beauty inside.'  She didn't quite understand that, but decided not to bother him anymore with questions.
    'Alright, well since Mayuki-chan isn't here, I'm just going to go home now.  Bye Taka-san!  It was nice to meet you!' she waved back to Taka as she scurried down the hallway.
    'Bye Tenko-chan.' When she left, he went back to standing and waiting for the two boys to come out of the changing room, his expression darkening once more.
    '-All I'm saying is,' Shingo was very serious, 'be careful.  You never know what Taka-san could do to you.'
    Satoru scowled a little, puffing his cheeks up, 'That's a mean thing to think about him!  He's really nice and he would never do anything bad to anyone!  He's just a normal guy like you and me.'
    'Normal guy?  You call wearing a skirt and make up and all those other freaky clothes to class something a normal guy would do?  And what's with him anyway?  He's so much bigger than us!  Have you noticed that?  He looks like he should be in junior high or high school!'  That was true, Taka did look much older than all the other sixth graders.  He was much taller and had a deep voice and developed body.  Shingo was convinced that there was something more very strange about him.
    'Well' Satoru didn't know how to defend him there.  On all those levels he had to agree.  'I'm sure there's a good explanation for that.  Maybe he just grew quickly and accidentally put on his sister's clothes'
    Shingo smirked, 'Not likely.'
    Satoru set his hand on the doorknob, 'I don't like gossiping about a friend.  Come on, let's just let him play with us this once.'
    Shingo gave up, 'Fine.  But if he starts hitting on me' Satoru opened the door and they both walked back into the hall.  Taka met them both with a happy smile, very glad to see them.
    Satoru had a big smile to give him too, 'Sorry about that.  Shingo-chan just wanted to talk to me about something.  He said you are' I think it's' gay?  Yeah!  And then he said something else too, some big word I don't know.'  Shingo then felt so embarrassed and so bad about saying those things.  He also hated the fact that Satoru was repeating those things straight to Taka himself!  He looked to Taka with an uncomfortable smile to make amends.  It wasn't necessary, Taka didn't look bothered at all.  He just kept his eyes on Satoru the whole time.
    'Tenko-chan already left and I would love to play tennis with you, if that's alright,' said Taka in indeed a low voice, definitely the voice of a middle teenage boy.
    'Yeah!  Of course it's alright!  Come on in and you can change into something more comfortable to play in.'  Satoru excitedly opened the changing room door and disappeared inside.
    Taka felt himself drift toward it and noticed the severe embarrassment Shingo was feeling.  Before he entered the changing room he spoke to him.  'Shingo-chan,' Shingo drew his humiliated eyes to him.  Taka turned to look at him, a slight grin still on his lips.  'Looks like you were right about one thing.' His voice sang out.  Taka had been working on untying his right boot that crawled all the way up his calf and slid it off.  Shingo had no idea why until he spotted something on the front of Taka's right ankle.  It was another tattoo, all around his ankle was the image of spiny and jagged rose stems, intertwining together and giving off sharp thorns.  Then, in the center right above his foot was something Taka looked proud of.  It was two male symbols locked together like a chain at the circle part and colored in vivid rainbow colours.  Shingo's eyes grew as he saw that.  Then it was the plainest, most simple fact of all.  Taka was gay.  He put his boot back on and smiled to Shingo and then went into the changing room.
    Shingo was left in the hall feeling a little strange after seeing that.  Over his time being on Earth, he had heard about homosexuals but he had never thought he'd see one so close before!  Life would certainly be much different for him and Satoru from then on with Taka around.  He hated to think of what Taka was doing just behind the doors of the changing room with all the other boys changing their clothes'  He shuddered at that thought and looked to his watch.  He would be late if he didn't get in there right away and change his clothes!  But he didn't want Taka watching him!  Shingo just sighed and opened the doors, he would make sure and steer clear of the guy in the skirt.
    Taka stood in the corner and declined the offer to change into more comfortable clothes, despite Satoru's pleas.  'No thank you, I'm perfectly comfortable just like this.'
    'Oh, ok Taka-san.  Well, I'll be right back then.'  Satoru picked up his bag and walked behind the small curtain that covered a wing of small lockers for the boys to use during PE classes or sports.  He began to change his clothes and Taka leaned against the wall right by the curtain.  Looking down, he could see Satoru's legs under the curtain.  They were so light and so feminine.
    Taka smiled and turned his head forward to see a couple of boys walking toward the shower with only towels on.  As they walked by, they stared at Taka with worried faces after they saw what he was wearing.  Taka just smiled and winked at them, 'Hey boys,' he said playfully.  The boys almost turned green and rushed off to the shower.  Taka watched them scurry away and smiled again.  Then, looking forward again he saw Shingo standing there, looking as if he was trying to control a fixed calm stare.  As soon as he saw Taka, it cracked and Shingo's eyes twitched.  Slinking forward, Taka put a hand on Shingo's shoulder and looked into his eyes.  Shingo's eyes grew and his teeth began to chatter.  He had no idea what Taka might do next and he was scared. Very scared.
    'Shingo-chan,' said Taka, squeezing his shoulder a little.  Shingo swallowed nervously and could feel sweat bead on his forehead.  Taka just smiled, 'I'm sorry if I scared you earlier.  Tell me honestly, do I make you uncomfortable?'
    He didn't want to make him feel bad, but he didn't want to lie either.  Shingo answered softly, 'Yes'
    That was just as Taka suspected.  He took his hand away and folded his arms, looking down at Shingo.  'I'm glad you know.'
    'Huh?' he looked up to him, 'Know what?'  Taka didn't answer, it was obvious what he was saying.  'Ooh' why are you glad about that?'
    'Because,' Taka looked down, 'I don't like it when people get all scared and think I'm some sort of freak or something.  I'm glad you at least will talk to me, even if I am, well, you know' 'different.'
    Shingo couldn't help but feel ashamed of himself.  At first, he was afraid of Taka and did think he was a freak, but he was right, he would talk to him even despite that fact.  Then while he was thinking about it, Shingo really didn't mind it too much.  Satoru was right, Taka was a nice guy, he didn't deserve to be treated any different because he was the way he was.  Shingo smiled to him and nodded, 'Well, you are a pretty cool guy.  I know how it is to be 'different,' and I know how bad it would feel if people treated me bad because of it.'  Shingo gave him a thumbs up, 'Don't worry about it, man.  We'll be friends and won't worry about our differences.'
    Taka smiled, nodding his head.  He would have asked if Shingo wanted to be anything more than friends, but realized that, compared to himself, Shingo was as straight as an arrow.  He would respect that, just as Shingo would respect him for being who he was.
    'I'm ready!' Satoru announced and slid the curtain to the side.  He walked out and Taka's eyes instantly became little stars.
    Taka looked to Satoru in his little shorts and T-shirt and was nearly in heaven, 'Oh, Satoru-chan!  You look soooooo cute!!'
    Satoru looked down at himself and didn't know exactly what to think, 'Oh, um, thank you,' he said modestly.
    Shingo slipped into the place Satoru had just gotten out of and slid the curtain to the side.  He did respect Taka, but he didn't exactly want to see him swooning over his best friend.  Shingo sighed and changed his clothes and then the three of them were ready to walk out onto the tennis courts.
    As they walked along, they didn't see any of the other team members like they usual did, so they thought they might have been really late.  When the courts came into view, Mr. Kiyomura, who was also the tennis club advisor, came running over to the three.  'I'm sorry boys, there's not going to be any tennis practice today,' he said between breaths.
    'What?' they couldn't believe it.
    'Yeah I just came out here a few minutes ago and found the tennis courts completely vandalized.  It looks like someone sneaked in with a jackhammer and completely tore up parts of the court or something.  And most of the nets were ripped also.  There's no way we can play on courts like that,' explained Mr. Kiyomura, a little angry.
    'That's terrible' said Satoru.  He almost felt like crying again.
    Shingo was just angry and hit his fist into his other hand, 'Who would do something like this?'
    Mr. Kiyomura shook his head, 'No one knows.  But whoever did it must have cut the last part of class to come'Kenichi!'
    They gasped softly as they heard that name.  'What about him?' Shingo was still very angry.
    'I remember a little after lunch today Kenichi came up to me and asked to use the restroom.  I let him go, but I was so involved in our lesson that I didn't even notice at the time that he never came back the rest of the school day!'
    Shingo clenched his teeth shut, 'Then he did it!'
    'And I think I remember seeing the seats of his two boyfriends empty too before the end of school,' said Taka, remembering his facts.
    'Taka-san,' Shingo mumbled, ' he's not like you.'
    Taka stretched out his arms in front of him, 'Well maybe he should be.  Not that he'd get anyone though, he's too mean and ugly.'
    Shingo and Mr. Kiyomura looked to each other for a split second of dementia.  'Anyway, that's proof right there then, Kenichi and his gang must have done it!' Shingo felt like beating Kenichi to a bloody pulp, he was so mad.  Well, not that he actually could, but right then he wasn't hesitant to try.
    Mr. Kiyomura seemed upset, but it was very controlled.  He had to agree with Shingo, it was just like them to do something like that.  'But why would he destroy the tennis courts?  I don't understand it.'
    'I bet I know why,' Taka said powerfully and walked down the rest of the way to the tennis courts.  The others wondered what he was up to and followed closely behind. Taka looked onto the courts, they certainly were very badly vandalized.  He looked around, his eyes travelling over the entire court.  The others observed it was as if he was looking for something very important.  Finally, out of the corner of his eye he spotted a white piece of paper taped to the fence around the court, flapping in the breeze.  He walked inside the court over to it and pulled it off of the fence.  The others watched and were very impressed.  Taka looked down to the paper and saw some very messy, very insulting handwriting scribbled on it with its fair share of misspellings.  He read it silently to himself.
    As he read, the others were quiet.  When he finished reading it, Taka brought the paper down to his side and stared blankly forward.  In an instant, he heard the cries of a haunted past ring throughout him again and swirl together inside of him like some sort of terrifying nightmare.  Mr. Kiyomura called to Taka to snap him out of his trance, 'Taka-kun!'
    He shook his head several times and looked up to him.  Taka clenched the paper in his hand and spoke quietly, 'This is exactly what I expected.'
    'What is that?' asked the teacher.
    He glanced down to it again and quickly rolled it up into a little ball, and threw it off to the side.  Then he walked out of the court again, keeping his head down, and leaned against the fence.
    Satoru walked over to him and looked up to his depressed face.  With all of his compassion and care he spoke in his high voice, 'Taka-san?  What did the paper say?'
    He glanced to his big blue eyes and adorable face.  Taka's heart melted and a small grin came back to his lips.  He then raised his head and looked to see Mr. Kiyomura and Shingo, he knew they all wanted to know what the paper had written upon it.  'It was from Kenichi.' He started off, 'He used a lot of cursing that I'll exclude. Basically, he said that a lot of people would begin to suffer because' a fag like me is in this school now'  He told me to leave or more bad things would start to happen. He started with destroying the tennis courts because he knew that you two are in the club and are my new friends.'
    They all were quiet and dwelt upon what Taka had just told them.  It was hard to believe that someone would actually be that cruel and that overbearing to demand Taka to leave immediately!  They knew Kenichi was a creep before, but now, he was just plain evil.  'That's the worst thing I've ever heard!' Satoru squeaked.
    'Damn him!!' screamed Shingo.  He never swore before, but now he was so mad he couldn't help having it slip from his mouth, 'Does that jerk actually think he can do this and get away with it?!'
    'Apparently.  So, maybe it's better if I just go back to my old school.  At least there the people that hated me would never do anything like this.'
    'No, Taka-san!  You can't go!  We want you to stay here with us!' Satoru pleaded with tears streaming down his face.
    Mr. Kiyomura had figured out the perfect plan, 'This is very unjust, I am going to report this entire thing to the principal so we can expel Kenichi and his friends!  Taka-kun, you just got here and don't deserve this kind of treatment.  I'll see to it that Kenichi gets severely punished for his actions.'
    'No.'  No one understood why Taka had said that.  Didn't he want that so he wouldn't have to worry about being harassed anymore??  They looked at him with questioning eyes and thought he must be crazy for not wanting that.  'No,' he repeated, 'Thank you, but I don't like having others get involved in my situations.  If I really want to feel right about this, I have to deal with it myself.  Please, sensei,' he looked to his teacher and spoke in a strong voice, 'just let me handle it.'
    Mr. Kiyomura couldn't object, he had always been a man who supported independence and sticking up for oneself.  But for this particular problem, he wasn't sure he fully supported Taka in his decision.  By now he had figured out that Taka was homosexual, and he had also figured out that Kenichi must have been terribly homophobic.  Some ugly things could happen if he didn't get some authority involved, but for now he agreed to just let Taka handle it.  Besides, he could just sense it about Taka, he knew there was no way he could loose to Kenichi.
    Taka thanked him and patted Satoru on his soft head in a comforting way, 'Don't worry.  I think I'm going to be staying right here.'
    Satoru was so happy!  He smiled a huge smile and out of reflexes threw his arms around Taka's waist.  Taka was startled by that action, but then felt very good in many ways to have Satoru hugging him.  Shingo wished Satoru understood what the term 'gay' meant, but he was so innocent he had no idea.  He wanted Satoru to be careful, he knew he had a crush on Tenko and he didn't want to see that change'
    'Well, I'm going to at least tell someone about the tennis courts.  Hopefully we can have them fixed soon so we can practice again.  See you boys tomorrow.' Mr. Kiyomura left them all there as he went to inform someone about the condition of the tennis courts.
    Satoru finally let go of Taka and looked up into his eyes with that same smile on his face.  Taka sighed blissfully and felt a feeling, like one only felt in storybooks, as he peered down upon cute little Satoru.  Shingo was getting scared and felt it was his place to interrupt, 'Ah-hem!'
    Satoru looked back to him, 'We might as well just go home now.  Come on, Taka-san, you can see my bedroom if you want!'
    'Uh, Satoru!' Shingo came over to whisper to him, 'I really don't think that's a good idea.'
    'Why not?  You worry too much!'  Satoru walked ahead to the changing room to change back into his regular clothes.  Shingo did the same, nearly exasperated, and soon the three were ready to all walk home together.
    Taka thought it was very cute that little Satoru was so naïve.  He knew for sure that he didn't know about his little 'secret' and for now he didn't mind keeping it that way.  Satoru continued to be cute and innocent along the whole walk and reached into his pocket.  His face lit up, 'I have money!' he was very excited.
    'Let's get some ice cream or something,' suggested Shingo.
    'Yay!  Let's go!'  Satoru began to run and the other two followed until they got to a small ice cream stand, the one Shingo had come to before seeing Koji for the first time.  After Shingo and Satoru both ordered what they wanted, Satoru looked up to Taka, 'What would you like, Taka-san?'
    He shook his head, 'I don't eat ice cream.'
    He blinked, 'Ok' Satoru couldn't understand why anyone would voluntarily avoid eating ice cream.  He thought it was the yummiest thing on Earth!
    They all found a bench in the park to sit at under the warm afternoon sun, protected by the shade of a great Sakura tree.  It was a very pleasant afternoon, one that was nice to just lay around and relax in.  Taka stretched out his arms and set them on the top of the bench, purposely seated in the middle of Shingo and Satoru.  It had been so long since he had seen any really cute boys, Taka appeared to really like his place in his new school, despite the brainless bullies.  He really wanted to get to know Satoru as best he could too.
    Once Satoru finished his ice cream, he looked up to Taka.  There were still many things he wondered about him and there were still many more questions he would like to ask him.  He wasn't sure how to begin though, he didn't want to seem rude.  'Um, Taka-san?' Taka looked to him.  Satoru looked downward, 'Um I, I'
    He smiled kindly and hoped that he was about to hear what he wanted to hear escape his lips.  'What is it?' he asked very gently.
    'I' I think Shingo-chan has some things to ask you!'
    'What?' Shingo was confused.  Satoru glanced to him.  Shingo had plenty of questions for Taka too, but he didn't think that Satoru would put him up to asking them like that.  Shingo looked to Taka and saw the side of his face, he saw all five earrings on his ear shining.  'Taka-san, Satoru and I kind of have been wondering a few things about you.'
    Taka looked over to him, 'Oh really?'
    He nodded, 'I hope you don't mind me asking you a lot of questions, but' uh' we just wanna get to know some things about you better.'
    Taka brought his arms down from the back of the bench and folded them.  He also crossed one leg over the other and looked to him inquisitively, 'Go on.'
    'Ok,' he looked him over, 'well, the first thing apparent we really noticed about you was you're uh' was that' you're just so much bigger than us.'
    Taka looked down to himself, he was so much more grown up than the boys on either one of his sides.  'Yep,' he said, 'I am.'
    'And you're in the sixth grade?  You look like you could go to my brother's high school,' said Satoru.
    Taka looked off into the distance, darkness nearly taking over his expression again, 'Well, that's because' wait, how old are you two?'
    '12,' they both answered together.
    'This might sound really strange, but yes I'm in the sixth grade, only I'm not quite 12 years old.'
    They both leaned in closer and looked him straight into his face and Shingo finally asked, 'how old are you then?'
    Taka drew in a long, deep breath.  Preparing himself for their shock, he said finally, '15.'
    Their eyebrows stooped.  Other than that, they really didn't seem all that shocked, despite the fact that Taka was 15 and in the sixth grade.  There was something maybe slightly odd about that fact.
    'Taka-san?' Satoru seemed very worried, 'Why are you so old and only in the sixth grade?'
    Taka sighed.  'Reasons beyond my control.'  He seemed very introverted as he said that, like he really didn't want to talk about it at all.  Shingo and Satoru could easily tell there were some painful memories and emotions involved.  'It's actually a really long story.  To sum it up, the only way I was able to start school was when I was eight. That's why I'm so much older than you are.'
    'Oh, what made you start school so late then?'  Satoru asked without even thinking that perhaps it was something sensitive Taka didn't especially want to talk about.
    Taka looked forward and his facial expression slowly changed into one very serious looking and melancholy.  Inside his head, deep in the recesses of the darkest shadow of his mind were the suppressed memories, like nightmares, lurking silent and ever present and still able to strike out again at any time.  He could still hear the screams of a tormented past, he could feel the unwanted touch by the one who was supposed to give him so much care.  He could see the face of the one that tainted and defiled him in both mind and body forever.  Those images he had acquired from so many years previous were just as profound as they would ever be, even more so in fact, as Taka now understood the immorality and inhumanity of those actions.  'I'd rather not talk about it.' He answered simply in a deep, distant tone.
    The two boys understood and would not pry.  Satoru was very worried and Shingo had learned a valuable lesson throughout his time on Earth: there are some things that just don't need to be discussed.  They both leaned back on the benches and stared forward, to nowhere in particular.  The almost deafening silence was ended as a familiar friendly face approached.
    'Aya-san!' Satoru sat on the edge of the bench and watched as Aya approached, her long ponytail flipping behind her.
    She came up jogging, clad in a white T-shirt and black warm ups, obviously on some sort of work out.  She stopped her jogging and stretched out her legs a bit once she reached the bench.  'Hi,' she said, out of breath.  She knew Satoru as Hiroshi's annoying little brother, as he would refer to him as, and always thought he was so cute and innocent.  Whenever she would subject herself into going to Hiroshi's house to study with their group, she would see him there being cute and doing adorable things. She didn't think he was annoying at all and would actually ask him out if he were her age.
    'I want you to meet a friend I made today.' Satoru turned to Taka, 'This is Taka-san.  He's new to my class.  Taka-san, this is Aya-san.  She's one of my brother's friends.'
    'Nice to meet you,' Taka bowed his head.  His horrible memories had hidden themselves once again.
    She bowed her head also, 'Nice to meet you, Taka-kun.' She had caught her breath a little and was able to look at him pretty closely.  She just came right out and said it, 'You're in the sixth grade?'
    The three boys on the bench said dully together, 'It's a long story.'
    She raised her eyebrow but decided not to ask, 'Well, I better get going again.  Don't ever want to slow down training!'
    'Training?' Taka's ears perked up.  'What kind of training?'
    'I'm really into martial arts and I'm trying to get my legs stronger by jogging.  I'm also in my school's kendo club, you can never be too strong for that!' she laughed.
    Taka seemed overly interested as he sat forward, as if watching some suspense thriller on TV.  Shingo nudged him, 'What's wrong?  Haven't you ever been in a school club?'
    He shrugged and leaned back, 'No.  No one liked me enough, so I just stayed by myself.  Although, there was one club I really wanted to join.  Gymnastics.'
    Shingo's face turned sour, 'Gymnastics?  That's crazy!  You have to be super flexible for that!'
    He glanced over to him, a sly smile, and a shining gleam seemed to reflect off his jade green eye, 'Flexible, eh?'  Just then Taka rose to his feat and felt a surge of energy.  He looked forward to see a relatively empty path, the tall Tokyo skyline poking over the trees.  Aya wasn't sure what he was about to do, but felt it best to step over to one side.  All eyes were on Taka as he kept an almost smirking grin and said lowly, 'I'll show you flexible.'  Just then, like a bolt of lightening, Taka was on his feet, running like the wind.  It made them gasp to see that surprising scene and wonder how anyone could run so fast in five inch tall boots!  Then, Taka dove forward and sprang off of his hands several feet in the air.  They all stared in awe as he flipped in mid air and twirled his body several degrees.  Then, he landed softly on the ground, one leg completely forward, in a perfect splits.
    After their brains registered what they had just witnessed, the three were off running toward Taka.  'A-A-A-A-AMAZING!!!'  Satoru wailed as they all reached him.
    Taka looked up to him, still in the splits position.  'Thank you.'
    Despite how freakin' awesome he thought what he just did was, seeing the position Taka was in made Shingo cringe, locking his knees together, 'Oh, that looks painful'
    Taka looked down, 'Nah, it isn't.'  He then leaned back in a way that seemed a little too far, that was impossible for the human body to be able to bend.
    Aya was amazed, 'What are you, some sort of contortionist or something?!'
    He smiled to her, being able to look straight up to her face in this new position, 'I guess you could say that.'
    Shingo couldn't even look at him without cringing to think of what potential excruciating pain 'certain areas' might have been feeling, 'Ok, Taka-san, you can stop that now.'
    As fast as he had gotten down, Taka was back on his feet, standing in a normal humanly way.  It blew their minds to see that, there was more to Taka than met the eyes!  'Just one of the little tricks up my sleeves.'
    'That was so amazing!  Where did you learn to do that?'  Satoru really wanted to know.
    'That I taught myself.  When I was about nine I started doing yoga to cope with some bad things happening in my life and I always really liked to do gymnastics.  So I've been doing it over the years and really gotten in touch with my chi and have become extremely flexible along the way.  In fact, some of my really good friends even call me 'human rubber band.'  I like to do a lot of gymnastics on my own along with yoga,' explained Taka, proud of his accomplishments.
    'Wow' Satoru was again amazed by Taka.  He wanted to hug him, but felt it better not to.
    'That truly was remarkable,' commented Aya, 'Seriously, I've seen a lot of gymnasts, being an athlete myself, and I have never seen anyone beat that.  You really are amazing.'
    'Thank you, I feel it's one of the few constructive things I can actually do well in.'
    'Do you think you'll ever join a team?' she asked.
    He thought, 'I'm not sure.  For now, I just like doing it on my own.  I really don't like competition that much'
    'And our school doesn't have gymnastics,' added Satoru grimly.
    'He'd be way too good for the team anyway,' said Shingo and the others agreed.
    They were all admiring Taka when small digital beeps were heard emerging from Aya's wrist.  She gasped, 'Dang it, I'm behind already!  Ok, I hate to do this, but I gotta run!  See you later, it was very nice meeting you Taka-kun!' she yelled back as she ran down the path the other way.
    'Bye Aya-san!'  Satoru waved to her as she disappeared from view.  He brought his hand down, sighing softly, 'I better get going too.'
    'Yeah,' said Taka, walking a little ahead.
    Shingo and Satoru were about to follow when Shingo thought of something, 'Wait a minute,' he said quietly to Satoru, 'how could Taka-san have done the splits if he were wearing a vinyl skirt thing'
    Satoru looked to the shiny skirt, 'Good point'
    'Maybe it's not really vinyl'
    'Actually,' Taka's ears caught their conversation.  He turned around to them, spreading the side of the skirt open, 'it's not really a skirt at all.' The two saw that it was actually shorts, concealed by a strip of fabric to give the look of a skirt.
    'Oh' clever!' Shingo was relieved in many ways that it wasn't a real skirt.
    Soon, as they started walking, Shingo went his way home and Taka and Satoru were left walking together.  Taka liked this very much and so did Satoru, but for very different reasons.  As Satoru got closer and closer to his house, Taka was right there beside him with no intention of going anywhere else.  Shyly, he asked, 'Um,  Taka-san?  Where is your house?'
    He pointed back to the tall buildings in the near distance, 'Back there.'
    Satoru wondered why he was following him when they passed where his home was already.  Yes, he was horribly naïve.  'Well, I just remember that I don't think we have power at my house today, so I'll let you come over some other time.'
    Taka stopped in his tracks.  Satoru looked back to him, also stopping his slow walk, seeing a face of mixed emotion on Taka.  He nodded his head once to Satoru and came close to him, 'Thank you for what you've done today.'
    He turned his head to one side, 'What have I done?'
    'You've been my friend even though' Satoru didn't understand, Taka loved that quality about him.  Taka smiled, looking down into his big crystal blue eyes.  With a gentle hand, he touched his finger to Satoru's smooth white cheek and ran it down to his dainty pink lips.  Satoru didn't know what to think about all of this apparent affection brought on by Taka, but he wasn't about to end it.  Taka had an uncanny way of melting his cares away and bringing him up to a new, unexplored wonderful level. At the same time, Satoru recognized that another boy was making him feel these feelings and became slightly uncomforted.
    'Taka-san,' he said, his head turned away from the magnificent jade of Taka's eyes, 'why do you like me so much?  I'm just a wimpy, boring little kid.  You can have a lot better friends than me.'
    Taka shook his head and turned Satoru's head gently back to his eyes with his hand, 'Don't say that about yourself.  You're a wonderful person who is so much more than those things.  And besides, I think you and I share a lot in common.'
    'Hmm?  What do you mean?'
    Taka brought his hand away and looked to one side, racing in thoughts.  'I think we're a lot more alike than we are different.  There's a lot of reasons I think so,' he turned his head back to him, glancing down to his pink school bag.  'You and I both seem to be a little different from other guys.  Tell me, have you ever gotten picked on before?'
    Satoru frowned, 'Yeah, a lot by Kenichi and his mean friends.'
    'Why do they pick on you?'
    He shot his eyes back at him, a challenging gesture for Satoru.  He clasped his fingers together idly, 'Because' they think I'm girly.'
    'Hmm,' Taka exhaled slowly, folding his arms.  Just as he expected.  'You know, I was picked on a lot too at my old school.  And you know what else?'
    'What's that?' Satoru queried softly.
    'It was for the very same reasons.  Everyone there didn't like me because they all thought I was kind of 'girly' too.'
    'Really?' Satoru was beginning to feel as if Taka were his soul mate, the only other human being who could really understand and sympathize with the issues that had been the source for so much grief in his life.
    Taka nodded.  'You see?  We're very much alike, that's why I think we should be together' his voice carried off near the end.
    'We are together.  We're friends now even after the first day of knowing each other!' he smiled.
    Taka bit his lip softly, his eyebrows turning together in a worried way.  He walked back up to Satoru and gently took hold of his small hands, both looked deeply into each other's eyes.  Taka shook his head and could see the vast confusion on Satoru's face.  In his most assuring, beautiful tone he said, 'We are friends, but that's not what I meant.  I want us to be together as more than just friends.  Already, I have very deep feelings for you, Satoru.' Taka brushed the soft, wispy bangs from his eyes and moved his face closer, his voice becoming softer and his gaze more irresistible, 'I want you and I to be together forever' you could be like the angel flying into my dark life' my sweet little Sato-chan...'  As his sweet voice ended in a heartfelt whisper, Taka closed his eyes and slowly moved his face closer to Satoru's.  Satoru could feel his heart beating quickly, he could hear it pounding in his ears.  Taka's lips were just about to enrapture Satoru's when a loud honk was heard.  Quickly, he tore his head away and looked over to see a black Fiat with someone leaning their arm out the window.  Taka immediately recognized him as one of his many friends that had quite an interest in him.
    'Hey, Taka, can I give you a ride up to the club?'
    He raised the side of his mouth in a small grin, but his eyes were sad.  The last thing he wanted to do was leave Satoru, he felt already that he was his ultimate true love.  But, unfortunately, he did have a life to live, and so nodded and looked back to Satoru.  'Sato-chan,' he said.  Satoru looked up to him, a blush creeping upon his cheeks, it was obvious that last experience was one he had never thought would ever happen.  'I have to go now, but I've really enjoyed talking to you.  I'm sorry if I'  I'll just see you at school tomorrow, alright?'  Not even realizing what he was doing, Satoru nodded, dazed, and watched Taka walk toward the Fiat.  Before he reached it,     Taka looked back, sentiment growing on his countenance.  'Goodbye, Sato-chan.'
    He smiled shyly, 'See ya, Taka-san.
    Taka shook his head, 'You don't have to call me that.'  Taka winked, 'Taka-chan.'
    Satoru nodded, 'Alright, Taka-chan.'
    Taka smiled at him again and went into the car, driving away from Satoru.  Satoru watched the car speed away and could direct his thoughts no where else but to what Taka had just done.  Repeatedly in his head ran Taka's loving words.  Blushing further, Satoru touched his lips with his fingertips and stared forward.  Such feelings and affection he had never felt or experienced done unto him before.  Satoru did not know what to think, 'Taka-chan almost' kissed me' he replayed the scene in his head and then felt a wet trickle down his face.  Feeling another, he looked to the sky and saw deep gray clouds directly over the city.  The small raindrops fell to the Earth and hinted to Satoru that he better head home.
    Still as baffled as he could be, Satoru gathered his stuff almost like in a dream, like the time and place where Taka existed was not true reality.  After what Taka did, he was certain he would wake up and be back in his normal life with no Taka.  That never happened.  Further thoughts were interrupted by loud cracks of thunder booming from the sky.  Satoru was terrified of that sound, he would scream weakly and run faster just to be safe at his own home sooner.  He felt a lump form in his throat and felt his eyes become blurry, not by the rain, but by his own tears.  Why... he asked himself as he ran with tears running down his face, splashing through puddles and hoping for no more thunder, Why did Taka-chan do that?  Doesn't he know I'm a boy?  I'm so confused, why would he act like that to me?  This made Satoru very upset, he just could not figure it out.  After another loud thunder crashed overhead, Satoru picked up his pace more and yelled in a voice he wanted the whole city to hear, 'Taka-chan' why??'
    Finally, soaking wet, Satoru reached his home and flew inside.  He leaned up against the door after slamming it quickly and dropped his stuff to the floor.  His lips were trembling as he tried to choke back more tears.
    'Satoru?  Is that you?' Satoru's mother asked in her caring way and came out of the kitchen to see her son, 'Welcome-' she gasped as she saw him there, completely wet, evidently very upset by something.  She approached him with a concerned face, 'Satoru!  What's wrong, honey?'
    He looked and ran to her, throwing his arms around her waist, 'Mama!' he called and cried uncontrollably into her breast.  She looked down to him and set her arms around his back.  She didn't know what to say, so she just held him, petting his soft hair, and let his tears flow.

    Koji walked out from his bathroom after taking a shower to see a handsome red box set on his bed.  He walked over to it to examine it further and saw a folded piece of paper set on top of the box.  Koji picked up the paper (pink flowery stationary) and sat on his bed and began to read the neat writing inside of the note silently.  He could tell by the perfect, beautiful handwriting that it was scribed by Yoshiko.

    He set the note down and looked to the shiny red box again.  Bringing it to him, he opened it carefully with curiosity as to what was inside.  He revealed the contents, it was a beautiful silk necktie.  Deep gray and black, it had almost a marbled look to it.  Koji had never received a present before and he liked the feeling very much.  He put the tie around under the collar of his shirt (it just so happened he was wearing a fine black dress shirt) and tied it.  His fingers slid over the smooth silk.  Koji really liked the present and felt happy his new friends cared about him so much.
    On the main level of Daisuke's home, it was the usual semi hectic, unsupervised environment it had always been.  Of course, things never got that out of hand, but with so many people now living under the same roof, things could get interesting every once in a while.  In the kitchen, for instance, Jemena and Misami were arguing over who should get the last slice of cake they discovered in the refrigerator that was who knows how old.  The twins were playing video games with the volume up maybe a little higher than it should have been, while still chatting some last thoughts about Taka.  Yoshiko had offered to do laundry and was trying her best to figure out how to use the washing machine, located next to the garage.  Accidentally, she poured in a little too much detergent, leading to a minor bubble overload that spilled out onto the floor.  She stayed confident and would keep trying until she got all the clothes clean one way or another.
    Daisuke fell back onto his bed and sighed after walking into his home from swim practice to see all of this.  He knew very well that little by little, they were destroying his perfect home.  'I've gotta have a talk with those guys' Just then he felt a paper wad hit his forehead, 'Ite-, what was that for?!' he demanded, hoisting himself up to see a very sly-looking Hiroshi.
    'You just looked so darn serious, I had to do something to snap you out of it.' He laughed.
    'How thoughtful,' he said in a monotone, sarcastic voice.  'Sorry, I just don't want my house to get destroyed.'
    'Don't worry about it, it'll be fine.  They're not doin' anything to it!'
    Daisuke rolled his eyes and wasn't going to try arguing with Hiroshi.  He always had a way of losing anyway.  'Shouldn't you go home now?  I mean, it's after five.'
    'What, you don't want me here?' he said in his most pathetic, sad sounding voice.  Daisuke wasn't in the mood to answer that, 'I'll go home when I'm good and ready, besides, it's pouring out there!  Y'think I wanna walk home in that??
    'You can get your mommy to pick you up.' Daisuke thought about that and had to laugh for some reason.
    'Ha ha, funny.  Shut up, and I'm grounded anyway and there's no power at my house.  If my parents knew I was here they'd kill me.' Hiroshi stood up and immediately saw a small gray box sitting on Daisuke's desk.  'And what have we here?' he picked it up and before Daisuke could stop him, opened it to see a rather lavishly decorated heart-shaped golden locket necklace that shined and was very beautiful.  Daisuke blushed and Hiroshi's eyes widened.  'Pretty' then he looked to Daisuke with starry eyes and a shaky voice, 'Aw, Dai' you shouldn't have!'
    'Baka' it's not for you!!' he yelled and snatched the box from his hand.  'It's for Yoshiko' there was a small smile on his lips and that same familiar blush as before.
    Hiroshi was now VERY interested, 'Dang, Dai.  This thing must have cost a crap-load of money!'
    'I used what my dad lent me last night at the mall.  It's well worth it for Yoshiko.'
    'I guess.  You've moved onto buying jewelry, I'm impressed.'
    'Huh?  What's that supposed to mean?'
    He threw another paper wad at his head as his face became blank.  'You're really slow sometimes, you know that?'
    'WHAT IS WITH YOU AND ALL THE STUPID PAPER WADS?!?!?!'
    'Shh,' Hiroshi quieted him, 'You're actually getting somewhere.  You're buying her jewelry now!  Do you realize this?  You're one step closer to scoring!'
    'WHAT??'  Daisuke blushed and this time, pelted HIM with the paper wads, 'YOU SICK PERVERT, I TOLD YOU, I AM NOT LIKE THAT!!'
    Hiroshi sighed, 'You must not be a normal guy then' but anyway, so you give this to Yoshiko, big deal.  What do you want to get out of it?'
    'Get out of it?  Uh, I never thought of that before'
    Hiroshi shook his head, 'Dai, you have so much to learn about the art of courtship, but you needn't worry because I Hiroshi, the master, is here to educate you.'
    Daisuke blinked, 'Go on.'
    'OK, well, obviously since you bought this that must mean that you want Yoshiko to be your girlfriend, right?'
    'G-girlfriend?' his voice cracked.
    'Yes, girlfriend.  Geez, you can't even say the word without blushing, you're hopeless!  You gotta learn to be a man!  You want Yoshiko, you know it!!'
    He looked around, 'Yeah'
    'Alright, so give this to her, wait a little while to see how she reacts, and then it's the time to make your move.'
    'My move?'
    Hiroshi nodded frantically, 'Very soon now, like maybe even in a couple of days, you gotta tell her how you really feel.'
    'How I really feel' Daisuke became petrified, almost like stone.  Just the thought of approaching Yoshiko and telling her the truth'that he was completely and utterly in love with her'made his heart almost stop.  He knew that there was no way he could do that.
    'Whoa, Dai, stay with me.' Daisuke snapped out of it and looked to Hiroshi, 'You weren't even blinking, man.'
    'I can't do that,' he admitted and lowered his head shamefully, feeling really sorry for himself.
    'Sure you can, you just go up to her and say, 'Yoshiko, I love you!' it's that easy!'
    Slowly, he shook his head, his face becoming sad, 'There's more to it than that.  I just don't have the courage to say that kind of thing to her, not yet anyway.  And I don't even know if she feels half the way about me I feel about her!  For all I know, she could just think of me as a friend and nothing more.' He sighed, 'I can't tell her how I feel.  I gotta wait and make sure.'
    Hiroshi frowned, 'Wuss.'
    Daisuke glanced a sour look back to him when he was suddenly surprised by someone opening his door.  'Daisuke-san?' he could recognize that sweet, lovely voice anywhere.  He blushed more and hid the velvet box under the blankets of his bed.
    'Y-yeah, Yoshiko?' he cleared his voice to make sure it wouldn't crack anymore.
    She stepped into his bedroom with a very kind smile on her gentle face, 'Sorry if I'm interrupting, but I just wanted to tell you the laundry is all finished.'
    Hiroshi scooted over to Daisuke on his bed.  'Oh, thank you very much!  That was very nice of you to do!' he was grateful, less work for him to do!
    In his inquisitive way, Hiroshi whispered to Daisuke, 'Dai, that means she handled all your underwear and speedos!'
    A small amount of blood burst form Daisuke's nose and he became a bright, glowing red.  Yoshiko was concerned and walked toward him, 'Oh my, Daisuke-san, are you alright?'
    Hiroshi felt it better to ward her off, 'Uh, he's feeling a little 'cramped' right now, probably should leave him alone for a little while.' He laid him back on his bed and fanned his face with his hand.  'Breathe man, breathe.'
    'Oh, alright.  I hope he feels better soon.  Well, I'll get started on the vacuuming then!'
    'Alright, have fun!' Hiroshi waved to her as she left them alone in the room.  Hiroshi looked back down to Daisuke, his eyes were swirling, he didn't look well.  'Oh man, just saying that did this to you?  You wouldn't last a second in Hiro Hiro Land.'
    Daisuke mumbled something and then became coherent again, 'Now do you believe I'm not ready to tell her?'
    'All too well, man.  All too well.' Hiroshi helped him sit up again as he calmed down.  He could tell Daisuke felt a little disappointed in himself after that.  'But when are you gonna give that locket to her?'
    Daisuke reached under the blanket and pulled out the small gray box.  He grasped it securely in his hand.  'Some time very soon.'

    Satoru sneezed and opened his eyes.  He was laying in his bed, snuggled completely under his blankets after his mother had suggested he take a hot bath and a nap to calm down.  He didn't tell her what was wrong, he wasn't even sure himself.  The whole time all he could think about was Taka and he was just as confused as he had been before.
    Satoru's mother quietly opened the door, 'Honey?'
    'I'm awake.' His voice was muffled under the blankets.
    She stepped inside, 'Good thing we got our power back, you have a phone call.'
    He moved the blankets off of him, 'Who is it?'
    She shrugged, 'No voice I recognize.' She came over and handed the cordless phone to Satoru and then left to give him privacy.
    He sat up in his bed and brought it to his ear, 'Hello?'
    'Sato-chan?' it was a recognizable male voice.
    He gasped, 'Taka-chan' he almost felt an urge to hang up on him.
    'I'm glad its you, I really gotta talk to you.'
    'I'm listening.'
    'Look, I'm really sorry about earlier.  I don't know what got into me.  Sometimes I start to do things I really can't control and weird things happen' Can you forgive me?'
    Satoru's mouth raised in a little smile, 'Taka-chan, of course I can.'
    Taka was very happy, 'Thanks.'
    'But I'm just so confused.  Don't you know I'm a boy too?  Why were you going to kiss me?'
    Taka didn't know how to answer that.  Suddenly, he felt an arm wrapped around his waist and a man with very androgynous features asked, 'Taka babe, who are you talking to?'
    He tried to ignore him, 'Uh, Sato-chan, I can't really talk now, I just wanted to apologize because I'm really sorry about what I did.'
    'But' Satoru heard some other soft voices and what sounded like loud music blaring somewhere.  'Where are you?'
    'I'm at a club.  Um, a dance club'
    'Cool!  I like to dance too!  Could I go there someday?' he asked excitedly.
    'Maybe so,' Taka smiled.
    'Wait a minute, I never told you my phone number'
    'Oh, yeah, I copied it from the tag on your pink school bag.  I thought I might need it.'
    'Alright.' He answered slowly.
    'Oh yeah, Sato-chan, I just have one more thing to ask you.'
    'What's that?'
    'What's your favorite flower?'
    Satoru thought.  'Peonies.  They're just so cute!  I really like Sakura too because they're pink!'  Taka smiled and sighed deeply.  Satoru was just so cute!  He was very glad he apologized to him.  'Taka-chan?  Now, what's your favorite flower?'
    His voice was blissful, 'A Rose.  A beautiful rose is the symbol of unbreakable love and romance.'
    'Oh, I like roses too, they're so beautiful.'
    'I love roses.  Heh, some of my friends have given me another little nickname' the rose without thorns.'
    'The rose without thorns?  Oh, I like it!  It makes you sound like you're the perfect rose, Taka-chan, with no faults and no problems.'
    'Thank you, Sato-chan.  That means a lot to me.' His heart melted as he reflected upon the deep feelings he had for Satoru.
    'But' Satoru was curious, 'just how many friends do you have?'
    Taka giggled, 'More than I can keep track of.  Speaking of which, I have to go now.  Thanks for letting me talk to you.'
    'Anytime, thanks for calling me!  I feel a lot better now.'
    'I'm glad.  I'll see you tomorrow, goodbye Sato-chan.'
    'Bye bye Taka-chan!'
    Both hung up their phones, recalling the conversation in very different ways.  Satoru sighed and laid back down on his bed, the phone right next to him.  Maybe what he thought about Taka was wrong.  He was still confused as to why he had almost kissed him and why he seemed to like him so much like he should a girl, but he did feel much better.  He knew that Taka would care enough to call and apologize for something Satoru was uncomfortable with.  He was quickly becoming one of his best friends and Satoru really wanted to get to know him better.  There was so much he didn't understand about him and so much he was determined to learn.  Satoru cuddled up with his beloved Chika-chan and fell asleep with a smile on his face with the last eluding thoughts of the rose without thorns.

    Taka returned to his home very late.  His mother was there to greet him, smiling warmly in her nightgown.  It was obvious she had come out of bed to see him come through the door.  'Thank you for coming home when you said you would,' she uttered in a hushed voice.  Taka nodded.  She seemed hesitant to slide a small cup toward him along the counter she was leaning at.  'I picked up your new prescription today.  Dr. Hibiki says he'd like to see you tomorrow, so I can take you there when I get home, if you'd like.'
    Taka nodded again, gently picking up the cup.  Inside was a small white pill which he stared at for a moment.  'Do you think it'll actually work this time?'
    'He's confident it should.  I hope it can help you feel happier.'
    He swallowed the pill and stared down to the floor.  'Me too.'
    She smiled at him and set her arms around his neck, 'How was your new school?'
    'It was fine, but can I tell you about it later?  I'm not feeling too well right now'
    She nodded slowly, 'And get some sleep, you look exhausted.'
    'Yeah,' he nodded again, and his mother gently kissed his forehead and began to head down the dark hallway to her room.  'You know what's funny?' he asked suddenly, making her stop to look back at him. 'I've taken so many different pills in my life that I don't even need to do it with water anymore.'
    She gave him a bittersweet smile, which nearly brimmed over to uncontrolled tears.  He gave her a week smile and she again ascended to her bedroom.
    The entire place was dark as Taka stood there alone.  He didn't mind the darkness at all, it was beginning to match the mood he felt himself unwillingly drifting into.  Throwing his boots off at the door, he trudged along the darkness into his bedroom, shutting the door behind him.  He drew the thick black velvet curtains down, shutting out even the brightest moonbeam, now that the storm had passed.  Without realizing it, and with absolutely no way in his power to control it, a thick blackness crept again over Taka's soul.  It was a feeling he had come to know all too well, happening to him often and without warning.  The pills he had taken in the past were supposedly going to combat that depression, but their effects never proved affective on Taka.  Hopefully this new prescription would be better.
    He lit a few candles scattered about in his room'he much preferred the soft orange glow of candlelight to electricity.  Each candle was long and slender, but had much evidence of being lit in the past.  They were solid black in color and sat atop ornate gothic candlesticks.  Taka also began to play a CD of very dark gothic sadistic sounding music, just one CD of many others like it in his collection.  He felt as if the music described him perfectly, he felt himself connecting to and actually living the lyrics.
    Suddenly feeling very weak, Taka collapsed to the silky black sheets of his bed.  He stared aimlessly up to the ceiling, which, along with all the walls, was painted black.  The harsh sounds of the dismal music swirled together in his mind as all things around him seemed to drift in and out of the reality he was forced to live through.  He then felt himself plunging deeper and deeper into the sadness he had always felt as tears streamed down his cheeks.  Just the fact that he needed pills to help him be happy weighed on his consciousness as once more, sinister feelings of self-doubt and hatred swallowed him up.
    'I don't want to exist this way any longer' he whispered through the pain, his eyes stinging with tears.  Glancing over to a table beside his bed, he could make out the blurry images of a small bottle hiding a razor blade he secretly kept there at all times along with a photo set in a silver frame.  He stared at the photo and picked it up to look at it more closely as the chorus of the raging song began.  It was the photo of Taka and another young man from the previous year's summer festival.  Both boys were wearing lovely yukata and smiling so happily.  Taka touched the image of the other boy, his heart falling into even greater despair.  'Yukio,' he whispered, tears staining his cheeks.  'When I was with you, I never felt the pain I've always been cursed with' but all those happy times vanished with you.  I'll never be able to truly feel happiness again' unless' Satoru suddenly popped into his clouded mind.  Warm, sweet, innocent Satoru.  Someone so caring and bright, perhaps hope did once again shine down onto Taka's depressed heart.  'Sato-chan,' he whispered through a weak smile, "I'm counting on you now.  Save me from this anguish before it's too late' he closed his eyes as final tears rolled down and onto his sheets.  Without another utterance, Taka fell into a deep dreamless sleep.  Deep in his heart he was yearning for the next day when he could see Satoru again and maybe truly feel the joy he'd only felt a few times in the past.