Ryosuke's POV:

   I find myself just staring up at the ceiling alot.
   I'd already given up trying to forget thinking about Yukiko, so now she's practically all that I think about. Four days is a long time to think. In that time, I'd already accepted her rejection. I understand that when she'd rejected me, she was just following what her heart had told her to do, which was that she's in love with Yuto. And Yuto's in love with her too.
   But knowing all those things doesn't make it any less painful.

   I'm alone in my apartment. Usually Yuto would be over right now, and we would hang out like we always do, just goofing around and talking about girls we would never approach and writing stupid songs that we knew we'd never actually sing out in public.
   I sort of miss his prescence.
   But of course, seeing him again would mean knowing about how things are going with Yukiko and him. They're probably dating by now, I just know it. And everything is fine between them.
   But I want to see my best friend anyway...

   Right when I finish my thought, I hear the sound of someone rapping hard on my door.
   I rise up in bed, eyebrows knitting together. Who would come right now?
   I look at the clock. It's five o'clock in the morning. Today's the last day of our break. By tomorrow, all of us will be back at JE, and everything would return to normal again. I feel a sharp tug at my chest, but I've already learned to ignore it by now.
   The banging on the door is getting more and more urgent.

   "Alright, alright, hold on, I'm coming !!" I yell at the door, swinging it open. I'm about to say something very rude and very obnoxious to whatever fan has come knocking down my door so early in the morning when I see who's there.

   "...Yuto?"

   He's a mess. He's still wearing Yukiko's brother's clothes, but they're stained and dirty and ripped. His hair is plastered to his head from sweat and so is his shirt. He looks about ready to push me over and walk right in and before I can object, that's exactly what he does.

   "Whoa! Dude, the least you can do is take your shoes off first," I try to say angrily, but I can't. I'm happy to see my friend again.

   He obediently kicks his shoes off and as they go flying off in different directions, he rushes into my room and flops down on my bed.

   Smiling somewhat amusedly, I head over to my room and knock on his head.

   "What's up, baka?" I say playfully.

   He mumbles something unintelligible into my pillow. I laugh again.

   "Hey~What are you doing here?" I ask him, sitting down beside him on the bed. When he doesn't answer, I shove him playfully and he rolls around to give me an angry face.

   I'd always thought that the next time i would see him again, he would be extremely happy, with Yukiko's amrs around him and goofy expressions on both of thier faces.
   But instead, Yuto looked like a total trainwreck. His eyes are hard and icy, mouth set into a grim line. There's a certain coldness about him that makes me want to move away, but I stay my ground.

   "Yuto...What's wrong?" I finally ask.

   His bottom lips trembles and he turns away again, burying his face in my pillow. "Mmmmaaahheerrttttssbrruukkuunnn," he says into the fabric.

   "Uh....what?"

   He faces me again, expression sorrowful.
   "I confessed," he says, and then he once again turns and stuffs his face into my pillow. "Iiiithuuuurttssss."

   My eyebrows knit together in confusion.
   "What do you mean that you confessed?" I ask.

   He looks at me a little accusingly and says - as if it's totally obvious: "I confessed to Yukiko. Who else would I have confessed to?!"

   He sound angry now, but I don't pay much attention to that. What the hell was going on? Doesn't Yukiko love Yuto? I know she does. Then why...

   "Then shouldn't you be happy that she had accepted you?" I ask him.

   He glares at me.
   "She. Didn't. Accept. Me," he snarls through gritted teeth. His eyes looks moist, like he's restraining his tears.

   My heart stops. Yukiko....Yukiko didn't accept Yuto's confession?
  
   My mind goes on overdrive.
   Yukiko didn't accept Yuto. There has to be a reason for it. She doesn't have feelings for him? Impossible, i've seen the way they've acted towards each other before. She likes someone else? I can't hope for that anymore.
   I can't find any other explanation for Yukiko's reaction to him.

   "But...why..." I say out loud by accident.

   "Why did she reject me?" Yuto snaps, facing away from me, his tone grim. He pauses for a while, and then he continues. "...She found her glasses."

   Realization hits me hard in the gut.
   "She...she found out who you are?" I ask anxiously. "She...she knows that you're..."

   "Yes, she knows that I am me," he scoffs, irritated. "So she probably already put the pieces together and knows that you are you, too."

   I can't breathe.
   "...What did she say?"
   I don't need to elaborate. He already knows what I'm trying to say.

   "She said that I had lied to her, took advantage of her and her poor eyesight. Betrayed her, even." He sounds bitter. He pauses again before he continues. "...When I'd asked her if she had loved me, just the littlest bit, she said that she had never felt that way about me at all, ever." His voice cracks at the last word, and then he wipes furiously at his face, probably hoping that I hadn't witnessed his tears, even though I had.
  
   My head is spinning. I was so sure that...
   "Yuto...then what are you doing here?" I suddenly wonder. 

   He then looks up at me, his face serious. "I want to know how you feel about her," he says. 

   We pause. 

   "Eh?!" I say. "What are you trying to say?!" 

   He scoffs. "Don't think that I'm stupid. I figured out why you kept on staring at Yuki so openly and annoyingly. You like her, and I was pretty stupid to think that you would help me out with her that much. I should've known sooner." Another pause. And then, "I'm right, am I?"

   ".......Yes."

   We sit in silence for a while. 

   "So...what are we going to do now?" I ask, rubbing the back of my head awkwardly. 

   "I don't know," he sighs. He looks up at me through the corner of his eye. "Do you still...love her?" he asks me. 

   I bite my lip and look away. 
   "Yes, yes I do," I say to him. "But....the one thing I know is that I'm not the one for her. I may love her, but that doesn't mean that she loves me back." I stand up and head for the door, pausing at the open entrance. "The one she loves, and this I know for sure....it's you, Yuto." 

   And then I walk out.

Yuto's POV: 

   Before our break from JE, Ryosuke had never lied to me before, and I to him. 
   But then he'd lied to me about how he felt about Yukiko (he may not have literally lied to me, but he still kept his thoughts from me), and I didn't know what to think. 
   So now that he'd just told me that Yuki loved me, should I believe him or not? I had already asked her about how she felt about me, and that turned out to be the most painful realization of my life. But if Ryosuke was right...what reason would there be for her to lie to me and say that she didn't love me back in any way? 
   Maybe she was still recovering from the shock of it all. 
   Maybe she was right; I had lied to her, betrayed her, took advantage of her. 

   Maybe I should just give up. 

   The thought dawns on me for a while. 
   Giving up would be easier. I wouldn't have to feel so much pain every moment. I could just forget about her, like I did to Ayane, and find another girl, one that would accept me more freely, and love me back in the same way. Ryosuke is lying to me. I just know it. 
   I'm already famous and wanted, I think bitterly. How hard would it be to find another girl?
   I bite down on my lip to keep the tears from b down my face. 
   I have to get out of here. 

   I pass through the kitchen where Ryosuke is sitting, staring blankly at a cup of coffee. When he sees me, he looks up, a confused expression on his face. 

   "Where are you going?" He inquires. 

   I don't look at him, all I do is grab my jacket from the floor and throw it over my shoulders. 

   "Somewhere not here," I say coldly. 

   I reach for the doorknob, but Ryosuke is already there, blocking the doorway. 

   "So that's it?" he demands. "You're just going to give up on her?" 

   His face is set into a determined expression, and there's something about him that gives out an atmosphere of confidence. I stay where I am, gripping the sleeve of my jacket harshly in my hands. 

   "Why shouldn't I?" I ask. "I know her feelings for me, and they're not at all like mine, so what hope is there for me? I'm better off giving up, and you know that." 

   "How can you tell me what I know?" he demands, anger written on his face now. "Do you want to know what I know?" 

   There's a moment of silence as I wait for him to continue. 

   "I know that Yuki loves you," he says in a more subdued voice. 

   Anger builds up inside of me. 

   "And how the hell would you know that?!" I yell. "I asked her that, and she said to me, very clearly, by the way, that she didn't care about me in that way. Are you saying that I should take your word over hers?!" 

   ".....Yes." 

   I stop for a moment, lost for words. 

   Finally I say, "Why?" 

   He looks at me, gaze intense. 

   "Because I saw the way she looked at you," he says loudly. "And...and she never looked at me that way. Ever." 

   Ryosuke's looking me straight in the eye, and I know that he's not lying this time. I know that if I were to lie to him, I would never be able to look him in the face. 

   Hope blooms inside my chest and i let out a sigh of realization. 

   "Wait...then why did she reject me?" I ask him. 

   "I'm not sure," he says to me, wiping his hand down his face. "But...I think it has something to do with me."

   "What...how could it have anything to do with you?" I ask him. 

    He looks down at the floor. 
   "The day at the amusement park...I kind of confessed to her," he says to me. 

   My mouth drops open. 
   So that's why she acting so strange after that day, I realize. 

   "So do you think that the reason she was acting that way was because she didn't want to break us apart?" I ask Ryosuke. 

   "That's my best guess," he says. "Yukiko's like that, she always thinks she can fix everything." 

   "But we can't get broken apart!" I exclaim. "We're still best friends, right?" I ask him. 

   "Yeah," he answers, like it's the most obvious thing in the world. 

   "So you're not going to like...hold a grudge over me because I love Yuki too?" I ask. 

   "Ah, I still have to rip your vocal cords out, but other than that, we're okay," he says playfully.

   We laugh together and then we grin at each other. 

   "So...before I do anything, I would like to have your permission," I say to him. 

   "My permission for what?" he asks. 

   "Your permission to continue my relationship with Yukiko." 

   He's silent. 

   "Ryousuke?" I ask hesitantly. 

   "I know...I know that the thing that I want most in the world is for Yuki to be happy," he says softly. "I also know....that she won't be happy with me. And as much as it irritates me to say it...you're the only one that can make her that happy." He sighs. "So...fine, I give you my permission. If it makes her happy, I'll give you my permission whenever you want it." 

   I grin at him. I'm so happy that I think I can die. 

   "Eh~? What about my happiness?" I ask him playfully. 

   He scoffs. "Eh~why would I want to have to do anything with that?" he asks and we laugh together. 

   When we stop, we just kind of grin at each other. 

   "Well, what are you waiting for?" Ryosuke asks me. "Why don't you go get her?" 

   "AH - hai!" I say and run out the door, slamming it behind me. 

   A minute later, I run back into the room, breathing hard. 
   "Ah.....what do I say when I get there?" I ask. 

   Ryosuke chuckles and then narrows his eyes at me. 
   "Hm....maybe we can figure something out, instead of you just randomly barging into the shop this early in the morning.  Don't worry. I have a plan."

Yukiko's POV: 

   The place feels so empty without the boys now. Chiyo's gone as well, she had left shortly after Chinen did, and my mother was out somewhere trying to buy some more things for the shop. She wouldn't be back until tomorrow afternoon.
   It's seven o'clock in the morning, and I'm lying awake in Nakajima Yuto / Nakamura Yuji's bed. I hadn't slept all night, and I don't think that I'll be sleeping anytime soon. Everyone's absence is weighing down on me like an anvil. 
   I know it's stupid, and that what I want is impossible after all the things I'd said to both Ryosuke and Yuto. But even though, I'm wondering where they are, what they're doing. Are they thinking about me? Impossible. Will I ever see them again? I shouldn't count on it; they must hate me now. 
   But I want to see them. 
   I want to have them back. 
   I want Ryosuke/Ryouma, who was like a big brother. 
   I want Yuto/Yuji, who was the love of my life. 

But I know that no matter how much I want something, I can't always expect them to come to me. 

   I look at my glasses. 
   They were the start of everything. They had led me to meet Nakamura Yuji, which then brought me to meeting Yamato Ryouma, and then Chikafuji Yukio. It if weren't for these glasses, I wouldn't have felt all this happiness, and gained all these memories. 

   If it weren't for these glasses, I wouldn't be feeling such pain right now. 

                                                                                                        I throw them to the floor and grind them under my foot. 

What is Ryosuke's plan? What will happen now that Yuto hs decided not to give up hope?
               Thank you for reading Chapter 14!!!!!! 
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