I glanced at Serah from the corner of my eye. All I could feel was confusion, empathy, and the slightest trace of anger. It was only my first day of school, and my first friend was crying? And for what reason, I didn't know. I wanted to ask what happened, about this morning, about everything, but her silence and tight grip on my arm told me it would be better not to. I gave her arm a squeeze and pulled her forward. It probably wasn't my place, but I couldn't let something like this happen. Not again. Not when I was finally free.

"I think I saw him go around to the bleachers on the field..." Her voice was barely above a whisper, and I could tell that whatever we were going to see wasn't going to be pleasant. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry? For what? Whoever did this to you should be the one apologizing, Serah."

"B-but..."

"No buts! Let's find your brother and go home, ok?"

We rounded the corner and I could feel her stiffen next to me. There were sounds coming from behind the bleachers; incomprehensible shouts and what seemed like someone getting hit grew louder and louder. 

"Leave her alone!" Sehun shoved some guy off of him and wiped a small trail of blood from his lip. "She's my sister! Only I can mess with her, ok?!"

"Well, Jihyun said otherwise, so I think we'll take her word over yours," Another guy that I recognized from our homeroom class kicked Sehun in the leg, causing him to double over in pain. They were both shorter than him, but in regards to muscle, Sehun really wasn't any match. I pulled Serah behind me and readied myself. I knew I wouldn't be able to take them, but they couldn't punch a girl, right?

Their  backs were turned to us, and Sehun didn't seem to notice us since he was too busy defending himself. The two guys kept hurling insults and threatening to punch him again, but for some reason I still wasn't scared. I was just angry. It was just my last year of high school all over again.

Serah tried to hold me back, but I shook her off and got in between them. At first, they were confused, but then I guess they realized I was defending their target, and glared at me.

"Hey, back off...uh...what was her name again?" They exchanged confused looks before looking back to me. I stared them both in the eyes before being yanked back.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Sehun whispered harshly into my ear and I could feel the warmth of his hands on my shoulders, the heat of his breath on my neck, and the pounding of my heart in my ribcage. 

"Rescuing you, duh." I looked over to where Serah was standing and the two guys started making their way to her. "Serah!"

This time I ran straight to her with Sehun following and without thinking, I jumped on one guy's back. Looking back, it probably wasn't the smartest idea. We both fell rather ungracefully to the floor; half of his body lay on my legs. This distracted the other guy long enough for Sehun to get Serah to run.

"You are soooo dumb!" Sehun shoved the guy off of me and pulled me up, grabbing my wrist. We both ran in the direction of the front gate, catching up to Serah in the process. I grabbed her hand and we all ran straight home, never turning back. When we reached my fence, we all collapsed to the floor out of breath.

"Uh...want some water...?" Kris was standing in front of our door, looking like he just got home, with the key stuck in the lock. 

"KYAAAH." Serah shot up and ran straight to her house, unlocking her door with inhuman speed. shutting it loudly behind her. I turned my attention back to my cousin, who looked really dumb at the moment, and realized Sehun was still holding onto my wrist. Apparently, he had, too, and he let go, his face turned to the other side. I could've sworn his cheeks were the slightest tint of pink, but that could've been from all the running we just did. 

"Okaaay then." Kris opened the door and went in, leaving it open for me. 

"I guess I'll see you later?" I tried to sound as normal as possible, but it's kind of hard to when you can't exactly breathe properly. 

"Thanks, Mei Li." Sehun smiled at me and put his hand on my head. 

"Those guys were di- I mean, they were jerks. Anyone would've done it."

"Not...really...Anyways, see you in class tomorrow, neighbor." He got up and helped me up again, and I started up the stairs to my door.

"Yeah, see you then!"

Now, I was really curious. What happened to cause all this hatred among my classmates? It was like someone hit me in the face with a shovel full of déjà-vu and I had to stop myself from remembering. 

"Boyfriend?"

"What?"

Kris was lounging on the couch in that "draw-me-like-one-of-your-French-girls" pose and smirking at me. "I saw that. Holding hands. Minus the girl who screamed, but I'll ignore that. Boyfriend~?"

"Boy, yes. Friend, yes. Boyfriend, no." 

"Your face is red."

"Your face is dumb."

"Wha-" I laughed before climbing up the stairs to my room. I liked Sehun, of course, but not like that. He's in my homeroom class, his sister is crazy and loveable, and he's my neighbor. Why wouldn't we be friends? 

---

I woke up the next day to someone's body crushing mine. Absentmindedly, I reached for my glasses and looked up to see Serah smiling brightly at me, as if nothing happened the other day. 

"MOOOOOOORNING~!" She hugged me before I could even get my blanket off of me. 

"Yo, I let your boyfriend and his sister in." Kris was standing in the doorway with an obviously confused Sehun.

"Boyfriend?" 

"Mei Li can't have a boyfriend if she's my wife!" Serah held me tighter and stuck her tongue out at her brother.

"Wife?" I blinked a few times before shutting my eyes again. Five more minutes.

"Hey, wake up! We have school in like ten minutes!" Serah started shaking me and I accidentally rolled us both out of bed. Whoops.

I grumbled in response and pushed the guys out of my room. Serah started to make my bed, which I thought was a little weird, but whatever, right? I wandered to the bathroom with her following close behind, and I went on with my morning routine, but it was quickly interrupted by a sudden choking noise. "Serah! Are you ok??"

Tears spilled down her cheeks and she sniffled, pulling me into a hug. "I-I just...yesterday...s-sorry..." She calmed down a bit and wiped her tear stained face. "I think...I think I, we, have some explaining to do..."