Aiba felt a new kind of loneliness now that he has to spend afterschool all alone, at night, without Ohno. And all Aiba did, instead of beggining Nino to play basketball outside his house, was squirm all over his bedroom floor.

"God dammit!" Aiba yelled out loud, enough to make his mom bang the wall next door. "Why?!"

"Man~" Aiba wailed. "I wish O-chan was here. He can show me all the cool stuff about drawing and stuff. I--"

Aiba jumped up at the sound of his phone ringing a cheery tone. He thought that it was Ohno, but turns out it was only Nino. He wasn't going to answer, but he did anyways.

"Heller?"

"Aibaka, come over my house," Nino lightly demanded.

"Why?" Aiba cried. "So you can make fun of me?"

"No, idiot," Nino hissed. "I have something you want."

"No, I don't want to be beaten in video games. I--"

"Bring your homework," was the last thing Nino told him before he hung up.

Aiba did not want to go, but then again he felt lonely as hell. Nino was his only friend anyways so it probably would be better for a better company other than his nagging mother.

"Fine, I'll go!" Aiba thought out loud as he got up and grabbed his school bag.




Aiba arrived faster than he had hoped he would, but Nino's house wasn't that far away. As soon as Aiba rang the doorbell to his friend's house, the door swung open, revealing a tired Nino.

"Are you ok?" Aiba asked as he walked in. "You look like crap."

"I'm not, ok?" Nino grumbled, "I asked what you wanted what the problem was and everything turned out to be a mess."

"What do you mean, what I "want"?" Aiba questioned. "I don't understand you."

"Go upstairs," Nino mumbled. "You'll get what I mean."

Aiba never really had a clue as to what Nino was referring to, which was maybe another reason why he was so bad at school; he went ahead without Nino anyways.

"I wonder what Nino is--"

Aiba suddenly stopped his tracks as soon as he opened the door to Nino's bedroom. He was really surprised to see that his tutor was red-eyed. Now Aiba had a clue as to what Nino was talking about.

"O-chan?!" Aiba shrieked happily as he skipped towards him. "I didn't expect to see you here!"

"..."

"I-- Are you still mad at me?"

Just like at school, Ohno ignored him.

"Because I'm really really sorry, O-chan, and I didn't meant it."

"..."

"I just wanted to know more about you, OK?" Aiba sighed as he ran his finger through his hair. "I didn't mean to ki-- "attack" you."

"..."

"Well at least you got to hear my apology," Aiba mumbled before he got up, "I'm... Going now..."

He looked away for a second, hoping that for once Ohno will look at him behind his back. When Aiba turned to look at him again, Ohno's back was still facing him.

It's not that Aiba gave up but he decided to leave. He figured that if Ohno won't acknowledge him, it would be hard to get him to listen. As Aiba walked down the stairs, finding Nino fast alseep on his couch, he smiled sadly. He's lost his fun previleges, lost half of his life, and--

He felt a small tap on his shoulder but he thought it was just his imagination so he continued towards the front door. But this time, soft hands held fast onto his shoulder; he quickly turned around and gasped.

TBC