“The awesome gentleman Tetsu opening the door for Sapphire. Wow!” My dear friend Colin proclaimed loudly on the school roof. Haruka my other “dear” friend, grins with outstretched arms to the door where my crush is behind.

I walk to the door with sweaty palms and open it.

“Thanks, Tetsu!” A walking solar panel comes out and thanks me. Sapphire walks to the corner of the roof and sets down the panel. “That should do it!”

"Gotta go Tetsu! Gotta take care of something before class!" Colin said as he walked to the door leading to the stairs.

"Same here! See you in class!" Haruka waved as she walked along with Colin. Just like that they left me alone with Sapphire.

There she was looking as cute as ever. As flustering as my friends were they gave a chance to ask Sapphire out. I gotta take it.

"Hey Sapphire."

"Yes Tetsu?" She looked at me with a smile that's hard to resist.

"I was wondering if you would like to go out sometime on the weekend on a date." I said it! I really said it! She looked at me with a little pause.

"Tetsu… I am flattered but I am so busy that I don't have time for dating." My heart sank. "Tetsu I am sorry. I wouldn't be able to give you enough time." I held up my hand.

"I understand Sapphire." I say with a forced smile. "I know what it's like to barely have enough time for yourself."

"Ah! You must be in a lot of extracurriculars at school then! Which ones?" Trying to change subjects I am guessing. I guess she is doing her best trying to distract and make me feel better.

"That's a topic for the people I date!" I stick out my tongue at her playfully. Totally not going to tell her I am on superhero duty. "I already know you make the world around you brighter. And if that makes you busy then… maybe I shouldn't disrupt that."

"No… that's not it…" Sapphire spoke softly. I took a deep breath.

“I should take care of something before class as well.” I quickly made the same excuse my friends made earlier. I put my hand to the door and looked back toward the one who broke my heart. “Take care Sapphire! Keep doing the things you do.” She looked away. Before the tears could fall from my eyes I went through the door.

I briskly walked down the staircase of the school one to try and get some distance from Sapphire… Sapphire. The reason why I fell for you was because you’re so kind. Yet that is the reason we can’t go out. It’s not fair.

Need to find some place where I can be by myself for a bit. I went through a low traffic hallway and went down a different staircase at the back of the school. Need to go to the basement floor so I can…

“*sob* *sob*” I hear a girl crying somewhere. Something is wrong! I frantically look around where her crying was coming from. But the staircase bricks bounced the sounds around too much so I couldn’t tell. Oh right! Where I was going to might be a good place to look. I rapidly descended the stairs. Then I saw the girl at the bottom of the stairs. She suddenly looked up towards me wide eyed and tears in her eyes. She looked familiar.

“You okay? Are you hurt?“ She quickly shook her head.

“No… I’m fine. I just...” She was about to cry again.

“Hey hey... “ I tried to comfort her as I started to sit beside her. “Kyoko right? It’s okay… if you need someone to talk to I can lend you my ear. I mean they still somewhat work after listening to the teacher’s lecture...”

“*chuckle* *sniff* *sniff* You shouldn’t say that about our teachers. They do good work.” Kyoko’s sniffling started to get lighter as it was weaved with a little bit of suppressed laughter. “Alright… I think I can tell you.”

Kyoko explained that she was in a long term relationship with a childhood friend of hers who lived beside each other. They had facing bedroom windows and they used to sneak into each others’ room through the windows when they were kids. When the sonic boom hit Kyoko got extremely worried and opened the window to find her boyfriend holding another girl from a different school.

“I can’t imagine how that must feel.”

“I’ve known him for so long I even started to see us having a wonderful future together. I know I shouldn’t since we’re still in high school but...”

“It’s alright Kyoko. It’s completely normal to have those thoughts.” I gave a soft smile at her. “How you handle those thoughts is what’s important.” Super reassuring words I’m speaking here. But I’m totally pulling them from a few manga books I read.

“I never thought of it like that.” Kyoko put a single finger on her cheek. “Hmmm…”

“As a dude, I randomly get daydreams of marrying random attractive girls I see in elevators. It’s like trying to control breathing.”

“Hahaha!” Kyoko looked towards me with a laugh. “Oh! Your eyes are bloodshot and watering. Are you okay? Did we have the same idea in coming here?” Shoot! She’s completely right.

“Oh! I just stayed up late at night playing video games. Didn’t get much sleep.” I rubbed my head a little. “Actually have a minor headache. I reap what I sow I guess. Haha!” I laughed it off.

“Okay. I think we should get back to class.” Kyoko stood up and looked towards me. “Thanks for talking to me Tetsu. Somehow that alone made me feel better!”

“You go on ahead. I need to write a quick text right now.” I smiled towards her.

“Alright! See you in class! And get some sleep Tetsu!” She smiled as she walked up the stairs and towards the classroom. Her eyes were still a little red from crying but she seems a lot better.

“You know I won’t Kyoko!” I said jokingly half in a daze. My mind was just kind of spinning from switching gears that fast. Going from being rejected by Sapphire to… that’s right. I was rejected by Sapphire. My eyes began to water again. I looked at my watch and it was two minutes before lunch would be over. I don’t have time right now for tears.

I took a few deep breaths. After about 10 seconds I calmed down enough. Right then, I heard some footsteps that weren’t mine. Was it Kyoko or someone else?