Disclaimer: I don't own anything... I'm poor.

A/N: to Linnea Farhen, I hoped this satisfied you. To be honest, I wanted to have it vague. But I guess it was too vague? xDD anyway, here's the prequel of Aka-itou.

"I'm so stupid Tomo-chan! S-so stupid!"

Osakada Tomoka was caught in surprise by her best friend, Ryuuzaki Sakuno, when said best friend ran into her crying.

"What happened to you Sa-chan? Did someone bully you? Why I outta–!"

Sakuno didn't answer, she just hugged her tighter, and Tomoka then lowered her arms and unclenched her fists. She patted the girl on the back gently. Now a bit calm, she asked her again.

"Sa-chan, tell me what happened? Why are you crying?"

Sakuno sniffed a bit and wiped her tears.

"L-let's talk someplace else, would the usual place be fine with you Tomo-chan?"

Seeing the pained expression on her best friend's face, all Tomoka could do was nod in agreement. They took their bags from their classroom (they somehow remained classmates even in senior high school) and had gone to their usual hang-out since their days in middle school, Tsubasa Café.

After they had settled themselves and ordered from Yukino-san, the owner, the two fell in a somber silence before Tomoka broke the mood.

"Okay, now we're here. Tell me what happened? And don't you dare lie to me"

Tomoka crossed her arms as if daring her to do so, but Tomoka knew she wouldn't lie. She hasn't seen Sakuno this sad since….. Her parents' death.

Sakuno sniffed some more before replying.

"I… confessed to Ryoma-kun, no, Echizen-san today"

Tomoka's eyes widen in shock as she slammed the table with both her hands.

"What?"

"After I confessed… h-he said that he doesn't l-like m-me that way…. H-he said t-that I s-shouldn't t-think about s-something as s-stupid as t-this…. Hic! I loved h-him Tomo-chan! I r-really d-did l-loved him!"

Tomoka doesn't know what to say, tears are also falling down her face. The inevitable has finally happened. She couldn't stop it. It pains her to admit it, but she's at a loss. She doesn't know how to console her friend. It pains her to admit it that it makes her cry.

"Oh, Sa-chan" She walked to her friend's seat and hugged her close. "I'm so sorry. It's his loss. You're too good for him"

"It hurts Tomo-chan! It hurts so badly! I loved him! I've loved him!"

Both girls cried that day.

A month later, Echizen Ryoma once again flew away from Japan to America, this time, for good. When the news reached Tomoka's ears, she glanced at her best friend and is not surprised by the somber expression Sakuno had. Tomoka remembered the first time her former idol flew out to America. She also took a glance at Sakuno and consoled the girl. She was disheartened by the fact that she had thought (and even planned their wedding with her as the maid-of-honor) that Sakuno and Ryoma were made for each other.

But over time, she came to realize that Echizen Ryoma is not the fairytale prince they both had thought him to be. She was the first to realize it when he came back to Japan. When she had realized it, right then and there, Sakuno deserved better. She wants to tell that to Sakuno at first but she also realized that Sakuno has to discover that herself. As much as it pains her to left her friend alone, this is something that she has to know on her own.

They are now growing up, but why does growing up this painful? If so, then she doesn't want to grow up anymore. It's too painful. But as hard as she wished it to be so, she cannot changed the fact that they are growing up, whether they liked it or not that's just the way of life.

Seasons passed and they are now graduating from high school. They now had to truly say goodbye to silly dreams, mere infatuations, the easy-going those they once had. It's now finally time for them to step into the world of adults.

They both parted ways, since the paths they want to take are different from each other. She wants to be an artist, a painter. Sakuno wanted to be a lawyer, to the surprise of everyone, but not to her. Tomoka already knew, somehow, that that's what Sakuno wanted. How she knew, she just read the signs along the way, really.

They promised each other to have as much communication as they possible could. And they did.

It's now three years since that day. They decided to meet up, and as they walked home…

"Mou... I so, want to know who's my soul-mate! I want to know who the guy of my aka-itou* is connected to!"

Aka-itou - see chapter 1 on footnotes.