Hi! I've been a huge Baka Test fan for a year now, and have been meaning to write this fic for a really, really long time. I know most people must think "oh dude, this pairing is totally crack", but hey, it's my OTP anways~ Hope you enjoy this!

She felt like curling up and taking a nap in the hot sun right now, but the loud conversations of her classmates were going to be a fine obstacle in that. She was surprised she had even managed to do school work today, seeing as she stayed up too late helping Hazuki on a school project… ugh.

It was a warm spring day and everyone was rather cheerful, despite the defeat at the hands of Class A a week ago, but she felt like the edges of her lips were being held up by clothes pins. Painful clothes pins. Minami Shimada was, to put it simply, way too tired for this.

He was missing, but that was nothing new. Probably was stuck in remedial classes, she thought lazily, leaning on her arm. What was troubling her was the lack of Mizuki. Her bubbly pink haired best friend never got stuck in the extra classes- she ignored the pang of jealousy deep in her chest, envy that someone could be so perfect- so where was she…? Gazing around, Minami took attendance of every one else in her class. Kinoshita and Sakamoto were talking animatedly about something (probably a battle tactic) surrounded by groups of students taking place in a Pokemon Tournament. Tsuchiya was gently wiping the lens of his camera. Minami straightened her skirt out of habit.

Leaning back and sighing, Minami took out a worn, several times finished, Sudoku book, wiping the eraser shavings off with one hand. Math, at least, was always a comfort.

The door slammed open hard, and Minami looked up as if falling out of trance. She had been doing so well, too. Ugh. Aki stood at the door, grinning sheepishly, and her heart did gymnastics. Until she realized that Mizuki was next to him.

Holding his hand.

"I confessed," Aki admitted, rubbing the back of his head with his other hand. Mizuki looked down, blushing.

"Me too." The class erupted in cheers, while Minami sat dazed. It felt like she'd been stabbed in the chest. Everything seemed distant. Sakamoto clapping his best friend on the back, saying, "It's about time." Kinoshita smiled, giving his congratulations. A camera flash. Mizuki and Aki? She had wondered- no, suspected, but…

She just didn't want to accept it.

The rest of the day passed in a lot of pain. Said gaping chest wound was being an asshole, not to mention Minami bit her lip every time she felt like bursting into tears. Which was a lot. What she was terrified of was that someone would notice. And ask what was wrong, and she'd just cry, and cry, and cry. She hated feeling so weak. So as the school bell rang, Minami stood up, grabbed her bag, and turned to leave without a word. Kinoshita, to her surprise, stopped her. They didn't talk much (well, more then she talked to Sakamato, and definitely more often then she attempted a conversation with Tsuchiya) and she wouldn't consider him close enough to notice that she had a giant pool of (metaphorical) blood spouting from her chest.

She flashed him a quick, hopefully genuine looking smile. "What is it?"

"I am hosting a bonfire at my beach house tonight," he said, using his typical formal way of speech. "Everyone is going. Can you?"

"Of course she will." Aki said, before Mizuki ssshed him. He ignored her. "Won't you?" Minami pressed her lips together, back pressed against the door. She wanted to run.

"I'm busy, actually. I have to help my sister with a project." Not like any of them knew that Hazuki turned it in a few hours ago.

"Oh." Mizuki said, looking miserable, like her comment was a deep blow to her ego. She looked up at her, expression hopeful. "Can you get it done early? I would really love you to be there." Aki stared at the pink haired genius, admiration in his eyes plain. He'd probably jump of a cliff if she asked him to.

It was weird, how she was tempted to stomp over and imprint his face into the floor, but she realized, under all the hurt and bitter jealousy, that Mizuki was still in, fact her best friend.

… She really needed better friends. "…I guess I can try." She relented. Mizuki beamed. "Oh, thank you so much! I'll make it up to you!" Minami very much doubted that. Kinoshita smiled too, hesitantly, as if he could sense something was wrong, and handed her a card with an address on it, telling her to arrive around six thirty. She thanked him, waved good-bye half heartedly, and exited the classroom.

She was halfway home, running full speed, before she broke down and sobbed.

One nap, a hot bubble bath, and several truckloads of tissue boxes later, Minami stood in her underwear, hesitating as she glanced at the outfits laid out on her bed. She really wanted an outfit that said "hey, asshole, don't you wish you picked me instead?" But the forecast said it was going to be cold tonight, and freezing her ass off was not very attractive. She would wear her inserts, but someone had destroyed them. She scowled at the memory. Why did he even care?

Oh well. Trying to figure out the psychological mysteries of the school's infamous pervert was just bound to give her a headache, and she already had a bad one from crying so hard earlier. Minami finally picked a cute green tank top, paired with a simple white hoodie and skinny jeans. She didn't have many shoes, so she borrowed a pair of flip-flops from her mom's closet. (It wasn't like she was around to complain.)

She only applied some lip-gloss, as she was hesitant to apply any eye make up incase some rogue tears decided to stage an escape. Mizuki had already called earlier to confirm she'd be there, so there was no backing out.

"Onee-chan!" She turned. Hazuki was smiling at her. "You look pretty!"

Minami smiled back at her, ruffling her hair. "Thanks. Be good while I'm gone, okay!"

"Alright." Hazuki said, sounding strangely obedient. She was probably going to eat boatloads of sugar as soon she left. She was reaching for the door when her sister stopped her again.

"…Minami?"

"Hm?"

"Please don't cry so much."

Minami gave a little half laugh. "I'll try. Lock the door behind me, alright?"

"Okay."

It was going to be a long night.

The bus ride over was both dull and infuriating. Dull, because all she had was her phone and no one was texting her. And infuriating because she really, really hated when older men checked her out. Ugh. She managed to get off at Kinoshita's stop without any incidents, however, and followed down the easy to read directions (thank god for German) she printed from her computer at home.

When she arrived at the Kinoshita residence, Mizuki flung her arms around her, and Minami hugged her back, albeit hesitantly.

"These are so good!" She said, handed her a batch of cookies. Minami hadn't tried her cooking before, so it wasn't just her growling stomach that led her to chew the chocolate chip cookies with interest. She was a good cook, though Minami personally thought she was better.

"Akihisa made them." She beamed. Minami almost spit them out. She stopped using suffixes already? They had only been dating for a couple hours! She swallowed, coughing hoarsely.

"Are you alright, Minami-chan?" Minami nodded quickly in answer.

"Uh, yeah. I just need some water." She wandered through the huge house, looking for the kitchen. On her way there, she spotted the other Class F (and 2 class A) members. The Kinoshita twins were arguing, (Minami guessed that his sister wasn't exactly for the whole "invite a bunch of idiots to our private beach house" plan) Sakamoto and Kirishima were talking quietly on the love seat, and Tsuchiya was snapping photos of the house, bizarrely enough. She had never seen him take a picture of something that wasn't breathing.

He looked up at her, and silently pointed in a direction. Mystified, she followed the path, and found the kitchen automatically. Huh. Grabbing a water bottle, she returned to the living room, waiting for the sign to go outdoors.

Maybe ten minutes later, Kinoshita directed them out of the house, the other Kinoshita scowling as if hoping she could somehow sabotage the bonfire before it happened.

"Here we go!" He said triumphantly, stopping at a fire pit close to the water. He and Sakamoto started working on the fire. Minami stared at the ocean, feeling distracted.

"Are you alright?" She turned, surprised. Kirishima had sat next to her, face unreadable. She was dressed in a light purple cardigan and long, lacey skirt.

"Huh? Oh. Yeah, I'm fine." Kirishima shot her a look, but walked away, her long hair catching the breeze. Minami was mystified. How had the class A rep, of all people, noticed? She thought she was acting fairly well, as the class F students hadn't treated her any differently. Apparently not.

She shook her head slightly. No reason to get worried about that now. She leaned back and enjoyed the fire.

The evening turned hell-ish fairly quickly. First off, as soon as Aki sat down, Mizuki curled up next to him like a cat. It made her want to gag. Then, as if taking this as an example, Kirishima and Sakamoto decided to get cozy, talking in a low, quiet voice. Minami wanted to scream. No way in hell would she agree to go if she had known this was a couples' gathering!

She looked desperately towards the twins, but they had resumed the argument from indoors and paid her no mind. It was when Akihisa and Mizuki started kissing-kissing! In front of all these people! That she simply couldn't handle it anymore, and she stormed off. No one even seemed to notice.

Minami walked away in no real direction, just wanting to walk until she couldn't see the group, and they couldn't see her. This was a stupid idea. Did she really think she was strong enough to handle seeing them together? She finally just stumbled blindly to an area, and sat down on a bench and sobbed. She cried into her knees, soaking her jeans, arms crossed over her legs, feeling like crap. Stupid, stupid idea!

She couldn't really say how long she cried; she just knew she was amazed she didn't run out of tears earlier that day. She also couldn't say why she hadn't noticed that someone was hesitantly trying to approach her. It might have been that she was crying that loudly, or that he was simply absolutely silent. All that she could say about the moment, when she finally figured out someone was next to her, she did not correctly guess who it was.

She didn't raise her head. Minami was actually scared- not really that it was some creep, she could take care of that, she just didn't really know how to explain herself if Mizuki or, god forbid, Aki, had found her crying. A pet died? Her parents were being rude? What was she supposed to say? For a second, she actually hoped it was Kirishima. She seemed to get it. And she was dating Sakamoto, after all, who she had liked for years, according to rumors…

So she was completely shocked when she finally looked up and saw a different dark haired student looking at her, holding out a spotless handkerchief.

Tsuchiya Kouta.