You had always been the quiet one. You were there, always willing to listen whenever someone needed you, but you rarely said much yourself. Everyone seemed to like you, yet no one ever really got close to you. No one asked how you were doing or what you liked. The only time anyone bothered to talk to you was when they needed help with homework.

And then there was Kaito. The class clown. The boy everyone knew, everyone loved, and almost everyone had a crush on. The only people who couldn't stand him were the teachers, thanks to his constant jokes and endless pranks that disrupted their lessons.

He was invited to every party. Everyone wanted to be his friend. And if you were being honest with yourself, you wanted to be his friend, too. Maybe even something more.

You thought about him far more often than you'd like to admit. Every time he showed up, you found yourself getting annoyed with your own feelings, especially when that familiar flutter in your stomach started up again. Because he never noticed you. He probably didn't even know you existed.

That was, until one day in PE class, when Kaito accidentally hit you in the head with a ball. He hadn't meant to, of course.

Ever since then, he'd been trying to get you to talk to him. You did your best to ignore him, just like you tried to ignore your feelings for him. After all, someone like Kaito would never fall for someone like you. At least, that's what you kept telling yourself.

He was your neighbor. You'd always known that. Kaito, on the other hand, had only found out that day.

And now, once again, he was following you home after school.

"Hey! You still haven't told me how I can make it up to you for hitting you in the head with that ball," Kaito called out as he walked a few steps behind you.

Apparently, he had this weird need to be liked by everyone. And since you kept brushing him off, he probably thought you didn't like him.

Little did he know that the last thing you wanted was for him to leave you alone.