[ he doesn't answer the first question right away. ]

I knew. [ he thinks at heart, no matter how lighthearted things were, they all knew. rin, too. he sounds defeated, though he smiles as a helpless little gesture. ] But I was having fun too. We're a good team. ...The best one here.

[ not because he thought they would soundly beat out the competition with their coolness alone, but he felt they were on the same wavelength. he looks over rin's messy handwriting on their wall, bumpy with the uneven texture. it's bold and brash; each word he wrote is bigger than haru's tidy notes. like even that was a competition between them. ]

I don't want to win. I've never cared about winning anything—Rin's always been the competitive one. I don't know... where to go. Since he isn't pushing me anymore.

But I can't lose you and Gerard, either.