A/N: Ijust realized I ended the last two chapters with Yuri saying Hayato's name. Oops. This chapter focuses more on Hayato this time.

Chapter 3: Yuri's White Knight

Hayato ran as far away as he could from the botanical garden.

He ran and ran till he reached the grassy hill that overlooked the whole city.

Once he took a look down at the buildings that now seemed so tiny, he let out a few pants and sat down on the grass.

He brought his knees up to his face, wrapping his arms around them.

"Yuri-nechan..." he whispered, recalling her tears from earlier, and her smiles from long ago

"your smile, I want to protect it." he muttered.

Unknown to him, someone had been listening from behind.

She wore the Myoudou Academy's uniform, and had chestnut brown hair tied into twin tails.

"then why not be Yuri-san's white knight?" she asked.

Hayato was so startled he turned around to face her.

Now getting a better look, she had pale skin and blue eyes framed with glasses.

"how long have you been listening?" he asked, embarrassed that he hadn't noticed her there.

"long enough to hear you say that you wanted to protect Yuri-san's smile." she replied, taking a seat beside him.

Hayato guessed that she was probably around 13 due to the height.

"do you know Yuri-nechan?" he asked her.

"of course." she replied.

"I can tell that you love Yuri-san very much, am I right, Hayato-kun?" she asked.

"h-how do you know my name?" he asked.

She turned at him and smiled.

"Yuri-san told me about you. Plus, like you, I'm very close to her." she replied.

"oh. I see." he trailed off.

"speaking of which, what were you saying something about being Yuri-nechan's 'white kinght'?" he asked.

"do you know what a white knight is, Hayato- kun?" she asked, staring up at the sky.

"it's a person who protects royalty, right?" he asked in reply.

"not just royalty. Anyone can protect someone and be called a white knight. You said you wanted to protect Yuri-san's smile, right?" she asked.

He nodded.

"then be her white knight. Show her that you have courage and bravery, like a true knight would. You don't need the armor. You just need to show her that you have a strong heart." she continued.

"a strong heart...courage and bravery... Yuri- nechan's white knight..." Hayato repeated, staring at her in awe.

He then looked up at the sky.

"Yuri-nechan... promise that I'll protect your smile." he thought to himself, then put his hand to his chest.

He quickly looked back down "I've decided! Huh?" he trailed off, seeing as the girl who was sitting next to him had disappeared.

She left only a note along with a small wrapped box in her place.

He took these two items.

He slowly opened the box after seeing that it was for him.

Inside was a small blue pin shaped like a snowflake.

He then read the note she had left behind.

"good luck, Yuri-san's white knight." and he began looking around.

"I wonder where she went. I didn't get to catch her name." he muttered to himself.

When he didn't see her, he looked back down at the pin and smiled as it shone in the sunlight.

He stood up and pinned it to his jacket's collar.

He folded the note and the box and placed them into his pocket.

He stared straight into the never-ending sky and nodded.

"I am Yuri-nechan's white kinght. Yuri-nechan, I promise, that no matter what, I shall protect your smile, and your happiness." he announced to no- one in particular.

Then he turned around, and left the hill, not knowing that the same girl who was sitting beside him earlier was standing behind a tree, watching him as he left.

She left her hiding place and walked back out She looked back down at the city and smiled.

She held out a blue seed with a snowflake engraved on it and brought it up, facing the sun.

Smiling to herself, she clutched it to her chest.

"good luck, Yuri-san's white knight."

End of To Protect Her Smile