𝓞𝓪𝓴 | ʜɪɢʜ & ʟᴏᴡ ᴛʜᴇ ᴡᴏʀꜱᴛ

Chapter 13: Hope Hill

Truly, they have said 'I love yous' to each other and that proved that they want a deeper relationship but Fuyumi wasn't sure what the male was thinking of their relationship.

She should talk to him soon about it.

"You were hit by someone, weren't you?" Fuyumi snapped out of her thoughts and glanced at Seiji the same as the others who were staring at him. And truthfully, he has a bruise on the side of his lips.

"Oi, oi, you can't get into fights," Fujio told him. "Who was it?"

Fuyumi looked intently at Seiji who was trying to avoid their gazes. It started worrying her when she saw the look on his face as if he was hesitant to tell them what happened. She was about to tell the others that they shouldn't pressure their friend but Seiji speaks.

"It was Arata," he told them. Fuyumi's mouth went a little agape as she stared at the teenage boy in shock.

"Did the two of you get into a fight?" Fuyumi carefully questioned. Seiji sighed and slowly shook his head.

"It's not like that–" he breathed out exasperatedly as he continued, "I'm sorry. I couldn't get through to him the way he is now." Fuyumi sighed as she looked down at the empty cup that she was holding.

"What the heck has gotten into Arata?" Fujio scoffed with a bitter smile on his face. Arata was one of Fujio's childhood friends that she was fond of due to his kindness.

The way that he's getting deep into the dark side of this life, the more she guesses that he's desperate and probably enduring something that he doesn't want his friends to know.

And boy, she was right when Madoka told them that Arata's family was in debt.

"Arata's mom has been in the hospital for quite a long time," Madoka said.

"Is she sick?" Masaya questioned. The atmosphere that surrounds them has been uncomfortable.

"She's got cancer," the teenage girl replied. "I went to the hospital to see her. The hospital fees and treatment costs are really high. She said Arata is working hard to earn enough to pay the bills. She kept crying and saying that she felt sorry for Arata."

Fuyumi sighed, "And his mom doesn't know his job, does she?"

"Yeah, he could never tell his mom what he's doing."

"That's not right!" Fujio stood up. "I'm not that smart so I can't explain it properly but... what he's doing isn't right!" Fujio looked at his sister for assurance.

"Yeah," she agreed.

"Why didn't he tell us about it?" Shinya questioned.

"Because he doesn't want you guys to worry about him," Fuyumi replied.

She sighed for the umpteenth time as she looked at them who are worrying about their childhood friend.

—

"I want to help!" Fuyumi exclaimed as she tried to pull her arm away from Murayama's grasp but the latter has a tight grip on it.

A few minutes earlier, she asked Murayama to lend a hand to Housen and the full-time students of Oya High which he will gladly do so if she was going to be with them and take pictures of him. The girl has no plans of going with them since she doesn't want to actually bring a camera while the whole place is in chaos.

She wants to help them to fight instead but the male absolutely forbids her to involve herself in the fight.

"No, either you will only take pictures or you'll not go at all," Murayama told her. She glared at him and let out a frustrated sigh.