"Not-Shizuku!" OC x Yoshida Haru [Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun]

Chapter 1

I stepped in front of the building, taking deep breaths before I entered. "Could it be Shizuku?" I heard words exchanged inside and some shuffling. I soon faced a man who seemed to be the owner of this place. "Oh, it's not her," the man said, then called Yoshida-san downstairs. After a few seconds, he slowly walked down, but when he saw me, he jumped out of the window.

I faced the owner, "Do I catch him?" He shrugged, so I placed my possessions on his counter and jumped off the window after him.

"Definitely not Shizuku," I heard him mutter. I caught up to him pretty easily; I'm one of the best runners in school, actually, I'm the strongest female in school, if I had a better brain, I'd be perfection, but unfortunate for me, I'm just a stupid girl who only managed to keep her scores slightly above passing grades.

I took a sturdy step and leaped up, pouncing on the running male. We rolled down the sloping street and ended up, with our limbs tangled together, at the foot of the slope. "What do you want from me?!" he yelled, struggling to get out of my grasp.

"I came here to give you something," I dug my varsity jacket pockets and fished out a love letter. He looked at the heart sticker, courtesy of the person who asked me to give this to him, and a pink color tinted his cheeks. I put it in his hands and stood up, dusting my skirt.

"It's not from me, if that's what you're wondering," I exclaimed, "Now, would you treat me to some soft cream, after you made me dirty my jacket?" Yes, my first priority is always this precious jacket. He shrugged and I helped him up. He was surprisingly lightweight.

After he paid for my vanilla soft cream, we found a bench to sit on, and we ate in silence. He kept glancing at the dessert, so I offered him some, but he politely declined. To be honest, I was quite surprised, as he was known as a delinquent at school. He seemed like a softhearted person once you actually talked to him.

Once we were walking back, he asked me, "So are we friends now?" I faced him, still licking on my large-sized soft cream on its cone.

"Nope," I replied mockingly, "I'm not like Mizutani-san. Oh, and come to school tomorrow. You may be arguing with Mizutani-san but if you confront her, she'll probably forgive you. She's that kind of person." I grabbed my bag and clear file filled with papers and sticky notes. I swung the long straps on my shoulder, and raised a hand up to Yoshida in goodbye.

This boy is quite interesting.

-

The following day, Yoshida-san came to school. He waved at me wordlessly and then disappeared into the crowd, probably to search for Mizutani-san.

"Aki!" I turned around to face my bestfriend, Fujiwara Hina. She was girly, while I was the sporty type, but we've been friends since our early years in elementary school. I waved back and gave her a grin. We walked to class together. 

In case you were wondering, the girl that wrote the love letter yesterday was a classmate, Kobayashi Chika-san. She's pretty bubbly and cute, but I don't think Yoshida-san would reply to her confession as he had his sights set on Mizutani-san. We weren't too close too, I was just her acquaintance, but she had asked me to be her messenger because she was just too shy.

I fell asleep during class and didn't bother to cover my face. It'd be too obvious, and, I had an excuse too. I had part-time jobs that made me pull all-nighters. It was all to support my family. Not that we were poor, I just didn't want to use my parents' money. I didn't ask for allowances anymore, anything I bought, they were bought with my hard-earned money. My family only paid for my apartment and school fees. Did I mention I lived alone? Occassionally, I'd give money to support my grandparents too. They live alone in the countryside. 

The school bells rang and I jolted up, Hina giggling. Then there was a shadow looming over me; Kobayashi-san. "So, um, did you get any reply, Suzuki-san?" she asked shyly, fidgetting with her fingers. I shook my head, so she sighed in disappointment. Her head snapped to the door, though, when Yoshida-san entered, scanning the room, then heading towards me.

"Any updates?" I asked, and he nodded happily.

"She forgave me, just like you said! We're back to being friends now!" he smiled. I nodded.

"So.. about the love letter," I made gestures that I hoped he would understand. He looked at me and made a thinking face.

And he understood my gestures, "Oh, that? I lost it." I froze as I looked at Kobayashi-san, who seemed like she was on the verge of crying. I faced Yoshida-san again, glaring slightly.

"I'll help you find it," I gave him a close-eyed smile with darkness lurking within. He nodded hesitantly.

"You can go now," I gave him a wave of dismissal, to which he nodded and left into the corridor. Others looked at me in awe, while Kobayashi-san thanked me, tears spilling.