Say 'No'

5 | A Hole through the Ceiling.

"Haru seems a lot chummier with Riyou-chan these days." Aki said.

The six of them were sitting in the gardens that not a lot of people visited on campus, eating lunch. That has been their space for the past few weeks ever since when the others asked. Riyou had an idea of why he suggested the change of place, but she didn't understand why someone like Haru would do it.

Riyou found Haru similar to her, apart from the fact that he had his own mind and spoke up whenever he disagreed with something. She knew that he was someone who would keep his mouth shut when he was told to, but that didn't mean that she told him anything else apart from what she already did.

She just simply thought that if anything else did come out to the light, Haru would be able to keep it to himself.

"Why are you talking like as if I'm not here?"

"I do not mean to be rude, but it is almost impossible for a person like me to become 'chummy' with Ichinose-san. Moreover, it does not seem like he likes me at all."

Both Haru and Riyou said their own statements at their own time, which only made them seem chummier despite their comments. Jay watched the both of them have another banter and he felt happy for Riyou. To Jay, it seemed like Riyou was against to having friends, and he didn't want her to be lonely because he knows being lonely hurts.

"I've been noticing it for a good while, but why is Rachel staring at us? I can't eat my food peacefully." Natsu pointed out as he continued munching on his food, his face obviously showing discomfort.

Riyou had also noticed that a pair of eyes has been staring at her for a good while. She didn't need to attach a pair of eyes onto the back of her head, she knew that there would only be one person in this whole school that would be stalking her right now.

She stood up slowly, trying not to reopen her recent wounds, she said, "Please allow me to excuse myself."

As Riyou walked out of the garden, she briefly met Rachel's eyes, as if telling her to follow. Riyou thought she should probably do something about her before things escalated, although that wouldn't be too bad for Riyou either. The only thing she was worried about was that her mother would find out about the reason why Rachel was angry towards her.

When Riyou deemed that she walked a sufficient distance from the group, she turned around to Rachel, who looks like she has quite a few words to say to Riyou.

"If you would like to speak with me, you could always just walk up to me. However, if you would like to use me as your punching bag, we could always just set a time. I believe that you would be robbing his peace if you try to separate me from him. To him, I am just his friend, nothing more."

"Don't you dare tell me what to do. You should be glad that I left you alone lately! Why would he want you to be his friend in the first place, I would make a better friend if anything!" Rachel placed her hand on her chest, trying to flaunt her "status".

"Indeed. In any case, please feel free to contact me if you deem that the sight of me being by him and his friends intolerable."

On Riyou's way back to the gardens, she found Haru on the way.

"Ichinose-san, did you eavesdrop on the conversation?"

"I'm not an idiot, even if Jay isn't picking anything up, I can."

"As long as you stay out of my way, I do not really care what you hear."

Haru walked next to Riyou, and they got back to the group and continued their lunch.

~

"Riyou, you're going to transfer school. We'll be moving next week, get your stuff packed."