Nothing could ever beat a relieving hot shower.
After all that 'waste of time' of adventures of yours, you had dinner with your parents that were waiting for you to come home. Your parents had assumed quickly that you decided to stay in cram school for a little longer (because their daughter takes school very 'seriously'). You didn't tell them where you were actually from, so it doesn't count as lying isn't it? Sometimes you can lie without even making up a lie. It happens naturally. Your parents are supportive and loving even. So surprisingly, your parents are the type that listens to every story that you have, even how ridiculous it will be.
But of course, you wouldn't talk about the trespassing attempt that you did because you know for sure that you are dead meat if they find out. There's no way in hell they will react happily, especially when it comes to your safety.
And there it is, that one thing about you that people complain about.
You were too brave to take risks sometimes.
Your parents can't even figure out where did that dauntless behaviour of yours came from and it's obvious that it's not from them, they will like to avoid risks if they were given the chance. From trying to climb the top of the swings rather than swinging it to lighting up a lighter on your birthday candles when you were just 3, you were one handful for a daughter indeed. So it was an achievement for your parents to still have you alive to this day. They deserve a round of applause from others for sure.
Your stories weren't too detailed but weren't lacking info either, and you said to them that you were unlucky to do the writing portfolio alone because of your partner's absence. Then, there was your mom starting a lecture about how life has its ups and downs and we have to accept the way it is. Meanwhile, your dad spitting out the name of an employee that he always rant about because she was too dumb to handle tasks on her own.
All the stories that happen to you today, you never left a single one...
but never did you mention Rindou.
He was like a filler chapter of your story, not necessary for the plot at all. Because what was the point anyways of talking about him? In the end, you still were suffering alone with this damn writing portfolio.
God, Rindou did waste the 3 valuable hours of your life. He could have just said that he didn't want to help you. But instead, he wanted to be prideful and ask for you to beg him like you were so desperate in the first place.
If I see him again, I swear I'll make sure he sleeps with one eye open.
As you plopped your body on your queen-sized bed, you exhaled in satisfaction. The breeze of the air conditioner felt more obvious on your thick bed sheets. But you know that this wonderland feeling of yours wouldn't remain since you have lots of homework to do. Specifically, maths that have about 5 pages of working problems that you have to solve. What is wrong with math teachers? They sure do have a weird passion and torturing students sure is one of their hobbies indeed. No one is going to ask you to calculate the probability of someone being sick or some shit in real life but you can confirm that the probability of you losing your mind is equal to 1.
Standing up from your bed, you head to your study table with the lowest motivation you have to do your work. You unzipped your backpack that was on the chair and took out every weapon you needed to do your math homework. As you put your backpack on the floor and were settling on your seat, your ringtone, which was (favourite song) buzzed in your backpack.
When you finally found your flip phone that was hidden inside the pockets of your backpack, you quickly answered the call without having time to glance at who the caller might be.
"Hel-"
"YOU'RE ALIVE!"
You jolt your head away from the phone, trying to compensate for the sting in your ear from the sudden scream.
"Miyamura Asuka! There's no need to yell."
"I thought you were dead, (Nickname)! I was worried sick!"
She then made fake sobs like she just cried a river(a drama queen, I know).
"Didn't I ask you to call me?"
"No, you ask me to call you if something bad happens."
"It still counts! What time did you go home? Did you have dinner? You have taken a shower, right? How're your parents, by the way?"
You scratched your not-so-itchy head roughly. You were indecisive on which question you should answer first. Asuka was rambling on questions like bullets. She was merciless for goodness sake, especially when you were quite tired from the long journey you had before.
"I got home around 8.30 if I'm not mistaken and-
"You sound calm...." she cuts off your words abruptly.
You stayed silent due to the confusion flooding over you.
"You didn't find Haitani...did you?"
"No, I did."
"WHAT?!!"
Her scream was on an ear-splitting level that you can't comprehend anymore, since you accidentally threw your flip phone to the floor. You hissed from the pain and massaged your ears slightly, this best friend of yours has a lot of shenanigans for the love of God. It wasn't just a scream that she let out, you can hear a pencil lead breaking concurrently when she screamed(she was also doing her homework maybe) which just shows how stupefied she was with your sudden news.
No, it wasn't shocking that you found Rindou.
But it was bizarre for someone to remain calm after encountering that menace.
"How can you be so calm about it?!"
You crouched down and tried to reach your phone from your chair, but you failed to grab it since it was thrown quite far.
You crawled from your chair and put your flip phone lazily on your ear. You sure we're out of energy because instead of going back to your chair, you decided to just sit on the carpeted floor.
"You scream one more time, I wouldn't hesitate to crush your vocal cords."
"Answer the goddamn question!"
"Am I supposed to pretend like I'm scared or intimidated? You know how bad I am with acting."
A sigh came from her, most likely she sounded like she was in distress.
"He's someone dangerous for fucks sake. I heard people-"
"So you never actually saw him, right?"
Asuka was startled by your sudden question.
"W-why would I? It's like committing suicide if I did."
"Because I did, Asu."
You paused for a moment. Your words after this will be unbelievable for the blackcurrant coloured-hair girl that had been petrified from the last minutes before.
"He's not scary at all. Believe me...
...He's just a self-conceited dingus. "
"...."
"Hello? You still there?"
"....(Nickname)..." She sounded like she was watching a horror movie.
"You didn't use that sharp tongue of yours with him, did you?"
"....Well, I could say that I just used 30% of-
You heard a loud thud from Asuka, it was because she slammed her flip phone onto the table. If you could see her right now, she was biting her fingernails tremendously and was walking around back and forth like just lost her way.
"Hey? You-
"No no no no, this can't be happening... you're so doomed...so fucking doomed!" Her voice was far away from the speaker and it sounded like the voice was fading away.
You heard a thud again and a sound of a slap can be heard because Asuka put back her flip phone on her ear harshly.
"For the love of God, (Last Name) (First Name). Why are you so brave, sometimes?!"
"I'm not brave. He was the one that st-
"He's one of the Haitani Brothers. He's not a person who has a conscience or morals. Which means that he can harm you any day or any way that he wants. And I don't want something bad to happen to you, so..." Suddenly she stopped her words because she couldn't stand it anymore.
Her emotions were out of control at the very moment. So that's why she started to cry and you can hear her sobbing.
Asuka has always been like that. She's too kind and softhearted. And when something makes her angry, she will then just cry because lashing out her anger was not her style. That's where people will always say, that the both of you are like fire and water. You are full of rage and can explode like a volcano if someone messes with anyone you care about, while Asuka will be there to put out that anger of yours, just like water does to fire.
So clearly, if she does get angry, that means she's not Asuka. It's like someone else pretended to be her.
But her tears weren't meaningless.
It only shows how much she cares.
Or preferably to say that it's her love language.
"Asu... there's nothing to worry about..." you tried to reassure. This is what you have to endure when you're friends with a crybaby but it's not like she's a handful though. You accept her the way she is.
You feel guilty now. Was it because you were being sarcastic or did you invalidate her feelings? You can't decide which one was the main cause but whatever it is you know that you made your fragile friend cry. You admitted that it was your fault.
"God, I hate you..." The sound of her sobbing increased more.
"I'm pretty sure you're doing the opposite of what you said."
"(Nickname), please be serious right now!"
"Okay, okay. How am I suppose to make it up to you?"
She struggled to breathe properly due to her intense crying. You can even hear her holding in her flu that was about to drip out of her nose.
"You have to...walk...with me to school tomorrow." She had difficulty enunciating her words properly even between her words, there were sobs and hiccups.
Pretty sure I'm going to be the one that's protecting her
"Alright, whatever you wish."
▌│█║▌║▌║ ᴅɪɴɢᴜs ║▌║▌║█│▌
Sleep.
That's what you needed the most at this time.
Your call with Asuka last night lasted about two hours. Both of you were too deep into your worlds to the point time passed by like it was running a marathon.
Most people that pass by you keep on asking "Are you alright?" and you kept on replying with a lazy smile because you were too exhausted to talk anyways.
Even people who aren't close to you keep on staring at you.
And why is that?
Because your eyes were bloodshot red and your attire was slightly messy. Usually, you look neat and presentable but today you were the opposite of it. You look like you were possessed by a demon or you turned into a zombie, to be frank.
And what's even worse was that you didn't have your breakfast. Because you wake up around 8.35 am when your class starts at 8.45 am so there's no time to chuck in food down your throat.
But sometimes, rainbows do come when rain happens...
Because your Mathematics teacher was absent today, due to his son having diarrhoea. It's quite vile to say that you were happy that his son is sick but thank god that he fed his son bad food.
But you were also furious.
Because you slept at 3 in the morning just so you could finish the homework he gave yesterday. There were 5 pages of probability questions and most of them are confusing as hell. But then here we are.
You sacrificed your sleep for nothing.
Well, let bygone be bygone.
Right now, it was the perfect time to compensate for the hours that you used to stay awake last night.
Everyone in the class was busy gossiping, some were studying (these people need to calm down), and as always, the boys will sleep together like they have some type of ritual going on between them.
But the girls.
They're noisy as hell.
But are they bothering you?
No.
Not at all.
If someone blared a horn on your ear, you wouldn't budge.
That's how exasperated you were.
Seeing Akio beside you already sleeping soundly increases your desire to sleep even more.
The girls' laughs were resonating like crazy in class but you don't mind it. You just take it like it was white noise.
You intertwined your arms together and made it like it was a pillow. You rested your head and started to close your eyes.
Preparing yourself to go to dreamland.
▌│█║▌║▌║ ᴅɪɴɢᴜs ║▌║▌║█│▌
Asuka, whose class is beside yours, was already losing focus from her Japanese literature class. The teacher never had the idea to make the class more cheerful and fun. It will always be dull. Top it all off with his monotonous voice as he explains about the books that their learning, it was like hell.
Asuka was sitting beside a window, but the window only shows the view of the hallways so it wasn't that fascinating to look at.
But either way, at least the hallways were far more interesting than anything that teacher is blabbering about.
Out of a sudden, someone walked into the hallways, specifically they were walking towards class 3-5. They were walking lazily and even their attire was not neat. Their hair colours look unnatural for a high school student and she is pretty sure that dying your hair is against school rules.
Then, Asuka realised.
Who in the actual hell was that person.
She stood up from her seat abruptly, making her chair screech loudly and forgetting that her action was going to embarrass her.
All eyes in the class moved to her. Including the teacher.
As she realised what she did, she froze on her spot, not knowing what to do next. Because what she did was like a reflex. The person's presence made her do things out of her will indeed.
"Can I help you, Miyamura-chan?"
"I...need to go..."
"Toilet?"
Yeah, she needs to go to the toilet.
Because she was about to shit her pants.
▌│█║▌║▌║ ║▌║▌║█│▌