"I saw some guys from Senomon over there."
---
Nozomi smiled as she approached the blonde male. Tsukasa turned, taking notice of the girl and he immediately smiled.
"Why are you here?" he asked.
"Free period," she simply replied, "And I'm supposed to meet Kiko. She said she was with Fujio."
The male nodded as he gently took her hand and they walked together towards Oya High. She still couldn't help to feel giddy whenever they held hands or whenever Tsukasa smiled at her.
Only he can do that to her and Nozomi wouldn't trade it for anything.
He frowned when he felt something in her hand and saw band-aids on her index and ring fingers, "What happened?"
Nozomi turned to him in confusion but quickly realized what he was saying, "Oh, that? I was baking last night. I got little burns but it's fine now."
Tsukasa hummed as he nodded, "What were you baking?"
"Cookies," she mumbled but the blonde heard it as he smiled.
"Huh," he breathed as he rubbed his thumb at the back of her hand, "How was it?"
"A disaster," Nozomi stated and groaned, shaking her head.
"I'm sure it wasn't that bad," the male tried to encourage her but she scrunched up her nose and laughed.
"It was a disaster, really," she replied, smiling sheepishly, "I fell asleep and didn't notice it was time to take it out. And I think I used too much flour so the cookies felt like a rock now."
Tsukasa tried to comfort the girl but to no avail. Nozomi noticed him trying to conceal his smile.
"You're laughing," she stated.
"I wasn't," he shook his head as he pressed his lips into a thin line.
"It's okay, you can laugh," Nozomi told him.
The male stifled a chuckle and quickly covered his mouth to stop it.
"I wasn't laughing at your skills, I swear!" Tsukasa grinned at her when he noticed her pouting, "You're just too cute."
Nozomi felt her cheeks heating up at the word. She turned to him with a frown, trying to keep herself from smiling.
"What?" she squeaked, her voice sounding higher than usual.
"I mean when you were telling me about it," he said and chuckled.
Nozomi was about to reply when they noticed some guys standing in front of them. Instinctively, Tsukasa put an arm in front of her and nudged the girl to stay close behind him.
She just did what he wanted though they both know she can also fight them if things went down. However, for Tsukasa's protective boyfriend instincts, Nozomi stood behind him.
"Takajo Tsukasa from Oya High," one of the three guys stated. As if on cue, the other two ran towards the blonde Oya High student and started a fight.
Nozomi stepped backward as she left Tsukasa fighting them. Within a few minutes, of course, the sleeping lion of Oya High easily took the guys down.
"You okay?" He turned to Nozomi.
The said girl just nodded and smiled at him. He then turned to three guys in red uniforms, they were standing on the bridge by the railings a few feet away from the couple. They were obviously watching him.
Nozomi raised an eyebrow as she followed his gaze. She tilted her head as the familiar red uniform greeted her eyes.
"Yo," the couple turned to see Todoroki Yosuke walking towards them, "Nice work."
He glanced at the guys who were beaten up by Tsukasa.
The blonde let out a sigh, "Since Murayama dropped out, other schools from SWORD are vying for control."
"Knocking us out is the fastest way," Todoroki added.
"And since Murayama Yoshiki's gone, they thought Oya High can be taken down easily now," Nozomi muttered, earning looks from the two males. They both nodded, agreeing with her statement.
Tsukasa turned at the bridge and frowned when the guys in red uniforms disappeared.
"What's wrong?" Todoroki asked.
"I saw some guys from Senomon over there."
"Senomon?" Todoroki sighed, "Even from there, huh?"
"We'll be in trouble if we don't stay alert," Tsukasa said.
"Those guys are from Senomon?" Nozomi questioned.
"Yeah," Todoroki replied, "Not familiar with them?"
The girl slowly shook her head, "Not really."
The black-haired male started to walk in the opposite direction of the school. Nozomi's gaze followed him in wonder.
"Hey, where are you going?" Tsukasa asked.
Todoroki turned to him and gestured that he would go fishing.
The couple scoffed but smirked in amusement. They didn't say anything as Todoroki left.
Nozomi turned to the bridge once again where some Senomon students stood earlier.
"What is it?" Tsukasa asked when he noticed where she was staring.
Nozomi turned to him and shook her head, "Nothing, it's just-"
"Hmm?" Tsukasa approached her. He was staring at her, ready to listen to what she had to say.
"The other night, Kiko and I went out to buy some snacks. I bumped into someone, he's wearing a red uniform. Just like..."
"Senomon?"
"Yeah," Nozomi nodded, "But he seems intimidating. I wonder how we missed that kind of guy."
"Did he do something?" Tsukasa frowned in worry.
"No, he didn't," she replied, smiling. But Tsukasa wasn't convinced.
Nozomi rolled her eyes and finally gave in as she told him the full story, even on how that Senomon student stared at her as if she was an ant he can step on.
She might've been regretting it right now.
"He's fucking rude," Tsukasa commented, frowning.
The girl let out a sigh as they have the same comment as Kiko.
"Seriously, it's fine," Nozomi told him, placing her hand on his arm to assure the blonde.
Tsukasa sighed and nodded. His girlfriend was so forgiving that sometimes he needed to get mad for her sake.
"Did you know that Fujio and Kiko went to Suzuran?" Nozomi asked, trying to change the topic.
Tsukasa knew what she was doing, and he let her.
"Yeah, I've heard from Jamuo," he replied, intertwining his hand with hers as they started to walk.
-
Nozomi walked between Tsukasa and Todoroki, the two males talking while the girl had her eyes straight ahead.
Tsukasa told her that he wants to know more about Rao before Fujio could even fight him. In a way, he asked the twins but they didn't know much aside from the rumors surrounding the Suzuran's strongest.
The twins knew it wasn't true, though. Rao doesn't seem like the type of guy who would attack people without a reason. Because if he was, Suzuran and even Housen students wouldn't talk about him with so much respect.
Since Nozomi did her homework a week before the deadline, she went with Tsukasa and Todoroki while her sister cried about them leaving her behind.
Nozomi thought she deserved it since she procrastinated and still doing her homework.
"I never expected the guy you know to be him," Tsukasa said, glancing at Yuken who was walking beside Todoroki. Nozomi smiled as her brother just waved at the other blonde.
"I've asked the twins about it," Todoroki told him, glancing at Nozomi who nodded for confirmation.
"Though, I still don't know how..."
"Yeah, yeah. Wait, sorry," Tsukasa turned to them as they all stopped walking, "First, I just need to know... how are you two friends?"
"Did I not tell you?" the boy with glasses asked and made a fishing gesture again.
Nozomi nodded in realization, "You guys are fishing buddies. Why didn't it occur to me?"
"Huh?"
"That's right," Yuken nodded.
"You two... fishing buddies? Didn't see that coming."
"Well, it was unexpected," the blonde Housen student replied, "I ran into him at the tackle shop and then at the river."
"He doesn't talk and I don't also," Todoroki added, "Just fishing and not having to talk is... well, kind of nice."
Nozomi and Tsukasa looked at them in disbelief, their eyes narrowing at the two males.
"I don't believe you," Tsukasa muttered.
To prove the couple wrong, Yuken showed them a picture of him and Todoroki on his phone.
"No way," the blonde Oya High student muttered.
"Believe it or don't believe it. It's up to you two," Yuken told them with his easy-going personality.
"Seriously?" Tsukasa kept on muttering as he continued to walk, Yuken's phone still in his hands.
"You've looked long enough. Give it back."
Nozomi chuckled as she followed them.
The quartet stood in front of an apartment complex, a few feet away from them.
"There. This is it," Yuken said, pointing at the building, "If you want to know more about Rao, your best bet is Mashii Takehiko, better known as Mercy. Should I go get him for you?"
"No, let me go. It's only proper that I do this," Tsukasa told them. Before he could even step towards the building, Nozomi stopped him.
"Wait!"
The males looked at her in curiosity.
"I want to go, too," she muttered.
Yuken and Tsukasa glanced at each other questioningly before the former turned to his sister, "Why?"
"I'm just... curious," Nozomi shrugged, "I heard about him from the rumors but... I know those weren't real. So, I just wanted to know the truth."
Yuken and Todoroki nodded, agreeing with the girl as they didn't say anything.
"You sure?" Tsukasa asked.
"Yeah, if... it's okay with you."
The blonde smiled as he gestured for her to go with him. Nozomi grinned and skipped a step as she walked beside him.
Yuken watched the two with a soft smile as they entered the building.