The next morning, I'm currently walking on the corridors. I'm on my way to our classroom, good thing, nothing bad occurred.
"Yukizome-san!"
Not from afar, somebody calls me. I look behind and see Tadashi running towards me.
"Good morning, Tadashi." I greet as soon as he catches my pace.
"Good morning, too." Tadashi smiles, "And wow, you're wearing glasses, Yukizome-san. Why?"
"Aha, yup! Well, I originally wear eyeglasses, but recently, I tried wearing contact lenses."
"I see." Tadashi answers, "And you look good wearing glasses."
"Heh. Don't flatter me much, Tadashi." I chuckle as we start walking, "I look like a grandma in this glasses."
"Oh, I don't think so."
I grin, "Whatever you think." and answer, "You're not with Kei today, Tadashi."
"Ah, yes. He came here earlier than me. I went back to house because I forgot something. Seems like I'm stressing out." Then he chuckles.
"Because of studying?"
"One of the reasons." he replies.
"Oh, prep class is really a pain, no?"
Tadashi laughs at me, "Ahaha, not really."
"Well, it's because you're smart." I say, nudging him.
Few minutes after, we reach the classroom. The moment I enter the room, I have already seen Kei on his seat while wearing his headphones.
I hurriedly dash to my seat and face him with big bright smile, "Yo, Kei! My megane buddy! How are yah?"
Kei remains expressionless, "Don't call me 'megane buddy', I'll fry you."
I pout, "Why so grumpy like a grandpa early in the morning?"
"Yeah, Tsukki. You're being salty again." Tadashi butts in.
"Shut up, Yamaguchi." Kei says gruffly.
"Salty?" I question Tadashi.
"Aha, yes, Yukizome-san." says Tadashi, "Most of the members of the team calls him salty."
"Heh," I smirk, "I bet they call you 'SaltyShima', Kei." and then I laugh.
"Hahaha, you nailed it, Yukizome-san!"
Kei stays silent but he's looking madly at me.
"What's with that dagger look?" I speak, provoking Kei.
"Tch. You look ugly." Kei states curtly.
I immediately glare at him, "I'm going to fry you, you tall French fry." I say, imitating his voice.
"French fry?"
"Huh," I huff arrogantly and clasp my arms. "It's because you're tall, blonde, and salty."
Kei stares impassively at me, as his expression never change. And as to my surprise, he pinches my nose tightly!
"H-Hey! A-Ahw!! Tsukki!" I yelp in loud voice.
Kei seems do not care, thus, he only stares at me. "Next time, pick a fight to someone else and not to me." And in no further words, he finally lets go of my nose.
I fastly caress my nose with my 'nearly-crying' face. "I hate you. You're always hurting my nose, like what you did yesterday!"
"Pft." he snorts, "Don't remind me of that scene, stupid."
"Grr. I won't forgive what you did to me! You salty bully!" I accuse, pointing him.
"That's because you're too stupid enough to believe in me." Kei smirks, hiding his laughs.
"That is because I trusted you!" I scowl.
"Wait," Tadashi interferes, "What are you two talking about?"
I face Tadashi with an innocent and blameless expression, "Ah, about that, Tadashi . . ." I say dramatically, "Kei did something terrible to me."
"E-Eh, w-what did he do to you?" he asks.
"He took advantage of my weakness."
"Oii!" Kei surprisingly stands up from his seat, "Stop spouting nonsense!"
"No." I speak dryly.
"A-Ah, well, well . . ." Tadashi stands between us, "Calm, both of you."
"I'm calm. Kei isn't."
Tadashi chuckles wearily, "What really happened yesterday?"
"Mm . . ." I hum, "Okay, I tell you." I declare and sit on my chair, facing them. "Yesterday, I lost my both sights."
"Your sights?" Tadashi furrows his brows.
"Uh-huh. What I mean, my contact lenses." I explain and he nods, "Then, Kei Tsukishima offered me help, because he was also responsible for the lost of my other sight."
"Tch. It was your fault for getting in my way." Kei meddles.
"Be quiet, Kei." I snap, "So he helped me to return to our house. But he pulled a prank on me. Since he served as my temporary eyes, he said that the path I was walking was clear, but he lied!"
"Lied?" repeats Tadashi.
"Yes." I huff, "And it's because I trusted him, I followed his instruction, and then it only surprised me when I hit the wall. My face was deeply harmed."
"Tsukki did that, huh?" Tadashi says.
"Yeah, he's a bad French fry." I hiss, glaring at Kei.
Kei doesn't mind that, but he just muffles a laugh while smirking. Gee. This ugly bully.
After a while, the classes finally starts. And as always, it is a boring class.
The lessons continue, and as time goes by, I can't stop yawning.
I fight the urges not to fall asleep in Modern Japanese Literature subject. Guh. It's boring. Boring. Boring.
And then, at long last! Lunch break!~ I briskly stand up and make my way to the entry door.
"Yukizome-san!" Tadashi calls me.
I sway my head to look at him with a sidelong glance. "What's it?"
"Buying breads again?"
"Well, yah." I reply with a little pout.
"Can I know why?" he questions, and I eyed him slightly numb. "A-Ah . . . well, you don't need to answer it."
I return my look to the front and sigh silently. "I don't mind answering it." I look at Kei and remove it instantly. He's looking at me as well, waiting for my answer. "It's because I have no someone to cook for me. My mother is not always at the house. And I hate waking up early, so I can't cook for myself."
"I see, I see." Tadashi chuckles wryly.
"Then, see yah laters!" I bid them goodbye and continue rushing outside.
"Yukizome-san."
Again, I am stopped on my tracks.
Now, who's this person persistently ruining my momentum? I haven't even exited the room.
I look to the front, because the voice is coming from the outside.
And it leaves me flabbergasted when I saw senpai in front. I keep a facepalm expression as I gaze confusingly at him.
"Hi, Yukizome-san!" He smiles brightly while raising his hand in mid-air, giving me an "hello" sign.
"Y-Yo, senpai!" I greet back stiltedly, raising my hand also. "What can I do?"
Senpai chuckles, "Nothing much. I just want to invite you."
"Invite me where, when, what, and why?"
This guy laughs heartily, "You have a lot of questions, just come with me." and says, grabbing my wrist.
"Hey! I don't remember saying 'yes' to yah." I retort, taking my hand back.
"Fine, fine." he states gently, "Then, will you accept my invitation?"
"I don't even know you, why would I?"
"I'm Yuhei Kurosaki, nice to meet you." and he chuckles again.
I jut my lips as I inspect his face, "You seem don't look like a suspicious guy."
Senpai stares at me with an amused face.
I let out a small sigh, "Then, okay. I'll accept your request. But firstly, answer my questions."
"All right." he answers, "Where: at the rooftop; When: right now; What: My friends want to meet you; and Why: We're going to eat lunch together."
"Gee. What if I disagree?"
"But you said okay already."
"Eh . . . Troublesome." I mutter and only walk with him. I accepted it, no turning back. But why do his friends want to meet me? Gee. I don't want to socialize.
As we walk, I'm getting reluctant to come with him.
"Kurosaki-senpai, hey." I call him.
"Yes, Yukizome-san?"
"I changed my mind, I don't wanna go."
"Why?" he questions.
"I'm . . ." I pause, "shy."
"Don't worry, they're nice. You won't feel out-of-place."
I lower my brows, "But why?" He grins with a questioning look. "Why do they want to meet me?"
"Because they're interested with you,"
I sigh, "I'm not bringing any food, you see."
"Don't worry about it." he smiles, "It's on me."
I never reply and I follow him. We reach the rooftop and his friends welcome us. Three girls and five boys, including Kurosaki-senpai.
"So this is the transferee?" says guy one.
I only bow my head politely as I try hard to face them eye-to-eye.
And then, they all start talking to me, like asking about my basic information. Of course, I answered all of their question. I think that my throat goes dry because of talking. Thanks to senpai, he provided refreshments.
Meanwhile, lunch break is almost over. I ask them if I could go first, and they gladly agreed. Then, Kurosaki-senpai offers me a walk me back to my room, I said no at first, but he's too persistent.
"Thank you very much, senpai." I tell him, slightly grinning.
"It's nothing." he answers, "Next time, okay?"
I muffle my face, "I think, there will be no next time."
"Eh, why not?"
"Hmm . . . I just feel it?" I shrug, pursing my lips.
"Haha, don't lump into conclusions, understand?" then he fastly pats my hair. "All right, goodbye."
Now he's gone. The moment I sit on my place, two of my classmates went near me.
"Hi, Yukizome-san!" They both greeted.
"Hi." I reply, grinning.
"Yukizome-san," the first girl calls me, "Can I know why you were with Yuhei Kurosaki?"
"Eh? That guy?" they both nod. "Uh, well actually, I ran into him yesterday morning and this lunch. And that's all."
"Awww! I'm so jealous of you!"
"Right! If I were on your position, Yukizome-san, I would go insane!"
Eh? I hide my moue face inside. I don't want to offend them.
"W-Why . . . you guys are jealous of me? Is there something special about him?" I ask.
"Of course! He's the most popular guy in this school!" it is the first girl, "Plus the fact that he's the Student Council President!"
"Haahhhh??!!" I scream unanticipatedly, "S-Student Council President, you say?"
"Yes! Isn't that wonderful?" says the second girl, "And it is rare for him to talk with girls. That's why it was surprising that he was talking with you."
I collect my composure and close my mouth. Student Council President, huh? Why didn't he introduce that to me? That jerk.
From behind, I hear Kei hisses. "I'm guessing that you enjoyed eating with the Student Council Officers. Tch."
I frown, "You're wrong, Kei. And why are you 'tch-ing' like that?"
"Shut up." he says boringly, eyeing sideways. "Your voice is so ugly."
I make face with an 'I-do-not-know-what-is-wrong-with-you-idiot', and face front again.
And again and again, our Trigo teacher came and started the lesson? Why is it always like this?
"Yukizome-san," I hear my teacher calls me.
"Yes?" I answer back. Now, what did I do?
"Please answer the question number 10."
I slightly grimace, looking to my textbook. "But ma'am, I don't know how to solve it." I complain.
"Really?" Yanagi-sensei says casually, "Then, Hiroyuki-san."
"Yes." Rie stands up and answers the problem on the board.
As expected, she got the right answer.
The class proceeds, and I don't care at all.
After a great while, today's class is finally over. Everyone has gone out for their club activities. I decided to stay here in our room for a little bit. Going back to the house will be boring and lonely.
I sigh. But I need to study for midterms. Heh, study? Who cares about that, anyway? Ah, those who are grade conscious.
I stand up, staying here would be suffocating also.
"Excuse me,"
I gaze quickly at the doorway, and there are a group of girls with bitchy appearances. They are six, to be exact.
"Yeah?" I reply.
"Are you Lorraine Yukizome?" the girl one asks with her eyebrow lifted up to the ceiling.
"No." I simply answer. Judging by their looks, they're looking for trouble.
I continue walking towards the exit. I shall escape here this instant. If not, oh my, God, I'll go nuts.
"Wait, wait, wait, little ugly bitch." the second girl holds my arm to stop me.
I startled when the second girl called me that way. Like what?
"Are you trying to fool us?" she adds, "I know you are Lorraine Yukizome, the total flirt."
"You're mistaken." I say sharply, jerking her hand away. "Excuse me."
"Not so fast." The other one utters, "Don't be so hostile with us, okay? We only want a conversation from you."
"I can't humor you a single conversation. Now please leave me."
I continue my walk, but as to my expectation, the two grab my both arms as the other one is behind me, forcing me to walk to the location where they want.
Of course, I try to struggle with their grasps, but their constrains are too strong for me.
So I end up being persuasively carried away to their desiderate location. They take me behind this school building, where the blindspot to the student is.
I keep on calming myself. What did I do to be in this unfortunate situation? Why am I being bullied? Or about to, instead.
I stay silent, not giving a penny to their questions.
Who the hell you to flirt with Yuhei Kurosaki-sama?
An ugly creature like you doesn't deserve to be with ones like Yuhei-sama!
I am not flirting . . . That is their purpose why did they take me here, to accuse me flirting with that guy.
I am expecting everything: beating, slapping, and pulling of hair.
It should be always like that; this is the art of bullying.
I slightly lift my sights to the girl in front of me. I see her preparing her balled palm towards my face again.
Something like this is not new to me. I laugh to myself. Then let it be. There's nothing that I can do. Yes, I'm hopeless.
I'm waiting for pain to strike me, but I something different happens.
"A-A-Ahh! Stoppue! Stoppue!"
All of the sudden, there's a guy agitatedly went in front of me as he jumps like a flea, trying to protect . . . me?
"Now who is this chibi?" The girls ask.
"I-I'm Shoyo Hinata from Class 1!" the guy with orange hair says nervously. "A-And . . . I-I'm here to pick her up!"
Wordlessly, he grabs my wrist and start pulling me away from that place.
I only look downcast. I have no face to show. I am ascertain that I got bruises to my face. I smirk. Great.
"U-Uhm . . ." the orange-haired guy abruptly pauses on running, "A-Are you okay?" and he asks full of concern.
I never reply, still looking down with my hair covering my face.
Little did I know, this guy bows down to peek at my face. It surprises me, to the point that my eyes draw wide open.
"C-Crap!"
To my peripheral view, I see him closes his mouth with his hands.
"Your lip is bleeding!" and he goes hysterical. "Uh . . . Uhm, eh, I . . . I need to take you to the infirmary!"
And then, he holds my wrists and starts dragging me. His pace is faster than before, and I can barely catch to his haste.
"P-Please . . ." I say weakly, "slow down."
"S-Sorry." he mutters and goes slowly and carefully.
Not that long, we reach the infirmary. The physician is still here, gladly.
"What happened to her?" The physician questions. She's a woman on her 30's.
They guy named Shoyo Hinata fidgets, "S-She was bullied by some senpais at the back of the school building. It was a luck that I saw them, that's why I immediately r-responded."
The physician forms a worried expression to her quite old face, "I see."
"U-Uhm, c-can I go now?" he asks permission.
"Wait," I say, stopping him.
"Yeah . . ?"
"Please don't tell anyone about this."
Shoyo narrows his eyes, "Ah, well . . . if that's what you want, okay then." and say, pursing his lips.
"Thank you, Shoyo Hinata." I plaster a grin to my face, "And I apologize for bothering you."
"It's nothing." Shoyo gives me a cheeky grin, "So, then!"
After that, he leaves. The physician goes near me with her medicine kit. I look for her name, and she's Saori Umehara.
"Are you sure that you don't want to tell your teachers about this?" Umehara-sensei asks me while putting a disinfectant to my wounds on face.
"Yes," I whisper.
"Why, though?"
"It is just a small thing."
"What's that cause of this, by the way?"
"Maybe because of jealousy?"
"Jealousy?" she laughs, "Ah, youths nowadays."
"It is not my fault . . . or in some point, it is really my fault."
"I understand, Yukizome-san." Yeah, I give her my name. "And if ever they'll pester you again, you should tell your teachers, got it?"
"Noted."
Few minutes after, she finishes tending my wounds. I ask her to give me a face mask, and good thing, she have some. I need to cover my face for days. I'll just need to pretend that I catch colds, so that no one would find this unfortunate incident out.
I don't have a strength to tell somebody or someone. They might not believe in me. Or in the other side, they would believe, but the bullying got worse if ever I report it to the school authority.
I always keep the quiet. And I always make them silence me. I know it is the coward's way. I know, I know . . . but speaking and standing up is the hardest thing to do.
I have endured everything without the help of others. I prefer something as pathetic as this, inasmuch I'm not a bother to anyone.
Nobody would notice it, anyway. I only need to lie . . . over and over again.