"For class today, we'll assign a group project on.. spaghetti," The teacher says unenthusiastically.

"Can we choose our partners?" A girl with kitsune ears and a purple uniform asks.

"...Sure," Was the answer.

Many students cheered, instantly making eye contact with friends or grabbing the arms of their neighbors, asking for their partnership.

"AYO! Ayato, wanna be my partner?!" Itto asks his neighbor, nudging his arm.

"I must apologize, I have partnered with Thoma," Ayato smiles then turns to his boyfriend, a blond boy in a red uniform.

"Dang It! Well, since I'm so popular, I'll just get another one!" Itto exclaims.

"Hey, hey, Ayaka, your best bro Ayato said NO being my partner but you won't! How 'bout it!?" Itto asks with a grin, putting his arm around her shoulder.

"I must also apologize, then, I already claimed a partner," Ayaka declines politely.

Ayaka pulls his arm off her shoulder and turns to the closest student, who also just happened to have a red uniform and blond hair. Itto instantly doesn't care, because he's too popular to be ignored by others, so he turns to the closest person.

"Hatsune Mikoooo," Itto says with finger guns.

"Please refrain from calling me that. I also already have a partner. Oni." Yae Miko states, looking at him with disgust evident on her face.

"Aww man!" Itto brushes off her disgust as being playful, so he remains with a big grin.

"Hey big guy, you know you're not gonna get partnered with them," A masculine voice says promptly after Yae leaves the area.

"Yo, buddy, I know many people like being playful with me, but man... That was kinda ru-," Itto starts, pausing on seeing the other student.

"WE'RE GEO BUDDIES!" Itto nearly screams at the sight of the student's brown uniform.

"Shush, my ears can only handle so much, big guy," The smaller man grumbled.

"OMIGOSH YOU HAVE EARS LIKE MISS HINA!!" Itto says, the slightest bit quieter.

The brown-haired boy paused at the name of Miss Hina, but Itto doesn't notice.

"Yeah yeah, we aren't siblings though," Itto sighs, hope lost of meeting his idol.

"Well little man, I need to set off to get a partner!" Itto parts the geo boy with a salute and walks like a main character to a couple of people in purple uniforms.

"Sara! You taken? Cause-" Itto starts.

"Yes. I have been dating Kokomi for the last month," Kujou Sara says quite harshly.

"Noooo, I mean like, for the project!" Itto corrects.

Sara takes around a second for the thoughts to go through her brain.

"Same answer as last time then, I'm with Kokomi," Sara says, turning to a pink-haired girl in a blue uniform after her last word.

"Ehehe! Now who's left? AH! Shogun! Do you have a partner? If noooooot..! The one and oni Itto is available with no partner!" Itto says.

"I have a partner." She says calmly.

"HAHA! WAIT-! Kuki! I forgot about her... She's so short that maybe I didn't see her..." Itto stands on a desk to look for his green-haired friend.

"KUKI!" He calls.

"Shut up! And get off the desk!" The teacher says with frustration.

Itto, in much stupidity, thinks that the teacher was talking to another student because there was obviously another student standing on a desk. Duh.

Gorou, being the teacher's pet, noticed the teacher's annoyed expression. To find the source, he looked around to find Itto, a pretty easy job considering that Itto is like 6 feet and standing on a 2 foot desk, almost as tall as those samurai in movies.

"Itto," Gorou says.

"Yeah, my little dude?!" Itto asks casually.

"I'm not your 'dude', and get off the desk." Gorou orders.

"Naw man! Kuki is NOWHERE in this classroom like, BRO. Where'd she go!?" Itto asks.

Gorou, cringing at the terrible grammar, tries to remember if Kuki is absent today.

"Kuki isn't here today, you can be my partner, Kokomi chose her girlfriend over me... Again." Gorou sighs.

"Don't be sad little dude!" Itto goes from standing to sitting on the desk, bending his leg against his chest, swinging the other back and forth.

"I'm not, just a little frustrated," Gorou says.

"AHHHH! I gotchu!" Itto grins.

"Okay, nice. But we need to start the project," Gorou reminds.

"AH! Yeah! I still need a partner!" Itto realizes, jumping back to standing on the desk.

"Itto, there are no other people without a partner besides me, you idiot. We are partners." Gorou sighs again, grimacing for his time wasted with this idiot, one idiot who probably didn't graduate high school at least 7 times.

No, Gorou, Koko said to not judge a book by it's actions or cover. Get to know him first before judging. Gorou reminds himself.

"Maaaaan!" Itto still grins as he hops off the desk.

"Let's gather our materials, and would you like to work at my desk or your desk, would you like to write or illustrate, how about research? Do you prefer to gather the links and then read or just read after the first link is provided?" Gorou asks.

"I have NO IDEA what you just said, little man," Itto says.

"Well then. Come to my desk, we'll decide what we'll do from there, and what type of spaghetti to work on," Gorou says.

...

After almost an hour, Gorou was 190% sure that Itto was stupid. He was boasting about being super popular, that he'd study with Lisa and Alhaitham, the smartest kids in school. Gorou tried to tell him kindly that he wasn't popular, but Itto just thought he was joking.

"Itto, pay attention! Class has half an hour left, you haven't even finished a noodle in your drawing," Gorou says, trying to maintain a fun atmosphere.

"Sorry man! I just miss my bros! Maybe I'm just that popular that they wanted me to make you popular! Oh, typical from my bros! " Itto grins.

"You're not popular though." Gorou says, just getting straight to the point instead of giving a MILLION hints that were as clear as a freshly windexed window to find in his words.

"Uhh, I am though," Itto says, laughing a bit at the shorters 'joke'.

"Really? Give me an example then," Gorou asks.

"Easy! I was at lunch, and someone threw a bean at me! Like, they'd only know about my allergy if I'm popular, right?!" Itto exclaims in his stupidity.

"That's not being popular, that kid was BULLYING you. They knew your allergy because we were learning about onis in our textbooks. The kid wanted you to have an allergic reaction and cause harm to you. That's not being popular. That's being the class clown. And you're only making it worse when you laugh it off and say that you're popular, because when you say that, everyone laughs. Because you're NOT popular." Gorou explains.

"C'mon little man, you're over eacting!" Itto says.

"It's overREacting. There's a second r, and no. I'm not overreacting. Try to name a few more 'popular moments' and I'll explain that you're not popular. I can continue the project at home," Gorou says.

"FINE! I'll explain in DETAIL about the moments I was popular... AND STILL AM!" Itto exclaims.

"Go ahead, I'm really excited," Gorou says sarcastically.

"You better be! Now, one time, I was walking through the hallway and someone pushed me against a locker when walking by. He laughed with his friends, AFTER I started laughing. I spread a laugh, I'm just naturally funny!" Itto bragged.

"Same answer: they were bullying you. Have you ever seen movies where it takes place in highschool?" Gorou asks.

"Naw! Too cool for movies. Which brings ANOTHER STORY! That energetic red bunny girl was asking other popular kids if they wanted to go to the movie theater with her, so I obviously went up to her and said I'd join. She gave me a smile and was about to say something but then a girl in a light blue uniform came up and said it was Mondstadt only, and then these Zhongli and Childe guys said they would join. And they are totally NOT from Mond!" Itto explains.

"Why is this you being popular?" Gorou asks.

"Because they made a joke around me! It was funny, many were laughing, and the others who didn't get it looked at me like they were worried! It was SOOOOO weird!" Itto exclaims.

"Oh my gosh Itto, they're bullying you!" Gorou says.

"My bro, they're not! Otherwise why would Yae tell me to give her my lunch money everyday?! Kuki and the gang tried to stop me, but I was being nice to my bestest friend!" Itto explains as if it was obvious. Normally Gorou was an excited person, but thinking about the kitsune brought his happy mood down.

"She's BULLYING YOU! Yae Miko is the worst, she bullies everyone in her and her girlfriend's way!" Gorou huffs.

"OMG! REALLY!? I need to tell her to stop!" Itto starts to get off his chair, but Gorou grabs his arm.

"Oh? Bullying... why would I bully you..?" Gorou could imagine Yae Miko saying in her soothing and elegant voice.

"No, we uhh... Need to finish the project," Gorou says.

"I thought that you were gonna do it, little man!" Itto says, clearly confused.

"I forgot, but you need to draw," Gorou quickly says.

"Okay! Only one person in the world has my drawing skills, and that's ME!" Itto grins, grabs his green unsharpened restaurant crayon and starts drawing scribbles.

"Wait- Itto, why are the noodles green?" Gorou asks.

"Because these are... GREEN ONIKABUTO NOODLES!" Itto exclaims.

Gorou lets out a laugh.

Maaaan, he has a cute laugh! Itto couldn't help thinking.

After they brought up the mood with Itto's stupidity, the class decided to end.

"See you next month, little man!" Itto shouts with a big grin.

"You mean next class?" Gorou asks.

"YEAH!" Itto exclaims.

"He's so stupid," Gorou mutters under his breath, but his smile remains.

...

Itto was doing pretty well, his bestie Yoimiya told him a joke, and that made his day. And it wasn't a 'mean' joke like Gorou was talking about, who does that little guy think he is? Itto thought himself to be the most popular in the ENTIRE school, and Gorou was simply just wrong.

"YO KUKI! YOU'RE HERE!" Itto shouts at the sight of her.

"U-uh, I'm not Kuki..." The short green haired woman in the hallway turned.

In fact, she wasn't Kuki, but a girl in a green uniform and a shy, yet beautiful, smile, she was normally seen with Cyno, Tighnari, and Amber.

"AHH! WHO ARE YOU!?!??!?!?" Itto exclaimed in fright.

"Haha, that oni's so stupid," A kid snickered as he passed.

"M-my name's Collei, and I'd better go to class..." Collie mumbles.

"Okay man! " Itto grins and continues walking.

"Hey Itto, you're sooo funny, I can't believe she actually believed that you thought she was Kuki! Ha!" A random kid said when Itto passed them.

"Haha! You're right man!" Itto snickers.

Only after the kid was out of Itto's sight did he stop and think. For once.

The 'sooo' sounded... Sarcastic. And when they said 'I can't believe she actually believed that you thought she was Kuki!' was he saying that Itto was the stupid one? Because he was the one who thought the Collei girl was Kuki..? NAWW

Itto was totally still in the hallway, thinking about the situation and previous ones as well, and he made a decision, he would prove that he wasn't- and never was, a class clown, and everyone'd take him seriously! A genius idea! But how..? OH! Ask Kuki! Wait nooo, she's not here! Then little guy! He might be in his next class!

Itto starts running to his next class, was it history? Well whatever it was, Itto tries to recall if Gorou was indeed in his next class, but finds his memory recollecting nothing of the brown-haired boy.

He runs into the classroom with a grin, hope for finding his most-recent friend converting to joy. He scans the room, looking for him. With no luck, he simply jumps into the chair closest to him.

"Arataki!" The teacher shouts.

"Yeah, man?!" Itto asks.

"Detention for being late," The teacher gives a glare.

"Aww man! Whyyyyy?! I didn't do anything!" Itto complains.

"You were late, that's doing your 'anything'," The teacher turns his back from the student and continues teaching.

Since Gorou wasn't in the history(?) class, and that class was the last class of the day, he would ask Kuki or Gorou next time he saw them if he was a class clown, or popular.

...

"KUKIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!" Itto shouts.

"What?" Kuki, the correct green-haired student, asks.

"Am I popular, or a class clown? Like, the answer is suuuuuuuuper obvious, right?" Itto asked with a grin, hoping for a certain answer more than the other.

"Are you really that stupid? You're a class clown, doofus, now I need to get to class. I was sick for two days and I need to catch up. For some reason I still got sick even while wearing my surgical mask, which is supposed to NOT get you sick..." Kuki starts to walk off.

"BYEEEE!" Itto shouted.

"I said class clown, not popular!" Kuki reminds.

"Oh yeah... WAIT WHAT!?" Itto exclaims.

A few snickers could be heard around Itto, the source pretty easy to find: Itto himself. Kuki was the smartest person he knew, so obviously Kuki had to be right, but Itto didn't want her to be right. But those kids laughing around Itto weren't laughing with Itto, they were laughing at Itto and Itto just happened to be laughing too.

"I GOTTA ASK GOROU!" Itto screams, bursting toward the classroom near the end of the hall.

When Itto enters, no one looks his way: everyone is used to sudden bursts, and they just continue their conversations. With the exception of Kuki and Gorou.

Gorou and Kuki both look over with a similar expression as if saying 'really?'. Gorou hates when the teacher is annoyed and Kuki is Itto's friend, which is the only reason those two actually paid attention to sudden loud booms. Explanation finished. *bow*

Gorou goes back to talking to Kokomi when Itto nears Kuki on the other side of the room. Gorou tries to distract himself from Itto, but his thoughts wander as Kokomi explains the deep emotional dive she recently took into whale endangerment.

Kokomi has been his only true close friend since elementary school, and as Gorou glanced at Itto laughing with Kuki, he feels a pang of jealousy. He wished he had more friends. He wished Itto would come over.

Of course he's with his friend, just because you laughed at his 'joke' does not make you his friend. I don't even want to be friends with him! He took up 15 minutes of my time doing stuff other than classwork, I should be mad at him! Afterall, he's just the class clown, no insult can hurt him. But then again... he doesn't even know that he's a class clown. So maybe I pity him, but also see fun in him. We'll see after today.

"Seats everyone, time for attendance!" The teacher calls.

"Nagahara Yoimiya?"

"Here!"

"Kamisato Ayaka?"

"Here,"

"Kamisato Ayato?"

"Present,"

"Arataki Itto?"

"What?!"

"Kuki Shinobu?"

"Here."

"Raiden Ei?"

"I am here."

"Yae Miko?"

"You know I'm present,"

"Sangonomiya Kokomi?"

"I am present,"

"Gorou?"

"Here!"

"Kujou Sara?"

"Present!"

"And... Thomas?"

"Uh... here?"

"Perfect, everyone's here," The teacher says, "now continue from where you left off last time."

What a great, cooperative teacher who cares about their students. That was a joke. The teacher doesn't care. The assignment is on SPAGHETTI. What teacher would do that? A good one, OBVIOUSLY.

"So I'm guessing you don't have a partner?" Kuki asks Itto.

"You're wrong, HAHA!" Itto grins.

"Who would partner with-?" Kuki is interrupted by Gorou.

"Itto, I got some work done!" Gorou says, carrying the large piece of paper that was their project.

"Cool, little dude! And mah bestie Kuki would like to join us!" Itto exclaims.

"I never said that, but okay. Greetings, I'm Kuki Shinobu," Kuki introduces herself with a wave.

"Hi, I'm Gorou," Gorou does a little nod as if he was nodding with his head and twitching ear.

Gorou lays out the project on Itto's desk, letting them all see the work.

"Why are the noodles green?" Kuki asks.

Gorou starts to laugh at the memory.

"Why ya laughing little man!?" Itto asks.

"I just- find the memory funny for some reason. Maybe you're just naturally funny, even when you don't try," Gorou compliments.

"That's my job as a popular kid!" Itto laughs, trying to make it seem as if his cheeks were red from laughing.

"Popular kid?" Kuki asks with a slight chuckle.

"Yeah, Gorou here said that I'm a CLASS CLOWN! But he's just overREacting, haha, right?!" Itto elbows Kuki playfully.

"Itto, I literally said that you are a class clown like- seven minutes ago," Kuki sighs.

"Uh, no, man. You said that I am NOT a class clown! I am THE MOST popular person in the school!" Itto shouts.

"Sure, buddy..." Kuki mutters sarcastically.

"EXACTLY!" Itto exclaims.

"Do you know what sarcasm is?" Gorou asks through a laugh, or as Itto would think, a cute laugh hehe.

"YEAH! It's when you're SUPER MAD at something like, uhh... BEING UNCOOL!" Itto explains.

"No, you idiot. It's when you don't mean what you really mean, all your 'best bros' talk to you in full-on sarcasm," Kuki explains.

"Does that mean that... THEY DON'T LIKE THE NAME OF MY BEETLE!?" Itto shouted.

Gorou and Kuki both simultaneously look at each other, sighing in the process.

...

The next day, Itto was stolling through the hallways like he owned the place, walking to his 5th period when he saw a familiar ear twitch.

"YO! Little dude!" Itto exclaims.

"Oh- uh, hi, Itto..." Gorou says.

"Why are ya so nervous, is it because of my spiky, red, evil oni horns?" Itto grins, acting like a threatening oni for a second.

"U-uhm no?" Gorou laughs.

"Haha! Got you to laugh! Anyway, see ya in class, little man!" Itto smiles and continues walking, undoubtedly the wrong way.

He left Gorou confused by the interaction, but the smaller male smiled nonetheless. Itto was a good friend- if they were friends yet, at least.

...

"Littleeeeeeeeee dude!" Itto calls.

Gorou turns his head from their project on his desk.

"What is it?" Gorou asks with a polite smile.

"My best pal, Ei, just defeated me in a beetle fight, and said that my beetle was as powerful as a twig!" Itto complained, over exaggerating quite a bit.

"Well that wasn't nice," Gorou chuckles.

"YEAH! And what's worse is that she took my beetle and gave it to YAE!" Itto exclaimed

"What's wrong with that?" Gorou asks curiously.

"SHE ATE MY BEETLE!" Itto shrieks, and to their right, they could hear Ei and Yae's laughs.

"That's honestly rude," Gorou pauses, "and disgusting,"

"What did you say?" An extremely calm, soothing, yet threatening voice asks.

"U-uh, nothing?" Gorou says, instantly tense in his posture.

"No. I heard you talk about me, I'm sure you would know about trashtalking with those listening ears of yours, little nerd," Yae laughs, leaning in and petting his shaking ear harshly.

"Yo, Yae, the little dude didn't give you consent to touch his ears!" Itto says.

"Oh? And who are you to protest, oni? You shouldn't even know what consent means with your intelligence." Yae smirks as Ei walks beside her.

"Frick you and your class presidency!" Itto huffs, "we're letting you off this time!"

"You're letting us off?" Ei asks.

"Oh darling it's quite the opposite," Yae giggles.

"Is everything alright over here?" A voice interrupts the tension.

"Of course, miss," Ei nods respectfully.

"Great! Now that this is solved, can Lumine treat Paimon to a sweet madame?" Paimon looks up at the co-principal (co-principal with Aether) with expectant eyes.

"Of course not, Paimon, now do your job or I'll make you our mascot," Lumine says, half-joking.

"Anything but thaaaaaaaaaaat! Paimon's a great vice principal!" Paimon exclaims, following the much taller, walking figure out the door to inspect the next class room.

By the time Ei and Yae looked back to the two geo students they were previously bullying, the two had left.

"Whatever, that Oni will never graduate, and that dog is graduating in two years, we'll have plenty of time to finish what has started," Yae says smoothly.

Meanwhile, Itto brought Gorou to the hallway, somehow not getting noticed by Yae, Ei, Paimon and Lumine.

"Hey Gorou, are you okay?" Itto asks in a rather caring voice, but not without the energy he always carried.

"Y-yeah, I just don't like it when people touch my ears..." Gorou looks to the side, averting from Itto's gaze.

"I feel you too, man, some people even try to break my horns! It really hurts, but in the end, we look cooler with these pointy thingies on our heads," Itto tries. Maybe a joke would lighten his mood? He seems pretty down.

When Gorou laughs, Itto blushes. Gorou's laugh was honestly cute, and Itto definetly loved hearing it. Maybe, just maybe, if he was indeed a class clown, he wouldn't mind, as long he can make Gorou happy.