"Do you… happen to know… a student named Tsunashi Ryunosuke?" Rai asked as he shoved both his hands into his pants pockets. Maybe because he had said what he wanted, Rai's face looked less anxious than before. 

However, unlike him, the question itself made Ren startled. She grasps the strap of her bag tightly as she flashed a smile, struggling not to show any reaction. Knowing that her brother was a quick-to-catch-on of something, it would take a few seconds for him to know the truth if she ever makes any reaction. So to hide it, she would pretend to smile.

Believe it or not, Ren is not someone who likes to smile. But sometimes in a critical situation (like now), she will feign a smile and the look on her face when she did that was as if she were telling 'what the heck are you talking about.' Immediately, making the person who was asking the question tell her to forget about what they asked before. 

It did succeed at some point but mostly works on her family members, largely on her siblings since they are simply scared of her. To the point that whenever they yearned for something, they would change their minds promptly just because Ren unknowingly tossed a look at them, not because she heard about them wanting some new things.

"Ah, sorry. Forget what I asked earlier," Rai said shortly.

'Tell ya, it will work!' She thought victoriously. She then turned to her brother. "Don't worry," she said, shaking her head. "But… I'm wondering though. What's the reason for you to ask that question?"

"Uh, that's… I… Well," He stuttered. A slight blush dusting his cheeks as he caressed the back of his neck. Ren knows exactly the reason why he was blushing like that. Even though at first, she didn’t know about the news until a few months ago if it wasn’t for her certain friend.

"Is this because of the girl? What was her name again… Takanashi Tsumugi-chan, isn't it?" As soon as Ren mentioned the girl's name, Rai's face flared into a deep flush red. 'Now, would you look at that' She gave his arm a nudge. "What does she look like? Tell me! Tell me!"

"W-What?! Why do I have to tell you what she looks like?"

"Eh~ because I'm your sister and of course, I want to know about my brother's crush," she replied with a smirk plastered on her face. She seemed to be amused by her teasing.

"Don't expect me to tell you about her. You'll just go see her and divulge my secret." Rai shoots a glare, his face looking serious.

"Wow, talk about trust. You don't believe in your sister, huh" Ren laugh and jovially ruffles his sandy blonde hair. "We're here. Go on, your friends are waiting," she said as she pointed her thumb towards a group of students behind the school fence, chattering to each other.

Rai looked at his sister. "Look, sis. It's no that-"

"You don't have to worry about that. I'm fine." Ren instantly cut in, understanding full well that her brother feels sorry for talking that way. "Don't think too much about that. It's just a small thing. It's not like I care much about it too. So, you can go now."

"But-"

"Sigh! Go to your class, Rai. Just forget about the conversation we had today." She thrust him forward, motioning him to leave. Rai peeked back at his sister with a guilty face. He knew he shouldn't have said that even though it was true. He could have just given another reason to coat it but his mouth slip and unfortunately, he let out those words. Though with a heavy heart, Rai walked away and left her behind. 

"Don't feel guilty for things you're not guilty of, Rai. It doesn't sit right for me to make you feel like that," she muttered in a hushed voice. 

The walk to class was very tiresome for Ren, greatly when she was separated from her friends because of different classes but, what she deemed as the most disastrous was that all three of her friends were placed in the same class plus the first-class while she; being the only one left in her gang, was unaccompanied and placed in the last class. The 3-E class. 

Sliding the door open, Ren stepped into her classroom. Indirectly, sensing all the stares from her other classmates.

It has been months since she became a third-year student and also part of the 3-E class's student but so far, her relationship with others is still in its infancy phase.

She still speaks to others but merely when it involves group assignments or even class meetings. Aside from that, they never talked. Not once or even twice. To be truthful, she was also not invited to the first gathering on the very first day of school. Want to know the reason why? 

It's because of her face.

For Ren, her face when she is in neutral mode is natural. The looks when there is nothing that you need to be happy, sad, or angry about. It's that look! However, in the other's belief, her neutral face looks eerie. It was as if, she was furious and her mood was not good. They feel intimidated by only her face, affecting them to stay away from her, fearing that she'd be blown out if they do something. But of course, Ren didn't realize that. How would she know about it if she, herself felt that her face looks normal?

And just like that, her bond with her classmates stayed distant, resulting in her feeling isolated as soon as the school day starts until the bell that ended the day rings. 

Ren hangs her bag at the side of her desk as she takes a seat in her place and heaving out a heavy sigh. 'For God's sake, how many hours do I need to suffer until this day end?' She thought grimly, her body slumped over the desk. 'Plus, there's a club today'

"Can someone kill me, please" She sighed. 

"Aww, don't say like that~"