Chapter Six, Back To School.

The days after Fujisaki and Masaomi's arrival passed in a blur. Soon enough, it was time for Hiyori to head back to school. After the last few days, she was glad to be able to talk to her friends again. It seemed like an eternity since she'd last seen them in person. She left her house early, the excitement to see everyone getting too much to sit still. As she walked along the sidewalk, she was joined by a familiar face. Fujisaki.

"Hey, you didn't wait for me?" He said, a smile illuminating his face.

Hiyori giggled, staring up at Fujisaki as she walked. "Nope."

He purses his lips into a line, giving Hiyori a pout.. "Too bad." He said at first, then sighed deeply and muttered out, "I was looking forward to it."

Hiyori didn't hear him. She walked with a small bounce in each step that made her hair swing left and right. A smile was glued to her face for the duration of the walk. She seemed to almost be skipping at some points when the excitement became too much and bubbled over.

Fujisaki just watched as she did so, grinning faintly at her with a warm glow on his face.

***

As soon as they walked through the fenced gate of the school, two loud screams sounded. Hiyori's eyes searched the area, attempting to locate the source of the sound when she suddenly stopped. "Aha." She said, "it's Ami and Yama!" Hiyori pointed to two girls sprinting towards them. The squealing sound they emitted made them sound like a giant, walking, squeaky toy.

Hiyori chuckled, waiting for the inevitable bear hug they usually gave her when they met.

"Hiyori!" They yelled in unison as soon as they were in arms reach. They were panting slightly but still engulfed Hiyori in a hug. "We missed you!" They pulled back, barely even noticing Fujisaki standing there awkwardly.

And then the bombardment of questions started. How are you? What did you do all that time? They shot questions off at machine gun speed, barely giving Hiyori any time to register what they were saying.

She turned to look at Fujisaki, who had a slight look of fear on his face. "I'll- I'll see you tonight?" She managed to say before the girls began dragging her away.

"Mm," Fujisaki said as he stared off at the shrinking silhouette of the girls, his hands shoved carelessly into his pockets.

***

As soon as she was sure they were out of his earshot, Yama pulled Hiyori underneath her arm. "So, Hiyori." She grinned. "Who was he?"

A pink tint that seemed to be becoming permanent reappeared on her face. "No one." Hiyori said, staring off into the distance. "The cherry blossoms look nice this year, don't they?"

"Off-topic, Hiyori..." Ami said, stretching out the last syllable of her name. Hiyori recognized the tone as the one Ami often used to get information out of her.

"What do you mean?" Hiyori said. "I was just admiring the beautiful cherry blossoms."

Ami shot Hiyori a look. Hiyori sighed; once Ami was set to know something, she almost always got an answer.

"His name is Fujisaki." She admitted, glancing at the large clock on the side of the school. It was almost time to go to class.

Her friends grinned, huddled together, and turned away from Hiyori. She giggled a little. It was their way of talking about their theories without Hiyori butting in to reject them. Occasionally, one girl would lift her head out of the huddle to smile evilly at Hiyori, only to go back down and nod furiously to the other.

"We should head to class before Mrs. Solski goes batty."

The girls snapped their heads up, stared at the clock for a few moments before screaming. Looks of horror took over their faces as they began panicking.

"We gotta go!"

"She's going to kill us!"

They started sprinting towards the back of the school where they'd have their first class, gym. The mad dash of pure panic earned a few laughs from the usual kids who got to school late. Hiyori almost laughed herself. They must have looked ridiculous.

When they finally got to the change rooms, they were slick with perspiration and panting furiously. Sweat dripped down their faces as they quickly threw on their gym clothes. Just as they were about to join the rest of the class in the field, they were stopped dead in their tracks by the old gym teacher, Mrs. Solski.

Mrs. Solski was a middle aged woman. Her gray hair made her look almost ten years older than she really was. No matter how old she looked though, she was still extremely good at sprinting. Her endurance was that of a god, and because of it, she ran the worst PE classes ever. Instead of soccer or basketball or any other sport you could imagine, she made the class to sprint the track the entire time.

"I see you three are late." The old woman said, her high pitched voice almost making the girls ears bleed. "Again." Her permanently squinted brown eyes tore apart the girl's demeanor.

"We are so sorry!" Ami was the first one to crack and fall to the ground, arms held up in a prayer and tears stinging her eyes.

The two other girls followed suit, doing the exact same thing as Ami. Mrs. Solski scoffed, her gaze softening a tad. "Go ahead."

The girls muttered out a quick apology to the teacher before sprinting off to the track. Mrs. Solski followed behind, grumbling as she walked. The girls reached the track a few minutes before the teacher and began stretching their muscles as they waited for her.

When the teacher finally made her way to the track, she scanned her eyes across the class. "Ten laps! Sprint!"

Collectively, the entire class groaned and began running. As Yama and Ami ran, they kept small giddy expressions on their faces. Hiyori could tell they were planning something. She sighed, it was going to be a long day.

***

Throughout the school day, Yama and Ami didn't mention Fujisaki once. Hiyori mentally was yelling hooray! every minute she wasn't bothered by their questions about the boy, and she prayed they wouldn't start soon.

Eventually, it was time to head home. Ami and Yama were supposed to walk home with Hiyori, but they decided not to, after they saw Fujisaki walking towards them.

"Well, I guess you don't need us if you have your boyfriend." Yama said, shrugging her shoulders as she walked away.

"Oh well. We'll just walk home alone." Ami followed Yama's lead, shrugging her shoulders the same way her friend did.

It was at that time that Yama turned around to give Hiyori the look. You know, the you-better-tell-me-everything-as-soon-as-you-get-home look that best friends always used.

"Okay, then." Fujisaki said, tilting his head in confusion.

"Don't worry about them!" Hiyori chuckled. "Let's just go home." 

***

 Sorry for the long wait yet again! I've been busy with school and didn't want to write for a while. I'll try to update more often. Probably every weekend?