A/n: this is more of a filler chapter, but the next one will be a bit more interesting.

(Y/n) wasn't sure if she should be surprised or even react when Bako had come up to her in the morning to greet the girl, had it become a sort of ritual. "You seem tired. Did you not get enough sleep?" He began inspecting the hazy coating in the girl's eyes and her messy hair, in a concerned demeanour.

(Y/n) yawned and gave her friend a passing-off grin, "Don't worry, I just had to wake up earlier than usual because of Ryo." Bako furrowed his brow, taken by surprise at what his friend had to do with the female's morning schedule.

"What did he make you do?" Bako's nerves began rising at the thought of the blond boy bothering (Y/n).

"It was nothing really, he just wanted to 'walk-and-talk' with me in the morning." She begrudgingly expectorated the reasoning and mentally snaked herself for agreeing to the cheery male's conditions.

"Why would you agree to that? Ryo will only continue asking for more if you keep indulging him." The cerulean boy began getting aggravated with the image of Ryo enjoying himself with his science partner.

(Y/n) simply shrugged her shoulders at the boy's comment, "It's alright, I don't mind hanging out with him-"

"But I do." Bako's tenor of speech reverted to one of demand and disapproval, making sure to put his message across. "I don't think you should hang around Ryo anymore." His statement was blunt and showed no hint of sarcasm or mockery.

The (h/c) haired student was slightly jolted by the unexpected shift in mood the boy took on towards his friend. "Why? He's arbitrary but really fun to be around when you look past how spontaneous he can be." (Y/n) progressively quietened her volume when the boy began glaring at her with his dismal, blue orbs.

"Just stick by me, alright? I don't like you getting too close to him, he'll only bother you." Bako scowled at his classmate in a conduct similar to a person scolding a child for doing something wrong and gave off a vibe of warning. But even he knew his reason was non-existent and easily contradicting.

(Y/n) felt guilty at first, it came on as instinctual yet had no real motive to be ashamed. However, it was short-lived when the girl's nerves began bending to the point of snapping. She felt offended for the boy treating her like a kid that can't handle herself and then telling what to do and with who to be, "It's my choice whether I want to be with him or not. You're not my guardian." She didn't falter with her words and irked at the male's petulance regarding his friend. The bell then rang out to signal the students to retrieve back to their own seats before official lessons begin. However, Bako seemed to refuse on budging out of his seat and continued giving the girl a dry look. "It's best if you go to your seat before you get in trouble." (Y/n) coldly told the boy.

Bako kept on watching her with a blank expression, and after a while, got up and went to his own desk. Though, she understood this would come and bite her when she has to sit next to him during science. But that was still hours away so she wasn't going to worry about that for the time being. It was almost the weekend so nothing was going to ruin her day.

English went on as normal, only to make (Y/n) feel some regret over her harsh words. 'I mean, what I said wasn't that mean spirited. Besides, he's just overreacting. If it's not Hiroko telling me to stay away from them it's going to be them themselves.' She exhaled to relax the muscles in her brain and concentrate on her work.

Her second lesson was Geography; which lead to Hiroko giving her another round of scolding and warning, only to settle down when he noticed his partner not being in the mood for his concerns. Despite his best attempts to inquire her on what was troubling her, she didn't seem interested in talking about the event that went down that morning in her class. All she wanted to do was forget about it and admit that she overreacted and leave it at that.

During her break, before her next lesson starts, (Y/n) decides to find Bako and laugh off the whole situation. While looking for the boy she then spots two of her friends, talking to each other in the bustling halls. (Y/n) went up to the two girls and greeted them with a grin. They then returned the greeting with weary smiles and uncomfortable body language. "Are you guys ok?" The (h/c) haired girl got confused as to why the hyperactive senior was acting so reserved and the levelheaded Nami looking disquieted.

"Yeah...everything's fine. How are you doing?" Nami attempted to show a genuine smile but even that seemed forced and caught her friend's attention.

"I'm fine but you guys don't seem like it." (Y/n) tried to read between the lines of what might be the reason for their out of character behaviour.

"Yah...no, we're fine...is Bako with you?" Nami quickly glanced around to catch any glimpse of blue in the crowd of students. When satisfied with her inspection she turned back to her friend with a worried expression. "Listen we need to talk in private."

(Y/n) got a bit startled at that question and only deepened her worries when she saw the urgency in Summer's face as well, "Why? Is something wrong?"

"Listen, you really need to stay away from that Bako boy." Nami quickly lowered her voice and took on a serious stance. "You don't know what's going on with that guy, Bako is-"

"I'm what, ladies?" The boy in question reappeared in a phantom-like manner, behind (Y/n). Nami stopped in her track of speech and stepped back at the male's unexpected appearance. "Hey girls, what were you talking about?" He innocently smirked at the two frightened students with a hidden message of quiescence that both the senior and her companion quickly detected.

"W-we were saying...h-how well you keep your hair. It's so silky and shiny, how do you do it?" Summer sneakily averted away from the main subject. Bako bewilderingly petted his hair to confirm the inquiry and chuckled at the obvious lie. "W-well, we have to go now. Bye bye, (Y/n)!" Summer swiftly grasped onto the catatonic Nami and flashed her confused friend a sympathetic smile and left the girl and the boy alone.

"What do you think that was about?" She pointed towards her friends in a puzzled state, only to be returned with a simple shrug from the boy, and grinned to indulge the girl's cluelessness. She then came to a quick realisation and focused back on the male, "Oh, I was actually looking for you. I just wanted to say sorry for being so nippy this morning. I guess it was because of my tired mood." Bako smiled at her and patted her shoulder.

"It's alright, I didn't take any offence. Come on, I'll walk you to your next class." He began walking beside the girl with a self-satisfied smile. 'I managed to avoid that landmine, but I need to make sure those two don't start running their mouths again.' But he concluded to deal with that later, at that moment all he wanted to do was be beside (Y/n) and enjoy her companionship.

"Ok, this is me." She stopped in front of her maths class and remembered that Bako was also in her lesson. "And you too." She quickly adds before reaching for the door handle.

"Let me get that for you." Bako stopped her before she progressed further when he himself got interrupted.

"After you my lady~" Ryo made an appearance out of thin air and flung the door wide open. He bowed and gestured inside like a porter for the girl.

She snickered at his satirical behaviour and proceeded to follow his lead, all the while the sapphire eyed boy staring daggers at his friend's head. "You guys act like you were raised together." She joked which simply made the blond raise his eyebrow.

"You're not far from the truth actually." When he saw the girl muddled expression he merely beamed and winked at her, "You'll find out more this weekend." She understood he was referring back to his invite to his house but left Bako a bit left out.

"What do you mean?" Bako looked towards his knowledgeable companion.

"I invited angel here to come and tutor me at home."

The spruce student seemed thoughtful for a second, "Tutor you for what-? Wait, 'angel?'" As the two boys sat down in their seats, Bako shot the golden clown a hard look while Ryo irreproachably grinned at his baffled friend.

"Do you like the new nickname I gave her? I personally think it suits her~" in an almost dreamy-like state, he gazed at 'his angel' who was breezing through the starter for the maths class. Bako however, felt threatened by all this; watching his friend getting slowly infatuated by the girl he had set his sights on.

The cheerful male was startled out of his daze when Bako made a swift jab with his pen towards a spot on the desk that was only centimetres apart from Ryo's hand. This left a small but harmful dent in the polished wood and a sample of what might have happened if it contacted skin. The semi-attached male pulled his hand away from the pen and stared at Bako in a mixture of confusion yet slow understanding. "What exactly made you get so friendly with (Y/n)?"

Ryo guiltlessly grinned at his friend with a hidden sight of defiance underneath his trademark smile. "What? I always give names to people. Remember when I used to call you Lapis Lazuli when we were little?" Chuckling fondly at the old memory and turned to his companion.

"Exactly. You don't give nicknames to people anymore. This was the first time in years I hear you mentioning something like this again." Bako remained suspicions towards the all-too faultless look in the boy's eyes. "Keep away from her."

Ryo remained unfazed by his friend's words and even seemed to have expected this threat. "So I see she's caught your interest too." There was no point for either side to keep up with the facade, seeing how they had uncovered once another's true intentions.

"Why are you even trying? What's got you so determined?" The azure boy carefully analysed and noxiously condemned the way Ryo proceeded to watch (Y/n).

"I adore her actions and reactions. She just keeps me interested and never ceases to satisfy me. Don't you agree?" He turned his attention back on Bako with a cheeky grin.

"You don't deserve her."

"And you do?" Their eyes were locked onto each other, unblinking and careful.

"Frankly, it doesn't matter now does it? It's up to her who she like." The artist's shoulders relaxed with a certain confidence.

"And what if she doesn't choose you?" For a moment, the two exchanged a glance entitling their same track of thought.

"I'll make sure I'm her only choice."