"You should sit with us," Haru continued, not wanting to be away from the (h/c) haired girl, "Or, if you want, you can just sit with me. We can go to the office and play on a console there. I made sure to bring it."

"Don't get me wrong, it sounds fun. If it were another day...But, like I said, I already promised my friends. Plus, I have some work to get done, so - "

"Work?" he asked, his brows furrowing in disgust, "From what class? I'll make sure that you won't have to do any work at all."

"No, not school work. I'm the vice president. It's my job to help organize things for the school, and since our president will be busy today, I promised to fill in for him."

"He should be doing his work himself."

As Haru pouted, still thinking how to get his way, she chuckled, prompting him to perk up. He kind of liked that sound. And though he wanted to hear the laugh again, he found himself unsuccessful when he ended up reading jokes off of his phone. Grumbling, he gave up, but kept thinking about it. Maybe he could ask Akari for help. He always made people laugh, especially his family.

The history class that the girl had was a lot different from others. For starters, it had a seating chart - something that was rare for Keisetsu. Students were usually given as much freedom as possible. Still, Haru didn't really care, following (Y/n) to her assigned seat, gawking at the girl sitting next to her, who was also in her assigned seat. Uncaring of her feelings, the brunette kicked at the legs of her chair, shooing her away.

"Move," he demanded.

"Sorry, but this is my seat," she protested, dismissing him.

"Sorry, but this is my school," he mocked her, throwing her out of her chair and taking it for himself.

The girl scowled at him and went to tell the teacher but he only shook his head, telling her to sit in a free seat after everyone had come into the classroom. She pouted and tried to complain but the teacher refused to listen. Haru only put a smile on his face and turned to the younger girl like nothing was wrong. She smiled to oblige him, not wanting to have the same fate, but her smile fell when she saw a familiar face.

"Well, hello, there," Rei chuckled, "Looks like our assigned seats have made you one lucky girl. You should be honored. I'll keep you company."

"I'm with her," Haru frowned, shoving the male away, "No one needs you here."

"(Y/n). I just wanted to apologize. I know you were in such a bad mood yesterday when you had to go and deal with Yamato and I. You were probably really upset, screaming about it not being your job and all."

"Hey! Don't ignore me!"

"It wasn't my job," the younger girl sighed, crossing her arms over her chest to the blonde's delight.

"I know. That's why I feel so terrible. But, you know, I was hoping to make it up to you. See, I brought some fun hair chalk to school, and I wanted to give Yamato a little makeover. If I could somehow persuade you to be my bodyguard, I'll make it worth your while."

"I'd rather not get involved with you."

"C'mon, we both know I'm loaded. Just help me have a little fun. If you prefer, I can pick on Shota instead."

Haru had enough of the blonde ignoring him, taking the opportunity to shove him again. This time, it was a more serious push, the blonde stumbling back with a frown. The two immediately grabbed at each other, butting heads. Of course, the teacher could do nothing. It was the same for the other students. Even (Y/n) did nothing, merely trying to wait it out in hopes that they would resolve it themselves. Though, that didn't happen.

"You think you're all that because of your money?! Try having some prestige and people might respect you!"

"Does that mean kissing people?"

"What? Jealous?"

"Of your pores?"

It seemed Haru won that time, throwing the blonde off-guard. He didn't even think the brunette knew what pores were. Though, that was just something Shota ended up teaching the younger male to shut Rei up. It seemed effective, so the brunette figured he would use it more often. Maybe it wasn't all that surprising that he was vain. Nonetheless, the younger of the two sat back down again, kicking Rei's chair over petulantly before looking to (Y/n) as if it was normal.

"You're not even in this class! You wouldn't understand a single thing!" the blonde scoffed.

"Don't need to."

"Would you two please be quiet?" the younger girl snapped, "I am getting pretty sick of idiots making a scene in every single one of my classes."

"All I wanted was for you to help me torment my friend," Rei scoffed, "Anyone with a brain would have killed to help me with that."

"Will you shut up?"

"If that's what the 'princess' wants. Tomorrow, after school. I'll have a car waiting for you."

"Whatever."

Satisfied, the blonde sat down. He had a grumpy look on his face and would not stop glaring at the (h/c) haired girl. For some reason, he chose to direct his distaste towards her instead of the person he had been arguing with. She did her best to ignore it, humoring Haru first and foremost. After all, he was an Akahito. Of course, since he was an Akahito, he chose to drag her along to lunch with him despite her protests.

"Can I - at the very least - tell my friends I won't be with them?!" she argued, prompting the brunette to huff.

He let go of her hand but lingered around her, getting progressively angrier the longer it took. That only made the blonde that tagged along amused. The look on Haru's face didn't help either when they ended up finding Motoko and Aria. The two girls gawked at the people next to her, trying to signal to the (h/c) haired girl that they were very, very, very important people.

"I-I know," the girl admitted, giving a sigh, "He won't leave me alone, and I tried, really, but I think I'll have to - "

"Spit it out," Haru grumbled, assessing the two girls until he became disappointed, "You don't want to have lunch with them. Goodbye. Let's go."

"You shouldn't be so harsh," Rei snickered, leaning down to kiss Aria on the back of the hand, "These two girls are nothing to glance over. Out of all the countries I studied in, I think Athainian ladies are the most stunning. Your name, miss?"

Aria blushed and fumbled her words. She was glowing as the blonde asked permission to touch her hair, fascinated by its green color. Of course, anyone would have been thrilled to have the attention of a prince charming. At least, that was how Rei thought. But, when he turned around in hopes of seeing some jealousy spark in the (h/c) haired girl, he nearly choked on air.

Haru, in his impatience, had started dragging her away. Literally. The girl must have given up trying to match his pace, letting herself be dragged while she sat on the ground. She looked a bit mortified, trying to cover it up with an awkward wave. Not knowing what to do, the blonde returned the wave, completely bewildered. Then again, it was Haru. Suddenly, Rei felt very annoyed, following after them.

When the brunette finally stopped dragging the poor girl, she stood up to find a few familiar faces. Shota and Takuya were there, the former embarrassed and the latter with a look of pity on his face. She supposed it made sense they were friends with Haru. She had already seen Shota get along with him, and Takuya could have been a mutual friend of some sort. Either way, Shota was quick to welcome her to sit next to him. She took the opportunity to do just that, Haru beating Rei for the other spot next to her.

"W-Where the fuck is Akari?!" the blonde shouted in his irritation.

"Well...," Takuya murmured, his voice quiet and reserved, "Yamato went to fish him out a tree. Uh, his words."

"(Y/n)," Shota was quick to greet, glancing down at the empty spot in front of her, "Do you not have lunch today? You really should eat. I could - "

"I'm not all that hungry, but I brought a snack. I really did plan just to work."

The younger girl pulled out an apple from her bag, showing off the food. She looked proud of it, too, quick to bite into it. For a moment, the redhead was relieved, but when he saw a suspicious cluster of brown. It didn't register for a moment. When it did, it clicked suddenly, Shota grabbing her wrist to stop her from taking another bite before snatching it out of her hands. Just as he had suspected, it was mold.

"You can't steal my food," the girl frowned, "Just because I said I wasn't all that hungry doesn't mean - "

"How can you ingest something moldy?" the male snapped, throwing the apple away with all due haste.

"H-Hey!"

(Y/n) almost tripped out of her seat to reach into the trash can. Shota grabbed at her extended hand, staring down at her in shock. The others did, too. Takuya, especially, looked filled with heartbreak, placing his sleeve over his mouth in hopes of dispelling her embarrassment. When she realized what she did, she yanked her hand back, stuttering in horror. How was she supposed to explain?

"Was that...the only thing you had?" Rei scoffed, quick to hide his smile and reassure her tauntingly, "Poor thing."

"It most likely went bad without you realizing," Shota remarked, motioning to their right, "I'm sure the cafeteria has nicer apples. Would you like me to - "

"N-No, I - You're right. I-I just bought it, so it was probably defective or something. I'm not hungry anymore. I'll just...do some work, okay?"

The girl heard a small coo from Takuya, who flinched away from her gaze. Nonetheless, no one brought it up again. On the contrary, they all sat in silence while they waited for the other two friends to arrive. Shota felt his own appetite whittle away, only forcing himself to eat to spare her any embarrassment. He only felt relief when their eldest friend came into sight, carrying a blonde over his shoulder.

"Akari!" Rei snapped.

At the sound of his voice, the smaller blonde wiggled out of the brunette's grasp, landing on his feet like a cat. He was quick to trot over to Rei, giving a bright smile. In response, the older male scoffed and flicked the boy's nose, only earning a giggle for his actions. Rolling his eyes, the taller brunette's gaze landed on (Y/n), the male temporarily stunned. Confused, he looked for an explanation, but when no one offered him one, he spoke.

"You're...?"

"The girl who flipped you on your back yesterday? Yes. I don't think we've been properly introduced. I'm (Y/n) Shiratori, but just (Y/n) is okay."

"Oh," the brunette hummed, hesitantly accepting her handshake, "Yamato."

"Right. Haru dragged me here, so I hope to get to know you, I guess."

The male seemed surprised. Of all people, Haru was the one that invited her to lunch. He might have expected Shota or Rei, but hearing it was the smaller brunette came as a bit of a shock. For the time being, he dismissed it, taking his seat and pulling out his lunch. It was very traditional, too. Those days, that was a rare sight.

"Where even were you?" Rei hissed, tugging at his friend's ear, "Hm? What's your explanation?"

"Nothing much. I just decided to explore the little bit of wilderness I could get my hands on."

"And your shoes?"

"I didn't bring my shoes today."

"Yes, you did, you idiot."

"Oh...," the blonde mumbled, putting his finger to his lip, "I guess I lost them. B-But I found a wild Nitan tree! Look how many I got! Here's one for Rei. And one for Takuya. Shota gets two since his hair matches. Yamato gets four for rescuing me! Haru gets the biggest one! And - "

The blonde paused as he realized the table was one more person full than it normally was. As (Y/n) glanced at his mesmerizing yellow-green eyes, he jumped, only to flush red. He looked around, confused, especially when he didn't see her eating anything. However, very shyly, he rifled through the rest of the fruits he was holding in his uniform jacket. The male then pulled out one, offering it to her.

"And the juiciest one for a special person."

Everyone else found ways to ditch the fruit. Haru, uncaring about his feelings, threw it right in the trash, declaring it wasn't his taste. Meanwhile, Rei just threw it behind him, telling Akari not to pick up strange things anymore. Yamato considered eating the fruit only to hide it in his bag to dispose of later. Takuya pretended to eat the fruit, but did the same as Yamato. Shota held onto it, glancing to his side to see what the girl would do with it.

Contrary to his expectations, she very enthusiastically accepted the fruit. It might not have been that strange to just eat it, but she looked extremely grateful. Shota ended up smiling softly, offering his to her when she finished. Again, a look of gratitude crossed her face, the girl murmuring a word of thanks to him for his kindness. He felt very satisfied with that, his heart beating audibly.

"I -, " Yamato paused, his facial features hardening, "Why did you agree to sit here? Just because Haru invited you doesn't mean you're welcome. Did you consider any of us or how we'd feel about it?"

"Careful," Rei snickered, "Keep picking on her and she'll flip you over again. Maybe if she does it enough, she'll tame you."

"Shut up. I'm just saying it makes sense for us to hang out together. But you're a pity student, right? No money, no status. Or, is that why you're approaching us? I bet you like Haru's money, huh?"

(Y/n) considered his words, smirking just a bit. He was right. There was absolutely nothing special about her whatsoever. Nothing. So, obviously, it was extremely suspicious that she was choosing to hang around the newest, richest people in school. Of course, Haru didn't appreciate the sentiment, glaring at his friend. Knowing him, he wouldn't stop until he got what he wanted. Yamato groaned.

"Yeah, yeah, Haru, I get it," he murmured, holding his hands up in a defensive position, "Listen, (Y/n), if that is your real name - "

"What the heck else would it be...?" Shota scoffed.

"I'm so - "

"Don't apologize if you don't mean it," (Y/n) snapped.

As soon as she blurted that out, she slung her bag over her shoulder. She knew she should have fought Haru harder. Despite the Akahito's pleas to stay, along with Shota and Rei, she stormed away. That left the rest of them to hound Yamato for his rudeness. And though everyone else voiced their discontent, even Takuya - quiet as he usual was - made a face at the male, getting his message across.

"Are you kidding me?" Shota sighed, nervously tapping his fingers on the table as he watched the mysterious girl leave, "Why'd you have to go and scare the poor girl off?"

"Scare? Did you see her? There's no way I scared her."

"That's not fair," Akari pouted, tucking his knees into his chest, "I didn't even get to talk to her this time either."

"And I wanted to play games with her," Haru groaned, smacking his head repeatedly across the table.

Yamato grabbed the younger boy's forehead, attempting to stop him from doing it again. When he did things like that, he felt like a mama bear, prompting him to scoff. But it was when Haru moved to smack his head against the table again that the brunette let the boy do whatever he wanted. It was always like that. At the very least, the brunette could say that he tried, if the boy's father asked.

"Apologize!" Rei demanded, pointing in the direction the girl had walked off in, "How am I supposed to use her to torment you if she's disgusted by the thought of you?"

"Play with someone else," Shota growled, staring at the blonde, "I like this girl."

"I do, too," Haru said, "Don't hurt her, Virgo."

"N-No, Haru, he's not - Oh, whatever...Just don't bother her, Rei."

Takuya tilted his head upon hearing his closest friends say that. They usually didn't care about outsiders, let alone girls. Though, he supposed it was about time Shota found someone else interesting. The white-haired male sighed and buried his face in his arms as he continued to listen to the heated arguments of the surrounding males.