_Chapter 48~ Be There For Him_

    "Um..." I tried to speak.

        "What do you mean we're infiltrating the base in one-go? Obviously we have to plan properly if we want a chance to win!"

        "But they're not that great in numbers," commented one. "Plus, they already hurt Kai and Souta. They deserve hell for that!"

         "But how about if they're waiting to ambush us already?"

          "We'll fight right back, it's not that difficult," scoffed another opinion sifting within the already boisterous atmosphere.

          You had to be kidding me... My smile twitched. I couldn't believe they were strategizing in front of me like this. Delinquents really didn't care about an extra set of ears did they?

          My lips caved inwards. Regardless, I didn't come here, into their base—alone, for that matter—to expose myself to their plans on fighting another school. But now that I was, I reckoned I should at least try to stop the madness before asking them for my favour.

          Them getting into some brawl with another school did not sound appealing at all, especially for this school's already tattered reputation. More so, I wouldn't be able to digest knowing I could've stepped in to stop it.

          Mrs. Hamada should seriously owe me for this....

          "Excuse me," I cleared my throat again.

          "Yo, why don't we just ditch right now?" suggested one.

          "Where?" asked another.

          "I don't know," he spat. "I have Mr. Hiroyuki next; like hell I wanna be in that class."

           "Wanna go into the city, then?"

           "Um, hello..."

           Just then, they all seemed to realize I was there within their group huddle. As if they were in the presence of royalty, they all lurched away from me and into a proper line, adjusting their collars and postures in the act.

          "Miss Reina, w-we didn't see you there," coughed one meekly. "What is it?"

          And yet they were the ones who crowded around me when I first walked in... I shook aside the thought. "I... have something to say," I said. "There's a problem."

          "What?" They all froze in astonishment. "Miss Reina wants to consult with us...?"

          They reacted as if the world was ending. All of them had begun to race around the room in circles, some even gripping their heads and excitedly shouting, 'Oh my God, I can't believe this is happening!'

           "Hey, somebody grab a pen and paper! Miss Reina wants to say something!" one declared.

           Straightaway, somebody appeared by my side, pen to a notepad he had snatched from who knows where.

           "Here, take a seat," one ushered me onto a stool they brought. "Don't stress yourself out too much. We'll gladly hear you out."

           "The problems Miss Reina has...?" they all murmured, eyes wide and glued to me, scrutinizing my every move.

           My heartbeat grew louder as I stared around at the now silent room, and their gawking looks. Nervousness seized me at once. "U-um... th-the problem is actually... not with me. It's y-you guys...."

           They all continued to watch me, not blinking in the least. I bit my lip anxiously. Did I say that wrong...?

           "Did you get that?" somebody asked the guy beside me.

          He immediately stiffened once all eyes turned to him. "O-oh!" he shouted, squinting at what he wrote. "Sh-she said the problem isn't actually with her, but us!"

          "Us..." one echoed.

         "Us...?" drawled another.

         "We're being a problem to...."

         "Miss Reina...."

         Panic overwhelmed them all.

         "Don't take it the wrong way!" I quickly spoke to calm them down. "I don't mind you guys. It's just... right now you're talking about fighting another school and that idea's incredibly unnecessary! You guys would be causing people trouble if you resorted to violence all the time, so why don't you just stop? Don't you feel bad for the people you constantly hurt without a reason?"

         I expected them all to brighten like puppies and be like "Understood, Miss Reina~!" as they always have.

Let's just say I expected wrong.

         "Unnecessary...."

         My eyes darted towards the source of the voice and was caught off guard to see them all balling their fists.

         One I usually noticed that always stood towards the front—blond and green-eyed—glared at me. "The reason is not unnecessary!"

         My eyelids rose in surprise as the rest of them chimed in.

         "They attacked Kai and Souta for no reason!"

         "Why do they have the right to hurt our friends? They were violent first, and they even bad-mouthed our school! Kai and Souta are still recovering in the hospital too! Why aren't we allowed to do anything in return? That's being unreasonable, Miss Reina!"

          My mouth had fallen. "Why... but...."

          "We may be referred to as delinquents, but you act like we're not human," the blond spoke again, frowning at me. "It did feel kind of nice to be inferior at first, but it's almost as if you're viewing us the same as everyone else. That stuff you told us in the infirmary... you didn't tell us it because you were worried about us, did you? You see us as trash too, don't you, Miss Reina?"

          Trash...? No way... Although I knew I should've instantly refuted to that, for some reason, I couldn't. It hit me deep. Mainly because—it was true. I don't think I ever considered they felt the same emotions I did. Well, in the past they'd always terrified me, but after they began following me like dedicated fans, it should've became apparent to me.

         They only became soft like that because they were happy over the fact that I showed concern for them. They all just wanted to be seen as normal human beings.

         I heaved a loud breath. So much for trying to act like some kind of a saint; I felt like crap now.

         "You're right. I'm sorry. I was being inconsiderate when I said that, wasn't I?" I rose my head from a bow, meeting their gazes. "Still, I believe you could settle things without it. How's hypocritical violence going to solve anything?"

The blond stilled. "Well...."

"And while I'm honest," I went on. "I don't even know your guys' names. Is it... all right if I ask for them?"

         Not trying to sugarcoat it, but they all had gone awestruck.

         "O-our names?" they simultaneously shouted, almost glowing with happiness.

         "I-I'm Chikao!" the blond from earlier declared, being the first to wake up from his daze to speak.

         "Hideki!"

         "Kazuo!"

         "Rinnosuke, but I prefer going by Rin!"

         I attempted absorbing all of the concurrent shouts raiding the room. There looked to be a little over fifteen people here. Memorizing both names and faces... I fought back a sigh. No, I had to do it. They knew my name; the least I could do was memorize theirs.

          After they finally finished flooding the room with their introductions, they watched me with matching smiles. Returning one the best I could, I nodded. "Um," I said after a pause, my mind still a jumble. "I'll try to remember them."

          "It's fine if you can't," the blond—Chikao—said. He shrugged his shoulders as they all took a seat at the large table before us. "Master Isami couldn't remember all our names either."

          "Master Isami?" I spoke the foreign name in confusion.

           "He used to be our banchou," Hideki, I believe, enlightened me. "I'm sure you remember him— you know, the one guy that was bleeding like crazy because he got punched in the nose. I think he was getting treated by the nurse that day we first met you."

          My eyebrows scrunched together in an effort to recall what they were talking about. The day I met them? Wasn't I hiding under the infirmary bed until Ryu dragged me out? I closed my eyes, tilting my head to the side. Soon, my head jerked upright and my jaw fell. There was a guy getting treated by Dad! And he was bleeding profusely! It honestly looked like he was dying and me, being nauseous at the sight of blood as I typically was, immediately covered my eyes so I wouldn't be exposed to it....

          It was coming back to me. But, I was so sure he'd called me something too. What was it again? Kikuchi—

          "—Orange," Kazuo prodded with a nod. "I think I heard him yell 'Kikuchi Orange' or something."

          My countenance fell at the memory. Yeah. That. All because Ryu and Dad teamed up against me to get me to help treating patients. And just because I retorted to him that he was an orange, that delinquent had gotten the wrong idea and thought my parents hated me. So that guy was Isami, their old banchou?

          "I didn't see him around whenever you guys tailed me," I noted.

          "Oh no, he was there," Rin responded. "He was even the one to suggest we go out and follow you. Master Isami was your biggest fan."

          "He'd get so shy whenever Miss Reina was there," another black-haired delinquent laughed; one I'd forgotten the name of. "He'd always hide towards the back of the group. He was the type to constantly act all high and mighty so none of us would've imagined he'd be so fragile inside."

          Accordingly, all the delinquents began to laugh, bringing up the various stories about their banchou's behaviour. As they did, it was clear that they viewed him with utmost respect. He'd been the one holding them together. And now that he wasn't here....

          "Master Isami was a third year," Chikao responded to my thoughts, being the only one to not involve himself with the rest of their raucous stories. "To be honest, after you yelled at us, we made the decision to get back at you. But Master Isami was the one to figure out that you said those things because you cared about us and didn't want to see us involved in stupid battles or injured. He always let us see the bright side in everything." Chikao cracked a wry smile. "It's kinda empty now that he graduated."

          "But we promised not to let it put a dent in us," Rin interjected, poking his head towards me. Once again, their conversation had died down and their attention was on us.

          "More time to obsess over Miss Reina this way," Hideki agreed with a grin.

          "And you even came here to see us," Kazuo said, gaining a puppy-love look in his eye. Similarly, the rest of them shared one as well.

          I forced a laugh, scooting back a little. "Um, well.... So you guys no longer have a banchou?"

For some strange reason, they all went rigid, sharing a wobbly look. I blinked slowly.

"No!" Kazuo shouted before I could question it. "We don't."

Rin put forth a shaky grin. "Unless you want to be our mascot banchou?"

"Yeah!" they all chorused, brightening with the idea. "Miss Reina, be our mascot banchou!"

I stiffened. Mascot banchou...? Wasn't that just a substitute delinquent leader who was the face of the group? They wanted me to lead them? Colour drained from my face entirely and I shook my hand and head around.

"U-um, thanks, but...."

         Chikao, though looking the most elated, for some reason gained a look of curiosity. "Miss Reina, is something bothering you?"

          I inwardly flinched. Eventually, I looked his way. He could tell? "Is it that obvious?"

          "Is somebody against you?" Kazuo gasped, lurching to his feet. "Do you need us to get rid of someone?"

           They all sprung to their feet, anger flashing in their eyes.

           "Somebody grab the bat!"

          "Do we need the rope too?"

          "Bring everything you can!" Rin commanded as they all went barrelling across the room. He turned back to me, cerulean eyes filled with determination. "Wait right here, Miss Reina! We'll deal with that bastard so they won't bother you again!"

          Colour drained from my face entirely. I jumped to my feet, racing to the door and slamming it before one of them could dare exit. "W-wait! I don't need to hurt somebody!"

          The delinquents halted, perplexed. Chikao gripped the rope in his hands tighter, visibly swallowing hard. "Do you want us to commit the crime then?"

           Hideki met eyes with Chikao. "C'mon man, murder doesn't exactly come with delinquency."

          "We could actually become criminals," Kazuo went on.

          Rin shook his head, grabbing the bat tighter. "But if some bastard is disrespecting our Miss Reina, I think the time has come for us to do the taboo—"

          "I don't want you to murder either!" I shouted, the shrillness of my voice ringing in my ears. The row of delinquents innocently cocked their heads to the side with clear confusion. A heavy sigh pushed past my lips as I ushered them back towards their seats. Once sitting back down again and staring at me similarly to how they were earlier, I inhaled a deep breath. Finally, I said, "I want you to protect somebody."

          All at once, the delinquents fluttered their eyelids.

          "We already promised to protect you, Miss Reina," Chikao assured me. "You have nothing to worry about."

          "None at all!" the rest of them chorused.

          I bit the inside of my cheek, knowing that I was being quite brave by doing this. Even though Ryu and I reached an understanding about things, that still didn't change the fact that there was still a border between us. One I couldn't cross, and one he definitely wasn't letting down for me. Although I said I'd wait, there was a part of me that selfishly didn't want to.

          After wrapping my head around what I could do to make Ryu acknowledge me and the possibility of our relationship, this was the first thing that had come to my mind. If I could give Ryu a sense of back-up—relief—then maybe he'd loosen up a little. Maybe he'd finally open up and rely on me, even if only the slightest.

           Subconsciously, I had ended up furling my fingers into fists. "No, it's not me. I want you to protect somebody else," I spoke, raising my voice as I did. "His name is Ryu Iwasaki. I-It's not like he's in danger or anything, but just in case something does happen to him, I want you guys to be able to back him up."

           I caught the way their countenances had dimmed, instantly causing my heart rate to spike.

           "You guys are the only ones I could think of asking for this! And I..." Suddenly feeble, my head ended up falling. "I'm not even your banchou or anything, so you have no obligation of listening to me, but if you could do me this favour... I'd really, really appreciate it."

           Even after a couple seconds passed, none of them said anything. My lips downturned, already knowing why.

           "Miss Reina," Chikao said, "as happy as we are that you're asking us for something."

           "Seriously, it's the first time you're trying to rely on us, ever," Rin interrupted.

           "—it's a request that doesn't concern you," Chikao finished grimly.

           "It's about a guy," gagged Kazuo.

          "Hey, we're guys ourselves." Hideki elbowed him in the side.

           Kazuo scowled, jostling him right back. "But what guy wants to protect another guy? It's all about protecting girls."

          "I know," hissed Hideki. "You think I want to waste my time protecting a guy? I'd rather protect Miss Reina and get a kiss from her as a thank you."

           "A kiss?" gasped the entire group.

           Kazuo glowered at him. "You're crazy! Why would Miss Reina ever want to kiss you and not me?"

           "Because I'm more loveable, duh."

           "No you're not, stupid!"

          "Says you, idiot!"

          "Can the both of you be quiet?" groaned Rin and they instantly quieted down. He flitted his focus onto me. "Listen, Miss Reina. Does this guy you want us to protect know you're asking us this?"

          I sheepishly shook my head. "No, but—"

         "Then that means he doesn't want any assistance," Chikao cut me off, smouldering emotions of solemnity. "A girl shouldn't get involved in a man's battle. He should handle whatever is thrown his way himself, or else he's not a man, right?"

          Hearing his words stunned me into silence. My frown deepened and I craned my neck down. I was asking for too much after all. Just because they swore they'd protect me didn't mean they'd do the same for Ryu. No matter how much I wished for it, they had no obligation to comply. I was too naive to think that they would. Even still... All I really wanted, too... "Is to be able to be there for him...."

          I wasn't sure what had caused it, but in one fell swoop, all of the delinquents automatically froze up. Chikao was the first to hold up his face with an equally saddened frown.

          "Miss Reina really cares about this person," Rin murmured, pushing out his bottom lip.

          "Even if he is a guy," started Kazuo. "Ow!" he screeched, seizing his arm and aiming a glare at Hideki.

          "Guy or not," Hideki said, eyes brimming with emotion, "can't you see how worried Miss Reina is about him?"

          "She's pouting!"

          "She's so heartbroken!"

          Hideki rapidly bobbed his head, agreeing with his comrades. "How are we supposed to say no to her after seeing this?"

          Picking up my head, hope swelled inside my chest. "Wait... so you guys—"

          "I-If this guy ever hurts you we're burying him alive," Chikao responded, sniffling and wiping away animated tears.

           "On the spot," Rin added, his face buried into his arm.

          "To have Miss Reina care so much about you...!" wailed Hideki and the rest of them unison.

          Unable to believe my ears, I rose to my feet. "So you really will protect him?"

          "'Protect' is a little misleading," Chikao said, rubbing at his eye. "But we'll have his back."

           I beamed, resisting the urge to crush them into a hug. "Thank you! I owe you guys!"

           They returned equally bright smiles.

          Until, one guy spoke, "So, just to get this clear, we're not killing anybody, right?"

          For the first time in a long while, I couldn't help it: I laughed. And after playfully socking him in the arm, the rest of them laughed with me.

*       *       *

"Now, as much as I understand you're a student of this class therefore you have the responsibility to be on classroom duty, just know I don't trust you."

The corners of my lips twitched as I stood before Mr. Matsuda who had clutched his belongings tightly to his body. Vivid scorn was evident in his features only making me sweatdrop.

"Um... I apologize about that," I said.

He only snorted in response, proving his distrust in me. He didn't make any movement from his position either. My lips caved inward as I gestured behind me.

"Should... I start cleaning then?"

"Daisuke will be handling the cleaning." I turned my head towards the classmate of mine who clearly looked surprised. Before either of us had the opportunity to speak, Mr. Matsuda hastened to me, extending out a stack of sheets. "Here, in the meantime go take that to the Student Council room."

Taking the heavy stack into my arms, I briefly peered downwards then back at him. "Are you sure—"

"Yes, I'm sure," he cut me off. He waved towards the exit as if in a shooing manner. "At least you can't mess that up."

My eyelids rose the slightest, offended. At the same time I was, I knew I couldn't exactly blame him. It was my fault considering what happened last time. Still... Flashing him my sweetest smile, I spun on my heels and made my way towards my desk. Scooping up my bag over my shoulder, I made my way out the door. My uncalled for action allowed for both Mr. Matsuda and Daisuke to gawp in disbelief.

"Kikuchi, where do you think you're—"

"After dropping these off I'm going home," I called over my shoulder. "Can't mess that up either, right?"

Sliding the door shut after me, my feigned smile dropped into a frown. It wasn't as if I actually did anything uncalled for that day so Mr. Matsuda's behaviour crossed it. I didn't need to accept something like that. Then again, mouthing off had never worked out well for me in the past so considering I went and did so now....

Sighing, I made my way down the hall, picking up my pace as I did. I briskly peeked out the window only to find Ryu standing by the school gates. All my previous emotions dissipated as a smile grew across my face. He said he'd wait for me to finish so we could go home together. For somebody who was adamant on keeping our distance, it was obvious he at least cared enough to not drop everything between us because of it.

I had to hurry. And considering I only had to drop this off, it'd be easy.

I made it to the office in no time. Similar to every other area in the school, it was definitely bleak and rundown looking, and the plate reading 'Student Council' had been vandalized by various delinquents as well. Placing the sheets at a proper position on my forearm, I raised my arm and rapped on the door with my knuckles. Though I waited, nobody came to answer. My lips drew together as I tried again, only to be met with the same outcome.

Not wanting to be patient any longer, I decided to pull at the door. It easily slid open. "Excuse the intrusion," I politely called out, stepping inside the dimly lit room.

I was immediately met with surprise. Despite the weariness the room seemed it'd offer from the outside, the inside was the exact opposite; it was spacious too. Luxurious furniture set with laminate desks and nice carpets. It was hard to believe the academy had such a nice room—even the staff room hadn't looked as equipped.

I swivelled my body left and right. It took me off guard to find that nobody was around. Did they already go home for the day? I stood still for awhile before succumbing and making my way towards the biggest desk in the room.

"Um, I'll just leave these papers here," I whispered aloud, setting them down. Just as I veered my gaze forward my heart nearly leaped to my throat when I saw a human head propped against the revolving chair ahead, their brown hair blended in perfectly with the furniture.

It took a good amount of time to reassure myself that the person was merely sleeping, and also that the person was Miyabi.

His eyelids were shut as he inhaled and exhaled lightly, upper body sprawled in the chair, arms folded across his chest. Even though a blue armband typically encased his left arm this time I'd caught four, each colour representing the various roles of the Student Council.

After contemplating on whether I should wake him up or not, I decided on the latter. Even if I hadn't talked to him in the longest time he was most likely tired from working so hard and deserved a bit of rest, as hard to believe as that was. Well, even picturing Miyabi studying was incredulous, but I guessed I shouldn't assume it was impossible.

Before I could spin on my heels and leave the room, I was stopped with the sudden grab of my wrist. I craned my neck back only to find Miyabi rubbing at his eyelids, a yawn escaping his mouth.

"Sheep?" he breathed groggily, squinting at me. "Is that you?"

Gulping hard, I forced a smile. "Um, yeah. Hey, Miyabi."

"Hi...." Another yawn escaped his mouth and he shut his eyes. "That's weird. Why am I dreaming about you again?"

"Again...?"

Miyabi rested his chin on his free palm, his other hand tightening around my wrist. "You look fine. You're not hurt. Why are you not hurt and bleeding again?"

Recalling the events before my accident, I was left speechless. Guilt creeped up on me, weighing my shoulders down. I had assumed it, but did Miyabi feel guilty about what happened? Why wouldn't he? I was with him when it happened.

Through his semi-blurry vision, Miyabi began to blink rapidly until a sudden gasp escaped his mouth. He lurched backwards. "Agh! What the h-heck... This isn't a dream!"

"Uh, yeah," I finally mustered out. I gestured downwards. "I had to bring these sheets to the Student Council but since you were sleeping I didn't want to wake you up."

Miyabi rose his head and sat appropriately in his seat. "Are these from Mr. Matsuda?" he questioned, briefly scanning them over. He then reached onto the desk for his phone, squinting his eyes as he did. Surprise consumed his features. "What the...! It's nearly five o'clock!"

"Clubs should be ending right now," I mused.

"No, that means I've been here for an hour and a half after bell! Great, I missed our meet up!"

"Meet up?"

Miyabi didn't answer me. He instead dropped his face into his hands, heaving in defeat. "If those bums didn't just quit on me I would've been good for time, too."

It was as if then Miyabi finally perceived me with his eyes.

An unexpected scowl painted his features as he patted down his light hair. "You're never considerate of me anyway. You should've just woken me up."

My eyelids fluttered opened and closed. Was Miyabi always this snappish? "And face your wrath?" I sarcastically drawled. "I didn't know how ugly it'd get if I woke you up from your slumber."

"So you decided the best thing to do was to just watched me sleep?" Miyabi said, rising to his feet. "Creepy much."

"Creepy?" I repeated incredulously. "Like you should be talking about creepy—"

"Save it."

My mouth had fallen to the floor. I rubbed at my eyes, and yup, he was still standing there. I set my jaw into place. Was this really Miyabi? How was it possible to do such a one-eighty degree personality flip?

Clicking onto the home button of his phone once more, Miyabi appeared disgruntled at the time. "Great...."

"Did you have somewhere you needed to be?" I asked.

Miyabi scoffed, "Did I not just say I had to meet up with people? Kudos to you using your ears."

I bit down on my lip to hold myself back from snapping at him. What the heck! First Daichi and now Miyabi? What was going on with them?

"Then again, after such a crummy month, maybe it has finally worked out in my favour," Miyabi drew out. He placed his palms onto the table, leaning in and holding my gaze. "So how are you feeling, Sheep? When'd you get discharged from the hospital?"

Although I hadn't wanted to respond, I ended up doing so, "I'm fine, thanks. And I've been out for awhile now."

"No way," Miyabi said in clear surprise. "But weren't you hurt really badly?"

"I was hurt badly enough, but majority of the recovery didn't have to be done at the hospital," I informed him. "I got to return to school around the time of the Cultural Festival, actually."

Taking in my words, Miyabi's lips pursed. "Well, now I feel guilty. Considering I'm the one responsible...."

"No, you're not," I quickly refuted. "It was an accident."

Miyabi crinkled his nose, but his expression portrayed he didn't buy that. He tapped his fingers against the desk. "I should've sent you flowers to help you get better."

Shock automatically socked me in the gut. "Huh... But didn't you?" Miyabi's state of confusion caused my gut to twist into knots. "Get me flowers," I went on. "Daichi told me you picked out the daisies for me."

There was a flicker of hesitation from Miyabi but he quickly relinquished it with a smile. "Well, yeah. I did, but I mean I should've been the one to give you my own bouquet."

Before I had the opportunity to voice one of the many questions that had enveloped my mind, Miyabi maneuvered his way around the desk.

"But speaking of Daichi," he said. "He's told me you and Iwasaki both share mutual feelings for each other. Is that true?"

All at once, heat crept onto my cheeks. He told him about it? Why? Mustering up the courage to speak, I stammered, "U-um... yes?"

For some reason, Miyabi gained a twinkle in his eye. A full-on grin appeared on his face. "That's amazing news!" he exploded. "So does that mean you're going out? When did this happen? Ah, I'm so happy for you! How did you expect me to celebrate with you if you weren't going to tell me?"

Miyabi's original ray of enthusiasm was back. It would've immediately allowed for my tensed nerves to settle if it wasn't for the fact that this conversation had taken a flustering turn.

"Well, you weren't exactly around," I excused.

"Still, you should've told me!" His light brown eyes met mine, a triumphant glimmer within them. "But wow, this all couldn't have worked out better, don't you think? I've always thought you and Iwasaki complemented each other."

"I always thought we were opposites," I confessed with a snort.

"But opposites do attract as they say," Miyabi hummed, clapping his hands together. "Seriously though, ever since I met you and saw you with him I just knew it'd be...!"

Raising an eyebrow at Miyabi, I didn't exactly know what to say. Mainly because, I wished I could feel just as excited about that idea too. If only it could be that simple; that possessing mutual feelings would let us easily be together. Regardless of my depressing thoughts, my smile worked wonders. "Stop exaggerating, Miyabi."

A laugh originated from him as he bent over, a closer proximity between us than before. "Now that you two are a thing, you can't let him go, all right? Iwasaki needs you more than you realize he does."

His words caused bemusement inside of me. "He does?"

"I've known him way longer than you have." Miyabi shrugged. "Even if we were never in the same class, we've been acquainted since our first year, and trust me, he's changed so much since he met you. You've basically become his soft spot, I guess you could say. And we wouldn't want something to ruin that and hurt him would we?"

"...I guess not?"

"So you have to learn to be careful all right?" he continued. "Even that day those people were after you... I was there, with you, but in the end I wasn't able to keep you safe. Still, I meant what I said when I told you that you'd opened plenty of paths for me. You made me remember my purpose in such a crummy school, and a newfound appreciation for friendships. I don't want that all to change. You don't either, right?"

"I guess...?" I responded. I was still so lost.

Once again, Miyabi smiled and retreated. "Great, I'm glad we're on the same page then. It always makes things easier."

Pushing back my impeding questions, my gaze ended up falling onto all of the armbands he was wearing. His previous words flooded my mind. "Miyabi, why were you in such a grumpy mood? You even said it was a crummy month."

"Oh, that?" he asked, peering down to see what I was staring at. A wry smile reached his lips as he dropped his arm by his side. "The Student Council kinda had a bit of quarrel last month and all of the members ended up resigning."

My eyebrows shot high. "W-wait... as in quitting?"

"I'm officially the only member left," he informed me flippantly. "The one with all the power. And since nobody's really interested in joining the Student Council it'll probably stay this way for awhile, thus it's super stressful. Well, I only have to worry about this for a couple more months or until the next year when the school decides to hold another campaign."

Miyabi was the only member left of the Student Council? It was crazy. I wasn't even aware of the names of the students who were apart of the council, but to think they'd just drop their roles like that. It was kind of hard to imagine.

As I tried to wrap my head around the news, a tiny laugh left Miyabi's mouth. Puzzled, I turned my head upwards to look at him and he chose that exact moment to reach out his hand and drop it onto my head. His eyes reflected pure amusement. "You're really gullible, Sheep."

I blinked slowly. Gullible...? Wait, he was kidding? "There's nothing wrong with the Student Council?" I inquired.

Miyabi retracted his arm and held both limbs up with a wink. "Now, I didn't say that."

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Ahh. I'm so sorry for not updating! It's currently exam season and the stress is kinda giving me grey hairs (not literally but still). But I have finished four out of five of them so I decided I'd use my free-time today to get some writing done and my mind off studying.

I know it shouldn't be taking me so long to update but it's just, the remaining chapters still need a bit of tweaking done so that's basically why it's taking me so long. I already discarded a couple chapters since it was taking too long to get anywhere, and so far it seems like it's flowing better? ^^;

This chapter might've been long, but hopefully you guys caught something. Tell me your thoughts! ❤️

-Misty