↳ CHAPTER TWO :

RUMOUR HAS IT↲

MONDAY, 11 APRIL |LUNCHTIME

KAORI STOOD ALONE BY THE LOCKERS AS ALWAYS. It was Lunch time now and she was drinking away at her strawberry milk.

It was one of her favourite drinks since she was only a little girl, she partly has her father to thank for that though as he always brought her some home when he returned from work.

A small smile came upon Kaori's lips remembering her father, she wondered what he was doing now. Well, he can't be doing any worse than her mom.

She wondered if she'll ever see him again, considering that he moved away and all...

Speaking of seeing someone again, she hasn't seen the new transfer student yet, as far as she can remember he was a second year too, evident by the pin on his blazer that she noticed.

She knows she left him with Sakamoto, but what could have possibly happened for them to not come to school or be this late?

Kaori finally finished her milk and threw the empty pink carton away in a nearby trash can.

After that Kaori slowly made her way back to her classroom to another round of class.

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Kaori already sat quietly in her chair in the back row, twirling a pen between her fingers, while the rest of her classmates came back filling in from their lunch break.

She had her journal opened in front of her in case class was getting to boring again.

All of the students were soon back in their seats and Ms. Kawakami came into class as usual...or so Kaori thought while looking outside the window and drifting off into thought.

She was quickly interrupted and proven wrong by the many murmurs of her classmates.

"Being super late on his first day? He really is insane."

"He looks normal though..."

"But he might slug us if we look him in the eye..."

Kaori turned her attention from the rainy outside back to the front of the classroom, where Ms. Kawakami was alongside another familiar face, the subway boy.

"Settle down," Ms. Kawakami told the class with a sigh upon hearing the many murmurs about the new student already.

The murmurs stopped and Kawakami continued, "Well, I'd like to introduce a transfer student: Ren Amamiya. Today, we... had him attend from the afternoon on since he wasn't feeling well."

Kaori took a closer look at Ren, like probably the rest of the class. She didn't think he looked ill and he didn't look ill that morning when she left him. It probably was just and excuse for him, but what was the real reason he was late? Has it something to do with Sakamoto? Kaori's guess would be probably.

"All right, please say something to the class," Ms. Kawakami asked Ren.

"I'm Ren Amamiya," he said calmly.

But that didn't stop the other students to start talking again.

"He seems quiet... but I bet when he loses it..."

"I mean, he was arrested for assault, right...?"

Arrested for assault? Kaori thought, he doesn't seem like the type of person to purposefully attack someone, not without a reason at least.

"... Uhh, so... Your seat will be... Hmm... Over there," Ms. Kawakami pointed towards the open seat in front of Kaori and behind Ann, "The one that's open."

Ren started to walk towards his seat, while the rest of the class was still talking and murmuring about him. He didn't seem bothered by it though, at least as far Kaori can pick up.

He almost was at his seat, when he passed Ann, who quietly mumbled, "...Lies."

Ren stopped for a moment, "You're that girl...," he said mostly to himself, but everyone else heard it too.

The blonde didn't respond to it though and only continued to look up a head.

"... Did you catch that? Do those two know each other?"

"Does that mean he hit on her before transferring here?"

"That means she's cheating on him with Mr. Kamoshida."

"Then again, this is Takamaki-san we're talking about..."

Ren then proceeded to go to his seat and sit down, but not before also quickly and silently recognising Kaori sitting uninterested behind him.

"For real. That side of the room is totally awful," a student said harshly, eyeing Ann, Ren and Kaori.

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MONDAY, 11 APRIL |AFTER SCHOOL

Class has finally ended and everyone could go home. Kaori slowly packed her things, dreading every moment to go back home. She didn't like being at school too, but it beat being at home by a million times.

The small brunette calmly exited the now empty classroom, thinking about where to go now, so she wouldn't have to go straight home. But who knows maybe she's lucky and her mom isn't home, like 80% of the time.

While exiting she noticed Ms. Kawakami and Ren having a conversation not to far from the classroom.

Listening in on that would be wrong, but maybe she'll get to know what happened this morning.

Kaori walked passed the two, but stopped only a few feet away from them, still being able to see and hear them.

"Also... it seems like people are already talking about you, but I'm not the one who told them. I can't even catch a break... why do I have to deal with this?"

Kaori continued to listen quietly, while taking out her phone.

"You should head straight home without stopping by anywhere. Sakura-San sounded pretty angry," Ms. Kawakami said, "Oh, and about Sakamoto-Kun. Don't get involved-" Before she could finish her sentence Ryuji passed Kaori, flashing her a grin, and then walking towards Ren and Ms. Kawakami.

"Speak of the devil..." Ms. Kawakami mumbled, "What do you want? I heard the police caught you cutting classes today." 

"Ugh... It was nothin,'" Ryuji answered.

"And you haven't dyed you're hair into black," Ms. Kawakami added. 

"Sorry 'bout that," Ryuji mumbled angrily.

He was about to leave again, but before he did, he stopped next to Ren,
"...I'll be waitin' on the rooftop," he whispered quietly.

"Huh?" Ren asked puzzled before Ryuji walked away again.

Ms. Kawakami let out a deep sigh, "See? That's why I don't want you getting involved. Understood?"

After that Kawakami left, leaving Ren standing alone in the hallway with Kaori.

He looked around the hallway, spotting the brunette checking the time on her phone. He decided to go talk to her, not only did he want to get to know her more, she also might help him figure out where the roof is.

Kaori put her phone back into her jacket pocket after she pretended to check the time. She looked up again to find Ren walking towards her.

"Hi," he greeted her.

"Hi, what's up?" Kaori returned with a smile, trying to look as friendly as possible even if she was panicking really hard in her inside.

Ren awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck, "I was just wondering if you could tell me how to get to the roof?"

"Uh, of course," Kaori answered a bit confused, if she had to guess it probably had something to do with Ryuji, "Just head up the staircase, then through the giant blue door. You'll know when you see it," she said pointing to the staircase next to them.

Ren nodded understandingly and quickly thanked before heading up the staircase.

And with that Kaori and Ren walked separate ways again, both curious about the other.

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