*Bump!*
"Ah?"
Yuna tumbled over and fell on her back. Harue immediately apologized as he extended a helping hand.
"I am sorry Yuna-san. I was not looking properly where I was going."
"...It is okay, Harue-senpai. Stop blaming yourself too much. It is my fault too."
As Yuna grabbed Harue's hand, she stood up and thanked him. But she noticed that she was missing something. She was seeing blurry surrounding.
Her spectacles were dropped off in the process.
"Harue-senpai, can you please pick up my spectacles? I cannot quite see them."
"Oh, sure."
He searched for the black spectacles that Yuna always wore. He found it after a few seconds as it was not far from where she fell.
He leaned down and picked it up. He lifted his head and called out to Yuna.
"Yuna-san, here-!!"
Harue froze as his heart felt a sudden heavy pump.
"Did you find it, Senpai?"
Yuna curiously inquired as she heard Harue abruptly stopped talking.
What happened exactly was that the nose of Yuna was close to touching Harue's nose.
They were just inches away from kissing. That is why Harue was in a trance.
"Senpai?"
Slowly, Harue moved his hand that held the spectacles, to Yuna's hand while still in a daze. As it made contact, Yuna grabbed it and put it on.
"*Sigh*...Thank you, Har-! Waaahaa!!?"
Yuna was surprised as she stepped back instinctively. Her scream snapped Harue back, who was now blushing as he reminisced what situation he was in.
It was embarrassing for him to even look at Yuna in her eyes now.
"Harue-senpai! Was I this close to you? I am sorry because I could not gauge the distance clearly."
Yuna had a big problem with her sight. She had to literally see it as close as possible to notice anything.
"N-No.....You don't need to apologize. It was not your fault..."
His eyes kept fidgeting away from Yuna's face. His ears were becoming beet red but it was hidden by his hair.
It was inconspicuous from the outside that Harue was feeling extremely abashed.
From the inside, his excitement and imagination were jumbling all over the place.
As a result, his head was feeling hot right now.
"I was careless Senpai. Please forgive me for intruding into your personal space."
".....No...really....."
There was not really any students that witnessed the moments of Harue and Yuna since it is afterschool. Most of the students either were in their respective club or went home.
So the number of people in the corridor was next to none.
Yuna observed Harue who was not being himself at the moment. She called out to him with a worried look.
"Senpai. Are you okay?"
".....H-Huh?"
Harue has pretty much lost the flow of conversation here. He was not really concentrated on Yuna's apologies
Majorly, he was still thinking about that bewitching moment. The stun of love jolted in him. He didn't know how to handle himself right now.
The state he was in was the first time that he ever experienced.
"Harue-Senpai?"
"....U-Um..."
He was in a pinch. He did not want Yuna to find out about his feelings at the moment. Moreover, Harue thinks that this was not the right time to vent his emotion.
He has not yet built enough courage to use as a foundation for his confession.
Ever since that terrorist attack at the shopping mall, he has never established the same courage he bore that day.
The timing was everything to him or else, the delivery of his confession would be ruined by himself.
However, right now, he wanted to get out of this position.
Abruptly, Harue felt an arm that wrapped his neck and shoulder gently. Harue twitched in response and looked to his left.
"Come on, Yuna-chan. Harue is tired. That's why he does not feel like himself."
Kouki's voice invaded Harue's ears as an aid that was needed. Harue's gratitude appeared endlessly in his mind.
His best friend was there when he absolutely needed him. Kouki is good at reading expressions and the atmosphere. That is one of few good traits that Harue found good about him
Kouki proceeded to ruffle through Harue's black hair and explained to Yuna.
"Don't you know his sisters are always pushing their work onto him at home?"
"...Eh? Is that true, Kouki-senpai?"
"Yes. He gets extra chores at home while also helping the club. Haven't you noticed that he always completes his tasks earlier than expected?"
Yuna made a face of enlightenment and agreed with Kouki.
"Yes! I did detect his quickness."
"It is because he had to also complete house chores. So he always tries to finish his club tasks to then have time to do house chores."
Kouki glanced pitifully at Harue and saw his mixed feelings about the matter they were discussing about.
"Poor Harue. Juggling between club and house is exhausting, isn't it?"
Harue was not sure if he had to agree or disagree. Because he was slandering his sisters to cover his strange behaviour.
But.....
"That is not good, Harue-senpai. You should have told us. Or even told me."
"Well, Yuna-san..."
"Harue-senpai, from now on, whenever I have some free time, I will help you with any tasks that need to be done."
He was surprised. He did not expect her to reply like this. Harue tried to stop her involvement.
"W-Wait. I am good with my end so you don't have to help me."
"I am not going to listen to you for even a second. Kouki-senpai, be sure to tell his sisters to not bully Harue-senpai."
"Roger that, Yuna-chan."
"Heh!?" Harue's confusing face was displayed.
There was no say for him to make. Yuna ordered both Kouki and Harue to take care of themselves.
"Well then. I am off. Take care of yourselves. Kouki-senpai. And especially you, Harue-senpai."
"Bye~" Kouki greeted her off while Harue was speechless.
Yuna turned and walked down the corridor. When she walked down the stairs at the end of the corridor, her figure disappeared and silence was between the two best friends.
Harue looked at Kouki with his mouth agape while Kouki was smiling at he looked at Harue
"I am not sure if I want to thank you for getting me out of here or I should slap you for speaking badly about my sister."
"What bad? It is the truth. I say what I see. The way Kana pushes her chores onto you."
"I do not consider that pushing chores. I accept doing all of the chores voluntarily."
"That is because you have a sister complex."
"Hah!?!"
His disgusted tone emerged as he did not believe what Kouki spouted.
Kouki sighed and concluded.
"At the end of the day, admit that I helped you from being called a creepy guy by Yuna-chan. I even unintentionally get Yuna to spend more time with you in the club."
"....That, I cannot deny."
Harue's emotion then suddenly rose. What he felt right now, was extreme gratitude towards Kouki. He could not contain it though.
So, what Harue did was.....
"-?"
...a hug that he deeply needed.
Kouki was shocked to see his behaviour. He could not help but find this endearing.
Gently he caressed Harue's hair as he was a head shorter.
"Thank you..."
Kouki's smile widened to both ends of his ears. Harue was cutely burying his face into Kouki's chest.
"Want me to kiss you to make you feel better?"
"...Shut up."
They separated and decided to walk home while carrying some jokes from Kouki.
This time, he was teasing Harue about the hug.
That is why Harue soon regretted doing so.
.....
It was 8 p.m.
A tall and slightly muscular man with a white hooded jacket and black slim jean was spotted near an old storage building.
The storage building was pretty isolated from the other neighbouring buildings and houses.
The location is in a commercial district. Even though several people were strolling at this time.
It was unused and thus, filled with cobwebs, insects crawling around and dust that stayed stagnant everywhere.
The man had a black mask that covered from his chin to his nose. It is similar to a surgical mask but the colour was different.
He approached the door of the building then grabbed the knob. However, the door opened without applying any force.
"...?" The man's eyebrows raised and pushed the door to see the inside.
'The door has been busted open.' He further investigated the door.
The hinge was rusty but intact. Nonetheless, near the knob, there were scratches on the wooden door frame.
It pinpointed a forced entry to this place.
The man became cautious as he entered the storage building. He pushed the door slowly near its original place with its creaking sound and walked inside silently.
He delved inside further until he was at a certain distance from the door. The second he stepped another foot forward, his instincts were alarmed frantically
Immediately, he jumped back from his position and what he saw before his very eyes was a line of flash that narrowly missed his nose.
Another glint that caught the man's attention was aimed at his head.
Like the previous one, he also evaded the danger just a millimetre away.
The man jumped back again, closer to the door. He then shouted.
"Who is there!?"
What came out of the shadows after a few seconds, was a figure of a woman. Her long hair was tied into a ponytail.
Her brown eyes stared at the man, gauging his strength. She almost to the height of the man. Her attire consisted of a red shirt and a pair of short jean.
"Who are you and why have you come here?" The man inquired.
"...Who are YOU." She emphasized that the one that does not belong here was the man.
"..."
"..."
They both were at a standstill. They did not want to reveal their true identity or their true purpose.
Who would want to do that with a stranger after all?
*Creeeeeaaaaaaak!*
The slow and prolonged creaking noise made both of them veer quickly to the door.
"....Umm.....Good afternoon....."
A clown masked man appeared by the door and was awkwardly trying to greet the two individuals.
""Who are you!"" The man and the woman yelled at the clown masked.
"E-Eh? Eh?"
The clown masked regressed at his tone changed into an apologetic one.
"Did...I come to the.....wrong place...?"
The white hooded man retorted in an irritating tone.
"Obviously because you are a fucking clown!"
"Oh, the mask is just to hide my identity."
Instead of getting angry, the clown masked man casually gave a reason for his mask.
The white hooded man and the woman stared at the clown mask blankly.
Ignoring their glares, the clown masked man introduced himself as he entered the room with a carefree attitude.
"Anyway, my name is Jo. That's what the media calls me. What are yours?"
""....."" Both of them were silent.
Jo wanted to confirm something with them before he could talk anything further.
"Weren't you guys invited here by a fox masked guy named Yemon?"
Hearing the familiar name, the man nodded while the woman did not agree or disagree.
"He was telling me about a band of chosen criminals to fulfill a mission for him. And then he recruited me. He did recruit you two, didn't he?"
"...Yeah...kind of." The white hooded man replied as he relaxed his demeanour.
He was becoming a bit comfortable with this clown mask named Jo.
"Well, is Yemon here yet?"
Jo inquired to the man.
"Did I hear someone say Yemon?"