Rikka hurried along to the cafeteria. She hoped that the chicken sandwiches weren't all sold out. She jogged to get there faster. She really liked chicken sandwiches. It was right up there with sour candy. She accidently bumped into someone and said a quick sorry before jogging even faster.
'Oi! Watch where you go next time!' she heard a boy's voice yell behind her.
Just as she was about to enter the cafeteria, two girls stopped her in her tracks. They were Ai Anita and Rena Tachibana, two of the meanest(and most annoying) girls in her class.
Rikka sighed and looked down to them(yes, Rikka was slightly taller than most of the girls in her class) and asked: 'What? Get out of the way.'
Rikka was a no-nonsense person. When she wanted her favourite food, no one should stand in her way. Especially if she didn't feel like talking to people.
Both the girls put on surprised expressions and turned to each other. 'Oh Ai, she's telling us to get out of her way?' gushed Rena, 'Whatever shall we do?'
'Oh we'd better get out of her way,' Ai spoke looking directly in Rikka's eyes with a smug smile, 'But after she gives us some lunch money.' She emphasized the last two words, almost as if trying to threaten Rikka.
Rikka rolled her eyes and sighed. This wasn't the first time someone had tried to take her money just because she was 'different' from the others.
They acted like it was a crime for someone to not fit in. And she wasn't even that different from any of them! Sure she looked a bit boyish and didn't really like to interact with her classmates(other than Haru) and slept quite frequently in class but so did others, including Ai herself! Besides, Ai's parents were pretty rich and the while school knew how much pocket money she got every damn week so there really was no point in her taking her lunch money.
Rikka guessed she just did it for kicks. And it wasn't just Rikka. Ai along with her butt-kissing friend Rena bullied other kids as well even some boys who had turned her down and refused to date her because of her snobbish personality and superiority complex. But of course, no one had the courage to stop her simply because her parents were rich.
Rikka sighed. She really didn't want to take part in this and besides, some kids were finally starting to notice the stand off near the cafeteria door and were starting to gather near them. She was afraid the cafeteria monitor would also notice and send them to the principal's office, or worse, just send her to the principal's office because Ai and Rena were also known for their habit of blaming stuff on others, even if they were the ones responsible for the entire situation.
So Rikka just quietly handed over the money and the two girls let her pass through the door. As she walked to her usual spot, Rikka could hear snickering and whispers from the kids who were watching them: 'Wow I really thought she was gonna hit them, huh too bad I guess' 'Ai and Rena strike again! but man i was hoping this'd been more interesting' 'Ha, serves her right, always sleeping in class and making the rest of us look bad.'
Rikka just pretended not to hear this and sat down in her usual spot in the table in the corner of the cafeteria. Hhhh....she sighed and thought to herself, Welp, guess I'm gonna have to eat lunch at home with my Dad. Ugh. the thought of eating on the same table as him made her stomach twist into knots. But she was starting to get quite hungry since she'd oy had a slice of bread with jam for breakfast.....
'Hey Rikka!' she turned her head to the source of the familiar voice. Haru was jogging towards her, with a plastic wrapped sandwich in his right hand.
'Oh, hey Haru, how's it going?' Rikka asked as he sat down beside her.
'Nothing much, just finally grabbed a sandwich from that God forsaken waiting line.' he started to complain as he sat down next to Rikka and began to unwrap his sandwich. 'Seriously, they should at least make two separate lines so that more students can buy their lunches at once without half the lunch period running out.'
Ever since he was a little kid, for some reason, Haru had this habit of complaining about most things he didn't like or approve. It could get annoying at times but Rikka kind of liked listen to him point out the flaws and tell absolutely no one in particular about how it could be better in stuff he didn't like or get.
This habit could have been passed down to him from his mother who also loved to complain about stuff, though less structured complaints as compared to her son. Haru's and Rikka's moms both hated each other for some reason, and did not approve of their kids hanging out and playing with each other. But ever since Rikka's mother died, Haru's mother must've felt sorry for her so she was much nicer towards Rikka than when her mother was around. Rikka was happy about this though, because that meant there weren't any stupid restrictions for Haru coming to visit her. Especially since Rikka and Haru were both neighbours.
He continued to complain as he took a bite out of his sandwich and began talking with his mouth full. That's Haru for ya. A calm composed student when it came to his studies but a total animal when it came to things like food and table manners. Rikka found this trait of him pretty funny and cute.
'So anyway,' Haru spoke to her again, finally noticing that she didn't have any lunch with her, 'Where's your lunch?'
'Ah,' Rikka replied softly, 'well....someone stole my lunch money.'
'Wait, what?!' Haru raised his voice slightly, 'this week again?'
He shook his head and sighed, 'Was it those two girls again?'
'Um, yeah.' She replied, 'but you dont have to go look for them. And I dont think they're gonna be willing to cough up my money.'
'Well you're right about that.' Haru spoke in a slightly lower tone than usual. Rikka could hear him mumble under his breath, 'damn bitches'
Haru turned to face Rikka and said: 'You want to get back at them? I mean it's not good for people to steal other's lunch money!'
Rikka could see that Haru was really concerned for her but she couldn't bring herself to think about revenge. Sure, they treated her like this because she was different but it was HER fault that she was different. Besides, she didn't want to ruin their..um...relationship...more than it already was.
She couldn't even tell the adults about this because she was afraid her father might think of her as 'weak' and 'not worth the effort' and she didn't want that. She was better off taking the hits then fighting back. She could endure it.
'No, it's okay, really Haru,' she tried to sound as nonchalant as possible, 'I'll be fine. Besides, if you get involved, who knows what Ai might set up the other guys to do. She has a lot of influence with the students in our school.'
'You always do that, Rikka!' Haru's voice was really getting loud now.
'Why do you always insist on playing the victim when you can easily take them down!' By this point Haru was standing up and lecturing her. Rikka could feel the eyes of the kids around them turn their way. She held up her hands and tried to gently push him back into his seat, but he jerked her hand off.
'You should learn to step up and stand up for yourself already, you know! We're not in middle school anymore when we could rely on the adults to make everything all nice and dandy, ok? We're at the age where we should learn how to defend ourselves.'
And with this, to Rikka's relief, Haru finally sat down on his chair and took another bite of his sandwich. He didn't meet her gaze and just said in a monotone voice: 'I know you don't do well in your studies but please....' he paused for a moment, then continued: 'don't do this with your life, at least.'
Rikka stayed silent. Haru was really trying hard to hit the message home, and he was succeeding. Maybe she should've told them off or just pushed them out of the way....she was as tall as a boy, and a bit stronger than the other girls mainly because of the way her father had raised her.....so why couldn't she? Maybe she just had low confidence or self esteem....maybe whe didnt wanna speak too much with others....or maybe she was a big fat coward.....?
Either way, the moment was gone now. Both of them would just have to accept it. Both Haru and Rikka sat in awkward silence and the kids who had been listening to them were finally starting to lose interest. Rikka thought it was over, until they heard someone speak:
'So, ya two finally having a fight?'
Both Haru and Rikka jerked their heads up to see none other than one of Kiroshima High's biggest bullies, Ai Anita.
***********
Pls read the author's note and please dont hate me for my dumb mistake;__;
Honestly sometimes I feel so stupid>__