Both Rikka and Haru jerked their heads up to see none other than Ai Anita, standing over them close to their seats.
'So ya two finally having a fight?' she asked them in a sly tone. 'I'm surprised you can actually talk that loud, little Haru.' Rena emphasized the last two words with a slight giggle and turned to Ai, 'No it's more like a lover's quarrel, dont u think, Ai?'
Ai Anita squinted her eyes and pretended to observe them.
'Yea, ya know what?' she told Rena, 'they really do look like a dysfunctional couple to me.'
Both Ai and Rena burst out laughing.
Haru and Rikka just kept quite.
When the girls were done laughing, Ai straightened up and told Rena to get her some juice. Rena immediately complied and went to get it(like the butt-kisser she was) and left Ai to do the talking.
'Hey, what do you mean by that?' Haru asked in an offended tone, 'And no we were just talking about some bitch who dared mess with us.' Haru stared straight at Ai when he said this.
She narrowed her eyes and told him, 'excuse me, what did you just call me?' her voice was also getting loud now.
Meanwhile Rikka just kept listening to those two with her head resting on the palm of her hands. She really wasn't in the mood to talk to someone like Ai let alone argue so she was just gonna let Haru do the talking.
'So the little smarty pants really knows how to speak a language other than math.' She gave Haru a slight smile as she said this.
'Hey, don't you even fucking TRY to talk shit about math in front of me.' Haru was really passionate when it came to his favourite subject.
'I don't give a shit whether you like it or not.' Ai brushed aside a strand of her long black hair and turned towards Rikka. 'Besides,' she smiled, 'I was just here to talk to Rikka, not her dumb boyfriend.'
Haru didn't know whether to get offended at the fact that she called him dumb or called him Rikka's boyfriend. A simple 'Huh?' was all he could manage.
Rikka sighed and told her, 'Look Ai, if you want to take more money, I dont have any on me right now.'
'It's not about money, Rikka,' Ai shot back in a snarky tone, 'I just want you to do something for me.'
'What?' Haru spoke up from beside her, 'Why would she do anything for you-'
'Can it smarty pants,' she told him then turned back to Rikka, 'You are pretty close with Mr. Rimsey aren't you? Ok so you remember th-'
'Woah woah hold up!' Haru raised his hands in a timeout gesture, 'Rikka didn't even agree to you and you're already telling her what to fucking do?'
'It's okay, Haru,' Rikka told him, 'I'll do it.'
She stood up and looked down at Ai and spoke, 'But only if it means you'll stop bothering and bullying me.'
Ai smiled smugly. 'I knew you would do it, Rikka. Okay so listen up, here's what I want you to do.....'
**************
'Oh Its you Rikka!' Mr. Rimsey exclaimed as he opened the door to see Rikka standing in front of his office. He invited her in.
'So what brings you here today, Miss Rikka?' Mr. Rimsey asked her as they both sat down in the comfy padded chairs in his small office. 'You didn't get into any trouble did you? I'm sure one of the teachers would've told me about it though.'
'Ahh....' Rikka spoke softly as she looked towards the lightbulb on the ceiling. 'Well, it's just that.....um....' she gulped hard and quickly glanced towards the office door. She couldn't see him but she could just imagine Haru standing outside the door with a pained expression and shaking his head.
Her throat was beginning to close up. She couldn't say anything. She wasn't really experienced in talking with people other than Haru and she only spoke if she absolutely had to like the time she stood up to talk to Ai in the cafeteria. But she was really bad at lying and especially if she was nervous just like now.
'Rikka don't tell me,' Mr. Rimsey started to lean towards her. Rikka's body jerked slightly. Did he KNOW? this one thought ran around like crazy in her mind. Her eyes widened. She dreaded what he was going to say next.
'Miss Rikka, are you having a fever?' Mr. Rimsey asked her as he put his palm on her head and checked her temperature. 'You're getting really hot.'
'Oh, um, I-I guess...?' Rikka stuttered slightly.
'Hold up, I'll get the thermometer for a better reading.' Mr. Rimsey told her as he got up and went out of his office to the infirmary to borrow a thermometer from the nurse.
*************
Haru was barely able to hide in time. He was just standing there with his ear pressed against Mr. Rimsey's office door, listening in to their 'conversation' when he heard Mr. Rimsey say he was going to get a thermometer. He then heard footsteps coming bear the door from the other side and immediately scrambled to get away. Luckily, the door to Mr. Rimsey's office opened to the outside and Mr. Rimsey was too focused on getting the thermometer to notice a shadow near his office door so he wasn't caught.
Haru breathed a sigh of relief and stepped inside his office. He found Rikka leaning over a pile of papers, furiously rifling through them as if looking for something.
'Oi, Rikka!' Haru called her impatiently, 'You do know this whole 'deal' of yours is crazy dangerous, right?'
Rikka didn't say anything. Haru waited for a few seconds but no answer. He began to get frustrated.
'Look Rikka, I dont know how you're gonna pull this off, but I know for sure that this is just too risky.' he threw up his hands in the air, 'And besides, our reputation is already pretty bad among the other kids, and this situation isn't really helping us if we get caught.'
He waited for an answer. Silence.
He went over to Rikka and looked over her shoulder. She was furiously scribbling and marking answers on a test paper. Haru read the name on top. it was Ai Anita.
'Ha, figures,' Haru said in her ear, 'little Miss Princess couldn't do well in her History test so she got someone else to change the answers for her.'
'But Rikka,' Haru's voice was now dripping with concern, 'come on now, there's no way you can finish correcting her whole paper without being caught and besides, what's the worst she could do? Take more lunch money?'
Haru put his hand on her shoulder and said, 'Come on, Rikka, it's been long enough. She should be able to at least pass with these answers so come on, LETS GO ALREADY!'
When he still didn't get a reply from her, he started to shake her even more vigorously.
'Oi, Earth to Rikka!' he whisper-shouted in her ear. Haru peeked over her shoulder to see what she was writing. He then shook his head.
'Rikka, you totally got the answers for questions 3 and 5 mixed up!' he snatched the pen from Rikka's hand and bent over the test paper, erasing the wrong answers vigorously. If there was one thing he couldn't stand other than his best friend ignoring him, it was wrong answers on a test sheet. Haru corrected her answers while Rikka inspected from beside him. In her mind, once again, she could hear herself admire Haru's high intellect and passion for his studies while she was a B- at her best.
The two friends were so busy waiting and admiring that they didn't hear the sound of footsteps coming towards the office door until it was too late. Mr. Rimsey stood rooted to the ground, shocked at the unbelievable spectacle he was seeing. Rikka and Haru hurriedly turned around and saw Mr. Rimsey standing at the doorway with his mouth open. The same thought crossed both Haru's and Rikka's minds at the same time: 'Well fuck'