"So not fair!" Daru shouted as he shoved his sandwich into his mouth.
"I don't see what the problem is, I let you copy my homework last night, so you can do your own work tonight, that was the system you and I agreed on." Rito said with a sigh as he watched Daru shed real tears. Daru spat his sandwich out into Rito's face.
"Yeah right! You said one month I could copy your work, and the other I had to do it myself. It's still the beginning of November!" Daru said angrily. Yuki watched the two of them with a nervous smile. She didn't want to say anything, if she did she could incur the wraths of either side. She just sat on the side eating a blueberry muffin.
'The beginning of November huh?' Rito thought. According to the news from the future, Harumi Ohta died on November 29th, but her body wasn't found until December 1st. The body itself wasn't in terrible condition, but it was clear that she had been murdered. The news didn't give too many details, but it was clear that whoever had killed her, was having a little trouble. There were signs of struggling in the alley the murder took place in, Harumi's body had several cuts and scratches, and her neck had clear strangle marks.
Rito's guess was the killer had tried to sneak up on her, but they were spotted and while Harumi tried to flee, the killer caught up and used something sharp, Rito guessed a knife, to scratch her up. Eventually the killer gave up on using the knife and decided to their hands instead, and that was where the marks on her neck came from.
All of these are clear indications that whoever had tried to kill Harumi wasn't exactly a professional serial killer if they couldn't land a proper stab once. Rito thought for a moment before giving up, discovering who the murderer was important, but saving Harumi was more important, it wouldn't matter if he figured out who the killer was a little too late.
"Alright, so how about this, I copy your homework for two classes and-"
"Not gonna happen." Rito said, cutting off Daru's statement.
"You're the worst!" Daru said as he face planted into the desk he was eating his lunch on. Yuki sat up and began to pat Daru on the head.
"There there Daru, you copy my answers if it helps at all. I'm not as smart as Rito, but I'm not the worst." Yuki said in an attempt to defuse the tension between the two guys. Daru's tears dry up instantly and he hugs Yuki tightly.
"You're the best Yuki!" Daru said happily.
'Crocodile tears...' Rito thought as he sighed. The school bell rang and everyone took their seats. Rito looked around for where Harumi was, he couldn't find her anywhere, that was until she stepped into the room and sat at a desk on the far end of the room.
'Now how do I approach her? I can't just walk up to her tell her she's going to die at the end of the month. I need to find some way to get closer to her first, that way I can protect her.' Rito thought. He needed a plan, some kind of opportunity to speak with Harumi. The class president, Ako Konishii, stands up and makes her way to the front of the room.
"Ahem, now then, in about three days the school's annual trash pickup will occur. It isn't required to attend, but those who do will receive extra credit for one of their assignments. Now does anyone volunteer to participate?" She asks.
At first nobody raised their hand, nobody wanted to spend their weekend picking up trash, but soon someone in the back did so.
"If none of you simpletons is going to participate in this event, then I shall set a good example." Harumi Ohta said with a huff as she raised her hand for everyone in the room to see. That was when an idea came to Rito's head. He raised his hand as well, much to Daru and Yuki's surprise.
"I'll participate as well." He said.
Ako seemed surprised by his sudden hand raise, but she soon nodded and wrote his name down on the board next to Harumi's. Harumi turned to Rito with an expression he didn't quite understand, was she annoyed, or was she upset with what he did? He couldn't tell. That didn't matter though, now he had a clear chance to speak with Harumi alone.
At least that was the plan, that was until he saw Daru and Yuki hold up their hands too.
"If Rito's doing it, I'll do it too!" Daru said, although he didn't seem too happy with what he was getting himself into.
"I-I want to help Rito too." Yuki said shyly as she held up her hand as well.
Rito was flattered by their willingness to help just because he was there, but did it have to be NOW, when he needed to be alone!?
Ako nodded as she wrote down Daru and Yuki's names as well. Harumi seemed surprised by this as well.
'Was she really not expecting anyone to volunteer?' Rito thought, or did she perhaps want to do all of this alone? Rito couldn't fathom why she would want that? He decided to shrug it off for now and focus more on the task at hand. He couldn't leave Harumi alone. He wasn't going to let her die. What he needed to do right now was simple, all he had to do was befriend her.
After going through class like normal eventually the bell rang. Rito sat up and made his way over to Harumi. She too was preparing to leave. Rito greeted her in the most casual way he could muster.
"Hey Harumi, how about we exchange email addresses? That way we can come up with a good time to meet up for the clean up." He spoke. He expected Harumi to agree, but she slammed her desk angrily and glared at him.
"Silence you uncouth mutt! I despise you with every fiber of my being!" Harumi loudly exclaimed. She shot up from her seat and bolted out the door. Daru appeared behind Rito and he pat him on the back.
"Ouch, sorry man."
"What do you mean?"
"You were asking her out, weren't you?"
"N-No I wasn't!"
Daru just chuckled a bit. Yuki was behind him. She seemed to be blushing a bit, Rito couldn't exactly figure out why.
"I just wanted her email for the cleanup, that's all." He said, trying to explain himself.
"Why did you even want to participate?" Daru asked.
"I-I'm not telling you!" Rito said much louder than intended.
Daru stared back at him with concern. Rito had never yelled at him like that before, Rito had never yelled at anyone like that before.
Rito looked away from Daru, he grabbed his bag and ran out of the room, leaving his friends to stare at him in silence.