The school's electronic bell rang and 4 tables were brought and glued together to form a big square table.
Yoichi, Keiko and Ren gathered to Kirika and used her table as the foundation. Every time they does this even though it was the 3rd day they knew each other, Kirika unconsciously smiled at them.
"What did you bring today, Ren-kun?" Keiko initiated the chat.
"I got some leftovers from yesterday. Some broccoli, rice, chicken kaarage, lettuce and some octopus-shaped sausage."
"I'll be taking the sausage then."
The swift handling of chopsticks stole Ren's octopus-shaped sausage in the blink of an eye. Ren grimaced in anger.
"Wha-?! At least take one!"
"I can't help it. Your sausage feels good~"
"W-What... did you say...?"
Ren's face became flushed and he turned away to hide his expression. Keiko caught on to his thoughts and took this opportunity to tease Ren.
"What were you thinking, Ren-kun?"
A smug and evil grin appeared on her face.
"N-Nothing..."
"Heh~ Are you sure you were not imagining something erotic?"
Ren and Kirika both gasped with embarrassment. Ren could not face the girls as he completely denied Keiko's presumably wrong assumptions.
"W-What are you saying Keiko-san! I would never-"
"Pervert." Kirika dropped the bomb in front of Ren.
"Give me a c-chance to explain!"
Kirika was looking at him with disdain whereas Keiko's lips curved upwards and enjoyed the circumstances that she led Ren into.
Yoichi, who was eating and oblivious to why Ren was getting harrassed, suddenly realized the situation. After munching the sausage, he put a hand on Ren's shoulder and assured him.
"Don't worry, Ren-kun. I will book a room later. Let's go together after school."
"You-! You are not helping me!"
"I am. Sexually."
"I don't need it!" Ren smacked off Yoichi's hand but his other hand tried to grab onto him.
Ren fended every attack that came from Yoichi.
"I did not know you two were actually swinging that way."
"You are hugely mistaken, Kirika-san!"
Keiko laughed at Yoichi's countless attempts of grabbing Ren but he failed. Ren amazingly had good reflexes.
Yoichi was tired and gave up on grabbing him.
"I am tired! Time to replenish my energy."
Another swift steal of Ren's sausage.
"Oi! Who said you could eat my sausage again!?"
"I wanted to~" Yoichi made a sexy expression and made Ren realize what he blurted out.
Again, he felt embarrassed and again, Keiko teased him.
"It seems like your perverted mind is something that cannot be fixed."
"Keiko-san! Can you not worsen my reputation? It is your fault that caused this situation in the first place!"
Kirika equipped a disgusted expression and fired back at Ren.
"Uwaa... Why are you blaming Keiko for your perverted behaviours."
When Kirika said that, Ren lost all hope and murmured to himself.
"Not you too, Kirika-san..."
A gloomy atmosphere surrounded Ren and they felt bad for him. Well, the only exception was Yoichi who was heartily eating.
They ignored Ren and started talking about their meals. Keiko admired Kirika's bento. It was beautifully made and in an orderly manner.
"Now that I take a closer look, yours is too cute and thoughtfully prepared with all the nutrients needed."
"Is that so? I am glad because my mother made this. If I told this to her then she would be jumping with joy."
"Really? That is funny!"
Keiko lightly laughed at the image of Kirika's mother.
Kirika was enveloped by a flowery aura and smiled happily. She scanned Keiko's and Yoichi's bento. They were obviously the same so she complimented it.
"Yours too don't look too bad. All I can say is that it looks more delicious than mine."
"I am happy that you thought like that but you should talk to the creator himself."
"Hm?"
Kirika was confused so Keiko cleared her doubts with a smile.
"My annoying Onii-chan made this."
"Yes, that is me!"
Yoichi made a V sign and posed like a cute idol, even though he was not that cute.
"You made it yourself? That is amazing."
Ren came back from his sombreness and was surprised by what they talked about.
"I did not know you were a good cook."
"Hehe~"
"Give me your 'tamagoyaki' then."
It was now Ren's turn to be the assailant. He grabbed one of the many rolled omelettes in his bento with his chopsticks.
"Ah? That is not fair!"
"How so? You took mine and I took yours. It is as simple as that."
Ren sneered at the brooded Yoichi. He then took a bite out of the rolled omelette and then, his face turned into bliss.
"Delicious! You really are a great cook!"
".....I forgive you this one time."
"Give me another one."
"Not possible!"
"Come on!"
"No!"
While Yoichi and Ren were fighting for the possession of the rolled omelette, Kirika was troubled by something.
She was hesitant and did not know if it would create an awkward atmosphere.
"What are you thinking?"
Kirika looked at Keiko, pausing for a moment. But in the end, she decided to go for it.
"Oh...I was just wondering if your mother is busy today because she did not make your bento."
Yoichi stopped arguing with Ren immediately. Ren noticed this and observed what Yoichi was aiming his sight on. He was looking at both Kirika and Keiko.
Keiko had a casual face which made Kirika wonder why Yoichi was staring at her like that.
'Did I say something wrong?'
Keiko, still casually staring at Kirika, replied with a thin smile.
"Our mother died."
"-!?!"
Ren's face turned serious and Kirika gasped in shock. She regretted ever bringing up that topic anf she instantly tried to apologize to Keiko and Yoichi.
"I-I'm so-!"
"Don't apologize, Kirika. I don't feel sad or anything like that."
"....Even so..."
Keiko sighed as she glanced at Yoichi. He equipped a cold gaze towards her before reverting to his usual expression.
"She died when we were very young so we do not remember much about her so don't worry. It is not like I am going to reprimand you for reminding me that."
"That is not....."
"Hm?"
Kirika stood from her chair and bowed 90° to her.
"I am deeply sorry!"
Keiko was surprised. Their classmates were wondering why the most beautiful girl was apologizing to Keiko. They have not heard the full story so they were making multiple assumptions.
"Kirika, everyone is looking."
"I am not budging until you forgive me."
"Ah, mou!" Keiko had a handful with her personality. Nonetheless, she went along with her flow to avoid unnecessary attention.
"Okay, I forgive you. Jeez, you are too dominant."
Yoichi added some clarification to discourage Kirika from feeling guilty.
"Kirika-san, it is not your fault that you don't know anything about us. And we did not tell you. So, it was our fault for keeping you two in the dark." He glanced at Ren as he said that.
"We are not angry or sad, right Keiko?"
"Yes, Onii-chan."
The siblings reassuringly smiled at Kirika, which made her dispel any remorse over that matter.
As Kirika thinly smiled, the classroom door behind her opened with force that it caused a loud noise.
*Dap!*
Everyone got their attention from Kirika to the classroom door.
It revealed three students. They were freshmen but were in another class.
One had black hair and a thug looking face with a piercing on his one ear. He had no blazer on. He was tall, menacing and had his hands in the pocket as he loomed his piercing gaze to the class.
The other one was a bit shorter than the previous one but he had a wide grin, inducing a malicious intent. He had spike blonde dyed hair with blazer all unbuttoned.
And the presumable leader, at the front, was a brown-haired, well built and confident boy that led those two delinquents behind.
"Uwaa....." Ren saw their appearance and felt that there will be trouble.
The others too looked at them with concern.
The leader of the delinquent scanned the classroom and after a few seconds, he sneered widely and yelled out.
"Bread shuttle!! You were actually here. Haha!"
His gait was prideful as he passed by the irrelevant students that were in his visions. Well, he was not passing by, the others were making a way for him.
He arrived near the desk of a boy who froze in his place. He was eating alone, a loner to be precise.
Students near him would see him tremble as the delinquent made his way near him.
"I did not think we would go to the same school. Don't you think that this is destiny?"
He proceeded to grab the stiff boy over by the shoulder and brought him closer to his face. The whisper of devil flowed into his ears.
"Hope you will take care of me for the rest of your high school years, bread shuttle~"
The terrified boy bit his lips with helplessness and it looked that he was about to cry.
He tapped his shoulder twice and questioned him with a harsh voice.
"Where is my answer!!"
"....Y-Yes m-master...."
"Speak louder so that everyone sees who you really are!"
The boy shivered and could not help but curse his fate. Why did he go to the same school? Why does this person even exist? Such thoughts emerge, only to be a just passing thought. Not a single intent to rebel.
".....Ye-"
*Smack!"
The delinquent's hand was slapped away from the boy's shoulder. Everyone was surprised by the turn of events.
Both the delinquent's and the boy's eyes widened with shock. Somebody dared to interrupt that bully.
Angry, he lashed out at whoever disrupted the conversation with his bread shuttle.
"Who the hell are you!?"
"The one who is going to stop you from bullying this boy."
Ren noticed and darted his sight back and forth as his eyes could not believe what he was seeing.
"...E-Eh, Kirika-san!?"
Yes, Kirika stood up to the bully and courageously stared into his eyes. When she saw the boy was getting harassed, she remembered the talk with Keiko.
"...Someone bullied me.." That's what she said.....
Those echos instinctively shift a gear in her mind and she was determined to resolve this matter.
"Bully? We are just friends, right?" He glanced at the shivering boy.
"What kind of a friend are you that uses fear to make them do things for your selfish reasons?"
The bully's smile dropped.
"Get out of here before I will call the teacher."
"Or what?"
He took a step closer to the unwavering Kirika as they had an intense staredown.
"Stay back or there is going to be problems."
Keiko rushed to Kirika's side and also glared at the bully. Having two against is one always better.
Who would have thought that the 2 most beautiful girls in this class would be the bravest ones?
"E-Eh, Keiko-san too!?"
Ren again darted his look back and forth and saw Keiko vanished from her original place, just like Kirika.
"Shouldn't you help them, Yoichi-kun?"
"Hm? Should I?" He had a confused expression. Ren detected his actions.
".....Stop eating! There is a serious situation going on over there!"
"Is that so?" He lacked any interest in whatever was going on there.
He saw Keiko and Kirika have a staredown and just sighed.
"Since they are full of energy, they must have a plan."
"That is not the problem. You should also go there and support them. Your sister is there!"
"What about you?"
"M-Me?"
"Yeah."
Ren cast a glance, away from Yoichi and stutteringly stated.
"I-I am n-not good in those situations."
Yoichi felt something was off about him However, he did not pry any further so he let him off.
He detected a presence that came into this class, which made the corner of his mouth lift.
"Well, just rest assured. Someone else will handle this matter."
"Huh?" Ren was oblivious to who he was talking about.
The bully got a vein that popped in his forehead, showing how furious he was. Then he got an evil smile as he threatened Keiko and Kirika.
"You know, I don't discriminate against girls so, do not blame me. Don't beg for me to stop as you two brought this on yourselves."
He raised his hand and the whole room was surprised by his action.
He brought down his right hand with speed and headed for a hard slap to the cheek. His aim was Kirika.
But...
"-!"
His arm would not budge.
The bully looked back and saw his wrist was grabbed by a taller student than him. He was even taller than one of the bully's lackeys.
"Can I ask one thing?"
The bully felt a chill down his spine as heard the dreaded voice.
There stood Asahi with an imposing and menacing aura. His face was as serious as it could get.
"What were you going to do with that hand?"