*Ring *Ring
Kazuya was sound asleep in his room, without any intention to be awake, he rolled up his body over the blanket and completely stuffed himself inside, forming a cinnamon roll.
*Ring *Ring
The constant ringing from the phone alarm annoyed him. He eventually brought himself to get out of his bed. He looked at the time, it was 9 a.m in the morning and at that moment he realised he had been late for school.
'Oh no, anyway I have to check on Kazuki and Kaya.'
He walked down the stairs and he heard a ruckus had been going on at the living room. Sounds like Kazuki and Kaya were quarrelling. High likely just a mere stupid things. They were kids after all.
"What's the matter?"
Acting like a older brother, he crouched beside them, tried to cool the nerves.
"Kaya took my action figure!!!"
"No! I'm not!"
This was pretty much a daily occurence at this point. It was like a tradition to see them nitpicking each other. As an older brother, he was not swayed over this, sometimes they just let them be and peace themselves out. Everytime Kaya would be the one to gave in although it was believed that Kazuki was the elder.
"Sigh... I'll search for it, now go eat. I want to take a bath."
"Fine..."
Kazuya saw his grandma was watering flower pots outside. He knew that his grandma had hearing problem due to her age so her lack of awareness were understandable. However the fact that she still prepared them breakfast just show how caring she was for her grandchildren.
'Maybe she didn't hear the ruckus made by these two. That's good, I don't want to trouble her. Even last night, I'd made her worry for being late.'
He took a peek at the time, it was 9.10 a.m.
****
They went to the kindergarten using the usual route which took at least 10 minutes to get there by feet.
Kazuya apologized to the daycare worker for being late. Fortunately, she was a sweet old woman so his forgiveness was accepted easily.
"Bye, nii-chan!!"
Kazuki waved from afar. He was always in full of energy. Meanwhile Kaya was being as passive as always but still waved him with her little hands. She was such a cute little patootie.
****
Kazuya stood in front of the school gate. It was close. That was to be expected since he had already late and rule is rule.
He jumped over the wall and safely landed his feet with the right momentum. His athletic skill was trained for this kind of situation.
*Yawn...
"I feel like sleeping..."
He looked around but noone was to be seen.
'Maybe I can ditch a class. If I remember correctly, the first period is history. I hope the entrance to the rooftop is opened.'
****
*Clack
The knob of the door was twisted, letting a loud sound of a door creaking open. Lucky for him it wasn't locked.
"Oh, what do we have here."
As soon as he stepped outside, he saw Hikari was sitting on one of the benches there, while enjoying some chocolate flavor pocky sticks.
"You're late."
"And whose fault was that?"
"You're talking as if today's the only day you're late."
Kazuya attempted to persuade her to apologize on behalf of her sister but failed. Seemingly she had became more aware of his mind and behavior.
"You're studying?" He asked.
"How did you know?"
"There's literally a textbook on your thigh."
"Oh, I forgot."
Kazuya realised she was not in her usual self. As if something was bothering her mind that traversed her into stupor.
"You okay?"
"A-ah, yea..." She averted her eyes.
"You're like a book."
"Hngh..." She became grumpier.
Kazuya sat next to her. He didn't say anything nor questioning about last night, knowing it might press her even more.
"If you have any problem, just consult with your friend, whether it's Takahashi-san or me."
Hikari was aware that he was trying to be considerate, thus masked her face with a smile.
"Haha, I'm okay, seriously! What is this? You try to look cool in front of me? Too bad I'm not buying it haha!"
She slapped him in the back, then took few steps forward to take a view below the building. Eventhough her true intention was to conceal her sadness.
"Hmmm...." Kazuya stared at her face up close.
"UWAAH!!! What's wrong with you!?" Hikari was taken aback and reflexively swung her hand to Kazuya's face. Fortunately he instantly reacted and dodged the slap. That slap was so powerful it could make a person unconscious.
"Hey, your face is red."
"S-shut up!!"
Hikari finally calmed herself down thanks to Kazuya.
"More importantly I'm here for you to do me a favor!"
She took the history textbook which she left on the bench earlier.
"Teach me!"
"Is that how you ask someone for a favor? And why didn't you learn it in the classroom instead of coming here?"
"Well, I don't understand what the teacher said and I feel sleepy everytime he talk."
"It's history, just read it. I'm sleepy, can you wait for 30 minutes."
"Hell I want to wait that long. Make it 10 minutes. I don't want to ditch the next class or Miyu will be angry."
"Fine."
**** Meanwhile ****
'Hikari-chan is nowhere to be seen, Minamoto-kun too. I wonder if they're hanging out somewhere. Good grief if they really want to be together at least don't break the rules... Maybe I should give them a scolding later.'
Miyu was dozing off in the classroom, not paying attention to the lecture. The lecture was indeed boring.
"Hmm... I haven't seen Nakano and Minamoto.." Junji-sensei, who was in charge of teaching history, came to a realisation that two of his students were absent.
"The infamous Nakano Hikari? Of course she's skipping class."
"She's a delinquent after all."
"I almost forget about Minamoto. Is he even exist in this class?"
"Well he looks like an antisocial otaku. I bet his room is full of anime posters and merch haha."
Rumors and baseless assumptions here and there. Miyu could clearly hear what these clueless bunchs were whispering. She felt her blood was boiling inside but managed to hold herself back.
"Seriously... these guys just made up speculations without even knowing their true nature..." Miyu talk to herself.
Seeing her classmates being more assholes by spreading rumors, she stood up and told the teacher:
"Junji-sensei, Minamoto-kun and Hikari are feeling sick. They're resting in the infirmary."
"Oh is that so. You should've told me earlier.."
Miyu lied to the teacher. She couldn't bear hearing her friends get badmouthed, the class had been quieter after what she said. They believed that Miyu, the kindest girl, was telling the truth.