As the heat of the inter class event died away, a name list was given to the students of class A.
A name was chosen for them out of the students of class C that they would be tutoring. Extra credit would be given to students who managed to get their tutee to go up ranks. Prizes would be given if someone managed to get their tutee to go up by a class.
Gakushuu's class groaned almost in unison at that. Gakushuu had to hide his smile as they started looking at Gakushuu's tutee's name enviously.
Quite a few of them had made it into class A with Gakushuu's tips after all. He wasn't surprised, but he liked to hear the way they immediately started plotting a way to steal him away.
It made him feel included.
Ren elbowed him inelegantly and Gakushuu shoved him away. He came back with a smile this time. Gakushuu scoffed but let him be.
"That was good teamwork," Ren grinned. Gakushuu glanced at the class before allowing a rare fist bump.
Gakushuu had thought his actions had gone under the radar. But he was obviously wrong with the look Gakuhou was giving him.
"I've heard you incited class E to rebel," Gakushuu hid his wince smoothly. He had no idea what Gakuhou was talking about but he was still pretty sure it was his fault.
Maybe it was too early in the year to include them. Gakushuu's reputation hadn't stabilized yet either so class E running off like that should have been expected.
"My apologies, Principal," he said, then he narrowed his eyes. Was he talking as the Principal to a student or a father to his son?
There was a pause, and Gakuhou looked over Gakushuu, giving him a moment to tense up on his own.
"You've been breaking the hierarchy." Gakuhou noted, almost absentmindedly. But Gakushuu felt a deeper threatening chill than ever before. He froze.
Then, he cleared his throat after the silence got a bit long.
"Was there a question there, Principal?" He asked. Gakuhou's eyes flashed, then he acqueased silently even as he bored a hole into Gakushuu.
" Why have you been breaking the hierarchy when I told you to maintain it?" Gakushuu smiled at his father.
"You told me to maintain an ideal image and the top spot," he reminded his father.
"-to maintain the hierarchy." His father finished, a glare starting to form on his face. Gakushuu swallowed.
"I was told no such thing," he denied, then, "Didn't you allow the club knowing it was going to be open to all students?"
He was silently implying Gakuhou's awareness of the breaking of the 'don't break the hierarchy' rule.
Gakuhou watched Gakushuu silently. His elbows rested on his table and his fingers interlaced. He looked at Gakushuu for a long moment, before leaning back.
There was nothing relaxing about the posture. In fact, it felt even more like he was dragging something distinctly sharp against Gakushuu's neck.
"Very well. I'll allow it this time. And only this time." He emphasized.
"But you will maintain the hierarchy from now on." Gakushuu's lips flattened at the order.
"And in return?" He asked, pushing. He couldn't back down. Not yet. Not with just words left behind.
"I'll overlook your influence on class A," Gakushuu's eyes widened in pure shock. Overlook Gakushuu's influence in class A?
He hadn't expected his father to be blind to it, but that hinted at a deeper awareness. He felt the zing of alarm yet again.
"And class B," he added, wondering if he could perhaps take more. Gakuhou's eyes flashed with genuine irritation that promised punishment, and Gakushuu hastily backtracked.
"Just class A is fine, actually," he acqueased to him immediately.
Fear had, unfortunately, kept him at quite a stranglehold. Just as his father liked, he was sure.
But he had received actual permission-
"Oh, and," Gakuhou added before he got carried away, "the influence of your club on the students," Gakushuu froze again.
"We'll come back to that another time. You're dismissed for now, Asano." Gakuhou gave him a cold cold smile and Gakushuu gave him a stiff nod before turning around and leaving the office.
He shut the door calmly, then paused for a moment before gritting his teeth.
This bitch .
He couldn't help fume. Gakuhou had given it to him knowing that he would use it.
How dare he?
Gakushuu walked for a few more minutes before coming to a familiar empty hallway, taking a few deep breaths to calm down.
Gakuhou always made Gakushuu feel like a pent up teenager. Like, all the effort throughout the years had been for nothing. Like his past life and experiences meant nothing.
He leaned against the wall and pressed the heels of his palm into his eyes.
"Don't get angry, don't get angry about something like this," he whispered under his breath. Well, it wasn't just anger though.
His father was aware of his delight at being allowed his influence over class A. He understood and then at that moment decided to utterly ruin that joy for his own enjoyment or his own version of a punishment.
Father? What a cruel joke.
The silence was good though. He was used to silence. Silence would calm him down.
"Fuck," he cursed, then huffed out a laugh. He was a pretty messed up son too, though.
He let his head fall back with a sigh, his head knocking against the wall with a dull 'thump'.
Then there was a loud slurp.
He froze.
A familiar redhead poked his head out from the staircase that went up . To the rooftop. Where people weren't allowed.
(Mostly because the access was quite close to the Principal's office and after a while it just fell into disuse and was closed off, it wasn't actually against the rules though.)
"Akabane," he acknowledged, mentally floundering for a moment before casually straightening up.
"Just to be noted," Akabane slurped obnoxiously, "I was here first."
Gakushuu scowled.
"I'm well aware of that, thank you. I was about to apologize for interrupting your quiet time, but it seems that it would be better to just leave instead," he noted his previous actions and words, and silently cursed as he put on a neutral expression.
He didn't like interruptions to his post-Principal de-stress, so he kept some time in between but-
He had clubs to go to after this. His eyes flickered away, he wouldn't have time to fix his mentality up if he headed straight for the club, but he seemed to be out of options.
He'd just have to make do like every time. It's not like most people weren't already aware of his brilliance, he could probably take his frustration out somehow. They probably wouldn't ask if he was a tad more ruthless.
He looked back at Akabane who had been watching him while he went through his own minor dilemma.
"No, no. Feel free to have a mental breakdown. It's practically tradition for all the students who come out from the Principal's office to have one here. I won't interrupt." Akabane insisted, the grin on his face gave away his true intentions though.
Gakushuu eyed Akabane before decided 'what the fuck' and sliding down the wall to sit on the floor. He didn't see Karma startle nor watched his eyes glitter with genuine interest.
"Since it's tradition anyway," he smiled a little wryly, "I might as well follow it right?"
After a few moments, Akabane sat back down and they were hidden from each other's sight again. Then he slurped loudly at the empty bottom of his strawberry milkshake. Gakushuu laughed.
"Are you having a mental breakdown yet?" Gakushuu didn't even pretend to hide his laugh without a watchful eye on him.
"No," he replied, amused. "Do you want me to get you a new strawberry milk from a nearby vending machine?" He asked back.
"Nah, I'm done anyway," Akabane replied back. Gakushuu heard him squeeze the empty carton.
Then after another moment of silence, Gakushuu broke the silence.
"Why don't you take part in a club?" He asked curiously.
"What's the point of taking part in one?" Akabane shot back. "It's just a pointless waste of time."
Gakushuu frowned.
"Not all of them," he defended. Akabane laughed, a mocking edge in it.
"Like what? Your soccer club that you don't even like?" And Gakushuu's breath about stopped.
"How did you know I don't like it?" He couldn't help asking back. It was meant to be a denial, but it ended up conveying his simple curiosity instead. He hadn't spent a lot of effort to hide it, but no one had actually spotted it, from what he could tell.
Mostly because he actually enjoyed physical activity, even if not the sports itself. They couldn't distinguish the difference.
There was a hum from Akabane, before he answered.
"You enjoyed fighting me," he noted, and Gakushuu felt another jolt of shock. "But you didn't enjoy soccer. The difference was too big."
Gakushuu could find a way to mislead Akabane, but-
Well, why?
He was genuinely interested in him anyway. If Akabane saw through him, he didn't particularly mind.
Akabane surprised him, but it felt like a far more pleasant feeling than the surprise his father's revelations gave him.
"That's a little surprising," he confessed, a secretive smile on his lips. He leaned forward, his chin held in his hand, elbow on knee as he thought all the things he knew about Akabane.
How curious.
He had known child prodigies, but Akabane was unexpected. He suspected it when he fought but Akabane was an all-around prodigy.
His observation skills were top notch and if he genuinely didn't care much about his studies and still managed to score that well…
He was curious.
He was curious about Akabane's future too.
"You're pretty surprising too, Asano," Akabane said, his tone shifted to an oddly serious one that Gakushuu would say suited him quite well.
Gakushuu blinked in surprise again. He hadn't heard Akabane call his name yet. He was always calling him 'class rep'.
He blushed a little. Then he frowned at himself.
Was he getting flustered just because he was called by his name? And not even his first, but his last name.
What the hell.
They held the silence before Asano felt his phone vibrate. An alarm for his next club. He shut it off, before sighing. He got up and stretched.
Then he smirked to himself.
"Thanks for the safe mental health space, Akabane," he teased. There wasn't any response, but he heard a slight tap, which he took as acknowledgement and left.
As the temperatures increased, the pool became open to public use. Their P.E. started to include swimming lessons- that he didn't actually need- but he enjoyed the swim.
He could feel eyes drilling into him every time he came out of the water, so he could safely assume many others enjoyed his swim almost as much.
There was more class interaction in P.E. and class A and B intermingled.
Gakushuu was once again reminded of Akabane's drop to class C. He still had no idea of whatever fight he got into that had been severe enough for his father to skip class B and go to C directly.
Or maybe, it was because Gakushuu's sphere of influence was expanding to class B.
Didn't Akabane say something about his father telling him not to 'darken the light of class A'?
He hummed thoughtfully before deciding to leave it be. Whatever his father saw in Akabane, he found it unpalatable to his ideals. He was still holding Gakushuu's club influence over his head, so he couldn't take a risk just yet.
Gakushuu first needed to solidify his influence properly.
The school hierarchy would give way to him at minimum, after finals of the semester. He couldn't rush it at all.
Patience would give him the best results, he reminded himself.
Then he searched for someone familiar from class B, and to his surprise, he saw someone he was slightly interested in.
Kataoka Megu.
Her swimming skills were elegant and practiced. She was in class B, but she was a far more interesting person than most others.
She kept a slightly stoic face though, but her kindness was even more apparent in contrast. She had a weak heart to people who showed her some amount of consideration.
Gakushuu could almost see her future being used without being able to do anything about it. Of course, it would depend on exactly how gullible she was.
He wondered if the ruthlessness of Kunugigaoka Junior High would make or break her.
He approached her, a smile already in his face.
He would like to have her make it, instead of breaking herself.
"Hello," he interrupted the fawning a few others were making over Megu's skills, and they looked at him with an annoyance that turned to hearts at the sight of a wet Gakushuu.
He looked at Megu and she was looked back at him curiously.
"Asano Gakushuu," he introduced himself politely. The girl bowed her head.
"Kataoka Megu," she introduced herself.
"I saw you swimming," he commented, "You're really good. Are you on the team?"
Kataoka flushed slightly.
"Ah, I am." She nodded her confirmation. Then she looked at Gakushuu.
"You were really good too. Everyone was talking about it," Gakushuu wondered if she was poking at his mask. Quite a few people did that, actually.
"Thank you," he demurred, "I practiced."
Kataoka's lips lifted a slightly more genuine smile.
"Can't get anywhere without practice," she said knowingly, like she was repeating a line she had heard far too many times. Gakushuu thought back to his multitude of classes and clubs and almost deadpanned.
Yeah, no shit.
But of course, he couldn't say that to her, so he smiled instead.
"Of course, practice makes perfect," he recited another saying. Kataoka nodded in acknowledgement before facing the pool, readying to take another dive.
Slightly awkward, but he was more surprised at the way she pulled him into her own pace.
He nodded another way, understanding the motions of dismissal, and bid goodbye before leaving politely.
She had a good charisma. He remembers the amount of people who had surrounded her before he arrived and smirked.
That was curious.
Hinata broke down crying one day.
She didn't even run away from class to do it, and Gakushuu wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing. But nonetheless, he was willing the help as long as she got to the core of her problem sometime soon.
Amami shushed her and wiped her face gently. Their lunch time was spent reassuring Hinata and they didn't get any words out of her until it ended and class resumed again.
Gakushuu made a mental note to keep an eye on them. Something that made Hinata cry like that couldn't be anything good.
Hinata was ever cheerful. Amami and her made a pair of introvert-extrovert best friends, with Hinata being the extrovert. To see her break down sobbing was definitely a concern.
She had almost single-handedly kept quite a few boys from outright giving up when Gakushuu put them through the ringer for the interclass. If he had to pick a 'class idol', it would probably be her.
He could already hear the boys of his class planning something stupid. When people were told they were smart too often, they just turned out stupid.
Then he stopped, and considered his thoughts again.
Wasn't there something wrong with his own thought process?
The boys were misguided, but, he wouldn't call them stupid . And they hadn't even plotted anything against anyone specific. Gakushuu would definitely try to make their life a hell if he got the name for 'who the hell made Hinata cry?'.
He considered his own thoughts.
Was he putting double standards? Underestimating people?
He glanced at the boys suspiciously whispering among themselves, before dismissing. No way. They actually seemed that stupid.
But, Gakushuu felt slightly disturbed at the automatic assumption his mind made. He thought back to his meeting with his father, and wondered.
Was he still following his father's plans? Did he still get manipulated into doing the things his father wanted instead of what he did?
In fact, Gakushuu remembered, he hadn't actually cross dressed and run away in a while, right?
He did that to get away from his father and reset his mental state. But recently, he hadn't. Even before he started his Junior High, he had left dressed as a boy instead.
He worried at his lip.
Was it him getting too used to being Gakushuu or him thinking if himself above them in some way?
Because, hadn't he already had thoughts like this pretty often? He had been silently putting people down all along for a while now.
Maybe not Ren, but Araki, Morisuke, and even Akabane, which was odd. He had wanted to put Akabane down even fiercely, than Morisuke.
He remembered the 'show you your place' that he had told Akabane and shivered.
A thought that had been forming in his mind coagulated into a solid thought.
His father had been lying.
He hadn't given up control over class A. He had just decided to use Gakushuu to control it.
But because he had been slightly heavy handed this time, Gakushuu had been able to detect the slight mental changes that had already been ongoing for a while.
Gakushuu should have felt a sense of accomplishment at the thought. He had probably just realized a major manipulation tactic his father used on him. But, he couldn't help the strand of genuine fear and distrust that took root in him.
His father had been doing this for a while now. He had given up a part of his control to Gakushuu, but that might not be just because of him, but because-
Because he considered his views to have taken root deep enough inside Gakushuu.
Gakushuu had his first panic attack in class that day.
No one noticed it.
-
When class ended that day, he hadn't decided yet what to do about himself. But, he remembered his own list. He had noted a few priorities that were based on the sensations he had found from his past life.
He wasn't that person, but that person was probably the only part of Gakushuu that could hold a candle against his father.
He remembered the 'have fun' he had noted down casually before wondering if writing it had even been necessary. It felt like such an obvious thing to do for the version of Gakushuu who still had a living mother, and a father who hadn't gone off the hinge.
He decided to resolve his issues one day at a time, and made his way to a depressed looking Hinata. Then he bent down on his knees and waited.
Hinata had been avoiding eye contact with everyone, even Amami, and he could sense that whatever it was, Hinata felt overwhelmed by it. She felt like it was a noose around her neck, choking her.
Gakushuu felt like that sometimes too, and that's why he left home. He couldn't stand to continue his daily life. He could bear to go back home and see his father, sitting on the dining table, sipping coffee, like he hadn't been destroying Gakushuu.
And he waited.
He had patience, and he definitely had the ability to sit like that all day.
He could feel his classmates still as they watched him crouch in front of the upset girl. Araki slinked off towards Ren, confusion evident on his face.
Gakushuu was just a normal boy. He was a classmate and a friend. He was a hard headed, stubborn and probably had bent himself way too much for his father, but he still remembered who he was.
Hinata's shoulders stiffened and her hands tightened around her books that she was shoving into her bag. He could see that she wanted to leave. She wanted to leave and never look up and see the concern on their faces.
She was just running away from something she was afraid of.
"Hinata," he said. He saw her jolt in surprise. In fact, he heard a few of his classmates get startled. He hadn't actually called any of his classmates by their first name. Aside from Shimizu, and Ren, obviously.
But he hadn't even let Ren call him Gakushuu in class though.
A part of him revelled in the surprise.
His father had given him free reign over class A. Even if it was what he had wanted from his club, it didn't matter since his father had actually said those words.
He didn't mind giving up on the school for his class, he decided. It was an emotional choice, but it was his choice to make.
It was a choice he wanted to make.
"Hinata," he repeated again, his voice lifting with his smile. He felt happy about his own choice.
Hinata looked up hesitantly at him. She blinked, even as her shoulders tightened.
"Want to go to an amusement park?" He asked, his eyes softening at her response. "We can make it a class thing," he suggested.
'Everyone is worried,' his eyes said.
"We'll distract you from whatever you're thinking of," he offered. Hinata's nose turned slightly red as she hid behind her hair.
Amami watched Hinata with a worried expression.
No one else in class moved.
"Okay," Hinata whispered under her breath, her shoulders still drawn up tight. Kimiko, one of the few people who hadn't liked Hinata, stepped up beside her.
Her lips were pressed in a tight line. Then she put her fingers under Hinata's chin and tilted her head up to face her. A tear trekked down her cheeks and Kimiko ignored it, looking into Hinata's eyes.
"That's a 'yes', right?" She stated, her eyes looking dead in Hinata's eyes. Hinata swallowed before repeating.
"Yes," her voice was far steadier this time. Kimiko smirked, and Hinata's cheeks flushed, but she couldn't look away with her chin caught in Kimiko's grip.
Gakushuu smoothly stood up, his eyes catching Kimiko's for an instant before he looked at the rest of the class with a rather unlikely smirk on his lips.
"Get ready, people." He leaned his hips against Hinata's desk, his usual confidence back in his posture. "We're going to the amusement park right now."
Gakushuu himself ended up calling his French tutor to cancel class for the day, before calling and cancelling his practice with a fellow violinist who was playing as his accompaniment in an upcoming recital.
There were about a little more than a dozen people who were free and willing to go on an impromptu trip to the amusement park, and it was surprisingly a lot.
It was more than half his class. He saw quite a few people get into arguments on call, so it definitely wasn't because they were free. They just wanted to make Hinata happy.
Gakushuu felt like a wall inside his head was crumbling.
-
The amusement park wasn't as busy as he had been suspecting.
Probably because it was a weekday.
A few of his classmates seemed slightly unfamiliar with amusement parks- trying to walk into it without getting a ticket first- but he didn't blame them.
He wasn't very familiar with it either. He had just done a very quick internet search on the amusement park while they were all talking.
To his surprise, Kimiko took the lead, dragging Hinata and therefore most of his classmates around like she had been to the place a hundred times.
Amami suggested they take pictures but it was Anaya who ended up being their best selfie taker. She moved them around, shoved a few people together until she was satisfied and then took pictures.
(Gakushuu pretended like he didn't see Ren and Anaya argue about couples forming in their class.)
Morisuke had decided to accompany them too, but he had pretty much grabbed Miya, one of the few boys who talked to Morisuke, and left while they were debating where to go.
Hinata had been oddly relieved by the decision, and the group of 11 decided to split into groups.
Hinata stuck with Kimiko, Gakushuu, Ren and Anaya. The others split into two groups and separated.
Gakushuu was surprised to see Amami willingly choose not to join them, but they seemed to have talked it out telepathically, from what he could tell, so he didn't think too much on it.
Gakushuu decided he would rather play third wheel with Kimiko and Hinata rather than Ren and Anaya and stayed beside Hinata most of the time.
There were a few times where they needed to sit in twos, and Gakushuu tried his best to shove Kimiko and Hinata together. Kimiko seemed to have a way of making Hinata feel more self confident, while Gakushuu was doing pretty good at the comforting aspect.
Gakushuu found himself laughing a lot. Ren incited them with stories of Gakushuu's terrible shooting skills, and then they just had to witness Gakushuu attempt to win them what they wanted from a nearby stall.
Gakushuu almost thought he wouldn't get it, he hadn't exactly had a shooting instructor and Ren had found out about Gakushuu's lacking skills when they went to a nearby annual festival and they tried to win a mask.
Gakushuu had been flustered, and Ren had almost laughed himself sick at the discovery.
This time too, Hinata let out her first laugh watching Gakushuu get flustered as he was handed the gun and he missed all three of the shots he was supposed to take.
It wasn't like he didn't know how to handle a gun . He just…couldn't shoot it, for some reason. It didn't feel like a part of his body and it was just awkward.
He had no problem with a knife, or even a sword. He could disable armed attackers, even if they carried a gun. But somehow, if he was asked to shoot, his hands trembled and he got a sense of dread and he couldn't shoot.
Even if he tried his best to push through and shoot, it ended up with a similar result each time. He couldn't even practice.
It was sheer luck that he got even one prize and he was nearly sweating by the end of it. He tossed the toy to Anaya, whose whole face had become expressive and red with laughter, but she managed to catch it somehow.
"Fine, just win us all the stuff we want already," he commanded Ren, pointing at the stall, where even the owner had started to pity him. He had spent several times the amount of the small stuffed toy he won, after all.
Ren took the shotgun with a confident grin. Then he proceeded to shoot all the targets on point.
Ren, on the other hand, was surprisingly and annoyingly good at shooting. His father occasionally took him for shooting with some of his business partners, apparently.
All the practice had done his confidence good. He never missed the chance to tease Gakushuu about his lacking skills and Gakushuu enjoyed putting Ren in the spotlight for his own skills.
For some reason, Ren had no problem taking over for Gakushuu, but when it was for something he did, he used to get hesitant or act like it wasn't a big deal. Gakushuu had, of course, done his best to do otherwise, and the result showed.
Ren bowed dramatically, and offered a toy to all three of the girls. Anaya giggled before returning the one she had back to him. Gakushuu passed it to Ren who took it very naturally.
Gakushuu hadn't had a toy in his house for ages now. His way of going over the rule was to just give everything off to Ren, who had a section of his room kept aside for Gakushuu's things.
With the only one with nothing in his hands, Gakushuu became the designated delivery boy when they decided to get food. He went back and forth, laughing when Ren went and got flowers for all of them and Kimiko started sneezing.
Ren watched sadly as Gakushuu dumped the flowers in the trash, before lighting up when he brought back fake flowers instead. He bought a few random items before twisting a few wires here and there and then presented them with a clip with a flower on it.
It was slightly rough, but it was pretty good. At least the petals wouldn't fall off like it would have if anyone was slightly rough with the fake flowers itself.
Hinata 'ooh'ed at it before clipping it on and then deciding they all needed to take pictures. Ren and Gakushuu- through majority vote- had to wear one too and Anaya took a fabulous picture of all five with their flowers exposed.
Right before dark, Ren and Anaya shoved Hinata and him inside a ferris wheel, giving him a cheeky wave as he looked back at them confused. He looked at Kimiko, who was avoiding looking at them as she scuffed her foot against the floor.
Then he decided to sit back and relax since he was there anyway.
Hinata fiddled with her sleeves then fixed her skirt. Gakushuu sighed before shuffling to sit beside her.
"You know everyone cares about you, right?" He said. Their shoulders brushed and he leaned back, his eyes looking outside instead of the girl beside him.
"Whatever it is, you can talk to me. I'll do my best to help you out," he said bluntly. They had spent the day calming her down and he hoped it wouldn't have an adverse effect bringing it up again.
Since Ren and Anaya had put them together instead of Kimiko and her, he assumed it was time to bring it up again. But, he still wondered if Hinata was about to confess to him, or something.
They hadn't had that much interactions yet, right?
He got slightly nervous.
"The-the thing is," Hinata started, looking at Gakushuu sheepishly, "my cousin is planning to transfer into Kunugigaoka."
Gakushuu blinked in surprise. Well… okay. At least it wasn't a confession, like he was dreading?
Hinata fiddled with her hair.
"I know it doesn't sound very important, but-" she closed her eyes, taking a deep breath before she could continue calmly, "he's terrible. He's a menace. He gets in trouble all the time, and he pushes and pushes until you just want to shove a knife into-"
Gakushuu grabbed her by her shoulders. Hinata stopped her murderous rampaging thoughts before hunching over.
It wasn't just anger or frustration there, Gakushuu noted. There was humiliation too.
"What did he do?" He asked. He was sure his tone was pretty understanding, but Hinata still froze at the question.
"He just-" she shuddered, "he just harasses me. It's not, physical harassment. He just-"
"-keeps pushing," he completed for her, understanding. Hinata nodded.
"I know it seems like nothing when I say it. It probably doesn't even look that much when he does it either. But he's always there! And no one says anything because he's so academically brilliant that no one wants to find fault at all!" Hinata gestured, looking like she was going to start crying from frustration.
Gakushuu sighed. Hinata flinched before looking away. Gakushuu put his hand on top of her head, gently patting it.
"It's all right. Thank you for telling me." He soothed. "You did well. And, it's probably not just you he does things like this to. We'll deal with him when he comes. Everyone is standing with you, Hinata."
Then he promised.
"We won't let him touch you. Not as long as we're there." Then he pulled away, to look Hinata in her eyes.
"So don't think about leaving class A, okay?"
Hinata's lips quivered, before she threw herself at him, a sob breaking out from her lips.
And of course, that's the moment the ferris wheel stopped and Ren, Anaya and Kimiko looked at the two of them in surprise.
Later, Gakushuu pulled Ren away and hissed at him under his breath.
"That thing with Hinata wasn't meant to be a confession thing right?" Ren froze, a hint of awkwardness in his face.
"Right?" He insisted. He almost face palmed at the obvious expression on Ren's face.
"Hinata clearly likes Kimiko, why did you put her with me?" He groaned.
"What?" Ren hissed back at him. "She likes Kimiko?! But they hate each other!" Gakushuu frowned.
"I think something about rivalry makes passion bloom or something?" He repeated the line from memory, before cocking his head. He didn't remember where he heard it though.
"Whatever, but they clearly had a moment in class. In front of everyone! Hinata blushed!" He poked at Ren, frowning harder as Ren just looked at him surprised.
"I think it's because you were basically kneeling in front of her." Ren explained to him. "Everyone's kind of stopped functioning around then."
Gakushuu groaned again.
"Don't tell me I have to deal with attempts to pair us up from the whole class now." Ren laughed nervously before pulling out his phone casually.
"Of course not."
Then, Anaya waved at them, telling them to hurry up so they could meet up with the rest of the group.
After a while, Gakushuu spotted a group called "GakuHina" where Ren was furiously typing, 'Mission Abort, Mission Abort'.
He wondered what plan exactly they were aborting.
When the group went to have dinner at a restaurant and almost got sent to separate tables due to 'an error in booking', he got their plan.
When Ren grabbed their host midway and pulled him away for a whispered conversation that ended with the host coming back with a 'Nevermind, the error was resolved' that no one would take at face value, Gakushuu wondered why he had chosen to befriend Ren.
The tactic might have been decent, but the resolution was just sad.
He gave Ren a mental thumbs down.
But the group still managed to eat a meal together, and everyone went home happy, so he considered it a job well done.
When he finally returned home at night, he resolved himself.
One day at a time.
He would take it one day, one person, and one moment at a time.
He wanted to live his life his way, so instead of planning so much of his future out, he should experience each moment properly.
(Of course, he still had most of his future hashed out anyway, it wasn't like he could stop his brain from working. He planned to live fully, not die without even knowing how it happened.)