“So… What’s actually happening here?” I asked, looking at both Ren and Emi.

  “Uh… What exactly are you talking about?” Ren asked.

  “I mean…” I murmured, taking a gnce at Emi. “…why exactly are you together with a sophomore?”

  “I brought her over here.” he answered.

  I raised an eyebrow. “What? You don’t have any reason to do that, right?”

  “Well, I dragged her over here anyway.”

  “Are… are you for real?” I asked in disbelief.

  “Yeah!”

  I shook my head and sighed. “I can’t believe you.”

  “It’s fine. He did ask me before asking me to follow him.” Emi said.

  “You know? That’s not reassuring…” I whispered.

  Emi chuckled. “I told you it’s fine. Or are you saying that your friend is someone I shouldn’t follow at all?”

  I let out an exhale and smiled. “That’s an understatement. Ren is more dangerous than that, not even a single female could escape his eyes in our grade level.”

  “That’s kind of impressive if you think about it.” she commented, looking at Ren.

  “Only if he weren’t that creepy then it would be impressive. You’re lucky to be a sophomore and not a freshman, or else this guy would already know your name without you realizing it.” I said.

  She chuckled. “I should be thankful for that then.”

  “I’m hurt…” Ren muttered, holding his chest.

  “Oh yeah, I already heard that from you.” I said, standing up from the bench. “I’m heading inside.”

  “You’re going already? It’s still early.” Ren said.

  “I’m already spent just by talking to Ari. I think I’ll just sleep in the whole css this afternoon.” I answered and started walking towards the building.

  “What a zy human being.”

  “I know what I am, you don’t need to remind me of that every time.” I said.

  As I continued my way, both Ren and Emi followed me and walked beside me.

  Please can someone let me out of here… I hoped, as the two of them had no desire to leave me at any moment.

  “Do you really hate talking that much?” Emi asked.

  “Yes.” I answered.

  “Hm…” she muttered and nodded. “It’s not like you hate me or anything, right?”

  “I don’t know if you’re seriously asking that… But there’s no reason for me to hate you or anything.”

  She chuckled. “I guess you’re the kind of person who likes being alone then.”

  “Yea–”

  “More like he doesn’t have any friends to talk with and that’s why he can’t have a proper conversation.” Ren interjected.

  “Oh… But that doesn’t seem to be the case with Ari though.” she said.

  I turned my head to Emi. “What are you talking about?”

  “It’s just that it’s easy to tell if someone doesn’t want to talk to you. And I could tell that you’ve been giving that kind of vibes whenever I talk to you.” she expined.

  I scratched my head. “I’m sorry.”

  “There’s no need for you to be apologizing. But I’m gd I was able to see that you’re not that bad at all.”

  “You mean?”

  “That you’re not entirely unfriendly.”

  “Oh…” I paused, stopping while we were about to head inside the building. “I thought I was always unfriendly, but it looked like it wasn’t the case.”

  “Seeing how you py with Ari, I don’t think that you’re that unfriendly at all.” she commented.

  “T-thanks…” I stammered, surprised by another compliment.

  “Look at you stuttering.” Ren pointed out, resting his arm over my shoulder. “You’ve always been weak to compliments huh?”

  “I’m not like you guys who’s always getting complimented.”

  Emi chuckled. “That’s kind of sad.”

  “You don’t need to remind me of that.” I sighed and entered the building.

  “Don’t worry! We’re going to compliment you if you need some.” Ren said.

  “If I’m going to be honest, your compliment doesn’t make me happy at all.”

  “What a picky person.” he commented.

  As we entered the building, we noticed that there were two people standing in the middle of the hallway. Even without clearly seeing their face, I already knew who they were.

  I immediately stopped walking.

  “Hey don’t suddenly stop like that!” Ren excimed

  “Both of you don’t move.” I said, stopping the two from stepping forward any further. “Isn’t that Ari?”

  “Ari? How can you even see that far?” he asked.

  “Yeah… I couldn’t even see their faces. How did you even manage to know it was Ari?” Emi added.

  “That’s her, I’m sure of that.”

  “That doesn’t expin anything. Didn’t she run away earlier? I thought she had gone home already.” Ren said.

  “That’s what I was wondering about. I thought she ran away to the school gate.”

  “Hahaha… If you’re that sure, then it must really be Ari.” Emi said.

  But then, all of a sudden, Ari started running towards us.

  I raised an eyebrow. “What?”

  “It’s really her!!!” Ren excimed.

  “What happened?” Emi asked, noticing that Ari was sprinting towards us with her head down. “Why is she running towards here…” she muttered, taking a step backward.

  The three of us watched her as she continued running while her arms were all over the pce.

  “Hey… Isn’t she going a bit too fast?” Ren commented.

  “A l-little bit too fast, don’t you think?” Emi stammered, slowly taking another step backward.

  I turned around as her head was about to ram into my body. But then I was too te…

  Oh, I’m done—

  —THUMP!!!

  …her head smacked right into my back defenseless, sending me flying to the floor with my face in front.

  “AHHHH!!!” I screamed, as my jaw hit the ground a bit too hard. I held my jaw in pain, curling while lying on the floor.

  “Ouch, ouch, ouch…” Ari muttered as she held his head while trying to sit. “W-what just happened…?”

  Ren ughed. “That was a bit too strong Ari…”

  Emi froze and couldn’t process what happened.

  “Look who’s in front of you.” Ren said to Ari.

  “In front of me?” she blinked and slowly turned to me.

  I continued closing my eyes because of unbearable pain. I couldn’t even scream even if I wanted to, the pain was preventing me from doing any of that.

  “W-wha-w-wha-what!?” Surprised, she immediately reached for me and held my head to support the back. “Hey!!! Are you okay!?”

  OBVIOUSLY I’M NOT IN THE STATE OF BEING OKAY!!!