Year 2009, January
Our Christmas vacation is already finished and school starts today. Rina was really excited to see Haruna again today. She missed walking Haruna to the school and to her classroom. As usual, Rina waited for Haruna to go out by her gate. When she did, Rina immediately sealed Haruna in a tight and warm embrace. Haruna wrapped her arms around Rina's body as a response of Rina's hug.
"Let's get going, Haru-chan." Rina said as she held Haruna's hand in a gentle grip. Haruna nodded in understanding and started turning to their heels.
All the way to school, they both held each other's hand without shame. Just in time, Tomomi and Mami suddenly popped out in front of them.
"Yo, yo, yo!" Tomomi said and made a weird pose in front of the duo.
"Dobondobondo in the house!" Mami tagged along with Tomomi and made a weird pose with her as well.
"Oh, hey guys! How'd your vacation go?" Rina asked innocently.
"It was fineeee~ But Timo wants more!" Tomomi said and raised a clenched fist in the air.
"Don't worry, Timo! Mami wants more vacation days too!" Mami agreed with Tomomi and did the exact pose Tomomi did.
"You guys sure are a weird duo." Haruna complimented the duo in front of them.
"At least, we're weird together! Right, Mamitatsu?" Tomomi asked and suddenly hugged Mami.
"Agree." Mami replied and nodded her head in determination. Mami then saw Rina and Haruna's hand holding together like a couple. "Oh, how cute can you guys be?" Mami added.
"We're already in a relationship with each other." Rina said with a peace sign using her other hand.
"Yes, we already know that." Tomomi said innocently.
"What? How'd you guys know?" Haruna asked curiously.
"We were eavesdropping on you guys last Christmas!" Tomomi said excitedly.
".. What.." Rina mumbled in confusion.
"Let's skip that! Let's go to classes now, Rina!" Tomomi exclaimed excitedly and dragged Rina towards them.
"Ha-Haru-chan!" Rina shouted.
"Err.. Well, I'll see you by lunch then." Haruna said calmly and started walking towards her classroom.
Haruna successfully reached her classroom just in time the bell rang. All the students immediately went back to their seats as they saw their homeroom teacher coming inside the classroom.
"Good morning, class." the teacher greeted us as he placed his textbooks and folders on the teacher's desk.
"Good morning, sensei." everyone stood up and greeted him back.
"Sit down, class." the teacher told us and everyone followed his instruction. There was a long moment of silence after he made us sit down which is not common for us to encounter.
"So, class.." the teacher started. "You guys are having a new classmate this year." he happily said and signalled the student that was waiting outside to come in. The transferee did what he was told to do and stood up in front of the class, feeling very nervous.
"Introduce yourself, kid." the teacher said. The transferee nodded in understanding and started opening his mouth.
"G-good morning, everyone. My name is Eisuke Taiga.. Please take care of me!" he said and bowed in front of the class for such a long period of time.
"Okay, Eisuke. You'll be seated in front of Ono at the back." he said and pointed out the seat he was going to sit.
"Arigatou, sensei." Eisuke said and bowed down before making his way to his seat. Eisuke made it to his seat with a lot of people gossiping about him.
"Don't worry about them. They're always like this." Haruna said from behind and rested a hand on his shoulder to give him a bit of encouragement.
"Arigatou.." Eisuke thanked Haruna softly. Haruna was such a good person to him. He didn't even expect a girl like Haruna would talk to him. "What's your name?" Eisuke asked.
"Ono Haruna." Haruna said calmly and threw a bright smile to Eisuke. Eisuke smiled back to her as well in return.
"That's a nice name.." Eisuke murmured shyly, but it was enough for Haruna to hear every single word he murmured.
"Aww, thank you. How nice of you to say that." Haruna said joyfully.
"A-are you free this lunch break?" Eisuke asked.
"Sorry, I'm not. I already have plans for my friend already." Haruna said sorrowfully, a frown started to form on her face.
"It's okay. Just tell me if you're free some time.." Eisuke said calmly and let out a forced smile to his face.
"Thank you, Eisuke. I'll tell you if I'm free next time." Haruna replied and returned a smile to Eisuke.
"Okay." was the only reply Eisuke replied.
* * * * *
The bell for lunch break finally rang. Haruna immediately packed up her bento and went to the rooftop.
Haruna saw Rina waiting for her on the floor. She was about to open her bento already. Maybe she got hungry while waiting for Haruna.
"Ah, Haru-chan!" Rina exclaimed excitedly as she saw Haruna making her way beside her.
"Hungry already?" Haruna asked sarcastically when she saw Rina opening her bento.
"A bit. I didn't eat that much this morning."
"Aww, you should've ate a lot!" Haruna said and gave a light and playful slap on Rina's shoulder. "Here. Let me feed you." Haruna said as she took a spoonful of her bento.
"Yey!" Rina shouted with joy.
"Say 'ah!'"
"Ah!" Rina followed Haruna's orders and fed her with the spoonful of Haruna's dish. "Mmmm! Delicious!" Rina said excitedly as she started to clap her hands in awe. Haruna saw a small piece of rice stuck beside Rina's lips, so Haruna had to take it out, but her hands were pretty untidy since she wasn't able to wash them.
Haruna then leaned her face closer to Rina and made use of her lips to get the piece of rice from Rina's jaw. Rina's body suddenly froze with Haruna's sudden actions. Haruna then leaned back and broke the light kiss she gave Rina.
"W-what was that for?" Rina asked timidly, her cheeks started to change into a rosy red color.
"There was a piece of rice stuck on your jaw." Haruna replied happily.
"Ohh.."
"Oh, Rina! By the way, I have someone to meet you! He's a new student from our class and he's a really good guy!" Haruna said.
"Ooooh, where is he now?" Rina asked curiously.
"Ehh, not now! He's too shy to come here, but maybe in the next few months, you can finally meet him! Trust me, he's not like the other guys in our class." Haruna.
"Sounds good." Rina agreed.
To be continued..
