There's no way

The wolf and the sheep

AN: I decided to post a story I made on AO3 here and continue it, so please enjoy. If anyone knows the creator of the story's picture, please let me know so I can ask permission or tag them/remove it entirely.

It hurt.

Naoto sat on the floor in the slightly hidden room right next to the art classroom, sniffing lowly and clutching his chest as he suffered the pain of honesty and real life.

He should've seen it coming; after all, it was quite obvious. Why would a pretty girl like Nagatoro, and all her stylish looking friends, come to hang out with a literal nobody like himself, other than for the sole reason of mean entertainment?

He had developed some sort of delusion the more he spent time with them, some sort of hope they actually wanted to be friends with him, but the evidence was plastered everywhere, making it clear it was the other way around.

For once, they'd never stopped teasing him. In fact, apart from some times when Sakura needed to use him for some extra curricular reason, most of them never treated him with any sort of kindness.

Showering him with degrading comments, laughing at his hobbies and ambitions, and straight insulting him was the usual treatment he always received from them, and mostly from Nagatoro herself.

Still, he had been stupid enough as to label them as his friends. People he could rely on for help and a place to relax after a harsh day of dying off his already diagnosed, abnormal anxiety.

He clenched his fists drenched in tears as he recalled what had led to this horrible meltdown.

Two hours ago....

"This...should be enough for morning practice" Naoto declared, placing his well worn brush down on the canvas holder.

Taking a deep breath and enjoying the sweet smell of fresh paint and clean oxygen, thanks to the window he'd recently decided to leave open, he stood up and stretched. His eyes travelled around the entire room, scanning his latest works carefully to see which errors could be fixed and what needs more work placed on, until he spotted something out of place on the sofa Nagatoro would usually occupy whenever she decided to come bother him.

Picking it up with utmost care (After all, you never knew what to expect with Nagatoro's belongings), he noticed it was merely a japanese notebook, one she must have left in here after greeting him earlier today.

Hayase Nagatoro - 2 A

Smiling at the name of his secret crush, Naoto steered himself and started pumping up fake confidence into his heart.

It would be cool of him to deliver this notebook back to its owner, wouldn't it?

With that thought in mind, he packed up most of his art utensils inside the little, well made bag he used to store them and hid it behind some counters, not really trusting this school with his precious tools, and took off towards Nagatoro's classroom.

Coincidentally enough, it was the same classroom he had been assigned to a year ago, so it was no problem for him to get there rather quickly.

Slightly deflating at the sound of loud students talking within their in between class break period, he finally spotted her room, flashbacks of his last year around it coming up in his mind that made him cringe internally. He was never quite popular with people, not even his own classmates.

Nearing the door itself, he attempted to reach for it, right before hearing Nagatoro's particular voice stand out from the rest of the class.

"Huh? Senpai?" Naoto's eyes opened widely, thinking he had been spotted even though the door was closed and no one was strolling around the hallway.