omoikiri // harumaki

five

"Wahh, it's so hot!"

Harua ran down the staircase quickly, stopping at the bottom and waving his hand at the group standing not too far from where he was. "I thought you guys would be playing volleyball in the gym."

"They're cleaning up," Jo answered as he used his hand to cover his eyes from the blazing sun. "Jeez, we still have PE today! Can't they cancel the class because it's too hot?"

"You know they wouldn't do that," Yuma chuckled, making space on the bench for Harua to sit. "Yudai-kun, what is your class doing for the summer festival?"

"A boys maid cafe," the boy beside him replied, earning looks of surprise from his friends. "The class pretty boys will have maid outfits on and so fanservice for the girls. Unfortunately, I was voted to wear the dress."

"I'm going to take so many photos of you."

"Ah, Jo! I trusted you!"

"You know better than to trust me!"

Harua laughed at the bickering two, but his eyes fell on the boy walking across the courtyard. He smiled, standing up from the bench and running over to the boy. "Maki-chan...! Are you okay? Come sit with me."

Maki glanced over at Harua's friends and shook his head. "I'm good, thanks. Murata-kun already asked to have lunch with me."

"Oh... okay," Harua smiled softly. "I'm glad you're making friends. I noticed how Murata-kun tried his best to include you in everything. You must've gotten close with him, huh?"

"Not really - he just wants 'good boy' points by making the new student feel comfortable," Maki chuckled. "Go to your friends. I'll be fine."

Maki attempted to walk away, but Harua grabbed his wrist to hold him in place. Maki frowned, quickly pulling his wrist away, but he remained in place. "Sorry, it's just... I don't mean to be a nuisance, but... can I walk home with you this afternoon?"

"Is Asakura busy?"

"No..."

"Then walk with him."

Harua huffed as Maki walked off, crossing his arms across his chest. "You're mean!"

"Sorry for being mean, then."

Maki walked into the building, disappearing into the corridor leading to the cafeteria. Harua pouted to himself before walking back over to his group of friends. Yudai glanced at the direction Maki walked before raising an eyebrow at Harua. "Who's that?"

"New student in our class," Yuma answered. "He's handsome, isn't he?"

"Harua's new crush, it looks like," Yudai teased, earning a frantic headshake from Harua. "You have good chemistry with him, though!"

"Makki's just a friend," Harua corrected with a laugh. "He's very dismissive, anyway. I want someone who gives me attention."

"Girl or boy?" Jo asked with a chuckle, earning a glare from Harua. "I have to ask, you know."

"For both, okay?" Harua said flatly as he crossed his arms. "Anyway! Jo-chan — can I walk home with you? I don't want to walk alone."

"I have tutor classes after school, sorry," Jo apologised as he shook his head. "You can wait for me if you'd like, but you'll probably be here for two hours."

"You can stay to watch us practice," Yuma offered with a smile. "Invite Maki to attend practice as well — he's quite tall, so we'd like him in the club."

"Well, then it makes no sense why you're in the volleyball club, Yuma-kun."

"Shut up!"

•

Haruto and his friends stood at the school gate this time around, which made Harua quite nervous to walk past them. He wanted to gather his wits and take Maki's advice — but how could he physically stand up to someone like Haruto? Someone with such a dangerous reputation? With a sigh, Harua turned around and walked back into the main building.

"Shigeta-chan! Are you coming to practice?"

Harua turned around in relief at the sound of Yuma's inviting voice. "I-I'm coming, I was just... confused for a moment." Harua scurried over to Yuma, and the two walked together down the corridor towards the gym. "Nakakita-kun... is it obvious that I'm being bullied...?"

"Wh—?! By who?! Haru-chan! You need to tell me these thi—!"

"Shut up!" Harua hissed, quickly covering Yuma's mouth. His eyes were still widened in disbelieving shock, causing Harua to sigh softly. "Watanabe Haruto... won't leave me alone. He and his friends just to anything to ruin my day."

"That's terrible..."

"But Maki-chan helped me! Every time since he arrived at this school, Maki was always there to help me," Harua said, stopping in thought as a small smile formed on his lips. "Maki-chan hugged me."

Yuma made a face as he turned away from the other, holding in a childish giggle. "Maybe Koga-kun was right."

"About what...?"

"I'm glad you have a new friend, Maki," Yuma smiled, putting his hand on Harua's shoulder. "You're in good hands with him, I think. But that's also beside the point! Why didn't you tell us about Haruto?!"

"It wasn't a big deal! It only got worse recently," Harua huffed as he crossed his arms across his chest. "In any case, I guess I'm doing better with Maki around. He just never wants to spend time with me! He doesn't want to make the effort of being friends."

"Well, there's a rumour going around about the reason he had to transfer," Yuma hummed as they continued walking. "Just before he transfered here, there was a case about a school fight that got out of hand which caused one of the students to be hospitalised for broken ribs, nose and even a stab wound."

"S-stab...?"

Yuma smirked a little as he leaned closer. "Do you think Maki did it?"

"As if! He's clearly not a bad person! He wouldn't comfort me and protect me if he was so spiteful, would he?" Harua scoffed. "There's no way Maki did all of that — wouldn't someone be sent to a correctional facility if they did all that?"

"... maybe."

Harua already knew why Maki transferred, but it wouldn't hurt to know more, right?