omoikiri // harumaki

seven

"Asakura-kun, we need help over here!"

Jo excused himself from Harua for a moment to assist the girls, leaving him all on his own. It was two days until the summer festival, and some classes needed assistance with the decorations of their classrooms — Jo was quite tall, so he was called all over the place to assist. It left Harua alone for most of the lunch period, but he supposed that it was okay.

"You look rather bored, Shigeta-chan."

Harua waved his hand toward the approaching class captain, smiling as Yuma pulled up a chair to sit in front of him. "Jo keeps getting called over by those girls. It's fine, though. Is something wrong?"

"Well... kind of," Fuma nodded. "A teacher asked me about you. He said that he watched another student throw your backpack out while he was laughing, noting that you are a student in my class. Is... is everything okay?"

Harua gulped nervously — Fuma was clearly concerned about him. Should he tell the truth? What if things got worse if anyone found out about Haruto? Fuma let out a sigh as he looked down. "Murata-kun—"

"Are you being bullied, Harua?"

"N-no—"

"I already know you are — I just need you to be honest with me."

Harua's eyes were shaking with panic. "I'm not—"

"We know it's Watanabe Haruto," Fuma continued, causing Harua to fall silent. "You're one of two students that he... torments, I'll say. He's been reported a few minutes ago — we just need to find his friends."

"Fuma! What of they think it was me that reported him?! Are you insane?!"

Fuma reached over to Harua's hand, holding it gently to help the other calm down. Harua put his head to the table, and Fuma laughed slightly as he ran his thumb on Harua's hand. "We said it was an eyewitness report. Relax, okay? It's fine."

"You're sure I'll be fine...?"

Fuma released Harua's hand as he stood up. "I'm sure. Just... make sure you're around a lot of people at once, okay? Just in case his friends are looking for you, I'd suggest keeping yourself safe."

Harua suddenly pulled his hand to his chest, thinning his eyes in suspicion. "Why did you hold my hand so lovingly?"

Fuma raised an eyebrow in confusion before letting out a laugh. "What are you talking about? Anyway, Euijoo-kun is probably looking for me right now. Stay safe, okay?"

Fuma ruffled the other's hair before walking off. Harua was still frowning — Fuma was hardly ever that affectionate with him. Rather than overthink it, Harua decided that Fuma was probably just really worried about him. He hoped it was just concern and not anything more.

•

Harua grinned as he quickly packed his things up, standing against Maki's desk to stop him from getting up. "Macchan, we're baking the cupcakes tomorrow. Are you in?"

"I said that you should ask me if you needed help — I'm not doing everything," Maki answered before gently pushing Harua to the side to stand up. "I just wanted to be around you a bit more often because of Haruto. The problem is solved now, isn't it?"

"... you reported him..."

"If I didn't, I would've gotten into a fight," Maki sighed. "He's out of the picture now, so leave me alone."

"M-Maki-chan—"

"Stop calling me that."

Harua could only watch quietly as Maki pushed past him to walk away. He felt tears form in his eyes as he prepared to yell at the transfer, but Jo quickly grabbed his wrist. "Give him space, Harua. You've been oddly persistent, and I think it's making him uncomfortable."

"But Jo—!"

"He just got here. Give him some space, okay?"

Harua was quiet for a second. "Does he hate me...?"

Jo didn't know what to say. He quietly picked his backpack up and threw it over his shoulder. "Let's just go home."

•

"Idiot! Why are you pushing him away?!"

Maki sighed softly to himself, finally meeting eyes with the angry class captain in front of him. "I don't know, Murata-kun. I'm just a little annoyed that someone has a crush on me."

"But you like him back, idiot."

A small smile formed on his lips. "Am I obvious?"

"No! You're yelling at him to leave you alone, you tsundere!" Fuma groaned as he lowered his head to the table. "This somehow causes me a lot of stress, and I'm not even that close to Shigeta-chan. I told you that he's soft and gets hurt easily, even if he doesn't want to show it."

"I just wish he was less persistent," Maki answered. "He overwhelms me. I'm afraid that I don't like him as much as he likes me. Besides... Asakura-kun is more obvious than me."

"I'm sure even Shigeta knows that his best friend has a crush on him," Fuma noted with a chuckle. "But not only is Asakura a coward, but you're one as well."

"I'm not a coward," Maki scoffed. "I'm... I'm not used to forming meaningful relationships with people. I consider you my friend, but it's so difficult to get close with him, for some reason."

"How is it difficult? He wants to be your friend. Unless... you're not satisfied with just being friends."

"He's really pretty."

"Is that all?"

Maki smiled ever so slightly at the other. "Don't know, actually. I don't want to think about it. Maybe it's because I'm changing for the better."

"Maybe it'll be easier to get close to him if you open up about your past to him," Fuma suggested as he pushed his hair back. "Take a moment to talk with him. I'm sure he'd appreciate bonding with you as well."

"Wouldn't it be weird to just suddenly open up? It'll be like I'm just trauma-dumping..."

"Harua loves making friends," Fuma told the other with a smile. "I should be going now. Do you mind coming with? Class A asked if I could assist with the setting up of their props in the hall. If you don't feel up to it, that's also fine."

"... I think I should help Harua and Asakura-kun with the cupcakes tomorrow. I'll... talk to him..."

Fuma patted Maki's shoulder as he stood up from the desk. "Wise choice. They should be in the home economics kitchen upstairs. Just follow the signs. See ya."

Fuma bowed his head with a smile before walking off. Maki sighed to himself as he picked up his phone, contemplating if he should message Harua — but he had clearly made the other very upset by pushing him away so harshly earlier.

"Maybe I should speak to Jo first."