𝙩𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙙 | 𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘴𝘶𝘺𝘢 𝘵. ᯓ ᡣ𐭩

006. | ᴡʜɪꜱᴘᴇʀꜱ ᴀɴᴅ ᴡᴀʀɴɪɴɢꜱ ᴘᴛ. 1

As days flowed into weeks, Kana and Yuzuha seamlessly integrated with Toman, their faces becoming well-known around the school.This recognition brought them a serene sense of normalcy, a quiet relief that they both craved for. They had spent so long on edge, waiting for something bad to happen, but now these fears were slowly starting to fade away. The pair now had a sense of belonging, a comfort that they had been missing before joining the gang.

After that clash, Kiyomasa, Erina, and the rest were hardly spotted on campus. The buzz about their brawl hadn't died down at all, and that was mostly because the two girls themselves continued to walk around the school halls with no shame or fear. Eventually, rumors started spreading about why the rival gang had seemingly disappeared altogether. Some people suggested that since they had been beaten into submission by Kana and Yuzuha, that the gang members were now too scared to set foot in the school again.

Whatever the story behind the rival gang's disappearance was, the whispers and attention kept going, and the girls had soon come to expect it. Although it was still a bit uncomfortable at times, the gossip had slowly become more of a background noise, something that didn't really impact their day to day lives too much anymore. Kana and Yuzuha had learned to tune out the endless whispers and stares, the gossip and attention becoming more of a background noise rather than something that actively impacted their daily lives.

The chatter about her was finally simmering down, and just as the last whispers seemed to vanish, Kana had found something new that would occupy her thoughts.

Ever since Mitsuya showed up on the rooftop with her, that one guy from class had been setting off Kana's alarms. She'd notice his gaze trailing over her. They hardly spoke, and when they did, it was a quick back-and-forth before Kana would bow out, always thrown off by his conceited expression and tone.

The brief conversations that Kana had with him always left her feeling uneasy and unsettled, as if he was judging her in some way. His tone and expressions were always conceited and arrogant, and it put her on edge every time. She had tried to avoid him, but it was impossible to do that completely, so she made the best of it by keeping interactions with him as brief and cordial as possible. She couldn't quite pinpoint what it was about him that made her feel this way, but there was something about him that she just couldn't stand. There was just something about his presence that she found unsettling and frustrating.

Kana made it to class way before everyone else, with the need to knock out the homework she'd accidentally skipped the night before. She used the early hour in the stillness of her homeroom to get it all done before the rest of the students started to show up.

Unfortunately, it wasn't long before her peace was interrupted.

Tetsuo, who always seemed to unsettle Kana, entered the classroom. He flashed a broad grin when he saw her at her desk. Kana looked up, a flicker of confusion crossing her face, before she diverted her attention back to the papers on her desk, not wanting to engage in conversation.

"Hitting the books already? Talk about dull." Tetsuo commented, closing in on her desk until he towered over in front of her.

Kana maintained her focus on her homework, undeterred, particularly with his presence looming over her. Kana's blood pressure instantly rose once she felt Tetsuo approach her desk and lean over in front of her, Even though she tried to keep quiet and focus on her work, the annoyance and irritability he evoked from her was becoming increasingly difficult to hide. She looked up at him with a slight grimace on her face, her tone of voice a bit colder than usual as she replied, "I have stuff to catch up on."

"You really are quite dull, you know that?" Tetsuo replied, his grin becoming more irritating as he leaned over even further, until he was literally hovering above her desk and staring down at her work. He didn't say anything else, his eyes and grin just staying fixed on her, his presence filling her with increasing unease.