Love Isn't As Simple As It Should Be

Stronger

"Wow! I can't believe that I aced that math test," Satomi said in relief as she splashed her face with water alongside Haruno in the girls' restroom.

"Well, me neither," Haruno said, before panicking, realizing how her words sounded. "I mean, you're not dumb or anything like that, Satomi-chan... It's just that you've been struggling lately and... And... I didn't mean to offend you... It's just that..."

Satomi giggled. "No worries, Haruno," she said. "I know that you didn't mean it like that."

"Really?"

Satomi nodded. "Of course! You couldn't be mean even if you wanted to," she said while giggling again. "Besides, I know that my grades were slipping, but I have been concentrating more in class lately and doing better like I used to at the beginning of the year." She fixed her hair in front of the mirror.

Haruno just quietly smiled and leaned down on the sink, looking at Satomi. She couldn't remember the last time she had seen Satomi so relaxed and carefree. Before it seemed like she had something troubling her, but after everyone found out that Satomi and Miyuki broke up it was as if a heavyweight had been lifted off her shoulders.

"You're different now," Haruno said.

Satomi perked up before averting her gaze to the manager. "Is that so?"

"Yes," the red headed girl said. "You don't look sad anymore."

Satomi widened her golden eyes in surprise and then smiled before turning to the mirror. "I guess you're right," she said. "Things are better now that I'm focusing on my schoolwork and my art. Also hanging out with you and the rest of our friends has put my mind more at ease."

Suddenly, both Satomi and Haruno heard a sound indicating that someone was coming into the restroom. However, that someone turned out to be three familiar girls to Satomi's misfortune.

"So that means that you're not going to bother Miyuki-kun anymore, right?" a brunette girl said, flashing a smile at her two friends.

"It's about time you left him alone," another girl with short blonde hair said.

"He was getting tired of you," the third girl finished.

All three of them laughed as they circled Satomi.

"I'm just glad that you finally took our advice and broke up with him," the girl with long brown hair said. It seemed like she was the leader in the group.

Haruno looked terrified as she struggled to say something. She looked over at Satomi and was surprised to see that she looked surprisingly calm.

"Don't get confused," Satomi said, turning around to face the bullies. "Kazuya and I didn't break up because of you. Mean-spirited people like yourself will never influence the kind of relationship that we decide to have," she said confidently.

The girls gasped in surprise.They obviously did not expect Satomi to fight back since she never did. Even Haruno was surprised.

The ringleader narrowed her brown eyes in anger. "You have a lot of nerve saying that," she said through gritted teeth.

"And what about you? You and every other girl at school spent the entire semester harassing me, trying to get me break up with Kazuya," Satomi retorted. "Now we aren't together and you're still harassing me. Why? Kazuya is single now so this is your chance. But I warn you, he will never go out with a malicious, jealous bully like you," she said.

"S-satomi-chan..." Haruno said, half in awe and half scared because she didn't want to provoke the mean girls.

"Now stop wasting my time, alright?" Satomi said. "Haruno, let's go" She grabbed her friend's hand and left the group of girls stammering in confusion behind them.