I Will Always Be By Your Side

Chapter 11

It's been almost two weeks since that day when Jurina introduced Mayu to Rena and since then Jurina has been spending more time with the latter much to Mayu's dismay, though she was trying her best to hide it from her childhood friend.

"Hey Mayu, let's go have our lunch at the rooftop." Jurina said when she saw Mayu came out from her classroom. "Sorry but I have some important club activity today. Maybe next time I can come with you." Mayu replied. "Is that so?" Jurina said with a pout. Somehow, Mayu felt guilty for lying after seeing her best friend sad. "That can't be help then." Jurina said, forcing a smile. "I'll get going now. See you later." And with that, Jurina went on her way to the rooftop.

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Rena was lying on the bench while Yuki was reading on her usual spot when Jurina arrived on the rooftop. "Jurina, what's wrong? You seem to be looking down right now." Rena asked as she sat back up upon seeing Jurina. Yuki just glanced over from her book.

"Nothing." She replied gloomily as she sat beside Rena. Rena just watched her as Jurina ate her lunch quietly. She wants to ask her more questions but she restrained herself from doing so. She was about to give her a pat on the back to comfort her but she hesitated so she stopped. She was not good at comforting people nor does she know how to comfort others so she just sat there and watched her with worry on her eyes.

By accident, Jurina glanced at Rena as she was eating and caught her staring at her. "Why?" She asked. "Huh?" Rena then noticed that Jurina was also looking at her. "Er... Nothing." Rena said looking away from her.. "Mou, Rena-chan is taking her revenge on me." Jurina said in a teasing manner which made Rena looked back at her with a weird look on her face - almost a combination between shocked and embarrassment - which made Jurina chuckle. "What?!" Yuki who was just silently watching them burst into laughter but looked away upon seeing Rena's glare at her. Well, she didn't want to get beaten out of nowhere by Gekikara because of that.

Just as Rena was about to explain, the bell suddenly rang, signaling that lunch is over. "Lunch break is over." Jurina said then she turned to Rena. "Come on, let's go back now." "Alright." Rena replied. "Yuki, aren't you going back to your class?" Rena asked when they passed the bench where Yuki is seated. "I'll be going back in a while. You two can go first."

"Alright then." And with that, both Rena and Jurina went down from the rooftop. As they were halfway through the staircase, Rena stopped and watched Jurina from the back. "Ne, Jurina..." She said, which made Jurina stopped and looked back at her. "Hmm?" She looked at her, contemplating whether she should ask her or not. "Uhm nothing." Rena said as Jurina looked at her in confusion. "Come on. We will be late for our class." Rena continued.

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Yuki was now on her way to her class when she saw Mayu walking alone. She was about to ask her where she had been but then she noticed that the younger girl seemed to be occupied and a bit down. She didn't even noticed that Yuki was already in front of her until she bumped into her. "Sorry." She said, bowing her head. "It's okay." Mayu was surprised upon hearing a familiar voice. "Kashiwagi senpai?"

"You seem to be lost in your thoughts that you didn't even notice me." Yuki said. Mayu bowed again to her in apology. "I'm really sorry." Yuki smiled. "It's fine. Don't worry." Then she glance at her watch. "I need to go now. It's about time for my next class." She said, patting on Mayu's shoulder. "You too should hurry or you will be late."

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During their class, Rena has been occasionally stealing glances over Jurina, wondering if she is still feeling a bit down. Since they met, Rena has been used to the energetic and cheerful Jurina so seeing her sad like earlier makes her worried. And so, after their last class has ended, Rena has finally gathered her courage to approach Jurina who was now busy putting her things inside her bag. "Hey Jurina, do you have something to do this afternoon?" Rena asked. "Huh? Uhm, no. Why?" Jurina replied. "That's good then. So uhm, would you like to come with me?"

"Where?" Jurina asked in confusion. "You'll see." Rena said before grabbing Jurina's hand.