𝐋𝐎𝐖𝐊𝐄𝐘 - 𝐑. 𝐒𝐔𝐍𝐀

𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐄

THREE
_____

A woman holding a sharp knife as her wide eyes held the ghosts that haunted her from the past to her present, though a smile was plastered from her pretty pink lips. The knife pointing towards chest, painted bright colors of reds and blues – the boldness of the colors and the wide grin signifying the woman's last twinge of sanity.

    But the knife was a symbol of her last thoughts as she said goodbye to that very last twinge of sanity – greeting the insanity that could forever possibly envelope her mind.

    Zumi's hand stopped, her heart began pumping as her chest rose and fell. She stopped – she didn't want to continue drawing this piece anymore, so she ripped it out of her book and crumpled it, placing it on the corner of her desk.

    She sighed, getting up from her seat since she was the only student left inside the classroom, while her other classmates had already gone to the cafeteria.

She hugged her lunch box to her chest as she walked down the halls, she could feel the judging stares that the other students' eyes held as they looked at her damaged skin. They were probably whispering to each other while they wondered if she did that to herself in order to gain attention.

Fuckers, that was the last thing that she could possibly want.

As she continued to walk, her feet slowly padded towards the familiar direction of where she sat the day before, and she found herself standing in front of the bench.

But there was only one problem; there was already a person occupying the whole seat – his whole body sprawled on the bench as he laid on his side, his right hand tucked under his head while he slept peacefully.

Zumi stared at him for a few seconds before she turned around to walk back to her classroom. Unfortunately, she had accidentally stepped on a twig that probably fell down on the ground because of the wind, eventually finding itself squashed under a person's foot.

How irritating.

The boy jolted up from the bench at the sound, accidentally face-planting the ground in the process. He let out a pained groan once he slowly lifted his face off of the dusty ground, patting his face with his cleaner hand.

Zumi turned around to look at him then cleared her throat, "Uh, are you okay?" She walked over to him then held her hand out.

To her surprise, he accepted it without any hesitance and allowed her to pull him up. Once he finally stood up, he patted down his uniform then looked down at her, now only recognizing how the difference in their height was quite amusing.

His bored-looking eyes stared down at her, though it definitely held amusement behind his calculating irises.

    He raised his brow at her and tilted his head, then realized that it was the same girl that he spoke with yesterday before saying, "It's you. Uh, bug-girl."

    Zumi looked at him in confusion then recalled that she was drawing a rather creepy dead insect just a day before, then answered quietly, "Yeah... bug-girl."

    The two of them moved towards the bench and sat beside each other before he asked, "What's your name?"

    "Zumi Hoga, Class 3-7. You?" She answered back as she fiddled with her bento box then opening it, the aroma that its contents produced seeping into the air.

    "Oh, senpai. Rintarou Suna, Class 2-1."

    "Please don't call me 'senpai'."

"Alright."

    The boy found himself breathing in the delicious scent then glanced down at the food that she had on her lap, the feeling of hunger only intensifying upon realizing that he himself didn't have lunch yet since sleep was what he prioritized first. Then his stomach growled rather loudly.

    Zumi bit her lip to stop her chuckles from escaping her lips before presenting her lunch box in front of him, "Do you want some onigiri?"

    The tips of Suna's ears tinged pink in embarrassment. Clearing his throat, he accepted and carefully grabbed one of the onigiri in her bento, "Thanks."

    He brought it up to his mouth then took a bite, it has a rather bland flavor with a little hint of sweet and saltiness already satisfying his craving for food. It wasn't the best onigiri that he's ever had, but it didn't taste bad as well. Just average.

    His eyes drifted towards the black leather book placed between the two of them, that he also saw her holding yesterday containing drawings then asked, "Can I see your book?"

    Zumi snapped her head in his direction, feeling insecurity bubble up inside her since nobody's ever asked to look at her work, and there were words written inside that she would rather not let anyone else read.

She shook her head then answered, "No, sorry."

    "Okay."

    Suna shrugged, though he was a little disappointed since he found her drawings unique. It was different from the usual bright flower drawings that he saw whenever one randomly appear in his feed as he scrolls through his phone – well, based on the page that he saw yesterday.

    When he saw the way she tensed, he guessed that she didn't like others looking at her work.

    She must be insecure about it.
Even though there wasn't much to be insecure about, is what he thought.

    He remembered seeing a drawing of a cracked skull that was shaded with a black marker, he guessed, with eye balls hanging by the hole of its sockets and blood dripped down. There was also a drawing of a fallen angel, with its broken wings vividly drawn to its tiniest details. It was peculiar and he wanted to see more. There was also a text written on the side, though he couldn't read it since it was too small.

    Zumi placed the lid over her bento then placed it inside her lunch box before she got up, bowing her head slightly to Suna.

    "See you around, Suna-san." She mumbled before walking away.

    "Yeah..." He trailed off, watching her figure walk away. Then he looked to his side, seeing the familiar black book that he once again guessed, she had accidentally left behind.

    She's also very forgetful.

_____