(Haruna POV)

***

Haruna dragged her feet as she walked to school, her slumped posture highlighting the lack of sleep last night.

There was simply too much on her mind, and she had no choice but to accept the fact that the next few days would be just as stressful.

Thankfully, the midterm results will be posted tomorrow, and some good news might help her relax for a change.

"Haruna-chan!"

As she glanced up at the call, she noticed Hina waiting for her at the intersection ahead, waving her hand to get her attention.

She managed to brighten up at the sight, a small smile tugging on her mouth while she ran over to her best friend.

It had been a while since they'd walked to school together, with the midterms and the flurry of activities messing up some of their schedules.

Though they lived somewhat close to each other, they would both have to take a few extra minutes out of the shortest route if they wanted to meet up beforehand.

"Hina-tan! How were your exams? You were talking with Riku-san yesterday, so I didn't want to disturb you two," she said when she reached the intersection.

"It was gre-.... Wait, did you say Riku- 'san'?"

Hina's eyes widened at the sudden realization as she froze.

"Oh.... Um, yeah," Haruna confirmed sheepishly.

"....Is it because of that bet?"

"Well, that certainly sealed the deal, but I decided to keep him at arm's length before I even knew about that."

"Why?" Hina asked, tilting her head in confusion.

Haruna pursed her lips, wondering whether or not she should tell her about his encounter with Yui Senpai over the weekend.

'Would that do her any good? But not telling her might also be disingenuous....'

She hardened her resolve, settling on a choice when she saw the curious expression on Hina's face.

'Maybe this might be the wake-up call she needs.'

"Well, it's a long story. I'll tell you on the way, unless Riku-san is joining us," she sighed.

"No, he overslept after gaming all night, so I went ahead."

'Of course he did....'

The two started walking alongside each other, with one girl fidgeting nervously, while the other patiently waited despite the sad look she had.

"Umm.... To start with, do you remember that redhead you said was with Reiji-tan in the mall?" Haruna started.

"Uh, yeah, I think so."

"She's a senpai at our school, and also a friend of Reiji-tan. When I went over to his place for tutoring, I met her for the first time...."

And so, Haruna slowly recounted what she knew, first explaining Yui's existence and how they met before moving on to how she told them about her meeting Riku on the road on the way to Reiji's place.

Hina listened with rapt attention, her expression tightening as the explanation continued, tightly clutching the straps of her backpack and biting her bottom lip when Haruna told her about his blatant pickup attempt, as well as his crude words after the fact.

Haruna could visibly see the disappointment within Hina, her hazel eyes dulling into a darker shade that expressed her current feelings.

"....I know this might be hard to hear, and I haven't said much to you about being close with him, but I seriously believe you should think properly about why you've been overlooking all the things he's done so far. Is he really still that same friend you cared about?"

Hina didn't respond, either because she was deep in thought about her words or simply didn't hear them due to the inner turmoil she was going through.

Haruna shook her head and decided to stay silent.

She'd done her job, and how Hina responded to this information was completely up to her.

There was only so much she could do without taking over the autonomy of her decisions.

For five whole minutes, neither one of them spoke a single word, the bustling streets around them serving as the only source of sound.

And then finally....

"....Haruna-chan, what should I do?"

Hina turned to her with a pitiful smile that held no joy.

"What do you want to do?"

"I-I don't know. He's been my friend for so long, and I was holding onto that last shred of hope that he'd somehow go back to that cheeky, but caring boy he used to be..."

"Don't be offended by this, but from someone who's known you two for only two months, that boy is not your friend. I have seen absolutely nothing from him that suggests he feels the same way you do," Haruna replied softly.

"....Bu-"

"And also," she interrupted. "It's not like you're starving for friends either. You have me, because I'm not going anywhere. And don't forget the rest of the gluttons too, they're just as much your friends as I am!"

As Haruna continued to coax Hina, the light in her eyes slowly started to return.

"Is that really the case, though?" she responded wryly. "I know better than anyone that I've been withdrawn whenever you guys all meet up."

"....I noticed. Do you not feel comfortable with them?"

"That's not it..... You might laugh, but I felt both guilt and jealousy when I was with them," Hina chuckled.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Guilty because I felt like we were leaving Riku out, and jealous that you seemed so at ease with them. I felt like if I chose to stay with Riku, you might choose them and stop being friends with me. I realize that's stupid, but...."

Haruna tilted her head backwards, looking to the skies in serious exasperation, and her inner Granny felt the strong urge to give her a good backslap.

But she resisted, and simply cut off her path by stopping in front of her before taking hold of both of her hands.

"You idiot, didn't I say we're best friends? Regardless of who you decide to hang out with, that won't change. If, for whatever reason, you still want to stick with your childhood friend, I won't stop you. We'll still hang out, we'll still be friends, and we'll still be close, okay?"

Hina started trembling a little, her eyes watering as she gripped Haruna's hands even tighter.

They both stood there for a good minute, waiting for the brown haired girl to find her composure once again as they ignored the inquisitive glances of the surrounding people.

And when she finally looked back up, there was a firm determination within Hina's eyes that wasn't there at the start.

"Okay.... I-I'll stop caring about Riku so much and open up to the others... at my own pace?"

Haruna's grin was so wide and joyful that the light it generated could power an entire street if the technology existed.

Unfortunately, at this point, only Hina had the privilege of letting the blinding rays transfer the contagious energy to her.

"YAYYYYYY!"

***

Meanwhile, a few hundred meters away from the two heroines....

Riku had just stepped out of his house with a deep frown as he grumbled about getting up so early.

"Tch, shouldn't we get a few days off after such an exhausting exam period? I didn't even get to play for that long...."

His uniform shirt was half untucked, and his already spiky brown hair was even more disheveled, giving him a sloppy appearance that he couldn't care less about.

But just as he was opening the gate, his eyes flickered, and a wave of dizziness assaulted him.

*CRACK*

He stumbled backwards and fell on his bottom, crushing some of the beautiful flowers that his mother had grown herself, and the recently watered mud seeped into his pants.

However, the pain from the headache gave him no room to worry about such things, forcing him to grip his head to try and regain his senses.

"Wh-What is happening??"

He had felt a similar sensation a few days ago, back when Haruna had rejected his invitation to study and had gone off with that delinquent instead.

But this was far more powerful than that time, and he was now scared that he had some sort of tumor that flared up now and then.

The closest example for how it felt would be thousands of needles stabbing his brain repeatedly while hundreds of ants chewed the remains for a light snack.

And just as he was about to lose consciousness, the pain vanished, almost like it was never even there.

The only evidence that it existed in the first place was a chill running down his spine and a random thought that he had lost something very, very important.

But what it was, he didn't know.

Riku started to breathe heavily, the panic slowly setting in now that his mind started working again.

"Is something wrong with me? Do I need to go to the doctor?"

After a moment's hesitation, he stood up and dusted himself off, distracted by the horrific sequence just now as he headed to school with a conflicted expression.

***

The two girls continued on their way to school, but this time, both of them had genuine smiles after the effective communication.

'Kyaaaa, am I a Superhero? I think I saved a life today! From complete and utter misery!'

Haruna's former fatigue had vanished into thin air, Hina's change of heart charging her up with newfound energy and zeal.

She had even momentarily set aside Reiji's injury problem, focusing on the fact that she'd finally made her best friend open up to her other friends.

'I can't wait to tell Reiji-tan about this!'

She knew he'd also been worried about her and Riku, so this news would also make him happy.

She was sure of it.

But just as she was drifting off into dreamland, wondering about how fun school life would be now that she had a proper friend group, reality jolted her back when she saw someone leaning against a streetlamp on the road where the school was located.

Haruna's steps faltered in curiosity when she noticed Yui seemingly waiting for someone, blowing a bubble from the gum she was chewing.

Before she could even consider whether or not she should say hello, their eyes met.

Yui's fiery red eyes were chillingly cold, and she bit down on the bubble as she walked over to the two of them with her hands inside her school jacket.

Haruna blinked and stood still, watching her approach with an intimidating glare that made her involuntarily step back.

Yui stopped in front of them, her gaze firmly locked onto Haruna as she ignored Hina beside her.

"We need to talk."

***

A/N

I've updated Riku's image, because he looked like a child before.

Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

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