Tomose's group comprised four girls, including her.

Matsushita Kana was similar in height to Tomose. She reached my shoulder level. She was a brunette with light brown eyes. And her medium length hair was flowing freely as she never tied her hair.

Mayumi Yoshiwa was a little taller than Tomose and had short black hair. Also, I noticed her chest was bigger than Tomose's. She was wearing a full-sleeve like me but with rolled-up sleeves and tie was loose, which showed her cleavage a bit.

And the last member was Sakura Otomi. She was a relatively calm one in the group. She tied her dark brown normally and had a bored look on her face.

I knew little about them.

Though I was walking with them, I wasn't part of their conversation. They were talking with Yukimura, who was walking in front of me. This is what I meant by being popular among girls.

And for an introvert like me, it was difficult to jump in an ongoing conversation with so many people.

To my relief, Sakura started a conversation which helped me take part in their conversation.

"So, Sakamaki-kun what happened today?"- Sakura asked me.

I tilted my head in confusion.

"Yeah, you're walking home with us. Aren't you like a loner?"- Yoshiwa asked.

If I wasn't in a pinch, I would be finishing off the anime I started instead of walking home with you.

"I hope you didn't mind that I tagged along with Yukimura? We always walk together."- I looked at them.

"Ah, of course not Sakamaki-kun."- Tomose chuckled. She was fiddling with the key chain in her bag with her left hand.

Of course, they minded it. Tomose is just trying to be polite and not hurt my feelings. Others had a smile on their face but their body language said something else.

"I thought you would avoid walking with him today since he invited us." Sakura said.

"That would be just dumb since we walk in the same direction till downtown." Sakura nodded.

I think some of them didn't like the idea of me tagging along with them.

"So, Tomose, how much did you get in the mid-sem?"

"Huh, wait first, you tell yours?" Sakura's question took her by surprise.

"Don't be shy, come on, tell us." She playfully punched her shoulder.

"Um, I got 76%"- she said in a low voice.

"Eh? Only 76? That's terrible marks for you." Kana frowned. "Even I got 80%." She added.

Well, that's true. Tomose was on the same level as me. Actually, she was a bit better than me. Her getting 76 was indeed a matter of shock.

"I didn't study for the mid-sem exams." Tomose playfully hit her head.

"Sakamaki-kun, how much did you get?" Yoshiwa asked me.

"Asking him is pointless. He always gets the same marks."- Yukimura laughed.

"Same marks?" Yoshiwa asked out of curiosity.

"He is so lazy that he doesn't care about improving." Yukimura laughed.

"True, I don't enjoy studying." I chuckled.

"You were watching anime even the night before the exam." Yukimura commented.

"So he is bad at studying then?" Sakura asked.

"So, how much did you score?" Kana was getting curious.

"85%"

"Wh… What!? Without studying you got 85?" Kana was shocked. I gave her a shrug.

"Sakamaki-kun has always been like this." Tomose said.

"You seem to know a lot about him." Kana said with a side glance. Tomose started fiddling her key chain more aggressively now. She was flustered.

Her action indeed pointed out the possibility of her having a crush on me. But she was flustered because this was an embarrassing moment, even for a normal person.

People act flustered around their friends, teasing them. This was completely normal, but thinking this was something else would just be foolish.

"That's because she was my group leader in the physics project last year." I said.

"Yeah sure." Kana said, while pinching her cheeks.

We all laughed.

We separated our ways from the intersection downtown. I put on my earphones and started reminiscing about the events that happened today.

I got a surface level acquaintance with them. If everything goes on smoothly, I won't have to lose my soul.

I came home, and the door was already open. Seems like Lilith was home. I took off my shoes and headed to my bedroom.

I turned the knob of the door and entered my room. I noticed Lilith was sound asleep on my bed.

Strands of her white hair were covering her pale face. The rhythmic movement of her chest as she was breathing. Her left hand was forming a fist, and she was frowning in her sleep.

I put down my bag and loosened my tie. I opened the top buttons of my shirt while checking my mobile.

Seems like Yukimura added me in their group chat. A good start for the ending.

The next day, I went to school as usual. Today my task was to get more involved in their friends' circle.

Man, this contract is messing my mind. Even Calculus didn't make me think this much ever.

After thinking about yesterday's event, I came to some conclusions. One of them is getting close to Kana.

The chemistry class was going on, but my mind was busy with other thoughts. I was waiting for lunchtime.

Eating lunch together was a good plan to spend more time with their group. And the more time I spend with them, the closer I will get to them.

The bell rang for lunchtime. I checked the time on my mobile; it was 12.00 pm.

I didn't bring my lunch today. I was going to buy it from the cafeteria so I headed there with Yukimura and my 'new' friends' group.

The plan of eating together was proposed by Yukimura too. Since he was more influential than me, him proposing the idea would be more effective than a loner like me.

I was walking behind them. The conversations they were having seemed really out of the question for me. And barging in on their conversation without a clue may decline my reputation among them.

If I had any in the first place.

Now my main motive was to see if this arrangement will help me grow my friendship with them or not.