Kizhashi's POV

Today was the start of our new semester, and I was trying to convince myself to study a bit seriously this time since the marks of my first semester were not so appreciable. No, that's a bit of an exaggeration, it was good though but there is always room for improvement.

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Tachibana sensei has just left the class a few moments ago. She was trying to cheer us who were not satisfied with their result and were slumped about it.

I was in a grey region though. My marks weren't as good to get myself a praise from others, but they weren't bad either that someone will look at me as a dumb student.

"Ah… new semester, extra assignments, fresh pain in the ass." Yasurouka sighed, resting her face on her palms.

"You're saying as if you aren't going to do them." I looked at her with a sly smirk.

"I know, I know." She nodded, accepting the fact that she would do those assignments no matter how much of a pain in her ass they were.

"Let's try our best though." Keiko said who was standing in front of my desk.

"Well, I don't care about this to be honest." Morita said who was texting her boyfriend on her mobile. She was an example of a typical spoiled rich kid. Her parents were rich, that's why she didn't care about studying and used to spend her money like there's no tomorrow.

"The day Morita gets serious in her studies, I'll get a boyfriend." Yasurouka said.

"What?" Morita looked at her with a confused look.

"I was talking about things which are impossible to happen." She laughed as Keiko and Morita joined her.

"You're pretty cute though. You like … what's the term…?" She said with a frown, while rubbing her chin.

"Adorable." I said, as I stretched her cheeks.

"Ayiyayaa!" She slapped my hand off her cheeks and held them with her palms. "You guys…"

Reina was a cute girl. She used to have self-esteem issues in the past but it seems like she got over them recently. I don't know what happened, but I'm happy for her. Even though her humour is basically her roasting herself and then moving on to roast us.

Despite that we all loved her. I wish I was like her too. It's not like I've any problems in my life right now. Everything is going pretty fine, but it's just that it could be better. No, the correct term would be, it can be more genuine.

"How is your relationship going on with Gaisen?" Morita's question snapped me out of my thoughts.

"Wha… ummm... it's going good." I was startled by her question as she suddenly mentioned his name.

"I like how she still becomes flustered when we talk about Gaisen." Keiko said with a smirk.

"I know right, talk about being cute." Morita chuckled.

"Hmph… there you guys go again… teasing me."

"Yes, because you act really adorable." Reina patted my head while they shared a laugh.

"Hmph… I'm not adorable." I said but they won't change their mind. I don't know if I was really as adorable as they think. Well, in all honesty, I know what I'm.

Everyone was surely in a wonderful mood, maybe because it was the start of the new semester. It was more like the start of a new opportunity to try out new things, or repair something from the past. Many possibilities, and maybe that idea itself, made this an exciting day.

Suddenly my mobile vibrated. I took it out and noticed that someone sent me a photo. I opened the chat and for a moment I felt like the time around me stopped. I couldn't hear anyone, or could I dare to move my eyes away from the picture that was in the chat.

How?

Why?

I felt like I was falling in a hole with no bottom. There was a strange feeling in my stomach, I wanted to throw up. Everything was fading away from me. Everything that I built so far was again falling apart.

Why is it always me?

Who gets the shorter end of the stick.

It was a picture of me getting bullied by those girls from class 2-2. I could see my pathetic face, as messy hairs were all over my face and those three girls were standing there and sneering at me. Looking at this picture made me recall that event over again and the feeling was surreal.

I thought that if I go with them that once, it'll be over and I wouldn't have to live in constant fear of facing all that again. But it seemed like it came back to haunt me.

I quickly noticed the sender's details and to my surprise the person who sent me this text wasn't someone who should be aware of this in the first place. It was Sakamaki.

Wait… Sakamaki?

I slowly turned my head towards his desk and noticed that he was staring at me with his dark coloured eyes. There was a blank expression on his face but noticing my gaze, he put his mobile back in pocket and got up from his seat and walked out of the class.

What the fuck!? I have never even talked with him that much before. I didn't like him because of his introverted nature. That's why I avoided talking with him.

How did he even get this picture? That means he was present at the scene at that time. But instead of stopping them, he took a photo? What kind of piece of shit does that?

I noticed a text below the picture which said to meet him after everyone left. Meet him after school? That too alone? This situation was getting out of hand. I don't know what I should do.

"Hey are you okay?" Reina asked me. Her touch made my tensed shoulders relax a bit, as I looked at her. I tried my best to hide my emotions because a wrong move by me can destroy everything I worked so hard to protect.

"Yeah, just you know those… sudden realizations." I laughed it off.

"Ah, I know what you mean." She chuckled.

Well, my best choice is to meet him after school and talk this out. I don't know anything about him, or his motives. What did I ever do to him to deserve this? What does he even want from me? And why me?