"Haruka-san"

Kazumi's ears perked up at the mention of her name. Practice just finished and she was putting on her indoor shoes when someone called her.

Mizuki Kaito's kind violet eyes greeted her "How was practice?"

"Mizuki? What are you doing here?"

"I was passing by. I figured that we should go to class together" he told her.

Haruki Kazumi had the sudden urge to look away and have quick check of her face if her hair's a mess or if her face is still sweaty from volleyball practice. Lately, she had been conscious of her looks whenever she is with the boy. She didn't know why.

It had only been three weeks since they became friends, though.

"Stop it, me!" she mentally slapped herself before nodding "Okay"

While walking back to their building, Kaito started a conversation to her "So, how was your practice? You didn't answer my question before"

She scratched her cheek with her finger "It was okay, I guess"

"You didn't try and pick a fight with your senpais?"

"Not anymore. That was the old me who was always picking up a fight" she huffed "Though..."

They stopped walking and Kaito looked at her "Though?"

"I picked a fight with the boys' basketball team"

He sweat dropped "For what reason this time?"

He knows it fully well that the girl used to pick a fight with random guys before, including their senpais, even though she's just a first year. And usually, he knows that she's not the one who starts it. It could be either she's pissed at them or they piss her off.

She crossed her arms as she leaned on the wall "They were assholes. They were saying that the first gymnasium is theirs to use, even though it was already agreed that the girls' volleyball team will use the gym this week. They tried to chase us out of the gym but, I didn't back down"

"Please don't tell me you punched them and started a brawl"

She stared at him with a deadpanned expression "I'm not that brutish, Mizuki"

"Sure, I'll buy that" he muttered.

"Ah?" She grabbed his collar and glared at him "You were saying?"

He raised his hand as an act of surrendering "Sorry, I was just kidding. Please don't kill me, Haruka-san"

She released her grip on him and jammed her hands to her uniform's jacket "Anyway, I didn't start a brawl this time, but, we decided to settle it in a game"

"What game?" he asked curiously.

She looked at him and replied "Dodge ball"

***

Kazumi was barely listening to class, her thoughts drifting to the upcoming game/challenge in the afternoon. Since she didn't want to start a brawl (even though, deep inside, she wanted to settle it in a brawl for things to end quickly), the captains of both teams decided to settle it in a dodge ball game since it was more peaceful that way (because they saw it was slowly getting out of hand when Kazumi single-handedly tried to pick a fight with some of their basketball members when they kept jeering at them).

Her phone vibrated in her pocket and she picked it up secretly. She saw Kaito's message on the screen.

Let's meet up on the rooftop at lunch.

She typed her reply.

Are students from an advanced class allowed to use their phones during class?

He was quick to reply.

It's not like sensei will find out. If you are careful enough and you keep a poker face while looking down, sensei won't realize it. Unlike you, I'm not smiling while reading my messages.

Her face heated up because that is what her face is currently making.

"What the fu-"

"Haruka-san!" her teacher threw a chalk to her direction after noticing her not listening to class but the girl merely caught it with one hand while glaring.

"Ah? I'm pissed right now and don't make it worse if I were you"

The whole class and their teacher shuddered in fear.

***

"Damn it, Mizuki. My day is already rotten thanks to the basketball team and now, I snapped at my teacher because of you" she exhaled loudly and passed by a glass window. She stopped for a moment and checked her face. She fixed the stray hair that was peeking out from her hair before realizing what she just did.

"Wha-?! What the hell am I doing?! This is not me! Since when did I care about my appearance?!"

She angrily stormed off and bought a yakisoba from the school cafeteria. She went to the rooftop and when she opened the door, the violet eyed teen was sitting on the ledge while leaning his back to the fence.

Kaito noticed her and waved his hand and smiled "You're here, Haruka-san"

Instead of greeting back, a tick mark appeared on her head "It's your fault that I snapped at my teacher earlier, Mizuki"

He shrugged "It's not my fault that you're bad at hiding your happiness"

"I wasn't happy!"

He chuckled "You're so stubborn, Haruka-san. All right, all right, I'm sorry that you were caught by sensei"

"Why is he making fun of me..." she thought, but she was actually quite happy about it "But...I really don't hate it..."

"So, why did you call me up here?" she asked as she took a bite of her bread.

He saw her eating and disappointment was momentarily written on his face, and she noticed it "H-Hey, what's wrong, Mizuki?"

He blinked and waved it off "Ah, no, it's nothing"

She went to him and clapped his cheeks with both hands, startling the teen "Don't just say "it's nothing" to me, Mizuki. Why do you look disappointed for a moment?"

His cheeks flushed at the closeness of their faces and Kazumi quickly pulled back and sat next to him, looking at her feet to distract herself.

"S-Sorry for that..." she muttered.

"A-Ah, no, it's okay. I was a little surprised"

The two was silent for a moment before the male cleared his throat "Anyway, I called you to the rooftop because...I want us to eat lunch together or specifically, I want you to eat my lunch"

"Eh?" she looked at him in surprise.

He opened his bento and showed it to her "I noticed that you don't have your own bento and you always buy yakisoba or curry buns in the cafeteria. I made an extra to share with you since it's unhealthy to always eat those during lunch"

"I'm not the only one that eats yakisoba or meat buns, you know"

"Can't a friend be concerned to his own friend?"

She was silent as she kicked her legs slightly. The word "friend" made her stop since, in all her life, her first and only friend had been Mizuki Kaito. It was his influence made her slowly change from her delinquent self.

"Okay... I guess I'll take a bite or two" she said.

He gave her an extra pair of chopsticks and they both said their thanks.

"Thank you for the food"

She grabbed a piece of pork curry and ate it. Her eyes widened and she was soon eating more than two bites.

"So? How was it?" he asked as soon as she was done.

"It was good" she admitted honestly "Though, I prefer it were spicy"

He chuckled "Sorry. I like sweet foods, you see"

"...No wonder"

He stared at her "I bet you are thinking that I like sweet foods because of my personality, right?"

She looked away.

"Damn it. He read my mind again"

"Well, it can't be helped" he packed his empty bento and covered it with a cloth "Thanks for coming here, Haruka-san"

"Wait, did you just call me here to eat your lunch?"

"Yeah" he nodded "It must be lonely eating by yourself, right?"

"...No, not really..."

She didn't want to admit it to him that she felt lonely eating all by herself and she secretly craved for a company.

"For me, it's kinda lonely eating all alone" he said as the wind softly passed by "That's why I'm really happy you came here and ate lunch with me"

Her brown eyes widened slightly when she saw him making a small smile before slightly looking away "Don't you have any friends? You seemed to be in good terms with the other students"

"Yeah, but, I'm not a social butterfly so I'm mostly alone" he replied and then looked at her "But being friends with you is making me really happy and I enjoyed your company"

"Even if I'm a delinquent?"

"I don't really care about that" he told her "I know you are a good person. Did you forget what I told you when we first met?"

She could never forget his words, really. He was the first person who approached her and helped her. He saw right through her with his violet eyes and helped her understood herself better.

Because deep down, I could see you're a very kind person who doesn't know to express herself.

"I'm not that forgetful" she muttered.

He smiled again "I know. See you later, Haruka-san"

Kazumi watched his back as he left. Before he slips through the door, he slightly turned his head to face her and waved his hand.

"Good luck to your game later"

***

"I'm pretty sure the rules and conditions are all set, right?" the basketball captain said "If we win, the basketball club will use the gym for practice. If you girls win, you practice in the gym"

"Though, it's supposed to be our turn this week" the volleyball girls' captain sighed.

He leaned close to her and whispered "Actually, I don't mind if your girls use the gym but, my team really insisted that it's our turn this week"

"I recently knew this but, I heard that sensei got the scheduled for the gym use mixed-up"

"Yeah. I don't want this to be a pain but, our kohais are really feisty"

"I know, right?"

They both sighed from the stress of their responsibilities as captains and third years.

Meanwhile, the first years and second years of the basketball team glared at Kazumi, who matched their glares with her own infamous delinquent glare.

The referee for the game is the captain of the soccer club. He tossed a coin to know which team will be throwing. Heads for the boys and tails for the girls. The result was heads, and the boys grinned.

"I know that the rules are all set but please let me say it again" their referee said as he cleared his throat "If the player was hit by the ball, he/she is out. However, if he/she catches the ball that was thrown to them, the player who threw the ball is out. If they cannot manage to eliminate the remaining player inside within the time limit, the opposing team wins. All clear?"

"OSU/HAI!!!"

***

The only one left inside is now Kazumi. All of her teammates were hit but thanks to her incredible catch, most of the basketball players were also wiped out.

"You've got to be kidding me..." one of the basketball members groaned when the only one left is her "More than half of our guys were wiped out by her!"

"You can do it, Haruka-san!" her teammates cheered for her.

Kazumi looked at them and raised a thumbs up "Leave it to me"

"What's with that cool aura and pose?!" the basketball members who were wiped out mentally complained.

"Oi! Haruka! Don't get all cocky! You haven't won yet!" one of the remaining boys threw the ball and she dodged it.

She tilted her head and smirked at him while flicking her hand to him.

"Bring it on"

A vein popped in their heads after hearing her tone. Oh my, she slowly went back to her delinquent self.

"Don't underestimate us, you damn yankee!!"

Fire was burning behind them as the female kept on dodging their shots. You could say that the ball was like a burning meteor as they threw it to their target.

The players who were out including the referee sweat dropped at the atmosphere of this match.

"Are we still playing dodge ball here...?"

"Damn it, she's fast!" one of them wiped the sweat off his chin after throwing the ball.

Kazumi caught the ball and threw it back at such speed "You're out"

"Damn it"

"Five minutes!" the referee announced after checking the timer.

Five members of the basketball team left. And only Kazumi is left on the volleyball girls' team. She skillfully dodged each of their shots and when she sees a chance, catch the ball and throw it back to them.

Only one minute left and only two boys left. Time was up as soon as she caught the ball and threw it back to the other player.

"Heh, it's our win" she smugly told the boys as soon as the volleyball team was announced as winners.

"Kyaaaah~!! You're so awesome, Haruka!!" a second year told her as she bear-hugged her to her chest, much to her annoyance.

"Ngnhh...senpai, I can't breathe... your chest is killing me..." she groaned as she escaped her grasps.

"You're so cool!!"

They were noisy and too touchy-feely to her liking but she cannot deny that it made her feel warm and fuzzy inside, and she felt that she finally belonged in her club.

"Tsk, you just got lucky, Haruka!" a second year from the basketball club crossed his arms as he glared at her.

"Still can't accept your loss, senpai?" she smirked.

More tick marks appeared on their heads after hearing her mocking tone.

"You just got lucky, first year!"

"Yeah, I got lucky wiping out more than half of you guys earlier by myself"

"The hell did you say?!"

The males glared at her while she poked a tongue at them before smirking again. Well, only the childish ones and the boys who hate Kazumi's guts. The basketball club captain face palmed while sighing exasperatingly.

"I'm sorry about my guys. They're quite a handful"

The volleyball captain patted his back to comfort him.

"Just keep doing your best, Hiroto-kun"

The soccer club captain/referee called their attention "As what you guys agreed, the girls' volleyball team will use the gym this week for winning. Boys, just accept your loss"

They grumbled about their loss but they had no choice since that's what they agreed. They left and looked for any place to practice.

"Yay~! Girls, let's get back to practice!" the vice-captain cheered and went to the gym first.

"Hai~!"

Kazumi placed her indoor shoes in one of the shoe lockers when she felt a presence next to her. She raised her head and saw the violet eyed teen.

"Hey" he smiled "Congrats for winning, Haruka-san"

"Thanks, Mizuki"

Silence falls in the two of them. She slightly looked away and fiddled with her brown hair.

"Damn it. I'm bad at things like this...wait"

She realized something.

Kaito watched.

He saw the whole game.

He saw her being provocative and aggressive to the boys.

He saw her went back to her delinquent self. And she definitely didn't want Kaito of all people see her reverting back to her old state.

And for that reason, she felt immensely embarrassed, which was a first since she's not the type to be easily embarrassed.

"W-W-W-W-Why did you watch?!?!" she was stuttering badly while pointing an accusing finger to him.

He tilted his in confusion "Why? Is there something wrong with it?"

"There is!" she replied hotly "I-I don't want you to see me being like that earlier, provocative, aggressive and back as a delinquent!"

Kaito was surprised to see her acting all flustered and embarrassed and he resisted the urge to chuckle in amusement.

"But you're so cool earlier. I don't mind" he admitted with a smile.

She blinked "Eh? Me? Cool?"

"Yeah. The way you played and your provocation was really cool. You showed them what you got, Haruka-san"

She felt her face heat up in embarrassment and she slightly looked down, her bangs covering her eyes "T-Thank...you..."