|Even quiet people have feelings

He opened his eyes and glanced at the alarm clock, he was only a minute earlier. His eyes darted towards the top where he would hit to disable it.

“Stupid clock. You have only one job.”

He wriggled in pain as he extended his right arm to turn it off.

“Oww..At least I had a pretty normal dream this time around.”

He heard voices as he walked down the stairs. Breakfast was already on the table. His sister placed a glass of hot chocolate right in front of his chest. The contact made the center of his chest heat up.

“Ouch.Seems like I’m early.”

“No, you’re quite late. I know you adjusted your alarm with an extra 30 minutes.”

She smiled wryly as he took his seat, she amusingly interlaced her hands like she was forming a bridge and placed her chin on them.

---Don’t look at me like that. I had a pretty rough day yesterday.

“Big brother, you are the main reason we always get late. You never wake up on time.”

“I have tons of work to deal with….Not to mention your assignments.”

“I can do them without your help.”

“Yeah, right.”

“Sarcasm, huh??”

This was Lisara’s favourite part of breakfast. Before work, she got to see them go back and forth in their usual playful style.

“Shirou. I forgot to ask. Have you made any friends yet?

“Uhh…Why are you asking?”

“I just want to know is all.. After all, you always had the problem of making friends. You called almost everyone a distant acquaintance and it was pretty cool but deep down, I was a bit worried.”

“You sounded like some creepy anime character trying to look cool anytime he got screen time. ‘I don’t need any friends’ and when you got friends, you said stuff like ‘Friends are necessary in life. It’s a thing I must indulge myself in.’ ”

“S-Stop talking, cute little sister of mine.”

---She got me. She got me.

“Checkmate.Haa, my brother was so cool half a year ago. I wonder what happened? A phase?”

“Life happened. Now, can my cute adorable little sister focus on her food instead??”

“Oh? You’re so thoughtful. This cute, adorable little sister of yours might do just that if you set your alarm back to the previous time.”

“Deal.”

---Well played,Yuuki. I guess I never actually accepted people easily. So that’s a given, huh?

Shirou arrived late to class in the middle of his worst lecturer’s class. Mr Ogami briefly glanced at him and returned his gaze to the board.

{ahem!!}

“I didn’t know you were the tardy type..”

“I’ll try to make it earlier next time…”

“Try???? That word reeks of uncertainty….You have to do better than that….Anyway, take a seat.”

“Right…”

“As I was saying,I examined all your essays and I’m utterly disappointed.”

The class was in slight disarray. He slammed the table in front of him to block out the numerous murmurs from the students.

“I’m not saying you all failed. Infact, 30% performed better than their usual scores by miles..But let’s look at the other 70%. You also didn’t fail. You just didn’t go past your usual scores by the margin I expected. This class is supposed to improve. Not in only in terms of quality but also quantity.”

“Isn’t it a bit early to make such an early assessment?”

“Excuse me?”

“All I’m just saying that we should be given more time.”

This was his first time of hearing Rinta’s voice. She was usually quiet in class but this time she heavily disapproved with his statement and felt the need to make it known. His expressionless gaze shocked the whole class.

“I believe you’re mistaken,Tenkawa. Your assessment starts from your first day. Every single thing counts.I might consider what you said though.That’s that. Let’s move on to today’s topic.”

After the lecture, he checked the time on his watch, adjusted his belt and exited the classroom.Wendy contemplated approaching Shirou but ultimately held back after Lucas approached him first.

“You practically missed half of the whole class, dude.”

---Well it was worth it.

“How are you feeling?”

“Huh?”

“I heard..”

Wendy swiftly covered his mouth right before he could utter any more words. Despite his mumbling, she still put a firm grip on his mouth with a nervous smile.

“Brent.What are you doing??”

Lucas finally freed himself from her grasp then inhaled and exhaled heavily, diverting to the seat of Misaka who was visibly fuming.

“You owe me one by the way.”

“What does he mean?”

“Just ignore him.”

“Why?”

He blinked twice, this conversation was hard for him to follow. In his confusion, he glanced around the classroom and as expected, there were many people staring at him. On his right, he could see Rinta staring daggers at him but he ignored her.

“It was him that helped me carry you to my place and he was the one that changed your clothes.”

“Oh so that’s what he meant.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Hey Misaka.”

“Lucas, what is it??”

“You saw Mr Ogami go off on Rinta…Hilarious,right??”

“Did you leave your brain at the front door??”

“Ouch…You seem to be in a foul mood…What is the problem?”

“I don’t feel the need to explain it to you..I thought even you should be able to figure it out but perhaps I was wrong..”

Her words were as fierce as an enraged tiger about to devour its prey.

“Haha..That’s quite the task I’ve been given…Let me see..Does it have to do with Shirou??”

“His face..Eric was involved, right??”

“We don’t know yet. Though, she said he suspects Eric and well, who wouldn’t?”

“That’s all I need to know..He would definitely pay for this.”

“Wait.”

“What now?”

“We don’t have proof so we can’t just act out on a mere accusation.”

“What are you trying to say?”

“You aren’t the only one that feels that way.. But there are lots of people that would do that if they had the chance. They could even be from his old school for all we know.”

“You’re not stopping me.”

“If you act rash you’ll just give him more of a reason to do the exact same thing. He could so many things just for revenge, he could even get his hands dirtied without lifting a single finger on him.”

“Use your head, Lucas. He has already reached that point. I know my brother well, that’s what he wants you to think.”

“But----”

With a snort of disgust and a scowl, she put him in a conundrum, one that he was expecting since the very beginning of the conversation.

“Are you with me or not??”

“Is that even a question? I’ll always be on your side.”

“Good.”

Lucas glared hard at Harry as he walked up to Eric, who was in the middle of a conversation with his friends. He grinned as he was approached.

--What is he doing?

“Akate, could I talk to you in private??”

“Sure.. Mr president.”

They both exited the classroom.

“So what’s it you wanna talk to me about??”

“Don’t play dumb with me.”

“There’s really nothing you can do. I can simply deny it and we all know what’s gonna happen after that?”

“I won’t say much. Just be expecting a call in a few hours.”

“Hehe..I’ll be looking forward to it.”

“I’ll knock that grin off your face in a bit. Well, that’s all I have to say.”

“I’ll love to see you try.”

The sound of the bell broke the silence, signifying the start of PE class. In the male changing room, Itsuda and Kojo were having a throwing contest and one of the fluffy balls they threw landed on Hirada.

“You monkeys.”

They hit each other on the shoulder in laughter as Hirada was boiling in anger.

“What’s got him so tense?”

“Normally I’ll be offended but the way he said it.”

“Look at what we have here..Are you kids lost??”

They all frowned at Lucas as he laughed to himself.

“That wasn’t funny.”

“Really? But Hirada called you a monkey and you were laughing..Was it funny???”

“Leave them alone,Lucas..”

“Eric..Did I do anything?”

“Yes, you did..”

“I was just having my fun..Entertainment is really hard to come by nowadays..”

“You haven’t changed at all.”

“Neither have you..”

He noticed Shirou removing his shirt at the far corner. A thick, bold black scar on his back. Lucas immediately diverted his attention to Shirou, leaving Eric and others.

“Whoa you look so cool. You don’t look like the gym type of guy but look at those muscles.”

“I’m not a gym-goer.. I just do some light home workout.To be honest, I can’t explain it.”

“You’re really lucky then. If I had this type of body, the ladies wouldn’t be able to resist. Well you’re already a hit with the ladies so….”

---In a negative way.

“Very funny.”

He walked away and Lucas followed him saying “I’m sorry.” which made Shirou walk even faster. Harry on the other hand, sat patiently in the male restroom with his phone and earpiece connected to it. He borrowed Lucas’ phone and placed it in the locker directly close to that of Eric to see if he could get any evidence from the main suspect himself. Though, this plan was already doomed to failed after his foolish confrontation.

“Nothing yet, just Lucas and his goofy self.”

--Did he anticipate this? Well I indirectly raised his awareness level so the blame’s partially on me. Why did I let my emotions get the better of me? We’ll just need to switch things up.

In the girl’s changing room, Rinta was lost in thought. She briefly remembered her conversation with her younger brother, Nire Tenkawa.

[

She opened the front door and was met with an aggressive embrace.

“Welcome home, big Sis.”

“Sumi-chan. Is Nire around?”

“Yes, he came home about 1 hour ago but didn’t say anything to me when I welcomed him…Does he hate me??”

“Of course not..I’m sure he’s just really tired. You know we had a really long day at school..”

“Okay…Let’s go play..You promised me we would play, remember?”

“Yeah. But I have to check up on Nire. I’m gonna be back before you know it, okay??”

She nodded her head and ran off.

--Really…I’ve gotta take my promises more seriously..

“Nire…..Nire..Nire..”

She called his name repeatedly but no response whatsoever. Even knocking on the door was no good so she opened it and found him in the middle of an online game. He always warned her never to open his door without his permission but in this case she couldn’t help it.

“There you are.”

“Let’s round them up, they can’t escape this time. Let’s not mix up our positions, got that?”

“So how did it go??”

“…….”

She sighed then popped her head in the middle of the screen.

“What the…Yeah the bomb…I’m really sorry about that..Seems like there was an INTERFERENCE….”

--He was already peeved but I seemed to make matters even worse.

“Sorry about that. Just wanted to get your attention.”

“Give me a break already…. What do you want??”

He removed his headphones and turned his chair in her direction, she was relieved that he was ready to have a conversation.

“I was really worried when you didn’t show up for practice..Your phone was switched off..I looked everywhere for you..”

“Nobody asked you to.”

“I know.”

“I was not feeling like attending archery practice and my battery was dead..Is that all??”

“So how did it go?”

“Terrible. I don’t know if it’s your fault or not but I don’t even want to know anymore.”

“I don’t understand…”

“Fine,then I’ll make you..Enough of your ‘favours’. Enough with your ‘help’. It’s ironic that I’m receiving advice from an airhead who doesn’t know the first thing about relationships. You haven’t even stayed in one for more than 3 weeks. Before my monthly subscriptions expire, you’re back to being single again and no.No, it’s not bad luck. It’s all you. You’re the problem. I’m done listening to you. Just leave me alone, okay?”

“I don’t under--”

“Just..Get out..Please..”

His cold words pierced through her chest and left her shattered.She looked for the right words to say but nothing came out.For the first time, she was out of words. She heard a knock on his door.

“Rinta…Rinta….I’m getting bored.”

She shut his room door and suddenly felt a hug from behind.

“So which game do you wanna play?”

“You’re so cute..You know that??”

“If Big sister says I’m cute then I’m cute..”

“So which game do you wanna play?”

“Big sister, why are you crying?”

“Oh..That’s because… I’ve been looking forward to our game all day.”

]

“Rinta??”

“Huh?? What is it??”

“You’re spacing out. You get the most excited for P.E. You even grope everyone and compare boobs so I’m guessing there’s something wrong.”

“I think you should stop talking to that Yato guy.”

“Why??”

“I’ve just been hearing a lot of rumours lately about you and him…It’s so disturbing that my friend is being lumped in with that weird guy. It feels wrong.”

“From who??”

“Everyone. You know how these things spread…”

“Really??”

“The thing is.. It’s not only you that is being dragged into this.”

“I heard he is now close to Wendy. Are they dating?”

“Yeah right. That weirdo.. She would speak to anyone regardless of who they are. That doesn’t mean anything.”

Wendy listlessly ignored the scattered chatter from the group of classmates and a lower-classman a few lockers away.

“Well I heard he’s with Akate-senpai…”

“I think that is more likely. After all, they go everywhere together and are in the same club.”

“I find that hard to believe. She’s Akate-kun’s sister. No way in hell is that ever going to happen.”

“You do have a point. I’m sure the weirdo is probably thinking he has a shot or something.I’m sure he’s like…‘Oh who would I pick. Wendy or Misaka?? I’m in a dilemma. Akate-kun, could you help me out?’ ”

“Hey girls, cut it out.”

“But it’s funny right?? Hahahahahaha”

Sawao’s laughter covered the voices of everyone in the room. This left a stain on Wendy’s defence as she ground her teeth. She wasn’t going to let those stupid comments fly by without a response; she received a tap on the shoulder by Misaka.

“Easier said than done,huh?”

She walked right in front of them and slammed the locker close by.

“I said cut it out..Don’t you ever get tired?”

“A--Akate senpai…..”

“Honestly, don’t you have better things to do with your lives?? I mean, you know next to nothing about him and you’re calling him a “weirdo”. I don’t mind the endless rumours but one thing I can’t stand is you badmouthing Shirou, where I can hear you. Are you trying to get a reaction out of me?? Hey, you little rat with the ugly hair, you’ll definitely regret staying here longer than you were allowed.”

The underclassman ran without looking back. With her out of the way, Misaka could handle her three targets appropriately.

“He has done completely nothing wrong.Be considerate for once. He doesn’t deserve any of this.”

“Considerate??? What you just did was the opposite of that..Making a fool out of us in front of an underclassman.”

“Well you asked for it.. Try not to complain too much..”

“Relax, Akate. We were just having a little bit of fun, that’s all.”

She scoffed and crossed her arms in response to the statement of the class rep.

“Sayaka..Aren’t you being really incompetent right now??? Just because you didn’t say anything doesn’t exactly mean you aren’t guilty…I would rather have a teddy bear as Class rep than you since you are just as useless.”

“That’s enough..You have gone too far, Akate..”

“I don’t recall asking the wannabe loli to speak..”

Angie grunted her teeth as Misaka’s sharp tongue penetrated all of them with ease.

“Lin, you don’t have to say anything else…From all this, it’s clear that you do have feelings for him..That’s probably the only reason you’re defending him, right??Absolutely unbelievable..”

Misaka burst out in laughter upon hearing this..The disappointment was overwhelming.

“That’s it??? That’s all you came up with??? I thought when you told her to stop, you actually had something sensible to say??Now I get why people say you traded your brains for beauty..Sawao…Perhaps the only extra would be that you are hung up on making yourself feel better by dragging others down..Isn’t that inferiority complex??”

“Oh please..Why would I ever feel inferior to someone like that?”

“That’s something you need to ask yourself. It’s a bit strange, isn’t it?? You only drag people above you down, not people beneath so there you have it..When are you going to wake up from your pretty little….”

“Misaka. It’s enough..Ignore them.”

“I was about to drill the truth into her…Such a waste of time.Wendy...Let’s go.”

They both walked away with Rinta behind them while the other girls were left puzzled..

“Wow that was intense..”

“WHO THE HELL DOES SHE THINK SHE IS?!?!?!?!”

Sawao Ai slammed the locker in front of her with her fists and took deep breaths in an attempt to regain her composure. Loose strands of her ash brown hair came in contact with her eyelashes so she removed them. She rarely ever confronted the most popular girl in school but whenever she did, two things always occurred. It always escalated quickly and she always suffered defeat. The last time, it was in front of her crush, Eric Akate and that gave her more than enough reason to hate Misaka, despite her being his younger sister.

“Ai, let’s calm down..We should also probably get going too.”

“I just can’t stand her.”

The male students ran together around the field. Eric and Itsuda were the ones at the front line while the rest tried their hardest to catch up.Lucas and Harry were comfortably behind them with a margin, ahead of Nire and Kojo while Shirou and Tetsuji were stuck in last place, merely surviving the exercise. Underclassmen gathered to cheer from a distance and Eric and Lucas’ names were the loudest names that were heard. The race was over and the positions merely changed.

“You win again,Itsuda..”

“You were really close this time. I‘ve gotta improve even more or else you would snap up the number 1 spot in no time.”

Eric turned to Kojo, who was on the brink of death from the look on his face.

“Look who’s rusty.”

“I’m……………………………….not…………….rusty.”

His heavy panting made it difficult for them to make out what he was saying. Shirou reached the finish line with Lucas and Harry already talking while he seemed very likely to collapse.

“You were behind.. Seems like you’re bad at sports..”

“Give me….A second please..I need to..Catch my breath..”

“Wow your stamina must be really low.”

“I just want to take a nap.”

“Well, you were injured so this doesn’t count.At least you managed to get past Tetsuji and Nire..”

---Why did he blurt that out in front of him??? I wanted to make my injury a secret but more people are finding out. Now, it’s the Student council president that is aware. Seeing that he hasn’t done anything then that’s good. Maybe I’m worrying over nothing.

“Who are those??”

“Turn around..”

He pointed to Nire and Tetsuji but his hand was swiftly slapped down by Harry

“That’s rude..”

“Ouch,my bad..So the guy on the left is Nire.”

“They are both on the left..”

“I’m not done yet..The one with a red band on his right arm is Tetsuji and the one who looks like he is jogging is Nire..”

The cheers only became louder. Shirou was about to sit down but Lucas wrapped his arm around his neck.

“Where are you going??The girls are about to start running.”

The underclassmen endlessly continued their cheers.

“I don’t know why this happens all the time.”

“You don’t have to be jealous…The one you love is right beside you.. You just can’t see it yet, Harry.”

“I’m not jealous and I think you should shut up.”

“But still..I didn’t think you’ll beat me at the end of the day.Now that we’re done, we’re gonna see the girls running in their PE uniforms. Isn’t that amazing?”

“Quit being a pervert.”

“But I didn’t say anything weird. Which means, you’re the actual pervert.”

“Stop with your nonsense.”

“This is why you’re still single. You know that, right?”

“I honestly don’t care.”

“Take a look at Misaka. Whoa”

As Lucas and Harry got lost in their conversation, Shirou snuck away and sat down, next to Nire, who was staring into the distance.

“Hey, Shirou.”

---They caught me.

“Where did you run off to? You won’t see the girls well from here.”

“I don’t want to, though.”

“That won’t do..”

“.……..”

“Ask me why.”

“Why?”

“That’s because….THEY ARE UNDENIABLY ADORABLE IN THEIR PE UNIFORMS!!!!”

“Yato, ignore him.It seems like he has a fetish.”

“The girls cheered during the boys’ race. How about we return the favour?”

“Doesn’t sound like a bad idea..”

“Great idea.”

“That’s probably the only thing we can do now to boost their morale.”

“This is the first time I’m agreeing with you on something, Hirada. Let’s do this.”

The girls took their places while the boys began cheering.

“Wendy, I’m not going easy on you.”

“I don’t remember asking you to do that.”

“You sure about that?”

“Quit talking already.. I’m not planning on losing to you, too.”

“You two claim to hate each other but you get along so well.”

“Her???No..She’s absolutely the worst..”

“I get that a lot.”

Upon hearing the sound of the whistle, they take off in unison. Unlike that of the boys, the gap between each of them wasn’t as much. The race ended with Misaka grabbing the top spot with Wendy close in second place. Rinta came in third place, with Sayaka and Ai claiming the fourth and fifth position. Similar to Hirada’s case, Angie Lin refused to participate in the race.

“Darn it.”

“I guess I win again.”

The alluring sounds of cheering came to Wendy in the form of a chocolate with a bitter after taste. The louder the voices, the more it’s bitterness lingered.

“Hey, Shirou. Let’s go talk to them.”

“I’ll rather do that later.”

“C’mon, this is not the time to be shy..”

“What are you doing???”

Misaka tried approaching Shirou but was stopped almost immediately by Wendy.

“I suggest you act according to the plan.”

“I don’t think having a conversation will affect the plan, though.”

“I guess not. But..”

“But??”

“First and foremost, we have to figure out who to use. There are lots of people here, too.”

“No one would know what we’re talking about. Besides, I’m sure I can leave that to you.”

As she walked away, Wendy wondered where all her anger had gone. She approached Shirou with a comforting smile even though she was enraged a few moments ago.

“You saw that?”

“Y-Yeah..”

---No no no. Why did you come here?

“Uhmm that was a close one.”

“Yeah. She’s my rival after all.”

She drew her face closer to his ear.

“More importantly, how are your injuries?? I didn’t think you were going to participate considering what happened yesterday.”

“I told you I’m fine. All I needed was rest. Wait, how did you know that???”

“Did you imagine yourself talking to Wendy??? Wow, Shirou..I know you probably think I’m emotionless but I get mad too.”

“Err..It’s not like that. I’m sorry..”

“You are forgiven.Anyway, half a day of rest won’t recover all the energy you lost, you were beat up pretty badly.”

“Back to my question..How did you know??”

“Let’s just say I know more about you than you think you know.”

---That sounds creepy.

“Say,Shirou…What would you do if there were rumours about the two of us??”

---I’m the king of rumours for crying out loud…

“There’s nothing I can do about that.”

“That’s not what I mean.”

“I would never stop talking to you because of that. We’re friends, after all.”

“You mean it??Even though I forced my way into your life??”

“You don’t have to say it like that…And I mean it.”

“That’s reassuring.”

Harry and Lucas stared at the both of them from a distance..

--If she’s here, that means she slightly adjusted the plan. I’m counting on you, Misaka.

“Why didn’t you stop her??”

“Well it would seem more suspicious if I tried to do that. Her talking to him like normal makes things less suspicious so that’s good for us, right??”

“It could have the opposite effect but let’s hope that our chances of catching them off guard increases..”

Rinta approached Nire who seemed rather disheartened; from where he sat, he could see everyone.

“I want to help you fix this.”

“I told you to leave me alone, remember??”

“I know but I’m just---”

“Useless?”

“No, that wasn’t what I wanted to say. Worried. You’re my brother and I’m worried sick about you.”

“If you keep this up, I’ll hate you even more.Take a bloody hint.”

She ran away, covering her mouth, desperately trying to keep her voice in. It was a success. However, she couldn’t hold back the tears. She ran past Wendy, who knew something was wrong and followed her. She hid in the female restroom; her hands covering her face as she sobbed.

“Rinta…What’s wrong??Open the door..”

“………..”

“You can always talk to me.”

“No, I can’t..”

“Why??”

“You wouldn’t understand..”

“Then make me..”

She finally opened the door and washed her face then headed for the door but Wendy grabbed her hand.

“Rinta..Talk to me..”

Rinta slapped her hand away and looked the other way.

“Rinta?”

“I completely screwed up this time.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Nire…I have never seen him like this before..Not even once.He is not acting like himself and it’s all my fault.He told me not to say a word. Now he’s probably going to hate me more.I went too far. I just wanted to see him happy. I know you haven’t been in love with anyone before but what if you did?? It doesn’t hurt because there is still hope, even just a little but the moment you do all that hope is crushed. I didn’t want to see him get crushed. He has loved you for a really really long while but he couldn’t say it. I just wanted to..do my part as his sister to make him happy.”

“I don’t understand what you’re saying.”

“I already told you, didn’t I? I want to be alone for a while.”

“That’s a no. I didn’t understand any of what you said but you did mention something about him being in love with me. I’m sorry if I was too dense to notice. I will make sure I give him an answer. So please stop crying, okay?”

“I don’t know if that’s what he would want.”

“I’ll still do it. He deserves an answer.”

Although Wendy knew Rinta was a crybaby, she never expected her to get this upset. At the end of the day, they were all human so it was understandable. In the dimly lit bathroom, Wendy held Rinta firmly as she wailed with a little sense of guilt. She held Rinta like her life depended on it and in turn, Rinta cried till her eyes were red and swollen.

( “---” represents the thoughts of the main character. “--” represents the thoughts of any other character. “[]” represents an important event, most likely past events. “{}” represents various sounds made.)