My first friend.

It's probably already 3 a.m. and I can't sleep or even shut an eye.

Both my mother and sister are still not home. I'm sure my mother is working overtime again because she's worried that I'm taking care of the household all by myself, with no help from my sister. Speaking of my sister, she's out 24/7 and doesn't come home often, even though my mom has warned her about it several times.

I'm a little jealous…

And now this girl is here, what am I supposed to do…?

"Sigh... that's not fair at all, huh."

I should go to bed at this point, tomorrow is my second day of school and I can't mess it up or else I'll lose myself.

“ring ring…ring ring…”

I heard footsteps approaching me. I also happened to overhear the ringing of a cell phone, but I'm sure it's not that important. I should go back to sleep…

"Hello?..Ah, hello!...Ahem...Lida Yukari is on the line! Who's calling? Rin's m-mother?! Ah... haha...who am I, you ask? Erm…I'm just a classmate of Rin I guess....Yes, a classmate. Has something happened? Should I let Rin know? Oh, I totally understand, I'll definitely let him know! Bye!"

Who's talking? Isn't that Yukari-san? Who could she be talking to?

I am currently in a state of semi-sleep. It's comfortable, to be honest. If I could lie down even longer, it would be pleasant.

But something bothers me, just exactly what?

Sch- schoo-

"IT'S SCHOOL TODAY!"

How could I have forgotten?

“Uwaaa! Why did you just scream! Y-you scared me!”

“Oh, you?…Right…you are also here, Yukari. How could I forget?”

"Anyway, it's a good thing you woke up because your mom called you, but for some reason you were still asleep...., so I picked up for you."

So my mother called? Wasn't she at home? Or what's happening right now? I would have understood if my sister had called me, but her?

“Wait a minute... did you just say that you spoke for me?”

"Yeah…she was really kind, hhehe~"

I. Am. Dead.

“R-rin?Rin! W-what are you doing? Are you mad because I talked to your mother, and now you want to punish me by doing some perverted things to me!?”

"What, no! I just want to go to my room and get ready for school, ya know?"

What kind of a freak is she?

"Well, your clothes are clean and dry again. Hurry up and get yourself dressed. I don't want to be late."

“Y-yes!”

After changing, I immediately made us breakfast. Pancakes with vanilla on top of them are just pure love.

"Rin, where did you learn to cook so well? You're really talented at it!"

"Since I'm often alone, I take care of the household, so I need to know how to cook. I'm not a weird guy who just orders something every day, ya know?

"It can be seen in your eyes, it really can. But...then why did you reveal such things during the introduction?"

Perhaps because I've come to terms with the fact that no one wants to talk to me anyway, let alone be friends with me. What happened yesterday was just an accident. It's not like we're suddenly friends just because I helped her.

“No idea and who really cares?”

"Instead of thinking about such unnecessary things, you should eat faster."

"Mh, you're right."

Once we finished eating, we got ready to leave the house. Honestly, I was embarrassed to go to school with her. One, because many other students will see us and two, because I don't feel like having to hear rumors or anything....

"Is something wrong, Rin? You've been acting strange ever since we left the house."

“I mean, aren't you afraid that there are going to be rumors if they see us like this? I mean, look at me. That might just ruin your image, you know?”

"I actually don't care much about my image, trust me. I'd rather talk to people I really like than people who only think about themselves. So keep your head up, Rin ehehehe~."

Like I already knew, not only her looks are wonderful, but also her personality. Still, I should stay away from her. I don't want anything to happen to her.

"Yes, but you should still talk to others and have a good time with them. You're better off that way. I'm more the type to be quiet and keep to myself anyway, hehe."

Silence reigned between us for a moment. All you could hear were the steps we took toward the school. Had I said something stupid?

Arriving in front of the main entrance, she stopped for a brief heartbeat. "Rin, I was going to ask you this earlier, but I think the timing is just perfect…so Rin…could you and I become friends?"

"Friends with me?! A-are you sure about that?"

"Yes, I am. You've been very nice to me without really knowing me or intending to take advantage of me. I don't think a friend like that would hurt me."

What the hell was she thinking?

But honestly, my heart is suddenly beating very fast. Not because I love her, no, certainly not, but because I finally have a friend. Not a normal friend , but a friend of the opposite sex....

We hurried to go to our class so we could still prepare for class. I wonder if we'll do something stupid today like we did last time, huh.

"Good morning, Lida-san! Did you sleep well today?"

"Good morning, Araya, and yes, thanks for asking, but I think the more important question is why you look so good today, hehe."

"Mh, still not as beautiful as you~"

What is actually going on here? Suddenly they're flirting around as if nothing is wrong. Is that normal for girls? I mean, if guys did that, I'd think it was gross.

"Ah Lida-san, do you perhaps have the same school route as Takahashi?"

"Um, yeah, I do have the same route, why? Did something happen?"

"Yeah, well, here's the thing. I'm actually going in the same direction as you, but I haven't seen either of you anywhere, let alone noticed one."

I know what she means. She wonders why she didn't see us even though we took the same path, so she's confused and thinks we took a different path.

"Maybe we left a little late, you got there earlier than we both did at school, you know? Otherwise I wouldn't have any other explanation."

"Hmm, okay, if you say so. I only asked because I went to school with Takahashi yesterday at the same time as today and when he suddenly wasn't there today, I wondered where he could be."

"That's kind of weird, don't you think?"

Strange, my ass. I just wanted to spare my brain cells.

"Takahashi... Why weren't you there today? Did you take another way to get rid of me?!"

"Wow, wow, wow, where did that conclusion come from?"

“Will you explain yourself, please?“

Why does she take it so seriously? It's just a way to school…

"Yes, it's true, I took a different route, but not because I wanted to, but because I overslept. It won't happen again, I promise."

"Yes, that's right, he had really overslept. He even let me talk to his mother because he was still asleep. That lazy bastard, hehe."

“What do you mean? You talked to his mother?”

Oh no. I'm starting to get a weird feeling. The whole class was silent and looked at us. Before this girl reveals everything, I have to defuse the situation somehow.

"Hey, can't we have this conversation later? More and more people are watching, and it can be easily misunderstood, you know?

"Fine by me, but we'll talk later, okay?"

At that moment the professor came in and started her lesson. In this lesson, everything we needed to know about the school was discussed, whether it was about grading, when the exam times were, or when what will be. Everything was easy to understand, but I still took short notes to make sure I had everything.

“This year will certainly be exhausting…huh.”

I realized late that my class was already empty and everyone was on their way home, etc.

Just as I was about to walk through the classroom door, someone held me from behind.

"R-Rin, it's me, Araya…can we talk?"

Talk? Only about what?…Please don't tell me that she wants to talk about this one topic.

“Y-yes why not…”