Sunny day

Neo got up, looking around in search of whoever was following him, but even after looking in all directions, he couldn't find anyone. "Was it just my imagination?" he thought.

The boy turned his attention back to the people he had bumped into and felt the need to say something. "Sorry." Neo looked at their faces and was surprised. "Maeda? Shike?"

Both of them were dressed more casually, wearing shorts and different colored tank tops. Shike had a cap on. They both put the boxes on the ground.

"Yeah, are you okay?" Maeda asked, concerned.

"Yes, it was nothing."

Shike smiled, seeing another familiar face. He seemed to have ulterior motives.

"Oh! Good to see you, Neo. Are you free today?"

Neo looked suspiciously at the boys. "I guess I have some free time now. Why?"

"Can you help us?"

He knew that was the question that would come, but since he had nothing else to do, he decided to ask, just in case, if was something too extreme, he could simply say no.

"What do you need?"

Shike began to explain. "The flower shop owned by Nagoya's grandmother received a delivery request from the school. A student named Mônica, who is responsible for the school's plants, made a special order for the weekend party."

"And there are several heavy boxes that Nagoya would have to carry alone, so he asked for our help," Maeda added.

"Alright, I guess I can help you."

Behind them appeared a tall boy with broad shoulders, short black hair, and holding four boxes similar to the ones the others were carrying.

"Ah, Neo, let me introduce you. This is one of the Baseball team members, his name is Nagoya," Maeda said.

"Pleased to meet you," Nagoya said with a smile.

"Pleased to meet you," Neo waved since he couldn't shake hands with the boxes in his hands.

"Well, let's not waste time. There are still many boxes left, and if we keep talking, we'll never finish," Shike said, somewhat impatient.

Everyone agreed, and Neo picked up one box, realizing it was a bit heavy. Maybe he could carry one more. He wondered how heavy the four boxes Nagoya was carrying must be.

During the journey, Maeda was curious about something they received earlier.

"Did you guys get the invitation?"

"Invitation?" Shike asked confused.

"Yes, for the party next Saturday."

Both Nagoya and Neo said they had received it.

"Are you guys planning to go?"

"Well, I know about the invitation, but I'm going. There will probably be lots of delicious food," Shike said, feeling hungry.

"I still need to ask my grandma," Nagoya said somewhat shaken.

"I might not go," Neo replied thoughtfully.

They were curious and looked at him, waiting for an answer.

"I don't have formal attire."

They looked at each other, thinking of a solution to the problem.

"Can't you borrow from someone?" Maeda suggested.

"Do you guys have any spare?"

Shike was too small, Maeda only had only one for himself and wasn't even sure if it would fit in him, and Nagoya was too big.

"Well, don't give up. You can ask other people."

They arrived at the school, which wasn't far away. The gates were open. They pointed out where Neo should leave the boxes and continued the process of carrying them.

After almost a whole day of moving boxes back and forth, only one box was left, and everyone was already carrying the maximum they could handle, so they would have to make one more trip.

But Neo, tired of carrying boxes all day, decided to make an effort and carry just one more. Needless to say, the boy could barely walk or see where he was going. The others helped by giving directions and avoiding him from hitting a post.

Each step they took made the boxes feel heavier. The desire to finish the job was what kept him going.

When they were on the street near the school gate, Neo was relieved. The other boys went ahead since they didn't need as much help in that straight line.

They avoided a delicate-looking girl who was coming towards them. She had red-orange hair that seemed to be on fire and was pulling a suitcase with wheels while distractedly using her phone.

Neo, on the other hand, couldn't see and ended up dropping all the boxes on the distracted girl. His first concern was the boxes, not the girl.

She stood up, yelling angrily, but seemed to be fine. "What do you think you're doing, you idiot?"

Seeing that the girl was upset, he tried to come up with something to say. "I couldn't see anything, sorry. You could have moved."

His response only made her even angrier, and she seemed ready to punch him. That's when Nagoya appeared and acted quickly, grabbing Neo and running away. Leaving the girl in disbelief for a few seconds. When she realized that the boy, she wanted to vent her anger on had disappeared, she became even more furious and screamed in frustration.

Neo was carried to a spot where the girl couldn't see them anymore, and then Nagoya put him down.

"And what was that for?" Neo asked, confused.

"That girl is trouble. I saved you."

"What do you mean?"

"Trust me, she's too hot-headed."

Neo couldn't imagine what he meant, but since Nagoya seemed resolved, he chose to believe him. The two went to meet Maeda and Shike after making sure the girl had left.

"How could you leave the boxes at the school entrance and disappear?" Maeda asked.

"Yeah, we ended up taking them inside," Shike reassured.

"Neo and I had to handle something separately."

Shike and Maeda were still suspicious of that answer, but Nagoya's offer wiped away any resentment they had.

"I'll treat you three to ramen for helping me," Nagoya said.

"Really? Thanks a lot, man," Maeda thanked him happily.

"Thank you, guys. If I had to carry the boxes alone, I'd need more than a day. So, it's only fair to repay you."

"Don't worry; we had nothing else to do anyway. If you need help, we're here," Shike replied somewhat awkwardly.

"Let's eat already; I'm starving," Maeda said impatiently.

"You're always starving," Neo laughed.

"Of course. Eating is important, don't you think?"

The conversation continued as they walked until they reached Shibuya's Lamen. To their surprise, Takeshi and Tadashi were sitting there. Takeshi was surprised to see Neo and said, "Wow! What a surprise to see you guys here! You brought Neo too!"

Tadashi was next to Takeshi and only noticed their friends' arrival a little later as he was distracted.

"Yo!"

He waved and then returned to eating.

When they were all seated, it didn't take long for the owner of the place, the two boys' uncle, to come and take their orders.

When the ramen arrived, Neo saw Nagoya eating three bowls of the same ramen. He couldn't believe how he could eat all of that; he could barely handle one bowl himself. He thought that perhaps due to Nagoya's size, he needed to eat more.

"Are you guys going to the party?" Maeda asked.

"Of course, do you think we'd miss a party?" Takeshi replied.

"Do you have any spare formal attire? Neo is not going just because of that."

"Seriously?"

Neo nodded.

"Unfortunately, Tadashi and I don't have any. We kind of share each other's clothes. I wouldn't be surprised if one day you saw me wearing the bottom half of his outfit, and he's wearing the top half," Takeshi said.

Tadashi thought of a solution and said, "Have you thought about wearing any clothes?"

"With everyone wearing formal attire, I wouldn't risk it. It would be too embarrassing.", warned Shike.

"For the food, I would definitely go," Maeda concluded.

"Neo, unfortunately, luck wasn't on your side, but keep asking around; I bet you'll find someone." Shike encouraged.

When Neo left the restaurant, it was already late afternoon, and he was exhausted from the physical effort he had put in. So, when he got to his room, he just lay down and fell asleep.

The next day when he woke up, he felt refreshed and happy because he would see Saya. Now he didn't need to bring all the books and only took what he needed.

He arrived at the school and climbed the stairs, entering his classroom, only to be surprised by someone unexpected talking to Saya. It was a girl, and what surprised Neo the most was the color of her hair. She had red-orange hair as if it were on fire.

The girl looked at his face but didn't recognize him at first. Neo tried to sneak away and sit in his place, but it didn't work. When the girl was sure, she pointed her finger at him and said angrily, "You!"