[ chapter two : because you are friendly ]

Silence wasn't strange from Mori but it was from Hunny. The cousins sat next to each other on the bus, silent most of the time. Handsomely, Mori had fallen asleep with his head against the window pane. Beside him, Hunny was scrolling through an app on his phone. He had never been the type to spend much time on an electronic device but it did help keep most people away.

People on their phones gave off the air that they were busy. Even with that cute face of his, the blonde looked less than approachable which was just what he wanted.

Head cheerleader Inoe didn't want that, of course. She usually requested the lolita at the Host Club and he had always been so sweet! Now, out of reach by money and looking so brooding, she didn't have the nerve to go and speak with him.

Nao didn't fail to miss the hesitant look in her friend's eyes. Sniggering, she nudged her. "Talk to him!"

The other girl grew wide-eyed as she turned to look at her friend. "No way! He looks like he's in a bad mood." Realizing how loud her voice was, she clamped a hand over her mouth and glanced at Hunny. It seemed like he didn't notice.

"He does look gloomy," the other cheerleader agreed, lowering her phone after snapping a selfie. Shizue edited the picture as she talked, eyes glued to the phone screen. "That's why he needs a little cheering, oneesan."

Inoe rolled her eyes at her younger sister. "It's not like I have a crush on Hunny-chan or anything... I just thought he might want to join in on our conversation." She looked at her friend. "Nao."

"Huh?"

"As captain of the cheerleading team, I command you to cheer up Hunny-chan."

"Wh-what? Why me?"

"Yeesh, Inoe, would you just leave the guy alone?" The photographer plopped down into the seat across from them on the other side of the bus. He tucked his arms behind his head. "Plus, Nao-chan would rather hang with me, right?"

Frowning, Shizue leaned over to flick the boy's arm. "Would you quit hitting on her? It's kind of pathetic."

"Jealous, Shizue?"

"As if!"

While they bickered back and forth, the other male martial artist peered around the back of his seat to see the girls. "He has a point though. Maybe Hunny-senpai is getting into the zone or something?"

Inoe looked like she considered it but then shook her head. "He looks bored as fuck to me. Plus, Nao always falls asleep on long bus rides anyway. This mission I assigned her will keep her busy," she declared with an innocent smile.

It made Nao groan. "Inoe... Hosts are different in real life. What if he's scary? And now we know he's a pro martial artist too!"

"I've been in the same class with Hunny-chan for three years, Nao. He's always been sweet!"

"But—"

"Would you two make up your mind already?!" Kuni hissed at them from the back of the bus. "If I can hear you, he probably can too. Are all cheerleaders dumb or what?"

Both Inoe and Nao winced. The tomboy had a point. She was even further from them than Hunny was so unless he was that distracted, he definitely heard them. Then again, he continued to wear an expression of complete indifference so...

Inoe nudged her teammate who nudged her back. This went on for a short while longer before Nao consented and walked over to the short boy. Smoothing out the skirt of her school uniform, she sat down in the aisle opposite to the two hosts. Was it just her or did his eyes shift to her for a split second there?

That would be all the reaction she got out of Hunny who was then focusing on his phone again. Nao herself was not at all discreet about the fact that she was looking directly at him. It seemed he was adamant about not acknowledging her presence though. So she finally decided to speak up, "Hi there, Hunny-chan!"

Her bubbly greeting was not returned. "Hi," he muttered back.

The less than enthusiastic reply was demotivating, to say the least but the girl wasn't going to give up that easily. "Want to join us? Taka brought a deck of cards and Shizue has this app—"

"Look, you don't have to do this," Hunny interrupted with a sigh. Whether that gentleness was from being tired or pity for her, she couldn't tell. "Just tell Inoe-chan you tried your best but I was too stubborn."

"I-I'm not just doing this for Inoe-chan."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

Hunny looked up at last which made the other grin brightly. "We've never met but I always thought you'd be more cheery and friendly so I'm a little surprised." She scratched her cheek sheepishly. Receiving no response, she continued. "This isn't because you didn't get to join the pizza party earlier, is it?"

The blonde scoffed lightly, genuinely amused. "No. You all seem quite close with each other," he said, sounding a little less disinterested than before.

"Yeah, we've known each other a while. We're the usual ensemble when there's a kendo competition. You really should get to know everyone since the rest of us know you already." All the hosts were famous... Nao leaned around the back of her seat and started pointing out each person on the bus.

"The guy with the Harry Potter glasses is Aizawa Amane and at the back there is Someya Kuni. They're the other competitors along with you and Mori-san. Ijiri Takafumi is the one with the camera. And you probably already know Okamoto Inoe. Her sister is Shizue. They look alike but Shizue's younger, the only other Second Year besides Amane-kun. The three of us are cheerleaders."

Hunny had politely listened but although his mind noted the information, he didn't believe it was too important. If everything goes according to plan, this will all be over in a few days. He nodded and looked at his phone again.

Nao cleared her throat. "So... want to join us? You're both invited this time," she said with a laugh.

"I think I'll just stay here."

"H-hey, come on! If all goes well, you're going to be stuck with us for a while."

"I don't really want to be here, if you can't tell." Hunny gave her a semi-sad look, hoping she'd take pity on him and leave.

Unfortunately, Nao did sympathise but chose to ask about it instead. "Is this about you not doing martial arts anymore? Amane-kun told us a little about that. Don't you like kendo?" She knew he liked sweets and cute stuff, probably a lolita internally too. But one could like martial arts and cuteness at the same time, in her opinion.

"I like it enough," the boy answered honestly, figuring sincerity was the best way to go about this. Maybe he was a little tired of sulking too. "I don't like being forced to do it... I like just being me."

"Not someone people expect you to be," Nao added thoughtfully. She nodded, looking somewhat sad but understanding. But she smiled anyway when she looked at Hunny. "Oh well. Cheer up anyway, Hunny-chan. You're cuter when you smile!" With that, she stood and started to walk away.

"Hey, wait!"

She stopped and turned to look at Hunny. One hand gripped the back of the blonde's seat to steady herself from the bus' movement.

Hunny had to tilt his head back a little to look at her. "You introduced everyone but yourself."

The girl grinned, hoping this meant she got through to him at least a bit. "Ishikawa Nao. Third year, Class B. Nice to meet you."

"Thanks... Nao-chan."

She blushed a little at the use of the endearing honorific but flashed a casual smile before returning to her friends who were already playing an oddly heated game of Go Fish.