Once again, thank you everyone for all your support~!

Disclaimer: I just realized my old one doesn't make sense, but I don't own anything.

Popping a Bubble

Chapter 4: Stupidity

There was never a time where Neru really cared about crushes or love, or people in general, and she still didn't. However, one Friday afternoon when she was wandering the campus with a fake pass in hand, a platinum-haired princess approached her, giving the tiled floor a hard stare.

Aria, or known by her nickname as Ia, was someone that was hard to crack; somewhat like Neru, but Aria was more social and actually liked her friends whereas Neru sat there and tried to ignore everyone sitting around her. Of course, tried was the keyword.

"There's..." Aria started, looking to the side where the railing was. Their school was designed strange, but still looked pretty cool. There was like a sort of garden in the middle of the school they could watch from the second floor, although it was really boring, and both floors allowed fresh air into the classrooms as they had no real halls. "There's someone I like!" she shouted after a while, the darkened hall making her eyes glow.

However, what she said sunk into Neru's brain after a while, and she felt her eyebrow twitch, trying to find the right words blunt enough to make a point, but not be rude since they weren't as close.

She sighed, finding no soft answer come to mind. "So? Tell him, make it easier on yourself," was all she said before she made her exit, but jerked back when her hand was pulled. Neru wanted to make the conversation as short and easy as possible; having her hand pulled would not help in the slightest.

Aria took in a deep breath and exhaled, "A girl, Akita-san."

Jesus help me I hope it's not me...Neru looked up at the ceiling that had no lights installed, and shook her head, trying to figure out what the problem was. What exactly did stupid people do in this situation.

Just then, two hands rested on her back and a forehead pressed against her neck, stiffening her body enough she could feel her lungs stop. "Aha~" an unfamiliar voice laughed, deep and rich. Aria froze as well upon seeing the familiar tail-like hair, colored like the ripest peach.

Nekomura Iroha smiled at her and nodded, the two classmates both having the same thoughts of ditching. "Who hangs out only feet away from their classes?" she teased lightly, poking Neru's cheek. The taller blonde flicked her hand away, threatening to kick Miki off the top spot for being annoying.

"Just kidding," Iroha winked, sticking out her tongue. "Miki-san and I were just on our way to drop off some paperwork." She let her brighter gold eyes move back and forth between Neru and Aria, then bit her bottom lip. "Is this some sort of confession?" she asked, feigning surprise.

Aria burst into flames and stepped back, about to run away from the situation, when Miki popped out from a classroom, jumping on her. "I haven't seen you in forever!" she cried in joy, almost making the two fall over the railing. Luckily Aria had excellent arm strength.

"Whatever," Neru breathed, turning to leave the hall and go somewhere else more secluded, but Iroha got in her way and dragged her back the few feet she walked. "What," the blonde hissed, eyes narrowing to the cat-like girl in front of her.

Miki grinned at her and turned her head to the stoic and stiff Aria, "So," she dragged, pulling her away.

"I kinda heard you say you like someone," she whispered in awe, face dangerously close to the taller girl. If Neru was taller than Aria, Miki was even shorter than the blonde, which made her less prone to be taken seriously, like now.

Gulping and hoping nobody else was listening, Aria nodded. Miki was the last person she'd reveal her secret to, but other than silent Neru, nobody she knew was as quiet and distant than she was. "Fine. I just need to get it off my chest," she whispered, leaning in closer to whisper in the girl's ear.

A loud squeal interrupted the classes that were right next to them, a few teachers poking their heads out to check on who made the noise. Luckily they bolted out of there before anyone could say anything, heading to the staircase.

"You're so dumb," Neru told Miki, glaring holes into the back of her head. The staircase wasn't very big, so they were, for the most part, crushed into each other for cover. Aria's back was pushed against Iroha's front, but Neru's back was crushing her own front, not giving the girl a very comfortable position.

Miki pouted, feeling her legs caught from behind in the tangle of limbs. "I didn't know!" she yelled, causing Neru to reach her arm around her and cover her mouth with her hand. Miki struggled to protest, but felt her face heat up at the realization of how close they were. Her back, on instinct, pushed back against Neru, causing the other girl to lean back from her.

"You know we're not...being followed, right?" Iroha asked from behind them, barely audible enough from the lack of air coming to her lungs. Aria jumped from the hot air blowing onto her neck and the pressure coming from in front of her, and her foot slipped, sending all four of them tumbling down the stairs with shrieks and groans of pain.

Neru stormed out from the main office, almost making the door slam into the wall. Behind her, Miki left at a calm pace, trying to get some distance in between them. "It's fine, it's fine!" Iroha sang, pulling Aria out due to her statue-like state. The four got one week of lunch detention for skipping class and causing a disruption; it wasn't a huge deal to the peach-haired girl.

"I guess we should just go to class, huh?" Miki asked, not looking forward to hearing her sarcastic teacher berate her for being in trouble. Before she walked off, she remembered something important. Turning around, she caught both girls' attention before smiling. "You guys should go out!"

Aria fell to the floor and Iroha was too busy blushing and turning to stone to really notice it.

"Neru-chan!"

"Go away."

Miki puffed out her cheeks in frustration, stomping closer to the texting blonde. "Are you mad at me?" she innocently asked, although her question was sincere. Neru flinched and glanced at her in annoyance.

"Are you?" Miki sighed in her question, dropping down to the floor next to Neru. She fiddled with the phone in her pocket before having an idea. Cherry eyes met with gold and she smiled, holding up her phone. Neru seemed to get the message, but shook her head, ready to stand up and leave.

"Why aren't you in class?" Neru quickly asked, her patience slowly slipping. She had only ever snapped at her brother, but she was sure Miki was just asking to be yelled at sooner or later.

The redhead giggled and shook her head, looking up at the lightless ceiling. "It's the end of the day, there's no point in going to class now," she said, sticking her legs straight out to stretch. Neru simply watched her with a neutral expression, although the irritation she felt could still be seen in her eyes. "There's no reason to leave a friend alone anyway," Miki added, bringing her legs closer to her body.

Neru wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible, checking her phone repeatedly for time to go faster, but she couldn't hide the burning of her ears from Miki's watchful eyes. The other girl reached up and lightly pinched the warm tip of her ear, getting Neru to yelp in a very feminine manner.

"So cute!" Miki gushed, stars gleaming all around her face. Neru leaned away before getting up, facing the opposite direction of the redhead she hardly liked. "Neru-chan?"

After a moment, Neru sat back down in a defensive position, crossing her arms. "I'd be stupid to leave before school ends..." she whispered with a sigh. Realizing she voiced out her thoughts, Neru hid her face from view, allowing Miki to giggle and tease her even more.

Her phone vibrated in her pocket, and Neru took a glance at it before sending a glare to the other girl who pretended like she didn't do anything.

Annoying:

Sent: 1:25

Let's text 'til school ends!

With another sigh and roll of her eyes, Neru began texting her back.

They surely were stupid, texting each other when they sat right next to each other...but Neru found it to be comfortable and less annoying than she thought, even though Miki ended up being too close to her for comfort. But it was nice...and quiet...and Miki smelt like cherries...

We're so stupid. Really, really, stupid.

Aaaand there we have it. I've been a victim of that before; you know, texting someone that's sitting right there! XD Anyway, thank you all for reading!