A/N: I'm surprised at how many people liked the story. Haru is definitely a character I don't see a lot of love for. But for now, enjoy...
Chapter 1. Interested?
(April 13) Afternoon
Haru was thankful for the volleyball rally.
In truth she wasn't a fan of the sport, even less so the teacher that coached the team at Shujin, but it had given her the entire afternoon to work on the gardens.
As she dug carefully in the rooftop flowerbeds, she thought briefly on the boastful coach and grimaced. While she hadn't seen any concrete evidence, Kamoshida had always seemed the type to stand on the backs of others.
Recently she'd even taken note of the startling comparison between the former olympian and her own "fiance."
Haru's brow furrowed and she felt her jaw tighten.
Even the thought of Sugimura was unpleasant; as was the way Kamoshida strutted around the school.
Still, the man's ego had allowed for extra gardening time, and she could at least be amicable to that.
Haru put the spade she had been using to the side and peered into the soil. With a sigh, she removed her hands from the dirt and brushed them off.
A weed had entangled its roots with one of the flowers and she'd require smaller, more precise, shears to extract the offending plant.
Slipping through the rooftop doors, she made her way down the steps to the third floor. Just past the main first year classrooms was a small supply locker for various tools. Normally students wouldn't have access, but the key in her gym sweats was a privilege exclusive to the gardening club.
As she walked through the hall, a notorious mess of raven hair caught her eye. It hadn't been the first she'd seen of him today. Earlier he had been talking with some of her fellow third years. It seemed like they were having a tense conversation.
And now, the transfer student stood tall, looking down, quite literally, on the shorter first year as the younger student seemed anxious.
She knew if any of her peers made the same observation, they would jump to the conclusion that the transfer student was skipping the volleyball rally to harass other students. It didn't help that it seemed he was only targeting students who were on the volleyball team.
Admittedly, Haru knew it looked sketchy on the surface.
But just as she wasn't just the "spoiled," "obedient," "mindless," daughter of Kunikazu Okumura, she wanted to believe there was more to him than the "delinquent" everyone made him out to be.
However, believing in things had been getting harder lately.
Haru shook her head and cleared her thoughts. She was going to focus on her garden work. With the weed wrapped around the flower, it would surely wilt away if she didn't tend to it. That was all that mattered.
She walked by the two, catching the tail end of their conversation as the first year spoke nervously.
"...please, just stop talking to me…"
Haru stopped a pace ahead of them. She waited, her nerves jittering around. She hadn't meant to stop, to listen, to eavesdrop, but something inside her had halted her gait.
Slowly, she pulled to the side and acted as if she was checking a flier on the wall.
Haru didn't like rumors. They tended to be nasty, lesser versions of the truth. But her belief in the transfer student ended when another's distress began.
She'd never stood up for anyone before and she wasn't sure she was ready to right then and there but, at the very least, she wanted to hear what would happen next.
It looked as if the transfer student was about to speak when an announcement on the comm system cut him off.
"Attention Attention, all matches have concluded. Please get ready to go home for the day."
With the interruption, the first year quickly left and when the transfer student noticed, he simply sighed and rubbed the back of his neck.
Unexpectedly, his gaze wandered to her and they made eye contact.
She'd been caught.
Haru froze. It had been some time since she'd met anyone's eyes. A surge of panic fluttered through her and yet she didn't look away.
Beneath his glasses, his eyes were pale and dark, giving off a silvery sort of glint. His lips curled carefully into a gentle expression.
And then he spoke.
"You should really reconsider... if you were interested."
His voice was surprisingly soft.
Reconsider? Interested? What did he mean by that? Her heart began to quicken. Remaining composed, albeit blushing, she responded.
"Um… what do you mean, 'interested?'"
He nodded to the wall she was standing in front of. She followed his lead and looked at the flier she had been pretending to read.
It was just another promotional paper for the volleyball team. Advertised in bold words was: If interested, speak with the Gold Medalist Mr. Kamoshida in his office to apply.
Oh, so that's what he meant.
A bittersweet pill dissolved into her stomach. She'd been so silly.
Haru looked back to where the transfer student had been standing only to find the spot vacant and a glimpse of someone rounding the corner down the stairs.
She stood there a moment longer, puzzled at the small interaction they had shared. Given his words, it would seem the transfer student was also wary of the volleyball team and its coach.
She pictured him once more: tall, slender, with those glasses and messy hair. She wasn't sure what to make of his interactions with the other students, but he hadn't seemed that bad. Certainly not what the school had made him out to be. He felt more the dashing rogue than the malicious, mannerless, scoundrel.
Haru let her thoughts on the matter fall away.
Speculations of the transfer student was pointless. It was unlikely that she would interact with him again. She set her feet in motion and resumed her garden errand.
After retrieving the smaller shears, Haru made quick work of the invasive weed. She gave the rest of the rooftop garden a close inspection before packing her tools and leaving to tend to the flowerbeds at the school's entrance.
The plant life on the first floor was by far more extensive than the small plots of soil she'd cultivated on the roof. Just like always, she'd have to load up a small service cart with tools and horticultural remedies.
As she left the supply closet on the first floor and entered the entry hall, she found herself encountering the transfer student interacting with yet another nervous classmate. However, this time, they weren't alone.
From behind her cart, she watched as the messy haired transfer student, the blonde "delinquent," another nervous student, and Kamoshida, seemed to be engaged in a heated dispute. It was kept low-key, but she knew a temper when she saw it.
Not wanting to be caught staring again, she quickly pushed her cart of supplies past them and to the garden. As she got set up outside, Haru couldn't help but wonder what was happening.
All the sightings with the transfer student speaking with members of the volleyball team and now his conflict with Kamoshida, painted an interesting picture.
Maybe there really was something going on behind the scenes of the volleyball team and the transfer student had found something out.
That same bittersweet sensation washed over her.
It was something out of one of the old stories she used to read.
A misunderstood hero comes into town and upsets the status quo as they battle prejudice and villains alike. It was a nice thought... that someone like that could exist.
Haru scoffed quietly.
Reality never quite measured up to fiction. Roughly, she stabbed her spade into the soil. She thought of the fireplace back at the penthouse.
There were no more heroes for her.
(April 15) Morning
With a soft shudder, Haru pulled her pink sweater tighter around her frame. The endless rolling grey left the weather overcast and brisk.
Normally she would have been in class, but when they were offered a free study period, she had opted to spend some time on the roof until it was time for her next class.
While it was a little cold, the fresh air was nice.
It was always peaceful on the rooftop.
The elevation and numerous plots of greenery gave a sense of seclusion from the normal bustle of city life. It reminded her of her own garden, one of the last few places she still found solace.
Her thoughts receded as the sound of the rooftop door creaked open. From her settled position at one of the empty desks, she regarded the newcomer curiously.
It was another female student.
It was strange for someone other than her to visit the rooftop. Most people didn't know it was unlocked.
Haru looked her over. She had long dark hair tied up in a ponytail with a collection of bruises across her open skin. It was as she took her first step upon the rooftop that Haru noticed the girl was limping.
Something simmered beneath her lungs as she thought of the girl's injuries. Haru stood from her seat.
"Um, excuse me, are you alright?"
Her fellow student continued to limp across the rooftop as if Haru hadn't said anything.
"Hello? Can you hear me?"
The girl stopped at the fenced off edge of the building.
A swelling sort of anxiety began to build within her head. Something was wrong.
Before she could say another word, the girl began climbing the fence. Her own words were a blurred buzz as she reached out.
By the time Haru reached the ledge, the girl stood on the other side of the fence. She could only watch, breathless, as one of her peers, with a soft push of her feet, dove into the air.
Haru flinched as a sudden 'thud' came from far below.
The world was quick to make a spectacle and the courtyard filled with onlookers. Even with all the commotion, everything had gone quiet.
Evening
The day blurred together.
She was found standing, staring out across the cityscape on the rooftop. A teacher brought her to the principal's office and she was advised to keep quiet about the entire incident until it was sorted out.
Haru suspected they were saying that for their safety more than hers, but she couldn't bring it in herself to care.
She couldn't unsee it.
Crystal clear memories of the bleary eyed emptiness that plagued the girl as she limped to the fence replayed in her head. It continued, leading up until the moment that she'd tipped over the edge.
When her father had returned to the penthouse from work, he told her that she shouldn't look so serious. That it wouldn't do for an Okumura daughter to have such a bleak disposition and, of course, Sugimura wouldn't like it.
The school had sent out a message to the student's guardians, but she couldn't tell if her father had read it. She knew he would have said the same either way.
Haru had nodded along and smiled; she wasn't really sure why. The words he'd spoken had left nail prints in the palm of her hand from clenching her fist.
She hated how she still played along.
The sound that followed the drop echoed back to her and she stood from her seat along the penthouse balcony. Slowly, intently, she traversed to the railing and leaned against it. Looking all the way out to the city, her gaze soon dipped low to the long fall pavement beneath her feet.
She thought of the transient sakura petal she'd seen on that fateful night in march.
Freedom? It was like a sick joke to her now. Had she jinxed herself?
Or had she been too naive to think she'd ever escape a life like this.
Escape.
Haru's eyes widened. Is that what that girl had tried to do? Had her fellow student sought to escape?
Haru stood there for a long time until her hands began to tremble and her breath was shallow. She backed away carefully and sat back down. Her legs raised to her chest and she let her head rest on them, closing her eyes.
It was sobering to consider her options, few as they were.
The image of the student falling was replaced with her very own likeness and she shuddered. It was like a warning.
That night Haru didn't sleep much.
(April 16) After School
The next school day passed in a sleep deprived haze.
The staff had kept her own identity a secret but students heard a girl yelling on the rooftop when Shiho Suzui attempted to kill herself. Along with that, there were rumors that the transfer student was going to be expelled. Wild speculations flew around the school.
'Why did Suzui try to kill herself?'
'Who was the other mystery female student on the roof?'
'Why was the transfer student getting expelled? Did he have something to do with it?'
All of it made her sick.
The school had banned access to the rooftop, reasonably so, but it meant her garden would suffer. The thought of her wilted pride set a frown across her features.
But more than that, she began to dwell on her interaction with the transfer student after the volleyball rally. In all her time at Shujin, she couldn't remember a single instance in which someone advocated against the volleyball team.
What did he know?
There was something happening behind the scenes at Shujin Academy, she was sure of it. And, somehow, the transfer student was involved.
Haru, having finished her lighter load of garden work, stepped into the company car that had been sent to retrieve her from school.
As she pulled away, her eyes found the rooftop ledge. The whole affair left a strange impression on her.
The way Suzui had looked on that rooftop, lifeless and without hope…
If nothing changed and she became the plaything of a loveless marriage, Haru wondered if that would be her one day.
She hoped not.
Despite the rooftop being off limits, they had congregated here anyway. If it was off limits, it was unlikely anyone would be up there to interfere with their planning.
They'd had a quick meeting, discussing preparation before their trip into Kamoshida's palace. He was set to speak with the shady doctor back in Yongen Jaya.
Ren had been about to leave when something caught his eye. He walked closer to the plotted soil filled with various kinds of flowers and plant life. Kneeling down, he examined the enclosed terrain.
It had been an awfully warm spring day.
"Hey Ren, you coming?" Ryuji asked from the blue double doors.
Still beside the flowers, he turned to regard the blonde.
"Go on ahead without me…"
His silvery eyes drifted to the small faucet and watering can to the left of the doors.
"...I'll just be a second."
A/N: This chapter wasn't super plot heavy, just a little set up for the two to meet. Thanks for reading and hopefully I can get another chapter out soon.