As the class was dismissed for lunch, Kasumi was eager to go find a spot to eat. Taking out her gigantic (in comparison to others) lunchbox, she joined the crowd of people trying to get out. She felt like eating somewhere that wasn't her classroom.

As she filed out, her stomach grumbled so loud that a few of the other students actually looked around before realizing where the sound came from. Just like clockwork, the gossip/rumor mill of Shujin started up again as students barely bothered to keep their voices to a whisper as they stole glances at her. No doubt they were discussing her eating habits. Never before had she felt so sensitive when she finished her meal only to realize that the entire class hadn't left the room and had watched her eat. Soon enough, she started hearing about the 'thin honor student with a black hole for a stomach.'

It was only two days and already she was starting to regret coming.

As she left the room, she saw one of her classmates pass her by. Ann Takamaki sat in front of her, and while she was confident in her own looks, Ann was certainly more worthy of being called 'beautiful.' Piercing blue eyes, voluminous blond hair, and a robust figure certainly made Kasumi believe how Ann found quite a bit of success as a model. Still, even the little amount of time that she spent around Ann made it easy to pick up that Ann certainly had a sweet tooth, to the point that she wondered how it was that Ann's seemingly constant consumption of sweets hasn't affected her figure at all.

There was also the other thing that she had been hearing about Ann: her relationship with Kamoshida. As far as she knew, the only real thing Ann had in connection with volleyball was that her best friend was Shiho Suzui, a starter on the women's volleyball team. And yet, the rumors seem to focus on how close the two were, with even some going into scandalous territory.

If you asked her, she was sure that it didn't reflect on Kamoshida well when he seemed to not mind or even attempt to dissuade the rumors. Still, the other possibilities refused to go away, and so Kasumi kept her distance. However, she would keep an eye out for Shiho when the volleyball rally started tomorrow.

The idea of someone possibly… influencing a decision that should only be based on merit and hard work made her stomach roll… Or maybe that was her stomach reminding her that she still needed to eat.

Briefly looking out the window, she decided that the inner courtyard would be a nice place to eat her place. Descending down the stairs, she came out to see a crowd surrounding the school store, purchasing whatever was left before making off with their bounty. Just as she passed, one person stepped out from the crowd and nearly collided with her. Deftly avoiding a serious bump, she then recognized the person that had stepped out.

"Ah, Ren-san!" "Senpai?"

Her kouhai was there, holding a Yakisoba bread and a carton of milk. Kasumi frowned, already seeing that was nowhere near a nutritious enough lunch for him. Maybe he simply had a big breakfast and he was still really full? Come to think of it, while she had some idea of his life at school, his home life was still somewhat of a mystery to him.

Well… that could be fixed. Just then, she noticed that quite a bit of the crowd were starting to look at them when she didn't immediately continue walking. Already knowing that this was simply going to create more fuel to the rumor mill, Kasumi smiled at Ren.

"Ren-san, just the person I wanted to see." "...You did?" Ren couldn't hide the surprise from his face.

"Yeah, you want to eat lunch with me?" Ren blinked at the question as she ignored some rumblings from the students.

"Y-You sure? You know who I am, right? You're okay with that?"

Kasumi nodded. "I believe that what you did there at the subway was genuine. At the very least, I believe that you aren't the same person from that incident."

Briefly, Ren frowned, and Kasumi felt a drop in her stomach, wondering what she might have done wrong. Then he sighed, his frown disappearing, as he seemed to mutter something under his breath. She tried to listen in, before he switched gears and gave a brief smile. "Alright, Senpai. Where are we heading?"

"I was thinking that it was a nice day outside, so how about the courtyard?" Kasumi said as she led Ren towards the area, fully ignoring the people as they started to whisper towards each other.

The two walked across the courtyard, glad to find that the small alcove, stocked with vending machines, had nobody sitting there. As soon as the two sat down, Kasumi pulled out her lunch box and opened it, resisting the urge to drool.

"Uh...Senpai?" Kasumi looked to her side, her kouhai's eyes wide as he looked at her lunch. "Are you… eating all of that?"

Kasumi nodded as she picked up the first morsel and neatly scarfed it down. "Of course! I'm an athlete, I need my energy. Come on, better eat up! Nothing like a good lunch to keep you energized for the rest of the afternoon."

With that, she began to quickly eat her lunchbox. As she got halfway, she looked over at Ren. He hadn't taken out anything else, so the bread and the milk wasn't a side dish. He was also eating it very slowly, trying to make each bite last longer and probably trying to trick his brain and stomach into thinking he was full. Swallowing her bite, she pointed at his meager looking lunch. "Is that all you're having for lunch?"

Ren paused in his eating, before swallowing his bite and quickly washing it down with a sip of milk. "Yeah, it's the most I can afford right now. Have to account for any other expenses like…"

Her kouhai looked at her before shaking his head. "N-Nevermind."

"Expenses?" Kasumi tilted her head.

"What other expenses do you have to worry about? I'm sure that whatever you have done, your parents-" "I'm not living with my parents."

Ren had tersely interrupted her, a look of frustration and poorly concealed sorrow on his face. Immediately, Kasumi bit her lip. "I'm sorry, I didn't know."

Her kouhai waved his hand before giving a quick smile. "Don't worry. Heck, you're one of the few who probably even cared enough to ask and not just assume stuff. I mean, you have heard the rumors about me, right?"

Pausing her eating, she put a finger to her chin. "I believe I have even heard that you used to smuggle elephant tusks."

"...Ok, that's definitely the first time I've heard that one." Ren admitted as Kasumi giggled a little. Still, what she heard of Ren's personal life still rankled her.

"So… are you alright, have you been living with other folks?" She asked, her hesitance of pushing forward overshadowed by her desire to know more.

Ren had finished the last of his bread and sipped at his milk. "Well, I've been staying with this guy who runs a coffee and curry cafe, LeBlanc, in Yongen-Jaya. Apparently, my parents are friends of one of his long-time customers. He's… He's pretty cool."

"Does he feed you?"

"He has been feeding me curry for breakfast and dinner for the past three days since I got there. It's pretty good, goes even better with the coffee he serves."

Curry and coffee, what a strange combination. She had to admit, it was strange enough that she wanted to try it now. Quickly shaking her head and shelving that errant thought, she turned back to Ren. "Does he change the recipe for you, like adding more vegetables or something like that?"

Ren looked horrified at that suggestion. "I'm pretty sure that Boss would kick me out if I even suggested that."

"Ah, that proud of his recipe?" Kasumi said as she looked back down at the last of her uneaten lunch. It wasn't much, but then she had to remind herself that her definition of 'not much' in terms of portions was slightly, slightly different from a lot of people.

"Here, you can have the rest." As she slid her lunchbox over, she quickly remembered something before trying not to blush. "Just… don't feel bad about not finishing. I'm… not the best at cooking. I'm learning, but I guess it's just enough to be edible to me."

Her kouhai stared down the box she was offering, before reaching out and taking it. Looking down at it, he took out one of the riceballs that was still left. Kasumi was thankful the riceballs were the last pieces remaining, since she didn't have extra chopsticks on hand, and it was doubtful that her kouhai had any utensils on hand.

Taking a bite out of the rice ball, he began to cautiously chew it, before blinking and thoughtfully chewing. She watched with bated breath as he slowly polished off the riceball, considered it a while, before taking both of the remaining riceballs and taking a bite of each. Finishing his bites, he looked over at Kasumi, concerned.

'Oh no… it's not good, is it?' She thought to herself sadly.

"Senpai, are you okay?" He asked, as if he was trying to approach a subject with unsure caution. "Because if this is what you consider 'not good', you need to reconsider your standards."

Kasumi stared at Ren, her mouth slightly hanging open as her heart actually sank. "W-What? Never mind, I see what you mean. Just let me-"

As she reached out to take back the lunchbox, her appetite a little dimmed, Ren looked at her hands quizzically. "What are you doing, senpai?"

"Taking them back. Don't worry, I won't let them go to waste." She responded, only to be stymied by Ren, who slightly held it out of reach.

"Senpai, it's good. It's really good."

Kasumi shook her head as she tried to reach for it some more. "No, no, you don't need to be nice. I can take criticism."

"I think you need more help taking compliments, senpai. I'm not lying, this is really good… I mean, look."

Scooping up both of the rice balls, Ren stuffed both of them into his mouth at the same time. Kasumi blinked at the sight as Ren tried to chew everything despite his cheeks nearly stuffed to the max. After a while, he began to slowly swallow everything, his cheeks becoming less and less puffed out. Finally, he swallowed the last bite, got the last of his milk and washed everything down. Setting his empty carton down, he looked over at Kasumi before handing back her box.

"...I'm not sure what I was trying to prove with that."

"You were trying to prove that you actually liked my cooking, and not just trying to be nice." Kasumi said as she set the lunchbox aside. "If you want, I can make some extra lunch for you, if boss continues to only feed you curry."

Ren stared at Kasumi, his smile uncertain of the offer. "Thanks. I'm not yet tired of Boss's stuff, but I'll definitely keep that in mind."

She nodded back. "Also, feel free to rely on me. I am pretty busy with gymnastics, but I'm willing to listen to whatever problems you have."

"Uh...sure." Ren looked down at the ground, collecting his thoughts about something. Kasumi simply waited, allowing her kouhai to think about her offer. Finally, he sighed a little as he stared at her.

"Senpai...not that I'm not grateful, but why are you doing this? No one… Barely anyone is doing anything like this for me… so why?"

Kasumi collected her thoughts as best as she could as she thought about her answer. "Well, I thought it wasn't fair that everyone seemed to be against you. From what I have heard, they took you in so that they could try to rehabilitate you, and it feels like that they gave up on you already. And that shouldn't be, so what if you just made a mistake-" "It wasn't a mistake."

She blinked at her kouhai's interruption, his expression hard. "Excuse me?"

"It wasn't a mistake. The guy was dragging the woman towards a car, I stepped in, he stumbled and hit his head on the ground, then he blamed me when the police showed up. That's what happened!"

Kasumi didn't know what to say, this suddenly became something that was beyond anything she was expecting. But her kouhai was staring at her, clearly waiting for her to say something. So she said something.

"I see. Well… maybe you were simply misinterpreting something about the situation. It's okay, but you can't let your emotions get the better of-" "He didn't show up to the hearing." "Huh?"

Her kouhai cut her off again. "The guy himself didn't show up to the hearing. They only heard the police officers and the lady I helped, telling the judge that I was the one in the wrong, that I was the one that assaulted them… No one wanted to listen to my side. Everyone already thought I was guilty."

The red haired girl bit her lip. She had an idea of how the system worked, and she believed that it did work. Her kouhai clearly believed in his innocence, but the police and courts, they didn't make mistakes, they couldn't. They shouldn't.

Come on, Kasumi. Think of something, anything… "Did the principal set you up for this?"

She looked up at Ren before resisting the urge to flinch. His eyes showed no signs of the warmth and mirth of what felt like hours ago, having been replaced with suspicion and hurt.

"Sorry?" "Did that no-neck ball of lard put you up for this?"

Kasumi gasped. "Ren, that's uncalled for. I know that he could stand to lose some weight, but he still deserves your respect."

"He can have my respect, as well as this school, WHEN THEY STOP TREATING ME LIKE A TICKING TIME BOMB!" "Is there a problem here?"

The two turned to see a short haired brunette with a third year button standing firmly there. Ren stared at her before sighing and shaking his head.

"No, there is no problem, senpai. I was just leaving now." Without saying another word, Ren left the area, with the third year keeping him in her eye until he disappeared into the school building. Turning towards Kasumi, the third year's gaze softened as she quickly walked up to her. "Are you alright?"

"I- Yes, I'm fine. Nothing happened, um…" Kasumi hoped to get a name.

The third year quickly looked embarrassed. "Oh, my apologies. Allow me to introduce myself. Third year and student council president, Makoto Niijima. I hope that you have been treated well here in Shujin."

"OH!" Quickly getting up, Kasumi bowed. "Second year Kasumi Yoshizawa, please take care of me."

"A pleasure. Now, are you sure that nothing happened? I have been alerted by some students that a black haired first year was starting to make you uncomfortable. Is this true?"

Looking at Niijima-senpai, Kasumi wondered what she should do. The look in her student council president's eye all but said that anything that could be seen as threatening behavior would instantly be reported and her kouhai would certainly get in trouble. All she wanted to do was talk to him, not get him kicked out!

"That isn't true, Niijima-senpai." Kasumi said in an even tone, trying to make it sound like she was leaving nothing out. "He was getting upset at his treatment here at Shujin. He just… He just needed help."

Niijima stared at her for a while, before dropping her gaze and closing her eyes, clearly thinking to herself. After a while, she opened and nodded to her.

"Alright, considering nothing else has happened, I am willing to overlook this." Niijima gave a small smile. "In fact, I believe that Ren Amamiya may benefit more from you looking out for him. Apparently, he has been associated mostly with Ryuji Sakamoto. In fact, I believe that Amamiya-san was late for his first day because of him."

She heard of Ryuji Sakamoto. Apparently, he had attacked Kamoshida a year ago when Kamoshida volunteered to oversee the track team's practices when the coach was dismissed. She had also seen Ryuji a few times in the halls, his clearly dyed blonde hair standing out in the crowd.

Still, the possibility that Ryuji had taken Ren under his wing left her with a weight in her gut. What were they doing during that first day? All sorts of images flew past her eyes as her thoughts ran wild.

Just then, Niijima checked her phone. "Ah, lunch is about to be over. We should get going to our classrooms. You have a good day, Yoshizawa-san."

As she left, Kasumi picked up her lunchbox and walked toward the building, completely lost in thought. How was she going to get through to Ren now? Even though she didn't fully understand what happened, she knew that she blew it. It was going to be hard to earn his trust now…

Her grip tightened around her box.

So what? She was Kasumi Yoshizawa. She didn't give up… and she didn't fail.

And she wasn't going to fail her kouhai.