Chapter 3: Talk to Me

Masamune could feel his face heating up. That little bit of laughter made him blush and he didn't even know why. He was mentally cursing himself, wondering why he was feeling like this. He simply looked at Ritsu until he finally responded,

"So your name is Onodera huh?" the younger smiled and said,

"yup that's my name, sorry I didn't introduce myself the last time we met. I can be kinda awkward sometimes, I'm not really used to talking to many people." He said slightly embarrassed.

Masamune relaxed a bit finding that he could relate to the boy. Masamune wasn't good at talking to others either so felt somewhat closer to the boy. Masamune couldn't figure it out, but Ritsu made him feel oddly at ease but also very uneasy at the same time. The feeling was frustrating him. For a moment it felt as if they were the only two there, Ritsu smiling up at his senpai, and Masamune staring back at him not knowing what to say. Until Ayena decided to chime in,

"Wait you guys know each other already!? I didn't even know Saga had any friends. Wow you're quite the secret social butterfly aren't you?"

Masamune felt irritation start to build up at how she seemed to be mocking him. It's not that he wasn't able to talk to people, he just chose not to because he's an angsty teenager. You know, the usual "I hate everyone" kinda stuff.

"I accidently tripped Saga-senpai while we were in Marimo Books the other day. I was sitting in the middle of the aisle reading a book and I didn't even realize anyone was there." Ritsu blushed at his blatantly honest confession. It was pretty embarrassing for a 15 year old.

"Well it's nice to meet you senpai. My sister is always talking about you, says you're real quiet and cool. Anyways we might as well get started on this assignment. I don't wanna keep you guys long since I know the seniors are real busy too."

The other three turned to Takamatsu who made the sudden response and it seemed they were all brought back to reality, remembering why they were all there in the first place. Ayena agreed and they all went to find somewhere to get the project finished. They all decided to sit in a small courtyard towards the back of the campus. They sat together and the two first years started getting their things situated. Masamune sat awkwardly next to Ayena, wishing he didn't have to do the stupid interview part of the assignment.

"Okay so I'll start with the first question. What is something you learned from your three years in high school?" The two seniors sat there thinking about their answers. It took a few seconds until Ayena Spoke up,

"Well I know one thing is certain. Who you are in high school doesn't mean shit. Worrying about having friends, and joining clubs, and creating all these great memories, none of that matters after this. It means absolutely nothing. Everyone in high school is fake, they don't care about you, they aren't your friends. As soon as you graduate they'll forget all about you. You only matter to them when they need you."

Masamune was completely thrown off at how dark of an answer came out of her mouth. He knew she was an outcast, but he never thought it was this bad. Masamune agreed with her statement, that wasn't the issue here, It was just that he always thought he was the only one who felt that way, the only one who was that lonely. He looked at Takamatsu and Ritsu and noticed they had very understanding, yet sad smiles on their faces. Masamune had no idea what Ayena had gone through or what had happened to her to make her feel that way, but the other two definitely did. The awkward silence was broken when a soft voice spoke up

"I'll always be your friend, Ayena. Even when you're in college and have all these adult responsibilities you could always call me whenever you feel sad or you want to talk about something you did that day. I'll always be there and so will your brother, of course. Here's two people who love you right here, what else do you need?" Ritsu said with a smile so gentle, you would think he was an angel. Ayena just sat there staring at Ritsu. Masamune could see her bottom lip trembling just slightly, and her eyes getting watery before she smiled and said,

"Thanks Ri-chan, but now that you said that you know I'm never gonna stop bugging you right?"

"That's fine"

They both let out a laugh and after a while Ritsu turned his attention to Masamune. Ristu gave Masamune a reassuring smile, obviously noticing how uncomfortable and nervous Masamune was getting. They all shifted their gaze back to the young girl when she suddenly stood up

"I'll be right back. I'm just gonna head to the bathroom real quick." They all watched her walk away then Takamatsu said, "I'm gonna go with her to make sure she's okay." He walked on after his sister, leaving the other two alone. Masamune could feel himself getting anxious, not liking being left alone to wait with the younger boy. Ritsu scooted closer to his senpai, holding a notebook and pencil

"Sorry about that. Ayena tends to be a little emotional sometimes, but it's not her fault."

With this Masamune had to fight the urge to ask Ritsu about Ayena, he didn't want to come off as nosy. After a few minutes internally fighting with himself he finally spoke up.

"So, how do you know Ayena anyways?"

Ritsu sat there with his head resting in the palm of his hand, thinking about where to start.

"Well I met both Ayena and Takamatsu when I was really young, probably around when I was 4 years old. Their parents were good friends with my parents and I would often see them at the different company and business parties that our parents were involved in. Their father owns a recording studio that is used for the recording of drama cd's and different anime, so they meet a lot of different famous people. Ayena would actually babysit me every now and then. That's how we became really close."

Masamune gave Ritsu a very shocked expression which made Ritsu burst out with laughter. Masamune watched as the boy tried to get his laughter under control, and he found himself fighting off the urge to smile but kept his stoic expression. Ritsu finally gathered himself back together and responded with,

"I know what you're thinking, why would my parents leave me alone with Ayena? Well despite her usual self, she's actually a very nice person once you get to know her, and that takes a while. She doesn't just open up to anyone within a couple of days. It takes her a while to warm up and trust people."

After that response Ritsu gave a very sad smile. This expression made Masamune even more curious as to why Ayena was the way she was. He felt slightly guilty for being so prodding about her past but couldn't help himself, so he went for it.

"What was up with Ayena a few minutes ago? I knew she wasn't very social, I mean I'm the same way, but she seemed extremely bitter, like someone hurt her in order for her to say that."

Masamune looked up at Ritsu after asking the question, expecting him to be angry at him for asking something so personal. He was surprised to see instead that Ritsu had a very understanding look in his eyes and the younger sighed asking, "You promise you won't tell anyone else?". Masamune nodded reassuring the younger boy that he promised to keep this information to himself only. Ritsu then continued with his story.

"Like I said, Ayena can be a very loving and kind person if you do enough to earn her trust. She's the way she is because she's so used to being hurt and lied to.

Masamune felt a tinge of pain in his heart, knowing exactly what it felt like to be hurt and lied to. He knew what she was feeling and it hurt.

"You see, Ayena and Takamatsu aren't actually related by blood. They're half siblings. Before Ayena's father and Takamatsu's mother were married and had Takamatsu, their father had relations with a woman he had met in college. The woman was angry at their father for getting her pregnant and even insisted on caring for Ayena on her own, saying that she wanted nothing to do with their father. He ended up never being able to meet Ayena when she was first born and for the next couple of years of her life, because her mother kept threatening him by saying she was going to tell everyone he knew that he had gotten a poor college girl pregnant and didn't want to help her with the baby. This was obviously a lie because their father wanted to help out from the beginning but couldn't because the mother insisted on doing it herself. This confused him at first because he couldn't understand her way of thinking until he finally figured out what she really wanted once he got a court order. Apparently the mother wanted to make it seem that he wanted nothing to do with Ayena so she could get more child support money out him. There was no way out of it, because no matter what the judge would take her side. He payed the bills but was still never allowed to see the Ayena. This all changed when one day, while in his studio, he was met with a very young girl with long, wild burgundy hair and a yellow dress. She had a backpack on with a note in her hand. In the note, Ayena's mother stated that she could no longer care for her and for the father to take control of it. Her father was outraged at how that woman could up and leave a little girl like that. He took her home with him and had to awkwardly tell his new wife about everything that had happened in the past. At first she was a little thrown off by it but developed a motherly instinct to Ayena. She felt she really needed to show the girl love. Since then Ayena has grown more comfortable in her family and loves her brother to death, but she still has this burning resentment for her mother, which causes her to be so distrusting towards others."

Masamune had to take in all the information he just learned, because it was quite a shock. He had no words to express the way he was feeling right now. The best way he could explain his emotion was, guilty? He started to feel horrible about himself. He woke up everyday complaining about his life, feeling as if he had it far worse than anyone else. Now he knew about Ayena's troubling past and honestly felt for the girl. Masamune felt lonely, but he couldn't imagine how Ayena felt on a daily basis.

"But I'm glad she was able to make another friend"

Masamune looked up to see the brunette smiling at him with a thankful look in his eyes.

"I know she can be weird and really rude sometimes, but that's just how she is. You get used to it at some point to where the insults actually seem pretty loving"

Ritsu let out a light laugh and Masamune made a mental note to be a little kinder to Ayena whenever she comes around. Not to pity her either, but because he could genuinely feel for her now. He sat there thinking about everything he just learned when he felt eyes on him. He looked to his side to see Ritsu staring at him, very attentively, he might add. Just when Masamune was about to confront Ritsu, the brunette spoke up,

"So, what about you senpai? How do you feel being in your last year of high school?"

Masamune sat there and pondered his response for a bit until he finally gave a sigh and said

"To be honest my response isn't that far from Ayena's. I don't really have any fond memories of this school and I don't talk to anybody…"

Ritsu analyzed his senpai with a gentle gaze.

"I can be your friend"

"What?"

"I mean we've already met each other, we know each other's names."

Masamune let out a sarcastic laugh. He didn't anything about this kid, despite the fact that he's a little too trusting. How could this kid want to be friends with him when they knew nothing about each other? They were like complete opposites.

"How can we be friends if we don't know anything about each other?"

Ritsu frowned a bit, confused by his senpai's question.

"What do you mean? That's how all friends start off. They don't know anything about each other in the beginning, but the more time they spend together the more they get bond and create a real friendship."

Masamune felt a bit nauseas by the brunette's response. He started to wonder how happy-go-lucky a person could possibly be. "Am I really that fucked up?" Masamune thought to himself.

"Well I appreciate the sentiment, but I don't really do friends and friendship."

Masamune felt a bit guilty after saying this because the look on Ritsu's face showed that he had just gotten his feelings hurt. Masamune didn't mean to come off as rude but that's how Masamune truly felt. He wasn't a social kid and didn't really know how to deal with a person like Ritsu, so he tried to alleviate some of the awkwardness.

"Well it's not like I can stop you from talking to me. I'm just letting you know, I'm not that great of a person, but by all means be my guest."

Ritsu's eyes lit up and he smiled, which honestly made Masamune feel a little bit happy. The two boys turned their attention to the two people walking towards them. Ayena and Takamatsu returned just as the bell rang, signaling the end of their lunch period.

"Thanks for your help Saga-san, I think I can handle the rest of the assignment. If I need any more help though, I'll definitely hit you up.", said Takamatsu giving the older boy an apologetic smile. Ritsu then stood up to return to class with his friend, but not before turning around to give Masamune a friendly goodbye.

"It was nice talking to you senpai. I'll see you around, okay?" The brunette then smiled and winked at his senpai, causing Masamune's eyes to widen. With that Ritsu started laughing, waving one last goodbye to both his senpai and Ayena. The two seniors stood there, Ayena waving happily back and Masamune glued to his spot with his mouth hanging open. He snapped out of it when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to his left to see Ayena smiling ever so mischievously, with her eyebrows raised.

"Sooooo, when did you and Ri-chan become such great friends?"

Masamune just turned around and started walking towards the school building with Ayena laughing and jogging to catch up with him. As he was walking, he couldn't help but smile a little bit. He thought about the brunette and his all too happy expressions. Masamune started feeling a tinge of something in his chest. He didn't know what it was, but it made him feel all warm inside.

"That kid is crazy" he said, shaking his head and smiling at the same time.