'Thoughts' ← thoughts / "" ← speech
** ← actions / ~~ ← phone calls
[ ] ← Narrator
Shirogane opened the door to the student council room.
"Shirogane welcome" Kaguya was sitting on the sofas drinking from a teacup.
"Hi" Shirogane scanned the room and saw that Ryo wasn't in it. "You wouldn't happen to know where Itsuki is?"
"He was here but went home early because he was feeling ill" Kaguya put her teacup down.
"He did look a bit pale on the way to school today".
"Is there anything I can help you with?" Kaguya got up from her seat.
"We usually eat lunch together that's all".
"I was just about to eat mine if you care to join me?"
"Sure".
Meanwhile with sick Ryo.
["Oh my god!"]
Ryo was quickly awakened by the narrator's shouts. "Huh!? What!? What happened!?"
["You'll never believe it!"]
"What?" Ryo rolled over.
["They're progressing!"]
"Huh? Who are?"
["Shirogane and Shinomiya!"]
"Good for them… good night" Ryo closed his eyes.
["Fine! I can tell I'm not wanted here. I'll go hang out with the hopefully future couple"]
"That's cool with me, see you later…" Ryo nodded off to sleep.
Back with the "Hopefully future couple".
Kaguya and Shirogane sat at the table and put their lunch boxes on the table.
Shinomiya opened her lunchbox and it caught Shirogane's attention. It was a perfect balance of nutrients and taste. "Do you make your own lunches Shinomiya?"
"No, I have personal chefs to make it for me".
"I see…" Shirogane opened his lunch box next. His lunch was something she never thought a lunch could be, it wasn't a perfect blend of nutrients but… anything a person would want to eat, free to contain whatever one desired.
"What about you Shirogane?" Kaguya asked.
"I don't usually but I got a large shipment of vegetables sent from my grandfather in the countryside. So I'll be making them for a while".
["At this moment Kaguya is wanting one of Shirogane's octopus sausages but her pride won't allow it. And any moment now Chika's going to come bursting through the door and advance the "battle" evenmore, I can't wait! It's been forever since the story moved forward normally!"]
Shinomiya and Shirogane started eating.
["Alright and… Here comes Chika!"]
"..." The two continued eating in silence.
["Alright I got the timing wrong. *Cough cough* Here… comes Chika!"]
"..." Nothing happened.
["Where… Where is she? And why aren't they saying anything!?"]
The reason Shinomiya and Shirogane weren't talking is because of one overlooked fact… They don't actually know each other that well! And just like any other teenager they have no idea what to talk about if their friend in the middle (Ryo) is missing.
'What do we talk about!?' Shinomiya and Shirogane thought in sync.
["This is a disaster! Ryo!"]
At the same time Ryo felt a chill go down his spine and blamed it on the sickness.
Shirogane quickly thought of something that two people could talk about. "So… There seems to be rumours going around…"
School rumours! A tale passed on to one student then to another and so on. Though they might get a bad rep most times it makes for a great conversation starter If you pick the right one that is. And the one Shirogane went to was…
"That you and Itsuki were dating".
Terrible choice! You never want to start with a rumour about the recipient.
Shinomiya swallowed her food before she spoke and covered her mouth with her handkerchief. "It's baseless rumours, I wouldn't worry about it". 'Although if he were to offer me a town or two then maybe they wouldn't be so baseless'.
"So you're not dating the president?"
"No we are not dating and I'd prefer to talk about something else" Kaguya grew fidgety.
"Yeah…" Shirogane took a sip of his drink trying to think about something else.
"Hm~ hmm~" Somebody was humming in the hall and was getting closer.
["Could it be?"]
"Hmm~ hm~" The humming got louder as it got closer.
["It could be no other person than her!"]
The humming stopped as the person entered the room.
"Hey Fujiwara" Shirogane said.
["Fujiwara! Finally! The story can progress!"]
"Oh are you guys eating lunch? Can I join?" Fujiwara asked.
"Be our guest," Shirogane said.
Fujiwara sat down and put her lunch on the table, she took a glance at the others lunches. "Wow, your guy's look yummy, especially the octopus sausages".
Shirogane knew what she wanted and decided to go with it. "Do you want one?"
Chika nodded and Shirogane lifted his lunchbox and faced it to Chika to make it easier for Chika to grab one with her chopsticks. "Thank you" as Chika ate the octopus sausage she made a face of pure delight, catching Kaguya's attention.
Shirogane saw Kaguya was looking at the octopus sausage. "Do you want to try one too?"
"Would that be alright?"
["Wait…"]
"Ofcourse" Shirogane held his lunchbox up to her the same way he did to Chika.
Kaguya took one of the sausages and ate it.
["But… her pride shouldn't allow it? I'm at a loss. I can't take it I'm going to go and hang out with Ryo"]
Chika looked around. "Hey, where's the president?"
"He went home because he felt ill," Kaguya explained.
"Oh…" The room fell silent for a few seconds. "I wonder what the president is like when he's ill?" Chika said, catching Kaguya's attention again.
But for Shirogane he had already experienced it. "I wouldn't go near Itsuki when he's sick".
"Why?" Chika asked.
"He's like a whole different person".
"How so?" Kaguya asked.
"He has a frightening look in his eye as if he's peering right into your soul".
"And?" Chika couldn't help but get more curious.
"He gets Irritated very easily".
"What else?"
"Well… he doesn't put his hair up in a bun like he usually does and he gets hot very easily so he's always shirtless".
In that one moment an image of Ryo shirtless entered Kaguya's mind and it left just as quickly.
"I say we visit him after school" Chika stated.
"Did you not just hear a word of what I just said about him being easily irritated?"
"Come on, it will just be a quick visit from friends, isn't that right Kaguya?" Chika tried to get Kaguya to side with her.
"I've got some time after school and a short visit from friends could help him feel better" Kaguya couldn't deny it, she was curious about sick Ryo.
"You too… I guess I can't stop you guys" Shirogane said.
Afterschool.
"So where does the president live?" Chika asked Shirogane as they were walking down a street.
"We both live in the same apartment block, it's just up ahead" Shirogane walked with his bike beside him.
"I vaguely remember the president saying that you two lived in the same apartment building," Kaguya mentioned.
"And there she is," Shirogane said as they turned into the plot of land the small apartments sat on.
"So which is his?" Chika asked.
"Number 4, it's on the bottom floor, you guys go ahead I need to lock my bike".
"Alright" Chika and Kaguya went on ahead.
["And that's what happened today"]
"Oh really…" Ryo stepped out of the shower and dried himself.
["You could at least act like you care"]
"You should have expected it to happen like that".
["Why's that?"]
"They're missing two major plot points".
["Like what?"]
"Well for one they-"
*Knock knock*
"For one they barely know each other and-"
*Knock knock*
["Someone's at the door"]
"They can wait. And secondly they don't love each-"
*Knock knock"
"Alright! Alright! I get it!" Ryo covered himself with a towel from the waist down and walked to the door.
["Oh… I just looked at who it was… This is going to be very awkward"]
Ryo slammed the door open.
Everything entered a standstill as Ryo, Chika and Kaguya just stared at each other as their faces went red and as water dripped off Ryo's body then Shirogane stepped in.
"What's wrong, why is nobody saying anything?" Shirogane walked up until Ryo came into view and then quickly jumped in the girls line of sight and blocked their view.
"You two wait here a second" Ryo grabbed Shirogane's shoulder and dragged him in before closing the door to get answers.
'That was more than shirtless! But…' Kaguya thought to herself.
"He's more muscular than I had imagined," Chika said.
Shirogane sat by Ryo's door while Ryo got dried and dressed. "So why are you guys here?"
"They wanted to see if you were alright?"
"And you could not have texted first?"
"I don't have your phone number".
"You don't?"
"No, you never gave it to me".
"Here" Ryo walked past drying his hair and passed Shirogane his phone so he could get his number. He then walked over to the front door and opened it. "Sorry for closing the door on you two"
"It's alright" Chika seemed unaffected whereas Kaguya quickly turned away as Ryo looked her in the eyes.
'I can't tell if she's flustered or not' Ryo said as Kaguya walked past him.
["I'm going to be honest I didn't know they were coming"]
"I believe you".
["Wait really!?"]
"You might be a bit "eccentric" at times but you wouldn't leave something like this out".
["Aw~ thanks, I'm glad to have you as a partner as well"]
"Did you say something, Itsuki?" Chika asked.
"No, you guys want something to drink?" Ryo walked over to the fridge.
"What do you have?" Shirogane asked.
"Chocolate milk, apple and orange juice or coffee".
"I'll have some chocolate milk," Chika said.
"Same here I guess," Shirogane said.
"I'm alright," Kaguya said, quickly diverting her eyes from Ryo's
'Did I do something wrong?'
["I can think of one thing but other than that… I'm not sure? Usually I could just read her mind but it's all scrambled at the moment, all I can make out are very few words"]
And he was right. At the moment Kaguya is trying to piece together all her thoughts to calculate a proper response to the situation, she had prepared for a shirtless Ryo not a 20% covered version so every time a perfect response would enter her mind a soaked Ryo in a towel would enter her mind and mess it all up again.
Kaguya's thoughts 'I don't understand why I can't focus on anything but them'.
["Them?"]
'Those sharp eyes. I know Shirogane said he had a glare that could look straight into someone's soul but I didn't think it was for real!?'
Oh… I was wrong - FanFic Narrator (7th/Nov/2022)
"Here you guys go, are you sure you don't want anything Kaguya?" Ryo said as he placed the two drinks on the table.
"No I'm fine" Kaguya kept turning away as soon as she locked eyes with Ryo.
"So do you work out?" Chika broke the ice.
"A little why?" Ryo said.
"You're more muscular than I thought" Chika mentioned.
"Thanks… I guess?" Ryo didn't know how to take the sudden compliment.
"Don't you think so Kaguya?" Chika turned to Kaguya.
"I'm sorry, what are we talking about?" 'His eyes are so cool!'
"We're talking about how muscular Ryo is," Chika said.
"Why are we talking about that?" Kaguya asked.
"Chika brought it up," Shirogane said.
"I just think it's kind of unusual how the same president that sits at a desk and reads all day is well… swole," Chika said.
"I'm not muscular enough to be considered "swole" but I do more than sit at a desk and read, I exercise every morning before I head to school that's why I'm in good shape" Ryo stated.
"Oh yeah I guess you do sometimes leave an hour and a half before we leave for school" Shirogane said.
"That's when I go for a run".
"Do you lift weights?" Chika asked.
"Yes and why are you so interested in why I'm in shape".
"It caught my attention" Chika stopped asking questions.
The group talked about different subjects until one of their curfews came up.
"Don't feel like you have to push yourself to come in tomorrow," Shirogane said at the front door.
"Rest for as long as you need to," Kaguya said.
"Get better" Chika said as she exited the apartment.
"Thanks, you guys be safe" Ryo waved goodbye as they all walked out the door and Ryo closed the door behind them.
["So… That was an eventful visit"]
"I hope they forget that ever happened. '' Ryo walked back to his room, sat on a chair and stared at the ceiling.
["Oo… yeah that's not going to happen, by the way I have a question"]
"Go for it"
["Why do you work out? Do you have any special reason to or is it just for fun?"]
"In short an old friend of mine was a muscle fanatic. He was constantly training no matter where he was and one day I got beat up and he came to my rescue, he said to me "If you don't start training and bulk up I'll beat you up myself" and from that day forward training was always a part of my daily routine".
["Are you sure he was a friend and not a bully?"]
"Doesn't matter… but at the end of the day I'm thankful for one thing".
["And what's that..?"]
"That they didn't see my tattoo".
["Tattoo!?"]
[Todays battle result: The Narrator loses]
Sorry this chapter took a while to come out. I'm going to keep this series going so don't worry it just might take a while for some chapters to come out. I will make sure to at least have a chapter per month, more if I can. Thanks for reading.