"How's your weekend, Sarada?"

Chocho asks after we settled down. I give her pouty lips while I am taking out my things from my bag.

"Hey..." she makes it sound long to calculate my mood, I guess. I look at her with my brows raised.

"It went well if you're asking about our community service," I say and return to my work. I think I already know what she was implying about my weekend.

"Hmm..." she hums suspiciously as if she is not convinced with my response. I just focus my attention on my things.

"What about you though? How was your weekend with Mitsuki?" I ask trying not to let the conversation die.

"It was kind of busy yet great," she says casually.

"Like nothing strange happened?" I raise one of my brows and look suspiciously at her.

"What kind of strange thing are you talking about?" she asks furrowing her brows at me.

"Like... Hmm..." I mutter and then squint at her.

"Like he told you he likes you accompanying him?" I tease her and I can tell how her cheeks blush.

"Why the heck would you think that?!" she flusters and I slightly laugh.

"You are always there for him though," I shrug and she looks in his direction, and she immediately returns her gaze at me.

"We are friends, just friends, you know?" she feebles, and her face glooms.

"It's alright," I say while rubbing her back to comfort her. Chocho and I came early to school. The room isn't filled with the class yet.

"Good morning, Sarada," Sumire greets me upon entering the classroom with Boruto.

"Good morning, Sarada, Chocho," Boruto greets us as well while wearing a smiling face.

"Good morning," I greet back them and smile.

They settle down and Sumire starts to talk to him, "Our community service was one of the best. I hope there will be more before our graduation," she is smiling. She looks so beautiful when she smiles.

"Yeah, that was one of my best experiences so far," Boruto replies smiling at her.

"Aren't they lovely?" Chocho presses me on my side and I look at her. She is giving me a smirk and I look down not to look at them anymore. I decided to grab a book underneath my desk then Chocho nudges me on my side again.

"What?!" I snap. Then her lips point at the doorway and when I turn to eye what she is trying to make me see it's just the jerk walking in the room.

"Good morning, Kawaki," Yodo greets him with a smile on her lips but he ignores her miserably. I can see how she scowls at his back. I try not to have direct eye contact with him. He walks past me and I know he doesn't bother looking at me. What for though?

"What's with that face?" Chocho says and pokes my cheek.

"Hey, stop!" I respond irritably and she pouts.

"Well, based on Kawaki's reaction nothing great happened with your community service," she says. Of course, nothing great would happen if you work with a jerk.

"What did you expect about the outcome anyway?" I say and roll my eyes.

I glanced at Yodo and she crosses her arms while pouting. Tsubaki tries to talk to her but she is telling her to shut up.

"How unfortunate..." Chocho mutters and I raise one brow and she grins.

What she's thinking?

We stop from our not so important conversation when our teacher arrives.

"Let's walk together to the council's office Sumire suggests after our class this afternoon. I did not expect her to ask me.

"Is it okay? Boruto may like to accompany you going there," mind you I stutter when I said that.

"No, it's okay he is busy with his club though and I don't think he would," she says. What does she mean?

I tell myself to ignore it and did not ask her about my doubt. Lovers quarrel? It doesn't sound right but I should not mind, right? I still haven't confirmed their relationship but it's pretty obvious I just don't want to believe it.

"I see," I murmur.

"Let's go?" she says and I nod and we head to the club's office. She is talking while we are walking. She tells me about their community service and how they enjoyed it. I just listen to her. She is fun to be with, to be honest.

"What about you? How did your community service go with Kawaki?" she suddenly asks and I stammer.

"Huh?" the only thing I utter.

"What's wrong?" she asks so confusedly.

"W-Well, it went well. I enjoyed it," I say and give her a very awkward laugh. I think I look so stupid in front of her.

"I noticed that Kawaki isn't that friendly. Don't get me wrong but I never saw him socialize with others nor talk to some of our classmates," she says and puts her hands behind her.

"Well, he is a total jerk," I say boldly and immediately cover my mouth. They unexpectedly slip from my lips.

"What?" she stops walking and faces me.

"Well, he is anti-social, rude, and a jerk," I say honestly. I have no choice but to justify my former statement because she has heard about it.

"Was he rude to you during your community service?" she stretches her eyes in shock. Well, you know he was, right?

"Hmm. If not talking to you is being rude then he was," I say and she drops her jaw when she heard it and then looks ahead of us.

"He must have a problem," she utters. She sounds kind of worried about him.

"You think so?" I ask cluelessly. She might be correct or he is just a jerk. Well, it's none of my business.

"Yeah, but I think it's none of our concern anymore," we have the same thought in mind.

"Yeah," I utter and finally we have set foot. Everyone is already there and they are waiting for me to arrive and we start right away upon my arrival.

Sumire keeps her apprenticeship and slowly occupying the things she must learn. She is clapping both her hands for me. She is very supportive of everyone too.

"You guys are amazing!" she says cheerfully and then she tries to imitate me in one of my scenes. It's embarrassing seeing her do that but she is truly funny. I can't help myself from laughing. Our practice has ended and we are about to leave the room.

"You know, you did great. You have memorized that line? Cool. I think you will be part of the club in no time," I say to her and her eyes glitter upon hearing my words.

"You think so?" she asks while giggling. I nod and she smiles.

"I can't wait for that time to come," she is optimistic. Well, she will for sure. We walk off and head out of the campus separating our ways.

Well, if she's like that, I am defeated. I think I have lost the war.

"All right, listen up guys," Boruto starts. The red team assembled in a circle. We are in the field planning for our race tomorrow.

"This is our setup for tomorrow," he continues. He puts the board at the center with an oval drawing that represents the oval in the field and the points where each team member will position.

"On the first base from the starting point, it will be Iwabe. He runs fast and gets the record of second place from our last year's fifty-meter dash. I am pretty sure they will put Lee or Wasabi on the first point," he starts explaining and it looks like Iwabe agrees with him.

"On the second base, it's Shikadai. On the third base is Namida. On the fourth base is Denki. On the fifth base is Dae, he runs fast too. On the sixth base is Tsubaki. On the seventh base is Sarada and I will be on the last base. Do you have any objections?" Boruto asks and everyone shakes head to respond 'No' to him. So, we have finally settled and are ready for tomorrow's relay activity.

I turn to my right and see Mitsuki discussing with his teammates. Well, he is the only one who can lead that team. I secretly gaze at Chocho and laughs when sometimes gapes while listening to Mitsuki.

"We can't lose against them. You know it's a drag studying P.E. and still fails later on," Iwabe says and everyone laughs at him.

"Yeah, that's why we need to do our best here," Boruto encourages everyone.

"I guess we're ready for tomorrow," Tsubaki shrugs and I nod.

"And I can't lose to that girl either," she says gazing at Sumire. She then looks away and walks off. Everybody is so determined to win the match tomorrow. Well, I need to have that spirit as well.

"Are you ready for tomorrow?" I ask Chocho who is munching on her snack as we walk home.

"The relay makes me hungrier you know?" she says while chewing the food inside her mouth. I give her a wry smile.

"Well, my team is ready to beat you up though," I tease her and she narrows her eyes looking at me.

"You can't beat us. We have in our team the champion in track and field," she boasts and picks another chip from her snack and lands it in her mouth.

"But unfortunately, they have you," I tease her more and she looks sharply at me.

"Sarada!" she screaks and I burst out laughing.

"I'm sorry I was just kidding," I apologize. My hands are on my stomach because it hurts when I burst out laughing.

"Well, we can't lose. You guys are the geniuses and studying is no big deal to you," she keeps her stand and tries to explain to me.

"We can't let Iwabe down you know. Let's do our best," I say and bump her to her side. She pouts and continues to eat her snack.

7:59 a.m.

We are now in the field and waiting for our P.E. teacher to arrive. I do not feel good about this race.

"Sarada, are you okay?" Namida asks me when she notices that I'm fidgeting at the back.

"Yes," I stutter and she furrows her brows. She seems not convinced with my answer.

"Don't worry about me, okay?" I say and try to smile. She nods and walks off. We are now divided into two based on our teams.

I can't stay calm because...

Kawaki's POV

I'm walking my way inside the school building when I sight on the dork running towards the locker. I arrive there in no time and she is changing her shoes already.

She closes her locker and aims to walk off when I block her way. She looks at me with a puzzled face may be wondering why I am blocking her way.

"What?" she snaps raising one brow. That annoying face again.

"I just want to remind you that I am now collecting charges from your foolish action last time," I say while opening my locker and takes out a pair of shoes.

"Collecting what?!" her voice raises upon hearing my statement.

"So, you have forgotten how you scanned through my bag without my consent," I say while changing my shoes. She did not utter a word. I get up and face her. She's looking seriously at me.

"So, you are going to blackmail me again, huh?" she says holding her temper.

"Whatever you call that," I respond looking at her burning eyes.

"What do you want now?" she tries to stay calm despite her angered self.

"All you need to do is help me win the race or it's troublesome for you to tutor me with this subject," I say and close the locker. I give her a proposition.

"Are you for real? You know I can't do that," she refuses.

"Okay, let's see what happens after the race," I say and leave her. I know she'll do it. She will make her team lose for me.

"You're the worst monkey-faced jerk ever!" she shouts but I ignore her.

Well, let's see what she'll do...

To be continued...