"Lately, I been thinkin' bout a major

Gotta grind, kinda low on my paper"

-Lil Bing, 2002

Diamond quickly turned her attention to Paul, beaming a big cheerful smile at him.

"Hey Paul, you got what I asked for?"

He chuckled nervously, a light blush coming onto his face as he dug through his backpack.

"Uh, yeah, right here."

After a few seconds, he fished out a little baggie, gingerly handing it over to Diamond, who looked practically giddy as she slipped it into her purse. Her head tilted to the side like a cat.

"Hehe, thanks Paul, I owe ya."

His blush deepened a bit as he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Haha, it's nothin'."

Yup. I found Isshiki's long lost American cousin. He shuddered a bit as he imagined the two meeting and conspiring to drain him of all his precious free time. Sofia, who had somehow made her way to the front without him noticing, tapped his shoulder. When he quickly turned to look at her, she jumped back a bit sheepishly before getting to business.

"Hey, uh, are you alright?"

Hachiman raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

She blushed slightly in embarrassment.

"Oh, it's just, uh… you looked like you were having a Vietnam flashback or something, haha…"

Hachiman smiled a bit at her joke, but felt a bit worried. Was he seriously that easy to read? Maybe he should practice being more stoic. Just as he was getting lost in his train of thought he felt a tap on his shoulder from Sofia again. She smiled a bit, looking less bashful than a bit ago.

"You're, uh... doing it again."

Hachiman blinked a few times absently as she brushed a strand of hair behind her ear, giggling softly. This girl might be even more dangerous.

"Ayo, Hichimon! You eat yet?"

Paul called out something vaguely resembling Hachi's name, causing him to shake his head.

"It's Hachiman. And no."

Upon being asked, he realized he forgot to pack lunch. He also didn't feel like stopping by the cafeteria and potentially getting his ass kicked. It seemed like Paul could read his mind.

"My bad bro. You want this? My mom packed me one but I hate her food, I just got something from the cafeteria instead, haha."

He took out a brown paper bag with a little patch of moisture near the bottom. Hachi's eyebrows raised in surprise at his luck. Was the universe finally paying him back for all those years of torment? He graciously took the bag.

"Thanks, I really appreciate it."

Paul chuckled, readjusting his baseball cap.

"No problem broseph. I'm a giving soul."

Hachiman glanced at Diamond, thinking of the interaction he saw just a moment ago.

"Yeah, I can tell."

Diamond just gave him a knowing wink and a smile, which he did his best to ignore as he opened the bag. Some chips, a juice box and an unappealing, slightly crushed sandwich. Was this really what Americans ate for lunch? He sighed internally, mind longing for a bento as he dug in. The rest of the group sat around eating as well, making conversation that Hachiman mostly tuned out until Amanda turned to him.

"Soooo, how is it so far? Being in America, I mean."

Hachiman frowned a bit as he thought it through.

"Hmm… I can't say yet, I haven't even been here a full day. Met some cool people, met some assholes. It's definitely… different."

Amanda nodded thoughtfully, tapping her chin with a finger.

"I see. That definitely sounds like America to me."

She laughed a bit to herself before her expression got a bit more serious.

"For real, though. Around here, everything's on you, succeed or fail. I know it sounds kinda corny, but finding people you can 100% trust can be… tough."

Hachiman opened his mouth to ask what she meant, but decided better. He drummed his fingers on the table awkwardly for a second before Alex chimed in.

"Yeah. That's why it's so important to stick together."

She gave Hachiman a firm look.

"We're all here cause we got fucked with by somebody, bad. We all got some shit goin' on out there."

She motioned at the door as she said it before turning back to Hachiman, her expression dead serious.

"So you aren't gonna tell nobody about this place, right?"

Hachi blinked a few times in confusion before giving her an incredulous look.

"Seriously? Why would I tell anybody? Obviously I don't want word getting out and CC's crew coming by to stomp me out. Did you really think I was gonna start telling people?"

The whole group breathed a sigh of relief that Hachi hadn't noticed they'd been holding. Alex just messed with her jacket zipper awkwardly.

"Yeah… sorry, I just had to make sure. It happened before."

Hachiman raised an eyebrow, Diamond suddenly cutting in.

"For real! We used to meet in one of the old trailers till we brought this one chick by and it ended up all on snapchat. We got in so much fuckin trouble from that dumbass hoe! Found this place though so it ain't all bad."

She finished that last statement with a smile, everybody else nodding a bit in agreement. The classroom did definitely seem a lot nicer than an old trailer. Alex looked back over to him.

"But yeah, that's why we gotta be careful when it comes to this stuff. I mean… you ARE comin' back, right?"

Hachi pretended to mull it over a bit before nodding.

"Yeah."

The others smiled at his choice just as the lunch bell rang. Alex looked at her phone for the time.

"Shit. We gotta get to class. See y'all tomorrow."

Everybody rushed to pack up, opening one of the windows to toss the trash into the dumpsters behind the room. Huh, that was convenient. Amanda waved to him as she left.

"See ya, Hachiman!"

He waved back. Sofia smiled softly, nodding to him as she walked out.

"Bye, Hachiman…"

"See ya bro!"

Paul made his boisterous exit before Hachi could respond to either of them. He slung his backpack over his shoulder as he left, already feeling tired and dreading the rest of the day. At least he met some decent people, unlike those guys on the bus. He wondered what the guy who helped them with the dresser was doing. What was his name again?