Chapter 2
The first time Haruki ever interacted with Isuke, Haruki had been taking a nap on the couch under the bleachers. She was having a peaceful slumber when she was awoken rudely by a loud bang and sounds of someone's high heels clacking back and forth.
Startled, she jolted up quickly from the couch, thinking that she had been caught by the janitor or a teacher for lounging here during school hours. Her couch was well hidden behind the walls, but she wouldn't be surprised if someone had found her. If people looked hard enough, her secret hideout could easily be found.
However, she didn't find anyone near her hideout. She slowly got up from the couch and tiptoed towards the source of the sound. Peeking over the walls, a relieved sigh escaped her lips when she saw that it was just a student who didn't even notice her. Said student was pacing back and forth, one hand on her hip while the other on her forehead. Her body posture was rigid and tense and Haruki could hear her cursing under her breath. Haruki wondered what could possibly get Inukai Isuke all worked up. As far as she knew, Isuke is a very direct person and when she is angry at you, she would let it all out on you, not bottling up her anger and releasing it when nobody is watching.
She should let her be. It wasn't her business to pry, and besides, if she started to pry, her hideout would be discovered. As she was about to turn away from the scene before her, her foot accidentally kicked a pebble and she braced for the inevitable.
True enough, Isuke's pacing and cursing stopped immediately as she turned around sharply. Haruki noticed the way her expression changed from shocked to anger and a mixture of embarrassment as she quickly wiped her cheeks upon realizing that she was not alone. Making nothing out of it, Haruki stared back at her with a big grin plastered on her face, trying to make the situation as not awkward as possible. The other girl, though, wasn't smiling. She was glaring at Haruki with a look of disgust on her face.
"Oh, it's just you," Isuke said in annoyance. "What are you doing here?"
"Oh, nothing. Just hanging," Haruki replied casually, while walking towards her with her hands behind her head. Better than the other girl walking towards Haruki and discovered her secret hideout. "What are you doing here, though, Isuke-san? I didn't think someone as high class as you would come to hang out here."
"Isuke can be wherever she wants to, even a disgusting place such as this," the pink haired girl said with a tone of superiority, one hand on her hip. It amazed Haruki that Isuke could change her demeanor so fast. One second she was about to break down, the next, she was back to her usual egotistical self.
"Ah… that's right, I forgot. You walk around this school like as if you own it," Haruki joked good-naturedly.
What the-. Nobody in school dared to talk back to Isuke like that. Well, nobody except for this redhead nobody. Isuke was not in the mood for this. Narrowing her eyes the pink-haired girl warned, "I think it's best that you run along now. You're starting to piss Isuke off."
Haruki ignored her warning and continued her stride towards her. Eyeing Haruki carefully, Isuke had a million questions running in her head. Questions like "What does this dummy think she is doing?" And "Why hasn't she run away with her tail between her legs like so many other students?"
As the redhead got closer to Isuke, she noticed that Isuke's eyes were a bit red and puffy. Had Isuke been crying as well just now? Isuke was known for a lot of things, but crying or showing the slightest bit of emotion was never one of them. The only emotion she had ever shown in public was anger and disdain. If Isuke really had been crying earlier, Haruki felt bad for interrupting her privacy. Had it been any other student, Haruki would ask out of concern. But Isuke was not any other student. She knew that if she dared to even try to ask, Isuke would tear her down with her sharp words. So, Haruki just kept on walking towards the other girl while looking at her puffy eyes, trying to analyze them.
"What?" Isuke asked obnoxiously while crossing her arms and taping her foot. Haruki's golden orbs were penetrating, and she didn't like it one bit. What did this redhead want? Did she have a death wish or something?
She hoped that Haruki did not notice that she had been crying. "Never seen a pretty girl's eyes having an allergic reaction before?" she smirked flirtatiously as she flipped her hair back, trying to hide her discomfort. This tactic usually worked for her to get out of uncomfortable and awkward social situation, because once she started her dangerous game of flirtation, the other party would become a fumbling mess and leave her alone.
Haruki nearly laughed at Isuke's antics. Any ounce of sympathy she felt towards the playgirl dissipated immediately. She decided to play along. With a mischievous smirk (and to Isuke's horror), Haruki leaned even closer towards Isuke, never once breaking eye contact with her.
"Does this girl know anything about personal space?" Isuke thought. "Who does this unrefined specimen of a human being think she is?" Unless you were in the same as or higher status than Isuke, nobody in this whole school would dare to look into Isuke's eyes, let alone being in such a close proximity with her. Isuke's glare faltered for a millisecond but she quickly regained her composure and glared back at the redhead harder. She wasn't about to back down now and lose to Haruki at this staring competition, who was still staring back at her with that wide starry golden annoyingly beautiful eyes of hers.
Haruki knew that she was playing with fire. Under normal circumstances, she would not find trouble with Isuke, especially right now, since the other girl was in a sour mood. Under normal circumstances, she would not even initiate any interaction with her. People of lower social class, like Haruki, would have a death wish for even dare to look in Isuke's direction.
But Haruki had no other choice. She had to do this in the hopes of scaring Isuke away so that Isuke wouldn't discover her secret hideout and expose her to the principal. She knew she would be dead to Isuke for the rest of her school life, but she would rather handle her wrath and humiliation than losing her secret hideout. This was the place where she kept all her stash for her secret side business and sometimes, personal pleasure. Losing this place means losing her stash, losing her stash means losing her business. And losing her business, means losing her financial income and her inability to support her family. And her family means everything to her.
Suddenly, Haruki let out a hearty laugh, breaking eye contact with Isuke. "I don't think that's an allergic reaction, but whatever, dude! Relax! I was just being friendly!" Flashing a charming smile, she extended her hand outwards for a handshake. "The name's Sagae Haruki. Nice to meet ya!"
Rowdy behavior and to top it off, a cheap nail polish and fashion sense, Isuke observed in disgust. "I know who you are," Isuke stated haughtily, slapping the redhead's hand away. She wished she could slap Haruki's stupid lopsided grin away, though. "And don't think I'm like one of your stupid fangirls who could be easily fooled by your unsophisticated charm and cheap taste."
"Woah man! I never knew the ever so popular and rich Inukai Isuke would know a low class citizen like me. And to think that she thinks I'm charming? Why, thank you, dude!" Haruki guffawed, not in the least bit offended. "Though I think you're mistaken about my non-existent fangirls."
"Oh my God. She's really as dense as people say," Isuke muttered under her breath while pinching the area between her eyes. She decided that she had enough of this… this… imbecile calling her dude and man. Never in her life had she encountered someone so rude and disrespectful towards her.
"First of all, call me dude or man one more time and you'll be dead the next time." Putting on a saccharine smile, Isuke gave Haruki a flick on her forehead. "From now on, I'm Isuke-sama to you."
"Ok, Isuke-sama. From now on, you'll be Isuke-sama to me," Haruki said playfully, a mischievous glint in her eye. "I never expected Isuke-sama to know who I am, let alone think so highly of me."
"You poor people are so easy to please. As long as a person of higher status and class like me acknowledges your presence, you're so happy like a dog wagging its tail non-stop," Isuke commented dryly. "Isuke may be arrogant and self-centered, but she is not stupid and dense like you. Why wouldn't I know who you are, idiot? Everyone knows who a little delinquent like you are with your little illegal side business."
Haruki was caught off-guard. Isuke let out a half laugh, half snort sound while checking her manicure. "Poor poor Haruki. You really think you can stay low profile forever? People talk. You really are an idiot for trusting people too easily."
Suddenly, Isuke's expression changed. "Hmmm… now that Isuke thinks about it…" the pink haired girl began, tapping her chin thoughtfully with one perfectly manicured finger. The minute she said this, the colour on Haruki's face drained. Her worst fear had come true. "… Isuke knows what you're doing here now." Looking at Haruki's paled expression, she knew she was right.
She quickly walked past a panic Haruki, who quickly trailed after her trying to block Isuke from walking any further. But she was too late. Isuke had walked past the wall and discovered her secret hideout.
"My, how comfortable," Isuke remarked dryly, eyeing the area up and down. She never knew of its existence, in fact, nobody knew about it. A comfortable couch in the middle of the makeshift hideout, if you ignore how old and worn out it was. At the corner of the hideout was Haruki's stash of weed. "A bit messy, but it's perfectly hidden from everyone else. Well, everyone else except me now." A creepy smile slowly crept up her face.
"Isuke-sama, it's not what you think it is!" Haruki pleaded. "It's just somewhere I'd like to hang out to get away from the stress." Did she see her stash? It was so obvious, of course she'd seen it.
"I see," Isuke said, her tone unreadable. Turning back to Haruki, she saw that the redhead's earlier confidence was gone, replaced with something like dread. It all finally clicked for Isuke. Haruki was just putting on a façade earlier on because she had something to hide. Both of them had quite a number of classes together, but Haruki had always managed to avoid Isuke. They had never acknowledged each other's presence in school, not because they hated each other, but because they were of different class and status, and there was never any reason for them to talk to each other in the first place. So, the only reason why Haruki would be on a death wish for talking back at her earlier would be this.
"You thought that by pissing me off to no end, I would walk away so that your secret would be safe, huh?" Isuke chuckled. "Well, if there's one thing you didn't know about Isuke, it's that Isuke never walks away from a fight."
Of course Haruki knew that. Even if she never witnessed it firsthand, she had heard plenty of gossips about the popular playgirl. "Look, Isuke," Haruki began, her eyes flashing dangerously, her playful demeanor gone. "I know how this looks like to you, like I'm just a low life drug addict doing this side business to sustain my lifestyle. Think whatever you want about me, I don't care, but if you dare to even try to expose me, I'll stop you at all costs. Because you should know that I never walk away from a fight either," she finished with a determined look in her eyes.
"Oh, how serious you sound right now, Haruki-chan," Isuke mocked. "You really think you can scare Isuke off that way?" Isuke flicked Haruki's forehead again. "And besides, who said anything about exposing anybody?"
Haruki looked dumbfounded.
"Listen," Isuke began, her tone becoming serious. "You don't want Isuke to expose you, you're gonna have to agree with her on a few things. Is that understood?
Without waiting for Haruki's reply, she continued, "Number one: whatever you think you saw and heard just now, you never saw and heard it."
Oh. Haruki finally understood. As much as she feared being exposed, Isuke feared the same thing too. If Haruki told everyone in school about seeing Isuke's red and puffy eyes, it would start a chain of rumours that Isuke is in fact vulnerable and weak. And doing this would ruin Isuke's reputation which she held so dear. Of course, people like Isuke would care about nothing but their status and reputation in school.
"Tell no one about our little encounter; in fact we had never talked to each other, and I'll tell no one about your little secret."
That was easy. "Deal!" Haruki agreed without a beat, surprising Isuke momentarily.
"You haven't heard the rest yet and you accepted the deal so easily and quickly? My, you really are very trusting, aren't you?"
"… Well, if you want a cut, I'm afr-"
"I don't want your meagre earnings," Isuke cut the other girl off abruptly. Smirking, she continued, "I haven't thought about the rest yet. But I'll keep you updated when the time comes." With a flip of her hair, she turned her head high up and strutted out of the bleachers.
Haruki's next school day went smoothly by without any incident. For once, she was early, but she realized that being early didn't make any difference. It was still a boring routine day at school; the usual cliques hanging out together, Sumireko being flanked by two of her minions by her sides, students walking while talking to each other about the latest gossip of the day, teachers walking like zombies to their faculty, and well, Isuke was still Isuke.
She saw Isuke in her line of sight when she took a book out of her locker. Isuke was leaning against her own locker which was located just a few steps away from Haruki's, paying more attention to her fingernails than to her only friend, aka sidekick, talking animatedly about something.
"Nio, be a dear and…" Wanting to get rid of her friend by ordering her to do something, Isuke started, but she was stopped short when she sensed a pair of eyes on her. Looking up, she saw it was Haruki staring at her. Arching up a perfect eyebrow, she stared back at the redhead.
Nio Kuzunoha was quick to notice a change in Isuke's demeanor. She turned her head to look at the direction Isuke was looking at. Sagae Haruki?
"Oh, that Sagae. Did you hear that…" Nio began to gossip about Haruki, but Isuke wasn't paying any attention. Most of Nio's gossips were based on unfounded rumours, anyway. She turned her head up and walked away, with Nio trailing behind her.
Haruki snickered while watching Isuke walked away with her signature hair flip. "Nothing has changed," Haruki thought with a relief, while she began walking to her class. She had been expecting to be called to the principal's office anytime soon, but that never happened. She felt silly for losing sleep over her worry last night. She couldn't believe that she had agreed to Isuke's deal so quickly without knowing the rest of her conditions. For all she knows, Isuke could go back on her words and destroy Haruki. Isuke had nothing to lose, besides her reputation, which well, when Haruki thought about it, was nothing compared to what Haruki could lose.
"Haruki!" An all too familiar voice called after her. "Wait up!"
Haruki turned around and spotted her friend waving her hand and running towards her, while dragging a blue-haired tomboy along. These two were inseparable ever since they started dating.
"Oh hey, Haru! What's up!" Haruki greeted her friend with a big grin.
"Nothing!" Haru chirped happily. "I'm just happy to see that for once, you're early! So I want to take this opportunity to walk with you to class!"
"Ok," Haruki laughed, ruffling the shorter girl's hair. The only reason why she was early was because she couldn't sleep last night thinking about her encounter with a certain pink-haired girl. She was lucky to be able to get out of the mess alive. Only a few students would be able to live to tell their tale after going head to head with the popular dangerous playgirl. Well, she couldn't tell her tale now after making that deal with Isuke. "Hey, Tokaku." She nodded her head towards the tomboy in greeting.
"Sagae," Tokaku responded with a nod of her head, before turning to Haru. "I'll be going now. See you at recess," she uttered, before striding away. Azuma Tokaku had always been distant and aloof, but today, she was moodier than usual.
"What's she brooding about this time?" Haruki asked jokingly, as both of them resumed walking to their class.
"Oh, it's just Inukai-san again. Apparently, they had a fight yesterday but Tokaku wouldn't tell me what it was about," Haru explained. "Then just now, both of them bumped into each other and they were about to fight again if it weren't for me stopping them."
"Oh, so that explains Isuke's distress yesterday," Haruki thought, waving back at a student who waved at her. Both of them were famous for their enmity. They were seen giving each other snide remarks a handful of times, but it was never serious. A few times when it had gotten serious, Isuke had never won against Tokaku.
Occasionally, Isuke would pick on Haru, and if Haruki had not been so busy with her family and her side business, she would have defended Haru. However, Isuke picked on everyone and it was not really a big deal for Haru because it wasn't anything that she couldn't handle, so Haruki just waved it off. Besides, she didn't want any trouble finding her at school as it would affect her business.
When Haru started dating the blue-haired tomboy, Haruki thought that Isuke would stop picking on Haru due to Tokaku's popularity at school. However, that wasn't the case. Tokaku would defend Haru from Isuke, and this worsened their already sour relationship further. And Tokaku was one student that Isuke could not go up against. Where Isuke was all bark but no bite, Tokaku doesn't bark. She would get straight to the point and hit you where it hurt the most. Tokaku was mostly quiet, but she had this aura where she could dominate even the icy queen bee in this school if she tried. Even Sumireko knew about this and would pick her battle with Tokaku wisely.
This is why it annoyed Isuke to no end, knowing that she could never win against Tokaku in a verbal smackdown. Haruki wondered what Tokaku had said to Isuke that caused her to cry yesterday.
"You're really lucky, Haruki," Haru was saying, breaking the redhead out of her reverie. "Inukai-san never picked on you."
"Heh," Haruki smiled humbly at her friend's remark. "Isuke never picked on Tokaku and Sumireko too."
"Well… Tokaku is Tokaku, and the only person who is wealthier than Inukai-san is Hanabusa-san. It would be wise for her to seek alliance with Hanabusa-san than becoming her enemy," Haru reasoned. "But you, how did you manage to do it, Haruki? I think you're the only student in this whole school who managed to avoid Inukai-san's path."
"Are you secretly rich? Maybe that's why Inukai-san never give you trouble?" Haru asked jokingly.
"Ha, I wish!" Haruki replied, slinging her backpack casually to the other shoulder while waving back at yet another student. "I have no idea why I never crossed paths with Isuke, though. Maybe it has to do with the fact that I always skip school or that I'm a nobody for her to notice me." She hated lying to her friend, but she had already made a deal with Isuke.
"But that isn't the case, though," Haruki thought. "She clearly knows who I am when we had our talk yesterday, if you'd call that a talk."
"You underestimate yourself a lot, Haruki," her friend said kindly. "People notice you. Look at how many students that had waved at you during our short walk. None of them even noticed me!" As Haru said that, another student waved at Haruki and Haruki waved back. "You see, that's student number 6 already! You're popular, Haruki."
"Haru, I'm not popular," Haruki said lazily while popping a Pocky stick into her mouth. "I'm just friendly."
"Well then, how do you explain all the secret love letters that I always have to reject on your behalf?"
"These secret love letters are for you, Haru. They ain't for me. We have almost identical name; Haru, Haruki. And we both have red hair. See, it's easy for people to mistaken you for me."
"Haruki! How could you not see?" Haru asked, almost exasperated that her friend was that dense. "Or are you acting dumb?"
"Whatever, Haru…" Haruki sang as she got into the class and sat down on her seat. "Why are we even talking about this in the first place? You know I don't care about popularity. It's not like you cared too."
"I know," Haru said as she sat down in front of Haruki and turned to look at her friend. "But it would help if you'd acknowledge it and reply your own love letters instead of me replying it for you. Do you know how many fangirls of yours I have to reject this month?"
"Your fangirls." Haruki poked Haru on her forehead with her pencil for effect.
"You're impossible,"Haru complained, but she wasn't angry. She turned to face in front when Isuke strutted into the class, with her sidekick trailing behind. As usual, Haru braced for Isuke's insult, but surprisingly, none came. Instead, out of the corner of her eyes, she noticed Isuke and Haruki making eye contact, but it was gone as soon as it happened. Usually, Isuke would insult Haru with her creative words whenever she walked past while ignoring Haruki, on the occasional time when Haruki wasn't late. Today though, Isuke did not ignore Haruki.
"What was that?" Haru asked when Isuke was out of earshot.
"What was what?" Haruki asked, feigning confusion.
"That," Haru said, making subtle gesture between Haruki and Isuke. "You and Inukai-san. I saw an exchange between the two of you."
"That was just a glitch in the matrix," the redhead deadpanned.
"Oh come on! I know what I see and you can't deny it!" Haruki whispered loudly. "And you said she doesn't notice you, huh?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," Haruki said, suddenly yawning. Her lack of sleep last night was finally taking a toll on her. "I'm gonna sleep now, Haru, so I'll just leave you with your active imagination."
"Haruki! You haven't been this early to class for a very long time, and you're gonna waste it all on sleep?" Haru asked, chuckling. She knew it was too good to be true for her friend to be so early in class without a catch. "Come on, sensei is here. You can't get away with sleeping in class, unlike a certain someone."
Too tired to argue, Haruki just waved her friend off and laid her head down on the table. Stifling a giggle, Haru looked up and saw Isuke sitting on her seat at the back of the classroom, arms and legs crossed while staring at Haruki with an unreadable expression. Normally, Isuke would immediately fall asleep the minute she reached her seat. She had never shown any interest in anyone as she deemed everyone else is beneath her. But here she is now, still staring at Haruki like she is the only person in this class. What has the world come to? Haruki was early, and Isuke not sleeping in class? Something is definitely going on between them.
"Don't tell me that I have to reject Inukai-san on your behalf soon, Haruki," Haru groaned quietly to herself while turning to the front of the class.
Sitting next to Isuke, the ever observant and nosy Nio also noticed something amiss with Isuke. This is the second time she caught Isuke staring at Haruki, which ignited her curiosity.
"Say, Isuke. I never knew you're suddenly interested in a low class nobody. You have to fight with her many fangirls, you know?" Nio remarked amusingly, anticipating how Isuke was going to respond to being caught. For as long as she knew Isuke, there were only two reasons a person would catch the playgirl's attention. One: if she wanted that person dead especially that person was of lower status than her, or two: if she wanted something from someone. Haruki was of a lower status than Isuke, but right now she wasn't looking at the redhead like she wanted her dead. And there was nothing that Haruki could offer Isuke. Nio couldn't make out the meaning behind Isuke's stare, so she tried her luck by making a joke that Isuke could be interested in Haruki.
Breaking her gaze away from the redhead, Isuke answered smugly, "Are you implying that Isuke couldn't stand a chance against all her stupid fangirls? Isuke's got game, y'know?"
Nio snorted. "Ha! Don't make me laugh, Isuke. You've never even tried to play the role of a pursuer before! But why Sagae? Both of you got nothing in common, she's from a lower status, and you've never even talked to her before!" Suddenly a realization came upon her. "Aha! I've got it! You're after her weed, aren't ya?"
When Isuke didn't answer, Nio said seriously, "I thought smoking pot is beneath you, Isuke. And if you really want to play the role of a pursuer, I'll be your advisor! My first advice is, not Sagae. She's a low class nobody who would only taint your reputation."
Suddenly, Isuke flashed a saccharine smile at Nio. "Wanna know what my first advice to you is, Nio?" she asked, flicking her forehead. "Isuke's not as proud and pompous as you think she is that she wouldn't give a blue collared worker a chance."
"Are you seriously into Sagae?" Nio asked in surprise.
"Oh my sweet sweet Nio," the playgirl said sarcastically. "You think you know Isuke so well, huh? Now's your chance to prove it."
"Oh come on, you never give me a straight answer whenever I asked you something personal. I thought we were best friends." Nio whined.
"Well, that's the cue for you to stop sticking your nose into my business, Kuzunoha," Isuke said seriously, flicking her friend's forehead again.
"Ahem, Kuzunoha, Inukai. Please pay attention in class," the teacher said. "And Sagae!" the teacher shouted, "No sleeping in class!"
Notes: So I forgot to mention that Haruki is a weed dealer and an occasional weed smoker, aside from being a Pocky addict lol. I mean, she has to carry all the burden and responsibility of taking care of and feeding her big family at just a tender age of 17/18? Surely this huge responsibility will take a mental toll on someone sooner or later and she will need an outlet to de-stress. In the anime and manga, she's always so happy and laidback... it makes me wonder if she's on happy pills or something to keep her spirits alive lol. So, an idea is born.
