Chapter 8

"You're early," Isuke stated when she saw Haruki on the couch at their usual spot. School had just ended not too long ago.

Upon seeing Isuke, Haruki immediately got up and gave Isuke a big warm hug, surprising the pink-haired girl. This is the first time they shared a hug and Isuke didn't know how to react. The hugs she received were usually from the person she was dating and they always led to make-out session and sometimes more. She had never received a hug that came from pure friendship and the giver of the hug expected nothing in return.

After momentarily caught off-guard, Isuke's hands that were previously limping by her side slid behind Haruki's body to return her hug.

"Ok, personal space, Haruki," Isuke said after a while. Haruki chuckled and let go of Isuke.

"What's with the hug?" Isuke asked after they parted and she walked towards the couch.

"You look like you could use one, you know, after what happened today," Haruki explained and sat down next to Isuke. "I mean… I know breakups are like nothing to you but this is the longest relationship you'd ever been in and you looked somewhat affected by it. You must've really loved her, huh?"

"I'll live," Isuke said nonchalantly. While it's true that she was affected by it, it was for a different reason. She had just gone up against the wealthiest, most popular, queen bee of the school and won. And she didn't need to be in a fake relationship anymore just because of the power the queen bee had over her. "Though I wouldn't go as far as to say that I love her."

She lied down on the couch and propped her legs up on Haruki's laps. "Anyway, sorry that I couldn't reply your text. I was… occupied."

Isuke didn't have to explain much but Haruki heard the unspoken words and understood that Isuke had had a rough weekend. Automatically, her hands went to massage the playgirl's legs. It's like a habit for her already.

"What are you doing?" Isuke asked, amused. "I didn't ask for a massage."

"Ah, it's ok, Isuke-sama. Even if you don't want one right now, I'm still gonna give it to you," Haruki said happily with a wink. Truth be told, while everyone was devastated over Isuke's and Sumireko's breakup, Haruki was inexplicably happy. She knew she shouldn't be feeling this way over her friend's predicament, but she couldn't help it. She surmised that it had got to do with her having her friend back and there wasn't any deeper meaning behind it, even though she couldn't help but to feel attracted towards this enigmatic girl.

"I know that this may be the wrong thing to say right now, and I know how everyone in school idolized your relationship with her, but… I'm kinda happy that you ended it?" Haruki said and quickly added, "I'm glad that I got my friend back. Sorry if it comes out insensitive."

"Well…" Isuke said, the corner of her lips twitching as she tried not to break into a smile. "I'm glad to be spending more time with you too," she mumbled quietly and quickly. So quick and quiet that Haruki only caught the tail end of it.

"What's that? I'm not sure that I heard it. Could you repeat it?" Haruki asked with a smirk. She could guess what Isuke was saying and she wanted to tease her for a bit.

Judging by the look on Haruki's face, Isuke knew that Haruki had heard what she said. "Unless you want to get a taste of my fist again, you will not ask me to repeat it." The pink-haired girl held her fist up to demonstrate that she meant what she said, but the tone of her voice and her expression said otherwise. There was a slight tint of blush on her face.

"Y'know, Isuke-sama. I really like you," Haruki said, a wide genuine grin on her face.

Isuke was full out blushing now, being rendered speechless by Haruki's smooth delivery. How could someone say such flirtatious things that made people swoon without any intention to flirt at all? Isuke didn't get it. Either that said someone got mad game, or they really had no intention at all and were just being very friendly. Judging by Haruki's personality, Isuke thinks it's the latter.

Regaining her composure, she responded with a witty remark, "Idiot. I bet you say that to your fangirls all the time."

The idea that Isuke could be jealous flashed at the back of Haruki's mind. "No, I never! 'Cause number one, they're not my fangirls and number two, I don't spend my time hanging out with them. I wouldn't be hanging out with you if I don't like you, Isuke-sama."

Haruki sounded so sincere that it tugged at Isuke's heartstrings. But then… the redhead was also always hanging out with the annoying couple. "Then I guess you must really like Azuma and Haru a lot too, huh?" Isuke asked.

"Well, yeah I do like them too. I mean, they're my friends, but it's different," Haruki said with a shrug and left it at that, leaving Isuke to wonder what she meant by that. Haruki herself was also wondering how it was different.

As Isuke chanced a shy glance at Haruki who was in her own oblivious world massaging Isuke's leg, Isuke briefly wondered if Haruki was confessing her feelings to her. She wasn't shy when it came to people confessing their feelings for her, but a lot of the time when it happened, the person would either be a stuttering mess, or they would just be very upfront about it and kissed her on the spot. Neither happened with Haruki. The pocky-loving idiot was so oblivious when it comes to things like love, so she probably just meant that she likes Isuke as a very good friend. Although, Isuke didn't know what she had done to deserve a very good friend spot in Haruki's heart. All she ever did to the redhead was ordering her around. The foundation of their friendship was built on that.

"So, tell me about your mom's operation," Isuke said, changing the subject.

Haruki's face brightened. That was the first time Isuke showed an interest towards her personal life without any sarcasm. Haruki began telling her everything that happened over the weekend.


A few weeks passed after that. Isuke and Haruki easily slipped back into their old routine. After her breakup with the queen bee heiress, Isuke wasn't as popular as she used to be. She didn't have any students pursuing her anymore as everyone sided and sympathized with Sumireko. Moreover, since Sumireko broke her angelic virgin image that she portrayed in school, all the students started to show an interest towards her. Students flocked to her, some of them becoming her secret admirers while some of them really pursued her.

This frustrated Nio because not only was she out of Sumireko's circle again, but now she had become the circle's mortal enemy just by associating with Isuke.

"You know, you can always stop being my friend and join her clique," Isuke said to Nio indifferently one day during their PE lesson. They were at the basketball court having basketball lesson, and Isuke and Nio were sitting on the bleachers taking a rest.

"What makes you say that?" Nio asked with an exaggerated bewilderment on her face. Isuke knew her well enough that she was feigning innocence.

"Well, for one, ever since Sumireko and I broke up, you've done nothing but singing praises to her and her many suitors."

"What? No! I was just encouraging you to fight back and claim back your spot as the student with the most fangirls, that's all," Nio defended. "You need to get back your image! I'll be here to help plan with you if you want your image and popularity back."

"I don't care about all that," Isuke said.

"What?!" Nio broke out into a laughter that had everyone looking at them. She quickly lowered down her voice. "That's a fucking joke if I ever heard one! Since when do you not care about what people think of you!?"

"See, that's where everyone's perception of Isuke is wrong. Isuke knows that she's awesome and amazing and she doesn't need anyone's acknowledgement, especially from you," the playgirl said with a flip of her pink hair as she kept her eyes trained on a certain redhead in the middle of the court, practicing three-pointer shots. They were all having a break now but Haruki took it upon herself to practice scoring three-pointer, and she never failed to score every time. She was also surrounded by some of her fangirls who were gushing over her and applauding her every time she scored the net, much to Isuke's displeasure because those stupid fangirls were blocking her view.

Nio had said something in response, but when her friend was silent, she followed her line of sight. At first, Nio didn't understand what had gotten her friend so distracted; it was just a bunch of girls hanging out and fooling around in the middle of the court, but when some of the girls moved away, Haruki came into view.

After a few more shots, Haruki decided to take a break, but before she could go take her water bottle, she was immediately surrounded by her fangirls striking conversations with her. This was a normal occurrence and Isuke had seen this one too many times. She had always managed to ignore her annoyance over it, but this time was different.

Something that never happened before unfolded right before her eyes. One of the girls went so far as to ask Haruki for guidance on how to score a three-pointer. Haruki explained to the girl, but it wasn't enough. She moved to stand with her back facing Haruki and her front facing the net, prompting Haruki to physically guide her. The girl bent down in front of Haruki to pick the basketball up rather suggestively. Then she slowly got up and with one hand, reached back to guide Haruki's hand on her arm.

A few girls who were surrounding Haruki made a hooting sound upon seeing the girl making a move on Haruki. Haru, who was sitting on the bleachers a few feet away from Isuke were heard giggling watching her clueless friend getting hit on by a hot girl. Even Nio's jaw went slack as she gaped.

"Wow, did you see that? Sagae sure is popular but that had never happened before! I guess students are all now thirsty as fuck since they made a choice not to go after you anymore."

This has got to stop. Isuke didn't mind that much that Haruki is always surrounded by her fangirls on a daily basis, but no one, no one had ever touched Haruki this way before and made a bold move on her. Without thinking, Isuke got up and walked towards Haruki and the slut. She didn't hear Nio shouting after her, asking where she was going.

"Oof!" A sound and a crash stopped her in her tracks. Apparently, she was so blind with rage that she didn't see where she was going and had bumped into a student. Said student is now lying on the floor, squirming in pain. She looked in dismay as Isuke accidentally stepped on her glasses, which had fallen down when she fell to the ground.

"Watch where you're going, you blind fool!" Isuke shouted angrily.

The girl immediately stood up and bowed her head several times timidly. "So-sorry, Inukai-san," the girl stammered.

Isuke rolled her eyes when she saw that she had bumped into the nerdy clumsy fool, Kenmochi Shiena. She started to give Shiena an earful when suddenly she was stopped by Haruki. The redhead had immediately ran towards the scene.

"I think you should apologise to her, Isuke-sama. I saw you bumping into her," Haruki said gently but firmly, which caused Isuke to stop scolding the girl and the whole stadium to gasp. Nobody had ever seen a student of lower social class stood up to Isuke before. Tokaku immediately stood from where she was sitting and walked towards Haruki, ready to provide whatever aid to her friend.

Isuke didn't know how to respond to that. Suddenly, another girl spoke up. "Yeah, you should be the one apologising, Inukai-san. You bumped into her."

And then more and more students spoke up in favour of Haruki. Haruki could see anxiety written all over Isuke's face. Then suddenly a student that Isuke recognized from Sumireko's circle said rather sarcastically, "She's in Sumireko-san's art class. What would Sumireko-san and her friends do to you if she finds out how you treated her classmate?"

"Yeah," another girl piped in. "And also, she's dating Sumireko-san's right hand girl, Takechi-san. You're in deep shit now, Inukai."

"I'm not dating her…" Shiena tried to say among the voices, but nobody heard her.

"Oh no, you don't get to pull that card on me," Isuke thought angrily.

"Oh dear," Haruki thought as she saw something inside Isuke snapped. Thinking on her feet, she immediately moved to stand in front of Isuke in between the crowd of students. She raised her hands to control the crowd before the situation could get worse.

"Whoa whoa hey hey! Isuke-sama's not a mean girl," Haruki started.

"Yeah, she's not mean. She's downright evil. Breaking an angel's heart like that," another girl said.

Suddenly more and more students talked about Sumireko, some of them Isuke recognized were her minions. "Not as popular as you think you are anymore, huh? Beat it, Inukai," one of her minions said.

As Haruki had feared, the situation had gotten out of control. Tokaku had retreated as soon as she decided that this wasn't her fight. Haruki expected Isuke to lash out, but instead, the pink-haired girl turned to walk away. Haruki reached out and grabbed her arm.

"Let go of me. Haven't you embarrassed me enough already?!" Isuke slapped her hand away and continued walking. Haruki started to chase after her but was immediately stopped by students surrounding her and applauding her bravery for standing up to the mean bitch. She tried to make her way out, but couldn't. She kept her eyes trained on Isuke and was relieved when she saw Nio chasing after Isuke. At least someone would be there for her.

"Isuke, wait up!" Nio shouted after her friend. She was chasing after her down the school hallway.

Finally, she caught up to her. "Isuke…" she panted. "Stop walking so fast. You know I have short legs and I can't keep up with you."

"Well, I'm sorry for inconveniencing you," Isuke snapped and abruptly halted, causing Nio to crash into her from behind.

"What was that all about?" Nio asked as she quickly recovered.

"Do you need me to spell it out for you that Sumireko and her loyal minions-"

"I'm not asking about that. I know this will happen sooner or later with the bad blood between the both of you now. What I'm asking is why didn't you say anything to tear Sagae down immediately? Then the situation wouldn't spiral out of control."

Isuke didn't have the answer to that, so she continued walking.

"You like her, don't you?" Nio asked, immediately causing Isuke to stop walking.

"Sagae," Nio clarified as she walked up to Isuke. "You like Sagae, don't you? Is this the reason why you suddenly don't care about your image and popularity?"

There was a pause as Isuke tried to digest Nio's statement. That question definitely caught Isuke off-guard. Plastering on a saccharine smile, she turned to look at the shorter girl. "My dear Nio. What makes you come to this absurd conclusion?"

"Well, you were practically drooling all over yourself watching her scoring the net," Nio explained. " And I've never seen you act this way around anyone before. The Isuke I know would tear anyone down immediately if they dared to ask her do something. But you just stood there, speechless."

Momentarily flabbergasted by her friend's observant eyes, Isuke immediately regained her composure. "So? Just by this one interaction you came to this conclusion?" the pinkette asked incredulously.

"No, this isn't the first time. That day when Azuma was about to beat the crap out of you, and after Haruki rescued you, the way you talked to her… it almost sounded like you're a jealous girlfriend! You've never acted jealous before in front of your many exes."

Isuke cringed at the word 'rescue', and more at the word 'jealous girlfriend'. She isn't jealous, is she? She's just… she didn't even know it herself.

Nio let out a loud yelp as she was slammed against the rows of lockers by Isuke. "I've warned you before to not stalk me," Isuke growled under her breath menacingly, her hand pushed against the shorter girl's shoulder.

"I swear to God, I ain't stalking you, Isuke. Your fight with Azuma was all over the news. Everyone at school saw it." Nio was sweating profusely now.

"It'd better be true." The playgirl removed her hand from Nio's shoulder. With a sweet smile, she flicked on the blonde's forehead. "If I hear any rumours about me and Haruki, I'll know who started it," she warned, before flipping her hair and strutting off.


Damn it. Just as Haruki thought that things are going smoothly between her and Isuke, she had to go and fuck it up. Why did she have to tell Isuke off in front of everyone? Why couldn't she wait until she was alone with Isuke and then tell her off privately? That's right. She felt the need to save that poor helpless girl. Just like that day she rescued Isuke from being punched by Tokaku. Haruki briefly wondered if she has the hero complex.

"You don't have to be so worried about Inukai-san, Haruki. I'm pretty sure you're untouchable now," Haru was comforting her friend in the shower room. PE lesson had ended and they were the last to leave the room.

"It's not that I'm worried about…" Haruki uttered and then trailed off.

"Sagae." A voice called from outside the room, prompting both the redheads to turn towards the source of the voice. It was Otoya.

The purple-haired girl was leaning against the shower room door, a sly smirk on her face. One look and Haruki knew she is up to no good. "I'd like to personally thank you for standing up for my Shiena-chan," she said, her voice super sweet. "And also, the queen bee is very impressed with how you stood up to Isuke just now. She will be in touch with you very soon."

Just like that, she left the room, leaving Haruki more confused than ever.

"What was that all about?" Haru asked, confused.

"Beats me," Haruki said with a shrug of her shoulders.


For the rest of the day, both Haruki and Isuke couldn't pay attention in their classes but for very different reasons. On one hand, Haruki was worried that Isuke will be mad at her. She knows how the pink-haired girl hated to feel embarrassed and she had done just that to her in public. She was also worried about how Isuke will be treated by everyone at school after this. Isuke treated her image and popularity more important than anything in the world. On the other hand, she didn't understand why Isuke was acting the way she did. She knows Isuke is used to get what she wants, but she really thought that she needs to address this anger issues of hers.

As for Isuke, she was mulling over what Nio had said earlier, especially the 'jealous girlfriend' part. Since when did she get jealous over someone? People get jealous over her, not the other way round. She didn't understand why she was feeling this way. This feeling is really foreign for her and she didn't know how to deal with it. She couldn't be jealous and she knew she had to fight it, otherwise it would drive her crazy. Ever since meeting this redhead, she had been feeling all kinds of emotion and she really hated it.

After the last bell had rung signaling the end of school day, Isuke walked out of the classroom and saw Haruki waiting for her from across the hallway. She was leaning against the wall, her arms crossed, while staring at her intently. Both of them were momentarily locked in a gaze until suddenly, a group of students walked up to Haruki. And for the first time ever, the clueless Haruki noticed the students flocking towards her. She immediately rejected them politely and walked away, but before giving Isuke a look that signaled her to follow her.

"Don't you have a very busy schedule?" Isuke asked as she followed Haruki sullenly into the hidden area under the bleachers.

"Yeah, but I wanna settle this before I start with my work," Haruki said, turning to face Isuke, her eyes full of sincerity. "First of all, I wanna apologise for embarrassing you in public. It was never my intention."

Isuke could see where this was going. Haruki was going to ask her why she acted that way and she really didn't feel like talking about it. Acting blasé, she flicked her hair and went to sit on the couch. "Whatever, I'm over it," she said flippantly.

Shaking her head, Haruki went to sit down next to her. "Isuke-sama, I know that you are who you are and I can't change that about you, but it's not the Kenmochi-san's fault-"

"Yes, everything's Isuke's fault, right? From how I acted, to my breakup with Sumireko to accidentally knocking Kenmochi down onto the floor… everything is Isuke the promiscuous playgirl bitch's fault." Haruki was taken aback by what Isuke said. She could feel tension rising in Isuke's voice even though the pinkette fought to keep calm.

"Hey, I never said that," Haruki began.

"You don't have to say it. Nobody has to say it to my face. I know what everyone is talking about me behind my back. I don't care, I never cared. So I'm not gonna care about what you think of me," Isuke snapped and got up to leave.

"Hey." Haruki immediately grabbed Isuke's wrist to stop her from walking away. She intended to pull her back down onto the couch, but she underestimated her own strength and pulled Isuke too hard. Isuke lost her balance and fell down on top of Haruki. She was now full on sitting on Haruki's laps, their fronts pressing against each other.

Isuke was acutely aware of their position and eyes wide with embarrassment, she scrambled to get away from Haruki's warm body, but Haruki held onto her tightly in a bear hug.

"Shhh it's ok… Shhh shhh." Haruki soothed the pink-haired girl while gently stroking her hair. She kept on soothing Isuke until she felt Isuke stopped struggling and her body relaxed against her own.

Isuke let out a sob and held onto the redhead tightly. She really hated crying and showing her vulnerability to anyone, but Haruki is not just anyone to her. She couldn't put her finger on what Haruki meant to her, but at this moment, Haruki was there for her. All these years of keeping a secret that she held so dear, only to have Sumireko finding out about it and using it to blackmail her, and finally breaking free from the queen bee's grip had finally taken its toll on Isuke. Haruki's smell of shampoo, combined with her soothing voice and gentle stroking of her hand on the back of her head were the only things that could keep her grounded now and it really calmed Isuke down tremendously.

After what seemed like forever, Haruki released Isuke and moved both of her thumb pads to gently wipe Isuke's tears away. This action seemed to stun the pink-haired girl and her breath hitched. Nobody had ever touched her this way before; so full of attention and affection. This close with Haruki, she had no where else to look but into the golden amber of Haruki's beautiful expressive eyes.

"You know I never think all these about you, Isuke-sama. I think you're an amazing and awesome person," Haruki said, her soothing voice reverberated through Isuke's body, comforting her.

The moment Haruki pulled back and looked into Isuke's eyes, she knew it was a mistake. Isuke's orange-amber eyes were really mesmerizing and she couldn't look away. There was no denying that Isuke is beautiful, but this up close, Haruki found that she is really breathtaking. Before she could stop herself, her hands were already on Isuke's face, gently wiping her tears away. If anyone were to catch them in this position, they would wonder how Haruki could restrain herself from looking at Isuke's cleavage, which was just right under her nose, or how she could control her hands from touching Isuke's flat stomach, which was not covered with any clothes at all.

Haruki wanted to say more to Isuke, like how beautiful she was and all these corny stuff, but all these self doubts were holding her back. They were from two different worlds. Even though she was oblivious about most things, she was aware that Isuke is way out of her league and she didn't want to scare her friend away.

Friends.

Yeah, they were only friends.

"And a really really good friend," she finished.

That seemed to break Isuke out of her daze. Slowly and wordlessly, she averted her eyes and got up from Haruki's laps. Haruki briefly wondered if she had said or done the wrong thing when she sensed Isuke's mood shifted. Had their friendship reached this stage where she could comfort her by wiping her tears away?

"I'm sorry if I've said or done something wrong, Isuke-sama," Haruki said awkwardly while scratching the back of her neck. "I meant to comfort you, not to cause more discomfort-"

"For the hundredth time, stop apologizing," Isuke scolded, her voice light and airy. "And no, you did not cause me any discomfort. You've helped calm me down."

"I'm glad that I could help," Haruki replied.

There was a pregnant pause as Isuke didn't know what to say next. The whole situation made her very confused. The way Haruki looked into her eyes and touched her face made her feel things that she had never felt before. Then Haruki went on to say that they were only friends. Isuke had always prided herself as being the school's playgirl, but Haruki is the real playgirl here. Her actions, her words, her body language; all of these sent a signal that she was flirting. But the problem is, her words and actions contradicted her innocent intentions. And to make matters worse, she wasn't even aware that she was doing all these things. It's no wonder that all her fangirls got the wrong idea.

At the thought of her fangirls, especially the slut who was making a move on Haruki earlier, Isuke's mood dampened again. Knowing how Haruki is acutely aware of her mood swings, she quickly spoke up before the redhead could address her sour mood.

"I think you should go meet your clients and do whatever, Haruki," Isuke said quietly as she crossed her arms, suddenly feeling cold.

"Yeah," Haruki said, her voice matching Isuke's. "Don't wanna keep them waiting, yeah?" She got up and walked to Isuke. "So, we're good?"

"Yeah we are," Isuke confirmed as she nodded her head. "I'll be here taking a nap, in case you decide to come back."

"Oh, a pretty lady here waiting for me to get back from work?" Haruki said with a laugh while taking off her jacket and handing it to Isuke. "You betcha ass that I'll be back!"

And just like that, the awkward tension between them is gone. "Idiot! And what's with the jacket?" Isuke demanded, but she took it anyway.

"Oh you know, just in case you miss me, what with being your first time napping here without me by your side," Haruki replied wittily with a charming smile and sped off, before Isuke could come back with a snarky remark.

"Idiot," Isuke muttered under her breath and smiled when she heard Haruki's sound of laughter echoing under the bleachers. Isuke shook her head and lied down on the couch, pulling Haruki's jacket onto her body. She had always caught a mild scent of Haruki whenever she woke up, thanks to Haruki's jacket. Before she could stop herself, she lifted the collar of the jacket to her nose and inhaled. Haruki's scent immediately invaded her nose.

As if shocked and embarrassed by what she had just done, she cleared her throat and pushed it back down. What was she thinking? She's not some kind of sick weirdo. What had gotten into her? She had never even sniffed any of her ex's clothes for their body smell and here she was sniffing Haruki's jacket. She really has to sort herself out soon before she drives herself crazy.


To answer Robin, no... Isuke did not break up with Sumireko in order to help Haruki, but the reason for the breakup is because her heart is not with Sumireko and she couldn't do this fake-dating or dating any randoms without any real feelings anymore. At this moment in this fic, Haruki doesn't need anybody's help... yet. Fret not though, cos Isuke will do a grand gesture for Haruki some time later but I can't give much away without spoiling anything.

And oh, the next chapter will be rated "M" so if you can't find this fic under the usual category anymore, you know where to find it ;)