The train finally pulled up into the Shinjuku train station and the doors slid open once the train had come to a complete stop. Gumi and Rin exited the train, saying sorry to anyone they bumped into. The train stations were always crowded, but there usually not crowded in the morning around six. The rush hour begins around nine or eight, of course they'll be in school by eight so they won't have to worry about the crowded trains until after school. Once the two schoolgirls were out of the train station, they stopped by a nearby 7-eleven store before heading to Sato High.
"What's up Gumi-chan!?"
Gumi turned to see a rather tall red-haired male adolescent walking towards her. There's a keroppi band aid protecting the bridge of his nose from bacteria in the air, the cartilage of his left ear is pierced, along with the side of his nose, and he has snake bite piercings that seem to tie his whole bad boy look together. His gakuran jacket was unbuttoned all the way so you could see his white t-shirt and there were bandages around his right hand, but he kept it tucked it away in his pocket and his other hand gripped the strap of his brown leather book bag. Gumi instantly recognized the rough looking boy as Akaito Shion, a sibling of Kaito Shion. Akaito is a third year student and Gumi knew the principal would be happy once Akaito graduated.
"Good morning Akaito-senpai." Gumi greeted.
"Hey! Am I invisible or something!?" Rin exclaimed.
"Good-morning, princess." Akaito teased, causing Rin to blush bright red. "Miku is looking for you two. I guess she's at homeroom already…that Mr. Hamamoto must be a real snooze fest!"
"Tell me about it…" Gumi muttered. "Anyway, see you later Akaito-senpai!"
Gumi watched Akaito walk away with a sigh. Sometimes I wish I could just skip school…I have every single class with Miku-chan and all she ever talks about is how cute Len is…I try not to get jealous or angry, but it's hard being in love with the very same guy your best friend has a crush on. Gumi took a deep breath before entering the school. She placed her schoolbag on the narrow wooden bench and opened up her locker, she quickly exchanged her haruta shoes with her uwabaki (uwabaki are kind of like slippers, students wear them around the school rather than their street shoes.) She slammed her locker shut and followed Rin to their homeroom classroom, E③. She took a seat at the window, behind Miku.
"Morning." The blue-haired girl greeted cheerfully. "Guess what Mikuo packed me for lunch?"
"The usual bento lunch?" Rin guessed.
"Nope, French Food! My brother is a fantastic cook! Anyway have you two seen Len around?" Miku said, fiddling with her lace red ribbon.
"He took the train with Gacha-kun and Piko-kun this morning." Rin said.
Gumi pulled out her notebook and flipped to an empty page where she began to doodle while Miku and Rin talked about Len. She didn't like to join their conversations if they were talking about Len, it just made her angry hearing Miku call Len adorable or list all the features she adores about him. Miku seemed to get everything and Gumi felt that for once, things could just go her way. I guess I'll have to see what the universe has in store for me…
•••
Lunch time came around faster than Gumi had expected. Gumi pushed their desks together then pulled out a lime green bento and a pair of chopsticks. She removed the lid and pulled out a rather large takoyaki and stuffed the entire ball-shaped treat in her tiny mouth.
"In P.E Len-kun looked at me then offered me a drink of water from his canteen." Miku squealed.
"I hope that's not supposed to be a big deal. He offers all of his friends a waterfall." Rin said bluntly.
"It was still pretty romantic though." Miku said.
"I heard the clubs are going to be advertising themselves next period." Gumi finally said. "I'm thinking about joining Key club. It just recently started in Kyoto and spreading like wildfire. It sounds super interesting and it'll look good on my record for college."
"I was thinking about joining Key club too, even though I'm already the president of cooking club." Rin chimed in.
"If Len-kun is joining then I'll join too." Miku said with a shrug.
"Sup, ladies."
Kagamine Len, Rin's twin brother, walked up to their table with Namine Ritsu by his side. The okama couldn't cross dress at school so he was forced to wear the gakuran like all of the other male students and he kept his waist length red-hair in a cute but messy bun. He glared at all three girls, but Miku and Gumi didn't seem to notice. Both girls were gawking at the petite blonde standing next to their desk.
"Rin-chan, today after school I'm going out to Sunshine city with Namine and Rook. I'll probably be back around eight." Len said, not looking up from his smart phone. "Save me a plate of food."
"Fine, just make sure you do your homework." Rin said with a sighed.
Gumi studied the smartphone in Len's hands then glanced at her ruby red flip-phone dangling from her leather schoolbag. Maybe it's time I get a new phone…maybe a smart phone like Len-kun…yeah! I'll get a new phone after school, maybe I'll get it in Sunshine city. Gumi stuffed another takoyaki ball in her mouth and gazed at Len's face.
"Hey, Gumi-chan! Can I have one?" Len asked.
"S-Sure! Do you have chopsticks?" Gumi replied.
"Nope, you don't mind if I use yours right?" Len asked.
"Not at all." Gumi murmured.
A blush spread across Gumi's cheeks as she picked up a takoyaki and fed it to the blonde. He flashed her a thumbs up, before walking away with Namine. For once Miku was silent and the rest of lunch felt like heaven for Gumi.
•••
The dismissal bell rung and students began to exit the classroom in a hurry. Gumi aimed to leave, but Miku stopped.
"Gumi…do you think you can try to avoid Len a little? Like refuse to him and stuff." Miku said quietly.
"Why?" Gumi asked, trying not to sound offended.
"Because…I like him a lot and seeing you feed him that takoyaki at lunch really got to me." Miku explained. "So do you think you can lay off the physical contact with him?"
Gumi said nothing. Instead she left the classroom and headed towards the locker so she could quickly put on her haruta shoes and leave the building. How dare she ask me to avoid Len?! She has a lot of nerve asking me to do that! If she doesn't like that then I'll make sure to do it around her a lot! She better get used to the idea of me and Len being a couple. Gumi smiled confidently to herself and glanced at her old cellphone. I suppose this is goodbye…Len will never be impressed if I tote around an old phone like this. She carefully pulled off the charms and studied one in particular. It was a Pucca charm Len had gave to her a couple of years ago.
"…kawaii…"