AN: Hello everyone, Shadow750 here. I'm back with the second chapter. I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter.
Disclaimer: I don't own Shikimori's Not Just a Cutie or any of it's characters.
Now, let's begin the chapter!
Swish! The basketball Kamiya just shot landed perfectly in the net and landed on the gym floor. She was currently in Gym class, but had a lot on her mind from the previous day, so she decided to play basketball to take her mind off of everything.
She shot a three-pointer, but didn't throw it hard enough, causing it to hit the rim and fly toward the bleachers. Instead of hitting the bleachers, it hit someone's head. Kamiya widened her eyes and ran toward the person she hit. "I'm sorry! Are you okay?"
The person just looked at her, as if he was annoyed.
Kamiya caught a glimpse of his red eyes and immediately recognized him. "Ryuga-san!"
"Yes?"
"Oh, I didn't recognize you at first. Sorry."
Ryuga picked up the basketball and handed it to Kamiya, who took it. "You don't have to talk to me. Don't force yourself to do something you don't like just to be seen as a good person by me." He walked away without waiting for Kamiya's response.
"Let's 1v1!" Kamiya offered, not even bothering to think it through.
Ryuga looked confused. "Why? Didn't you just hear me?"
"I'm not talking to you out of sympathy or obligation, I'm doing it because I like talking with you."
"What about everyone else?"
"What about them?"
"Don't you care about what they'll think of you?"
Kamiya shook her head. "It doesn't matter to me what they think. I just put up a forced facade around everyone because I don't feel comfortable being myself around them."
Ryuga started walking around the gym, staying in the out-of-bounds area, and Kamiya followed, although she didn't know why they were walking all of a sudden. Everyone else in the gym was staring and pointing at them, making Kamiya feel a little embarrassed. Ryuga just lowered his head, his eyes hidden behind his bangs.
"You're embarrassed being seen with me, aren't you?" Ryuga asked.
Kamiya lowered her head in shame. "Only when I pay attention to everyone."
"If you don't care what they think, why do you even bother taking notice of them?"
"I just… Doesn't everyone get the urge to take notice if everyone is making them the center of attention?"
"Yes, I guess our brains are wired that way. But I just learned to ignore them."
"Why?"
Ryuga lowered his head even more.
Kamiya looked at him sympathetically. Was he bullied throughout his life? Is that why he thinks so negatively?
"You should just ignore them, and be yourself," Ryuga said.
Be myself… Kamiya grabbed her hair tie.
"I don't think it would be a good idea to let your hair down though. It would just get in the way."
Kamiya let her hand drop to her side. "I know, I just feel more comfortable with my hair loose."
"Then why do you always wear it in a ponytail? To satisfy everyone else?"
Kamiya was too ashamed to respond.
"I know I"m being a hypocrite, but you can't carry yourself based on what other's expect of you."
Kamiya moved a strand of hair out of her eye. "What's your opinion?"
"My opinion shouldn't matter to you. It's your hair, so you do what you want with it," Ryuga said.
Kamiya smiled. "All right. Thank you, Ryuga-san." Kamiya looked forward and saw Shikimori grinning at her. Don't even start! She looked back to Ryuga. "Do you want to 1v1 now?"
"Huh?" He looked at Kamiya. "Sure… Sorry for dragging you out to walk. It just helps me think."
As they were walking to the other end of the gym, Kamiya took notice of how long Ryuga's hair was. It reached just past his shoulders, and it was barely staying out of his eyes.
"Can you even see with your hair in your eyes?" Kamiya asked.
"Mostly," Ryuga responded. "It does get annoying, though."
Kamiya looked away from him. "Do you…want to tie it up? I have a hair tie you could use…"
Ryuga shook his head. "Thanks for the offer, but I don't want to risk either of us getting lice, or some other sort of symptom."
"Right… That was pretty stupid of me to suggest… Sorry…"
"Kamiya-san," Ryuga said, grabbing Kamiya's attention. "Do you like talking with me?"
She smiled. "I do."
"I know this is selfish of me, but maybe it's best if you… stay away from me…"
"Why should I?" Kamiya asked.
"You'll start to think negatively like me, and I don't want that for you; for anyone."
"Ryuga-san."
Ryuga stopped walking and faced Kamiya fully, giving her his full attention.
"It's natural to think negatively sometimes. Yes, you think very negatively, which might make me question a lot of things I never understood, but that's not a bad thing. It's good to question things, just as long as you're trying to get a better understanding."
Ryuga looked surprised by Kamiya's explanation, like it was the first time someone saw his negative qualities in a good way. "Thank you…" he mumbled, then hastily walked to the other half court, where Shikimori and Nekozaki were standing. "Oh, sorry. Were you two using this half of the court?"
"Ryuga-san?" Shikimori questioned.
Uh oh, this isn't going to end well…
"Yes?"
"Wait, you're Ryuga-san?!" Nekozaki asked, looking at Ryuga with wide eyes.
Ryuga looked at her, confused. "...Yeah…"
Kamiya caught up with them. "Hey, you guys."
"Hey, Kamiya-san!" Nekozaki greeted her with a smirk, then winked at her, making Shikimori giggle.
These two… "You both want to 2v2?"
The other girls smirked with excitement.
"You sure about this, Kamiya-san?" Nekozaki asked.
Kamiya narrowed her eyes. "Did you hear me stutter?"
"Someone's fired up," Shikimori said. She narrowed her eyes, looking determined to beat Kamiya. "All right! I'm in!"
Nekozaki pointed at herself, smirking confidently. "You can count me in too!"
Kamiya looked at Ryuga. "Are you okay with this, Ryuga-san?"
"Sure, but I'm not that good," he replied.
"Just keep an eye on Nekozaki-san and follow my lead. We can win this!"
Ryuga nodded.
Nekozaki looked towards the bleachers. "Hey, Inuzuka-san! You're our Ref!"
Inuzuka closed his notebook with a sigh. He walked over to them, but stopped when he saw Ryuga. "Who the heck are you?"
"Ryuga Kioshi," said boy greeted with a bow.
Inuzuka looked caught off guard by how polite Ryuga was. "I'm Inuzuka!"
"It's nice to meet you, Inuzuka-san."
Inuzuka shook his head, seemingly getting over his surprise. "So, are you guys ready?"
The three girls glared at each other, while Ryuga just calmly looked at the basketball.
Inuzuka threw the ball in the air. "Go!"
All four of them jumped in the air. Kamiya and Shikimori's hands touched the ball first. Both girls pushed for dominance, but the ball ended up slipping out of their hands and dropped to the floor. It was grabbed by Ryuga, who started dribbling towards the hoop, but stopped when Nekozaki got in front of him.
"Not so fast!"
He jumped to his right side, dribbling the ball behind his back, then passed it to Kamiya with his right hand. Kamiya caught it, spun around Shikimori, and shot it, scoring a point.
"Nice one!" Inuzuka cheered.
Shikimori glared at Kamiya, while Nekozaki glared at Ryuga.
Nekozaki passed the ball to Shikimori. Ryuga tried to intercept it, but was too slow.
Kamiya narrowed her eyes and ran towards Shikimori, who caught the ball. So Ryuga-san is slow to react. Kamiya glanced at Ryuga, who was running in front of Nekozaki, keeping his eyes on the ball. He knows what he's doing, though.
While Kamiya was thinking, Shikimori ran passed her and shot the ball, scoring a point.
Everyone in the gym seemed to be watching their little game now, giving Kamiya even more motivation to win. She glared at Shikimori as she dribbled the ball, occasionally glancing at Ryuga, who looked ready to cut at any moment. Kamiya's closed her eyes, and when she opened them, they flashed in determination.
In one explosive burst, she ran past Shikimori, lunged to the side of Nekozaki, and shot a layup.
Shikimori looked completely shocked, but when she got the ball, her eyes also flashed in determination.
Kamiya smirked. So she's also in the zone. This should be interesting.
Shikimori lunged to Kamiya's left side, but Kamiya stayed in front of her. Shikimori kept trying to get past Kamiya, crossing the ball to her other hand at the same time as she lunged to the side, but Kamiya always stayed with her. Shikimori dribbled the ball between her legs, then behind her back as she moved to the left, then threw it in between Kamiya's legs.
Damn! Kamiya internally swore, not expecting such a cheap move from Shikimori. She ran after Shikimori, who jumped in the air to shoot a layup. Kamiya jumped in the air and smacked the ball out of the air, shocking Shikimori.
Nekozaki caught the ball, looking surprised, like she didn't know what to do. Ryuga got in front of her, and she widened her eyes, as if she completely forgot about his presence. She threw the ball in the air.
Shikimori caught the ball and started running toward the hoop. Kamiya got in front of her, but Shikimori jumped to the side and shot the ball. Kamiya jumped right before Shikimori shot the ball, and blocked it with her left hand, sending the ball flying into the wall.
It continued like that for the next few minutes; Kamiya and Shikimori were neck and neck the entire game, each scoring a point to one-up the other.
Kamiya, now in possession of the ball, ran towards the hoop, dribbling and lunging to her sides to get past Shikimori. She jabbed with her left foot, making Shikimori change her stance. At the same time, Kamiya dribbled the ball in an in-and-out motion and ran passed Shikimori. Shikimori recovered and got in front of Kamiya, causing Kamiya to hesitate, stopping all movement with the exception of dribbling the ball. Kamiya crossed the ball over to her left hand and spun around, keeping her left foot planted on the ground, and used it to pivot. When she planted her right foot on the ground, she dribbled the ball between her legs, then lunged passed Shikimori, but the pinkette stayed in front of her. Kamiya dribbled the ball behind her back, then in an in-and-out motion, and attempted to lunge passed Shikimori again, but she couldn't get passed her.
She dribbled the ball in between her legs and sprinted towards the hoop in a diagonal direction. She suddenly stopped and raised the ball up to her chest to shoot, making Shikimori jump in an effort to block her shot. Kamiya spun around and shot the ball. The ball hit the rim and went flying toward the wall.
Crap! If that goes out of bounds, there's no way we'll win!
Out of nowhere, Ryuga jumped to the side and caught the ball in his left hand. Nekozaki got in front of him, smirking.
"There's no way you can win now!" she said.
Ryuga threw the ball in the air, and landed on his side, skidding to a halt against the wall. Kamiya and Shikimori jumped to catch it. The ball landed in Kamiya's hand. She held the ball in both hands, spun around, and started running toward the left side of the hoop. Noticing Shikimori was close enough to her where she could block her layup, Kamiya jumped backward while spinning around so that her back was facing the floor. She threw the ball in the air. It flew over the backboard and cleanly swished through the hoop. Kamiya landed on her back with her arms spread out, panting from exhaustion.
The entire gym was silent for a long time, but, as if everyone got over their shock, everyone suddenly erupted in cheers and applause.
Kamiya smiled. Does that mean… we won? She looked up to see a panting Shikimori bending over her with her hands on her knees.
"Good… game…"
"Damn, you both were intense!" Nekozaki said as she approached them. She blinked, as if she just remembered something. "Where's Ryuga-san?"
Kamiya looked around and found Ryuga laying against the wall, panting heavily. She looked back to the two girls. "We won, right?"
Shikimori glared at her. "Yeah, you did…"
Kamiya smirked.
"Did you both have to take it that seriously?" Inuzuka asked as he joined them.
Shikimori continued to glare at Kamiya. "Yeah, we did."
"Shikimori-san!" Izumi ran up to her. "You were amazing!"
Shikimori blushed. "You think so?"
Izumi nodded. He caught Kamiya's eye. "But that last shot you made was incredible, Kamiya-san!"
"It wasn't that impressive!" Shikimori glared at Kamiya again.
"Thank you, Izumi-kun," Kamiya said.
Shikimori deepened her glare, but Kamiya just smiled.
"Well, make sure your teammate isn't dead," Nekozaki deadpanned. "I'm gonna hit the shower." She headed towards the girl's locker room.
"See ya," Inuzuka said, then left the gym, followed by Izumi.
Shikimori kneeled next to Kamiya. "Meet up with me during lunch. I need to talk to you." She glanced at Ryuga, then back to Kamiya.
Kamiya just nodded. What is it she even wants to talk about? She got to her feet and walked to Ryuga. "We won."
"Good job," he said.
Even though he sounded like he didn't care, his compliment still brought a smile to Kamiya's face. "You did well too."
"I didn't do anything. You scored all of our points."
"True, but if it weren't for you, I never would've been able to score that last point, and we would've lost the game," Kamiya pointed out.
Ryuga nodded, then got to his feet and walked passed Kamiya. "Thank you for letting me play by your side."
Kamiya watched as he walked off of the court and towards where she supposed was the boy's locker room.
Kamiya was walking in the opposite direction as everyone else was heading to the cafeteria for lunch.
"Hey, Kamiya-san! Come sit with me during lunch!"
"No, sit with me!"
Kamiya just forced a smile. "Sorry, but I'm busy at the moment."
The two students just pouted.
Kamiya sighed in relief when she made her way out of the crowded hallway. She turned a corner and found the Art room. She opened the door and found Shikimori sitting in the back, looking out of the window as she ate her lunch.
"Oh, you actually came," Shikimori said as she noticed Kamiya. "I didn't think you would."
It's better than being idolized… Kamiya rotated the table in front of Shikimori so that she was facing her, and sat down. "So, what did you want to talk to me about?"
Shikimori looked serious. "Ryuga-san."
"What about him?" Kamiya asked.
"You seem to have taken quite an interest in him."
"The only times I've talked to him were because of coincidence." It wasn't a complete lie, but Kamiya still thought it was a good excuse.
Shikimori smirked. "Are you sure it wasn't destiny?"
"What do you mean?"
"Do you seriously think it was a coincidence that two students who are in the same class got paired together for library duty?"
"Well, when you say it like that…" Kamiya then remembered what Ryuga told her about love being formed by the luck of a draw, and how absurd it was. That's right. This is reality, where we have to act to get the things we want. Because if we don't… Kamiya remembered how she never got the chance to tell Izumi how she felt about him because she was too late. …We may never get what we want. "It doesn't matter how we met. All that matters is that I took the initiative to approach him and got to know him."
Shikimori held her smirk. "What made you approach him? Did you think he was attractive?"
Kamiya averted her gaze. She never really thought about it, but now that she did, she did think Ryuga was attractive, and not just in his looks. His quiet, distant, straightforward, and somewhat shy personality complimented his looks. If Kamiya could describe Ryuga in one word, it would have to be "mysterious".
"You're smiling. Does Kamiya-san have a crush?" Shikimori cooed.
Kamiya widened her eyes, and she felt her cheeks heat up. "I don't—"
Shikimori burst out laughing, confusing Kamiya. "You should've seen your face! You looked so embarrassed!"
"I approached him out of obligation, then out of curiosity," Kamiya said, hoping to get back on topic.
Shikimori eventually stopped laughing. "Do you think of him as a friend?"
"...Yes, but I don't think Ryuga-san does."
"How could he not see you as a friend?! You spent the whole afternoon together yesterday, and you won a basketball game against me and Neko!"
"I know, but he thinks very negatively. I don't think he would think it would be appropriate to see someone you've only known for two days as a friend. He probably needs a lot of time to accept his feelings." Kamiya frowned. Does he even want to be my friend?
"Well, if you explain to him why you think of him as a friend, I'm sure Ryuga-san will understand that it's okay to see someone immediately as a friend," Shikimori said. "He seemed to enjoy talking with you."
"It's not easy to make him see reason. He's very stubborn and only believes in his own beliefs. And even if he tries to understand something from another's perspective, he'll still think about it negatively," Kamiya explained.
Shikimori frowned. "No offense, but he doesn't seem very enjoyable to talk with. He seems like a negative influence."
"I can understand why you think that, but a lot of the stuff he says holds a lot of truth, and he's straightforward about everything, which makes it a lot easier to understand what he's saying."
"So are you just going to keep your distance, and only interact with Ryuga-san because of 'circumstance', or are you going to accept how you feel and try to get what you want?"
Kamiya didn't understand what Shikimori was trying to get at. "Huh? What do you mean?"
"I don't want what happened a few weeks ago with Izumi-san to happen to you again. Now, I don't really know why, but you seem to like Ryuga-san, so you should try to open up a little so you can become his friend. I don't want you to keep your feelings at a distance anymore." Shikimori smiled.
"But I don't have any feelings for Ryuga-san."
"You think of him as a friend, right?"
Kamiya averted her eyes from Shikimori's. "...Yes, but I don't think he would approve of it. He still thinks we barely know each other, and he would probably think I'm being shallow and sympathetic, and would think of me as a bad person…"
"But you're not a bad person!" Shikimori yelled, startling Kamiya.
"To him I might be," Kamiya mumbled.
"But, from what I've seen from you, you are honest and kind."
Kamiya widened her eyes, remembering when Ryuga told her that. She believed that he meant what he said, which meant that he didn't think she was a bad person, but didn't feel obligated to label her as a good person, either.
"What's wrong?" Shikimori asked, grabbing Kamiya's attention.
"What do you think I should do?"
"Well, I don't know Ryuga-san, so I can't really give you that much advice… But, from how I've seen him act, you need to show him that you want to be his friend, and you need to help him understand why, otherwise he might just scold you. You just need to take your time and let things happen naturally. It's better to do that than keeping everything inside and never approaching anyone, right?"
Kamiya smiled. "I think I can do that. Thank you, Shikimori-san."
Shikimori winked. "Glad I could help!"
Kamiya tried not to glare at her, then walked out of the classroom, followed by Shikimori.
When they walked out of the classroom, Shikimori suddenly stopped, confusing Kamiya. Shikimori bent down and picked up a bouncy ball, looking at it with a curious expression.
"Where'd that come from?" Kamiya asked. She followed Shikimori's gaze and saw Ryuga-san at the end of the hall. His right arm was outstretched, and he looked scared when he made eye contact with them. Did he overhear our conversation?! Kamiya hoped he didn't. If he did, he would probably never talk to her again.
Ryuga lowered his head and outstretched his hand even further.
"Is this yours?" Shikimori asked Ryuga.
"Yes. May I please have it back?"
Shikimori walked towards Ryuga and handed him his ball. "So…" She glared at him, but he didn't seem to be fazed. "What are you doing up here, bouncing a ball around for?"
"I was just bouncing it around. Is that so wrong?"
Shikimori sighed, sounding relieved. "No, it's not."
"Well, thank you for returning this to me." Ryuga turned around and left the hall.
"What was that about?" Shikimori asked.
Kamiya just stared at where Ryuga was just standing. He didn't even acknowledge her, and she didn't understand why that bothered her. She knew that they weren't friends, but she wanted them to be friends. Maybe Ryuga-san doesn't want to be my friend…
Kamiya frowned. Just thinking that made her feel sad, and she didn't know why. She already had two friends, so why was she so desperate for another one? Is it because… we're both lonely? Kamiya didn't know if that was the reason, but she wanted to know. She accepted that as the real reason behind wanting Ryuga as a friend. She remembered their conversations about labeling people as good and bad, and about how other people saw them, and the empty look in his eyes made her throat constrict. She forced herself to swallow, not wanting to cry. Can we even be friends? "I have no idea." Kamiya voiced her thought aloud, also providing Shikimori with an answer.
The bell rang throughout the school, signifying the end of school for the day. Everyone started gathering their belongings and heading toward the courtyard in front of the school.
Kamiya walked out of the school and out into the courtyard. She looked around, trying to find Shikimori or Nekozaki, but didn't see them anywhere. Looks like I'll be leaving on my own, then…
Kamiya didn't understand why she felt so disappointed. She was used to being alone her entire life, and there were times when she enjoyed being alone. But now that she had friends, she wanted to spend time with them.
She walked out of the school gates, then turned around to look for her friends one last time. Instead of finding them, she found Ryuga. She was about to approach him, but stopped herself when she saw his expression. He was looking at his phone with wide eyes, then he glared at it. He pocketed his phone and started running towards the open gates, but couldn't get passed because of the large crowd of people. He looked around and started running in a direction where nobody was. Then, to Kamiya's shock, he jumped, grabbed the top of the fence with his left hand, planted his right foot at the top, and jumped over the fence.
Kamiya tried to catch up to him, but he was already out of sight by the time she turned the corner.
"You saw that didn't you?"
Kamiya looked to her right to see Nekozaki, who had a look of disbelief on her face. "Uh… Yeah…"
Nekozaki looked at Kamiya. "What was he in such a hurry for that he had to jump the fence?"
"I don't know, but it must've been really important," Kamiya said. She remembered how he suddenly glared at his phone before running off. Is he having problems at home?
"Yo, Kamiya-san! You good?" Nekozaki asked, grabbing Kamiya's attention.
"I'm fine."
Nekozaki smiled. "Great! Let's hurry and get to the train station!"
Kamiya nodded and followed Nekozaki.
"You just met Ryuga-san yesterday, right?" Nekozaki asked.
Kamiya looked at her. "Yeah…" Where is she going with this?
"You think you're friends?"
Kamiya wanted to look away, but she didn't want Nekozaki to start questioning her any more than she already was. "I do."
"Why would you want to be his friend all of a sudden? You never bothered to approach anyone."
"We had library duty yesterday, so we had to talk to each other."
"Not as friends," Nekozaki pointed out.
Kamiya looked at the ground, realizing that Nekozaki was right. They did have to talk to each other to get their jobs done, but once they were done, they didn't have to speak to each other at all. She was sure Ryuga would've been okay with the silence. If that's the case, why did I bother to talk to him?
"It's okay if you want to be friends with someone, I just didn't expect you to be the kind of person to pursue a friendship with someone you just met," Nekozaki said.
"I guess I just felt comfortable around him because… he seemed so similar to me," Kamiya said, then looked back up at Nekozaki.
Nekozaki smiled. "Well, I'm glad you made another friend!"
Kamiya frowned. "He doesn't think of me as a friend…"
Nekozaki widened her eyes. "What?! Why?!"
"We still barely know each other, so he thinks it would be inappropriate to consider each other friends."
"That's a very… unusual way of thinking…"
"Do you think that's a bad thing?"
Nekozaki looked at the sky in deep thought. "I guess not… He just seems to have a very unique way of thinking; totally different from the norm."
"Yeah…" Kamiya thought back to when she and Ryuga talked in gym class, specifically when he told her about being yourself, not thinking about what anybody else thought. Was he bullied because he's so different from everyone else? Is that why he's so distant and negative? She couldn't help but feel sympathy toward him, because she knew what it was like to be different from everyone else.
"You know, for barely knowing him, you have a strong opinion of Ryuga-san," Nekozaki said, looking back to Kamiya.
"I know, but you also seem to have a strong opinion of me, and we don't know each other that well," Kamiya pointed out.
"Well… I guess you're right…" Nekozaki looked away from Kamiya, seeming to realize that she contradicted herself.
"Sorry. I shouldn't have dodged your statement by pointing out your contradiction."
Nekozaki looked at Kamiya, smiling. "It's fine!" She looked at the sky. "Why do you have such a strong opinion of Ryuga-san?"
"Because I can relate to him."
Nekozaki looked curious. "How?"
"We're both… different… from what everyone sees as normal."
"So you want to get to know Ryuga-san better by sympathizing with him?"
Kamiya opened her mouth, about to deny Nekozaki's assumption, but realized that that was the only reason she was able to relate with him, so she closed it, looking away from Nekozaki.
"How did you guys even get to know each other?"
"I asked him if he liked to read." Kamiya smiled at the moment.
"And?" Nekozaki urged.
Kamiya hesitated, not knowing if she should tell Nekozaki what she talked about with Ryuga in the library. She didn't mind talking about it, but she didn't know if Ryuga-san wanted anyone to know about it. He seemed like a very secretive and distant person.
"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone."
"It's not that…"
"What is it then?"
"I don't want to say anything about Ryuga behind his back. He wouldn't think anyone but himself is obligated to say anything about him, and I agree," Kamiya explained.
Nekozaki smiled, confusing Kamiya. "Kamiya-san, I think you could make a really good friend in the future!"
Kamiya was really confused now. She thought anybody would think nobody could be friends with someone like Ryuga, especially her, the most popular girl in her high school. "Do you… really mean that?"
Nekozaki nodded, still smiling. "Just come to me for advice, since it might take some time to get Ryuga-san to see you as a friend."
Kamiya smiled. "Thank you, Nekozaki-san."
"That's what friends are for!"
Kamiya heard the whistle of the train. She looked ahead of her and saw the train station, and the train, which looked like it was about to leave.
"Quick! Let's catch the train!" Nekozaki said. She ran after the train.
Kamiya followed her, all the while smiling. Nekozaki-san… Shikimori-san… I'm glad to have you both as my friends! And Ryuga-san… I hope I can be your friend too.
To be continued
AN: And that's chapter 2. I was a little inspired by Koruko's Basketball while writing this, which is why I decided to write out a little basketball game. I originally intended for Kamiya and Shikimori to enter the zone (which you can actually do), but decided against it.
I know not much happened progression-wise in this chapter. It was mostly about Kamiya's internal struggle with wanting to be friends with Ryuga. Don't worry, things will progress eventually, but as Shikimori said, it's going to take time. So be prepared to be in Kamiya's head most of the time. I figured that would be a realistic portrayal of her character since she's very distant, and introverts live mostly in their heads.
I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. See you next time!