Chapter 3: Roots/Preparations

"Eh? You didn't exchange phone numbers with them?"

"They are doing well, right? It has been ages since I last saw them."

"Was she, like, really cute?"

"How could you forget to exchange phone numbers?"

"Haha! I suppose Miyako's been taking great care of them then."

"Seriously, was she really cute?"

Takuma was on the verge of spouting a couple of words he wouldn't be proud of while he tried to force a piece of broccoli into his mouth.

Ever since he and his family sat down for their nightly dinner, they had been hounding him with questions regarding his meeting with the Hoshino siblings. He had enough of their questioning about every single thing that happened between them, as well as about what didn't.

Had they been a bit more coherent in the way they asked him questions, he might have been a bit more disposed towards giving them the answers they wanted. He understood their curiosity but it was honestly too much for him to handle.

His decision to ignore them for a number of minutes would bear fruit before long as the questions would finally stop; his family finally opting to let their dinner take precedence over their inquiries. He too, began to attack the nearest plate of delicacies in response.

"But seriously…" Naoto, the youngest of the Yamasaki brothers would speak up first, "Was she cute?"

Takuma glared at his brother for a second before looking away.

"Like I'd tell you that" he replied.

"Hehe…" Naoto grinned, "Come on, I need to build my harem! None of the famous people at our school want to have anything to do with me…I need someone from outside of that!" he said jokingly.

"Nao-kun?"

The reprimand for his joke would come from their mother in the form of a single question.

While he was relieved that his mother had stepped in before he needed to, Takuma understood that he had no problems with the banter he had with Naoto as long as it never extended beyond the confines of their home. He also understood that he didn't need to put up any false images in front of his family…not that he was ever capable of doing so.

After all, the three people he was sitting around the dinner table were the ones who knew him best and it would be unfair to assume that they would do or say only the things he desired to him.

"Are they still in middle school or…?" Shou asked his mother.

"I understand that they'll be starting high school very soon" Yukiyo replied, "Nao-kun's about six months older than the twins and he's entering his second year of high school so it matches up."

"I'm gonna be a senpai…hehe…" Naoto grinned while rubbing his hands, "Now, I can finally have my own followers in school! Hehe!"

"What? Are you trying to start a cult?" Shou chuckled.

"That'll be fun, right?"

"Don't you remember the type of people who go to your school?" Takuma chimed in, "They're all either celebrities or aspiring celebrities. At best, they won't care about normal high schoolers like you. And didn't you get bullied because of that?"

"Not exactly…" Naoto smiled sheepishly, "I wouldn't exactly say I was bullied. It was more of being "stepped on"."

Shou could not hold in his laughter. Takuma finally broke into a subdued chuckle as well, as he understood the reason for his brother's mirth.

"Eh? Are you two laughing at me?" Naoto asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Shou-kun, Tak-kun, you'll choke on your food if you laugh while eating" their mother quickly scolded them.

"Sorry" Shou mumbled an apology.

Takuma quietly ate, a bit relieved to no longer be the focus of the conversation.

A part of mind was still on the interaction he had with Ai's children that forenoon.

He had not expected them to be…so normal. His mother had told him that the information regarding Ai's pregnancy and her giving birth to twins were still not known to the public so it did make sense that the siblings would not grow up in the limelight like the children of other celebrities.

Ruby didn't seem to be much different from your typical, run of the mill middle school girl even if she had been a bit too cautious for his liking…perhaps because of the misunderstanding they had. Aquamarine was definitely the more level-headed and mature of the twins and the questions he posed were ones that even he might not have the presence of mind to ask.

He wasn't exactly against running into them again though. Seeing them voice their appreciation for his father's work had put them on his good side and maybe a long overdue "research" into the work that Ai and his father had been involved in together might prove to a good conversation starter the next time he saw them.

But as he lowered his head, he remembered a couple of things he had forgotten.

"…arrghh…I forgot my USB drive and I forgot to exchange numbers with them…"

The next day

It had been a rather eventful couple of days for Aqua.

He had initiated the high school phase of his life by giving an entrance interview at Yoto High School with Ruby where he also happened to run into Arima Kana, a childhood "friend" of his who would be their senpai at the same school as well.

After an insightful conversation with the girl, he came to learn of what her current endeavours entailed. She had been cast as the lead actress of the live action adaptation of a manga and after speaking to her regarding that, Kana had managed to rope him into taking a role in the adaptation's climatic episode.

Aside from that, a member of the Yamasaki family had visited him and his sister prior to his meeting with Kana where he learnt of the extensive history their two families had. A talk with their adoptive mother the previous night had proved useful in extracting some information as well confirming his assumptions about the influence that Yamasaki Hiroshi had within the music industry and to an extent, the idol world.

It was unfortunate that the man had passed on from the living world but he could still access those connections through his son Shou who had a small role in composing songs for budding idol groups under the tutelage of a person named Hanada.

But, he would have to pursue that objective later as he had to participate in the filming of a show with Kana that day.

Still, he was in possession of the USB drive that Takuma had forgotten the previous day, giving him an alibi to converse with the eldest of the Yamasaki brothers, either at their residence or at their workplace.

While sitting at the bus stop several blocks away from his own home, Aqua ignored the passing pedestrians and vehicles as he kept his attention solely on his phone, re-reading the pages of the script for the show.

"…they won't have to try as hard as they need to on this scene…this finale…it'll depend on Kana's performance…but is she still adamant on toning it down?...I'll have to speak to her about this…"

Lost in his thoughts, Aqua failed to realize a man standing next to him, tapping his foot impatiently.

The moment he heard the irritant tapping, Aqua tilted his head upwards and faced the man.

He had a lanky but slightly well-toned body and he appeared to be much taller than him. His hair was dark-brown in colour and seemed to be recently cut short. A stubble was present on his chin and somehow, he exuded an aura of friendliness even before he spoke.

"Now, where are you headed to, Aquamarine-kun?" the man grinned.

Aqua swiftly racked his brains to see if he could recognize the man who had known his name for some reason.

However, he found nothing.

Fortunately, the man would speak up again.

"Haha…you don't know me, do you?"

Aqua had no choice but answer in the affirmative.

"I'm afraid I don't, sir."

The man then sat next to him and offered him a handshake.

"Yamasaki Shou is my name" he smiled, "We haven't met before but you've met my brother."

"…Yamasaki?..."

Though his facial expressions did not show it, Aqua was stumped by the workings of the world that had caused Shou to show up right when he was thinking of approaching him.

Even just from the brief moment of interaction, he could tell that Shou was a completely different beast from Takuma.

Whilst the younger brother had a hint of mysticism in the way he conducted himself, Shou was straight forward, sociable and seemed to be more of a talker. Thus, Aqua knew that having a conversation about the past to gather more clues on the past would not be as difficult with him.

That would certainly significantly aid him in his quest.

"Yamasaki Shou…he's currently 23 years of age…he probably knows a bit more about the circumstances of Ai's death from his parents since he'd have been around 12 years old when she was murdered…"

"Nice to meet you. My name is Hoshino Aquamarine" he replied as he accepted the handshake, "You can simply address me as Aqua, Yamasaki-san."

He was never going to get over how stupid his full name sounded.

"I'll keep that in mind" Shou nodded, "You know, I was raring on coming over someday to see you and your sister with my own eyes" his sight strayed over towards the road ahead of them, "Hehe…is she as big as you? You are a rather large boy, you know?"

"She's of average height" Aqua knew he had to be careful with his answers, "Would you like to meet her? Our residence is not far from here and unless she's suddenly gone outside, I'm sure she's at home."

"Maybe some other day" Shou replied, "I've recently started going out with a lovely lady who lives in that house over there…It's crazy that you live close by then."

Aqua turned his head in the direction of a modest two-storeyed house with a car parked at its doorstep. That residence belonged to the Kobayashi family whose daughter was definitely in her early 20s, matching up to Shou's reason for being there at that time. It was, of course, only logical for Aqua to know the families who lived in the immediate vicinity of their home.

"Yes, I suppose it is…" he nodded before reaching into his pockets, "I was going to bring this over to you at the studio you worked in later, but I guess it will be best to hand it over now."

He then showed the USB drive to him.

"Oh?" Shou raised an eyebrow before breaking into a merry bout of laughter, "Haha! Did Tak-kun forget this yesterday? Oh…he's more of a klutz than he wants to admit, you know?"

"Tak-kun?"

Aqua luckily realized he was talking about Takuma.

"It's fine" he finally showed a slight smile, "At least it got back to you safe and sound."

"…there goes my ticket…"

Inside, Aqua rued having to return the USB drive before he could get a proper chance to have a long conversation with Shou but at the same time, it was possible that either he or one of his brothers might come to their home to retrieve it so he couldn't really hold onto it for too long.

And though he was speaking to Shou right there and then, the commitments he had made for Kana's sake (and for his own) had rendered attempting a meaningful conversation useless.

"Well, that's very thoughtful of you, Aqua-kun. So, where are you headed to? Taking the bus somewhere?"

Aqua scolded himself for not having answered that question the first time he asked it.

"I have a role in a live action adaptation of a manga called "Today Will Be Sweet/Sweet Today"" he replied, "We're filming an episode later."

There was no reason to be worried about revealing his plans for the day or his involvement in a show. As long as his true intentions never came to light, he had no problems with announcing that to everyone.

"Oh? You're an actor, huh?" Shou scratched his chin.

"…I guess I am…"

"Yes."

The man let out a pleased chuckle.

"And Ruby's on track to working for Strawberry Productions…" he said, "Don't ask me how I know that though. Let's just say if you hang with the right people, you can get lucky enough to find useful information earlier than intended."

That answer got Aqua thinking instantly.

He wasn't sure if it was Miyako or someone else from Strawberry Productions who had revealed that detail about his sister to Shou but if it wasn't their adoptive mother, then he could conclude that Shou indeed had a connection to the agency Ruby was going to work under…the same agency that Ai worked for.

"Ah! How wonderful!" Shou laughed without a hint of sarcasm, "Brother and sister setting foot into the entertainment industry together."

"That's a way to put it, I suppose" Aqua mumbled.

In the distance, he observed his bus rolling ever closer to the bus stop.

"I'll watch your careers with great interest, 'aight?" Shou patted the boy on the back before standing up, "Are you having school at the same time as well?"

"Yes" Aqua nodded, "Yoto High School is the institution we took our entrance exams at two days ago."

"Yoto?" Shou's smile widened, "What a coincidence! Our youngest, Naoto goes to that school. He'll be a second year student at the start of the next term."

While he was giving a nod in response once more, Aqua was discreetly intrigued by the fact that they would be going to the same school where the Yamasaki family's youngest member already was a part of. That got his gears in his head rolling once more, taking note to make use of that detail to further his goals of getting closer to the Yamasaki family.

"I'll tell him to take good care of the two of you" Shou added, "Well, as for me, if you need anything regarding music, I'm your guy."

That last sentence was like a breath of relief for Aqua. There was nothing to suggest he couldn't trust Shou on a surface level and with his assurance, he definitely could weave a number of questions to get the answers he wanted from him when they both had time to have a longer talk.

"I appreciate that" he nodded.

"Oh! And I almost forgot what Tak-kun forgot" Shou chuckled before taking his phone out, "Gimme your phone number, Aqua-kun. And Ruby's as well. We shouldn't be strangers anymore, right?"

Aqua didn't hesitate. Direct communication would help him out greatly in the long run. In a matter of seconds, the two would exchange numbers.

"Thank you for this conversation, Yamasaki-san" the boy bowed to show his gratitude.

"Anytime, Aqua-kun, anytime" Shou grinned as he turned to walk away, "Have fun with your shoot."

Glancing at the bus and then, at the man, Aqua waved his hand.

"Have a nice day, Yamasaki-san."

He wasn't sure if Shou had heard his final words of goodbye but being respectful towards an "older person" never hurt.

The moment he disappeared into an adjacent street, Aqua's mind raced immediately, trying to come up with his next course of actions focusing on the Yamasaki family.

"…he's obviously the most important one…his brothers and mother won't matter as much…as long as I can get him to feed me the information I want…then…this will go as planned."

The whole interaction though felt more than just a coincidence. Considering how convenient it was that he would show up and how convenient it was that he had girlfriend just down the road from their home, he knew there was a certain degree of caution he had to exercise around him.

"…Kaburagi…I should've asked him if he knew the producer of the drama…"

By the time he had boarded the bus, Aqua once again lamented his thoughtlessness while he was conversing with Shou.

He definitely should have asked about him even with a simply question such as "This drama is directed by Kaburagi-san. Do you know him?". A simple "yes" might have spared him from having to go through with the plans he had in mind.

But he couldn't dwell on that mistake for too long. Depending on how the filming session proceeded, the window of opportunity to gather what he needed from his target would present itself in a way where he'd have enough time to extract everything he required.

If his entire plan fell through though, at least he'd have the chance to brush up on his acting skills.

Some days later

"Kana-chan, could you hand me the other end of that ribbon?"

"…why am I helping you again, Yah Mah Sah Ki-San?"

"Because you're the first person to come across this area. I swear, it's like everyone else is avoiding me."

"Gee…I wonder why?"

Arima Kana could not recall the exact sequence of events that had led her to spending nearly an hour of the weekend helping Yamasaki Naoto, their class representative in the Student Council, with the final bits of decoration inside of the school's auditorium. The cause for them being there though was to make sure everything was set up properly for the entrance ceremony which was to be held in two days.

While the brown-haired boy was wearing a simple tank top and shorts with flip-flops, Kana was dressed with a striped shirt and a frilled skirt as well as other accessories that followed a specific colored theme of blue.

With her beret placed to the side, the hatless Kana begrudgingly sauntered to the side of the stage and picked up the end of a ribbon. She then glared at the boy propped up on top of a stepladder holding the other end.

"Here!" she said before passing it to him.

"Ah! Thanks, Kana-chan~" he replied happily, stapling the ribbon into a neat tie, "You being here is a gift! I would've struggled for so long if I was alone."

Kana could only groan in response as he stepped off the stepladder.

It was true that she had seen him working by himself inside the auditorium and felt bad for him. But she would never ever reveal that. No! The strange relationship they had since the start of their journey into high school did not allow her to air how she really felt unless it was in a serious situation.

While they had a rough start at the beginning of high school, Kana and Naoto had managed to form some sort of a chemistry when she finally realized she could freely interact with the perpetually shameless boy by exaggerating her annoyance and he'd typically respond in a light-hearted way, taking everything in stride and sometimes, even teasing her if he felt like annoying her more.

Though they were practically friends without the label, she could not publicly associate herself with him due to him being informally ostracized for not being part of the "showbiz" world. As such, they never had the time and place to be truly sincere with each other.

However, out of fear of losing the strange relationship she had with him, Kana would continue to act as she always did even when there was no one else around.

"I'm free to go now, right?" she crossed her arms.

"Wha-" Naoto raised an eyebrow before laughing, "Wait a minute, did you think you couldn't leave earlier?"

"I didn't say that, you idiot!" she asserted, "Are you done here?"

"Hehe…sorry for that mistake" he said sheepishly while gathering bits of paper scattered around the place, "Yeah…I'll just pick these up. You can head on out, Kana-chan~."

The girl's eyes twitched as she caught him saying her name with a deliberate inflection.

"Stop doing that, Yamasaki!" she said aloud, picking up her beret, "Don't say my name that way like…like…you are my lover or something. That's embarrassing!"

"Ahhh…" he cooed blissfully, "…if only that was a reality!"

"He really likes doing that, huh?...Trying to tick me off intentionally again by pretending to be in love…"

"Hey! I said it's embarrassing!"

"I don't find it embarrassing" he smiled, having finished cleaning up the place.

"I meant for me…" she crossed her arms and glared at him.

"Oh…" he scratched the side of his head, "Err…hehe…you're serious...right?...sorry!"

Though she waited a couple of seconds to see what else he had to say, the awkward laugh from him befuddled her. She could only make guesses as to why he had suddenly turned hesitant.

"You know, Kana-chan…" he smiled at her, "I hope we don't get off on the wrong foot now that a new year of school is coming soon."

"Huh? Where's this coming from?" she narrowed her eyes at him.

Naoto then kicked an empty can of soda nearby.

"I wanna be real with you, Kana-chan. I think I might have a new crush when school starts" he announced while laughing a bit.

"Eh?" Kana tilted her head, "That's what you wanna say?"

She had almost forgotten how light hearted and immature he was. He was so childish yet…he was more entertaining and more genuine than most of the so-called entertainers enrolled to the school.

And she had already been aware of his tendency to fawn over any girl that caught his eye…her being one of his "victims". She wasn't too bothered by his paradoxical infatuation but often found it irritating when he would use that as an excuse to not pursue the ones who really had his heart.

"Yep" he shrugged and smiled, "You won't be mad at me if that happens, right?"

"You're unbelievable, Yamasaki-san" she squinted her eyes at him, "So, who is the unlucky girl?"

"I don't know her name yet" he said, "But she's definitely one of our kouhais. I saw her here on the day of the interviews."

"Well, this is one part of you that I don't understand yet" she revealed, "But I actually hope you fall in love with this dream girl of yours so everyone else can finally live their daily lives in peace."

"Haha! You know I'm probably gonna get rejected…again and I'll be crying my way back to you, Kana-chaaaaaan~" he burst out laughing.

"No!" she asserted, "I am not prepared to go through that mess again, Yah Mah Sah Ki!"

Naoto raised his eyebrows at her.

"Eh? Why not?" he chuckled, "By the way, I really love that new thing you're doing when you're saying each syllable of my name with Au Tho Ri Teh!"

"Thank you" she gave him a genuine smile for a split second before hastily reverting back to a sly smirk, "And to answer your question: your love life and the stupid way you go on with it is your own choice. Deal with it yourself."

"What if I say no to that?"

"I can always block you again" she said smugly.

"…fair enough…"

The duo then exited the auditorium, but not before Naoto turned off the lights and locked the doors behind him.

A bright ray of sunlight bathed both of their frames in a warm illumination the moment they stepped foot outside. Kana had to close her eyes halfway to adjust to the sudden change in lighting while Naoto was seemingly unfazed by it.

As it wasn't a school day, only a handful of students, mostly from the Student Council were around were moving about in the school grounds, carrying out their own responsibilities dutifully. The mellow warmth imparted by the clear weather of that day instilled both a sensation of nostalgia and anticipation in the hearts of both Kana and Naoto, although neither was aware of the other's feelings.

"I can't wait for Monday!" the boy exclaimed, fixing his tank top, "A new year, a new batch of pretty, pretty faces!"

"Can you stop saying your thoughts out loud, Yamasaki-san?" Kana groaned.

"I can't help myself. On the day they held the interviews, right? I saw this really, really cute girl with blonde hair and red eyes! I wanna see if she passed the entrance. If she does then…"

Naoto then proceeded to rub his hands in a fiendish manner, eliciting a disgusted stare from his companion.

"You are a pain in the ass…" she retorted, "Do you realize how annoying you are to the girls you flirt with?"

"I don't think I'm that self-aware, Kana-chan."

The awkward laugh that Naoto followed his reply with did little to help the girl in stopping herself from showing any signs of enjoying his company. While he wasn't looking, she discreetly shook her head and smiled for a moment, thinking about how unorthodox his mind set was.

"Oh! I saw you in that crummy show's final episode" he suddenly mentioned, "What was the name of that again?...my mom used to watch it…"Delicious Today"? "Sweat Today"?"

Kana was perplexed that he had even known about the live action drama she just wrapped up since she never mentioned it to him. It warmed her heart a bit to know that he had at least heard about it and learnt that she was an integral part of the adaptation.

Her tone was slightly softer as she understood the direction the conversation was heading in.

"It's called "Sweet Today"" she corrected him, "And don't call it "crummy" when you know I acted in it."

"Ah yeah! That's the name" he snapped his fingers, "I only watched the last episode but man, you were so good, Kana-chan! Haha! I was really sad when you cried because I never saw you crying before" he stared at her, "I think that's like, a testament to how good you really are!"

The unexpected praise given to her by a person who usually never gave two cents about the careers of his classmates had her heart fluttering for a moment. It really meant a lot to hear him say all those kind words to her in a sincere tone.

"I'm…" she made a decision to be sincere for once, "…I'm glad you thought my acting was good, Yamasaki-san."

A bright smile formed on her lips.

"No problem. I'll be on the lookout for whatever the hell you celebrities do next."

"We're still high schoolers…you idiot. Treat us as such" she said with a smirk.

The next second though, she realized how significant it was for him to declare that when he never cared for what his classmates did outside of school. She almost broke into a wide smile but she quickly stopped the underlying emotions from breaking through to the surface.

In her attempt to regain her composure, Kana turned her gaze away towards the large open space next to the entrance gates of the school. She had expected the empty area to help gather herself before Naoto noticed but as she looked closely, she was a bit puzzled to see an unfamiliar figure leaning against one of the gates.

As she focused her sights on the person, she could tell that it was a young man, wearing a leather jacket and faded blue jeans, who also had a pair of sunglasses covering his eyes. His silver-colored hair was also combed back slickly and it shone against the sunlight from above. One word immediately came to her mind: greaser.

"Who is that weird guy?" she found herself asking with arched eyebrows, "He seems so out of place dressed like that. He looks like some sort of a greaser…he has the outfit down to a tee as well."

Naoto let out another nervous chuckle before biting his lips. Kana could tell that he knew a thing or two about the greaser near the gates.

"Eh?" she nudged him, "Don't tell me you know him, Yamasaki-san…"

"Errr…" he gave her another sheepish smile, "How do I put this?...uhh…umm…"

His inability to answer immediately had already caught her attention and Kana's patience was beginning to run out. She needed answers right there and then.

"Spill the beans now" she demanded, putting her hands on her hips, "Tell me what you know about that guy right now!"

Knowing that he was being backed into a corner, Naoto put a hand over his mouth as he glanced between the greaser and Kana a couple of times. He then moved his hand to his forehead and looked directly forward.

"That's my brother, Takuma" he replied, forcing a smile, "He's here to pick me up."

The initial look of annoyance and anger on Kana's face shifted to one of surprise and shock as she was stunned by the revelation.

Having gone to the same school as him for one whole year, she had never seen his brother before nor had she ever heard of him speak about him. But the moment she discovered that her classmate and the greaser in front of them were related, it was like the whole world had turned upside down for her.

Never in a million years would she have ever assumed that the carefree, outgoing and overall friendly boy would be a relative of such a shady looking person.

"Ah…he has his own thing going…you know…" Naoto frantically tried to explain what his friend was witnessing, "He's going to college and he's just trying new things…hehe…"

That didn't seem to lessen the shock from the discovery though.

"T-That's your brother!? You never told me you had a family!" Kana explained, pointing at the man.

"Huh?...hehe…I…er…assuming I don't have a family is kinda-"

"But…but y-you're…YOU! And he…he's like a gangster or something!"

"Ehhh…he just dresses like one" Naoto sighed and laughed, "He does really look cool today. That's much better than the stalker-ish one. Haha!"

Naoto's laughter managed to somehow bring Kana's shock down and she finally managed to compose herself. As the surprise wore down though, a familiar sense of annoyance stemming from what the boy did and said returned to her and she faced him in an instant, shooting daggers at him with just a simple stare.

"You're telling me just now that you have a brother like him?!" she asked, "Do you know that you shouldn't hide such important information? People might get the wrong idea about you, understand?"

"No one asked yet sooo…" he replied in a ditzy tone.

"You're unbelievable" she folded her arms.

Naoto simply responded with another chuckle before he began walking towards his brother.

Kana then realized that she and her classmate were about to be separated after nearly an hour of spending time together in the almost empty school grounds. She could not exactly understand why but it was always comfortable speaking to him even though she had to act harsh towards him on purpose.

At the same time though, he had managed to push a lot of her buttons with his nonsensical bullcrap and some of those scathing remarks were often warranted.

"See you on Monday, Kana-chan~" Naoto said with a wink before continuing on his way.

"Zip i-"

The final gesture and deliberate attempt at riling her up with another one of his melodic "Kana-chan"s caught her off-guard and she had to catch herself right in the nick of time before she slipped up again.

There was a smile on her face as he exited the school grounds with his weird big brother. Although she would never admit it in his presence, but every moment spent with him was never dull and she appreciated that effect he had upon her.

Sure, she had never seriously entertained the thought of fulfilling his reason for being such an annoyance towards her but that did not mean that she did not want to be around him. His claims of being infatuated by her had a likelihood of both being true and being total hogwash but that fact never got in the way of him interacting with her like he'd do so with his close friends, never seeming to mind that she had a degree of fame attached to her name.

And with a sea of shallow and self-absorbed individuals surrounding them every single school day, he stood out like a shining piece of copper amongst a dull mound of diamonds.

If their brief time together was a harbinger for things to come, she was hopeful that by the same time in the next year, they'd finally be able to call each other friends.

Or perhaps by the next Monday.

Kana knew it was fruitless trying to map out what Naoto would be up to come the start of the next term but as long as he wasn't serious about pursuing their kouhais for a romantic relationship, she was certain he'd stay the same.

"Hmm…blonde hair…red eyes…" she mumbled to herself, remembering what he told her.

Her eyes then widened in realization.

"W-Was he talking about Ruby!?"

Near the gates of Yoto High School…five minutes earlier

"This leather jacket is…is so stuffy! How can anyone breathe in this? Ughh…remember, you can't complain, Takuma…this is just a test run for the next time you escort Nao-kun to school…

…

…

…a message…what's this number?...Oh! This message is not from my saved contacts…

…

…

Eh?

…"Please save my number, Yamasaki-san. I'll be looking forward to speaking to you again!

-Ruby"

…

…This is Ruby's number!? Who in the world gave her my number?"