"Ah, oh... Sorry." Ann said, bumping into him as he was heading to class.
"Oh, um... no worries." Ren murmured, stopping in his tracks, seeing Ann continue her way up the stairs. Hm? Is she... heading towards the rooftop? The adolescent was curious, having the urge to follow her.
The teen looked over to his left, seeing his classroom only a few feet away, then back in the direction Ann headed towards. He ended up looking at his watch which ended up making him grip his hand tightly, knowing he should be heading to class because it starts within less than five minutes, but with the thought of what could be going on up there outweighed it completely. Without a second thought, he ended up leading himself to the rooftop. The unruly black haired teen reached the top, looking through the door windows and saw Shiho and Ann lean against the fence.
"What's wrong? What are you doing up here? Shouldn't you be in class?" Ann started the conversation with questions that made Shiho look a little uncomfortable.
"Hm? Oh... I just need some fresh air and having some company gives it a change of pace for me." She spoke lowly, looking exhausted. "Thank you for giving me some of your time out of the blue. Even though it'll get us both in trouble." A small laugh escaped.
Another hit in the chest struck him when she showed that same smile. Yet this time, this pain felt a little different to him. She seemed to have hidden a look of sadness in her eyes. The same hollowness in her hazel shaded eyes. The same sigh. The same look of sorrow hid well beneath her usual expression. It appeared Ann didn't notice, but Ren did. He noticed within a second that her day wasn't starting off so well. He wanted to talk to her, but he held himself back, letting her speak to someone she was more familiar with. Ren stayed in the shadows, listening in on the conversation he wasn't proud of doing.
Sorry, Suzui-san... He kept to himself as he continued to listen.
"How has practice been going for you and your teammates?" Ann started.
"Hm? Oh... all is well." She lied.
"Are things beginning to become more rough? You haven't been looking so well this past week." Ann looked at her, worrisome arriving.
"Everything's fine. Just becoming challenging every time per usual." She faked a small grin.
"Are you sure you're doing all right? Don't you think you should take a break every now and then?" Ann began to bury her way into Shiho's life.
Shiho spaced out, looking as though she was about to pass out. She closed her eyes tightly, trying to clear her mind to keep the conversation going, but she kept struggling. Her mind was so disoriented and her lack of energy wasn't helping. The teen felt like she wanted to tell the truth of all the things her and her team have been struggling through, but with the threats they've all been suffering with, they felt they were already buried alive. Shiho didn't want to make things worse. She didn't want to involve Ann. Especially Ann. The things Kamoshida said, the things the adults are turning a blind eye on, the agonizing tasks they've all been thrown into has led them to feeling as though they were already dead.
I'm sorry, Ann... Shiho confessed to herself, sighing deeply, opening her eyes, trying to breathe in the fresh air to have the ability to speak again, "Everything's fine." She placed a gentle smile, hiding her pain for the sake of Ann so she wouldn't have to worry, "How are things going for you?" She asked to change the subject.
"Oh... everything's the same, per usual." Ann laughed a little, hiding her look of stress, "Things are going great." The girl with the blonde hair responded, "N-Nothing new." A weak laugh escaped.
Ann looked down, I'm sorry, Shiho... Ann confessed to herself. She wanted to say the things she was going through, but she didn't want to worry Shiho, nor feel like things were going worse for her. The teen bit her tongue, trying to hold in her frustration, gripping the fence. She wanted to tell Shiho the struggles she was going through. The sexual harassment's she's been receiving from her friends coach, the threats, the rumors. She didn't want to strain her friend anymore than she already looked. All she felt she could do was cheer her on in hopes of her friend succeeding for the accomplishments she has been aiming for the past couple years.
Silence filled the air, leaving the two teens to sit there with nothing, but sorrow. They felt depression fall upon them as they suffered the worry of placing stress on each other. They both sighed deeply, looking up at the sky that was beginning to turn gray.
"I guess we should head back to class, huh?" Shiho was the first to break the silence.
She looked down, feeling weak to where she didn't want to return. Hell, she didn't want to return anywhere. The jet hair colored girl turned around and ended up looking down at the field. She leaned against the fence, staring blankly at the grass she used to play pass back with her teammates during lunch time before Kamoshida became their coach. Her lips twitched, struggling to hold in her tears. She ended up gripping the fence, hoping it would ease her pain, trying to replace the feel of fear turn into a feel of anger, yet she couldn't bring herself to switch to that. She felt she was a puppet that couldn't cut the strings that kept her in her place. Before she knew it, her mind became so dark to where she ended up viewing the roof as an escape. She felt the roof was her only escape.
"Shiho...?" Ann placed her hand on her shoulder, snapping Shiho out of her thoughts.
"L-Let's head back to class." Shiho forced a smile, "It looks like it's about to rain soon." She headed to the door first.
Ren jolted, noticing the girls were heading his way. He raced downstairs to avoid the girls most likely uncomfortable questioning. The adolescent reached the last step and ended up stumbling into another student.
"Hey, watch it!" The guy pushed him back.
The guy has short spiky dyed blond hair and dark brown eyes. According to Ren's homeroom teacher, Sadayo Kawakami, his hair is naturally black. He has a noticeable widow's peak and his eyebrows are unusual in that he lacks the outer sides. His winter school uniform was a bit modified that fit his personality indeed. It consists of the standard black blazer, unbuttoned to reveal a yellow t-shirt with a comic style star symbol and the word 'ZOMG!' He has plaid trousers rolled up to reveal his ankles. His pants have black suspenders that hang down instead of being worn on his shoulders. He has a white belt. His white sneakers have a motif.
"Oh! S-Sorry." Ren automatically said.
"Hold up... what's a diligent looking kid like ya ditching class?" The guy questioned.
Ren looked back up the stairs, hearing the girls voices then back over at the other guy.
"Sorry again!" Ren rushed to his classroom.
"What a weird guy..." The other student said, watching him run away. "Whatever... Hm?" He looked up, noticing the two girls walking down, Geez... is he a stalker or something? Ryuji questioned himself, looking in the direction Ren ran towards. "Ann?" He said, noticing one of the girls. Why the hell would a guy want to stalk Ann? He breathed out a laugh when thinking that.
"Ryuji..." Ann huffed out, a small growl escaping behind.
"Can't believe you have a fan here at this school." He laughed, "I thought the guys left you alone for their sake."
"Shut up!" She bit back, "Leave us alone." She pushed him aside, escorting Shiho to her class before heading to hers.
Ryuji let out a laugh, letting them pass by him, then looked in the direction Ren ran towards. What a strange kid... The blond haired boy sighed, heading upstairs.
Ren tried to catch his breath when he reached his classroom. He leaned against the wall and slid down, burying his head between his legs, trying to compose himself before entering his classroom.
I wonder what's going on between Suzui-san and Takamaki-san... Why did they both look so sad? Ren thought to himself, staring out the window, seeing it was starting to drizzle outside, I should focus on school for now.
He exhaled slowly, hoping to focus better today, but sadly enough, luck was not on his side. When he was about to get up, he saw a shadow appear in front of him. He looked up and felt a bit taken aback, a little startled by the glare he instantly got from his classmate, Ann.
"You and me are talking right after school!" She growled, heading to class first.
Ren groaned, feeling like he was screwed. He looked up and over at Ann when she entered the class, about to enter the classroom right after her, but he felt it would be safer for them to have a bit of a time distance so more rumors wouldn't spread between the both of them, mainly for her sake. Yet sadly enough, it appeared that fifteen minutes later wasn't enough to keep more rumors spreading like wildfire. Ren got a lecture from his teacher before he was made to sit down. He gulped, feeling as though he was suffocating by his own saliva as he awkwardly headed to his desk, trying his best to ignore the whispers. He tried not to look at Ann. He succeeded at that, but he could definitely feel a deadly aura around her as he passed by her to sit down.
So much for aiming to have a better day than yesterday. Ren sighed deeply, wanting to face plant down on his desk, but knew he had to focus today in order to keep up with his studies and avoid more consequences that he felt was heading his way.