âYou did what?â Hayanari questioned very surprised about what he just heard, almost choking with the smokes of his cigarette.
âAre you deaf now or something?â Umeji said, not happy to have to repeat himself. âI said that I accepted that girl to our gang.â
That girl he mentioned was a student named Ayano or something like that. Hayanari didnât quite memorize her name, but he was pretty sure she was a new student since he never saw her before classes started this year.
She has been bothering his group for a while, asking to join the gang. Hayanari thought this was ridiculous, even if she did weird favors for everyone else in the group, including him. She couldnât just buy a spot and become a delinquent, like the other students like to call them.
But apparently he was wrong.
âYouâre insane! You donât even know this girl!â he continued to complain. âBesides, what our boss is gonna think when she come back and see a random girl in the gang?â
Umeji took a deep breath, clearly tired of that discussion.
âI donât think the boss would mind, she might even like to have another girl around besides her.â The friend made a quick pause, thinking about something. âAnd also⊠I heard some rumors about this Ayano. Seems like she was sent to the counselor office a couple times, not sure why. And apparently sheâs alone all the time too. I donât know, maybe sheâll fit in quite well.â
After that long and unnecessary explanation, Hayanari didnât feel in the mood for all that anymore. Even himself didnât know why he was complaining about the girl, it wasnât a big deal.
âFine, whatever.â He took one last breath on his cigarette.Â
âThe other boys were cool about this.â Umeji decided to continue. âYouâre the only here making a big deal about it.â
âI said whatever.â Hayanari threw his cigarette on the ground and stepped on it. âJeez, whoâs the one deaf now?â he turned around and left.
With that, the gang got a new member. Or a new blood as they like to say.
***
A few days passed since Ayano joined and surprisingly for Hayanari nothing really changed. During lunch she usually never showed up and no one was really sure of where she was or what she was doing, but at the end of the day she usually show up and join them at their usual spot next to the incinerator, where no one else at that school dare to bother them.
Even with everyone reunited, it didnât really feel like Ayano was there at all. She was always alone in the corner of the wall, sometimes messing on her phone, texting someone, other times she was just quiet, doing nothing, like her mind was somewhere else. However, that didnât seem to bother the boys, she wasnât annoying them or anything like that so there was no need to turn that into a problem.
Later on the next day, Hayanari decided to skip one of the classes after lunch, because he wasnât going to waste an entire day inside a classroom just to hear about dead writers on a literature class that wonât change his life. That was always his excuse to ditch class, didnât matter what subject it was.
For Hayanari, ditching classes was always worth it and most of the time very easy. He just had to be careful to not get caught by one of those annoying student council girls. Sometimes it feels like they come out of nowhere.
He was on the way to his secret hidden spot in the school but his thirst made him go through the patio and grab something to drink in one of those soda machine. Unfortunately, luck wasnât on his side that day.
The moment his stepped on that patio he noticed that fucking white hair girl from the student council walking to his direction.
âFuck!â he groaned with a low voice, trying not to be heard.
The white hair girl didnât have noticed him yet so he still had a chance to escape. Hayanari started to walk backwards before thinking where he should go to hide. Suddenly someone grabbed his arm and pulled him to a corner.
âWhat the fuc-â
âShh!â the person shushed him, putting their hand on his mouth.
Hayanari quickly recognized the small and skinny figure who grabbed him. It was Ayano, the new member of his gang.
Both of them stayed quiet and immovable on the corner of the soda machine, squeezing their bodies together, just waiting for that girl from the council to go away.
While they had to stay still, Hayanari couldnât avoid analyzing the girl that still had her hand on his mouth. He noticed that her blonde hair wasnât completely dyed; the black roots on top of her head were very easy to spot. He wondered if that was a stylistic choice or she just didnât dye correctly. She wasnât wearing the mask on her face but it was down on her chin instead, revealing the small features on her face. Hayanari wasnât interested in her but he couldnât deny that she was kind⊠pretty.
Ayano felt that he was looking at her and she moved her eyes to him. Hayanari quickly looked way, feeling embarrassed for some reason.
The girl from the student council was just one step close to find the two of them and then she suddenly stopped. Both of them held their breath like their life dependent on that. However, the white hair girl just looked around real quick and turned around to another direction.
Apparently luck was on their side again.
Ayano took a deep sigh of relief when the girl went away, then Hayanari just remembered that her hand was still on his mouth. He quickly moved it away.
âDonât expect me to thank you.â Hayanari walked away from that corner.
âI wasnât.â she responded, not really expecting anything from him.
âWhat are you doing outside here?â he asked while pressing the buttons on the soda machine next to them. âShouldnât you be in class?â
âI think I should ask you the same thing.â She replied, landing her back against the wall.
He gave her a quirky look while grabbing his soda and didnât say anything back, because he knew she was right.
âYou shouldnât walk around here at this hour.â Ayano started to explain. âShirome always walks outside the campus when classes starts to check if anyone is ditchingâŠâ
âHey, look, just because you help me for one minute doesnât mean you can lecture me, okay.â Hayanari quickly cuts her advice. âIâm doing this longer than you.â
Ayano looks at him unsurprised.
âFine.â she simply replayed, not bothered at all.
The boy drank his soda, finishing it in large sips. When heâs done he goes to the machine again to grab another one. Despite Ayano donât seem interested, she didnât imagine that he was that thirsty.
âCatch it.â Hayanari threw the new can of soda at the girl.
Luckily Ayano had good reflexes and she grabbed the can without difficulty.
âNow weâre even.â the boy replied, already walking away. âAnd donât even think about following me.â
She wasnât planning to follow him anyway.
Ayano looked at the soda can on her hand. It wasnât her favorite flavour and she wasnât even thirsty. But in a weird way, that she couldnât explain, Ayano appreciated the gesture.
