How exactly was I supposed to process the brunet currently devouring the egg salad sandwich I'd prepared this morning for lunch, so sloppily as if he hadn't eaten in ages? Moreover, accept the fact that this was the boy from bus—the one who aided me after being stomped by the masses and quickly left me for dead in front of that furious officer?

As I couldn't quite figure that out, I merely stood a polite distance away, eyes exceptionally large, jaw hanging in evident surprise. Unbeknownst to the riot currently unfolding in my head, Miyabi continued to delightfully eat, filling his cheeks to the brim like a chipmunk would.

"You're shuch a kind pershon aren't chu?" he said between bites.

I discreetly inched back when pieces of lettuce flew out of his mouth. "Uh..."

After swallowing the last of the sandwich, Miyabi let out a satisfied breath. His warm brown eyes met mine, only seeming to twinkle with the huge beam he wore. "Do you have any more of that? I'm starved!"

My mouth took a while to move but he spoke again before I could.

"Where's Mr. Kikuchi? Why're you in here?"

"Th-that's because—"

"Oh, wow! Your hair really is funny looking." His comment popped a nerve inside of me. He laughed, gesturing with his hands how high it was. "It's fluffy! Like a sheep! It's hilarious!"

My lips came together in an embarrassed frown. He called me 'Sheep Hair' that day as well. Considering he didn't for the second time, did that mean he didn't remember me?

"Hey," I protested anyway. "My hair is perfectly normal—"

"Ouch!" His sudden yelp caught me off guard. His attention had shifted to his shoulder that was still dripping blood and he winced. He didn't hesitate to strip into just his white dress shirt, revealing a vivid gash across his arm. "This is horrible!" he cried, his complexion blanching at the sight of it. "Did I snag it on a branch on my way here? It's bleeding so much!"

Shock socked me in the gut. Don't tell me he just noticed?

"Reina, is everything all right? I hear a lot of screaming."

My neck snapped in the direction of the doorway. Relief flooded my veins at the sight of my dad. Oh, thank goodness.

"Dad!" I exclaimed, racing up to him and away from the weirdo seated on the infirmary bed. "This weirdo came crawling in here, begging for food while bleeding—"

My voice lodged itself in my throat and my body halted. It was as if I'd gotten slapped by a fish. In a matter of seconds, my expression morphed into one of pure horror as I watched a tall male enter in after Dad. His spiky orange hair and scowl wasn't something I could ever brush aside.

"Reina?" Dad asked, puzzled by my silence.

"She's here?" Ryu Iwasaki demanded.

I quickly rubbed my eyes, praying that what I was seeing was a nightmare. But even as I squinted, he continued to stand there.

I didn't even want to ask why he was.

"Mr. Kikuchi, help me!"

I was jostled out of the way and lost my balance. If it wasn't for the fact that I caught myself, I would've stumbled flat on my face.

Miyabi was holding out his arm to Dad, jumping from one foot to the other in frantic motions. "Just give it to me straight, Doc! Am I dying?"

"Miyabi!" he said, gripping his shoulders and stopping his movement. "Stop moving so much. Calm down."

He sniffled and bobbed his head. "I'm calm. I promise I am. But, I don't want to die."

"You're not going to."

Dad identified his wound and went searching through the drawers for the first aid kit. While he was, I did my best not to look in Ryu's direction. It was rather hard, as my curiosity had been piqued. Why did it seem like he kept appearing wherever I was lately? Was this my karma? I'd run away from delinquents far too many times that now I had one I couldn't outmanoeuvre.

Ryu gaze on the entrance shifted onto me. I stiffened but before we could dare me eyes, I turned the other cheek. My heartbeat thrummed loudly in my ears. He noticed my staring?

Carefully, I peeked at him again only to find that he'd already looked away, focus now on the snuffling teen beside me.

"Miyabi, what the heck did you do this time?"

The brunet's face lit up like a kid's on Christmas morning. He rushed to his side, gripping his bleeding arm.

"Iwasaki! Get this! Los's goons cornered me and forced me to give him my breakfast! I ran for my life to get here—even cutting through the nearby forest—and I think I cut my arm there."

I gulped hard. Los? As in Los Sakamaki? Miyabi was involved with that top dog delinquent? It was no wonder he ran for his life then. The guy was just as scary as Raidon Tsuki and his lackeys Keisuke Yamasaki and Aki Mitsoyu.

Nonetheless... despite getting himself hurt, his first concern was to receive some means of breakfast back? Not patch himself up, like any sane person would care to do? He was so weird!

"Who's Los?" Ryu asked the one question I least expected.

Not only did I gape like an idiot incapable of comprehending how somebody going to this school didn't at least know the name, but even Miyabi had been stunned into silence.

"You know, that guy!" he prodded. "Los Sakamoto? The one with the funny hairdo?"

"Mop Head?"

"Yes, him! I can't believe you forgot his name! If he hears you call him that, he'll hunt you down and kill you."

"Like I care."

You should care! If you were a human being who loved life you would! Although Raidon prided himself in having only two infamous minions, Los believed in numbers. His lackeys encompassed the vast majority of no-name delinquents who attended here, constantly spying and eavesdropping on conversations before promptly delivering the names of blacklisted individuals to him like the loyal puppies they were.

Speaking carelessly or publicly slandering him garnered an instant death wish.

Miyabi puffed his cheeks and said nothing. Not that I blamed him. So many thoughts were swirling in my head that I had a difficulty trying to articulate them.

Finally, though, he spoke: "The least you could do is get revenge for me."

Ryu gave him the flattest look I'd ever seen. "No."

"Why not? Don't you get filled with anger at the thought of somebody wronging me? Don't you care about me?"

He didn't have to think. "Also no."

Miyabi dramatically clenched his chest. "Ow! It hurts! Doc, my heart hurts! What is the meaning of this? Could it be the pain of having your heart broken by who you believed to be a close friend?"

Watching this all unfold, I was speechless. They really were friends? Ryu had some? I'd convinced myself it was impossible for anybody to keep up with his pace so learning he possessed a companion or two never crossed my mind.

I made a face at the thought. And here I was, with no friends in the least...

"Miyabi, you're causing a racket. Please use your indoor voice."

Dad emerged from the corner of the room, red kit in hand.

Miyabi's lips met in a purse as he used his palm to squeeze the back of his neck. He extended his other arm to him. "Yeah, yeah, Doc."

Rolling his eyes, Dad slipped out some towels to clean the blood off and the wound itself before skillfully going to wrap it up.

A wide grin peeled back Miyabi's mouth as he knocked his head back. "So, Iwasaki. Should we get my breakfast back from Los?"

"I said no," Ryu said.

"Meanie! I'm so hungry!"

"Don't care. Eat candy for all I care."

"I will then! I'll stuff my face with all the sugar you can imagine for breakfast!"

"Hey, what did I just say about watching your noise level?" Dad interjected, using his hand to rotate Miyabi's head back to him.

He clicked the first aid kit closed and readjusted Miyabi's rolled up sleeve.

"But, Iwasaki—"

"Iwasaki isn't getting involved in any fights."

"Why not?" he demanded, pouting once more. "He's super intimidating! They'll give it back easily."

"I apologize about your stolen breakfast—I really do—but he no longer has any free time," Dad said coolly. "The principal has sentenced him to working under me here in the infirmary for the remainder of the school year, and afterwards he has community service to attend—"

"WHAT?"

All eyes darted to me in a heartbeat. I probably looked crazy with my slacked jaw, left eye wide and right, twitching, but I couldn't have cared less. I must've heard him wrong. That had to be it. There was no way he said what I thought he did.

"Reina, you're still here?"

He blinked, trying to feign innocence, but I saw straight through it. I had heard him right.

"No way!" I shouted straightaway. "This is already hell enough. You did this on purpose didn't you—"

"Like I said, the principal decided this on her own accord," Dad stated with a sigh. "I couldn't have stopped it. It's a done deal."

Don't tell me the reason he went to the office was for this? I already planned to keep my distance from Ryu the best I could and was assured I'd only run into him during community service hours after school. But no. I get to work with him here, too? Was Dad—Mrs. Hamada, too—crazy? What was the point of putting two troublemakers together for nearly twenty-four hours? Did they want to torture me?

"Stop freaking out," Dad said.

"I'm not," I lied through my clenched teeth. "You know what, I'm actually ecstatic! This is the best news I've heard in my entire life!"

A series of shaky cackles left my mouth. It was then that I realized how unstable I truly was.

A boisterous snicker enveloped mine and I was hit in the back by a large hand. My body lurched forward and my laugh stifled as a result.

"You really are hilarious!" Miyabi proclaimed, doubling over in hysterics. "I've never seen you before. Who are you?"

Gritting my teeth, I met his gaze sourly. I jutted my chin. So he really didn't remember me? Not that I minded. Our encounter wasn't that impactful to begin with. Regardless, how in the world did he think this was hilarious? It was terrible.

Though I did my best to ignore him, his face ended up beside mine anyways.

"You're not a delinquent, right? I think I'd remember your puffy hair."

I scooted away from him. It was a bad idea because I ended up running into someone. I immediately lurched away. Ryu Iwasaki frowned, but despite expecting him to snap at me, he didn't say anything. Instead, he crossed his arms across his chest and peered the other way.

The tension in my shoulders faded, and bemuse welled up inside of me. He hadn't said a single thing to me today. What did that mean? That we didn't have to talk to each other? Although it still didn't make sense, maybe I should be glad for that. If talking to Ryu wasn't an option, even I had to admit this whole setup shouldn't be too bad.

"I know! Your name must be Sheep!" Miyabi's declaration startled me. He tossed his fists into the air in eureka. "It makes so much sense!"

I was stricken. "What?"

"Sheep! Your name is Sheep!" he insisted, grinning from ear to ear. "I was thinking 'Chocolate Ice Cream' first but it sounded weird. And 'Brown Cloud' would be even weirder. That's why I took the colour element out of it and left it as 'Sheep'!"

A tad disgusted, I made a face. "My name is Reina—"

"Ah, I've gotta go!" he said, glancing at the watch on his wrist. "Classroom duty!"

Identical to when he ditched me at the bus station, he was quick. Scooping up his blazer and bag, he was already at the doors, waving over his shoulder, before I could come to terms with it.

"See ya, Iwasaki, Sheep! And Doc, thanks so much for today!"

I was gaping after his departure. "My name isn't..."

"Sheep... pfft..."

I swivelled to see it was Dad. He was chuckling at the nickname. Heat consumed my cheeks.

"Hey! Don't laugh!"

As soon as I said that, a snort was heard, and I trailed it back to Ryu. He quickly turned the other way, but I knew it was him. I blushed even harder.

"You shouldn't be laughing either, Orange!"

Ryu tensed at the nickname and he spun around with a scowl. "Don't you dare call me—"

"Iwasaki, Reina." With a cough, Dad had won over our attention. By the serious look on his face, it was obvious he was done laughing. "I expect to see you two every day from now on. You will come here every morning and afternoon, aiding me and your fellow peers, then you will head to do your community service after school. Am I clear?"

I cringed at the idea. I caught Ryu do the same. We were on the same page. This time, at least.

Reluctantly, I faced Dad. A heavy sigh escaped my mouth. This would definitely end up being a whole lot of trouble.