There was only two things I could do under these circumstances.

A) Wait to get chewed out (and possibly die) by the stranger who knew my name.

Or b) Flee the fastest my feet could take me and hope that she wouldn't run after me.

The latter was leaning more in my favour, but the thought that I actually had to run made me a little reluctant. I already exercised enough today. Besides, where would I even run? I didn't want to get myself lost...

The girl in front of me tapped her foot impatiently, glowering in such a hostile way, as if waiting for me to say something. I couldn't form the words and my focus shifted onto a puzzled Ryu from beside me. He was watching this all happen, eyes going back and forth.

"As if I wouldn't recognize you," the girl spoke before long, folding her arms across her chest and staring me down even harder. "You're a mess, too." Her face scrunched up sourly. "And is it me or does it stink?"

My face flushed in sudden embarrassment. I sniffed quickly to affirm her words but a scent didn't fill my nose. The only explanation was that I had grown used to it. My blood ran cold. That meant that I stunk like garbage, right? Well, I was picking up trash for hours so it made sense, but... I was so close to Ryu while talking to him. Did he smell me? Was he secretly disgusted?

My stomach churned. So I looked like an absolute mess and smelled like garbage too? Ugh. I was so ashamed right now.

"You do know that you owe me, right?" the girl asked aloud while I was basking in my own humiliation. Her eyes were wide, expectant for an answer.

I shook my head feebly, not being able to find it in me to raise my voice. I owed her? For what? Who the heck even was this girl?

The distant sound of an engine reached my ears. My eyes lit up instantly, whipping my head back. As if to prove I was right, the bus did come down the road. My hands instantly clicked the home button of my phone. Thirty minutes had passed! Yes! I swivelled my body around, getting my pass ready.

"Hey! Where do you think you're going?!"

The bus came to a stop right in front of me. I spared the girl a quick glance. She was charging at me. Paling, I fled into the bus, holding up my pass and quickly darting to a seat.

"Where's your money or pass, girl?"

"I-I don't have, but—"

"Please leave, then. I have to get going."

"I know, but—"

"I will call security!"

My eyes briefly made contact with the girl by the doorway looking absolutely exasperated. Her look immediately shifted to anger.

"Just give me a the cops!"

My heart stopped as she attempted pushing past the bus driver who was blocking her. My head dropped as I tried to hide myself behind the person sitting in front of me. What did that girl want from me? Thank God I didn't stay out there. Who knew what she would've done. The bus was safer.

It wasn't long before the bus driver managed to get the girl to leave the bus. I exhaled in relief, leaning back in my seat. The chatter in the bus rose to my ears and I felt uncomfortable due to all of the boring stares in my direction. I quickly brushed them aside. The plus side about buses was that there typically wasn't anyone you knew on them so you didn't have to worry about anything after you were embarrassed.

The sudden rap against the glass jolted me. My heart skipped a beat and wide-eyed, I shifted my gaze to the window. The girl's face was pressed against it, giving me a heart attack. I lurched away as she mouthed something to me, holding up her finger and sliding it across her throat as if to say I was dead to her. Blanching, I avoided her eyes. The bus took off right away, most likely because he was irked at just how persistent this crazed girl was.

Before we could disappear completely, my gaze briefly skimmed the outside window where I caught Ryu fiddling with his backpack. I blinked rapidly as he left my ray of vision entirely as we turned the curb. He most likely missed his chance to board amidst that chaos.

Letting out a loud exhale, I pushed aside the thought, collapsing back in the comfortable seat of the bus. Frowning, I redirected my attention out the window and at the passing scenery then down to my hands.

I wasn't transforming into a dog. Was that because the dog ended up not being wild or was it really because what Ryu told me was a lie? I shouldn't have even trusted it. Heat crept onto my cheeks as I recalled my reaction from earlier. I had definitely overreacted. Gosh was this embarrassing. Something about Ryu seeing me like that only made me more bashful.

My head dropped in defeat. Agh, what a long day.

*         *           *

"This project can be done in pairs. And you'll be choosing."

I inwardly groaned as the most dreadful words ever to have existed crossed my ears. Opposite to my reaction entirely, ecstatic cheers from my classmates erupted all around me. Ms. Osaka handed out the project rubric and as I received it, I made a face. There was a presentation part in this, too? Meaning I had to stand in front of the class by myself again?

A knot formed at the pit of my stomach. I could see myself choking up there now...

Dropping my chin onto my desk, I shut my eyes. Idle chatter filled the air, along with the shuffling of feet and the squeaking of chairs being pushed around.

"You have today and tomorrow's class to finish it up," Ms. Osaka's voice went on. "Ensure that your topic is intertwined with the novel we read. Presentations will begin Friday."

Biting down on my lip hard, I ran my fingers through my hair. Whatever. This should be fairly simple. I'd just sleep for the remainder of this class and do it tomorrow.

"Ki-ku-chi!"

The sudden exclaim jerked my head upright. Sunlight pouring in from the nearby window blinded me, causing me to squint. It took me a while to realize there was a person hovering above me. Moreover, distinguish their wide smile and chestnut coloured hair as the class president.

"Did I do something?" I tentatively asked, a knot clenching my stomach. I couldn't afford to get into more trouble! What did I do this time?

As if noticing my upcoming panic, Daichi Sugiyama collapsed into the empty seat next to me. "Calm down," he said. "You're innocent. Why?"

Relief flooded my veins. I sighed, leaning back in my seat. Thank goodness. I had to stop overreacting. Not everyone was out to get me.

"Anyway," Daichi spoke up, clearing his throat, "I came here to ask if you had a partner."

My eyelids rose considerably. After a period of blankly staring at one another, I peered over my shoulder, but nobody was there that he could've been conversing with. Carefully, I returned my gaze back to a bemused Daichi. Wait, was he talking to me?

"Partner?" I repeated dumbly.

"Yeah," he replied in an oddly cheery tone. "If not, want to work on this project together?"

"To...gether...?"

He laughed. "Why do you keep repeating after me?"

"Repeating... after..." I shook my head, returning to reality. I confirmed his words from earlier, and my lips came together in the form of a frown. "You want to be my partner?"

"Yup." An idea instantly dawned on him. "Wait, did you already have one?"

I bit the inside of my cheek, eyeing him in a calculative manner. "No..."

He grinned. "Then we're good."

I didn't reply. Was this really happening? Somebody was actually asking to work with me? This hadn't happened since I enrolled at this school, if I remembered correctly. I was so used to people ignoring my existence, and avoiding others, but...

"You look like you don't want that," Daichi noted, his excitement slipping.

I forced a smile. "I'm just surprised."

"Why?"

"A human being actually asked to be my partner."

His eyebrows scrunched together in amusement. "You say that as if it's unnatural. If a human being isn't your partner, who else would be?"

"It's just never happened before." I shrugged, picking up my pencil and twirling it around in my fingers. "If you're asking because you want me to do all the work, you're choosing the wrong girl, just saying. I'm barely passing this class as it is."

A gasp escaped his mouth. He feigned a look of hurt, dramatically placing a hand to his chest. "You really think I'm that shallow?"

He waited for an answer, appearing absolutely incredulous.

"I don't know you," I responded with a snort. "How am I supposed to know that you aren't?"

My comment successfully hurt him. Pursing his lips, he rested his elbow on my desk. "True. Your doubt is understandable," he admitted. "But, I didn't ask for that reason."

"Then why did you?"

Daichi looked at me as if it were obvious. "I told you I'd have your back, remember? You really helped me out with Ms. Osaka."

My mind replayed the event he was referring to. Oh, yeah. His master plan of getting out of detention.

"I'm glad I was able to help you and all, but you don't have to go out of your way for me," I told him honestly. "Let's just move on from that."

"No way!" he refuted. "You saved my butt, Kikuchi. From now on I'm sticking by you no matter what."

"I don't know," I drawled. "That doesn't sound very appealing."

"Doesn't matter. I'm sticking by my words."

"You really expect me to believe that?"

"I already swore on it."

"That's a pretty big promise."

"I'm not going to take it back."

I placed my chin onto my palm, extending my lower lip. "So you mean to tell me you'll be sticking by me every second of every day from eight o'clock to three?"

"Yup," he asserted. "We have the same classes anyways. Electives included."

We did? And he knew because...? Raising an eyebrow, I nudged the question aside. This entire situation was comical.

"Monday to Friday too?"

"I'll even be there Saturdays and Sundays if necessary. Oh, but to make this work—and to ensure we complete this project—I'm going to need your email address. So we can text."

I hesitated in telling him that information. Instead, I asked, "How about washroom breaks? You'd even follow me into the female restroom?"

I expected him to recoil but it was too my surprise to see him sit taller in his seat. "Sometimes... a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do."

"That's creepy."

He flinched, squaring his shoulders. "I know..."

I eyed Daichi yet again, watching as he strung his fingers through his thick hair, awkwardly smiling as if to shield his belated embarrassment. Even though I was kidding around, I couldn't fathom why in the world Daichi would want to be so close to me. I was aware of his promise. Considering he was the class president, he must've possessed a lot of integrity to keep them. But, come on. He really expected me to go along with something like this? My life was already filled with other troublesome things, and this was the last thing I wanted to be worrying about on top of that.

"I have to work in the infirmary every morning and lunch."

I couldn't understand why I blurted what I did, but pinned it was because I wanted him to reconsider this entire idea.

I knew I succeeded the moment his jaw dramatically fell.

"You what?"

I cleared my throat. "Uh, yeah. I'm helping out in the infirmary. I got mixed into some trouble, and if you're stuck to me the entire school day, you'll have no choice to join me there. Just wanted to let you know before you regretted it."

While watching Daichi's expression contort with terror at my words, the same emotion welled inside of me as well. I was heading there today, too, wasn't I? Lunch was a block away...

I cried inside. How wonderful.

"It's okay," I sighed aloud, ridding the fear in my tone. "I'll forgive you if you take your word back. I wasn't expecting it to last anyway."

Daichi rose from his seat. The clunk and squeak of the chair made me cringe. I craned my neck upwards, expecting to watch him walk away at that. I wouldn't have blamed him. In fact, it was the normal response, especially considering he did whatever means necessary to avoid detention.

Which was why it was to my utmost astonishment to see his lips pull back into a wide grin instead.

"If that's all you're worrying about, don't." He hooked his thumb his way. Even though he was trying his best to not look affected, I managed to spot the slight hesitation in his gesture. Regardless, he fearlessly declared, "I've got your back now. The infirmary doesn't scare me one bit."

As soon as the words left his mouth, his knees buckled.

A snigger left my mouth before I could help it. I also couldn't withhold my growing smile.

"Apparently it does."

Daichi dodged my eyes. "Wh-whatever are you talking about, Kikuchi?"

I laughed even harder this time. "You're a weird guy."

He brightened and slapped his palms onto the wood before me. "Does that mean it's a yes?"

"For what?" I returned. "The project or you dying with me at the infirmary?"

He meekly scratched the back of his neck. "I don't necessarily think we'll die."

"You clearly haven't been there enough."

His complexion paled. "It's seriously that scary?"

"Yup."

"But..."

"You have a bright future ahead of you," I told him. "Class Prez's should simply do Class Prez things. Normal students shouldn't get themselves involved with these kinds of situations."

"You're involved with them."

His retort caught me off guard.

I forced a snort. "Well, I have quite the unlucky record—"

"I'll at least walk you there."

Recalling how he fled the last time we got near, I gasped. "All the way this time?"

"All the way."

My smile widened. "Wow. What a tough guy you've become."

"Thanks. I try."

"You sure do."

Silence hung in the air.

"So... is that a yes?"

Finding it amusing how he was so set on this, happiness couldn't help but flourish within me. It was almost as if this were the start of a friendship. A messed up one, I added as an afterthought. Nevertheless, I was still somewhat excited.

Elevating my shoulders in a shrug, I leaned forward, picking up my pencil and scribbling both mine and Daichi's name on the project sheet. "Suit yourself, Sugiyama."

"Yes!" he exclaimed as if he had won something.

It made no sense to me because honestly, what did he win from this all? He was going to stick with the snappy, uncooperative, negative me whilst getting involved with the delinquents in the infirmary. In my eyes, he lost.

I fought back the grin threatening to make an appearance. This was weird, but I wasn't mad that this happened. My life which had been so crummy lately seemed to be flipping on its head. My reconciliation with Ryu was one thing and now this? A change of my insight really did make a difference.

Things were sure to get more interesting from now on.