Eli takes big bites from his sandwich. You stare at him as he does. Ren is on the other side of him. He's eating out of a bento box. You stare down at your hands. All you have is a strawberry milk.
"Did your mom forget your lunch again?" Eli asks. Your eyes soften, and you shake your head, forcing a smile.
"No- just on a diet..." You softly respond.
"A diet?" Ren questions. You slowly look at him, his eyes boring into yours.
"You're skinny already. Why would you need to get skinnier?" Eli asks. You stare at Eli for a bit before sighing loudly and sitting back.
"Yeah, she forgot my lunch." You softly reply. Eli stares at you a bit before ripping his sandwich in half and handing it to you. You stare at the torn piece and then at him.
"Here." He says, his mouth full of food. You take the piece of the sandwich and slowly bite into it.
"Thank you."
You eat the sandwich, feeling a warm feeling in your chest. When was the last time you ate? You can't remember, but this sandwich tastes so good.
"So why do you both want to create a gang?" Ren asks, placing his closed bento box on the ground beside him. He stands up and stretches.
"Uh..." Eli slowly looks at you, waiting for you to answer. You rub your hands together and then patting it on your skirt. You swallow your food and sigh, standing up. You stare down at the back of the school. There are some students running around on the field. Watching people from the top of the school building is interesting because of the view. Everyone looks so small.
"I believe creating a gang can help save some people..." You softly say, resting your head on your arms.
"What do you mean?" Ren narrows his eyes, examining your facial expressions.
"Like... what I said-" You take a deep breath, pulling away from the edge. "There are a few people I want to save..."
"She believes creating a gang can save people." Eli adds. Ren furrows his eyebrows and tilts his head to the side a bit.
"I see..." Ren sits back down next to Eli, crossing his legs and leaning back against the wall. "But, is that smart? Have you actually seen how gangs are?" Ren asks. "You're a girl also... making you a big target."
"I heard already." You sigh.
"Well, you need to hear it again." Ren huffs. He takes a deep breath, running his fingers through his hair. "Also... creating a gang isn't as simple as it sounds."
"Do you know how to create one?" Eli asks. Ren shakes his head.
"I have an idea, but not exactly a plan." Ren sighs. "You need to create a strong branch of people... and then recruit others under those branches... but you can't exactly do that if you aren't very... representable." Ren waves his hand a few times.
"That's true." Eli nods. Your eyes narrow, as do your eyebrows.
"This is confusing..." You sigh. "Maybe creating a gang is a bad idea."
Eli stares at you a bit before shuffling closer to you.
"May I ask-" Eli starts. You look towards him. "I know I already asked, and you clearly don't want to answer... but I'm gonna ask again... who is it that you want to save exactly?"
You stare at Eli, thinking about his words. Your eyes drift towards Ren, who is staring at you too. You take a deep breath and stand up.
"I will tell you later." You answer. "I'll see you in class... Imma throw this away." You say, shaking the empty bottle of strawberry milk.
You walk down the stairs and down the hall. You question whether you should tell Eli. Is it bad to tell him? You stare at your feet while thinking about it.
You take a sharp turn and colliding into someone. You take a few steps backwards, panicking a bit. Their lilac eyes stare at yours in confusion. Your eyes widen when you notice who it is.
"Ey... isn't that the girl from the other day- at the shrine?" Someone asks. You slowly look at who said that. It was Pah-chin.
"I'm sorry." You bow. You feel your face start to feel hot.
"Mitsuya! You're bleeding..." Pah-chin says. Your eyes widen, and you quickly look up to see Mitsuya wiping the blood from under his nose and looking at the blood on his finger. He slowly looks at you. You shiver.
"Just apply pressure to it." The nurse says. Mitsuya applies pressure to the roof of his nose. You stand quietly beside him. Your chest is feeling hot and tight. "Are you hurt too?" The nurse asks you.
"No... I'm just here for him." You softly say, not making any eye contact with the nurse. You stare at your shoes, feeling tense as you stand in front of Mitsuya.
"Alright. Well, when he's ready, take him back to class... and I want you to go to class too." She says, walking away from the two of you.
"I'm sorry." You softly say, looking up at Mitsuya and then down again.
"I didn't know you came here." He quietly replies. You slowly look back up at him. His eyes are still as sharp as they were before.
"I didn't know you went to this school either." You say slowly. Mitsuya tilts his head a bit, causing you to look up towards him.
"You look too soft to want to join a gang." He calmly says. You raise an eyebrow at his statement.
"You say that like your friend doesn't look soft either." You huff.
"You mean Mikey?" He smiles.
"Yeah. Him." You nod. He laughs and shakes his head.
"Yeah, I guess you can say he looks soft... but he's far from that, though." He pulls the tissue from his nose and sighs when he realises the bleeding has stopped. He grabs the glass from the side table by the bed and drinks from it.
You watch as he chugs it down. One of his eyes stares at you from the side of the cup. He takes a deep breath and places the cup down. He makes a disgusted face and sighs.
"The taste of blood is kind of gross to me sometimes... especially when you notice the taste."
"Mm- again... I'm sorry about that." You frown.
"Stop apologising... it's fine." He sighs. You shake your head, staring at your shoes.
"I should have been more aware of my surroundings." You say, gripping the bottom of your shirt. For some reason, talking to Mitsuya doesn't feel the same as it did before. Talking to him makes you awkwardly stressed... maybe because they don't know you yet... or because things are different.
Mitsuya sighs and stands up. He leans forward, pressing his hands on his upper thighs as he does. He makes himself around the same height as you. You look at him. He has a soft smile on his face.
"I said it was okay... but since you keep apologising, why don't you make it up to me then?" He asks.
"Make it up to you?" You tilt your head to the side, looking at him, confused.
"Yeah... what do you think? Wanna make it up to me? Would that make you feel better?" He smiles a bit more. You raise an eyebrow.
"Okay... how would I make it up to you?" You ask. He stands up straight, smiling with his eyes close. His eyes are also smiling, and he's cheesing.
"After school... meet me at the gate?" He says.
"Oh, okay..." You slowly nod, feeling nervous.
"Don't worry..." He smiles. "I'll make sure whatever I have you do won't hurt too much."
"Huh?"
TO BE CONTINUED FEBRUARY 22ND!