5 Five

Breaktime

"So, what are we eating today?" Hana asks excitedly.

"I want bread. What about you, Siren?"

"I'll think about it when we get to the cafeteria."

"We should rush, then, That place will be packed in no time"

A cute young lady peeps into their classroom and lets out a slight blush when she sees Siren. She takes a deep, full breath as she sets herself up to welcome her.

"She's here again," Lea murmured while looking at her.

"H-hello..."

Siren stops in front of her as she attempts to remember who she is.

"I-I'm Yujin."

"Oh, right."

They will begin walking again with Yujin sandwiched between Siren and Lea.

"Yujin, have you eaten?" - Hana

"N-not yet."

"Then, you should come and eat with us. But we eat at the old building because Siren and Lea hate the crowd. Are you fine with that?" Hana asks as she switches places so she could link arms with Yujin.

Yujin nods and looks at Siren as though seeking her approval. Siren will remain silent and enters the cafeteria.

"She's always like that," Hana whispered. "If you want to get close to her, you need to be used by it."

Yujin gazes at them like a child being recounted an intriguing story. She actually finds anything about Siren fascinating.

"D-do you think she's good with me hanging out with you guys?"

"It's fine! And besides, It's great spending time with another person."

Lea looks at the cafeteria and sees it is already packed. "Hey, we should get inside. It's already crowded."

2 days earlier...

"Guys, we will not be having economics class today so we're doing PE earlier today. Kindly wear your PE uniform and head to the gym!"

The unexpected declaration made Siren groan. She feels sluggish today and is now intending to rest but now she needs to move and what's worse is that it's her most hated subject the most, PE.

"I don't want to go. You guys go on without me." She lays her head on the desk and shuts her eyes.

"Siren, you can't skip. We have an activity today." Peach said making her more annoyed.

"I don't care."

"Your grades are already bad. I don't think you would want to do PE in summer, right?"

She quickly shocks up and glares at Peach yet she just smiled at her. It went on for a minute until Siren surrendered. She stands up loudly trampling her feet to get her PE uniform.

'So irritating.'

-

"Oh. Another class is using the gym."

Lea commented. Siren ignored them and went directly to the seats where she intends to sit and rest when unexpectedly a couple of cold hands wrapped around her left arm, hauling her back to their classmates.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"I told you we have an activity today. It will be unfair to others if you'll just rest and we do everything."

"I got it already. Can you let me go now? In case you didn't know, your hands are so cold."

Peach releases her and gives her a triumphant smile to which she replied with a glare. She could still feel the coldness of her hands on her arm and it gives her slight goosebumps.

'Did she hold a piece of ice? So freaking cold.'

"OK, so we will do volleyball. And since we can't use the entirety of the gym I will group you into four and you will do the fundamental serves at volleyball. Got it?" The instructor's voice echoed as she call the name of each student.

"Next group, Siren, Peach, Amelia, and Dorothy. Find a place and practice."

'Great. As if this is not worse enough, now I have to team up with her. Just great.'

It went quite well until Dorothy tosses the ball strongly that it ended up in the other class. Since it's Siren's turn, she has no option but to get the ball back. She could see a commotion as she gets nearer.

'Seems like Dorothy hit somebody.'

And, she's right. A young lady is perched on the floor touching the rear of her head. She immediately runs to her.

"I'm sorry, the ball must've hit you. Are you okay?"

The young lady nods, still touching her head and frowning.

'She' s cute.'

"Would you be able to stand? Shall I carry you to the infirmary?"

She gazes at her, tear-eyed.

'She reminds me of something...or someone.' She gazes at the young lady back, appreciating how adorable she is. 'That' s right. A puppy. She resembles a cute, little puppy.'

Siren touched the affected side of her head and massaged it, much to her surprise. Her eyes widen as she watches and feels her hand massaging her head.

"It must've hurt, I' m sorry." Siren apologized gently, still rubbing her head. The teacher finally realizes the commotion and interferes with them.

"Are you sure you're alright?" The teacher asks again. The girl just nods but is sniffing like a kid. "And you, go back to your class."

Siren nods as she grabbed the ball on the floor and returns to her classmates leaving one final look at the young lady.

"Siren, what happened? Is she OK?" Asked Dorothy.

Siren nods. "She hit her head but she's alright."

"I will apologize to her later."

"Let's continue. I want to finish this quickly." Siren said as she serves the ball once more.

Their PE class finished and Siren is on her way to their classroom she was stopped by the girl that was hit by the ball earlier.

"Uhm... C-can I talk to you?"

"Sure. Is your head OK now?"

The girl nods modestly. "Thank you for earlier. By the way, I-I'm Yujin. I'm from Class 4."

"It's no big deal, We're just glad you were not badly hurt. And, I'm Siren. I'm in Class 7."

"S-siren..."

"Hmmm?"

Yujin fidgets, seemingly wanting to say something but is holding herself back.

"What is it?"

Yujin takes a deep breath as she talks once more.

"I like you, Siren."

"Huh?"

"I said I like you!"

"Really? Thanks."

Yujin glances at her with disarray in her eyes. "Huh?"

Siren shrugs her shoulders as she talks again. "I mean, you want me to be your friend, right? If that's the case, then it's fine with me."

Yujin continues to stare at her, her eyes full of confusion, making Siren also confused.

'why is she looking at me like that? Did I misunderstand it?'

"I'm sorry, Did I misunderstand it? I-"

"No, No! Y-you're right! I... I want to be friends with you... Is that okay?"

Siren sighs in relief. "Sure, I guess?"

Yujin's face lights up and Siren almost wanted to hug her.

'She really looks like a puppy, So cute.'

"Also, you look so cool when you rubbed my head. I... I like it."

'I only did that because she reminded me of that puppy in the playground.'

"That so? My sister use to do that whenever I bumped into things. I'm glad it worked on you too."

Yujin only nods, and so, silence enveloped them once again.

"Siren-"

"Our class is about to start. Aren't you returning?" Siren glares at Peach who just showed up out of nowhere.

"Can't you see that we were still talking? Or your manners flew out when we played ball?"

Peach ignores her and talks to Yujin.

"It seems like we are in the same year." Yujin nods. "Then I think we should go back to our classrooms."

"O-OK... Uhm, Siren..."

"What?"

"Can I... go home with you later?"

"It's fine but I live in D Subdivision-"

"I live there too!" Yujin stops her, her tone slightly higher.

"Oh. Okay?" Siren answered, visibly confused at Yujin's actions.

Yujin's face once again lit up as she flash a smile that Siren nearly squeezed her cheeks if she hadn't controlled herself.

"Then, I'll see you later!" She gives a big wave as she runs away. Siren then walks away, totally ignoring Peach.

"It must feel good to have a new friend."

"Yeah..." Siren answered boredly, hoping for the conversation to be over.

Peach shrugs her shoulder. "It's highly unlikely for you to make a new friend so it should be considered an achievement."

"And what are you trying to say?"

"Nothing. Congratulations on your new friend, Siren." Peach grinned at her as she entered the homeroom leaving Siren bothered.

"She knows how to get on my nerves." She sighs loudly to ease her irritation. "So annoying. Tsk."

End of flashback

"Is she mad?"

Yujin whispers while looking at Siren who is quietly eating bread.

"She probably remembered something bad. Just let her be." Lea answers nonchalantly.

"It's amazing. You must know each other very well."

"We've been together long enough to figure out what she's thinking because what she feels and what she says are different."

"I'm here, you know." Siren intrudes on their discussion. "Is it alright for you to be here? Your friends? Won't they look for you?"

"It's fine. I told them I'll join you for lunch, so it's okay."

"Are you sure?" Yujin smiled and gave her a nod. Siren gazes at her for some time before eating again.

"I... I hope it's fine that I hang out with you guys."

"I don't mind." Siren replies. "And besides, we're friends... right?" Yujin lets out a smile of relief as she glances at Lea and Hana who both gave her a merry grin.

"Welcome to the club, Yujin!" Hana shouted as she gave her a hug. Siren just watched them with a small smile on her face.

'It's not so bad having her here.'

-

It's now 7 PM and they are still at school completing the designs for the upcoming school festival. Siren can't resist the urge to look at the door each time.

"What's up, Siren? You've been looking at the door for quite some time now."

"She's not waiting, right?"

"Who? Yujin?"

Siren nods. "She said she'll be waiting for me. I forgot to tell her that we will be staying late."

"It's impossible. It's been two hours. She could've gone home." - Lea

She glances at the door once again before deciding to stand up.

"Where are you-"

She ignored them and went straight to Yujin's classroom. The light is now off in Class 4's classroom yet Siren suspects that somebody may still be there so she opens the door and sees someone sleeping calmly on her desk. She tasks a deep breath as she moved toward the dozing young lady.

'You really waited, you dummy.'

"Yujin..."

"Hmmm?" Yujin gradually opens her eyes and screams when she got invited by dimness. Siren quickly envelops her with a hug as she calmed her down.

"Are you scared of the dark?"

"N-no, I... I just got surprised..."

Siren clicked her tongue as she reached her way to open the lights. Yujin closed her eyes tightly, surprised by the sudden beam of light.

"T-the light was still open when my classmates left. It must've been the guard..." Yujin continued explaining. Siren sits across her, examining her face.

"Are you okay now? Have you calmed down?" Siren asked gently. "I'm sorry. I should've opened the lights before I woke you up."

Yujin shook her head continuously as if she'd said something offensive.

"It's okay, really! I just got shocked, that's all."

"Is that so? Then good. You should come with me then, We'll be staying here till 8. I forgot to tell you earlier, I'm sorry."

Yujin nods quietly as they make their way back to the Class 7 room. Lea and Hana run to them as soon as they reached the classroom.

"You really waited? You should just go home!" Hana exclaimed.

"It's fine. I fell asleep so I didn't notice the time." Yujin answered with a big smile.

"Sit beside me. Help us too while you're at it." Siren said as she hands her a scissor and colored paper. "Just traced the pattern."

"O-okay."

They work in peace until it reached 8 PM.

"I'm so tired! Good thing it's the weekend. We can take a rest!" Hana whined as she stretches.

"Are you finished? Give that to me so we could go home." Yujin nods and hands her the paper. "Wait for me. I'll just give it to them."

"Yujin, are you two on the same way?"

"Yup. We live in the same neighborhood."

"Then... Do you walk with Peach?"

"Peach?"

Lea nods. "Her." She answered while pointing to Peach who is talking with Siren. "She lives in the same area. You don't come across with her?"

"Uh... No. I-I haven't seen her."

"Is that so?"

"Why would Peach walk with them? You know how annoyed Siren is with her."

"Are they fighting?"

"Nope. Let's just say they're not on good terms. I mean, Siren doesn't like her. We don't know why, either. It's better that you don't ask if you don't want to make her mood worse."

Siren suddenly appears grabbing Yujin in her arms, her expression grim.

"Let's go, it's already late."

"Hey, wait for us!" Lea and Hana almost run away to follow them. Peach follows them by her gaze, her expression also grim.