Chapter 54

I met Haruto a while later in the infirmary. He was together with Toshiro, Yua and Sakura. Damn. Ryu hurt him bad. His nose was a mixture of angry red and purple. It was swollen and ugly. Even though Haruto is my best friend, I still felt a sense of pride. My boyfriend is really strong.

"Where have you been?" Yua asked me, hands on her waist. "Do you have any idea how much pain Haruto is in? Ryu hurt him and instead of helping him out, you went with Ryu"

I frowned. "Correction, Ryu dragged me away" I pointed out. "And I didn't have a choice. It's not like I can even fight back and you know that. If I did, I would have been injured like him too"

"Still, you should have done something. Haruto is our friend!"

"I know that!" I snapped. "I know that more than you do! He's my best friend and I feel ashamed and guilty that I couldn't do anything to help! What the fuck is your problem Yua? I'm weak and I get it. Do you enjoy me pointing it out?!"

She was taken aback by my sudden outburst. "I-I didn't mean it like that"

"Don't fight you guys" Sakura whined. "We're here for our friend, remember?"

I glanced at Haruo, feeling guilty but he was full on glaring at me. I raised a brow in question.

"Where did he take you? What were you two doing?" he asked.

I paled. What was he implying? I quickly composed myself.

"It's nothing serious man. How do you feel?" I replied, trying to change the topic.

"You should stay away from him" Haruto said, not falling for it. "He's not what he seems to be. I can feel it"

I frowned. This again?

"Yeah dude. I agree with Haruto on this. That guy seems shady. I mean, there's not a single person in this school I don't know about. Except him" Toshiro said. "Isn't that off? That damned secretary doesn't even accept my bribes when I mention his name. She refuses to disclose any information about him"

"You shouldn't be bribing her for confidential information in the first place" I sneered.

Fuck. What's with them and Ryu? Why do they dislike him so much?

"He was concerned about me" I said to them. "He just wanted to ask if I'm okay when Haruto punched him. He started it"

Yua, Sakura and Toshiro gasped. I guess Haruto never mentioned it.

"What? Is that true?" Sakura asked him.

Haruto just glared at me harder. "He's bad news Aito. I know what I saw that day. I'm your best friend. Why don't you believe me?"

"What the hell are you two talking about?" Yua asked. "Did something happen that we don't know about?"

"It's nothing" I said. "I wasn't feeling well the other day and Ryu helped me out. I don't know what Haruto has against him"

"Fucking hell Aito!" Haruto cursed. "Why won't you listen to me?!"

"Because you're being ridiculous! You hate Ryu for no reason!"

"And why do you like him so much?!"

I tensed.

"Why?! Just tell me why! When things went rough with Sara, you relied on him, not us. You spend time with him, not us. What makes him so special?! We've been friends for years and now he walks in and just takes you away from us and when we try to fight for you, you say we're being ridiculous!"

"Haruto" I said calmly. "Are you speaking for everyone here or yourself? Toshiro, Yua and Sakura did not punch him for no reason. They're not the ones badmouthing him and trying to stop me from being friends with him. It's all you. Don't drag them into this"

"Uh... I think we should leave you guys to sort things out" Yua said when she noticed things were becoming more personal.

"Wait what? I want to see how this ends" Toshiro whined.

We all gave him death glares so he sighed. "Fine fine. I'll leave. You two better make up after all this. And take us out later. I want meat"

"You're such an idiot" Sakura said as they walked out. It wasn't until the door closed and I couldn't hear their footsteps anymore that I turned to Haruto.

"What the fuck was that about?" I spat angrily. "You know that they can't know about my mental health. You nearly led things to that direction"

"Does Ryu know?" he asked.

"What?"

"Does Ryu know about your mental health?"

"Of course not! What is it with you and Ryu? Why can't you two get along?"

"Because I can't share you with him!" he shouted. "You can't have more than one best friend. You can only have me"

I stood, shocked to the bone. What the hell? "Dude do you realize how fucking weird you sound right now?"

"I don't care! I don't fucking care!"

What?

"Haruto, What are you really saying? We share the same group of friends. You have no problem with them but you have a problem with Ryu. Tell me the truth. What is going on?"

He looked conflicted. As if the words he wanted to say were on the tip of his tongue but he couldn't let them out.

"Haruto..."

"Leave" he finally said. "Just go"

"I'm not leaving till we clear things up"

"My head hurts and my nose feels like it's on fire. I want to rest. We'll talk later"

"Har-"

"Just leave!" he shouted then turned to the side so I wouldn't see his face.

Fuck. Why is he so difficult? Seeing as there was nothing I could do, I left.

********

Ryu and I were having lunch on the roof of the abandoned building. Haruto still wasn't talking to me. I would have still had lunch with them but Ryu asked me to eat with him. How could I say no?

He even had it all planned. Two chairs, a table, and food were already prepared. It felt like a date.

The weather was nice and the place was perfect. We even took a couple of pictures. Nothing could ruin my happiness.

"So when did you realize you like me?" I asked Ryu, taking a sip of my grape flavoured juice box.

"And don't give me that love at first sight bullshit"

He smiled. "What? You don't believe in love at first sight?"