"Hey Tzuyu, why isn't Sana with you?" Mina was hungry from studying, and happened to overhear this conversation while on the way to grab some food.

"Sana? Oh, she didn't come to school today, she's taking care of Momo." Mina watched as Tzuyu replied, the smile on her face was one that would make anyone else smile. Sometimes Mina wished she could be like that, but she had shut herself out and pushed people away so much that there was no turning back. She was known as a cold girl, and she was going to live up to it. 

She furrowed her eyebrows after hearing Tzuyu's reply. They were not even related in any way, not even the slightest bit of friendship was present between them, but it made Mina uncomfortable at the thought that Momo was not in school and needed to be 'taken care of'. Was she sick?

***

"You're awake," Sana commented as she heard the door open. "I made breakfast, let's have it together. Go sit down first, I'll be ready in a minute."

"Here." Sana placed Momo's food down together with the utensils, heading back to get that of her own. As she returned to the table, she found Momo poking aimlessly at her food.

"Hey, still feeling very down?" Sana pat Momo on the back, rubbing her back in circles.

Momo looked up, and Sana, though she expected it, was a little shocked at how puffy the girl's eyes were. "No, I'm feeling better," Momo smiled, and this time Sana knew it was not entirely forced. "My eyes just hurt a lot. And I can't really see you."

Momo's comment made both of them chuckle. Sana was glad. At least Momo was not feeling as terrible anymore.

They were both eating in silence until Momo broke the silence, making Sana divert her vision to the other girl. "Thank you, Sana-ya. I wouldn't have known what to do if not for you."

***

"This time round, we have the top of the cohort in our class again." The teacher announced, not that it was a surprise to any. They did not have to guess, it was definitely Mina again. 

On the other hand, Mina, looking at her grades, knew she was in trouble. She did worse than previously, which, for her parents' eyes, were unacceptable.

When school ended, Mina went to the rooftop instead of the library. It was her secret hideout, where she went to whenever she was anything but happy. This time round, it was because of two reasons. One, she, as much as she did not want to admit it, was worried about the girl who did not come to school today. Second, she did not want to head home. She was scared, she knew exactly how her parents would react.

Mina nervously sat down at the dining table.  She literally had to drag herself all the way back home, she hated whenever this happened. 

"Jihyo's parents told me you got back your test today, how did you do?" Mrs Myoui asked, making Mina shift nervously in her seat. 

She did not dare to look into her parents' eyes. "I.. I did not do as well as the last test."

That was how Mina found herself bent over as she was caned, her crying and yelping with each . Mr and Mrs Myoui were very strict parents - pretty much the only reason why Mina studied so hard. She needed to study hard, and she was also afraid at times that people might just find out about her getting caned if she spent too much time with them. That is why Mina never made friends with anyone. She was afraid. Terribly afraid.

The next morning in school, Mina had difficulties sitting down without feeling extreme pain. It was like that each time it happened. She sighed, making her way to the rooftop again instead of going to class.

***

Momo went to school the next day, because she knew Sana would skip school to stay with her again if she did not. However, she was still in no mood to head to class, though she does not listen to class anyway. She decided to go to the rooftop.

Every year, Momo would feel and behave like a wreck for two certain periods of time. The first time being Dahyun's death anniversary, and the second being her grandfather's. Back in Japan she would spend the days messing around and getting into all sorts of trouble. Now, she just wanted to be alone.

Arriving at the rooftop, Momo was surprised to see someone else there, someone whom she could recognise even from the back view. She was sitting on one of the few benches that have been left on the rooftop. Momo found herself instinctively walking towards the girl.

"Top student skipping class, how interesting," Momo commented as she sat down next to Mina, leaving a gap between them. She was not too sure if the other girl wanted her to be too close. She frowned when the girl did not even look over, much less give a reply. "Hey, skipping class isn't good, you know?"

"Says you." Mina's tone was as cold as ever, but Momo was happy to even get a reply.

"So, what made the top student who has undying love for studying skip class and come to this place?" Yes, Momo wanted to be alone, but she did not mind having someone's company either, especially when it's this certain someone.

"My results worsened this time round." Mina was actually surprised at how willing she was to share her thoughts. There was just something in Momo that made her feel comfortable saying it. But she felt regret hearing Momo's reply.

"You get so upset over results? Really? You're definitely deserving of the title 'top student'."

Regret. Anger. Frustration. Those were all of Mina's feelings at that moment. She knew it. No one would ever understand that having worse results did not simply mean lower grades for her.

Truth be told, Mina never liked studying. It was not as if she studied harder for her parents, but rather she was studying simply for her parents. There were so many things she was interested in, so many things she wanted to try out, but since young all she had was tuition, tuition, and more tuition. She hated it. She hated her life. Many times she cried herself to sleep over it, but she never found the courage to tell her parents that. Afterall, she knew her parents would not change anything anyway.

No one knew. No one bothered to know. And here she thought, maybe Momo would be the first one, maybe Momo could be the first one she would trust. Then she realised, the slight faith she had in Momo was unfounded, anyway.

"You don't understand. But it's okay, you don't have to. Since I'm not having any peace here anyway, I'll go back to class first." Momo felt extremely apologetic as she watched the girl's back go further and further away from her. She made the girl cry. She really did not mean to.

Momo went to find Mina after class that day, she had been feeling very bad the entire day. She was standing not too far away when she saw a group of girls facing Mina as one of them pushed her. Mina fell on her bottom and winced in pain.

"Wow girls, I only touched her gently and she fell so badly! Oh look at her expression, it looks so painful. But I only touched her! Such a weak girl." The girl who pushed her, whom Momo presumed to be the leader of the gang, spat at Mina before turning and walking away. Momo ran to the girl on the floor, who was still grimacing. "Mina, are you alright?" She offered her hand to pull Mina up.

The girl, however, smacked her hand away. "Go away, I can get up on my own."

Momo stood around, watching as the other girl struggled to stand up. Her hands were placed awkwardly in the air, prepared to catch Mina if she fell.

Mina was trying really hard, determined to show the watching girl that she could do it on her own. However, her bottom really hurt a lot, which caused her legs to be weak. Just as she was about to get up, her legs failed her. She closed her eyes, preparing herself for the pain that would shoot past her body when she landed on the floor again.

But it never came. Momo was totally prepared to pick her up, and she did. After helping the girl to stand properly, Momo found her hands getting smacked away once again. Before she could react, the other girl was already walking away, though she was obviously still having some difficulties moving properly.

"Hey!" Momo shouted. "I'm sorry."

Mina never turned back. She was crying again, and she did not want Momo to see her like that again.

A/N: Is this story getting boring for you guys? ><"

Do comment^^ Comments are appreciated :-)