“Ohayou, Yama-chan!” a smile gleamed at Ryosuke as soon as he stepped outside their entrance gate. It took him awhile to deflect the amount of sunshine bouncing off her plump cheeks. Ryosuke saw a familiar long-haired girl with her lips extending widely across her face while her glasses sat perfectly on the bridge of her nose. There she is… Yamada Rio… “Can I walk with you today?” The girl added, as if asking him a very big favour. 

“Ahh! Rio-chan! Good morning!” a mature voice took over behind Ryosuke… “Cheerful as always, I see… of course, you can walk with my son” Mrs Yamada gave Ryosuke a nudge as if saying ‘be nice’ using eye contact. She then teasingly pushed him towards Rio and waved them goodbye.

Seeing this, Rio smiled at him and gave the gesture to move along. The boy in return just gave her an empty expression and walked steadily in a fast pace. Rio just gave a slight chuckle while looking at the back of the boy he fancies. 

-

After a few minutes walking behind him, the girl had the urge to break the ice. “Geez. What’s wrong with you? Do you have your period today?” Rio joked before feeling a cold aura penetrating her skin. She walked a little bit faster to catch up to Ryosuke but to her dismay, the boy just kept going without giving her a glance. Ryosuke then took a sharp turn while making sure the girl is within his peripheral view - ensuring her safety. 

Rio felt herself giving off a defeated sigh while dragging her feet across University grounds. “He’s been like that for a few days now… WHAT THE HECK DID I DO? UGH” she whispered in exasperation before feeling a tap on her left shoulder. 

“Hey!” Rio turned around and saw a friendly smile… “You and Yama-chan had a lover’s quarrel again?” the boy teased and pinched her cheeks whilst chuckling at her misery. 

“Ahh… Daisuke-kun!” Rio identified the said boy and quickly defended her abused cheeks. There he is, Tanaka Daisuke. She looked at him up and down and noticed his perfectly built body, probably measuring almost 6 ft tall with impeccably smooth skin. His superbly fixed hair dangled admiringly on his forehead while his face glistened with the beaming sunshine. After seeing this very familiar face, Rio pinched his arm and quickly dragged him towards their lecture theatre… “You rascal! Did you do that research Mr Takamura told us to do?”

“Of course! He’s like the cutest teacher we have! I need to impress him” he squealed like a fangirl… “I also bought this new eyebrow thing on Amazon. I thought I could seduce your handsome Yama-chan with this” Daisuke added. He then patted his perfectly proportioned caked face. 

“Don’t you dare! Yama-chan might hate me right now but he’s out of bounds!” Rio exclaimed with a chuckle.

“You better hurry up before I steal him from you. If I wasn’t born a guy, he would totally fall for me” He teased and patted the shorter girl beside him. The two laughed towards their room - arms linked, not feeling a certain someone staring in the distance like a hawk ready to devour. 

—

“Yama-chan! Can we eat together?” Rio approached Ryosuke once again and attempted to fix their ‘uncertain’ relationship. They used to be close friends - very close in fact, Rio often comes over their house to study with him. Well, Rio comes uninvited, wanting to see her crush. 

“I’m not hungry” Ryosuke said coldly. “Just eat with someone else”

“I want to eat with you”

“No” He continued to decline while fidgeting with his baseball ball. Ryosuke threw his ball towards Chinen and then to Keito, then to Daiki who were playing catch with him. You see, during their break time, the boys tend to hang out near the baseball pitch to catch up and play some ball games. Ryosuke noticed his 3 friends giving him teasing looks as they watch the “love birds” bicker.

“Come on Yama-chan… Just eat with Rio-chan and be lovey dovey already” Daiki remarked before making ‘kiss’ sounds to mock his friend. Chinen and Keito were next to budge, following the same ‘kissy’ sounds Daiki was doing. 

Rio sensed Ryosuke getting embarrassed which made her back off a little bit… “Fine. You don’t have to eat with me, but at least eat the bento I made you.”

“No. I don’t want to. Take it with you”

“What? You ungrateful pig” Rio uttered but enough for Ryosuke to hear. 

“What did you say?”

It’s too late to take it back now. Rio repeated what she just said… “You heard me! You’re a pig”

“You take that back, missy!”

“No.” Rio stood her ground but then regretted what she just said when she saw Ryosuke charging towards her direction. She then felt the urge to run for her life while the boy trailed her path. Ryosuke was only going to scare Rio off but a ball coming her way caught his attention. His peripheral view showed a fast paced ball chasing Rio faster than himself.

“RIO! WATCH OUT!” he shouted in worry and felt his body voluntarily throwing itself to the girl not far from him. He quickly pulled her arm and shielded her head from the impact ahead of them… *BANG* The two crashed into the ground while Ryosuke hugging poor Rio’s head. 

After a few seconds of absorbing what happened, Rio felt Ryosuke’s breath just near her forehead. She is now right underneath his chin, where she could hear his fast beating heart. His intoxicating smell lingered her nostril before feeling a tingle up her spine. This is the Ryosuke she likes… the Ryosuke who wants to protect her. 

“You guys… get a room” instead of apologising, Keito made fun of the couple still lying on the hard ground. They then helped them up and noticed Rio’s face burning up like and tomato-coloured while Ryosuke trying his best to hide his blushing cheeks… “Both of you are hopeless” t