Chapter 2: STAY AWAY FROM HER

 

Whispers, chatters and glares directed at Rumi as she walked along the corridor to the classroom. She let out an annoyed sigh as she took the duster from the blackboard to erase the word “die” written in white chalk on her vandalized desk.

 

“Morning, Rumi!” Miki greeted cheerfully and her smile turned into a frown when she saw Rumi rubbing her desk hard with an old and worn out duster. “Oh my, these pranks are really childish. It’s less than a day and they are already biting you.” Miki scowled at the girls who were giggling at Rumi.  

 

“Yeah, speaking of childish, this morning I found nails in my shoe and a death threat in my shoe locker. Amazing isn’t it? Can you believe that they are high schoolers?” Rumi grunted.

 

“Rumi, I’m honestly worried about you! Right now, these threats may be harmless but soon it will harm you. I don’t like to see you hurt.” Miki held Rumi’s hands in protection.

 

“Don’t worry, I’ll be careful.” Rumi reassured her. Miki nodded her head despite feeling uncertain.

 

The warning bell sounded and Rumi made a dash up to the rooftop with her lunchbox and an A4 sized blue sketchbook. She opened the door and inhaled deeply with a satisfied smile as she stretched her arms into the air. All four members of R.A.I.N stared at her.

 

“Classes must be real boring for you huh, Rumi-chan?” the familiar red hair boy walked up to her with a seductive look.

 

“Hoshino-kun, if you take another step towards me, I’ll kill you.” Rumi glared.

 

“Ikuto, you better be careful. I can’t save your if you make Ren angry,” another slender and tall male with a short, straight blonde hair and a pair of beautiful golden eyes. His right ear was pierced and was wearing a black ear stud.

 

“That’s right, Naoki! Go away, Ikuto! Don’t touch my woman.” Ren walked up to Rumi and was about to hug her waist until she elbowed him. Luckily, Ren predicted and blocked her which made Rumi clicked her tongue.

 

“Please stop it, you are disturbing Rumi-chan. Let her eat peacefully and relax,” a six-foot tall and lean male with short, straight brown hair and his fringe was parted to the side. He gazed fondly at Rumi with his big and brown eyes.

 

“I’m sorry for the disturbance. I’m Yukimura Akira, please call me Akira. This is the first time I ever introduced myself right?” he smiled at her.

 

“Nice to meet you, Akira-san! Can I sketch you? I have a sketching lesson later so I would like to practice a bit before class.” Rumi chirped and pulled out her book. Akira posed for her and chatted with her. After a while, Ren started to feel sour as he watched her laughing, smiling and chatting happily to Akira. When Rumi laughed again, he clenched his fist tightly and walked towards her.

 

“Rumi, make a sketch of everyone together.” Ren demanded.

 

“Eh, but I’m not done with Akira-kun’s sketch!” Rumi whined as she continued to gaze at Akira.

 

“Why did you suddenly changed to ‘kun’?” Ren fumed. “You never once even called my name…” he mumbled however they did not hear him.

 

“I was the one who asked her to. It was uncomfortable for me when she was formal to me.” Akira said as he stood up. “Anyway, let’s all pose for Rumi-chan to sketch. We could use it for our next CD cover.” Everyone gathered while Akira pulled Ren in as Rumi began sketching.

 

The bell rang, signaling for the next lesson. Miki and Rumi dashed to the girls’ locker room to change into their swimsuit for Physical Education. Rumi dumped her sketchbook and her bag into her locker and before heading out for the pool with Miki after changing. Just as they left the room, girls who were watching them emitted menacing smirks and chuckles.

 

A loud whistle echoed the indoor pool and everyone gathered around. Just as Rumi was walking towards the pool, one of the girls pushed her and a loud splash made everyone turned to the pool. Rumi was struggling to get back up to the surface however she was chocked with water, and eventually stopped resisting.

 

A strong scent of disinfectant woke Rumi up. She slowly opened her eyes and looked around. “Where am I?” she asked groggily. 

 

“Thank god, you are alright! Are you still hurt? Do you remember what happened?” Miki asked worriedly. Rumi touched her forehead and shook. “You nearly drowned and was saved by Mizuno-sensei. He even carried you to the infirmary.”

 

“I see… How long did I slept? What lesson are we having now?” Rumi looked around for a clock to no avail.

 

“At this time, it’s our Sketching class. I have told sensei about you and I volunteered to look after you.” Miki said as she passed Rumi’s bag to her. “I took your bag with me in case you need anything.”

 

Rumi thanked her and started checking her things. Just then, a loud slam surprised them and someone rushed towards Rumi. “Thank god, you are fine. I heard from Naoki that you fell into the pool.” Ren touched her forehead with a worried look.

 

“Thank you for worrying about me. It’s the first time that I have seen you so worried,” Rumi beamed in appreciation.

 

Ren exhaled deeply with relief. “It is not funny.” Rumi smiled and continued to search her stuff. However, her expression turned from cheerful to shock.

 

“It’s gone… My sketchbook is gone!” Rumi panicked as Miki stood up to her side.

 

“I think the girls might have took it. I didn’t see any sketchbook when I took your bag immediately after you were sent to the infirmary.” Miki said as she took Rumi’s bag to assist her search.

 

“What girls? What happened?” Ren asked. Miki explained and he punched the wall hard. “I’ll help you find, don’t exert yourself; you just recovered, I don’t want you to faint again!” he remarked and ran out of the room.

 

Ren searched high and low around the Ordinary Division, from the pool, to classrooms and even the rooftop. Eventually, he stood outside Rumi’s classroom and was about to enter until he heard giggles and laughter from inside.

 

“Now she will never have the nerves to give us that attitude. Who does she thinks she is?! Ren-sama will never choose Minazuki Rumi as a girlfriend,” one of the girls bitterly spluttered and dumped the book into the bin.

 

Ren slammed the door open and walked towards them. Girls jumped in surprised and guiltily hid the trash bin behind them. He shoved the girl who badmouthed Rumi aside to pick Rumi’s sketchbook up and dusted it off. He gave a cold glared at her to send a shiver down to her spine.

 

When he reached to the door, the girls begged, “Please, Ren-sama, don’t hate us. We are sorry!”

 

Ren cringed at them and said, “Stay away from Rumi, don’t let me see you ever again. You are ugly and an eyesore.” With that, he walked away, leaving the girls sobbing quietly.

 

Rumi fidgeted restless in bed as she waited. Couldn’t take it any longer, she got out of bed and walked unsteadily towards the entrance. “Rumi, you should be resting!” Miki nagged.

 

“I need to go, I can’t wait any longer. I’ll find the sketchbook too!” Rumi insisted and walked falteringly towards the shoe locker with Miki. Akira spotted Rumi along the corridor and hurried over to her side.

 

“That’s no good, you should be resting Rumi-chan!” Akira said worriedly. “I’ll help you.”

 

“She’s stubborn, Yukimura-kun.” Miki stated as she let Akira carried her. Miki explained what happened and Akira nodded. To Rumi’s embarrassment, Akira lifted her like a princess and carried her towards the shoe locker.

 

“I’m sorry, I am quite heavy.” Rumi covered her reddened face in embarrassment.

 

Akira chuckled and shook his head, “No, you are not. I’m happy to carry you like that again. But first, you wanted to find your book right?” Rumi nodded.

 

“Rumi!!” Ren called out as he ran along the corridor. “There you are!” he ran up to her and hugged her tightly. Rumi tried pushing and hitting him to get him in letting her go however she was weak and Ren laughed.

 

“Rumi,” he called her name again with his husky voice, made her heart skipped a beat. “Rumi, I have found your book. Here!” He handed her the blue book after he slowly pulled away from her.

 

Tears streamed down her face as she ran her fingers down the book. “Thank you, Kurosaki-kun. Thank you very much!” she thanked him repeatedly as she sniffed.

 

“Don’t cry. I’m sorry that it was a little creased.” Ren said but Rumi shook her head strongly in protest. Ren pulled her into his arms and kissed her forehead. “I’m so glad that you are alright.”

 

Rumi stopped her snivel and was startled. Instead of pushing him away, she smiled and nodded. “Thank you.”