A/N: It was either two short chapters or one insanely long one- and I'm sure you know which one I decided to- THE SUPER LONG ONE! So beware! haha

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Yuto tapped the rubber end of his pencil against his head and quietly sighed in utter boredom. Academics weren't his forte but compared to everyone else in his class, he certainly was one of the top performers in grades. Yuto was the first to finish his assignment. Waiting for time to pass by faster, he decided to dive deeper into his thoughts- and the first person he thought of was Rio. 

He was eager to see her.

In fact, he had been interested in her since the day they first met. He thought back to the first day of high school. Prior to the start of the morning session, he decided to hang out in Ryosuke and Chinen's classroom instead of his. He was bummed that he wasn't placed in the same class as them.

He remembered sitting in the seat next to Ryosuke. The two were chatting away about the little things like dreading hairspray and hating the unnecessary brightness of camera flashes. It wasn't until he realized that the last person to enter the classroom didn't have a seat- because he was sitting in the last available one. 

The girl didn't bother asking anyone. She simply placed her bag on the floor at the back of the classroom and sat down next to it, as if she was ready to start the new school year without a desk. 

"You can have my seat," Yuto told her back then, crouching down in front of her.

"Thank you but I can't do that. You got here before I did." Rio politely declined. 

The two were immediately taken back by each other's kindness. Yuto chuckled and waved his hand, assuring her that it was completely okay. "I'm actually not part of this class. I just wanted to chat with my friends. I'm Yuto Nakajima, from 1B." 

"Oh, it's nice to meet you, Yuto! I'm Rio. Yamada Rio." 

Rio didn't know who JUMP was back then either; in fact, that was the last time she spoke to any of them until two months later when Ryosuke ended up failing the midterm exam.

The girl overheard the conversation between Ryosuke and Chinen one morning- If he didn't pick his grades up, he would have to quit working at his company.

With the recent popularity of their group, JUMP's schedule was packed with interviews and photoshoots. Chinen and Yuto also ended up having to take the night sessions most of the days too and no one was available to help him. 

"Here," Rio told Ryosuke back then, handing him her notes. "I scored perfectly using these notes I took. You can study them to prepare for your test re-take next week."

Yuto remembered how enthusiastic Ryosuke was, telling the rest of their group at lunch about the girl who sat next to him. Immediately, he recognized exactly who his friend was talking about.  

"Every time I stop by your class, I notice that she's alone. Why don't you just invite her into our group? It's the least you can do since she saved your entire career." Yuto told him. 

That was how their friendship started. However, over the months, Yuto noticed that his feelings towards her were different- because she was different.

Rio was a hard worker and she never strayed away from her goals. Even in a room with four celebrities, she could easily ignore all of them to focus on her assignments. Not to mention, she didn't view them any differently compared to everyone else.

Everything changed one day when Yuto decided to finally open up his feelings to her. It was during a school marathon and the two were assigned to put away some equipment in the storage shed. Since they were alone, Yuto thought that this would be the best time to ask her to meet him after school. However, before he could utter the words, he suddenly noticed her body swaying before she finally collapsed. 

It all happened within a blink of an eye- her unconscious body pressed against his, and Yuto catching her in his arms.

Because the entire school was attending the marathon outside, Yuto was able to carry her to the infirmary for immediate help without drawing any attention to either one of them. He also spent the rest of the school event waiting by her side. 

When Rio had finally wakened, Yuto had explained everything to her. "You've exhausted yourself completely." He told her in a concerned tone. "Are you taking on something you're not telling us?" 

"I... confessed to Ryosuke the other day," She told him. 

Yuto felt his own heart nearly come to a stop. He wasn't expecting to hear that- especially on the day of his planned confession. Shoving his emotions down his throat, he took a quiet breath and followed up. "What did he say?" 

"He wanted a thousand balloons." Rio shrugged. "I don't have that money so I'm working part-time to save up. But don't tell anyone and don't tell him about today either. " 

Yuto furrowed his eyebrows, slightly furious about her request. "You know you can't push yourself like that." He insisted. "I can give you the funds if you need it. I don't want to see you like this anymore."

Rio shook her head. "It's okay. I'm only 10,000 yen away. It's just two more days of work." 

Ever since that day, the two never brought it up again. That was- until yesterday when he questioned if they were dating because of how close they seemed. However, Ryosuke and Rio insisted that nothing is going on; He just couldn't seem to trust their answer.

'What really happened?' Yuto pondered. Just before he had the opportunity to delve deeper, the school bell rang and he quickly turned in his papers before rushing out the door with his bag. The boy hurried to their usual break room, hoping to catch Rio alone but sighed instead when he saw Daiki. 

"What's up with everyone today? Do they really not appreciate me being early to things for once?" The older one whined, leaning back in his chair.

"It's not that, I was just expecting someone else." 

"Let me guess, Rio-chan?"

Yuto widened his eyes. "How do you know?" 

"Chinen and I had noticed how you stare at her. Your eyes are attached to her like glue." Daiki explained. 

"Is it really that obvious?" Yuto chuckled, shaking his head at himself in disbelief. He took the seat in front of Daiki at the end of the table and placed his bag on the floor. "Dai-chan, do you think Ryosuke and Rio are dating?"

Daiki knew the truth all too well. However, wanting to be respectful to the couple's wish of keeping it a secret, the boy decided to shrug. "What goes on in Ryo's mind will forever be a mystery to me." He answered, which wasn't entirely a lie. "Oh, and FYI, I'm Daisuke as of today- Daiki's twin brother."

Before the latter could question him, the two heard the storage door shuffle open. Daiki quickly grabbed the tv remote and fumbled with the channel button, hoping to switch it over from the entertainment program. Instead of landing on sports or news like he had planned in his mind, he accidentally landed on the Disney channel by the time the group entered. 

"I didn't know you were still into this." Ryosuke said, eyeing Mickey Mouse on the television. 

"A change in scenery," Daiki frantically lied. "Isn't it boring watching the news all the time?" He chuckled. His eyes landed on Amu who was the last to trail into the room. The two exchanged bright smiles without anyone else noticing before she took the seat next to him. 

Chinen sat on her opposite side. Across from him, Ryosuke sat directly ahead, leaving the seat in the middle for Rio.

As if things couldn't get any more awkward, the six of them continued their lunch in silence with only Mickey Mouse's theme song playing in the background. 

"Hey, Rio-chan.." Yuto began, hoping to break through what seemed to be an invisible barrier between the two. "Are you free this weekend?" 

"Hmm, let me think..." Rio paused, glancing up at the ceiling to remember what her schedule was like for this week. "I think I'm free on Sunday evening."

"Do you want to hang out with me that day?" 

"Oh!" Rio uttered, taken back by surprise. The two had never hanged out before so the thought of spending time with Yuto outside of school was something she needed a second to wrap her mind around. However, before she had the chance to agree, Ryosuke declined for her.

"She's actually busy that day," He said, finishing the last bite of his sandwich. "Because she'll be hanging out with me." 

'Confused' was just an understatement compared to how Rio actually felt. If Ryosuke meant what he said, then this Sunday would officially be their first date. She glanced at her boyfriend, hoping to receive some sort of explanation but instead, he smiled softly at her.

In the end, Rio decided to go along with whatever Ryosuke had in mind. She turned to Yuto with an apologetic expression and pouted. "I'm sorry Yuto- it completely slipped my mind. Maybe another time?" 

"Yeah, some other time."