“Fumie-san, it’s done,” Rin reports to their leader. Fumie inspects the plaque the girls put up on the empty wall and nods proudly.

“Thank you, Tanaka-san,” replies Fumie. “Come girls, we must greet the teachers and then we will meet the boys after. Remember, make a good impression.” Nodding, Rin follows the group into the school, feeling slightly lonely. While Rin got to become one of the transfer students, Haru is unfortunately still at Catteleya’s first branch, meaning Rin loses her only female friend. Despite being there for three weeks, she never made other friends besides Tetsuya and Haru.

‘At least he’ll be here,’ Rin thinks optimistically. ‘I wonder why the wall didn’t have a school plaque up.’

                After what seemed like an eternity, heavy footsteps can be heard and soon enough a group of boys run to the field, where Rin and the girls are waiting for them. Everyone put on huge smiles to greet their new classmates. Despite the excitement, Rin also felt nervousness. What if they don’t accept them?

                “Who the hell are you guys?” one of the boys asks rudely, glaring at Fumie. This irks Rin a bit as she takes a step forward. She opens to yell at him when she sees a familiar face beside him.

“Tetsuya!”  she greets happily, grinning. This is the first time Tetsuya notices her since they’ve arrived. His stare at Fumie soon switches to Rin instead. Her smile falters slightly seeing the blood and bruises on the boys. Obviously they have been fighting, but what about Tetsuya? Is he hurt badly? How often does he fight?

“Oy, Tetsuya, you know them?” another boy asks him, interrupting her thoughts. Rin’s heart sinks slightly when he simply nods as if he never talked about her to them at all.

“Un, she’s a special friend,” Tetsuya answers, causing her heart to flutter again.

“Good morning,” Fumie finally says, stepping up. “My name is Shingyouji Fumie.” The two sides stare at each other for a bit, glares from the boys and looks of superiority from most of the girls. Rin begins feeling less confident the longer this unfriendly mood continued. Luckily Fumie speaks up again. “Who is the leader here?”

“I am!” the boy from earlier states proudly. “I’m the head of Bakada!”

“Head?” Fumie repeats, confused.

“What does that mean?” asks Saya. The boy himself begins to look confused.

“H-head? It means… well whatever,” he quickly brushes off, not knowing how to answer them.

“And your name?” asks Fumie.

“Sakuragi Tatsuya,” answers the boy, still with a rude expression. “Were you guys the ones who replaced the plaque?!” Despite the accusing looks from most of the boys, Rin musters up her courage to speak again.

“‘Replaced’?” Rin asks. “There was no plaque there in the first place.”

“So we put up the new plaque,” adds Fumie. “Are you fond of it?”

“You idiots!” Tatsuya growls, and begin advancing toward them with the gang of angry boys right behind him, including Tetsuya. Unlike the calm leader of Catteleya, Rin finds herself in fear and taking a step back.

“I understand,” chuckles Fumie, lightly. Rin glances at her in shock. As expected, Fumie knows just how to handle these situations. “Starting today, we’ll be classmates right?” Her question somehow causes the guys to back off.  “Please treat us fondly.” With a perfect curtsy, Fumie says, “How do you do?” The girls immediately follow her example with assurance.

“How do you do?” the girls ask in unison. Rin finally snaps out of her thoughts and repeat what the girls did. However her reaction is slightly slower than the others, causing some of the girls to glare at her and the boys to notice the odd speed in such a synchronized group. Rin quickly looks down in embarrassment.

~After the Confrontation~

                Rin walks a few steps behind Tetsuya awkwardly, not knowing what to say to him. He seemed so angry earlier. What if he’s mad at her? What if he doesn’t want to be friends anymore? Just that little thought is enough to make her feel a pain in her heart. She definitely didn’t want to lose her only friend in Catteleya’s Second Branch. More specifically, she doesn’t want to lose Tetsuya. Without realizing it, Rin slows to a stop, gripping the part of the blazer where her heart is.

                “What’s wrong?” Tetsuya’s voice rings, causing her to snap out of her thoughts again.

                “I…” her voice trails off, not knowing what to say. “Are you mad at me?” He stops walking, turns around, and approaches her.

                “Depends,” he says, and the fear inside her grows. “How long have you known about our schools merging?”

                “We found out just this morning,” Rin answers timidly.

                “And why did you replace our plaque?” Tetsuya continues.

                “A-as I’ve said b-before,” stutters the girl, “there wasn’t a plaque there when we came. We were told we are transferring here to extend Catteleya.” Tetsuya sighs with frustration and Rin braces herself for him to end their friendship.

                “I guess there’s no helping it right?” Tetsuya says aloud to himself. “It’s not your fault this happened. Besides, I can’t be mad at you anyways. I know you wouldn’t do anything to hurt me.”

                “So we’re still friends?” exclaims Rin with hopeful eyes, causing Tetsuya to chuckle.

                “Of course,” he replies, smiling. “Come on, let’s go home together.”