✔ | At Least We Have Forever

Chapter 8 - A Meeting Amidst The Battle

The next day...

It was still a regular morning for most of the students of Hanasakura Academy but Kurama felt otherwise. Not only it wasn't regular but also because it was quite peaceful since neither the demon shinobi nor the Legendary Weapon Wielders made an appearance so he was able to rest that night.

But seriously, who was he fooling? He knew pretty well the real reason why that morning was unlike any other mornings he had greeted along the way. And he was quite happy to know that reason.

When he arrived at the classroom, he immediately looked at a certain spot in that place. And he smiled when he saw the girl who became the reason for that day of his to be different.

He saw Riya reading something on some papers in her hands and she was thoroughly reading it. But before he could even greet her as soon as he approached her, he saw her stop from what she was doing and looked up. He was caught off guard for some seconds when she looked at him before she smiled which made him hold his breath.

"Good morning, Shuichi-kun," Riya greeted in a happy tone that he hasn't heard from her since she transferred to that school and it was a good thing.

'At last, you're trying to regain your true self, Riya,' Kurama thought as he returned the gesture before proceeding to his seat. And after that, he looked at her and the papers she was reading.

"You're quite busy, I see," Kurama commented. "Don't read it too seriously or you'll get wrinkles on your forehead because of you frowning a lot," he said before pointing at her forehead gently. He was glad to be able to see her smile because of that.

"Sorry. I was rereading the draft I made for our project so I could tell if I have mistakes or not. I don't want to have a failing grade because of this, you know," she said without looking at him.

He could only smile at that. "I also made a draft but I left it at home. Will it be okay if I could get your draft to have some comparison so that I could start merging our ideas regarding our project?"

She nodded and then looked at him. "Sure thing. I'll just do some editing so that it would be understandable and organized at the same time. But you're going to help me do that, right?"

"Of course."

And that morning continued with the two of them discussing what they were going to do with their Literature project. All the others could do was watch them like that. They thought that what Ayako did yesterday only made them closer than before, which was not supposed to be. But Kurama could care less. As long as Riya was alright, that was all that mattered.

xxxxxx

Speaking of which, they haven't seen Ayako that whole morning. She hadn't attended any of her morning classes that day. And it was weird for Riya to feel worried about the person who destroyed her precious Snow Rose. But she has to thank her, still. It was Ayako's actions that led her to finally find Shuichi.

"Are you alright, Riya? You've been spacing out," Shuichi asked her, startling her a bit. She just gently nodded as an answer.

But she could tell that he wasn't convinced with her answer. That's why she just gave him a smile before speaking.

"I'm alright, Shuichi-kun. I was just thinking about... something else. So there's no need to worry," she said reassuringly.

"Are you sure? You don't have to hide your problems from me. You can tell me anything," Shuichi insisted.

She just nodded and then continued what she was doing a while back. He then sighed as a sign of giving up and resumed revising her draft.

Little did they know that a certain someone's fate will be set in motion because of what was about to happen later that one particular day.