𝐃𝐀𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐆 ᵏ.ᵇᵃᵏᵘᵍᵒᵘ

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟎𝟐 ꞉ 𝐚 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲

᪥ ┊ 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟎𝟐 ꞉
𝐚 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲

——– ┊⁀➷ 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐋𝐄𝐒𝐒 𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐓-𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐓 and chortling filled the room, and the tittle-tattles that never seemed to end among the students. Kaori craved for the day to end, undesirous to hearken the audible exchanges between her classmates.

Heaving a deep sigh of tedium, she closes the textbook that she has been trying to decipher; although it's a break between their classes, Kaori is still overwhelmed with ennui. On the other hand, Ochako, who has been taking down requisite notes, abruptly took heed of the spiritless presence from her friend.

"Kaori, is something bothering you?"

She failed to respond when her eyes wandered towards a group of girls who seems to be whispering amongst themselves, while clustered in a corner and riveted to god-knows-what; until Kaori caught a few words uttered from them.

"Kaori?"

Suddenly hearing the perturbed tone voice of her friend, she turned her gaze to Ochako and smiled apologetically. She stood up from her seat and stretched her arms up; maybe taking an ambling stroll in the placid hallways will at least put her mind at ease from the thoughts that have been filling her mind lately.

"I'll be right back."

Ochako nodded, still clueless to what's going through her mind; however, she still knew her so well.

Kaori left the room unobtrusively, not wanting to catch anyone's attention. Soon enough, she found herself wandering around the same place where she discreetly walked on that one tempestuous night.

A few students were dawdling and whiling away the time, while some decided to lucubrate on the undisturbed place, but as she incessantly turns to the next hallways, she drew herself to a place where she was entirely alone.

Or so she thought.

Kaori, while lost in her thoughts, unluckily knocked her forehead unto a hard chest, inducing her to step back and taking a grasp to the unfortunate situation she brought herself into.

"I'm sorryー"

"Tsk."

Hearing the click of the tongue, she looked up; a boy that wore a disgruntled expression on his unfamiliar face met her eyes.

He stood uprightly before her with an overawing aura around him and both hands placed inside the pockets of his uniform that looked distinctive; the spiky ash-blonde hair was quite disheveled, and necktie loosely fixed, but it somehow flattered him perfectlyーand those eyes.

Ardent red orbs that stared down at her fervidly.

But her gaze towards him was halted when the bell rang, causing a resonation across the hallway. Still not hearing a word from the him, Kaori began to feel uneasy with the infelicitous ambiance that veiled them.

"I'm really sorry."

She hastily swiveled around before darting back to their classroom, when an obscure sensation overwhelmed her.

Because if that face appeared so uncertain, why were those vehement eyes felt to be something she had seen before?