The sophomores don't look like people who do what's told out of admiration. Seems that they do it out of fear. The all silently nod and hand over the notebooks and study books.
Sophomore Girl: A-All Of your summer homework is done with one mistake on every two pages... like told... Just like you asked..
Sophomore Boy 1: And... here are some notes about the main parts of each class... enough to teach you all the key points to pass the exams...
Sophomore Boy 2 Stays silent, Haru looks at him
Haru: And where is your assignment?. He stares at him intensely
Where. Are. My. Book reports?.
Shiko sinks into her chair and keeps eating her food silently, averting all eye content, trying to finish as fast as possible while Kuro is just looking at Haru and his "pets" with the corner of his eye.
Sophomore Boy 2: I... I didn't finish the book... you reached out to us a month ago... I couldn't finish four books in a month and make reports... he says hesitantly, averting his eyes.
Haru takes the things the other students brought and puts them in his backpack, he sends the two away with a move of his hand and looks at Sophomore Boy 2.
Haru: How much did you get done? He smiles innocently with an evil tint
Sophomore Boy 2: I read two books and made a summary of one... But, It's in my room... he looks down
Haru smiles properly and gets up, pats the Sophomore on the back.
Haru: Welp that's fine then~ Write about the other one too and give them both to me tomorrow! Thanks a lot!~ You're off the hook. Feel Free to leave. giggles and pushes him forward with a smile, Shiko slowly lifts her head up to look at them
The Sophmore's eyes glow and he swiftly leaves after thanking Haru. Haru turns to Shiko and Kuro and smiles
Haru: Welp, I'm heading up. I've got to leave my assignments at our dorm, go to class, pick a seat and find a good position to sleep. See ya~ waves like an idiot, Kuro pulls a middle finger on him. He sticks his tongue out like an idiot and leaves. Kuro sighs.
Shiko: "I guess I was wrong in a way... he is a bully and it would be in my best interest to stay away from him.." she takes her last bite and lifts her head to see that Kuro is also done, she looks at him with uncertainty. Curious if he's the same as his friend.
Kuro stands up
Kuro: I should probably go too. Looks at Shiko with a blank, silent expression
Shiko slowly nods
Shiko: "See you around... Probably not tho..."
Kuro: See you. Smiles slightly
Shiko's eyes widen a little as she feels like he read her mind again. She averts her eyes as Kuro leaves.
Right before Shiko gets up, Lucy sits in front of her. Shiko looks at her.
Shiko: Umm...- Lucy cuts her off
Lucy: Hey there Shirooo~ How are yaa?~ she smiles innocently
Shiko: Well.... It's Shiko actually.... she says very silently
Lucy: Yea, yea... Whatever Shiro! I just had a few small questions I'd like to ask you~ It's oh so important! she says in a sweet tone like she's talking to a bestie while puffing her face cutely
Shiko silently sighs
Shiko: Yes.....? Looks at the table
Lucy: Okkee~ She takes her phone out, looks at her hair a little and puts it down on the table
First of all, do you have any interest in boyss?~ Any attraction? Crushes maybe?~ her eyes light up like a gossiping 13 year old
Shiko is taken by surprise, she quickly shakes no with her hand
Shiko: N-Never!... she says with no thought
Lucy: What do you think about Kurosaki-Kun? She ads as soon as she hears Shiko's precious answer
Shiko: E-eh? Kurosaki....kun...? She says, confused
Lucy: Yea, You know the black haired guy who was sitting in front of you a second ago~ she smirks
What do you think about...him?~
She smiles as Shiko thinks for a second
Shiko: He.... is weird... He doesn't feel... that mean... she says silently and hesitantly. She only tells Lucy this because she knows lying wouldn't change anything
Lucy: Not that mean?~ she giggles
Don't you know his routine with people? let's out a small and short laugh
Shiko looks at her confused and silently shakes her head no
Lucy: He gets close to students no matter the gender, gets them to fall for him, uses them, breaks their hearts, embarrass the heck out of them and puts them through so much psychological pressure that they leave school!~ It's like an art form how it works every single time without the victim noticing at all~ she makes a swooning poze and keeps speaking sweetly
Shiko listens silently
Shiko: "Oh..... so that's why he was acting so buddy buddy... I should've guessed.."
Lucy: He's so strong willed too~ Has no empathy tho...Apparently he once saw someone struggling to swim when there was a beach trip with his class on his Sophomore year, he was the only one around and he did absolutely nothing. He let him drown. Even tho he's the swimming captain! That's just too cruel!~ she puffs her face and giggles
Shiko starts looking down, kinda traumatized
Shiko: "I......I can't..."
I.. can't swim.. she whispers to herself but comes to her senses quickly and gets up
I...gotta go... she grabs her bag and runs of
Lucy smirks and clicks on something in her phone, Nagisa and Erika come to her, Nagisa smirks
Nagisa; So, you said what I told you to? giggles mischievously
Lucy sends Nagisa a voice message of their entire conversation with Shiko and smiles
Lucy: Yup~ Just like you said Nagisa-San!~ I told her the entire story and got her thoughts on liking boys she giggles
Nagisa: Heh.. you might be an idiot but at least your memory is pretty okay. Smirks and flips her hair, Lucy simply smiles. Nagisa turns to Erika and opens her hand. Erika gives Nagisa's phone back to her. Nagisa opens it and there are few photos of Shiko, eating the male breakfast. She smirks like a complete Psycho.
Let's go girls. She walks away with the other two girls behind her and They go to their own class, they are all in the same grade with Shiko but only Erika is in her class.
At that moment, Kuro and Haru's lesson is two periods of mathamatics and then two periods of P.E while Shiko's first two lessons are P.E. And it's swimming month. Erika enters the closed swimming pool and heads to the changing area, she finds Shiko in a closed changing room on the ground, She doesn't say anything and enters the swimming area.
-Two lessons later when swimming is over-
All the students in the class are leaving and Shiko is waiting to be alone before getting out. Erika texts Nagisa
Erika (Text)- "She's In here, you guys go ahead. I'll do what you told me to."
Nagisa (Text)- "Perfect. We broke her door lock already. Keep it up."
Erika hides, Shiko gets out
Shiko- "I'm glad the teachers don't care enough for me to stay away from swimming since... Well, I can't ..." she gets her bag and gets out of the changing room, she stands on the side of the pool and takes a deep breath
"it's... not even deep... why am I so afraid of this..."
She puts her bag on the floor and bends to touch the water a little.
She puts few of her finger in and closes her eyes.
"It's cool... I'm never going to dare to actually join in this class..." she slowly opens her eyes
"Okay, if I don't go, I'm going to be late for next class, the break is almost over.."
Just as she is about to get up, She gets pushed from the back and falls into the pool with complete fear on her face, she starts splashing around in water, trying to swim and screams
Shiko: H-Help!!!! He-lp M-e!!! She keeps struggling
Erika smiles and skips away, few minutes after she gets out, Kuro gets inside for getting the pool ready before his class's lesson and looks at the pool. Shiko has passed out, she is floating around. Kuro looks that way and recognizes Shiko because of her hair. His eyes open wide and the same second; he throws his bag on the ground and jumps in the pool, he gets Shiko out as soon as he can and puts her on the side of the pool.
He gets out and lays Shiko on his lap, pressing on her stomach to get some water out. He tries giving her CPR and keeps pressing her stomach. He gets up After Shiko throwing up most of the water unconsciously and picks her up in his arms. He gets both of their bags and runs off to the infirmary. Passing all his classmates. He's running pretty fast while making the corridor kinda wet because they both were in the pool with their clothes on.
He quickly gets in the infirmary and lays Shiko down. He explains the situation to the nurse and sits in a corner.
-around an hour passes-
The nurse approaches Kuro
Nurse: You have done great by bringing her here straight up sweetie.. She was lucky that you found her, looks like she wasn't in there for too long at least.. she smiles slightly
Kuro: sighs with relief and relaxes on the chair he's sitting in
She was simply lucky that my class was there at the time... rubs the back of his head
The nurse smiles and sits next to Kuro
Nurse: No, she was lucky that you found her, silly~ Most students wouldn't go through the trouble of bringing her here. They would just throw her to the side or something... sighs
But you are different from most the kids I deal with around here... you've been that way since you first enrolled..
Just about then, Shiko wakes up and holds her head, she's about a curtain away from the Nurse and Kuro, trying to understand what happened while silently listening in to their conversation
Kuro smiles lightly
Kuro: Heh... look who's talking... you are the different one Haruna-San... You might be the only adult in this entire school who care about the students well beings.. rolls his eyes with a smile, the Nurse, Haruna; giggles.
Nurse: Well of course dear!~ That's my job around here~ smiles
Now now, Kurosaki-kun. Seems that you got all the water in her out which I'm really thankful for since that would be more on the urgent side..
Shiko: "Kurosaki-kun....? Got the water out of me...? I-I could have downed! It's water again.... water, water......."
Kuro: Well yea but I'm not really proud of myself... I can't believe I panicked in such a regular situation just for an acquaintance. This isn't how a swimming club captain should be like. I'm responsible of any wrong thing that happens in there if I see it. He clenches his fists
Yet the only thing I could do was press on her stomach and give her mouth to mouth?! Ughhh.... I'm so useless. Sighs
Shiko's eyes open wide and she turns completely red. She immediately closes her mouth with both her hands
Shiko: "H-he gave me mouth to mouth.... He....oh my god......"
She shoves her head in the infirmary pillow with embarrassment
Haruna-San pets Kuro's head and giggles
Nurse: Careful Kuro-Chan~ You're inner insecure Softie is showing!~ You did exactly what you needed to do. She smiles and stands up
Kuro lifts his head up and looks at her, he smiles.
Nurse: In any case, don't be too hard on yourself.. Being you is the best you you could be. Smiles
I gotta go meet with some teachers now, Duty calls. Tootles~ she gets out of the infirmary
Kuro takes a deep breath, his face turns blank as he gets up. He opens the curtain towards Shiko and steps near
Kuro: What are you doing? He says looking at Shiko who's putting her face in the pillow. She jumps a little after hearing someone speak to her and pulls the pillow down
Shiko: N-nothing... she says silently and looks away
"He's doing this to take advantage of me, he's doing this to use me... he's totally trying to play with me... I have to remember the rumors about him..."
Kuro sighs and sits next to Shiko
Kuro: A Thank you would have been nice? He rolls his eyes
Shiko: H-hm...? While still not looking at him, Kuro sighs again
Kuro: You know you probably would have died if I didn't get you out right? You were very lucky! You should realize that! What even happened!? He says, getting caught up in asking questions even tho Shiko isn't much of a talker
Shiko stays silent and looks down at her legs. (Since she's on the hospital bed)
Kuro takes a blanket from the side of the bed and puts it around Shiko. She then lifts up her head.
Kuro: I would appreciate some answers but I suppose it's not worth you getting sick. We both dried a little yea but we should change our clothes so we don't get a cold. You seem to be the type to get sick and hurt easily... he lightly touches some of the thin and very slightly visible cut marks on the side of her neck, thinking they probably happened on accident somehow
Shiko opens her eyes wide and quickly closes her neck with the blanket silently
Kuro gets up with a sigh
Kuro: Can you stand..? He looks in a different direction.
Shiko nods and gets up from the infirmary bed, she puts the blanket to the side and reaches to her bag but Kuro takes both his and hers on his back before she is able to take it.
Shiko: Hm....?
Kuro: You've been through enough right now. We both have to go to the dorm area and change anyway. Maybe could you tell me what happened on the way? I'd want to know not only as an acquaintance but also as the person mostly responsible of the pool. He says as he walks out the infirmary with Shiko, they start walking to the dorm floor
Shiko: It was P.E Class... I just fell... she says silently
Kuro looks at her like he's saying *seriously..?* and shakes his head with disagreement
Kuro: You seriously expect me to believe that? How did you even fall in on your own and even if you did, why didn't you swim? Looks at her with question
Shiko: I... don't wanna say... she says quietly
Kuro: Haaa..? He says with surprise with a hint of annoyance
Shiko: It shouldn't be your business anyway.... she says even quieter
Kuro rolls his eyes and sighs again
Kuro: It is my business as I explained. You didn't even thank me and you sas me instead?? He looks away
Shiko: I-I don't sas! I simply don't believe you should know... looks away
"Why didn't he let me drown anyway... isn't that what he did to that other student before... like Lucy said... not that I fully believe her but still..."
Kuro stops for a second and turns to Shiko, she also stops when he does. Kuro smirks.
Kuro: I get it! It's not that you don't swim. It's that you can't! He smirks with pride
Shiko's eyes suddenly tear up a little as she looks down
Shiko: ......you think that's funny..? She says in a shaky tone
Kuro: Hm? He looks at Shiko, confused
Shiko: I've been so traumatized that I haven't been able to swim for many years... you think it's funny that I still can't...?
Kuro: Well...no? That's not what I me- Shiko lifts her head up with teary eyes, looks in his eyes and cuts him off
Shiko: I doubt you'd understand as a swimming captain! I doubt you would understand true fear! But I feel it and I can't even stand the thought of swimming.... it's too hard, it's suffocating... she says slightly louder than a normal tone while crying lightly
Kuro silently listens to her and lets her to finish. Shiko takes a deep breath.
Shiko: No guy... no boy, would ever understand how bad it feels... To be played with all the time... I know this pool thing wasn't just an accident... I know bullies are simply after me again.... but I shouldn't have to deal with this from the second day of school! She says as loudly as she ever spoke since she enrolled, while crying
Kuro rubs the back of his head
Kuro: Why... are you taking this out on me exactly..? He says confused while averting his eyes
Shiko takes a deep breath and tries to calm down
Kuro: Shiko-San. Look, I don't know in details what you've been through but since we are already gonna be absent for the day, why don't you think about whatever you're going to after getting changed from your wet clothes?
Shiko slowly takes a deep breath and calms herself, she looks down
Shiko: I.... I'm sorry... I don't know what came over me... she says silently
Kuro smiles lightly
Kuro: You did. You, came over you.. you should do that more often. Just with a little less crying giggles slightly
Now let's really go.
Shiko smiles a little and nods, they start going up the stairs and get to the female dorm, they stop with both of their eyes wide open when they see Shiko's dorm room door wide open and even a little broken, they both head inside with shock in their eyes
The entire room is a mess, Her bed is messed up, her books have fallen off of the shelves and practically all of her clothes are on the floor, either ripped or covered in a kind of black paint..? Her phone charger is stolen and there are broken light bulb shard on the ground from the nightstand lights.
Shiko falls to her knees from disbelief and shock
Shiko: "This........this is too cruel.. Why me.....? Did I do something that bad to deserve this....? I understand not liking me but why go this far...? Whyyy....??? Whyy!?....." she starts crying again
Kuro is still standing there in surprise, he looks at Shiko crying and then back at the room.
Kuro: "This.... this is bad."
...................