Chapter 2

A loud sound coming from the girl suddenly vanished and he clearly thought that she runs off somewhere. The guy closes his eyes and slowly drift to sleep. He wanted to escape the crowd so bad since he's not comfortable when there are too many annoying people following him everywhere. The cold breeze was making him even more sleepy.

“Heeeeeey!”

His eyes immediately opened. He was sure that the annoying woman was gone yet he was hearing her voice again. He sits up and gazes down and to his surprise, the woman was there -- climbing up the tree and doing her best to reach him. The look on her face made him smile, it was funny yet he could clearly see that she was doing her best.

‘What an interesting woman…’ he thought.

Stretching out one of her hand, Ryo the next branch near her face. This was the first time that she climbs up the tree and it made her stupid. She was feeling mad earlier then all of a sudden, she found herself climbing up to him. She was far from the ground now and slowly her hands were already trembling as she grabs the branches.

“Hey, what do you think you’re doing?”

“C-Climbing. I-I’ll make you apologize.”

“Get down! Clearly, you don’t even know how to climb a tree.”

Ryo sticks her body closer to the trunk of the tree. He was right, she should go down now if only she knows how to. She swallowed hard, then look up to his face. She wanted to cry and ask for his help but her throat was all dry and not a single sound coming out.

The guy sighed deeply. It was so easy to tell that she was about to cry.

‘Shit! What a troublesome woman…’ he thought as he slightly scratches the back of his head.

“Alright, stop moving! I’ll help you.”

She could feel from his voice that he was annoyed but she was glad that the man has the heart to help her. He stretches out one of his hands to pull her up. Ryo immediately grabbed it but as the guy was about to pull her up, the branch that Ryo was standing from snapped and she loses her balance.

Both of them screamed as they fell down to the ground. Ryo kept her eyes closed, waiting for the pain that would arise from her body. Falling from that high, surely she would end up having brushes and body aches. 

“Hey, woman! Would you get off me?!”

“Eh?”

As she opened her eyes, she was greeted by the guy's face. So she landed on this guy, no wonder she wasn’t feeling any pain.

“Get off!”

She moves away from him, making sure that there’s a safe distance between them. She watches carefully as the man sat up. Her eyes slowly surveyed his body, looking for bruises or wounds caused by the fall. As the man sat up, one of his hands gently rubbed his back down to his lower back.

“D-Does it hurt?”

His ocean blue eyes darted at her. ‘Of course, it hurts! What a stupid question.’ she nagged herself.

“I’m so-sorry. It was my fault that you fell too and… thank you for saving me.”

His eyes were glued on her face. She was looking downwards as her cheeks slowly turned red. If it wasn’t for the fact that she’s enrolled at the university, he might have thought that she’s in High school. He looked in another direction.

“Whatever.”

Their eyes didn’t meet again. The guy didn’t say a word anymore and walked away. Ryo remains sitting on the ground while her eyes followed the guy as he disappeared behind the grey building. 

***

On her second day, she manages to get a copy of her schedule. After the first period, Ryo decided to stay at the cafeteria and get something to eat. She wanted to come to school earlier and miss breakfast.

She got herself some fruits and an egg sandwich then took them at the table located at the very far corner of the cafeteria. Ryo brought a whole blue-capped bottle of Ajishio with herself, which was at the right hand. In her left, an egg sandwich. Before she starts munching on her sandwich, she took out her schedule and check what subjects she’ll have for the entire day.

Ryo didn’t notice that someone was approaching her.

“Hi.”

She looked up, surprised with the sandwich stuck on her mouth. She blinks twice thinking if she was imagining things. The girl smiled at her and sat in the chair across the table.

“You’re Mori Ryo, right? My name is Nishimura… Nishimura Airi. We’re in the same class, I’m from the Business Management Department too.”

Ryo dropped her sandwich on the table and bow her head to show formalities. 

"N-Nice to meet you, Nishimura-san."

"Hahaha. No need to be formal. You can call me Airi."

Her emerald eyes sparkled in delight. Airi was her first friend in the University and also her classmate.

“Is that your breakfast?”

“Yeah. I went to school early and miss breakfast.”

“I see. I didn’t see you at the entrance ceremony yesterday so I was surprised to see in class this morning.”

“Yeah, I didn’t make it yesterday.”

She couldn’t say that she was too embarrassed to step back at the auditorium after that scene she made and not to mention meeting a pervert man afterwards.

“Oh yeah! Have you decided on what club you would join this year?”

“C-Club?”

“Oh, right. It was discussed over the entrance ceremony. I think they’ll start recruiting for freshmen by next week.”

Ryo looked down at her sandwich. She was never in a club before, not that she can remember being in a club. She stared at Airi, who was busy eating the food that she brought when approaching her.

‘I wonder what club will Airi join? M-Maybe I should ask her at least then I might get an idea. Yes, that’s right. I’ll ask her.’ she thought.

“A-Airi, wha-what club will you be joining?”

“Hmm… not sure yet, how ‘bout you, Ryo?”

Ryo was surprised. So she wasn’t the only one who hasn’t made up their minds about which club to join. She felt somehow relieved. She shakes her head.

“I’m not sure too.”

“Really?! That’s great! Then let’s choose together.”

Ryo was startled at first but then with such a warm smile, the surprise feeling went away and turned into something calming and warm. She thought that maybe this is what it felt to have a friend.

After they finish breakfast, they went to their next class. Sport Science was the most popular easy-credit course, and all the students were filing into the classroom. The seats were filling steadily from the back. Ryo and Airi sat in the middle part, just enough view the front and see the lectures at the board.

The lecture was about to start, another one came in and sat at the empty seat just below Ryo. As that last person sits, her eyes caught that familiar dark brown strands. Shock crossed her face, her eyebrows rose in surprise and her emerald eyes went round.

‘I-It’s him!’

A sudden chill runs through her spine. Ryo wanted to shrink from her seat or even run out of the classroom. Of all the students that she can be her classmate, why him?

Airi notices the sudden change in Ryo’s expression then saw that she was staring at the guy sitting in front of her. Airi leaned closer to her and begin whispering in her ears.

“Do you like him?”

Her eyebrows rose in surprise.

“Eh?”

Airi tittered at her reaction. She was purely innocent.

“I’m just kidding. It just that you’ve been staring at him for a while now.”

Ryo feels guilty. She has been staring at the guy since he came in and it’s not polite to stare at people you don’t know.

“I… It wasn’t on purpose.”

“Don’t worry. I guess every girl would stop and stare at him. The guy’s a complete hottie.”

Ryo’s whole face turned completely red.

“I-I… It’s not like that. Besides, I don’t even know him.”

“WHA--”

It was a good thing that Ryo was able to cover Airi’s mouth on time or else the whole class would be disturbed by her loud voice.

“Airi, you almost shouted.”

“I’m sorry. I was too shocked.”

Ryo wanted to ask her why she overreacted but it would be safe to continue the conversation after class.

***

“Honestly, you don’t know that guy’s name?”

“No. I honestly don’t.”

Airi signed in defeat and sits down her chair.

“I never imagine there will be a person that doesn’t know Fujiwara-san.”

“Fujiwara?”

“Yes, his name is Fujiwara Souma.”

The name sounds familiar but Ryo wasn’t sure about where she heard it from. Airi waited patiently but there’s no trace on her face that she got any idea so she gave up after a few seconds.

“Fujiwara Souma is the son of the Head of the Fujiwara Group, Fujiwara Akihiro.”

“Oh.”

Ryo has heard of that name before, it was on the news. Fujiwara Group was one of the largest entertainment companies  in Japan. She didn’t think that such a rich person would attend an average university like theirs. On that entire day, Airi continued telling stories about Fujiwara Souma. Fortunately, the two of them are from the same high school so she knew a lot about him and she mentioned that a lot of girls are after him. Even though Fujiwara-san is famous, she doesn’t want to get involved with him in the future.

* * *

That day, Ryo got home really late since Airi took her in one of the coffee shops in town. They had a long girly chat and try out a few drinks. It was a lot of fun that she didn’t notice that it was getting dark.

She got inside her apartment and change into more comfortable clothes. She was in the kitchen when her phone started ringing. It was a call from her mother.

“Hi, Mom.”

“Honey, how was your first day at school? Did you have any trouble?”

“It’s fine, Mom. Actually, I already made friends.”

Then she remembered Airi, the guy that she bumped into the auditorium and Fujiwara Souma.

“That’s great, honey! Your dad and I missed you so much.”

Ryo was aware of how lonely her mother is right now. From the beginning, she was against her going to Tokyo and living there alone but she manages to convince her in the end.

“I miss you both. I promise to visit you in my free time.”

“By the way, your father sent you another box. Have you received it yet?”

“No. It’s not here. I’ll go check with the landlady if it's there.”

“Alright. Call us soon. Take care, honey.”

“Take care. Tell dad that I miss him too. Bye.”

In just a few minutes she felt that she was home and now as they line got cut off she was alone again. Leaving him was never easy but she knew staying there won’t do any good too. Her new home now was this apartment. It’s a small fifty square meter room with a wooden floor. Not new construction, but relatively new. It has a small kitchen, bathroom and living room with one bedroom on the other side.

Ryo decided to head out to check the package at the landlady unit when suddenly she heard a loud knock on her door. As she opened it, she was greeted with a large cardboard box. She saw a white paper on the box with her name on it.

‘This must be the box that father sent.’ she thought.

“Thank you for--”

She couldn’t finish what she was about to say. The person carrying the cardboard dropped it on the floor.

“You must be Mori-san. Eh?”

“You?!”

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