≫ Chapter 9 ≪

No One's POV

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"Ayumu-san!" came a voice, as the art room's door slid open, revealing three students at the doorway as all the members shifted their gaze from their artworks to the entrance.

"Yoshi-kun?" Hikari grinned, standing up, "I was just about to finish!"

"Yo," the first year bowed, waving, as a certain blonde and freckled teen followed in after.

"So this is where you spend a lot of your time after practice, huh, Yoshida-san?" Yamaguchi questioned, looking around the room he had seen from the outside, but had never really gone into before.

"Kind of," Ren shrugged, "since I'm already in the volleyball club, I can't really join the art club, though it sounds fun. I usually just stay here and hang out with the members of the club, which I'm really thankful that they let me stay here sometimes!"

"Yeah," a second year redhead nodded from behind his canvas, "I'm Hatakeyama Naoyuki. Yoroshiku,"

"Ezakiya Fumiko, a third-year who's in Hika-chan's class. Yoroshiku onegaishimasu, Yamaguchi-san, Tsukishima-san," a purple-headed girl smiled warmly, bowing to the newcomers.

"Ishinomori Kazue, the club president. I'm also in Ayumu's class," a tall, mature-looking guy with glasses and blueish-grey hair introduced, bowing as well.

"Yamaguchi Tadashi, yoroshiku onegashimasu," the freckled first year bowed.

"Tsukishima Kei, yoroshiku," the blonde muttered, giving nothing more than a nod.

"Anyways," Hikari started, "what brings you three here?"

"We asked Yoshida-san where you were, and she told us to follow her," Yamaguchi explained, "and by the way, Ezakiya-senpai, how did you know Tsukki and I's names before we even introduced ourselves?"

Ezakiya chuckled, "Hika-chan always has interesting stories for us about you two,"

"What's this, Ayu? You talk about us?" Tsukishima sneered.

"You wouldn't believe that I have all sorts of blackmail," Hikari smirked, "most especially abou-"

"Yeah? Well keep in mind that I, too, have blackmail, so if you're looking to lose to Sugawara-san, I would be more than pleased to help," the blonde snickered.

"Please don't fight in the club room," Ishinomori coughed, pushing his glasses up.

"Sorry, Prez," Hikari apologized, sheepishly scratching the back of her head, "anyways, I think I've got to go, if you'll excuse me everyone. Yoshi-kun, do you wanna walk home with Yamaguchi, Kei, and I?"

"E-Eh? Etto, sure, if it's not too much trouble. Bye, Fumiko-san, Kazue-san, Naoyuki. Sorry, I couldn't stay long!" the first year girl answered, waving.

The four had then exited the art room, walking along the slightly empty hallways together.

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The sun was shining brightly above the four students' heads, clouds drifting across the sky slowly, a light breeze present at the time.

Their shoes had tapped against the concrete ground, the sounds of cars speeding by the sidewalk clearly heard as they walked past, sharing a comfortable silence.

"Ne, you guys want to stop at the café? It'll be my treat, considering it isn't everyday I get to walk home with Yoshi-kun," Hikari offered.

"Yeah, whatever," Tsukishima muttered, not bothering to look at anyone.

"Tsukishima-kun, you like strawberry shortcake, right?" Ren asked curiously, staring at the tall blonde.

"What? Are you staring at me again, like you did in class the other time? And, you seem to know my preferred choice of food. Stalker," Tsukishima teased.

"Stalker? Pfft, you're crazy. You're so insane, it makes me want to hit you on the head with a basketball," Ren scoffed, glaring at him.

"Basketball? I'd prefer it if it was a volleyball," Tsukishima replied boredly, flicking Ren's head.

"Basketballs are more painful," Ren retorted.

"Kei, don't hit Yoshi-kun's head! You lame excuse of a person!" Hikari scoffed. "Be like Tadashi, won't you?"

"Be like Tadashi, won't you?" Tsukishima mocked, giving himself a mental pat on the back for being the genius friend he was and pissing off everyone.

"Ayumu-san, how do you live like this?" Ren sighed, gripping the handles of her back tighter.

"Yoshi-kun," the older girl laughed hysterically, "does this look like the face of someone who knows why she befriended the Himalayas? I really don't think so,"

"Really? I'd say Tsukki's easy to handle! Just give him shortcake and dinosaurs, and he'll be happy!" their freckled friend piped up, grinning.

"Yamaguchi, urusai."

"Gomen, Tsukki!"

'He's a saint for dealing with this kind of crap every single day,' the two girls thought, sweatdropping.

"Anyways," Hikari coughed, "we're here."

The four stood in front of their destination, the small bell on top of the door ringing as they made their way to the corner of the quaint little café, a waitress approaching them immediately.

"Irashaimase," the waitress smiled, "what would you like to order today?"

"I'll have a strawberry milkshake and strawberry shortcake," Tsukishima mentioned, eyeing Yamaguchi.

"I'll just get some french fries, I guess," Yamaguchi shrugged.

"How about you, Yoshi-kun?" Hikari asked, looking at the girl who had been staring at the floor with a noticeably red tint visible on her cheeks.

The brunette hadn't responded as she seemed lost in thought, catching the attention of her three friends.

"Etto, Yoshi-kun? Daijobu?" Hikari went on, nudging her friend lightly.

"E-Eh? Gomen, gomen. I was just thinking of um, some things," Ren replied, reassuring the three.

"Alright. Want anything?" she questioned, offering a friendly smile.

"V-Vanilla bean mocha... with whipped cream," the younger of the two girls answered, seeming flustered, but no one could pinpoint why.

"Right, right," Hikari nodded, turning to the waitress, "she'll have vanilla bean mocha with whipped cream. I'll have one of your crepes, the chocolate one, as well as some icetwe- I mean, iced tea,"

"Hai, hai. I'll repeat your order: one strawberry milkshake, one strawberry shortcake, one order of french fries, one vanilla bean mocha with whipped cream, one chocolate crepe, and one iced tea. Is that all you'd like to order?" the waitress listed, reading from the paper she had in her hands.

"Yes please," Hikari replied, watching the waitress bow and turn away to head to the kitchen.

"So, Yoshida-kun. You seem awfully on edge today, huh?" Tsukishima smirked, resting his head on his palm.

"Of course not!" Ren denied, shaking her head.

"Yeah, whatever," the blonde answered, looking away.

Hikari chuckled, "And you, Kei, seem to be getting along with Yoshi-kun over here. Poor Tadashi, include him in your conversations!"

"A-Ayumu-san!" Ren yelled.

"What?! We need to weigh everyone's feelings here! Let's talk about something we're all going get entertained by. Care to humor me with stories about class?" Hikari spoke.

"Ano... Class, class. T-There's really nothing interesting that happens in class, so... gomen, I don't think I have any stories that are particularly interesting," Ren apologized sheepishly.

"Yoshida-kun was checking me out during class," Tsukishima muttered, as if the words had no meaning at all.

"Kei, you're a total brickhead. Knowing her, she was probably thinking things like how stupid you are. Speaking of which, how did you know she was even looking at you? You pay attention to her in class?" Hikari retorted, defending the extremely embarrassed Ren, who was this close to punching the blonde.

"Her stare was just too intense. And when I looked at her, my predictions had been correct," Tsukishima answered.

"So you did look at her. Wow, you're awfully hypocritical, aren't you?"

"Tch, say what you want."

"Have you seen the latest update of The English Teacher on the Weekly Jump? M-Man, it was intense, wasn't it? Protagonist-kun's shaping up!" Yamaguchi interrupted, hoping to break the awkward conversation between the two.

"I thought that the author of that would end it terribly, honestly! But I guess fans wanted more, so it continued after all!" Ren stated, waving her hand.

"No way, you read that, too, Yoshi-kun?! I thought it would end there, too!" Hikari laughed.

"It would have been too terrible to end it there," Ren noted, "and there's a new antagonist. I'm having mixed feelings about him."

"I know, I know! The author's doing a real good job keeping us fans immersed!" Yamaguchi agreed, nodding.

Tsukishima sighed, looking out the window. Idiots.

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It had already been sunset once the four had decided to go their separate ways, the dusty pink and purple sky beautifully lying above them, the sun going down as they spoke.

"We'll be on our way. Stay safe, guys," Hikari waved, "sayonara."

"Sayonara, Tsukishima-kun, Yamaguchi-san. Dewa mata ashita," Ren waved as well.

"Sayonara, Ayu-chan, Yoshida-san! Thanks for the food, again! Dewa mata ashita," Yamaguchi smiled, turning around, the tall blonde following after him.

As soon as the two boys had left, the two brunettes turned to Hikari's home.

The resident had opened the black gate for her friend as they both stepped inside the front, closing it afterwards.

"Ojama shimasu," Ren mumbled, leaving her shoes at the door, which Hikari did the same.

"Tadaima! Kaa-san, tto-san!" the older girl yelled, "well, I guess they're out with my other family members. They usually do that, hanging around my aunts and uncles. And, I have a dog who's probably asleep at the back."

"Oh, okay," Ren replied, following Hikari to the living room, where she decided to sit on one of the couches.

"So, you wanted to talk?" Hikari asked, heading to the counter to prepare some tea.

"A-Ah, yeah, I did, I guess," Ren nodded.

"What about? You know I'll always be here to help you," Hikari smiled, pouring water into a kettle.

"Please don't tell anyone. I'll be dead if it gets out," Ren pleaded.

"Don't worry, don't worry. I'm up to offer you any kind of help you want. And telling others is out of the question. Not like I have anyone to tell anyways,"

"Well," the younger of the two started, "see, I kind of have this dilemma involving..."

"Kei, isn't it?"

"How did you know?"

Hikari stopped. "I had a thought,"

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a/n: what, new characters?! oh my goodness new characters!

if you can guess which book Yoshida's from, I'll give you a huge hug.

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Actually, sorry. I'll have to say it, of course.

It's from my friend Soulless_panda's book called "Thirteenth"! Go and send her some love and support, and read it! You'll get a way better insight of Yoshida, etc. + it's a very good story and i love it.

Oh and if you want to know why she was so flustered in the cafe, you have to read thirteenth to understand it. ohohohoohohohoohohoho, especially the most recent chapter //coughs loudly

Yes, I asked permission to use Yoshida, so don't yell at me for copyright, whatnot.

and @ pandi thanks a ton for letting me use Yoshida! I figured that it would be a great side story in addition to all the stuff that's about to go down.

sorry i kind of butchered her, is she too ooc????? please tell me how I can improve so she's less ooc next chapters. heh

asdfghjkl im so sorry pandi i feel like i totally butchered her

++ thumbs up to those references only we will get. #TheEnglishTeacher

ah, side stories. makes up for the lack of sugawara and hikari interaction, which HEY IT'S ESCALATING. YOU KNOW, I'M SO MOTIVATED, I THINK I CAN DO ANOTHER CHAPTER.

lol actually that doesn't sound too bad.

See, working for the oneshot spam seriously trained me to work on a lot of things all at once, so my capacity of how many things i can write in one day has definitely increased.

wth i just wrote like 2 chapters both w 2000 words nonstop. i was never be able to do that before oh-

anyways, THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR 3.9K VIEWS! oh my goodness everyone! thank you so much for the support Rip Tide's been getting lately, I found that a lot of you have been enjoying so far! Thank you for sticking with me!

Things will seriously escalate from now on, so ohohoho? get excited.

Thanks again, pandi, for letting me use Yoshida!

I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter, aha. don't worry, we'll get more into the art club more soon. heh

jaa ne~

-nyx