"Sorry, I really can't come today."

Nina patted her friend's shoulder.  "Aww it's okay! Besides you need to recover and today is the awarding ceremony, so yeah I can deal with our crew alone." said Nina who then looked at both sides, checking if anybody was eavesdropping them. She leaned in to Saeyoung's ear and whispered,   "Don't worry, I'll take a good eye out on you're boyfriend to make sure that no girls from other schools can approach him."

Saeyoung's eyes widened at the mention of 'boyfriend' and she knows on whom her friend is referring to. Nina gave her a wink, making Saeyoung scoffed.   "Nina, he is not my boyfriend!"  she stated.

"Well not yet, of course!"

Saeyoung rolled her eyes.  "Whatever! Just go, or the bus might leave you behind."  she says pushing the japanese girl towards the school exit.

Teasing Saeyoung with Ni-ki has now became a hobby of Nina, considering that she has spotted one of the most eye-catching moments of the two and she can't help but speculate that there is something going on between them. And she'd do the honors of becoming a spy and find out what's really going on.

"Okay, I'm going! I'm going! Just take care of yourself mkay?"

"I will. Don't worry too much! I'll see you guys later, yeah?"

Nina nodded.  "I'll tell you what happened later on!" she gave a big wave to her friend as she exits the school and proceeded to go to the school bus. Once she enters, she umm grabbed a seat beside Songyee who was currently asleep.

"Nina!" she just sat down, Nina turned to see the person who called her. Her eyes met Nishimura Riki's figure. Nina's eyes travelled behind him and there she saw Yasuda Takara who was looking at Ni-ki with curiosity.

The female gave a small bow at Ni-ki. "Oh hello, Ni-ki! Wassup?"

"Ermm.." the blonde scratched the back of his head and suddenly looked down.   "W-Where's Saeyoung?"

Nina raised her left eyebrow up, a grin suddenly appearing in her face. She was guessing that something happened yesterday and she was quite sure about it. Who knew that a certain Nishimura could immediately identify the lack of presence of Roh Saeyoung when he clearly just entered the vehicle.

The american-japanese female has now wondered on how clingy Ni-ki must be, when he was alone with her friend.  "Didn't she tell you? Miss Yoo did not permit her to go with us after the  incident with the students of Juggyeok Academy. She wanted Saeyoung to recover for a bit."

"So she will be absent at school today?" guessed Ni-ki. But Nina shooked her head.

"No, she is actually inside of the campus right now. She told me that she wanted to attend class because Saeyoung didn't want to feel left out and clueless if she took another day off of school."

"She attended school?" Ni-ki heaved a sigh.  "She could've just stayed home and rest! She was having a hard time walking yesterday when I took her home and she still insisted on attending class? Saeyoung's just going to give herself a hard time." he explained but nevertheless, Nina somehow agrees with him.

Ni-ki scoffed and sat down on a seat. He immediately took out his phone and texted Saeyoung's number.

To: Roh Saeyoung

Yah! Wtf r u doing at school? U should be at home taking a rest.
Sent ✔︎

After sending the message, Ni-ki sighed and layed back on his seat. If he were on Saeyoung's situation, he would've stayed at the dorm and beat his Jay hyung's record on the new video game Jake bought for them.

Ni-ki bit his inner lip. He was disappointed at himself for forgetting to tell Saeyoung to take care of herself, last night when he called her. But no, he immediately fell asleep.

"Riki, don't stress yourself too much. Saeyoung still has her friends Chaeji and Mijin with her, they will assist her if anything goes wrong. So please, don't think about it too much."

The boy slowly nodded.  "I-I guess you're right. I shouldn't worry too much. Thanks Takara!"

"Anytime."

And on time, Ni-ki's phone pinged. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw that it was a message from Saeyoung, sent to Ni-ki. Takara looked away and had her head leaning on the window, staring up at the blue sky.

"Riki, I wonder when you can finally see me as a lady. Not as a sister."  she quietly said to herself.

From: Roh Saeyoung

Y so concerned? It's not like I got injured or something! Yk wut? Just stop texting me and focus on ur competition. Wishing Adroit Manueverz good luck btw! U all did great, and that's what matters ✨
Read ✔

Ni-ki smiled at the message Saeyoung sent him earlier at the bus. He was confident at himself that Adroit would win another award this year. If he looks back in the previous years before, Adroit won many dance competitions winning the title as champion or 1st runner up. So there's no doubt that Adroit Manueverz can win another trophy for their school.

"Good job on the performance! We all did well." the blonde complimented his teammates.

"That's because we learned from the best!"

"Exactly! We wouldn't have gone this far and this good without Nishimura Riki."

Ni-ki felt shy at the compliments they threw at him. Seeing on how he was the youngest of the team, he was already given the privilege to become the captain and help them improve, leading his teammates to constant victory.

The members of Adroit Manueverz praised their captain. They where really grateful that they had Ni-ki, because if they didn't, where would Adroit Manueverz stand now? A 2nd runner up? 5th place? 7th? They guessed that without Ni-ki, they would have never claimed the title as champion in the competitions they participated in.

"Hey guys! Where is Takara? She isn't here with us."  questioned Lucy.

"Oh Takara? I saw her talking with Yamamoto Yasuo of KOPD League. Right over there!"  Junghwan pointed to a not so far corner, to see Yasuda Takara and Yasuo having a light conversation.

Ni-ki was not entirely close with KOPD League's captain, Yasuo but they did talk to each other from time to time, if they could. Yasuo was a good guy and Ni-ki was aware of that but right now, he just felt uncomfortable seeing Takara laughing with another guy.

For him, it somehow felt weird.

"Come on please! Just one photo!" pleaded Yasuo. He held on to Takara's arm.

"I'm sorry but I don't really want to. I'm not exactly in the mood Yasuo, maybe next time."  Takara shoved Yasuo's arm off from hers. She was feeling comfortable with him just a seconds ago but somehow she felt uncomfortable.

Takara was aware that Yasuo was her admirer, noticing on how she heard his teammates teasing him about her. She didn't really mind and would just greet him every now and then.

"Just this once? Please." he held on to Takara once more.

"I'm sorry but I don't want to!" she argued.

Yasuo carefully brought Takara closer but he soon started groaning in pain, and he finally let's go of the girl. Takara gasped as she saw Ni-ki, her saviour

The blonde has harshly slapped Yasuo's hand away from Takara, making him fall back and Ni-ki giving him a cold look.  "Don't force a girl to do what you want that she doesn't. You're making her uncomfortable!" Ni-ki defended.

"Are you alright?"  Takara softened as she heard the tone of concern in Ni-ki's voice. It has been awhile since she heard it but he always had her every time. If getting into trouble would make Ni-ki give her his attention, then she would. But then again, she isn't stupid enough to set herself up in a risky situation.

Takara nodded, looking at the boy straight in the eyes.  "I-I'm f-fine. No need to worry."  she assured him.

"Good then." he gently pats Takara in the head, then soon turning to Yasuo who was suspiciously watching them. Ni-ki did not bother to give him another cold glare.  "Baka. Don't ever touch Takara again! Or I might beat you up to dead meat." he threatened.

Yasuo glared at Ni-ki. He has always suspected that Takara had a significant other, but he never knew that it would be her team captain. Yasuo has grown to be jealous of Ni-ki, because of his good looks, remarkable talent and that many dance mentors praises him. And now, he had Takara under his spell. For once, Yasuo wanted to beat Ni-ki and win the girl over.

"Let's go."  said Ni-ki as he held Takara's hand, leading her back to their team. Ni-ki couldn't deny that Takara was famous when it comes to male dancers from other schools, he sometimes would hear her name being mentioned by boys and sometimes they would just come looking for her or approach her out of the blue.

It annoyed him.

As for Takara, she felt grateful knowing that Ni-ki still cared for her and that he protected her. Takara took the chance and led Ni-ki in another way, far from their team. Ni-ki was shocked at the sudden change of direction but he trusted her and let her lead the way.

"Ni-ki, I need to tell you something." she announced. Takara dragged Ni-ki in an empty room, she closed the door and held his hand. Ni-ki felt so clueless, on why the girl was acting like this all of a sudden.

Unexpectedly, Takara engulfed Ni-ki in a hug with her face hiding on his chest. The blonde was frozen, he immediately remembered yesterday that Saeyoung had hugged him too. He slowly patted the girl's head and gently played with the tips of her hair.

"Nishimura Riki, I-I like you!"

Takara felt his hand who had stopped playing with her hair, she might not see his reaction but she could tell that he was speechless. But she did not care, all she wanted was to tell him the truth of what she feels about him, hoping he would feel the same way.

Knowing that Ni-ki might stay silent the whole time, Takara decided to ask him a question.  "How about you Ni-ki? Do you feel the same way?"

"H-Huh?"

"Do you feel the same way? Do you like me too?"

Ni-ki didn't know what to say. Obviously, he likes Saeyoung and that he cherishes the moments they spent together but he can't really deny that he really cares about Takara too and he would do anything for her. The memories they both made were very special to him as well.

Takara has always been there for him.

"Ni-ki?"

The boy hugged her tight. He looked down, tucked the strands of her hair behind her ear and whispered,  "I like you too, Yasuda Takara. "

______________________________________

An update as a gift for my readers who helped this book rank high on its hash tags!

We're #1 in NishimuraRiki and #1 on Riki people! Thank you so much!