V

                                    

                                          
The classroom hummed with activity, students chatting loudly and having fun with their friends. The teacher was not yet in the room, so everyone was relaxed and having a good time. Even when Mizuki, the rule keeper, was their peer, they knew she was calm and didn't bother to watch their mouths. Even if she cared, she wasn't paying attention to them; Mizuki focused on finishing up some makeup work she got while bedridden. There wasn't a time limit on when she should get them done; she didn't even bother acknowledging them while out of school. Now, she had time before class began.
As she did, a few girls glared at her from the middle section of the lecture desks. Ever since she walked into the class, they've been staring at her, shaking their heads, giving her a disgusted look, and sucking their teeth as they cursed her.
"God, I hate her so much!" one girl said, shaking her head. "She can't do this to us."
"I know, right," one of her friends agreed. "Two weeks of not attending the class switching is crazy!"
"Well, we did attack Wild," another girl said.
"Simeon looked so scared when I asked for him to date me," someone else said, looking very embarrassed by what she did. "I can never show my face again!"
"Kisa, don't talk like that!" her friend said, trying to make her feel better.
"I was this close to Hanabusa, and that monster had to ruin it by blowing her stupid whistle. And then she gives us a two-week ban? What a monster!" The girl making the biggest fuss over it glared at Mizuki.
"Princess!" someone called as he entered the classroom. The girls looked over, and their mood switched up when they realized who it was.
"Look!" one girl gasped, covering her mouth as she clung to her friend, who was shy from seeing the male. "It's Kosuke."
"Wow, he didn't come to class for a few days. I wonder where he went..."
"Yeah, we got a ban on attending the class switches, but with him around, I think we could live through it."
The friends agreed as they watched the handsome boy approach Mizuki.
"Hey there, princess." Mizuki acknowledged him with a nod as he took a seat beside her. "Good to see you're not dead," he said, pinching her cheek. Mizuki groaned, shoving him so she could get free from his pinching fingers.
"So, you thought I was dead and didn't bother to come and visit me, you asshole?" she snapped. The subject she switched to caused him to back off a bit. "Where did you go? I asked everyone if you've been coming to class after I got sick, and they say you haven't even shown up for attendance."
Kosuke rubbed the back of his neck, feeling cornered.
"And who told you that?"
"Does it matter?" Mizuki pushed him so he could face her. She looked into his eyes, her expression hardening from how serious she was taking this. "Where did you go?"
Kosuke let out a sigh and shrugged. "Don't worry, princess. I didn't do what you're thinking I did. I'm clean still, and I haven't blown all my money on cigarettes...mostly."
Mizuki stared at him for a moment, and she backed off. She went back to working on her worksheets. Kosuke smiled, turning back forward.
It's been a while since she and Kosuke have known each other. It was last year when he showed up as a transfer student, and Mizuki already knew he would be an unusual case. How he spoke and carried himself gave her the feeling that he was laid back, carefree in spirit, and, most importantly, like he would be the immense pain in her backside.