"Heard there was a new transfer student," Ryuji said as he and Ren sat on benches in the school courtyard.
"Yeah, she's in my class. One Rukia Kuchiki," Ren said, taking a drink of his canned coffee.
"She cute?" Ryuji asked classlessly.
"If you mean extremely suspicious, then yes. She is adorable."
"Bro, your sarcasm is just too much sometimes."
---
"Thank you for not listening to rumors, Kuchiki-san," Shiho said with a smile. "It's nice to meet you. You can call me Shiho!"
"It's nice to meet you too," Rukia said politely. "It's really nice to be so welcomed."
'It really is,' she thought. 'But this girl has extremely high spiritual pressure as well.'
They hadn't said anything about hers. They hadn't even reacted to the probes she had made with her own spiritual pressure.
'They don't have any control over it at all.'
"So, Kuchiki-san, tell us about yourself!" Orihime said cheerfully.
Ann nodded with a smile and handed each of them a shortbread cookie.
"Feel free to ask us anything!"
Rukia smiled. These people were very kind.
"Sure. My name is Rukia. I'm eighteen years old as of this month."
---
DING.
The classrooms cleared out for the day. Ren still hadn't gotten a message from Yusuke and was beginning to get worried. He debated sending him another message, but ultimately decided to wait one last day. He knew Yusuke was strong. He couldn't rush him now.
Arriving in Yongen-Jaya, Ren was extremely irritated.
"She's not even pretending not to follow me," he gritted out.
Around 40 to 50 feet behind them was Rukia, walking with a purpose, the her eyes not breaking from the back of his head.
"Ren, what is up with this girl? Should we tell Boss?" Morgana asked.
Ren activated his Third Eye and watched her walk past him toward the nearby apartment building. She didn't turn her head toward him, but he felt like he was being watched as he entered Leblanc.
"Morgana, when we get upstairs, look across the roof to see if she's nearby."
"Roger, Joker," Morgana responded as Ren began to greet Sojiro.
---
Orihime was sitting in her apartment, humming a song and thinking about the past few days.
She was happy to have Maria. But she didn't talk to her much. At most, six times a day. It was sad, but one thing Maria would say at least once a day was, "Give it time."
It was a scary thought.
Yet it was comforting.
It was like she had heard it a million times before, and she knew she would hear it a million times again. And she still wouldn't know when that "time" had been.
Shaking her head, she glanced at her brother's shrine before looking at the leek plushie Ren got her.
She couldn't help but explode into a blush remembering the tarot reading she got.
'I'm so glad Ren wasn't paying attention!' Orihime mentally whined. 'Good fortune in love? Flower petals?'
She plopped her head on her coffee table and mumbled, "Why was mine so hard to understand?"
---
"Looks like we're clear, Joker. She might not have actually been following us. It looks like she lives in that apartment complex nearby."
"Oh, that one named COMP Complex or whatever?"
"Yup, right down the street."
"Sorry, Morgana. I've just been paranoid. I feel like I'm always being watched. Is this a psychosis thing? Is this some weird fever dream or something?"
He groaned and rubbed his face.
"Don't worry. I know it's reality," he chuckled.
"It's okay, Ren. I kinda get it too," Morgana said softly as he walked across the bed and sat on Ren's lap.
"I need to relax more," Ren muttered.
'You need to be kinder with yourself,' was what Morgana wanted to say.
But he just couldn't bring himself to. He was kind of stuck there sometimes too.
---
They're just normal teenagers.
That's all Rukia could draw from the day at school.
Ren, he fakes arrogance, he's theatrical and kind. A soft person. Yet also seemingly strong. His softness is a mask that hints a sharp observational person. But it didn't mean he wasn't truly kind.
Ryuji, A loud mouth who is blunt and straight forward. Almost stupidly sincere.
Ann, a cheery girl always ready to break tension. She doesn't let a conversation get awkward. Smoothly changing the topics.
Shiho, extremely practical and resourceful. She's like the big sister of the group. She keeps their heads on straight and don't let them go too off topic
Orihime, a little ball of energy. Unpredictable. Excessively kind. Almost naive. But underneath lies a sharp genius. She difuses confrontations before they start.
It's strange that theyre all friends. But at the same time, not.
'I can't imagine how they would mesh with other people...the other classmates seemed to avoid them for some reason.'
She paused.
'Is it really those stupid rumors?'
---