Chapter 229 - Embracing Him The Way He Is

(A/N: This chapter is written from a third person narrative.)

Shiraishi was staring at Moriko with obvious distaste in her eyes, who was looking down at her notebook, writing her homework. This distasteful expression on her face rose because of a comment that Moriko made.

"Come on… don't bring that in." Shiraishi said in an indifferent tone, to which Moriko just nodded her head without saying anything.

"Did that make you uncomfortable?" Her blue eyes looked towards Shiraishi who had this blank expression on her face. She shook her head from left to right and replied, "Not particularly… but it surely ruined my mood."

"That I called your new boyfriend boring?" Moriko was quite direct when it came to conversations. And some of the girls hated her for this, but she always found it annoying how people sugarcoat things.

"He isn't… I mean he is kind of cute so it's alright." Shiraishi said, chuckling, as Moriko raised her head and looked at her with a questioning look, "How does his dead eyes appear attractive to you?"

"Why do you think I'm dating him because he is attractive?" Shiraishi asked with puffed up cheeks and a frown on her face, which resulted in Moriko letting out a chuckle.

Raising the tip of her pencil, she slightly pointed in her direction. She looked at Shiraishi and began explaining, "Because I know you… and you haven't talked with enough to know him personally and like him based on his personality."

Shiraishi had a baffled look on her face. What she said was based on her observation of Shiraishi. It was only a few weeks ago that she started becoming obsessed with Sakamaki. Moriko found it rather weird, but she didn't prefer getting herself involved in her matters.

Moriko smiled, which exposed her fang teeth slightly. She was rather proud of her explanation. Her smile was loved by a lot of her friends, as it was adorable. 

"I want to embrace him for who he is." She said, as it seemed to surprise Moriko because she wasn't expecting an answer like that from her. Her wide eyes stared at Shiraishi for a while before she went off, "That's ri… I mean, that's kind of sweet."

Hearing her reply, Shiraishi's cheeks turned slightly red, as she smiled awkwardly and replied while fidgeting with a strand of ginger hair, "You're embarrassing me."

"I'm happy for you if you can stick to your relationship this time." Moriko nodded, as she was done with her homework and was packing her notebook back inside her bag.

"I do get bored quickly… but I think he is different." Shiraishi said in an uncertain voice, as Moriko gave her a momentarily side glance and asked while not looking at her, "Tell me one thing… Does he care about you though?"

Shiraishi suddenly turned silent as Moriko looked at her with confusion. She again had a blank face on her look, and her eyes were piercing through Moriko. Being a bit uncomfortable, she gulped down hard, as Shiraishi asked in an indifferent tone, "Why would you ask that?" 

"I don't know… just had an intuition." She replied in an uncertain tone as a smile again formed on her face. Creeped out by this, Moriko got up from her desk and walked towards the door as it was about lunchtime.

"Where are you going?" Shiraishi asked, turning around as Moriko gave her a vague gesture and replied, "Vending machine."

The bell rang soon, and the hallways started getting crowded. Moriko still had a weirded out expression on her face because she found Shiraishi's behaviour rather disturbing.

Moriko was standing near the water cooler while drinking a can of coffee that she just got from the vending machine while looking up towards the sky. It was a clear blue sky with clouds passing by slowly.

She took a sip of the coffee as the bitter taste spread in her mouth and a look of dread fell upon her face. Her fists formed into a clench for an instant as she stared off into the distance and let out a deep breath.

Her left hand was fiddling with her earring on her left ear while it appeared that she was wondering about something. Her short blonde hair would ruffle every now and then with the slightest tug of breeze.

"Oh there you are, Moriko." She seemed to snap out of her thoughts as a feminine voice with much excitement called her out. Her eyes shifted towards her classmates, who seemed to be waving at her as she waved back, "Yo!"

"Will you be free after school today?" One of the girls asked Moriko as she took another sip from her drink. A smile formed on her lips as she replied, "Umm… do you guys have a plan?"

"We do actually… Will you join?" The other girl answered in a certain tone, but Moriko wasn't convinced as she inquired further, "Depends… what's the plan?"

"Well… we would be hitting the barbecue place near the supermarket." One of them said while moving her hands in a random direction, as she had a habit of moving her arms while conversing.

"The one down the children's park?" Moriko replied, narrowing her eyes, as she nodded her head from left to right and replied, "No… the one near the downtown crossing."

"Ah… that one." Moriko said as it appeared like she was pleased by the location. She stared at them for a while as they were waiting for her answer. Narrowing her eyes, she asked in a low tone, "Is Suzuha coming?"

"I asked her, but she said she's busy with something." They replied in unison as the corner of her lips curved slightly into another smile. Moriko's eyes moved sideways as she seemed to be thinking about something before asking, "Will Shig come?"

"Ah yeah…" The girl nodded, but she could continue, Moriko laughed cheerfully and gave them a thumbs up, "Alright… I'm in. See you after school!"

Both of the girls left with a satisfied look on their face as they were simply delighted by the fact that she would join them. The more the merrier.. As for Moriko, her mood seemed to lighten up as she quickly finished her drink and walked back into the building.