Chapter 28: The Transfer Student

"Hitomiko-san!" Yagami called out from her room.

"Yes, Yagami?" Hitomiko stopped by her door carrying clothes from the laundry.

"Have you seen my uniform? I can't find it!" Yagami told as she was desperately searching in her closet and drawers.

Hitomiko searched the pile she was carrying, but it Yagami's uniform was no where in sight. She gasped, realizing something. "Oh my! I left it in the apartment!"

"W-Wha?!" Yagami busted out the door. "Schools starts in an hour! I have to get it!"

"The duplicate is on the key holders." Hitomiko told as she was arranging the clothes again. "I'm very sorry, Yagami..."

"It's okay, Hitomiko-san!" Yagami left her room wearing a long-sleeved shirt and black leggings. She was still in her pyjamas but she really had to get her uniform before anything else. "I'll be back ASAP!"

Yagami ran across the sidewalk, holding the keys for the apartment. She crossed about 3 streets to be on the right path, a few blocks later, she arrived. Yagami turned the keys in the lock and entered the house. She approached the nearby closet and got her uniform.

She sighed in relief. "Finally! Now let's go-"

Before Yagami could leave, she saw a single bag in the hallway. The bag was beside the bedroom door, it was closed.

"Hm... I never saw this bag before..." Yagami knelt beside the bag and opened it. It was full of clothes. "What? I don't remember anyone in the orphanage wearing these clothes! Unless..."

"Hitomiko-san?" Hiroto called out and went beside her. He was already dressed in his school uniform.

"Why yes, Hiroto?" She turned to him while washing the dishes.

"Have you seen Yagami? I need to borrow something from her." Hiroto said searching for her.

"I'm afraid she went to the apartment!" Hitomiko replied.

Hiroto stood stiff, shocked, eyes widened. He was so shocked, he couldn't speak. Suzuno was in there... His face showed worry and fear. Hiroto spaced out.

"H-Hiroto? Are you okay?" When Hitomiko said those words, Hiroto snapped out of it. He was back into reality.

"H-Hitomiko-san... I'll be back!" Hiroto sprung quickly and ran out the door, as he was running, he got his phone from his pocket and called Midorikawa.

Midorikawa's cellphone was ringing on top of his study desk, it was really bad timing... Midorikawa was still placing his pants on at the moment, he turned and quickly approached his phone but his pants were just half-way on!

"W-Wha-!" Midorikawa stepped on his pants and accidentally lost his balance making him fall on the floor below the desk. "Ow! Ow! Ow!"

He reached for his phone, saw Hiroto's name and answered. "J-Jeez... Hello?"

"Hey! Midorikawa!" Hiroto exclaimed.

"YOU BASTARD! YOU MADE ME TRIP WHILE PUTTING MY PANTS ON!" Midorikawa growled.

"This is no time for that! C'mon! Get your ass outside!" Hiroto continued running.

"Is that cars I hear? Dude! Where the hell are you?!" Midorikawa got on his feet and placed his pants on.

"I'm on my way to the apartment."

"What? But It's just quarter to 7!" Midorikawa gave a confused tone.

"Look, Yagami is on her way to the apartment. We have to get there on time before she even sees Suzuno!" Hiroto explained, panting.

"OH GOD! SAY NO MORE, I'M ON MY WAY!" Midorikawa hung up and continued putting on his uniform.

Yagami stood up and opened the door beside the bag... There she saw a sleeping gray-haired girl, snuggled up in the blanket. She tip-toed to her slowly and knelt beside her. The girl's hair was blocking her face so she moved her hair away and placing it behind her ear.

"...Mmh..." The girl groaned as Yagami stepped back. Her eyes fluttered open... She blinked and her half open eyes pointed towards Yagami. Her eyes widened and sat up quickly.

Suzuno couldn't see well... Her eyesight was blurry... Then she realized she left her contact lenses in the container, but she had no time for that!

"W-Who are you?!" Yagami asked with demand. "What are you doing here?! Are you a robber?!"

"W-Wha! No! I'm not!" She stuttered as she was wobbling.

"Get out of here!" Yagami screamed, she was afraid of her.

"No! Please! I-"

"I'll call the police on you!" Yagami threatened, searching her pockets for her phone, then she realized she had no pockets to begin with, she left her phone. "...Shit."

"What?"

"Nothing! I-I'll scream outside!" Yagami threatened once more. "I-If you don't leave... I'll-"

"Wait! Please don't!" Suzuno pleaded. "I'll explain! I work at the cafe and-"

Yagami noticed a land-line telephone and clung to it. "I-I don't want your explanation! Leave, or I'll call the police!"

"D-Don't arrest me! I-"

"I'm gonna dial if you won't leave!" Yagami placed her finger on the number pad. Suzuno was in so much pressure... She couldn't take it.

"I'M SUZUNO!" Suzuno accidentally blurted out. She covered her mouth quickly.

Yagami dropped the phone, she was shocked... Her eyes widened at Suzuno. "N-No... Suzuno died... Y-Years ago..."

"D-Don't... I didn't mean that..." Suzuno tried to approach her, but she slowly stepped back.

Yagami stared at her... She imagined that she was wearing nerdy glasses and had long hair, BINGO! She just looked like Suzuno.

"It can't be... Y-You're..." Yagami's face turned pale, she looked like as if she saw a ghost. She screamed, took her uniform and went out the door.

"W-WAIT!"

Hiroto arrived and saw the door was open, he was afraid if he was too late. Then he heard a loud scream.

"T-That's Yagami's voice!" Hiroto told himself, before he could enter the apartment Yagami was running towards the exit.

Hiroto caught her in his arms. Yagami was breathing heavily still wearing a frightened look while clutching tightly on her uniform.

"Y-Yagami! What's gotten into you?!" Hiroto was worried about her and Suzuno at the same time.

"It's Suzuno! S-She's alive! I-I have to tell the others!" She escaped Hiroto's grasp and ran back to Sun Garden.

"Yagami!" Hiroto called out but she continued running away.

Hiroto had no choice but to run after her, he could check on Suzuno later. Hiroto called Midorikawa once more on his phone.

"H-Hiroto! I see Yagami running back here! What's going on?!" Midorikawa asked in a worried tone.

"Dude! Stop her! She knows!" Hiroto panted. "Yagami's gonna tell everyone about Suzuno!"

"Oh hell no!" Midorikawa snapped. "Not on my watch."

"Take her to her room, I'll meet you guys there!" Hiroto continued running.

"Okay!" Midorikawa hung up again. He waited and acted casual when Yagami arrived, panting.

"Midorikawa! Oh! You wouldn't believe this, I-"

Midorikawa covered her mouth. Of course, Yagami wasn't pleased with it, she was furious. Midorikawa swiftly rushed her back to the orphanage, brought her upstairs then to her room.

"Midorikawa! What the hell?! Open the door! I have to tell everyone!" She demanded, stomping her foot once.

"No! You're not leaving!" Midorikawa spread his arms and followed her movement so she wouldn't escape.

"GOD DAMN IT! LET ME O-"

"Yagami!" Hiroto came in and locked the door. "W-We have to talk..."

"Talk about what?" Yagami turned her head to both of them frantically.

"Suzuno." Midorikawa replied.

Yagami walked towards the door. "I have no time for this! Everybody has to know! Especially Nagumo!"

Midorikawa shielded the door with his body. "Y-Yagami..."

"Midorikawa, please!" Yagami tried to pull Midorikawa off, but no avail.

Hiroto grab a hold of her arm. "Yagami, listen to us, please."

Yagami looked at Hiroto in the eye as he did a serious face. She looked down. "..."

Hiroto and Midorikawa explained as briefly as they could...

"Y-You guys lied...?! H-How could you?! Nagumo nearly died because of her!" Yagami said in a sad tone.

"I know..." Hiroto turned away. "Never tell Suzuno about that... It'll break her heart."

"It'll break Nagumo's heart as well... Knowing that Suzuno never knew." She replied.

"Okay, let's make this clear." Midorikawa sighed. "Yagami, you're not telling anyone. Not Nagumo, not Suzuno nor the orphanage, okay? Not a word. You'll call her Gazelle from now on."

"But...-"

"Please, Yagami..." Hiroto pleaded.

Yagami sighed. "...Fine."

"Okay, guys! Time for school! Better get walking now! You don't want to be late, don't you?" Hitomiko told as people in the orphanage started leaving the door, dressed in their uniforms and carrying school bags.

"Bye, Hitomiko-san!" Kurakake and Kurione waved.

"Bye, girls!" Hitomiko waved back.

Then there was Nagumo, with his messy red hair as always... He yawned as tiny tears appear in the corner of his eyes.

"Nagumo! Don't bother sleep in class again!" Hitomiko crossed her arms. "I've had calls from your teachers about you sleeping in their class starting from last week!"

"Oh... Uh... Hey, Hitomiko-san." Nagumo turned to her scratching the back of his head. "What is it?"

Hitomiko sighed. "Nothing. Just stay out of trouble."

"O-Okay then..." Nagumo went back to walking with the group.

"See you later, Hitomiko-san!" Yagami smiled as she clutched her backpack straps.

"Bye, Yagami." Hitomiko smiled back. "Oh by any chance, have you seen Midorikawa and Hiroto?"

"Oh they went ahead. I'll be going now!" Yagami waved and went with the group. Hitomiko waved back.

"I'm sorry... I got you guys in trouble..." Suzuno looked down.

"It's not your fault, Suzuno." Hiroto held her shoulder, Suzuno nodded. "Yagami is with us, she's not telling anyone."

"Okay..."

"Well, we better get going!" Midorikawa stood up. "We might be late for class, and Suzuno might be late for her exam."

"E-Exam?" Suzuno turned to Midorikawa.

"The Entrance Exam." Hiroto made it clear.

"Wait! I didn't study!" Suzuno ran her fingers on her hair.

"It's okay! A smart person like you is likely to be accepted." Midorikawa patted Suzuno's head.

"B-But... They need to check my background!" Suzuno started to feel uneasy. "M-My real name... A-And-"

"Calm down! Don't worry." Hiroto chuckled and held Midorikawa's shoulder and turned to him. "Our genius hacked your data and changed your name last night."

"W-Wha?! How?! H-How about my picture?!" Suzuno was surprised.

"I took a picture of you secretly during the cafe training, I wanted this to be a surprise." Midorikawa grinned.

"Midorikawa is a expert in computer and technology in our class." Hiroto explained further.

"O-Oh..." Suzuno calmed down.

"Don't worry, Suzuno! You look good in the picture, so don't sweat it." Midorikawa showed her picture in his phone, Suzuno sighed in relief.

"Thank you, guys!" Suzuno hugged them both.

"No prob, Suzuno."

"So... What am I supposed to wear?" Suzuno pulled away, breaking the hug.

"Oh yeah!" Midorikawa opened his bag and too out a uniform. "This was Yagami's but it's gotten small on her, it also includes a blazer. She'd hope you'd accept it so..."

Midorikawa lent her the folded uniform. Suzuno accepted it, taking it on her hands.

Suzuno smiled sweetly. "Tell her I said thanks."

"We will, now get dressed." Hiroto told her as a smile started to form on his face.

Suzuno ran back into the room to change her clothes. Midorikawa grinned and nudged Hiroto's shoulder.

"W-What...?" Hiroto blushed.

"You like Suzuno, don't you?." Midorikawa bounced his eyebrows.

"N-No...!" Hiroto gave him a stern look. "I only admire her as a friend."

"Oh really?" He continued.

"Ugh... Midorikawa!" Hiroto groaned as he started to smile, blushing even more.

"Ha! I was just kidding!" Midorikawa gave a laugh.

"WHY YOU-"

Before Hiroto could lay a finger on Midorikawa, the door opened, Suzuno was finished putting on the uniform. She was wearing a beige blazer with white highlights, inside the blazer was a white blouse and a blue ribbon, also a navy blue mini-skirt just about four inches above her knee. Suzuno wore her long white high-knee socks she brought along with her, and for the finishing touch, she wore black leather shoes with a one inch heel.

"Wow..." Hiroto gazed at her in awe while Midorikawa squealed internally.

"H-How do I look?" Suzuno asked as her cheeks turned pink.

"Beautiful." Hiroto's eyes showed admiration.

Midorikawa turned to Hiroto bouncing his eyebrows again.

They all walked to school. Midorikawa and Hiroto were carrying bags but all Suzuno brought along was a notebook and a pen.

"W-What if I won't make it?" Suzuno wondered, fear in her voice.

"Impossible!" Midorikawa told with pride. "I'm sure you'll pass!"

"Midorikawa's right, we believe in you." Hiroto added.

They entered the campus then they brought her to the principal's office, Suzuno got a background check.

"You're starting late, my dear... It's already the beginning of the second term, are you sure you could catch up?" The principle asked.

"Y-Yes, ma'am! I'll study hard!" Suzuno insisted.

"Well, your grades are very outstanding in your former school... I guess you're right." She started to nod. "All you have to do now is take the entrance exam, right this way. Hiroto, Midorikawa, go to your classrooms now."

Midorikawa and Hiroto bowed and left the room, leaving Suzuno.

She led Suzuno to a room, it was not too big or not too small. It had at least 4 desks in each row, there were 5 rows. She took the one in front. She was given two papers, one filled with circles each column has a number, above the circles were letters. The other one was with questions. Suzuno knew what to do, she started shading the circles one by one.

Suzuno finished around an hour and a half, she wrote her fake name on the paper, submitted it and left. Took about 30 minutes to get the test results to place her in a class.

"Gazelle, your new class is B-2." The administrator reminded her. "I've informed their adviser, go see them now."

"Okay." Suzuno stood up and bowed. "Thank you."

Suzuno left the room and went to look for class B-2. She eventually found it after walking across two long hallways. She held the door knob, but before she could turn it she took a deep breath... Suzuno opened the door and exposed herself to her new class.

"There she is now!" The adviser told her class with a smile. "Come here." Suzuno went in and closed the door, she shyly stood beside the teacher. The teacher held her shoulder. "This is your new classmate, Gazelle Suzuki."

"Hi, everyone." Suzuno waved as she gave her best smile.

People started whispering, most specifically boys...

"Wow, she's beautiful...!"

"Pretty!"

"She's so cute!"

Most of the guys were eyeing on her... Which made Suzuno quite uncomfortable but flattered.

"Settle down now, class. Gazelle, you may now pick your seat."

Suzuno looked around for a vacant seat, all the guys tried making spaces for her they even tried to shove their seat-mate away. But Suzuno didn't mind them, she sat down beside a guy who happens to be sleeping with his hood on.

It made the girls in the class quite jealous of her, I mean, the guys started falling in love with Suzuno almost immediately!

"Wake up, dear student." The teacher noticed Suzuno's seat-mate, but he didn't seem to hear nor budge.

"U-Uhm..." Suzuno poked his shoulder.

The person groaned, he moved his head towards the right, where Suzuno was. He stared at her with his golden eyes... He blinked and he suddenly sat back up, staring at her. His hood was removed due to him sitting up. His red messy and tousled hair was revealed.

"W-Who are you...?" He scratched the back of his head as he yawned. "I haven't seen you before in class. Are you the exchange student?"

Suzuno realized she knew this guy, it was Nagumo. Her face showed him hate, glaring, she turned away and faced the black board. In all seats why did she choose to sit beside him, she couldn't take that moment back anymore, this will be her seat for the whole term.

"What was that for?" Nagumo muttered as he turned away as well. He rested his head on his hand while listening to the teacher. He started falling asleep again.

"NAGUMO!" The teacher shouted. "WAKE UP!"

"H-Huh?!" Nagumo jolted and his eyes wide open. The class laughed at him.

"Show some manners to your seat-mate will you?" The teacher embarrassed him and went on with the lesson.

Suzuno laughed softly which made Nagumo furious. He pounded her desk with his palm, surprising her.

"What is your god damn problem?" Nagumo glared at her. "I just met you but I hate you already."

"Well I don't know? What is YOUR problem?" Suzuno hissed. "And does it look like I care if you hate me or not? Tch, WAKE UP!" She stared at him with her cold blue eyes making Nagumo slightly terrified of her.

"Jeez... This woman. Wait, is she wearing contacts? Oh who cares! I'll deal with her later." Nagumo thought as he glared back and slowly ignored her.

The bell rang, it was recess.

Suzuno walked outside of her classroom and into the hallway... Suddenly Nagumo chased her. He placed his arm in front of her, blocking Suzuno. Nagumo placed both of his hands on the wall, cornering her. Suzuno's back was against the wall, she was between his arms, unable to escape, she was shocked but slowly burned in a furious rage.

Everybody who was there started to stare some girls squealed and started to 'ship it'. And some girls started to despise it.

"H-Hey! What-"

"Who do you think you are?!" Nagumo growled as he glared at her.

"W-Wha...?! Who do you think YOU are?! You can't just block me like this! Let go!" Suzuno growled back and tried to move his arms away but he was too strong.

"Apologize." Nagumo said in a serious tone.

"What?! No!" Suzuno stammered, stomping her foot. "Let me go this instant!"

"The more you demand makes you even look more helpless... It's cute, really." Nagumo said in a sexy voice.

Suzuno took it as an insult but her cheeks turned red. "Y-You idiot!"

"Apologize..." Nagumo went in closer to her face. "...Or I'll kiss you."

"...?!" Suzuno felt helpless, she didn't want to apologize to him at all nor to even get a kiss.

Everyone who was watching became so noisy, they were squealing and cheering for them. Some guys even got jealous in the situation they're in. Suzuno was greatly embarrassed.

"So? What will it be?" Nagumo smirked as he went even closer. "Give me an apology or-"

"NAGUMO!" Hiroto came through the crowd. "LEAVE HER ALONE, DAMMT!"

Nagumo removed his hands on the wall, freeing her, Hiroto grabbed Suzuno's arm taking her from him. Everyone started to lose it! They gasped! They were astonished! Hiroto?! Defending the transfer student?! Unbelievable!

"H-Hiroto..." Suzuno stuttered.

"Dude, what's your problem?" Midorikawa entered the scene, asking Nagumo.

"This girl, owes me an apology!" Nagumo pointed at Suzuno.

"That's it?! You embarrassed Gazelle in front of a crowd Nagumo?! And for what?! An apology?!" Hiroto held Suzuno close, hugging her.

Both Midorikawa and Hiroto glared at Nagumo.

"Let's go, Gazelle." Midorikawa told. Suzuno nodded. They turned around and left Nagumo.

"Pssh! Whatever!" Nagumo rolled his eyes and walked the opposite side.

The girls who were in the scene were really jealous of Suzuno by now. Hiroto, he is the most admired and is the crush of many girls in the campus, Nagumo for his bad-boy look he was a big attraction to many popular girls especially his 'girlfriend' Nitou.

Nitou is the most popular and the most wanted girl in the batch, even if she had Nagumo, guys still fight over her.

The crowd started spreading the situation's story. But of course, the guys still deeply admired Suzuno so they just let it fly by, they didn't really mind.

Probably by some time, Suzuno might overtake Nitou's status! Most wanted, admired, or even most popular! We don't really know what the future holds for Suzuno.

Or should I say... Gazelle?

-End of Chapter 28-