Friendship

The Movie Research Club room was in almost silence. Only the sound of a soft breath could be heard. So anyone could have said that there was a sleeping person.

There were a lot of rumors about that place, but only some of them were true and only few people knew about it. The 'president' of that club was one of those people, but it was a lie. Every rumor was a lie.

The Movie Research Club didn't exist.

The reason for such action was really simple. The ‘president’ of that club needed a place to stay. So he decided to create the club to get a free room for himself. His name was Saito Yakumo.

The door opened and a young girl appeared. She had her hair upswept in twin tails and her bangs would fell to her face. It wasn't her first time getting inside the club, and it wouldn't be her last. After all, she knew the person who owned the place.

She looked around the room, but didn't see the person she was searching for. Even so, she knew that he was inside. If not, the door wouldn’t be open. Without much thinking, she walked to the table. There, she found the sofa, and on the sofa was the man she was looking for.

She sighed and stared at his sleeping form. Just when she was about to poke his sides a hand stopped her.

"What do you think you are doing?" asked Yakumo. Ozawa Haruka blushed and glared at Yakumo, who just opened his left eye, the red one.

"Nothing, as you don't let me." she answered. She also notices that he wasn't letting go of her hand.

He didn't say anything. He only stared at her for a few seconds, and then let go of her hand. Then, she stepped aside. That way he could sit comfortably and establish a conversation.

"What do you want now?" asked Yakumo. Haruka, who was already sat in the chair in front of him, half smiled.

"I have a name, you know." Haruka told him. In return, he ruffled his hair.

"I know." He answered back, but not before yawning.

“If I didn’t know you better, I would say you look tired. Are you eating and sleeping well?”

“Your stupidity never cease to amaze me.” Yakumo sighed.

“What does that mean?” Haruka pouted.

“If you try very hard, you might understand it.”

“No, explain.”

“Your head isn’t attached to your neck just for decoration, you know.”

“Oh, then please enlighten me, Your Highness.”

“I would, but I don’t want to waste my breath.”

She did smile then.

Yakumo saw her smile. "What's so funny?" he asked. Haruka only laughed.

"Nothing, nothing..." she answered waving her hand. He continued to stare at her. And he continued to softly laugh. But just when he was about to say something...

"Never though a young couple would be so lively." said a voice, stopping Yakumo halfway. Haruka and Yakumo looked at the door, where the voice came from.

"Gotou-san!" Haruka greeted and complained at the same time.

"I thought I wouldn't see you again, Bear-Gotou." said Yakumo while smirking. Gotou-san in response showed his teeth.

"Who are you calling Bear?!" Gotou-san yelled while walking to the desk.

"Yakumo-kun! At least you could deny that!" Haruka also yelled while blushing.

"There's no way to take this bear seriously." Yakumo answered like nothing had happened. Gotou-san stared at Yakumo for some seconds and then at Haruka.

"Haruka-chan, you should stop seeing this guy. You will end up alone." he told her. She couldn’t stop blushing.

"That's not my problem. If she can’t find a man that will put up with her it’s because of her bad temperament." Yakumo answered while walking to the mini-fridge.

"What!" Haruka yelled from her seat. But they wouldn’t listen to her.

"Bad temperament? Where do you see it?" Gotou-san asked.

Yakumo took the opportunity to drink some water.

"Just wait." Yakumo answered after a sip.

"Stop!" yelled Haruka pissed off. The other two glanced at her and then to each other.

"Told you so." Whispered Yakumo. Gotou-san and Haruka were about to say something but Yakumo talked, stopping them on their tracks. "So, why did you two come here?" he asked.

Haruka didn't answer, she didn’t have a particular reason to. She had come to greet Yakumo. These days she would visit him whenever she had time, even if it was an apocalyptic mission. Every day she had chores to take care of, essays to write, courses to take and find time to stay alive. Oh, and she couldn’t forget finding time to hang out with her friends and Yakumo. It was a hectic life, but she liked it. It made her feel complete, like these short visits.

"Oh, right. We found out a corpse." Answered Gotou-san instead. He was sitting in the chair next to Haruka while Yakumo looked like he was interested. "Hirano Akemi, 22 years old. The cause of the death seems to be strangulation.”

Yakumo, who seemed to have been listening, had his right hand under his chin. And not only that, he also seemed to be thinking about something.

"And? Why are you telling me this?" he asked.

In moments like this, Haruka wished he was more sensible. She knew that he was just like this, someone out of reach; but she also knew that showing gentleness was something he could afford. Sometimes. So she glared at him. Even so, he ignored her and keep looking at Gotou-san. She supposed that he was waiting for an answer.

"A friend of the victim told us that she was feeling someone’s presence. She also told us that it happened right after her friend disappearance. I thought that the ghost of Hirano Akemi was going after her, but I can’t see her. So, here I am.” Gotou-san explained.

Haruka looked down. It had been a while since she started to follow on these cases, but no matter how much time passed, she still felt useless. She wanted to help, she really wanted to, but each time she tried to help she ended causing more troubles.

Yakumo, on the other hand, keep looking straight. His mind keep saving information and bringing it out whenever he needed it in a case. Just like he was doing at that moment.

"Where do we have to go?" Yakumo asked while standing. Gotou-san gave a satisfied grin.

"Not very far."

Gotou-san also stood, leaving Haruka where she was. She didn't move nor seemed to be thinking of doing so. When Yakumo and Gotou-san reached the door they noticed that only their foot-steps could be heard. So they looked back.

"What are you doing, Haruka-chan? We will leave you behind if you don't move." Gotou-san announced.

Haruka also looked back. Gotou-san looked strangely at her, like he couldn’t understand what was she doing. However, Yakumo was yawing. Like most of the time.

She smiled. That was so like them. They couldn’t care less about her “uselessness”, she was herself, and they accepted her for that.

Keeping her smile, she got up and followed them. It didn’t matter where they were going, she would tag along. She felt valuated, the little group they had formed made her feel part of something meaningful. And she would everything she had in order to keep things just like this. Just like they were meant to be.

Just then, Yakumo opened the door. In front of the opened door was a boy who had brownish hair and almond brown eyes. He looked nervous, and if Haruka’s reasoning was right, it would be natural for him to feel that way.

The boy stared at Yakumo's eyes, keeping his eyes on his red one. The tension the boy showed made the rest uncomfortable. It wasn’t very hard to guess what was the boy thinking, but Yakumo ignored the fact his eye made other people uncomfortable. Well, almost everyone. There were really few people that didn’t mind his red eye.

Taking his eyes off Yakumo, the boy glanced at Gotou-san.

"Umm, are you Saito Yakumo?" the boy asked.

Gotou-san pointed at himself. "Me?" he half yelled.

In response the boy got more nervous than before.

"You aren't Saito Yakumo?" the boy asked.

Yakumo looked like he had eaten something bitter. Seeing Yakumo’s reaction, Haruka decided to lead the conversation on the right way. She pointed at Yakumo and smiled pleasantly.

"He is the person you are looking for."

They boy looked at Yakumo again. He seemed to be more nervous, if possible. He couldn’t stop fidgeting.

"I'm Arita Kyou. I need your help." Said Kyou, this time looking a bit serious.