The day came to an end and Ruri walked over to Toshi's desk.

 

 

 

Toshi looked up at her approach and got a look of dawning realization. He offered up the box he borrowed, "Thanks."

 

Ruri looked at the box as if she couldn't understand what it was, then snatched it out of his hands, "Whatever. Look I need to talk with you. Uno has been texting me about your-"

 

Toshi leaned to the side and waved towards the door, "Hey, sis."

 

Ruri froze up, very carefully turning to the side to look at the classroom's door. The family resemblance was uncanny to the tall, muscular girl who came storming over. Ruri had never seen the legendary Hina-Ban, the toughest bitch in the school. Ruri thought Naori was terrifying, but here was the girl who made Naori feel fear.

 

Ruri bowed her head to Hinako, "Greetings, Hina-Ban-Senpai."

 

Hinako was apparently about to bitch out Toshi when Ruri spoke. She snapped her head around to give Ruri a death glare, "What did you call me?" Ruri froze and immediately began to sweat bullets.

 

Toshi leaned over closer to Ruri, "Her name is Hinako. She hates that nickname."

 

Ruri kept her head down, "I-I-I am S-Sorry! I was told your name-"

 

Hinako cut her off, "Shut it." She proceeded to ignore Ruri and turned back to Toshi, "What the hell?" Toshi looked like he was going to speak when Hinako grabbed Toshi by the chin and turned his head. She got a good look at the bruise forming under his eye, "Who. Hit. You?"

 

Toshi pushed her hand away, "I hit first. The matter is resolved. Drop it."

 

Hinako looked like she was going to explode, "Drop it? DROP IT?"

 

Toshi nodded then reached over to straighten up Ruri, "By the way, have you met my girlfriend?" Ruri felt like the entire world just vanished only to be replaced by a giant sheet of pure black rage from which two white eyes glared down at her. Hinako focused all her attention on Ruri.

 

"You are dating my brother?"

 

Ruri's face was completely drained of color. She felt faint. She tried to speak but only a light squeak came out of her throat. Her heart was pounding so hard that she couldn't hear anything else. She was frozen in fear as Toshi interrupted, "Dating? No. She's a friend who is a girl. You know, a girlfriend. We're not dating or anything. Right?" He looked at Ruri, who didn't take her eyes off of Hinako for a second. She nodded energetically as she mouthed the words, 'Please Don't Kill Me.'

 

Hinako looked from Toshi to Ruri and back again, "Toshi-kun, are you messing with me?"

 

Toshi gave Hinako an exaggerated smile and nodded energetically, then pointed at Ruri, "Ruri-senpai here gave me lunch when I didn't have anything to eat, and now-" He stabbed a finger at Hinako, "YOU are intimidating the hell out of her."

 

Toshi frowned, "She's been nothing but nice to me and Onee-chan is being a jerk to her." Toshi let go of Ruri so he could step closer to Hinako, "You've made it impossible to have a real conversation with anyone."

 

Hinako stabbed a finger at Toshi's eye while looking vindicated for being overprotective, "You have a black eye!" She looked at Ruri, "Do you know how he got this black eye?"

 

Ruri swallowed and said very meekly while bowing her head, "Protecting me from Naora."

 

Hinako blinked, "What?"

 

Ruri continued while keeping her head down, "Naora had me cornered in the bathroom and was going to beat me into a bloody pulp when Toshi ran in and fought off three girls to protect me." Hinako's eyes narrowed as she hissed a single word.

 

"Naora."

 

"Hey! We worked out a deal and if you go attacking Naora, the deal is off and Ruri goes back to being a punching bag." Toshi waggled a finger in Hinako's face, "Do not fuck this up."

 

Hinako practically blew steam out her nostrils, "She dared to strike my brother." Toshi moved closer to get face to face with Hinako, "AFTER I clocked one of her friends and elbowed the other one in the throat."

 

Hinako looked a little suspicious, "Really?"

 

Toshi nodded, "Naora got in an uppercut so I head-butted her and broke her nose. That's when the teacher came in."

 

Hinako eyed Toshi with disbelief then turned to Ruri, "Is this true?"

 

Ruri finally lifted her head, "Basically, yes. Your brother was... like out of one of those anime TV shows. He just seemed to get stronger the angrier he got. I've never seen a guy get kicked in the balls and keep fighting before."

 

Hinako's eyes went wide, "Wut?" She glared at Toshi.

 

Toshi held up both hands, "She THOUGHT I did! Thought! It was a glancing blow! I took it in the thigh!" Hinako seemed to calm down a bit as Toshi continued, "I bet it looked worse than it was."

 

Hinako looked her brother up and down, "Took on three girls alone, eh?" She smirked, "When did you get to be so tough?"

 

Toshi gave Hinako, "Don't mess with my friends and I won't have to get tough."

 

Hinako nodded, "Alright." She sighed, "And you are sure Naora is going to let this go?"

 

Toshi nodded, "Yeah. I'm sure."

 

Hinako nodded, "I'll... trust you." She hugged her brother, "C'mon. Let's get going." She had a second thought and paused to look at Ruri, "You seem fairly harmless. I guess you can be friends with my brother." She then smiled brightly and spoke in a sing-song voice, "But if I catch you trying anything I'll end you!"

 

Ruri went pale again and nodded energetically, "Just friends! I swear!"

 

Toshi sighed as he rolled his eyes, stood up, and started heading out. The room had cleared of everyone else by this point so they were the only ones left. As they walked to the exit, Toshi snapped his fingers, "Oh. I forgot. Ruri... I need to ask you something." He looked at Hinako, "In private." Hinako stared back. Toshi rolled his eyes, "Can you wait outside for two minutes? Please?"

 

Hinako sighed, "Fine. But hurry. We got a ride waiting for us."

 

Toshi nodded, "Just got to ask her something." Hinako stepped out and closed the door behind her. Toshi grabbed Ruri by both shoulders and pushed her up against the wall out of the line of sight from the door's window. He leaned into her ear to whisper, "God that was sexy."

 

Ruri froze up.

 

Toshi bit his lips, "I'm going to confess, I like cute nerdy girls. I'm sorry. It's my fetish." Ruri just trembled. Toshi continued, "I'm kinda screwed up. So if you want nothing to do with me, I understand. Because nothing serious is going to happen between us until we are both of legal age." He pulled back and looked her in the eyes, "I'm a hot mess. Think about if you want to hang out with me." He took hold of one of her pigtails and wrapped it around his finger, "Regardless, it was super sweet that you were going to jump in and try to save me at the end there." He leaned in to sniff her hair, following up with a light shudder.

 

Ruri slowly pushed Toshi back to look him in the eye, "Are you messing with me? Are you seriously telling me that Honey Whitefox is into me? This isn't fun-"

 

Toshi cut her off with a long kiss and took his time about it. He pulled away slowly and was staring at her when she finally opened her eyes. Toshi reached up and put a finger on her lips, "Thanks for trying to save me." He frowned, "I don't think I'm good for you. So whatever you decide, no hard feelings." Without so much as a backward glance, he left. As the door closed, Ruri found her legs giving out.

 

 

 

 

 

That made this the second time in a week she wound up on the floor from a kiss.