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The bell rang, indicating the fourth period is over. Uma stretched and lay their head on the table, exhaling loudly. “I wish I could just float somewhere far far away from here.” Uma peeked at the seat in front of them.
“Still sleeping, huh,” Uma whispered.
Uma sighed louder, this time almost shouting out the words from their mouth. “ I WISH I COULD JUST FLOAT SOMEWHERE FAR FAR AWAY FROM HERE.” Making sure that the person at the front seat could hear them.
Angry, who was asleep a couple of seconds ago sat upright. Slowly, he turned around after hearing Uma's obvious complaint. “It's high school, Uma. Stop being such a baby.” Uma glared at their best friend, clearly annoyed. “Says the baby of the family, isn't that right Smiley-kun?” Smiley, who was busy rummaging his bag stopped and looked at both of them back and forth. Smiley, as his name suggested just gave the two a cheeky grin.
“You're both babies, to be honest.” He said, casually resuming to find whatever it is in his bag. The two froze at their seats, slightly irritated by the sudden remark Smiley made. Angry couldn't find a good comeback since what Smiley said was fairly true. So both of them sat in silence for a while. Then, Angry looked at Uma with a bright idea in his head.“Wanna skip?” His eyebrows wiggling suggestively under his blue bangs. The offer was hard to reject, and Uma was already bored with all the lessons they learned today. Who thought of putting Mathematics as the first period was a good idea?
“Just a little bit of fun won't hurt anyone.” Uma thought.
“Hell yeah.” They stood up and silently left the class, leaving Smiley alone. As they walked down the hallway, they saw Baji and Chifuyu talking together. Baji and Chifuyu were from the next class so it wasn't odd to run into them every once in a while.
“Where are you guys going?” Chifuyu asked.
“Toilet.” Uma lied. If Chifuyu knew they were to skip again, he'll never give them notes for the upcoming exams. Baji chuckled and gave them both a wink. Baji would never betray them, knowing he will be joining them soon. Only if he could ditch Chifuyu, of course.
They finally arrived at the school roof. Looks like it was empty. Angry found a shady spot to sit and relax. He stretched his arms and sat down comfortably. “C'mon, Uma. The weather's nice to us today.” He said, yawning afterward.
“I should've called you Sleepy instead of Angry,” Uma said as they took a seat next to Angry. The weather was nice indeed. The clouds were moving lazily, like pieces of floating cotton candy in the blue sky. The wind was blowing a soft and gentle breeze, enough to make Angry fall asleep just minutes after he sat down.
“Tch, and he was the one who invited me out here,” Uma whispered softly. Uma stared at Angry, watching as he snores softly. Angry always looked irritated but when he's asleep, he was the most peaceful soul Uma had ever seen. “You're kinda cute when you sleep huh…” Then, Uma covered their mouth. They didn't believe what just came out from their mouth.
“I thought that… Angry was cute?”
Uma took a peek and clearly Angry didn't hear it as he was busy snoozing away. Uma sighed in relief. Angry was Uma's childhood friend ever since they could remember and it was only natural to develop those sorts of feelings when you're that close to someone. Suddenly, the door swung open. Uma thought it was Baji but it seems like it was a girl. She was crying when she came. She didn't notice Uma or Angry when she burst out from the door. There's something about her that made Uma feel something odd.
Uma's cheeks felt hot, and their palm started to sweat. There's like a thousand butterflies fluttering in their stomach. Uma's limbs felt like jelly and their eyes couldn't stop staring at the girl. Uma felt like they wanted to protect the girl.
Was it her crystal-like tears that were falling like raindrops in spring? Was it her soft wavy hair mimicking the ocean waves? Was it her round rosy cheeks that colored her light cream skin? Was it her petite body that resembles a porcelain doll? Uma didn't know. This feeling was new to them. It wasn't the same as what Uma felt with Angry. Bravely, Uma sat up and approached the girl.
“Um, hey. I didn't mean to pry but are you alright?”
She turned around, facing Uma in shock. She quickly wiped away her tears, her eyes averting Uma's. Uma was starstruck. She was so beautiful, like a piece of newly made mochi. Soft and precious. It was their favorite. Uma could eat mochi anytime. Heck, Uma would choose mochi over every dessert in this world. The girl seemed uncomfortable when she noticed that Uma was staring at her for too long.
“Um... I'm alright. If you please excuse me.” She said as she walked away. Uma, by instinct, grabs hold of her arm. “I... Uh, ah. Sorry.” Uma quickly shove their hand in their pocket and gave her some tissues.
“They're kinda flatten out but I haven't used them yet. Please, use them to wipe your tears.” The girl looked at Uma. Slowly, she took the tissues and wiped her tears. She murmured a quiet ‘thank you’ afterwards. Uma felt awkward as their heartbeat began increasing the longer they stayed around the girl.
“You know what, I'll leave you here so you could have some time for yourself,” Uma said. “Is that really okay?” She said worriedly.
“Oh my God her voice is like a thousand tiny bells. What is she? Is she even human to possess such a wonderful voice?” Uma thought.
“Yeah, of course.” Uma quickly went back to where Angry was sleeping and woke him up. Angry wiped off his drool and squinted at Uma, looking very annoyed. “Why the fuck did you-” Uma cut him off by nudging their head at the girl behind them. Angry looked at her and looked at Uma.
“What?”
“Let's just fucking leave, Angry.” Um said as they both hurriedly left the roof. “ Wait, um... What's your name?” The girl asked. “It's Uma.” Uma smiled. “I'm Mochi-” Before the girl could even finish her sentence, Uma and Angry already disappeared.
*
The next day came rather quickly. Uma didn't get a lick of sleep, thinking about the mochi girl they met. Yes, that's what Uma is calling her now. Angry and Smiley came over to Uma's table, noticing their friend's obvious eyebags. “Did you stay up looking at those weird Japanese cooking videos again?” Angry said.
“Or were you thinking of the girl you met yesterday?” This time, Smiley was the one who hit the jackpot. “How did you know?” Uma asked. Smiley simply pointed over to Angry. Uma glared at Angry and lazily replied. “Both.” The twins look at each other, rather confused and amused. “So you admit the cooking videos were weird then ?” Uma glared at Angry. “They're not weird, alright. It's oddly satisfying cooking videos that help clean my soul after sticking so closely to you two idiots.” Smiley chuckled. “Ouch.”
“I'll never meet her again. Not in this big educational prison. I can only remember her face from my imagination.” Uma whined, almost choking up. “I'll live for the rest of my boring life without my muse, my Maria, my Venus. Why is the world so cruel to nice people like me?!”
Smiley couldn't contain his laughter anymore. “Uma, you're being dramatic.”
Angry replied, “Uma is dramatic, Smiley.”
Uma stood up. “Both of you are so inconsiderate. Can't you see I'm sad here?” The two shook their heads which added fuel to Uma's raging anger. “That's it. I'm never sharing my yakisoba bread with you two ever again.”
The two looked at each other and realized Uma was being serious. They quickly apologize to Uma. “Sorry, Uma. We thought you were just being, well, you.” Angry said.
“Yeah. We didn't think it was serious.” Then it was Smiley's turn to say something. “We'll help you find her. How about that ?” Smiley suggested. Uma looked at him, they couldn't believe what they just heard.
“You serious? Smiley? Angry?” Angry nodded. “She's your first love anyways. All we could do is help out.” Smiley looked at the clock and turned to Uma. “But first, let's endure this morning and start searching at lunch. Agreed?”
“Hell yeah! Thank you, both of you. You may be a couple of idiots but you are my idiots.” Uma said happily.
*
Surviving until lunch was so hard for Uma. Their head was just filled with the image and the sound of that wonderful girl they met. Uma couldn't believe that they were in love. Love at first sight. It's like destiny is playing tricks with them. Uma sighed, smiling as they pictured holding hands with the girl.
“Uma! Souya!” The teacher shouted as he slammed his plastic ruler on Uma's table. Uma snapped out of their daydream and stood up. Angry casually scratched his head and covered his yawn. “If you two can't concentrate in my class, I will send you to stand outside the classroom. Do you understand?” Uma nodded silently, while Angry said a groggy ‘sorry’, earning giggles from the other classmates.
After class, Smiley and Angry flocked to Uma's table as usual. “You can't even concentrate on lessons now huh ?” Angry said. “Says the person who sleeps in class all the time.” Uma retorted.
“Alright, guys. Don't forget our mission.” Smiley said. “ Find the girl, hook up Uma with the girl, make the girl fall in love with Uma, success.” He continued.
“But where should we start? We don't even know which class she is from. Or even, which grade.” Angry said.
Uma gathered their thoughts. “Well, this might just be a brief observation of mine but judging from the color of her ribbon I saw yesterday, she's in our grade.” Smiley looked at Uma. “You're 100% sure about this?” He asked. Uma nodded.
“I stared at her for a pretty long time. I remember this.” Uma replied with confidence. “Creep.” Angry said under his breath.
“Why you-”
“Oi, oi, Uma!” A familiar voice shouted from outside the class. It was Baji and Chifuyu. “What is it, Baji?” Uma said as they approached him. “You assholes left me alone at the rooftop yesterday,” Baji said.
“Wait, you guys skipped class?” Chifuyu fumed. “It's just that one time, Chifuyu! Please don't be angry at us! Please let us copy your notes for the exam!” Uma begged, nudging Angry to do the same. “Uh, yeah. Please.” Angry said.
Chifuyu looked at Baji. “And you, you piece of shit. You ditched me yesterday to go skip class?” Baji wrapped his arm around Chifuyu. “Oh, c'mon babe. It was just for a teeny tiny amount of time.” Baji laughed. “Urgh…” Chifuyu pouted.
“Anyways, what brings you here?” Smiley asked. “Oh, yeah. I almost forgot. Hey, you. Come out from there.” Baji said. Then, a girl came out from behind the door. “Um…hi.” The girl said.
“Guess we don't need to search for her anymore.” Angry said. “She came to us.”
Uma froze at their spot. There is it again. That odd feeling Uma felt yesterday. It's like something was pulling their heartstrings, this feeling that chokes them up, making it harder to breathe.
“Um… Uma, Uma. Hey, Uma snap out of it!” Smiley snapped his fingers in front of Uma's face. “Say something.”
Uma looked at her, into her glossy eyes. Uma was low-key panicking. "What should I say? What should I say?!"
“Um, so... Are you okay?” Uma blurted out. She smiled shyly, staring at the floor. “Yeah. I... I came here to apologize for yesterday. I must've surprised you.” Uma shook their head almost immediately. “No, it's fine. I-I'm glad you feel better now!” Then the two fell silent. A long awkward silence.
“This is awkward,” Baji stated the obvious. Chifuyu shushed him.
“Um, I also made this… For you. It's red bean mochi.” She handed Uma a beautifully wrapped red bean mochi in a clear bag with a cute red ribbon on top. Uma felt their heart just melted into a pool. “These… These are my favorite. Thank you.”
The two looked at each other and blushed. Smiley patted Uma's shoulder, congratulating them. “If it's not too much to ask, why don't you have lunch with us?” Chifuyu said. She looked at Chifuyu and beamed. “Yes, I would love to.”
“Let's go then.” Baji led the way. “Um, can I talk to you for a second? In private?” Uma asked, their hands slightly shaking from nervousness. The others are already on their way to the roof, leaving the two in the hallway.
“I…I'm sorry if this is too sudden, but, are you looking for a significant other? If you are, would you like to meet up on a Saturday? I am free on Saturday. I don't have anything to do on Saturday. Once again I am free on Saturday and I don't have anything planned on Saturday so would you go out with me ?!” Uma said, loud enough for the other four to hear from a distance.
Smiley chuckled, Angry facepalmed, Baji whistled and Chifuyu shook his head in disbelief. The girl blushed and fell silent.
“Fuck me and my shitty mouth !!” Uma screams internally. They waited for a reply.
“I've always wanted to go to a cafe on Saturday. I guess we could go together.” She said, hiding her face from Uma.
“I can't believe she agreed…” Chifuyu said.
“Well, you agreed when I asked you to eat Peyoung Yakisoba with me,” Baji replied cheekily.
“That wasn't a date, Baji !” Chifuyu blushed.
“It was for me.” Baji chuckled, pulling Chifuyu closer to him.
“Oh, shut up you two we don't need two lovey-dovey couples here.” Angry said. Smiley just laughed it off.
“Let's go.” Uma smiled. “I can't wait to eat these.”
“Um, yeah.” She smiled back.
Then, they walked together with the others to the rooftop.