Chapter Text
joe was probably the most known guy at school. unable to physically or mentally stop himself from beginning or joining a conversation. what balanced him out was his best friend, sara.
while joe was more energetic, sara certainly was more reclusive. not to forget, there was ryoko. while she certainly wasn’t as outgoing as joe, she still took her turn in being the second most talkative.
knowing how interactive joe was, sara automatically assumed he knew everyone at their school. so it came as a shock when joe didn’t have a clue who the fluffy, white haired boy was.
“what do you mean you ‘haven’t got a clue’ who that guy is?” sara raised an eyebrow. ryoko couldn’t help but laugh at how ironic this was.
the three were sitting down in the cafeteria when sara mentioned the boy. the said boy in question was sitting by himself.
“i just don’t know who he is,” joe shrugged. “i don’t know every guy to walk across the earth.”
“joe, you know the janitor’s grandparents.” sara sternly stated.
“that’s a different story!”
“my point still stands, you know other first years and even the third years.. what stopped you from knowing this guy?” sara had been unknowingly staring in the boy’s direction. it was quite obvious but luckily for her, he never noticed (ryoko did).
“sara has a point,” ryoko used her pointer finger to poke sara’s cheek, moving her head to face joe, who was in front of them. “he’s not new either.”
“i just have never seen the guy. he doesn’t really stand out,” joe mumbled.
“the guy has bandages all over his body! who else does that?” sara whispered loudly.
“okay well,” joe tried to think of an excuse but he couldn’t. he caught himself looking at the boy from afar.
he watched as the boy stared silently at his phone, unaware of his surroundings. his unkept hair stood out a lot to him, so did the bandages that hid his body. he can’t remember a single time he’s talked to him. yeah he’s probably seen him once, at least, but he never engaged in a conversation.
“joe,” ryoko’s voice caught his attention. “you and sara are just the worst at trying not to be obvious!” she frowned.
joe apologized sincerely at ryoko’s scolding. he didn’t even notice himself.
later on that day, joe kept an eye out for the boy. he saw him at three times throughout the day. one at lunch, two during their passing period and the third was when he was leaving a class right before joe entered it.
joe could of been perceived at creepy, hell what he was doing is kind of creepy. looking out for a guy with the intent to hunt him down to strike a conversation? kind of weird, joe.
sara’s words poked at him however, “what stopped you from knowing this guy?” joe thought about it.
it couldn’t of been his appearance nor the boy’s personality (he didn’t even know what it was like!). the year difference wouldn’t of stopped him either, he knew both first and third years!
what joe had noticed was the boy’s avoidance towards socializing. from lunch to now, joe hadn’t seen the guy talk to anyone unless absolutely necessary. it couldn’t of been joe’s fault if the guy was just anti-social.
“joe!” the sudden name call distracted joe from his train of thought.
“huh, what?” joe looked up at his friends. his hand crept up to scratch the back of his head.
“you’ve been staring at the ground for a good few minutes, what’s the matter?” sara asked.
“just thinkin’” the response he gave raised an eyebrow.
“are you still thinking about what happened at the cafeteria?” ryoko asked, butting in out of the blue.
“well, yea! i just can’t get it..” joe continued to ramble on about his confusion. giving out what he’s noticed from today.
“so you’re telling me you’ve been watching him out of the corner of your eye but didn’t bother to talk to him?” sara couldn’t help snickering a little. even she was stumped at how oblivious her best friend could be.
joe’s jaw dropped when he finally registered what sara had just said. “you’re kidding!” the entire thought of just talking to the guy never stumbled across his brain.
sara and ryoko exchanged glances, smiling at each other.
from that moment, joe knew he was going to talk to the boy. the second the final bell rang for the day, joe rushed out to find the white haired boy. joe even asked a few first years he knew where the boy would be and they either shrugged or pointed to the direction his locker was presumably at.
turning a corner, looking past a few heads; joe finally spotted the untamed hair bearer he was looking for. he was standing in front of his locker, either organizing or taking things out (joe wasn’t paying too much attention).
joe quickly maneuvered himself to the side of his locker, ignoring the fact he was panting from how much of a rush he was in.
“hey, uh, you!” joe showed off his bright smile. the shorter boy just glanced over, a glimpse of concern on his face.
“hello,” the boy said. his tone made it sound like more of a question then a greeting, “are you.. okay?”
“oh, me? i’m fine!” the realization that joe didn’t plan what he was going to say finally hit him. god, he looked like a weirdo.
the two stared at each other. both unsure of what to say.
“did you need something?” the boy finally asked. like, surely he wanted something! the guy just looked like he rushed over to him with something on his mind.
“no,” joe hesitated to say. he wanted to crawl into a ball and just die. this was humiliating! joe had started thousands of conversations before and now he can’t even talk to a guy, who’s younger than him!
“oh.” the boy looked around nervously. who was this guy?
almost as if joe read his mind, “i’m joe! what’s your name?” joe raised his hand to go for a handshake then realized now was probably one of the most awkward times to even attempt that.
the other hesitated before answering, “ranmaru. ranmaru kageyama.” he could of sworn he saw lights in joe’s eyes.
“oh cool! great.” joe became a mess with his words. ranmaru wanted nothing but to just leave. this was probably the worst human interaction he has ever had. the worst ever!
ranmaru peeked behind joe and noticed everyone but them had left. “hey so,” ranmaru started to make an excuse of why he had to go.
“your, uhm, necklace is cool!” joe randomly blurted, “where’d you get it?” joe’s eyes diverted from ranmaru’s chest then back to his eyes.
“this random souvenir shop.” ranmaru answered, his hand moving up to grab his necklace out of habit. “i have to get going.” ranmaru said, closing his locker and moving past joe.
joe stood there in shock. for the first time, he didn’t know what to say in a conversation. he humiliated himself! oh sara will definitely make fun of him for that.