Kibishi's POV

  Cafeteria

  After debating whether or not we should trust The Founder's words or not, one thing was for certain—it seemed like he had a soft spot for Mato. And if that was the case, then maybe it was from The Founder's orders, and he had to scold us because of that.

  But still, that didn't mean it was okay for him to go overboard. He made Tao cry, and I wasn't going to forgive him so easily for that.

  Thinking of Tao, I turned to my right.

  There, Tao was eating some rice and BBQ chicken with some spicy sauce. She was, of course, wearing her long white sleeves with pink overalls. She also had a hair band and some pins as well.

  I, on the other hand, was wearing a simple hoodie, some blue jeans, and some white shoes.

  My meal for today was rice and salt fish.

  A simple meal for a simple guy like me.

  I was having a meal with my two other friends, Riley and David, alongside Tao, since Yosei wasn't in her room. Strangely enough, the people that we asked around mentioned that Yosei had stepped out, and they had no idea when she'd return.

  Thinking about that made me a bit sad since I might not know what occurred after I got knocked out.

  Trying to calm my sad mind, I gnced back at Tao, who was slowly lifting her spoon into her mouth. And as much as I tried not to stare at the beauty of my best friend, I continued to look at her. The way she chewed her food to the way she paused to wipe her mouth with a napkin could make a guy's heart skip a beat.

  The way her lips moved and released the napkin took my breath away.

  The way Tao moved her body made it hard to stop staring at her.

  The way her eyelids lowered every time she leaned forward to consume her rice was captivating. Gulping the food down, Tao deeply sighed and then raised her brow. She turned to me with curiosity and then tilted her head in the most cutest way ever.

  "Is something wrong, Kishi?" Tao asked softly.

  "N-not in particur, no..." I blushed madly and scratched the back of my neck.

  "Hmm...?" Tao pced her hand under her chin and just stared at me.

  "W-what?" I asked in a nervous voice.

  "..." Tao leaned forward, and she was close to my face.

  So close!

  Tao blinked and then smiled at me. She leaned back and then closed her eyes in satisfaction.

  "I'm gd you're feeling better, Kishi!" Tao giggled once more after saying that.

  "T-think so?" I asked.

  "Mm-hmm!" Tao nodded as she continued to eat her meal.

  "I see..." I smiled in relief.

  It seemed like Tao had calmed down as well. She didn't cry after getting an answer from The Founder, but she was silent the whole time. But her warmth was enough, and we didn't have to talk with one another to deepen our bonds some more—

  "AHEM!" I heard a familiar voice in front of me.

  I looked forward in annoyance and scoffed at who made that noise. It turned out that my friend David didn't want us to talk among ourselves since he had to make such a noise like that.

  "The hell do you want?" I said coldly.

  "Oh, sure! Talk all sweet and seductive to Tao! But me?! Oh no, bitch mode activate!" David folded his arms.

  "S-seductive?!" I flinched at that word and raised my brows widely.

  Wham!

  "Ouch!" David groaned as he held his stomach.

  It seemed like Riley elbowed David for some reason.

  ... Huh.

  Now that I took a good look at the two, they were matching.

  For example, they were both wearing the same bck jackets, and they were even wearing earrings that were shaped like crescent moons. Not to mention, the baggy sweat pants that were colored gray, and some white socks with bck slippers.

  Huh.

  And I just realized that Riley was putting her hair in a ponytail instead of that one pigtail. Not to mention, some bracelets as well. That was... half a circle?

  Okay, what was up with that one? I was actually confused on that...

  "Hey!" David gritted his teeth at Riley.

  Riley narrowed her eyes at David.

  "You're being annoying..." Riley took a bite of her dumpling.

  Riley ordered some dumplings with cut-up chicken, and so did David. David formed a fist and leaned forward while Riley leaned back.

  "Why are you taking his side?!" David yelled.

  "I'm not taking sides, I'm just saying that you're being a bit rude right now. Show some respect, will you?" Riley sweated.

  "..." David growled softly.

  It didn't take long before he lowered his fist and nodded in agreement.

  "Alright then..." David backed down... HUH?!

  "Wait! Wait, wait, wait! ... Are you okay, David?" I pointed at him in shock.

  "Hmm? Yeah, I'm good." David answered bluntly and picked up a spoon. He then looked at Riley's food.

  Actually, he was eyeing it like he didn't have his own.

  Riley realized and tilted her head.

  "What's up?" Riley asked in a soft voice.

  "..." David remained silent.

  "..." Riley blinked at David.

  David then suddenly took a dumpling from Riley's bowl.

  "Ack! Hey! That's mine, you meanie!" Riley shouted at David with puffy cheeks.

  "So?" David stated bluntly.

  "...Hmph!" Riley huffed in frustration. But it wasn't really frustration... and more like... pyfulness? Or... teasing? Wait, what was going on?

  Riley then smirked and stole a dumpling from David's pte. That, afterwards, caused David to react and grab a hold of Riley's shoulder.

  "You idiot! That was mine!" David shouted at Riley!

  "Hehe! Too bad!~" Riley raised the dumpling that she stole in front of David's face.

  David was about to take a bite of it, but Riley gobbled it up and grinned in a cheeky way.

  "All gone!" Riley teased.

  "Why you...!" David blushed tensely.

  Riley giggled and took another dumpling from David. But David didn't get mad afterwards. Instead, David continued to stare at Riley in awe.

  Hug!

  Then, David suddenly pced Riley in front of him?! Riley blushed madly and looked back at him in a pouty way.

  "H-hey! I'm still eating..." Riley said in a shy way.

  "...Shut up," David whispered back and then pced both of their ptes in front of them.

  Riley grunted, seeming to be even more embarrassed than angry. She then deeply sighed and leaned her back on David's body. Riley gently pced her free hand on David's arm, which wrapped around Riley's whole waist, and took another spoonful of dumpling. She lifted it up and then looked at David with curiosity.

  "Want one?" Riley said casually, despite being held like a child.

  "Nah, I'm good." David denied her offer.

  Riley still put the dumpling in his mouth. David simply accepted it and deeply sighed in disappointment for some reason. Then Riley used the same spoon she fed David with and continued to eat.

  I looked at Tao, and she didn't understand the situation either.

  They seemed... VERY close.

  Like... not as before...

  They were.... CLOSE close. Almost as if... no way, right?

  I felt my cheeks burn hotter than ever before, and I could see Tao having the same reaction.

  Tao, who was still burning red, pointed at them.

  "U-um. You two are... getting close...." Tao whispered, but loud enough for Riley and David to hear.

  David and Riley looked at each other, then back at us.

  Riley smiled and gave us an eyebrow raise.

  "Of course, we're close. We've been close for quite a while, as you two know." Riley answered.

  "Yeah, but you two seem... CLOSE close. Like... close." I pced my hands together to show them what I meant.

  But I got a strange look from each of them, and they then chuckled.

  "You guys do realize that you two do the same thing... right?" David then grabbed a spoonful of dumplings.

  "N-no!" Tao stuttered.

  "W-we would never do that!" I answered while my body felt like it would explode.

  "Not in public, maybe," David smirked at us.

  "You two may have your ways of hiding it until this morning, but David and I don't give a damn. We do what we want, and we do as we please as long as we follow the rules."

  Riley then raised her free hand and stroked David's chin.

  "If David wants to hug me, then he can hug me. I trust him, you know?" Riley gave a cheeky grin.

  "Hey, I'm eating here," David mumbled.

  "Oh, we can eat ter, you know? Don't we have pns together this afternoon?" Riley casually used both arms to hold on to David's arm, which was still wrapped around her waist.

  "You'll want to walk around with the clothes bought for us, right? The earrings, too?"

  "Yup! I want to see the new theme park today, David!"

  "Sure," David pced his spoon down and dug into Riley's jacket like it was nothing.

  He took out Riley's phone and showed it to her.

  "2:00 P.M, right?" David asked.

  "Yup!" Riley then took the phone and started texting away. "Oh! And then Emily wants us to be in detention for 'making people uncomfortable by our actions.' Psh, as if that'll stop us."

  "Oh! Why don't we invite Kibishi and Tao along as well?" David suggested.

  "Oh yeah! You guys wanna come along with us?!" Riley leaned forward a bit.

  "U-um, we would love to but..." Tao lowered her head.

  She seemed to be heated up by those two's actions. And she wasn't alone with that, too.

  "We have to wait until Yosei returns so that I can get some expnation about—"

  "Oh. Well, we can tell you on our way to the theme park!" Riley interrupted while beaming away.

  "Huh?" I raised my brows.

  "Yeah, man. We can tell you all about it on our way!" David chuckled.

  "... Oh yeah," I pced my hand under my chin.

  David and Riley WERE there during the mission against the monster...

  "... Wait. Don't tell me you forgot that we were there, Kibishi..." Riley frowned and leaned back on David's chest.

  "Not cool, dude..." David rested his head on Riley's.

  Okay, they seem REALLY close...

  "...Hmm. What do you think?" I looked at Tao.

  "I'd say it's worth the shot, right?" Tao ughed nervously.

  ... Yeah, Tao and I were so nervous due to those two's actions that we'd go along and try to observe some more. I was curious about what would happen next with these two. And the story, of course.

  "Alright then, we'll tag along with you guys!" I smiled at my friends.

  "Yahoo!!" Riley raised both her arms in the air.

  "Bonding time!" David raised both of his arms as well.

  ...And now they're back to their normal weird self...

  I took a bite of my food some more.

  I was certain that it wouldn't be soon since we were still eating our meals. But spending time with these two sure sounded fun! It had been a whole week since we spent some time together. Interesting info or not, hanging out with my friends wasn't a bad idea!