Chapter 12

It was lunch break, everyone going in and out of their classes to and from the cafeteria. Tomori, too, was about to leave for the cafeteria to socialize with her newly made friends. Though something, or someone rather, was missing. Before she could even realize what or who it was that was missing, a familiar voice rang out.

"Yahoo!, Shousuke?"

"He's not here Tomori-kun"

"Argh he's never here during lunch, any ideas Tomori-san?"

"Nope, maybe he's out with Ueno-chan?"

"I actually ran into her on the way here, but it seemed like she was eating out with another group. Well then, since my dear Shousuke isn't here, mind having lunch with me?"

"Since you're already here, sure!"

"Well, don't mind me then."

"Oh by the way, wasn't it weird that Haku-kun didn't eat at Biggy D's the other day? He just took it all home."

"It's weird for sure, but you'll get used to it. He will always order take out."

"Oh… and I thought I'd get to see his face…"

"So that's your true intention."

Kuroki grinned, letting out a small giggle. Tomori was flustered at the comment, but he wasn't wrong.

"I'd do no such thing!"

"Oh please, everyone's curious, even me."

"Wait… you haven't seen his face yet?"

"Not even a little peek, and I was friends with the guy for 2 years too. Though I understand why he'd want to hide it so much."

"W-why?"

"Because if he did, no one would be able to concentrate in class, not even the teachers."

"That'd be… true."

"Oh, did you not bring lunch today?"

"Huh? Oh, I forgot to take it out of my bag."

She reached for her bag and started digging inside. She then pulled out a plastic bag, inside was a singular rice ball, though it was the size of 3 or 4 combined.

"Tada! My very first rice ball!"

"Oh wow, that sure is something."

"It's my first time making one, so I may have gotten the proportions just a tad bit off."

"I couldn't even notice the difference. So are you gonna, you know, eat the entire thing? Don't get me wrong, it looks delicious and all, but won't it take a while to - nevermind."

Kuroki looked at her in disbelief, as he witnessed her taking a massive bite out of the rice ball as if it were nothing. He then looked down at the meat bun he bought from the convenience store, and started silently nibbling on it.

"I wonder where Haku-kun is…"

"He's probably up on the rooftop eating his lunch or something, it's the only place in the school where no one would be able to see his face."

"Should we check it out?"

"I have some assignments to finish, so you'll have to go alone. Well, I'll take off now!"

"Good luck on your assignments!"

After she finished her rice ball, she started running to the rooftop. 'I wonder what he's having for lunch', 'I wonder if it's lonely up there', thoughts like those flashed through her head as she made her way up the stairs leading up to the rooftop. She opened the door - just your average Haku-kun without his Haku-kun mask.

Hold on…

* * * * *

She couldn't finish the thought, her body moved faster than her brain and cautiously creaked (?) her neck to the right like a female Frankenstein to see a panicking Haku with his mask nowhere in sight. His white, cotton, beloved mask was nowhere to be seen in a radius of 10 metres. Tomori may have felt the gentle quakes signalling an upcoming skyfall, or the rumbling of a nearby tsunami - and in her hazy vision the end credits of the world rolling on a dark blue sky.

She used all her might to slam the door shut, hoping that she would be able to shut off her memories of Haku's face along with it.

"...I guess Haku-kun did take his mask off," uttered the stunned little angel after a solid 10 minutes of silence. Haku, too, remained silent on the other side of the door. "Guess she found out", the maskless angel muttered.