Chapter 5

I Make More New Friends

It's just been yesterday, but ever since Shiki gave Murakumo her phone number, she still feels her heart beating rapidly. The way she looked at her, the way she vowed to protect her...it just makes her feel so happy that she could cry. She grips her phone while at the shoe locker, looking down.

"I'm...I'm so glad..." she whispers to herself. "Shiki-san gave me...her phone number...and...it was only just yesterday..."

She cannot stop forgetting that day. She'll bury that moment into her memory for as long as she lives. Letting out a soft happy sigh, she starts to open her locker to get her shoes when she hears footsteps coming toward her.

"Hey." A girl says. "Can we have a moment with you?"

Murakumo shakily turns toward a group of 5 girls, one of them is taller than the rest, the one in the middle. She steps up closer to her.

"Y-y-y-yes?" the shy brunette says.

"What's your name again? Mirakuma or something like that?" the taller girl says. "No matter. Let's just cut to the chase." She steps closer to the shy brunette, invading her personal space and slams her hand against the lockers. "You and Shiki-san have been very close. We've been watching."

"Y-you have?"

"Of course!" another girl says. "WE adore Shiki-san! She's the most popular girl in this school. But since you came along and have been friends with her, we feel like you're taking her away from us!"

"N-no...I...I'm not doing anything l-like that..." Murakumo stutters, waving her hands back and forth. She's never been this scared in her life.

"Oh, I get it," the taller girl says. "The only reason she's friends with you is because you have NO friends at all. Don't worry. We'll become your friends from now on~"

Murakumo has a feeling that this girl is lying. "Y-you wouldn't..."

"Ohhh, yes~" the taller girl says. "How else would we do that if you're only friends with the girl you care about so much?" She then eyes the phone and suddenly snatches it off her hands.

"H-hey! What do you think you're doing!?" Murakumo cries.

"If you're friends with us now, then you won't need Shiki-san's number, right~?"

"N-no! Give it back!" Murakumo demands. But her voice doesn't carry even the least bit of assertiveness. Tears are forming in her eyes; she hates facing adversity like this, especially when she's outnumbered. Right now, she wants to scream for Shiki... or anybody…

"Let's look through your contacts, eh? Hmmm... oh, you got that Yumi girl's number. Another quiet weirdo!"

"Y-Yumi-san is... my friend..." Murakumo mumbles.

"Hmmm... not much else... HA! Yumi and Shiki are your only friends in the world! HAHAHA! And Shiki probably doesn't even care about you! She's just your friend out of pity!"

"THAT'S NOT TRUE!" a mysterious voice calls out of nowhere.

The girls all jump at once when the figure makes herself known. A familiar set of ruby eyes, and blonde hair... and a spunky attitude.

"Like, you girls better step off Muracchi before I get, like, REALLY mad!"

"B-but Shiki-san! We're your friends! Why do you need her when you have us?!"

Shiki shoves past them and embraces Murakumo, gently stroking her hair. "Muracchi is a better friend than you shallow, conceited girls ever will be. Now, give her phone back."

The taller girl grumbles as she hands over the stolen device. "Hmph... let's get out of here. I never thought Shiki-san would be so uncool!"

As the girls walk away, Shiki feels the shy brunette shaking and then soft sobs are heard from her. Shiki hugs her tightly, stroking her hair more.

"It's okay...they're gone now. They're gone," she says softly.

Murakumo sniffles and sobs some more. She's too choked up to even talk. Shiki just saved her from those bullies. The blonde has kept her word about protecting her from harm.

After about 10 minutes of calming down, the two girls are already on their knees with Shiki still having her friend in her arms.

"Are you okay now?" the blonde asks.

"A...a little..." Murakumo says as she wipes the tears off her face.

"Those girls just don't know the meaning of 'friends' for sure. I mean, like, they really need to get a life."

"I concur." A soft spoken voice says.

The two look up and see Yumi standing in front of them. "I saw everything. Murakumo-san doesn't deserve this kind of treatment."

"Y-Yumi-san..." Murakumo mutters as the soft spoken girl joins them.

"We're here for you, Murakumo-san," Yumi says with a small smile. "We won't let anyone harass you any more."

Murakumo nods as a couple new tears fall from her eyes. "Thank you...Y-Yumi-san..."

"Now then, let's hang out together," Yumi says. "My other friends Minori-san and Yozakura-san. Or rather...do you want to hang out at my friend, Minori-san's house?"

Shiki brightens. "Really!? Do you, like, mean that!?"

"Mmhmmm. Yozakura is baking some sweets, and Minori is helping. They'd love to have us over. And..."

Murakumo blushes when Yumi puts a hand on her shoulder. "They're really eager to meet you, Murakumo-san."

The green eyed girl feels a warmth in her tummy when she hears those words. They actually... want to meet... her?

"Wow! Cmon, what do you say Muracchi? Won't you come with us~?" Shiki pleads, giving some adorable little puppy eyes.

Murakumo's body shakes as she tingles with comfort. "U-uhhh... sure! Of c-course I'll go! Yes~!"

"Awesome! It's, like, a party!" Shiki squeals. "Just five girls, eating sweets and, like, having a great time~!"

Yumi doesn't say anything; her warm smile and a playful chuckle speaks for itself.

Later that afternoon, Murakumo is in her bedroom looking in the mirror, making sure she's presentable. Her body shakes as she can barely contain her excitement. Two new friends... and they want to meet her! They're friends of Yumi, so they MUST be nice. This whole afternoon is just... awesome. Murakumo never had the chance for such a social gathering before. This was practically a party for her! She was so grateful for this chance... the chance to finally go out and meet people.

As the timid girl is busy beaming with joy, her phone suddenly rings. She picks it up and looks at the ID: it's...

"Hello! Shiki-san?"

"Murrachi, I told you not to call me that anymore, haha! Hey, are you ready to go to Minori's house?"

"Y-yes. Are you?"

"Absolutely! Can we, like, walk there together? I'll meet you in front of your house!"

"That sounds great... thank you...!"

"Kay! See you then~!"

Murakumo checks herself one last time: her hair is in its usual style, and she's wearing a cute red tanktop and navy blue miniskirt. To complete the image is her socks that rest a few inches below the knee. She looks... good. Not at all like a social reject. She looks like someone with the confidence to hang out with new people and make friends.

As she starts out the door, Shiki is already on the sidewalk waiting for her, a joyous expression on her face and a waving hand.

"Muracchi! Heeeeeeey! Over here~!"

Murakumo's cheeks warm up upon seeing Shiki, who is clad in a black t-shirt and a denim skirt. As she approaches the blonde girl, sometimes her mind tries to comprehend that this is really happening. It's hard to believe, in such a short time, that a girl like her could have turned things around so quickly... and Shiki is to thank for it. Shiki is the one that gave her the confidence in the first place. Shiki is the strength that allows her to move forward, and look to a brighter future…

Murakumo and Shiki walk side by side with the blonde holding up her phone for the directions towards Minori's house.

"Yumi-chin's already there, but we can get there in time~" Shiki says. "Don't worry. You'll, like love it there~"

Murakumo nods with a small smile. In just 15 minutes, the two arrive at Minori's house. Shiki knocks on the door a few times and waits for an answer. Then, the door opens and it reveals a cute small girl with brown hair tied in small pig tails.

"Heeeey~! Welcome! Come in, come in!" the girl says, beckoning the two over. "There's lots of sweets if you want some!" She points to a basket full of cookies, lolipops and cake. "Yozakura-chan made lots of them~!"

"Oh...I...i see..." Murakumo says. "Ummmm...m-my name is Murakumo."

"Ah, you're the girl Yumi-chan's told me about! I'm Minori! I may not look like it but I'm in high school~!"

"The same school, girls~" the short blue haired girl says, coming out of the kitchen with a tray of chocolate chip cookies. "My name is Yozakura. I'm an excellent cook and look after Minori here."

"H-hello," Murakumo says. "I'm Murakumo. Nice to meet you all."

Minori immediately runs over towards the basket full of goodies, takes a lolipop and hands it to the shy brunette. "Here, here! Would you like some~? There's plenty!"

Murakumo squeaks upon being offered a bright green lollipop with pink swirls in it. Her face lights up red. "Ahh... w-wow... um... sure..."

"Say ahhhh!" Minori grins.

"Ahhhhh~"

With a giggle, Minori sticks the lollipop in her mouth. Murakumo is immediately blasted with an intense sweetness on her tongue; she instinctively closes her mouth, lest she salivates all over the place.

"Mmm... good~" the shy girl happily exclaims.

"Awwwwww Muracchi! You look so cute with a lolli in your mouth~" Shiki giggles, throwing an arm around the green-eyed girl with the white stick of the sweet treat hanging out of her mouth.

"Ehehe..." she giggles, her voice muffled since her mouth is full.

The afternoon starts off good; the five of them basically sit around and stuff themselves with sugary sweets until their stomachs ache. No doubt, they will regret it later... but right now, it couldn't be a more fun time.

Murakumo finds herself able to open up to them easily. She smiles, laughs at their jokes, and always has something to add to their conversations. There's no awkwardness, no sense of discomfort or shyness. They're easy to talk to, like they were always best friends.

Eventually, the giddy atmosphere dies down and Murakumo finds herself caught up in a more... serious conversation.

"...So what's your story, Murakumo-san?" Yozakura asks.

"O-oh...ummmm..." Murakumo has not expected this topic to be put up. She fiddles with her fingers as she looks over at Shiki.

"It's okay. They'll understand," the blonde assures her.

The shy brunette swallows hard and turns toward the two girls. "W-well...to be honest...I've been a very shy girl...with no presence. No one notices me...no one cares about me. They bully me because of my extreme shyness."

"What?! Who bullies you?!" Yozakura growls.

"Oh, just some stuck up girls that don't know the meaning of friendship." Shiki chimes in. "But don't worry about that, I'm protecting you from now on."

"R-really?" Murakumo stammers, blushing.

"Yep. No one is, like, EVER gonna mess with my Muracchi again. Right, girls?"

"Exactly. I'm not going to sit here and let people mistreat Murakumo-san for another second." Yumi says with assertiveness.

"Me either!" Minori exclaims. "We've got your back, Murakumo-san!"

Murakumo can feel tears welling up; tears of joy. Never in her life does she feel more fortunate than she does now. She has her own little group: four girls, who love her and care about her, and would do anything to protect her. Yozakura, Minori, Yumi... and most of all, Shiki. These girls are her family now; no longer will she ever be singled out. Now she has strength in numbers; between the five of them, nobody will ever mess with her again. And most importantly... she'll never be alone again.

"You guys... sniff... thank you!" Murakumo wails. Shiki notices her tears and immediately scoops her up, hugging the brunette against her bosom and softly stroking her hair.

"There there, Muracchi..." she whispers. "Just let it all out~"

"I'm just... so grateful... to have met you all!" Murakumo sniffles. "You're all... so nice to me...!"

"You deserve it, Murakumo-san." Yozakura replies. "You're a kind, smart, beautiful girl who would never hurt anybody. You deserve to be treated with kindness~"

The four of them all surround Murakumo and embrace her in unison, with equal affection from each one. Well, except Shiki... she hugged her a LITTLE harder.

After a few more hours, Murakumo and Shiki wave good-bye to their new friends and walk on the sidewalk. Shiki looks up at the sky and it's a beautiful, clear night. This day couldn't have been any better. She turns toward the shy brunette, who is smiling to herself.

"I've never seen you smile this much, Muracchi~" she points out.

"Eh!? O-oh...r-really?"

"Of course. Like, it's a good thing~! You should do that more often!"

Murakumo nods slowly. "Oh...okay."

The two of them continue walking until they get to Murakumo's home. They stop at the front door and face each other. The shy brunette fiddles with her fingers again as she looks up at Shiki.

"Th-thank you...so much, Shiki..." she says. "This has been...the best day ever.."

"Oh, no problem~" Shiki replies. "I'm very happy to help~"

They stare at each other as their smiles fade into what it seems to be loving expressions on their faces. Neither of them don't know why, but when they look at one another, they feel this urge. The sudden urge to do something.

They close their eyes as they suddenly lean in and touch lips. Somehow, this feeling...the feeling of each other's lips...they feel so good already. Shiki embraces the shy brunette as she keeps on kissing her. They pull away after a few seconds to catch their breath and both of them blush.

"S-s-sorry," Murakumo says. "That was, ummmm..."

Shiki has no idea what to say either. "Awkward, I know…."

Neither of them say anything else after that and Shiki leaves without another word. Murakumo enters the house and closes the door behind her and puts her back against the door.

"What...was that…?"

A/N: Jojo-san and I worked on this one. He wanted to update this since he liked it so much. I give credit to him. Hehe! Long and detailed reviews please~!

Have a nice day!