image [https://i.imgur.com/Shj19m5.png]

The next day, Zul and Hikaru walked together after returning from the batting center.

"This is so refreshing, and I'm glad I managed to hit more balls than yesterday, but it's still not good enough. I want to improve until I can hit all the balls like you did," Hikaru said.

"Oh, is that a challenge from you to me?" Zul asked.

"Wait, did I say it like I was challenging you?" Hikaru replied.

"No, of course not; I just wanted to tease you," Zul said.

"What's that for, Zul?" Hikaru chuckled. "Do you want to become like Shimizu too?"

Both of them laughed at the shared joke.

Meanwhile, in her quiet room, Shimizu sat at her desk writing her novel script when fatigue overtook her.

"Hashuum!" She sneezed suddenly.

"Am I catching a cold?" she wondered, pressing her palm against her forehead.

"No, I'm not," she confirmed. "Maybe it's just dust," she thought.

"No, it feels like someone is talking about me, right? I think I know who it is," she thought, her gaze serious.

"Never mind; I'd better finish this before my editor yells at me."

Back with Hikaru and Zul, both of them suddenly felt a chill and goosebumps.

"What is this? Why do I suddenly feel cold?" Hikaru said.

"Yeah, it's giving me goosebumps," Zul replied.

Then suddenly Zul spoke up, "By the way, it's the opposite of what you said yesterday. You said I should invite you when I go there, but today it's the opposite. Looks like you're starting to get interested in batting."

"Nah, it's not like that; I just enjoyed it. It's so boring here alone, so that's why I invited you today. It's a good activity to pass the time during this break," Hikaru explained.

"Yes, you're right about that," Zul agreed.

As they walked forward, they suddenly stopped and turned their gaze to the dead-end alley on their right.

"Zul, do you remember this place?" Hikaru asked.

"Yeah, I remember it ; this place holds nostalgic moments for both of us," Zul replied.

"It's remind me how our friendship began," Hikaru said. His mind drifted back to his first day of middle school 3 years ago.

3 Years Ago….

Hikaru arrived at his junior high school in the family car. The family driver stepped out and opened the door. "We have arrived here, Ms. Takumi, Hikaru-sama," he announced.

Students gathered nearby whispered among themselves. "Look at them, they must be from a rich family," one said. "Also look at their famous expensive car," added another.

"Mom, why are you here? You should go back home now; people are looking at us," Hikaru said, discomfort evident in his voice.

"Please wait a moment. I want to take a photo with you at the school entrance for your first day," his mother insisted, leading him to the entrance ceremony signboard. The family driver took their photo.

After the photo, his mother returned to the car. "Take care of yourself and watch your manners and attitude," she said from inside.

"Yes, I know. There's no need to worry," Hikaru assured her.

The driver took his mother home, and Hikaru walked into the school grounds. "So this is my middle school. It's quite bigger than my elementary school," he thought.

As he continued walking, he noticed a crowd gathering. "Why are so many students surrounding that area? Looks like they're having an argument," he observed.

"Hey, where are you looking while walking? Look what you did; you made my uniform dirty!" a third-year student shouted.

"I'm sorry, it wasn't my intention to suddenly bump into you. Please forgive me!" said a chubby girl wearing glasses with twin braids black hair.

"You must pay for making my uniform dirty, or you'll get hurt," the older student threatened.

"Sorry, I don't have money. My family is so poor. Please don't hurt me!" the girl trembled.

"What did you say?!" The senior raised his fist in anger.

The girl closed her eyes, but the punch never landed. Hikaru had stepped in, catching the senior's fist mid-strike.

"Please wait a moment, senpai. Aren't you ashamed of wanting to hit a girl?" Hikaru asked calmly.

"Who are you? How dare you interrupt my business," the senior demanded.

"That's not important. She already apologized, so why are you trying to take her money?" Hikaru responded.

"Tch, this brat. How dare you talk to me like that? Take this!" The senior moved to strike again.

A teacher's voice cut through the tension. "Hey, what are you doing? Are you having a fight?"

"Damn, the teacher is here. This isn't good," the senior said, turning to run. As he fled, he suddenly tripped and fell.

"Damn it, who did that?" he shouted, but found no culprit among the many students walking past. He left the area, limping slightly.

"Hey Elly, don't do things like that suddenly! What if he had found out?" Zul scolded.

"Sorry, sorry, it was my old bad habit," Elly said with a light laugh.

"Geez, even though you speak politely and your appearance looks so feminine now, there are some things you haven't changed yet," Zul said.

"Have you forgotten your promise with Arisa?" he added.

Elly's expression turned sad as she remembered their promise.

"Yes, That promise... you're right, I shouldn't act like that," Elly admitted. "I'm supposed to act like onee-chan from now on."

"I'm sorry, Zul. I won't do that again. I'll be more careful," Elly said quietly.

"It's fine if you understand. That's enough. Let's walk into the school building, okay?" Zul said, placing his palm on Elly's head.

Meanwhile, Hikaru turned to the girl he had helped. "Hey, are you okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine. Thanks for helping me before," the chubby girl said.

"Don't worry, it's a small matter," Hikaru said, preparing to leave.

As he started walking away, the girl called out, "Um, can you tell me your name?"

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"Takumi Hikaru," he replied with a smile before continuing toward the school building.

After the entrance ceremony, all the students returned to their seats. Hikaru was searching for his assigned seat as he entered the classroom. He quickly found his name on the seating chart.

"Found it! It's the second seat from the back, right by the window," he said to himself. "Ah, it's right in front of the main character's seat."

Behind him sat Zul, who was staring out the window, lost in thought. Hikaru turned around to look at him. "Huh? This guy... is he a foreigner?" Hikaru thought, noticing that Zul's face didn't look typically Japanese. Curious, Hikaru decided to speak to him in English. "Umm, hello?" he said.

Zul responded, "What is it? Do you need something?" He spoke in fluent Japanese.

"Huh? He speaks Japanese fluently?" Hikaru thought in surprise.

Zul noticed his confusion. "You must be thinking I'm a foreigner, right? It's fine, I've gotten used to it," he said nonchalantly.

"How did he know?" Hikaru was taken aback.

After a brief pause, Hikaru introduced himself. "Nice to meet you, I'm Hikaru. I hope we can get along."

Zul replied without expression, "I'm Zul. Nice to meet you." Then he turned his gaze back to the window, ignoring Hikaru.

"Geez, this guy isn't very friendly," Hikaru thought to himself and turned back to face the front.

Hikaru then noticed his female classmates whispering about him.

"Hey, do you see that? Is he the rich guy who came to school in that expensive car earlier?"

"Yeah, that's him."

"I also saw him protecting a girl from a delinquent senior after that."

"He really looks cool."

"Ah, they're really talking about me," Hikaru thought. "This is your fault, Mom. That's why I didn't want to come to school in our family car. It just makes me stand out. I can walk on my own."

Hikaru looked around, trying to remember his classmates' faces. He noticed the blonde-haired girl sitting at the front. "What beautiful blonde hair," he thought.

Suddenly, he overheard another group of girls whispering about Elly.

"Look at that girl, she's really cute and beautiful, right?"

"Yeah, with that blonde hair, she looks like a princess."

Then, two more girls approached and said, "Don't be fooled by her appearance. Even though she looks cute, she's really boyish and used to get into fights."

"How do you know that?" one of the girls asked.

"Well, we went to the same elementary school," they replied. "If you don't believe us, just watch this."

They walked over to Elly.

"Hey, Elly, I mean Sakamoto-san !! Looks like we're in the same school again."

"Yeah, I didn't expect to be classmates with you this time," one of them added.

"I'm glad to be in the same class with you guys," Elly said politely with a smile.

"These two were in the same school as me last year in elementary. I think they were in the class next door, and they were friends with Kudo," Elly thought.

"By the way, what's up with your new look? Trying to be cute now? Weren't you more boyish before?"

"Yeah, it doesn't really suit you," they chuckled.

Elly tried to defend herself. "Actually, this is..."

"These girls!" Elly fumed inside.

"Also, what's with all this polite talk and feminine behavior? Can you cut it out? It's really irritating."

"Are you trying to act like your late sister? You're not her. You're just faking it!" they laughed again.

"These girls are really getting on my nerves... How dare they make fun of me? I... I want to punch them right now," Elly thought, clenching her fists.

"Oh, you want to punch us? Go ahead, let's see what our classmates think when you do," one of them provoked.

Elly's anger was bubbling up, but she held back, both hands gripping her right arm to control herself.

Zul noticed what was happening. "Wait, this isn't good. They're provoking Elly. Hold your anger, Elly."

Suddenly, Elly remembered Zul's words from earlier in the morning: "Remember your promise to Arisa."

"That's right... my promise to Onee-chan," Elly thought.

She released her fist, took a deep breath, and calmly spoke. "Sorry. I know you don't like me, but could you please stop saying things like that? It's not good, you know?"

"What did you just say?!" one of the girls snapped. "Why aren't you being violent like before?

Why don't you want to punch us like you did in elementary?"

"I'm sorry, but I don't want to use violence anymore. It's not the right way to solve problems," Elly replied.

"What did you just say?!" one of the girls exclaimed. "This girl is really getting on our nerves." One of them raised her hand, ready to slap Elly.

Suddenly, a thick textbook flew through the air and hit the girls, causing them to stop in their tracks. Zul walked over to retrieve the book.

"Ah, sorry, my book flew out of nowhere. I was just testing how far it could fly," he said nonchalantly.

"Zul..." she thought, surprised.

"Wait, I know this guy. He used to fight with Kudo," one of the girls said.

"Yeah, he's that foreigner boy again... is he in our class?"

"I see, you've heard about me," Zul said, glaring at them. "What are you doing? Are you trying to mess with my childhood friend?" He placed his hand on Elly's shoulder.

"No, we... we didn't mean anything by it," one of the girls said, sounding scared.

"You better leave her alone, or you'll find out what happens next," Zul warned them.

"This isn't good. He's really strong," one of them whispered. "Let's just go back to our seats."

"Elly, are you okay?" Zul asked.

"I'm okay, but that really surprised me. Thank you for that, Zul," Elly said.

"Sorry I acted so suddenly. If I had thrown the book wrong, it might have hit you instead," Zul apologized.

"By the way, you did well earlier, managing to hold your anger. Good job," he added.

"Well, it was thanks to your words this morning. I suddenly remembered them," Elly replied.

"Yes, that was our promise to her," Zul said softly.

From his seat, Hikaru watched them with surprise. "Whoa, is that girl his childhood friend? I never expected that," he thought.

Suddenly, Elly remembered what that girl had said to her before: "Are you trying to act like your late sister? You're not her. You're just faking it!"

"What did they mean by 'I'm just faking it'?" Elly thought. "Am I not good enough to become like Onee-chan was?" She added, "I must keep working hard from now on to become like Onee-chan."

After Zul returned to his seat, Hikaru turned his chair around to face him.

"Wow, what was that? I never expected you to act like that! And I had no idea she was your childhood friend. You looked really cool back there," Hikaru said, amazed.

Zul remained silent at Hikaru's words.

"Hey, say something! Don't ignore me," Hikaru protested.

"No, it's not like that," Zul replied. "I'm not used to talking when I'm around new people. Sorry."

"I see, so that's why he was silent with me earlier—he's not unfriendly, just not used to talking to new people yet. I misunderstood him," Hikaru thought to himself.

Just then, their homeroom teacher entered the classroom to begin their first session.

"Ah, Sensei is here. We'll talk later, Zul. Hope we can be friend later," said Hikaru, smiling as he turned his chair to face the front.

Zul was taken aback. "It's been a while since I heard someone say that to me, besides Arisa and Elly back then. Everyone usually avoids me because my face doesn't look Japanese, but he's different," he thought.

After a few days passed, Hikaru continued trying to get closer to Zul. Most of the time, Zul remained quiet, simply smiling and nodding while listening to Hikaru talk. Gradually, Zul began to accept Hikaru as his friend.

"This guy isn't so bad," Zul thought to himself. "He's trying so hard to connect with me. I can see he really wants to become friends."

"Hey Zul, are you listening? Geez, why are you suddenly spacing out?" Hikaru asked.

"Ah, sorry. Please continue..." Zul replied.

After a moment, Hikaru asked, "There's something I've been wondering about. Why are you always so concerned about Sakamoto? I can see you really care about her."

Zul replied, "Oh, that. It's because I made a promise to someone to protect her... in their place."

"I see. Is this person really that important to you?" Hikaru asked.

"Yes... they were important to both of us," Zul said quietly.

"Can you tell me more about this person later? I'm really curious about it," Hikaru asked.

"Sure... I'll tell you someday," Zul replied.

At the same time, Elly was returning from the toilet and entering the classroom when suddenly she tripped and fell. Hikaru immediately approached her to help. “Sakamoto-san, are you okay? Let me help you,” he said.

“Th...aaa...ks... I'm... okay,” Elly stammered, struggling with her words.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, please excuse me," Elly apologized in a shy tone. She got up on her own without needing Hikaru's help.

“Sakamoto-san...,” said Hikaru.

Zul was shocked and frozen, watching Elly’s actions. He thought, Did my eyes deceive me? Why is Elly acting like that just now? She looked more clumsy, shy, and reserved. What actually happened to her?

Zul then slowly walked to Elly's seat to ask her, “Elly, are you alright? Sorry I didn’t help you earlier.”

“Don’t worry about me, I just tripped, it didn’t hurt at all, thanks to Takumi-kun for helping me earlier,” Elly said with her usual polite tone, unlike the way she had spoken to Hikaru just now.

“Huh, she can talk normally with me,” thought Zul. “This is so strange.”

“Elly, if something’s on your mind, please tell me, okay? I’m ready to help you.”

“Thanks, Zul, but don’t worry about me. There’s nothing wrong with me after all,” Elly said, smiling.

Zul then left Elly's seat and returned to his own. As he sat down, Hikaru pushed his chair back to face Zul.

“Hey Zul, is it just me, or does Sakamoto-san seem scared of me? She even apologized to me earlier. Did I do something wrong to her?” Hikaru asked, feeling guilty.

“Don’t worry about it, you did nothing wrong to her. Don’t feel so down. Anyway, thanks for helping her, I appreciate it,” Zul replied.

Elly, what are you actually hiding from me? thought Zul, concerned about her.

I think this is better for me. From now on, I’ll just act like this. After all, I’m not faking my sister after all...right?” thought Elly.

“Arisa/Onee-chan…” What should I do? thought both Zul and Elly at the same time.

Day by day passed since then, and everyone was getting used to their junior high school. Hikaru was making more friends as he easily talked with others and had good social skills. Everyone depended on him for many things. Most of his female classmates were attracted to him because of his good looking appearance and his family's wealth.

Meanwhile, Zul chose to be a lone wolf, mostly staying with Elly because he was concerned about her changes. He spent most of his time at school with Elly; somehow, being with her made him feel nostalgic and reminded him of his time with the late Arisa during their elementary school years.

Even though Hikaru and Zul had different personalities and social skills, Hikaru still considered Zul his close friend compared to others. He often talked to Zul, sharing interesting things, new experiences, and even personal problems and Zul never got bored of hearing Hikaru's words.