The Rooftop Group!!

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CHAPTER 6: THE ROOFTOP GROUP

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It started with Ren.

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He found me on the roof on Monday, same as always. Same lunch tray. Same seat on the ground next to me. Same three jokes in the first minute. Two of them were not funny. The third one was.

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"You're getting predictable," I said.

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"I'm consistent. There's a difference."

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He pulled out his sketchbook and started drawing. I pulled out my melon bread and started eating. The trains went by. The clouds moved. The world continued.

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Then the door opened again.

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Hana appeared with a bento box in her hands and a smile that looked like it required effort.

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"I thought you two might want company," she said.

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Ren looked up. "You brought food."

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"I brought extra. I always make too much."

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She sat down next to us and opened the bento. It was perfect. Rice. Fish. Tamagoyaki. Pickled vegetables. Three portions of everything.

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She handed one to Ren. She handed one to me.

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She didn't take one for herself.

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"Aren't you eating?" I asked.

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"I ate earlier."

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"You ate earlier yesterday too."

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She laughed. It was the performed laugh, the one she used in class. "You're paying attention."

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"I'm always paying attention."

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She looked at me for a moment. Something flickered behind her eyes. Then she looked away and started talking about something that had happened in her homeroom.

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I ate the bento. It was good. It was really good.

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I noticed she didn't eat.

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The next day, Yuki showed up.

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She stood in the doorway of the roof with her arms crossed and her posture perfect.

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"What are you all doing up here?"

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"Eating," Ren said.

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"Plotting," Hana said.

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"Thinking," I said.

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Yuki looked at us for a moment. Then she walked over and sat down without being invited. She pulled out a textbook and started reading.

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"You're not going to ask if you can join us?" Ren asked.

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"No."

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"Why not?"

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"Because I'm already here."

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She didn't look up. She just kept reading. But she stayed.

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That was the first time.

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The day after that, Mei appeared.

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She didn't say anything. She just walked onto the roof and sat down in the corner with her back against the wall and opened her book. She didn't look at us. She didn't acknowledge us. She just existed in the same space.

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No one asked her why she was there.

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No one asked her to leave.

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She stayed until the bell rang. Then she got up and walked away without saying goodbye.

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"She's strange," Ren said.

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"She's quiet," Hana said.

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"She's alone," I said.

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They both looked at me.

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"What?" I asked.

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"Nothing," Ren said. But he was looking at me differently. 140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUQiyvO2NYZ

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