The butler led Cleo to Inu's room. Inu was lying in bed, covers up to his chin, but Cleo could tell he wasn't sick. Cleo sat on a chair that the butler had placed beside Inu's bed. Cleo quickly explained to Inu what the other students had said about him.
"Honestly, I don't want to go back to school," Inu confessed once Cleo had finished. "I think someone found out that we were still friends outside of school and spread the word to everyone else."
"Yeah, you might be right," Cleo sighed, feeling guilty. "It's all my fault, Inu. I dragged you into this situation.".
"Yeah, you may be right." Cleo sighed. "It's my entire fault, Inu. I got you into this situation."
Inu shook his head. "No, don't be sorry." There was a pause before he mustered up enough courage to ask, "Is it true you kissed Azumi Grace Wanton at that party?"
Cleo rolled his eyes. He wondered how fast word of this incident spread. "Yes and no. It was an accident."
Inu's expression changed into a frown. He quickly covered his face with his bed sheets as if he didn't want Cleo to see his reaction. Cleo took this as Inu being angry at Cleo kissing Azumi, the enemy who almost beat him.
"Hey, don't worry. It was nothing." Cleo reassured. He caught a quick glance at the digital clock on Inu's nightstand and realized he would be late for his next class if he didn't hurry. "I need to go now. Lunch break is almost over. Come back to school soon and remember you can call me if you have any worries!" Cleo grabbed his book bag from the ground and sped out the room.
When Cleo was out of sight, Inu gradually rose up from his bed. The frown he gave Cleo was gone and now replacing it was a look of sheer contempt.
Cleo detested being late for class more than ever. He loathed being late for anything in general, and when it involved school, the anxiety was tenfold. He swiftly departed from Inu's mansion, moving at the fastest speed his legs could handle. Glancing at the time in Inu's room, he realized it was already 12:50, meaning he had only ten minutes left to reach his class. Cleo calculated that by sprinting to the International School, he would be able to make it in less than five minutes.
As he was going to cross the intersection three blocks away from school, a black car with tinted windows screeched its tires to stop abruptly before him. Luckily Cleo had seen it coming and almost yelled at the driver for almost hitting him. He only stopped from doing so when the windows in the backseat came down. Behind the window was Azumi.
"This is horrible," Cleo muttered to himself when he saw her.
She turned her head toward him and with a look of fake surprise said, "Oh! It's you… what a coincidence."
Did Cleo detect a bit of nervousness from the way she said that? He shook his head at the prospect and barked out, "If you stop the car here, you're blocking the crosswalk for pedestrians."
Cleo ignored his comment and opened her door to get out of the car. Cleo took a step back, suspecting that she would try to attack him.
"I've heard that you skipped class today." She said and casually strolled to a stop in front of him.
"Where did you hear that from? And it's none of your business what I do." He said quite vehemently.
"Huh?" She tilted her head to the side.
"Don't you skip your classes all the time?" He shot back, not bothering to repeat his previous question.
"I'm going to class right now." She answered haughtily while raising her chin.
Cleo turned to find another way around the car. "Well, then I'm going back too."
"Hey! Hey! Wait!" Azumi called out after him. He turned to look at her with annoyance. "When you kissed me that one time, I hope you didn't fall in love with me."
Cleo screwed his face in disgust. What the hell was she trying to imply? "Have you lost it completely? I don't get you."
Azumi let out a frustrated grunt at his comment. She stomped her left foot on the pavement like an angry child and pointed to her car. "Get in. I'm giving you a ride to school." Without warning, she quickly reached out and grabbed his hand, forcefully leading him to the car.
"What the hell are you doing? Let me go!" Cleo was shocked at how strong her grip was but managed to tug himself free from her grasp. He looked her over once and spat out, "You're unbelievable, you know?" Taking the chance, he ran off in the other direction hoping she'd give up and go home. But that was not the case when he heard the clicking of her heeled boots on the pavement.
She was running after and catching up to him! He wondered how a midget-like girl could run so quickly, in heeled boots nonetheless!
"STOP, YOU! STOP!" She cried out as she ran after him, bracing her fists to knock him on the head when she was close enough.
"NEVER!" He yelled back. "LEAVE ME ALONE!"
As they ran down the sidewalk looking like two complete idiots, they failed to notice a bright red sports car zoom past them at unimaginable speeds in the opposite direction. The driver of said sports car saw them running and recklessly took the next stop to make a U-turn. It increased its speed yet again to pass by Cleo and Azumi once more before making another turn at the nearest corner where they would soon reach.