Chapter 1: Chapter I

A flash of light followed by a deafening sound went by as the vision fall back into the darkness. Strength escaped Rena’s body as she leaned on the door. A heavy sweat trickled upon her neck. She wrenched forward, dropped to her knees, and gasped for air. Breaths echoed through the room, she looked over her shoulder wary of being pursued, only to see a wooden door that she had just closed. When she regained her composure, she leaned on one of her knees, and stubbornly pulled herself upright, but she was just too drained.

“This can’t be happening..”

Rena blinked and shook her head in disbelief.

“It wasn’t supposed to be like this..”

She slouched down to take a rest. Rena searched for answers in the back of her mind. Was it because I broke the ritual? Rena tensed at the thought. Her rest were short-lived however as she heard a cracking sound above her. She eyed the room for hiding spots, but there were none. Her eyes were glued to the stairs across her, as the sound slowly descend from the stairs. 

“Rena..?”

Straight long red hair came into view when the figure peeks over the room.

A sigh of relief escapes Rena’s mouth.

“Rena, what are you doing here?” She approached Rena who was on the floor.

“Akari..senpai?” Rena hugged Akari tightly and burst into tears.

“What happened? Why are you in such a state?”

Rena was disheveled, her pupils fade into black while she bit her lips.

“Wait here, let me grab my bag upstairs and-“  She was cut short by Rena who pulled her arms.

“N-no! p-please don’t leave me here alone..”

She traced Rena’s petrified face and yielded “Okay, I won’t leave you.. but first, tell me what happened”.

She nodded, Rena took a few deep breaths to regain her composure before she opens her mouth.

“It all started when the four of us are playing truth or dare”.

 

xxxxx

 

Tsubaki Rena is your ordinary sophomore student, she’s not the brightest in her class but also not the worst. The only distinct behavior that she has was being able to read the “room”. That’s all she ever did to avoid being a loner. She would put on a fake smile and a fake demeanor just to please her circle of “friends”. However, she doesn’t realize all the façade that she built for years, turns her into a more calculative and manipulative kind of person.

Another bell rang, indicating that the 2nd period of the class is now over. Rena is still resting her head on her hand, she wears this face that screams 'everything in this world is so boring'. Before she could delve back deep into her mind to escape the dullness of the universe, she felt a slight nudge on her shoulder. She glanced back at the person sitting behind her. Here we go again, she thought. She changed her facial expression like switching masks in mere seconds.

“Hey, Ren! Let’s grab the limited melon bread in the Caf before it runs out!”

She wears the bazillion times smile, and realized that she’s gonna get dragged all over the place again before answering “All right, let's go”.

They both trade small talk and gossip as they walked by the hallway. Other girls might not realize this, but Rena knows the importance of small talk and gossip. For her, the exchange of small talk and gossip is not simply a thing to pass the time. She thinks that indulging in small talk and gossip is a warfare where one would get more social status between their peers. Not to mention that you’ll also get to know the ‘dirt’ of someone else. So she listens closely, and replies accordingly all while wearing the ‘oh.. so friendly face’.

Their peaceful talks were interrupted when the cafeteria came into view. She felt a tug on her sleeves urging her to hurry. Other students are also lining up to get the limited holy grail. Some students argued with each other while others are already in an all-out brawl, at least that’s what she had hoped. She swears that these are not people, they are hounds. All of this just for a single bread loaf? You’re joking, right? It’s not like we’re all starved to death or living in the medieval age.

You are reading story Never Play The Square Game Evenly at novel35.com

Her delusions were cut-short however.

“Score..!” a massive smile came from Rena’s friend, while she was flaunting the supposedly ‘Holy grail’ high up in the air.

She chuckled, and a slight smile can be seen on her face. That was almost genuine until she composes herself and back into the perfect smile.

“Stop that, you’re embarrassing yourself”

“Hehe, Rena is too slow, so .. jjaan! Here I brought two!”

She blinked in confusion, she was perfectly content with just accompanying her to the cafeteria, that and to show how perfectly social she was. She snapped into reality before anyone realized it.

“For.. me?” With a dumbfounded expression, Rena looks at her friend with her eyes wide.

“Yes! You never eat one before right?” Her friend leans forward with a grin pasted on her face.

“T-thanks..” Rena replied awkwardly, avoiding facing her friend as she was filled with an embarrassing impression.

The girl leaned forward and studied Rena’s face closely “Strange..”.

“W-what?” she was caught off-guard by the girl’s remarks.

Her friend leaned back and put her index finger on her cheek “No, I was just wondering.. so you can make that kind of face too huh”

A drop of sweat exudes from Rena’s temple. Did this girl just catch on? Did she realize that all this time she was just putting air? No, this can’t be happening. Rena shuddered at the thought.

“W-what are you talking about?” she replied while feigning ignorance.

“Oh it was nothing.. You see, being close to someone for a year made you notice several things” she breaks into a massive grin while eyeing Rena from top to bottom.

“S-stop it, Mia, it’s not funny!” Her face went red all over, she hides her embarrassment once again, now under her small hands. 

Drat, of course, they would notice some things if they are being seated closely for a year. She took a deep breath in order to compose herself and swallowed her thoughts.

“Oh for goodness sake Rena, I’ve known you since we entered high school. You should at least drop the act in front of me, it’s like there is this invisible wall around us”.

A string snapped on the back of Rena’s head. Ah.. this girl knows huh?

Rena glanced and put all her years of experience into play.

“What invisible wall? You’re joking right?” she mustered the most brilliant and friendly smile she could. All this while she approached and entangle her arms with Mia.

Mia tilted her head, bewildered by the sudden change, but she quite enjoyed it.

“So? Where are we gonna eat? The usual? Maybe Yuina and Lize are waiting for us!” Rena ushered themselves, trying to shove the whole ordeal under the rug.

“Yeah, let’s not make them wait” she tightened the grip and leaned towards Rena with a big smile on her face.

Mia wanted to be even closer to Rena, not just as a seatmate but closer. So, she tried to be understanding, maybe Rena is not as keen on the thought. She didn’t realize that all this time Rena has been staring daggers at her.

You can find story with these keywords: Never Play The Square Game Evenly, Read Never Play The Square Game Evenly, Never Play The Square Game Evenly novel, Never Play The Square Game Evenly book, Never Play The Square Game Evenly story, Never Play The Square Game Evenly full, Never Play The Square Game Evenly Latest Chapter