"You're in love with her..."
It wasn't a question. It was a statement. He himself had been fighting it for weeks, convincing himself that there was no possible way that he could fall in love with someone as fragile as her. But in the end, he ended up cornered by Yoshimori of all people. Unbelievable.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Just because he was cornered didn't mean he wouldn't deny it.
"That's why you've been avoiding her so much lately. You think that if you stay away from her, then those feelings will disappear. But all you're really doing is hurting her!"
"I haven't been avoiding her. And even if I were, how would that hurt her?"
"She really cares about you, Gen. She's so use to being with you all the time and, out of nowhere, you start avoiding her for no apparent reason."
"It's what's best."
"For who?"
"For her."
"Bullshit! You're doing this because of what's happened in the past! You're only thinking of yourself and it's selfish as hell!"
"Selfish? Selfish would be allowing her to be a part of my life, knowing how dangerous it is for her to just be around me. And what I'm doing now will make sure she never has to deal with this stuff..."
"Gen, Yukiim would want to be a part of your life regardless of what's going on. And we'll protect her. Besides, I know you won't let anything happen to her. The way I see it is that you're afraid of the relationship you two already have. Just knowing how much she means to you is frightening and you're afraid that she might not care for you the way that you care for her. And if that's your best excuse, you're fucking retarded because even my little brother can tell that she thinks highly of you. So stop being so drammatic and go talk to her!" Looking at his watch, he downed the rest of his coffee milk and tossed the carton in the trash. "Stay home today and figure out what you're gonna say because I'm sending Yukiim over afterschool."
"What!"
"I've gotta go or else I'm gonna be late!" He said as he opened the door to leave Gen's apartment. "See ya!"
And with that, he was gone, leaving Gen to his thoughts.
"Meet him afterschool?"
"Yeah," Yoshimori yawned. "He said that he had some errands to run so he won't be coming to school today. But he told me to tell you to come over later after school."
"I don't think that's such a good idea, Yoshimori. Gen seems upset with me lately. I think it would be best if I just leave him alone."
"Gen always acts like that. Besides, why would he be upset with you? You haven't done anything to piss him off, have you?"
"No... Well, I don't think so. From what people tell me, Gen is more of a loner. Hime-chan told me that, before I came here, he refused to talk to anyone. Even the people that reached out to try and socialize with him were brushed off without a second thought. In fact, a few people are less than happy with me because of that simple fact. I don't know if all this is true or not, though. I've never asked him. Then again, I don't really know anything about Gen."
"Like I said, that's just the way Gen is. And Hime-chan is right. Gen would always ignore anyone who came up to him. But then you came along. One day, everything was normal. The next day, he was more secluded than usual. Then the next day, he surprised everyone when he was seen walking around school with you. And when I asked him who you were, he told me to mind my business and then ran off, the bastard! So no one really knows how you two met each other except for you and him."
"Regardless of how things came to be, I think it's best for me to just leave him alone. The past few times I've tried to talk to him, he's given me the cold shoulder and ignored me. Thanks for trying, Yoshimori, but you can't force someone to be around someone else. I've got to get going. I promised Hime-chan that I'd meet her at the library before lunch was over. See you later, Yoshimori!"
Yoshimori stomped his foot as she ran off, leaving him alone in the hallway. "Dammit! You're just as stubborn as he is!"
"What do you want now, Yoshimori? Shouldn't you be school?"
"She's not coming."
"What! What do you mean she's not coming?"
"Exactly what I said. She is not coming."
"Why not?"
"Because of how you've been acting lately."
"Whatever. You're making things up. Yukiim would never hold a grudge-"
"She thinks that I'm trying to make you be around her when you really don't want to."
"And where did she get that idea from?"
"From you, smartass! You've been treating her like a stranger for the past few days, as if you wanted nothing to do with her. Why wouldn't she think that?"
Gen was silent. Ok, so maybe he had been mean for the past few days, but it wasn't because he meant to be. He just needed some time to really think about what was happening. And after the conversation with Yoshimori this morning, all he could think about was how hard it would be to cut her out of his life. Not for her, but for him. She had grown on him to the point where all he wanted to do was be around her. Even these past few days had been torture. And it would be unfair if he said that he didn't know what he was doing. He knew that brushing her off would hurt her. But he also figured that he would be able to get over her in an instant. He had been wrong about that too. And now Yukiim was choosing to stay away from him because of his stupidity.
"I'll fix it."
Yoshimori nodded before turning to leave. "You'd better, dumbass."
"I'm coming!"
Yukiim logged off her computer. She had been working on this project for almost four hours and she still wasn't halfway through. It was due tomorrow and there was no way she could possibly finish it in time for school. Originally, this was to be done by both her and Gen, but, with the way he had been acting lately, she figured it would be best to just do it by herself. It was becoming clear now that she had bitten off more than she could chew.
KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!
"I'm coming!" She really didn't want to be rude and ask whoever it was to leave, but if she was going to have any chance of finishing this on time, she couldn't have any distractions. Managing a smile, she opened the door. "Can I help you?"
"Yukiim."
"Oh.. Hi, Gen. Umm... What are you doing here?"
"I need to talk to you. May I come in?"
"Sure." She said, opening the door for him to come in. "But this will have to be quick. I have to finish our project and I'm-"
"Here." Gen handed Yukiim a thick booklet. "I already finished it."
Yukiim flipped through the booklet. "It looks great."
"Are you sure. Is there anything you would like to change-"
"No. Really, it looks great, Gen."
Gen nodded. "It didn't take so long once I got into the library. They had every possible book on the subject."
"I see..." Yukiim said, trying not to let an akward silence take over. "Thanks. I won't be up all night, afterall. You must be tired, so-"
"I'm sorry, Yukiim."
"What?" She asked, surprisingly.
"I'm sorry for how I've been treating you for the past few days."
"It's... It's alright. It's not a big deal."
"Yes it is!" Gen insisted. "I've been an ass and treated you like you meant nothing to me when you really do!"
"...Gen-"
"Yuki, you don't understand what danger you're in if you continue to be around me. And I can't promise that I'll be able to protect you all the time. What if I can't and something happens to you? Then-"
"Gen! I don't know if you noticed or not, but I'm not exactly normal either! People will come after me whether I'm around you or not. And who says I need you to protect me? I don't hang around with you because I'm afraid that if I don't, I might get hurt. I'm with you because I care about you! But all you do is push me away, as if you can't trust me to just be your friend!"
"That's just it, Yuki. What if I wanted to be more than just friends!"
Everything got quiet. Gen felt like kicking himself at his sudden confession. This conversation wasn't going as he had planned. In fact, he hadn't planned on ever telling her that part. And now it was out in the open and their friendship was over. He avoided her eyes as he began to tap his foot nervously.
"What's wrong with that, Gen?"
He snapped his head up quickly. "What?"
"Is this why you've been avoiding me? After all we've been through, did you really think that I would reject you? And, on top of that, how could you not know that I would return your feelings?"
Gen fought to take all of this in. "But.. I'm a-"
"Don't even, Gen." She said forcefully. "Don't you dare say it. You know as well as I do that that's a lie."
"But..."
Moving towards him quickly, Yukiim wrapped her arms around his neck tightly. "You idiot. I've missed you!"
Returning the hug, Gen smiled softly. This conversation was over. It would never be mentioned again, and, tomorrow, everything would go back to normal.
"It's only been four days."
"So!" She said playfully.
Pulling her closer, he sighed. "I'm an idiot."
"Yeah. You really are." Yukiim laughed as he began to pout.
