It was a typical morning in the town Karasumori, as the golden sun streaked the sky creating a sort of angelic look. Many students were reluctantly making their way to their respective school, and the young Yoshimori was no different.
"Dammit! I'm going to be late again," he moaned while taking gulps of his favorite coffee milk drink.
Picking up the pace he eventually saw Tokine and her long swaying pony tail, some distance ahead of himself. Without any hesitation he called out to her, or rather hollered.
"What do you want, Yoshimori?" questioned Tokine in an even tone, as she continued walking, "if it's about Gen, then I don't want to hear it!"
"B-b-but you haven't even heard me out yet," exclaimed Yoshimori who was manically waving his hands in the air. It was so like Tokine to know exactly what was on his mind without him hardly saying a word. At times it was useful, especially on the battlefield, but in instances like these it was kind of annoying.
"Masamori placed him here to help us," voiced Tokine as she glanced over at a sulking Yoshimori, "and we just have to wait for him to feel more comfortable around us, that's all. Give him some time and I'm sure it will happen," she ended with a small smile.
Yoshimori couldn't help but roll his eyes at Tokine's words. He knew that what she was saying was probably true, but he couldn't sit around and wait for that to happen. If Gen was to be a part of the team, he would have to be able to trust the both of them.
"You're too nice to him, Tokine," he muttered in an angry tone, while folding his arms across his chest in a somewhat agitated pose, "he hardly says a word to us, and when he does I just want to punch him in the face! Masamori is out of his mind for putting that guy here. You and I were doing just fine before he ever came along…" trailing off he turned his attention to the quite Tokine who wore a gloomy look upon her face.
"W-w-w-what did I do now?" screamed Yoshimori with a sense of urgency in his voice, "I'm sorry! I won't talk bad about him anymore, I'm sorry!"
Tokine shook her head, as if to shake off the look, but failed to remove the emotion that was still lingering in her eyes.
"No, It's okay, Yoshimori," she said in an uneasy tone, as she flashed a small smile in his direction; which quickly disappeared, "…I try to be kind to him, so that maybe he'll accept me but it never seems to work. He's always so cold, and distant. I'm only worried that he'll always be like this..."
Yoshimori could sense the sadness that laced her words, and that alone infuriated him. It was one thing to treat him badly, but Tokine...that was a whole different story. There was no way he was going to stand back and let Gen's thoughtless actions go unscathed.
"That Gen…," thought Yoshimori as he gritted his teeth, "I'll make him apologize for hurting Tokine like this! Then I'll beat some sense to him as well! What a jerk."
"Hey!," continued Yoshimori in a voice of pure confidence and angst, "…don't worry about it. I'll take care of it, Tokine."
This straightforwardness of his statement took her by some surprise. Even though so much time had passed since then, she still awaited the whining child like responses that Yoshimori used to give. Lately, it seemed like those days were nothing but a figment of the imagination.
"What do you mean?" she inquired in her sweet tone, the one that always made Yoshimori's pulse race a billion times per second.
"Oh, nothing important," he snickered as a wide grin spread across his face, "…I'll see you after class!" With that he gave a quick wave and took off towards the school grounds; which were only a few feet away by this time.
"I…just hope he doesn't do anything reckless," thought Tokine as she slowly made her way towards the grounds as well, "…but I know for Yoshimori that's something unavoidable…" trailing off she then let out a sigh and tired to prepare herself for the worst possible outcome that could occur between the two boys.