"What happened to that boy we saw the last time? Did you throw him away like the other boys?"
Asako keeps her head down. Seeing those girls is bad enough; listening to the taunts thrown at her, she doesn't think she could take it. She could feel the tears at the edge of her wide eyes, threatening to fall, as she clenches her shaking fists in an attempt to keep in control.
"We even counted three boys coming up to you in the past fifteen minutes. There could be more, am I right?"
She wishes Sasayan were here, but they're in the middle of a day-old fight, and they haven't spoken since their last words the day before. What would Sasayan do anyway? He'd never try to involve himself in a conflict, and even if he has to, he'd weasel himself out of it before anything major happens. Except with her…
Even then, she wishes.
Sasayan…
"Natsume, you're such a—"
A new shadow falls into place, and Asako finds herself staring at the back of those familiar striped sneakers.
"I'll appreciate it if you do not use such degrading words at her."
It isn't just Maki and Risa who freeze; Asako could feel the chill down her spine when she hears the icy tone Sasayan used. When Sasayan gets angry, he's cold, but even then, this level of coolness is new to her.
A cheerful voice cuts in before she knows it, and Asako realizes there is another girl aside from Sasayan.
"You shouldn't be doing this, especially when you're still in your uniform."
Even if it's not directed at her, Asako could sense the threat that resides in that overly-cheerful tone, which doesn't even match the words the new girl uses either.
"Shit! She's from the student council," Risa hisses behind Maki, and Natsume hears a heavy step, presumably, back.
Maki doesn't answer, and Asako grips at the fabric of Sasayan's school jacket; she doesn't know when her hand started reaching out for Sasayan, but she doesn't care at the moment.
"You win, Natsume," Maki finally says, the underlying fire present in her tone. "Let's go, Risa."
"Don't bother Natsume again!" Sasayan calls out as they walk briskly away.
For a moment, Asako could only hear the sounds of people walking, and the occasional vehicle going by, as though the confrontation hadn't happen at all. She sees the sneakers turn to point themselves towards her. It occurs to her those feet are very, very close to her, and she daren't raise her head. A hand takes her right one, and holds it tight.
"Are you all right?"
Asako suddenly remembers the girl, and directs her surprise at her. The girl only laughs lightly, which Asako thinks it is quite similar to Sasayan's.
"I'm Yamase Mariko," she introduces herself, with an ease Asako thinks she can never possess when it comes to new people. "I went to the same middle school as Sasayan here."
Yamase gives her hand a squeeze, and Asako manages a small smile.
"You'll be fine," Yamase declares with a smile and a pat on Asako's shoulder with her other hand. "You're smiling now, aren't you?"
Asako nods, though she hasn't quite found her voice yet. Sasayan hands her his towel quietly, and she could only stare incredulously at the gesture. She isn't alone on that.
"Sasayan! You don't give a towel to a girl to wipe her tears away!" Yamase exclaims.
Sasayan shrugs with nonchalance.
"Who goes around carrying a handkerchief these days? Plus I don't really have any tissues on me either, so the towel's the best option. It's clean too."
Asako hides her blush under the rough fabric as she dries her eyes. Sasayan decides at this moment to introduce her to Yamase, since she hadn't returned the gesture.
"She's Natsume, my classmate."
Asako hates the way he phrased it; it sounded so… cold.
"Friend," she says, then realizes it comes out somewhat muffled. She removes the towel, and repeats her sentiment. "I'm Sasayan's friend."
Sasayan seems taken aback, though he shouldn't be. Everybody knows they're friends; Sasayan's even the one who offers to be her friend first.
"But Sasayan likes you, doesn't he?" Yamase says, which prompts a blush from her. She glances upwards at Sasayan's face, and sees a faint red tinting his cheeks too.
Asako doesn't answer, her mouth deciding to alternate between opening and closing, but never letting a word out. She doesn't think it is her place to answer that question.
"It's none of your business, Yamase!" Asako could hear the embarrassment in his outburst, and feels a little lightened.
"Well, it's nice to finally see you get flustered like this," Yamase comments, with the smile on her face seemingly growing bigger.
"Well, I'll be off now," she says with a wave. "My boyfriend seems to have fallen asleep somewhere in the streets."
"Thanks for the help, Yamase," Sasayan tells her, and Asako lowers her head in gratitude.
They bid farewell to her and, when she is out of sight, lapse into an awkward interaction.
"T-t-thanks," Asako stutters softly. "For just now."
"It's only right," Sasayan says simply, though she could see his jaw harden, and knows he is feeling tense too. "Those girls…"
He trails off, leaving the question in the air, a choice for her to pick up or reject. She decides to be honest with him, like she always does eventually with him.
"They're my friends in middle school," she tells him, her fingers tightly weaved together by her nervousness. "At least, until the guy Maki likes confesses to me."
"After that, I didn't have a single friend. No girl wants to be a friend with a girl who seems to get the attention of the entire male population of the school. And all those boys want from me is the attention of being my boyfriend. Everyone doesn't care about how I feel."
"I do," Sasayan proclaims, and coughs to cover the bold declaration. "Mizutani and Haru too. I'm sure Ooshima and Yamaguchi too."
Sasayan looks right into her eyes, and holds her gaze with that unwavering looks of his.
"It's different now, in high school, isn't it? You have friends, real friends who didn't become friends with you because of your looks."
He pauses for a moment.
"I like you because of who you are, not because you're really cute."
Asako feels a fresh wave of tears forming, and presses her face into Sasayan's towel again. Even without looking, she knows Sasayan is staring at her helplessly; he never knows how to deal with crying girls, much less Asako, whom he had dubbed "the most complicated creature ever".
Even then, Sasayan doesn't try to take the opportunity to touch her, even when he probably wants to comfort her. She appreciates the fact he respects her enough not to make any unnecessary moves, or pursue her openly even after he confesses, albeit a little too carelessly, which is all too infuriating. She's never doubt his sincerity, because Sasayan is just too honest with her, though she wonders how long he intends to wait and stay friends with her. Could just being by her side be enough for him?
"Natsume-san? Are you done crying?" he asks softly, a hint of panic lacing his words.
She peeks from his towel, and stares into Sasayan's worried eyes. It is enough to make her blush like an apple, though she doesn't try to cover her face again.
"I didn't think you'd turned up," she confesses. "It seems a little surreal that you did when I thought of you."
She realizes the implications of her words when Sasayan blushes, and she reacts.
"I-I-I d-d-d-d-don't mean it t-t-that way," she stutters, her arms flailing everywhere they could. "I mean, I don—, I—, you—"
She gives up, and they're left blushing together in the middle of the street.
"I wanted to apologize," he explains after a long moment. "I figured you'll be here since we were supposed to come here together today."
Asako looks at him meaningfully, then takes out her cellphone to check the time.
"Don't you have baseball practice today?" she exclaims, when it daunts on her it is way too early for him to be out of practice.
"I skipped out today," he says simply.
Sasayan never skips practice.
Sasayan looks away when she gives him a stunned look.
"What?" he grumbles. "I can't do that once in a while?"
Asako shakes her head, and smiles as brightly as she could. Maybe it is time she lets go of those irrational fears of hers.
"Since we're here, let's go to that new donut place!"
She seizes her courage, and takes hold of his hand with both of hers. Sasayan's eyes widen in surprise, and Asako revels in the moment.
As she pulls him along, she thinks to herself, there is probably no one else she wants by her side now. Besides, it's been like that all the while.
A/N: Forgive the plot mess. This is the result of a fantasy from the lack of sleep and something to wake me up from a boring day at work. I'm well aware I haven't put in anything that makes Natsume question Sasayan's relationship with Yamase, but I seem to have exhaust my brain just to finish this, so I'll probably come back to edit this here and there. I'll apologize again.
Reviews would be sweet :)