Word count: 975.
Do you ever cry because of one of your own ideas? I just did. Childhood friend romances are my weakness.
"Hey, Hideyoshi."
Akihisa, holding a fallen branch with one hand, squatted on the sand before him, marvelling his creation. Drawn on the sand were two stickmen; both of them were smiling ear to ear. On Aki's left side was a stick doodle of the brown-haired fool himself, who was standing beside a pretty stick lady.
Or was it?
"Did you call me, Akihisa?" another young boy called out, getting off the swing and approaching him. "What do you have there?"
"Look at it! I drew the two of us!"
Hideyoshi looked down at the sand, curious. He let out a surprised noise moments later, taking in what Aki just drew.
"Uh, Aki…" he questioned, "why am I in a dress?"
"Pretty girls like you look great in dresses, Hideyoshi!"
"B-B-But I'm a guy!"
"Wow, really?" The fool turned around and looked at his friend, a mischievous smile on his face. "Why don't you prove it through a game of tag?"
"Akihisa, I'm being serious—hey!"
He then tapped Hideyoshi's shoulder, then scurried back with a wide grin on his face. "You're it! Catch me if you can!"
The beautiful boy stood there, gawking.
Aki looked at him, taking in the reaction, amused. Hideyoshi Kinoshita was beautiful, truly beautiful. He tried to duplicate that beauty, draw it on every surface he thought could be marked, but he couldn't make the perfect match. It was eight months since they first met, and Aki still couldn't perfect those beautiful jade orbs, that silky chocolate hair…
But that didn't cause him to give up. Akihisa Yoshii was indeed an idiot with lots of determination.
Hideyoshi soon smiled, knowing that he had no other choice. He ran forward, reaching out for Aki, only to make him back away and start running from the playground.
"I'll get you, Aki!"
"Like you could!"
Playing tag was much more fun this way.
. . .
"Hey, Hideyoshi."
Akihisa, now a teenager with a skinny yet healthy build, smiled gently, a sketchbook in his left hand.
"Did you miss me?" the fool asked, settling down on the grass. "Because I missed you. We all did."
His addressee faces him quietly. Aki thought it was a signal for him to talk about what happened that day.
"You missed a lot, you know that?" The brunet chuckled. "We had a Summoning War with the E Class last week. You should've seen it! We were on fire and then Yuuji and Himeji made this surprise move, and bam! Nakabayashi went down for the count! It was a close shave, you see, she prepared a lot….
"Oh, and your club's rendition of Hamlet was amazing. I hate to admit it, but Kubo did really well! He was the main guy. Minami volunteered to be Ophelia, and when they were done with the show, Miharu suddenly ran to the stage and gave Minami this huge hug. As usual, she tried to get away from Pigtails but failed. It was hilarious.
"By the way, did I mention that Shouko won a quiz bee? I guess I didn't. Your sister was very proud of her, talking about how happy she was to have a classmate like her. Yuuji didn't say much, but I bet he's happy for her too. Then she used a taser on him and Yuuji started talking! You should've seen the look on his face!"
Aki sighed and looked at the sky. It was a beautiful orange. The brunet was struck with nostalgia. They used to play games under that very sky when they were kids.
I guess those old wise guys were right. Time does fly fast.
"Looks like it's getting late," he murmured, noticing the beautiful sunset from far away. "Sis might fry me! I gotta go now, Hideyoshi. See you."
Aki stood up, smiling at him, then walked away.
And he soon noticed that he still had his sketchbook.
"Ah, by the way…" the fool blurted, turning back to him, "You remember this, right?" he said, shaking the sketchbook. "I used to draw some random things in this. My favorite thing to draw was the two of us together. I'm… kind of happy I got to know you, Hideyoshi. I hope you are, too."
Akihisa smiled again, but this time, with tears in his eyes.
"I never got the chance to say how much I appreciated having you around, since your beauty always blows me away. So… here."
The fool bends down and places the sketchbook in front of him. "I couldn't perfect your beauty no matter how hard I try, no matter how many pictures I buy from Muttsurini… but I hope you like it."
He wipes his tears away, smiling at the tombstone he talks to after classes.
Aki forced himself to smile once again.
It was futile.
He looked down, letting his eyes and emotions do the work. It was too soon, too soon for his friend to leave his side, too soon for him to leave Class F, too soon for the Kinoshita family to lose a wonderful member, too soon for Yuuko to be separated from her idiotic yet amazing twin, too soon for the Drama Club to lose one of its stars…
Too soon for Fumitsuki Academy to lose its beauty.
Akihisa took a couple of deep breaths when he was done, trying to ensure himself that he can do this. He can get through this.
On the corner of his eye was a flower. He plucked it, and tucked the stem between the leaves of the sketchbook.
Akihisa Yoshii was an idiot with lots of determination. Even if his friend was taken away by death, he'd still try to smile for him.
The fool did. And it was a wonderful smile. Aki turned his back on the tombstone, waving cheerfully as he walks away.
"Bye for now, Hideyoshi. Rest well."