Disclaimer: I do not own Liar Game or any of the characters
They had come invited for if they had Akiyama would have been sure to have either left earlier or spend his time some where else in Nao's small apartment and would most defiantly not be about to sit down to lunch with Nao. He watched in well-hid horror as Nao opened the door to her college friends. They walked in laughing and talking earnestly about something. Dammit Nao you could have at least stalled them at the door! He thought as they walked into her living room. The stopped suddenly though not unexpectedly as they saw Akiyama.
He was seated on couch with one foot resting on the coffee table. His eye dark and emotionless as he stared at the girls. Scared the girls turned their attention elsewhere looking around the room they spotted Nao's table laden with food and a bottle of wine for Akiyama. Their interest renewed they looked at him as if studying an animal. They looked at his toned body, his narrowed cold eyes and most importantly his arms draped across her couch as if he owned it. Although considering how much time he spent on her couch, he might as well have. The only things stopping him from getting up and walking out were A) That would just make things worse, B) leaving fumbling Nao to answer their upcoming questions would cause deep misunderstanding and C) he was too damn comfortable. So he leaned back into the couch and prepared for the onslaught of the painfully awkward questions that were coming.
"Sooo Nao" said the left most girl who was trying to stretch out her words as much as possible to give her self more time to think. "Who's that?" she said trying to make it sound as nice as she could; despite the sentence's overwhelming rudeness. Akiyama kept quiet wanting to see how Nao would handle this.
"This is Akiyama-san!" said Nao who was oblivious to the awkward mood that had filled the room. Great! Nao has no idea how bad this looks. Thought Akiyama cursing at Nao's simple-mindedness although he rather liked that about her not that he was ever going to admit it. Akiyama deciding he should say something spoke to the girls unsure weather to be as mean as possible to scare them off or to be nice and smooth this whole thing out. He decided on the latter despite his better judgment to spare Nao later and said as nicely as he could which wasn't much,
"Hey" I'm really not cut out for this friend thing. He thought looking at the worried looks the girl were sending Nao.
"So um Nao…" said the girl who spoke earlier as she looked at Akiyama her eyes secretly trying to find something that would justify his existence in Nao's apartment. Although what she was doing was completely obvious Akiyama left her continue her hopeless search. He did have to admit that he didn't fit in with her cheery and bright apartment. The girl finding the courage to finish her question looked back at Nao and said with earnest look, "is he your boyfriend?"
Akiyama held back the overwhelming sensation to cough up his breakfast as fast as he could which was fast enough for them not to notice. Still fighting the urge he cursed at himself for not having better control as he fantasized about pushing the girl out the window. Really? I was expecting this but she really couldn't think of anything else? I know how this looks but seriously! He looked over a Nao she had turned a bright shade of red at her friends question. She looks cute when she's embarrassed he thought before mentally slapping himself Not Helping! Coming out of his wandering thoughts he watched Nao clumsily come up with an answer,
"Uh no you see he's a…" after enduring a long pause Akiyama decided to finish her sentence for her after carefully considering two choices: acquaintance and friend. The word guardian popped into his head but he brushed it off annoyingly and refocused himself. Acquaintance seemed to fit although it didn't even come close to explaining their relationship and friend well to be honest he hated the taste of that word in his mouth. It meant trust and honesty things he had too little of and things she had too much of but, saying acquaintance would just make her friends worry more so he said,
"Friend" feeling the word roll of his tongue so easily filled him with surprise that he kept to himself and filed away for later thought. He went back to focusing his attention to her friends who were looking doubtful not that he blamed them. He wasn't the sort of person that fit into Nao's life or for that matter someone who looked like a friend with his dark cold eyes and stand-offish appearance.
"Really?" another girl gathering enough courage to look at him though not at his face.
Akiyama glanced at Nao whose mind was still processing the last question. Knowing that she probably would be no help for a while Akiyama took control of the conversation.
"Yeah we met at the hospital, when I was getting discharged" unfortunately that was the best he could come up with since part of him was watching Nao while the other like Nao was processing earlier question. At least it was reasonable since Nao did spend a lot of time at the hospital and it did explain his dark circles, long hair and possibly his bad attitude.
"Oh" said the girl relaxing a little and falling silent leaving everyone once again in an uncomfortable silence.
"So…um would you like to eat?" asked Nao pointing to the lunch that covered the table.
"No um…we were just in the neighborhood and wanted to say hi" said the girl hoping that Nao and Akiyama would believe her. Akiyama breathed a breath of relief and hoped desperately that Nao wouldn't convince them otherwise. Nao face deflated much to Akiyama's amusement as she listened to her friend's words.
"Oh" said Nao as she looked to her feet silently. One of the girls deciding to rid herself
of the situation looked at her watch and faked surprise (badly) and said,
"We have to go if we want to meet the others" the girls catching on nodded and waved goodbye to Nao as they hurriedly left. Well at least they aren't completely useless he thought as he watched them retreat hurriedly.
Nao turned to him with a dejected face
"I wonder why they were in such a hurry?" she asked Akiyama. Nao I don't even know their names and besides it's painfully obvious why they left he thought but decided to answer her question as kindly as he could,
"Nao I think I scared them" said Akiyama slowly as if it as if he were speaking to a child.
"Bu…But…" she stopped and recomposed herself before continuing "I know Akiyama-san can be scary sometimes but you spoke kindly to them" said Nao. Akiyama sighed she just admitted I look scary, Akiyama brushed his thoughts aside and spoke,
"It's okay Nao. Don't worry about it," he said leading her to the table. He watched as she sat down still depressed by her friend actions. Her face scrunched up in thought for a moment before lighting back up again and she looked to Akiyama eagerly
"Are we really friends?" asked Nao her face bright. Akiyama sighed inwardly. This question? He didn't feel like really feel like disappointing her but he didn't want to say something as ridiculous as that. He knew that he would never fit in with anyone. He was a warped puzzle piece so to say that would never fit with the rest of the puzzle but… he hesitated looking at Nao's hopeful face. This girl he thought why is she trying so hard for me. I don't deserve this. Glancing at her face again he sighed. I'm getting soft. Giving another sigh Akiyama said,
"Yeah were friends" the words weren't said with distaste like how he usually said it but with a longing for something more. He wouldn't put his feelings into words for he knew that he wasn't deserving of someone like Nao. As her friends had shown him neither he nor the liar game belonged in her life. But, he knew he couldn't just leave. Looking yet again at Nao's face he saw it screwed up in concentration. Mildly curious Akiyama took a step closer,
"Nao is something wrong" reaching a hand out. Suddenly like Nao face lit up then turned a bright shade of red. She tried unsuccessfully to hide her face from Akiyama who at this point was completely lost.
"Um Nao?" he said trying to look her in the face. Nao faced him after as few seconds her face as red as a tomato and muttered.
"Does Akiyama-san like me?" Akiyama chuckled. Maybe she wasn't as hopeless as I thought. Akiyama gave a smooth smile and took her face and kissed her before Nao had time to react. Pulling back he looked at her and said,
"What do you think?" Nao turned a deeper shade of red and said,
"I think Akiyama-san has been hiding this from me for a long time" Akiyama gave another dark chuckle and sat down at the table,
"Right again" Nao gave a slight smile leading Akiyama to smirk as he started to eat. He most defiantly did not belong in her life but he wasn't going anywhere. In his mind he heard a small "Click" as two puzzle pieces connected.