"You're not gonna write?"
Taiki sighed, temporarily averting his attention from the blank document on his laptop to the jumpy blonde standing behind him. She had a curious look on her face, and he thought that perhaps if she wasn't distracting him from his work he'd have more patience to deal with her and her millions of questions regarding his work and interests and life and everything in general. Maybe it was because he's always placed first during exams, but the girl always seemed to think that he was some genius who knew everything in the world, that nothing could possibly pose a problem to him.
Well, she was right in a way, but he had his fair share of mysteries that he had yet to figure out.
She, happened to be one of them.
"I'm thinking," he said, sitting back and pushing on his glasses. He eyed her as she pulled out the chair across him, sky-blue eyes sparkling while she awaited his answer. "Inspiration and mood don't just come when you want them to, Usagi-san. I have ideas on what to write, but I need to consider. The wording, the way the sentence flows… Those are things that require thorough consideration."
Usagi nodded, placing a hand on her chin, taking in his words. "Ah, I see…!"
Her brows, previously relaxed, became knitted together again in a frown, a new question coming to mind.
"But if that's the case, you cannot possibly call writing your hobby, can you?"
Taiki raised an eyebrow. "And why not?"
"Well, you said it yourself, that it requires a lot of thinking and - as I see - a lot of staring at a blank paper or document. That doesn't seem very fun to me."
He chuckled. "That is true, Usagi-san. But at the same time, that's the joy of writing. You see, by writing, you bring a whole new world to life. You create something amazing that belongs to you alone, and breathe life into it. Then, you make your work public. The people out there may love your work, or maybe they'll hate it - you never know until then, but you could hope. Some people might fall in love with your world and tell you just that, and that - that alone makes the painful process worth it. For me, at least." He added the last part upon seeing her expression, one he recognized as the expression she'd pull when something confused her. It was rather cute, he'd admit that much.
"You're weird," she said, sinking down into her seat. She took a cookie from the container he prepared beforehand, examinating it before taking a bite. "But you make nice cookies, so it's fine."
"You have strange thought processes, Usagi-san."
"And I once thought you were the most normal one in the Three Lights!"
He smiled, amused. "What is it that made you change your mind?"
"Nothing in particular! I just… well, it's not really bad or anything, but…" she trailed off, hands suddenly flying to play with her pigtails. She gave a tiny, awkward laugh.
"I kinda thought you were gonna turn out to be the kind of stuck up celebrity, you know? When you first transferred in. I didn't have the best impression of Seiya then, so I sorta assumed you guys were the same."
"As in constantly showy and trying to impress you?"
"Something like that. Well, of course, I later learned that Seiya isn't like that at all! Maybe just a little, with the impressing, but I know he's not a bad guy. You get my point, don't you?"
He nodded.
"But you were completely different from what I imagined. You're pretty grouchy, and unlike Seiya, I know you don't really like attention from your fans. You're a genius I admire a lot, plus the only person I know who can compare with Ami-chan when it comes to grades, and that's really amazing." Usagi paused, then buried her face into her hands. "…that was pretty embarrassing."
"You're honest as usual, I see. I don't think there's anything to be embarrassed about being like that."
"...Easy for you to say, Taiki, you're not the one who just said all that."
"Perhaps, but it's not always easy being the one getting complimented, especially for someone who doesn't get them often."
"You," she jabbed a finger at him, eyes narrowed, "Taiki, a celebrity, don't get compliments often?"
"I get them a lot, yes, from fans and viewers. But I've never got any from friends, if I ever had any at all."
Regret came over him as soon as the words left his mouth.
One of the wrong things to say to her , he thought, cringing at her expression after she registered his words.
"But it doesn't matter now," he quickly noted. "I'm have the others, and… I'm happy, I suppose."
She leaned in closer to him. "Really?"
"Of course," he said.
"And we're friends too right?"
"Yes."
"You're happy. You've found the happiness Yaten always said you lost years ago," she confirmed.
"…Yes, thanks to you."
Her cheeks flushed. "You know what, all of you celebrities are the same! Always saying things like this to girls… you're so gonna break someone's heart one day."
He laughed inwardly. More like he was gonna have his heart broken, and the person in question wouldn't even know of it in the first place.
"…I'm not so sure about that, Usagi-san."
But maybe, that would be just fine by him. He was content, just nonchalantly spending time with her like this.
So, bittersweetness and unrequited love, huh?
Perhaps Kakyuu was right. He was a romantic after all.