Forgotten Conversation

"Ricchan?"

Ritsu jumped and slammed shut his book, even going so far as to fall out of his chair at the library table. Kohinata An stood there, clutching her school bag to her chest. She had on her girls soccer club uniform and her long, thick hair was tied back in a high ponytail. Ritsu sighed. "An-chan, I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention to my surroundings."

An tilted her head and looked over to the nearest group of shelves, where Ritsu had been staring while pretending to read a book. There didn't seem to be anyone there, but An sat down at a free chair at Ritsu's table, and Ritsu took his own seat back.

"My mother thought you'd like to come over, since it's a holiday tomorrow," An said. She reached back and ran her hands through her hair, bringing the ponytail over her shoulder. She could tell that Ritsu was distracted, but he had been distracted for the past three years. An looked again, only to see an older student carrying a pile of books in his arms. He and An locked eyes for a few seconds before he went on his way.

An looked to see Ritsu watching the guy cross the room and put the books on the circulation desk. He ran a hand through his hair, looking tired, and Ritsu ducked his head. A blush was creeping onto his cheeks.

"Um, An-chan, I don't think tomorrow is good," Ritsu said. "I'm very sorry." Ritsu bowed while still sitting down.

An did her best to put a smile on her face, and she folded her hands in her lap. "It's alright, Ricchan. We have plenty of time to spend together, after all."

Ritsu averted his eyes. "An-chan, I…" His face went red again, but it was a different kind of blush. "I know our parents want us to get married, but I don't think I'd like that. You're a good friend." When he looked up and saw the hurt in An's eyes, he started waving his hands. "I'm sorry! But it's the truth!" He stared down at his lap, clutching his uniform pants in bunches and unable to look An in the eye again.

In an attempt to avoid an even more awkward situation, Ritsu got up out of his chair, saying something about getting a book. An got up, putting her bag over her shoulder. The older classmate from before walked through, going straight for the shelf Ritsu was at. Ritsu was trying to reach for a book, but he wasn't quite tall enough to get it. The classmate didn't seem to notice Ritsu there, and Ritsu didn't notice him until he finally reached the book and their hands touched.

An ducked her head as Ritsu stuttered, "S-saga-sempai!" Without waiting to see how the scene would play-out, she left the library.

Ritsu screamed as he woke up, thanks to someone rapping him over the head with a rolled-up pile of papers. He scrambled around to pick up the papers he'd displaced and looked up to see Takano, glaring at him through his plastic-framed glasses.

"Get back to work, Onodera," he said. "If you have time to dream about high school, you have time to call Mutou-sensei and check her progress."

Ritsu ducked his head, feeling bad about his most recent dream. He'd forgotten he had talked with An right before officially meeting Saga-sempai at that bookshelf.

"Hey Ricchan, who's 'Saga-sempai'?" Kisa asked, smiling over from his pink, floral-print chair right beside Ritsu.

Ritsu did his best not to blush as he picked up his red correcting pen and started making slashes. "Just-just a classmate from high school."

"So how'd Takano-san know that?" Kisa was still all smiles.

"We went to school together," Takano said from his desk.

"Takano-san!"

"What?" Takano looked unrepentant as he lit a cigarette and leaned back in his chair. "It's true."

Ritsu sighed and put his head down on his desk with a bang. Another all-nighter had just begun.