So, here's the second part. Hope you will enjoy. Oh, and Happy New Year to you all. :)
After my first day in Sakakino I thought that all these recent events are just some kind of dream. Fortunately and unfortunately, I was wrong: Still I need to get up ridiculously early and manage to wake up all house, including my parents and my older sister.
We're living in a house, not really big, but decent enough. Maybe it's just because of this creaking stairs? Or because of my tendency to damage at least one thing per each morning? Anyway, after another rant from series "You'll be quiet or you'll be grounded" quick run into train station and I'm here, barely breathing(I'm a certain opposite of sportsman yet I manage to keep my slim posture). Makoto enters on the next station. We're greeting each other and than we're heading to Harahirama, where Katsura enters. Again with her book. Unfortunately for me, battery is dead, so – in order to kill boredom – I've took some Polish literature. Ah yes, "Last Wish" by Sapkowski and everything seems better. Finally, we're here.
Again, marathon. Compared to my previous schools looks incredibly long. Let's hope I'll get used to it. I've got also a lesson: Never try to read while walking or else you'll end on a city lamp. Moaning painfully. Thankfully I managed to save my glasses.
Again, these two part ways. I can easily see all of his looks towards her.
"So, how long have you been noticing her?", I ask Itou, curious.
"Since the end of first semester, but real deal starts now, I think", he responds, pondering about something. "She's… Well, really pretty and all… You know…"
"And you're too shy to try speaking with her, so instead you've just taken her photo… And then Saionji-san notices it and try to help you?"
"Absolutely.", we're approaching the classroom and take our seats. Sekai is already here, as cheerful as yesterday. Unfortunately, my "getting used to her attitude" seems to fail miserably.
"Hiya!", she greets us with smile. The same annoying expression… Or maybe I'm just too tired to notice positives.
"Morning, Saionji-san", I respond, yawning. "So, what's so special about today?"
"I'm not sure I understand."
"How do you manage to keep your cheerful attitude? I simply don't get it. You're… You're goddamn hyperactive, woman.", I explain my doubts. She looks at me for a while, than starts laughing. Of course.
"You're even funnier than I thought", she says with some difficulty(She still keeps laughing). "You know, someone told me that living without smile is like sushi without wasabi."
"Nevermind, sorry for bothering you.", I make retreat, regretting my previous sentence.
"Nah, it's all right. Oh, and by the way, we're going to make some plan about pairing Katsura-san and Makoto, aren't we?"
"We?", I say, pretty surprised. Looks like Itou had already managed to inform Sekai about yesterday's chat.
"Come on, don't you want them together? They'll look so cute in pair."
"From my observations I can assume that Katsura-san doesn't even know about Itou-san's existence.", I respond truthfully. "But I do believe you HAVE done something in order to make this change, haven't you?", she just smiles innocently. "Besides, forcing two people to go dating each other… Isn't it a little too exaggerated?"
"Baka. Of course we don't force any of them. Katsura-san has already expressed willingness to meet with Makoto-kun. And he… Well, he's like an open book. It is clear that he loves her."
"And you care because…"
"Just because.", she responds, again surprising me. "You know, when two people exchange their feelings to each other and than say "I love you"… It's so romantic. Also, Makoto-kun is my old friend, so it wouldn't be polite to ignore his attempts."
"I think I get it… And I care because…", I murmur, watching her cautiously.
"Because Saionji-san asks you a favor", she responds, smiling.
"No. It's not my cup of tea. Love is… Stupid.", I say, now embarrassed because I clearly know how stupid it sounds. Sekai looks surprised after my statement. "Stupid… And bitter. Never works and even if somehow, it'll develop into madness and possessiveness. My only love is art of writing and nothing more."
"You're writing?"
"Kinda. Fantasy stories, where love is usually mauled to pieces."
"Explains everything."
"Okay, I have never been in love, but I know how it ends."
"Since you've never been, you can't say love is a bad thing.", she protests stubbornly.
"Sorry, I prefer Big Bad winning rather than another sweet prince-princess pairing. Of course, minimal amounts of blood, gore and misery is required. Than, some antagonist's servant or right-hand who is talkative, funny and charismatic… Oh, sorry, didn't mean to bore you."
"Of course you don't. Except Makoto-kun and Setsuna you're one of the most interesting persons I've ever met", she says with FULL sincerity.
"You're mocking me, aren't you?", I ask after a while. Looks like it worked, Sekai finally stops smiling.
"Baka.", she mumbles and stops paying attention to me. Suddenly, I feel like a jerk. At least, she's sincere.
Silence permits two lessons. With every next minute I feel more and more guilty. Hell, I'm going to actually apologize her. When we're leaving the class, I can see her and Itou talking about something. Let's hope I do not interrupt something important.
"Can I borrow Saionji-san for a moment?", I ask, trying to look relaxed.
"Sekai…?", Makoto asks her. She smiles lightly and nods. He shrugs his arms and walks away, probably into canteen.
"You've got something to tell me", she says, looking for some reaction.
"Emm… Sorry for being an asshole.", I respond. She doesn't say anything. "You know, it's just… Unusual that someone likes me that much. I'm not used to such treatment… Once again, sorry.", I continue apologizing and suddenly I feel… that it's not acting anymore. I really feel guilty.
Sekai smiles gently.
"It's alright", she finally says, patting my shoulder. "So, are you in?"
"I'll probably regret it, but okay, I think I can help you… If you tell me, how… Pardner."
"You play Team Fortress 2?", she asks suddenly, totally surprised. Awkward silence breaks our chatter.
"YOU play Team Fortress 2?", we asks each other, shocked. Some people gives curious looks at us. Again, silence. I've finally managed to raise my finger and point it at her.
"You…?"
"Yeah… Pretty addicting.", she tries to mask her embarrassment with silly smile.
"Like hell…"
"So, you say you play as Engie?"
"Sometimes, yes…Ah, let's avoid this topic. If I manage to get the initiative in chat, you'll find yourself sleeping in a matter of seconds.", I respond, smiling lightly. It's good to know that we have at least one thing in common. She smiles, too.
"Oh no, our meeting on the rooftop!", she says suddenly, pretty scared(And also scaring me with this sudden change).
"Oops…"
"C'mon, we can still make it!", Sekai starts running towards stairs and so do I, having absolutely no idea where the rooftop is.
Fortunately, they were still there, Itou and Katsura. Amusingly enough, it looked like they're were trying to avoid themselves rather than closing to each other.
"Hey, sorry for being late!", Saionji says loudly, smiling. Our two lovers look pretty embarrassed(For a good reason, at least in my opinion), than they notice me… And I can easily tell that my presence makes long-haired girl even shyer than before. Well, my appearance wasn't discussed, so I can understand her. Makoto, on the other hand, looks more like confused.
"Oh, I thought we can involve him into this", Sekai explains, again summoning apologetic smile. "Casper-kun wants to help you two in…"
"Romantic things.", I finish her sentence, trying to sound authentically. Itou doesn't seem to be pleased with this cliffhanger, but apparently Katsura doesn't mind. She even gives me a slight smile.
"Oh my, I haven't introduced you to Katsura-san", Saionji says suddenly. She seems to be worried. "No matter, we can do it right now, can't we?", she adds to her sentence, again with this irritating smile of hers. I think I can handle this one pretty nicely.
"Wala Casper. Pleasure to meet you, Katsura-san.", I say, bowing in traditional fashion (Forty five degrees). She seems to be surprised about my official behavior, but doesn't complain. Itou, on the other hand… Looks like he thinks I'm some kind of "rival" in our "pack". You shouldn't worry yourself, my dense friend.
"So, how's the conversation going?", Sekai asks, smiling slyly.
"Oh… It's… It's fine", Katsura responds, blushing rapidly. Her voice is actually pretty pleasant to the ear. Itou just nods his head, also pretty embarrassed.
"Okay, we need to invent a plan", my partner in "crime" says silently, almost whispering.
"I thought that you already have a plan."
"Well, I had… But than you appeared and…"
"Wait, it was YOUR idea to get me involved, so don't tell me you have no idea what to do."
"I've got one idea. We need to… Hmm, how to name it… Oh, get in closer relations with them."
"Go on…"
"You can try to motivate and encourage Katsura-san when I'll try to do the same thing with Makoto-kun."
"…I don't know anything at all about her and yet you want ME to help her?"
"We've got the deal.", she says it pretty seriously.
"Okay, okay, you win. But still, maybe we should change our… victims?"
"According to Makoto-kun, you ride train with her everyday."
"It makes things a little bit complicated, you see… I've got a feeling that Itou-san treats me like some kind of a "competitor" for Katsura-san's heart.", as I expected, she bursts out laughing.
"All right, we can switch", she says after while, trying to catch breath. "But don't fail me, Casper-kun. Makoto's depending on your suggestions."
"Maybe we should join them…?", I ask, a little embarrassed. Is it just me or it looks like we're a couple or something…? Sweet Alastor, no! Sekai is too hyper, energetic, irritating and so on to make me even think about her as a significant other… Close friend, maybe, but not a lover. As I stated before, I'm an artist. I cannot fall in love in someone when I'm already with art… Oh, how melodramatic.
The rest of our meeting was pretty normal: Saionji-san keeping whole party alive, embarrassed two lovers and me, listening and also trying to keep them alive. Thankfully, Sekai managed to do all this work for me.
"Okay, we should go", she says suddenly, grabbing my arm and dragging me to exit. "You two require some time alone", she explained, smiling cheerfully.
"Yeah, good luck", I say without enthusiasm at all. "Could you please stop stretch my uniform, thank you", I say, a little irritated. Of course, I do not like it, but I unfortunately need it.
"Oh, sorry", she responds, letting my sleeve go. "And, what do you think?", she asks, smiling. Of course she must be talking about these two.
"They're both pretty shy. No way he's gonna confess to her, at least not now", I respond.
"Nah, you must believe in people", she says cheerfully.
"We'll see."
The rest of the day was pretty… Hmm, I would say, normal: Banters and quarrels with Sekai, impossible-to-understand teachers, learning something new about Saionji-san's friends(For example, Hikari's crush on Sawanaga or the fact that Nanami already has a boyfriend and plays basketball in school's team… Although the first info was confirmed as "secret" that should not be known by Taisuke-kun and Hikari has already told me that she'll tear me from limb to limb if I tell him).
And now, I'm waiting on train station. Katsura-san is, according to Sekai, her class representative and, because of this, she rides back home in later train. For some odd reason, I cannot find Itou-san. Where is he, actually?
Ah, finally I can localize him. He looks stunned or something, hard to tell… Something's not right with him. Maybe Katsura-san rejected him?
"Oi, Makoto!", I'm calling him. "Over here!", he seems confused, but looks like still can hear pretty well.
"Oh, hey.", he responds. Something's not right, but I can't tell, what exactly.
"So, how's the… Em, chat with Katsura-san?", he smiles. Good sign.
"I confessed… And it worked", Itou says. "We're officially a couple."
"Good to hear… So, you love her? Then why are you look like you've been seeing dead people?", I ask, trying to joke. He doesn't seem pleased with my attempts.
"This isn't related with Katsura-san", he responds coldly.
"Sorry then, if I offend you somehow. You just doesn't seem happy at all."
"Let's just cut this topic off, shall we?"
"Oh, one more thing. What's her name?", I ask, curious. "You… know her first name, don't you?"
"Yes. It's… Kotonoha.", for some odd reason, he looks embarrassed.
"Pretty name. No idea what it means in Japanese, but sounds good… Other topic: Have you gathered some information about Saionji-san?"
"Oh, sorry. I totally forgot about it.", he says, even more embarrassed than before.
"Nah, it's nothing. You have much time to do so, but now enjoy your… romantic moments with Katsura-san.", I answer, turning on my music player. "Out of curiosity, have you got any idea about dating?"
"Not really.", Itou answers, still embarrassed.
"Don't worry, I think I can help you a little."
"You?"
"Yeah. You see, from my observations I can assume that Katsura-san is really shy and introvert. You need to be very careful and gentle, and when I say "very", I mean… Nah, you get the point."
"I think so…"
And so our chatter was over again. Looks like I'm gonna regret it… But hell, maybe it'll be fun. Suddenly I get a text message. It's from Sekai.
"Care to lie in Dustbowl's sands?" I smile. She seems pretty confident.
"We'll see who will lie there", I answer, wondering.
