I always feared relationships, or should I rather say rejection. Yes, that's it. The fear of being looked down upon, of being lower than averange… but in the end it's just the fact that if you are indeed rejected, all your chances at mending your relationship with the said person are zero. Humans, by nature, are social beings… so our greatest fear is being left alone. That's why we hesitate when our relationship to another is about to change… In truth a change isn't a good thing, because… humans never really do change.
I wonder how this change is going to affect us, me and Yuigahama… Well, I can only speculate at this point, but I guess we'll see once the hand of the clock behind me reaches 10.
-Hikki.
I wasn't really surprised when I heard her, but seeing her in person after what happened back then made my heart skip a beat. An unusual reaction, even for me… no, actually it's the reaction creatures such as us, high school boys, make in these circumstances.
-Y-Yo.
Damn, I mumbled.
-Sorry for making you wait.
My eyes darted towards the clock and it was about half an hour until the specified time… I probably shouldn't say that I was here since 9…
-No, don't worry about it.
Only now do I look upon Yuigahama and notice her unusual style of clothing. If I had to say, it would be somewhere between cute and mature. Compared to her, my clothes are plain, but this much should be ok.
-You look good in those clothes.
-Th-Thank you.
Though I was sure it would come to this eventually, the fact that both of us has nothing to say is even more obvious when witnessing it first hand. First of all, we know nothing about each other, or rather, nothing special enough to share.
-S-Shall we take a walk then.
She nodded.
I started walking first, but made sure to let Yuigahama match her pace with mine. Though I haven't noticed at first, little by little, she started getting closer to me. Looking at her bright red face I realized that mine was probably the same… Well… it's time I guess…
-Hey, Yuigahama.
She jumped a bit, but managed to give a faint response.
-Y-Yes…
-Last night, I thought about it. What response should I give to you.
-Y-yes.
-To tell the tr-truth, I kinda li-like you too, Yu-Yuigahama, though I don't really know if it's really l-love...yet… S-so…
-Yui.
Her sudden proclamation of her own name made my train of thought stop.
-Call me Yui…
I was at a loss of words… I knew that I would come to this eventually, but…
-Y-Yui…
-Hikki.
She grabbed my hand, making me look into her eyes.
-Thank you.
Her eyes were sparkling with tears.
-Thank you… and… I will be in your care from now on.
She smiled, but not her usual, forced, maked-up smile, but a genuine one like I never saw before… So, Yuigahama can make expressions like this too…
-Y-Yes…
I was blushing hard, I could feel it. I never would have imagined that I might see a girl so happy to be with me.
-So… what should we do now?
We looked at each other for a bit then decided to keep walking when we realized that the other people in the park were looking at us. We didn't talk at all while traveling across the narrow alleys, hand in hand.
