Someone Else
Chapter 13: 8th of June, 2013
In the middle of the active station in the early Saturday morning, Kagami and Tsukasa waited for the arrival of the subway, the two of them standing next to each other behind the safety line. The message board overhead said that the transport was only a minute away, which had prompted several people around them to stand up from their seats in expectation as well.
Kagami heard Tsukasa's sudden sigh of contentment beside her, causing her to turn her head in her direction, noticing the happy smile that the girl was giving her.
"It's finally the end of the week," her sister told her with an uplifted tone. "One more wave of tests is over, too."
"Don't forget the homework that we had to do for at least a few subjects," Kagami spoke in agreement, smiling back at Tsukasa.
"Normally I'd be nervous until the results come in, but now I'm just relieved that we're done with them," Tsukasa replied.
"We don't have anything to do for Monday either," Kagami nodded joyfully in response, adjusting the strap of her satchel. "Even if we take school work out of the way, it was still rough this week."
"It was," the younger twin agreed, slightly shaking her head in remembrance, but then she proceeded to close her eyes in mirth. "Hopefully we have nice moments to look forward to now."
"I hope so too…" Kagami's voice trailed off in her answer while she watched the newly appeared subway quickly closing in, letting out an almost deafening noise in its wake.
Most people around already clustered among one another next to the safety line, patiently waiting for the doors of the cars to open and for the other passengers to leave. Despite the fact that the crowd was considerable, there wasn't much in the way of chatter, for most looked as if they travelled alone to work, or in some cases school.
Soon, Kagami found herself leading Tsukasa into the largely vacant car which was currently being slowly filled from all available doors. As she inspected the seats around them, wondering as to where they should sit, Kagami's eyes instantly registered an all too familiar figure sitting in the distance. It was of a person who had almost completely taken over her thoughts lately, the object of her continuously growing affection. There was a newspaper in his hands as he read the page it was opened on, the bangs of his hair obscuring his eyes from view, while a set of white plugs hung from his ears. She simply kept on looking at him until the doors of the subway closed, the sound snapping her back to the situation. She quickly turned around to face Tsukasa, who seemed to wait for her to sit down somewhere.
"Hey, Jayden's over there," Kagami told her, nodding the boy's way to show her his location.
"Oh," Tsukasa uttered in surprise as she looked in his direction, and then returned the nod after a moment with a smile.
After that, Kagami wasted no time heading towards Jayden with her sister in tow, her hand taking hold of any railing nearby, for the subway was already in transit again. Even with the new people on board, there were still a lot of empty seats around, including those next to Jayden himself.
Kagami was just about to greet him upon nearing his seat when he looked up to her from the newspaper, apparently having noticed her presence already. He immediately gave her his endearing soft smile that she couldn't help returning, while his lustrous green eyes somehow kept her unwavering gaze on his for a few seconds. The connection was only broken when his hands put down the newspaper in front of him and took the plugs out of his ears.
"Hey," he simply said to her and Tsukasa then, his voice sounding infectiously joyous.
"Morning, Jayden-san," Tsukasa answered mirthfully.
"Hey, Jayden," Kagami replied next, her hand pushing back a lock of hair behind her ear in her greeting.
"It's a pleasant surprise stumbling upon you here again," he spoke in a soft tone, and then gestured for them to sit beside him while adding, "Nothing interesting on the newspaper today anyway, but I suppose that's always a good thing."
Kagami was the one to sit right next to him, brushing the bangs away from her face before doing so, preparing to place her satchel on her lap. It wasn't long before she was on the bench when she grew aware of the proximity between her and Jayden, her arm having almost brushed against the sleeve of his white button-up shirt. Being conscious of their sudden closeness gave her a bit of pause before she was able to reply.
"Well, uh, you can always give Sudoku a try. It's usually on the last page. You know, another way to help pass the time," she said eventually, her hands working on slightly readjusting the position of her satchel on her lap for no particular reason.
"I would've if I had an idea on how to play it," Jayden replied in a chuckle, his pleasant laugh making her turn her head away from her satchel towards him again, her gaze locking with his. Were there always this many shades of green in his eyes?
"You don't know how to play Sudoku?" Kagami soon asked him curiously when she managed to shake herself out of her reverie, her hand having gone to run along the length of a pigtail of her hair. She glanced away from him for a moment after she realized she had been staring into his eyes.
"When I see a game with this many numbers, it just reminds me of math, so I stay away," he answered her with a light shrug of his shoulders.
"Thank goodness it doesn't have anything to do with math. Sudoku is actually very fun," Tsukasa chimed in cheerfully with a nod.
"It's not difficult, Jayden – there are no equations or anything," Kagami added with a playful smile, slightly gesticulating with her hand in his direction. "I could teach you if you want."
"I guess that's the impression I had of the game," Jayden spoke, beaming back at Kagami with amusement. He slightly tilted his head her way when he added, "I just might take you up on your offer sometime. Until then, the songs from my player will have to do."
"But you always listen to that player," Kagami stated with a heartfelt chuckle, finding herself curiously inquiring after a moment, "What music do you have on it, actually?"
"At least a few kinds, since there's a lot of space on it," Jayden answered, pulling it out from the chest pocket of his shirt, holding it out towards her with his hand, his thumb pressing on a little button above to activate it. "I like listening to mellow electronic music most, though. I often have such songs running to relax me when I'm travelling," he elaborated, browsing through a list of folders on the screen.
"I don't think I've listened to a lot of electronica," Kagami spoke, slightly furrowing her brows as she attempted to recognize any name of a group on the device. "I mostly like pop music, but there haven't been any new interesting songs lately."
"Ayu released a new album a while ago, but Sis and I were disappointed," Tsukasa added with a shake of her head. "We both agree that her older ones are better."
"The songs I have here are somewhat old too," Jayden retorted while still looking at the player until he stopped scrolling down the song list. He glanced at Kagami and then at Tsukasa after a second, asking them, "Would you like to give one of these a shot? It's a favorite song of mine."
"Oh," Kagami uttered initially before nodding with agreement. "Yes, I want to, Jayden."
As she said that, Jayden went on to lightly place the player on her palm, the fingers of his hand briefly coming into contact with hers. The touch made her tremble ever so slightly, the warmth she felt from the short connection catching her off-guard. When he pulled away, she found herself wishing that he had lingered a little while more. Realizing that, she wasn't able to fight the blush from appearing on her cheeks, so she turned her head to face Tsukasa and give her the other earplug as the song started playing.
It began as a simple, soft beat, lightly skipping in a slow, but pleasantly rhythmic succession. While it was still faint, there was a certain weight to it, and it became slightly more powerful with each of its entrancing skips. That was eventually joined by a mellow, distant, mystical ring, which started off quiet itself before it grew in intensity as the song went along. The two tracks soon fell into a distinct harmony, the smooth voice of a woman who had just started singing in English somehow bringing them together.
The subtle connection of the two tracks now ran in the background, the singer gently uttering the soft lyrics of the captivating song. Unaware of it, Kagami had started slowly rocking her head a little in accordance with the rhythm, her eyes locked on the empty bench opposite her. She could feel that Jayden beside her was watching her listen to the song, but she was still too much into it to say anything.
The increasing strength of the beat somehow diminished when the woman stopped singing for a moment, the pleasant background ring growing quieter, too. It took for her voice to return, as well as a few more notes of the song to bring back the power of the enchanting rhythm. The harmonious connection of electronica continued even when it was all that was left again, strongly resonating on its own. It was such a pleasant, melodic unison that Kagami couldn't help but smile to, briefly glancing in Jayden's direction to see a similar expression on his countenance as well.
It wasn't long before the sounds of the song became more and more distant, resulting in the beat and its accompanying ring slowly fading together. The effect was relaxing, and yet, at the same time… it was somehow stirring. She turned her head back at Jayden, her eyes involuntarily lingering on the sight of him, and it was his voice that brought her back to reality.
"What do you think?" he asked expectantly, the question making Kagami remember herself.
"It's a very powerful song…" she could only reply for the moment, slowly taking out her earplug in the process while looking at him with a smile, adding sincerely, "I really like it. It's entrancing."
"It sounded mystical," Tsukasa simply spoke with a nod, having put down the cable herself.
"I like listening to it, it's very soothing," Jayden told them in response, then gestured in the direction of the player with his hand, saying, "If you're interested, there are a lot of songs similar to this one in the same folder."
"You've got a vast collection of these," Kagami observed when she scrolled through the list, having seen the way Jayden used the device and mimicked the movement with her thumb. "There are so many artists here that I don't recognize, all of them foreign," she observed.
"If you want, you can borrow it for a bit," Jayden said, his suggestion making Kagami look at him inquisitively. He clarified, "You can listen through these songs and write down the names of the ones you like, and you can download them from somewhere later on."
"It's very nice of you to offer, but… how will you survive without this player, Jayden?" Kagami asked, grinning at him teasingly.
"I think I'll manage somehow," he retorted with amusement, the pleasant sound of his chuckle widening her smile. He then shook his head with certainty and waved his hand dismissively, saying, "Don't worry about it."
"Well, the one you showed us was really nice, and I'd like to see if there are more…" Kagami's voice trailed off in her response while she glanced back at the interface of the player. In a moment, she looked back at Jayden again, uttering, "If you're certain about this, then thank you."
"It's no problem, Kagami," Jayden answered, pushing back the fringe that had fallen across his right eye. Before she found herself losing herself in his gaze again, Kagami turned her attention to the player again before it happened, the blush on her face still very much there.
The rest of the ride on the subway was spent with her and Tsukasa talking with Jayden about their favorite music, with Kagami learning more about his preferred songs. She could almost hear the beat of the one she had listened to before as they spoke. Time, however, flew by way too quickly, and soon the group found themselves getting up from their seats to leave at the central station. That unfortunately put an end to her proximity to Jayden, something she couldn't help but be conscious of when they started walking out of the station. It wouldn't be long before they reached school and they'd have to go to their separate classrooms either.
Kagami quickly shook her head at the thought. This was silly – they'd meet up again between lessons anyway, wouldn't they? Surely, her mind was acting like this was the last time they'd see each other for the day or something.
When the time came for her to leave for her classroom, however, and when her lesson began, she couldn't shake off a certain feeling subtly nagging her. She really did miss him already.
A few hours after school had ended, Kagami found herself lying on her back in the bed of her room, the window open as it let in the fresh, pleasant air from outside. It was far enough in the day for the perfectly clear sky to be in a somewhat darker shade of sapphire already. A bird outside was softly chirping as well, but the sound was deafened by the mellow music playing in Kagami's ears, let out by the plugs she had put on, both of them connected to a certain device Jayden had lent her.
Her eyes stared towards the ceiling above as she listened to another entrancing piece, wearing a small, soft smile on her lips as she did. The player from which it came from was buried face down on her stomach with her hand resting over it, while her legs were crossed one over the other on the bed, slightly swaying left and right to the slow rhythm of the song.
The resonating sound of the soft and tender music was captivating, as were the thoughts and images that it gave her. The wonderful tones made her think of him once again. Jayden.
This was the music he listened to… this was his player. It somehow fit him. The songs there served to help her visualize him perfectly and to imagine herself being with him, moments between them materializing before her eyes in response to the sounds. Her vivid imaginings looked so real, the pictures of him looking at her lovingly, holding her tightly, kissing her deeply… but they weren't.
Kagami hadn't realized her eyes had closed as she had begun losing herself in her fantasy until she opened them again at her thought. The happiness she felt thinking about her and him was always leading to her realizing that this was only happening in her head, but it hadn't pained her this much before as it did now.
She was aware of how strong her desire was to be with Jayden, how much she wanted it to work out with him if they were together. After mulling it over, the two of them seemed… somehow right for each other. Was this only wishful thinking on her part? She had been perfectly fine before, enjoyed hanging out with him, being his friend, but that wasn't the case anymore.
Regardless… she wanted to find out. She badly wanted to give this a try. Not knowing whether it could work or not was becoming unbearable to endure. Simply imagining him and her together wasn't enough any longer.
Now, as Kagami lied in bed listening to the enchanting music that only intensified her emotions, she knew she had to do something. She could tell him how she felt about him… no, she had to. Waiting for him to possibly say something first wasn't an option… and neither was waiting for the next day of school to arrive. She had already realized before that she couldn't hold this in, but did she really have the courage to let it out already? Even if she didn't… she didn't have the strength to keep it to herself anymore.
Stopping the music and putting down the player on her nightstand, Kagami proceeded to stand up from her bed with sudden determination, only getting as far as sitting on it. Anxiety already hit her from what she was thinking of doing, her mind racing at the mere thought of it, her breathing speeding up as well.
She was actually going to speak to Jayden about this… tell him who he was to her, what she felt, what she desired, what she hoped… How would he react? Would he be surprised? Would he want this as well? And… what would happen if he said no? If he did, then…
Kagami shook her head, trying to clear her mind from these unnerving thoughts, fighting through them in an attempt to regain her courage. Despite all the worries she might have, she knew she just had to say something soon. She sighed deeply as part of her effort to calm herself down, standing up from the bed in the meantime, already walking through the door of her room, heading towards the phone in the hall. A simple call wasn't how she wanted to do it, however… she wasn't even sure she could… she had to meet up with him somewhere in person and tell him then.
Already within arm's reach of the phone, her hand reached for the receiver determinedly, yet the worry in her eyes would've been obvious to anyone in the same room. Luckily, the hall was empty while Kagami dialed and eventually sat down on the adjacent couch, her body nervously leaning forward as she waited for Jayden to pick up. Her foot slightly tapped on the floor with apprehension, a feeling she had trouble containing until somebody finally answered.
"Hello?" a girl's voice spoke on the other line in English, one that Kagami quickly remembered belonged to Kaiya.
"Hello, this is Kagami," she replied after a second, clearing her throat a little before asking, "Is, uh, is Jayden there?"
"Oh, hey. Yeah, he is, just a second," Kaiya answered in Japanese this time, the line going silent for a little while afterward. Kagami sighed with anticipation as she waited again, her anxiety compounded upon finally hearing the sound of his voice on the other end.
"Hey, Kagami," he had simply said to her.
"Jayden… is this a good time?" Kagami could only reply after a moment, her tone on edge, her hand having gone to push back a lock of hair behind her ear.
"Yeah, of course, I'm just relaxing here, eating some candy," he answered with obvious mirth, a smile appearing on Kagami's lips through her nervousness in response.
"I had a bit of chocolate myself after school," she spoke, omitting the part where she had thought of him when she did so.
"Always a nice way to close the week, I say," Jayden told her with amusement – Kagami could tell he was smiling himself in his reply.
"I haven't thought of it like that, but you're right, it is," she said in a chuckle, followed by another clearing of her throat before she spoke again. "Jayden, the reason I'm calling…" her voice trailed off for a while in hesitation before she asked firmly, "Can you meet up with me in a bit?"
"Is something wrong? You sound worried," Jayden inquired a bit worriedly. He'd always be concerned like that if he thought something was wrong.
"No, I just… I need to see you," she told him after calming herself down a little, her eyes looking down on the floor while she continued talking to him. "I know it's getting dark out, but… if you have time now…"
"I do," Jayden retorted, still bearing a hint of confusion, then asked with care again, "Are you sure everything's alright?"
"Yes, don't worry, Jayden," Kagami assured him, taking a breath again, drawing a circle in the couch with her finger while clarifying earnestly, "There's something I want to tell you, and… I don't want to talk about it over the phone."
"Okay," Jayden told her with understanding, proceeding to ask in a moment, "Where should we meet up, then?"
"Well, uh, you know that park by the river? The one by the Kuki-shi bridge?" she suggested after briefly thinking about it.
"Yeah, I think I do, it's not far away from here," Jayden's voice answered on the other end of the line.
"Then… how about we meet up there in half an hour?" Kagami inquired with a clearly hopeful tone.
"That's fine with me," he spoke in agreement.
"Thank you, Jayden," she said with a sigh of relief and a smile on her face. Not all worries were alleviated, however, for that was only the beginning. "I guess I'll talk to you there."
"See you in a bit then, Kagami," Jayden replied, his words still marked with concern.
A new wave of worry hit Kagami following the conversation she had with him, as well as the realization that she was actually going through with this. In just a little while, she was actually going to speak to Jayden and admit her feelings for him. Any effort to push away thoughts of what could happen proved to be futile, and that caused her no small degree of anxiety.
The park she had decided for them to meet up at was about fifteen minutes away… the clock above the television set showed six thirty… that meant that she had to leave at quarter to seven, at the least. This had to go right…
Her train of thought was broken by the appearance of her sister, who had just opened the door to her room. Upon arrival at the hall of their house, Tsukasa immediately turned her head in Kagami's direction and smiled mirthfully at her.
"Hey, Sis," she told her, then glanced in the direction of the television set with confusion, seeing that it wasn't turned on. Looking at Kagami again, she asked, "I thought I heard something. Aren't you watching TV?"
"No, I just called Jayden," Kagami explained with a nod towards the phone, sighing nervously and rubbing her hands together as she explained, "I'm going to tell him how I feel. We're meeting up in a few minutes."
"Oh, that's great, Sis," Tsukasa replied excitedly, smiling earnestly at her again, sitting down on the couch next to her. She simply looked at her for a second and stated, "You're nervous about it."
"Yes," Kagami nodded, returning her twin's gaze, saying, "I don't know what his answer is going to be… I don't even know what exactly I'm going to say to him."
"I'd be so scared. I probably wouldn't be able to say a word and just end up talking about something else," Tsukasa soon said to her in a giggle, closing her eyes with mirth.
"That's what I'm afraid is going to happen to me too," Kagami replied, managing to genuinely laugh back despite herself.
"Well…" Tsukasa uttered, looking away from her twin for a bit before glancing back. "Try not to think about it too much, Sis."
"I know…" Kagami answered, staring towards her reflection on the blank TV screen while she talked. "I should just say what I feel, see if he feels the same way and if he wants us to get together… There's not much more to it, but… I'm still not sure how he's going to take it."
A moment of silence passed between them before her younger twin chimed in.
"I think he'll say yes," Tsukasa told her with a reassuring nod, causing Kagami to turn her head back at her. "There was something between you even before you began thinking about it."
"Still, he probably hasn't considered... him and I together," Kagami replied, a little while passing again before Tsukasa responded.
"Even if he hasn't, he can still think about it after you ask him," she said. "And he can still say yes."
"He'll need some time in that case," Kagami spoke, her voice trailing off as her thoughts got back to wondering what his reaction was going to be, but still noticing the smile that Tsukasa was giving beside her.
"I hope things happen with you and him," she told her happily. "I think you'll be good together."
"I hope so too," Kagami replied, returning her smile with reinvigoration in her voice, saying, "Thank you, Tsukasa."
The two sisters exchanged a nod, followed by another moment of silence, Tsukasa's presence providing a certain degree of comfort, helping Kagami with the worry going on in her head.
No overthinking it… no wondering about what to say… just straight up telling him what she felt. Whatever happened, she wanted Jayden to know.
With a quick glance back at the clock above the TV, Kagami eventually put her hands on either side of the couch and then quickly stood up.
"Well then, I better get going and meet up with him," she told her sibling decisively.
"Good luck, Sis," Tsukasa beamed at her again as she looked up her way.
With a final reassuring glance between the twins, Kagami proceeded to head out of the hall with a slightly hastened pace, a result of the building excitement she felt.
All of this seemed to hit her like lightning. Before she had realized what was happening, she found herself unable to get a certain boy out of her head, and now she was about to tell him about it. How did she get here?
A few minutes later, Kagami already found herself waiting for Jayden at the far end of the little park square, a largely quiet place with only a few trees spread out from one another. The bench she was sitting on was facing the river, with most visible activity limited to the other side of the bridge where the subway station was.
Kagami's gaze was looking downward at the ground as she kept trying to inhale and exhale evenly. Her arms were propped up on her knees while her hair was slightly blowing from the wind that was hitting her, her bangs falling across her eyes in the process. After a soft sigh of anticipation, she quickly pushed them away with her hand, which proceeded to run across the length of a pigtail of her hair up and down several times.
Jayden would be here any minute now… and she'd tell him. And he could say that he wants this, too. Her feelings for him could be mutual. Things might not go as she wanted them to, but… it could still happen. Jayden and her. Together. For real. It felt like it was too much to hope for… no, she shouldn't think that way. She ought to just concentrate on speaking her mind to him… her heart. She wanted him to know that she was confident about this, sure of the fact that her feelings for him were very much real, as well as her desire. If this was to go smoothly, she had to calm herself, relax a little… though it was beyond her to fully do that at this moment.
Most importantly, Kagami just had to focus on him alone, and what she felt about him.
The sound of nearing footsteps made her turn her head towards the source, the movements of her hand stopping upon seeing that it wasn't a random passer-by nearing her this time. It was Jayden.
Even from this far, the light green shade of his eyes was palpable, a detectable spark of curiosity in them as they looked at her during his approach. He was wearing a dark green button-up shirt with a collar neatly folded around his neck and a pair of black trousers and shoes of the same color. Another gust of wind pushed Kagami's bangs to slightly obstruct her view, but she was quick to brush them away again, her gaze on his unwavering. The sight of him made her heartbeat dangerously quicken, her mind filling up with so many thoughts, and it was taking all her effort to even remotely suppress them.
She was finally going to do it…
There she was, sitting on a bench next to one of the many blossoming trees around, Jayden's eyes locking with hers as he neared her. Something important was on Kagami's mind, and it was expressed on her every feature. After a second or two, she slowly stood up from her seat, looking down on the ground while pushing away a lock of her hair behind her ear, and it wasn't until he got closer to her when she returned his gaze again.
The bluish color of her eyes seemed to penetrate the darkness of the night, their striking depths somehow gleaming as they bored into his, their shine visibly flickering. Her mouth was slightly parted, surrounded by a rosy blush on her face, a feature about her which had its own way of glowing as well. The light wind in the air made her purple hair subtly blow around her, except for a lone pigtail in front that she gently held in her hand. Her delicate fingers were playing with the hairs of the pigtail, which was resting over her sleeveless dark green vest with a collar around her neck, a couple of fastened buttons right below it. Tightly clinging to her chest, her outfit brought out her slender form, her pigtail slightly swerving over the shape of her breasts and reaching down the smooth curves of her hips. The vest went along nicely with the dark brown skirt she had put on, which was the color of the ribbons in her hair. Her creamy skin was another thing about her that appeared to glow, as apparent from the sight of her slim legs, a couple of light black shoes on her feet. The same subtle light seemed to emanate from her face as well, which Jayden couldn't help but look over again. It wasn't long before he realized, however, that he was already standing next to her, no distance left between them for him to cross. Despite feeling a similar shade of red rising to his cheeks upon seeing her own blush again, he maintained his gaze on her even when she spoke.
"Hey… Jayden," she simply said with a familiar pleasant warmth in her voice, her words sounding somewhat quiet, followed by a soft clearing of her throat.
"Kagami," he replied, noticing the reflection of the newly appeared stars above them in the girl's eyes from up close as he looked at her. He briefly inspected their depths again before remembering himself, uttering, "I'm sorry if I'm late, I wasn't sure how long the walk is from my house to here…"
"No, don't worry, you aren't," Kagami was quick to assure him with a slight shake of her head, her hand still gently moving across her pigtail when she added, "I just came here earlier."
There was a brief moment of silence between the two of them, Kagami's head having turned in the direction of the river, her mouth opening again before giving a slight, hesitant pout for a moment.
What was she struggling with? She definitely had something on her mind that she wanted to say to him. Before getting the chance to ask her, she eventually spoke first.
"I called you here to tell you… to tell you that I've been thinking about something lately," she explained, looking at him out of the corner of her eyes.
"What's wrong, Kagami?" he answered, the tone in his words etched with the concern he had felt when he heard her hesitation over the phone before.
"No, I… nothing's wrong, Jayden, it's… far from that," she replied, glancing at the ground, a soft smile appearing on her features while her blush seemed to intensify.
Kagami didn't seem to be distraught, and what she had just said brought no small degree of relief, but... why did she appear so shy? Her eyes seemed to avoid any direct contact with his for a bit now. Whenever she did look at him, however, her gaze was somehow intense… it made him recall the way she'd sometimes hold it on his for a while, a similar particularity about it when she did.
"What I'm trying to say is… what happened recently with Konata has made me realize something," she continued after a moment, her legs shifting beneath her. "That whole thing… it was disheartening. I felt horrible when she was down like that, but… what I also hated was seeing you that way too."
Her eyes made contact with his upon saying the last few words, her hand having moved to slowly twirl one of the strands of her hair as she continued speaking. Was it something… something about him that made her stumble upon her words like this?
"It was such a relief when things started going back to normal, and since they have, I've been… thinking about you."
Kagami softly gulped as she spoke, her gaze subtly locking on his with her head still turned a little downward to the ground. Jayden audibly breathed out in response, his lips parting as his mind tried to process what she was telling him.
"You were back with us again, with… me. Just like before, except it wasn't all the same," she continued with a slightly uneven voice, but not without a certain confidence. "There was something more…"
She let out a soft sigh before lifting up her head at him again, still blushing as she did, and Jayden found himself unable to look away even if he wanted to.
"You've always been a good friend to me, Jayden," Kagami said to him with sincerity while pushing the bangs away from her face. "I'm glad that you are… and that you've been there for me when I needed someone."
Jayden wanted to answer her and tell her that he thought the same things about her as well, but for one reason or another, he couldn't bring himself to say anything yet. His eyes lingered on her, barely aware of what was around them anymore.
"But what I realized was that you are still different… that you are special to me," she told him with conviction in her flickering eyes. She was weaving and unweaving the fingers of her hands as she spoke, "I guess that, with time, I discovered that I have feelings for you, Jayden. That you aren't only a friend to me, after all. You're more."
When the last of her words poured into him, Jayden had to release the breath he didn't realize he had been holding all this time. Kagami's soft, sincere voice kept playing in his head as he looked at her facing him with an expectant look in her eyes, her mouth still slightly open.
His mind was trying to sort out the many thoughts that went through, the emotions… Kagami… She really felt something for him? She had been thinking about him?
"You have feelings for me?" he managed to ask her, hearing the hopeful tone in his own voice as soon as he said it.
"I'm certain of that, Jayden," Kagami firmly replied while pulling a lock of hair behind her ear, firmly holding her gaze on his. She asked him with similar hopefulness, "I— I know you might not have expected this, but do you… do you feel that way about me?"
Even though Jayden hadn't asked himself that, he somehow still knew the answer to her question, his heart calling out to him in response before he could even think about it. However, he needed a second to calm down a little before he could provide her with a reply.
"I do, Kagami," he soon answered her, his words just beginning coming out on their own, "What you said… it applies for you as well. Getting to know you, befriending you… helping me through a lot… it does feel like you've always been something more to me too."
"You… you mean that?" she inquired slowly with noticeable excitement building up in her, her mouth remaining open in expectation until he answered.
"No doubt about it," Jayden assured her with a smile, seeing his own flickering gaze in hers. "I feel the same connection with you, Kagami… and it's stronger than any friendship I've had."
There was a beautiful glitter in Kagami's mirthful eyes at his response, a smile of her own having started to form on her face, so gentle and joyous. Jayden could swear he was able to feel her bliss somehow, the sight of her like that managing to make his own breath stop. She stood that way for a second, simply looking at him happily, until she let out a soft gasp and quickly closed the little distance that was between them. Before Jayden could even realize, Kagami had fluttered her eyes closed in her approach, thrown her arms around his neck and kissed him.
The impact had almost pushed him backwards a little, his heart skipping a beat at the sudden contact between them, the sensation of her mouth on his taking him aback. It only took him a moment to close his own eyes and return and fall into the kiss, already relishing the sweet taste of her lips that gently brushed against his. At that time, all else seemed to disappear, his mind forgetting everything but her and her kiss alone. He had put his arm around her and deepened the contact, every touch of their mouths tender, barely indicative of the overwhelming emotion he and her felt.
Jayden couldn't be sure how much time had passed in the blissful moment, but there was certainly enough for him to lose himself in it completely. It wasn't a sensation like any other… it felt so exquisite. And it was with Kagami.
At a point, however, their lips did eventually part, not without a tinge of reluctance on his part. As he opened his eyes, Kagami's own were revealed right before him, looking back with an emotional flicker, inches away from his. He could still feel her breath on him being this close to her, her chest visibly rising and falling as she deeply inhaled and exhaled. The blush on her cheeks was evident as she shifted her gaze a little to the side with a soft smile playing across her features, one that he had on his own countenance as well.
"Wow, Kagami… this was..." Jayden uttered, a little breathless from the joining of their lips, still somehow feeling hers on his own.
"I, uh, I guess I've been wanting to do that… for some time…" Kagami spoke in a mirthful tone, her hands around his neck loosening a little.
"Nothing wrong with that," Jayden replied in a chuckle after a second, bringing Kagami's eyes to him again, the smiles on both of their faces widening. Their hands proceeded to intertwine when Kagami's eventually fell from his shoulders, a pleasant warmth being emanated from their joined fingers. They simply played with them a little before Jayden spoke once more, "I don't know if I would've been able to hold myself back for much longer either."
"I don't think I would've minded," Kagami told him, the color in her cheeks rising a bit again as she looked downward to their hands.
"I certainly didn't mind this," Jayden answered while giving her a teasing grin which only intensified her blush, her fingers weaving and unweaving around his.
"I'm so glad you feel this way about me too, Jayden… I thought there might be something – you seemed to… I mean, I just never knew for certain," Kagami said to him excitedly as she returned his gaze, her voice sounding infectiously happy.
"The truth is, I wasn't quite aware of it myself," he replied with another heartfelt chuckle, a similar color of red on his own face when he added, "But, come to think of it, you're... not like any other girl I've met."
"I'm… I'm not?" Kagami asked a bit nervously, a gust of wind pushing some of her hair over her eye, but she didn't move her hand away from his to pull it back.
"No, you're not," he eventually repeated with a confident nod of his head, Kagami's gaze on him still somehow confused until he said to her, "I still think that if it wasn't for you, we wouldn't have been even able to hang out anymore. You helped a friend through a very rough time… and I don't think a lot of people could have done the same. Certainly not ones as strong, thoughtful or caring as you."
"Jayden…" she could only say in response for the moment, a noticeable glitter showing through in her eyes again as an earnest smile soon appeared on her lips. "I… I've never had someone say that to me. Thank you."
As she said that, Kagami proceeded to slowly pull him in a gentle embrace, with Jayden finding himself hugging her back tightly, closing his eyes as he did. Holding her like that felt so comforting, so right… he couldn't help but want the feeling to linger on as much as possible. With the time spent having her in his arms, it seemed like Kagami didn't want it to end herself, and it didn't until a good while.
"Jayden…" she then spoke his name again, slowly pulling back from him with a soft, pleasant sigh escaping her mouth. Her hands started playing together again as she looked at him with an expectant smile, her brows lifted with hope as she asked, "Do you want to give this a try? I mean… you and me together?"
After a few seconds of holding his gaze on hers, Jayden looked away in the direction of the river, contemplating the question she had just asked him, his thoughts swimming excitedly again.
It wasn't until too long ago when he had realized the true extent of his feelings for Kagami… if he were to get together with her, it wasn't something he could bear to ruin… he couldn't mess it up. He had already put a strain on her and her friends once, what if he did it again?
Looking back at her, however, he couldn't deny that he wanted this as well. She was special herself, that much was certain, and he found himself drawn to her. There was a lot about her…
Jayden had never failed to notice her strength – a trait of hers that she was showing right now, in fact. There was a certain conviction in her words tonight, and she really seemed sure of her feelings for him, of what she was saying to him. It mustn't have been the easiest thing to muster up the courage to do that… but she did always speak her mind, didn't she? Her soft expression as she looked at him now was reminiscent of how considerate a person she was too, something she just kept proving to him time and time again in the company of others. He doubted that the group would have managed to get together if it wasn't for her doing, either. Kagami was a friend they were all lucky to have… and she could be even something more for him. And now, he couldn't see her being anything less than that.
"I'd love to, Kagami," he told her eventually after spending that time thinking, beaming happily at her. Kagami's eyes lit up even more at his response, her own smile widening.
"I want this too, Jayden," she replied in a confident nod, proceeding to turn her head downward a little while playing with a strand of her hair, the enchanting glow never leaving her eyes. Her pigtails lightly blew in the wind again, dangling loosely around her, with Jayden's gaze following the subtle movements. It appeared so soft…
It was her voice that brought him out of yet another reverie he was going to fall into just from the sight of her.
"This is a bit overwhelming, isn't it?" she had just asked him.
"It is, but it's a good kind of overwhelming," Jayden replied, smiling at her softly once more.
"I mean, I've been thinking about this a lot, and then I decided to tell you, and then you said that you feel this way too, and now…" Kagami spoke to him excitedly while gesticulating with her hands, suddenly pulling them back, another blush on her face appearing.
"You don't have to stop," Jayden said with a teasing grin, and after a moment of looking at the adorable look of her flustered, he answered, "It's a lot to take in for me too, but I wouldn't have it any other way."
"Me either. I guess I just need to… clear my head a little," Kagami retorted with a pleasant chuckle.
"That might take a bit of time for me as well," Jayden laughed back mirthfully while rubbing the back of his neck.
"Well, they wouldn't want me completely missing dinner at home anyway," she told him with somewhat of a reluctant sigh, a thoughtful look on her face as she briefly turned it away from him. Her brows suddenly furrowed a little as she inquired, "We don't have anything to study for Monday, right?"
"Study? I'm not sure I even remember now," Jayden answered with a chuckle. "But I'd like to think that we don't."
"Then, I was thinking that we could... meet up again tomorrow?" Kagami asked with a hopeful tone in her voice, lifting her brows again expectantly.
"Yes, I'd like that," Jayden replied in a nod. After this, he knew he couldn't possibly wait until Monday to see her. "Even if there were something else, I think it can definitely wait."
"True enough," she retorted, her cheeks flushing again a little. She pulled another lock of her hair behind her ear and told him, "I'll call you again before that."
"I'll be looking forward to it," he answered with a sincere smile on his features.
"I'd imagine that it won't be until too long, Jayden," she replied while returning his smile, keeping it on her face while she sighed happily and briefly stayed quiet before she eventually eventually told him, "I'll be seeing you soon, then."
"It's a date," he replied, nodding at her once more.
It wasn't until a few seconds when Kagami began turning around, proceeding to slowly walk away, not without eventually glancing back at him for a moment. Jayden still remained there, next to the bench he had found her sitting on, and looked at her with a smile as she slowly disappeared from view before starting to head home himself.
He still had trouble wrapping his head around everything that had happened, all that was said… but right now, he was full of mirth, something which anyone passing by would've noticed on his features. His breathing had calmed down, but his mind was still replaying every moment with Kagami today, every smile she had given him, every word she had said to him. He hadn't anticipated any of this happening when she had called him, nor had he thought he would be returning home with the widest smile on his face.
Whenever Jayden wasn't doing any reflection on the moments with her just before, the only other thing he thought of was the day after and the fact that he was going to be meeting up with her again. It was only tomorrow, and yet it still didn't seem soon enough – his mind raced with the prospect of him and Kagami together. There wasn't any lack of worry as to how it was going to go, but right now Jayden couldn't withhold the overshadowing excitement he felt.
Kagami had really said these things to him. She had meant them. The girl he had been having feelings for actually felt the same way herself. The one he had been talking to for nearly every day since he came to this school. This really seemed too good to be true, didn't it?
And her kiss… it had left him breathless. He could still feel her lips on his as he recalled the moment it happened, their soft touch and sweet taste. The contact had been light, and yet so powerful at the same time – it had made him lose all conscious thought, and he wouldn't have had it any other way. The memory wasn't something he could easily get out of his head.
She had been right – this was really overwhelming indeed.
With a sigh of contentment, Jayden looked on at the firmament above as he walked, recalling the way it had been mirrored in the girl's eyes with fondness. They really were like a set of stars.
Dreamily looking upward at the sky, Kagami slowly walked back in the direction of her house, a smile playing across her face as she did, her eyes still slightly flickering with emotion.
It really happened. She had finally told Jayden her feelings, and he felt the same way about her as well… she had meant something more to him too… she hadn't been like any other girl he'd met…
While her nervousness had never quite left her, pouring out her feelings for him had been easier than she thought it would. She didn't need to think about what she'd say – she just did, and she couldn't even remember what she was thinking when he had started doing the same. Her heart seemed to have taken precedence over mind at that point, taking over all conscious thought. And it had felt wonderful.
This wasn't only a fantasy of hers, was it? Like the ones she had started having?
No, it couldn't be. The image was perfectly clear as she recalled him, the conviction in his eyes, his soft expression, his words to her… that, combined with the moment her lips had been on his, still made Kagami blush as she thought about it.
Kagami hadn't thought she'd kiss Jayden tonight, but it had just… happened. When he didn't immediately respond, she had almost begun to feel worried about what she had done, but once he did… she discovered that kissing him wasn't quite the way it was in her fantasies. It had felt much better than that, so sweet and gentle… And now, as she brought a finger to her lips for a moment, still feeling the mark he had left on her there… she couldn't help but dreamily wonder when a fresher one would join it. Would it be tomorrow? They'd meet up again then, right? She shook her head at the thought with a smile on her face. Already fantasizing again.
Kagami hadn't quite realized it, but as she continued nearing home through the largely empty streets, her lips had started quietly mumbling a soft tune under her breath, the happiness she felt showing in the warm sound of her voice.
"Someone, someone, someone…"
"Someone is thinking of someone else…"