25: Breather

3:30 PM

Kotomi

"Haah, ain't it great to take a break from all this school crap?"

"You sound an awful lot like a delinquent, Kanna," I wag my index finger, "should I tell your parents about that?"

We watch each other for a while. Then—

"Bwahahaha!"

I'm rolling on the floor beside her. I can't remember the last time I've laughed this hard. While we've kept in touch since elementary school, our meetings have been rather infrequent. Maybe it's because of all the time I've been spending with Tomoya.

Were it not for the fact he wanted to go home alone today, I'd be with him right now.

"Now, I need to ask ya something,"

She lifts herself up with a hand on my shoulder. "I'm all for us hanging out like this, but aren't you normally hanging out with Tomoya around this time?"

"Yes-yeah," I sigh, "but he's been really off since lunch. He said he was hearing some type of… voice in his head. I didn't hear it, but he was sure he heard it."

Kanna bites her lips and sits up beside me. "Do you believe him?"

"Yes… As weird as it sounds… I don't think Tomoya would lie about something like this."

"If you say so," she sips a juice box she left in her pocket, "to me, it sounds like he's just getting too immersed in those daydreams of his. You see the way he stares out the window, right?"

"I think it was more than that," I say quietly, "he was so… serious about it. Like, there was no doubt in his mind he heard something."

I curl up into a fetal position and rest my head on my legs. "I thought we'd been able to put all this stress behind us, but… He's still having trouble. I wish there was something I could do about it."

A hard smack on my shoulder later—

"Chin up. So what he's got some stress rolling around in that head of his; can you blame him?"

I blink. "What do you mean?"

"Think about it; for a while, he didn't give a rat's heinie about school, right? Now, he's a freshman in high school who's trying to keep up with the smartest girl in the world, on top of being a star athlete. Wouldn't you be stressed?"

"I'm just not sure that's all there is," I close my eyes, "he's normally so upbeat, so I… Well… I'm lost at what I'm supposed to say."

"Give him space," she throws her head against the wall. "That's what I'd say. Moody guys like him need some time alone."

"But I can't just leave him be,"

"Why not?"

"Because he's my boyfriend."

I stand up. "We're supposed to take on life's challenges—"

Oh crap.

"You mean… You mean you guys are…"

"AHHH!"

She jumps up and gives me the biggest hug I have EVER felt. I feel myself running out of oxygen fast.

"Kanna… I need to… Breath!"

"Oh, sorry,"

She lets me go, allowing me to grab extra air from my diaphragm.

"I mean, I'm just… I'm trying to wrap my head around this, I… I thought you'd be waiting for a while!"

"We-we did," I blush profusely,

"Only like a week and a half," she scolds, "I mean, whoa… Have you guys kissed yet?"

I hang my head.

"OH MY GOSH, YOUR FACE RIGHT NOW!"

She bursts into another round of laughter. Only this time, she's alone.

"St-stop it," I cover my face. "It's not that weird. I mean… we're a couple… right?"

"Don't mind me,"

Kanna gives me another hug. "I'm just not used to this. For some reason, this little voice inside kept telling me you'd guys would be too shy to make the first move. 'Guess you didn't need ol' Kanna's help after all."

She plops back down on the ground. "Man, though, he can be a real jerk. Shouldn't he be, like, talking to you about this?"

"I thought you just said it'd be good to give him some space," I giggle, joining her on the ground.

"Well, that's bird poop," she grins, "he should be bearing his heart to you. If you really love each other, you should be able to talk to each other about ANYTHING. Existential crises should be no exception."

"Maybe he's just scared because he doesn't know what's going on," I explain, "I'd be kind of scared about talking about it if I was in his shoes. I mean… I might worry I'm going crazy."

"Well," her voice goes soft, "your more paranoid than he is and for good reason. Personally, I think Tomoya's just being an angst-ridden teenaged boy."

She playfully shoves me.

"We can find him right now if you'd like. I'm sure it won't take long before that moron—"

I grab her wrist.

"What's wrong?"

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't worried about Tomoya," I smile shyly, "but I'm really enjoying our time together. It's this kind of thing that reminds me why we're friends. I mean, even though I've failed social studies so many times—"

"Blegh," she giggles, "your sense of humor is just as bad, too."

"I mean this seriously. You've stuck up for me even if it'd hurt you to do so. There's no way I could possibly repay you for everything you've done."

Slightly uncomfortable, Kanna looks straight ahead.

"Truth is, I'm glad that's the case."

"Huh?"

Kanna stares at her lap. "I wouldn't want you to pay me back. I mean, if you think I saved you just because I'm this really nice girl, than you'd be mistaken."

"What do you mean?"

"Well," she glances at me, "I was kind of unpopular back then, you know? I'm not the prettiest girl in the world, and a lot of the others knew that. A couple of the boys called me ugly, the girls didn't wanna hang out with a tomboy. It sucked, like, really bad."

She sighs. "Everybody at school you knew you were a rich man's daughter. So, we all kind of wanted to be your friend. But you were so quiet, and frankly, I was kind of worried you wouldn't like me anyways. It wasn't until those bullies got fed up with your popularity and tried to get in your face about it. That's when I found my avenue,"

Kanna turns away. "I was kind of athletic. It wasn't hard to teach those girls a thing or two about pain. I got in trouble for it, but I didn't care. You were willing to talk to me after that, so that was enough for me."

Kanna gets really, really quiet. "So, you see? I'm a selfish person, just like anyone else. And there's no reason you should thank me for what I—"

This time, I'm the one who hugs her. My grip is so tight, I know she can't slip away.

"Don't say that. Please. If you only did that because you wanted people to like you… You would've stopped being my friend a long time ago."

She glances up at me.

"You're my best friend, Kanna-chan. And nothing you do will change that."

Tears start to crop in her eyes. Instantly, she throws her hands on top of her eyes.

"Stupid head… Don't call me 'chan' in that serious voice… You'll make me cry."

Update: March 16, 2016 10:16 PM