Chapter 19: The Date (?)
Everyone's mouths were completely agape after what Akira had blurted out so suddenly.
"A...date?" I asked, quite disbelievingly to say the least.
She quickly throws her hands up from embarassment and shakes her head furiously.
"Not like a date date! Like...just a friendly hangout!"
"With just the two of you?" Ina asked, raising an eye at Akira.
"I mean...yeah?"
Ina lets out a little sigh and shakes her head. "Yeah, in the real world, we call that a date."
Akira leans in closer towards Ina and whispers.
"No if he thought it'd be a date liike that then he totally wouldn't-"
"I mean, yeah that sounds fine." I said nonchalantly.
Akira lets out an exasperated sigh and points towards me; her attention was still on Ina.
"See? I told you he...wait...did you say yes?"
I just shrug before nodding.
"I mean yeah why wouldn't I?"
Akira's face had shown that she was generally surprised at my statement; she had begun to slightly blush all of a sudden.
"You did win the bet you know, so a deal's a deal. Plus, we're friends anyway aren't we, so I'd have no real reason to refuse." I said matter of factly.
Akira suddenly snaps back to reality and nods.
"Right! Of course haha, I know that!" She said rather loudly.
She quickly turns her head to the side and sighs to herself.
"Wait...why did that upset me a little? I already knew it was just for the bet! It's not a real date Akira come on girl you know that!"
After her little internal battle with herself, she sneaks a glance over at me and I just smile back politely.
"If...I know that then...why do I kinda feel like crap now?"
After another hour or so had passed we had all washed up and gotten ready for bed.
Frank and I pulled out the air matress for the girls whilst Hamada slept on the couch.
Motou on the other hand pulled a whole sleeping bag setup out of his pack. Seems he really was used to staying out at Hamada's place quite often.
I cut the lights in the foyer off before walking towards the stairs to turn the living room lights off behind Frank and I.
"You guys good the way you are? Or do you need anything else before I turn these off?" I asked, gesturing towards the light switch.
Everyone looked to one another before they all just shook their heads.
"Alright cool. Frank and I's rooms are the first on the left and the second on the right...in case yall need anything."
I flick the lights off and with that said, head up the stairs right behind Frank.
About thirty minutes down the line, Motou and Hamada had both knocked out at some point and Ina was pretty much on the verge of slumber herself.
The only one left awake was Akira...and she was WIDE awake.
"Why am I so anxious about this stupid 'date' when it isn't even a real date. I only even asked cause I was gonna use this for a chance to ask him questions and try to see how he feels about Hotaru!"
She sighs to herself as she rolls around a bit on the air matress, wallowing in her own thoughts.
"But now...for some reason, here I am...upset because he doesn't even see it as a-"
Suddenly a wave of realization sweeps over her, causing her to almost gasp aloud.
"Oh my God...I'm...I'm totally upset over this? Why am I acting like I like him or somet-..."
She pauses for a brief moment mid sentence.
"Wait...do I...DO I like Hayden?"
She thinks on it for another short second before chuckling a bit under her breath.
"Pff...yeah right. I mean he's cute and all, but me liking someone? Yeah right."
She snickers to herself a bit once again before finally turning to her side and dosing off a short time afterwards.
(The next day)
After the guys and I hit up a few hours of practice in the morning, Motou, Hamada and Ina had all packed their things and headed for the station to catch a train back to their place.
All that was left was me, Akira and Frank.
"You just gonna chill at the house or what?" I asked Frank.
He just shook his head, pulling his phone out of his pocket afterwards.
"Nah. Actually Kanako had texted me last night to see if I wanted to come with her and Amane to get a few things for...you know."
I simply nod, since I had of course known what he had meant.
"Gotcha. You know...you two are getting pretty friendly there as of late, wouldn't you say Frank?"
"Well...yeah I guess so. I don't know man, I find it so easy to just talk to her ya know? It's almost like you and I. I know this may sound weird...but it almost feels like I've known her for longer than I actually have."
"That easy now huh?"
He just nods after placing his phone back into his pocket and grabbing his keys from the key rack, presumably to go see Kanako.
"Yup, that easy. Like I said, it's weird...but it's the truth."
"Ya know...Frank..." Akira suddenly spoke up out of the blue.
"Hm?"
"You know Kanako likes...uh...I mean..."
"Likes...what?" Frank asked, confused at the sudden hesitation.
"Damnit, Ina had to go and make me feel bad yesterday for just wanting to tell them. Maybe I should just keep quiet."
"Uh...she likes...hanging out with you."
Akira mentally facepalms herself but doesn't say anything else.
"Oh that so? Well I'd hope so, cause I like hanging out with her too. Anyways, I'll see you later Hayden. See you at school Akira?"
"Uh...yeah. I'll see you there." She said, still somewhat distracted.
Frank and I slap hands as he and I part ways for the time being.
After Akira and I had hopped into my car I had definitely taken notice of her sudden weird behavior.
"So, where to date leader?" I asked, jokingly trying to lighten the atmosphere.
She stiffens up a bit after I had spoken to her, turning her head away from me in the process.
"How about crepes?" She simply said, still looking out of the passenger window.
"Hmm, I've actually been meaning to try one of those things. Got a place in mind?"
She hadn't even answered me at first, it had seemed as if she was almost daydreaming.
"What is wrong with me? I can't even look at him I'm so nervous. This is so stup-"
"Uhh...Akira?"
Suddenly she snaps out of her little trance.
"Oh...wait huh?" She said, finally coming to.
"I said, do you have a place in mind?"
"Oh! Actually I do. There's a place that Ina and I go to pretty frequently and they are really...and I mean REALLY good." Her eyes had grown extra wide as she had emphasized the last bit.
I just chuckle lightly and smile at her little gesture. "Sure, that sounds good to me. Just tell me how to get there."
"Will do!" She said, saluting me in the process.
"Yeah...this is fine. Why would I be nervous about this? It's just Hayden and I going to get crepes. Just friendly crepes and hanging out. Pff...I definitely do not like him like that."
After about a 20 minute drive down the road, whe arrived at the next little town over from my place. Though not very big, there were quite a few stores and little shops around that looked pretty cool in my opinion.
"So, which place is it?" I asked, thoroughly glancing over most of the small shops to see if I could find it.
"Over there, the big light blue place." She said pointing to it rather excitedly.
"That place looks pretty big for a little snack spot." I said, honestly a bit surprised.
"Mm-Hmm! Shall we?" She said as she opened my door, almost leaving me totally in the dust as she ran up to the front of the building.
"I...guess we shall then considering you're damn near already there." I said to myself with a laugh.
I jogged up to the front of the building to meet up with her since she really had left me behind in a sense.
"Damn girl, you seem giddy for a crepe huh?"
"Ahah...sorry I ran, I really do love this place so much. Shall we go in then?"
"Sure." I said, opening the door for her. "After you."
"Thanks." She said with a genuine smile.
After her and I walked into the building, she had asked me a rather odd question out of the blue.
"Sooo..." She said with a short pause. "You and Hotaru huh?"
"Hmm?" I said with a raised eye. "What about us?"
"Heheh...what about you two indeed huh?"
"Uhh...what's that supposed to mean exactly?"
Suddenly, a quite mischievous little smirk had strewn across her face. "I mean, are you two an item or not?"
I had almost choked on my saliva at the sudden rather forward question.
"Uhh...last time I checked we were just very close friends I guess? Why do you ask that?"
"Are you sure she feels the same way in that retrospect?"
I had been a bit taken off guard when she had asked that question so suddenly. NOw that I had actually reflected on that, I never actually have asked Hotie what she had thought about me in that way, if there was even a reason to ask that for that matter.
"You know I...haven't really thought about it that hard to be honest. I mean, she's always been pretty straightforward with me, so I'm sure if she had something to tell me, then she would ya know?" I said, pretty confident in my words.
She simply smiles, a bit more genuinely this time around. "That so?"
"I mean, I'm pretty sure at least, yeah." I said, shrugging the thought off afterwards.
Akira's smile had remained there for a bit before she finally turned back towards the line we were waiting in.
"Well, I guess that's enough questions for now then." She said with a little stifled laugh.
"If you say so Miss Interviewer." I said jokingly.
A few minutes of silence had passed before I had finally spoke again.
"So what do you usually get anyway?"
"Hmm? Oh usually the strawberry and whip creme crepe, with a little chocolate on top."
"Hmm, that sounds pretty good. Might get the same but get him to add some bananas too like a banana split type deal...if they'll even do that."
"Oh yeah, you can pretty much get whatever you want here." She said with a happy grin.
"Hmm...she seems awfully cheery right now for some reason." I thought to myself.
"Well, hey, you wanna grab us a table? I'll wait in line for us and all so you don't have to keep standing up like this. We can sit wherever you want to." I said, gesturing around towards some of the tables.
"Hmm, okay then! I usually sit outside when I come with Ina, we have a table we usually sit at specifically. It's like our little spot kinda."
"Okay, that's fine by me."
"Oh right, here." She said, digging into her purse. "This should be enough for my-"
"Nah-uh. My treat, put it up." I said, humbly refusing her offer.
She had surprisingly looked a bit taken aback at my statement.
"Oh no, I wasn't actually serious about you paying today for-"
"Akira...I got it. Put it up."
She had almost looked a bit upset as she zipped her purse back up, letting out a small sigh.
I give her a reassuring smile and nod. "I promise this doesn't bother me at all. I was gonna treat you anyway."
She smiles and for a second it had almost looked like she was blushing a bit too.
"Thanks Hayden, who knew you were such a sweetheart huh?"
I simply nod back and turn back towards the front of the line, glancing at the menu for a bit.
She trots over to the door and walks outside, now out of my view from the inside.
(Down the road)
["Aww come on Hotaru-saaaan tell us!"]
["Eheheh...umm well...I-I don't think you know him anyway..."]
Trotting down the road right over from the snack shop that I had been at, was Hotaru along side two of her friends from class.
[Heheee...I bet it's that American boy I see you and Ageha-senpai around all the time isn't it?"]
Hotaru's face had flushed a bright shade of red, and she quickly throws her hands onto her face to cover it from their view.
["Ooooh I think that's a bullseye Yame-Chan!"]
["Heh...but of course it is Nino-san."]
[It...it's not..."] She said, still burying her face into her palms.
Yame puts a hand on Hotaru's shoulder to gain her attention and break her away from her embarassment.
["Come on Hotaru, you can tell us!"] She said with a wry smile.
["It's totally him isn't it?"] Nino asked, leaning against Hotaru's other free shoulder.
She let's out a defeated sigh, still quite embarassed at the situation.
["P...Please don't tell him okay?"] She said with a face redder than red hot steel.
["Aw come on! I think he likes you too though! Just tell him!"] Yame agged on.
Nino furiously nods along with a proud smile. [I agree! You'll never know unless you tell him yourself right?"]
Hotaru finally reflected on their words for a moment before smiling a little.
["You...really think so? I mean...should I really tell him?"] She asked, now a bit more headstrong about the whole thing.
[Uh, duh! I see him steal glances at you every now and then too when you two walk together at school you know."]
Yame nods her head in agreement ["Mhm mhm, that's right. He does when you two eat together in the cafeteria sometimes also! I can tell."]
Hotaru makes a little bit of a pouty face and folds her arms. ["Jeez you two I'm not a kid, you guys don't have to spy on me like that you know."]
[Oh come on Hotaru, it's not even like that. The three of us have been friends since high school! Of course we're gonna be at least a little curious if you take interest in a boy."]
["Yeah, especially when the two of us have seen you turn down so many before, some of them were even super popular actually."] Yame said, thinking on the matter a bit to herself.
["I see...I mean...then maybe I should just...huh?"] Suddenly Hotaru stops mid sentence and looks over towards the snack place.
The other two gils look to one another in confusion after her sudden halt.
["What is it Hotaru?"] Yame asked.
["Oh, hey it's my friend Akira!"] Hotaru exclaimed.
["Oh does she go to school with us or something?"] Nino asked, glancing over towards Akira herself.
["Yeah she does actually. She's in the same class as my sister, which is actually where I know her from."]
["Well don't just stand here, introduce us Hotaru!"] Yame said with a smile.
As the three of them began walking towards where Akira was, they were quickly halted once again right out front by the bushes by Nino this time.
["Huh? Hey hold on a second, who are those two shady looking guys walking up to her?"] Nino asked, pointing to the two men who were doing exactly that.
(Back over by the shop)
["Hey, what's up hot stuff? You out here by yourself huh?"] The first guy said with a cocky grin.
["That's a shame if I say so myself, what with such a cute girl like you."] The second one added.
["Jeez I'm surprised Hayden's still in line, they must be really stacked today."] Akira said to herself, her face buried into her phone, unaware of her surroundings almost completely.
["Yo, you deaf? Or are you ignoring us?"]
Akira suddenly snaps out of her little phone trance and looks up at the two.
["Oh, I'm sorry were you two saying something to me? I apologize, I was looking at something on my phone."]
["Oh it's no problem at all miss. So hey, I'm sure you're bored just sitting here by yourself and all."] The first guy said, taking a step closer towards her.
["Uh...no actually I'm fine."] She said, getting up from her chair and making her way back over inside the shop. ["I'm actually waiting on-"]
Before she could even finish her sentence, the second guy took hold of her arm, effectively startling her a bit.
["Ahh come on now."] He said. ["Ditch this place and come hang with us for a bit, don't worry we don't bite or anything."]
["Heheh, yeah unless you're into that kinda stuff of course, then that would change things."] The other one said with a bit of a discerning smirk.
["Oh uh...n-no I...um.."]
It was easy to tell now that Akira was getting a little nervous about the situation. Her legs had begun to shake a bit and her voice was a bit shaky as well.
["Ah screw it Takumi just take her along with us, I'm sure she'll come around afterwards."] The first guy said, already turning around with intent of leaving.
["Yeah, It'll be fine, just come on!"] Takumi said, pulling on her arm a bit more forcefully this time around. He was almost dragging her even.
["W-Wait, let me go, I said I don't wan't to!"]
Now that the other three girls were much closer, they could all easily see the entirety of the situation.
["Damnit, are they really harassing her like that?"] Nino said with anger now in her voice.
Yame quickly pulls out her phone frantically from her handbag. ["Screw that I'm about to call the cops and-"]
"Excuse me gentleman." I said with a stern voice as I had just walked from out of the shop.
["Huh? Was that...English?"] Takumi said, quickly looking back towards me.
["A foreigner?"] The first guy said in confusion.
Yame raises an eye for a moment as soon as she had seen me. ["Hey...Hotaru, isn't that..?"]
Hotaru's face had showed clear confusion. "What's Hayden doing here? Wait...is he here with Akira...alone?"
["I'll handle this Takumi.]
The first guy walks up to me with a bit too much of a cocky demeanor if I had to say.
"This isn't any of your concern kid, move along and mind your business." He said, turning around almost immediately after.
"As a matter of fact, she IS my business." I said, a bit pissed now at how easily he had just blown me off.
"His...business? What's he mean by that?" Hotaru became a bit annoyed at the statement.
He slowly turns around and looks back at me almost with a fire in his eye. This guy was definitely looking for a fight.
"What did you just say kid?"
"First of all, I'm not a fucking kid, let alone even a teenager. I'm in my 20's for your info. Second off..."
I then turn towards the other guy who still had his hand firmly around Akira's hand.
"I suggest you may wanna release that hand of yours if you don't want it broken."
"Pffffhahaha, are you serious? You wanna pick a fight just cause of some girl? Don't try to be a hero for some random girl...KID."
"That 'random' girl who's arm you have in your hand there, just so happens to be my girlfriend." I said, obviously lying, but I had no other way I could think of to try and convince them to leave non violently.
"G...g...girlfirend?" Akira's face had instantly become much redder than before.
Hotaru let out a little sound of discomfort and lowered her head a bit, clutching her chest with her hand.
["Hold on, is he going out with her or somet-...huh...Hotaru?"]
As soon as Nino had turned towards her, she had taken off in the other direction.
["Hotaru, wait...hold on where are you...Hotaru!"] Yame had called out to her several times, but she completely got ignored.
["We better go after her, I don't think she took what we just witnessed very well."] Nino said, already starting after Hotaru.
["Can you blame her? I knew she liked Hayden but...ugh...I really thought he liked her too!"] Yame said mid sprint.
["Yeah, so did I...guess he's just like the rest of those playboys huh."] Nino said, a bit spitefully at that as she chased alongside Yame.
I let out a long sigh as I set the two crepes down on the table next to me.
"Call me kid one more time, and you'll be swallowing some of your teeth, and your friend there? I'll break the hand that he STILL hasn't released from her arm, and for the hell of it I'll break the other one too, free of charge."
They both grunt and look at me with a bit of malice, but I had now been fully prepared for a scuffle so I wasn't even phased.
After a few more seconds of silence, the guy who had been holding on to Akira's hand had finally let her go.
Without hesitation, and also to my surprise a bit, she ran straight up to me and buried her face into my shirt, whispering 'thank you' as she had done so.
"Oh...his body is kind of...hard...wait, what's wrong with me...why am I even thinking that at a time like this?!"
["Tch, fuck this let's just go man."]
["Yeah, this is a big waste of time."]
With their last bit of what I'd assume were pretty negative comments, they had finally disappeared around the corner after walking off from us.
"You alright?" I asked her, pulling out the chair for her and handing her the crepe.
She takes a seat and gently grabs the crepe from my hand, but doesn't say a single word. She didn't even eat it at first.
"Hey...Akira? Are you okay? Or do you need me to go beat their asses after all?"
Surprisingly, that had gained a small reaction from her, resulting in a small chuckle.
"Actually...I am now, thanks to you being here. That was...kinda cool of you..heh." She had turned away halfway through her statement from slight embarassment.
"Nah, any other half decent friend would have done that if they were in my shoes. Well, I'd hope they would at least."
She slowly turns her head back towards me after eating a few small bites of her crepe.
"So...was that the reason then?" She asked me suddenly.
"Was what the reason?"
"Us...being friends. Is...is that why you took up for me like that then?"
Even though it had seemed like a simple question, I couldn't help but feel like there was a bit of a deeper meaning to her asking, though I didn't really pry on the matter.
"Well...yeah of course...is...there a reason that it shouldnt be?" I asked, a bit intrigued as to what she was getting at.
She simply smiled at me for a moment before turning away once more. "No...it's nothing."
"Well..alright if you say so. I guess I may as well try this thing huh?"
Lifting the crepe up to my mouth, I take a big bite right off the top. I had made sure to get a few chunks of the banana and strawberries for full on flavor.
"Mmm...oh damn, this IS good."
"Like it?" She asked, almost excited for my answer.
"Yeah it's actually really good." I said taking another big bite, effectively eating almost half of it already.
"Jeez." She said, stiflling a small laugh. "You don't have to inhale it."
"Hey I told you this thing is good, and I was craving a good snack anyway."
"Hmmhmm..I can see that."
After eating the rest of my crepe, I had taken her trash as well as mine and went to thow them in the trash bin.
"Yeah...friends huh? I guess I could be okay with that...this is nice. *Sigh*...You're a lucky one Hotaru."
"Alright you about ready to...hey, what are you smiling at? You're scaring me." I said, obviously toying with her a bit.
She just shakes her head and continues smiling.
"I was just thinking about how glad I am to have met you. I happy to know I'm able to call you my friend Hayden."
I smile genuinely back at her and nod.
"You too. You're a good friend to me too Akira, really. OH! By the way, I'm sorry about blurting the whole girlfriend thing out earlier...I didn't mean to put you on the spot like that, I was just trying to get them off of you without me having to actually punch the shit out of them."
Suddenly her smile drops a bit and her face turns a little red again.
"That 'girl' who's arm you have in your hand there, just so happens to be my girlfriend."
"Crap I had pretty much forgotten that he had said that!" She said to herself after remembering the moment vividly.
"Hey...you sure you're alright? Your face is red, you don't like have a fever or anything do you?" I asked, stepping forward towards her a bit.
She throws her arms up frantically and shakes her head. "Nonono! I'm fine I promise!"
"What is this? What's wrong with me...we were talking fine just a few minutes a-"
"Huh?..."
Suddenly Akira's thoughts had even frozen up as soon as I had brought my hand up to her forehead.
"Hmm...I dunno your face does feel a tad warm...maybe? It's hard to tell."
If her face hadn't been considered red before, it definitely was now. Moreso than ever.
"Oh...actually yeah, your face does feel like it's getting warmer and...huh?"
Suddenly she jumps back a bit, confusing me a little in the process.
"Ahh...I'm sorry...that was a little forward, I didn't mean to touch you like that so suddenly. That was my fault, I didn't mean anything by it."
"No...I...it's fine..."
"What...why am I feeling like this? All he did was touch my head and...he...he touched me..."
"Akira...are you absolutely sure you're okay?"
She hadn't even answered me...it was almost like she was caught in a trance.
"No...this can't be right...I...I can't possibly...eh?"
She finally had snapped out of it when I had thrown my jacket over her. It was as if she didn't even notice me taking it off and walking over at all.
She glances down at the jacket briefly before turning to me. "What are you..."
"I figured since the temperature dropped a good bit since earlier this morning, you were probably cold. You only have that thin sweater on anyway and it did get a bit chilly, which is probably why your face was getting red."
She glances back down at the jacket once more before squeezing it a bit gently with her hand.
"This...is bad...this wasn't...this wasn't supposed to happen..."
"Shall we? I said, gesturing over towards my car.
She looks over and simply nods and smiles without saying anything.
"I'm sorry Hotaru-san...I'm know I'm supposed to be helping you...but..."
She sighs to herself and looks back over to me, in somewhat of a daze.
"But now...I'm not so sure if I'll be able to..."