Chapter 21: Mai Sakurajima #1

Mai Sakurajima felt afraid. The fear itself was senseless, but it was there, ever present and she didn't know what to do to make it go away.

She didn't tell Sakuta about it. It was the wrong thing to do, or maybe it was the right thing. But he had helped her enough and she didn't want to be a burden on him.

But truth be told, there was a bit of an ego involved. She was a grown woman who could handle whatever life threw at her and she didn't need help over something so silly. When she ran out of excuses as to why she shouldn't discuss her fears with Sakuta, she came up with the stupidest thing imaginable.

He was immature, she reminded herself. Worse, he saw himself as a funny guy and he would probably make fun of her. Plus, there was also the fact that he and her were not exactly together in a relationship.

He loved her and he went to such lengths to treat her adolescent syndrome but in the end, both of them mutually decided to call it quits for a number of reasons. Still, whenever people asked whether she was dating or not, she lied and told them that she was in fact in a relationship.

Sakuta never mentioned whether he had a girlfriend or not. From his attitude and the way he kept to himself, busy with his part time work, people assumed he didn't. And that was the truth.

At times she wondered whether being in love would solve all her problems. It was a rather childish notion, something she didn't quite believe in herself sometimes, but it was a thought. Perhaps it was because of the influence of movies and soap operas. Maybe it was some line from a script that stuck to her and she got too much into the character, there could be a number of reasons.

There was no reason to get worked up about it. The fact that she was losing sleep over such a child like fear was really embarrassing. She tried overworking herself half to death, choosing useless scripts and participating in silly events on campus, but it did her no favours. She was tired most of the time, sometimes nursing a headache and one time she scared a kohai who approached her for an autograph.

She really felt bad for it afterwards but there was nothing she could do about it.

But then she couldn't let this simple fear affect her life. It had to stop somewhere. Without dwelling upon it too much, she decided to speak to Rio Futaba. She was a fellow university student, a second year and like her she too had been affected by the poorly named adolescent syndrome.

Rio Futaba was in her lab, but she was not alone. There was a man inside, who was laying out food in a plate and the two of them were engaged in a bit of playful banter. Futaba was explaining how the lab wasn't a place exactly suited for eating purposes and the man was telling how she wasn't exactly suited for any lab, period.

Mai Sakurajima didn't know whether she should intrude upon this private moment or not. It looked rather intimate from an outsider's perspective. But her choice to decide was taken away when Rio Futaba spotted her in the entrance.

"Sakurajima-senpai, what are you doing here?"

Before she had a chance to smile and speak something in a polite manner, the man turned and threw a look over his shoulder. He had this dead look in his eyes and suddenly she was reminded of her fear, the thoughts which kept her awake at night, unable to sleep.

But he didn't look at her like she was invisible, like he could see through her very being. No, he looked at her differently.

"Are you having a panic attack?" he asked.

Mai tried to control her breathing. No she was not having a panic attack, thank you very much, she thought un-amusedly.

Rio Futaba looked at her uncertainly and then came to the entrance of the lab to fetch her. She could walk fine on her own, but she let her kohai take her hand and lead her to a seat. For the first time, Mai thought this senseless fear of hers was a problem. Never before she had lost her ability to walk, it felt like she couldn't move a muscle and instantly she was seized with a feeling of helplessness.

"Why don't you have a drink first?" The man said placing a canned beverage within her reach.

Mai Sakurajima looked at it warily for a second. It had become a natural instinct to be suspicious of drinks offered to her by a stranger. He seemed to have read her mind, because the next second he cast a half-lit smirk towards Futaba.

"Can you do some experiment to prove that this can of Maxx Coffee is harmless."

Rio Futaba smiled in her own way. "It contains lots and lots of sugar, Hikigaya. I wouldn't exactly call it harmless."

Mai Sakurajima cracked open the seal and took a small swig from the canned beverage. Futaba was right. The stuff was too sweet for her taste. But it wasn't altogether unpleasant.

"Feeling better." He asked, pointedly.

"Yeah, thanks." She replied, softly.

Rio Futaba took the opportunity to make some proper introductions."Sakurajima-senpai, this is Hachiman Hikigaya."

Mai Sakurajima thought Rio Futaba was a bit of a loner. She kept to herself and stayed cooped up in the lab performing experiments. Sakuta had told her as much. But perhaps he didn't keep up with the social life of his friends. Eating together in a lab, it definitely seemed like interesting developments. Mai didn't want to pry, but there was no harm in being a little curious.

"So, Hikigaya-kun, was it."

"Hachiman Hikigaya, yes."

"How do you know, Futaba-san."

"I helped her out a bit, sometime back."

Mai Sakurajima gave Rio Futaba a look. She was a smart woman. She didn't need to say much. In fact she didn't need to say anything. While Hachiman Hikigaya was waiting for her to ask the next question, Rio Futaba went up behind his back, reached out and stole a pork cutlet from his plate.

"I saw that."

Rio Futaba acted innocent. "I was performing an experiment."

Hachiman Hikigaya gave Mai Sakurajima a look, which clearly said he was sorry for the mild interruption. He turned on his seat and gave Rio Futaba an annoyed look. "I thought we agreed, you won't be performing any experiments until we are done eating."

"No. I said, I wouldn't be doing my current experiment while we were eating. This," she held up the pork cutlet between her fingers for emphasis. "is a different experiment."

"And what might that be?"

"I'm checking out your peripheral vision." Rio Futaba said, unashamedly. "Also, I'm calling bull on your so called 108 skills."

Mai Sakurajima found herself a bit confused. Granted she didn't know all that much about Rio Futaba. All she knew, she knew because Sakuta had talked about her and explained how instrumental she was in solving her adolescent syndrome.

He never said she had a boyfriend.

"I'm sorry, are you two together?" she had to ask.

Hachiman Hikigaya looked at her like she was touched in the head. It was rather rude of him, but she couldn't exactly say anything to him, because he hadn't exactly said a word. It was just the way he looked at her, with the slowest of blinks, followed by a roll of the eyes.

Yeah, she got the exact feeling. He didn't like her all that much.

Rio Futaba decided to clear the air. "We are not together. He just comes to visit me in the lab from time to time to check up on things, see how I'm doing after my bout with adolescent syndrome. I told him I was okay, but he is really stubborn. He wouldn't listen to me -"

"Oi, you are making me sound like a criminal." Hachiman protested.

"No, I'm not. See what I have to deal with." Rio Futaba gave her a look and shook her head.

Mai Sakurajima tried not to look as shocked as she felt like inside. She brought the canned beverage to her lips to hide her frown. So, there was someone who had thought about the leftover after-effects of those who had fallen victim to the dreaded adolescent syndrome.

And that person was this man, about average height, good looking to a little extent if you discount the eyes. No, it didn't seem possible. He looked like a typical loner who kept to himself, maybe an otaku even, or both, but not a person who looked like he could spare a thought for another in a hospitable way.

But then, he had offered her a free drink. Perhaps she was mistaken. For the moment, she would give him the benefit of doubt. He could certainly disappoint her later on.

"So, you suffered from adolescent syndrome as well." Hachiman said and there was nothing in his tone which suggested it was a question. He was sure about it, treated it like a fact.

Mai Sakurajima looked at Rio Futaba while she answered. "Yes. I'm sure she filled you in on the details. Sakuta did mention that Futaba-san's cure came from a third party intervention. I'm guessing that was you."

He didn't treat it as a compliment, but then she hadn't phrased it like one. She didn't know why she was being unpleasant. Lack of sleep was the reason, if she had to guess.

"How are you sleeping these days?"

Mai Sakurajima felt a bit of heat rush to her cheeks. "Excuse me?"

"You are wearing too much makeup to hide your dark circles." He talked in a matter of fact way. "I understand that your schedule can be a bit hectic, but insomnia can be far more ruthless."

Mai turned to Rio. "Did you two talk about this while you had lunch," she tried not to snap, keep the anger out of her tone. "Or did Sakuta put you up to this?"

Rio Futaba looked sympathetic. "I know what you are thinking, but I didn't tell about your condition to a single soul. I didn't even know you were suffering like this until I heard it just now." She turned her head down solemnly. "I'm sorry. I know it can be difficult."

Mai Sakurajima decided to ignore Rio Futaba. Instead she asked the most logical thing. "Then explain, how does he know?" She asked while pointing a finger at Hachiman Hikigaya.

Hachiman Hikigaya was about to start his meal, but he thought better of it and instead focused his attention on Mai Sakurajima.

"Senpai, Futaba didn't tell me anything about you. I just came onto the conclusion based on my own reasoning. For example, you two have nothing in common. Futaba stays locked in the lab, misses her lunch and stays away from most of the people. You on the other hand are out there, doing your thing, which I have been told by Kyouko Hori-senpai is acting and modeling. You scared her half to death by the way." He added casually. "All she wanted was your autograph. Doesn't she know about selfies? Really that woman-"

Rio Futaba stopped him from going into a separate rant. "Hikigaya, remember what I said about-"

"Right. Staying on topic. Well, you thought she was a kohai -"

"Wait, she wasn't a kohai?" Mai asked confused. "But she looked…" she didn't want to say flat-chested because that was tactless, though not entirely incorrect. From the looks of it, Hachiman understood her meaning and gave a small cough, blushed and said.

"For the sake of civil conversation let's just say Kyouko Hori-senpai looks…younger."

"Okay." Mai Sakurajima thought it best. Young woman had a similar situation, not that she ever faced it. Neither did Rio Futaba for that matter. But they went with it.

Hachiman continued his explanation. "Like I was saying, Rio Futaba and Mai Sakurajima have nothing in common. But here you are, being more than a bit friendly-"

Rio Futaba chopped him on the head. "Ouch."

"I said it again and again, Hikigaya, chose your words carefully." Rio Futaba was blushing a little out of embarrassment. "And you say you are a liberal arts students. I weep for you."

"No need to be over dramatic, Futaba-san." Hachiman added, rubbing the spot on his head, where he had been hit. Mai Sakurajima cleared her throat. This explanation of his had faced numerous interruptions, most of his were his fault.

"Hikigaya-kun, you were saying."

"Right." He cut right to the chase. "The only thing you two have in common is the very real adolescent syndrome. That's what I thought, and wouldn't you know it, it turned out to be true."

Mai Sakurajima wasn't really impressed with him. Such a long winded explanation and he ended up saying something which, on the benefit of hindsight, sounded really obvious. He did help Futaba with her problem, so since she was here, he thought, Mai too suffered from the same problem.

He was okay, but not brilliant. However she would give him another chance.

"How did you know about my sleep problem?" Mai didn't call it insomnia. It wasn't insomnia as far as she was concerned.

Hachiman Hikigaya looked at her and in his eyes she saw a confliction. It looked like he wanted to tell her everything, but in the next blink of his eyelash, he looked at her emotionlessly, everything bottled up, like those sealed canned beverages she was currently drinking.

It looked like he wasn't going to answer. Wouldn't you know it, her can of Maxx Coffee was also sounding empty. It was the perfect time to get up and leave and put this behind her. She could deal with her problems alone. She didn't need anyone -

"He knew about your insomnia because I had the same problem."

Rio Futaba didn't look perturbed as she said this. But she didn't look amused as well. It felt like she was coming to terms with something deep rooted within her. "He somehow came to the conclusion that all was not well with me, even after I dealt with my adolescent syndrome. And wouldn't you know it, he was right."

Her voice took a tender turn. Mai saw Hachiman struggle with something, before he scoffed. "It's like any other illness. Just because you're okay, doesn't mean you are really okay."

Mai Sakurajima turned the phrases over in her head. It was true, though he could have phrased it better. But perhaps he did it on purpose, downplaying his, for lack of a better word, thoughtfulness.

He did look like a mature person, even though he was younger than her. She decided to tease him a bit for that, to check the waters.

"You sound like a quack." Mai said.

"That would make me a duck." Hachiman replied.

"You did play the ugly duckling in school." Rio added.

The three of them shared a smile. Before she knew it, Mai felt a bit at ease with Hachiman Hikigaya. Rio Futaba decided to give them some space. She started to make quick work of her lunch. Mai decided to grab the opportunity for what it was.

"I'm afraid, if I fall asleep, I will turn invisible again."

Hachiman Hikigaya tried not to appear as shocked with what she said. For the most part he didn't know much about her condition. But from that one statement, he came up with a simple solution.

"Sakurajima-senpai, have you tried a sleep over?"

A/N: It's been six days since I wrote anything. But I was busy with an exam. Then, I was busy with the promised fic, but it didn't work out. So I tried to refocus back on this fic. But I changed the style a bit. Hope you guys liked it.

With that said here is the voter list which is sent by a Guest reviewer.

Option 1: Tomoyo Sakagami – Clannad.

Option 2: Ruri Goko (Kuroneko) – Oreimo.

Option 3: Fumino Furuhashi – Bokuben.

Option 4: Hibiki Tsukahara – Amagami.

Please pick any of the above options or suggest a character in the review.

You can also send me a voter list.

Hope everyone enjoyed reading this chapter.

Leave lots and lots of reviews, follow and fave.

Won't betray your dreams.