Ch 16

Yoh's POV

After dropping Haruna off to her house, Yoh decided to make a quick stop to his house to grab his phone in case Fumi had called him. Yoh was worried for his friend. Fumi was never late to anything. He was the type of person who liked to arrive early to everything. He would never be late to something as important as a date if something hadn't happened.

When Yoh was taking off his shoes at the entrance, he noticed the bright red sneakers that weren't his or his dad's. Yoh had a sinking feeling as he recognized whose it was. He raced inside, looking around frantically. No one in the kitchen, living room, dining room. It was deadly silent.

Yoh paused in front of his sister's room. He thought of knocking but instead he decided to just open the door.

There was Asami, lying on her bed asleep. Sitting on a chair next to the bed was Fumi who was sound asleep with his head resting on the bed, snoring slightly.

Yoh gave a sigh of relief. It wasn't as bad as he had imagined it to be. That relief, however, turned quickly until anger as he realized that Fumi had left Haruna waiting outside for HOURS while he was with Asami. Yoh stomped towards Fumi and shook him roughly awake.

Fumi startled, his bleary eyes looking around in a panic until he rested his eyes on Yoh. "Yoh! You're finally here. What took you so long? Asami is sick."

"Sick? She doesn't look sick," Yoh observed, as he looked at Asami who was still fast asleep.

"She was, Yoh! She called me, scared out of her mind, because she wasn't feeling good and nobody was at the house. I came to check up on her."

"Well, thank-you for that," Yoh responded hesitantly before he remembered a shivering Haruna crouching by the ice-cream parlor. "Still! You have no idea what you've done Fumi! Haruna was waiting for you for HOURS in the cold and you never came!"

Fumi stood up in haste. "Haruna waited for me for so long?! I tried calling her but she never answered her phone and I couldn't just leave Asami alone by herself. I got to go and apologize!". Fumi made his way towards the door but a strong arm stopped him from reaching it.

"Don't. Haruna got sick while she was waiting for you so she's probably sleeping right now. Don't disturb her. Apologize tomorrow when she feels better."

Fumi hung his head in shame, nodding glumly. He gathered his stuff and headed out without a word. As soon as Yoh heard the door shut, he once again went to Asami's room. As he went inside, he slammed the door shut. Asami woke up, startled by the noise. She looked around the room and only saw her brother staring angrily at her.

"Don't lie to me, Asami," Yoh stated furiously. "I know you are faking being sick."

"Wh-hat do you mean, Yoh? I do feel sick."

"What a coincidence, then, that the day you do get sick is the same day that Haruna and Fumi have a date planned. Why are you like this, Asami? Why can't you let Fumi and Haruna be happy? They are both your friends!".

Asami scoffed before getting off the bed and standing face to face with her brother. "You are such a hypocrite Yoh. You think I'm bad? How about you? How about all those longing gazes, lingering touches between you and Haruna? Fumi might be oblivious but I am not. Something has shifted between you two and it is all due to you!"

Unable to deal with Asami's words, Yoh left her sister fuming in her bedroom while he retreated back to his room. Asami's words had cut him deep since he knew it was the truth. And he couldn't bear the fact that he was almost the same as his sister. He blushed into his pillow as he remembered how he had been overwhelmed by the tenderness he had felt when Haruna had snuggled into his neck and had sighed happily as he carried her home. He remembered how he had stopped for a second and how he had kissed her temple softly. He was lucky she hadn't woken up at the moment or else she would have found out his feelings for her. Even she couldn't be that dense.

Haruna's POV

The next day, Haruna was too sick to go to school. She laid in her bed miserable. Yoh had sent her a text early in the morning, telling her that Fumi was okay. Haruna was relieved but with it came the question of why Fumi had stood her up. Fumi hadn't sent her a single text since the morning to explain.

To distract herself, Haruna began to re-read her favorite manga series. She quickly became engrossed in the story even if she had already read the story multiple times. As she continued to read, she came upon the part where the main male love interest had leaned over to kiss the head of the female protagonist, who was asleep. Haruna stopped reading as the memory from last night came to her.

She remembered feeling a slight touch on her temple, like a.. like a kiss when she fell asleep as Yoh carried her. She blushed deeply at the thought that Yoh would have kissed her. Haruna groaned as she slammed her head on the book.

Stop brain! You got to stop thinking about Yoh! You have Fumi, your boyfriend! Her brain didn't want to cooperate. It kept replaying everything- Yoh's eyes as he looked at her, his hands on her face, his arms as he hugged her or carried her, the way he said her name. The way he was always there for her whenever she was down. The way he made her feel safe. She couldn't stop.

Her thoughts were interrupted when her mother poked her head in and told her she had a visitor. Yoh! Haruna thought, panicking a little. However, it wasn't Yoh. It was Fumi, who stood there at the entrance of her bedroom looking awkward, worried, and sad. He carried roses and a small teddy bear in his arms. Her mother took her leave, shutting the door behind her.

Silence reigned as Haruna tried to banish the thoughts of her boyfriend's best friend from her mind. After a tense moment, Fumi broke the silence first.

"How are you feeling, Haruna?"

"Better, thanks for asking," Haruna replied a bit tensely.

"I'm so sorry Haruna! Please give me a chance to explain." Fumi stepped closer to where Haruna was on her bed and handed her the roses and the bear. "These are for you."

Haruna gingerly accepted the gifts before putting them aside carefully and turning to face Fumi. "What happened? Why didn't you showed up, Fumi? I waited for you, but you never came."

Fumi took a hold of Haruna's hand as he kneeled down by her bedside. "I'm so sorry. Asami called me as I was on my way to meet you, scared because she was sick and there was no one around. When I was at her house I tried calling you but you never picked up. I couldn't leave Asami alone so I decided to wait until Yoh got back and then go find you. Yoh came back home late and by that time it was already too late."

Haruna clutched at the bedspread beneath her with her other hand. She was upset. While she was waiting for him, he was with Asami the whole time. She tried to push down those feelings of hurt as she tried to reason that Fumi was just trying to be a good friend for Asami when she needed him but it was no use. The hurt was still there.

"Haruna, are you upset? I'm sorry! I should have found another way to contact you."

Pushing down the feelings of hurt, she looked up to Fumi's downturn face and she felt bad. She didn't want to see Fumi upset. She slowly let go of the bedspread and instead brought her hand down to pat Fumi's head. Fumi looked up at her confused.

"It's okay, Fumi. I'm not upset. I was just worried about you when you didn't show up that's all. Don't worry about it!".

At her words, Fumi smiled widely before rushing to hug a surprised Haruna. Haruna was taken aback at first but returned it a second later. It was a nice hug but Haruna couldn't help but compare it to the hug that Yoh had given her after the sports festival. `Yoh's hug had made her heart beat faster while Fumi's hug… didn't.

Fumi broke away from the hug, smiling widely at Haruna who tried to hide her dismay from her face. "Thank-you, Haruna! I promise to never do that again. I'll make it up to you!".

Haruna smiled half-heartedly at Fumi as she tried to push down the beginnings of a horrible realization from her mind.