Chapter Twenty-four.
A life is no life without a few funny, awkward moments.
"I'm sorry, but I'm already in love with someone else."
"You're late." Hikaru turns his head towards her direction and looks at her with his dead-fish eyes. He is leaning against the wall of the school gate with his arms crossed in front of his chest.
Yume grunts. "I'm only ten minutes late."
School has just ended. As agreed upon by both parties, Hikaru and Yume meet up in front of the school gate after club hours even though the second-year does not have any club activities that day. The sky is turning orange as the sun is already halfway into setting. There is visibly no one else in the area. A soft breeze touches her cheeks. Her short hair is gently blown in its direction.
Hikaru stands straight in front of her. "I thought I told you to wear something nice." He smirks.
She raises a brow. "The school uniform is considered something nice. We may look like two gay dudes going out, but who really cares about that?" Hikaru simply chuckles. The girl throws a box of chocolates into his hands. "I was with Chika-san and Fumiko-san in the baking club, making some sweets."
"I see." Hikaru stares at the box. "And you were late because of that?"
"Yup. I gave a few to other people I know." They begin walking out of the gates. She glances at him. "So… how was your Sweets Festival, Zaizen-san?"
Hikaru raises both his shoulders. "All the same."
"Nothing remarkable happened? That's just sad. Chitose-san told me a few days ago that this was a day of confessions." She glances at the taller guy. "I guess no one really wants to confess to you."
Hikaru simply gives her an ice-cold stare.
She laughs. "Y'know, it's really funny how a few weeks ago you were just some scary, threatening dude, who I wouldn't want to be stuck in the same room with. But look at us now – we're… I guess, friends?"
The second-year glances at her, a smile appearing on his lips for a split second. "Yeah, right."
"At first, I really couldn't imagine how I could talk to you properly." She places a hand on his left shoulder. "You're actually a good person despite your scary looks… and personality." Yume grins. "You are a such a good friend, Zaizen-san."
"You're being really cheesy right now, Senpai."
Yume grins. "It's fine, though, isn't it? After all, we're friends."
Hikaru rolls his eyes in an attempt to destroy the cheerful mood of the girl. Yume, however, has already grown familiar with the boy's attitude and manner of communicating, so she barely gets affected by his response.
"Oiii!" A man calls out to them. Yume turns around to see Kenya speeding towards their direction. Hikaru stops in his tracks but does not turn around. The speedstar's smile appears to have faded upon realizing that they are actually leaving the school alone together.
Yume does not fail to take notice and looks at him with worry. "Kenya-san?"
"Are you guys going home now?" the speedstar asks in a deep voice. He stares at the back of his lowerclassman with a sharp look. The gravity of his mood seems too heavy for the girl's comprehension that she has failed to understand the conduct of her friend.
She blinks at the unfamiliar tone of voice used by her friend. Yume looks at Hikaru and turns back to Kenya. She thinks of the words that may at least not aggravate the boy. "Actually, Zaizen-san and I are-"
Hikaru replies coolly, "We're going to watch a movie… together." He turns around to see his upperclassman's distraught expression. "Going to have a little neighbour bonding."
She raises a brow. "Neighbour bonding?" the girl mutters to herself.
Kenya looks at Yume. "T-that's nice," he replies as he slowly looks down to the ground. He lifts his head to look at the other guy's face. "But that's interesting, Zaizen. Never knew you had a thing for a 'neighbour bonding.'"
Hikaru simply stares at him. "Yeah."
"…"
"…"
"…"
And the wind blows between the two men standing. They are just staring at each other for almost a minute while Yume looks at them alternatively.
She inhales and exhales. "Uhm… so…" she chuckles nervously as she looks at Kenya. "Y-you were on a date with, uhm, Miyoko-san… that's her name, right?" Yume clears her throat. "How was it?"
"Fine." Kenya furrows his brows and clenches his fist unknowingly as he stares at Hikaru, who has not shown any signs of emotion on his face.
Yume deliberately coughs. Trying to not let the other guy hear what she is about to say, she softly mutters to the second-year, "I think we should get going now."
"Oh. It seems you're getting friendlier with Yuki - no, Yume-chan day-by-day. Right, Zaizen?"
Hikaru takes a deep breath. "Yes, that's right. Earlier she called me a magnificent person and a perfect friend." The girl raises a brow at his exaggeration. He turns away from the other male and begins to walk. "Let's go, Senpai. Or else we'll miss the 5:30pm run."
She nods. Before she follows the second-year's lead, she momentarily stares at Kenya with a seemingly disappointed look.
Upon seeing the expression painted on the girl's face, the coffee-haired boy immediately apologizes. "I-I'm sorry. Did I make you uncomfortable?"
She lightly nods and takes a deep breath. "You should stop always trying to pick fights, you know. You do know that you're also a… dear friend to me," Yume says hesitantly. "You sometimes make me a little upset."
"Senpai!" Hikaru calls out to her.
"Coming!" she shouts back. Yume gazes at Kenya. "Well, I'm going now."
"R-right." A small bead of sweat appears on the side of his face. "I'm sorry, Yume-chan. Just… enjoy your movie." Kenya turns around in sorrow and slowly takes a step.
She takes a deep breath and puts a smile on her face. Yume surprises the male as she hugs Kenya from behind. He stops on his tracks. "You're an idiot, Kenya-san," she playfully whispers into his ears. And she merrily runs away to chase after Hikaru, who has walked far from the gates already.
Kenya stands there, frozen. Painted on his face is a smile reaching his ears and a tint of red on his cheeks.
Hikaru and Yume are nowhere near sight.
"That was nice, Kenya-ku~n," a voice says to his right ear.
To his left ear, a voice replies, "That's right, that's right. We're really envious."
Kenya shrieks out of shock. He looks at the teasing smiles of the Homo pair. "You guys!" Koharu and Hitouji chuckles. "Y-you guys s-saw-"
Hitouji stands beside Koharu and places his arm over the latter male's shoulder. Koharu replies, "What a nice development this is. Don't you think, Yuu-ku~n?"
"That's right, Koharu~" Hitouji replies. "I knew that there will be something good with observing our cheeky kouhai wait outside the school gates."
"We just didn't expect that it will be this interesting." Koharu giggles once again.
Kenya cautiously looks around the vicinity. "I-is there someone else watching us a while ago?"
"Hopefully none." Koharu winks at him. "Or else, you'll be the new Homo guys of Shitenhouji."
She arrives at her house six o'clock in the evening. Upon opening the door, she removes her shoes on the shoe rack near the door and puts on her house slippers. Her shoulders are feeling heavy, especially the right one which carries her school bag. Fumiko yawns as she walks to the living room.
"… W-what are you doing here?" Fumiko points a finger at a familiar guy inside their living room. She frowns, looking at the man's sly expression on his face.
A youthful-looking woman enters the room. "Now, now, Fumiko-chan," Rina says. "That is not an appropriate way of greeting your guest."
"M-mom!" Fumiko says, "I don't want that man here in our house!"
Rina simply chuckles at her daughter's protests. She looks at Atobe, sitting on the couch. "I am really sorry, Keigo-kun. Fumiko-chan has been really energetic lately."
Atobe smiles charmingly. "There is not a problem, Rina-san." He glances at Fumiko. "Ore-sama have already gotten used to my fiancee's love language."
Out of shock, Fumiko gasps and blushes at the same time. "S-shut up, Keigo!"
Fumiko's mother giggles. "Oh, is that so? I'm glad that you two are finally in good terms." She looks up at the ceiling in reminiscence. A smile forms in her lips. "Ah~ I remember how you two would always scowl and argue with each other over the simplest things. Oh, how time passes by so fast?"
"Mom, we still are scowling and arguing over the simplest things," Fumiko mumbles.
Atobe replies, "Well, we only thought that it should be the high time for us to act more maturely and think more of our future together. After all, I'm already planning for a formal marriage proposal after high school. I wouldn't want my fiancée to be taken away by someone else from me."
"O-oi!" Fumiko frowns. "Where are you getting all those ideas, Keigo?!"
Ignoring her daughter's petty ramblings, Rina chuckles. "You two really make me happy. I am so proud of you two." She walks away from the scene. "But I think I should get going. You need your own space after all. I'll leave you two."
He nods. "Yes, Rina-san." After the departure of the older woman who ignored her daughter's protests all throughout, Atobe glances at Fumiko teasingly. "So how was school, my beloved fiancée?"
She growls. "You can drop the act, Keigo." Fumiko crosses her arms as she glares at him. "What are you even here for? To annoy me? I'm tired, and I don't think we agreed upon any appointments for today."
"That's really cold, my future wife." Atobe chuckles. "Of course, Ore-sama wouldn't tell you about my visit for tonight. Otherwise, it'll ruin the surprise." He gazes at her. "Today was a good festival, huh?"
"Festival…? W-what?" She raises a brow. "What does the great 'Ore-sama' need from me?"
"Is it not obvious?" He smirks. "Ore-sama wants a date with the great Ojou-sama."
"NO!"
Cries and gasps are heard inside the dark room. A girl sits on the edge of her bed, still wearing her wrinkled uniform. She pulls her hair on both sides of her head. Her eyes are opened wide as if her eyeballs are ready to pop out anytime now. Her heavy breathing is constricted by her cries while tears flow endlessly on her cheeks. She is in distraught, even more, out of her sound mind.
A screeching scream comes out of her mouth. The painful symphony triggers a gentle knock on her door. "M-Miyo-chan, a-are you alright? Do you-" the woman from outside cautiously asks. Out of her shock, she hears a glass break against door from the inside.
"Shut up, you bitch! Leave me alone!"
The old and weary woman falls down to the floor on her knees with tears. She bites her lips.
Another scream is heard from the room. "You were supposed to love me! Only me!" Miyoko, caught up in her emotions, stands up and starts throwing things she could grab around the room once again. "Who the fuck does she think she is? That newcomer bitch!" After a few shouts, the poor girl drops to her knees, weak and tired. She catches her breath. "I only wanted to be loved," Miyoko weeps. "Kenya-kun, why? Why do you always have to love someone else who's not me? For all these years, I've waited."
A memory suddenly flashes in her mind.
"I'm sorry, but I'm already in love with someone else." He was holding her close as she cried in his embrace. Of course, how could a guy ever resist offering some comfort at the presence of a crying lady? She counted years waiting for him. But he would always have someone else he liked.
"Can't we at least try?" she asked.
He released her and stepped away. "I'm sorry." His head was down; he couldn't even look at her straight in the eyes. "… but I cannot reciprocate your feelings the same way you want me to. It would be very difficult for the both of us."
Her eyes were beginning to swell. She forced herself to a smile. "It's Kazuyoshi-san, isn't it? You're in love with the newcomer? If so, the rumors should be true."
A sigh escaped his lips. He looked out of the window. "You're pretty, Miyo-chan. There are a lot of guys out there who're will to die just to hold your hand. Unfortunately, I am not one of those guys… and I can't force myself to be among them."
Miyoko throws a book to the wall, shrieking, "You are the only one for me, Kenya-san! Why can't you understand that?! I love you! I love you! I love you!" Tears continuously flow down her cheeks. She looks up at the ceiling and sighs. "I'm tired of waiting. And all this waiting for nothing." She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. "For sure, I'll make you mine."
"Ahhh…" Hikaru stretches his arms upwards upon exiting the cinema. A yawn is released from his mouth. "That was not very exciting at all."
"I don't think anything excites you at all," Yume comments as she also stretches her arms. She yawns. "I thought that the movie was kinda cool. I mean, the plot is cool. The acting isn't. I didn't like the acting of the lead as much. Yasuda-san holds the supporting actor position, but his acting is better and more realistic than Kaoru-san's." She places her hands inside her pockets. "Not that I'm a real movie critic, anyway."
He looks around to search for the area of the fast food restaurants on the same floor level. "That may be true. If there was a better cast, then I would have probably enjoyed the film more."
"Right." She smirks.
Hikaru spots what he has been looking for. "Senpai, I want food."
Yume chuckles. "Sure. As long as I'm not paying for your food."
He raises a brow. "I'm not asking you to pay for anything."
"It was a joke," she pouts, "… because you look like you were going to ask me to treat you to food."
"Is that so?" Hikaru glances at her direction. "Senpai, perhaps you would like to eat?"
"Will you treat me, then?"
Hikaru turns away. "I'll think about it."
She grunts. "You're a cheap," she teasingly mutters. Yume begins to walk towards the area for fast food restaurants. "Which one are you craving for?"
"And you're easy." The young boy follows his upperclassman into the area of fast food restaurants. His eyes glance to a pillar on the far left, spotting the hemline of a familiar green jersey. Hikaru sighs as he immediately picks up on the situation he and the girl are in. Nevertheless, he ignores their 'shadow' and continues walking behind Yume.
Behind the pillar are three idiots, who have been following the two people since Hikaru and Yume entered the cinema. Once Hikaru isn't looking anymore, Koharu, Hitouji and Kenya comes out of hiding.
"Do you guys think they noticed us?" Koharu asks. "I should improve my stalking skills a little more."
Hitouji worryingly glances over at Kenya's direction. Judging from the coffee-haired boy's expression, his teammate is nowhere near pleased. Kenya looks at the spot where Yume and Hikaru had been with sorrow. Hitouji tugs at his partner's shirt and whispers, "Hey, don't you think that this is a bad idea."
Koharu glances at Kenya with a frown. "Let him be. Everything will clear out eventually," he replies.
~End Chapter~
