Chapter 32 : Can we just be friends ?

The next day, Ichigo was at school.Now that the energy was destroyed, everyone was back to the old borig life.The aliens had decided to all stay on Earth with the ones they love, Retasu was now Ryou´s girlfriend, Purin and Taruto were... doing the same old things as before.Keiichiro spent all night trying to discover from where this thing really came from, but, sounds like the were never going to know the truth about all this.But, it didn´t really matter, life was going great for everyone, except maybe for Ichigo.Right now, the young girl was terrified, because she was going to have to tell Masaya that from now on, she was with Kisshu.Ichigo had to do it, even if she didn´t want to.The red-haired girl arrived at school.In the corridors, she saw Masaya, busy putting stuff in his locker.When he saw Ichigo, Masaya got in front of her with a smile :

" Hi, Ichigo ! How are you doing ?

" Uh...fine. " lied Ichigo. And you ?

" I´m ok too. " answered Masaya.

Ichigo hesitated, then finally sai :

" Aoyama-kun... Can you come with me for a moment, I... need to tell you something.

" Sure. " sid Masaya.

He followed Ichigo in a quiet place.No that they were alone, he asked :

" So, what did you neede to tell me ? "

He was still gently smilling to Ichigo and had no idea of what she was going to tell him.Ichigo hesitated once more.

Come on, Ichigo, tell him ! You must tell him ! oh, but his smile is so kind...I can´t.

" Uh... It´s... about Kisshu. " said the cat girl.

Masaya blinked.He had a very bad souvenir of Kisshu since the alien tried to kill him.But he was able to say :

" So... what about him ? "

Ichigo continued :

" He´s came back and... Aoyama-kun, it´s really hard for me to say this but... "

Masaya was getting pretty scared.

Please don´t say it... please don´t say it...

" But... I... love... him. "

These single words cut throught Masaya like a sword.He wasn´t able to think about anything else, now the only thing that existed was Ichigo in front of him, and these words stucked in his head.

" Ichigo... "

Ichigo, in front of him, was even about to cry.

Oh my god, Oh my god... I can´t believe I said that...

Masaya stayed silent, still looking at her.

" Aoyama-kun, I... articulated Ichigo. I´m... so so sorry, I don´t... I don´t wanna hurt you, please for give me.I just... "

Masaya interrupted her :

" It´s alright Ichigo.I understand.It´s ok. "

But Ichigo knew that it wasn´t ok.Masaya wasn´t able to say anything else, and now, she felt guilty, because she was hurting him.But there wasn´t any other way.Tears were slidding down her cheek.Ichigo finally said :

" Aoyama-kun... can we still be friends ? "

Then Masaya just gave her a gentle smile like he always did and answered :

" Of course, Ichigo. "

And he held Ichigo in his arms.

After all, the only thing that matters is to see her happy. Thought Masaya.But deep inside him, he knew that things would never be the same from now on.