Chapter 3: Coincidence or Chance?
I saw him again…
With his finger pointed at us, wearing a uniform of the cafe we sometimes visit in the morning, and I can't say if it was just pure luck or a weird coincidence. I jumped a bit at the fact that I saw him again. The guy that helped me out yesterday near the library as I was rushing to class. I know it was my fault bumping into him, and props to him for being a genuinely nice person, but did he really have to overreact at the fact that we met again once more?
"Ah! It's you from yesterday!" I yelled out to him.
I blushed a bit while looking at Rishia, who was also surprised as I was. Wait, did Rishia also know who he was? I wanted to retort back to his question after what I just yelled out to him, but the manager of the establishment noticed it and it felt embarrassing if I tried to speak out my complaint at that moment. I must've been blushing like mad while I looked down on the floor, but luckily he and Rishia were also doing the same thing as I was doing.
After everything settled down, we went to a nearby booth and took our seats as I frustratingly massaged my temple from the little conundrum that had just unfolded. Why is he here? Seriously, did we both just have a weirdly convenient form of coincidence or was he trying to find out my every movement after he and I suddenly bumped into each other at the nearby library?
But I was also curious who he was. He did seem like a genuinely nice person. I was still spacing out from what happened just a few moments ago and yesterday. Until Rishia broke me out of my reverie.
"Raphtalia? Is something wrong?" she asked. I looked at her surprised and confused.
"Oh. Nothing's wrong. Just thinking about something…" I somewhat told her the partial truth, since my mind was still stuck on him…
Eh?! Why am I thinking too much about him?! I only just met him and I already have a boyfriend!
I was thinking too much about it and I was having a crisis, until Rishia set down a freshly brewed macchiato coffee in front of me while she had a cold brew of americano coffee. She tends to drink something cold in the morning since she has a rather sensitive tongue when it comes to hot things.
"Uhmm...Do you also know Naofumi?" she said.
"How do you know his name Rishia? Is he a friend of yours?" I asked her as I was also a bit curious about him. So his name is Naofumi huh…?
"Uhmm...we met yesterday afternoon down by a riverbank as I was..." She tried to finish her sentence but she looked down on her drink and tried her best to forget about what happened yesterday.
Of course I witnessed the entire thing from start to finish and I was still frustrated about it for the way she was always being treated.
She got called out by Professor Kawasumi for being clumsy, even though it wasn't her fault that her presentation got corrupted at the last second. She was always being bullied in class for being timid and for being a bookworm. I still hate how that kind of accusation still exists in the modern days of bullying.
Even after the first time I saw her in class being clumsy as she was called out to read a part out from the first lecture. Her voice was so low and her posture was just a slouch at that point. Looks like she had no form of confidence what-so-ever. In all honesty, the first time I befriended her was when she was being bullied by a couple of bimbos in our class and forcing her to do their assignments.
After she nearly got slapped in the face, I stepped in and took the blow as I grabbed onto her hand and stared her down in the eyes like I was giving her a look into the many ways of how I can harm her back for trying to hurt Rishia. She got pissed and pulled her hand away from my grip, but she walked away while secretly writhing in fear from my intimidation.
Rishia was grateful that I saved her, but then I knew I wanted to be her friend after what she did next. Even though she was slightly hurt, she grabbed a band-aid from her pocket and tried her best to patch up the slight bruise on my face. I smiled at her and at that moment, I knew she was a genuinely kind person.
"Raphtalia?" she asked and again broke me out from my thoughts.
"Huh? What is it Rishia?" I asked out of confusion.
"Do you also know Naofumi? I asked you that earlier, but it seemed like you were deep in thought." she explained to me after taking a sip from her drink.
"Oh, I was somewhat curious about him. I actually bumped into him yesterday morning when I was rushing to class. I really have to stop staying up and reading romance light novels sometimes…" I gave her a nervous laugh as I looked at her. I really do have that kind of tendency when it comes to reading.
I only got into reading light novels and a bit of anime after finding out about Rishia reading light novels during lunchtime or even on breaks in class. When I asked what they were about, that's when she started letting me borrow a few novels to read at my leisure. That's when I got hooked into it. Ahaha…
Anyway, that's pretty much how I ran late to class and bumped into "Naofumi"
"I know you've only started a few months ago with the light novels, but you really should practice moderation." she sighed after she scolded me about it. I know that she cares, but she does somewhat act like my mother sometimes.
After we had finished our drinks and chatted for a while, someone approached our table. Surprised as I was, I tried to keep my cool at that moment. Naofumi went to our table and cleared out our cups and mess and looked at the both of us.
He sighed like he was annoyed, but there was a hint of guilt in his aura at that moment. I couldn't explain it but how come I can read him like an open book? I only just met him yesterday and right now, but I did have a feeling from yesterday. He felt...familiar, like someone I care about…
"Look, I'm sorry for what I just did earlier. It wasn't right to do and I apologize for my rude behavior." He apologized to us in a professional manner.
Honestly, it made me a bit frustrated since he spoke in a rather sarcastic tone, like his boss must've wanted him to apologize to us.
"Just so you know, my answer is 'yes'. My boss did ask me to apologize for my rude behavior earlier, but I was in the wrong for overreacting about it. I just didn't expect to meet the both of you again." He blushed a bit as he explained his side of the story.
Huh? Did he just also read my mind? He just said the exact same thing I was thinking about when he apologized. I felt a bit ashamed but at least he was being genuine this time and not being sarcastic.
"O-Oh it's alright uhmm...Naofumi." I nervously said to him as I waved around my arms.
"Did Rishia tell you my name?" He asked about it.
"Y-Yeah...Anyway, how did you even meet with Rishia yesterday?" I asked the question that's been bugging me after Rishia explained how she met with Naofumi.
"Oh. I met her by the riverside when I was just relaxing after the day had nearly ended. I heard 'Fueh' as I was trying to take a nap for a bit. I got a bit annoyed and then I saw her crying under the bridge." He explained.
Wait...I know that she sometimes blurts out that noise whenever she gets nervous, panics, or gets scared, which is one of the reasons she got bullied, but it looks like she also cries like that huh…
I just found out something new about my best friend.
"Oh. Is that true Rishia?"
Rishia nodded from my question, which reaffirms my thoughts on him being a genuinely nice person. He explained further that he also helped out Rishia after she also told him the story about Professor Kawasumi. I'm not gonna lie, for I did laugh a bit when she explained that Naofumi called him an "ass of a professor".
She did have a tendency to defend the unjustifiable actions of Professor Kawasumi towards her sometimes, which also became the norm for other people to take advantage of her kind nature, until I became her friend after watching over her. Then people don't tend to do that anymore, but Professor Kawasumi still does it to this day.
Honestly, I felt relieved when he helped out Rishia from the situation after she ran out as soon as the day had ended. She must've really been holding in all of the tears throughout the day, which explains why she was silent for an entire day yesterday after we met during lunch and our next class in the mid-morning. She didn't even look at me and I somewhat understood the reason why but I didn't mention anything else further.
"Thank you for helping out Rishia yesterday." I bowed at him as I said those words.
He scratched his hair for a bit and sighed. "It's alright. I've gotten used to helping people out like that. I can't tell if it's a slight nuisance or i'm just at the wrong place at the right time?" He explained to me.
I giggled for a bit and gave him a sincere smile. "That's not true. I can tell that you're a genuinely kind-hearted person."
I think I saw his ears becoming slightly red as he tried to compose himself. "Uhmm...Thanks, I guess…" He smiled at me as he said those words with a hint of embarrassment on his voice.
"Eh? W-Why did my heart just skip a beat when I saw his smile?" I thought to myself which made me look down on the ground feeling flustered and confused.
He headed back to the counter and we went to finish the rest of our drinks. Well, this was a rather eventful start to our day.
After we had finished up on our drinks, He went to our table and started to clean it up and set the cups we had just drank out of into a tray and went back to the counter. I looked at my watch and I saw that it was already 25 minutes before our next subject at that time.
I tapped on his shoulder and I left him a thousand yen tip. I didn't really know any other way to thank him for helping out Rishia, but I think this works just as fine.
He silently took the bill and gave me a bit of a nod. I can tell that he wanted to object about the large tip, but it was like he understood why I gave him the bill and just decided not to reject the offer.
After that, we left and started heading back to the university building. Luckily for us, this cafe is about five minutes away from the campus grounds, so we can always just walk back and forth without ever having to rush back to school.
That little conundrum was a reminder of the time we ate lunch at a ramen shop downtown since I said I wanted to try out the place because we had a two hour break at the time. The professor assigned to the subject was out cold.
After that, we had to run a marathon back to school since the train back to the station of the school had a delay. We did not want to seriously repeat that little incident again. I sighed as I thought about that moment and Rishia giggled next to me as she looked over my way.
"Seems like you're in a good mood today, Raphtalia." She told me and it made me blush a bit.
"W-Well i've been feeling good today after…" I looked down on the ground for a bit and I didn't know that I was already sporting a healthy blush on my face. Then something popped up in my mind.
"Eh?! Why did the image of his smiling face just pop up?! I just met Naofumi!" I thought to myself.
"I am definitely not falling for a cliche like 'love at first sight'! Plus, I'm already in a relationship!" I kept denying the rising feelings in my chest.
But...I am curious about him. Like a rather warm feeling surging through my chest…I clutched on my chest as I thought of that…Why does his name feel so familiar..?
"I wanna know more about him…" I felt determined to become friends with him. I don't know why, but I really want to become friends with him.
"Naofumi-sama!" A weird feeling coursed through my thoughts. I heard a familiar voice.
I tried to break out my thoughts as we headed towards our destination for the day: to the university.
Notes: Raphtalia has a boyfriend and it's not Naofumi! Yet...We'll get to that once I get the ball rolling for the both of them. Thanks for reading.