Chapter 20: A Slow Rolling Week (Pt.1)
After Akira and I had left from our 'date', I had brought her to the station for her to catch her train home.
"You'll be alright from here on out?" I asked her as she stepped out of my car.
She shut the door and leaned back down into the passenger window to hand me back my jacket that I had lent her.
"Yup! We all do this quite frequently, so I'll be fine." She said happily.
I glance at the jacket briefly and shake my head.
"It's gotten pretty cold, but it doesn't bother me much. Go ahead and use it for now."
She looks a bit taken back by this and her face had gotten a little red once more.
"No..I, I mean this is yours though." She said nervously.
"Well, yes. But it's not like we'll never see each other again ya know. Just give it to me in class tomorrow or whatever, it's fine with me." I said, giving her full reassurance.
"O..okay then. I promise I'll wash it for you tonight!"
"Nah you really don't have to. Anyways, I'll see you tomorrow at school then?"
She nods and smiles, turning around towards the awating train, though she didn't make it very far before turning right back around.
"Oh...um, also..." She said, pausing nervously as she stopped in place.
This effectively caught my attention.
"Hm?"
"Uh...back there what you did when those two guys were harassing me...that was...well that was really cool of you..." She said, twirling her hair around a bit, giggling somewhat nervously afterwards.
"Of course, what kinda man would have been if I didn't at least say something?" I said matter of factly, feeling just a bit proud of myself for what I had done.
"Heheh...right, I know. But still...that made me pretty happy that you did..."
Suddenly her face began growing redder. And she started mumbling something under her breath.
"And also when you called me your girlfriend..."
"What's that? I couldn't hear-"
"Well, I'm off! See you in class tomorrow Hayden!"
With that, she quickly turned around and headed into the train and out of sight.
"Uhh...alright, wonder what that was all about." I said to myself as I threw my car into reverse and begun heading home.
After driving for about five minutes I had finally remembered something from earlier this morning.
"Oh crap, I almost forgot to call Hotie!"
[Flashback to the phone call this morning]
"What do you mean? I thought you said you wanted to come hang out today?"
"Sorry Hayden, I would but...I didn't know you'd be doing anything this early is all."
"Ahh...no it's alright. We had gotten up a bit early this morning to practice a bit more for the festival. Early bird gets the worm and all that good stuff."
"Eheheh..right. Um...maybe later when you get back...would you like to still hang out? I know you said everyone will still be with you guys but, maybe...um..."
She pauses for what feels like an eternity, and it only makes me feel extremely nervous.
"It could be..j...just the two of us if possible?"
I swallow a massive lump in my throat before barely even getting out an audible 'mhmm'
"Y-yeah...that could work too. Maybe we could take a drive, or go to the park or something?"
"YES!...uh...I...I mean..."
She trails off for a second and I could hear her clear her throat on the other end, gaining a little chuckle from me.
"Yeah, sure...that sounds nice."
"Okay, sounds good. I'll call you whenever I'm heading back to my house alright?"
"Mhmm...I'll be waiting! See ya Hayden."
*click*
[Back to present moment]
My heart had begun beating a bit faster just at the thought of possibly being alone like that with Hotaru.
I pull up to my apartment, letting out an exasperated sigh as I take my phone out of my pocket.
"Alright, might as well go ahead and call her then eh?" I said to nobody but myself.
I dial her number and bring the phone up to my ear, eagerly awaiting for her voice on the other end...but it never came.
"Huh...wonder if she's busy maybe."
I sit there for a few moments before ultimately deciding to call her again.
"Screw it, if she doesn't answer this time I'll just text her." I said to myself as I once again bring the phone up to my ear.
And once again it had gone all the way to her voicemail.
"Hm...alright, one more time."
This time it had only rung briefly before going straight to her voicemail.
"Did...she just forward my call?...No...I don't see her doing something like that. Screw it, one last time."
I call her one final time, but this time the phone had barely even rung once before going straight to her voicemail once again.
I cock my head back a bit as I pull the phone away from my ear slowly.
"She...she's actually forwarding my call? What the hell man..."
I stare blankly at my phone for a bit before finally deciding to just text her.
"Hey wyd? We still up for hanging out together?"
I had eagerly awaited her reply with my phone in hand, until finally the little bubble had popped up as if she were typing.
"Oh There she is. I was wondering when she...huh?"
Suddenly the speech bubble had gone away, which wouldn't have been too big a problem if it were only briefly, but I sat there for five minutes prior only to a 'Seen 11:15'.
"Is...she ignoring me?" I asked myself disbelievingly.
With one absolute final attempt at reaching her before I head home, I text her once more.
"You aren't ignoring me are you? Lol"
Although I had typed it out jokingly to keep the mood light, I had actually been somewhat serious about it.
This time I had waited around for about ten minutes, but to no reply nor any sign of her even reading it.
I let out a heavy sigh as I finally put my phone back into my pocket and walk into my empty apartment.
"You know, maybe I should see if she's with Kanako and Frank or something? Well...if he's even still with Kanako that is."
I pause for a moment to reflect, before chuckling to myself at the thought.
"The hell am I talking about, of course he's still with her. I don't see where else he'd be anyways. Might as well call him."
I pull my phone from my pocket again and stare at the screen blankly for a moment.
"I hope it's just my phone messing up or something, I don't see why else Hotie would ignore me out of the blue like that unless I did something bad to her."
I dial Frank's number and bring the phone up to my ear, and within a couple of seconds I hear the ring stop.
"Yeah what's up?"
I let out a big sigh as I was kind of hoping that it really WAS just my phone giving me trouble, but this had now just confirmed that it wasn't the case at hand.
"The hell are you sighing for? Did you not want me to answer or something?"
"Well, yes...but...not really? I don't know man, look...is Hotaru with you and Kanako?"
"Uhhh...no? Why would she be...is everything cool?"
"Ahh...yeah, I was just trying to call her back from earlier to see if she still wanted to hang out with me but...I don't know what's up with her."
"I mean, she's probably just busy right?"
"Yeah...that's what I thought too but...I dunno."
"Yo...you alright? I feel like there's something you aren't mentioning here."
"Well that's just the thing. I honestly don't know what's up, usually she answers my calls or texts pretty quickly, even when she is a little busy."
"Aww getting pretty dependant on her are we?"
"Tch...whatever man you know what I mean."
"Better yet, hold on. Hey, Kanako have you talked to Hotaru today by any chance?"
"What'd she say?" I asked him impatiently.
"She said she hasn't talked to her since last night in the club, with a little texting and whatnot afterwards."
"Damn...I see. Well...I guess I'll just try to talk to her la-"
"Nah hold up a second, Kanako's trying to call her now."
"Oh..alright then."
I wait quite impatiently for what seems like forever before Frank finally breaks the silence.
"She said she's not answering her either."
"Ah...gotcha."
I let out another sigh to myself as this was getting to me a bit more than I had expected it to, since I really didn't even know why it was bothering me so much.
"You...sure you're alright?"
Frank had actually sounded a little concerned now.
"Yeah, I'm alright. I'm actually gonna try calling Ageha real quick to see if she knows where her sister is."
"Yeah good idea. I shouldn't be too much longer since Kanako has some schoolwork to catch up on before tomorrow, so we'll talk more when I get back home."
"Alright sounds good, later man."
*click*
After hanging up with Frank, I waste literally no time at all in immediately dialing Ageha's number right after.
To my surprise, she also answered rather quickly.
"Hey, what's up Hayden?"
"Hey, uh...do you happen to know where your sister is?"
She remains silent for a bit before letting out a small annoyed grunt.
"Uh...did I say something wrong?"
"Jeez, if you wanna talk to my sister that bad then why even call me in the first place?"
"Uhh...I'm sorry, I wasn't trying to make you mad at me or anything."
She lets out a little sigh before finally saying something.
"Really though, if you wanted to talk with Hotaru, you could've just called her instead. Besides, it's not like you ever really call to talk to me anyway."
Even though she mumbled the last bit, I still had heard her pretty clearly.
"Well first off, I did try calling her, and I also texted her, but no response. Second off, you're right I don't really ever call you, BECAUSE YOU TEXT ME 24/7."
"Heheh...well, you aren't wrong. But seriously, why's it so important to get in touch with her? Were you two supposed to see each other or something today?"
"Uh...n-no that's not it, I was just...wondering...why she wasn't answering my texts, yeah!"
Although she had remained quiet, I could almost feel Ageha glare at me stupidly through the phone.
"Really now."
"Yes, really."
"Well, last I talked to her was earlier this morning before she met up with Nino and Yamehiko, two of her friends from class."
"Was about to say, cause I have no idea who those people are. But...I didn't know that she was going anywhere else today. When I first talked to her a few hours ago it seemed like she was still barely even awake."
"Hmm...I dunno, she met up with those two and caught a train to the Kinamura shopping district I believe."
"Wait...Kinamura, that's that next little town up the road from here isn't it?"
"Yeah, it's the closest one...why?"
"Oh...uh no reason...well, anyway I guess if you see her just tell her to text me or whatever."
"Yeah sure, cause I'm not needed anymore clearly, hm?"
"You're more than welcome to text me too Ageha, though I know you will anyway."
"Suuuuure will! Well, see ya!"
*click*
I slowly place the phone on the table in front of me as I plop down on the sofa and sink back into the soft pillows strewn about.
"Kinamura shopping district...that doesn't make sense...that's definitely where Akira and I were, and that little part of the town is pretty small. I find it odd that we didn't run into them there."
I glance over at my phone once more before losing myself in thought.
"Wonder why she told me she didn't wanna hang that early this morning? If she already had plans like that she could have just told me so."
Sure enough afterwards, Ageha had kept me company through texting for a good while before she had finally stopped replying, which had been almost perfect timing since I was pretty much keen for a small nap.
A while after I had fallen asleep on the couch with my phone still in my hand, I was shaken up by Frank eventually when he had finally gotten back home.
"You were that tired?" He asked, tossing his jacket onto the table and plopping down onto the reclining chair.
"I guess so yeah, kinda."
He glanced at me momentarily before lowering his eyes half mast and folding his arms.
"Yeah, I'm not buying it." He said with a cocky smirk.
"Buying what exactly?" I asked, honestly confused.
"Something happened, you were acting kinda gloomy earlier too. You that worried about Hotaru? Cause I'm pretty sure she's back at her house now."
"You sure?"
He nods and grabs the remote to the tv, turning it on afterwards.
"Yup, she had finally replied to Kanako after her and I were heading back to the manor so I could drop her off. She even tried asking Hotaru if something was up, but she just kept saying 'it's nothing'."
I heave a heavy sigh, checking my phone once more to see if there was any chance at a possible reply from her herself, but to no avail.
"Yeah, which makes me feel that it isn't nothing, because if it truly were 'nothing' as she says, then it wouldn't actually feel like it's something...I guess. I don't even know what I'm trying to say here."
Frank shakes his head and sits up straighter before facing me directly.
"No, I know exactly what you're getting at." He said with a genuine smile. "Guess you just can't help but worry like that when you feel that way about someone huh?"
Normally I'd try to avert having this conversation with him, but I had already known that trying to hide the way I felt about Hotaru against him would be pretty stupid.
"Yeah, I guess you could say that." I said, now sitting up straighter myself as the talk had begun taking a more serious turn...somewhat.
"Bro, why don't you just make some time for you and her? JUST...you and her. And if you do, maybe you should consider putting everything out in the open? Just come out with it and tell her how you feel."
"Well for starters, that's exactly what was supposed to happen today after I dropped Akira off at the train station. Hotaru had asked me to hang out, just the two of us...and I was looking forward to it honestly."
Frank raises an eye at me as if he's pretty intrigued now.
"Ah, don't get me wrong I...don't think I would have confessed to her or anything. Honestly, I don't want to ruin the friendship we have now with anything awkward like that...especially when I suck at it."
"That's very...well...very like you. Hell, like both of us really. I had actually tried several times today to kinda get Kanako away from the others, even just to walk around with her briefly...just trying to set that atmosphere you know?"
"Hold up." I said, placing a hand almost dead in front of Frank's face. "Were you gonna tell her how YOU felt?"
"Eh, well...that was what I thought at least. But every time that I actually DID pull her from the crowd...I just choked."
"Huh...that's a surprise. Don't get me wrong we're definitely a lot alike, but you have much more steeled nerves than I, and that's a fact."
He just shrugs his shoulders and lets out a little sigh.
"I mean, I guess not when it comes to that kinda stuff. But man, it's different with you, you knew Hotaru beforehand way back when, even if it was just for a little while. But me? I just barely met Kanako recently. I'm just not trying to shove a relationship or even the thought of one into her face like that you know?"
"So you think that's why you choked?" I asked him honestly.
He just nods without saying anything further before leaning back into the chair again and kicking his feet up.
"Romance is dumb, eh?" He said to me with a lighthearted chuckle.
I couldn't help but snicker myself as I nodded. "Yeah, definitely dumb."
After a few hours and still no response from neither Hotaru nor Ageha, I had decided to hit the hay a bit early since we did have class tomorrow and all.
Before I had actually passed out, I decided to text Hotaru once more before finally going to bed.
"Sucks we didn't get to see each other today, so I'll see you tomorrow around lunch? :)
Of course I had waited up a bit longer, but once more I hadn't gotten any reply for about half an hour.
After finally getting comfortable after another 20 minutes or so, just as I could feel myself drifting off...
My phone vibrated.
I don't think I'd ever shot up out of bed so fast in my life.
I quickly grab my phone and hit the home button to turn the screen on.
'1 new message-Hotie' The screen reads.
As happy as I should have been to know that she wasn't dead after not hearing from her all day, I found myself getting super anxious now.
I slowly flick the screen to the right and open my messages, and as soon as I had read what she had said, I honestly didn't even know what to think.
"I'm sorry, but could we maybe not talk for a little while? I have some things I need to think about."
[The next morning]
I walk down the halls towards my class alone, once again glancing at the message on my phone as I had been doing all morning.
"Man...what the hell did she mean by that? I felt like I couldn't even bring myself to ask or anyth-"
"Hello? Earth to Hayden?"
Finally after ungluing myself from my phone, I had noticed Frank walking alongside me to class.
"Uh...how long have you been there?" I asked, surprised in how he went that unnoticed.
"Bro I've been walking next to you since we literally got out of our cars and entered the building. Are...you drunk or something? You got bags the size of golf balls under your eyes and you look like hell."
"Oh...right, sorry."
"On top of that, you just left without even waiting earlier, even though we always cruise together every morning. Spill it, whatever it is, cause it's definitely something."
I look around, taking notice of the big crowds that had been easily within ears reach.
"Uh, can it wait til we get to class? Maybe I can ask Ageha if she knows what's-"
Suddenly, someone had bumped into me from behind, knocking one of her own books to the ground and taking me off guard completely.
["Oh crap, sorry I wasn't-"]
As soon as her and I looked up to one another she had stopped dead in her tracks.
Speak of the devil, it was Ageha.
"Oh. It's you." She said in a bit of a bitter tone.
I just raise an eye and glance over towards Frank; we were both wondering why she had the sudden change of attitude.
"What's that supposed to mean?" I said jokingly as I handed her back her textbook.
"Hmph...figure it out yourself...or hey, better yet? Why don't you let your girlfriend figure it out for you."
As soon as she had finished her snooty remark, she quickly continued making her way to class, leaving me long behind without explanation.
"Girlfriend? What...what was that all about?" I turned to Frank and asked.
"Beats me. That was...odd for sure."
Frank and I took a few more steps and arrived at the door to our class. We had gotten there a bit earlier than normal this morning it had seemed, since there were only a few people in the classroom at the time.
Ageha, Kotori and Aoi were all taking their seats, there were maybe three or four more random students in the room and that was about it.
Frank and I walk up the steps and take our seats like normal, but as soon as I had sat down, I didn't even have to turn around to literally FEEL Ageha glaring sharp daggers through my back.
"Man what the hell is her problem? And what did she mean by girlf-"
"Oh, there you are Hayden!"
All of a sudden I was greeted by Akira, who had waved and called my name out from the bottom of the class before quickly galloping up the stairs to her seat in front of me with Ina by her side.
"I was trying to catch you at the front of the building to give you your jacket back, but I had noticed your car out in the lot so I just figured that you were...already...in.."
She slowly brings her sentence to a halt and looks up towards Ageha, who was also glaring at her menacingly,
She just cocks her head to the side before leaning a bit closer to me.
"Uhh...is something wrong with Ageha? She looks really pissed off."
I widen my eyes a bit and nod furiously.
"Yeah, and I have NO freaking idea why. She must be on her rag something I guess."
All of a sudden I get punched in the shoulder from behind me, and this wasn't a normal punch, no. This one honestly hurt like all hell.
"TSS...OW! Ageha, what the fuck dude that actually-"
Once I turned around to scold her a bit, I had immediately decided to shut up once I had saw her face.
Her eyes were almost burning with anger. Whatever I did, it seriously pissed her off for real.
Without saying much else, I turn back towards the front of the class and grab my jacket from Akira, thanking her with a silent nod as Tobioka had just walked in to start class.
After our morning classes were over and lunch rolled around, I felt myself getting extremely anxious, knowing that I was probably very much likely going to see Hotaru in the lunch room, or at least that's what I was hoping for.
"I just don't know what it means man." I said to Frank after showing him the text I had gotten from Hotaru last night.
"Hmm...maybe they're pranking you or something? I just don't see why she would all of a sudden not want to talk to you. The both of them always seem more than close to you."
I just shrug my shoulders and continue down the hallway towards the lunchroom with Frank, before getting stopped almost dead in my tracks as I had bumped in to someone just as I had done Ageha this morning.
"Oh shit, I'm sorry I...I am not on top of my game today it seems." I said to the girls I had bumped into.
The girl I had actually bumped into had fumbled with her lunch tray a bit before ultimately saving it in the end.
"No it's fine! I wasn't paying attention to...oh."
All of a sudden, as soon as she looked at me, her smile had immediately dropped to a very unsatisfied frown.
This caused me to effectively cock my head back due to such a sudden change in demeanor.
"Tch, better watch out Yame or he'll try to date you too." The other girl said in a cocky tone.
"Hmm...yeah. Let's go Nino, I don't like playboys anyway."
The two quickly walked off in a very high strung manner without another word.
Frank raises and eye and looks me dead in the face, just as confused as I.
"Bro, what the fuck did you do?" He asked, half jokingly.
"Dude...I don't even know who the fuck those two girls are. I've never seen them in my life."
"Did you go on a sleepwalking sex spree last night and bang a bunch of girls and piss em off or something?" He said, laughing at himself afterwards.
"Ha, funny asshole. No I did not...or, shit, at least I hope I didn't. I don't even fucking know at this point, this is all kinda annoying me seriously now. Everyone knows something that I don't even know about myself apparently."
Frank nods his head, holding the lunch room door open briefly, letting me in first as he follows behind.
"Yeah, sure seems that way. I don't know anything either, so I'm just as much in the dark as you are."
After taking a few more steps towards the lunch line, Frank speaks again, though his voice had seemed a bit softer this time around, as if he didn't want anyone to hear what he was saying.
"Hey...you uh...you did tell Hotaru and Ageha that you were going hang out with Akira yesterday right?"
"Yeah? Remember we both let em all know the night before about us-"
Frank shakes his head furiously as I was talking, effectively stopping me.
"No, you told them about it when we were ALL supposed to go, but those plans had changed in the morning and you ended up only going with Akira."
I open my mouth to say something, but once I had really started thinking about it, nothing even came out.
"See what I'm saying?" He asked in a serious tone.
"Wait...you...you think that one of them may have found out?"
Frank just shrugs his shoulders before grabbing his tray for lunch and handing me one as well since we were next up.
"It's possible they did, and are taking it the wrong way since they hadn't known. They may have thought you were hiding it from them or something? I dunno."
I sit there for a moment thinking on the matter before raising an eye at Frank in surprise.
"You know, that's probably the smartest assumption that you've ever made about anything...like ever, and you very well might be right."
He just smiles a bit before shaking his head.
"Don't give me all the credit on this one, Kanako had put her two cents in as well when I told her about the situation earlier. But don't worry, she didn't know anything about this either and I told her to keep it on the dl for now."
"Thanks man...damn, so even Kanako wasn't told by Ageha or Hotaru at all?"
"Nope, she said it was the first she heard of it. But don't worry, we'll be getting some insider info by the end of the day." He said with a little smirk.
"Uh...meaning?" I asked, a bit nervous at his sudden change in tone.
"Kanako is gonna grab lunch with Hotaru today, and casually bring you up...ya know, to see if she says anything worth mentioning."
I rub my chin a bit and nod, a bit happy with this new game plan.
"That...actually sounds like a pretty good idea. Should be fairly easy for her to just slide my name into the conversation since we're all friends with each other. Anyways...I guess for now, let's just eat and finish out the day and see what Kanako tells you later I guess?"
"Yup, that's the plan." He simply said, getting his tray of food.
I grab my food directly afterwards and we head over to the tables to eat. Within not even ten seconds of me sitting down, I feel someone tap me on the shoulder.
"Hm?" I say as I turn around, greeted by none other than Aoi and the girls' friend.
"Oh, it's you. Ma-bou, right?" I said pointing at him, hoping I didn't mispronounce anything.
"Don't call me that like we're best friends or something. We aren't even friends friends, let alone best-"
"Yeah I got it, thanks." I said, waving his cocky remark off. "Look, did you need something? Or did you just come to tell me how you don't like me or whatever yet again, even though I've never done anything wrong to you in the first place."
"You." He simply said, pointing at me.
"Uh...yes?" I said, raising an eye at his weird actions.
He suddenly takes a seat at our table, lowers his head, and places his hands on the table like he's praying to a shrine, the shrine being Frank and I in this case.
"Uh...what are y-"
Before I could even finish he immediately cuts me off rather loudly.
"Please, tell me how you can talk to Akari so easily!"
Frank and I both look to one another, completely confused at the sudden unexpected outburst.
"I'm sorry...what?" I asked out of utter confusion.
"The other day, I had been meaning to ask you but...I saw you two in here, and I know you guys are in the music club and all and are friends with Motou-san and Hamada-san and also with their sisters and they're both close to Akari because they've been friends forever and Ina and Hamada are close to Akari because they're cousins and-"
"DUDE. WOAH." I said, putting my hand up into his face to get his attention.
"W-what?" He asked, a bit annoyed that I had stopped him mid-sentence.
"Could you slow down a bit?" I said, rubbing the bridge of my nose due to this newfound headache.
"Or like, maybe a whole lot?" Frank chimed in. "I almost didn't catch any of that."
"Look dude, just make it as short and sweet as you can, alright?" I said, urging him to continue now.
"Well...basically...I need you two to help me talk to Akari more casually like you two do! How do you do it? She's so uptight and...and she's stern and...she's so..."
He trails off a bit and stares into space with a look like someone who's lovestruck would have on their face.
"Ohhh...I get it. You're head over heels for her aren't you?" I said, smirking as I take another bite of my food.
His face instantly turns red and he begins looking around frantically, putting his finger to his lips.
"SHH! Don't shout, people are gonna get the wrong idea!"
"Or you mean the absolute right idea." Frank said, laughing a bit as well.
Ma-bou slams his head into his arms, defeated.
"Fine, yeah, I like her okay? You happy?"
I just chuckle a bit to myself and place my hand on his shoulder to reassure him.
"Dude, it's fine. We aren't making fun of you or anything. And honestly, I get what you mean."
"You do?" He asked, lifting his head back up from his arms.
"Yeah dude. I mean, she definitely takes her class rep position a bit seriously...maybe too seriously if I say so myself, but in all honestly, she's not a bad person by any means and she's not all THAT hard to talk to either. Hell we barely even know her but she was acting pretty normal when Frank and I were talking to her that day about the upcoming festival."
"I...I see. What um...what exactly were you guys talking to her about?"
"Basically just asking her to let us all change it up a bit and play some music that we actually wanted to play, none of that classical shit or anything like that."
"Oh...that...would actually be a nice change of pace probably. And...well, to be honest...I think deep down Akari has wanted to do that for a while as well."
Frank and I had immediately perked up as soon as he had said that, maybe even a bit more than we wanted to let off.
"Wait, for real?" I said, scooting my chair a bit closer so I didn't have to talk as loud.
"Uh...well, yeah I'm pretty sure. At least that's how it sounds when I listen to her when she talks to herself in the class rep's room when she's alone in there."
Frank and I just raise an eye at one another, a bit worried at his statement.
"Sooo, like...you stalk her sometimes bro?" Frank asked, only half jokingly.
He immediately shakes his head frantically.
"NO, nonononono that's not what I meant! Like...whenever I go to the classroom for us to start talking about...well, whatever it is that she wants to talk to the commitee about...I can't go in there when it's just her, so I just sit outside for a bit and wait for a few of the others to enter first."
He started to sound a bit defeated towards the end of his statement. It was as if he almost hated himself for the way things were in that situation.
"Why's that?" I asked, honestly intrigued by this now.
Frank had even scooted closer a bit as well, even more focused that he was before. Seems the both of us were enthralled by this.
"Well...I'm scared of being alone with her...because I never have been before. Her and I have always been together when others from the commitee were around. But the more and more I started helping her more often than I used to...the more I started, noticing her? I guess is what I should say."
"Basically, you were becoming more aware of the fact that you two were definitely of the opposite sex, correct?"
Ma-bou looks at Frank and nods with a serious look.
"Yeah, that's right. And, well, I guess the more I was around her like that, the more I got to learn about her. Eventually, I just found myself becoming a bit infatuated with her."
I nod my head and finish off the last bit of my food and toss it into the garbage behind me.
"Hmm...I see. But, let me ask you this...what makes you think that she actually wants to see a bit of change with the music club? When we talked to her, we even had Ina and Akira on our side trying to convince her to let us do our thing, and she was still a bit persistent on just not letting it happen."
He looks at me and smiles a bit. "That's because she's trying to carry on what her mom was doing when she used to go here."
"Her mom was also a class rep then I'm assuming?"
"That's right. She's actually the one who started the music club when she was class rep. She put a lot of work into getting it all approved by the board in the first place, and...well, that was the kind of music her mom liked. A few years ago, her mom had passed away, and shortly after, the position opened up for a new class rep. I guess as some sort of way to carry on her mom's spirit, she took it without hesitation. As for the music club, that's why she's so keen on keeping it the way it's been for so long, whether it's really what she wants herself or not."
"You know..." Frank spoke all of a sudden. "You seem like you know quite a bit about her, huh?"
"Well, she does talk to me about a lot of this stuff when we're all in class." He said matter of factly.
"Uh...huh, I see."
"People even say she seems cheerier after I listen to her when we're in class, so I guess I'm doing pretty well with being an assistant!"
This caused me and Frank to raise an even bigger eye than ever before.
"Hold up." Frank said, putting his hand up. "Let me get this straight. She tells the whole class this? Like her personal business like that? Or are you saying that when everyone is in class, doing their own thing, she tells you this stuff personally herself?"
"Yeah, she just tells me. Even when the whole class is there, I'm pretty much her assistant with everything and-"
Once again a hand is put up, this time by myself.
"So, you're telling us, that even though all these people are in class, she still talks to you personally? Like on the side?"
"Well...yes. I AM her assisntant." He said almost proudly.
"And she tells you personal things, like things about her ACTUAL life, and NOT about school?"
He cocks his head back a bit, clearly not following where I was going with all of this.
"Yyyyes? Why?"
"Dude." I simply said, facepalming myself hard.
"W-what?"
"SHE IS INTO YOU." I said with a serious face.
He blushes briefly before making a disbelieving face.
"Tch, no she isn't. I told you, I'm just...her assistant." He had said the end part in quite a gloomy tone.
"Tell me, is that really all you feel it is? Cause if someone was 'just my assistant' like you say you are, I don't think I would tell them my life story like that, ESPECIALLY when it has to do with a deceased parent. I'm sure that's a super heavy subject to her too."
"Yeah, it is sometimes. She's even cried about it before when talking to me about it a few times, but I just sit there and listen the best that I can to comfort her. She's really strong and she pulls through it quite well."
If I didn't facepalm hard enough the first time, I definitely did this time.
"DUDE."
"W...what now?" He said, looking at me in confusion once again.
"SHE CRIED IN FRONT OF YOU? SHE IS DEFINITELY INTO YOU MAN."
"What? How do you-"
"Bro." I said, stopping him in his tracks. "Women do not, and I repeat, DO NOT, just cry in front of anyone or talk about heavy subjects like that to someone who they just see as their assistant for a fuckin class rep commitee or whatever. That's not how that works."
"What are you trying to say?" He asked, a bit more intrigued now since I had sounded more serious.
"Dude, that mean she trusts you. Like big time."
"Well...yeah, like I said I'm her a-"
"Ma-Bou, can the assistant bullshit, that's not how that shit works. We're trying to say that she trusts you on a personal level." Frank said, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "I mean, you seriously didn't notice this?"
"And, the fact that she tells you that stuff and CRIES in front of you? She sees you as someone that she can rely on to listen to her and lean towards. Bro, holy crap, she is into you, I promise. There is no way that she doesn't have some kind of attraction towards you, and that's a fact." I said, letting out a heavy sigh afterwards. "Just trust me on this one."
"Then...what...what should I do?" He asked, in a surprisingly humble tone.
I looked at Frank and he looked right back at me and we both smiled at one another. It was safe to say we were probably having the same idea.
"Tell you what." I said, folding my arms a bit proudly. "You help us? And we...help you. Sound fair?"
He raises an eye at each of us before letting out a sigh and shrugging it off.
"Sure." He said. "I don't see what you two would need from someone like me, but I supposed you two could humor me. What do you need?"
"We need you to talk to Akari anyway, so technically you can kill two birds with one stone with this one."
He pauses for a moment and looks at me visibly confused.
"Meaning?"
"We need you to do whatever you can to help push Akari in the direction of favoring our idea for the music clubs participation in the festival."
"So...you want me to basically just add on to what Ina and Akira have been doing to her for the past week as well?"
"If by that you mean that they've been pushing her towards letting us play what we want...then yes, you'd be correct."
He let's out a little sigh before nodding at me. "I suppose that sounds pretty fair...but wait, what about the killing two birds with one stone part?"
"Heh...heheh...that's easy."
He looks at me a bit more concerned now due to the little unintentionally creepy sounding laugh that I had let out.
"You're going to ask her to go with you to the festival in the process." I said proudly.
"Oh, that's all? I mean I had attended the past two with he-"
"Nah ahh, I'm not talking about as her 'assistant'."
He pauses for a moment before the realization of where I had been going with this finally hit him, and he swallowed the lump in his throat nervously.
"...You're going to ask her...as your DATE."
[Several hours later]
After our classes had come to a close, Frank and I had both walked out of class and waited in the hallway for a bit, unlike our normal routine of simply leaving the school.
Aoi had walked out with Kotori right afterwards, and I could tell he had definitely noticed something different too due to him looking at us strangely.
I immediately knew what he was thinking so I had ended up just answering his thoughts.
"We're waiting for Ma-bou." I simply said, pointing to both Frank and myself.
He simply raised his head in an understanding nod, though only briefly, before stopping and looking at me once more, this time twice as confused.
"I...I'm sorry, did you say...you were waiting for Ma-bou?" Aoi asked.
"Yessir." Frank said, stepping in. "Helping him with a little...I guess you could say...problem of his."
Aoi raises an eye and remains silent for a moment before finally speaking again.
"But...I thought you didn't like him?"
"I never said that even once have I? I mean...yeah we had that altercation between one another when we first showed up here...but that was all him, I had nothing against him whatsoever...hell, I didn't even know the guy."
"Yeah...I guess that does make sense. But I mean...weren't you somewhat pissed?"
I just shrug and lean my back against the wall.
"I mean yeah, cause he was being an asshole. But...he's really not a bad guy once you talk to him. At least it doesn't seem like he is to me. He was alright when Frank and I spoke with him during lunch today."
"Well, yeah. That's just how he can be sometimes...he really isn't a bad guy at all. He's a good friend, and he's been one of my closest friends for quite some time now." Aoi said somewhat proudly.
"Well that's good. But hey...I actually needed to talk to you about something." I said, pointing to Kotori in particular.
I could tell this took her by surprise with the look that she had given me, probably due to that fact that we don't really talk much on the level where I'd necessarily be asking for her personally.
"Um...me? O-okay...what about?" She said somewhat shyly.
"Do YOU know why Ageha and Hotaru are so angry at me? I've honestly thought about everything and...have literally come up with nothing."
She scratches the back of her neck and laughs a bit nervously to herself before finally answering.
"Well...I do but...I...I think that's best handled between you guys. And...well they also told me not to say anything about it anyway..."
I let out a huge sigh and look over towards Aoi.
Although I was just about to ask him the same question, I could tell he had already known what I was going to ask because he simply just shook his head at me.
"Honestly, I've been trying to get them to tell me as well." He said, looking down towards Kotori. "But she won't tell me either. None of them will."
"Well...I guess I'll have to just get it out of them myself...well, first I still have to get them to even talk to me." I said, feeling a bit down now that I had actually said it out loud.
"Well, good luck with that one. Maybe I can try and talk to Ageha tonight and see if she'll vent about it to me. Can't hurt to try at least...but anyways, we'll see you guys tomorrow."
With that Aoi had fistbumped Frank and I and Kotori had given us a little friendly wave before the two of them had walked out of the building.
"Ah, there's the man of the hour." Frank said, pointing down the hallway.
Ma-bou could be seen clumsily moving his way through the crowd towards us.
"S-sorry I took a while you two." He said once he had finally reached us. "Honestly...I didn't expect you two to actually be waiting."
Frank and I look to one another, both confused from what he said.
"Why would you think that?" Frank asked.
"Yeah, I mean we're the ones who told you to come." I followed.
"I dunno." He said, shrugging his shoulders. "Thought maybe you were trying to get back at me for...well, for the way I acted to you guys when I first met you I guess you could say."
"Nah. Water under the bridge man, It's cool." I said, waving it off with my hand for dramatic effect. "Anyways, how'd it go with Akari?"
He just lets out a big sigh and shakes his head.
"Pretty sure I screwed it up. Or, well...more like I just don't think she sees me in the way you guys think that she does."
"What makes you say that?" I asked him genuinely.
"Mehhhhidunno." He said, half sighing in the process.
"C'mon." I said pointing towards the main doors of the building as I took a few steps forward. "Let's walk and talk."
"Alright." He said, adjusting his glasses before following along.
"So, what exactly happened?" Frank asked him after giving him a little motivational slap on the back.
"Yeah, were gonna need all the deets man. Tell us the whole thing." I added along.
We were both trying our best to get his spirits up so that he'd be a bit more open about it all...and surprisingly it worked.
"Well...basically..."
[A few hours earlier]
["Whoo...I can do this...how hard can it be?"] Ma-bou said to himself, pacing back and forth in front of the student council door.
Suddenly in the midst of his inner monologuing, Akari had opened the door, almost into him by accident.
Ma-bou stops dead in his tracks and his cheeks flush bright red from embarassment.
["Who's out here walk-...Ma-bou?"] She asked, clearly confused.
"Well...no turning back now." He thought to himself.
["Hey Masatsugu...you okay? You know student council doesn't start for another 45 min-"]
[Akari-san!"] He shouts rather loudly, startling her a bit.
She jumps back a bit from confusion and gives him a strange look.
["Y-yes, Ma-bou?"]
He swallows the lump in his throat and does everything possible to gather the courage for the task at hand.
"Come on Ma-bou, man up, let's do this!"
["U...um...could we talk about something real quick? Like...in the classroom please?"] He asked nervously.
Akari's cheeks had slightly flushed as well, unbeknownst to him at the time, as she nodded and stepped aside for him to walk into the class.
She shuts the door gently behind herself and clears her throat a bit before walking over towards some papers on the desk in front of the class and fiddling with a few of them as she spoke.
['So...what's this about Ma-bou?"] She asked, continuing to fiddle with the papers for no reason in particular.
He takes a deep breath and steels himself the best he can before leaning against one of the desks and looking her straight in the eyes.
["Akari-san."] He simply said.
She tenses up a bit and finds it a bit harder for herself to hide the shade of red upon her face now.
["Y...yes?"]
["Um...well...you know this weekend we have the festival and all coming up and...well..."]
She clenches her fist hard, almost crushing her fingers within them.
["R-right...and...?"]
With one last heavy sigh, he steels his nerves the last little bit that he could before going in for the kill.
["Would you maybe...want to hang out there?"]
She cocks her head to the side and looks at him, confused.
["You know...like...together?"] He said, his face redder than ever now.
Akari remained with that same confused look briefly, before finally catching on to what he had meant and immediately turning to face the other way.
["W...what are you talking about Ma-bou? We...we're both in the student council and we're there every year together! You know you're my assistant and all...we...we have to be there together anyway and-"]
["Nonono, that's not what I-"]
Before he could even finish his sentence, she loudly cleared her throat to cut him off, and without even turning around to look at him she puts the papers back down upon the desk.
["Boy look at the time! It's almost time for council meeting to start ahahah...better get prepared and all!"]
She had still not even turned to face him once after what he had asked her.
Ma-bou lets out another big sigh, though this time around it was a much more defeated one.
"Well...at least I tried..."
[Back to present]
"So...like I said guys, I appreciate the help, but it didn't really-"
"Okay, time the hell out." I said, making a literal time out signal with my hands.
"What?" He asked with an eye raised.
"Dude, you DEFINITELY did not fail. This I promise you."
Frank nods and complies alongside me. "If anything, you fuckin nailed it better than we even expected."
Ma-bou just stands there and looks at the both of us, clearly not picking up what we're trying to put down.
Frank let's out a sigh and puts his hand on Ma-bou's shoulder. "Alright, check it. Like you said, when you asked her this, she wouldn't even look you in the face afterwards or really even talk to you much the rest of the day right"?
"Right." He said with a nod.
"And every time you two's eyes had met in class, she quickly turned away right?"
A bit defeated, he just nods without saying anything.
I give him a decently hard slap on the back to pep him up a bit.
"Tsss ow! Hey why did you-"
"Dude." I simply said, shaking my head. "She turned away cause she's embarrassed! I can almost guarantee she NEVER expected to actaully have you ask her out like that so she probably had no idea whatsoever on how to handle the situation."
Frank nods proudly and smiles. "Yeah, I agree. If anything, if she honestly didn't want to go with you like that or see you in that way at all, she would have handled that A LOT differently, I promise. Dude...she is totally into you man."
"Y-you guys think so?" He said, a little more pep in his voice now.
"Bro, absolutely. Just take it with a grain of salt. Look, lets just let these last few days of the week play out normally and just seee how she acts with you alright? Don't mention the festival or anything like that to her again unless it has to do with your actual class duties or whatever alright? Let her have this time to herself to process everything on her own time."
Ma-bou looks up at me briefly before smiling and nodding. "Alright, I think I'll do just that then. Thanks guys...really. You two are honestly pretty good guys, seriously."
Frank and I both just shrug and smile genuinely.
"Just helping a brother out is all." I said jokingly. "Anyways I guess Frank and I are about to head home. You don't need a ride or anything do you? Or do you take the train or something?"
"Well I usually walk home since I actually only live about ten minutes away from here. But I'm actually meeting up with Hotaru at her dad's shop in the mall today. She needs help with her math work and, well...I'm super good with math so..."
"O...oh. I see." I said, my mood instantly turning a bit darker than before.
Ma-bou instantly reads the atmosphere and looks at me questionably.
"Did...I say something wrong." Ma-bou asked, a little concerned now.
"Ah...ya done went and said the H word." Frank said, half jokingly.
"The H...word? What, Hotaru?" He asks, confused.
"That's the one." Frank said, giving him a nod.
"Hayden, did you and Hotaru have a disagreement or something?"
I let out a big sigh before shaking my head.
"Man...I literally CAN NOT figure out why she won't talk to me. On top of that, Ahega is mad at me as well...like I'm talking PISSED. I just wish I knew what I did but...I don't even know where to begin."
Ma-bou rubs his chin a bit in thought before snapping his fingers.
"Ah! Hey, why don't I just talk to her for you?"
I put up both my hands and shake my head to try and derive him away from doing such a thing.
"Ahah...n-nah man it's cool, you don't-"
He immediately shoves his palm in my face and stops me mid sentence.
"Nope. You guys are helping me with Akari, so now it's my turn to help, I insist."
"Ahh...I mean...but like, she won't tell anyone other than the girls it seems. Aoi couldn't even get anything out of her, or Ageha. Kotori wouldn't tell him or me either, even though she clearly knows something." I said, a bit ditressed now that the situation was kind of resurfacing.
"Yeeeeah, but I mean, I was kind of always a little closer to her when we were younger. Aoi was always closer to Ageha."
"I...see."
I glance over towards Frank to silently get a take on his input of the matter and he just shrugs and nods.
"I don't see why it would hurt anything. Could take a little stress off you in trying to figure it out for yourself too maybe." He said.
I nod and look back over towards Ma-bou.
"Alright, I...guess I'll leave it in your hands for a bit then."
"Cool! I'll try to do what I can, ok?"
"Appreciate it." I said with a nod.
Frank and I both exhange numbers with Ma-bou and he heads off in his own direction shortly afterwards.