Chapter 21: A Slow Rolling Week (Pt.2)
The next day, not much had changed with this new routine.
Frank and I had gotten to school, I was tired as all hell due to lack of sleep once again, Ageha wouldn't say shit to me, Hotaru was nowhere to be found throughout the day for me to even attempt to strike up a conversation with her, the day goes by slow as can be, we go home. That's pretty much it.
The next day, almost completely the same. It was like I had almost known exactly what to expect before even waking up in the morning. Though on Friday for our last day of the week, about halfway through the day, during lunch break to be exact, Akira had shown up out of nowhere and began walking towards me from the cafeteria entrance.
This normally wouldn't be out of the ordinary, as her and Ina have sat and eaten lunch with us a few times before, but this time she had looked almost a bit distraught.
I look up at her and cock my head to the side a bit.
"Uhh...everything okay?"
"Hayden, are you busy after school today?" She asks somewhat nervously.
"I mean...not in particular I guess. Is there a reason you're asking?"
"Okay cool! Um, listen...could you meet me in the courtyard after classes are over? I have club this afternoon, otherwise I'd just walk with you after our last class."
"I mean, yeah I don't see why not. Is...everything alright?" I asked, a bit concerned now with how out of the blue this was and all.
"Yup! I'll see you after school, kay? Later!"
With a wave and a big smile, she left just as quick as she came.
"Uhh...wonder what that was all about?" Frank said, still glancing over towards the doors she had originally came from.
"Yeah, tell me about it. I swear, every day shit keeps getting weirder and weirder. Are we stuck in some kinda dream or alternate reality or something?"
Frank shrugs his shoulders before continuing to eat his food.
"I runno reats meh." He said with a mouth full of food.
"For fucks sake Frank, chew first." I said, exhaling deeply and facepalming myself.
Slowly, the hours pass on through the day, and nothing more interesting really happens at all surprisingly.
The last bell of the day finally rings and I gather my things before I begin my journey to the courtyard.
"I guess I'll just see you at home in a little while?" Frank asks as we both walk out of the classroom. "I gotta study a bit with Kanako at the library anyway."
"Yup. Motou texted me and said he and Hamada should be at our place around 8 so we can practice some more for tomorrow, so I'll catch you later." I nod and fistbump him before turning around to head in my own direction.
[A few hours earlier during lunch]
Akira runs down the hall out of the cafeteria to meet up with Ina, who had been waiting for her.
["So?"] Ina asks her.
["Yeah, he said he doesn't have anything going on, so he'll come."]
["Okay cool. I just talked to Hotaru and asked her to meet me near there as well before we 'accidentally' stumble into the two of you. I basically just lied to her and told her I had something about school that I wanted to talk to her about in private."]
["Wow...she bought it?"]
["Well she seemed a bit skeptical at first since...well, since I've never really asked her anything like this out of the blue, but she came around."]
["I see...so, did you...you know, end up figuring out why her and her sister are mad at me too?"]
Ina scratches the back of her neck and laughs a bit nervously.
["Ah...heheh...um, yeah she did tell me actually. It's the main reason I really came up with all of this. It was sorta my version of an ultimatum to try and fix all the misunderstandings."]
Akira gives Ina a bit of a funny look. ["What misunderstandings?"]
["Well...long story short, she found out about that 'date' the two of you were on."]
Akira's eyes had grown wider as she shouts a bit louder than intended.
["What?!"]
She quickly covers her mouth after getting a few weird looks from some of the nearby students.
Ina lets out a big sigh and shakes her head.
["Jeez, just get everyone's attention why don't you?"]
["Tch, shut up I didn't mean to! But...I thought Hayden had invited them anyway? Didn't they already know we we're going?"]
["Well, yes and no. They we're told that we ALL were going. But they never knew that the plans changed a little and that you two were the ONLY ones that went. But, that's not what caused all this mess...well, not that in particular at least."
Akira looks at her a bit impatiently now as her nerves had begun tensing up a bit.
["Well, then what's the reason Ina? Quit stalling!"]
["Hotaru and a few of her friends were in that area that day...like...in the immediate area. Apparently, Hayden called you his girlfriend when some guys were hitting on you, or something like that. Is that true?"]
Akira's face had gotten beet red once she began recollecting the thoughts from that exact moment.
["Ah...ahaha...you...you don't say..."]
["Luckily I put two and two together, and sort of figured that Hayden was probably just defending you."]
Akira remains silent and nods, her face still quite red.
["Well?"] Ina asks with an eye raised at her.
["Well what?"]
["That is all it was, right? Or are you two actuallly..."]
Akira furiously shakes her head. ["No we aren't! I don't even like...]"
She pauses briefly before turning to face the other direction. ["I mean...If I'd have known this was the problem all along I could have easily talked to the two of them and cleared this up myself if they would have just talked to me about it and asked!"]
["I know and I agree, but Hotaru didn't really see it that way. I'm sure you would have felt the same if you felt like the guy you liked was being taken from you by someone who's friends with you."]
["I...suppose you're right Ina, guess I didn't really look at it like that. Sorry..."]
["Save your apologies for when we all meet up later. You both can apologize to her for the misunderstanding and everyone will be happy again, and heck, maybe we leave the two of them alone and let even more magic work itself out, eh?"]
["Ahh...y-yeah. That sounds...sounds like a plan."]
Ina immediately notices the change in her tone and begins to question her.
["Akira...are you sure that you don't lik-"]
["I don't Ina! Jeez...can we just get to class please? We can talk more later."]
["Well, alright then. Let's get going."]
[Back to present]
After a few short minutes of walking, I finally arrive at the fountain and immediately notice someone sitting on one of the benches adjacent to it.
"Ah, there she is." I say to myself.
After taking a few more steps toward her, she turns around and notices me shortly after.
"Hey, there you are." She said, patting the other open side of the bench. "Wanna sit?"
I shrug my shoulders and toss my bag at the foot of the bench on the ground.
"Sure."
I take a seat and a good few minutes pass by before I finally decided to say something to break the silence.
"Sooooo...uhhh...what exactly did you call me out here for?"
She all of a sudden looks a bit nervous for some reason.
"O-oh! Uh...well..that's...uhhh...I just...noticed you were looking a little down the past few days, yeah!"
I disbelievingly raise my eye at her.
"You've just been looking a little less cheerful lately and, well you don't joke around as much with me as normal as you usually do when we're in class, so I figured I'd try and cheer you up!...somehow at least."
"I see..."
"And on top of that, you're stressing me out. Like come on dude, you not joking around and acting like your normal self in class makes it soooooo boring. Half the time I feel like I don't wanna come to school...either that or shoot myself mid class. Whatever comes first hahah."
"Yeah I feel you." I said with a half assed smile
"On top of that, I can't be the only funny person in class, well...even though we all know I'm way funnier and cooler than you." She says a bit proudly.
"I already know you're funny, but cooler than me? Now you must have lost your mind."
"Oh you think so?" She asks, folding her arms cockily.
"Nope, I know so." I say, punching her shoulder lightly.
"Hey, you dare hit a woman?" She asked, raising an eye jokingly at me.
"Oh you're a woman? My b-OW!"
She gives me a little punch back, though a tad bit harder than I had done, before she starts laughing.
I can't help but to smile to myself at the way she was acting. It felt like the first genuine giggle I've had in days.
"Hey, Akira?"
She brings her laughter to a halt finally, wiping a tear away from her eye.
"Ahah...ahh...yes?"
I grab her and bring her in for a hug briefly, before letting her go shortly after.
"Thanks dude. I needed this." I said, smiling at her genuinely.
She blushes fiercly and turns away from me. "W-what was that for?"
"For being a great friend all the time. Seriously, it's good to have someone other than Frank sometimes to talk about things with."
She lets out a little noise and remains looking the other way.
"What was that supposed to be?" I asked, laughing about it to myself.
"A great friend huh...God, why does hearing that make me feel so...angry."
"Hey Akira, you alright? You're spacing out there."
"..."
"Akira, are you-huh?"
Suddenly she stands up from the bench, still looking away from me.
"Hayden." She said in a monotone voice, which was a bit odd for her.
"Uh, yes?"
After remaining silent for a few more seconds, she finally turns to face me.
"What...what do you think of me?"
I cock my head to the side, surprised by the sudden odd question.
"W-what do I think of you?"
Remaining silent and looking towards the ground with her fists clenched, she just nods.
"I mean, what do I say here? I'm really glad that I met you, you turned out to be a much better friend than I ever thought you'd be, even though the way we first met was kinda silly. I mean, you just decided 'hey flirt with the new american guy' and boom, now look where we are. Close friends and-"
"Just..."
"Huh?" I asked, taken back by her sudden interruption.
"Just..." She lifts her head slowly and reveals her tear stained face. "Just...friends? Is that all?"
"Woah! Akira, are you alri-"
"I don't...want to be just friends anymore. I've tried...tried to not want this, I've tried to ignore it all because I know someone else has pretty much claimed you already...I know it's wrong for me to feel like this because I'm supposed to be helping her...but...it's...still what I want."
I look up at her, frozen. I couldn't really think of anything to say.
"W...what are you trying to say? Claimed me? Who has? Help who?"
She smiles halfheartedly and shakes her head before drying her face a bit with her sleeve.
"You're so dense sometimes."
"Hey, what's that supposed to-"
Before I could even get my whole sentence out, she quckly leans down and does something I would have never expected, ever.
She grabbed my face, and she kissed me.
Unbeknownst at the time as this was happening, Ina and Hotaru were making their way down the direct pathway towards the fountain.
["Um...Ina? Where are we going again?" Hotaru asked, taking a sip of the drink she had been holding.
["Oh, over here by the fountain. It's where I go to study quietly sometimes."]
["Oh...okay."]
Ina turns around, walking backwards on the path and looking at Hotaru as she did so.
["Why are you looking at me like that Ina?"]
["Heheh...oh no reason. Just can't wait to study! So did you bring-...Hotaru?"]
All of a sudden, Hotaru stops dead in her tracks, dropping the drink that she had been holding onto the ground, frozen in place.
Ina gives her with a weird look before turning around towards where she was looking, only for her jaw to immediately drop.
There stood Akira in front of me, bending down, kissing me.
Although I didn't intend to have something like that even last that long, I was so much in shock from it, that it took me a solid five seconds to even realize what was going on.
She pulls away finally and before she had even gotten to say anything else, she had caught notice of the two of them out of the corner of her eye. As soon as she had realized just what she had did, she instantly froze up.
Due to her sudden change in behavior, I was also pulled out of the little trance that I had been in, though only briefly, before looking over and seeing the one person who could not have picked a worse time than now to show up.
"SHIT." I said, quite aloud.
Before I could even think of another word to say, Hotaru's lip had begun to quiver briefly before the emotion had fully taken over her. Tears began running down her face, and before I could even fully get up from the bench, she had already taken off full sprint.
"Fuck." I said under my breath, quickly jolting up from my seat and setting on after her.
"Wait Hayden! I-"
"Sorry Akira we'll talk after I promise just...gotta go right now I promise I'll get back to you on this!" I had said the last bit from down the way a little since I had quite literally sprinted from my seat full speed after Hotaru.
She lets out an incredibly enlongated sigh before plopping down onto the bench and burying her face in her hands from embarassment.
["I...can not believe I seriously just told him how I felt like that. How stupid can I be?"] She said, face still buried in her hands
["I can't believe you kissed him. That was bold, even for you."]
Akira quickly shot up from her hands towards the startling voice, meeting the gaze of a very frustrated looking Ina.
She plops her head right back down into her hands with another sigh.
["Gonna yell at me I'm guessing? Go ahead. I probably deserve it any-huh?"]
Midway through her sentence, Ina had sat down next to her and without hesitation, took her into her arms and hugged her tightly.
["Ina?...Wha-"]
["I know it was probably hard."]
Akira raises her eye and glances up at Ina from being buried in her chest from the hug. ["W-what do you-"]
["Akira-san. We're cousins...very close ones at that. You honestly think I couldn't see that you had a thing for Hayden? I've been knowing it, and...I know it's probably hard trying to help someone else basically take the person you want away from you. But...you have to understand, Hayden clearly is head over heels for Hotaru, anybody who isn't blind can see that...well, except for Hotaru. Apparently, she is VERY blind."]
Akira opens her mouth as if she was about to say something, but just closes it and nods.
Ina lets out a little sigh, patting Akira on the back a bit to give more comfort. ["Like I said, I know it has probably been hard watching him chase Hotaru around like that when you like him too, but...that's what comes with being friends with the both of them, you're going to be around that a lot, it's just up to you if you want to remain around it and deal with the pain until it eventually subsides, or not."]
["Jeez, you really do see everything when it comes to me, don't you?" Akira said, smiling halfheartedly.
Ina nods proudly and smiles. ["It's my job as your cousin to keep an eye on you. If I don't who else will?"]
Akira laughs a bit finally and nods lightly. ["I guess I shouldn't be surprised. But...shouldn't you be yelling at me or something? I ruined the whole plan..and...even worse..."]
She looks down towards the ground, almost disgusted with herself, before letting out another big sigh.
To her surprise, Ina had ended up just giggling a bit at her.
Akira raises an eye and quickly looks up at her.
["Something you find funny?"]
["Oh Akira, truthfully, I don't think you 'ruined' anything."]
She raises an eye at Ina, more confused as ever now, though she remains silent.
["As crazy as this sounds, I was somewhat prepared in the event that you'd to confess to him at some point sooner or later."]
Akira had almost looked like she had seen a ghost with how wide her mouth was.
["Y...you...did?"] She asked, quite intrigued.
["Well...I will say this, I wasn't expecting you to do it when Hotaru had been thirty feet away from you two, and I most DEFINITELY wasn't expecting you to kiss him."]
Akira's face had immediately flushed red as she turned away quickly.
["Y...yeah whatever okay, it just happened! I wasn't thinking straight!."] She said, clearly as embarrassed as ever.
Ina puts her fist up to her mouth to her best ability to stifle a laugh.
["Ugh...I hate you sometimes."] Akira said, shaking her head.
Ina clears her throat to get her attention once more.
["Ahem...anyways, as I was saying...despite all of that, you didn't really ruin anything. I had already had a plan B from the get go."]
["Uh-huh...well don't keep us all waiting, tell us!"]
["Well, there of course was the possibility that this would have worked unhindered, and that would have been for the best. But..."]
["But?"] Akira asked at the edge of her seat.
["I partially feel like this is going to push Hotaru to actually make a move now."]
["...What?"]
["Think about it. Now...Hotaru sees you as competition...now she has an actual motive to move towards letting Hayden know how she feels. That motive, being preventing you from getting him first...as bad as that sounds."]
["No no...I mean...I get it. Trust me, I GET IT."]
["So now the real question is...do you sit back and hope that this just works out now? Or do you still want to be that friend, and actually help her out and make things right between you and her..., and Hayden as well, regardless of how it makes you feel?"]
Akira lets out a big sigh, and for a moment it had almost seemed like she could cry at any second, though she took a deep breath and sucked it up before ultimately nodding.
["I want to help if I can. I mean... it sucks because I do really like Hayden...and I've, well, I've never really liked a guy to this extent before...or...ever really. But they've known each other so long and...I mean its easy to see that Hayden is clearly smitten over her. I can easily tell that she feels the same too."]
["So you're saying yes to my plan B then?"]
Akira nods with an actual smile this time, almost as if proud of herself.
["Yes, let's go with your plan B, I'm all in."]
["Okay, good. Technically Hayden may still be able to convince Hotaru to listen to him and fix everything...but if he doesn't..."] Ina stopped, rubbing her chin in deep thought.
Akira turns her head to the side, wondering why she had gone silent all of a sudden.
["If he doesn't...what? C'mon you got me literally on the edge of my seat here."]
Ina rubs the sides of her temples and grunts a bit out of frustration.
Akira raises an eye at her and facepalms shortly after.
["Y...you don't actually have a plan B, do you?"] Akira said after letting out a sigh.
["Well...not...exactly. I was stating to try and think of one as I had said it though!"] Ina said, throwing her hands into the air.
["Are you joking! I thought you were really on to something here!"]
Ina lowers her eyes half mast and stares daggers into Akira.
["Hey, YOU were the one who had decided to go rogue from the original plan."]
Ina let's out a huge sigh, before calming herself once again. ["The one time you decide to be impressively bold, you pick the worst one."]
Akira once again looks away, annoyed with herself.
Ina takes notice and lets off of her a bit.
["Well, it's too late to dwell on that anyway, I'm sure we can figure something out. It's not the end of the world." Besides...you looked almost a little cool confessing to him the way you did."]
Akira quickly turns her head towards her cousin once more before scoffing a bit and smiling.
["Oh come on, don't gas me up now when you were just fussing at me for it two seconds ago."]
["It's true though. As long as we've been together, I thought I had seen all of your sides throughout the years, but I guess even you can surprise me sometimes huh?"] Ina said with a little giggle at the end.
Akira was smiling a bit boastfully now after recieving such a compliment from her cousin.
["Heh, yeah I guess so. If...if only things were different and I had met him first, who knows. Maybe I would have even asked him to the festival this weekend and danced with him by the bonfir-"]
Ina shot up out of her seat quickly and grabbed onto Akira's shoulders.
["That's...that's it!"] Ina shouted.
["W...what's it?"] Akira asked, a bit confused at her outburst.
Ina just simply smiles back at her. Before long, Akira had quickly caught on to what she was getting at.
["Oh..no...nononono...you...you want me to ask Hayden out to the festival?! Like for real? After what JUST happened?"]
["I mean...that would give Hotaru some serious motivation to prevent the two of you from-"]
Akira puts her hand up and shakes her head. ["No. Jeez Ina, I'm not trying to make Hotaru hate me you know!"]
["And she won't. I promise. This will be a serious ultimatum if you can do this. It'll push her beyond her current boundaries that she's set up for herself."]
Ina puts a hand on Akira's shoulder and gives her a reassuring smile. ["Please, trust me on this one. Something is seriously telling my gut to go with this, and it very well may be the last chance we got to actually fix every bit of this and clear up any misunderstandings in the end."]
Akira's face becomes incredibly flushed as she looks away from Ina towards the direction I had initially ran in, letting out a bit of a defeated sigh at the end.
[Off in the other direction]
I can feel my legs almost burning up from breaking into what I could say what was probably the fastest sprint I've ever done before.
"Haah...damnit...Ho...Hotaru, hang on for God's sake!"
Surprisingly, after calling out to her a few times, she had started to slow down, until she eventually had come to a complete stop.
I begin lowering my speed as I come closer to her, until eventually soming to a halt myself and stopping a few feet behind her.
"Ahh...Jesus...you...you could try out for the track team with endurance like that!" I said halfheartedly trying to get some sort of reaction from her.
She remains still with her gaze pointed to the ground beneath her feet and doesn't say a single word in acknowledgement.
I look up towards her, waiting for some sort of response, but it ultimately never came.
I let out a huge sigh before sitting on one of the benches close behind me, prepping myself the best I could for this.
"I guess first things first, why the hell have you been avoiding me for almost a week? I've tried countless times to talk to you but...nothing."
Yet again, she remains silent, not even acknowledging me.
"Also, why...why did you run like that? I mean...I'm sure what you saw was surprising... and believe me, it surprised me more than you know. Shit, how could I even remotely prepare for something like-"
"Shut up." She said, in a tone I've NEVER heard her speak in.
It had almost chilled me to the core.
"W...what did you just-"
Finally, she quickly turns around, revealing her face to me. "I SAID SHUT UP!"
Needless to say, I was quite taken aback by her sudden behavior. I've never seen her face so full of what seemed like complete disgust almost.
"Wha-"
"Best friends, and you can't even tell me you get a girlfriend? Or even that you had feelings for someone in the first place? And AKIRA at that? A friend of MINE?"
I cock my head to the side, now utterly confused.
"Wait, what're you-"
She takes a few steps closer in a very annoyed manner.
"How could you keep that from me? ME? How long have you two been going out anyway?"
"Pause. Stop." I said, literally putting a hand up.
She begins tapping her foot on the ground impatiently with her arms folded, and she was definitely making sure I knew she was pissed.
I stand up from the bench after catching my breath from sprinting to meet her gaze a bit more directly and seriously.
"Hotaru, what in the hell are you even talking about? I'm not 'going out' with anyone. Granted, yeah...Akira...kissed me and all...and I don't know why but...but I don't see Akira that way! Besides-"
"Cut it Hayden...why continue lying to me of all people? This isn't the reason I've been distancing myself anyway, this just...added fuel to that fire."
"I'm not lying about anything Hotaru! What the hell HAVE you been ignoring me for? Damnit man, if anything I should be the one pissed off here!"
"I found out myself about you and Akira! I've been knowing!"
"Been knowing WHAT Hotaru? Spit it out!"
"I...was at Kinamura the other day with some friends, and we just so happened to be close by when that group of shady guys were messing with Akira."
I swallow the lump in my throat, since now I pretty much caught on to what started this whole thing.
"I heard you Hayden. Clear as day, I HEARD you call Akira your girlfriend! There was no mistaking it!."
I let out a huge sigh and shake my head. "Jeez, that's what started all of this? You're jumping way to fast to conclusions! Hotaru I only said that bec-"
"Don't turn this on me, this is about you right now!" She says, throwing her arms into the air angrily.
"Then tell me Hotaru! Shit, how was I supposed to fix a problem if I didn't know what the problem was! I can't read minds, especially the ones of a female! Y'all are complicated!"
"Tch, evidently not complicated enough for you to lock lips with one, and you've barely known Akira that long now compared to me!"
She turns around and shakes her head a bit, letting out a pissed off snicker.
"I guess I should have known this anyway. I've heard stories about how easily Americans can do things like this with the opposite sex, so thanks for proving it to me."
Now, I was aggravated.
"What the fuck is that supposed to mean." I said, in quite the heavy tone.
She quickly turns back around , this time with more hurt in her expression than anything.
"I'm...done with all of this. I don't want to talk about it anymore."
I shake my head furiously and walk back in front of her, locking eyes.
"Nah, that ain't how this is gonna work. You won't even let me explain anything to you dude!"
"I don't want to hear any of it when I saw it all for myself!"
"But what you saw isn't even what it actually was! I'm telling you that she isn't-"
She begins tearing up a bit and her lip had begun quivering like she was about to have a literal meltdown.
"And to think..." She said with a lengthy pause.
"W...what?" I asked out of curiosity.
She looks up at me, the tears rolling in a bit harder this time around. "I was shopping to pick out a new outfit for when we hung out later that day...because...I wanted to ask you...ask you to the..."
My heart began racing ten times faster than it was when I had sprinted after her. Was she going to ask me to the festival? Like...on a date?
She dries the few tears that had begun leaking from her eyes before clearing her throat.
"It doesn't even matter anymore. It's over and done with now. Besides, I have to go meet Koda and the others by the train station anyway since I'm in the festival prep commitee and both commitees for our schools have to meet together beforehand.
Once I had heard that name, my heart had almost fallen through my tomach.
"Wait...you...you're working around him!? That rich douche?" I said, maybe a bit too jealously.
"Is that a problem? What, you jealous or somet-"
"Yeah, what if I am huh?! What if that DOES make me jealous Hotaru? Then what?" I shouted, a bit louder than what I would have liked to.
She looks completely taken aback by my sudden outburst, and it was pretty easy to tell that she wasn't expecting me to say that.
I shake my head and ball my fists, trying the best I could to suppress the blend of emotions that I was feeling inside of myself at the time.
"You know what, go then. You don't wanna hear my explanation for everything? You don't wanna listen to anything I need to say to you? Then I guess I don't have to fucking say it. Do whatever you want Hotaru, like you said, you're done right?"
She opens her mouth like she was about to say something, but ultimately she remains silent.
"Tch, yeah that's what I figured. I'm done here...go...do whatever you want."
Halfway through my sentence, I had to turn the other way and start walking because quite literally, I had almost begun crying. I had said so much that I didn't even want to say, but I had let my emotions take over.
There was nothing I could do now.
After walking for about ten seconds I could hear footsteps behind me. I turn to look over my shoulder to see Frank coming up to me.
"Bro..." He simply said.
"What?" I said, still in an angered tone.
"What...was all that about?" He asked sincerely.
I think for a few seconds before catching on to what he was getting at.
"Were...you listening to all of that?"
He shakes his head and walks next to me as we continue on towards the parking lot, which was where I was headed anyway.
"Not all of it, we had heard it all from the part from when she told you to shut up."
"Okay, so basically the whole damn thing."
"I guess, if that's where you two were starting that argument from. We weren't trying to eavesdrop or anything, Kanako and I were just coming out of the library when we saw the two of you through the glass."
"Wait, so Kanako heard it all too?"
Frank nods his head and let's out a little sigh. "Yeah, everything I heard, she did too."
"Great, now she's gonna think I'm an asshole too." I said, facepalming myself hard for being so careless.
"Nah, I don't think so. She stayed by Hotaru and told me she was gonna talk to her about everything, trust me, she's on your side since she wants to see the two of you together too like her and I so the four of us c-...uh...nevermind."
I quickly shoot my attention towards Frank, who was surprisingly BLUSHING.
"Frank...are...are you and Kanako..."
He lets out a huge sigh, mentally facepalming himself for blurting it out so casually.
"Y...yeah. I asked her to meet me at the library today to study a bit and...well, we were talking about relationships and I...kinda...told her how I felt about her...and she felt the same."
"Well...that's unexpectedly bold of you Frank. Wow man...at least you're having luck, but anyone could see Kanako totally digs you, I mean I kinda even knew myself."
"Haha...y-yeah. But...at first before we came out of the library, we were surprised because we thought the two of you made up and were talking again...but..."
"Yeah, you can kiss that goodbye. I guarantee I just fucked that way up to the moon."
"Well, that's why Kanako wanted to talk to her herself. She's trying to help you as well."
"Yeah, well as much faith as I have in Kanako as a person, I just don't see it happening. Besides, Hotaru...I think she's going to prom with that rich dickhead fuckface Koda."
"Seriously?" Frank said, looking at me quite disbelievingly.
"Seriously." I said, clenching my fists in anger once again. "I'm telling you, something seriously doesn't sit right with me about that guy. And I'm not just saying that out of jealousy or anything, I mean-"
"No, I totally agree. I get this weird vibe from that guy too...like underneath that goody goody act he puts on in front of girls, there's a shady character."
"Exactly!" I shouted, snapping my fingers for added dramatic effect. "That's what I'm saying."
"Well, I say let's see if Kanako can talk any sense into her before we do anything else. Anyways, wanna stop and grab some beer on the way back?"
I pull my phone out of my pocket to check the time.
18:52 it reads.
"Yeah, it's barely 7 anyway so we still got time before the guys come over too to practice."
"Right, sounds good. We're gonna have to crunch down tonight and a bit tomorrow during the day since it's all we got left to practice before the real thing." Frank said with a hint of nervousness in his voice.
"Ah come on man, we'll be fine. I'm just hoping this won't all be for nothing. Motou said he and Hamada will know by tonight if Akari is gonna be cool with us playing what we want."
"You think she'll come around?" Frank asked as we finally walk up to our cars.
I open my door and plop down onto my seat, nodding in the process. "Yeah, I think she'll be cool with it. She seems much less opposed than she did at first."
"Yeah, guess you're right. Well, let's go grab this shit and head back to the house." Frank said, shutting his door and firing up the engine.
"Roger captain." I said, giving an idiotic looking salute before he and I finally pull off and head to the store.