Operation: {Type F}: [Confusing]
One Week Later
[Play: Munesawagi (ANANT-GARDE-EYES/Jun Maeda) Charlotte (O.S.T)]
The generally occupied streets was currently missing the usual noisiness as silence encompassed the area, even the cars where unnaturally absent for the time being. Though the time indicated that it was morning, the sun presence was overlapped by the still dark night sky.
*Rustle*
The ominous-like sound that the wind was producing alongside the occasional shaking of the bush was the only sound prevalent to be heard upon the quiet district.
*Rustle* *Rustle*
The bushes continued to rustle as if someone was currently stealthily concealing himself, as the person didn't want to admit that this was hiding, in one of the most original and obscure spots in the world so that the person can conceal from-
[Play: Ihyou (ANANT-GARDE-EYES/Jun Maeda) Charlotte (O.S.T)]
"*OW!* What the-! Darn this thorny plant- *OW!* Takajo winced as he felt the spiky and sharp thorns prick his skin rather painfully.
There was actually a good reason why Takajo, the self-proclaimed mature kid in the neighborhood, a proud and dignified loner with looks and a brain to boot, was currently avoiding the main sidewalk where most people would usually walk on, and had turned to hidin- I mean, "concealing" himself for a clearly and sane justified reason... or so he thinks.
"Physical resistance and endurance, don't fail me now!" Takajo gritted as he continued to hide in the thorny hedge plant.
Yes, it was to the point the Takajo, who dealt with things in a logical and analytical approach, deemed that hiding in a metaphorical thorny path full of hardships would made him capable of preventing the... predicament, that he was hidin- concealing from.
What predicament you say?
"Jiro-kun!" Takajo shuddered as he heard the voice of the newly self-proclaimed bane/opposite/nuisance of his existence melded into one form.
The girl, who was named as Sara, which he was indicating for, may not look like much and could even be called "normal" by a lot of people apart from her truly almost at edge "vibrant" personality which Takajo, himself, had the pleasure to be "dazzled" of.
And that dazzle that many people would take a liking to, seeing that in this society, the most cheerful and sociable one would undoubtedly be the top in terms of popularity, if not, at least be known by her peers.
"Jiro-kun! Where are you? Let's go to school together!" Sara called out as she searched left and right for any signs of Takajo's form, which was coincidentally just a few inches beside her as that particular bush suddenly quivered sensing her presence.
And that dazzle unfortunately made Takajo too afraid to be shone upon. Why?
Just think about it.
"Few distance left..." Takajo muttered as he saw Sara passed by him and had continued to walk away from him by at least a few meters, much to Takajo's relief.
If, hypothetically speaking, a naturally reclusive person that prefers peace, quiet and silence among other things that tends to stick his face upon a book all day and has this very interesting mindset of regarding society as "boring" in his so called mature views and analytical standards...
...be exposed with a naturally jovial person that prefers anything opposite to what the first subject favors, alongside with the fact that said person likes to stick her "presence" to the former all day with an unknown reason.
Yes, the answer would be-
"Jiro-kun!" Takajo became startled as he heard Sara's voice that he could've swore was behind him, making the former jump forward and landing his face on the still cold and hard cement.
Takajo growled as he fixed his, surprisingly not yet broken, glasses before getting up as he turned around to only be met by an amused Sara with the very same smile on her face.
"Jiro-kun!" Sara leaped as she proceeded to embrace the still recovering Takajo, making him flinched.
"Stop hugging me!" Takajo shouted as he tried to pry off Sara who was shamelessly, proceeding to congregate her two shockingly strong yet slim upper limbs as it enveloped his torso while her head was placed directly on top of his chest as if nuzzling him.
Despite only meeting for about a week ago, Takajo have noticed that Sara had the tendency to hug him without restrain when they saw one another, or in his case, when Sara spotted him hiding like a hunter catching it's prey, though he didn't know why the reason either but it never failed to startle and annoy Takajo from the show of affections.
As for the hiding however, Takajo, the Takajo, who had once faced the so called boring society with the usual unrelenting passive expression on his face, was forced to show distress almost every day and every time since Sara had unceremoniously presented herself by figuratively kicking his built-up reality in the back of his head... and yes it did also happen quite literally.
"I like hugs!" Sara whined while continuing to nuzzle on Takajo's upper body. "Especially if it's Jiro-kun!" she quickly added, though it only made Takajo thought he was the one that she preferred to be bothered unlike her other classmates that she seemed, and only seemed, to be avoiding based on his observation.
If he ignored her rather over the top cheery personality, he could undoubtedly speculate that she was like him in that regard, as he saw her always place an almost undistinguishable smile on her face with short dismissal tones and the only thing that he can differentiate was that she tends to be cheerful more than sardonic in her approach.
Nonetheless, that was only his own assumption and he knew it was clearly way too early to presume such a statement since he knew her current personality directly contradicted to what he had seen and furthermore-
*Rustle*
Takajo's ear picked up something akin to rustling, as he snapped his head left and right to discover the source but to be only met by the quiet district as the darkness still remained in the surroundings.
He stood there baffled and had particularly remembered that this indeed happened for quite some time since meeting Sara, where he would sometimes felt someone's gaze over him, though, just like what he said earlier, it started when Sara started hanging out with him.
"Since I have found you..." Sara said before pulling back from the embrace making Takajo shook his head slightly and retreat his focus from the possibility of someone watching them to the girl in front of him to bask in the feeling of relief.
As Takajo, with a sigh, looked at Sara's eyes that now held mischief, that relief turned to horror as he knew what was going to happen next.
"Don't you dare!" Takajo hastily shook his head indicating for a no, but it was promptly ignored by Sara, who grasped his hand tightly before turning around as she started to kick her feet against the ground as she leaped forward.
"This will be fun!" Sara said with boisterous laughter as she sprinted while holding Takajo's hand tightly, dragging and forcing him to run with the girl in the front.
Takajo didn't even had the chance to voice out another protest, as he was now currently trying and almost failing to keep up with the energetic girl zipping across the street, and instead of stopping, he mustered his focus on his balance knowing that he could never shook of his held arm from the strong grip of the same cheerful girl.
Even though the running was unnecessary seeing that it was way too early in the morning and school would start about one hour later. Takajo knew Sara would undoubtedly disregard simple ethics of walking leisurely while classes are still far off from schedule.
After about only a day since they met, Sara had proposed, Takajo surely felt he was forced, running first time in the morning to keep the blood pumping and also exercise along the way for school. He fortunately had the chance to correct her albeit offhandedly, not that he was thrilled in any way to participate in her plan whatsoever, but upon seeing her just shrug and ignore his explanation, he knew he should have made his point clear.
"*Wooh*!" Sara sprinted as she felt wind's gale and hear the sound of shouting from the clearly unwilling Takajo behind her.
It then lead to about a few seconds, similar to earlier, where he was "swooped" away from his feet and had been forced to be dragged without his consent as they sprinted like there was no tomorrow, Takajo would have shook it off but there was still Sara's tight grip on his arm, that made him unable to get rid of.
Then it eventually lead to Takajo being out of breath for days straight as Sara had him struggle everyday just to keep up with her amazingly fast legs.
It also didn't help when Takajo had tried to go to school early like this day, where he would just meet Sara moments later and was weirdly ready for school like himself as if she was waiting for him to get outside of his house. He didn't know how she did it and frankly, he didn't want to know.
"Stop running!" Takajo yelled but was just ignored by Sara, who just laughed, as they made their way towards school.
Kiryuu Academy
Few Minutes Later
[Play: Danran (ANANT-GARDE-EYES/Jun Maeda) Charlotte (O.S.T)]
"We have arrived!" Sara said with a raised fist while Takajo was just behind her, seemingly out of breathe.
"We...made...it" Takajo tried to regain his breathing pattern but failed as he was currently tired from the running they did earlier.
"You need to exercise more Jiro-kun" Sara mentioned before taking a candy bar from her pocket. "You get too tired easily from just a run" she added before opening her treat as she took a bite while Takajo just gave her a glare.
Takajo knew and could admit that he had a body that was not accustomed to physical prowess which made him easily tired from doing strenuous activities like simple running for a long period amount of time.
He mostly stays at home doing chores or reading and just occasionally goes on park on weekends to read outside once in a while. Adding to the fact that he had a small body, despite his self-proclaimed mature mind, and had been neglecting to exercise that was making him really tired already.
"Don't say that after you dragged me to a candy store and forced me to buy you candy" Takajo deadpanned seeing Sara munched happily on the sweet that he was forced to purchase.
As they were running earlier, Sara had made a little detour from a shop with obvious displays of sweet and colorful candies that made the girl's eyes practically shine. And upon begging him to buy treats for her, though it took a while for Takajo to accept, she finally had her "well-deserved" prize from what she stated as remuneration for her services.
Said services were clearly obvious.
"Whatever" Takajo said with a shrug before walking while Sara, who by now had finished her treat quite quickly for that matter, hurriedly made her way beside the former.
"You have to wait for me Jiro-kun!" Sara said with a pout while Takajo just sighed, remembering how his everyday was turned by the girl to be always... lively.
"And why?" Takajo said as they entered the building while Sara's pout just intensified.
"Friends always wait for each other!" Sara said as she raised her arms high.
"We're not friends" Takajo stated simply.
Just as the boy had said, Takajo despite meeting and basically spending the few days with the ever cheerful Sara didn't even acknowledge the fact that they have become friends already, though that was only his part.
"Then how can I be your official friend?" Sara asked.
"You don't" Takajo countered.
"How about I become your best friend?" Sara stated.
"Don't even try" Takajo replied while Sara just shook her head.
"You'll eventually find how friendship and especially mine will benefit you Jiro-kun" Sara said sagely with a nod.
"Don't call me Jiro-kun!" Takajo shouted. "And for the record, I can't seem to find any reason to befriend you" he stated which should made the girl flinch from his rather harsh tone but it had the opposite effect of making Sara laugh, much to his displeasure.
He also found out in the time that he spent with her, albeit all of them were forced, Sara seemingly had this kind of immunity from the words that he usually says with brusqueness and bluntness in his tone. She would either just ignore it or straight up laugh on his face as if he had done something funny.
"Yep" Sara said with another nod. "An interesting friend..." the girl added with a seemingly different tone making Takajo blink in response from the unfamiliar tenor, knowing despite only meeting about a week or so, he could more or less understand her whole character just like where he had concluded about two days ago since meeting her.
[Play: Heion (ANANT-GARDE-EYES/Jun Maeda) Charlotte (O.S.T)]
Sara Menako, the girl who can make her cheerfulness exude to unimaginable levels without even getting tired at all, coupled with her forceful and oblivious character, she had the most versatile character to make anyone either totally love her or absolutely annoy anyone, just like any other random children that Takajo met albeit with more energy.
But there was more that Takajo knew people would undoubtedly overlook, if not, neglect to even notice if one was to be ignorant and have a lower level of observation. Lucky or unlucky for Sara, the so called friend that he got close had practically lived his life with an analytical sense that could even dwarf an ordinary adult.
The only thing that he can differentiate Sara from other children was because simply she had times where she would be in a simple yet rare state or condition that was really unlike any other people her age to be in...
...being serious.
A simple yet a rare state, where other children failed to be in and would even treat it as a joke, though Takajo himself wasn't quite sure if Sara usually did it on purpose or even intended to do it to just make fun of him. Nonetheless, that was the only part of her that Takajo was taking note of to not just lash her to stay away even though her cheerfulness tends to be over the top.
It was the only thing that he can find that was way different compare to other children, a different thing no matter how small but was also a change of pace in his boring society. And Takajo would undoubtedly take notice of something different from that boring environment.
Takajo then groaned as he shook his head lightly.
He just practically admitted in a different manner that he was interested in her, not in a romantic way, but interested nonetheless.
With a sigh, Takajo then faced Sara, who was still talking while he was in his internal monologue, making him sweatdrop.
"Let's go, no matter how early it is we still have school" Takajo said simply with an annoyed expression but it wasn't because of what they did earlier, he also didn't know whether or not if Sara picked up on it judging from the silent response from her.
Not hearing any kind of response from the girl, Takajo groaned again before turning around to repeat what he said and as he did, he could only stare as the words he was meaning to say got stuck in his throat.
Sara was looking at him with her hazel brown eyes that seemed to look at him without any kind of cheerful as it was just blank, but Takajo could clearly see that it had the same feature that he usually puts on when talking to people and the exact thing that he was thinking of earlier.
Eyes that gazed towards him with a serious and analytical gaze that was so unlike her cheerfulness in general.
Takajo remained silent, looking at the almost analytic eyes that seemed to scour his whole being as it was that same gaze that made her different from other people and the same gaze that she had undoubtedly use to guess his character from one glance no matter how over-exaggerated it is.
He tried to speak but Takajo's lips failed to open, as he found this situation was too sudden, from the mischievous and annoying tone of the girl earlier that abruptly change to the now presently stern and quiet atmosphere that the girl was currently exuding.
The boy knew his sudden pause was because of his trait since this could be regarded as sudden and different from the usual scene that he grew up with, though he can't help but think that this was wrong.
The gaze that she was now showing seemed normal and casual for her to perform seeing that there was no kind of warning or notice from the girl currently emanating such a heavy stare.
Takajo himself can admit that he had seen and felt this kind of stare from the girl in front of him, though it did only nothing but make him uncomfortable seeing it from the girl that he regarded as annoying.
"Interesting..." he was brought out of his thoughts when he heard Sara speak, and as he looked at her once again, he only caught the sudden move of her hands as one returned the pen from her ear while the other hid the small notebook from her pocket.
"..." Takajo didn't know why she had tendency to write something on her notebook whilst the way she practically gazed at him with the same stare that rooted him in place a few seconds ago.
Though he found that he didn't have any urge to ask her whatsoever, as if he may just found something really weird or just plain disturbing, if he took in consideration the sudden change from earlier, so he kept his tongue to ask.
"Jiro-kun?" Takajo blinked from the sudden shift of her demeanor, as Sara was now looking at him with the usual joyous gaze that she usually shows, and the gaze that she held earlier seemed to vanish without leaving any kind of trace too quickly... yes, too quickly indeed.
"W-What?" Takajo said with a slight stutter, normally he would consider that as a bad habit but he was too occupied with figuring out why the girl could change so suddenly from two clearly different expressions in what seemed a single second.
"You're spacing out" Sara said making Takajo shook his head slightly from the accusation.
"Let's just go" Takajo said with barely restrained confused and aggravated tone as he turned around for the second time to start walking before trying to understand what just happened a few moments ago.
"Zip!" Takajo heard Sara state from behind him and he didn't had the chance to look back as Sara dashed forward to suddenly grasp him by the arm.
"Not agai-" he was silenced once again when Sara dragged him by his feet.
Few Minutes Later
[Play: Shoubu (ANANT-GARDE-EYES/Jun Maeda) Charlotte (O.S.T)]
"*Whooo!*" Sara stated as she dodged kids left and right amidst the hallways.
"Stop!" Takajo shouted in fright from behind Sara as he narrowly dodged people, which were now present in the building, whilst also keeping up with her.
The two children continued to dash through the hallways as they dodged young and old people along the way until they arrived in front of a classroom.
"We have arrived!" Sara said as she stopped sending Takajo inside the classroom because of her sudden halt in running, as few students got out of the way because of his crash. "Jiro-kun!" she yelled before getting inside the classroom.
"That hurts" Takajo groaned as he massaged his head with his panting that returned full force, which had a reason as to why it is so.
Hearing footsteps that were approaching him, Takajo then looked forward to only see Sara with her arms crossed in front of him.
"If you get tired that easily then don't run that fast first thing in the morning Jiro-kun" Sara said as she looked at him weirdly while Takajo just matched it with his own blank stare.
"I'm just... going to ignore that" Takajo said with a sigh before picking up his things as he made his way outside.
He truly had an urged to say that she basically forced a boy that was not in any way accustomed to running, to suddenly make a detour to get your sweets in the morning from a store that was so far away from the school.
And add that fact that the girl had a really wonderful idea of not going directly to their own classroom and instead just zip across hallways in different parts of the building, as if getting chased by angry mobs, was a good way to make someone tired.
"Where are you going?" Takajo heard the girl said from behind him as he stopped to look at her. "Class is starting soon right?" she said much to Takajo's annoyance.
"Yes, if it wasn't for the fact that you made me dash like there was no tomorrow earlier this morning then we still have time to spare till homeroom starts" Takajo nodded with clear and obvious sarcasm that the girl didn't get, making him groan. "And yes, so we have to go to our own classroom now" he stated getting Sara confused.
"You mean this isn't our classroom?" Sara tilted her head. "I could've sworn I went to the right one" making Takajo just looked at her blankly.
"That's the third time" Takajo shook his head with an aggravated sigh.
Sara had gone to school for a week, and by now, she should have been familiarized by the school she was going to, much less her own classroom. At first, when Sara had informed him of forgetting what classroom she had to be in, it made Takajo confused knowing that despite being a new student just a few days ago she should have more or less, just as he stated, know her own classroom.
It made him even more confused when just about the other day, not just forgetting her classroom, but even fail to recall where her own house was.
On a somewhat related side note, Takajo could've sworn someone was watching them whenever they met for school and when school hours end in the afternoon, just like what he had felt earlier and numerous times in the past, he didn't know if this two were connected in some way or maybe it was just him being paranoid of comparing two clearly different things, if basing on his own assumptions.
Though nonetheless, this was another kind of trait that Sara seemed to show every now and then. He could conclude that this was just her having a rather forgetful times instances due to having short attention spans, that he had the pleasure of receiving since whenever she did leave a subject, she would just go to him in person and proceed to bug him even more with unrestrained mirth.
As Takajo looked at Sara's ever bright/annoying smile with a clueless expression plastered on her face, he immediately concluded that she may- no, she hadn't been listening at all.
"Third time for what?" Sara tilted her head making Takajo sigh.
To think she had even forgotten the times she spoke of this predicament it seems.
"You know what? Forget it" Takajo said with a shrug. "The fact still remains that you run past our room as you forcefully dragged me" he stated with a scowl.
"Well anyway!" Sara shrugged as she got out of the classroom. "Better be late than sorry" she added much to Takajo's frustration before getting out of the classroom.
"I said don'-" Takajo was about to say but stopped himself as thought her words more as his face gained irritation figuring it out. "You mean you won't apologize for earlier!'" he roared as he realized what she had probably meant.
He practically suffered the start of his day with running, spending his money unannounced and more running! Where was his compensation! Or even at least an apology!
"Of course not" Sara said with her first-grade dazzling bright smile that completely wiped Takajo's search for his well-deserved gratitude.
Takajo was about to say something before closing his mouth as he just sighed exhaustedly not wanting to retort while Sara just giggled, as he they left the classroom to get to their own.
Sara, who was looking at him, then gave out a smile before saying; "You really are interesting!"
Takajo hearing that just tried to ignore it as he just wanted to get to his own classroom and probably get some peace, though deep inside he knew chances of that happening would be most unlikely.
He then dismissed those thoughts as he was already getting used to Sara's behavio- okay, why did he just think of that? It's only been a week since he met her!
The two now in their classroom, Takajo then ignored Sara who got crowded immediately by her classmate as he reached for his table, then plopped on to his seat with his things before laying his head on the desk really tired from the impromptu routine that he had or you could say he was kind of forced to do.
He should have planned ahead! It was also a naturally idealistic and logical thing to do but no! He had decided to go to school like usual and ended up like this, tired and out of breathe from the unprepared marathon that they had performed.
"You're really tired" Sara said as she placed her things down as she seated next to him.
Takajo just turned his head the other way still a bit angry from earlier.
"You don't have to be angry you know" Sara said with a giggle. "Your mother did say that you need to work out after all!" she added much to Takajo's irritation. "And I have it all written here!" she boasted as she retrieved the very same notebook that she usually uses.
Takajo then remembered a memory of the time where Sara and her mother met, a particular memory that immediately sealed the deal of his days becoming more raucous that it should be.
It happened about exactly two days since meeting her, that day where he found out that they were neighbors. Apart from the surprising fact that Sara never even suggested of going in his own house after that one time, much to Takajo's relief and wariness. The girl had waited every single day just to meet up with him, to either go to school every day or even the park in weekends.
So being the Takajo we know and love, he found her company rather slightly annoying. And have even voiced it out rather harshly, but only lead to effectively rendering him almost deaf when Sara had expressed that they should hang out more, making him begrudgingly accept her company once more.
Anyways, in that particular day however, Sara had immediately gone out of her way to visit his household while the latter was having a discussion with the mother.
At first, his mother had expressed her thoughts of not wanting her Jijo-chan to be taken, which Takajo had profusely stopped from escalating further. And even saw a distinct rivalry forming from the eyes of both female in the room as Takajo himself had sensed the change in atmosphere.
But it eventually dimmed and even turned to a rather good connection, where the mother had taken a liking to the loud girl almost hastily, much to Takajo's understandable confusion and outright disbelief.
As to why and how that was formed, Takajo didn't get to continue his thoughts when Sara waved her hand in front of his face, making the boy blink.
"You're making that funny face again" Sara said making the boy splutter in response.
"It's not funny!" Takajo retorted. "It's called concentration for pete's sake!" he uncharacteristically shouted much to the confusion of the class but he was too preoccupied to notice.
"I'll always think of you as funny Jiro-kun!" Sara assured with a thumbs up. "So don't worry!" the boy then sighed as he shook his head.
"What about your friends?" Takajo said as he changed the topic. "Aren't you talking to them just now?" he said indeed hearing that some of the grade schoolers approach earlier as he was thinking about the unfairness about the world just now.
He didn't hear any kind of response from Sara making him confused as he just concluded that for once she didn't want to answer him which was a change of pace since-
"They aren't interesting like you at all and I may just..." Sara muttered that Takajo didn't clearly hear as he had his head down low with thoughts in his mind.
Takajo's face gained confusion as he notice Sara got quiet all of a sudden, which may not be rare but it was still a sight to be seen. As he also could've sworn that he heard the girl mutter something, before deciding to face her as he lifted his head up.
"Sorry, what?" Takajo asked as he faced her making Sara, who seemed to be in thought, quickly reorganized her composure.
"N-Nothing" Sara said as Takajo just raised an eyebrow before shrugging.
"Well, not that I'm concerned or anything" Takajo said with a shrug making Sara pout.
"You should be!" Sara said before grinning. "But, that what makes you interesting than them after all!" she stated much to Takajo's frustration.
"Please just stop talking for once" Takajo commented as Sara just giggled.
"You can't stop humans from talking Jiro-kun" Sara stated. "It's only natural to-" she was cut-off when Takajo clamped her mouth making her stop talking.
"The teacher's here" Takajo said indeed seeing the teacher entered making Sara nod obediently as he removed his hand on her mouth.
"Good morning class!" the teacher said as the students returned the greeting. "Are you all ready for class?" she asked.
"As ready as I'll ever be!" Sara shouted with a fist pump making Takajo sigh in exasperation.
He knew that this was going to be a day filled with retorts and idiocy once again.
Takajo Household
Hours Later
[Play: Danran (ANANT-GARDE-EYES/Jun Maeda) Charlotte (O.S.T)]
"He's too cute!" Sara shouted as she showed a very excited expression.
"Yes" Takajo's mother nodded with a proud tone. "Jijo-chan is still young after all" she smiled before turning a page of a book entitled as "Joji-chan's Book of Collected Misadventures".
...the title of the book will be promptly explained later, in order to not make the readers confuse this to a random piece of literature.
"This entire fic is rando-!" Jojir weirdly stopped voicing his thoughts to break the fourth wall and this fic is not random! At least that's what I think...
Anyways, once school had ended for the duo. Sara had promptly "requested" that they should go to the supposed mature boy's house to spend their afternoon time with some "tea".
Said request was explained as the, "forceful method of abdicating the possibility of losing your sanity by unnecessary shouting and immense pulling" which was scientifically defined by Takajo, as he based it from what Sara indeed done in that time.
Simply put, Takajo, no matter how reluctant he is, was forced to reconsider the idea of spending time in his place. Even if he had been planning to not let Sara go inside his house in the first place, it had to be done. So to not escalate it further, he had given up his own security to allow Sara to venture beyond on his doorstep albeit with a clearly obvious unrestrained hesitation.
Now said "tea" was-
"Neh? Jiro-kun!" Sara called out making Takajo stop his current thoughts as he looked towards the girl with a noticeable scowl.
"What?" Takajo grunted.
"You're kind of cute in this photo!" Sara stated with a mocked coo, at least that what Takajo saw. As his eyebrows twitched from how the girl was boldly presenting HIS evidences of not showing maturity.
Namely his album photo...
"Okaa-san" Takajo called out with a blank tone.
"Yes Jijo-chan?" the mother responded, though Takajo could clearly hear her amusement about the situation, much to his barely restrained frustration.
"Why is my book being presented in public?" Takajo turned not even bothering to hide how irritated he was.
The book that Takajo was currently indicating for was the exact album where his many photos of numerously embarrassing photos were contained in.
It may not look special at all. But considering that this was the album of the supposed mature Takajo, who had left his childhood rather quickly; it was a highly sought treasure to be discovered and seen, at least that what the mother had described it... and apparently Sara does too.
"Oh. Now don't be like that Jijo-chan" the female shook her head. "You should take pride in how cute you are when you were about five" the mother added. "How you were all cute and bubbly and in that age where you still continued to wear diaper-"
"Okay! Okay! Stop it!" Takajo hurriedly said with an atomic blush. "Don't you dare go there!" he warned.
The mother pouted, as if her son stole the chance for her to clearly explain what Takajo was in his babyhood(?) which was unfortunately the current case.
"Don't worry Jiro-kun!" Sara said getting the attention of both. "I'll accept you! Even if you did change diapers that often!" she said rather innocently making the mother laugh uproariously, and Takajo more irritated.
"Let's just drop that discussion please!" Takajo stated whilst rubbing his temples.
"Do you want to stop Sara-chan?" the mother chuckled leaning closer to Sara who just shook her head amusedly.
"I want to hear about why Jiro-kun still wore his diaper-" Sara failed to complete her sentence when Takajo seemingly teleported from his spot, now covering the girl's ear.
"Drop it!" Takajo howled having numerous tickmarks on his forehead as he clearly remembered how the two's friendship seemed to shift very closely.
When they were in a heated argument about who will "take" Jijo-chan, as his mother had stated and why "Jiro-kun" will be taken, as stated of course, by Sara. Takajo with all his sanity kept stopping the two females with fire in their eyes.
That was when his mother had boasted that she knew her Jijo-chan more than the girl, who pouted in response. To which the girl, who have mildly recovered, immediately stated that she won't leave Jiro-kun to an "old hag".
That would've been a very insulting word for the mother as the latter was actually young looking. If not for the mother who only retorted that she was more developed than Sara, who quickly got metaphorically shot by an arrow to her psyche as she yelled the unfairness of the world.
And just like that, the female's argument constantly shifted and changed until it became more and more irrelevant to their prior argument in the first place, which made Takajo stop his struggle and just look dumbly at the two females before giving up as he left for his room, to wait or even make Sara leave earlier.
Then when a few minutes have passed, to Takajo's frustration and confusion, Sara still didn't left and was now chatting with his mother rather harmoniously as if they were two close friends as it was really opposed to what he have seen earlier.
"Look! Jijo-chan's holding a rubber ducky! How cute!" the mother chirped while Sara just nodded excitedly in approval
"Okaa-san's lucky to have met Jiro-kun first!" Sara stated.
Truthfully, this was similar to the scene of what Takajo had witnessed, when both Sara and his mother got quite along rather quickly after he had checked up on them.
"Give me that!" Takajo stated as he swiped his album in Sara's hands.
"Jiro-kun!" Sara pouted in response as she tried to get Takajo's album back but failed when the boy stopped her by palming her face.
"That's enough" Takajo growled whilst stopping Sara in his hand. "You obviously know that this album is really personal" he chastised the girl who just removed his hand from her face and pouted again.
"And I should obviously know every Jiro-kun's exploits!" Sara reasoned making Takajo look at her blankly.
"And why?" Takajo couldn't help but asked, though he somewhat could guess what the girl was going to say next. And he had expected that it was going to be something crazy once again.
That's what only Takajo expected.
[Play: Kizuna (ANANT-GARDE-EYES/Jun Maeda) Charlotte (O.S.T)]
"I want to know, how it feels like to live through childhood!" Sara answered making Takajo's eyebrow raise from the seemingly... weird response as it came from the Sara he knew.
"What do you mean by that?" Takajo slowly asked wanting to know why Sara worded it that way as he remembered his thoughts earlier this morning.
Apart from the really excited and rebellious-like attitude of the girl, Takajo had noticed that Sara somewhat indeed showed moments where she was... serious, similar to her current answer.
He had even thought that it was unlike her, from his observation of the girl. As the female, was known for said very loud and noisy demeanor. So it was kind of natural for Jojiro to take notice and have a little bit of interest, which was really rare for him to do so.
"It's because you're interesting Jiro-kun" Sara smiled towards Takajo, who couldn't help but get confused from his answer until he recognized that description.
That was the very same phrase that he had the pleasure of receiving whenever Sara had found out something she deemed to be remotely interesting at all about him, though she would rarely say it when she had turned serious just like now.
When Takajo heard it for the first time, he only showed confusion. And when he heard it multiple times he had expressed annoyance. Now though...
From the very same face of Sara that was now currently gazing at him, he couldn't help but think that there was a reason for the girl to act that way. Takajo was unconsciously disregarding what the girl had showed every time in the expense of determining the cause of her truly abrupt changes. He considered not only her now, but how she had many times displayed such similar faces, void of her usual energetic side.
Sara may have had her moments like that, but he absolutely knew that there was a reason no matter how insignificant it may be. And seeing that the person that he was indicating for had a natural excited one, it was making him feel something.
An emotion that was akin to curiosity, if not, interrelated to it.
That emotion that had been almost non-existent in his life in this so called boring society...
Takajo then opened his mouth as he wanted to ask her to specify her reasoning.
Yes... he was feeling-
"Am I a third wheel here by any chance?" the mother interrupted Takajo's thoughts as the latter glanced towards the former's direction, with clear amusement in her tone.
Takajo then processed what the female had said before realizing what she probably meant by that.
"Okaa-san!" Takajo shouted with the same atomic blush that he held earlier, though he himself didn't know if it was because he was caught in his thoughts or something else.
"Jiro-kun's blushing!" Sara teased making Takajo immediately turn her head towards her to glare, though it didn't even affect the girl.
"Now, how about I just make some snacks for the both of you?" the mother said as she stood up leaving the living room before she leaned her head close to the door to look at them once more. "Since I may be interrupting something?" she teased.
"Just go make some snacks!" Takajo shouted in response as the mother just laughed before she continued her way towards the kitchen.
Takajo sighed as he shook his head in frustration from the way how his mother even considered them that they may possibly be-
"Jiro-kun" Sara called out to the still thinking Takajo, who just turned towards her.
"What?" Takajo said with an annoyed tone, as he was still a bit grumpy.
"Friends spend almost all their time with each other right?" Sara asked.
Takajo blinked from the sudden question before recovering from his confusion as he nonetheless answered her.
"It depends..." Takajo started. "You have to include two basic factors where they usually stay in a specific place and their own preferences..." he explained. "And then you still have to consider their individual interests, mental condition, stable relationshi-" Takajo drabbled on but was interrupted when Sara spoke seemingly bored from his detailed explanation.
"Just say yes and no, Jiro-kun!" Sara stated as she brought her arms up. "No need to explain it further like a nerd!" she said making Takajo irritated once again.
"I'm not a nerd!" Takajo roared while Sara just sorted amusedly.
"Of course you're not" Sara mocked making Takajo sigh. "Your answer?" the girl asked once again.
"The answer overall, would be yes" Takajo answered making Sara nod in understanding.
"Then were friends right?" Sara asked.
"Not even remotely close" Takajo answered reflexively but instead of making Sara pout like usual, it made the girl smile.
"Then I have a long way to go it seems" Sara nodded as she somehow intended those words to be only for her, but it never failed Takajo to be confused once more.
He had expected that the girl was excited all the time...
But she showed passiveness.
He had expected that the girl could never be serious...
But she had her moments.
He had expected that the girl would ignore him for the very first time...
But she remained still.
He had expected that the girl will have a lot of friends...
But she only made one.
Takajo expected that Sara must be boring like the others...
But Sara was absurdly far from the usual... in more ways than one.
Takajo gazed at Sara, who was looking through his album once again, though he should have been irritated. The only expression that he had was one of confusion.
If one asked Takajo what was his opinion about this day, he would undoubtedly say the words...
"...This day is really confusing"