Tyson Granger sat down at his computer chair, still groggy, as he'd just woken up from a short nap. Well, if you'd call two hours short. Tyson had fallen asleep just after an early dinner, at around 5 P.M. It was now 7:00 PM. He had just gotten home, and he was terribly tired from the trek back. He'd fallen asleep right after dinner, literally crawling into his bed and falling asleep immediately. And now, he'd woken up, it was dark, and he couldn't get back to sleep. Thanks to the sun setting earlier in winter, he couldn't even tell what day it was now. He looked at the clock on his computer.
"Asleep for only two hours?" he groaned to himself. Time at home tended to do that to him. He rubbed his eyes as they adjusted to the screen which pierced the darkness of his room. Feeling a draft, Tyson went to put a shirt on and returned to the computer. He unlocked the computer's password, and he went to surf the web for a bit.
Time passed as he checked up on news, the latest discoveries, and watched a couple videos on YouTube. Things were pretty much going normally for him on a winter night at home. He would sit there after doing the day's errands, be online for a bit, then go to bed. But something kept nagging at him, and it made him feel so, so- anxious, sad, lonely...
The memory of her tore at his heart. He talked to her on the phone or on instant messaging every once in a while. But she hadn't been on for days. She hadn't been around to answer the phone. He hadn't seen her in person for a good few months now. And the fact that he was without her made it so much worse, so much more painful.
He sighed deeply and opened up his pictures folder. He went to a very special picture that he kept. It only made his heart hunger more, but it was all he had left of a memory of days past. He went to a picture, and clicked to open it. And onto the screen popped a picture of Hilary Tachibana. He gazed at the picture, looking into her ruby eyes on the screen. The computer screen failed to capture their beauty. They made his heart beat faster. He remembered her brilliant cocoa hair, her high voice. He even missed her hot and flaring temper. He looked down at the floor, thoroughly depressed and lonely now. This was the only way he could see her and be with her, this image on a computer screen. Tyson exhaled deeply and got out of his computer chair. At first he couldn't get to sleep. Now, he couldn't wait to go back. He crawled into his bed, not even bothering to put his computer on standby or turn it off.
He turned over in the bed after removing his shirt and discarding it by throwing it in a corner of the room. He snuggled into his covers. Winter was always cold at night, indoors or outdoors. It depressed him miserably. His heart ached in his chest as he laid there. He thought he might cry himself to sleep. He wanted her so bad. He couldn't stand another day without her. Why did he have to leave her? And she him. Oh, it was no matter, it was just destiny doing it's work. But why did destiny have to be so foul to him? He laid there, and let sleep begin to overtake him very slowly. He lost himself in a train of thought, thinking about the one he loved until he was to sleep, for maybe he'd have a dream about her. There was a sudden, sharp knock on the door.
"Tyson?" his brother called. It nearly startled Tyson to death.
"Whoa!" he yelped as he jumped up as a reaction to the sudden knock. "Hiro!"
"You have a visitor at the door," he told him.
"A visitor?" he wondered to himself quietly. He climbed out of bed, putting the shirt he'd taken off back on. He was still wearing his jeans. He opened the door to see his elder brother.
"Who would visit at this time of night?" Tyson asked as he began to walk down the stairs.
"It's only 7:30," Hiro sighed.
"Oh..." he droned. Stupid abnormal sleep cycling. "Well, who is it?" he asked as he reached the bottom of the stairs and began to make his way to the front door.
"The person wanted to surprise you," Hiro smirked as he followed him down the stairs, and went back to his own room.
Surprise me? What would want to surprise me, especially at this time of night? Tyson asked himself. Probably Ray or Max dropping by to say hello, he thought. He made his way to the door and opened it. When he saw who was at the door, his jaw nearly fell off his face.
"Hi, Tyson," Hilary greeted him sweetly.
"Hilary... uh... hi," he greeted her awkwardly. "I didn't know you were coming over," he said.
"Well, that's why you couldn't get me on the phone, I was on the way here to say hi," she told him.
"Oh, thanks," he said, laughing slightly. "Hey, you look like you're getting cold out there. Do you wanna step inside?" Tyson asked.
"Yea," she replied. Tyson stepped back from the doorway to let her in, and she removed her shoes.
"Well, do you want to sit down, grab a drink?" Tyson asked, his heart nearly pounding out of his chest. He'd nearly hit the doorway on the way into the house. And not as a result of the dim light, either.
"No, thank you..." Hilary replied as she made her way to the couch to sit down. She set her backpack down, and sat on the couch.
"Well, alright..." he replied as he went into the kitchen briefly to grab a drink of water. He felt unusually hot. He must have been red as a beet. "Well what brings you here?" Tyson asked as he emerged from the kitchen with his water in a coffee mug.
"Oh, I don't know..." Hilary bluffed. "Just wanted to check up on you and see how you were doing. I had a bit of spare time on my hands, and I just thought I'd pop by," she told him.
"That's great!"
The conversation went on like this for some time. Tyson sat down in an arm chair, and he talked with Hilary about their latest activities, friends, victories, etc. It eventually came to be more casual. The weather came up. Time dragged on, and the discussion progressed. Discussion about Kenny, and his lousy luck with girls, eventually arose.
"So then... they chased after him for another few blocks," Tyson giggled. Hilary by this time was also laughing. "All story short, he got hard on his groin…" he recalled, bursting out laughing. Hilary did the same.
"Wow, talk about lousy luck. Poor guy," she commented. "Well, I wonder, how's your luck with girls going?" Hilary prodded him. Tyson all of a sudden looked real serious.
"Well, I never really... I don't... I'm not a girl chaser... but there's..." he began to stutter. Hilary gave him a look.
"There's what?" she asked him.
"There is this one girl I like..." he mumbled quietly, looking away. His face began to turn red, and he looked away.
"Ah, one girl?..." she asked. "And who might this be?", she prodded.
"It's none of your business!" Tyson snapped.
"Come on, who's the lucky lady?" she asked him, enjoying his reaction.
"I told you, none of your business!" he told her again. "Well, I'll ask you then, what guy do you like? Who are you dating these days?" he asked, a bit irritated.
"Well, I do like someone, but I never asked him out," she said casually. "Besides, he'd definitely say no."
"Well, that's too bad..." Tyson commented. "The girl I like would probably hit me," Tyson told her. Hey, it was the truth. Hilary would give him a good old smack.
"Well, I'll help you out," Hilary said. "It's all about how you ask her." She said. "Hilary picked up her bag, set it on the floor, and scooted over on the couch. She gestured for Tyson to take a seat. Somehow managing to fight a massive lump in his throat that had formed and walk on his shaky knees, he came over to sit on the couch. Hilary looked over at him.
"Now, I'm not going to ask the name of her, just describe her," she told him. Tyson took a deep breath, and thought for a second. He couldn't hint at all, not one bit. Trying to find the most ambiguous of all traits, he began his description.
"Well, she's tall. She's got kind of a fiery temper..." he began to explain. Hilary grinned.
"Into feisty ones, huh? I like it." she smirked coyly.
"Sure..." Tyson replied. "Well, she's... um... I have known her for a while now," he began. "She... lives in…umm….nearby. She gets…enjoys getting…a little physical…like…hitting me and stuff…But, she's very beautiful and I love her. And that's about it," he told her, the final part speedily.
"Well, are you so sure she'd reject you?" she asked.
"Well, yea..." he replied. "She's... unreachable. I mean, she's gotten a lot nicer, but I still don't know..." Tyson trailed off.
"Well, how about this?" Hilary told him. "Just wait for a little bit. Maybe she'll eventually grow to like you," she told him. "Just don't tease her a lot, okay." she told him. They both laughed.
"Well, that's the problem. As of now, I have no time. It's like I have today only for a chance, and tomorrow it'll be gone," he told her. And it wasn't a lie. She'd probably leave in a bit, if she wouldn't take the spare room upstairs.
"Well, I don't know..." she replied. "She is hard to reach, it sounds like. Well, I'd say take your chance while you can. Just ask her casually," she replied.
"Alright..." Tyson exhaled. He knew he couldn't take the chance now, since he was talking about her, and to take the chance now would be to literally to confess to her right then and there. He quickly diverted the subject. "Hey, this guy you like, what's he like?" he asked.
"Well..." she began, snidely describing. "He's from Tokyo too. He's so headstrong and stubborn that it's adorable sometimes. He's a pretty decent sportsman, with a lot of accomplishments," she told him. Tyson perked slightly. He'd heard this all before, it sounded a bit like him. She picks guys like her friends, he thought.
"Well, if you were to ask him out?" he asked.
"I don't know... he might accept. I just worry that I'd come on too strong. I mean, when I talk to him, it's like I fight with him half the time," Hilary sulked. "I'm probably saying too much about him..." she said, realizing that she'd give the hint that the person she liked was Tyson if she kept talking so candidly for so long. Tyson, on the other hand, was intrigued by what he'd heard, as the description had become eerily familiar. It's like he'd met the guy, or knew him real close.
"No, no, go on. I want to hear more," he told her. "I want to hear more about this guy," he told her. "What does he look like?" he asked her. Hilary exhaled deeply, thinking of a way to describe Tyson without completely giving him away to himself. It helped that he had stereotypical traits.
"Well, he has very messy blue hair..." she began. "Brown eyes, stands about 5' 10" or so. He's... well... I've never seen him without a shirt, so I can't say a body build type. But, that's about it," she told him.
"Wow, your typical guy..." he exhaled. Holy crap, that was him. Then again, that could be almost anyone. But how many people in sports industry were well built and had blue hair" he asked himself. He started at the floor in wonder, surprise, and near shock. Could it be him? He was nearly sure. What should he do? Hilary spoke up.
"Hey, what's the girl look like?" Hilary asked. "Is sure pretty?" she asked. Tyson pondered how he'd respond for a second or two. Then, a voice came up in his head.
"I'd say take your chance while you can." He decided to do just that.
"Prettiest thing I've ever seen," he began. "her hair reminds me of chocolate, red eyes, long and slender legs," he began to tell her. "And she... loves books, lots and lots of books. She's very knowledgeable and one of the most intelligent girls I have ever met. She can even tell fortune..." he continued, his heart nearly beating out of his chest. Hilary stared at him. "Her name starts with an H..." he continued. He knew that at that point, there was no turning back. "And she's sitting right here..." he trailed off.
Hilary was in shock. She stared at him, her mouth gaping open. She had no idea what to say. Tyson looked away, in embarrassment. He'd taken his chance, and he'd failed. He put his head in his hands, his elbows on his knees. The room was silent for a bit. Hilary then spoke up.
"Well, I'll tell you something about who I like..." she began. "No, I'll show you..." She took his hands, and held them. Tyson lifted his head up. Hilary leaned in. And with that, the kiss was sealed.
"I love you..." Hilary told him.
"I love you too." Tyson smiled back, and then frowned, "We could have done this without the clues you know…"