Chapter two : our strong Bonds (Aichan POV)
I can be pretty early if there are no drinks in my menu~ Judging by the pale orange light on the walls, the sun was probably barely rising. This particular morning seemed colder comparing to the other ones; I could feel it even before jumping out of the bed. My eyes wandered around, searching for nothing in particular, until something caught their attention: Reina's cover was half on the floor, half on her legs. I kneeled gently next to her bed and tucked her in, then removed some hair straps away from her face. Her steady breathing was warm and calm, making her nearly perfect facial features stand out. I could watch her like that all day and never get bored, but the clock on the bed table showed I had to hurry.
She wasn't awake even when I came out from the shower; neither was she when I changed clothes. But while I was putting my make up on, I felt watched. I used the small mirror I had in my hand to glance at her a bit; two small chocolate eyes were watching my every move, squinted in a serious expression. I turned around quickly to face her and got in return a playful smile...
She skillfully spread the grey polish on her long nails, sipping greedily from time to time from the cup I gave her. “Your coffees are the best”
I smiled while fixing my hair in a ponytail “So are your nails. Woah~”
She told me to join her on the table, and then took my hand in hers. Her fingers brushed gently against mine, with no hurry whatsoever. The next ten minutes felt like hours, because her caresses and the softness of her hands somewhat made me asleep~
***As I walked her to her class, she seriously tensed up. "Oh my god Aichan. What if I fail?"
I patted her shoulder, smiling "Don't worry. You'll do great!"
Matching hair pins and nails, almost same heights... If it wasn’t for the different clothing style we’d pass up like sisters anytime. She frowned nervously and bit her lip, then pulled me in a tight hug. I knew how important this exam was to the junior students, so I squeezed her back and whispered once again “Good luck”
I don’t think my words made her less stressed than she already was, because she walked in with her fists clenched. As I turned around to go to my own class, 10 feet away, a familiar figure was leaning against the wall, waiting for me. As usual, our little chat cheered me up, because she was even more hyper than usual. But I just… had to pop up with the stupid question that troubled me ever since the previous day.
“So uhm… How did the math tutoring with Gakisan go?”
She smiled happily from ear to ear “Last night was so fun~~ She rewarded me for each correct answer, and we had pillow fights, and… Oh Aichan! Is Reina mad at me or something? Because when I was trying to warm up Gakihan last night on the balcony, Reina was glaring at us with some death aura it made me shiver…”
I was speechless.
Why wouldn’t Reina want to tell me about them? Thank god we were already in front of our class; I just let out a fast “No idea.Seeyoulater.Bye.” before storming inside.
As expected, I couldn’t concentrate the whole day.
***The cafeteria wasn’t so crowded, meaning that for the first time in ages I came before my junior friends. But alas… Our table was occupied.
“Excuse me but… this is our table.”
“Takahashi san?...” his surprised expression changed into a wide smirk “… I don’t recall seeing your name written on it. But if you want, I actually can write it. Yuuji <3 Aichan sounds nice right?“
Well damn. This freshman sure is confident while his classmates are around.“I’m serious. For two years I’ve been eating at this table, so I have to ask you guys once again to leave okay?”
“Relax, precious. You’ll eat here today too, come join me”
So uhm. He’s starting to piss the hell out of me.“You’re sitting on my chair you snot. Beat it.” Those words came out in such a cold way it made the hair on my back sit right up. Apparently so did theirs, because they immediately left without saying a word. Reina took back her place, smiling at me “What are you waiting for? Let’s eat~”
I sat next to her quietly, averting my eyes from her.
“Aren’t you going to ask me something?” she poked my arm playfully, but I still remained silent.
“Aichan is something wrong? Did that jackass make you mad? I’ll go export my foot on his minuscule ass right now-“
“Reina. Why didn’t you tell me about Gaki and Kame cuddling on the balcony last night? ...“
She sighed, somewhat surprised by the question. “… Did you think I would have thrown tomatoes in them or something, just because I can’t stand seeing them together??” She was still as silent as a grave, so I continued: “You’ve hidden stuff from me lately and I don’t like that. Now say something dammit.”My frown softened when her fingers started playing with my hair. “Aichan, the last thing I want is to see you hurt.”
I didn’t get the chance to reply, because Sayumi joined us too, clearly troubled by something.
“What’s wrong Sayu?” I asked her worriedly as I snatched one of her three muffins.
“Pfft. I had an argue with Eri. She was supposed to come over to my room but… Apparently she spent the night at-“
She stopped when she saw me spacing out. I was only paying attention at how elegantly Gaki’s legs moved towards us. To me, she seemed less stiff than yesterday, but ten times more beautiful.
“Hi~~”
“Hi Gakisan. “Sayumi’s smile disappeared two seconds later when she took back her muffin from my tray, glaring at me.
“Where’s your turtle?” Reina asked sarcastically while eating her rice.
“I don’t know Tanakacchi, I’m not her nanny.”
Our eyes met for a second, and all I felt was… awkwardness. It’s my fault we’re now like this: not being able to watch each other directly in the eyes. We can’t hang out as we used to, we can’t share secrets anymore…All because of my careless hormones.
I took a deep breath and bit my lower lip, staring at her suggestively. She on the other hand, looked at me with a serious expression I found myself unable to read.
Out of nowhere she excused herself and I stared at her all the way to the bathroom. Sayu and Reina noticed and told me to follow her.
I pushed the door confidently and found her leaning on the sink, with her fringe covering her eyes. Waiting for her to speak up, I stepped towards her slowly.
“I don’t know what has gotten into me. I’m sorry I acted weird Aichan.”
I turned her around, so that she would face me when I reply her: “It's my fault. Look, I... am terribly sorry for what I did. I must have troubled you, and... ”
Was she expecting some other answer? All she did was to force a smile.“… I totally understood you when you didn’t even wanted to look at me. But trust me Gaki, I didn’t know what I was doing. Nor did I know that those actions were so repulsive to you… But whatevs.”
Yeah. The reaction I wanted. Her eyes shot open and slightly turned watery. “Anyway. Can we forget what happened? Please.”
She nodded sheepishly, as if she didn’t have the will (or the strength?) to continue that weird conversation.
When we were back at the table, Eri was there too.
As usual, she hugged tightly Gaki’s arm “It’s because of you Gakisan that I scored so nicely at the math test paper~ Thank you Thank you Thank you~~~”
Those sucking ups made Sayu and Reina to roll their eyes, while I was one step away from throwing up my half eaten lunch.
***Walking towards my class again, I bumped into Sayu by accident, causing her books to fall on the floor.
“I’m so sorry Sayu, I seriously don’t know what I was thinking.”
She sighed “Yes you know Aichan, you can’t lie to me.”
After I helped her gather the books, I dragged her on a near sofa. According to my cellphone, there were still 20 minutes until my classes started.
“Let's say... you have someone you like, okay? You did something wrong to that person... that troubled her. You felt happy and sad in the same time. So. In order to save the friendship, you apologized. But in the same you didn't want to, because you… are just so selfish.”
After this long dramatic speech I let out a big sigh, while she patted my shoulder.
“Aichan… I know you might not believe me but. I know exactly what you’re going through.”
I knew I can always count on her~“You always think of others instead of you, and that’s just not right. I can tell how important this is to you, so uhm… don’t let Gakisan slip through your fingers okay?”
“Huh?”
How does she know?She giggled at my dumb, wide stare. “Don’t ask. It’s just so obvious. Whoops, gotta go now~ See ya tomorrow!”
***Yet another day in paradise…When the bell finally rang, I quickly picked up my bag and jumped out of my seat. My yawns amused the other classmates as we got out of the class, but whatever. Shopping was definitely going to cheer me up, because I promised Reina we would go again. But I found myself unable to think further when …
“Hi Aichan. How were your classes?”
Oh that smile. I was pleasantly surprised to see her in front of my class. My knees were literally melting, but I tried to keep it cool. “… Pretty boring I think. Are you waiting for someone Gakisan?”
“Not anymore~ Want to uhm… go out for a walk?”
Thank you God. “Yes?”
“…Is that a question?”
That smile again. Is it just me or she’s flirting with me?“No~ I mean yes, I do”
Ignoring the weird circumstances, I was in 7th haven actually. We walked side by side around the campus, while the light breeze of the evening made the trees sway around in the sunset. It carried away with it a noticeable fragrance, the one that March brings when everything comes to life again. We stopped on a bench in the park, staring at how the nature changed before our eyes, and how other students enjoyed their last moments of the day.
Well in fact… What I was staring at was right next to me. I didn’t know, nor did I care about why she was a completely different person than a few hours ago. I was just happy I could have her close even after what happened…
We talked and laughed how we haven’t done in a long time, and it was enough for me to elate in happiness. The night fell over us unexpectedly, with the wind intensifying by the second. Lucky me I had a sweatshirt over my top; Gaki on the other hand, shivered a bit.
She covered herself with her arms, glaring towards the lake “Let’s stay a bit more to see the fireflies.”
I obviously agreed, but… I couldn’t allow her to catch a cold. I slowly unzipped my sweater and parted my hands somewhat insecurely, afraid she would reject my actions. But to my utter joy she didn’t think twice and snaked her hands around my waist, hugging me tightly. When I pulled her closer, her forehead landed on my chest, awaking the butterflies in my stomach. I had an intuition this won’t be finishing just with a hug. And how right I was: If it wasn’t for my cellphone, she would have definitely kissed me, by the look in her eyes.
We smiled somewhat embarrassed as I pulled out my cellphone from the pocket, not even looking at the number.
“Yes?” I answered clearly pissed off at the interruption, while her hands tightened around my waist.
“Aichan. Better have an explanation for dumping me okay? Where the hell have you been?!”
Oh snap.***Phew
So how was it?
next chap will be Gakisan POV :3