The two girls uttered as the pain from their butts was sent to their brains. “O-ow.”
“Hey, why didn’t you watch where you’re goi—” Yuki started to say, only to be interrupted with the jab at the ribs by the girl beside her.
“—I’m sorry, are you hurt?”
Yuki stared in disbelief at Aki, dumbfounded by the fact that the girl was only interested about a stranger, rather than her own best friend. However, the moment that she looked up to give the guy a piece of her mind, the raven-haired finally understood the reason why Aki did that.
Right there in front of her, stood a guy that Yuki never thought she would actually meet in real life. Standing there in immaculate form, a guy wearing their male school uniform punctured Yuki’s eyes with his own black orbs.
His beautiful, shiny black hair was a majestic jet black with smooth and flowing locks, accompanying his lean body that was not too muscular or too sloppy. He was sight of picture perfect, and so far the closest man to Yuki’s ideal guy.
“I’m so sorry, are you sure that you’re not hurt or anything?” Aki watched her friend worriedly scan the guy standing right before them, the annoyed aura that she was emitting earlier has quickly dissipated into thin air.
He shook his head and gave a smile that the younger girl was sure made her best friend swoon. “I’m not.”
“In fact, I think that I should be asking you girls.” He chuckled, his laugh music to the raven-haired’s ears.
Offering his hand to the two girls, he gently but carefully and firmly helped them up to their feet. The younger girl began dusting off the dust off the bottom of her skirt, aware of the hearts in her best friend’s eyes.
“Hey Yuuma, aren’t you going to go inside yet?” one of their classmates ran ahead the rest and wrapped an arm around him. “If that Togisaki sees you blocking the way here, he’ll nag at you non-stop you know.”
The younger guy started to open his mouth to explain what had happened earlier to cause them delay, but was beaten to it the moment his friend took notice of the other two students before him. Taken aback by the sudden appearance of two of the most popular girls in school before him, he started gaping at them quite loudly.
“Close your mouth, Sasshi.” Yuuma jabbed at his friend’s ribs. “I just bumped into them.”
Grabbing the younger guy by the arm, Sashihara Rino pulled him to the side and started whispering into his friend’s ear, ignoring the stabbing daggers that Aki was sending to him, as well as the confused look Yuki has on her face.
“Do you have a death wish or something?” Rino hissed. “If the rest finds out what you did, they’ll castrate you!”
“What are you talking about?” the black-haired looked at his friend confusingly.
The older of the two sighed and glanced at the two girls looking at them. “There are school rules for girls like Kashiwagi Yuki and Takajo Aki, and one of them is to never to touch them!”
“If they find out that you broke the rules, they’ll kill you!” Just then, realization hit him and he started pulling at his hair stressfully. “And if they find out that I’m a friend of yours, I’ll be killed as well!”
“Why did you have to do that, Yuuma?!” he demanded as he shook his friend.
Stepping into the two’s conversation, Yuki placed a hand on the older of the two and cleared her throat. “I think that there’s a misunderstanding, Rino-kun.”
“It was me and Aki at fault, so there’s no need to worry about such nonsensical things.” She smiled assuringly, though deep inside all she wanted to tell him was to let her and Yuuma continue with what was happening earlier.
Hearing this, Aki lets out a scoff. “If I were you, I’d let that guy be killed.”
“Takajo-san.” Yuki sent a glare to the said girl and successfully quieted her. “We’re at fault, remember?”
Hardening the look on her face, she said. “Please apologize.”
“Are you seriously asking me to do that?” Aki asked through her eyes.
Her best friend kept staring at her with the same menacing look on her face and nodded, sending a clear order to the younger girl. Sighing exasperatedly, Aki gestured if she could not do it at all. However, when she received the infamous puppy eyes that Yuki knew she was weak to, Aki knew the battle was over.
“It was our fault, gomen.” The younger girl apologized with her arms crossed and her eyes looking elsewhere, obviously being forced to do what her friend wanted her to do.
Knowing that she can’t make the girl apologize in a more polite way, Yuki turned to the two and flashed one of her most heart fluttering smiles. “Now then, we best be on our way.”
“Aki.” She gave a curt nod and the said girl quickly started to help her in picking up the brochures that had fallen off from their hands.
Once they were sure that they had picked up all of the brochures, Yuki smiled once again at the two male students. “See you two next time, Rino and Yuuma-kun.”
And with that, the two girls left with their brochures in hand. The ones who were left behind started to hear the rest of the people who would be joining them in the flight to South Korea, and began heading towards the same entrance that the other two went through.
“Speak of this to no one.” Sasshi told him. “I don’t want to die yet, Yuuma.”
Yuuma looked at him and gave an assuring smile. “You know what kind of person I am, Sasshi.”
“Yeah, but that’s not the problem here.” The older guy sighed. “Not everyone knows.”
~^o^~^o^~^o^~
“See you two next time, Rino and Yuuma-kun~”
A nerve popped in the raven-haired’s forehead as she listened to her best friend mockingly mimicked what she had said to the two a while ago. Aki’s voice sounded sickeningly sweet, it was making her completely uncomfortable.
“I did not speak like that!” she cried exasperatedly.
Aki snorted. “Oh please, you sounded exactly like that.”
“I did not!”
“I almost puked over your sweet tone.” The younger girl shuddered. “Thank goodness I only had goosebumps.”
“I’m telling you, I DID NOT SOUND LIKE THAT!”
“Fine, whatever you say, Yukirin.” Aki threw her hands up in defeat as the older girl started to shake her fervently, obviously embarrassed. “I’ll just record it next time so you can’t deny it.”
“Satisfied?”
“Yes, because it’s never going to happen.” The raven-haired rolled her eyes as she started to calm down.
Watching the rest of the passengers from their school sit on their respective seats, the two girls leaned comfortably against their seats and sighed, feeling the sudden loss of energy due to the bickering that they had just done.
“So?”
Aki opened up one eye and stared questioningly at her best friend sitting next to the window. “What?”
“Aki,” Yuki sighed and stared at her best friend as if she was talking to the slowest person on earth. “Details.”
“Give me the details about that guy.”
“That guy?” Aki looked at her in shock. “You seriously want to know about him?”
“Yes.” the older girl hissed.
Sighing reluctantly, Aki leaned back once more against her seat and closed her eyes. “He’s in class A.”
“He’s a member of the Idol Research Club, where he holds the position as the president. He’s known around the school as a Wota. He is academically average and actually ranked eighth in our school’s general election for most attractive, but his weirdness is what’s bringing him down.”
Yuki knitted her brows together. “But Yuuma-kun doesn’t seem like that.”
“Yuuma-kun?” Aki looked at her. “Aren’t we talking about that Rino guy?”
“I don’t have any interest in that Rino or whatever his surname is, Aki.” The raven-haired stared at her friend. “It’s Yuuma!”
“Right, sorry.” Aki sighed in relief. “For a second there, I wondered why you were interested in that weirdo.”
“Anyway, Yuuma’s full name is Watanabe Yuuma. He’s also in Class A with Sashihara Rino— that guy— and is currently holding the third position in looks and ninth in academics, which isn’t really bad. Other than the looks and brains, he has it all. His family owns WGC, which stands for Watanabe Group of Companies, one of the leading family-based conglomerates in Japan. And if we’re going to compare him with you, he’s twice as rich as you.”
“Oh, and he’s also a member of the Rappapa (Wind Instruments Club) like you.” The younger girl added.
“He is?” Yuki asked. “Then how come I’ve never seen him during club activities?”
“Yuuma-kun usually works at his father’s hospital after school, so maybe that’s the reason why?”
“Oh.”
“Wait, there’s something I’m more curious about.” The raven-haired narrowed her eyes to a slit as she stared at her best friend.
Feeling uncomfortable under the intense staring, Aki fidgeted in her seat. “W-what is it, Yukirin?”
“Why are you calling him without honorifics and referring to him by his first name?!” the older girl demanded. “Is he that guy you’re actually crushing on?”
Aki dropped a sweat as she nervously tried to calm her friend down. “N-no, didn’t I tell you that the one I’m crushing on is in Class K?”
“I just met him during one of my recitals in Saitama, I swear!” she held her hand up. “You know when I’m telling the truth!”
“Fine, I’ll believe you…” Yuki narrowed her eyes even more. “…for now.”
“Since you don’t believe me, here’s the performance that he gave during my recital!”
Aki rummaged through her backpack for the object that would soon clear her name, taking out the tablet that she had fully charge just to play her games. Handing it to Yuki, the younger girl started playing a video that was titled ‘Watanabe Yuuma Saitama Performance’.
([/url])
At the beginning of the video, a woman started to introduce the name of the song, along with the piano playing as accompaniment for Yuuma, who was waiting on stage with his saxophone in hand. The moment the black-haired started to play the song, Yuki knew she was a goner.
Despite it being a mere recording, the way he played it was perfect. She couldn’t determine when the saxophonist was breathing or whether he was having a hard time doing so because the transition was just admirable.
Her eyes remained focused on Yuuma playing on the screen, completely captivated by the scene that was playing. It made her wonder why she had never heard of him until now. She even feels like wanting to learn how to play the saxophone, despite being a flutist herself.
The moment the video stopped playing, the raven-haired immediately started sending the same video to her email since she didn’t bring her tablet and would need to watch it at home for…references. A smile was on her face the entire time she had her hands on the tablet, that’s why the moment she handed it to Aki, the spell that the video had casted on her seemingly broke.
“Why do you have a video of him on your tablet?” she asked, her suspicions coming back once again.
“Don’t worry, it’s not for me.” Aki sighed. “My mom just enjoys listening to it over and over again.”
“Well, I can’t really blame you if you like him.” The raven-haired muttered.
The younger girl lets out a sigh as she stared at her friend. “Here.”
“I get tired of listening to it at home so just wear your earphones and let me get some sleep.” Aki told her as she handed the older girl the tablet. “Make sure to leave me some battery life.”
Yuki’s face lit up as she took the device in hand and quickly hugged her best friend without a moment of hesitation. “You’re the best!”
“I really can’t predict this girl.” Aki thought to herself as she watched her best friend happily plug her earphones with a hum.
Deciding to get some sleep and leave her best friend with the video despite knowing that she wouldn’t be able to play her game, Aki closed her eyes and allowed the plane’s take-off to lull her to sleep for at least half of their flight’s duration.
During the entire time that her best friend was out of consciousness, Yuki kept her eyes on the screen in front of her. She’s not going to deny that her neck started getting cramps around the first few thirty minutes, or even the strain that she was beginning to feel in her eyes.
However, as painful as it may be, she wasn’t willing to rest either her neck or her eyes for the sake of continuing watching Yuuma’s performance on her friend’s tablet. However, it seems that even if she didn’t want to stop, she’ll be forced to do so in a few more minutes.
“Five percent left.” the reminder of the battery’s remaining charge blinked several times on screen, disrupting the video that was playing. ”Please charge your device.”
Pressing the play button for the nth time, Yuki smiled once more as the scene of Yuuma playing the saxophone on stage with dimmed lights in the background started. The piano’s intro was already romantic, but the moment the saxophone started playing, Yuki felt like she had just been transferred to another dimension.
It was as if she was transported back to the time where Yuuma was playing the song at the recital in Saitama. Amongst the large audience in the recital hall, Yuki was the only one other than Yuuma to have a spotlight focused on.
The older of the two students stood there on stage with his eyes closed, his concentration and effort captivating her for the nth time that day without any effort or whatsoever. He just stood there in front of her…enjoying and immersing himself in the song.
All of a sudden, the eyes that had been shut ever since the beginning of the song, opened slowly. Despite the large amount of people in the recital hall with her, Yuki felt her cheeks burning as Yuuma’s eyes bore into hers.
Having the song memorized completely because of replaying the song more times than she could count, the raven-haired knew that the song’s climaxing verse was nearing, and that the sight in front of her would soon stop.
She didn’t want it to. If she could, she’d like to stay like that forever, with Yuuma staring right at her and only her. No problems or worries. No stalker or people she has to pretend to like associating with. No one else, but …
…The two of them
But then, it seems that Yuuma had other plans. The moment he reached the song’s final chorus (around 6.15 of the video), Yuuma lifted his lips off of the saxophone and walked towards her with an offered right hand.
She grabbed it and he gently helped her up get onto the stage just like how he helped her up when she fell on her butt a while ago. A smile was on his face as he caressed her cheek with his other hand, while the offered hand pulled her closer to him.
“I-is he going to kiss me?” she gulped as he slowly cupped her face with both of his hands.
He smiled at her. “Yuki…”
“…Device shutting down.”
And just like that, she was pulled out of her fantasy by the tablet that had started shutting down, despite the video just merely seconds away from its end. She frowned at the device in hand and tucked it away into Aki’s backpack, furious that it had to disrupt her fantasy.
“And just when he was about to kiss me…” she sighed sadly.
Turning to the still-sleeping figure beside her, Yuki sweated a drop as she remembered Aki telling her to leave her some battery life. Fortunately, it seems that she is still in her dreamland, so the plane just might touch the ground before she even wakes up.
Her problem now is finding what to do. With the adrenaline that she currently has being pumped through her body, sleeping is out of the question. Her eyes are already strained from watching too long, along with her neck acting up with the cramps.
“I’m telling you, I didn’t do it on purpose!”
A voice shouted from the back, making the girl who had nothing to do, turn her head and find out what it was. When she did, her lips formed a smile while her eyes widened in surprise as she saw the person who was making her heart beat faster than usual.
“Watanabe Yuuma.” She spoke the name out loud without intention. “With Rino-san.”
The two male students stopped their conversation and looked at the one who unintentionally called them. “Ah, Kashiwagi-san.”
“So you were sitting in the first class section.” Yuuma smiled at her as he took a seat from across her.
Yuki smiled back. “Yeah, and it seems like you are too.”