“Would it be alright if I got your-”
Akito reaches into his pocket, but it’s empty. He pats around his other pockets in a frantic gesture, then finds it in the other pant pocket. As he pulls out the phone, Akari glances at her watch and is shocked at what time it is. She gathers her things, then begins to walk away from the library. She waves back at Akito while speed walking away, a worried look on her face
“Sorry! If I’m late one more time, my parents might actually kill me!”
She’s gone before he even has a chance to utter a word, and he’s left in the same place he was at the start of lunch. Alone.
He lets out a disappointed sigh, shutting the phone off and sliding it back in his pocket.
Maybe I was getting too ahead of myself, must be fate showing me what’s best.
He starts packing up his lunch stuff, then exits the library and heads toward the next class, but catches a reflection of himself in the window and stares for a moment.
Don’t get too caught up in the moment…It’s not like she would’ve given it to you anyway.
Akito gets to class, and sits down at his desk while preparing to start the lesson, but as he’s doing so, he feels a poking sensation on his shoulder, and turns to face his friend.
“Hey, Aki”
“Yo, Takuma”
Takuma greets Akito with a smile and amicable tone
“Where were you at lunch? We were waiting for you!” Takuma indicating Kenji and a blank desk
“I had to return a few books I borrowed from the library. Sorry for not saying anything” Akito apologizes, bowing his head
A ray of sunshine seemingly follows Takuma’s expressions, with a big , genuine smile
“Oh! That’s it? We thought you got in trouble or something!” Takuma gratefully exclaims
Akito is confused by this assumption
“Me? In trouble? Use that brain of yours for once”
“But that’s what Kenji was saying” Takuma pointing over to Kenji
Akito looks over to Kenji, who’s laying back in his seat, almost asleep.
You’re not fooling anyo-
Akito looks at Takuma again, giving an innocent smile
Akito lightly chops Takuma on the head
“He’s just kidding, like always”
Takuma rubs his head in pain, then smiles again and nods his head in agreement with Akito.
The teacher walks into class to start the lesson, and Akito takes a final look at Kenji, who’s still asleep in class.
Y’know, when he actually pays attention, he’s actually kind of…
“Let’s begin the lesson now”
CRACK
Kenji was on the floor; he’d leaned back too far and fell off his chair. The class begins to laugh at him as he gets up, and he rubs the back of his head in slight pain, but joins the laughing with a giggle at himself.
…But that’s almost never
The teacher gives a judgemental look to Kenji, then continues to teach the class.
About half of the class had already passed, Takuma and Kenji not taking notes while Akito is the only one who is.
The classroom door slides open, catching Akito and the class’s attention. It’s Ryu. He walks back to his desk, but on his way the teacher stops him.
“Iwatani-san, care to explain why you’re just now showing up to class?”
Ryu pauses for a moment to think of an excuse.
“I….uhhhh….was hungry?”
The teacher gives a stern look to Ryu, then sighs and continues teaching the class. Ryu sits down and sets his back on his desk hooks.
“Hungry? Really?” Kenji leans back toward Ryu and asks
“It was the only thing I could think of!” Ryu defends himself
Kenji giggles a little bit, Ryu being offended and looks toward Aki to back him up on this. Akito shuts his eyes and shrugs
“Sorry man, that was a pretty bad excuse”
Ryu looks down in disappointment, and Takuma reaches his hand over to comfort Ryu by putting it on his shoulder
“I thought it was a great excuse!”
Ryu slowly looks toward Takuma’s pure and innocent smile
“Thank you” Ryu accepting Takuma’s compliment
“...even though any excuse is a good one to you” Ryu quietly says under his breath, Takuma not hearing this and remains smiling at his friend.
Ryu looks up to the board to “learn”, but he’s just blankly staring at the board. Akito turns back to face the board and starts to take notes once more, but forgets where they are in the textbook. He leans back to see where Takuma’s textbook is opened to…but all that’s on his desk is a sketchbook with a cartoonish drawing of a bee on it.
Figures.
He pays attention for the remainder of class, and the day finishes like any other.
…
Akito enters his home, and takes off his shoes
“I’m Home”
“Welcome back!” Shoya says back
Shoya made dinner for them again, and they sit down to eat dinner, then cleaned the dishes.
It’s nighttime now, and Akito lays in bed once more, dozing off into his dreams. He wakes up, back in the gym from before, but this time there’s no confetti on the ground.
Someone must’ve cleaned it up. I guess what I’ve got to do now is the chairs.
Akito looks down from the stage at the endless sea of chairs he’s got to clean up.
Would be nice if someone else would help at least.
He lets out an exhausted sigh, then begins to stack the chairs. One by one, the chairs are put away, Akito eventually only having a row left, the front row. He begins to stack the front row’s chairs, feeling exhausted by this physical labor, but pushed onward, until the final chair is left.
Last one…I’m almost done…just this last chair…
He makes his way over to the chair and tries to pick it up…but can’t
What’s wrong with this chair?
He pulls harder, but the chair won’t move. Akito stops pulling for a moment, looking down at the legs of the chair
Is this thing cemented here or something?
Akito tries pulling it again, with all his might to pick this chair up…but he slips and slams his head on the ground. He lays on the ground, staring up at the ceiling, out of breath.
Maybe I’ll just take a small rest…just for a minu…
Akito closes his eyes, but a younger boy is seen looming over him. Only the back of his head is visible, and he’s staring down at Akito, his orange hair is the only thing which is visible.
Akito wakes up in a daze, seeing Shoya standing over him in a similar sense that the orange-haired boy was.
“You forget that you have school today?”
Akito rolls over, pulling the covers over himself, thinking Shoya’s just messing with him
“It’s sunday, just let me sleep for a bit longer”
Shoya puts his phone in front of Akito’s face and turns it on, with
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
Akito shoots up out of bed and begins frantically getting dressed, haphazardly throwing his uniform on and getting his stuff together while Shoya just stands there, holding his backpack and a plate with toast and 2 pills on it.
Akito swallows the pills first, then grabs the toast and puts it in his mouth, throwing the bag over his shoulder.
He leaves the house in an all-out sprint, flinging the door open and leaving it that way, Shoya walking to the door and closing it for him, a slight smile on his face.
Akito’s sprint continues, various backgrounds flickering as he continues toward the school. He stops to catch his breath, the school in sight now.
It’s been a while since I've seen her…almost a week I think.
He begins running again, dropping his shoes at his locker but not putting the other ones on just yet. He runs through the hallways, then makes it to his classroom. He makes it to class just about halfway through, bursting the door open.
The teacher looks at him for a moment, then continues teaching. Akito makes his way to his desk, and sits down. He’s sweating a significant amount, and is trying to catch his breath. He sets his bag on his desk and puts his shoes on, then takes out paper and his textbook to take notes. He then looks up at the board.
It’s blurry. That’s weird.
He rubs his eyes to try and clear it up, but it still remains blurry. A face of realization washes over him.
I knew I’d forgotten something.
His contacts. They’re at his house, sitting on the counter of his bathroom.
It’s my fault for waking up so late.
Akito reaches into his bag, pulls a glasses case out, and puts the glasses on.
Akito gets used to the glasses again, and glances over to Kenji, only to see him staring in awe.
“What? Is something on my face?” Akito asks, confused at Kenji’s face
“What kind of relic did you just dig up?” Kenji jokingly asks Akito
Akito looks away from Kenji defiantly
“I was in a hurry this morning”
Kenji starts chuckling again
“So you decided to be a nerd?” Kenji can barely keep his laughing (at his own joke) down.
Akito smiles at this joke, then looks back toward Kenji
“You know, if you wore..”
“Nah” Kenji waves his hand in a dismissive gesture, stopping that train of conversation dead in its tracks.
They both go back to their own methods of “in class work”, until the class finishes, and they go to eat lunch. Nothing much happens during lunch, and the 2 of them quickly finish up and head to class once more.
They sit down in preparation for the next class, looking outside to see the rain pouring down. Akito rests his head on his desk, and Kenji looks at the ceiling in boredom.
Akito looks back to where Takuma and Ryu usually sit, noticing empty chairs.
“They both sick?”
“I know Takuma is. But Ryu, I don’t know about” Kenji replies
As he finishes this sentence, Ryu slides the door open, absolutely soaked from the rain outside. He walks to his seat, as if nothing is out of the ordinary, his clothes dripping with each step.
As Ryu sits down, a puddle forms under his chair, and a large smile grows on Kenji’s face
“That’s a weird looking swimsuit” Kenji comments, Ryu sitting there with no reaction to this
Akito smiles at this, wanting to join in on the fun
“I think he was just REALLLLY thirsty” Akito and Kenji now both smiling at Ryu.
Ryu sits in silence for a moment, then inhales.
“I was…out running an errand, then it started pouring”
The three of them glance outside, seeing the rain still pouring down. Akito looks back at Ryu, a look of slight sympathy growing on his face
“That must’ve sucked, forgetting your umbrella on a day like this”
Ryu gets slightly embarrassed at this, and lets a nod out in agreement. Wet footsteps are heard again, and Akito looks up to see a girl with pink/ purple hair walk into class, and sit down on the far side compared to Akito’s group, followed by the teacher walking in.
That hair…seems familiar
The day quickly passes by again, with the three boys heading to their lockers, changing their shoes to go home. Akito walks over to Ryu’s locker
Since he forgot his, might as well give him mine. I can always share with Kenji
“You can use mine, since you don’t have one”
As he steps to loan the umbrella, Akito catches a glimpse into Ryu’s locker, seeing an umbrella and a folded note in it. Ryu slams his locker shut and accepts the umbrella gift from Akito, his face being red out of embarrassment.
I thought he didn’t have his…
Kenji and Akito walk home while sharing the umbrella, then heading inside his house and into his room to complete his homework. He reaches into his bag to grab the textbook, not being able to grab it. It wasn’t there.
The universe loves kicking me while I’m down. Thanks.
He heads back to the school, the storm finally subsiding, and the sun begins to shine through the evening clouds, washing everything in a golden hue.
Akito makes it back to the school, it being empty again.
Sure seems like a graveyard when no one's here
He makes his way up to his classroom, finding his textbook on his desk. He walks over to the desk, grabbing the textbook, but noticing the puddle left under Ryu’s desk.
You’re a complete mystery to me…but everyone has their own reasons.
Akito lets out a laugh, then looks to the door, seeing a girl standing in the frame.
Akari.
Akito and Akari’s faces turn red, neither expecting to see the other. Akito swallows the nervous spit in his mouth.
“What’re you doing here so late?” Akito asks
“I..F-f-f-forgot something” Akari stammers back, pointing at a bag at the back of the class, Akito grabs the bag for her, and walks to hand it to Akari.
They head into the hallway, walking together. Akari looks over at Akito nervously
“Does it still hurt?Y-Your head…I mean”
Akito rubs the back of his head, letting a smile out
“It's getting better, but don’t worry. What happened wasn’t your fault” Akita reassures Akari
“What happened? Did someone hurt you there before?” Akari questions Akito
“Base…” Akito replies is a serious tone
“Base? Is that a name?” Akari is confused at this
“Base…ball” Akito snickers, letting a giggle out while Akari is not amused, furrowing her brow and getting ‘angry’ at Akito
Akari slightly punches Akito, accepting her punch. It doesn’t hurt.
Akari is now pouting about this joke, Akito looking at her face and is taken aback by the sight of her beauty.
Even when she’s mad at me, she’s still…
Akari looks Akito in the eyes, and they both stop walking
“Super pretty”
Akari’s face turns bright red at this, and Akito covers his mouth, accidentally letting this slide. They both stand there in silence, each of them blushing an extreme amount
The both continue walking toward the entrance of the school, neither saying a word.
Idiot! Some things are better left unsaid. Let’s just hope she doesn’t….
He looks over to Akari, her face obscured from his sight. Akito looks dejected at this, then looks forward.
I saw this coming…this is nothing less than what I’d been expecting this entire time.
A flashback occurs, showing Akito watching a movie on his TV:
The rain overcomes most sounds, yet the man and woman can hear each other clearly.
The male character then bows his head, putting his hand out
“Please, Go out with me!”
The female character looks at the Male character, her face twinging whilst trying to hold back emotion
“Sometimes, people come into our lives at strange times. They may not always have good intentions, but they never leave without changing you.”
A flash shows the actors having fun together, and being close friends,
“I think you were here to teach me…what a true friend really is” the female finishes off
The Male looks completely devastated by this, but then the screen turns completely black
“This movie sucks” Akito’s reflection can be seen in the black of the shut-off TV, holding the remote.
We jump back to present times, Akito clutching his hand tightly
Just because I know it’s coming…doesn’t make it hurt any less
Akari’s straight face then breaks, with her blushing returning and having difficulty saying anything to break the silence. Akito notices this and is caught off guard
“...t-t-t-thank y-y-y-you” Akari stutters back, too shy to attempt any other words
Akito’s eyes widen in shock and confusion
“What?”
Akari looks down in embarrassment
“for…calling me pretty…Th-Th-That’s the first time I’ve e-e-e-ever been c-called that”
Akito’s spirit floats out of his body, hitting a celebration dance, but quickly falls back into his body, his face getting increasingly red by the second
“What’s the matter?” Akari looks at Akito, noticing his face turning color.
Akito’s face turns serious, then glances around the entrance to look for anything different.
This has to be a joke…it can’t be real…none of it can. The universe won’t let me win that easily. It’s been that way since I can remember.
Akito’s eyes turn grey, Akari noticing the change of expression and getting concerned.
Aktio takes steps forward.
“You really had me going there…you know that right?”
Akari is still confused at this, but remains silent.
“You can stop forcing yourself to be here, just to get a laugh out of someone else’s misery. Stop pretending like you care, show me how you really feel about this…about me”
Akito walks forward a bit more, making it outside, Akari following behind him.
“Tell me you’ve never cared about this…that all of this is just for your own fun…”
Akito turns around to face Akari, tears in his eyes, but still looking down.
“...show me that i’ve been right about you”
Akari steps toward Akito
“No.”
Akito looks Akari in the face, her now a step away from him. Both of them with tears in their eyes.
“I’m not going to prove you right…I don’t want to lie to you, or myself.” Akari replies in a serious but shaky tone.
“The reason I haven’t seen you for a week…Is because I didn’t know how to confront you…about how I feel”
Akito takes a step backwards, stumbling onto the stairs, paralleling the first time they met.
Akari looks down at Akito, the textbook on the ground behind him.
“Since I met you, I felt a way I didn’t know I could…a feeling I didn’t know existed”
She crouches down to be level with Akito
“I…want to understand it, and for that to happen…”
The light peeking through the clouds has a moment where the golden sunshine envelops both of them, the wind stops, and the warm feeling of spring is truly felt.
“...I need you”
Akito gains another flood of images, crawling into his brain, silhouettes of a person, younger. The person reaches out a hand, Akito seeing this silhouette and Akari’s hands both reaching for him.
His eyes remain wide, his breathing is shaking, his body trembling.
“...you need me?”
Akari agrees with this, and though Akito’s tears stopped before, new ones were arising. Not tears of sadness, but tears of relief.
“I…need you too…Akari”
Akari’s eyes gleam at this, her mouth remaining open. She takes a deep breath, and before Akito can react, She’s on top of him and hugging him
Akito feels her head on his shoulder, her tears soaking his shirt, her arms wrapped around him, with a grip refusing to let go.
Akito hugs Akari back, staring straight into the clouds, the golden hue still coating them. He closes his eyes, and holds Akari tightly
This is all I’ve ever wanted. If this is some joke that the gods are playing on me… at least let me decide the punchline.