Maybe it’s that uneasy feeling in the pit of your stomach...
It happened to be our lunch break for the day, and once again I had forgot to grab something from the apartment, so I had to fork over a few bucks to get a bottle of water and a prepackaged curry bread. It wasn’t much, but it would have to do for now.
On most days I would simply lay under a certain old tree by the school while eating, but a group of bubbly girls resided there at the moment.
I loved that tree. It looked dead on the outside, but it still hadn’t given up on life just yet. It was a fighter, just like me. I silently apologized to it for the noisy ensemble of people taking advantage of its shady shelter before treading off in the opposite direction.
I mindlessly trekked through the maze of stone pathways and flowers towards my usual spot by the fountain, but right when I was about to turn the corner, I slowed to a stop when a nearly inaudible rustling tickled my keen ears.
Someone was here.
Great, so both of my spots are taken…
Shaking the thought, my curiosity got the better of me and I rounded the hedge blocking my view.
My sudden intake of breath gave me away. Immediately long brown hair glided through the air as the girl sitting in front of me quickly turned her head.
“Oh!” she exclaimed, eyebrows rising over those oddly red-tinted eyes.
Sure enough it was her again. Fujino Shizuru.
I mentally cursed at myself for even thinking of coming here.
“Natsuki, it’s nice seeing you again.”
I’m sure it is…
I didn’t even reply as a stood there staring at her, the sun burning my eyes and causing me to squint.
“Do you come here often?” she questioned me, ignoring my lack of response. Her voice was as gentle as the first time we met.
“When I want to get away from people, yes,” I coldly retorted.
Maybe she’ll get the impression…she doesn’t seem like the ignorant type.
“Hmm, me too,” Shizuru answered, turning her gaze back down to the little bento in her lap, that peaceful little smile still present as she poked at the sushi with her chopsticks.
What?
“You really don’t seem like the type to want to be alone,” I stated.
From what I’ve heard, you’re quite popular amongst the students.
“Ara…so Natsuki is analyzing me now, hm?” she playfully teased me.
I instantly felt my cheeks become hot, “N-No.”
Did I really just stutter?
I turned my head to the side to try to hide the fact that I was blushing, but this is Fujino Shizuru we’re talking about.
Shizuru just laughed at my childish reaction, and I felt the redness continue to spread across my entire face.
“Natsuki is so cute when she is flustered.”
Agh!
“Stop it. I’m leaving.”
There’s no way I’m putting up with this ridiculing.
“Gomen!” she stated, waving her chopsticks at me, “I did not mean to scare you away.”
Scare me? What?
“I do as I please. I’m not leaving because of you.”
Liar.
“Then Natsuki won’t allow an upperclassman the pleasure of eating lunch with her?” Shizuru questioned, pouting as she did so.
What’s with that face?
“I don’t see why you’d want to eat with me,” I honestly answered.
From what I had gathered, Shizuru had always been popular, and considering the type of person she was, again from mere speculation, it wasn’t that hard to believe. She was smart, kind, and absolutely beautiful. All the girls wanted to be her, and all the guys wanted to be with her. It wouldn’t even shock me if some of the girls wanted to be with her too. That’s the kind of power she had over people. No matter how good you were, Fujino Shizuru was always seemingly at a higher level. Unreachable, unearthly even. But still, she treated everyone equally. She never acted stuck up or snobbish, and never looked down upon anyone, except for maybe Suzushiro Haruka, but that was completely understandable…that girl was just plain annoying.
Shizuru could also hold a conversation with anyone, the ones she had managed with me of all people being proof of that. She was a people person, and everyone loved her for it.
But that was exactly why I didn’t understand her infatuation with me. We were complete opposites when it came to our social lives. People flocked to her, and I ran away from any type of situation that involved interacting with another individual. She could have talked to anyone she wanted to…so why did she choose me?
“Is it wrong for me to want to try to get to know you better?” her soft voice broke me out of my thoughts. It sounded surprisingly honest.
I smirked at her question, “Are you sure you really want to do that? I might tarnish your golden reputation you know…”
It was true. I was considered a ‘delinquent’ by many of the other students around campus. I was a rebel, and Shizuru was a class representative. The teachers and students adored and respected her…they loathed and feared me.
At this she shrugged, “Let people think what they will, it really doesn’t concern me.”
My eyebrow rose on it’s own accord.
Eh? She really doesn’t give up does she? I don’t get the feeling that I’m going to win this fight…and at this rate I won’t be able to eat what little food I have…
With a very distinctive ‘humph’ I walked over to the fountain and sat down a few feet away from her.
“Fine.”
I didn’t have to look over at her to know that she was smiling.
“That wasn’t too hard now, was it?”
I answered her by ripping open the plastic bag containing my curry bread as loudly as I possibly could.
She watched me as I raised the item to my mouth and took out a giant hunk with a single bite. Glancing over at her, I squinted my eyes and spoke despite having a full mouth.
“Mwhah?”
“Is that all you’re eating?” she asked, pointing at the bread in my hands with her chopsticks, a slightly baffled look taking over her usually composed visage.
“Yeah…”
Immediately she placed her utensils in her black lunch box and stuck it out in front of me, “Here.”
I just blinked at her.
“I don’t want anymore anyway.”
I continued my staring, “You really don’t have to—”
“I insist,” she prodded, flashing that natural smile.
I eyed the box in front of me with caution.
I really don’t want to but…I am hungry…and it does look pretty good…
The grumbling of my stomach made the decision for me.
”Uh…alright,” I finally consented, slowly taking the box from her.
Our hands touched on accident, a brief, light brushing.
The redness in my cheeks flared involuntarily again.
“I hope you like it, I made it myself you know,” she continued.
Taking the wooden chopsticks between my fingers, I picked up a piece of the sushi and plopped it into my mouth.
This is amazing. I haven’t had anything this good since, well, longer than I can remember...
“Not bad.”
…But I’m not gonna tell her that.
Her smile broadened as she closed her eyes and tilted her head to the side.
The sun shining overhead illuminated her figure as we silently sat in the garden, the gurgling of the fountain the only thing keeping us from utter silence.
She looks…so angelic…so beau-! Gah! What am I thinking?!
I quickly popped another piece of the sushi into my mouth to keep my brain occupied.
“My! Natuski sure is hungry!” Shizuru exclaimed as I started to shove a third piece into my mouth, but right as I was doing so, the sound of the bell flooded over the entire campus.
“Ara…over already—Oh!” the Kyoto native interrupted herself as she looked intently at my face.
“Eh?” I mumbled, wondering what exactly it is that she’s staring at.
“You have a piece of rice…on the side of your mouth…”
Before I could even move, the girl was already inches away from my face. I felt her index finger touch my cheek oh-so close to my slightly parted lips as she gently scraped the said piece of rice from my skin, and I was shocked to see her promptly place the finger into her mouth.
“There.”
My face was on fire. I knew it. I could feel it burning. I was honestly surprised that my skin hasn’t melted off of my skull yet.
“Well, I guess we’d better be heading back then, ne?” Shizuru stated, brushing the dirt from her backside as she stood.
She’s not even-! That wasn’t normal! Why is she acting like that was normal?! She must be insane! Crazy insane!
My brain continued this onslaught of nervous sputtering for several minutes in an attempt to comprehend what in the hell had just happened, but somehow during that process I managed to force out an, “Uh, yeah.”
I placed the bento beside me on the edge of the fountain and quickly stepped away from it to avoid any further contact with her. Grabbing my unopened bottle of water, I clumsily unscrewed the top and chugged down a good third of the cool liquid as she took the lunch box and placed the lid back on it.
As we walked back towards the school, a little hastily on my part, we both remained relatively silent. Finally, we reached the point for us to branch off to our separate buildings.
“Well…see ya. Thanks again for the food,” I hurriedly uttered, trying to regain my normally cool composure. I had already begun to walk off when Shizuru suddenly stopped me.
“Natsuki?”
I turned my head to look over my shoulder, “Y-Yeah?”
Her pause in speech caused me to fully turn around as I placed a hand on my hip, “What is it?”
“It’s…nothing. Never mind. Goodbye, Natsuki,” she replied, an odd sadness to her tone that I had never heard before.
Shizuru didn’t see my puzzled expression as she turned and trotted off to her class.
I shook my head at her fleeting back.
“I wonder what that was about?” I pondered as I made my way back to my own classroom.
“Eh, best not to worry about it,” I whispered under my breath as I walked.
Too bad it was the only thing on my mind the rest of the afternoon…
“Wh-what…?” I mumbled, averting my gaze down to the folded piece of white paper in my palm.
It’s warm…I wonder what this is about?
I waited until I was in my homeroom before I even thought about opening the note, and it was only once I had settled into my desk by the window, and my teacher had come in and begun rattling on about the old shoguns of the Edo period, that I even attempted to poke at it.
Why am I so nervous about this? It’s just a stupid note…
I sensed movement out of the corner of my eye and gazed out the window to spot a group of high schoolers out on the track for PE.
My eyes immediately locked on to flowing chestnut-brown hair as the figure gracefully sprinted around the black oval. She wasn’t exactly fast, but she certainly had a weightlessness about her when she ran. I snapped my eyes back onto the small white item sitting before me, and I savagely ripped it open.
Meet me in two days at our ‘secret place.’ 6:00, don’t be late!
-Shizuru
I stared at the finely handwritten words for several minutes, reading the short set of instructions over and over again.
Two days? A Saturday? I don’t…understand…
Looking out the window yet again, I easily caught Shizuru’s now motionless lithe body among a small group of girls.
I…just don’t get you.
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