The Way We Are (part 15 of 20)

Circumstances

I raced down the highway, weaving around the fast paced traffic while making sure to keep my eye on the cat-like Orphan that continued to hop from car top to car top. I had been chasing the thing for…well, honestly I don’t remember how long, I also couldn’t recall when I had first seen it, but that didn’t matter now that I had caught up with the damn thing.

I raised my element and aimed to shoot, but right before I could pull the trigger, the monster leapt atop a giant semi and proceeded to jump to the next car, and unfortunately out of my sight. I cursed as I looked for any way around the obstacle, but there seemingly was none as there were cars close behind and in front of the truck.

And then an idea struck me. I took a split second to glance over to my left, trying to judge the distance between the bottom of the trailer and the pavement rushing below it. I could make that. No problem. I was a HiME after all, wasn’t I?

I pushed out a breath, and tightening my grip on the handles, I braced myself and initiated the plan.

I weaved to the right to gaining some momentum before rocketing back to the left towards the truck. At the very last moment, I shifted my weight back to the right and felt my bike tip onto its side. Sparks flew. I could hear the metal frame of my Ducati screaming at its contact with the black asphalt. Just as easily, I could feel my leather suit quickly wearing down as the rough ground ripped it to shreds. I struggled to keep control, but I knew if I let up now, there was no way I’d be walking away from this one. And that wasn’t an option.

What seemed like an eternity was in reality mere seconds, and once I had completely slid out from under the trailer on the other side, I immediately jerked my body to the left with all of my strength and barely managed to pop my motorcycle back up properly onto it’s wheels. Once again I had to battle for control, but soon enough it was won. Back on track, I searched for the Orphan and spotted it a few cars ahead of me. Accelerating, I quickly made my way to the thing, materializing my pistol in my left hand as I drove. The creature turned towards me when it heard me approaching, it’s golden eyes glaring at me as it let out a roar.

Again, I raised my gun at the Orphan, “Gotcha now—!”

“You really shouldn’t do that, Natsuki.”

I snapped my head over my shoulder and my eyes widened at the sight, “SHIZURU?!”

“Playing with guns is dangerous you know.”

“Wha?! H-How did you get here?! On my bike…?”

The girl simply smiled at me like she always did. That mocking little smile…it practically said “I’m not telling”. She might as well have stuck her tongue out at me too.

I turned my attention back to the task at hand, “Bah! I’ve got to take care of this thing.”

“But you could hurt yourself,” Shizuru protested as she pulled at my arm, making my aim waver.

“Stop it, Shizuru!” I grumbled through gritted teeth as I tried to free myself from her grasp.

The chestnut-haired girl refused to let go, “I’m just trying to keep you safe!”

“You’re not helping!” I yelled back.

Suddenly, I felt the front wheel of my bike hit a rut in the road causing the thing to jerk beneath me, and I lost my hold on the handle. The front of the motorcycle instantly turned and fell, and Shizuru and I were violent thrown onto the pavement.

The initial contact occurred with my shoulder, and after that, I began tumbling endlessly across the empty lanes of the highway. When I finally ceased moving, I slowly opened my eyes and sat up. It wasn’t long before I spotted Shizuru lying several yards away.

She wasn’t moving.

“SHIZURU!” I cried out as I scrambled to my feet and over to her side. Kneeling beside her, I slowly rolled my friend onto her back, “Shizuru…”

I was met with amused crimson eyes, “Was Natsuki worried about me?”

My jaw dropped. I couldn’t breathe.

I sat dumbfounded as the girl leaned up, got to her feet, and proceeded to dust herself off, “I told you it was dangerous. Natsuki should really be more careful.”

My eye twitched and I was immediately on my feet as well, “Wh-What?! This was all YOUR fault!” I shouted while pointing a finger in her face, “If you hadn’t interfered, that Orphan would have—Hey, wait a minute…where did the Orphan go? And the traffic…? And how the hell are we not dead right now?!”

Taking in my surroundings, I noticed for the first time since we had crashed that Shizuru and I were the only ones here in the middle of the highway. There were no cars…no animals, nothing. It was just the open road, an orange sunset sky, and the two of us. It was oddly quiet too.

The Kyoto native merely shrugged at my words, “I don’t know. This is Natsuki’s dream after all.”

“Dream? Wha—“

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. SMACK!

Grumbling, I sat up, “I really need to stop watching those stupid action flicks…”

After I had rolled out of bed and managed to shuffle over to the bathroom, I squinted at my disheveled-haired self. I smacked my cheeks a few times to try to collect myself before going over to the shower and turning on the water. Afterwards, I immediatlely began stripping out of my clothes.

That sure was a crazy dream…I hope I didn’t eat something bad last night…that take-out was a couple of days old, wasn’t it? Bad idea…

I unconsciously stepped into the shower as my mental conversation continued.

I hope that wasn’t a premonition or something…If I have déjà vu later I swear to god I’m going to lose it…Although Shizuru miraculously showing up on the back of my bike while I’m in the middle of driving is a bit of a stretch…Knowing that woman, she’d find a way though…

I had to laugh at the outlandishness of the thought as I washed off, but afterwards I was slightly disheartened because I knew the bizarre dream wasn’t something I would be able to share with my friend. There were so many things that I would have liked to talk with Shizuru about…some serious, some just casual, but there always seemed to be a wall blocking me from doing so…a wall that had HiME written all over it.

I went along with the rest of my usual morning routine before heading out the door a little later than I had originally intended.

I can’t believe I’m going to school on a day when I could have easily skipped...But I did promise Shizuru that I’d come…I can’t back out now…she’d be so disappointed…Of course she wouldn’t say that she was, that’s just like her…I wish she’d be more honest with me sometimes…Heh, like I really have any right to say that…

The traffic getting to school was a little heavier than usual due to the festival, but I eventually made it, parking in my usual place soon after arriving. The sound of the morning crowd continued to get louder as I trekked forward, and it wasn’t long before I was right in the middle of the source. I had just reached into my pocket to fetch my cell phone when the device began to vibrate in my hand.

Pulling it out, I glanced at the outer display and immediately flipped it open once I saw that it was Shizuru, “Hey, I was just about to call you. Where do you want to meet up?”

I could hear her sigh into the receiver, “Kanin na, Natsuki. I’m afraid something has come up…”

“Hm?”

“The Director just contacted me a minute ago, she needs me to meet with some of the suppliers for the school in her place.”

“O-Oh…”

“I’m very sorry, Natsuki. I—“

“No, no, don’t worry about it. Uh, how long is the meeting going to last?”

“I can’t be sure, but I doubt that it will be resolved quickly.”

“I see…”

“You could still stick around. Maybe we could walk around a bit later?”

“Eh, I don’t know…This really isn’t my kind of environment…”

A pause, “Yes, of course. Another time perhaps.”

“Y-Yeah…” I mumbled, the obvious disappointment in her voice clinching at my heart. I grimaced.

The tone quickly dispersed, “Well then, I really need to go change now, so I’ll talk to you later, Natsuki.”

“Bye…”

Closing my cell, I let a sigh slip passed my lips, but it sounded more like a huff than anything else. Whether I wanted to admit it or not, I did feel a little disappointed about the news I had just received. Having nothing else better to do, I aimlessly began to wander around the school grounds, checking out all of the setups that now littered the walkways.

With no one around, I allowed myself to visibly pout as I hastily unlocked the door to my dorm room. Once inside, I immediately changed out of my school uniform and into one of the kimono I had stored in my closet. What better way to entertain the businessmen I was to speak with than to serve them tea in the traditional style? At least it would help keep my mind off of what I could be doing…what I wanted to be doing…or I supposed it would. The tea would certainly help to calm me down anyway.

Once I had finished putting my kimono on, which would have been a long process for most people to do by themselves, but luckily wasn’t the case for me, I set out for the teahouse that was located on campus. Generally the little building was used for the school clubs that focused around tea ceremony and other traditional Japanese arts, but when it wasn’t in use, it was sometime used for special meetings such as the one I was about to take part in.

Since Kazahana-sama had called me in plenty of time before the meeting was to take place, I had enough time to properly set up and prepare for the wealthy visitors I would soon have to speak with. Actually, I finished with twenty minutes to spare, so rather than stay confined inside, I stood outside the small structure allowing the slight breeze to play with my fixed hair and cool me off.

It certainly is a beautiful day today…perfect weather for the anniversary celebration. It truly is a shame I’ll have to be cooped up like this…

It wasn’t too long before my peaceful scene was disrupted by a group of suited men approaching. I glared at them while they were still at a distance, but soon I closed my eyes and allowed a placid smile to grace my features. That plain smile…void of any true emotion...true happiness, I had been able to manufacture it precisely, perfectly, for years now…and today was no different.

When the group of males was close enough, I bowed politely, “Welcome. My name is Fujino Shizuru, Seitokaichou of Fuuka Academy. Please, right this way.”

Stepping aside, I watched as the men filed inside, most of them simply nodding at me as they entered. Once they were all inside and seated and formalities were all out of the way, I brought out my utensils and began preparing the tea in silence, my mind failing in our agreement to not think about a certain blue-haired beauty that I should have been with at this very moment.

Natsuki…how I wish you were here with me rather than these old wrinkled money hagglers…Focus, now focus. Rijichou-san is relying on me to handle this properly so I must keep my mind on track.

“So, about supplying materials for next year…” one of the men interrupted my thoughts.

Despite my previous distraction, I was right back in step, “Please, we’re having tea right now. Business talk can wait until later.”

“However, we are…”

“The Director has put me in charge of these matters. I’ll listen to what you need to tell me later. Ne?” I smiled, making sure to clearly annunciate my Kyoto accent and look as cute as possible as I innocently commanded the older man.

“R-right,” he managed to reply as I handed him a cup of steaming green tea.

If I’m going to be stuck here, I might as well have a little fun. Let’s see how long you can hold out…and how much I can make you donate to the school, shall we?

Standing alone in the crowd with my arms crossed over my chest, I couldn’t help but frown.

“I can’t be comfortable in these places.”

Almost as if it were on cue, a scream and a crash answered my whispered words. I turned to witness the executive director and a person in costume hanging outside of a smoking window while coughing their lungs out.

And then the cause of the uproar presented herself.

Minagi Mikoto came bounding out of the opened window and landed right at my feet. Gazing down, the girl looked up at me with watery eyes and a flushed face, “W-water…”

“Huh? What’s wrong with you?”

“Ramen…hot…”

I cocked an eyebrow, smirking at the girl still kneeling in front of me, “Can’t take the spicy stuff, huh?”

Mikoto just nodded feverishly with a little whine.

“You really are a kid…” I muttered, pulling out my wallet to inspect the contents inside. “Come on, I’m sure they sell bottled water at one of these stands.”

Before I could even blink, the younger girl was on her feet and latched to my arm. I grumbled as I slipped out of her grip.

“What are you doing by yourself anyway? Where’s Mai?”

“Visiting her brother,” the golden-eyed HiME pouted.

“And she let you come here alone?”

At this, Mikoto shook her head, “Not alone, with Aoi and Chie.”

“So those two are supposed to be babysitting you…”

A glare.

“Sorry, I forgot,” I pleaded. “Ah, here we are.”

Luckily there wasn’t much of a line at the drink stand, so it only took a minute or so to purchase the water. It was gone in about two seconds though.

The girl released a contented sigh once she had guzzled down the liquid.

“Better?” I questioned.

“Mmh.”

“Alright, now to just find that Gossip Queen and her sidekick.”

“What’s sidekick?” Mikoto asked as we began to walk, “Like this?”

The girl suddenly made to strike me with her foot, but I swiftly caught the limb before it could nail me in the hip and shoved it down, “No! It’s like a second in command or something!”

The girl just stared at me quizzically.

“Never mind, just walk.”

And walk we did…about three steps.

“Hey! Where are you going?”

“Food!”

“Now? But we’re trying to find—“

It was too late. The girl was already in the middle of ordering a pair of skewers decorated with various meats and vegetables, having knocked some of the other customers out of her way in the process. Of course when it came to the payment of these kabobs I had to cough up the cash. Once I had avoided several glares and the transition was completed, I tried to get us moving again.

“Alright, so that’ll keep you satisfied until we find Harada and Senou, right?”

I didn’t get a response as the middle schooler was busy devouring her new snack.

The two of us had walked a bit further when I felt the slight tugging on my shirt. At the contact, I turned to the shorter girl, “What now?”

“Is Natsuki here by herself?”

“Yeah.”

She tilted her head, “Natsuki isn’t happy?”

“Not really.”

“Then why is Natsuki here?”

“Because I was asked to be.”

“By who?”

“…You remember the kaichou, don’t you?”

Mikoto squinted her eyes in contemplation for a moment before nodding, “Mmh. Where is she?”

“She had some student council business to attend to.”

“Is that why Natsuki is sad?”

I was slightly taken aback from the innocent question and gazed down at the girl who met me with expectant eyes, “I didn’t say I was sad, just—Well, you see—Eh…I…I guess you could say that…”

“Natsuki needs food! Food makes Mikoto happy,” the girl exclaimed before running on ahead, her head swiveling back and forth in search of something new to consume.

“H-Hey! Get back here!”

I jogged after the animalistic youngster, and once she had stopped for an instant, I caught her by one of her braids.

She whipped her head around, excitement in her eyes, “What are those?”

I followed the direction in which she was pointing, “Huh? Oh, doughnuts.”

“Can I have some?”

An irksome frown appeared on my face, “This is the last one, okay? No more after this, got it?”

“Right!”

I made my way over to the stand, Mikoto at my side impatiently marching in place. The man behind the counter bemusedly looked us over before speaking, “How can I help you?”

“Can I get a couple of…”

I glanced at the girl beside me who had drool visibly running down the side of her mouth.

Remember, she’s a bottomless pit. We need something to occupy her long enough to find her babysitters.

“Actually, you can you just fill a bag with them?”

“A-are you sure about that Miss?”

“Positive,” I curtly responded.

The man set to his work, “So…is this for a group?”

“Nope.”

When he looked up at me, I simply nodded my head at the girl beside me.

“O-Oh…”

“Yeah…”

He handed Mikoto the bag and I gave him his money, which ended up sucking my wallet dry, before we finally continued our search. The younger girl downed a couple of the sweet pastries as we walked, and was about to start on the next when she stopped again.

“That too.”

“Enough is enough!” I screamed, finally losing my patience.

I mean, the girl had an entire bag of doughnuts in her arms and she was still asking for more food. It wasn’t like I could provide her any more even if I wanted to since I was now flat broke. Of course, I could solve that problem when I got home, I never did like to carry too much cash around with me, but that wasn’t an option at the moment…or ever to be perfectly honest.

“You’ve had plenty of time to eat and rampage,” I continued, picking her up by the collar of her uniform like one would with a puppy…or like the cat she was.

To my relief, I spotted the two girls we had been searching for all afternoon and promptly dropped Mikoto in front of them, “Hey! Tell this thing’s owner to discipline her, give her a collar, or slam her in a cage.”

Once I had completed my civic duty, I immediately set off in the opposite direction to get as far away from the cat-child as possible.

Honestly, my whole day has been shot now. I should have just gone home when I had the chance…

As I rambled on in my head, a voice was heard over the buzz of the crowd and my train of thought trailed off.

Singing now? In…English?

Curiosity getting the better of me, I backtracked towards the large stage that had been set up for the day. Joining the ever-growing cluster of people surrounding the platform, I gazed up at the large display screen that showed a group of Fuuka Elementary kids, a choir it seemed, all lined up. Only one of them was singing, however, a little girl with striking blonde hair.

She’s pretty good…English must be her first language.

Actually staying put for once, I stood there and listened to the whole song before finally wandering off again. With a lot of the attendees gathering to watch the choir, the pathways between the booths was relatively clear, so I took the opportunity to walk around again in peace.

Suddenly the sky was alight as an explosion erupted in the air.

The fireworks show has begun already, has it? This day has slipped by rather quickly...but at least I’ll get to enjoy the after dark party. I should probably change out of this first though.

I stayed where I was for the moment, simply enjoying the beautifully colored fireworks until they ended. Locking up the building, I began walking back towards the school so I could go to my dorm and change into my uniform. There were still a few stragglers here and there, but it was obvious that most of the crowd had either moved on to the nighttime events or gone home.

And then I spotted her, sitting alone on the stage, gazing up at the stars overhead.

“Natsuki?”

The girl averted her eyes to look at me, “Shizuru, hey.”

I continued approaching my friend as she hopped down and walked towards me, “What are you doing here? I thought you weren’t going to stay…”

“Hm, well, things came up.”

“Oh?”

“And besides, I wanted to see what you’d been up to all week.”

“But I thought Natsuki didn’t like things such as this?”

“Well, yeah, but you worked hard to organize all of this, didn’t you? I wanted to check it out. I honestly can’t see how you pulled all of this together. It’s amazing really.”

“You act as if I did it all by myself. I had quite a lot of help, you know.”

“But you put in the hours too, right? You should give yourself some credit.”

I blushed at her kind words. Luckily the darkness sheltered me enough that the emerald-eyed girl didn’t notice.

“Ookini, Natsuki…”

“So, did the meeting go well? What was it about anyway? Or is it top secret?”

I chuckled, “It was just to discuss what some of our suppliers would be offering the school this year, and it went rather smoothly if I do say so myself.”

“Knowing your negotiation skills, I don’t doubt it.”

“Ara, what is that supposed to mean, Natsuki?”

The girl playfully shrugged at me before changing the subject, “You look nice though. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you in a kimono before…Do you always dress up for older men like this?”

“Natsuki!” I gasped at her implication.

She laughed, “Kidding, kidding. I can get a shot in every now and then, can’t I?”

I just pouted, “Mou, Natsuki…such a meanie…”

“Seriously though, since today was a bust, do you want to go get something to eat?”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I’m starving, but…uh…you’re going to have to pay…”

I squinted my eyes at her, “So Natsuki is using me to get a free meal is it?”

“Eh! No! I-It’s not like that, Shizuru, I swear,” the girl stuttered.

“Oh really?”

The biker straightened and looked me square in the eyes, “Yes.”

So cute…how could I ever deny you, Natsuki? Especially since you seem to be in such a pleasant mood…

“Hmm…Okay, dinner is my treat this time, but Natsuki is picking up the tab on our next date, agreed?”

I was rewarded with a blush, “F-Fine…But do you always have to call it that?”

“What would Natsuki have me call it then?” I questioned as I began walking again, the other girl immediately doing the same.

“I…well, I don’t know, but not that.”

“And what is that, Natsuki?”

A whispered mumble barely reached my ears.

“What was that, Natsuki? I couldn’t hear you…”

A sideways glance was shot my way, “…A…date…”

I smiled triumphantly, “Alright, how about…rendezvous then?”

“What?! No! That’s even worse! Like we’re sneaking around or something!”

“Are we not? It’s not like anyone really knows of our little friendship.”

“Oi, Shizuru…you’re catching up on this past week’s missed teasing, aren’t you?”

I turned my face away from her, covering my mouth as I giggled, “It does seem that way, doesn’t it? Gomen, Natsuki.”

“Bah…Where are we headed anyway?”

“To my dorm first so I can change.”

“And after that?”

“That’s yet to be decided. They will have things to eat at the after dark events, you know.”

“Eh, I think I’ve been around the school as long as I can tolerate for today…You don’t have to attend that after party thing, do you?”

I considered this for a moment, “I’m sure I wouldn’t be missed with that many people around.”

“And your beloved club?” came the sarcastic inquiry.

“Ara…they probably would, but they would also never rat me out for skipping,” I answered with a wink.

“I think you’ve been hanging around me too long, Shizuru…I’m turning you into adelinquent like I am.”

“If it’s because of Natsuki, then I don’t mind.”

Natsuki just shook her head at my words as we came up on my dorm building. Once we were inside my room, I immediately set to changing. I stole a peek over at the girl seated on the couch, and chuckled to myself when I saw that she had her head turned defiantly in the other direction, but even that couldn’t hide the slight pink on her cheeks. I could have easily undressed in the bathroom and not put poor Natsuki in the awkward position she was in now, but where was the fun in that? I simply enjoyed watching her become flustered…maybe a little too much.

After I was adorned in my school uniform again, I trudged over and plopped down beside her on the couch, “So, what now? I do have food here that we could fix.”

Finally she faced me again, “I don’t want to make you cook, especially after the long day you’ve had.”

“I really don’t mind. Or is Natsuki afraid of my cooking?”

“What?! T-That’s not it…I just thought you might like a break for once is all...”

“Natsuki is so considerate,” I playfully affirmed, and the girl’s face colored yet again.

“Well, I’m sure you’re tired, so how about we just order something?”

“That’s fine with me. What should we get?”

“Your choice.”

“Mmm…How about a pizza?”

“And here I was thinking you were a health freak…”

“I like to indulge myself every now and then like anyone else. Is pizza okay with you?”

“Yeah, it’s fine. Do you have a number for any place in particular?”

“I think there’s one of the fridge,” I remarked and began to stand, but Natsuki was quick to pull me back down by the wrist.

“You lay down and relax. Let me handle this.”

I did as I was told, reclining on my stomach as I watched my raven-haired friend trek into the kitchen and inspect the refrigerator door. It didn’t take her long to find the slip of paper I had spoken of.

“So what kind do you want?” she asked while dialing.

“Anything normal is fine.”

The girl just rolled her eyes at me as she placed her cell to her ear.

“Yeah, can I get a medium pepperoni pizza? Delivery. Fuuka Academy Lane, complex one, room two-o-eight. Yes, that’s correct. Alright, thanks.”

Once she was finished, Natsuki closed her phone and slipped it back into her pocket. Returning to me, she lied down beside the couch and stretched out on her back, “Fifteen minutes.”

“Mmh,” I gave my muffled reply as I gazed down at her.

She closed her eyes as she spoke, “It’s been a long time since I’ve been here.”

“Too long,” I retorted as I grabbed one of the nearby pillows and smacked the oblivious girl on the chest.

“Agh! Hey!” Natsuki cried out before promptly returning the favor.

I shrieked before trying to retaliate, but my assailant had already rolled out of the way.

Due to both of our stubborn natures, the war had officially begun.

As I was trying to get up and arm myself with two couch pillows, Natsuki was retreating to the beds to retrieve her own ammunition and protection. It wasn’t very long before we were running around the dorm, pelting each other with the fluffy items, but at the same time being keenly aware of the very breakable objects that were scattered around the room. We had been battling for several minutes when by some chance or another Natsuki became completely unarmed and thus took emergency action, which came in the form of a full on tackle.

I gasped as we flew back onto my bed, losing my pillow in the process as the girl landed on top of me, “Natsuki, that’s not fair! You can’t tackle in a pillow fight.”

“Why not? There are no set rules,” she protested.

“Have you even been in a pillow fight before?”

“Have you?”

Touché. But I still have the upper hand.

“Ara, but I had no idea that Natsuki was plotting to get me like this…” I began, turning my head away as I produced a blush to add to the effect.

Finally becoming aware of her dominating positioning over me, Natsuki instantly turned red as she scrambled over to the other bed, “I-I didn’t mean it like that! We were just playing around!”

“So roughly too,” I added, hugging myself and closing my eyes.

The felt the bed shake, and when I opened my eyes again, emerald orbs were peering down at me in concern.

“I didn’t hurt you, did I? I didn’t mean to—“ the girl quickly sputtered, but my uncontrolled laughter quickly changed her expression to one of annoyance. She spun around, her back now facing me, as she sat Indian style at my side, “Bah! And here I was actually worrying about you…I should know better by now…Just like in my dream…”

This certainly caught my attention, “Dream? So Natsuki was dreaming about me?”

“No! You just happened to show up towards the end…”

“Oh…? And?”

“And nothing! You were you, teasing me as always.”

“I see,” I said with a childish giggle.

My tormenting might have gone on longer if there hadn’t been a knocking at the door.

Natsuki brightened at the sound and turned to me, “Where’s your wallet?”

“In my purse,” I answered, pointing to my bag over on the desk.

The biker quickly bounded over to the thing, pulled out some cash, and answered the door. When she turned back around, she had a thin box in her hands and a wide grin on her face. It wasn’t long before said box was thrown on the table, pried open, and it’s inner contents stolen. I came over and took a piece myself. Turning the TV on, Natsuki, who was in charge of the remote, flipped over to a sports station and seemed satisfied with the soccer match she had found.

It didn’t take too long for us to mow down the pizza…well, it was mostly thanks to Natsuki to tell the truth. Once she had finished, she leaned back on her arms.

“Phew, that was good.”

“Natsuki really was hungry,” I remarked, looking into the box to see only one slice remaining.

“I told you I was starving. I haven’t had anything since this morning.”

“Ara, you really should take care of yourself more, Natsuki,” I replied in all honesty.

She shrugged, “Eh, it couldn’t be helped.”

A natural silence settled between us for a few minutes, the only sound coming from the low-volume television in front of us.

Curious, I took a look over at my alarm clock, “The after dark party should be over by now.”

“Hm,” Natsuki noised, not really paying much attention, and then she suddenly shot up, “Shit, my bike’s still at the school.”

“It’s hidden isn’t it? I’m sure no one will bother it.”

“Yeah, but still…” she whined, crawling over to the door to slip into her shoes.

Once she was done and on her feet again, I did the same, “So are you coming back afterwards?”

“Huh?”

“Or are you going back to your apartment?”

“Oh…Uh, yeah, I’ll probably just head on home.”

I let my mask have full control over my features.

“Then let me thank you for tonight, and apologize again for today.”

Opening the door, my friend stepped outside, “I said not to worry about it. The free meal was equal payment in my book.”

“Natsuki better not forget about our little deal,” I nudged at the girl.

“Right, right. I’m paying next time. ‘Night, Shizuru.”

“Goodnight.”

I stayed in the doorway until Natsuki was out of sight. Even after she was gone, and had been for several minutes, I blankly sat on the couch, wishing that there would be a knock on my door, the raven-haired girl standing there telling me she had changed her mind…but it never came.

Sighing, I walked over to my closet to take out my nightwear when the small stack sitting atop one of the selves caught my eye. It was the clothing that Natsuki had left here. They were her clothes. I reached out for the shirt at the top of the pile, drawing it to my chest as I tilted my head down to take in the scent of the girl that still lingered on the article. My cheeks flushed.

“Natsuki…”

Changing out of my uniform, I slipped into the blue t-shirt that belonged to my friend, crawled into bed, and tightly embracing one of my pillows, I drifted off to sleep.