Chapter 23 - That Was It?

Shade’s girlfriend…

I didn’t know he had a boyfriend…

And it’s Mira on top of that…

I held his hand more tightly, as I couldn't believe what I had just heard. I controlled my breathing as it started to get unstable. I looked at him, trying to get his thoughts from his face, but I couldn’t, because Mira was in front of us.

“I didn’t know you knew that you knew about Shade.” Mira said, smiling at me as she dribbled the ball once again.

“Yeah…” I chuckled awkwardly, trying to hide my disbelief.

“Nobody freaked out when it happened, so I thought no one knew Shade that much. He doesn’t really have that many friends here… Or maybe he has, and I didn’t know anything about it.” she laughed softly.

As she said that, Shade suddenly held my hand tightly.

I raised an eyebrow as he continued squeezing my hand. Shade?

“...” I turned my head to him. But being a skeleton himself, and the fact that he was hiding beneath his outfit, I couldn’t understand why he did that.

“Oh right… Who’s this person you’re together with?” she asked, finally noticing Shade beside me. She looked down at our hands and smiled. “It looks like something’s going on, huh?”

“Oh I–” I tried to release my hand out of Shade but I was stopped by him. He was still locking my right hand with his hand and never letting it go.

I tried to laugh it off. “He’s my boyfriend…”

I…

I SAID IT!!!

I SAID HE IS MY BOYFRIEND!!!

I freaked out and kept questioning myself inside my head. I uncontrollably smiled in the midst of that, while I tried to control myself from doing so.

Oh my goodness… I can’t believe I just said that… I mumbled in my head.

She nodded. “That explains why. So why does he look like that?”

“Look like what?” I muttered before looking at Shade, immediately agreeing with what she said. “Hahaha… He’s not feeling well today, that’s why.”

“Oh… I wouldn't have expected that kind of answer. I thought he was hiding from someone.” she replied, grabbing the ball and carrying it. “And why isn’t he talking?”

How should I answer that… I took a glance at him, thinking of something to say back to Mira.

“I can’t talk too much because of my throat.” Shade said, his voice is a bit lower than usual.

“Oh, that’s why. But if he’s feeling unwell, why didn’t you guys head straight to the nurse’s office?” she asked.

“We were about to, but then we heard that someone was playing in here, so we were distracted for a second.” I reasoned.

“Ah that, so that’s why both of you were just outside then.”

I nodded in response. “I didn’t expect that it was you playing basketball, though. I think no one would have expected that Mira was playing basketball and skipping class like this.”

She chuckled. “Is it really that unexpected?”

“Of course, you’re like the most beautiful girl in our class.” I answered.

“I know that I’m beautiful.”

I blinked and looked straight at her.

“I was just repeating what you said, you know?” she continued and laughed. And then suddenly her face turned serious as she dribbled the ball once before carrying it again. “Do I really look beautiful to everyone?”

I nodded once. “I think so.”

Of course, you’re beautiful, you’re Shade’s ex-girlfriend after all.

“Let me ask you something then… If someone told you that you’re beautiful, would you believe your boyfriend or your friends?” she asked.

“My boyfriend. I love him more.” I answered.

“Even though it seems like you trust your friends more?”

“W-what?” I muttered in confusion. “I don’t get what you’re trying to say. Does it even matter who says it?”

“I mean…”

“Don’t you trust him at all?”

“I do! I do trust him.” she exclaimed, her face serious. “I truly believe that I was. But I’m confused, and I don’t know what to do. The next thing I knew was that he changed, and I was unaware of it.”

“He… changed?”

“And I was the reason for it.” she continued and took a deep breath. “Now that I think about it, I was not beautiful at all.”

“Huh…” I muttered, unsure of what to think of it. “I don’t really get it.”

“I was the one who changed him, and I never realized it until it’s too late.”

I took a glance at Shade before asking her, “You did? What exactly did you do?”

“I…” She held the ball with both of her hands and looked at it. “I was too focused on myself and never really paid attention to him. I was annoyed, thinking that he was constantly pushing me to do something I didn’t want to do, when all it was was just he was concerned about me. I acted like I was the only person in the world, and never thought much of him. I was too selfish, you know? I told myself that I knew what I was doing, but it was not, it was far from that.”

I listened to Mira as she told us about her feelings. She’s looking at the ball with worried eyes, a look that’s full of regret.

“I keep asking myself why I didn’t notice that he was slowly going back to his old self. I hated his old self, but it changed while we were together. I took advantage of it and took it for granted, not realizing that he was slowly changing back to who he was before. And by the time that it happened, I ran away and decided not to confront it.”

She chuckled awkwardly, trying to lighten up the mood. “I realized that I shouldn’t have done that. But what I hate the most is that I gave up, not giving our relationship a chance." Then she turned around and took a deep breath as he looked straight at the rim. “I failed without even trying to take a shot.”

She took a shot, and the ball missed the hoop again. “I’m not really suited for this.”

“That was it?” Shade said in a mocking tone.

With a surprise expression, Mira turned to Shade. “What?”

I frowned and looked straight at him.

Shade then releases my hand. “Don’t you get it? For such a reason, she decided to end everything?”

I blinked and was taken aback by the change in his tone. It was the first time I saw him like this. I held his left arm and shook my head. “I’m sorry about him Mira, he’s just out of himself right now.” I apologized.

“You do have a mouth and you never used it for communicating with him.” he said in front of Mira. “You’re terrible, you know that?”

After he said that, he immediately turned around and started walking away.

With a sour expression, Mira decided to laugh it off and smiled at me. “He was right, but I didn’t expect that your boyfriend was harsh hahaha…”

I bowed down. “I’m really sorry.”

“Don’t worry, we’re good. I do get why he said that, because I was actually a terrible person, and he’s not wrong with that.”

“You’re not!” I exclaimed as I approached her. “You did make a mistake, but it doesn’t mean that you were a terrible person. You realized your mistake, and you should be okay with that. “

“If only it were easy, maybe I would be able to love myself again.” she replied with a bitter smile. “Your boyfriend is walking away, you should follow him.”

I quickly turned around and saw that Shade was already outside. “I’m sure Shade doesn’t hate you, and if he were looking at you right now, he probably would be happy that you’re trying to play basketball.” I said before going outside.

“I guess that would be great…” Mira whispered as she watched me exit the school gymnasium.

As I exited the school gym, I immediately saw Shade, who was walking in a slow space. I grabbed his arms and stopped him from walking any further. “Hey! Where are you going?”

He turned around and asked me, “Why do you think I can’t cry?”

I shook my head and answered, “I don’t know…”

“I was wondering about that. I thought I was about to cry, but then I checked on myself, and no tears came out of my eyes. I didn’t even know if what I was feeling was real, or if it didn't exist at all.”

“Shade…”

He brought down his hood and removed his mask. “Do I look like someone who should even exist in this world?”

“If you’re going to ask me that, then surely you already know the answer?” I asked back as I pulled his hoodie towards me. “Do you think I can kiss a skeleton?”

“H-huh!?”

I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him slightly down. “I’m taking advantage of you right now. Tell me if you don’t want me to go further.”

I looked at his face, waiting for his answer to my question, but he didn’t respond a single time.

“Then I’ll–”

He kissed me.

The moment I was about to kiss him.

“Y-y-you!!!” I stuttered and took a step back. “I was the one who was going to do it!!!”

He laughed. “It’s your fault, you forced me to do it, and I have no other choice.”

“B-but I was kissing your teeth!!!” I exclaimed.

“It’s not my fault that you took an interest in a living skeleton. But…” he paused and approached me. “I never thought that it was you all along.”

I raised an eyebrow in confusion. “Huh? What are you talking about?”

“You’re the one who takes care of the garden, right?”

I blinked, and it hit me.

He knew.

He knew it was me all along?

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Thank you for reaching the end of the story. While there’s a lot of things I could tell about the story, I decided to end it with a kiss with a skeleton and a fire. I hope the story gave you even a little warmth and happiness I was aiming for.