Chapter 7 - Good Night For Both of Us

The last classes have almost come to an end, but... I can't focus at all.

I keep thinking over and over again about "How should I behave in front of Akari." Should I listen to what Shimizu said? Or I shouldn't?

No matter what option I choose, the result will be the same. Why? Because...

"Homura, can I borrow your eraser? I lost mine..."

"Ah, yeah, wait a minute ... Here you go." I lend my eraser to her.

Akari took the eraser while smiling and thanked me afterwards.

Huff... This is why I said my choices don't matter...

But I am curious about something... Did Shimizu have warned her to stop approaching me? Ah, no... Maybe not that clear...

Maybe something like, "Why are you close to him?" Or "Yuna, who is the boy that's always with you?" And of course with an unhappy voice...

But maybe... Maybe she didn't obey what Shimizu said, or maybe Shimizu didn't said that to her.

"...mura~... Homura~"

"Oh yeah, what is it?" I jumped a bit when I realized Akari had been calling me.

"Here's your eraser. Thank you." Akari returned my eraser.

"Ah, you're welcome."

"Homura, is there something wrong? Since after lunch break, you seemed to be behaving weirdly..." Akari rested her head on the table while stretching both of her hands.

"Ah, mmm... Nothing's wrong. Didn't I always like this though?"

Akari shook her head. "You seem different since then."

I gasped when she said that.

"Di-Different?"

"Yeah, you seem like you're trying to keep a distance from me..." Akari looked down at her table.

"That's... That's just your feeling..." I said stuttery, trying to reassure her.

After I said that, her eyes looked like it's glaring at me.

"A-Akari... What's wrong?" I asked in panic.

"Homura, lying is bad, you know?" Her voice sounded cold, and that made me shiver.

"Of course... Of course I know that..."

"Then, you know what you should do right?" Akari smiled at me, this is the first time I got a different feel from her smile...

"Alright... I'll tell you everything after school..." I answered resignedly.

"Okay." Akari smiled, this time, happiness was radiating from it.

I... I got caught...

Now I don't have any choices other than telling her what really happened...

———

[22:28] Yuuto : Sorry for the wait...

[22:18] Yuna : It's okay. So, what's the story?

I lay on my bed, readying myself to tell Akari everything...

But before that, I need to explain how I got her LIME ID.

"Yuna, can I visit your house?"

"Of course."

"Yayyy!" Shimizu shouted happily.

Mmm... Did Akari forget that I wanted to tell her the story?

No, that's impossible... She even remembered my name after a two week gap...

"Homura, I think I can't today." Without realizing it, Akari is already beside me.

"Ah... That's not a problem... Oh right."

"Is there something, Homura?"

"Why don't we exchange LIME ID?"

Akari clapped her hands, her eyes sparkling. "That's right!" She said as she took out her phone.

I put my phone on top of hers to scan the QR code and Beep, her LIME ID is already listed on my phone.

"Alright, it's done. See you later, Homura!" Akari waved her hand while Shimizu was pushing her wheelchair and glaring at me...

Reflexively I avoided her eyes.

And that is how I got her LIME ID.

Alright, now I need to tell her the full story as I already promised it.

[22:18] Yuuto : This is about Shimizu...

[22:18] Yuna : Yuuka? What's up with her?

[22:19] Yuuto : Lunch break, when I said I wanted to buy a drink at the vending machine. Do you remember that?

[22:19] Yuna : (Send a sticker with bunny showing it's thumbs up)

[22:19] Yuuto : Actually... When I was choosing what drink to buy, she suddenly came to me and scolded me.

[22:19] Yuna : I remembered she said she wanted to go somewhere for a while. Why is she scolding you?

[22:20] Yuuto : I didn't know why... She accused me and asked me to stay away from you out of nowhere...

[22:20] Yuna : For real?!

[22:20] Yuuto : Yeah, that's what happened.

[22:20] Yuna : Urgh... That Yuuka! She is always like that!

[22:20] Yuna : (Send a sticker with sad bunny)

[22:21] Yuuto : Always... Like that?

[22:21] Yuna : Ever since I got this injury, she's been very protective towards me...

[22:21] Yuna : She always said "You need to be careful of the boys."

So Akari had already gotten a warning from Shimizu... Even though it's not directly saying my name...

[22:21] Yuna : It was only her thoughts though... I didn't think all boys are bad...

[22:22] Yuuto : Yeah, I know that you didn't think like that. If you did, then you wouldn't have approached me back then...

[22:22] Yuna : By the way, Homura, how about we call?

[22:22] Yuuto : Ehh? Wh-why so suddenly?

[22:22] Yuna : Nothing. Just feels like it, and also, isn't it more convenient if we call?

[22:22] Yuuto : Yeah... You have a point...

Bzzz, bzzz.

Woah! She's so quick...

Beep.

"Good night, Homura."

"Good night, Akari."

"So... After Yuuka warned you... You're starting to think about staying away from me?" Akari voices sounded a little bit sad.

"Ah, of course not... It's just..."

"It's just?"

"I keep thinking about whether I need to listen to what she says or not..."

"Do you want to leave me alone?" Her voice is so low, like a whisper.

"No! Of course not..." Her whisper made my body shiver and that shocked me.

"Homura, don't listen to what Yuuka said, okay?"

"Ah, okay... I'll remember that."

"I'll scold her later. I'm the one who can only decide who's my friend and who's not."

"Okay..."

I'm glad she didn't hate me after all of this...

"By the way, what are you doing right now, Homura?"

"Just laying on my bed, maybe I'll go to sleep soon."

"Oh, I see."

"And you? What are you doing right now, Akari?"

"Me? I'm... I'm combing my hair."

"This late at night?"

"Well, I just dried my hair a few minutes ago, if I didn't comb it, my hair will be damaged."

"Ah, I see... You really take care of your hair well."

"Of course."

So that's why her hair is very smooth as silk and fragrant...

"Wow... I think your hard work is paying off greatly."

"Ehehe~ Thanks Homura."

"You're welcome. Oh, I just remembered, how's the flower you bought before? The gerbera daisy?"

"Oh, you're curious? Don't worry, I've taken care of it pretty well."

Ring.

Oh, she sent a photo.

She... She sent me a selfie with the flowers...

"Beautiful..."

After I said that, I heard a weird sound coming from her.

Something like... falling off?

"Akari, what happened?' I asked with concern.

"No-nothing... What do you think... About the photo?" She asked with a faint sound.

"Beautiful, I can see you have taken care of it really well."

"Which one do you mean 'beautiful', Homura?"

"Eh? Uh..."

"Homura~ which one?~" She asked me playfully.

"The flowers..."

"Hee... What about me?"

Ah... So she wanted praise too...

"You too."

"Oh... Th-thank you... Homura..." 

Hee... She's shy... That's the first time I've ever seen her like this...

How cute...

"Homura, you're good at praising aren't you?"

"Mmm... I don't think so, I just followed what my sister told me. She said 'A girl will be happy if you praise her beauty.' Or something like that."

"I see... Your sister must be a nice person."

"Yeah, maybe she's too nice for me."

After I said that, both of us laughed together.

The atmosphere became silent afterwards, and at the same time, I took a look again at the photo Akari sent me before.

"You really take care of those flowers."

"Of course, I like flowers after all."

"Hearing you saying that, I can't imagine how beautiful your flower garden is."

"Come on, that's too much. I'm not that good yet."

"Even though you have said so, I'm pretty sure your garden is very beautiful. Maybe there's more than ten different flowers."

"That's too much." Akari laughed.

Hearing her laughing cheerfully like this, I just remembered how that's making my chest feel warm.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot. It's almost past my sleep time."

"Ah... We have been calling for a while, haven't we?"

"Yeah, we are. Alright, good night Akari."

"Good night, Homura. See you at school tomorrow, and sweet dreams too!"

"See you."

Beep.

I ended the call.

Huff... I never thought I could talk to her that smoothly on call...

At least now I can sleep well after telling her the problem...

Alright...

Good night and sweet dreams.