Take 6 – Castle Builders

Iori didn’t say a word as we went down the stairs. The constant sound of our footsteps and the rustle of her notebook were starting to get on my nerves.

“Alright, cut it out.”

“S-Sorry…”

“Ugh… don’t apologize…” I said, ruffling my hair. “Guess it’s normal for you to be like that, things up there were kinda weird…”

“No, it’s just… compared to…”

“There’s no comparison.”

“That’s what I meant…” she said, falling silent. The girl who always walked with her head held high was now just staring at the steps, though, to be fair, that’s probably normal when you’re going down stairs. “I feel a little stupid…”

“For what?”

“You know, your…”

“No comparison doesn’t mean your stuff weighs less,” I said, snatching her notebook again. This time, her hands let go without a fight. “Alright, give me your pen.”

“What? What do you need it for?” she asked, though her hands were already digging through her bag.

“Just give it, idiot.” I grabbed it straight from her bag, propped the notebook against the wall, and started writing as soon as I found a blank page.

“H-Hey… don’t… don’t go too far, okay?”

“Huh? You think I’m some kind of jerk or something?” I said, handing the notebook back. “If you can’t see anything good in yourself, at least let others show you what they see.”

I didn’t wait for her reply, just kept heading down.
For a moment, the only sound was my footsteps. I even started thinking she’d gone back to hide on the rooftop.

“Haruka.”

“Now what?” I asked from the bottom of the stairs.

“Listen I… Uhm...”

“I’m all ears, just hurry up. Agami’s probably polishing a lens so hard it’ll end up sharp enough to cut both of us like in a horror movie.”

“Thanks.”

"Huh?"

A plain, overused word. We say it when someone holds the door open as we’re about to walk in, when we’re shopping, even when we pay bills—which, in my opinion, is the most absurd thing in the universe. 'Thanks, take my money for your terrible service, see you next month.'
This word, so ordinary, hit me like a slap on the other cheek.
I’d just scribbled my opinion on a page… it wasn’t a big deal.

“Don’t thank me…” I said, heading toward the hallway, glancing back now and then because, for some reason, she wasn’t walking beside me. “…I’m using you as a shield if Agami tries to punch me.”

“Haruka, can I be direct?”

“You’re gonna be whether I say yes or no, so go ahead, shoot…” I replied. “Just pick up the pace.”

I wondered if it was the silence or the feeling that, even though there were still students chatting in classrooms, it was like it was just the two of us in that hallway.
Whatever the answer, I heard her take a deep breath—you know, like the wolf in the story of the three little pigs? Something along those lines.

“A-Are you… dying?”

“God! that sounded so damn grim…” I said with a laugh, though my steps faltered for a second. “Yeah,” I added as my voice a bit quieter.

“Are you scared?”

I got it, which is why I couldn’t get defensive or snap back.
Trenches aren’t just built to protect soldiers; they’re also there to keep the enemy from crossing. If you try to jump over, you’ll inevitably fall right in—just like what happened here.
Still… she deserved points for trying and not beating around the bush.

“I'm so scared I could cry.” I said, almost laughing.

She just looked at me. She wasn’t trying to say anything, just looking.

“Now I get why you look like crap…” she said, covering her mouth as she laughed.

“Hey, don’t you—”

I couldn’t even finish. Suddenly, she was really close. I barely noticed when she slipped my backpack off and slung it over her shoulder.

“What kind of dumb game is this?”

“Uh… none…” she said, speeding up. “Aren’t we running late? Come on, put some effort into it.”

“What a headache…” 

We just walked the rest of the way to the club. No words, maybe because they weren’t needed anymore.
I can’t deny it felt weird, to put it mildly.
Did she catch me off guard?
Did I actually want to talk?
Guess karma made me spill in the end, at least without making me literally vomit this time so cheers to that.

Iori was about to grab the doorknob, but I caught her hand just in time.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

“Opening the door? Isn’t that obvious?”

“No, no… that’s not how this works. Step aside.” I cleared my throat a bit. “A-GA-MI!” I shouted, kicking the door open like I was Jean-Claude Van Damme’s stunt double.

“What the hell, Haruka, why do you always pull the same stupid stunt?!”

“Dramatic entrance, duh.”

“I swear, if that door breaks, I’ll make you lick the street clean to pay for it.”

“That’s not even in the top three weirdest things I’ve done…” I said, laughing as Iori entered more 'normally' than I did.

Agami glanced at us for a second, sighed his exasperation—like that’d make it go away—and sat back down. “What’s up with you two? It’s already weird enough that you’ve shown up to the club two days in a row, Haruka.”

“Oh… turns out Iori wanted to ask you to—” My back tensed as I felt Iori’s nails practically digging into me.

“I… uh… wanted…”

Clearly, being direct didn’t work so well when it came to romantic stuff. I won’t lie, it was kind of cute.

“Wanted?” Agami said, gesturing for her to continue.

“I was wondering if… maybe… you’d want to grab a coffee or something…” she said, trying to keep her voice steady through the whole sentence.

“Finally, someone suggests getting out of this room for a change.” he replied, stretching in his chair. “Alright, first official photography club outing. Where do you guys want to go?”

“Agami, she actually meant just you and—” Her nails were once again digging in my back.
Seriously, they felt more like a beast’s claws than a manicure.

“A-any place you pick is fine…”

Of course, I had a thousand ideas to turn this around—or better yet, clear things up—but I really didn’t want Iori ripping out an organ in a fit of rage, so I just let the pieces fall where they would.