Extra Chapter 2: Asahina Ako: Unrequited Love

The next day came. I’m feeling really good today.

Mom told me that it’s the first time she’s seen me happy in a while. How could I not be. I just made my first couple of friends after moving to Tokyo.

Naoki-san even told me that he’d help me with my school problem. I wish I remembered to ask for his number last night but I guess I got caught up in the moment.

I guess I’ll have to drop by the convenience store before classes. If he’s there then that’s great but if he isn’t, then I’ll have to ask the boss for Naoki-san’s number, or even home address.

“I’ll be going now!” I let mom and dad know I’m leaving early.

“Take care!”

The moment I closed the door, I got shook to my core.

Naoki-san is standing in front of my apartment door. What’s he doing here this early?

“Naoki-san? What are you doing here?!”

“Good morning, Ako. Sorry about that. I only realized it after walking you home but we never got to talk about how I’d help you. I forgot to ask your cell number as well so I thought I’d talk about it with you here.”

I’m flabbergasted to say the least. If this was any other guy, I’d definitely would’ve screamed for help already. Thankfully, I know the kind of person Naoki-san is.

“I was just thinking about that too! Ah, good morning to you too…” I blushed. I got a bit too excited there.

But this is great. I don’t have to go on this wild goose chase trying to find him anymore.

I notice that he’s wearing casual clothes this time. He looks very cool and handsome. If I was wearing casual clothes right now, it’d look like we’re on a date- No! What am I thinking about! Naoki-san already has a girlfriend!

What’s wrong with me? I’ve been like this since last night. All I could think of is Naoki-san and how he saved me. I should focus on the important thing at hand.

We walk to school as we talk about the plan.

“Um, how should we go about this?” I asked bashfully.

“About that, I know someone from school. As I’ve said before, I’m an alumnus there so, things will get sorted out quickly. You don’t have to worry about a thing.”

“I see…”

He’s so cool and dependable! I’m right to put my trust in him.

“Actually, I kinda contacted my previous teacher there last night. I told her your name and the name of that classmate of yours; Sakura, was it? Anyway, she should be taking care of things for us. We just need to get there and confirm some facts.”

Wow. I can’t believe he’d already done so much in so little time. He truly is dependable.

“Thank you, Naoki-san, or should I call you senpai? Since you’re an alumnus at school, you technically are a senpai of mine.” I playfully suggested.

“Hmm, well… I’d rather you just call me with what you’re comfortable calling me with. But if you really want to call me senpai, then, you should get a job at our store. I’m sure the boss would be glad to have you.”

“Really?! Do you really think so?!” My eyes glimmer from his proposal. I would love to work there!

“Yeah! We could really use the extra hands and we enjoy your company too.”

“I’ll apply after classes end then! I’m so excited!”

“Ah. You still have to actually work, okay? The boss dislikes lazy employees.”

“I-I know that, geez! I do most of the housework back at home.”

“That’s great! You’ll fit right in.”

The rest of the way to school is filled with joyous banter. Once again, another moment that I wish would go on forever, until we reached school.

Just as Naoki-san mentioned, the entire process went by very quickly. The teacher he knew happened to be the school’s guidance counselor, Ms. Suzuki.

The first ten minutes was her singing Naoki-san’s praises. Apparently, when Naoki-san attended school, he was the school’s student council president during his time and he had excellent grades to boot.

I can’t believe he’s that amazing. I started to like him even more!

Soon, we got to the topic at hand. Sakura-kun and the other boys are called up to the guidance counselor’s office.

At first, they adamantly denied it—saying that they weren’t even near the area, but Naoki-san contacted the boss and he came to school with the recordings of the CCTV cameras.

Once they were exposed of their lies, one by one, they admit to their crime. Their friendship is quite fickle as literally every one of them exposed each other.

Ms. Suzuki punished four of them to be suspended for a determined time seeing as they were simply accomplices following Sakura-kun. On the other hand, Sakura-kun and the one with the bleached hair got expelled.

Their parents got called in. To no one’s surprise, they were embarrassed by their sons’ actions and apologized to me profusely.

Ms. Suzuki asked for my parents as well. I guess she wants to tell them everything that had happened. I called both of them, and while they couldn’t come to school, they did apologize to me for not being there for me when I needed them. I’ve never blamed them though. They’re doing their best for me, after all.

Before school finished for the day, Ms. Suzuki called for a general assembly. She talked about harassment and the importance of getting help. She never mentioned me by name, instead, she opted to keep my identity anonymous. I really appreciate that.

Even Naoki-san gave a speech about reaching out to others. That giving up is not an option and that there’s always someone out there willing to help. He did seem like a student council president—the coolest one I’ve ever seen!

On the way back, we stopped by the store. I asked the boss about applying for a job and without even a second of a doubt, he accepted my application. We even took a commemorative photo. I’m going to make this my phone’s wallpaper.

I was so glad! To think that life would be this fun; I would never get to experience this if not for Naoki-san.

Naoki-san… I love you!

When the time comes, I hope I find the courage to save you too!

.

.

.

I’ve went and done it! This was probably the most I’ve yelled in my entire life. Why wouldn’t I though, that girl hurt Naoki-senpai.

I can only hope that senpai doesn’t think any less of me. He did say that he was surprised by my screaming, but I could never tell what he really means by it.

He’s single now though. It wouldn’t be wrong for me to yearn for him now- No! I shouldn’t be thinking like this right now. I should be there for him like he did for me! That love thingy can come later.

But he already walked me to the train station. It would be really weird if I “accidentally” bump into him at this point. What to do?!

After a short time of thinking, I decided to follow after him. This is the night I tell him how I truly feel about him!

I proceed towards the street he walked to and in about 10 minutes, I found him sleeping on the floor.

I run worriedly towards him. The shop owner told me to get him home. I guess he doesn’t want senpai to be a nuisance.

Thankfully, he gave me a glass of water to help with senpai’s drunkenness. After a short while, with his shoulder over mine, we went to his home.

Senpai had mentioned before where he lived. Apparently, he lives in an apartment complex that’s 20 minutes away from the train station. That means we’re already halfway there.

Walking side by side is probably the closest I’ve ever been to him physically. It’s making my heart pound so loudly that I feel like it’s about to burst out at any moment.

After a while, just like always, good things come to an end. We reach his apartment complex. Since I don’t know his room number, I had to ask the person at the front desk for it. It’s one of those extravagant apartments.

Room 205, the woman said. We went up the elevator and at the front of his door, we got stuck. I had him sit with his back against the wall in the meantime.

I didn’t know where his keys are at. I tried to wake him up but he’s already sound asleep. I have no other choice. I have to look inside his pockets.

My heart pounded erratically. I feel like I’m about to do something naughty.

I tried to reach into his left pocket but was quickly stopped by the sight of his phone’s outline in it. I guess I have to try the other one.

His right pocket didn’t have an outline. In fact, it looks like nothing’s in there at all but I’m still going for it. I have to make sure.

I reach in and, as expected, there’s nothing there. I quickly take my hands off his pocket; the guilt has caught up to me.

Flustered, the only other place I could think where his keys could be is his back pockets.

Fortunately, I notice him wearing a small sling bag and in one of its pockets, his apartment keys lie.

I quickly opened the door for him and have to drag him in since he has fallen asleep already. He was a bit heavy, probably from all the working out he’s been doing, but I’m not complaining.

I got him to lay properly on his bed as I start to remove some of his clothing, mainly his shoe and socks, along with his shirt that’s drenched in sweat from us being so close with each other.

That’s when I noticed that leaving him like this would probably lead to him getting sick. I went and got a wet towel and wiped him off. I ended up removing his pants too, though it was extremely hard to wipe his legs and below since I had my eyes closed the entire time.

Dressing him up properly was hard to do as well but in the end, it was worth it. This way, senpai won’t get sick and he’ll be able to sleep cozily.

It’s getting a bit late so I should finish here soon. I wanted to clean first before I leave—I did just throw his clothes all over the floor.

Before I could do so, I hear senpai mutter something in his sleep.

“A…ko…”

My head snap back from my name being spoken by him. I’ve truly become servant to love.

I join him by his side. He calls for me again.

“Ako…”

Is he dreaming of me? Maybe because of what I did earlier at the store or… could it be?” Either way, I decided to play along with him.

“Yes, senpai?” I whispered softly.

I played with his hair for a bit, twirling it around my fingers.

I look at his face and something inside me made me do something I shouldn’t have done. I leaned forward and gently pushed my lips into his.

At that moment, I wished time would’ve just stopped flowing. My heart completely melted.

My lips, pushing into his, felt like a soft and fluffy pillow, though, this feels a thousand times better.

The AC in his room is turned up to 22 degrees Celsius. It’s cold usually and yet, I was sweating profusely.

It took about a minute for me to realize what I had just done. I snap my head back in horror but senpai is still cozily sleeping.

I rushed off from his apartment, completely flushed and embarrassed.

What did I just do?! Why did I do that?! I just did something unforgivable!

This isn’t good. Tomorrow… I have to tell him tomorrow how I truly feel about him or else I’d feel so guilty about what I’d just done.

As I was leaving senpai’s apartment complex, I notice three girls loitering outside the apartment next door. They seem like the type who likes to find themselves in trouble. I’ll just ignore them and go home.

As I waited for the elevator compartment to come up, one of the girls decided to strike a conversation with me.

“Hey. Hey! I’m talking to you!”

I ignore them. They’ll quickly move on to something else.

“Tch! She’s talking to you, bitch.” Another joins the conversation, if you could even call it that.

“Uwah! She just came out of Naoki-san’s apartment. Did you think that they’d-…” The third one added, completely getting my attention.

I look at them with annoyance and ask how she knows him.

“I just helped him get home. How do you know him anyway?” I questioned her with a passive-aggressive tone in my voice.

If this one is making moves on senpai… Wait, wait. I doubt senpai would involve himself with her in that way.

“I live next door to him so…” She continues to suck on her lollipop.

The elevator has reached the floor. I entered it and without missing a beat, I clicked on the ground floor.

I never saw those girls again for the rest of the night. Out of sight, out of mind.

After a while, I reached home. It’s gotten late at this point. Mom and Dad were waiting for me but I made an excuse saying that I had to take overtime today. I think they bought it so I just went straight to bed.

“sigh, Tomorrow for sure! I’ll tell him that I like him and even if he rejects me, I promise myself that I won’t stop being by his side.”

Naoki-san, wait for me, ok? I can’t wait for tomorrow to come.

???

“Damn, that girl has a lot of guts talking to us that way.”

“Ah! I remember now. That’s Asahina Ako. That girl from class B.”

“There’s a lot of girls in class B, you know.”

“Idiot! Of course, I know that! I meant she’s that girl who got involved in that whole sexual harassment thing last year.”

“Haha, calm down! I knew who you were referring to this whole time.”

“Tch!”

“Haha. What do you have against her anyways?”

“That bitch told on Sakura-kun and he ended up getting expelled.”

“Ah, your boyfriend? Now that you mention it, where is he now? It’s been a while since I last saw him.”

“He’s staying with his relatives in the countryside. They have him work there since not a single place here would take him in.”

“No wonder I haven’t seen him since. Hmm… So you haven’t seen each other too?”

“Yeah… I’m making plans but it’s a lot of money”

“Do you think he has another girl there? Haha, just kidding.”

…

“Hey, are you alright? I’m sorry for the bad joke.”

“Your boyfriend is one of those nerds, right?”

“Yep! And I love him very much! Did you know we met online? What about him?”

“Does he know how to hack social media accounts?”

“I guess so? I’ve never asked though.”

“Call him here.”

“Um, sure. I’m kinda missing him right now anyway.”

“That’s good.”

“What are we going to do anyway?”

“I’ll have him hack that bitch’s account and post incriminatory stuff on there.”

“Yikes, you’re a terrible girl!”

“I don’t care. I just want to get revenge on her for what she did to Sakura-kun.”

“Uh-huh. By the way, I texted my boyfie and he said he knows how to hack and he’s on his way here.”

“That’s great! In the meantime, I wonder what incriminatory things I should write. Maybe I’ll start something with her and the guy from next door.”