Mating Season

Akihiro was on the floor, silent and confused, adrenaline still coursed through his veins. As he tried to calm his heart, he felt a quivering hand gently touch his shoulder.

“Are you okay? Can you hear me?” the girl asked.

‘Her voice is trembling. She must be in shock from the accident.’

Akihiro slowly opened his eyes. It was a serene evening, and the sun was sinking under the horizon. The red from the sky had already begun to fade into darkness.

“Call the ambulance fast!” the girl shouted.

“No it’s okay, I’m fine.”, Akihiro muttered softly as he continued to focus on his breathing. “Just give me a few minutes.”

“Your leg is bleeding! Wait, there should be a hospital nearby.”, the girl said.

The girl was frightened and probably felt guilty. She wasn’t confident with her words. She was wringing her hands subconsciously as her eyes darted around, looking for a hospital in the vicinity.

“No I’m fine, just give me some time to get up.”, Akihiro repeated firmly.

The female driver, who had just gotten out of the car, came near Akihiro and was about to grab her phone from her pocket.

“He said he’s fine. He does not need an ambulance.”, the young man said as he removed his sunglasses. His eyes were a beautiful shade of green, but there was no light in them.

Akihiro had managed to calm himself down and his focus was now drawn towards the man’s eyes, which were foggy yet alluring, just like a cloudy day on the luscious mountains.

The man held his hand out and helped Akihiro stand up.

-Sync Complete -

A weird sound played in Akihiro’s head. He was taken by surprise and looked around to see if anyone else had heard it. That’s when he noticed the young man’s beautiful green eyes now glowing with life, clear as an emerald and his facial expression in awe.

“I’m really sorry for all this. I don’t have much on me right now, but here’s some money as compensation. Please accept it.”, The man apologized to Akihiro first and then to the girl.

The girl was initially reluctant to accept it, but on further insistence she gave in. Akihiro also agreed to take the compensation money.

“Kimura-san, are you sure you are fine? Your leg is still bleeding.”, she said as she lifted the blood-stained cloth covering the wound. “Wait...you aren’t wou-“

Akihiro shoved her hand away. “I told you I am fine.” He then turned around and began to walk away. Before she could react, the young man asked, “Is your name Kimura? My name is Richard Brown. Here is my business card. Please contact me if you need anything else.”

Akihiro took the business card and continued to walk away in his blood-stained pants.

Seeing him walk, as his back concealed the sunset, she realized that she had forgotten to thank him.

“I’m very sorry! If you need anything, please don’t hesitate to contact me.”, Richard said to the girl.

“Nah it’s alright.”

“Do you know him?”

“Yes, he’s my classmate. He’s Akihiro Kimura and I’m Ayane Kawasaki.”

“Akihiro Kimura…I shouldn’t be saying this, but he must have used up a whole lifetime’s worth of luck. He may not be this lucky next time.”, Richard said, his eyes fixed on the silhouette of Akihiro walking away in the distance.

----

The next day everything seemed normal. Ayane’s attention was on Akihiro the whole day. There were no signs of injury: no marks, no scratches, nothing. It was as if nothing had happened. Nobody could've guessed that he had been hit by a car yesterday.

She had also forgotten to thank him the previous day, and was wondering how she was going to express her gratitude. It would be a challenging feat since she usually struggled to start conversations with new people. Even though everyone in class admired Akihiro and looked up to him, not many had the guts to talk to him on a regular basis. Natsume Suzuki and Rumi Sato were the only students who talked to him regularly. Luckily, Ayane knew Natsume from the beginning of high school. She planned to ask him for help.

Natsume Suzuki was the person Akihiro was closest to. Both of them acknowledged the truth that life was meaningless, but unlike Akihiro, Natsume always explicitly tried to stimulate his environment to provide some sort of entertainment.

Ayane was keeping an eye on Natsume, waiting for a chance to go talk to him and get his advice on how to approach Akihiro.

Natsume would crack a joke, and get everyone around him laughing. Then he’d stop laughing, put his chin on his hand and look out of the window from his seat, which was at the back of the class. His almond brown eyes would change from delighted to uninterested very fast. He would move his fingers through his messy curls every time he was bored and contemplate things most high school students don’t have an inkling about. Then he would get up and try stimulating some sort of entertainment again. It was a cycle that Natsume was trapped in forever. He knew that the only way to escape it was to find something so interesting that boredom would be impossible. That was his sole purpose in life.

“Yo, I’m thinking of writing a book.” Natsume said excitedly to Akihiro.

“You’re writing a book? What genre? Mystery? Action? Thriller?”, Rumi interrupted.

“I’m thinking of writing a book, I haven’t made my mind up yet. And I don’t even have a plot...but I’m leaning towards romance.”

“R-r..romance? Hahahaha! Sorry, that was so unexpected, I couldn’t stop.” Rumi laughed.

“No, don’t underestimate love. I’m a big fan of tragic love stories like ‘Pyramus and Thisbe’. Those kinds of stories display true love, unlike these cheap romance dramas coming out nowadays.” Natsume explained.

“Oh! ‘Pyramus and Thisbe’ was mentioned in Merchant of Venice, right? The lovers assumed their partner was dead and eventually both of them committed suicide. We read it last year.” Akihiro commented.

“Exactly! Don’t you want to know why people would reject logic and reasoning and behave so irrationally? It’s fascinating!”

“Geh, you guys still remember stuff that was taught last year? Why? Oh wait, I have some work. Aki-kun, I need to go now, byeee!” Rumi said.

“Where’s my goodbye!?! Oi!!!” Natsume exclaimed.

Rumi stuck her tongue out at him and then waved goodbye to Akihiro while leaving the class.

“Ahh. Looks like I have some reference material already.”, Natsume mumbled to himself quietly.

----

Natsume walked out of class. His messy hair was the centre of attention for all teachers passing by. Ayane sensed the opportunity and ran up to him.

“Ayane Kawasaki, the princess of the Crimson Red Flame, what bringeth thou to me?” Natsume joked.

“Okay, I need your advice.”

“Did you just ignore my Shakespeare voice acting?”

“So basically, yesterday Akihiro saved my life and I don’t know how to thank him.”

“Damn you actually ignored my Shakespeare voice acting...Wait what? He saved your life? How?”

Ayane went on to explain the whole incident in detail and emphasised on the fact that Akihiro sustained no injuries.

“I knew he was pretty resilient, but no scratches at all? Hmm, I’ll ask him how he was able to avoid getting injured, sure.”, Natsume replied.

“Not only that, I also want to show him how much I appreciate his actions.”

“Did the mating season start already?”, Natsume joked again but she looked as confused as ever. “Nevermind! Haha, I’ll think of something and tell you after school.”

“Thanks a lot, Natsume.”

“The pleasure is all mine, Princess of the Cri-“

“Okay, bye!” she interrupted him and walked away.

“Damn, I got ignored again...”

Natsume looked back with a large grin split across his face. His eyes were shining as if he had found a gold mine of entertainment.

‘Ooh, looks like this is going to be more interesting than I had thought.’