Broken Trust

Hinako lazed around and finished reading the manga book. She realized that it was already midday, when she went to grab the next volume. Hinako looked at her phone. Kuro still hadn’t messaged her.

“Guess, I’ll be eating lunch alone today…”, She mumbled.

As Hinako went to the fridge, she realized that this would be the first meal she had to eat alone since she met Kuro. She really appreciated and liked the living situation that her dreadful financial situation had caused. Even though her bank account was now not so desiccated anymore and she could probably find a cheap place to stay on her own, Hinako didn’t really want to. She realized that she really liked the guy, and Kuro also didn’t seem to mind her. In fact, over the time he opened up more and more to her. She opened the fridge and found some left over curry.

He is a great cook as well, She thought to herself.

Happily whistling she put the curry on a plate and then heated it up in the microwave. While waiting for the food to get hot, a few other things came to mind, that she liked about Kuro, which resulted in her blushing. The ‘Ding’ of the microwave pulled her back to reality. She began to eat and savour every bite of the curry.

It tastes even better when heated up again!

After eating Hinako checked her phone again. Still nothing. Letting out a noise of frustration she looked around the room and spotted a lot of her clothes lying around.

Maybe I should really clean a bit up…

She began collecting all of her underwear, socks, pants and shirts. Hinako hadn’t really put her panties there for Kuro to see, but she wouldn’t mind him reacting to them by noticing her a bit more as a woman. Like back in Hakone when they were in the Onsen together. There he clearly noticed her as a woman. She wondered what would have happened if Nebo hadn’t shown up that night. Her face went beet red again.

Hmm… maybe I should buy some really lacy and sexy ones and just ‘accidentally’ drop them in his bed? I wonder how he would react to that…

Still in thought she grabbed the pile of her clothes and went in the bathroom. She opened the laundry basket and paused. Something on top of the pile inside caught her eye. She put the clothes in her hand down next to the basket. Hesitantly she grabbed the clothing piece that piqued her interest. It was one of Kuro’s boxershorts. Hinako held it in her hand for a bit.

Should I?... I mean, that’s really weird, right?... But I mean… hm… I am curious… Ah fuck it… one quick sniff has never hurt nobody… right?... Bet it’s mega stanky anyway…

Hinako slowly put the boxershorts closer to her face and gave it the good old double ‘Sniff-Sniff’. Then she put the underwear back in the basket and looked at it for a while.

Huh… I mean, I don’t know what I expected, but I guess now I know…

Hinako then put her own clothes on top and closed the basket. She then went back to the living room and checked her phone again. Still nothing. Getting slightly frustrated she opened the LIME app and sent Kuro a message.

“Yo, dude! What about training today?”

Hinako just put her phone away when it rang, indicating a message.

“No training.”

“What the fuck?!”, She exclaimed surprised.

Hinako wanted to type something back at first but then didn’t. Frustrated she threw her phone on the couch.

Great! Now what… What should I do with the rest of the day?... Maybe continue reading this spicy romance manga, that Kuro recommended me?

Hinako looked around.

Oh, I know! That will surprise him!

With a grin on her face, she went and got the vacuum cleaner out of the cupboard. Hinako then began to clean the apartment. First, she vacuumed the studio room, then the entrance. Then changed the sheets on Kuro’s bed. Went and started the washing machine. Until the laundry was ready, she scrubbed the bath clean and put the clothes up afterwards. Then came the kitchen. The hours went by and the apartment got cleaner and cleaner. Hinako looked around for something else to clean.

Oh, yeah! I could dust those!

She went and grabbed a duster and began dusting the shelves. First the one with all the normal manga books, then the spicy ones. Afterwards Hinako even cleaned Kuro’s figurine collection very carefully. Then she stood in front of the last shelve, which was nearly completely empty. The only thing on it was the small metal box. Hinako stared at it for a while.

Fuck, I so wanna know what’s inside there… But he asked me to not look…

She began dusting around it.

Maybe if it accidently fell down, while I cleaned and it accidently opened and I accidently took a look… all on accident…

Hinako pushed the box with her duster a bit further to the edge.

Nah, that’s stupid…

She pushed it back where it was and dusted it. Hinako then looked around. Everything was clean, that could be cleaned.

I think I deserve a beer after that! I think there are a few of those tasty Austrian ones left!

Hinako went to the fridge and opened it. She was right, there were two ‘Wieselburger’ left. She grabbed one, opened it and took a big swig.

“Ahhhh, that hit the spot!”, Hinako moaned happily.

Her gaze wandered aimlessly around the room and somehow ended right on the small metal box on the shelve. Hinako violently shook her head, went to the manga shelve and grabbed the next volume of the spicy romance story. She sat down on the couch and began to read. A few pages in, Hinako thought she heard something and turned around. Her gaze again fell on the small metal box. Hinako quickly turned around again and continued reading. A few pages later she came to a scene where the heroine had a small metal box with jewelry inside. To Hinako it looked eerily similar to the one behind her on the shelve. She sighed and took another big gulp of beer.

I need to piss.

She got up and went to the door. On her way she passed the shelve with the box and looked at it in the corner of her eye. Hinako went on to the toilet and after she finished her business she came back and went past the box again. She sat down on the couch again.

Fuck! I forgot to wash my hands!

Hinako got up and went to the bathroom. She could have used the kitchen sink, but she didn’t. Walking past the shelve she looked at the box briefly again. On the way back aswell. Sitting on the couch again she downed her beer and continued reading the next few pages.

For fucks sake… I have to pee again!

Hinako got up and went to the bathroom, eyeing the box as she passed it. On the way back as well.

Did I really forget to wash my hands again? How silly of me!

Hinako went back and forth again. This continued for a while and for continuously more silly and artificial reasons until she stood in front of the box fifteen minutes later, staring at it with crossed arms.

Fuck… this is not gonna disappear… I really want to look inside, but I shouldn’t… I mean he asked me too…

Hinako tapped the side of her arm.

I mean… what’s the worst that could happen? He will get a bit angry maybe and pout a bit… right? I was just curious about him! Maybe he will take it as a compliment?... Oh! Maybe he even wants me to look inside but is too shy to say so?

Hinako scratched the side of her head.

I mean… It’s perfectly normal for someone to want to know more about his colleague… Friend?… Trainings buddy?... Instructor?... Acquaintance?... something more?... Shit, what even is he to me anyways? And what am I to him?

The hair scratching intensified.

Argh! Should I open it and just live with the consequences? If I apologize truthfully, he will forgive me… right? Maybe I’ll let him fondle my boobs a bit as compensation, like in that manga? Every Otaku would love that right?... right?... Nah that’s fucking stupid… He wouldn’t do that anyway… Not that I would mind though… but if it happened it should not be because of that reason… that’s not how that should be done…

Hinako blushed a bit. She closed her eyes and let out a groan of frustration.

Fuck it! I’m opening it! Come what may come, but I need to know what’s inside. I am a curious bitch after all…

Hinako breathed deep, opened her eyes and reached for the box. She paused as she touched it and looked around. She expected Kuro to just appear out of nowhere, but he didn’t. Hinako grabbed the box and lifted it off the shelve. She looked around again. Still nothing. Hinako took the lid off and looked around again. She was still alone. Hinako took a deep breath again and only then looked inside the box.

There were a lot of paper sheets inside. Hinako took one out. It looked like a letter to someone, but it was in German. Hinako had learned a bit of German at school, but she was really rusty, so she could not understand what was written, but one thing seemed off. There was no body addressed at the beginning. It just started with a simple ‘Yo’. At the end of the letter there was no sender signed either. Hinako took out another piece of paper. It looked like it was exactly the same, but a few parts seemed to have some scratched out mistakes. The next sheet was similar. The one after that had something else written on it but still lacked the names of someone addressed or from the sender. But they all had similar handwriting. Hinako skimmed through the next few pages. They all were different versions of the two same letters, some with mistakes others with a few extra paragraphs, but all lacked names.

Then underneath the letters were some additional pieces of paper that confused Hinako even more. There were repeating lines and scribbles all over the sheets. At first Hinako thought those were some kind of glyphs, but if they were, she had never seen those. Underneath all the countless papersheets were a small photo. A young woman, around her age, was in it, smiling brightly into the camera. Hinako now got a hunch of what the letters could have been about. The final thing in the box confused Hinako the most. She took it out and looked at it. It was a already used up glowstick fashioned in a way that it could be used as an armband.

“What is this piece of junk doing in here…”, Hinako wondered out loud without thinking too much about it.

“Yes… Junk.”, Kuro said suddenly behind her.

Hinako jerked around surprised and nearly dropped the box.

“Kuro! What… Oh… when… did you… Ah…”, She stuttered and looked at him.

He was leaning against the side of the door to the entrance. His hair looked even shaggier than usual. He looked at her with unsteady eyes. Hinako noticed that they were all swollen and red.

Has he been crying?

“Just some fucking junk! Trash that I should have gotten rid of ages ago… But as pathetic as I am… I could not… Still can’t… Same with the rest…”, Kuro continued and slurred his words.

Is he drunk?

Hinako quickly put the box back on the shelf.

“Kuro… I… sorry… I…”, she tried to find the words.

“What? You’re sorry, huh? For what?”, Kuro slurred and took an unsteady step forward.

“What’s wrong with you? Are you drunk?”

Kuro’s eyes focused on her with a glare.

“So, fucking what if I’m drunk? Am I not allowed?! Can’t I do whatever the bloody fuck I want? You seem to be doing whatever you want too, huh?! Even when I specifically asked you not to fucking do it! I only asked for one bloody thing! And what did you do? You broke that trust I had in you!” Kuro slurred.

Hinako looked at him in shock. He may have sounded angry, but the only thing that she could see in his swollen, bloodshot blue eyes was pain and despair. It deeply shook her to see him like that.

“I… I was curious… I’m sorry… I shouldn’t have done it…”, Hinako admitted.

Kuro began to laugh bitterly.

“You were curious huh? You’re sorry, huh? No, you are not! You probably thought that you can just apologize after it and all will be good, huh?!”, Kuro raised his slurred voice.

“I…”, Hinako was at a loss for words.

“DID YOU THINK THAT?”

“Yes… yes, I did…”

Kuro laughed again. Then nearly fell backwards but held onto the doorframe again. After he steadied himself, he glared at Hinako again. Tears ran down his cheek.

“See… I knew it… just like she did… Just do and ask for forgiveness later… But did you ever think about asking about it again? No, you didn’t… Nobody ever does! But you know what? If you had, I would have probably shown it to you… You know why? Because I started to like you! I thought that it was the same for you…. But you choose to betray my trust… just like she did… just like Sachi…” Kuro slurred and his voice even cracked a few times.

More and more tears flowed down his cheek as he stared at her. Hinako opened her mouth to say something but she couldn’t or rather didn’t even know what to say. Tears began to run from her eyes as well as she looked the broken man in the eye.

“Fuck you… you b… fuck you…”, Kuro said slowly and defeated.

He then turned around, walked to the bathroom door, nearly tripping over his feet twice and vanished into it, locking behind him. Hinako heard a loud thud and ran to the bathroom door.

“Kuro! What happened? Are you okay?”, She yelled worried, knocking on the door.

“Fuck off… leave me alone…”, Kuro answered from inside.

Loud sobbing and crying followed. Hinako slid down the door and sat on the floor in front of it.

Fuck… what have I done?