Slow Realization

His eyes met hers. "You okay?"

Heat rushed into Miyo's face. She could feel it. The rise and fall of his breathing beneath her.

We're close.

Way too close.

"I-I'm fine." She finally managed, though for some reason she couldn't bring herself to move.

Akio didn't move either. For a moment, he just looked at her. She's really pretty up close...

The thought came uninvited and he shut it down just as quickly. What am I doing? I can't think that way...

Akio cleared his throat as he reluctantly withdrew his hand from her waist. "S-Since you're okay, do you mind getting off?"

"R-Right. Sorry." Miyo carefully pushed herself off and offered a hand to help him up.

Once they were out of the water, without thinking, Akio took his shirt off.

"W-What are you doing?" Miyo squeaked.

Akio wrung the water from his shirt. "Trying to dry it a little." A faint blush crept to his cheeks as he noticed Miyo's gaze. "Do you mind not ogling me?"

She turned around quickly. "I-I'm not!" 

Akio let out a laugh under his breath. "You really have a thing for staring, don't you?"

"I-I do not."

Akio sighed as he finished wringing his shirt. "I guess this is as good as it's going to get." He uncomfortably put it back on. "Ugh, this feels gross."

Miyo hesitantly stole a glance. The way the wet fabric stuck close, outlining his frame more than she expected. She quickly turned away again. Why do I keep looking? I'm such a weirdo.

"W-We should get going if we want to find that flag."

Akio ran a hand through his damp hair. "Yeah, let's go."

-

By the time Akio and Miyo returned, Junko and Sana were already waiting.

"Took you long enough." Sana paused. "Woah. What happened to you?"

Akio chuckled awkwardly. "We took a bit of a slip in the water."

"We?" Junko raised a brow at Miyo. "I guess you dried off better."

"Y-Yeah... Something like that." Miyo looked around. "Where's Shinichi and Kenta?"

Sana shrugged. "They aren't back yet."

Junko nodded. "We were getting worried about all of you."

"Shouldn't we go look for them?"

Akio glanced at Miyo, catching the concern on her face. "Give me the map. I'll go look for them."

"You can't." The words came out faster than Miyo intended. "I-I mean, you're still soaked. You should change first or you'll get sick."

A smile teased Akio's lips. "Sounds like you're worried about me."

"Of course I am." The words slipped out before she could stop them.

Akio froze. She's worried about me?

Junko and Sana exchanged a knowing look.

"I-I mean..." Miyo tried to correct herself.

"Well, it looks like we won't need to look for them." Sana interrupted, pointing in the distance. "Look."

In the distance, Shinichi and Kenta appeared. Though not in the normal way they had expected. They were both covered in dirt and Shinichi was carrying Kenta on his back, who was enthusiastically waving the flag at them.

"You look worse than me." Akio cringed.

Junko took the flag from Kenta. "Are you two okay?"

Shinichi avoided their gazes. "We fell down a hill."

Kenta chuckled awkwardly. "It was my fault. I got us a bit lost and we ended up taking a path that actually wasn't a path. It was so uneven and I ended up tripping down a hill."

Shinichi sat Kenta down on the nearby bench. "How's your ankle?"

"Your ankle?" Sana questioned.

Kenta waved his hand dismissively. "It'll be fine with rest. It's just a little sprained."

Junko let out a small laugh. "Sounds like you all had a rough time out there."

Shinichi's gaze flicked to Akio's wet clothes. "What happened to you?"

"Why?" He smirked. "Worried about me?"

Shinichi rolled his eyes. "Not particularly." He glanced at Miyo. "Did something happen?"

"Huh?" Miyo avoided his gaze. "N-No. N-Nothing happened." What is this feeling?

Shinichi exhaled. "I'm going to take Kenta to the medic station." He briefly looked at Akio. "You should get out of those clothes. You look awful."

Junko looped her arms around Sana and Miyo. "We'll go see about our team's points and see you guys later."

-

Though that was what Junko said, she ended up guiding them back to their tent instead.

"I know we've only just met, and we aren't all that close yet," Junko started. "But I can't not say anything after what I saw."

Sana nodded beside her. "It's kind of painful to watch."

Miyo tilted her head. "What are you two talking about?"

Sana sighed. "It's pretty obvious you and Akio have something going on."

"Sounds like you're worried about me." Junko dramatized Akio's earlier words. 

Sana followed her lead.  "Of course I am." 

Junko chuckled. "Not to mention you're basically dry while he's soaked through."

Sana turned to Junko. "And did you see how he ran when she fell earlier?"

Junko nodded enthusiastically. "He ran faster than during the actual race."

"I-It's not like that." Miyo protested.

Junko raised a brow. "Isn't it?"

Miyo fell silent. It's not like that... Right? 

"M-My feelings aren't for Akio..." She hesitated more than she would've liked. "They're for Shinichi..." 

But even as she said it, something in her chest tightened, as if the words didn't settle right.

Sana blinked. "Really? Could've fooled me."

Miyo's fingers fidgeted with the hem of her clothes. She didn't like how uncertain she sounded. 

Junko noticed. "Well, Shinichi seems like a good guy too. It just seems like you get along better with Akio-"

Sana let out a high pitch squeal.

Miyo and Junko turned. "What?"

Sana pointed to the wall of the tent. "B-Bug!"

All three of them turned to the small insect before erupting in screams.

Before anyone could do anything.

"What's wrong?" Akio quickly entered the tent and followed their gaze. "Oh. Just a bug."

"It's not just a bug!" The girls overlapped.

Akio sighed. "Why am I getting deja vu?"

Without another word, Akio stepped forward, reached out, and calmly cupped the bug in his hands before throwing it outside the tent. When he returned, the girls were all huddled at the other end of the tent.

"Is it gone?" Sana asked.

He dusted his hands off. "It's gone."

The three of them let out a breath of relief.

"Come on," Akio continued. "They're starting dinner."

-

Outside, tables were lined with rice and side dishes as the staff grilled meat.

Miyo looked around as she sat. "I wonder where Shinichi and Kenta are."

Akio poured water into the girls' cups. "Probably still treating Kenta's ankle."

"Or avoiding the crowd." Junko added. "They've always been like that."

Akio raised an eyebrow. "You're close to them?"

"Not even. I just went to university with them. Even back then, they kept to themselves and avoided big crowds."

Sana tilted her head. "Shinichi didn't seem to recognize you earlier."

"That makes sense," Junko continued. "It's been a couple years since we graduated, plus we never spoke. I only really know them because they stuck out so much."

"Stuck out?" Miyo repeated.

Junko nodded. "Kenta used to have bright ginger hair. You could spot him from across campus. It looks a lot better now that it's darkened and cut shorter."

Akio let the words fade into the background. Ginger hair? Wait...

Akio thought back to the photo he saw in Shinichi's apartment. The photo of Shinichi wrapping his arms around someone. Around someone with ginger hair...

"Y-You wouldn't happen to have a photo from back then, would you?" He asked quickly.

Junko pulled out her phone. "I have our class graduation photo." She showed Akio. "This is me. There's Shinichi. And right by him is Kenta."

Akio froze as he stared at the photo. There's no doubt about it. I might've only seen half the face, but that photo was definitely Kenta. 

That's why he seemed so familiar... But this doesn't make any sense...

Wait.

Akio's thoughts overlapped. About the comments Shinichi and Kenta would make, how worried they were about Akio being in Shinichi's apartment, how protective they were of each other, how they were always together.

His mind refused to settle as the slow realization washed over him.

Have I been looking at this the wrong way?

His gaze fell on Miyo. If I'm right about this then what happens to Miyo...?