Reina and Futoshi

-Reina and Futoshi were on the balcony.

The weather was fair, but it had turned cold and dark in the two-story marble-floored villa. There were various stars in the sky, all coming together to make a pattern. The balcony faced south, overlooking the beach. 

The waves clashed beneath the raw night sky, clinging and soaking up the beach. The tide brushed on past.

"I thought they were going to blow up at each other right there and then."

"Rin ain't like that, I bet she's like, ' It's not your fault, Haruto' or something like that."

The two leaned over the balcony, gazing upon the night sky. 

"The stars are beautiful." 
Reina had looked at the stars with sparkling eyes. They had lit up her hollow eyes and gave them a softer, rounder look. 

"They're alright, I guess."

He had been idly fondling with his bangs, twirling a loose strand. 

"Too long!"

By this point, he had let his hair grow down to his eyeline, taking up a portion of his vision.

"It makes you look less like a creep."

The bangs had hid his 'dead fish eyes' behind one long strand. It curled in such a way that it gave him an almost softer look. 

He had gotten this hair routine from a magazine he found tucked away in one of his drawers. As instructed, he blow-dried the ends and used shampoo that was advertised as 'healthy for the hair.'

Yet it changed nothing.

The only 'creep' here is you!

Reina turned, grabbing a loose strand of her own. Her bangs had a softer look to them.

"If you want to talk about long, look at this."

She pulled the loose strand away from her, showing Futoshi. 

"Yeah, but yours suits you." 

He gazed ahead at the stars.

He said it with a straight expression and blunt tone. 

"Don't go saying embarrassing stuff like that!"

She had stopped fiddling wth her bangs and punched him in the side, the sound of the waves overlapped his yelp.

Compared to her bangs, Futoshi's had a rigid exterior, trailing at the tip.

Reina folded her arms.

"Why am I always stuck with you?!"

"I should be saying the same thing."

The two turned away from each other, facing some woodlands that had surrounded the hill where the villa was. 
There were various foliage and sounds in the distance. 

Then-

"But are we so close? We have the option to be apart, yet why are we standing here, gazing upon the stars together?" Reina said, facing a lighthouse in the distance.

"Don't make it sound romantic, it's disgusting."

Then, a silence lingered throughout the air. The only things making noise are the waves and the sound of animals.

"Don't read too much into it." 

Resigning himself in annoyance, Futoshi gazed upon the woodland before him. He brushed up his bangs.

Now look whose saying the embarrassing stuff! 

But that was the truth.
The two of them had always spent time together, even when they weren't forced to. 

Reina often visited his house, having dinner around there on a few occasions, too.

Reina turned to Futoshi, her rounded eyes tracing him up and down. 
By the looks of it, she had been crying. 

"Reina?"

The tears ran down her face, as if she had been holding them back for a while. Upon noticing, Reina vigorously tried to wipe the tears away with her sleeve, yet they still flowed. 

"If you say anything, I'm going to punch you."

Futoshi sighed, laying his head on his arms. He had placed them on top of the railing of the balcony. 

"Knew that was coming."

"Yeah, well, I've seen you in worse shape. Way worse. Like that time at the mall where you-"

"Never speak of that again."

At the mall, before coming here, Reina had been crying about her swimsuit. No matter what she tried, she couldn't find one that fit her size.

Cutting through her anger, Futoshi shifted the topic.

"So why were you crying?"

"I just remembered something."

"Very vague."

Reina sighed. She had clung to her shirt like her life depended on it. It was a shirt that had the Japanese for 'love ' written on it. 

Kinda Ironic considering she hasn't dated anyone a day in her life.

"Remember that time, I had dinner at yours?"

"You've had dinner at mine loads of times."

"Not loads! Only once or twice."

She had, in fact, been round his house more than a few times, so choosing which time she was talking about proved difficult. 
Futoshi scratched the back of his head.

"There was that one time you threatened me. Maybe that?"

The first time she had gone around his was because she needed members for the confession club and threatened him that if he didn't find members soon, she would leak the incident that had led to their meeting. 

"No, not that time, your denseness surprises me every time."

"Ugh... I'm trying to ask about your past, you idiot!"

She fidgeted a little, moving back and forth in a rhythmic motion.

"Oh, I did tell you to remind me, didn't I?"

Reina nodded. By this point, the tears had stopped. Curtesy of a tissue, Futoshi had grabbed for her.

Her eyes were puffy, and she blew into the tissue that had been given to her. 

"That shouldn't make you cry, though."

"It's not that, and I'm not crying coz I'm sad."

She shot a smile at him, calming him down ever so slightly. 

"It's just that seeing those four got me thinking about how we are."

The night had been brightened by the moon's glow. It shone down on the two as they both rested above the railing. On nights like this, it was oddly calming. There had been barely any noise, just the slight summer breeze that was out and the clashing of waves. 

"What do you mean?"

Cutting through the sound of the waves with a question, Futoshi tilted his head. From his perspective, there had been nothing going on between them. They had just been ' partners in crime,' and even then, Reina forced him to do it. 

Reina was silent for a moment, and she looked up at the sky. 

"Have you ever wanted something, but then realised it was too far out of reach?"
Reina reached up to the sky. 
Futoshi looked at her, eyes widened. His first thought was this:  

Yeah, when I wanted that new Light Novel and couldn't have it. 

But even he knew that's not what she meant. Unlike every other interaction they've had before this, her tone was sincere - genuine even. 

He fiddled with his bangs.

"...I have."

After all, he had cast aside connections for the fear of rejection. 

"I actually had a dream about us last night. We were dating, and it seriously sucked, so if that's what you meant, then I hope something like that doesn't happen."

Reina paused.

" A dream, huh?"

"Yeah, where you would boss me around, calling me 'Pervoshi'"

"Even your dream knows it's true."

Futoshi crossed his arms, averting her gaze. She had called him 'Pervoshi' enough times for it to start to get under his skin. 

"Y'know I've been thinking... maybe it's not a bad idea if we... never mind." She whispered it so he couldn't hear, like the secret only belonged to her.