Feelings 2

Akio gasped for breath as he swung the door to the rooftop open with force. He struggles to catch his breath as he clumsily made his way into the rooftop.

Chiharu's face lit up upon seeing Akio, but she hides her happiness almost immediately. Akio's gaze is fixated onto Chiharu as he continues to breathe heavily. The both of them stare at each other silently, with an arm's reach of distance between each other. Neither of them attempted to break the silence, and they continued to stare at each other, albeit blushing now.

The air is tense and there isn't even the slightest gust of wind, making for an extremely awkward atmosphere. Both Akio and Chiharu knows and expects what would come next, which would be their eventual confessions of love. It would be simple for them to just let each other know what they feel right now, but their overflowing emotions have rendered them speechless.

Is this finally the day their love comes to fruition? The day when they finally break the status quo of being less than lovers, but more than friends?

The usually bold Akio is unusually quiet. His lips quiver and struggles to push words out, but he falls silent. It was Chiharu who eventually mustered the courage to break the silence.

"Senpai.. You know why I called you here, right?" Her lips twist in a way that's indiscernible from neither a smile or a frown.

"S-s-so.. I can be honest?" Akio gives an uncharacteristically coy answer. The object of his affection is right in front of him, and he knows she's willing to accept him anytime. What he has always been dreaming about will finally be coming true, and the very reality is stunning him.

"Come on, Senpai! After I worked up the courage..! Aren't you always teasing me and whatnot!? Why are our roles reversed now!?" Chiharu let loose of her emotions, unsatisfied with Akio's passivity.

Akio gulped and realized he's acting irrationally.

"I mean, it's already obvious from the start that she likes me, so.. Why am I acting like this?" He thought to himself. He grabbed Chiharu by her shoulders and stared directly into her eyes. What can only describe Chiharu's face now would be a tomato.

"D-d-did I give him the push he needed..?" She thought to herself.

"IT'S BECAUSE I LOVE YOU, MY CUTE LITTLE JUNIOR!" He said it. He's gone and done it.

Chiharu is unexpectedly calm, her blushing being the only sign that she feels nervous.

"I-I'm glad you feel that way! Because.. I love you too, Akio-Senpai!" Chiharu grabs his forearms and stares back into his eyes, her eyes brimming with confidence now. In this situation, their roles have truly been reversed. Akio's overwhelmed with so much happiness that he became dizzy with only thoughts of his affection for Chiharu, while Chiharu's just relieved that she finally conveyed her feelings.

"Chiharu..."

"A-Akio...... Hug me?"

Akio wrapped his arms around Chiharu's small frame tightly at an almost instantaneous speed, to which Chiharu replied by holding him tightly. Time seem to have frozen for the both of them and the embrace felt like an eternity.

"Hehe... Chiharu-chan, this feels great, right?"

"Y-yeah... You're right. Let's stay together like this for a little while more."

After several more minutes, Akio broke the hug and looked directly into Chiharu's now dreamy and wavering eyes.

"I really want to kiss you, you god damn cute thing! But I'll have to hold back for now..!" Akio averted his gaze for a moment, blushing.

Chiharu started to blush too, in confusion of what his words meant.

"Y-yes..?"

"If I kiss you now, there's no guarantee I won't go further right here and right now! I'm sure you don't want that.. So..." Akio could die of embarrassment anytime now.

"You......"

Chiharu's blushing became more intense, seeing how Akio has her interests on his mind. But if she had to be honest, she wouldn't mind at all if he went further with her.. Beyond kissing..

Chiharu shook her head to regain some sense of awareness.

"You're right..! Hahahaha, Akio-senpai, you're so funny!" She tried to shift the mood away from the passionate love that they were experiencing to something more lighthearted.

"Chiharu-chan, you killed the mood!! Other couples would normally go beyond whatever we just did.. We didn't even kiss!" Akio broke out in laughter.

"Hey, you're the one who said that you didn't want to kiss now!!" Chiharu lashed out at her now officially established lover.

"So that means you wanna kiss really badly?!" Akio's usual teasing nature comes back in full force.

"A-at least I didn't say that I would want to go beyond that!! You border-crosser!!" Chiharu drummed her tiny fists on Akio's chest.

The both of them continued to banter until they eventually got tired of doing so.

"So.. Kinda, what do we do now? Like, what do boyfriend and girlfriend do?" Akio scratched his head.

"I don't know, maybe study together?"

"Chiharu, you're real lame."

"You're one to talk, c-coming from a guy who's asking his girlfriend a question like that!"

Chiharu composed herself a little, and gave a honest answer.

"Well.. I guess we'll just carry on as we always did, but now with our love for each other confirmed? We were already in love for a long time.. so.. so.."

She can't do it. She got so flustered that she couldn't complete what she wanted to say.

"Ah, we were already in love for a long time, so there would be no difference now that we're officially lovers, right? Our daily lives would still go on as usual, the two of us spending time together and doing whatever the heck we want..."

Akio seemed really cool to Chiharu at this moment, making her fall deeper into the bottomless pit that is her affection for Akio Yuuki.

"This is one of the few times you're actually right about something, Senpai! You finished my sentence for me!" Chiharu cheekily remarked, any sign of embarrassment on her face completely wiped.

"Haha, that's what I love about you, Chiharu. How you can be so coy and flustered at times, but so cheeky and bold at other times.."

"That's what you love about me? I-I-I can't state anything I love about you, b-because I love everything that's you!" Chiharu pouts at Akio, and raises her voice.

Taken aback by this remark, Akio struggled to mask his embarrassment, leading to his random reply:

"I love you too."

Chiharu almost got confused, but she realized that common sense can't really be applied to the guy she loves.

"M-me too."

"You what?" A smug look surfaced on Akio's face.

"I LOVE YOU TOO, OKAY? YOU KNOW WHAT I MEANT!"

"Hehehe, Chiharu, Chiharun, Chiharu-chan, Chiharu-tan, let's go home together, my lovely girlfriend~" Akio randomly sang a tune.

"L-let's go!!"

And so their love finally blossomed, and they have crossed the border of more than friends, but less than lovers.

This is only just the beginning for the two of them, and they would come to experience many more things together, from fun things to growing up together, with all these things becoming the cumulation of their love.