Together

It has been a month since the confession on the rooftop took place.

Nothing has changed much for Akio and Chiharu other than the fact that they're now officially boyfriend and girlfriend. The two still continued to hang out as usual.

It's a lazy day after school. Akio doesn't have any remedial lessons to attend, and Chiharu has no after-school club obligations today. The time's only 3:20pm, and the day's already over in terms of school. Even the weather signifies that today is a lazy day, the temperature being neither too hot or too cold, accompanied by a gentle wind blowing ever so slightly.

Akio waves his buddies goodbye, and started to head towards the 2nd year classroom block. He estimates that Chiharu would probably still be in her classroom. Seeing her face would just be what he needed after a long day of lessons. He strolls slowly along the corridor, staring out the windows while yawning. The leaves on the trees planted in the school courtyard sways lightly in the direction of the wind, and student activity in the courtyard is unusually low.

"Hmm.. Today feels like a nice and slow day.. It would be nice to go somewhere with Chiharu.." Akio thought to himself as he continued to move along the corridor nonchalantly. On a day like this during after-school hours, the school would normally be brimming with student activity, from busy bees from the student council running around the school to complete tasks to the baseball team practicing for the next big inter-school match. For some reason, none of these activities seem to be taking place today.

This puts Akio in a super good mood, as a day like this is just in his groove. A time where he doesn't feel like everyone's rushing ahead of him, while he's left behind. Such feelings have been haunting his thoughts in recent days as the entrance examinations inches closer. Many of his classmates have already started to attend prep school, and the majority of them have a university set in their sights. Furthermore, the subject of study in the universities have also more or less been decided by his classmates.

On the contrary, someone like him is left by the wayside, a lost soul.

It's already his final year, and yet he's as carefree as any first year student you can find in the school. He doesn't have any particular interests in any field of study, nor does he possess any special talents. He could choose to not apply for university and simply graduate high school, but he will never hear the end of it from his parents if he decided to do so, so he simply promised them that he'll be gunning for one. However, even at this late stage, he is still undecided on which university he'll be attending nor what course he wants to get into. He wishes time to freeze at this very moment, satisfied with the current status quo. He gets to attend school with his girlfriend, and spend time with her everyday. These carefree days will be gone once high school is over.

"Come to think of it, all I really have going for me in my life is Chiharu, huh.. The time I'll get to spend with her will be a lot lesser next year too as I'll be attending university while she has to prepare for her entrance exams.." Akio contemplates to himself once again, these unpleasant realities riding his train of thoughts almost daily.

His annoyed frown turns into a slight smile, delighted that he'll be seeing Chiharu in a moment's time. He grabs the handle of her classroom door and slides it open, waltzing into the second year classroom. The classroom's mostly vacated, with a few students remaining in there to consult the teacher on academic matters. Chiharu remained in her seat at the back of the class, diligently taking down notes as the teacher wrote down pointers on the whiteboard to answer the students' questions.

Akio would normally sneak up on her, as a focused Chiharu is usually oblivious to her surroundings. However, that playful side of him is not present today and he simply quickened his pace to meet Chiharu.

"Hey. I'm here." He smiles at her gently, while putting his arm over her shoulder.

"Ah, you're finally here! Give me a moment. I'll pack up and we can get going!" Chiharu's serious expression melted into a cute bubbly smile, fueled by her excitement from seeing Akio.

"Chiharun, your boyfriend's here! I'm so jealous of you, having a third year student as your boyfriend.. He'll be able to tutor you on all the subjects!" One of the female students gathered in front of the teacher turned around and teased her.

Chiharu turned red while Akio smiled awkwardly at the girl, knowing that he's actually the one being taught by Chiharu, not the other way round.

"I-It's not like that! I-" Chiharu almost let the truth slip, holding back her words just in time to spare Akio from shame.

"I-I guess so..."

Chiharu grabs the hem of her skirt and squirms in embarrassment.

The group of female students busted out in laughter, seeing their usually serious friend acting so coyly.

Chiharu bowed to the teacher and said her goodbyes to her friends. Before they left, her teacher stopped the couple for a moment to speak to them.

"Your boyfriend's going through the entrance exams, right? Support him well, and don't encumber him too much by asking him for academic help! I know you want to do well, so approach us teachers instead!"

The teacher shows concern for Akio after hearing what Chiharu's friends said. Little did everyone in the room know, it actually isn't the case at all..

Chiharu smiled politely and kept nodding her head, and they eventually got to leave after the teacher gave tips to Akio regarding the entrance exams.

"Phew.. That was tough, having to pretend the whole time.." Chiharu let out a sigh of relief.

"I'm sorry for being such a useless boyfriend, haha.." Akio shook his head in embarrassment.

"Don't say that, Senpai. I don't mind being the one who's helping you out in your academics despite being the younger one. Anyways, you're the one that needs more help right now anyway. You have very important examinations coming up."

"You know.. I really appreciate having you around, Chiharu-chan! You're the most considerate and understanding girlfriend a man could ever ask for.. I love you so much!" Akio jumps on Chiharu, hugging her tightly.

All that did was warrant him a slap.

"I-I told you to stop doing such things in the public eye, you dummy!" Chiharu has grown red from her face to her ears.

"Hehe... She's so easily flustered, there's my reward from her..." Akio thought to himself while wearing a foolish grin on his face.

The exchange in the classroom left Akio feeling even more down on himself. The thought of a second-year student teaching a third-year student has never really occurred to Akio in a serious context despite it taking place all the time with him and Chiharu, today being the first time of realization of how embarrassing is that and how much it shows that he's lagging behind extremely in terms of academics. However. being able to spend time alone with Chiharu like this has managed to let him forget about his worries momentarily. There is just something magical about her for him, her presence allowing him to forget about reality and let loose.

"Senpai, it's still really early and we have nothing else to do anyway. Let's go grab some food!" Chiharu could sense that her boyfriend's feeling a little under the weather, and she decided to invite him to do something.

Akio immediately jumped at the idea, as he was already thinking of going somewhere with her after school.

"Of course! What do you want to eat?"

"I'm fine with anything. You decide!"

"Hm.. In that case, let's go for the usual! The ramen store we always go to!"

"Alright, let's go!"

How much Akio wishes these moments and his high school days to be eternal is indescribable in words..

His relationship with Chiharu has grown from one filled with immature feelings of wanting to avoid the topic of their true feelings to one of complete mutual understanding of each other. The both of them could already sense each others' moods and wants really well before, and it has only grown to become even better ever since.

The loving couple ate their meal together and discussed a variety of topics, from friends to family to just simply the food they're having together.

After having their fill, they leave the ramen store and ponder together on where to go and what to do next.

"Ah, the gyoza here is always so heavenly.." Akio sighs in bliss.

"You're the only person I ever met that likes something else more than the ramen in a ramen store, Senpai." Chiharu giggles, poking fun at Akio.

"The time's still early. What should we do next?" Akio asks Chiharu nonchalantly.

"The mall?"

"We just went there a few days ago."

"The movie theatre?"

"There's nothing nice on right now."

"The arcade?"

"I'm just going to destroy you again in fighting games."

"Hey!"

"Ah!" A sudden idea popped up in Chiharu's head, and she bobs up and down excitedly in front of Akio.

"How about coming over to my place? It's been a long time since you last played with my siblings!" Chiharu suggests to Akio in a cheery tone, unable to hide her excitement at the thought of having fun with both Akio and her family.

"Tatsuya-kun and Ayaka-chan, huh.. Sounds good! It'll be a great way to take my mind off the things that's been bugging me! Chiharu-chan, you're as smart as ever, hehe."

And so the both of them left for the train station hand-in-hand, their next destination being the Ayakoujis'.