Internal Conflict

Ayane helped Akihiro reach the infirmary. No one seemed to be present there. Warm yellow rays wafted through the window, making the room bright.

Ayane slowly helped him sit on the chair and asked him to wait as she searched for the first aid kit.

“Ugh, I can’t believe how cheap people can be. He literally went all the way to make you fall so that he could win.”, Ayane whined.

“Ah, there it is!”, she exclaimed as she found the first aid kit box.

She took the kit and kneeled down to open the box. She carefully took out the cotton.

“I’m gonna disinfect it, so it might hurt a little bit.”

As she placed the disinfectant on the wound, Akihiro felt another sharp sting on his head. It was not as strong as the one he had on the day of the accident, but strong enough for him to be unable to hide it.

As she finished bandaging his leg, he slowly moved his hands towards his head and clutched it.

“Aki-kun, what happened? Does your head hurt?”

Akihiro didn’t respond to Ayane. Instead, he slowly took a deep breath, lowered his hands and looked at her straight in the eye.

Ayane had seen him so close only once. His eyes shined differently from before, it was captivating. His eyes conveyed words that he couldn’t. His internal conflict was now revealed on his face.

“I have something to ask you...”, Akihiro said, in a gentle tone.

Ayane was still mesmerized by his eyes. They were a window to his soul.

“Uh...ah yea, ask me.”

“Why are you doing this? Why do you continue to worry about me?”

She had no answer. More like she couldn’t give an answer. She couldn’t put it in words.

“I…Because I…”, Ayane stammered as she got a little flustered.

Just then, the door slammed open. Natsume charged in and smirked as he saw them both together, staring into each other. Only Ayane instinctively turned her head towards Natsume. Akihiro was still looking at her, waiting for an answer.

“Oops, sorry for disturbing. Call me when you both are done.”, Natsume said as he turned away.

“Done with what?! Oi, don’t leave now!!”, Ayane said.

Natsume laughed and walked back in. Ayane was still holding Akihiro’s leg. Natsume noticed the bandages on Akihiro’s leg and remembered what he had come there for.

He came up to Akihiro, knelt down and said, “Do you mind if I check something?”

Before Akihiro could reply, Natsume tore the bandage off his leg in one smooth swipe. The bandage flew out of his hand and slowly fell to the ground.

“WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING??”, Ayane shouted and pushed him off. “Ahh, now I have to put the bandage on again.”

Natsume remained silent. His fear had just been confirmed.

‘The wound disappeared?.’

“Natsume, you idiot! Why would you do that?”, Ayane said as she wrapped the bandage again. She was too befuddled by Natsume’s odd behaviour to notice what he had just seen.

Natsume just kept staring at Akihiro in awe.

‘Who are you?’

“NATSUME!”, Ayane screamed.

“Oh yea, sorry. By mistake...”

“Wha- How was that a mistake? You clearly did it on purpo-”

“Aki-kun, you have to apologise to Rumi now. Let’s go.”, Natsume interrupted Ayane.

Akihiro nodded as he stood up and started to walk out of the door with Natsume.

----

They went to Rumi and her friends. Natsume stopped at a distance while Akihiro unhesitatingly walked straight up to them.

“I’m sorry for making you cry that day.”, he said as he bowed down.

“Ohh, it’s okay...”, Rumi replied, slightly surprised.

Akihiro then turned and began walking back towards Natsume.

“Wha- that was fast! And so easily!?”, Natsume asked, surprised.

“It was just an apology...”, Akihiro replied.

“Uh...Yea.”, Natsume said, realizing how big of an ego issue he had.

‘Ah, looks like it’s gonna take me much more time to change.’

----

A few days had passed since the school sports festival was over. The class seats had been shuffled. Natsume’s seat was still next to the window and Akihiro’s seat was now right in front of him. Mizouchi’s seat was shifted next to Ayane’s seat at the front, but she hadn’t come to school for the past two days.

“Ahhh! Ayane is so lucky, she skipped today’s test.”, Natsume whined.

“She would have aced it anyway. She’s smart.”, Akihiro responded.

“Oh, she didn’t bunk the exam out of laziness?”

“Only you do that.”

“Oi Oi. Anyways, then she must be sick. Do you want to go visit her?”

“No.”

“Ehhh Why??”, Natsume asked.

“My body feels weirdly abnormal when she’s around.”

“Huh?”

“My chest feels weird. It feels as if it’s completely empty.”, Akihiro said.

“Excuses! She’s our best friend. We should visit her.”

“Ehh...”

“Don’t you want to see her bedroom? I’ve never been to a girl’s house before.”, Natsume said. His curiosity was evident through the sudden sparkle in his eyes.

“So that’s why you want to go there, huh?”

“Hehe, anyways, our best friend is in trouble and we must go save her!”, Natsume said.

“Do you know her address?”Akihiro asked

“Obviously, I read it in the class teacher’s ‘student detail’ records when he wasn’t around.”

“Stalker..”

“Hahaha, this is our little secret, don’t tell anyone okay?”

“Yea yea…”

----

School had ended. Natsume and Akihiro met up in front of a huge luxurious apartment. The building had more than twenty floors. It must have cost a lot, especially to own such property near the station in Tokyo.

“Are you sure this is the one?”, Natsume asked.

“You are the one who knows the address, don’t ask me.”, Akihiro replied.

“Damn I didn’t think she was so rich. Maybe I should just marry her and live off her money, hehe.”, Natsume joked.

Akihiro ignored his joke and walked inside the building. A man in his 50s, with winter-white hair, tall yet frail, stood in front of the elevator. Akihiro and Natsume went and stood next to him.

“No need to rush. We can wait. Let the old man enter the lift first.”, Natsume instructed Akihiro, who tried to enter the lift first.

“I’m not OLD, I’m a high functioning member of society and I’m only 55 years old.”, the man said.

“55 years is still old!”, Natsume replied.

“65 years is old. I’m still contributing to society, unlike you kids.”

“We aren’t kids, we are almost adults.”, Natsume replied.

“That’s still a kid then.”

“People aged twelve and below are considered as ki-, wait, where’s Aki-kun?”, Natsume asked as he looked around.

The lift door had been open for quite a long time, and while they were arguing, Akihiro had walked into the lift. By the time they realised it, the doors of the lift were already closing.

“Nooooooooooooo!”, both the old man and Natsume screamed as the doors of the lift shut in front of them.

“Agh, fine then...I’ll go by the stairs. Old man, the lift will come back soon, so please wait till then.”, Natsume said and started climbing the stairs.

“Who are you calling an old man, huh?!”, he shouted and started climbing the stairs too. Both of them being very competitive, started to race up the staircase.

“Damn old man, I must say, you are pretty fit for your age.”, Natsume said.

“Kids shouldn’t be running up the stairs either. What will your parents say if you trip and fall?”, the old man replied.

Both of them competed fiercely. The old man took the lead for some time but then got tired while Natsume crossed him but soon he got tired too. Both of them were exhausted by the time they reached the sixth floor. They slowly dragged themselves to the door, at the end of the corridor.

“Damn old man, I must agree. You are fast.”

“Kid, you were pretty fast too.”

“Who do you think won Aki-kun? I won right??”, Natsume said breathlessly.

“No, clearly I won. Plus I get extra points because I’m an old man.”, the old man said, still panting.

“Wait! Now you are gonna accept it, huhh??”, Natsume said.

“I wasn’t even looking.”, Akihiro said.

“Oh wait, why are we in front of the same house?”, Natsume asked the old man.

Just then, the door swung open. Ayane was standing at the doorway. Open hair, oversized t-shirt, she looked very different from what they had imagined.

“Oh, Natsume and Akihiro! And Papa, how are you so early today?”

“PAPA?!?!”, Natsume yelled.