Free Will

“What?” Rumi was scared and confused. Her legs began to tremble as Natsume’s incomprehensible behaviour and aura intimidated her.

Natsume slowly walked over to Shinoda, who was unable to move as his back rested against the wall.

“Why did you follow me here? So what if Akihiro was being attacked? Was it for your dear boyfriend?” Natsume told Rumi as he grabbed Shinoda’s hair and pulled it.

“No… I –”

“Ever since Aki-kun rejected you; no, maybe even before that, you had been jealous of Ayane. You started bullying her, filling her shoe locker with trash, scribbling on her notebooks, throwing away her notes and stationery, and even after doing all that, you still weren’t content. Apart from that, I still don’t understand why you started dating someone like Shinoda-san. Was it to fill that void? Or so that he could protect you from the consequences of bullying Ayane? Either way, it’s all over now. There’s no one to protect you. You have been lured into the enemy’s trap.”

“Why is Ayane here?!” Rumi shouted.

“Well, of course, I tricked you here to let you know how vulnerable your position is. I can’t see anyone trying to protect you over here. It’s game over, Rumi-chan. You cannot avoid apologizing for your actions anymore.”

“I’m not apologizing to anyone!”, Rumi shouted.

“To date someone like him, Rumi...you’ve become pathetic,” Natsume said.

“I came here only because you said Akihiro was being attacked!” Rumi said.

“You only liked him because he didn’t give you any attention. You get attention from every other boy in the class. I don’t get why you are so desperate to grab Akihiro’s attention. You even started hurting Ayane only for the sake of getting his attention?”

“No, I don’t know what you are talking about!”, Rumi replied as she averted her eyes.

Rumi’s constant denial pissed Natsume off. He walked up to Rumi and grabbed her collar. “Aki-kun never cared about you. So you poured all your frustration out on Ayane. That’s such a cheap thing to do. I didn’t think you were so desperate. You really have become path-”

Natsume noticed Rumi tearing up.

He realized that he was about to make the same mistake again. He stopped speaking and let go of her collar. Rumi fell to her knees, as tears streamed down her face.

“It’s unfair. I’ve known Akihiro for so many years and you tell me that I barely know him. This girl, who hasn’t even known him for a year, actually knows him, huh? I can’t accept that. It’s unfair. Even though I know what I’m doing is wrong, I can’t help it. I just hate how it’s all so easy for her and it annoys me every time I see her smile. I HATE HER!” Rumi screamed as she continued to cry uncontrollably, covering her face.

Watching Rumi lash out like that, reminded him of himself yet again. He knelt down to look at Rumi’s eyes on the same level. “I know. But if you know what you are doing is wrong, you have already begun to regret it. One day you will have to apologise.” he said in a gentle voice.

Rumi remained still as tears stopped flowing out of her eyes. She then stood up and looked at Ayane for a brief moment.

“No, I just can’t do it. I still hate her.” she said and ran away.

“Should we chase her?” Ayane asked.

“Even if she was the one who inflicted pain on you, she needs time to emotionally heal her wounds. Give her that time. She will apologise someday soon.” Natsume said while staring at Rumi’s back as she ran away.

“Ayane, Why are you here?” Akihiro asked.

“Natsume texted me, saying that you were being attacked.”

“So? Why does that matter to you? Is it because you still feel gui-”

“I came here out of my own free will. I will do whatever I want to do. If I want to help you, I will. If I want to care about you, I will. I will do whatever I want to do. Cuz I am free, right?”

“Yea…” Akihiro replied.

Natsume and Ayane were shocked. Akihiro was smiling as the warm orangish rays of the setting sun reflected off his face. His hair danced in the air, as the cold gusts of the wind blew his hair back and forth. Natsume and Ayane smiled too as they stood next to Akihiro.

“Thank you, Natsume and Kimura-san.” Ayane said.

“Although, I was the one who did all the work. And I don’t do things for free, Princess of the Crimson Red Flame...” Natsume said.

“How much would the price be?” she asked.

“I don’t need cash. I’m gonna be rich and famous anyway. Just be the heroine of my story. Let me use you as a reference for my novel.”

“Haha, and how am I supposed to do that?” Ayane laughed.

“Hang out with us. Like you used to do.” Akihiro said.

“I would have done that even if you didn’t ask me to,” Ayane said.

“And who’s gonna be the hero of your story?” Ayane asked with a smug face.

“Oh that…That is a secret.”, Natsume said.

“EHHHHHHH....”

“What about Shinoda-san?” Akihiro asked.

“Leave him there, he’ll wake up in some time.”

Natsume laughed as the three of them walked away.

----

Weeks had passed by since then. It was finally time for the school to go on a field trip to Kyoto. Natsume and Ayane had been looking forward to it for a very long time.

All the students had been instructed to write a bucket list that was to be completed during their time in Kyoto. Natsume and Ayane had been daydreaming about this day for so long, the length of their bucket lists clearly expressed their excitement.

Natsume and Ayane could barely get any sleep the night before the trip. Finally, the sun rose and the day of the field trip had arrived.

“Oh my, I didn’t get any sleep at all. I was too excited!”, Ayane exclaimed.

“Natsume isn’t here yet, even though he was very enthusiastic about the trip,” Akihiro replied.

“Late as always! He enjoys stuff like this, but if it gets boring to him, he’d completely bail out.”, Ayane added.

“He’s always been like that. Let’s hope he didn’t get bored of the trip before it started.”

Just then, they saw Natsume running as fast as possible. “Hope I’m not late, Hope I’m not late,” he chanted as he finally reached his friends.

“Natsume, you are five minutes late. You were asked to assemble at 8:30 right? You should be thanking the gods that the buses haven’t taken off yet.”, the teacher scolded as Natsume lowered his head and apologized.

Natsume then walked up to Akihiro and Ayane as he grumbled, “Damn, I hate these teachers. I just wish I had a yellow octopus with superpowers as our class teacher.”

“Is that a new story idea?” Ayane asked as she laughed.

“I think there’s already a story about it.”

“You were so excited for the field trip, why are you so late then?” Akihiro asked.

“I was completing the tasks on my bucket list.”

“Wait already? Our field trip didn’t even start!” Ayane exclaimed.

“Yea I checked 7 items off my list” Natsume then paused, turned his head towards Akihiro and cracked his index finger.

“Aki-kun, what’s 1000 minus 7?”

“Why am I being tortured right now?” Akihiro asked, completely uninterested in Natsume’s early morning jokes.

“Huh? It’s a simple math problem. I have only 993 tasks left. Ayane, how many tasks do you have on your bucket list?”

“Here, I’ve written it all down,” Ayane said as she handed him a book.

Natsume opened the book and continued to flip through the pages. “IT’S OVER 9000!!!!”.

“Well, 9111 tasks to be exact. And that’s excluding tasks that require alcohol because we are underage.”

“You are just weak with alcohol, aren’t you?” Natsume said. “Oh, I remember the one time when you drank that bott-”
“Children, time to get into your respective buses. We are leaving now!”, the teacher announced.

“Ayane don’t forget, you have to be with us for the whole trip. You are the heroine of my story after all.” Natsume said.

“Haha, I’d do that even if you didn’t tell me to. Have you decided on a name for the story yet?”

Natsume smiled and glanced at Akihiro. “ Ah yes. It’s going to be called Crimson Soul.”