First Meeting

Holy crap couldn’t even begin to express this feeling!

I was pressed in a narrow space between the wall and one of the many and heavy bookshelves inside the library. There wasn’t much air to inhale and the little amount of it that entered my lungs was filled with dust. My throat was dry and my nose tingly. It took everything in my power to not start sneezing or coughing. Then it would have all been in vain. My presence would be known and my location discovered.

I desperately tried not to think about my position because I might not have had claustrophobia but it was still suffocating. This place hadn’t been opened or cleaned over the course of years and the many heavy books in the shelves seemed to look at me menacingly. I felt like I was going to get attacked any moment now. I sighed inaudibly, my breath visible in front of me.

I needed someone to blame for this mess so I decided to curse my teacher, Karuizawa-san, who had sent me to the old library during lunch break to recover some books he needed. At first, I had been glad that I didn’t have to sit and eat alone with everyone’s eyes on me like every other time- even if Karuizawa-sensei had implied that I didn’t have anything better to do with my life- but then everything went from bad to worse. The door had been locked and I was in no possession of the key so I went back to fetch it only to come back and find it widely open. Before I could begin searching for the books, I had to hurriedly hide behind the first thing in my view. If only it had been the new library, it would have been a bit easier.

I closed my eyes and held my forehead. The reason for my panic and hiding was still here after several minutes and didn’t seem like it would go away any time soon. I would be stuck there for quite a long time as I could tell from the inappropriate sounds made. When I had come here, the last thing I wanted was to bump into a couple let alone have a front-row seat to their make out session. How did I always get caught up in these messes?

I opened my eyes and looked up. I inhaled so sharply that my throat made a faint screeching sound and I swallowed so clumsily that I choked on my own saliva.

Two honey eyes were piercing through mine. There was nothing sweet about them apart from their colour. They looked like they more likely belonged to a wild animal rather than a person. It wasn’t like they had stopped what they were doing. The girl was still trying to please the boy, leaving kisses on his neck and lips but his eyes kept on watching me. There was a raw sentiment inside of them. I couldn’t quite place it, it wasn’t curiosity or amusement but it looked like both of them and so much more at the same time.

I stayed there frozen for a couple of moments before I realized what was going on. The space felt like it was closing in. I might have been pressed before but I had never experienced suffocation like this one. Everything faded. The only thing I could discern, were those persistent eyes.

“Baby…?” The girl whispered in a low voice and I was suddenly reminded of where I was and what I was doing. I wanted to disappear, as soon as possible. I had been discovered, there was no reason for me to stay there and keep on being a peeping tom.

I got out of the narrow place where I was but didn’t have the time to feel relieved or take in as much air as possible. I ran towards the door and left without looking back towards those eyes that seemed like they could lure me in something dangerous and unwanted.

“Who was that?” I heard the girl ask.

“No idea” His voice was playful and indifferent. Not minding my presence there moments before, they continued where they left off.

I continued running until I reached the teacher’s office. My hair was disheveled. My signature twin ponytails had started to become undone and my chest was moving up and down irregularly. I wasn’t sure what exactly I had experienced and I definitely knew it was unpleasant and I hoped it was never going to happen again.

“Oh, Aihara! Did you bring what-...?” Karuizawa-sensei’s face irritated me even more. That stupidly friendly smile and carefree attitute! Did he have any idea what I had gotten through because of him? If he could have done his job properly, I wouldn’t have been the one in that room. But that would mean that he would have been the one to catch them-

“The lock must be very old and rusty. I couldn’t open it no matter how much I tried.” I lied and tossed the key towards his direction. He caught it in the air and looked at me surprised. I wasn’t one to easily lose my temper and my appearance didn’t actually help but I wasn’t in the mood to snitch on anyone or answer any more of his questions. “Now, if you will excuse me, it’s my lunch break too and I would like to eat something.” I added cutting him off before he could comment on anything or ask for another favor. I bowed and exited the office without waiting for his permission. Maybe I would have felt a little bad about that if my thoughts weren’t in complete chaos.

I took the direction of the cafeteria but when I looked up at the clock in the hallway, I realized that there was no time. I only had ten minutes left before the lunch break ended. If I had a homemade obento in my bag, I could eat it hastily. Unfortunately, my parents were too busy to deal with that and I was a disaster in the kitchen so I would have to buy something to eat. The cafeteria wasn’t far from the teacher’s office but the best and most edible items were the first ones to get sold out. There was no way I would find something at this hour.

I looked down disappointed and clutched my growling stomach that kept on complaining as if it had its own mind and realized that I changed my route and was heading to the classroom. I was petite so most people made the assumption that I was really careful with my diet and didn’t have much of an appetite. They couldn’t be more wrong. I got hungry easily and I always craved junk food and anything unhealthy in particular. I managed to restrain myself while in school but if you saw how I ate at home where I could be myself, you wouldn’t be able to register how my body kept this figure. I wasn’t sure why either, something about my metabolism.

Anyway, none of this mattered because I was approaching my class and the lunch break was going to end in a few minutes. My stomach would start sounding like a wild animal a while after that. There wasn’t anything more embarrassing than that. I wanted to drop dead only in the thought of it. I considered faking stomach ache and going to the nurse’s office but I was too diligent to let myself do something like that.

I entered the classroom doing everything in my power to hide my downcast expression and hurried to my seat so that I could bend my body towards my desk and stop the sounds before they became more prominent.

“You are Aihara-san, right?” I heard a sweet voice from above my head. My face stiffened but I managed to change it into something more polite before looking up. I only noticed her short pink hair because she moved her hand and my eyes were immediately drawn to the completely untouched bread that she was holding. It was even fully wrapped and looked delicious. My look softened without me realizing it and my mouth watered.

“Yes. Can I help you with something?” I cleared my throat and tried to concentrate on the girl’s face. She was familiar. I did remember her participating in class. I think her name was… Matsuda? I had no idea what her first name was. I think I had heard the other girls calling her by a nickname but I couldn’t remember what it was.

“It’s just that I noticed that Karuizawa-sensei took away most of your lunch break and I thought that you might not have had the time to eat.” She started and I kept looking at her trying to figure out where all this was going. “I was so hungry that I bought too much and now I can’t eat it. I was wondering if you would want this, I swear I haven’t touched it.”

I cast a brief look towards her friends and I noticed that they were looking at us. I wanted to accept that bread, I really did. Something just didn’t add up and even if it was all an act of pure kindness, I had to refuse it. This was simply who I was.

“Thank you but I don’t need your pity.” I smiled coldly and a moment after I regretted it. This wasn’t what I wanted to say. Sure, I would decline but I wanted to be polite about it. I cursed myself. Many times, I came out more upfront than I intended and my agitation from the earlier events hadn’t really helped.

She seemed surprised for a second and wore an awkward smile the next. She looked a bit hurt. I didn’t like how that made me feel. She set the bread on my desk and looked me in the eyes.

“It’s not pity. Do what you want with it.” She said kindly and softly. I was dumbfounded and couldn’t reply anything in return. Maybe that was for the best. Needless to say, moments after the teacher came into class, I asked if I could go to the toilet taking the bread with me as discreetly as possible. The moment I was far enough, I devoured it in a few bites and licked my fingertips. I felt absolute bliss. It was delicious.