Ai Kudou

The bright sunlight shines in the bustling classroom as students get ready to leave. All of the popular kids are in their cliques while others just quietly leave by themselves. I see Jay happily following Noeri out of the classroom as they leave together.

I wonder if they have had their official first meeting yet. I glance around the classroom and check the clock on the wall. 2:30, so I still got half an hour before our meeting time. I lean back in my chair and pull out my phone to help pass the time.

I may not seem like it, but I am deathly nervous on the inside. I don’t know anything about the girl I’m about to meet. It’s like a glorified blind date in a sense. Just thinking about it puts me on edge because I don’t know what to expect. I mean the name Ai Kudou sounds like a pretty nice name, so hopefully the person attached to it is the same way.

As time goes by, more and more people leave the classroom until it is just me. I thought I’d be more calm once the classroom emptied but all it did was heighten my anxiety and nerves. The ticking of the clock is the only sound I hear besides the rapid beating of my heart. To help calm myself, I lean back and stretch while taking a deep breath.

As I look to my right, I notice a school bag with a purple bow tied to the strap leaning on one of the legs of the desk. If I remember correctly… Just as I was thinking about it, I hear the sound of footsteps outside the classroom.

A moment later, a head pokes around the doorway and their dark blue hair slides down to the side of their head. “Umm, is it 3 P.M. yet?” she asks quietly.

“Uhh…” I look at the clock and its not quite 3 o'clock yet. “You got a minute by the looks of it.”

I can hear her sigh. “Okay, that gives me one minute to prepare myself.” She closes the door and walks back into the hallway.

Is that who I think it is? I open the camera app on my phone to check my hair. Once I give myself the nod of approval, I put my phone away and await the girl to come in.

The door slowly slides open, and I hear her take a deep breath. She then walks very stiffly and smiles. “Its nice to formally meet you, Shimazaki-kun.”

I thought I was nervous, but looking at her made me look completely calm in comparison. “Yeah, nice to officially meet you as well, Kudou-san.” I awkwardly smile as she walks to her desk. She sits down and an awkward silence ensues. Neither of us say anything as we just look down at our desks. This awkwardness is killing me. I take a sneak glace at her and I guess she had the same idea because she was doing the same thing, which only caused us to look away and remain silent.

I feel like this is one of those situations where I need to take the lead. We’re both extremely nervous and nothing is going to happen unless one of us initiates the conversation. We both look at each other frantically.

“Hey, so—” “So, how—" we both blurt out before stopping to let the other speak. We stare at each other for a second before Ai starts laughing.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been this nervous talking to anyone in my life,” Ai laughs as she resets her hair.

I chuckle. “You’re not the only one. My heart’s beating so fast, I feel like I just got done running a 5K.”

Seeing her so nervous really brings my head back down to Earth. She isn’t this goddess or someone who is a higher level being than I am. She’s a person, just like everyone else.

As the ice is now broken, “Anyways, you can go first,” Ai offers. “I’m pretty sure we were both just trying to start a conversation anyways.”

I turn my chair a little more in her direction so that I could face her more directly. “Yeah, sorry about that. I’m not the greatest conversationalist, so getting one started is a tall order for me,” I joke.

Ai laughs in response. “It’s okay. I tried to calm myself down before I came in so things wouldn’t be so awkward, but that’s a lot easier said than done.” She reaches down and grabs the bow she has tied to her bag.

“So, your mom got you that bow, right?” I ask. “Must be pretty important because I don’t think I’ve ever seen you without it.” I’m not lying because anytime I’ve seen her around school, she always has that bow somewhere on her person. Not a lot of girls here where any kind of hair accessory so it’s pretty easy to spot out.

So caresses it as if it were the most fragile thing on the planet, like it would break with the slightest touch. “Yeah, she gave it to me for my 10th birthday. She made it herself and told me it was made with more love than I could ever imagine.” She pulls the bow close to her chest. “Whenever I get sad or lonely, I always hold this bow. It calms me down and reminds me that my mom is always with me, despite her not being on the island.”

Just by looking at her expression, you can tell just how much the bow means to her. “Well, it is very lovely and very fitting for you.”

Ai’s eyes glisten at my comment. “Thanks, I think my mom would be really happy if she heard that.” She ties the bow back onto the bag strap. “Anyways, who would’ve imagined that the guy who fell over in his chair yesterday would be my destined partner,” she teases.

I scratch my cheek lightly. “Yeah, I was just caught off guard yesterday was all.” Ai’s laughter ensues which only enhances her cuteness. “I don’t think I’ll ever forget that moment.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t worry too much about it. People may talk about it for a few days, but I’m sure there’ll be some big commotion that will let you slip off the radar,” she insists. “Besides, I think more people were still focused on the power couple in the class.”

“Oh, you mean Jay and Nishikigi-san? I was surprised by that too. Never in a million years would I have thought them two would be partners for anything,” I laugh.

“Yeah, it definitely threw the entire school for a loop, that’s for sure.” Her dark blue hair sways with every motion she makes, down the smallest shift. It looks so well kept and smooth. Noticing me looking at her hair, she brings it over her shoulder and runs her fingers through it. “You seem to really like my hair or something. I noticed you looking at it a lot yesterday too.” She gasps and leans away from me. “You don’t have a hair fetish do you?”

I wave my arms in front of me. “No, no, no. I may be kind of weird, but not in that way,” I plead my defense. “I just like admiring things that I know are taken care of. When things are taken care of, their true beauty is shown and I applaud the effort to those who can do that.” I know for a fact some people don’t. If I went to Jay’s apartment right now, I guarantee I would find clothes on the floor and trash just lying around. Then he complains to me about having so many bugs in his apartment. I hope Nishikigi-san can help him on that front.

Ai smiles, “Thanks, not many guys realize just how much effort it takes to achieve hair like this,” she boasts. Her hair went down to around the middle of her back so I can only imagine the maintenance on something like that. She looks at me nervously, “Would you like to feel it?”

She holds her hair out to me. Quite the weird offer, but I'm not one to say no. “Uhh, sure…” I reach over and gently caress her hair. My fingers glide in between it. “It’s so smooth and soft!” Ai bashfully giggles to my comment. I continue playing with her hair for a minute, then gently let it go as my heart has been satisfied.

Ai then stands up and walks behind me. “Y’know, you have some pretty nice hair yourself.” She starts picking out random strands. “As far as I know, you are the only other person who has silver hair besides Nishikigi-san.”

My silver hair does tend to stand out amongst the crowd as it is fairly uncommon. The most notable people are higher class people, so that’s what people tend to associate it with.

“I wouldn’t say it’s nice or anything. I take care of it just like anyone else would,” I try to cover my hair with my arms.

Ai smirks, moves my arms, and begins to run her fingers through my hair. “Are you sure about that? The expression you’re making right now says otherwise,” she suggests as I have a bashful smile across my face.

Damn, I guess I let my happiness get the better of me there. I cross my arms and lean my head back a bit more so I’m looking directly at her. She looks down at me with a cheerful smile. Her purple eyes slowly start to pull me in. Along with her playing with my hair, I am in complete bliss. There is no better feeling than having your hair played with to the point where it feels like a gentle massage.

“You seem to be really enjoying this,” Ai says as my expression is of pure comfiness. “I guess I will spoil you a little more, but don’t think I don’t want something in return. I want to be spoiled at some point too,” she proposes as she playfully pokes my nose. I nod without thinking about it as my brain was currently on cloud nine.

Ai eventually stops and walks to the windows of the classroom. “So, I know about the fact that two other girls have been matched with you.”

That comment quickly brought me back down from cloud nine. “Wait, how do you know that?”

She turns to face with, putting her arms behind her back. “When I got the message about you being my partner, they immediately sent another one saying that I wasn’t the only one who matched with you. It went into all the details about what’s gonna happen in a year and so on.”

I lay my head on my arms as I leaned on my desk. I turn my head to look at Ai. “I guess that makes sense. It’s better to tell you at the beginning rather than not tell you at all.”

Ai turns to the side and looks out the window. Her figure was being outlined perfectly by the sun’s light. “It just means that I have to put in a little bit more effort than I originally thought,” she mutters. After a brief moment of silence, she faces me with a cheerful expression. “How about we go to the roof before we wrap our first meeting up?”

After grabbing our bags, we head up to the rooftop. The sound of the wind was the only thing that could be heard. Some students were still hanging around the front of the school by the gate, but a majority of the campus was empty at this point. At this time of day, it would be extremely hot, but because of the Sprites, the temperature was cozier and warmer, and with the incoming breeze, it was practically perfect.

Ai runs out into the middle of the space. “Ahh, what perfect weather today! Granted that’s pretty much every day on this island.” She throws her arms in the air and stretches her back.

I follow her out, “Yeah, these Sprites do wonders. I wonder if they can ever implement them into mainland countries.” I follow Ai’s shoes and stretch my back as well. “I don’t think I can go back to the randomness mother nature brings.”

Ai walks over the fence and gazes out into the scenery of trees and the ocean in the backdrop. “We still do get some random storms here and there, but it’s really not as often as I’d expect.”

The Sprites do have some effect on the overall temperature of the island, but it can’t always govern mother nature. As the island is surrounded by water, we do get the occasional rain and stuff, but being struck by a natural disaster has only happened once since Eden’s founding.

“So, Shimazaki-kun, what are your thoughts on being matched with three girls?” she asks in a more serious tone. “Like are you more happy cause now you have options and can mess around with all of us?”

I sit down a few feet away from her, my back to the fence. “Do you really think I’m the kind of guy who’d think about that in this situation?”

“I mean, most guys would be ecstatic to be in the situation you’re in,” Ai remarks. “Three girls who are a perfect match for one guy. Isn’t that every guy’s dream?” she asks, tilting her head.

“I think you mean every horny guy’s dream,” I retort. “Not all guys think like that. I’m a prime example of it. You can ask Jay if you want to verify, but I was more stressed out than anything when I got the news.” I look at her with a slight pained expression. “I can only imagine how it for you and the other two girls. You finally meet your soulmate, but they may not even pick you despite that…” I trail off as I hang my head.

Ai walks over and sits next to me. “Alright, I’m sorry for assuming that you are just one of those other horny guys.” She looks over at me. “You don’t have to worry about us. I’m sure the other girls would feel the same way… I would know because I’ve already met them.”

My head pops up. “You’ve met the other girls?”

“Of course! That was one of the instructions we were given,” she says as if it was to be expected. “I will say, I do have some tough competition by the looks of it.”

“Besides you, the only other one I know is Sensei. I don’t think I’ve ever met the other one, what was her name…” I check the name on my phone. “Yume Miko…”

Ai slowly scoots closer to me. “As a person who has seen her, she’s extremely cute,” she asserts. “I want to talk more about her and Sensei, but I think I’ll wait until after your meeting with both of them. Oh!” she pulls out her phone. “We should exchange contact info!”

I hand her my phone and let her input her contact information. “I don’t know why, but the thought of exchanging numbers didn’t even cross my mind,” I admit. You know when there’s just too many things to think about, you tend to miss some of the more obvious stuff. Kind of like how someone can hide in plain sight, but with your thoughts.

“Considering how your phone contacts are practically empty, I think I can understand why it slipped your mind,” she teases. After handing my phone back, she scoots right up next to me and rests her head on my shoulder. “Are you excited to meet the other girls?”

I don’t have to look at her to know she is concerned and worried. Wait, is this the moment where I’m supposed to put my arm around her and console her? My thoughts begin to wander. “I wouldn’t say I’m not excited…” I glace over at her and she’s looking down at her hands. “I would say I’m more anxious than anything.”

I can see her cheeks turning red as she eyeballs my hand. She slowly reaches out and grabs it. “I’m sorry that I’m being a little insecure right now,” she apologizes.

“With a woman like Sensei in the mix, I can’t say I blame yo—” I get cut off as I get jabbed in my ribs. “Yeah, sorry. Not really a great time to crack a joke,” I whimper as I wince from the pain.

She grabs my hand more firmly. “This is the time where you’re supposed to console me y’know.”

Alright, it seems my thoughts were right. I gently move my hand away from her grasp and put my arm around her. “Sorry, again… I tend to overthink things cause I don’t want to do anything that would make you uncomfortable.”

She smiles softly as she nuzzles her face into my chest. “As if that’s something you should be concerned about at this point, idiot.”

My heart starts racing at a mile minute as my nose is enveloped by the scent of her scent. The sweet aroma of cherry blossoms wraps my nose in a blanket. I finally understand what it means to be wrapped up in a scent. We sit there for a few minutes, just taking in the moment.

“Alright, well I think it’s about time I head to work,” Ai says as she stands up. “I haven’t been late once and I don’t plan on changing that anytime soon.”

I slowly stand up and grab my things. “That’s a strong sense of responsibility you’ve got.”

She laughs, “I’d rather be overly responsible than irresponsible.” She walks to the door and opens it halfway. “Well then, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow!”

I nod and smile in response. “Yeah, I guess so. You have a good rest of the day Kudou-san.”

“Oh, since we are partners and everything, you can just call me Ai. I would like it more if we were on a first-name basis,” she insists.

“Let me redo it then. You have a good rest of the day, Ai.”

Just as before in the classroom yesterday, her gentle smile makes time feel like it slows down as I get entranced. “As do you, Kousei.” She waves and walks inside.

I stand there for a minute, then take a deep breath. Could she tell how nervous I was through the entirety of our meeting? There were multiple times when I thought my heart would leap out of my chest. The way her figure was outlined in the classroom and how smooth and soft her hair is. Not to mention her sweet she smelt when she leaned on me. A giant smile forms as I try to cover it with my hand. This isn’t good, I can’t stop smiling.

I make my way in the building and begin to head home. The first meeting was a lot better than I expected, but I need to relax myself because I have another meeting at 7 P.M. I plug in my earbuds and listen to Lo-Fi to help relax myself before my meeting with Yume Miko.

~*~

As I shut the door behind me, I cover my face in my hands. Did he realize how nervous I was? I quickly run to the nearest bathroom. I make sure no one else in there before I set my bag down. I look into the mirror and my cheeks are flushed red. Since when did being called by your first name be so embarrassing? I smack my cheeks and take a deep breath.

Ever since I moved to Eden, I haven’t really made any friends. As a girl who is smart, but quiet, it’s kind of hard to throw yourself out there. I don’t really talk to anyone and just keep to myself. I never thought about approaching anyone until I noticed the guy who sits next to me in class.

I don’t think he knows I exist as he has never really looked at me, but for some reason, I feel drawn to him. I don’t know if it’s because his rare silver hair or his carefree attitude, but as time went on, my eyes kept following him. And before long, I started looking at him subconsciously.

Some people say you don’t need a reason to fall in love. Love is something that can just happen. It’s something that most people yearn for, but for a majority of the residents on Eden, there’s no issue in finding it. Despite the test for a soulmate, I convinced myself to try and talk to him before our testing day. Lone behold, I never did build up the courage to go talk to him.

On the day of the test, I woke up extremely disappointed in myself. I wanted to try and talk to him before the test because, what if I don’t get matched with him? Would the feelings I held for him be a lie? I felt extremely lonely, but I have a way of coping with that. I grabbed my favorite bow that was sitting on top of my dresser and gently caressed it. Please, please let me get matched with Kousei. I don’t want these feelings to have been a lie.

After arriving to the testing site, I pick a seat along the wall, so I don’t really stand out. I want to get in and get out as soon as possible. As time goes on, more and more students arrive in the testing room, then suddenly fate struck. My eyes covertly follow him as he makes his way to a desk. This has to be the red string of fate’s doing. After getting comfortable, he suddenly looks in my direction. I quickly duck my head down in the book I’m holding in front of me. Could he sense me looking at him? I hope he doesn’t think I’m some weirdo! My thoughts go awry as I try to keep my composure. Maybe he didn’t know it was me looking at him… I slowly turn to look at him and to my surprise, he hadn’t moved an inch. He’s looking at me! He’s looking at me!

My cheeks flush red and I can feel my head getting hot. I panic and slam my head on my desk, covering head with my arms. He totally thinks I’m a freak! I keep my head down until the tests began being passed out. Right before I started answering my questions, I try to get one last look at him because who knows, it could be one of my last chances. Why did I have to fall in love before the test?

A couple of days after the quiz, I get a text message:

“Hello Ai Kudou, after going through your answers for the test, we have found the soulmate you’ve been searching for! His name is Kousei Shimazaki, and you will meet him in your homeroom classroom in two days at 3 P.M.”

It felt like a dream. My first love wasn’t a lie. I knew it… I knew my love wasn’t fake. I cried for some time, not out of sadness, but as sign of relief.

My phone vibrates after a couple of minutes. “Huh? A second message from the test company?” I soon came to find out that fate has a strange way of stringing things together. “Two other women who got matched with him too, and I have to meet them tomorrow after class.” Nothing in life comes easy, especially love. This is my chance to change myself. I hated the feeling of possibly losing Kousei. I’m going to make sure I don’t ever have to worry about losing him again.