Just The Two Of Us

Kazuyuki was finally free from his cold, which meant he could return to school. When he arrived, he was greeted with hugs from Kaede and Nori, and he was scolded by Daisuke.

Fuyumi approached him and slapped him in the arm. “Don’t ever do that again, okay?”

Kazuyuki was glad that his friends were worried for him, especially Fuyumi. After learning that Fuyumi was the one who contacted Daisuke and the others about how he had run away from home, he couldn’t help but feel grateful to her.

For the next couple of days, he and Fuyumi would continue to hang out more often. There was one time when he felt extremely sleepy when revising with her in the library, so he rested his head on the table.

“Are you okay, Sano-san?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” he said in a tired and low voice, “I’m just very tired.”

Kazuyuki felt a chill run through his body when he felt a hand pat his head. He decided not to move or react and to allow her to continue.

There were times when Fuyumi would be absent; she would inform Kazuyuki if she would be coming into school or not. The reasons for her absence varied from feeling ill to hilariously waking up too late. However, this made Kazuyuki feel lonely; all he wanted was to be with her.

“Come on, Sano-kun! Come with us after school.”

All day, his friends had been begging him to come to the mall with them.

“Sorry, but Satō-san and I have a meeting with the Reporter’s Club today.”

“I think it’s fine.”

The group looked up to see Ami enter the room.

“Ami-senpai!”

“I‘ll allow Sano-kun to go to the mall before the meeting if I can tag along as well.”

“Sure!”

“Fuyumi-chan, would you like to come with us?”

“Um. I think I’ll pass today. Sorry.”

“You sure?”

“Yes.”

No one ever saw Fuyumi outside of school, nor did they see her go anywhere besides the direction of her home after school. Curiosity struck Kazuyuki as he wondered why she was against going out shopping or doing other activities that involved being in a public area. She seemed to be fine at school, though.

“So, are you coming, Kazuyuki?”

He looked at Fuyumi as if he were trying to get her approval.

“Go. I’ll be fine here.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. I’ll see you later.”

“Okay.”

The group left the classroom, leaving Fuyumi alone with her revision materials.

As they walked to the mall, Fuyumi was all Kazuyuki could think about. The image of her sitting alone at her desk made him feel bad; he was having fun while she was lonely. As they ate, he constantly looked at the time, hoping he could return to her as soon as possible. He couldn’t bear the idea that she was there waiting for him in her solitude.

“Phew. That was delicious.” Declared Nori.

Kazuyuki swiftly got up from his chair.

“Where are you going, Kazuyuki?”

“I think I’m going to head back. Satō-san’s waiting for me, and I don’t want to keep her waiting.”

“Ooo!” The group collectively said

“It’s not like that! I just don’t want her to be alone.”

“Do you want me to go back with you?” Ami asked

“It’s fine. You can continue to hang out with the others. I’ll just see you later at the meeting. See you.”

Kazuyuki left in a hurry, knowing he had to get back as soon as possible. Sprinting back up the hill like a tiger hunting its prey, Kazuyuki managed to make it back to school in a record-breaking two minutes.

Trying to catch his breath, he slowly traversed the hallways until he made it to the classroom.

There she was, in all her natural beauty. The silky purple hair, the black mask contrasting with her smooth skin, her slim figure. He was relieved to see Fuyumi in the same spot he left her.

She looked up from her revision books to see him standing in the doorway.

“Hey.”

“Hey.”

“Are you okay, Sano-san?”

“I’m fine. I just ran back here.”

“Why did you run?”

“I remembered you were all alone here, so I came running back to you.”

Fuyumi blushed. “Ah, I see.”

“What are you doing?”

“Revising.”

“Then let’s revise together.” He said, taking out his books.

This marked the best few hours of his life. It started with a thirty-minute revision session, but they soon got bored and began to talk about different topics, like their family. He learned that she had an older brother who was studying abroad in America. The way she talked about her brother made him believe they were very close with one another. For the next half an hour, they scrolled through their phones and showed each other funny videos and pictures. Due to the fact that they were all alone in the school, they could be as loud as they wanted.

There was also a moment where they realised how long they had been waiting for the meeting to begin, causing them to feel fatigued. This was worsened when they got a text informing them that the meeting had been pushed back by another hour, which meant they had to wait even longer. Fuyumi placed her head on her desk and sighed deeply while Kazuyuki slumped into his chair. When Fuyumi saw this, she couldn’t help but burst into laughter and take a photo of him.

A rare and special moment occurred during this period, one that he would remember forever.

“I’m going to the toilet quickly.”

“What was that?”

At that moment, when Fuyumi did not hear what he said, she surprisingly, and it seemed she did it unconsciously, lifted her mask from her face. This was the first time Kazuyuki had seen what was under her mask. He was so taken aback by the glimpse of her mouth that he stood there silently, which confused Fuyumi.

“Sano-san?”

“Oh,” he said, snapping out of his trance, “I said I was going to go the toilet quickly.”

“Ah okay.”

In the toilets, he washed his face multiple times to make sure he wasn’t dreaming. He was all alone with Fuyumi and having fun with her. So many amazing things had happened that it was almost too real, and he simply couldn’t control his happiness.

Thirty minutes remained before the meeting, and it had begun to rain. This dulled the mood, but Kazuyuki wouldn’t allow the fun to die down.

“Come with me quickly.”

As the rain fell gently from the sky, the girl and the boy stood at the school entrance, mesmerised by its natural beauty. The sound of raindrops echoed like a soothing melody; its rhythmic sounds served as a backdrop to their unspoken emotions.

Kazuyuki looked down at Fuyumi, who seemed to have a melancholy look in her eyes.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah. I’m just a bit annoyed that we had to wait for so long, and now it’s raining. I have to walk home in this weather.”

In order to cheer her up, Kazuyuki decided to enter the field of nature’s tears and dance. He was getting quite wet, but he didn’t care because, in the distance, he could see Fuyumi laughing. It was enough to give him the power to endure the cold and the wetness. “As long as she’s happy, I can be happy as well.”

After drying off in the changing rooms, Kazuyuki and Fuyumi returned to their classroom, where Ami was waiting for them.

“There you two are! Where have you been?”

“Sorry, Ichikawa-senpai. We were just roaming the school a bit.”

“It’s fine. But we need to go. The meeting’s about to start.”

The meeting had finally begun. First, they listened to Sanderson-sensei, the club’s supervisor, talk about a competition a famous newspaper company was holding. After that, the club members spoke about their schedule for the school newspaper after the winter holidays.

Luckily, it had stopped raining when the meeting ended. Fuyumi and Kazuyuki sighed in relief.

“Thank god. It finally stopped raining.”

“It’s pretty dark outside, though.”

“Do you want me to walk you home?”

“It’s fine. I can make it home fine by myself.”

“You sure?”

“Yes.”

“Okay.”

“Sano-kun! Could you wait for me? I just need to go to the toilet.” Ami said.

“Sure.”

“Well, I’ll go on ahead.”

“Okay.”

“Thanks for today. You made it tolerable and better than it should have been.”

“Oh. Um. My pleasure.”

Kazuyuki watched as Fuyumi left the school building, her small figure slowly becoming blurry as she disappeared into the darkness.

“Thanks for waiting.” Ami called out as she walked towards Kazuyuki. “Where did Satō-san go?”

“She went on ahead.”

“Ah okay. Shall we go as well then?”

“Yes.”

As they walked home, they spoke about the meeting and what they planned to write about for the contest. Ami decided to change the topic to Fuyumi.

“Are you and Satō-san close?”

“I think we are. Why do you ask?”

“Ah. It’s because earlier in the mall, I could tell all you wanted to do was run back to her. You must really like her.”

“It’s not like that! I-I just… I-“

“I think she likes you too. She’s comfortable around you.”

“You think so?”

“I do. I’m not saying you two are in love or anything, but you both seem to need one another.”

Was he in love with Fuyumi? No. He couldn’t be. They were just friends. But amidst the swirling tides of his heart, he found himself caught in a tempest of uncertainty, unsure whether what he felt for Fuyumi was love or mere admiration. At home, he reflected on today and the fun they’d had since they first met.

With Fuyumi now on his mind, he texted her to make sure she had safely returned home. She replied a couple minutes later, confirming that she had arrived home.

Little did he know this would be the last time they would interact with one another.