Wrongdoings

The morning glory we planted bloomed in a bright purple.

It had been quite a while since that day. Chiharu had come in to see the flowers when I had mentioned them to her via text accidentally, and Hikari eyed her suspiciously. Mr.Sato also took pictures of the blossoms and smiled proudly. Kobayashi and Hikari talked a lot more than I could've imagined. And Yamato was dating Fujiwara senpai.

"That's so unexpected!" Hikari exclaimed, and I looked at him with my face saying, Really?

Yamato rolled his eyes and said to Hikari. "He's just being jealous because he's rude and no one likes him." Hikari started laughing as if it was the funniest thing ever. I looked away, slightly embarrassed.

"What do you mean no one likes him? Everyone likes Mr. Popular! All the girls in your class are smitten by him, and yet he acts like some gloomy loner kid."

Mid-terms were over and we had reviewed our results. Yamato got the highest grades in Japanese, and he smugly showed his report card to his new girlfriend, who patted his head. In our own class, I was second to Kobayashi.

Hikari had to re-take the test for Math. "Ugh, I hate this so much!" Hikari wailed as Kobayashi forced him to solve practice questions.

"You shouldn't expect to go to college with grades like this." Yamato joked.

"College? No way, I'm not going! I'm starting to work as soon as I can! I hate studying!" Hikari replied. "And I'm not wasting money for something like that, it's stupid, right, Souma?"

"I'm going to college though, and I'll be a salaryman," I said and Hikari looked as if he'd been betrayed.

Kobayashi asked, "You could try research, maybe? I'm going to study medicine." Yamato calmed us all down, saying that it was still just the first year of high school and that we'd have enough time to figure it out.

Hikari was about to move out and live on his own. Yamato and I helped him move things a little at a time. Since they'd already started paying rent for the place, Hikari didn't want to keep the place empty.

Yuki's parents were still reluctant to let him go. "They think Yuki said something to me, and that's why I want to move away. But I just want to do whatever I want now."

"He did say all that in front of me though, who knows what he says when no one sees." I disagreed but Hikari assured me, that he and Yuki never talked unless they were forced to.

I had started playing basketball with a few boys in our class during breaks, Hikari would come over and watch. When I was asked, "How come you suddenly want to play?" I'd say, 'no reason' and move on. It wasn't really a lie, but only Hikari knew the deeper reason. It was a small unresolved guilt.

I still hadn't given a response to Hikari, but he hadn't been pushing either.

Nothing felt forced anymore. I knew most of what I had to know, and I was satisfied. That's what I thought, until Hikari started pestering me to talk to Yuki once more, just one last time and then even he would never talk to him again. "Why?" It was the most genuine question.

"He has something to say, and he said he'd tell us everything. Aren't you curious?" Hikari asked.

"Not so much, actually. I don't want to think about the past anymore, reminds me how ignorant I was... and it's not like talking to him will change anything. I don't like him, Hikari." He made you cry and said so many mean things right in front of me. "You should be glad I didn't get into a fight, because I don't think he'd stand a chance against me."

Hikari laughed in response, "Yeah yeah, you and your family's insane strength! It's so unfair, you don't even do any sports and don't eat healthy either! And I keep taking meds, and still keep fainting."

"That's why I think you shouldn't move out yet. What if you pass out and no one is there?" He told me not to worry about it, and that it was a temporary thing.

"I'll take medicine in time, and I'll eat full meals." He reassured but it didn't satisfy me. "If something does happen, I'll start living with a roommate maybe."

"That's unnecessary," I said and he started laughing.

Despite denying it so much, Hikari did drag me all the way to meet Yuki one last time. We went to the same cafe we had gone to the last time. Apparently, one of Yuki's friends worked there.

I glared at the man and he avoided my gaze as much as possible. It was seriously scary how similar they looked, in fact, if they dressed the same and styled their hair the same way, then it would become hard to distinguish between them. Hikari was like a smaller version of Yuki.

I wonder if Hikari will grow that tall. He would look like a celebrity...

"About what happened with Saeko... I'm sorry." Yuki said and I didn't buy it. "Listen, I'm not a good guy, alright? And I was a kid too, so I kept disregarding her when I had her attention."

"What made her slap you?" Hikari asked and Yuki tsk'ed.
"Seriously, that's what you want to know? That's a little personal—"
"I thought you were sorry." I rolled my eyes.
"Fine, fine! You all are kids so I can't say it in detail, though. It was a problem with the club budget," He paused and looked away, "And I might have said something else."

No matter how much Hikari and I insulted him, he kept saying that he couldn't say it. Any amount of "We're all guys" and "It couldn't have been that bad" didn't convince him to talk. We reluctantly gave up and continued berating him.

"I'm moving out now, so you don't have to worry about grandfather anymore. Give me a few more years, and I'll stop taking an allowance from your parents too." Hikari told him.

"I don't think you should move out yet." We both looked at him in disbelief. "What? He's been fainting less often these days, I know but it's still not safe. And this guy can't cook or even wash dishes, he's definitely going to die alone in that sad-looking flat." Hikari asked how he knew what it looked like. "You think Mom and Dad have time to look for a house? I asked around my friends and found that place. It's close to the hospital too, you better be grateful."

And then he talked about his time in high school. He talked about the flower bed behind the building, and we showed him a picture of the plants we'd set up. We told him about Chiharu's painting and how Yamato joined the literature club. It surprised him when he heard what we were up to. "That would've made her very happy." He confirmed.

"You guys should go to the beach then." Yuki thoughtfully said. "She always wanted to do that, just go to the beach and walk by the water. She asked me to go many times, but I never listened to her... I don't think I'll ever go to the beach ever again." He said distastefully.

That did sound like something we could do. Right after the mid-terms, it'd be fun.

"I had no idea what kind of a guy you were," Yuki said to me. "If I even said a word about you, Saeko would get mad at me. It was kind of creepy, how protective she was."

I mean, I do get it now. Saeko wasn't the perfect person I'd thought her to be.

Of course, she was so much better than jerks like Yuki. She was kind and always helped her friends. But she was also harsh to those she didn't care about much. I sort of came to the conclusion, that Saeko used Hikari on many occasions to her benefit.

She kept insisting to him that he'd get along with me and that he should try being friends with me. And then, she told him to hide any mistakes Yuki would make. My sister was good to me, but she wasn't so good to Hikari. Yuki understood that, and maybe in a sick way, that's what made him not like her.

I wish Hikari would see, that not everything she told him was true. That angels like Saeko could still make mistakes.