This Girl's New Groove

“What took so long?” Akimoto casually asked without taking her eyes off the game.

I remained silent, standing in my doorway.

“Kiyotaka-kun?”

“...Akimoto-san, did you have fun this weekend?”

My question caused her to pause mid game-dialogue and turn towards me. She raised an eyebrow.

“W-what? What kinda question is that?”

“Haha— yeah, never mind… Uhm, I brought the tea.”

I tried my best to downplay the question with a laugh. I think it worked as Akimoto’s suspicious expression quickly flipped to having stars in her eyes at the mention of tea.

I hand the girls their drinks to ensure Akimoto got the zero sugar one.

“Blehh—! Hey! You think you’re some kinda funny guy!? What’s the big idea!?”

“...?”

“Don’t play stupid!”

“...?”

Double down.

“Sayuri-chan, let me taste yours—” Akimoto didn’t even give my poor sister time to respond. She yanked the drink out of her hand. “Yeah! Mm~ This one’s sweet! Mine isn’t at all!”

I shrugged—Triple down.

Akimoto stood up and stepped at me. She was starting to get quite aggressive, and I’ll admit, she was a little intimidating.

“You’re telling me… you happen to forget sugar in one of them, then you come back and you happen to hand me the one without any?”

“Uhmm— something like that…”

“You lie! You’re a liar!”

It took a bit more back-and-forth until Akimoto seemingly believed me. I shouldn’t even say seemingly—she didn’t. She just accepted the harsh reality and returned to her game with Sayuri.

***

“Tomorrow’s Monday… Monday… Monday…”

I’m talking to no one, laying on my bed, drifting into nothingness... Or maybe I’m speaking to the Robin poster on the ceiling above my bed. She’ll always comfort me… I love hearing her song in game.

Except when I lost her 50/50 four times. It’s times like that when I feel neither comfort nor love.

If you’re asking yourself, “Why does he have a poster of a woman above his bed? Is he seriously super addicted to— you know?”

Well, I thought about that. And to counter, I put up a poster of Tony Saporro next to her. Why him? What does an Otaku like me know about The Saporro’s?

A lot, actually. I really enjoy American media.

The point of saying that was I might be talking to him instead.

I’ve lost it…

***

Waking up is a special feeling sometimes. When it hits just right you feel the warm embrace of your comforter, the gentle breeze from the window accompanied by morning rays.

It all adds to a single feeling of content-ness—everything’s going to be alright, right?

I fold my blank off and swing my legs out of bed. A half stifled yawn slips out of my mouth as I do a quick stretch.

My small digital clock reads: “6:30.”

Good work internal-clock, waking me up on time and all.

I step across my room and the hallway towards the bathroom, my bare-feet making next to no noise.

“Hm? The light’s already on?”

Mom usually leaves for work by six and Sayuri doesn’t wake up till seven…

I peek my head through the cracked-door—my eyes were met with a flowing, perfectly kept golden waterfall. Nothing dared to divert from the flow, cascading all the way down to her mid-back.

A face of tame yet meticulously applied make-up, giving a lowkey but mature vibe.A hand was currently applying a very faint swipe of tinted balm, just enough to give her lips a natural hint of red without being too bold.

A uniform without a single fold, crease, or wrinkle. Her beige blazer nicely fit her body without being revealing, and a skirt stopped midway down her thighs.

“Oh, Kiyotaka-kun. I must’ve been taking a long time, sorry. I’m almost done, I promise.”

“W-w-wha— oh… yeah, of course. No yeah, you’re fine. Take your time. Sorry.”

I barely got that sentence out.

I stepped out of the bathroom doorway and stood against the wall. How long was I staring for!? Did she really not notice!?

I feel forty pounds heavier! That scene was too sweet for me, she was like a heroine out of a light novel.

When Akimoto stepped out of the bathroom after a few minutes, I stopped her.

“Ah—Akimoto-san.”

“Hm?”

“This might be rude—” Nah it’s Akimoto, I don’t care about politeness. “Why’re you suddenly trying with your appearance again?”

“I’m glad you asked.”

She put her hands on her hips.

“It’s because of you.”

“Me!?”

“You gave me all those speeches about, “using writing to understand my feelings,” and stuff. Then seeing you struggle so much I thought, it isn’t that hard, right?”

“...?”

“Saturday and Sunday night I wrote my draft for the writing club piece with Sayuri. I worked through my feelings about my break-up with Katsuki and I think I figured some stuff out.”

“I’m— glad.”

All I want to be is happy for her but… there’s a part of me not allowing it. Is it jealousy that she was able to write so much and not me?

No…

Is it her being close with Sayuri?

Nah.

What is it? Why can’t I just say: “That’s amazing Akimoto-san. I’m glad you were able to overcome that.”

This must’ve been blatantly painted on my face, because Akimoto gave me a wry smile.

“Kiyotaka-kun… Don’t worry. Sure I might be spending a little less time in the clubroom or with you, but I’m not giving up on our novel. You’re an idiot if you thought that for a second.”

“What?”

Akimoto extended a hand towards me—a handshake.

“We’re going to rise to the top of the light novel world, right?”

I pushed up my glasses and met her hand with mine—my glum expression turned into a smirk.”

“Yeah, of course.”

“Ah! Ew! Ew! Ew! Ew! No!”

That was my little sister’s voice!

“Kaoru-chan! That’s so gross! I thought you were a cool older sister! But you’re just like Mako!”

“Hey now, be nice Sayuri,” My mom chided. “I think it’s lovely Mako has someone like Kaoru-chan.”

“Did you two hear all of that?” I asked.

My mom put a hand to her cheek and smiled while Sayuri nodded.