"Kiyotaka!" his eyes shot up as his name rang out in the quiet classroom. He turned from the page he was currently studying. His present annoyance quickly melted as he caught sight of Chihiro approaching him.
"Ah! Good morning Chihiro!" he greeted with an enthusiastic smile.
The two had become fast friends since the first interaction. They shared a few classes, which Kiyotaka was used to being alone in. So when the day after, a bounding and cheerful Chihiro sat down next to him and began to chat off his ear, he had conflicting feelings. It was nice to have someone to talk to, but it was also harder to focus. Thankfully, Chihiro seemed to be as intellectually sound as he was shy, so when it came to class time he wasn't much of a distraction. What did surprise Kiyotaka, however, is when after that first class together, Chihiro had asked him to hang out after. He excitedly asked, tugged at the sleeve of Kiyotaka's pristine white jacket. In the past when Kiyotaka would have "class friends'' they would ignore his whole existence the moment they crossed the threshold into the rest of the world. But Chihiro genuinely enjoying his company, and actually wanting to be around him more than a convenience for class time purposes was.. It was a shocking revelation.
He had initially declined, watching Chihiro's face fall into a sad pout.
"I have to study, maybe tomorrow."
He muttered after a bout of silence, his thought train barreling through station after station, conclusion after conclusion.
"Aw boo! T-that's so boring." He huffed and crossed his arms, puffing out his cheeks. Kiyotaka chuckled quietly, putting his things away.
"I am sorry to disappoint you, Chihiro, but my studies come first. I promise I will set aside some time tomorrow, Ok?'
Saying that seemed to lighten Chihiro's rapidly souring mood. He let out a comically loud and drawn out sigh, rolling his hazel eyes. Kiyotaka stood up and began his trek back to the dorm rooms, with Chihiro trailing not far behind him. The smaller boy had a tough time keeping up with Kiyotaka's lengthy stride, breaking into a trot on Kiyotaka's heels.
"Fine! But you b-better not be lying t-to me. I want to hang out like real friends do."
"F-friends?' it was Kiyotaka's turn to stutter, feeling his face begin to heat up.
"Well duh! We ARE friends, right?'
Kiyotaka paused at the door, his hand hovering over the handle.
"Of course!" he exclaimed loudly, "we are friends, Chihiro!"
Chihiro kept walking, giving him an ecstatic wave as he walked off toward his own room.
"Friends." he repeated softly to himself, feeling a warm smile, a real smile, lift at the corners of his lips.
"Real friends"
Just like he had promised, after classes for the day ended Kiyotaka agreed to hang out with Chihiro. The smaller boy was practically vibrating with excitement. He ran ahead of Kiyotaka as they exited the classroom, bouncing on the balls of his feet as he waited impatiently for him to catch up. This cycle continued the whole way to the dorms, which was across the campus from their last shared class.
"Cmon slowpoke! Hurry up!" Chihiro yelled back, if you could call it yelling. His voice was so naturally quiet it almost seemed like he was speaking normally.
"So I was thinking we head down to a tea shop a couple blocks down! I go there a lot, and it's really small and cozy!"
Chihiro was walking backward to talk to Kiyotaka, stumbling, walking forward and then falling behind, and then trotting to catch up.
"That sounds nice, Chihiro." Kiyotaka mindlessly replied, too caught up in the fact that he really was about to go hang out with someone, as friends. He didn't care what they did, he was just happy to be there. Chihiro's phone buzzed in his skirt pocket, flashing Kiyotaka's irises with its bright pinks and purples. Fuzz covered the whole case as cute charms waved back and forth, attached to the top.
"Oh, they're waiting on us." Chihiro muttered to himself. "They?" Kiyotaka repeated louder, his strong pace faltering.
A strong blush creeped up on his pale cheeks as his eyes widened in surprise,
"OMIGOSH!!!" he yelled out, turning frantically to Kiyotaka.
"I totally forgot to tell you! I wanted you to meet the rest of my friend group, so I asked them to meet us at the tea shop... but I completely forgot to even ask you!"
Tears had begun to well up in Chihiro's eyes and he groaned, dropping his head down before looking up guiltily at Kiyotaka, "I hope that's ok, I'm so so SO sorry!!"
Kiyotaka sighed inwardly, his happy feeling crumbling slightly. Of course Chihiro would have other friends besides himself. It was selfish to believe he was in the same situation as Kiyotaka was. He mentally kicked himself for being so narcissistic. But on the other hand, if these were friends of Chihiro's, maybe they wouldn't be that bad. But he would have to deal with that guilt slowly eating him up another day as Chihiro was still waiting on an answer.
"Of course! Any friend of yours I am sure I will get along with! Don't worry, Chihiro!"
Kiyotaka pushed down his emotions and put his hand on his shoulder in a comforting and confident manner and flashed Chihiro a bright smile, his confident laugh echoing off the cars that passed by the walkway. They had slowly been entering the main city near Hope's Peak. Tall buildings rose to touch the clouds that drifted lazily by, neon signs shone in the shade of each skyscraper as light bounced off the tall mirror-like windows. Chihiro smiled back, a relief passing over her features as she turned to bound off again, his skirt bouncing along with his high kicking stride. He stopped in front of the windows of a quaint little shop, waiting for Kiyotaka to catch up before he ducked into the swallowing depths. He had used the correct descriptions for the tiny shop. It was incredibly small. Kiyotaka could make out 4 or 5 tables at most, filling the entire place. And as it just so happened, each one was completely full.
'Typical.' Kiyotaka muttered to himself, letting his crimson eyes scan the sizable crowd for the small bunny-like guy he had arrived with. He finally caught sight of Chihiro at a table near the back, waving his arm high in the air before turning with a huge smile on his face to the group beside him Kiyotaka couldn't see. As he approached, he began to see some details of the group Chihiro was surrounded by. A thin athletic girl, a meek quiet looking boy, a simply dressed girl with long hair, and...
"Kuwata?!" Kiyotaka shouted, startling the group as he approached, narrowing his eyes at the fiery haired punk. Leon reacted in kind, a scowl darkening his pale eyes.
'You! What are YOU doing here?" he huffed, stepping forward to stand level with Kiyotaka, who folded his arms over his chest, glaring him down.
"I could ask you the same question."
Chihiro quickly hopped in between the two, her face showing extreme worry at the spite they were radiating.
"Wait, you two know each other?"
"Uh, yeah! He was being an ass to me and the gang earlier this week!"
"Language!" Kiyotaka barked in response," I wouldn't have had to be if you hadn't interrupted my studies with your loud vulgar mouth!"
"I'M being LOUD?! Dude! You're the one who's literally yelling!" Leon took a step forward, daring to intimidate Kiyotaka, but he wouldn't back down.
"Its the natural inflection of my voice, i cannot help that! But your incessant use of cursing is embarrassing!"
"Guys! Guys please don't fight! I don't want my friends fighting!"
Chihiro sniffled, giving each of them a puppy dog eyed look.
wait...
They both realized what Chihiro had said to them, and yelled in unison,
'YOU'RE FRIENDS WITH HIM?!"
YOU ARE READING
Assassin! Ishimaru Kiyotaka
Romance"He stared at the tv screen, his mouth opened in a slight 'o' shape, his eyes wide. His face was inches away from the screen, feeling the buzz of electricity. He couldn't believe it. His mind would simply not let him comprehend the facts presented i...
