archives

chapter 9

a/n: publishing this in the same day as the last chapter cuz i felt bad leaving it on a cliff-hanger :,0, enjoy!

Hajime's POV

Our conversations flowed without forcefulness, and he seemed so comfortable as well.

"So, you work in the library right? I wonder why I haven't seen you there before" I ask him taking a sip from my coffee.

"Uhm yea. Only part-time though cause I have school as well. Plus I'm usually in the back sorting stuff." he replied.

"That makes sense. What do you major in?" I asked him, tilting my head a bit to the side with a questioning look on my face.

"Oh I major in plant science. What about you?" he asks me back.

"Journalism, not nearly as exciting as it sounds though. I've always loved to read and write so I hope to be some type of author in the future. Plant science is cool though. I bet you deal with tons of bugs and shit" I reply, glancing at him and looking at the placement of his hands.

"Yea bugs are okay. They're not as scary as they seem honestly, you'll get used to them after a while of seeing them" he says, bringing the warm drink to his lips.

"Cool, I could never touch bugs. They freak me out a ton.". We aimlessly talking about everything and nothing, what we wanna do, hobbies other random stuff that doesn't really matter. It's nice though, he doesn't seem as anxious or awkward as he was when we first sat down. I like that he's warming up to me.

Somehow I always started the conversation, I didn't mind much though. After we finish talking, I check my phone. 'Damn it's already 4?' I think, putting my phone away.

I was tired of talking and him rambling about everything but nothing, so I said to him, "We should probably get going soon. The cafe has already started to clear out plus it's dark".

"Oh.. yea you're right." he plainly says, finishing off his drink and tossing it in the trash.

For once I'm glad that the sun sets so early during autumn and winter, otherwise I think I would've gotten a headache from talking so much.

I got up and also threw my cup away. We both started to put on our jackets, straightening ourselves up.

"Do you live far from here?" I asked him. He seemed as if he didn't really know the area too well, so I wanted to offer to walk with him even if it meant freezing my ass off.

"No not really, I live on campus that's about 4-5 blocks away from here. If you live farther don't feel burdened to walk with me. I don't wanna cause you anymore trouble than I already have" he says in reply.

'Trouble? Burden?' I scoff. I find those words somewhat amusing to hear. I don't bring it up to him though because I'm exhausted as it is. But I decide to walk with him anyway.

"No it's fine! I can walk with you. Plus you'll keep my company" I say, buttoning up my jacket.

We step out into the chilly night air which instantly causes me to shiver. I guess I hadn't came properly prepared as always.

Walking down the street, only the streetlights illuminated the sidewalk. It's strange how it gets so incredibly dark so early. It's silent between us, but I think that we're both socially tired so it's somewhat comforting. The only thing audible is slight sound of our jackets moving.

Eventually, we reach his campus. I've never been here before but its beautiful at night. The yellow street lights illuminating the path towards all of the dorm buildings, the sound of rustling leaves in the wind. The buildings looked somewhat old, but at the same time looked small and almost cottage like from the outside.