That Blonde Guy

Chapter 9

I first met Takemichi Hanagaki that Sunday morning of the 21st of May.

It was Hina's birthday. Sayuri and I went to Hina's place that day because the three of us had planned to eat somewhere to celebrate. When we got in front of Hina's apartment building, we saw her talking with a guy--someone who I didn't recognize.

Hina waved when she saw us. "Nika! Sayuri!"

Sayuri and I waved back and immediately approached them. I was smiling as I hold the paper bag that contained my gift for Hina. When we got to them, that's when my eyes landed on the guy with bleached yellow hair silently standing beside her.

"Nika, Sayuri, this is uhm." Hina smiled, blushing. "This is Takemichi."

I remembered how I paused the moment I heard his familiar name. It took me a few seconds to realize that he was Hina's boyfriend. A delinquent. And according to Sayuri, a captain in Toman.

The guy bowed. He extended his hand and shook Sayuri's first. "Hello--"

"Tch, quit it," Sayuri said, smirking. "Stop acting like we weren't classmates back in second year, Takemichi."

"U-Uh, yeah, Sayuri haha." He chuckled nervously. "You're Hina's friend now."

"Yaas," Sayuri flipped her hair. "Life's full of surprises and twists, you know."

"Oh, I forgot that you already know each other," Hina said, smiling. "By the way, Takemichi, this is Nika. She's a transferee. She's my friend, too."

I was pretty sure that this was the first time I ever saw Takemichi Hanagaki, but the moment he turned his head to me and our eyes met, something felt.. strange.

It was the look in his eyes. His overall expression. I was quite weirded out when he stopped for a moment, and just stared at my face for a few seconds, wide-eyed.

My brows slightly pulled together. "U-Uh, is there something.. wrong?"

He immediately shook his head and forced a laugh. "N-No, nothing," he said. He bowed. "Nice to meet you, I'm Takemichi."

I forced a smile. I bowed as well before shaking his hand. "I'm Nika. Nice to meet you, too."

It was weird. Seriously weird. Even after he left, and me and the girls finally started heading to the nearby mall, I couldn't stop thinking about the strange feeling that Takemichi gave me.

"Weird," I absent-mindedly uttered.

"What's weird?" I came back to my senses when Sayuri spoke beside me.

"U-Uh, nothing." I shook my head and smiled. I just realized we were already here in the mall. "So where are we gonna go first?"

"Uh, I actually invited another friend," Hina said, smiling. "Don't worry, she's easy to get along with, it'll be fine."

Sayuri smirked. "Wow, who's it gonna be?"

"It's--"

"Hina!"

The three of us automatically turned our heads when we heard someone calling Hina's name. The voice came from behind us, and then we saw someone standing near the benches in the entrance. It was a girl.

My eyes squinted. Wait, isn't that--

"Emma!" Hina shouted back to the girl, waving her hand. "Hey, Emma!"

I didn't have the slightest idea that Emma Sano was the other friend that Hina invited. I didn't even know they knew each other. I just stood there and watched them as they hugged, smiling as they exhange 'I missed you' and laughs.