vermilion | chifuyu matsuno

four

it was lunch time again, and chifuyu along with keisuke, hakkai, and kazutora were the only people in their usual table. mikey and draken still got an errand to do in the library while takashi is busy with his home economics club, and the others – well chifuyu doesnt know about the whereabouts of the others.

everyone knew that times like this were bound to happen when they entered uni, and it was really hard for their group to adjust during their first year since they were always intact. but later on, they started to adjust slowly, they realised that it was how the world works, they were bound to meet new people, and that's okay, because that's part of one's growth and at the end of the day, they will remain friends.

"god, uni is hard, they keep on giving us tasks, we're not robots you know!" keisuke groaned in annoyance, as he continued to type furiously on his laptop.

"it wouldn't be hard if you did that paper two weeks ago instead of doing it on the day of the deadline," chifuyu answered him, making kazutora and hakkai laugh.

"keisuke's such a procrastinator!" kazutora exclaimed and they all nodded in agreement.

"be thankful that we're friends or else i would've punched the three of you a minute ago," keisuke said, obviously more annoyed because of the teasing that his friends had done. but instead of getting scared of his threat, the three just laughed and continued on teasing him.

while they continued on teasing him, chifuyu couldn't help but notice that his water bottle was already empty. if takashi was there, chifuyu would've asked him for water, but since he wasn't, chifuyu had no choice but to stand up and make his way towards their refilling station.

chifuyu stood behind two people for a couple of minutes before it was finally his turn.

as he was busy staring at his water bottle, a voice suddenly startled him.

"i knew you took business, but i didn't know that you took business here."

chifuyu turned around to see aki smiling at him, a water bottle with the same color of her hair rested in her hands.

"oh...hey..." chifuyu mentally scolded himself for the way he replied, he was being really awkward infront of the girl whom he found pretty.

"i–uh..." he was struggling to find the right words to say as he didn't know that it was aki who was behind him.

"anyways, i'm done reading that manga you suggested, and i'm so mad at you for suggesting that," aki said and playfully punched his shoulder.

"oh, i'm sorry," chifuyu softly said, and aki's eyes widened upon seeing the way he replied.

she frantically waved her hand infront, "no, no i was just kidding. i'm not mad, i was just joking."

"oh okay, i'm relieved," chifuyu said smiling sheepishly, before looking around and noticing that the cafeteria had their whole eyes on him and aki. he even saw mikey, draken, and his other friends near the cafeteria door, watching the two of them with curious eyes.

"that manga was really amazing actually! it's art is so freaking superb! the manga panels are so beautifully drawn. if i were given a chance to create a manga, i would choose that manga because holy shit the art is stunning!"

chifuyu looked at the vermilion-haired girl again before nodding, "yeah, that's also one of my favorite things about the manga. the art is sensational."

"oh, the water is overflowing!" aki exclaimed and she was right. when chifuyu turned to look at the bottle, it was already teeming with water. this sight caused chifuyu to panic, making him immediately grab his bottle, but unfortunately for him, he got some of it spilled over his hoodie.

"shit," he muttered to himself before turning to aki, "i'm so sorry kobayashi-san, but i need to clean this mess."

"it's okay, do you need help or something?" aki asked him with a concerned look.

"no," he said almost immediately, shocking aki.

"oh okay," the girl nodded, and forced a smile.

"thank you kobayashi-san, but i can handle this," was all chifuyu said before making his way towards the exit of their cafeteria, aware that his school-mates were following his every movement, aware that he left aki standing there alone, and aware of how much he fucked everything up.