Kalma

Catching Hearts

Their days of working turn into weeks and suddenly it went into months of working together. Akira and Kentarou has been working together for a long time, many consider them as childhood friends already, well some of the visitors there thought of that. One night at their night shift, Akira was seen being hit by a bunch of working class men, or one may refer them office gentlemen. They called her by her given name with the addition of "chan" behind it and pushed her to give them her cellphone number or line ID to be exact.

"No please customer! Let me hear your orders."
"No no no Akira-chan! Why don't we have ourselves a good time?" Said Man 1.
"Yeah! We will decide who will get you this night by ourselves! What do you say darling?" Offerred Man 2.
"C'mon Akira-chan! I know this motel at the other side of the river let's..."

PRANGG.
A sound of drinking glass was shatterred near that particular table. Kentarou appeared accidentally let the glass broken at the floor. Kentarou then said to the office men, "Sorry for the glasses, customer! Now please help me clean this Akira." Kentarou said this with offering his hand towards Akira.

"U-um!" Replied Akira with a little bit of blush that can be seen in microscopic eyes.
"T-Thank you for covering me Kentarou-kun.."
She replied to Kentarou at the back of the kitchen after they throw out the shatterred beer glasses.
"Yeah i know it can be quite uncomfortable for you. Just let me help you as a friend, okay? Don't worry about it." He said it with a smile and closed eyes through his glasses.
"No-no! Let me repay your gesture! Let's begin our lesson to catch Riri-chan's heart tomorrow! Okay??"
"Yeah good idea, please take care of me Akira."

Both of them suddenly felt a little uneasy of the sudden gesture. Wonder how their feelings recovered and stay put for a while.

The school bell rang to commemorate the first break of the day. What a lovely tuesday it is, with sounds of chicadas running throughout the athletic outdoor field of the school. As their class is beginning their sports schedule, Akira and Kentarou went to the side of the field to discuss what tactics they should approach to help Kentarou approach Riri.

"Now let us discuss the game plan Kentarou-kun. Maybe we should consider her hobbies too. Maybe she will open herself if you guys have the same hobby!" Think Akira.

"Well i guess it's worth the try. But i need a better approach rather than the last one obviously." Replied Kentarou.

With the snap of a finger and a toss to Kentarou's shoulder, Akira conquered her mind to achieve the best game plan. "Here, here. Hehe. I get one brilliant idea, listen closely."

With the cicadas sound mesmerized the whole field, they were actually looked like a couple. A few of their classmates started a brand new gossip, especially the girls.

"Are they dating?"
"Nah, Akira-chan is a tomboy you know. It's normal for her."
"Wow they looked like a couple."
"They're just girl and guy friends."

The talk continued throughout the sports class as the two of them were being lectured because they didn't comprehend the class material itself. The sports that day was actually basketball. A little bit side of their hobbies together, talking about sports together at "Kalma".

"I really don't like basketball, or other sports." Whispered Riri in her heart.

"Ahh i wish i could read my novels back home already."

Akira knew one of her hobbies very well, it is reading romantic novels or occasionally shoujo mangas. So Kentarou and Akira later that day went to a manga cafe to lend some of the brand new shoujo manga. It is far easier to read manga rather than old novels, Kentarou assummed.

As they entered the manga cafe, which named "Cutie Cat", the atmosphere was actually quite relaxing and very nostalgic. They quickly pick a spot together and since that day their shift is on 6 pm they still have time to waste.

Akira picked a manga that is called "Isn't It Called Love?" And showed it to Kentarou. As they opened the book together, he began to read the story of a familiar encounter.