Firefly || Mezo Shoji

11. The Sunflower Room

Shoji had told me to wait, that he'll come to me, but my impatience was too much. The moment Shoji had hung up the phone my feet were already beating against the wooden floor, racing towards the front door. I knew it would take him a minute or two to get up to my floor, but I just couldn't wait. My fingers fiddled at the door lock and then the safety chain—the metal clattering as it swung against the solid wood of the door.

Hand gripping the doorknob, I pressed my ear against the aged, bevelled panel. My leg refused to quit fidgeting while I silently listened out for noise on the other side. The steady thud of footsteps climbing up the stairs suddenly echoed out in the corridor beyond this apartment.

The top of the staircase was directly situated across from my place, so the moment that the door was swung open I was faced with a startled Shoji—hands quickly snatched behind him, too fast for me to see what it was he was hiding. He was dressed in his hero attire—like the majority of the time that I saw him.

"Hi" I breathed. Immediately realising how strange my haste to answer the door must have appeared. I hadn't even given the man a chance to get up the stairs. However, after this tragic morning, I was just excited about seeing my best friend.

"Hey" he greeted—a momentary pause while he took the final step across the walkway. "You look...amazing," he said, while his onyx eyes looked at me, mesmerised for a reason I was uncertain about.

"Oh, thank you." A warmth flushed over my cheeks from the flattering remark. A compliment that I should have heard from my boyfriend this morning.

"Is this a bad time?"

"No, of course not" I smiled, tucking my hair behind my ear. "Come in" I motioned and moved away so that he didn't have to awkwardly stand in the hallway. Shoji stepped past, the way he kept his arms out of sight was becoming increasingly more suspicious.

"Aida here?" He asked as I pushed the door shut.

My breath hitched, the muscle in my throat suddenly tightening up at Shoji bringing up the one thing that I was not ready to talk about. The emotional wound was still apparently fresh.

I didn't want to give Shoji any reason to worry—knowing that if he had any inkling of my earlier episode of crying he would only fuss. And honestly, I wanted to forget it all and get on with the day.

I closed my eyes, took a deep breath and with that, pushed all tormenting feelings deep into the abyss of my mind. Concealing my despondency with a mask of composure, I turned around and made my way towards the window. "Um, no he had to go over to the studio."

"On your birthday?" He questioned dubiously.

"Mmhm" I hummed, taking a seat on the cushioned bench—avoiding his gaze so that I would be able to speak the next part without any hesitations. "They only get a certain number of days a week to use the studio, so they are trying to make the most of it while they can. I really don't mind, it's just another day" I shrugged, brushing over the pleated tweed of my skirt.

"But it isn't just any day, it's your birthday Kamei," the cushion shifted as Shoji sat down on the opposite end of the window seat. "How long will he be there for?" 

"I, uh, I don't know, he was running late this morning, so I never got the chance to ask."

God, I can't imagine he would have given me much of an answer with the mood he was in.

I pulled my legs up from hanging over the edge and tucked them to the side—uneasiness twisting at my stomach when I saw the frown etched into Shoji's brow. "He didn't say if he had planned anything for you?" 

He didn't even remember.

"Oh um..." My mind was in a frenzy of turmoil, disputing over telling Shoji the truth or not. I wasn't condoning Kenji's actions but at the same time, I didn't want Shoji to have any reason to dislike him. Well any more than he already did—Shoji may be one of the nicest people I've ever known but it was clear that Kenji wasn't at the top of his list of people he considered to be a friend. Nevertheless, he always showed him respect and civility when he was around.