𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐚 || 𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐞 𝐲𝐮𝐠𝐢

𝐓𝐀𝐏𝐄 𝟎𝟏

𝐃𝐄𝐀𝐑 𝐀

"there you are," mei shijima immediately spotted amane yugi, who's currently talking to akane aoi about space and aoi. "finally, i don't have to go to the third floor."

"what is it, shijima-senpai?" amane asked.

"the art room is currently being renovated and i found these cassette tapes lying around." mei slightly shook the box that she was holding. "i was wondering if you could keep an eye of it for a while before i can get it back when i find a place to put it."

"cassette tapes?" akane adjusted his glasses to take a look of the tapes. "ao-chan and i watched thirteen reasons why on netflix together and i can't help but it is the first thing that comes to my mind."

"you can't stop talking about your ao-chan, huh?" amane deadpanned at the red-haired boy.

"ehem, yugi-kouhai." mei cleared her throat to grab the choppy-haired male's attention. "you can take the box home with you. i will be contacting you when i needed the box back."

"don't worry, shijima-senpai!" amane takes the box from his senior's hands and smiled brightly. "i'll make sure to take good care of this box."

mei bid farewell to the boys before going back to help out the members of the art club to renovate their new clubroom by the new building department.

amane couldn't help but stare at the bunch of cassette tapes. he wondered what message do they convey once he plays them all. maybe they're all music for the members to listen to as they paint or an audio recording about art related things. amane was sure that mei wouldn't mind if he listened to all of it.

the breeze of early spring tickled amane's skin as he stepped out of kamome academy during dismissal. his twin brother, tsukasa, was with a senior named natsuhiko so he went home by himself instead. "i'm home." amane tiredly announced as he took off his shoes and went inside his home.

"welcome home, amane." his mother's sweet voice rang from the kitchen, the aroma of curry entered his nostrils, resulting to his stomach rumbling that made him embarrassed. his dad is at work and would come home around late at night. "dinner is prepared, better leave some for tsukasa and your father."

amane sat down on the table, grabbing a bowl of rice with curry and clasped his hands together. "itadakimasu-" he said before digging in to his food. the cassette tapes were the last thing in his mind right now, he couldn't help but wanting to listen to them, just one tape is enough, if he gets bored then he'll just have to wait for mei to message him to give the box back. 

after eating dinner, amane took the box with him, along with a cassette player which was given to him by a cousin from the overseas. he sat on the floor as he dug through the cassette tape to take a guess on which one he should listen. "they have numbers in it, maybe i have to listen to it in order?" amane asked himself while grabbing a tape that was labeled '03'

he crossed out the possibility of the cassette tape containing music, the last one is an audio recording of a person talking about art, something that he'll listen after two or three tapes. amane needed the tape that was labeled '01' as his gut tells him that he should listen to it by order, he places the tape inside the player, plugging in his earphones and pressed play.

▶

❝dear a, 
this is where i'm going to talk about my feelings to someone i'll never reach, despite being so close, i'll never get a chance with them, so i'll just say it through this cassette tape, it's not like they're going to listen it it or even realize that i was talking about them,❞

amane's face fell in confusion but he wasn't disappointed. the cassette tapes were voice recorders belonging to a hopeless romantic female talking about her feelings to someone who goes by 'a' and instead of saying it directly to the person, she decided to say it to a cassette tape, like a rant.

instead of answers, amane's head was filled with questions. what are these confession tapes doing in the art club? who is the person behind these tapes?

who's 'a'?

not to mention, the person's voice sounded familiar in a way. people can have a similar voice but there's no way two people can have the same voice. despite amane and tsukasa being twins, both boys have different voices. tsukasa has a higher key while amane has a lower key so it's easier to distinguish them both. "if i listen to all of these tapes, will i find out who this person is along with 'a'?"

||

amane realized that the tape ended. he was so lost in his thoughts and speculations on the new world he entered when he listened to the first tape. maybe he should ask mei about these tapes when he goes to school tomorrow.