When We Crossed Paths

Chapter Twenty Two: Are You The Reason?

I couldn't figure things out. It was getting difficult. Asahi was getting more stressed out. Again, still refusing to tell me. But, I could tell things were getting even worse. When I saw him in the mornings, his eyes were either raw from crying or puffy from lack of sleep. His demeanour was definitely changing. He was never any different with me but I could tell he was putting on a brave face. I seriously wanted to help but I was constantly hitting a brick wall. He just refused to talk to me about it, and I'm not good at confrontation. Plus, I was scared that I'd make it worse if I did. If I'm being honest, I'm not sure if he was even talking to his friends. He hadn't been mentioning them as much if at all. It made me wonder if I was his only support network. That was quite worrying and made me even more conscious about confronting him. I didn't want to risk making him pull away from me and have no one.

I hated this. I just absolutely hated it. I felt completely powerless.

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It was lunchtime. I had lunch on my own because Shizuka had some art show thing coming up so, had to try and finish her painting and was using lunch breaks to complete it.

I was sitting in the central courtyard, minding my own business. Everyone was in their cliques, chatting, eating, some playing football. I was reading. Pretty happy with that if I'm honest.

"Yamashita-kun?" called a voice. I looked up to find one of my female classmates standing in front of me. Of course it was a female classmate as none of my male classmates were talking to me.

"What's up?" I asked.

"There's a girl looking for you." She replied.

"A girl? Shizuka?" I quizzed.

"No. Not Shizuka. No one knows who she is. She's not a student at this school. She just turned up and said she was looking for you, and that it was urgent."

Who could it be, I wondered. Who had come here to find me?

My classmate escorted me to front courtyard and pointed to a girl standing near the gate.

"Akamori!?"

"Hi Yamashita. It's nice to see you again." She greeted.

"Wha...what are you doing here?" I asked.

"I'm so sorry for coming to your school like this. I just...I didn't know what else to do."

I didn't like this. I didn't like this at all. Why is she here?

"Can we talk? Please?" She requested. Her eyes showed fear and worry. I agreed and we sat on a nearby bench.

Nothing was said. I was waiting for her to build the courage to speak. She was clearly nervous.

"I know this is strange since, we've only met once and I don't want this to cause any awkwardness or friction between you and him. But...I need to speak to you about Nishimura." She began quite solemnly. She wasn't looking me in the eye.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Well...you're his best friend so, you probably already know the story. But... Nishimura and I have known each other for 3-4 years. Our parents had made arrangements. So old fashioned, I know. I was never into that. But my parents insisted, or forced is probably the better word, in continuing this tradition. They're old friends from Nara were moving to Tokyo and they had a son who was my age and would be a perfect match. I had arguments, temper tantrums, I wasn't doing it. But my parents were having none of it and arranged a meeting. My parents took me down to Nara to meet them. On the day of the meeting, my parents and I were sitting in a tea house waiting. They arrived and then this beautiful boy walked into the room. I was stunned. I couldn't believe someone so beautiful existed. He was unamused by what was happening. Completely understandable. So anyway, we were left to get to know each other and once he realised I was just as annoyed about what was happening, he completely opened up. He was sweet, kind, funny, charming. He was wanderful, I actually couldn't believe I was thanking God my parents set this up. Something I will never admit to them! Anyway, we were talking a lot and I actually thought that maybe this was a good idea and this could possibly work out. We became close. Our parents were talking about marriage someday, which of course was not what I was thinking about. I was trying to survive middle school. When they moved to Tokyo, he went to a different middle school but I was glad he was here. It was great. But..." She paused.

"But what?" I said.

"But one day, he started talking about this new friend he met called Yamashita Hideki. This Yamashita Hideki was all he would talk about. He would say how sweet, kind, funny and how wonderful he was. Then I started to get suspicious..."

I gulped at that moment. I could see where this was going. I was so frightened. What was she going to say? Did she know? Was she going to tell Asahi's parents? How was I going to respond?

"...Things then started to calm down. I thought that maybe I was overreacting. Maybe he was just excited to have a new friend after leaving Nara. Then...randomly, out of the blue, he told me that we weren't taking things any further and that he was telling his parents that the arrangement was off. The only explanation he gave was that he was in love with someone and an opportunity had arisen for him to be together with them and that's what he wanted. I was heartbroken..."

I didn't know what to say. Everything she was saying was completely overwhelming. I could imagine and understand the pain she was feeling though. I actually felt guilty.

"...I need to ask you a very serious question. I know we don't know each other but I need you to be honest..."

I just nodded.

"...are you the person he's in love with?"

My soul left my body. I was seriously having an out of body experience. She was staring at me waiting for an answer. What the hell do I say!?

"Yamashita?"

"Uhm...I..." I was in panic mode. Do I lie? Although, I suspected that she already knew the answer.

"Are you and Nishimura a couple?"

She was tightening to screws. I was half considering about playing dead. I didn't know what to do.

"I think that answers my question."

SHIT! FUCK! Those two words swirling round my head. I started to hyperventilate.

"Yamashita?"

"Y...yeah?" I stuttered.

"It's OK. I've not told anyone and I won't tell anyone. As much as it pains me, I want Nishimura to be happy. Even if it's not with me. I know I'll get over this. I was probably into this arrangement much more than he was, even though I hadn't intended to. So, honestly, it's fine. There's no animosity..."

I felt I should've been relieved by that, but I wasn't. I mean...I was relieved that she wasn't angry and wasn't going to tell anyone but this seriously couldn't have been the reason she came here.

"I get the feeling that this was not the main reason you came here." I interjected.

She took a deep breath. "It'll be no surprise to you that Nishimura's family are not happy. His father is extremely angry. He's hardly talking to him. He's forced him to quit the Volleyball team..."

"What!?" I exclaimed.

"You didn't know that?"

"No!" I couldn't believe it. The other week...his coach wasn't sick. He was lying. "...I can't believe his dad has done that. Asahi loves Volleyball..."

"I know." She agreed.

"...But if he's not going to Volleyball, where's he going on those days?" I enquired.

"I don't know. I don't know much anymore. He doesn't talk to me. He avoids me. But things are bad, and the only one that can do anything is you." She said looking me straight in the eyes.

"He won't tell me. He keeps changing the subject or just rebuffs me when I bring it up." I complained.

"You're going to have to try harder! Things are going to get worse. You're the only one he'll listen to..." She implored. "...I have no idea why our parents are being like this or why his parents are trying to still force this, but he's going to need you. I'm worried about him. And I know you are too."

I just sat there, taking it all in. I actually didn't know what to say. Everything she said was spot on. 100% correct. But, I still didn't know what to do. Honestly though, I could've just  cried. But...I knew that I couldn't. I had to act. I kept being hesitant because I didn't want to pick a fight with him or risk him leaving me, but, it was obvious that the situation was much worse than I realised.

I had to act.

I had to act now...