ajisai | s. shinichiro

十七

🗀 Rejection: 17

At school, Airi hadn't seen Shinichiro nor any of his friends the whole morning and it's already noon time. Seated with Roa and Seiko inside the cafeteria, she would unconsciously lifted and crane her head up to see if it was him or any of his friends that entered. If it isn't them then she'd paint her lips with a small pout.

This action of hers has already happened five times already and continuously that Roa and Seiko already knew who she's looking for without even saying a name. 

When the lilac haired girl caught sight of her two friends looking at her with that kind of look, she slightly knit her eyebrows together, shaking her head. "I'm not even look for Shinichiro!"

"Shinichiro? First name basis already?" Roa asks, teasingly grinning at her.

"We didn't even mention a name but thanks for letting us know!" Seiko beams, letting out a sound of laughter afterwards.

Her face began to heat as blood rose through her cheeks, unable to look at anything but only down at her food. Sighing to herself, she begins to pack up her lunch box before getting up from her seat.

"I'll head back to the classroom first." She tells them, turning around on her heels and climbing back up the stairs to head back to her classroom.

On her way there while trudging up the staircase, she took notice of a pair of legs right in front of her on the top stair. Lifting her head up, she lets out a small hum sound.

"What happened to your lip, Shin?" She asks, getting on her tiptoes to get a better look. "Why is your lower lip busted? Did you get into a fight?" She asks once more. Before she could lay the heels of her feet back on the ground, her right calf stung and felt limp for a moment; but at that moment, Airi almost loses her balance and was about to fall back down on the stairs, shutting her eyes closed, all she could do was wait for the impact on her back and the back of her head.

But it didn't happened.

Slowly opening her eyes, she quickly notices how Shinichiro has his right arm extended out and holding onto her wrist, preventing her from falling down. Almost immediately, he pulled her back and helped her regain her composure.

"I kind of got into a fight." He admits, scratching the back of his head. "But it's no big deal!" He adds, chuckling it off.

"A busted lower lip stings a lot." She responded, taking a hold of his wrist. "Come on, I have something in my backpack that can clean and heal it off." She continues.

With an antiseptic wipe in one hand, she leans the cloth closer to his lip before dampening it gently, cleaning the blood off. Luckily, the ones she has were sting free or else she'd hear him complaining how it hurts.

Leaning a little closer to his face, her eyes were trained on his lips as her hand continues to clean away the blood and other dirt off; the feeling of his plump yet chapped lips grazing through the thin layer of wet wipe and into the pads of her fingertips. They were dry because of his occasional habit of smoking, but she isn't going to lie how soft they look in her eyes.

Slowly, Shinichiro stops the movement of her wrist with his hand. Lifting her head up to look at him, she notices how he was already looking at her. And ever so slowly, he leaned his head down to her level, parting his lips open while closing his eyes. Even if their lips were only a few inches apart, she places a hand on his chest, pursing her lips into a thin line.

. . . . . . . . . . ♡

"WHAT?! YOU TWO ALMOST KISSED?!"

"Quiet down!" Roa shouts, hitting Seiko in the back of her head.

"Ouch! That's really so mean of you, Roa!" Seiko cries, holding the back of her head while going over to Airi's side. "Airi you saw her hitting me right?! Hit her back too! The back of my head really hurts!"

"Shut up!" Roa shouts again.

All the while the two of them bicker on her side, Airi had her head leaned on the wall. She couldn't get the memory of Shinichiro trying to kiss her earlier out of her head, it kept replaying like a broken record. Instead of feeling angry or mad, she felt scared and nervous. The root of it coming down from a few years ago.

"Maybe I do like him." Airi begins to say, causing both Roa and Seiko to stop from killing each other. "Or maybe I don't? Ah, I don't really know!" She sighs, shaking her head. "I want him to just stay by my side but at the same time I'm afraid that I'll push him away so far he won't return." She voices out.

"Does that make me a selfish person or a hypocrite?" She asks, lifting her head up to look at the her two friends.

"Well...you're neither for me!" Seiko replies, removing her hands off Roa's hair.

"Me too. I don't think you're selfish nor a hypocrite." Roa chimes in, removing her hands off Seiko's hair. "You're just wanting to come out of your shell and try to love but at the same time you're finding peace and comfort in your little space." She adds.

"If so-"

"I know what you need!" Seiko announces. "You just need a little push! You'll hear it from me, Airi. Nothing will ever happen if you don't come out of your little space and push yourself to do something that you want to do but subconsciously back away from."

"Is this what I really need?"

"Of course. Food is always present."

After leaving the school, Airi finds themselves inside the ice cream shop they regularly go to, in front of them were medium sized bowls with various pints of ice cream.

"This place is nice, right?" Seiko begins, leaning her arm on top of the table. "When you're on a date, you have to leave a strong impression. Shinichiro knows you like to drink yogurt drinks, right? On your date, order something totally unexpected!"

"But even if you're drinking, you mustn't forget about becoming a woman who's about to transition into modernity!" Roa adds. "Most men prefer tradition but women these days are really surging forward of the new modern years!" She says, leaning a little close while her eyes are squinted at Airi. "Remember, we live in a patriarchal society so men will have this mindset that they are above women."

Slowly, Airi nodded her head, picking up the little spoon to get a bite.

"But if Sano kun has a smooth tongue and answers your questions with a grade of one hundred percent, then just date him!" Seiko suggests, earning herself another whack in the back of her head from Roa.

Airi couldn't help but elicit a small chuckle. Not letting them know that she's already considering that option.