ajisai | s. shinichiro

十九

🗀 Rejection: 19

Shinichiro was, to say the least, felt a little lost because Airi didn't come into school today. Usually, he'd go raise his hand up while in the middle of class to go to the bathroom, but in reality, he just wants to take a peak through the windows of her classroom's door to look at her. But today, she her table remained empty.

He knew she was sick, considering that her mother has a morning job and her younger brother Takashi is at school, how would she be able to take care of Luna? Upon realizing that, Shinichiro needed to make a move.

"Where do you think you're going?" Takeomi asks, stepping out of their classroom. "You look like you're plotting something. Let's hear it then."

Shinichiro places a hand on Takeomi's shoulder. "I need to go. Look after my bag for me, yeah? Thanks, Takeomi!" He quickly spoke, grinning as he turns around, running down the stairs and not minding the calls of Takeomi asking him where is going off to.

Taking a turn to the gym and through it's back door, Shinichiro climbed up the wired fence and hopped off as soon as he was able to turn on the other side. Finally free from the school, he makes a run towards their house.

"I'm sorry if I'm not doing a good job at taking care of you today, Luna." Airi says, keeping a good distance from the baby while feeding her mushed apples with carrots. "I'm sick and I don't want you getting sick too." She adds, jutting her lower lip out.

As if Luna could understand her, she makes out incoherent babbling noises while looking at her. Lightly grinning to herself, Airi decided to play along with her. "Yeah, if you get sick, you won't be able to enjoy outside, you're just locked up inside your room." She tells her.

Dropping the baby spoon on top of her bowl, Airi took a wipe to wipe away the corners of her mouth. All of a sudden, sounds of knocking came through their door. Hearing the noise made Airi turn her head around.

"Who could be that?" She asks, sniffing. "I'll be quick, Luna. Wait for me here, okay?" With that, Airi stood up from her seat and sluggishly walked over to the front door. Upon opening it, she was surprised to see Shinichiro huffing, back hunched as his hands are placed over his knees.

"Shin? What are you doing here?" Airi asks, blinking her eyes. "Aren't you supposed to be in school? Why are you here?"

Shinichiro tries to speak up but only airy words come out. Taking a deep breath and regaining his composure, he wipes the sweat on his forehead with the back of his hand. "I came here to take care of you." He tells her, handing to her a clear plastic bag that seemed to be filled with food and drinks. "The guys can cover for me today. You're more important, I don't need math to fix bikes in the future."

Hearing his earnest words made her heart skip a beat. Now that he's right in front of her, she didn't have the heart to shoo him away or tell him to go back to school. "Come in then." She says, parting the door wide open. "I just finished feeding Luna and will have to clean her up."

Shinichiro shook his head. "I can look after your little sister. Go eat now so you can take your medicine." He tells her, closing the door behind him.

. . . . . . . . . . ♡

"How do you feel now?" Shinichiro asks, carrying Luna in his arms.

"I feel much better now." Airi confirms, nodding her head while laying down in bed. "It seems like she's warmed up to you now." She says, looking at Luna who's biting on a toy in her small hands.

"While you were sleeping, she took a nap too!" Shinichiro beams. "She likes to play a lot, she even keeps biting the ends of my uniform." He adds, snickering.

Airi smiles, rolling around in bed to lay down on her stomach. "Thanks for coming here. I would have probably have a hard time looking after the two of us."

"It's fine." He mentions, sitting down on the foot of her bed while still carrying Luna. "Hey, Airi chan, have you ever had a first kiss?"

The older girl shook her head. "Is this about the time when you tried to kiss me in my classroom?"

"Do I...really have no luck with you?" He asks.

Airi didn't know what to say. Should she tell him the reason why she's hesitant to date? Or would she reserve it for a later? But for now, she'll have to tell him the real reason.

"Shin, if you graduate school, have a stable job and have your own family, would tell your child to stop pursuing something that makes them happy? Like art perhaps?" She asks, her eyes trained on him.

Shinichiro gulps but shakes his head, opening his palm as Luna plays with his hand. "Why would I stop my child from doing something that makes them happy? I don't want to become that kind of parent." He tells her.

"Just like your reason, I don't want to become a parent who'll stop their child from doing something that makes them happy." She begins to say. "Years ago, when my parents asked me what I wanted to do, I told them that I want to pursue something that has to do with art. The looks on their faces suddenly turned disappointed. Like they were expecting me to do something trivial - like engineering or medicine. My father in particular told me to stop fooling around and study hard so that I could one day become a doctor. And the rest is history." She confesses.

"We'll never be like them." Shinichiro responded, extending his hand out so he could hold hers. "You're not your father. You're you."

Hearing his words brought a smile to her face, firmly holding his hand in hers. "What are you trying to imply, Shin? Why ask me if you don't have a chance with me?"

"I really like you, Airi chan. I feel a pushing and pulling inside my heart whenever I see you. I don't know what to do because my surprised heart keeps beating and beating. Will you go out with me?"

Airi blinks, her eyes still on him. "I don't want to hurt your feelings but...give me a day to think about it. I'll surely come back to you with a response."