𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 𝐁𝐀𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐄 -𝖼𝗁𝗈𝗌𝗈

FOUR: A Glimpse of Vulnerability

Choso's PoV

The guy named Satoru Gojo finally left me alone and I continued waiting for Ayako. Though I did what I could to make him leave, what he said about Ayako just somehow can't leave my head.

Just what kind of life did she have before that made her like.. this? And how come nobody tried to help her heal herself from whatever caused all of this to her. And.. will I do something to help her like she helped me too?

The consequence might get out of hand if I even tried, I might even risk the life that my siblings have right now if I stepped into her personal life. I can't let that happen to them.

As much as I wanted to keep thinking about my next moves, I sensed a familiar presence in front of me. I look up and I see Ayako blankly staring at me without a thought in those eyes of hers. Did I see her eyes look this empty before?

"How.. long have you been standing there?" I ask her. "Just a minute." She answered, taking a seat beside me. "How did it go?" I ask her a question again, turning to her direction and faced her.

"It was boring." I can relate to her answer in every class that existed. I noticed that she was hesitating in something with the way she was picking the skin on her thumb. Since when did I notice her habits...

"Do you want to do something?" I tried to get her to engage in what she was hesitating in, and thankfully it worked. Right after I asked her that, she suddenly threw her arms over my shoulders and dived into my arms.

I hear her sigh, it was obvious that she's exhausted. I didn't say a word and let her stay in my arms for a little longer, occasionally smoothing my hand on her head in a careful manner. Just like how I comforted my siblings whenever they feel down.

We stayed like that for a few more minutes before she broke off from the hug and sat properly. "Sorry. I needed a moment." She apologized, but I can understand that even the most powerful human being in this world won't go through a day without feeling drained. That means she's not immune to something as exhaustion.

"It's alright, I think I can see where you're coming from." I reassured her, tucking the hair that stood out from the left side of her head when I noticed it. My brain didn't even process that action and my body just did it without thinking it through.

I looked for a negative reaction from her because of what I did, but surprisingly there was nothing. Only her puzzled expression was what I laid my eyes on.

I cleared my throat to lessen the silence between us and try to strike up a conversation. "About our date, are you still up for it?" I asked her. And as if a switch has been flipped, exhaustion was no longer present on her like a total 180° .

She nodded, "Sure! I don't want to stay wallowing in this sour mood so I'm relying on you to brighten me up." She looks away for a moment, tucking a few strands of hair behind her ear, "I... can rely on you.. right?" Her tone sounded soft and she looked at me with eyes that were glimmering in a hopeful shine.

If this was her way of showing the side of her that no one saw, of course I would notice how meaningful it is. "Of course, that's why we're dating, right?" –Not actually though. "If the situation's too much to handle, you can always lean on me and I'll listen to you." I hope that was enough to reassure her, since I'm starting to think that she's still fragile, covering it all up with a tough front. I didn't expect to care for her and see her in a different light. But here I am.

Ayako's PoV

I didn't want to take Nanami-san's words seriously but, now that I've grown and did a little bit of thinking, some of what he said is actually right. Though I'm still hesitating in following the actions that he told me that I should take when this and that certain thing happens. I guess I'm not that of a courageous person— all bark and no bite.

"Did you eat yet?" He asked me. We were walking out in the streets and I was walking closely to him. "I didn't like the menu they had today so, no." I answered.

"Then I'm sure you'll like this place I usually go to mostly when I need a stress relief." He holds my hand and he leads me to a humble restaurant not too far from the bustling city, but the ambience when we entered,  I can feel the warmth and comfort in here. The noise from outside was completely blocked out.

"Well?" He looks at me and I showed an approving look. "I'm glad you like it." He says. "If it isn't Choso! How have you been, my boy?" I saw the old lady walk up to him and pat him a little too hard which he's already used to, looking back at me and giving a thumbs up. It made me stifle a laugh when his back was possibly being cracked by the mighty hand of the old lady.

"I-i'm well, granny. How's business?" He conversed with the old lady and I noticed how he was treating her with the utmost respect. An old man walked towards him too and he embraced the old man, greeting him.

"Who's the beautiful young lady you brought? Is she your girlfriend?" The old man asked, looking at me. I couldn't believe my ears, "Girlfriend"?! Me?!

I look at Choso and he was already looking at me. I glanced at the old couple and forced a smile, "Y-yes. I'm.. Choso's.. g-girlfriend." I tightly clenched my hands that was behind my back when I said that. I looked at Choso and I couldn't believe what I saw. He was looking away and covering the lower half of his face with his hand.

The old couple laughed in delight, "This is great news then! Come, come, sit down!" The old lady approached me while the old man went over to Choso. They made us sit down and served us food that smelled really good and I can definitely tell that it would taste good too.

"Sorry about that." He whispered. I slowly shake my head, "It's alright. We're "dating"." I said, "But it was hard being put on the spot like that." I added, nudging him with my elbow, "You could've helped, you know."

He lightly chuckled and places a spoon on my lips, "I'm apologizing with food that no other meal could ever surpass." He said with a confident tone in his voice. "Yeah, sure. We'll see about that."— he was in fact right and I tried more of the food in the menu for the next 20 minutes.