ajisai | s. shinichiro

三十六 x 10k reads special

italicized means flashback

On the first day of the school year, Shinichiro was held back in the afternoon after classes as he was caught running in the hallways. As punishment, he was tasked to clean his classroom all by himself.

"Geez." Shinichiro mumbles, laying down on top of the teacher's table, propping one leg up above the table while his arms are sprawled over his sides. "I'm beat." He mumbles again.

From cleaning the blackboard to putting the tables and chairs to the sides, his third and final task is to mop the floor before rearranging back the tables and chairs to their original place.

Sitting back up on the table, Shinichiro extends his hand out to reach over the radio, turning it on. As he does so, he stops at a certain station playing Omega Tribe's Older Girl, hearing the beat of the song as it begins to play reminded him of Airi - older than him by almost two months.

Holding the stick of the mop in his hands, he moves his head before swaying left to right, whistling the tune of the song.

"Even though you're an older girl, love still feels dangerous!" He sings aloud, walking backwards as he begins to mop the floor of the classroom.

"Style of my love, until morning, the miracle you discover!" He sings aloud once more, now pretending the end of the mop's stick as a microphone.

"Sweet in your heart, this very night, won't tear our embrace, for the sake of you hesitating, the city lights go dark!" He sings out loud with his eyes closed, but as soon as he opens his eyes, he's surprised to see Wakasa standing on the doorway.

Wakasa, blinking before tilting his head back to look left and right, begins to clap.

. . . . . . . . . . ♡

Sudden tics and twitches jolt in Airi's body as she prepares her items inside her bag.

To be in a room filled with people she didn't know of slightly made her feel uneasy. After spending a couple of years with having Roa and Seiko throughout her high school years, she would soon face a new life wherein the three of them wouldn't be as close or as available as they used to be anymore.

And the reality of growing up saddened her. But it was something she needed to accept.

Sketchbook, check.

Pencils, check.

Eraser, check.

Mental preparedness, so so.

A knock on the door of her room suddenly pulled her out of her thoughts, with mouth agape, the door opened and in revealed her mother holding onto a neatly wrapped bento box.

"I made you lunch!" Her mother begins to say, entering her room and walking closer to her. "You did mention before that the first day of exams would be five hours long." She continues, taking a hold of both of her hands to place the item in hers.

"I've made you yours favorites. So that when you think everything isn't going according how you want it to be, you'll be comforted by your favorites." She tells her, giving her a small smile before turning around and then walking out of her room.

As her mother leaves her room, Airi mirrors the small smile she gave her, packing the bento box inside her bag.

"I'll be going now!" She bids to her mother and two younger siblings, slinging the straps of her tote bag around her shoulders.

"Good luck, older sister!" Takashi beams to her, giving her a bright smile. Luna blinks her eyes at Takashi before jumping up and down on her walker.

"Do well, okay?" Her mother tells her.

Humming, she puts on her shoes by their doorway and opens the door, exiting. 

Unbeknownst to her, as she walks away in a different direction, someone had decided to pay her family as visit coming from a different path she's walking on.

In some cultures, they believe that a photograph you take steals a part of your soul. Although she may not be holding onto a camera and instead holding onto a graphite pencil while staring at a blank paper resting on her easel, she contemplated on how she sees herself.

If only she knew that self portrait would be the topic of the first exam, she would have long contemplated with herself on how does she really see herself, not cram about it while deciding what kind of piece would she be drawing on her paper.

As she spent a solid five minutes staring at the paper before her while everyone around her began to work, she recalled what Mr Gold had once told her.

"You're not having fun with what you have. You could've just took a picture of it then showed it to us."

His words to her on that only dawned her now. Fun. That is what she lacked. Too focused on trying to place accordingly what she wanted, too focused on everything but never herself. Too focused on belittling her work.

I'll show you...how I have fun. She tells herself, straightening her back and letting the tip of the pencil's lead meet the blank canvas.

And for the first two hours, Airi was able to showcase an almost spitting image sketch of her smiling all the while she had seven soul like static expressions around her head.

The happy.

The sad.

The confused.

The in love.

The tired.

The angry.

The hopeful.

"We will take one hour lunch break now. Please do not bring anything outside, only get what you need." Her instructor announces.

With pursed lips into a thin line, she stared at her work before taking the bento box her mother had made for her, stepping out of the room to eat by the stairs.

. . . . . . . . . . ♡

"I'm...home?" Airi spoke, blinking twice as she is surprised to see Shinichiro sitting on the couch of their living room while carrying Luna in her arms and Takashi clinging on his back.

"Ah! Welcome home, Airi!" Her mother responded cheerily, smiling with her eyes closed as she emerges out of the kitchen to greet her. "How were your exams? Go change first, I've made snacks  and tea for us!"

"When did you get here?" Airi asks, walking over to the living room, placing her bag on top of the couch. "You didn't tell me you'd be here. I could have tidied up a bit-"

"No need for that." Shinichiro replies, "I came here on my own accord." He tells her.

"Meaning?"

"Well, you just had your first day of exams for Tokyo University, right? So I figured that I would spend time with your family." He honestly says, looking at her as both Luna and Takashi cling onto him.

"Takashi was really impressed when he saw my bike. So I took him out and gave him a ride around your neighborhood." He adds.

"That's right! His bike is so cool! I want to have one soon!" Takashi replies, smiling widely.

"Afternoon snacks are here!" Her mother's voice rang into the living room, placing a tray filled with sliced watermelons and a tea pot fuming with hot apple tea inside.

"Woah! Thank you so much!" The older male gasps, taking a sliced watermelon into his hand and then taking a bite.

"Shinichiro brought this when he came earlier. When he arrived, both Luna and Takashi were happy to see him." Her mother whispers into her ear. 

In her eyes, seeing Shinichiro get along with her family, just made her fall for him like the first time.