The Winners Take It All | Chishiya

A supposed double date

It was almost embarrassing how hard Tomoki-san tried.

It had now been a week since I moved. My new home was perfect, I had no stress and finally slept well again.

I also got along well with the other two; we sat together every now and then in the evenings and exchanged ideas. They now also knew a small part of my past, just like Kuina. I owed them that.

The last week had flown by, I had been to university, continued to get settled in and caught up on the material I needed due to the change.

I was glad that the two majors were structured so similarly!

But I didn't expect what awaited me this weekend. I really underestimated my professor.

"What now?", Obiki looked around as we stood in the middle of Yoyogi Park. Tomoki-san had dropped the four of us off, grinned, and then zoomed off again in his golf cart. At first, we thought it was just a bad joke, but when he didn't come back after a few minutes, we realized what the point of this apparent excursion had been.

Something like a double date, great...

"That deceitful man," I gritted my teeth before letting my eyes wander.

"It would be an advantage if you got to know each other a little beforehand."

It had been a lousy plan.

It took about two hours to traverse the entire park, so we could expect an hour's walk. What a bummer, I had planned to be productive today and continue doing homework!

Also, this place gave me a strange feeling. I had been here before, but somehow it was different this time - as if I had experienced something bad here.

Hinata linked arms with me. "What are you thinking about, Ayu-chan?" she asked as she pulled me along. Our male companions followed us.

"I don't know," I replied, "I just have a bad feeling." I saw concern flash in her eyes, but it quickly faded away.

"We can use the time productively, right?" she tried to break the ice a little, "So: I'm Daiki Hinata, I'm twenty-three this year and in my penultimate semester of physiotherapy. My favorite color is yellow and I dear dogs. What about you?"

Obiki was the first to answer her: "I'm Obiki Ryo, also twenty-three and also almost finished with my educational chain." Hinata looked at me expectantly.

"Oh, um, I'm-" my eyes locked on a certain spot. I stopped without even realizing it.

She walked by my side and told me a little about her previous life, until a woman ran past us. The two guys from the beginning dove after her and I heard a scream, then a gurgling sound that made me shudder. It hadn't sounded healthy. A sour feeling spread through my mouth. I felt nauseous but managed to suppress the urge to gag.

What the hell was that about?

"-shi? Hello? Can you hear me?", a hand waved in front of my face and my eyes focused on 'Chishiya', who was suddenly standing next to me. He, as well as the other two, looked at me in alarm. I blinked briefly before I fully understood what had happened.

Apparently, I had stopped responding.

"Sorry... I was just kind of lost in my thoughts," I replied, trying to smile a little while scratching the back of my neck awkwardly. How embarrassing, that certainly didn't make a good impression...

"I'm Hayashi Ayuna, twenty-one, but I'll be twenty-two in March next year. I'm pretty much in the middle of my studies. Yes, there's not much else to say about me...", I tried to lighten the mood a little after my strange reaction.

Luckily for me it worked. Hinata gave me one more sideways glance before we continued walking.

"Chishiya Shuntaro, I'm in the practical part of my medical training. This year I'm turning twenty-three," the blonde man behind me finished the introductions, then we walked on in silence. At some point, Obiki and Hinata fell into a conversation about a new anime that came out, so she and Chishiya swapped places.

"You look familiar," his voice startled me a little as I turned my gaze to him. He stared straight ahead.

I was silent for a moment before answering him: "You too."

He grinned slightly.

My stomach tingled a little. The way he grinned made him seem a little arrogant, even if his posture said otherwise. He seemed rather relaxed as the four of us trotted along the hiking trail.

"What do you think of the project?" I asked him quietly and he thought for a moment.

"Well, I'm not opposed to it, but on the other hand it's a little annoying," he left his last theory unexplained, and I decided not to ask him about it. Maybe it was better if I didn't know what he meant by that.

"And you?" he wanted to know, "What do you think?" In fact, I didn't really know the answer to that.

"I don't know," he raised his eyebrow, "It's a possibility, I think."

He didn't seem satisfied with my answer, but he didn't press any further questions. Instead, we walked in silence, and I enjoyed the gentle breeze that caressed my skin. The birdsong distracted me a little from the strange flashback I had just had.

Still, it was weird. I didn't know when I had experienced something so brutal.

"Sensei!" Hinata's call drew my gaze forward. Tomoki-san stood there. He grinned at us as we approached him.

"You were faster than I thought," he replied and Obiki looked like as if he wanted to strangle our lecturer. I refrained from commenting and instead sat down on the bench next to him.

It's strange, I suddenly felt really tired. Somehow, today didn't seem like my day.

At least I got to know the mysterious young man a little better today. If I was honest, he made me curious.

And I couldn't forget the butterflies he gave me...

I didn't know the feeling, but I was sure it would cause problems for me.