Otoriphobia

14: It was Me.

"..."

"Hm..."

Mamiko Otori leaned against the back wall of the school building as she held her phone in one hand, scrolling through her texting app.

A few reminders from Mom and Dad not to stay behind at the Art Club too late, a note from Yuuna that he was on his way to pick her up and walk her home...

But other than that, she hadn't been able to do much in her social life.

It made sense to Mamiko why her friends hadn't been talking to her so much- she'd been too absorbed within her studies, and now she was taking on art on the side in order to hone her talents more exceptionally. Her parents had recommended her to get a head start on her schoolwork now, and she'd taken their word for it... but at this point in the school year, she hadn't even gone out to do one thing with her friends. As they went to the mall, the beach, and other places every weekend, Mamiko spent her free time studying and working on late-night projects... she couldn't remember the last night of genuine good sleep she had, as her nights were filled with writing notes, downing energy drinks, and blasting playlists of her favorite music through her headphones to keep her motivated... but every study session, even the music she liked most was seeming to lose its charm, little by little.

The sun was setting over in the west, and Mamiko was one of the only people left on the campus at school. All of the other Art Club members had said their goodbyes and headed back home to their neighborhoods several minutes ago, but Mamiko preferred staying late so that she could wait for her older brother Yuuna to arrive and walk home with her. Due to their closeness in age, Yuuna and Mamiko were close to being best friends- they shared a lot of the same hobbies and interests and spent a lot of time talking about various things together, from their favorite constellations to the birds by the creek Yuuna enjoyed pointing out to Mamiko. However, today... Yuuna must have been caught up in some situation, because he was running a bit late.

As Mamiko stood leaning against the school's back wall, she heard a clamor of muttering voices from nearby and raised her head from her phone.

After a few seconds of silence, she noticed a familiar boy turn the corner and begin approaching her- an upperclassman named Hanta Tokugawa.

With diamond-blue eyes and curly locks of angel-blonde hair, Hanta looked like a porcelain doll- perfect skin and a money-winning smile. He was respected by all of the boys in school, and extremely popular with the girls, most of whom had a crush on him- including Mamiko.

Mamiko felt her cheeks go red upon seeing Hanta, and quickly shoved her phone into her pocket, trying to look casual as she awkwardly waved her hand at the approaching boy.

"T-Tokugawa-senpai! Hey...!"

"Yo, Mamiko-chan!"

Hanta waved his hand a bit, his perfect smile appearing as he stopped in front of Mamiko, looking down at her while raising an eyebrow.

"I was looking for you... what's the matter? You seem pretty uptight."

"E-Er... I'm fine!"

Mamiko clasped her hands together, and despite being nervous, did her best to smile back at Hanta.

It was unusual to see him here... they shared most of their classes, and Hanta gave Mamiko a few compliments in the hallway when they bumped into each other- which managed to make Mamiko blush each and every time. Since the beginning of the school year, Mamiko had to admit that she'd been slowly falling for Hanta more and more each day- though she'd scrapped the idea of ever getting together with him. He was an athlete and a playboy, after all- hailing from an esteemed family of rich bankers and accountants. Hanta Tokugawa was simply a step above Mamiko Otori, and yet... here he was, checking up on her.