*:･ﾟYou Bet I Stare ･ﾟ:*

CHAPTER 4 - east coast

SOUSUKE
—❁—

I watch the clock tick as I wait for the dismissal bell to ring. Me and Lame-o have been passing a note back and forth ever since lunch was over, and his cheesy jokes actually began to make me giggle. His handwriting was much more messier than mine was, but it was still easy to legibly read. When the bell finally rang, I finished writing something and folded our little paper conversation into a small square and put it in my pocket before grabbing my things. "I would've written this down in the note thing, but I meant to ask if you were maybe free to go grab a bite somewhere?" Kou walked up to me as he fixed his bag on his shoulders. "I mean.. I have to go process these pictures I took, but I can always do it tomorrow morning." I look up at him as we begin to make our way out of the classroom, "Oh! If you have plans it's okay.. but maybe I can come with you?" Why is he so persistent about wanting to hang out with me.. "Well, it gets kind of boring, but if you want to then sure." Kou smiles and holds a thumb up. "Awesome!"

As we make it to the lockers, I stand beside Kou as he struggles to open his- but I can't help but look at the weird umbrella thing he has next to him. "If you don't mind me asking, what the hell is that?" I point at the object as he hits his poor locker and opens it. "Oh this old thing?" He picks it up. "Well—it's uh. Well it's an umbrella, of course!" My eyebrow raises as he twirls it around. "It's just extra fancy and expensive." He sets it back down and rummages through his locker. "Right.." I peek into his messy locker right as he closes it, it looked  like a tiny single explosion went off in there and left the place trashed—but I can't blame him. The paper assignments can be quite a burden once they start piling up. "Alright! Now let's go get these awesome photos developed!" I nod and lead him to the photography room.

Once we arrive, Kou looks around with a gaped mouth. "Woahhh.. this is actually a class? Like—where you learn?" I smile a bit as I go to the red room that is conveniently placed beside the main classroom area. "Yeah, but don't let all the cool photographs and decorations all over the place fool you. If you don't know what you're doing it can get kind of overwhelming." I place my camera down and take the photos I took out of a folder in my backpack, then I begin to process all the pictures. Kou situates himself next to me and watches my every move, his presence providing a type of comfort that I didn't realize I needed until now.

"You're really good at taking photos, Mitsuba." Kou goes to grab a photo out of the processing liquid, but I quickly smack his hand away. "Hey! What was that for?" He looks at me, but I keep my focus on my photos. "Admire with your eyes, not your hands." He blinks as he looks at my photos again. "Is this stuff gonna burn my hands off or something?" I sigh and smile. "I wish it did so I could dip your hands in it." Kou gasps before flicking my arm, "Knock it off!" I chuckle before dipping my last photo in the processing liquid. "I was only kidding.. but really—you shouldn't dip anything in here except photos, because your skin can absorb it and cause major issues, so don't be stupid." Kou nods, "Ohhhh—right, I knew that." I can feel him look at me again. "You know, you look really good in red light." Kou whispers to me, and this causes my eyebrows to raise. "Excuse me?" I look up at him. "Uh, what? Who said that? That was weird.." He looks around, trying to play it off that he didn't just say what I thought I heard. "You're a terrible liar." I smile as I hang my photos up on the clothes pins to dry, and Kou lets off a cheeky giggle. "That seriously wasn't me, I swear to you." He puts his hands up to try and come off as an innocent bystander. "You're awful!" I shove his arm and smile wider as we both leave the photography classroom and make our way out of the school building.

"So where are we heading?" I look up at Kou as we leave the school grounds. "I'm not sure- but I was thinking on just grabbing a bite at this one pastry shop I like to take my little sister to, and I feel like you'd like some of the treats and stuff they have there." He gives a smile as he walks with his umbrella resting behind his neck, letting his wrists hang on either end of it. "Yeah, I like pastries- let me just let my mom know I'll be out a little later." I take my phone out and send a quick message to my mom. She's a worrier, so it's best for me to let her know what I'm up to.

I can't help but get this loser smile off my face, but being with Kou just makes me feel a sense of warmth and happiness. Maybe that's what he also feels.. maybe that's why he was so persistent about hanging out with me. I shouldn't get in over my head about it, though. It's all happening so quickly, but he just makes me comfortable. I look up at him, the setting sun making his blond hair and blue eyes almost shimmer. And the earring.. I think it's starting to grow on me.