*:･ﾟYou Bet I Stare ･ﾟ:*

CHAPTER 21 - ocean eyes

SOUSUKE
—❁—

Once I get my folder of photos in my bag of things, I put my backpack on my back and walk out to the living room. "I'm gonna go out and take some pictures around town, mom!" I slip my shoes on, calling out to my mom to let her know that I'm gonna be heading out for a bit. "I should be back soon!" My mom comes out of her room, coming over to me with a smile. "Okay Sousuke! Text me if you need anything, okay?" She kisses my head and hugs me as I nod. "Okay, don't worry I will." I leave our small apartment and head down to the bottom floor, making my way to the small park that we live pretty close to. Thankfully the town we live in is safe enough that my mom can trust me to go out on my own when I want some time out of the house. As I keep walking, I feel my phone buzz in my back pocket—as I reach for it, I see that it was a message from Kou, and a big smile appeared on my face by default.

[lame-o] : HELLOOO MITSU!! 😼

[Sousuke Mitsuba] : HEY U
[Sousuke Mitsuba] : already missed me?

[lame-o] : mmmmaybe..
[lame-o] : Are you busy? 🤔

[Sousuke Mitsuba] : last time u asked me a question like that u were throwing rocks at my window

[lame-o] : I know I know
[lame-o] : I'm just bored and I'm trying to make some conversation with my #1 favorite person

I smile softly, my cheeks feeling warm as a soft shade of pink covers my face.

[Sousuke Mitsuba] : im omw to the park rn so i can get some more pictures of the nature and stuff
[Sousuke Mitsuba] : why is my #1 favorite person messaging me though?
[Sousuke Mitsuba] : and be honest

I watch the bubbles on his end move up and down for a moment, but then they disappear. I must've made him a flustered mess again. As I arrive at the park, I start mapping out the area, digging through my backpack for my camera. My phone was buzzing like crazy, but I was too busy walking around the park to take it out. I eventually stumble upon a colony of ants that were carrying some food and clutter back to the hill, so I crouch down beside it and hold my camera up to my eye. I snapped a couple pictures, then I pulled my phone back out, and my eyebrows raised at all the notifications I had from Kou. A majority of them were him trying to correct his spelling errors, some were him asking me where I was, and others were him trying to get me back in the chat.

[lame-o] : YOU SOTOE MY FKRITY COMMENT
[lame-o] : STOLE MY FLIRTY
[lame-o] : Not that.......I was flirting
[lame-o] : I MEAN I WAS BUT
[lame-o] : MIRUSVA
[lame-o] : MITISBA
[lame-o] : MITSUAB
[lame-o] : WHAT THE
[lame-o] : SOUSJEN
[lame-o] : Did you die? 😿
[lame-o] : My boyfriend died......
[lame-o] : I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU'RE MY BOYFRIEND
[lame-o] : What park are you at Mitsu?
[lame-o] : I JSUR SURVBED MY TOE
[lame-o] : OUCHFH
[lame-o] : Is it okay if I come meet you at the park?
[lame-o] : SOUSUKE

I sigh with a smile as I finally respond to him.

[Sousuke Mitsuba] : im at a park thats closer to my place
[Sousuke Mitsuba] : ur really destined to see me arent u?

[lame-o] : Absolutely!
[lame-o] : Can you drop your location?

I give him my location before looking around for something else to photograph, looking down as my phone buzzes in my hand again.

[lame-o] : Cool! Give me 15 minutes, I should be there by then! 😎

[Sousuke Mitsuba] : okay b careful
[Sousuke Mitsuba] : im not about to b pulling u out from underneath somebodys car

[lame-o] : Yeah yeah don't worry

I continue to walk around the small park, keeping an eye out for Kou at the same time. So far I had taken pictures of some birds, some random bugs, some ducks that I saw waddling down the sidewalks, some geese that almost tried to kill me, and also some flowers and some weeds. As I stand on the sidewalk, I glance over at a large group of some shrubs, and I notice what looks to be the most prettiest butterfly I've ever seen in my life. A soft little gasp leaves my mouth, and I slowly approach it—bringing my camera up to my eye. I then slowly and quietly situate myself in front of the butterfly, and I secure my finger on the shutter-release button, then I take a slow deep breath in and hold it. It was a technique that my dad had taught me back when he was teaching me the ropes of photography. If you can't hear your subject, then it can't hear you. At least I think that's how the saying goes..

I then press the button, the flash of the camera making the butterfly fly away. Fingers crossed I was able to actually capture the butterfly. After I'm content with how I expect the picture to have turned out, I sit on the ground where I was squatting and I start shuffling through the blank undeveloped pictures that I took around here, and I feel someone grab my shoulders. This makes me jump and I turn around, preparing myself to go into full self defense mode, but I look up and get greeted with Kous smiling face. "Hey Sous!" I sigh of relief as he helps me up. "What's with you always scaring me?" Kou hugs me as I speak and I hug him back. "Sorryyy—" I feel his neck vibrate against my shoulder as he sets his head down closer to mine. "It's okay, I guess I can forgive you this time." Kou stops hugging me and smiles, then looks down at the stack of photos I have in my hands. "Do you need to take those to the photo development place?" He looks back up at me, "I could walk you if you want me to—" I smile and look up at Kou, nodding, "Hopefully you have some decent walking shoes on because the nearest bus stop is at least 10 minutes away." Kou gives a little shrug, "Ah, it's fine, I could use the extra exercise anyways!" He grins as we start walking together, "It can tell, you still have a little bit of gut on you from that nutritious breakfast I gave you earlier." Kou gasps as he looks at me, "I do not! It's not that bad!" He puts his hands on his stomach, "At least I'm well fed thanks to the lovely Sousuke, and it shows!" I smile, looking up at him. "I put my blood sweat and tears into that cereal, so I'm glad you liked it. Besides, I never share my cereal with other people so you should consider yourself lucky." Kou moves his hand to make it look like it's talking, and I lightly slap it down. "You're so rude for no reason sometimes!" I smile and look up at Kou before giving him a soft shove, and he gives me a soft one back.
That's when I hear him give a soft little gasp before grabbing my hand, running over and puts me against a tree.

My eyebrows raise and I look up at him, his hands holding my shoulders—keeping me up against the tree.

I just stood there staring up at Kou, confused as to why he randomly hid me behind a tree—and more importantly, why he was holding me up against it. I watched him as he looked around both sides of the tree, "What are we do-" I was cutoff as Kou put a finger on my lips, meeting his gaze as he moved his finger to his own lips. He then proceeded to pull his phone out of his pocket. As I watched, I looked back from behind the tree—or at least tried to since Kous grip on me didn't exactly make things easy. Once I gave up on looking, I tried taking a glance at Kous phone from what I could see, and I saw that he was messaging 2 people in some groupchat. I then looked back up at him, then I sighed and brought my gaze down to his chest before looking to the side. I didn't let my curiosity get the best of me since Kou told me to stay quiet, so all I could really do was stand there.

This continued for another 7 more minutes. 7 more minutes of nothing but silence between us, and he still hadn't let me go. What the hell was Kou on about?

So far the only thing I'm absolutely sure about is that I had no idea he could keep his big mouth shut for this long.