you were never mine | giyuuoba

Chapter 15 | a song only we can hear

Iguro was laid in his bed, phone pressed to his ear. Tomioka's distant voice brought him back to Earth as he daydreamed. 

"So, uhh. I was wondering... Would you perhaps like to, I dunno, hang out sometime?"  Tomioka slowly asked. "Maybe a cafe or something...?"

The question caught Iguro off-guard. He wondered why Tomioka was making such an effort to get closer to him. Perhaps pity. 

"Iguro?"

Iguro realized he probably should've said something. "Oh! uh-" His mind raced through possibilities. "I mean, sure...?"

The sun would be good for him. He'd been holed up in his room for the past week. 

"But why so sudden?" Iguro couldn't help but ask. 

"..." Tomioka was silent for some time before responding. "Well, I guess I wanted to get to actually know you..." He confessed. He sounded so embarrassed and shy that Iguro had to hold himself from cracking up. 

Iguro closed his eyes and smiled. "Mhm..." Was the only thing he thought to say. 

Tomioka cleared his throat. "So, does Friday work for you?"

Iguro nodded, forgetting that Tomioka couldn't see him. 

"Hello?"

"OH- yeah. Yeah, works for me." 

"Where do you wanna meet?" 

"How 'bout [insert cafe name]?" 

Tomioka responded with a yes, and hung up soon afterwards. 

Iguro got up, and headed to his calendar. He marked Friday as 'Meetup with Tomioka', before going back to his bed and pulling his book out.

He was embarrassed to say he was looking forward to when Friday rolled around. 

...

"Order whatever you want. I'll pay." Tomioka said. They sat at a table for two near the windows of the cafe. The sweet scent of cinnamon and some other spices wafted in the air as Iguro looked over the selection. Some coffee sounded nice. 

The waitress came up to their table and took their orders. Now they were alone. The silence was unbearable, and Iguro didn't know what to say. 

Luckily, he didn't have to. 

"So, how's school?" Tomioka asked. 

Iguro bit his lip. Nervous habit. 

"Well, I'd say my grades are decent. The only class I'm failing in is art."

"You're not very artistic?" 

Iguro huffed. "My art is just fine! The only reason I'm failing is because the teacher doesn't like me." He crossed his arms, and mumbled. "Fucking biased." 

Tomioka chuckled, and Iguro's eyes widened at the sound. "Tell me about it." Tomioka said. "That teacher is the only one that really gets on my nerves."

Iguro smiled. "Tell me more." 

And so, they talked for hours about school, people they hated, food, anything that came to mind. It was the simple things, a carefree, yet silly discussion. The entire time, Iguro had a ridiculous smile plastered on his face. He didn't even notice when the waiter came back with their orders, just simply grabbed his drink and continued talking.

Eventually, evening rolled around, and the cafe was closing. Iguro threw the empty drink cups away, and Tomioka paid for the meal. 

Together, they walked out of the cafe. Clouds began to form in the dark sky. It was surely gonna rain soon. Iguro turned to Tomioka, who stared ahead. 

"Well.." Iguro's face grew warm. "Thanks for today..." He mumbled. 

Tomioka turned to face him. "Of course." 

Iguro nodded. "Hmm. Well, I'll be going home now. Don't get too lonely without me." He joked. 

Tomioka smiled. "Well, farewell then, Iguro."

Iguro hummed in agreement, and turned to leave. 

...

I gave the chapters better names. 

And Tomioka and Iguro development.