𝕱𝖑𝖔𝖜𝖊𝖗𝖘 // 𝓐𝓶𝓪𝓷𝓮𝓷𝓮 TBHK/JSHK fanfic

𝔗 𝔚 𝔒

The rain was tapping softly on the eaves of the roof terrace of our house. I listened to the wonderful symphony of nature, while the smell of my freshly made jasmine tea wafted into my nostrils. My bottom sank into the soft cushions of our white garden furniture as I rested my hand on the wicker armrest. Summer, this year, had arrived in Los Angeles in a most unusual way. Instead of a sweltering sun, rain fell from fluffy lamb clouds. Of course, this rain also sprinkled pleasant warm water on the heads of people passing by on the street, but it was still a depressing sight to see the waterlogged street and the palm trees with wet leaves. It had been raining non-stop for two days, and I had been a prisoner in my own room ever since. True, Aoi had tried twice to ask me out, but so far I had declined every offer. Somehow, I preferred to stay in the fluffy-soft pillows of my bed all day and think about what happened at the party. For, indeed, for two days now I had been thinking only about that omnipresent evening, and not only about the evening, but about Amane Yugi himself. Something about him struck me, but I didn't know what it was. Perhaps it was his peculiar amber eyes, which seemed to see right into me, or the mischievous chocolate-coloured tines that kept falling into his forehead, or perhaps it was his distinctive chin and cheekbones that made his appearance so special.

I shook my head minutely to clear my muddled thoughts of the boy, then took a long sip of my jasmine tea, my eyes once again fixed on the world outside. After all, I had no chance with the boy, and it didn't bother me much. I just liked the way he looked, because what girl wouldn't? He had a girlfriend, and I had a broken heart, protected by thick walls from the evil outside world and disappointment.
Just as I was finishing my train of thought, my phone rang. Without thinking, I put the receiver to my ear and was not surprised when Aoi answered.

"Hi Nene! Can you come to the mall with me today?" Her voice sounded pleading, probably afraid of being rejected again.

"Of course" I said lightly. I thought it was time to go out for a walk anyway.

"Huh, that's good" My friend was relieved. "Because you should help me."

"What?" My eyes widened as I had no idea what Aoi was doing again.

"I'll tell you everything, just be there in half an hour."

"Okay." I nodded, even though I knew she didn't see it. I said goodbye to her and hung up the phone.

I got up from the sofa and walked briskly into the house, sipping the cold remnants of my jasmine tea. Once inside, I set the cup on my desk and began to get ready. I opted for a simple white T-shirt, which I carefully tucked into my black high-waisted jeans. On my legs I put on long socks against the cold, decorated with tiny turtle patterns. After a smear of make-up, I pulled on my white trainers and slung my tiny black leather backpack, decorated with star-shaped studs, on my back. Just in case it was too cold outside, I tied a grey hoodie around my waist and hurried out of the house.

I went to the garage, where my dark blue mini cooper, which I got as a fresh license six months ago, was parked. I hadn't used it much, as the school was only a quarter of an hour's walk away, but the rain had forced me to warm it up again. I carefully turned out of the driveway in front of our house and onto the road leading downtown. In less than twenty minutes, I arrived at the huge steel and glass building of the mall. I parked my car in the underground garage and ran up to the lower level of the mall. I was running late, but I knew my friend would still arrive after me, as she had to use public transport.

"Nene! So good to see you!" Aoi rushed to me, with her characteristic burst of joy, pulling me out of my thoughts. I only had to wait a few minutes for the girl, but she came running up to me."I'm happy for you too." I hugged her back, and together we sat down at a dark wooden table in a café.

"And why all the excitement?" I asked curiously, after we had both ordered our drinks.
"Well, first of all, I wanted to get you out of your shell somehow, but I have a more compelling reason." My friend's eyes lit up.
"So what is it?" I asked excitedly.

"Akane asked me out!" She squealed happily as I jumped on her neck.
"But it's wonderful, Aoi!" I enthused, when things had calmed down a bit. Akane is a first year student at Kamome Academy's High School division as one of our classmates. He and Aoi were friends since childhood.

In the midst of the great conversation, we sipped our matching extra-foamy caramel lattes and then headed upstairs to the clothing section. Aoi wanted something perfect to wear for her date in two days.

"I was thinking something understated, yet sexy." She explained, gesticulating vigorously as we turned into the first shop we came to. She bounced excitedly between the many dresses hanging on the racks, her eyes searching for the perfect piece. From a rack, she unhooked a delicate eggshell-coloured
A-line from a rack, then picked up another blue lace sleeve and a more low-cut sundress, and disappeared into the depths of one of the fitting rooms.

I threw myself down on the dark-covered sofa at the end of the room and dug my phone out of my black backpack. I scrolled through my social media pages. I was checking Instagram when a notification flashed up at the top of the screen.

Facebook: Amane Yugi added you

I stared in surprise at the tiny window and waited for it to disappear. Suddenly I didn't know what to do, so I quickly typed Amane Yugi's name into my Instagram search. Immediately his profile popped up, which I clicked on. I was presented with a well laid out page with over a thousand followers. I scrolled through his photos, which had like six or seven hundred likes.

I shook my head and exited the page. It didn't matter how many followers and likes he had. What mattered was what kind of person he was, and I couldn't say much about that.
Aoi, of course, didn't like the clothes she found in the first shop, so we were forced to move on to another, and then another. I thought I wouldn't bring up the story of Amane's nomination to me yet, not that it was of that much importance.

I was already on my fourth black leather sofa, waiting for Aoi, who disappeared again with a dozen dresses behind the grey curtain of the dressing room. Bored, I scrolled through the insta-pictures of my favourite stars again, waiting for my friend. Suddenly, I felt the black leather seat pressed in next to me, and then an absent-minded, slightly raspy sound escaped in my ears.

"Was it fate that we should always meet?" the boy's amber eyes scanned me intently from the side as I turned to face him.
"I don't think so. It's more like bad luck." I pulled my lips into a faint smile.

"Ouch, that hurt." Amane clasped his hand theatrically to his chest, and I just shrugged, indicating that it was there. Then we just sat and looked at each other for a few moments. The increasingly awkward situation was finally rescued by Aoi, who glided in front of me in a powder-pink wonder.

"Is this good then?" her eyes widened as she noticed the boy standing next to me, but she quickly straightened her features.

"Yes, I think it's the perfect choice." I said quickly, because it really did look amazing on her.
"Are you sure?" she worried, completely forgetting about Amane. Akane and the date seemed more important to her than a good gossip.
"Yes." I smiled at her. "You're going to dazzle him." Her face lit up at my compliment, she disappeared into the dressing room and then started skipping towards the cash registers. I took one last look at Amane's striking face, then stood up and followed Aoi.
"I hadn't forgotten what I'd seen." Aoi began, after we'd walked out the door with the goods we'd paid for. "Tell me what's going on between you and him?"

"I don't know." I sighed heavily, because it was true.

↪️To be continued↩️

˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊ೄྀ࿐ ˊˎ-✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊✧

Well, hello! I'm back with the second part, which I hope you will like!

Word count: 1517
Published: 30th of August