Hated by You ☆ | Riki Nishimura

第21章

Old Acquaintance

Niki felt horrible, headache and nausea. He sat up and rubbed his face while sighing. The time was 10:47 when he checked it on his desk clock. It was saturday and there was no hurry for school. But suddenly he remembered the party last night. He had no idea how he got home yesterday. That regret of drinking too much and becoming unconscious of the things you might have done filled him. 

Oh my god.. How the hell did I get home yesterday?

After sitting for a while and waking up fully he stood up from his bed and headed to the kitchen to find his mother and maybe ask her about last night. Yes, his mother doesn't forbid him to drink. She trusts her son and thinks he's responsible enough of the may happening consequences. 

The kitchen is just a small distance away from his room. He needs to turn left, but he can see the kitchen counter from his room's doorway.But when he looked towards the kitchen, he didn't see only his mother. 

"Oh, you woke up." Sana happily stated while drinking something with Reina. Niki felt like his soul faded away or it was a dream. Actually it'd more likely be a nightmare. Now he felt like his nausea was becoming even worse and he again rubbed his face in frustration. 

Niki was slowly retreating back to his room until his mother called him into the kitchen. "Come here, son. Sit down. I'll give you some water." Reina suggested. Niki wanted to go to his room, maybe back to bed to fall back to sleep and wake up again realizing that it was a dream. Or to destroy his entire room by breaking every single piece of furniture

​But he could do nothing but to obey his mother and take responsibility for the consequences. Reina hurried from behind the kitchen counter and seated him next to Sana. She stared him like they were in love or something, which annoyed Niki. "You shouldn't drink this much. It makes you feel bad." She rupped his shoulder, but took her hand away, when Niki flinched and backed up a little. 

"I'm glad Sana was there. I thought you'd be more responsible with drinking." Reina said while drying some glasses from the sink. "She dragged you here all the way from the party."

After his mom's words the memories began to return. He frightened up inside, but stayed calm from the outside. The memory of him kissing Sana revived and he wanted to scream and run away. 

Shit. I fucking hate myself

"Can we talk?" Niki stood up after just few sips of the water his mom gave and looked at Sana.

"Sure." Sana eagrly agreed and stood up as well. They went inside Niki's room again and closed the door. He had to take few deep breath before he could start his matter. "Look, I um.. I was drunk yesterday. I didn't mean to do anything." He said. But he realized that he definitely shaped the words in a wrong way that could change the perception of the matter. He was still sleepy and hungover, which made his speech miscellaneous. It felt like his brain wasn't working the way it usually should. 

"What do you mean?" Sana inquired in confusion. Niki hesitated again and scratched the back of his head to think for the next phrase. "I don't like you. If you think it like that from yesterday. It was a mistake." He said, now clearly.

Sana's face darkened and it began to look more serious. "I actually knew it all the time. You like Hitomi don't you? You just can't accept it that you fell for her. But if I was you, I would be careful with her. Never know what is behind that pretty face." 

"Watch out what you say about her. You don't know her. If there's someone with two faces, then it's you." Niki dryly expressed. For that sentence he didn't even have to think it through. It came naturally. 

"Yeah, whatever. I should keep going now." Sana lastly said and left the room. Niki was left standing there. Again he took a deep breath. The things Sana said about Hitomi pissed him off. Who does she think she is? She is the girl with pretty face, but rotten soul, not Hitomi. But maybe Sana understood now that Niki will never like her and she may stop pursuing him now.

~

Saturdays should be chill, right? Well for Hitomi, they never are. Instead of resting after the long school week she has to do a lot of chores that her mother forces her to do. Today it was vacuuming and later on she helped with the laundry. Emiko raked the whole yard because it was filled up with leaf that the autumn had dropped. Hitomi still had time to rest. She read a book that she borrowed from the school library a while ago. It got boring to read for hours straight. She had to find something to do for the evening.

Hitomi exits the front door wearing a light puffed jacket in beige color. It was cold enough already to wear a jacket. Autumn, but it's slowly becoming winter. And it was late already so the weather is even colder.

Should I go to the street cafe? It's the only enertainment that is close from here and still open at this hour.

The streets were dark. Only the dim streetlights could lighten the road. Other people would feel anxious walking all by themselfes in the dark, but she usually didn't. There has never been creepy pedophiles or anything in this area, so she could walk with no worries. Her hands were in her pockets to keep them warm.

Past about 10 minutes, she could see the cafe already. When she approached the door she heard her name called by a masculine voice, "Hitomi, is that you?"

She raised her head to the person who approached her in front of the cafe's door. He was about 5'10 with a black short hair with a black hoodie and a leather jacket. He looked familiar, but she thought for a moment. Her eyes widened when she identified the gyu, "Jiro! What are you doing here?"

"Well, I just got here to kill some time." He smiled. Hitomi hugged him lightly. He hugged her back and then softly ruffled her hair. "Me too." Hitomi replied.

"Should we go drink something, since we haven't seen for a long time?" He requested.

"Definitely." Hitomi answered without hesitation and stepped inside the cafe. A waiter greeted them with a smile and she greeted her as well. They sat on a two person table and told their orders to the waiter.

"I almost couldn't recognize you at all. You've grown so much." Hitomi stated astounded.

"You're right." Jiro chuckled a little.

"Like when did you even get this tall!"

"I really don't know. You don't look different at all, but I like it. But how are you?" He asked.

"Well, I don't know. The same? Nothing to really tell." She disappontely answered. Actually she'd have a lot to tell, but decided not tell those.

"Yeah, I get it. Same here. What about Yuma? How's he doing?"

"Oh, I think he's doing REALLY well. He got in the soccer team and all."

"Ooh, finally. That's what he always wanted."

"Exactly."

They shared everything they wanted to, as old middle school friends. She was comfortable around him even though they haven't seen for a long time. They both ordered strawberry shakes and drank those while sharing all the news and gossips. 

☆