Campfire Confessions from Starlit Hearts | mizuena & Ruinene

A Dent In My Ego

Toya Pov:
Throughout our first activity, I noticed Akito was acting different. He was still participating and doing what the group leader said, but he was acting oddly distant. He wasn't even talking to me and seemed to be lost in his own thoughts. I figured it might've been due to what had happened at breakfast earlier. I decided to leave him be for now. A little while later we headed to the beach and Akito still had his head in the clouds.

Akito POV:
I walked along the beach, looking down at the sand beneath me. Normally I would look for Toya and talk about our performances, but right now I just didn't feel like interacting with anyone. I felt a strange weight in my stomach, which I tried to convince myself wasn't from what I said to Ena. After all, she's the one who was being dramatic. I was just trying to look out for her. My train of thought came to a stop as Toya approached me.

T- Hey, Aki... are you okay?
A- hm...? Oh, yeah. I'm fine.
T- You're still thinking about what happened earlier, aren't you.
A- I- well...
T- Akito, it's okay to feel like that. It's called sympathy.
A- Stop making me seem so soft. I just don't understand why she had to be so dramatic.
T- I mean, you'd be pretty upset if she didn't let you date who you wanted to, right?
A-...
A- I'm just trying to protect her, okay? Stop making me seem like the bad guy. Remember how she used to scratch and attack me as a way to cope with her own anger?
T- ...
T- I understand that she probably shouldn't have done that, but you know that she can't really help it... She has pretty severe anger issues after all. And besides, she's been trying to find better coping mechanisms recently and understands what she did wrong.
A- Are you saying I should apologize to her?
T- I know you don't want to and don't feel like you need to, but trust me, it will help.
A- Seriously? I've had countless arguments with her, and they all got resolved on their own. I don't see why this would be any different.
T- Akito, you trust me, right?
A- Yes...?
T- And you trust that I would only give you advice that can help you, right?
A- Yes...
T- So can you do this for me? It bothers me to see you acting so distant.
A- *Sigh* Fine. I'll apologize to her. But I really don't see why I have to.
T- Thank you Aki, I'm proud of you.
Toya said that last sentence with a smile and I felt a light blush spread across my face.
A- Yeah, whatever. I'll apologize to her at lunch or something.

Around an hour later, our second activity of the day was finally finished, and we could return back to the camp for lunch. Like I imagined, Ena didn't want to be part of the group and was huddled up somewhere with Mizuki. I looked around and spotted them sitting together under a tree. I started walking towards them, trying not to let Ena see me. When I was a short distance away, she noticed me and her expression changed.

E- What do you want? Are you here to tell me that I'm not allowed to make my own choices? Or are you gonna force me to never talk to Mizuki ever again?
A- *sigh* Ena... This morning... I just wasn't really thinking before I spoke. I... Was only thinking about myself.
E- Yeah, no shit. What you said actually hurt me! I haven't been able to enjoy the day because of you.
I felt the weight in my stomach become heavier as Ena said that.

A- I can understand... why you would feel like that... And I understand that what I said was hurtful...
E- And? What else do you need to say?
A- *Sigh* I'm... Sorry.
E- For..?
A- ...
A- I'm sorry for being so overprotective and not letting you make your own decisions...
E- And what do you say to Mizuki? You said hurtful things about them too.
A- Mizuki, I'm sorry. Like I said, I wasn't thinking... don't take what I said personally...
M- Hehe, You're all good~
Mizuki had a smirk which I could tell meant "you look so stupid right now".

A- Ergh... Ena, I'll buy you cheesecake or something... This is starting to feel degrading.
E- Thats what you deserve! After all the pain and suffering I've gone through~
She said dramatically.
A- Yeah, yeah... Come on now drama queen, the others are waiting.
I was about to start walking towards the group when I remembered something I probably needed to say.

A- Can we... Please never speak of this ever again?
E- No promises.
A- You little...

I didn't feel like wasting my energy or hurting my ego even more trying to convince her, so I started heading back towards everyone else, not looking back at those two.
T- So how did it go?
A- ...
A- I don't want to talk about it.

Author note:
If you're reading this when the chapter first came out, Merry Christmas! If not, I hope you're having a nice day :D Anyways, I love the Shinonome Siblings so much!! But it's kinda hard to talk about them without sounding like I'm shipping them... I love the way Akito actually worries about Ena and her anger issues. As someone who also has anger issues that are also kinda affected by tourettes, Ena's character is really relatable to me -w- Anyways this is getting off topic now. Enjoy the rest (1 chapter) of the book!