"Ugh..." Hakaze slid out of the taxi, groaning and stretching her legs after the long, tedious ride. The boys, however; did not seem to be the least bit tired. Mahiro was going on and on about how he could "get all the American girls." Frankly, Yoshino wasn't paying much attention. He was too busy lugging Mahiro's heavy bag out of the trunk.
"Enough about girls. I think you should be handling your own bag, not me." He threw the bag down onto the sidewalk by the airport's main entrance with a huff of anger.
Hakaze sauntered past them towards the driver's seat, a couple of crumpled dollar bills gripped tightly in her hand. She felt like she was a chaperone handling a bunch of children on a trip to the zoo. She had to do everything while appearing professional. She handed the driver the money, cringing when he snatched it quite rudely... But, then again, she couldn't blame him for his horrible attitude. Whoever put up with listening to two boys arguing for an hour and a half should have the right to be in a bad mood.
Yoshino scanned the exterior of the busy airport. He hadn't been to such a large one in a while. The shiny, glass material of the main building reflected the full parking lot below. Through the transparent entrance, Yoshino could see that the interior was bustling with many travellers hurrying to catch their planes, their footsteps beating on the concrete like an obnoxious drum. It had finally stopped raining, but the sky was still dark and depressing. Ominous, gray clouds hovered above, threatening to explode with raindrops. He wondered if their flight would be delayed, or even canceled.
Mahiro approached Yoshino from behind and whispered into his ear, "Great weather, eh?"
Yoshino turned around in one quick, fluid motion and eyed Mahiro. "Was that meant to be creepy? The whispering?"
"Well, no... Not particularly," Mahiro shoved his hands into the pockets of his white jeans. "Was it creepy?"
Yoshino shook his head, "Of course not."
A few feet away, Hakaze examined the gloomy state of the sky, mumbling to herself, "Well, this doesn't look too good..." She turned back to the taxi, which was already pulling away from the curb. She originally planned to ask the driver if he knew anything about the weather later, but it was too late now. Sighing, she took a few steps forward to join the two.
"What's wrong?" Yoshino asked, noticing the slight frown on Hakaze's face.
"It's nothing... I just hope that our flight doesn't get canceled," She stared down and toyed with the handle of her suitcase. "I don't get it... It's spring. Usually, this time of the year, it's all sunshine and flowers."
Mahiro let out an annoyed groan. "It's going to be fine. A few drops of water aren't going to cause our flight to be canceled."
"'A few drops of water' doesn't exactly describe a storm, Mahiro." Hakaze scowled.
"Hey, don't worry," Yoshino moved closer to her and slung an arm around her shoulder. "Even if it gets canceled, we can always leave on another day, right?"
Mahiro watched the two. He studied Yoshino's soft expression as he pulled Hakaze closer. At that moment, Mahiro remembered what Aika had told him a long time before. She mentioned that the best person for Yoshino would be Mahiro himself. She then explained that Yoshino was more of a follower than a leader. He was usually not the one to make the first move, and he would need someone to "lead" him. However, Mahiro realized that in the last few hours, Yoshino had been the leader. He was changing, and he probably didn't even realize it.
Mahiro didn't know what caused this sudden change of personality in his childhood friend, but he took a strange liking to it.
