Paint It Crimson

chapter 1.

REMINISCENCE

As I sit on a large rock covered by the shade of an exceptionally large palm tree with my legs in the cool water just below the knee, I look over to see everyone else playing a distance away. That small yakuza is talking with that Peko girl, Nidai was thrashing about, Mikan is tripping and flailing Like a clumsy child. Then my eyes follow a wave from afar all the way to the beach where Hajime stood complaining to himself, of the "safety" of allowing ourselves to trust that stuffed animal so easily. Maybe he's right, but for now its best to relax, I think as I watch the fish near my legs. The sea breeze blows, the birds sing a melodious tune, then suddenly the water ripples and the fish disappear. A girl's voice comes to my ears.

The redheaded girl speaks while Hiyoko walks behind her, "hey, what's your name? You never introduced yourself." She looks at me with a small glare and I respond with an accidental stutter, "me? I-i'm Hiroshi Watanabe, the Ultimate Fine Arts Student." Mahiru's glare intensifies and she begins to speak once again, "you are officially dubbed Hiro the-"

"Ditch this cretin and come squish the little hermit crabs with me!" Hiyoko interrupts while dragging Mahiru along with her. My sight follows them until I start to get a headache, by this time all who's left is those two with the crabs at the beach, Ibuki splashing with Nidai, Fuyuhiko with Peko, and Chiaki talking with Souda.

I lug myself up and walk to my beach chair that Usami placed a towel on in such an ever so kindly and neat manner.

After a few moments I throw the towel over my shoulder and begin my journey to the supermarket for some painkillers. Along the way however, Sonia crosses my path with a bright smile and I have every intention of sticking to myself, next thing I know I'm at a full sprint and can feel every dense throb in my head. The automatic doors open and I head past the threshold, through the aisles filled to the brim with assorted foods and sweets, but no interest motivated me to browse. The medical section comes to me and I start to look through all these things I'm sure most people haven't even heard of. "uh... um, wh-what are you l-looking for?", the shy Mikan says with a kindness that just can't he matched with any normal standard. "Oh... hi," I say, "I'm looking for something to get rid of this headache is all." Mikan quickly stumbles to another side of the aisle and places her hand on a small, transparent bottle with no label containing small white pills. She walks back to me with a clear confidence and it breaks when she opens her mouth, "t-take two of these every four h-hours with water, and make sure you eat before."

"thank you so much, don't know what I'd have picked up if you weren't here." I make an attempt at a smile that doesn't seem stupid and suddenly, "uwahh! don't hate me please!"
"wha-" I was cut off and she continues, "your face is obviously forced! "

"... its nothing like that at all," I insist, " I'm just not very good with people and that smile is real, its just my natural smile is stupid looking." Mikan looks as though she'd been even more hurt by assuming, perhaps it wasn't the best thing to say?

We finish up our encounter in hopes that I had in fact made things better, and I rush off to the hotel where I look towards the arcade style machines to see Chiaki completely immersed in her game. I get myself seated at the small wooden table for two and watch her progress. It's amazing how she beats level after level with complete ease. She's playing Galaga, by the time she ends up on level 27 I work up the nerve to ask: "Hey Chiaki, how'd you manage to get so good at these games?" she doesn't reply and in around three minutes of what I personally think of as awkward silence, she responds rather simply: "my dad was a software designer."

"oh, that makes sense." being the social wreck I am, I'm rendered wordless. Its impossible, I think, to recover from back then... no matter how much I try, forgetting and getting over it is not an option.